decoded_text stringlengths 4.18k 47.6k |
|---|
-1 allows the user to customize each of the 25 tiles in the Control Panel. This convenient improvement has the potential to greatly speed up everyday shooting.
K-1 control panel customization
A few handy new JPEG processing options have made their way into the Control Panel, too. Existing Pentax users will find that the K-1 has all the familiar Custom Image, white balance, and HDR settings found on other models. But the K-1 takes things to the next level by offering variable strength clarity enhancement, skin tone correction, and automatic correction of artifacts when in pixel shift mode.
Fewer Button Presses
Small tweaks have been made to the K-1's sub-menus to reduce the overall number of button pushes needed to accomplish everyday tasks. For example, bracketing is now much easier to adjust through the drive mode menu. Furthermore, in addition to all the new flexibility afforded by the third control wheel, the K-1's Fx1 (RAW) and Fx2 (down) buttons can control more functions.
Two Ways to Tether
The K-1 is the first Pentax to support tethered shooting using both a USB cord and Wi-Fi. Wired tethering with a PC is possible via Image Transmitter 2 (sold separately), while the free Image Sync app enables wireless control, live view, and playback on Android and iOS devices. Since the K-1 has built-in Wi-Fi, no additional accessories are needed.
Image Sync Logo
An Adobe Lightroom plugin is currently being developed and will offer functionality similar to what is currently supported by the Pentax 645Z. While the features of this plugin and tethering software are fairly basic in comparison to what Canon and Nikon support, they should be sufficient for everyday studio use.
Astrophotographer-Friendly
While the K-1 is not marketed as a camera specifically designed for Astrophotography, it certainly deserves to be.
Thanks to its built-in GPS module and the Shake Reduction system, the K-1 can track the motion stars for up to 300 seconds (Astrotracer mode) without the need for external accessories. Apart from it and K-3 II, all other Pentax bodies require the O-GPS1 hotshoe unit, which is sold separately.
Freeze the movement of stars with the Astrotracer
In addition to standard intervalometer and composite shooting modes, the K-1 also introduces the Star Steam mode, which can progressively stack star trails on top of a well-exposed foreground image.
Star Stream mode
When used properly, this feature can completely eliminate the need for post-processing software to create good star trail timelapses.
Finally, the utility of the K-1's LED illumination cannot be overlooked while you're out shooting the stars in a remote area. Swapping lenses, changing settings, or inserting a new memory card should be a breeze.
Improved Flash Sync Speed
Through the K-1, Pentax engineers have increased the maximum flash sync speed for the first time in over a decade. The K-1 can sync at up to 1/200s, up from 1/180s on other models. Note that the K-1 has no on-board flash, but it does support the full lineup of Pentax P-TTL flashes and can be used with older manual units in manual mode.
AF 360 FGZ II - A weather-sealed flash
While the K-1 is not industry-leading in terms of flash sync speed or third-party support, a step forward in this area is always welcome. If you're interested in high-speed strobes, check out the Priolite system.
Conclusion
The Pentax K-1 has seen practical improvements in just about every key area pertaining to still photography. With so many features that enhance usability in the field, the K-1 is not only the most versatile Pentax K-mount body to date, but also unique among full-frame DSLRs currently on the market. Who can say no to all these features in a 36-megapixel full-frame body priced below $1800?
Learn More
Additional K-1 resources:
The Pentax K-1 is available for $1796.95 in the US and is expected to start shipping on April 25th, 2016. Follow these links to pre-order the K-1 and support the forum:
Don't miss the pre-order giveaway if you do place an order— we have $600 in gift cards for four lucky winners.Special report: The plummeting coal sector and a growing green divestment movement is leaving firms who still invest in fossil fuels and connected pension holders heavily exposed
The pension funds of millions of people across the world, including teachers, public sector workers, health staff and academics in the UK and US, are heavily exposed to the plummeting coal sector, a Guardian analysis has revealed.
It has also found that just a dozen people, including the owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, own coal reserves equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of China, the world’s biggest polluter. The UN, which advocates a shift to clean energy, has more than $100m (£65m) invested in coal through its own pension fund.
Roman Abramovich among 'dirty dozen' people with biggest stakes in coal Read more
The Guardian examined the ownership of the biggest 50 publicly traded coal companies, ranked by the reserves of the fossil fuel they hold. If burned, these reserves would produce the equivalent of more than 10 years of global emissions. This alone could push the planet past beyond the 2C of climate change deemed dangerous by the world’s governments.
A fast-growing, global fossil fuel divestment movement, backed by the Guardian’s Keep it in the Ground campaign, is having particular success in persuading investors to dump coal stocks. The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, held by Norway, decided earlier this month to sell off more than $8bn of coal assets.
The World Bank and the Bank of England have both warned that global action to cut carbon emissions could render fossil fuel reserves worthless, as analyses show most must remain in the ground. Coal, the most polluting fuel, is particularly at risk and investment bank Goldman Sachs declared in January the fuel had reached “retirement age”. A crunch UN summit in December is tasked with agreeing an international climate change deal.
The coal price has crashed by 60% since 2011, as gas, renewable energy and climate policies have damaged demand. Tom Sanzillo, a former New York State comptroller who oversaw a $156bn pension fund, said: “Coal is arguably the worst performing sector in the whole world. Pension funds, which have a fiduciary duty to make money, have no business owning any of these companies. It is not a prospective risk, it is a now risk.”
“The coal sector is falling into a financial death spiral,” said Mark Campanale, founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, which has pioneered analysis of the financial risks of fossil fuels. “The members of university, healthcare and UN pension funds are smart and informed people; they will be shocked to discover just how far exposed their funds are to coal investment risk.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Workers prepare a Soviet-made rotary dredge at the Beryozovsky opencast colliery, near the Siberian town of Sharypovo in Krasnoyarsk region, Russia. Photograph: Ilya Naymushin/Reuters
The Guardian analysis has uncovered large coal holdings by some of the world’s largest pension funds, with the largest held by South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which provides government pensions for millions. It has an $8bn stake which represents a huge 6.1% of all its funds: most large funds have significantly less than 1%.
Other pension funds with significant coal stakes include: APG ($1.7bn), which provides pensions for one in five families in the Netherlands; TIAA-CREF ($838), the US pensions giant which serves 5 million teachers and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB - $590m), which provide the country’s state pension for 18 million people.
In the UK, the £48bn Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which provides pensions for 330,000 university and college staff, has a substantial stake in the top 50 coal companies, as do six local authority pensions funds including West Yorkshire. In the US, 25 public sector pension funds have investments in the the top 50 coal companies, spread from California to Alabama, Ohio and New York.
The analysis used data from Reuters retrieved on 25 April 2015 to determine the ownership of the top 50 publicly traded coal companies, as ranked by Fossil Free Indexes on the basis of the coal reserves held by each company.
A spokesman for APG, one of the largest pension funds in the world, said: “We have declined several new coal investments in the past year and reduced our exposure in a number of coal companies. We expect that our exposure to coal will decline over time.” PIC, TIAA-CREF, CPPIB and the UN pension fund did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokeswoman for USS, one of the UK’s biggest pension funds, said it been working for more than a decade to have climate change recognised as a risk factor by institutional investors. It has $322m invested in mining companies Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto, but argues coal is a minor part of their business. However, the three companies have combined coal reserves are almost equivalent to the entire world’s annual carbon emissions.
The Guardian’s analysis of individuals with large stakes in top 50 coal companies was led by Vinod Shantilal Adani, whose $900m stake in Indian coal giant Adani Enterprises, means he owns coal reserves that will produce 2GT of carbon dioxide when burned, the same as all of India’s 1.2 billion people produce in a year.
Second is Abramovich, whose $766m stake in steel and mining company Evraz gives him a large share in Russia’s largest coal mine and the equivalent of 1.5GT of carbon emissions, not far short of the annual output of Russia itself. Another of the seven Russian oligarchs in the “dirty dozen” list is Suleiman Kerimov, with investments equivalent to 0.922GT of CO2. Kerimov is known for hiring stars including Beyonce and Shakira to sing at his parties and for owning one of the world’s largest private yachts.
Many of the largest stakes in the top 50 coal companies are held by asset management companies and BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, leads this list with $24.6bn. But the Guardian analysis shows that BlackRock’s holding represents 0.65% of its total assets, a proportion that is over 50 times greater than the world’s second biggest asset manager, Allianz.
Also heavily invested in coal is the largest manager of UK pension assets, Legal & General. Whilst L&G are the 24th biggest asset manager in the world, they have the fourth largest coal stake, with $3.3bn in the top 50 companies, representing 0.51% of its total assets. Coal is similarly high in the funds held by Aberdeen Asset Management.
South Africa’s private investment companies, like the government pension fund, are very heavily invested in coal. Allan Gray, the nation’s largest privately owned asset manager has $3.2bn in the top 50 coal companies, representing a 8.0% of all the assets it manages. It has a large stake in Sasol, which owns six coal mines in South Africa.
Among these asset managers, only Allianz responded to requests for comment. Managing director Karsten Löffler said: “We take the move to alternative energy sources and climate protection very seriously. It is in our interest to assist the energy sector, which drives forward the global economy, with an orderly transition to an environmentally-friendly economy.”
Some large insurance companies also have substantial stakes in the top 50 coal companies, including the state-owned giant Life Insurance Corporation of India which has $5.6bn invested. French company Axa has a big insurance business and the group has $2.6bn invested in the top 50 coal companies, but recently committed to sell a fifth of those coal assets. In March, the Bank of England warned that insurance companies could suffer a “huge hit” if their investments in fossil fuel companies are rendered worthless by action to tackle climate change.
Joining BlackRock and South Africa’s PIC in the top five coal investors overall are the government of India ($46.5bn), via its interest in its state-owned coal and power station companies, Valepar, the majority owner of Brazilian mining giant Vale, and the Aluminium Corporation of China, which owns $9bn of Rio Tinto shares.
Campanale said coal companies faced serious challenges: “Sometime soon, the coal chairmen will be facing their own ‘Sepp Blatter moment’. They may be in power, but institutional support is withering away. Investors are realising the business models and future assumptions of big coal are fundamentally flawed.”
Sanzillo, now at the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said there was no real prospect of recovery for an industry whose the main market measure, the Stowe index, had fallen by 75% since 2012. “Coal is not making money, not talking to you, there’s no turn around strategy and there’s an international climate conversation of which they want no part – so you divest.”
Pension funds
Dozens of pension funds around the world are invested in the top 50 publicly traded coal companies, according to a Guardian analysis. South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation Limited (PIC), which provides pensions for many of the nation’s public sector workers, has the largest stake with $8bn invested.
This is largely due to a $5.6bn stake in Sasol, which owns six coal mines in South Africa, but whose share price has fallen 40% in a year. Overall PIC’s coal investments represent a 7.5% of all its assets.
“They have put a political constraint on their investment which should not be there – it is definitely an overexposure,” said Tom Sanzillo, a former New York State comptroller who oversaw a $156bn pension fund. He said those responsible for the fund needed to act: “The fiduciaries need to say: ‘We are losing money and we want out’.”
The second highest stake among pension funds in the top 50 coal companies is owned by Dutch pensions giant APG, which provides pension for one in five families in the Netherlands, including teachers, public sector workers and medical staff. It has $1.7bn invested in 26 of the coal companies but is reducing its coal exposure.
TIAA-CREF, the US pensions firm which serves 5 million teachers, doctors and academics, has $838m in 30 of the top 50 coal companies, while the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, which provide the country’s state pension for 18 million people, has $590m invested the companies. The pension fund with the fifth biggest stake in the top 50 coal companies is another Dutch provider, PGGM, which serves 1.5m people and has $399m in the coal firms.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Coal is moved on a conveyor belt at the PT Bukit Asam open pit coal mine in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra province, Indonesia. Photograph: Dadang Tri/Getty Images
The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund also invests in the top 50 coal companies – $106m – despite the clear message sent to investors made by secretary general Ban Ki-Moon in November 2014: “Please reduce your investments in the coal- and fossil fuel-based economy and [move] to renewable energy.”
Seven UK public sector pension funds have investments in the top 50 coal companies, led by the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) with $322m. The USS provides pensions for 330,000 university and college staff.
The West Yorkshire Pension Fund has a particularly high proportion of assets in the top 50 coal companies, with its $215m stake comprising 1.3% of all its assets. Other UK public sector pension funds with stakes in the top 50 coal companies are West Midlands, South Yorkshire, East Riding, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire pension funds.
In the US, 25 public sector pension funds have investments in the the top 50 coal companies, spread from California to Alabama, Ohio and New York. The giant California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) is the largest, with $298m invested, including stakes in companies that have used the controversial mountain-top removal method to mine coal, including Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources and Consol Energy.
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas is the next largest US public sector pension fund investing in the top 50 coal companies, with $105m.
Asset managers
The world’s 10 biggest asset management companies have widely varying stakes in the top 50 coal companies, according to a Guardian analysis.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm has $24.5bn, representing about 0.65% of all its assets. But the company with the second largest assets under management, Allianz, has just 0.012% of its funds invested in the 50 biggest coal companies, more than 50 times less than BlackRock.
Vanguard, the third largest asset management company, is like BlackRock relatively heavily invested in the top 50 coal companies, with 0.277%. Among the rest of the 10 biggest asset-holding companies, State Street Global, Axa and JP Morgan have about twice the exposure to the top 50 coal companies of Fidelity, Bank of New York Mellon, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank.
A spokesman for US-based Vanguard said 70% of its funds simply tracked indices. He said the Vanguard staff actively managing the other 30% “are charged with producing the highest investment returns possible. We do not require, or even expect, our advisers to make investment decisions based on social or political issues.”
Axa recently announced it will sell off €500m ($550m) of stocks from the €500bn fund it directly controls, targeting the companies whose business is more than 50% coal. But a spokesman said: “Given the dependency of many people and sectors of the world’s economy on coal, Axa is not a proponent of what is being called a “disorderly withdrawal from coal”. He said Axa would also increase its green investments to €3bn by 2020.
A spokesman for BNP Paribas said: “We are not a major investor in coal companies worldwide. We are fully aware that our financing and investment activities can have significant social and environmental consequences.” BlackRock, State Street Global and JP Morgan did not respond to requests for comment.
The Guardian’s analysis used data from Reuters retrieved on 25 April 2015 to determine the ownership of the top 50 publicly traded coal companies, as ranked by Fossil Free Indexes on the basis of the coal reserves held by each company.The rise of populist leaders and parties in Europe and the United States over the past two years has reshaped the political landscape from Budapest to Washington. Challenging elites as corrupt and disconnected from common concerns, these populists claim to derive their legitimacy from the supposed will of the people and usually use their influence to blame some “other” for the country’s ills. They have tried to upend post-Cold War norms on everything from free trade to the integration of Europe, raising fears in the West about the strength of the rule of law and even democracy itself.
But this intense focus has overshadowed the growing threat of populism in another major region of the world that is already susceptible to a higher chance of conflict than the West: Asia. Unlike in the West, where populism is still constrained by strong democratic institutions and norms, institutions in Asia are weaker and most Asian populists have little concern for the rule of law, so populism could actually prove more dangerous to democracy.
For more on the challenge of populism in Asia, see my new World Politics Review article.Malik Ambar (1548 – 13 May 1626) was an Ethiopian military leader in the Deccan region of India.
Sold as a child by his parents, Malik was brought to India as a slave. While in India he created a mercenary force numbering up to 1500 men. It was based in the Deccan region and was hired by local kings. Malik became a popular Prime Minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, showing administrative acumen. He is also regarded as a pioneer in guerilla warfare in the region. He is credited with carrying out a revenue settlement of much of the Deccan, which formed the basis for subsequent settlements. He is a figure of veneration to the Siddis of Gujarat. He humbled the might of the Mughals and Adil Shah of Bijapur and raised the low status of the Nizam Shah.[4][5]
Early life [ edit ]
Malik Ambar was born in 1548 as Chapu, a birth-name suggesting that he was born in the Harar region in Eastern Ethiopia.[3]
Between the 14th and 17th centuries, the Christian Abyssinian Kingdom (led by the Solomonic dynasty) and adjacent Muslim states gathered much of their slaves from non-Abrahamic communities inhabiting regions like Kambata, Damot and Hadya, which were located on the southern flanks of their territory. Malik Ambar was among the people who were converted to Islam, and later dispatched abroad to serve as a warrior.[3] Both the Solomonic dynasty and the Adal Sultanate were devastated after two decades of war with each other. According to the Futuhat-i `adil Shahi, Malik Ambar was sold into slavery by his parents. He ended up in al-Mukha in Yemen, where he was sold again for 20 ducats and was taken to the slave market in Baghdad, where he was sold a third time to the Qadi al-Qudat of Mecca and again in Baghdad to Mir Qasim al-Baghdadi, who eventually took him to south-central India. He was described by the Dutch merchant Pieter van den Broecke as, "a black kafir from Abyssinia with a stern Roman face."[6][7]
Career [ edit ]
Malik Ambar was the regent of the Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmednagar from 1607 to 1626. During this period he increased the strength and power of Murtaza Nizam Shah and raised a large army. He changed the capital from Paranda to Junnar and founded a new city, Khadki which was later on changed to Aurangabad by the Emperor Aurangzeb when he invaded Deccan around 1658 to 1707.
Malik Ambar is said to be the one of proponent of guerrilla warfare in the Deccan region. Malik Ambar assisted Shah Jahan wrestle power in Delhi from his stepmother, Nur Jahan, who had ambitions of seating her son-in-law on the throne. Malik Ambar and Shahaji (father of Shivaji) had also restored some credibility to the Sultans of Ahmadnagar, who had been subdued by the earlier Mughals (Akbar had annexed Ahmadnagar).[8] However, he was defeated later when Khurram, son of Jahangir led a massive army against the dwindling Ahmednagar. Later Malik Ambar offered full control of Berar and Ahmadnagar to the Mughal as a sign of surrender[9]
Second conflict with Mughal [ edit ]
Malik Ambar defeated the Mughal General Khan Khanan many times and often attacked Ahmadnagar. Lakhuji Jadhavrao, Maloji Bhosale, Shahaji Bhosale and other Maratha chiefs had gained great prominence during this period. With the help of these Maratha Chiefs, Malik Ambar had captured Ahmednagar Fort and town from the Mughals. But in one of the battles Malik Ambar was defeated by the Mughals and had to surrender the fort of Ahmadnagar. Many Maratha Chiefs and especially Lakhuji Jadhavrao and Ranoji Wable joined the Mughals after this. Shah Jahan once again laid a crushing blow to Malik Ambar in one of the battles and further decreased his power.
Death [ edit ]
He died in 1626 at the age of 80. Malik Ambar had by his Siddi wife, Bibi Karima two sons; Fateh Khan and Changiz Khan and two daughters.[10][11]
One of his daughters was married to a prince of the Ahmednagar royal family who was later, through Malik Ambar's aid crowned as Sultan Murtaza Nizam Shah II.[12] The eldest and youngest daughters respectively were called Shahir Bano and Azija Bano, the latter of whom married a nobleman named Siddi Abdullah.[13]
Fateh Khan succeeded his father as the regent of the Nizam Shahs. However, he did not possess his predecessor's political and military prowess. Through were a series of internal struggles within the nobility (which included Fateh Khan assassinating his nephew, Sultan Burhan Nizam Shah III), the sultanate fell to the Mughal Empire within ten years of Ambar's death.
The final daughter was married to the Circassian Commander of the Ahmednagar army, Muqarrab Khan who later became a general under the Mughal Emperor and received the title Rustam Khan Bahadur Firauz Jang.[14][15] He became famous for his involvement in several important military campaigns, such as the Kandahar Wars against Shah Abbas of Persia. He was killed by Prince Murad Baksh in the Battle of Samugarh during the Mughal War of succession in 1658.[16]
Legacy [ edit ]
There are conflicting perspectives on Ambar's long-term impact in Deccan, and its surrounding Indian states. Historians who subscribe to Harris's point of view credit the former slave with creating a long-lasting legacy of African's rising to power in the eastern regions of the world, namely India.[17] Others agree more with historians like Richard Eaton. He cites Ambar's military prowess as the reason he rose to such influence during his life, but claims that a string of decisive defeats at the end of his career instigated distrust and resentment amongst those in his close administration. Eaton and his proponents claim Ambar's journey is an impressive story of success, and gave African's representation in India for a short while, but also believe his lack of positive leadership in the final years of his tenure prevented him from solidifying his influence, as his successors quickly worked to reverse many of Ambar's policies[18]. Regardless of his posthumous impact on the Deccan, and Indian states generally, it cannot be disputed Ambar was an avid supporter of education and a patron of the arts. Historians Joseph E. Harris and Chand cite Ambar's patron ship of the arts and learning as a shining achievement of his tenure as Malik of Deccan[19].
Malik Ambar cherished strong love and ability for architecture. Aurangabad was Ambar's architectural achievement and creation. Malik Ambar the founder of the city was always referred to by harsh names by Sultan Jahangir. In his memoirs he never mentions his name without prefixing epithets like wretch, cursed fellow, Habshi, Ambar Siyari, black Ambar, and Ambar Badakhtur. Some historians believe that those words came out of frustration as Malik Ambar had resisted the powerful Mughals and kept them away from Deccan. "[20]
Foundation of Aurangabad [ edit ]
He founded/inhabited the city of Khirki in 1610. After his death in 1626, the name was changed to Fatehpur by his son and heir Fateh Khan. When Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor invaded Deccan in the year 1653, he made Fatehpur his capital and renamed it as Aurangabad. Since then it is known as Aurangabad. Two imperial capitals Viz. ‘Pratisthana’ (Paithan) i.e. the capital of Satavahanas (2nd B. C. to 3rd A. D.) and Devagiri - Daulatabad the capital of Yadavas and Muhammad bin Tughluq are located within the limits of Aurangabad.
Aurangabad canal system [ edit ]
"Malik Ambar is especially famous for the Nahr, the canal water supply system of the city called Khadki now known as Aurangabad. Malik Ambar completed the Neher within fifteen months, spending a nominal sum of two and a half lakh Rupiyahs. This city is situated on the banks of Kham, a small perennial stream which takes its rise in the neighbouring hills."[21]
Water was supplied to the city of Khadki from the famous Panchakki (Pan from Hindi paani means water and Chakki means a tread-mill) which drove the water down the Nahr e Ambari (Ambar's canal) from the stream called Kham referred earlier here, to the city. The blades of the Panchakki used to rotate by the water falling on them from that stream and with the aid of a wooden valve turn the flow into that canal, the Nahr, for the city.
See also [ edit ]According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 300 Syrian children, recruited as child soldiers by ISIS, have been killed over the past two weeks in fighting in and around the Iraqi city of Mosul. The brigade is called the “cubs of the caliphate.”
Locals reported that the loss of children in fighting around the Syrian town of Daquq was spun by ISIS religious leaders as minor compared to the gains they would secure in Mosul. The fighting is fierce around Mosul, and the casualties are high.
The Observatory said that at least 480 Syrian fighters had been killed in fighting around the Mosul area since the fighting began two weeks ago. This means that a strong majority of those casualties were actually children.
The US has claimed they believe between 800 and 900 fighters have been killed overall around Mosul. This indicates that the fighting outside of Mosul is heavily between invading Iraqi forces and ISIS’ Syrian auxiliaries. Large numbers of ISIS fighters are believed to have remained within Mosul, preparing to defend the city itself.
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzGet the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.
A fan-made video "demonstrating" a Commodore 64 version of Grand Theft Auto V has been released, reimagining the game's first trailer in the style of an 8-bit game.
The video comes courtesy of YouTube channel MajamiHiroz, where Hungarian animator Balazs Kalocsai frequently releases videos showing us old-school reimaginings of modern games and answering questions such as what it would be like if Tony Montana played Bubble Bobble.
In true 8-bit style, it resorts to using subtitles in place of Michael's voiceover and even has a low-resolution version of one of the game's loading screens. It also contains many of the memorable scenes from the trailer, including Michael and company jumping out of a van to rob a store and a crop duster flying over a field.
Grand Theft Auto V was released last September on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, helping to push the franchise over 185 million units sold. Fans have been petitioning for a PC release, and it's long been suspected that an Xbox One and PlayStation 4 version will eventually happen--perhaps in the next year, as Rockstar plans to launch a next-gen game by next March. In the meantime, we continue to await word regarding the story DLC for GTA V, which could potentially have something to do with a recently filed trademark on the name "City Stories."Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard could be exposed in the NHL expansion draft. (Photo: David Guralnick / Detroit News)
Detroit — The speculation will begin to get louder as the expansion draft gets closer.
With the Vegas Golden Knights entering the NHL, existing teams will lose one player each to the new team in the June 21 expansion draft (teams turn in their lists June 17).
As the NHL calendar gets closer to late June, chances are goaltender Jimmy Howard’s future with the Red Wings will become more clear.
Could Howard be the player lost to Vegas by the Red Wings, if they decide to leave him exposed?
Or will Howard be traded, given there are teams in need of upgrades in the position?
Or, will he remain on the Red Wings with Petr Mrazek, in a situation similar to this past season?
As the Red Wings departed for the summer last month, cleaning out their Joe Louis Arena lockers for the final time, Howard viewed the situation as out of his hands.
“It’s a business, and what they (Red Wings management) decide, that’s what they decide,” Howard said. “It’s pretty much out of your control. I haven’t thought about it because you don’t want to stress yourself out.
“I haven’t spoken to anybody about it.”
General manager Ken Holland has consistently said he’ll discuss potential trades with other general managers leading up to when Holland turns in the Red Wings’ list.
Teams such as Calgary, Dallas and Winnipeg could be looking to upgrade their goaltending, and might be in position to trade.
If Howard isn’t traded, he’ll likely be exposed in the expansion draft given his age (33) and contract situation (two years left at approximately $5.3 million). Mrazek is 25 and is on the books for one more year at $4 million.
Then again, there was ample trade speculation swirling around Howard last summer — and nothing became of it.
“Last year was kind of up in the air,” Howard said. “I didn’t know how everything was going to play out. I was so happy to be able to come back here for the last season at The Joe.
“I’m thrilled to be part of this organization.”
Howard outplayed Mrazek for a majority of the season.
And if it wasn’t for Howard missing nearly three months with a sprained knee the second half of the season, some analysts felt the Red Wings could still have a made a push to make the playoffs because of the way Howard was playing.
Howard was second in save percentage (.927) and third in goals-against average (2.10) among qualifying goalies.
“It’s just hard work,” Howard said. “It's not reinventing the wheel or anything. It was just putting in the time over the course of the summer and tweaking my game a little bit.
“It paid off.”
Coach Jeff Blashill felt Howard’s season was “excellent”.
“He had an excellent year, he played excellent through most of the year,” said Blashill, who is getting the opportunity to coach Howard again at the current world championships.
It’s usually a tough sell getting veteran players to represent Team USA at the world championships.
But when Howard received an invitation, there wasn’t any doubt.
Along with representing his country, it was an opportunity for Howard to play in more games and somewhat begin his off-season program.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how many years you’ve played in the NHL, you can still grow as a player and individual out there,” Howard said.
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
twitter.com/tkulfanWelcome
Welcome to webTeach.net. This site has been designed primarily for students learning Python, web design and Java.
Course Descriptions
ICS 2O
This course introduces students to computer programming. Students will plan and write simple computer programs by applying fundamental programming concepts, and learn to create clear and maintainable internal documentation. They will also learn to manage a computer by studying hardware configurations, software selection, operating system functions, networking, and safe computing practices. Students will also investigate the social impact of computer technologies, and develop an understanding of environmental and ethical issues related to the use of computers.
ICS 3U
This course introduces students to computer science. Students will design software independently and as part of a team, using industry-standard programming tools and applying the software development life-cycle model. They will also write and use subprograms within computer programs. Students will develop creative solutions for various types of problems as their understanding of the computing environment grows. They will also explore environmental and ergonomic issues, emerging research in computer science, and global career trends in computer-related fields.
ICS 3C
This course introduces students to computer programming concepts and practices. Students will write and test computer programs, using various problem-solving strategies. They will learn the fundamentals of program design and apply a software development life-cycle model to a software development project. Students will also learn about computer environments and systems, and explore environmental issues related to computers, safe computing practices, emerging technologies, and postsecondary opportunities in computer-related fields.
ICS 4U
This course enables students to further develop knowledge and skills in computer science. Students will use modular design principles to create complex and fully documented programs, according to industry standards. Student teams will manage a large software development project, from planning through to project review. Students will also analyse algorithms for effectiveness. They will investigate ethical issues in computing and further explore environmental issues, emerging technologies, areas of research in computer science, and careers in the field.
ICS 4C
This course further develops students computer programming skills. Students will learn object-oriented programming concepts, create object-oriented software solutions, and design graphical user interfaces. Student teams will plan and carry out a software development project using industry-standard programming tools and proper project management techniques. Students will also investigate ethical issues in computing and expand their understanding of environmental issues, emerging technologies, and computer-related careers.
.............................................................................................
You can view DCarter other 'open source' template designs here. Para todos un abrazoBurmese authorities are carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslim minority in the country’s western Arakan state, a senior U.N. official said, as the military continues to sweep the area for what it has labeled Islamic militants.
The BBC reports that John McKissick, a representative of the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said Burmese troops have been “killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river” into neighboring Bangladesh.
Thousands of Rohingya have already sought refuge in Bangladesh, the BBC cited the country’s Foreign Ministry as saying. Thousands more are reportedly turning up at the border hoping to escape. Bangladesh does not view the Rohingya as refugees, and its official policy is to not allow them in.
The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Burma, officially called Myanmar, and are viewed by many as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which also does not accept them. The group, numbering about 1.1 million people, is viewed as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. Tens of thousands have poured across the border for decades to seek refuge in one of several refugee camps near Cox’s Bazaar.
The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now
Read more: The Rohingya, Burma’s Forgotten Muslims by James Nachtwey
“Now it’s very |
guys to where they got, and definitely his sister, his family — I think for most guys that reach the pinnacles of where he is, and become elite athletes… You always see specials where they talk about all these guys and how they got where they are. For him, his sisters, his family, and his parents definitely played I think a very large role in just who he is. He is an unbelievable athlete, but he also is just an unbelievable person. You get that from family and growing up. They are a very classy family. He has always known to do the right thing and how to act. So his family is definitely a big part of who he is.
WP: What stands out about the kind of kid that Paul was, especially when he was an incoming freshman or early. You spoke about his character…
TH: He’s always been very conscientious of his teammates. His freshman year, he played on the freshman team that year, and I would sit right behind the bench. There were a few times when he’d come off the court, and sit down on the bench I would get up in his ear and tell him “Hey, don’t pass up that shot next time” or “You should drive it next time you catch it.” He always passed the ball, passed the ball, passed the ball. He would always say “yes sir!” get back out there, and throw it to his teammate. Finally one time I told him — I told him “Tomorrow after the game you are going to run twenty suicides.” He just looked at me. Then I said, “But I’ll take one off for every point you score in this game today.”
Paul’s so smart, he smiled and he got it right away. Like “coach is messing with me.” Then I said “But you are going to run if you don’t score twenty points today.” He got the message.
WP: When was the first time you thought “This kid might play in the NBA”?
TH: I think it’s really hard to see that, and Paul was such a late bloomer too. Like I said he was 6’1” when he got here, and he was probably just under 6’8” when he graduated. Then he actually still grew which was very odd — there’s not many of those guys… every now and then. Usually when they get there, they are what they’re going to be. But I even told a lot of the NBA scouts that were calling when he was in college, “He has huge upside and this guy is still developing as a player and he’s going to be a lot better than he is right now.” Obviously he is.
He developed a lot even after he graduated from here. I knew he was going to be a really good Division I basketball player. And really it’s like after that, there’s potential for him to be an NBA player. It’s hard to tell — with anybody it’s tough, unless you see LeBron James in high school.
WP: What is something that you learned coaching Paul?
TH: I learned that there’s different kinds of leaders, because I had a couple of them on that team. Paul was a quiet leader, lead by example. He’s not generally the most vocal guy, but he is the guy that is going to put in the most time and the most work, and then he is going to work hard in practice. Like I’ve said, a lot of guys could probably play defense the way Paul can, but a lot of guys don’t. I learned the importance of defense from that team. We were just so good defensively. It kind of changed my coaching philosophy to being more defense first.
Paul had to kind of develop even after he got into the NBA as a scorer, maybe I’m not the biggest scoring coach, but I really learned how you can win games through hard work on the defensive end, and the value of that extra work. Guys are not going to develop just when they are in the gym with me because I understood how much time he put in outside of our practices.
WP: What advice would you give Billy Donovan about coaching him?
TH: Oh wow, me give Billy Donovan advice? (laughs) That’s funny.
Uh, Billy Donovan is… he’s coached a lot of really great players. Man, he’s a great coach. I’m sure Paul is going to really enjoy playing for Billy Donovan. He knows how to get the most out of his players. But if I had the ability to give Billy Donovan advice, I would just say, “push him as hard as you can push anybody else, and lean on him, you can lean on Paul.” I remember telling Paul, “I am going to coach you harder, and be on you harder than anybody else on this team because you can handle it and I need the other guys to see it.”
That’s really what you want from your leader. You want to be able to coach him really hard and for them to respond. Paul will never shy away from coaching or hard work.
WP: What are some things that Paul loves, or loves to do?
TH: I do know there was a time or two that he and his dad were going to go fishing on a Saturday. I know that he really enjoys fishing. I know there’s some lakes in Oklahoma and I’m sure he’s probably going to miss a particular fishing spot in Indiana, but I also know he likes to get out on the lake when he has the opportunity. And then, he likes hanging out with his teammates. When we would be here for 4-5 hours on a Saturday ‘cause I couldn’t get them to leave the gym after we were done shooting or practicing, and when I finally would start turning out the lights he would tell the guys, “Hey, let’s go down to Denny’s or Primo Burger…let’s stay together, let’s do something.” So he liked hanging out with his teammates, or did back then. One of the only things that could get him away from his teammates or basketball was fishing.
WP: It’s funny, Lee Jenkins mentioned that in the profile he did on Paul a couple of weeks ago. I wondered if fishing was going to come up. It seems like fishing is not one of the things you hear mentioned among the hobbies of NBA players a lot of the time.
TH: But man, you think about it, the pressures that guys like him take. I don’t know if he still fishes, I think he still does, but man, what a great escape. What a great way to unwind. It’s hard for people to ask for your autograph when you are out in the middle of a lake.
WP: Earlier you talked about how competitive Paul is. When you watched him these last couple of years in Indianapolis, did you see any signs of frustration…as someone that knows him, did he seem unhappy with the team or unhappy with the situation?
TH: I didn’t talk to him a lot during the season, but I know the playoffs is really when I think you could see it. Obviously some of the comments that he made — I think you could start to see the frustration. I know he commented that he was tired of losing to LeBron, and yeah it does get frustrating. I thought he played as the guy on that team, I thought he fulfilled his role to the point where if you do that, your team should have a chance to win in the playoffs.
One of the things I don’t think a lot of people understand is while he is going out and scoring 25 points a game, he is also doing that while guarding the other team’s best player. “We need you to score 25, we also need you to keep him from scoring 25.” I thought he defended really well. I think that the more that you do and the harder you play, the more frustration you can feel. I know Paul has always been a team player. Larry Bird called his team a bunch of sissies when they lost to the Lakers in the championship series, so I think Larry probably understood. Paul never did come out and call his teammates names or anything, but sometimes I think you need to elevate and we all need to step up.
I could tell, I think everybody could tell, he was frustrated in the playoffs. But I don’t really know the specifics.
WP: In the parking lot I just saw a clip of Lee Jenkins on with Colin Cowherd and he said something like if they [OKC] make the conference finals, it’s going to be really hard for him to leave.
TH: He’s a competitor. Being competitive is probably his first priority. He wants to win.
WP: Any other good stories about Paul that you want to share?
TH: There were so many good ones…that playoff run was special. I even asked him after his rookie year what was the most fun he ever had in one game — and I know he’s gotten a lot more now — but at that point, the semifinal game that pushed us into the championship at AV college is still one of the greatest memories. I remember three times in that playoff run, in timeouts at the end of games, Paul or Lamonte would look at me and say, “Coach, put us in man. We’ll win this game” or “Coach, don’t worry, just leave it in our hands, and we’ll take care of it.” It was unbelievable the confidence that those guys gave me. They’d walk out of the huddle, I would turn and look at one of the other coaches and say “This thing’s over.” And I believed them — they just dug in and looked at each other. That’s one of the things that is so special about Paul, he does count on his team.
He brings all those things — trust, accountability, and I know accountability in your teammates is really important for him. If they can establish that kind of a team where they can be that close that you know the guy next to you will take care of his responsibility, that’s what he is built on, it’s a team, he’s a great teammate. It was an enjoyable four years while we had him. The teachers here are the same way, the ones that had him, there are still a few here, will tell you he was one their favorite students.Leicester City have reached an agreement with Middlesbrough for the permanent transfer of striker David Nugent, who joins the Teesside club for an undisclosed fee.
- David Nugent completes permanent transfer from Leicester City to Middlesbrough
- Striker ends four-year association with the Foxes
- Club thanks Nugent for contribution on and off the pitch
Leicester City have reached an agreement with Middlesbrough for the permanent transfer of striker David Nugent, who joins the Teesside club for an undisclosed fee.
David’s move ends a four-year association with Leicester City for the 30-year-old forward, whose 180 appearances in a Foxes shirt yielded 59 goals.
The Club’s leading scorer in each of his first three seasons, Nugent played a pivotal role in City’s promotion to the Barclays Premier League during the 2013/14 campaign, becoming the first Leicester player in nearly 30 years to score 20 league goals in a season at that level.
The Foxes’ first campaign back in the top flight included some memorable moments for the Liverpool-born striker, who scored on both trips to Merseyside, including a wonderful half-volley at Anfield in January that won the Club’s Goal of the Season accolade. Nugent’s nerveless penalty reignited a famous comeback against Manchester United last September, while he also netted in the April victory at West Bromwich Albion that was a defining moment in the season.
In addition to his on-pitch contribution, Nugent has been an outstanding ambassador for Leicester City in the last four years, becoming an enormously popular figure with players and supporters alike. An infectious character with boundless enthusiasm, he has regularly taken pride in representing the Club in the local community, working admirably with people of all ages.
David departs with the best wishes of everyone at Leicester City. We wish him every success in his future career and will gladly welcome him back to King Power Stadium as a visiting player or a friend of the Club.Matt Green/Commons
A stadium for New York City FC remains but a figment of our imagination, but that may not be the case for very long.
A stadium search which has involved more than 35 sites has revealed four standout candidates that are either being considered or have been considered at some point by the club.
Ideally, the club can have a stadium built as early as the end of the decade, according to club president Jon Patricof. Whether that happens depends on which site the club pursues. A privately-owned plot of land could cost more than the club’s $100 million expansion fee. Then the land may have to be rezoned, potentially exposing the club to a dragged-out political process.
A publicly-owned plot of land could once again raise City Football Group’s fear that its Abu Dhabi owners will be scrutinized for their personal politics, as recently leaked emails showed was the case when they contemplated pursuing a stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
4. Belmont Park
What the Cosmos had in mind for Belmont Park (Courtesy New York Cosmos)
Belmont Park may be the location of convenient nightmares. New York State’s Empire State Development Corporation submitted a second request for proposals to build on the same land that the New York Cosmos sought to build their stadium on for four years (see rendering above). NYCFC visited the site last month and has until Sept. 28 to decide on submitting a bid.
Fan view A fan's guide to watching New York City FC at Yankee Stadium
When news of the club’s visit broke, it was met with backlash from fans for the simple reason that Belmont Park is not in New York City. Further, the site is only served by an LIRR station that’s open part-time, making it difficult for fans to directly reach.
Lastly, the site is adjacent to a neighborhood of single-family homes. Any potential stadium could face stiff resistance from potential neighbors and put pressure on the Town of Hempstead, which would have to consent to any plans to build on the site.
With one of the other bids for the site set to come from the New York Islanders, coupled with the fiasco of the last request for proposals, the state will be expected to quickly reach a decision. If things go right, the club could have a stadium by the end of the decade.
3. Long Island City
Long Island City, Queens (Joe Mabel/Commons)
Of the four sites, Long Island City is probably the least likely, but City has looked in this rapidly-growing neighborhood in the past. The neighborhood, long viewed as an industrial backwater, is now one of the most active construction sites in the country, with 27 new buildings being constructed this year. Many of the incoming residents are young professionals, one of MLS’ most coveted demographic groups.
The opportunity to build a stadium on the western end of Queens tickles the imagination. Multiple subway lines stop in the area, the Long Island Rail Road has a terminus and the stadium could come with views of the New York City skyline. A proposed light rail system would also make the stadium accessible from most points along the East River.
The only problem? After a FreshDirect facility was sold, there are few options for the team at the moment. A senior member with the club said they would have to get “creative” to acquire the needed land.
NEXT: Maybe NYCFC won't have to move too far after all...This article is from the archive of our partner.
After an understandable uproar over a mandatory procedure that federal law would consider rape, Virginia legislators have opted to forgo the invasive and most definitely uncomfortable procedure for women seeking abortions. On top of a big invasion of privacy for all women, the legislation could have re-traumatized women who sought abortions because of rapes. A meeting last night led legislators to reconsider the vagina wand provision, reaching a compromise that would make the procedure voluntary, but not mandatory, reports The Washington Post. We're not sure what woman might choose to have an ultrasound used in this way, but, now they get a choice. And with that, the never-ending reproduction debates continue.
And here's self-proclaimed pro-lifer, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell backing away from the proposal in an official statement released this afternoon.
It is clear that in the majority of cases, a routine external, transabdominal ultrasound is sufficient to meet the bills stated purpose, that is, to determine gestational age. I have come to understand that the medical practice and standard of care currently guide physicians to use other procedures to find the gestational age of the child, when abdominal ultrasounds cannot do so. Determining gestational age is essential for legal reasons, to know the trimester of the pregnancy in order to comply with the law, and for medical reasons as well. Thus, having looked at the current proposal, I believe there is no need to direct by statute that further invasive ultrasound procedures be done. Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state. No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure.
Read his full statement here.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.There is more terrorism in the news, this time in London. So how do the British politicians respond?
They do a recruitment ad for more terrorists.
They start by giving the terrorists cool labels, such as “Islamic extremists.” Do you know what sounds like an awesome club for an angry young Muslim to join? I’m thinking “Islamic Extremist” sound about right. That branding should be great for recruitment.
The media also helps terror recruitment with their wall-to-wall news about the terrorists’ successes. Every time they mention the body count, the bad guys cheer.
A better approach for the media, if they want to be helpful, might involve inviting a continuous line of Muslim scholars and critics to talk about how these “gullible losers” were duped by ISIS to kill themselves and spend eternity in Hell. And we need lots of visual and other persuasion about Hell. I want Photoshopped images of the terrorists burning for eternity. I want descriptions of the smells, tastes, and sounds they are experiencing, so the next “lone wolf” has something to contrast with the 72 virgin story. Let’s put some doubt into that mix. Fear is a good persuader.
I also wonder why the families of terrorists are not being flooded with condolence messages from Muslim clerics saying they are sorry about their kid burning in Hell for eternity. Be sincere about it. Include some digital representation of Hell in those cards and letters.
Change the frame.
—
You might enjoy reading my book in the safety of your home because traveling is dangerous.
I’m also on…
Twitter (includes Periscope): @scottadamssays
YouTube: At this link.
Instagram: ScottAdams925
Facebook Official Page: fb.me/ScottAdamsOfficialDePaul and Dave Leitao's representatives agreed to a deal on Sunday to have the Tulsa assistant return as the Blue Demons' head coach after a 10-year absence.
Leitao's deal with DePaul is for five years, sources told ESPN. An introductory news conference has been scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Editor's Picks DePaulâs Leitao hire not forward-thinking DePaul's choice to bring back Dave Leitao is a missed opportunity to energize the program, Jon Greenberg writes.
"This is a special day for my family and me," Leitao said in a statement released by the school. "I underestimated what a special place DePaul University and the city of Chicago are when I left here in 2005. The dedication and support here to the growth of student success is second to none, not only for a basketball program but also for the entire student body.
"I'm proud and our team will be proud to represent this great institution in one of the world's great cities. We will exude the work ethic that drives Chicago and the region every day and look forward to everyone joining us next season."
In each of Leitao's three seasons coaching DePaul from 2002 to 2005, the Blue Demons reached the postseason, making the NCAA tournament in 2004 and the NIT in 2003 and 2005. The Blue Demons haven't been back to the NCAA tournament since Leitao's tenure.
"His success here speaks for itself with three postseason appearances in three years with teams that energized our alumni and fans with their competitiveness and work ethic," athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto said in the statement.
"When he left in 2005, we recognized that it is the nature of our business that dynamic coaches get recruited away. Now we are pleased to welcome Dave, his wife Joyce and their family back to Lincoln Park with great enthusiasm for his leadership and the future development of our men's basketball program."
Leitao left DePaul to coach Virginia for four seasons before coaching in the D-League and then becoming an assistant to Frank Haith at both Missouri and most recently Tulsa.
Leitao also was a head coach at Northeastern for two seasons in the 1990s, going 22-35 overall, between stints as an assistant under Jim Calhoun at UConn.
DePaul finished 12-20 (6-12 Big East) this season, leading to coach Oliver Purnell's resignation earlier this month.Darek Fidyka had been paralysed for almost two years following a knife attack, and despite intensive physiotherapy, he showed no sign of recovery. Following the transplant, he began to regain feeling in his legs. He steadily continued on the road to recovery, and two years after the operation, he can now walk again with the aid of a frame.
The transplant was a world-first collaboration effort by surgeons at the Wroclaw University Hospital in Poland and scientists at University College London’s Institute of Neurology in the UK, and the findings are published in the journal Cell Transplantation.
The cells that were used to achieve this miracle were taken from Fidyka's olfactory bulb, the structure that gives us our sense of smell. These nerve cells are continually damaged due to the different odours we smell and must be replaced regularly, which means the olfactory bulb is a very rich source of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) - specialist cells that form part of the sense of smell.
OECs provide the pathway for the damaged fibres in our nose to grow back, enabling nerve cells to regenerate themselves throughout our lifetime. The team used this unique regeneration quality to repair Fidyka's damaged spinal column cells.
Using these cells for the transplant meant there was no danger of rejection, and eliminated the need for immunosuppressive drugs that are typically used in transplants.
Professor Geoffrey Raisman, a spinal cord injury specialist at University College London’s Institute of Neurology, who led the research, told Cahal Milmo from The Independent, "I believe this is the first time that a patient has been able to regenerate severed long spinal nerve fibres across an injury and resume movement and feeling".
The technique involved first removing one of Fidyka's olfactory bulbs, and culturing it in the laboratory to generate about 500,000 OECs. The OECs were then transplanted into the damaged area in his spinal cord. His incredible recovery suggests that the OECs provided a pathway for the fibres around the injury to rejoin, by creating a “nerve bridge” between the damaged ends of the spinal cord. This regeneration reopened communication pathways between his brain controlling muscles and his lower body.
"What the procedure does is provide a bridge that enables cut nerve fibres to grow across a gap. The cells open up a door on either side of the broken tissue and create a pathway for the nerves to follow,” Raisman told Richard Hartley-Parkinson from Metro.
The team plans to assess the technique in more patients over the next few years, and hopes that it could be a future treatment for patients with spinal cord injuries.
Raisman told Milmo from The Independent, “We believe that this procedure is the breakthrough which, as it is further developed, will result in a historic change in the currently hopeless outlook for people disabled by spinal cord injury."
Sources: BBC, Metro, The IndependentThere is a growing belief at the ECB that domestic T20 needs to be pushed to a wider audience © Getty Images
The ECB could face an awkward disagreement with Sky, its most significant commercial partner, over plans to broadcast domestic cricket highlights.
While the ECB believe they have the right, under existing contracts, to show limited highlights packages of domestic games at no cost, Sky maintain that their permission is required for any such coverage.
Sky pay around £65m a year to the ECB for exclusive live TV rights of the English international and domestic season. They have recently extended their deal with the ECB up to the end of the 2019 season.
But the ECB have grown concerned that the lack of cricket on free-to-air television might be a contributory factor in the apparent decline in interest in the game. And, in an attempt to grow interest in the sport, they have decided to explore the possibility of showing some NatWest T20 Blast highlights in the 2015 season.
To that end, they recently invited tender applications with broadcast partners who could produce such a highlights show. Surrey, who have led the fight for a return of some domestic cricket to free-to-air television, originally offered to cover the cost of production fees for the entire season; a figure they estimate to be as little as £40,000.
The production company will take the feed from counties with at least two cameras at each game - cameras which have often, in the past, been used by team analysts - and provide up to five minutes' coverage from each game not shown live by Sky.
There has, at this point, been negligible interest from terrestrial broadcasters in any potential highlights package - not least due to a concern that the quality of the package will be some way below Sky's coverage - so the ECB are instead likely to broadcast the show online.
All that depends, however, on whether Sky fight to prevent such a show. While they have taken a relaxed attitude to counties showing some footage on their websites in recent seasons, they are underwhelmed at the prospect of wider coverage.
It seems unlikely that the disagreement will escalate to involve legal proceedings. Both sides insist the relationship remains strong and, while ITV will broadcast World Cup highlights, the lack of interest in domestic T20 coverage underlines how important Sky remains to the ECB. Ultimately, it may well be that Sky do not contest the initiative.
The irony is that Sky are also considering whether to show some domestic games - perhaps as many as one a week during the NatWest Blast competition - on their free-to-air Pick channel. Both the ECB and Sky understand the argument that the game requires exposure to prosper.
Meanwhile Shadow sports minister Clive Efford told the Daily Telegraph that a Labour government would consider an expansion of sport's 'crown jewel' events which have to be shown on free to air TV. But he appeared to offer little hope of a meaningful change to the current arrangement in cricket.
"With regards to the Ashes, I'd want to sit down with the ECB and discuss the implications of that with them," he said. "Because the sale of those rights is a large part of their income, which they use to invest at grassroots."
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.The Seahawks will hope to see a few key starters returning to the lineup over the next few weeks, and per Pete Carroll, LT Russell Okung, C Max Under, and S Kam Chancellor "should" all play this week against the Bears. It's welcome news for the offensive line in particular, who struggled mightily in Preseason Week 1 but cleaned up some things on Friday. Adding two Pro Bowl caliber players back into the mix can't hurt.
Additionally, Bruce Irvin is close to returning, maybe a week away per Carroll, as is Malcolm Smith. As Tom Pelissaro reports, 3rd year linebacker Korey Toomer has passes his physical and will come off of the PUP list as well, meaning the Seahawks' linebacker competition will be heating up.
Seattle emerged relatively unscathed from Friday's game, injury wise, with LB Horace Miller the only major injury. Carroll said that Miller tweaked his knee pretty badly, and the team is awaiting MRI results. Hopefully, like Cassius Marsh before him, it's just a strain.Chris Weidman is among a few fighters that have complained recently that, while the UFC has apparently started a random drug testing process, they aren't hearing about themselves or fighters they know getting tested yet. To hear UFC's VP of Athlete Health and Performance, Jeff Novitzky, tell it, that may be because they're passing the "smell test." Novitzky recently appeared on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience to go in depth on the UFC's new drug testing program and Novitzky had a lot to clear up when it came to just how "random," random drug testing is (transcription via MMAJunkie).
"It's not random testing; it's intelligent testing. USADA's not going to say, ‘Hey, we're going roll the dice and whoever comes up...' They're going to look on everything, from tips that they may get - hell, they'll even look at physical appearances of athletes. Does this athlete pass kind of the physical appearance ‘smell test,' and if they don't, hey, maybe we need to test that person a little bit more."
...
"This is strictly another tool to be used," he said. "It doesn't mean that an athlete who doesn't pass the smell test will test positive, but a lot of times, it does. All is means is a test. It doesn't mean a person is positive because you look like you did. But hey, maybe an extra test or two.
"If I was that athlete, that freak, I would be like, ‘Hey, test me more, because people are accusing me of it, so it will be cool at the end of the year, everybody will look at my stats on the webpage and I was tested 10 times and no positive tests.'"
So, it should be that some fighters and perhaps especially some camps are going to be getting a lot more testing than others, simply because there's more outside information to suggests that those athletes are on PEDs. Novitzky suggested that the range will be anything from 10-12 for some fighters and just 2-3 for others. It will be interesting to see, as this partnership moves out of its infancy, if reports of certain athletes being tested more or certain camps of athletes being tested more often do crop up, and how those numbers corroborate or conflict with rumors in and around the MMA community.The recent hyper-scrutiny of newly pregnant supermodel Chrissy Teigen proves there is nothing too inconsequential to be tsked tsked over when you are with child, down to the nutritional content of a single bowl of blended cereal.
The Catalyst: Teigen published this photo on her Instagram recently:
The Weapon: Fruity Pebbles mixed with Cap’n Crunch
The Charges: While many readers saluted her bowl of cereal or mentioned their own pregnancy cravings (“pickles, froyo, veggie burritos”) somewhere deep in the thousands of comments, according to People, some commenters railed that processed foods are “beyond bad for baby,” others pleading with Teigen: “Don’t feed your baby that dyed crap.”
She was understandably pissed, and took to her Twitter to respond, writing:
Advertisement
Advertisement
This sort of thing is not new for trolls, nor for Teigen. When she posted her first baby bump pic on Instagram in early October, commenters who thought it was earlier in the pregnancy speculated right away she was probably carrying twins or triplets since she was so big and everything. She told them to get out of her uterus—she was three months along. (Not that it matters; different women show differently.)
This fresh instance of pregnancy critique is simply another solid entry in the canon, one of millions of ways in which we cannot help but project our own commentary, values, and judgments onto the life choices of women, particularly those who choose to breed in plain sight. I don’t want to armchair too deep, but I think this kind of ruthless, reflexive judgment of pregnant women is actually a reflection of the anxiety and existential dread we harbor about our own mortality, which is deeply interwoven into the mysterious, ultimately unknowable process of growing a person.
Advertisement
There is apparently no sweet spot that immunizes any pregnant woman from this scrutiny, even when you are a health-conscious supermodel-type person who likely won’t gain much weight in the first place. It’s nearly impossible that she would not know exactly what is “good” and “bad” for the baby (as much as anyone can), given she has extraordinary access to resources that will ensure a perfect specimen to carry on the legacy of her extremely symmetrical genes.
Ultimately, however, we don’t completely understand what is “best” in terms of pregnancy, diet, nutrition and weight gain because there are so many factors that we can’t control for in the complex intersection of lifestyle, genetic predisposition, and culture. Yes, generally speaking, eat well, don’t gain “too much weight,” get rest, don’t do drugs. The future health of the baby may very well be determined in the womb, and exposing a growing baby to a variety of good foods can ensure good habits later in life.
But I want to suggest that perhaps most women know this. Most women want their unborn child to be healthy and happy, and are, for the most part, eating as well as they can. These little indulgences are not usually the majority of their diet. These cravings are the result of a strange mix of psychology, hormones, and culture—some of which are benign and some of which carry real risks. But it’s all a highly individual calculation each woman ultimately undertakes alone.
Advertisement
When I was pregnant, not only did I gain a Kardashian-level amount of weight (60 lbs), but I did so by simultaneously eating much much better and much, much worse than I had before. But mostly because I ate more than before—and a huge part of this was that I had quit smoking cold turkey. I also, of course, quit drinking, limiting myself to a few glasses of wine over the course of that entire nine months. But when it came to eating cheese cubes and Triscuits, I was basically helpless—and I gave myself that pass.
All told, wasn’t it “better” that I was no longer doing those clearly bad things, even if in their stead I needed to eat a little bit too much to get by? Not according to commenters, who chastised me for being cavalier about endangering the health of my baby from too much weight gain. I still feel that it was the best thing I could do given the circumstances; there was and always will be a complex negotiation going on between mother and child during gestation for resources, nutrition, and literal space in the body.
What is incredibly strange about this judgment over a bowl of cereal is that we are asking a pregnant woman to refrain from indulging at a time when she is least able to do so. This is like asking someone on the cusp of orgasming to stop and compose a really funny tweet. Trust that most women are doing the best they can by their babies. Give them your compassion, and let them eat a goddamn bowl of cereal.
AdvertisementThe summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) came and went in Isla Margarita, Venezuela, virtually invisible to Western corporate media.
NAM nowadays congregates every African nation except South Sudan; most of Latin America - except Brazil, Argentina and Mexico (they are observers); and most of Asia and the Middle East (China is an observer).
So what this formidable collection of globally representative nation-states came up with? Apparently not much – except a long final document that few will read, calling for traditional NAM themes such as non-interference and pledging global peace and cooperation.
After Iran passed the baton, Venezuela now chairs NAM for the next three years – which will be rocked by extreme social/politico/economic turbulence (this is a good summary of where we stand). President Nicolas Maduro went no holds barred to denounce a Washington offensive in Latin America and particularly against his administration, bent on regime change via an «economic war». His diagnostic is essentially correct.
And that nails the problem if you’re non-aligned in the digital, liquid modernity era; geopolitically, and geoeconomically, you’re an easy prey to all manner of algorithmic manipulations. Your nation doesn’t even have to be brought down to «order» – as in the Washington consensus - via a coup; it’s all essentially virtual.
The oil price war – conducted mostly by Saudi Arabia, and relying on electronic speculation - has devastated the Venezuelan economy, whose budget, to the extent of 96%, depends on oil exports. Food and medicine scarcity has reached alarming levels – as much as the inflation rate, arguably the highest on the planet at the moment.
In parallel meetings, Caracas has been desperately striving to find some consensus to freeze global oil production before OPEC’s next crucial meeting by the end of the month in Alger. The Venezuelan government has correctly identified that a politicized OPEC, during the Saudi-controlled oil price war, was bent on hitting Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Maduro now proposes that OPEC should stop operating in the free market because there’s significant overproduction.
Electronic manipulation rules. Yet politics, of course, still plays a role; in these oil market discussions as well as in the recent Mercosur decision to prevent Venezuela from exercizing the temporary presidency of the South American trade bloc.
So during NAM Maduro strove to find support among his few remaining allies, such as Rafael Correa from Ecuador, Raúl Castro from Cuba, Evo Morales from Bolivia and Hassan Rouhani from Iran. Yet none of these have much of a way of influencing Saudi Arabia’s – and His Masters’ Voice’s - game.
It was not only Venezuela. Quite a few nations at the summit predictably accused the Exceptionalists of «interference». But it was up to the Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK) to go no (surrealist) holds barred, actually threatening to blow things up with no warning.
Where’s the new Sukarno?
Those were the days of Nehru, Sukarno, Nasser and Tito in the early 1960s. Not to mention NAM’s seminal event - the 1955 Bandung Conference hosted by Indonesia’s Sukarno. That’s when a who’s who of the former «Third World», now Global South – including Sukarno, Nasser, Nehru, Tito, Ho Chi Minh, Zhou Enlai, Sihanouk, U Thant and Indira Gandhi – adopted a «declaration on promotion of world peace and cooperation» and collectively pledged to remain neutral in the Cold War.
The spirit of Bandung is somewhat alive – as NAM remains committed against imperialism, colonialism, ne |
incense
OCEAN BLUE-lime, bergamot, rose, vanilla, powdery notes
PEAR + HONEY- sweet, juicy pear and rich honey, vanilla, light musk
PATISSERIE-marzipan, freshly ground coffee beans, caramel, and vanilla
PISTACHIO-nutty, rich and delicious
PEEP SHOW-lemon, pomegrante, jasmine peony, sandalwood, musk, ambrox, wood
STORMS-fruits, anise, rose, agar, tonka, heliotrope, vanilla, musk blend
SWEET WOOD -citrus, lavender patchouli, tonka, cedar, anise, cotton candy
STORMY VANILLA - aromatic powdery vanillia, robust spicy floral, lavender
SALTY CUCUMBER - fresh cucumber, watery notes, salty notes
SPANISH FLY-clean, earthy, exotic, sage, mint, pheromones
SPICY VANILLA - warm vanilla, smoke notes, cinnamon and spice
TOPAZ -citrus, currant, gardenia, vanilla, neroli, musk, vetiver, cardamom
TIMBER-(masc) fresh citrus, aromatics, vetiver, benzoin, deep cedar & oak - classic
ZANADU-Tropical fruit, berries, melon, water liliy, white florals, white wood base
VANILLA EMBERS-saffron, olibanum, tobacco, coffee, vanilla bean, suede, mahoganny, smoky tonka
♦♦♦FALL WINTER SEASONAL SCENTS♦♦♦
AUTUMN MUMS- crisp floral, fall air, carnation, marigold, twigs, leaves & earth.
A LONDON FOG-bergamot, lime, earl gray tea, cucumber, lavender,beeswax, amber and vanilla musk
APPLE TOBACCO - sweet apple, rich pipe tobacco
BOURBON + PUMPKIN - delish, fall scent
BLACK CHERRY WINE - sweet & fruity with a grown up twist
BOLIVAR-cuban tobacco, spices, incense, patchouli, tobacco leaf
CACTUS FLOWER-clean, sharp and freshly earthy
CHRISTMAS GYPSY-cassis, currant, berry blend, cinnamon, mint, musk
CANDIED GINGER-sweetly robust
CRACKLIN' FIREWOOD -pine, balsam, bergamot; florals, sandalwood, patchouli
DECK THE HALLS - mulled fruits, green holly, cinnamon leaf, fir,cypress, musk base
FALL FIG-warm and green fig notes, amber and white musk
GUINESS-gourmand, sweet & nutty, rich scent, stout
GRINCH-citrus, cinnamom, clove, cedar, fir &sandalwood
HONEY + APPLE - delicious sweet apples with floral honey
HARVEST-pumpkin, apples, berries, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, patchouli
HAZELNUTS - Warm & Rich hazelnut
INTO THE FOREST - freshly cut fir, pine, cedar
I SMELL FALL-orange, apple, nutmeg spice blend, vanilla caramel, musk
JUNIPER + CEDAR - citron, juniper, ivy, warm musk, cedar, balsam
MAPLE BOURBON-sweet maple and rich bourbon
MAPLE HONEY-maple, honey, bakery (this is NOT a maple syrup scent)
OAKMOSS & SAGE
OAK CIDER-aged oak, classic cider notes, wood blend, brown sugar
PUMPKIN + FIG - rich, woodsy, fall inspired, fig, dried pumpkin, dry leaves
PUMPKIN CREME- pumpkin puree, buttered rum, spices, creamy, sugary vanilla
PINK CHRISTMAS- pomegranates, berry, peppermint & French Vanilla
PLUM CRAZY - sweet sugarplums, frosting & sprinkles
PEPPERMINT CREME - zesty peppermint with sweet, rich buttercream
PUMPKIN WAFFLES - delicious! nutty, sweet & rich scent
RUM WOODS-warm, smoky unisex. Hay, Sandalwood, Cinnamon, Citrus, Ginger, Rum, Birch, Tobacco
MARSHMALLOW SMOKE - marshmallows roasted by the camp fire
SOUTHERN HARVEST- warm, spicy pumpkin, orange peel, rum, nutmeg, clove, cassia, allspice, malted vanilla, and a woody, cinnamon bark
SANTA BABY - The whole holiday in one. lush balsam fir, freshly baked sugar cookies and delicate seasonal spice. It's perfect!
SUGAR WOODS- Spruce, moss, cedar, balsam, vanilla, caramel, cassis, sugar
SLEEPY HOLLOW-haunting – vines, dark woods, aged bark, moist lichen & resin
SMOKED JASMINE-bergamot, cassis, rose, neroli, jasmine, ambergris, smoky musk
SMOKY COGNAC-sweet & boozy, spiced with warm tobacco accents
SPELLBOUND-Amber, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Cedar, light powdery floral hints
TRICK OR TREAT-pumpkin, persimmon, apple; berry, currants, orange, cinnamon; sugar cane & vanilla
TEA HOUSE - Earl Grey tea, black teas, chamomile, ginger root, dried pears, crisp apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, anise, vanilla & cognac
TOBACCO + COFFEE- a rich warm blend
TOASTED COCONUT- black coconut, rich toasty notes
VANILLA CARDAMOM-slightly sweet, earthy and rich
VANILLA OAK- Sandalwood, vanilla, patchouli, spiced citrus, oak -warm woodsy
WHITE VELVET - flirty femme, sweet - Jasmine, poppy, poinsettia, velvety musk
WICKED PUMPKIN-sweet cream, pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, vanilla sugar, molasses, allspice
♦♦♦MASCULINE SCENTS♦♦♦
ARTILLERY - pepper, anise, lavender, vetiver, woods, spice - masculine
AQUATICA - masculine, marine scent. salty air, sweet watery, lavender, woods
ALCHEMY-citrus, apple, mint, tonka, ambroxan, woods
BLACK SAILS- dark woodsy, labdanum,exotic spice, sandalwood, patchouli, jasmine, grapefruit, vetiver, incense, cedar & pink pepper
BOGART-ginger, lavender, mint, juniper, apple, cardamom, vetiver, tonka, amber
BRANDO- aromatic woodsy, mix of clean & fresh, spicy & warm = perfection
BEAUREGARD- green, citrus, earthy, woodsy scent
BOURBON + BRANCH-musk, jasmine, patchouli, cedar, amber, vanilla, dried fruits
BARBER SHOP-lemon, bergamot, mint, lavender, sandalwood,cedar, musk, amber
BLACK WATER- citrus, spices, jasmine, mixed woods, ebony, leather, patchouli
BROKEN ARROW- tobacco,spices, woods, rose, osmanthus, oud, juniper, amber
BULL'S HEAD- rosewood & cedar, spicy clove, vetiver & dark amber.
BLACK ROYALE- sweet, youthful masculine - spice, citrus, leather
BAY RUM - Old Fashioned style, spicy bay laurel, orange, mixed spice, anise
BIG MAN'S HAT- -masculine, myrrh, patchouli, incense, oakmoss
CERULEAN LIME - fresh, masculine, citrus
COGNAC + AMBER- sweet, warmly spiced, cacao, tonka
COPPERHEAD -warm, heavily woodsy with spice notes,
CIGAR SHOP - mixed tobaccos, woody notes, sweetened with light cherry ends
DISTILLERY - aromatic masculine scent, freshly spiced, bourbon & oak
DEADWOOD SALOON- sweet cedar barn wood & smoky gunpowder
DILLINGER-heavy, masculine, rich & warm oud, citrus, rosemary, agar & vetiver
EST NOIRE- bergamot, caraway, pepper, spice, vetiver, amber, civet,
FLANNEL- Tropical coconut, teakwood, tonka bean, dark amber & vanilla musk
HIPSTER - mod masculine- Amber, teak, coffee, musk, cedar, leather, neroli, vetiver
HIGHLAND FORREST -artemisia, citrus, nutmeg, cedar, tonka & vetiver musk.
ISLE OF GOATHORN--smoky/sexy taragon, basil, licorice, seaweed
ITALIAN LEATHER - smoky leather
IRISH TWEEDS-classic Fougere, rich fresh & sporty
LUMBERJACK- rugged tobacco, sweet fruit & floral, woods & spice in the base
MEMPHIS - sensual, spiced scent. Coffee, vetiver and incense.
NATHANIEL –apple peel, cinnamon, spices, leather, sweet wood base
NAVY-woody, balsamic, spicy & smoky
OLD HAVANA - a gourmand interpretation of a Havana cigar shop
SWANK - spicy, rich, warm woody. Lime, pineapple, moss, musk, woods & amber
SANTAL NOIR - woody warm spice, lime, saffron, sandalwood, musk, cedar, vanilla
SEQUOIA- masculine, refreshing, woodsy, mossy, balanced floral, oak scent
SMOKED OUD- Oud, cedar, ambrette, jasmine, orchid,olibanum,musk, patchouli
SO F*CKING FAB- scent. aromatic, bitter almond, tonka, orris, leather, sage
TARTAIN PLAID- pepper, spice blend, mandarin, leather, frankincense & woods
TONKA NOIR - tonka, dark lavender, woods
TUSCAN CYPRESS-cypress, mint, citrus, basil, woods
TOBACCO + BAY - bay leaf, fir needle, cedar, bergamot & warm tobacco base
TEAK & CARDAMOM-teakwood, rich spices, woods, and patchouli
VETIVER IN GRAY - dominant vetiver, salty notes, sunny, woody accords
WOODEN SHIPS -leather, violet, cardamom, jasmine sambac, oakmoss patchouli
WOODS + OUD - woodsy & warm, lightly spiced
♦♦♦LIMITED EDITIONS♦♦♦
ASTOUNDED•fresh citrus, sage, rose, berry blend, tonka, blond wood
BALI•sharp citrus, grapefruit, lime, yuzu, vanilla mallow
BLOOM•soft, sweet, white flowers, modern floral, greens, honey
BACKWOODS•masculine, bergamot, lavender, sharp, effervescent, woods
BROKEN HEART•orange, berry, caramel, vanilla creme, iris, musk
CLOUD 9•clean, freshly sweet, modern with melon, floral bouquet
CHI •sage, citrus, clean & herbalicious, benzoine, rosemary
CACAO CREME•buttery, rich cocoa, dark coconut, citrus, sugared hazelnuts
DESERT SAGE•serene, floral water, herby, dry woods
DIVALICIOUS•fruity, nutty, gourmand delight - added Stout notes
DELILA•circa 20s, floral//herbacious blend
EDEN - Modern femme. Frozen fruits, bold cashmere woods, powdery vanilla
FAIRY•sweet berry, tonka, hyacinth, rose, caramel - modern perfumy
GOURMAND LEMON- refreshing clean lemon, bubbling bakery notes, sugar
IRISH CLOVERS•shamrocks, wet rock, green & clean
JADE•citrus, ivy, jasmine, apple, neroli, musk, vanilla & fern moss
LEMON CUPCAKE•gourmand bakery, lemon and cake
LUCKY CHARMS•green, fresh clover, irish moss, clean air, rain
MARY JANE•clean, innocent white modern floral
MERMAID•clementine, seaweed, salt water, lily berry, vanilla creme
MUSK BERRY•sweet, mixed berries with musk
NOVA•cherry vanilla, grape, white floral, light spice
ONYX•sweetly dark, intoxicating blend
ORRIS WOOD•orris root, sandalwood, herb spice blend (unisex)
RAIN•powdery, pure soft musk, benzoine
SOUTH BEACH-an awesome fruity concoction...like tropical flowers, fruits and sweet, sugary musky notes. Sweet, sexy and fun!
SILVER FOX•gardenia, rose, ivy, iris, vanilla
ST TROPEZ•modern femme, sweet honey, strawberry, vanilla caramel
STARDUST•fig, bergamot, iris, rose, crisp & fresh
SUGAR PIE•sweet, bakery caramel, butterscotch vanilla
SAGE BRUSH•masculine/unisex, cactus, sage, mesquite woods
SWOON•modern perfumy, blackberry, strawberry, honey, tuberose
SUMMER FREESIA- delicious freesia blend, tropical floral
SWEET-overload of sweet, sugary, fruity deliciousness. slightly tropical
STORMY WEATHER•citrus, clean air, water, ozone, light herbs
SWEET GRASS•lighter, powdery, clean grassy
SMOKED BANANA• deep banana, smoke, spice
STARSTRUCK• violet, irish tiger orange, cinnamon, tea, Somali incense, vanilla
SIBERIA-clean, fresh, icy ozone, herbal, slightly sweet, clean florals, blond wood
TANGLED•clean, fresh, sweet (smells like 90's salon selectives shampoo)
TURKISH MOON•complicated; hazelnuts, green fig, caramel, vanilla musk
TURKISH TOFFEE•nutty, rich, cocoa, sugar, honey, caramel
WINTER LACE•deep, haunted, powdery, benzoine, woods, spice
WEDDING BOUQUET-a floral blend, balanced with sweet, green, and musk notes
ZANZIBAR-boozy, middle eastern spices, woods, resins
♦♦♦NATURAL OILS/ESSENTIAL OILS♦♦♦
CAMPHOR
EUCALYPTUS
ELIMI
FIR NEEDLE
GERANIUM
LAVENDER
LEMONGRASS
MARJORAM
MEYER LEMON
OREGANO
PINE NEEDLE
PEPPERMINT
PALMAROSA
PATCHOULI
ROSEMARY
SWEET ORANGE
SWEET BASIL
SPEARMINT
TANGERINE
VIRGINIA SWEET CEDAR
WHITE GRAPEFRUIT
♦♦♦SWEET/RICH/SENSUAL SCENTS♦♦♦
ALMOND CRÈME – intense almond with a hint of cream & cherry
ALIENS - warm, spicy, patchouli, vanilla
ANGELS - unique, amber, woods, white florals
BOLLYWOOD - deep, rich unisex, incense, smoke
BLONDE VIOLET - powdery- orris, iris, citrus, violet leaf, benzoine, cedar, vetiver
BUTTERCREAM - pure, rich cake frosting
BUTTERED SCOTCH - sweet, gourmand scent. Buttery and rich.
BLACK RASPBERRY - delicious black raspberry with vanilla notes
BLUEBERRY - sweet, ripe blueberry scent
BLACKBERRY MAGNOLIA - sweet & delicious!
BLUEBERRY-fresh and delicious, sweet blueberries
BLUE NIGHT-violet, fig, mandarin, peony, rose, jasmine, patchouli musk, cedar
BUTT NAKED- Juicy melons, apples & pears. Cult classic.
COCONUT BOURBON - sweet, tropical coconut cut with deep, rich bourbon
CREAMY COCONUT - sweet, delicious coconut with a creamy note
COCONUT LIME VERBENA - tropical goodness
COCONUT TOBACCO - sweet, tropical & rich - tobacco blends, coconut
CARMALITA- Rum cream, coconut milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla
CANDIED VANILLE-Sweet & creamy vanilla bean, sugar & white musk
COFFEE HOUSE -coffee beans, brewed coffee, rum, brandy, brown sugar & cocoa
CHERRIES ON TOP - Rich & dark black cherries
CUCUMBER - fresh and clean. watery and green
COTTON CANDY - sweet and delish childhood treat
DARK CHOCOLATE-deep, creamy chocolate and a hint of vanilla
EAT CAKE - sweet, vanilla, cake-ish goodness
FLEUR DU OUD- patchouli, rose, oud, woods
FEMME NOIR - - citrus, Ginger, Jasmine, Vanilla Amber, Sandalwood
FIJI - a tropical oasis of pineapple, guava, melon
FALL IN LOVE - musk, vanilla, floral and blackberry
GRACIE BABY - floral with mimose and white musk
GREEN APPLE - sweet, zesty, juicy apples
GEORGIA PEACH - sweet, juicy fresh southern peaches
GIOIANA-clean, bold oceanic
HONEY CHILD-pear, citrus, punch, honeysuckle, peach; honey, vanilla, woods.
HONEY B- delicious, sweet floral honey. Heavy scent
IDOL- bitter orange, ginger, rose, jasmine, honey spice, vetiver, saffron, patchouli
I LOVE CAKE- super sweet, bakery delight, buttery with triple vanilla frosting
LOVE SPELLS
LAVENDER SUGAR - sugary lavender scent - cotton candy notes, pure lavender
LICK ME ALL OVER -raspberry, melons, jasmine, violet, grapefruit and kumquat
LA VIE -sweet, vanilla, patchouli, gourmand fruits
MOCHA LATTE- super rich, dark coffee and chocolate
MARSHMALLOW BOMB- sugary marshmallow + sweet white cake
MADAM COCO -citrus, florals, tonka, patchouli, opoponax, vanilla, vetiver, musk
ORANGE BLOSSOM -orange blossom, lily, clementine
ORCHID NOIR-dark, sensual, woodsy, gourmand spiced vanilla
ORIENTAL VANILLA -bergamot, incense, ylang, cedar, rose, benzoin, vanilla, tonka
PORTO NEROLI - bergamot, mandarin, orange flower; amber
PATCHOULI BLANC - white floral, patchouli,, bergamot & spice
PINEAPPLE CILANTRO - fresh & sweet, with a hint of fresh earthiness
PINK ELEPHANT -melon, kiwi, mandarin, cherry, cassis, sugared musk & apricot.
PINK SUGARS- gourmand delight, super sweet cotton candy like scent
ROSEMARY + MINT
ROUGE JASMINE
ROSE CAFE -- warmly spiced rose, coffee
ROSE & CARAMEL- gourmand & rich rose scent *compare to VS*
SUPER MODELS
SWEET MILK - creamy, richly milky delight
SWEET TEA- sugary tea with citrus twist
STRAWBERRY – sweet, fresh strawberry scent
SUN TAN – just like oiling up with Hawaiian sun tan oil
TIFFANY'S - sweet, tutti frutti, berries, violets, vanilla, sandalwood
THAI COCONUT - tropical with Thai flair, less sweet than typical tropical
TROPICAL WOODS- Creme de cocoa, banana, Irish Creme, sandalwood & nutmeg
TOBACCO + VANILLA (unisex)tobacco, spicy vanilla, cacao, fruity woods
TUPELO HONEY - the gold standard - ogeche blossom honey
UNICORN POOTS- tropical, sweet & deliciously fruity
VANILLA BOURBON- rich bourbon sweetened with vanilla absolute
VANILLA NOIR - hypnotic blend of dark vanilla bean, black amber & exotic spices
VANILLA MUSE- sweet, rich, sinful - frosting, vanilla & creme brûlée
VANILLA SUGAR BOMB – triple show of vanillas with sweet light musk in the base
VANILLA ANISE
VIOLET NOIR -citrus, fruits, violet, oakmoss & woods
VENICE BERGAMOT - freshly spiced woodsy citrus
WHISKEY SUGAR (unisex)-sweet Tennessee whiskey, singed sugar
WICKED VANILLA -black sugar, freesia, tahitian vanilla - sweetly sensual
WARM SUGAR - sweet musk, vanilla, sugary sweet notes
♦♦♦FLORAL/BOTANICAL/FRESH & CLEAN SCENTS♦♦♦
AMALFI MANDARINO-mint, black currant, citrus, shiso, jasmine, vetiver, musk
AVOCADO SEA SALT - grapefruit, rose, sea salt & avocado. Zesty & fresh
ALMOND BLOSSOM - warm, sweet, nutty
APRICOT + FIG- brand, unisex scent
ABALONE SEA - cucumber, lavender, balsam, lime, salty ocean breeze
BERGAMOT + CITRUS- bright and fresh, cleanly fragrant
BLACK LAVENDER- dark amber, lavender, Myrrh, Tonka, Egyptian Musk
BABY BEE - sweet, delicate fruits, honey & nuts. Mild, warm scent.
BASIL NEROLI -basil, neroli, musk, vetiver
BERGAMOT - gorgeous, upscale citrus
BABY FRESH – sweet, super powdery, clean fresh baby powder & lotion
CARDAMOM ROSE- fresh, relaxing, serene
CLEAN AIR - fresh, femme, clean and serene
CANNABIS FLOWER-fern, cannabis, floral, cashmere woods, musk & amber
CHE BELLA - sweet, delicious modern floral
DAISY MAE-modern sweet floral with velvety woods and light musk base
FRESH-spa-like aquatics with white floral- spa like scent
GRASS STAIN- so clean and green, fresh & glorious
HONEY LALA- perfumy honey, light rose and beeswax
HONEYSUCKLE – sweet nectar from the honeysuckle blossom, southern treat
HONEY LAVENDER - fresh sweet honey and provencal lavender
HYPNOTIZED - Sweet/unique. Passion flower, vanilla orchid, Vetiver, Jasmine
HONEY HUSH- orange, berry, neroli, Arabian jasmine, patchouli, honey & amber
HOT MESS-mod floral, bergamot, violet, white floral notes, woods & vetiver
ICECAPS-menthol, peppermint & eucaluptus
IRISH SPRINGS - classic, soapy - fresh and clean scent
JADE-lemon, grapefruit, ivy,jasmine, green apple, neroli, musk,vanilla,fern moss
JASMINE-fresh jasmine on a bed of rose petals
LEMON VERBENA - citric freshness with sharp verbena, bright & clean
LAVENDER MIST -lavender, sweet apple blossom, morning dew
LEMONGRASS SAGE - so fresh, slightly earthy
MAGNOLIA BELLE -dry, clean magnolia scent
NEROLI BLOSSOM - pure and robust
OCEANIC - salty, fresh & clear aquatic, with ozone and white flowers
PORTOFINO FLOWER-acacia, magnolia, rose, citrus, honey, cistus, tolu, ambrette
PATCHOULI RAIN - rain, clean patchouli, citrus, cyclomen, ozone, moss
RUBY ROSE - deep, dark red rose petals.
STARGAZER LILY
SHAMROCKS- carnations, roses, clover & a wee hint of star anise, musk & twigs
SUGAR MAGNOLIA-southern magnolia stars with sweet florals, white musk & vanilla
TOBACCO BERGAMOT-serene, clean & freshly wonderful
TRANQUIL SEAS-clean & fresh, watery greens, white musk, vetiver
VIOLET CANDY - sweet violet, french vanilla & soft musk
WISTERIA LANE -this smells divine - fresh floral blend, clean and refreshing!
♦♦♦WOODSY/EARTHY/DEEP SCENTS♦♦♦
AMBER WHITE-clean soft amber, slight woodiness, light & unique
ABSINTHE NOUVEAU- a new twist on an age old scent. Citrus, white jasmine& sensual musk. Not to be mistaken for true Olde Absinthe.
ANGELS MUSE
BLONDE SUEDE- musky, rose, saffron, mate, amber suede, sandalwood
BURLESQUE-deep & sensual- gourmand blend of salted vanilla, sandalwood & cashmere with iris & white jasmine
BOURBON STREET - A mix of romance, brashness & sensuality - Soft cashmere with jasmine shimmy with blonde wood, rare amber, & sexy musk.
BAYOU- cedar, sandalwood, moss, citrus, clove
BAY & BLACKBERRY - grapefruit, floral notes, vetiver, cedar, blackberry and bay leaf.
CARDAMOM MIMOSA
CEDAR + BLACKBERRY -fresh sage, cedar & sweet, dark blackberry
CHOCOLATE + AMBER - sandalwood, musk, amber, jasmine, cocoa
CLARITY - scents o' the outdoors - Clean, fresh wooded paths, fresh greens, florals & aquatics converge in this scent of clear mindedness, serenity and peace
CABARET- dark sweetness-vanilla, pink pepper, orange blooms, jasmine, white patchouli & gloriously warm coffee infused wood
CASHMERE BLONDE- vanilla, woods, patchouli, musk, floral, apricot & coconut
DRAGON'S BREATH-nag champa, vanilla, heliotrope. Earthy & rich, resinous
EGYPTIAN AMBER-vanilla, musk, sandalwood with light jasmine
EGYPTIAN MUSK – clean and lightly sweet musk
FLOWER CHILD- Exotic patchouli, raspberry, strawberry, bergamot, Vanilla
GINGER LILY AMBER
HAWAIIAN SANDALWOOD (unisex)- sweetest of all sandalwoods
INDIAN SANDALWOOD
KARMA SUTRA-sensual, musky, woody- deliciously fabulous
LAVENDER SAGE - earthy, herbal
LADY LAUREN-1978-floral greens with powdery woods & spices
MADAME LARUE - super sexy scent, deep mix of cardamom, Sage, Cinnamon with Cognac, Honey, Rose, Patchouli, Leather, Sandalwood & Amberette.
NAG CHAMPA
NEROLI GRANDE- neroli, bergamot, petit grain, galbanum, moss, birch, musk, amber, vanilla
N.5 -classic fem, powdery floral, warming base notes
ON A BEACH
OUD + ROSE-damask rose, oud, praline & clove. Sweet & milky
PURPLE SANDALWOOD- Sandalwood, violets,cashmere woods, lavender vanilla
PEARLS -coffee, vanilla, smoky mahogany, frangipani, suede
PATCHOULI LAVENDER
ROSE RED-citrus, violet leaf, bulgarian rose & beeswax
SANDALWOOD SHEA-sandalwood, peach, shea, rose, coconut, amber, vanilla musk SHEDONISTIC - tiare, jasmine, petitgrain, mandarin orange, bergamot and basil
SHAMPURISTA -rose, lavender, jasmine, ylang & patchouli
SOUTHERN BELLE- lavender, coconut milk, sugar & light, vanilla whipped cream.
SASSY - warm amber, creamy sandalwood sweetened with white flowers
SOUTHERN GRACE -clean, fresh femme floral arrangement
VOLUPTUOUS - powdery, sensual scent- musks, vanilla, and sandalwood
--------------------------------♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦----------------------------
AURORA-cypress, pine, citrus blend, light musk (c/t Northern Lites)
AMSTERDAM- soft floral, vetiver, honeysuckle, jasmine, fresh, clean (c/t Alkmar)
BLIZZARD- clean, refreshing snow, greenery, white musk (c/t Snow Showerz)
BE BEAUTY- bergamot, lemon, fennel, lavender, rose, sandalwd, ylang (c/t B Scent)
BREATHE IN- lovely scent, neroli, melon, rose, peppered woods, vetiver (c/t Inhale)
BLACK HOLE- lime, grape, orange, sparkling brandy (c/t Supernova)
BIG MAN'S HAT - warm, rich spiced woods & incense (c/t President's Hat)
CHANGE OF WEATHER- hay, mint, chamomile, oak, beeswax, spice (c/t Smell of Weather Turning)
CREAM SODA-honey, vanilla milk, berry, citrus, benzoin, sage, lav (c/t Amer. Cream)
COCOA CITRUS-tonka, yuzu, chocolate, coconut, bergamot (c/t Yuzu Cocoa)
COTTON FOLLY- fresh, spring grass, floral blend (c/t Princess Cottongrass)
CHERRY TREE-jasmine, mimosa, orange, greens, cedar, light musk (c/t Sakura)
CANDIED CREAM-sweet, coconut, strawberry, vanilla musk (c/t Creamy Candy)
CASANOVA- pomegranate, grapefruit, vanilla (c/t Prince Charming)
CALACAZZAM- line, neroli, olibanum - clean & zesty (c/t Calacas)
DEVOTION- apple cinnamon, lemongrass, ylang, rose, jasmine (c/t Love)
DIVINE ZEPHYR- sweet & smoked woods, incensic (c/t God's Breath)
DISCO-smoky/sweet, vetivert, sandalwoods, syrupy vanilla (c/t Stayin' Alive)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE- oak, orange blossom, oakmoss, sage, ylang, green floral
DUSK- calming, lavender, tonka, ylang, sultry (c/t Twilight)
DIRTY GIRL- unisex, oakmoss, patchouli, gree & woody, earthy (c/t Tramp)
DEAD FOR DAYS-lime, neroli, frankincense, fresh & uplifting (c/t Day of the Dead)
DEITY- myrrh, orange blossom, bergamot, sandalwood, smoky & sweet (c/t Icon)
ELATION-cheery, lime, neroli, rose, grapefruit, sage, earthy (c/t Euphoria)
EMBERS-cinnamon, orange, sweet spiced & smoky (c/t Cinders)
EVERGREEN- juniper berry, lemon, lime, rosemary, lavender (c/t Jumping Juniper)
EVOKE- energizing, fresh, lemon verbena, rosewood, bergamot (c/t Avobath)
EMPRESS-fresh, clean, apricot, bergamot, currant (c/t Sultana of Soap)
FLURRY QUEEN- pear, cotton candy, cherry vanilla (c/t Snow Fairy)
FEMME FATALE- seductive, jasmine, sage, ylang-ylang (c/t Sex Bomb)
FILTHY- warm oakmoss, sandalwood, neroli, lavender, mint, tarragon (c/t Dirty)
FREEZE-grapefruit, neroli, rose, fresh (c/t Fozen)
FLAMING TIMBERS-smoky, lemongrass, sandalwood, lemon, firetree, myrtle, ginger (c/t Fire Tree)
FEVERISH- rose, jasmine absolute, sandalwood (c/t FEVER)
FOXY - jasmine, honey (c/t Flying Phox)
GRIM REAPER- ylang, rose, jasmine, tonka, heavy & pungent floral (c/t Death Decay)
HAPPY CHERUB- currant, tangerine, candy notes (c/t Angel's Delight)
HASTY PUDDING-oatmeal, sugar, vanilla, orange, honey (c/t Porridge)
HONEY TOFFEE-creamy honey, vanilla musk, caramel, citrus (c/t HIWTK)
HIGH LIFE- ylang, sandalwood, jasmine, lime, tonka, lemon, woods (c/t 92 Hi Street)
HELLION-smoky, masculine spicy, vetivert, beeswax, opoponax (c/t Hellstones)
IT'S ALL GOOD-rose, cedar, tonka, juniper, anise, citrus (c/t All Good Things)
ICE QUEEN-fresh mint & light, white musk (c/t Ice Blue)
INSECURE- earthy, sandalwood, elemi, citrus (c/t The Bug)
JAZZ LAND-Buddha wood, rose, sandalwood, tonka, smoked vanilla (c/t Voice of Reason)
JUNGLE QUEEN-exotic, ylang, cedar, vetiver, fruits, greens (c/t Jungle)
KISMET- citrus, pine, spice, patchouli, lavender (c/t Karma)
KATA TJUTA- light sandalwood, light orange, green notes, milky, woody (c/t ULURU)
KISSES INFINITE-sensual mandarin, osmanthus, myrrh, labdanum (c/t 1000Kisses)
LUSTFUL- dirty jasmine, rose, ylang, vanilla, sandalwood, (c/t LUST)
LORD LAWLESS- sweet, spiced patchouli, vanilla, pepper (c/t Lord of Misrule)
LIBERTY- lemongrass, jasmine, ginger, firewood, spices, sandalwood, orris, ouhd (c/t Smell of Freedom)
LILY LATHER- heavy lily, jasmine, neroli, ylang, potent floral (c/t Lily Savon)
LEGIT- white musk, bergamot, light citrus blend (c/t Truth)
MISS KATRINA- lime, pastilles, sweet fruits (c/t Lady Catrina)
MONDO-neroli, orange blossom, vanilla, sweet/fresh/uplifting (c/t Big)
MR MINT- neroli, peppermint, mint blends (c/t Dr Peppermint)
MELODRAMA- heady violet leaf, jasmine, ylang, vanilla citrus (c/t Bathos)
MARZIPAN- marzipan, almond, rose, benzoin, cinnamon (c/t Snow Cakes)
NO RAIN PLEASE- violet, vanilla, sandalwood, vetiver (c/t Dont' Rain on my Parade)
OVERCAST- exotic orange, lime, gardenia (c/t Silver Clouds)
OMG OLIVE- musky floral with citrus, vanilla (c/t Olive Branches)
OUHD SOUL-wood blend with iris, olibanum, complex (c/t Ouhd Heart)
OCEAN ISLE-sweet, spiced sandalwood, musk & vanilla (c/t Floating Island)
PULL MY HAIR-almond milk, vanilla, vetiver, coconut (c/t Trichomania)
PLUNDERER-woods, lemongrass, unisex, intoxicating (c/t Smuggler Soul)
PONDER ROSA- rose heavy, citrus (c/t Amandopondo)
ROSE JELLY- rose, tonka, lemon, geranium
ROCKER PROPER- sweet, powdery floral, Better than cotton candy (c/t RockStar)
RUDOLPH ROCKS- cypress, bergamot, cassis, patchouli (c/t Reindeer Rocks)
RELENT-tonka, labdanum, grapefruit, patchouli, anise (c/t Rentless)
RESPIRE- vetiver, sandalwood, musk, cedar, amber, citrus, incense (c/t Exhale)
REMEDY-rose, tangerine, carnation, modern floral (c/t Potion)
SWIM NAKED- warm, spicy - sage, clove, violet, cedar (c/t Skinny Dip)
STAY PUFFY- musk, vanilla, ylang, geraniol, spices (c/t Keep it Fluffy)
SUNNY SIDE- fresh citrus pops with gardenia (c/t Bright Side)
SILLY PANTIES-soft |
became pregnant when she was fourteen, dropped out of school in the ninth grade, and went to live with McElroy and his third wife Alice. McElroy divorced Alice and married Trena in order to escape charges of statutory rape, to which she was the only witness. Sixteen days after Trena gave birth, both she and Alice fled to Trena's mother's and stepfather's house. According to court records, McElroy tracked them down and brought them back. He then returned to Trena's parents' home when they were away, shot the family dog, and burned down the house.[5]
Events prior to his killing [ edit ]
Based on Trena's story, McElroy was indicted in June 1973 for arson, assault and statutory rape. He was arrested, booked, arraigned and released on $2,500 bail.[5] Trena and her baby were placed in foster care at a home in Maryville, Missouri. McElroy sat outside the foster home for hours at a time, staring, and told the foster family that he would trade "girl for girl" to get his child back since he knew where the foster family's biological daughter went to school—and what bus route she rode. Additional charges were filed against McElroy.[6]
On July 27, 1976, Skidmore farmer Romaine Henry said McElroy shot him twice with a shotgun after Henry challenged him for shooting weapons on Henry's property. McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill. McElroy denied he was at the scene. As the case dragged on without a court date, Henry said McElroy had parked outside his home at least 100 times.[7] At the trial, two raccoon hunters testified they were with McElroy the day of the shooting away from Henry's property. Henry was forced to admit in court, under questioning by McElroy's attorney Richard Gene McFadin, that he had concealed his own petty criminal conviction from more than 30 years previous.[3] McElroy was acquitted.
1981 killing [ edit ]
In 1980, one of McElroy's children got into an argument with a clerk, Evelyn Sumy, in a local grocery store owned by 70-year-old Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp and his wife, Lois, allegedly because a younger McElroy child tried to steal some candy. McElroy began stalking the Bowenkamp family, and eventually threatened Bo Bowenkamp in the back of his store with a shotgun in hand. In the ensuing confrontation, McElroy shot Bowenkamp in the neck; Bowenkamp survived, and McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder.[8] McElroy was convicted at trial of assault, but freed on bail pending his appeal. Immediately after being released at a post-trial hearing, McElroy went to the D&G Tavern, a local bar, with an M1 Garand rifle with a bayonet attached, and made graphic threats about what he would do to Mr. Bowenkamp. This led to several patrons deciding to see what they could legally do to prevent McElroy from harming anyone else. Nodaway County Sheriff Dan Estes suggested they form a neighborhood watch.
McElroy's appeal hearing was again delayed. On the morning of July 10, 1981, townspeople met at the Legion Hall in the center of town with Sheriff Estes to discuss how to protect themselves. During the meeting, McElroy arrived at the D&G Tavern with Trena. As he sat drinking at the bar, word got back to the men at the Legion Hall that he was in town. Sheriff Estes instructed the assembled group not to get into a direct confrontation with McElroy, but instead seriously consider forming a neighborhood watch program. Estes then drove out of town in his police cruiser. The citizens decided to go to the tavern en masse. The bar soon filled completely. After McElroy finished his drinks, he purchased a six pack of beer, left the bar, and entered his pickup truck. Someone shot at McElroy while he was sitting in his truck. He was shot at several times and hit twice, once by a centerfire rifle and once by a.22 rimfire rifle. In all, there were 46 potential witnesses to the shooting, including Trena McElroy, who was in the truck with her husband when he was shot. No one called for an ambulance.[9] Only Trena claimed to identify a gunman; every other witness either was unable to name an assailant or claimed not to have seen who fired the fatal shots.[10] The DA declined to press charges. An extensive Federal investigation did not lead to any charges.
McElroy was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Joseph, Missouri.
On July 9, 1984, Trena McElroy filed a $6 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Town of Skidmore, County of Nodaway, Sheriff Danny Estes, Steve Peters (Mayor of Skidmore), and Del Clement (whom Trena accused of being the shooter, but who was never charged). The case was later settled out of court by all parties for the sum of $17,600, with no one admitting guilt, for the stated reason of avoiding costly legal fees should the suit proceed.[11]
Trena remarried and moved to Lebanon, Missouri, where she died of cancer on her 55th birthday on January 24, 2012.[12]
Movies, books and media [ edit ]ANTIGO, WI — A person armed with a rifle opened fire outside the Antigo High School prom late Saturday night wounding two students before police fired back, critically wounding the gunman.
Langlade County Coroner Larry Shadick told The Associated Press that the attacker died shortly after 1 a.m. in the intensive care unit of a Wausau hospital. He said further details would have to come from police.
The shooter "showed up" and started firing outside the building where the dance was being held, about 150 miles north of Milwaukee, Eric Roller, Antigo's police chief, said in a statement. "Officers were in the parking lot patrolling the activities and heard the shots, and an officer immediately fired upon the shooter, stopping the threat. "All the people within the prom were eventually escorted from the school and are safe."
Authorities told WSAW two students suffered injuries that were not believed to be non-life threatening.
"The victim's families have been notified. We believe the scene is secure and do not see a further threat to the community at this time," police said in a statement.
<!- ->
According to a report from WSAW, the suspected shooter was pronounced dead by the Langdale County Coroner Sunday morning. The body of the suspected shooter is being transported to the Fond du Lac County medical examiner's office.
The suspected shooter was identified as 18-year-old Jakob E. Wagner. WSAW reported he was a former student at the high school who graduated in 2015.
According to the WSAW report, because the shooting involved a police officer, the State Department of Justice is now leading the investigation because of a state law passed in 2014.
Report: Antigo prom shooting suspect dead https://t.co/J5G2SrY3xC via @wausauherald — John Hedin (@HedinJohn) April 24, 2016
Find out live what people are saying about the shooting at Saturday's Antigo High School prom:
______________________
Get Patched In:
Stay up-to-date with Metro Milwaukee News with Patch! There are many ways for you to connect and stay in touch: Newsletters and E-Mail Alerts | Facebook | TwitterNyss gick Johansson (S) ut med en intention (genomklubbad), som vill dra in dagsersättning och boende för människor som fått avslag på sina asylansökningar.
“Vi måste se till att de åker hem”, säger han. Som vanligt sträcker sig inte konsekvensanalyserna längre än munnen pladdrar. Är det för det första rätt att ändra på de premisser som asylsökanden kommit hit?
Hur många hade valt att avstå från att söka asyl i Sverige om de känt till att landet inte tar ansvar för dem, när de fått avslag?
Det är som om en bank skulle lämna ett lånelöfte, men när huset väl är byggt: ta tillbaka det.
All signalpolitik släpps alldeles för sent, men det har vi tjatat om länge nu. Detta skulle ha gjorts många år innan krisen var ett faktum och dessutom omfattat varenda inkonsekvent regel. Man skulle för det första ha stängt gränserna helt, tills situationen blivit hanterlig. Om den någonsin blir hanterlig igen.
Vad tycker jag? Ändra reglerna bara för dem som ännu inte kommit in i landet, men gå omgående ut med en intensiv och internationellt täckande upplysningskampanj om vad som gäller från och med nu. Jag tror nämligen att det är enda sättet att stävja en helt annan oönskad effekt, som en minister som Johansson borde ha kalkylerat med, men inte tycks ha gjort. När ska regeringen ta hänsyn till befolkningens säkerhet?
“Den svenska poliskåren är i fritt fall och varken regeringen eller rikspolischef Dan Eliasson gör något för att stoppa utvecklingen. Man kan fråga sig om svenska folkets säkerhet är värd någonting alls, skriver Lisa Reventberg, polisinspektör i Stockholm. Gör våra makthavare någonting för att stoppa den galopperande trend som hotar svensk säkerhet? Svar nej. Snarare tvärtom.” (Länk)
Bortglömt tycks vara att vålds- och brottsvågen kommer bli outhärdlig om bidragen i avvaktan på utvisning dras in, för någon frivillighet i att lämna landet som de lagt så mycket pengar på till att ta sig för livstids försörjning kommer svårligen uppnås.
Å andra sidan: de kommer inte lämna landet frivilligt om de blir försörjda ändå. Den inkonsekventa, ansvarslösa asyl- och migrationspolitiken som Reinfeldt införde i uppgörelse med MP och socialdemokraterna maximerade i regering med MP har förstört landet. Helt.
I dagsläget berörs 4000 personer, meddelar man. Vem räknar som en kossa? Vi har hundratusentals som lever illegalt i landet, eftersom de inte övervakas efter beslut om avslag och utvisas genast. Det finns inte någon som helst kontroll på alla som gått under jorden direkt vid ankomst och försörjer sig på att förstöra livet för svenska medborgare med våldsamma rån, bedrägerier och inbrott.
I fjol kom c:a 163000 och polisen meddelade då att lika många försvann och gick direkt under jorden utan att registrera asylsökningar. Vem som helst förstår att dessa inte har asylskäl och kanske inte ens vill landet väl.
Samtidigt anser regeringen att alla som lever illegalt i landet har rätt till fri vård och skola. Inte ett ord om det paradoxala i detta.
Hur blir det med indragning av dessa medborgerliga rättigheter, som uppmuntrar en hel illegal invasion att stanna? Ingen utvisning sker, fast det torde vara enkelt att hitta, gripa och utvisa “gömda” människor när man naturligtvis vet var deras barn går i skola och vilka som i flera kommuner lyfter bidrag. Exempelvis.
80.000 skulle avvisas – årligen. Vad har vi sett av den föresatsen hittills?
Sedan undrar man varför våldet och stölderna exploderar. Vi vågar inte gå ut längre, vi vågar heller inte vara ensamma hemma. Polis, skolor, försäkringsbolag och skattebetalare blöder och hela vårt välfärdssystem är livshotat.
Förslaget handlar om bland annat om att frigöra boendeplatser till nya asylsökanden. Det primära är att stänga gränsen så det inte kommer in fler, innan vi vet och kan ta hand om de som faktiskt redan är här och gör anspråk.
Spontant anser jag att förslaget är bra, givetvis, om än långt från tillräckligt. Vi ska inte försörja folk som inte har rätt att vara här. Men Sverige är unikt med alla inkonsekventa, dubbla budskap. Dessa måste upphöra.
Undantagna de nya reglerna ska vara barnfamiljer, säger Johansson också. (Så börjar vi om från början med att skapa nya problem – fler undantag att utreda och ta hänsyn till och som sannolikt sätter hela konceptet ur spel.)
Det ska inte finnas några undantag!
Stoppa dessutom rätten till anhöriginvandring och alla undantag förenade med den, som gör att reglerna för försörjningskrav för sina anhöriga helt enkelt inte gäller fler än en promille.
Att nu dra in boende– och dagsersättning innebär att de flesta kommer trolla fram ID-lösa barn att anknyta sig till, eftersom man åtminstone inte hittills har gjort några kontroller över vems barn som är vems, eller ens vem som är vem av föräldrarna. Är de riktiga föräldrarna ens i landet, än?
Fler än en gång har samma barn presenterats, som en annan familj något tidigare eller efter hävdat vara sina, och fler än en gång har har man inte ifrågasatt hur en kvinna som uppgett att hon är 17 kan ha 9 barn.
Man tjafsar inte, fast man vet att det är bedrägeri, bara betalar ut i rädsla för att kallas rasist. Det man förlorar på karusellen tar man igen på gungorna, så det är de överlegitimerade svenskarna man sätter hårt åt istället, gör arbets- och bostadslösa och höjer skatterna för – de som betalat i generationer för att åtnjuta sina medborgerliga rättigheter.
Jag anser att invandrare inte har någon som helst rätt till barnbidrag för barn som inte fötts i Sverige. Ska jag tänja ut resonemanget anser jag att svenskar som är kapabla att försörja sina egna barn inte heller ska tillerkännas barnbidrag. Barnbidrag ska precis som försörjningsstödet vara öronmärkta för dem som inte på något annat sätt kan leva anständigt utan stöd eller inte erbjuda sina barn en någorlunda likvärdig tillvaro som de familjer som klarar sig själva.
Bara för medborgare.
Barnbidrag ska vara inkomst- och behovsprövade och de ska absolut inte omfatta barn som fötts i andra länder.
Det finns en djungel av inkonsekvens i regelverken som omsvävar asyl- och migrationsindustrin. Jag rekommenderar regeringen att sätta sig ner och slopa i stort sett varje bidragsrätt för människor som saknar medborgarskap samt skärpa villkoren för både uppehållstillstånd och medborgarskap. Läget är akut.What was needed, he said, was a revolution, though when pressed on what form this revolution would take and on how society would be configured on the other side of it, he retreated into generalities. Clearly stung by his interrogator's sneers, and by the sneers of many others besides, Brand resolved to write a book on the subject. The result, alas, is Revolution.
The book is a grab-bag of vague ideas - a breathless series of riffs upon and rambles through the source material, which includes David Graeber's thoughts on debt, some fragments of Noam Chomsky and Thomas Piketty, and George Orwell's essay on the Spanish Civil War (a war which, by the way, Brand hadn't heard of when he began his book a year ago).
This is followed by some recommendations to do with the need for direct democracy and a system of economic cooperatives. These, says Brand, can be brought about "spontaneously" through "collective action".
In essence, however, Brand's revolution will not be a collective revolution at all, but a series of personal revolutions in which a nebulous notion of spiritual "oneness" will take the role of solidarity. For this, Brand's own (successful) struggle with drugs and booze will serve as a paradigm. An addiction to growth is like an addiction to smack - so much so that Brand's revolutionary principles are based around the "twelve traditions" of Alcoholics Anonymous. "The only Revolution that can really change the world is the one in your own consciousness, and mine has already begun." OK then.
Many of Revolution's critics have complained that while Brand has identified the disease he's failed to come up with a feasible cure. This is true, but a far more serious defect is that the recommendations he does come up with are symptoms of the disease he's identified. All his talk of Buddhism and kundalini yoga and transcendental meditation is the blether of someone who, having assimilated the lesson that the personal is political, now behaves as if the converse is true - that the political is merely personal.NEW DELHI — A 10-year-old Indian girl who was raped by an uncle, and then lost her legal battle to have an abortion, gave birth on Thursday to a girl.
The girl, who was under general anesthesia while the baby was delivered by cesarean section, had not been told that she was pregnant and had no idea that she had given birth, doctors said. She was told instead that she had a kidney stone that needed to be removed.
The baby was premature and weighed a bit more than five pounds. She was placed in an intensive care unit and will ultimately be put up for adoption.
“Neither the girl nor her family even saw the child,” said Dr. Dasari Harish, head of the team that performed the surgery, adding that the family wanted nothing to do with the newborn."I can't remember the last day where I opened my email and there wasn't a piece of vicious (often sexual, often violent) hate mail there. I also don't write about it because these days I'm loath to give any attention to harassers - in part because that's what they're so desperate for, but also because the threats have become so bad that my life offline has been seriously impaired by it and I'm just plain scared. But that's the goal of harassers - to scare, to terrorise, but most of all, to shut us up."
In Australia, social commentator Nina Funnell, newsreader Jacinta Tynan and anti-porn campaigner Melinda Tankard Reist have also spoken out recently about the vicious sexual trolling they receive by email, Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis.
In an analysis of the responses to a blog post about rape culture, Boston-based blogger Courtney Stanton found that one in four of the more than 400 responses she received was from trolls looking to inflame the debate with aggressive pro-rape posts.
Most of the trolls hoped Stanton or her mother or her daughter would be raped and/or killed, while many also called her fat and ugly and "too repulsive to be raped".
While most of the trolls were from North America, several came from Australia, Britain and Europe and a few from South America.Online harassment is a widespread issue: According to data from Pew Research, a whopping 92% of 18 to 29 year olds have experienced it. But, there are no simple, reliable resources for reporting it, or learning how to deal with it. Hollaback! founder Emily May plans to change that with her new project, HeartMob.HeartMob makes it so you can easily report harassment and control what happens next. You can make reports public or keep them private at first, cataloguing an instance in case things escalate further. For public reports, you can request help from others in the community. HeartMob will also offer resources like safety planning, how to identify serious threats, info about online-harassment laws, and how to report harassment to authorities or get counseling or legal services.May's uniquely qualified to take this on. She founded Hollaback! 10 years ago to fight street harassment, and it's been massively successful ; it received the Ted City 2.0 prize and the Manhattan Young Democrats “Engendering Progress” award, among other accolades. In all, it's collected over 8,000 stories of street harassment and provides resources and support including incident reporting, bystander intervention, and online movement building.Here's how May knew now was the right time for HeartMob, which is in its final week raising funds on Kickstarter "After over 10 years of running Hollaback!, I’ve been harassed and attacked online repeatedly. Even worse, I’ve seen our site leaders, partners, and friends harassed online — and I’ve seen incredible women leave the Internet as a result. I’ve had enough of adapting to the problem; I’m ready to change it. I thought, Why don’t we take everything we’ve learned from addressing street harassment, and apply it to this completely different landscape: the Internet?""Both have the same root causes (sexism, racism, and homophobia), and both have similar effects: They silence victims and cause depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder."We knew from addressing street harassment that the movement to end online harassment would be built similarly: People would boldly share their stories, decentralized leadership would be key — and research and policy solutions would follow.""There is no 'corporation' that you can appeal to, to solve the problem of street harassment, whereas with online harassment, you could appeal to the social media and technology companies that allowed online harassment to proliferate in the name of 'free speech.'"Secondly, the role of bystanders — a promising practice in addressing street harassment — is different in online harassment. Instead of bystanders sometimes being around (as with street harassment), bystanders are always around [online]. And, if they missed something, they could fly back through time and space to address the harassment after the fact.""In 2014, we took on a leadership role in the online-harassment movement by founding, leading, and managing an extensive Online Harassment Task Force, which served as experts on what victims of online harassment face, and what interventions would help them feel safer and supported online. These suggested interventions formed the core of the HeartMob prototype, which began development in August 2014 and finalized in January 2014. In December 2014, we held the first summit on online harassment in NYC, where we tested the HeartMob prototype with key journalists and organizational leaders. Moving forward, we have secured a development team, a legal team, and a research team."You can support HeartMob's Kickstarter hereHuman activity is not "causing these dramatic changes to our climate."
Scientists have been issuing more new reports on the irreversible effects of climate change in recent weeks. Two groups reported on May 12, 2014, that the global sea level will rise at least 10 feet, accelerating to a dangerous pace after the next century.
Just a day before those reports were released, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sat down with ABC’s Jonathan Karl on This Week. Talk turned to climate change, where the possible Republican presidential candidate denied a link between humans and the changing environment.
"I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it," he said. "And I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it. Except it will destroy our economy."
We’ve noted before that Rubio has disputed the basic science of climate change. So when Rubio said human activity isn’t causing changes to the environment, he’s got it all wrong.
In this case, Rubio framed his thoughts about climate change as his personal opinion. But the causes of global warming are backed up by thorough research, so we didn’t see room for debate in Rubio’s claim.
Rubio’s said before, "I’m not a scientist, man." So PolitiFact reached out to scientists who could explain the facts behind climate change. We've rated similar claims False from Tim Pawlenty and Rick Perry, but we'll rate it again because it's a persistent claim we see year after year. Rubio’s staff didn’t return our request for comment.
How our climate is changing
Historically, the earth goes through periods of hotter and cooler temperatures. So how do we know global warming isn’t a natural part of this cycle?
By taking measurements, said Leonard Berry, director of Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Environmental Studies.
"We can measure the fact that the earth is warming. We can measure the fact that the ocean is warming," Berry said. "While geological history shows warming and cooling periods, as far back as we go, none shows the kind of warming and the kind of changes we’re experiencing right now."
Scientists trace back this shift to the Industrial Revolution, which began in 1760. Since that period, carbon dioxide rose 40 percent and methane by 150 percent. High levels of these and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap heat at the surface of the earth, warming the planet.
By burning fossil fuels, chopping down trees, and using fertilizer, humans have directly contributed to global warming.
The connection between increased levels of greenhouse gases and rising temperature has been confirmed by scientists for over a century, said Jennifer Francis, a Rutgers University marine and coastal sciences professor.
"There is as much uncertainty about this connection as there is about what will happen when you drop an object," Francis said. "It will fall."
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is also on board with human activity as a cause. They reported that were it not for human impact, the likely effect of natural changes to the environment would’ve been one of cooling, not warming. They cite "very high confidence" that human activities caused a change of course.
The U.S. Global Change Research program published a 2014 report on climate change. It doesn’t debate whether human activity causes climate change. Rather, it focuses on what actions to take to lessen its effects.
A May 2013 report analyzing all scientific papers that address the causes of climate change showed 97.1 percent of findings that took a position agree that there’s been a negative human impact on the atmosphere. Comedian John Oliver cleverly addressed the debate’s conclusiveness on a recent Last Week Tonight episode by arranging a representative debate between 97 climate change scientists and three deniers.
As a politician from Florida, Rubio must contend with research that pegs Miami and Tampa as two of the U.S. cities most likely to be impacted by climate change. Rising sea levels will make them more prone to flooding.
"Whatever the cause of climate change, the impacts on Florida are already important and that it would be difficult for responsible people in Florida to ignore that fact," Berry said.
Our ruling
Rubio said human activity is not "causing these dramatic changes to our climate." An overwhelming majority of scientists agree that humans, by burning fossil fuels, contribute directly to global warming.
Not only is Rubio incorrect, but he’s ignoring a mountain of concrete, scientific research. We rate his claim False.
CORRECTION: This story was updated on May 15 to clarify that 97.1 percent of the studies that took a position on global warming agreed that there's been a negative human impact on the atmosphere; more than half the studies did not take a position. Also, the story clarifies that the 2013 report looked at studies, not individual scientists.After several weeks of juggling various projects and generally bumbling the whole executive functioning thing, I’m finally getting around to transforming my presentation on neurologically mixed relationships into a series of blog posts. And I say posts, plural, for a few reasons.
For one thing, my presentation was just over an hour long. No one wants to wade through that wall of text. Plus, the actual content that I wanted to cover in the presentation would have taken an entire day or more to go through. Now that I can include everything, I will—it’s my blog, goshdarnit!
This post is an intro to the metaphor of neurotype as culture. In the following posts, we’ll begin the more in-depth dissection of autistic and neurotypical culture, and how these “cultural” differences affect relationships.
So, relationships…
As a child, I assumed relationships were something that just happened.
I knew that if a cartoon movie had two main characters, they would usually wind up Together (The End). I thought romance was essentially a product of proximity.
Another lie my childhood media consumption taught me was the whole “Happily Ever After” thing. You win the heart of your complimentary character foil by existing near them until they inevitably fall in love with you, and then you’re instantly and unceasingly happy. Forever. Obviously, that’s just what any good relationship is like, right?
Pop culture doesn’t like to waste time on the boring stuff, like how to make a relationship work, or that it takes any effort at all. In the land of ~Happily Ever After~ a relationship either works or it doesn’t.
Strangely, it’s only relatively recently (in the grand scheme of things) that people have become comfortable talking openly about the gray areas of relationships. Talking about things like arguments, frustration, and (GASP) couple’s therapy.
Relationships are hard! Even the best, most ideal relationship takes work. What’s more, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for the perfect relationship.
All relationships are different, but some relationships are more different than others.
(Is it inappropriate to make an Animal Farm reference in this context? Whatever, I thought it was funny.)
By the way, when I say “neurologically mixed relationships,” I’m not talking only about romance. While that will be my primary focus, a romantic relationship is still a social relationship at its core. Most, if not all of the information I intend to cover in this series is relevant to any type of relationship. My intent is to create content that can be equally useful for anyone, single or partnered, autistic or not.
So, I assume we already know that autism supposedly affects interpersonal relationships.
(Meaning, both relationships between each other, and relationships with allistics.)
Autistic people often need extra help in learning to navigate social situations—especially when interacting with allistics!
The important thing to remember is that we can learn.
Autistics usually have highly developed declarative memories. That means we’re good at conscious recall. It’s the kind of memory used to spell a word at a spelling bee, not to be confused with the kind of memory used to ride a bike. (Though I will admit that we often have pretty weak working memories, but that’s a whole other topic.)
We use our declarative memories constantly to do things that otherwise come naturally and unconsciously to allistics. And we can use our declarative memories to intentionally learn how to understand and interact with others.
While social connection is an enormously complex collection of processes, and an autistic can never be expected to “overcome” that by effort alone, we can use declarative memory to improve self-awareness and help develop an analytic understanding of social interaction.
But, autistics aren’t the only ones with problems!
Allistics need to learn to understand autistics in order to work together.
It takes two to communicate, and it takes two to have a communication problem.
All too often, the burden to communicate “correctly” is placed entirely on autistic people.
It’s true that an autistic person who wants to interact with allistics does need to put forth effort to improve their self-awareness and communication skills.
But, it’s often even more important to remember that an allistic who wants to interact with autistics needs to make the effort to learn how to communicate with the autistic people in their life!
Accurate, mutually-beneficial communication is always an act of compromise, no matter who’s involved.
Neurological Culture Shock
The challenge of a neurologically mixed relationship can’t just be reduced to “normal” vs. “disordered.”
It’s an issue comparable to two conflicting cultures trying to interact.
While things like cognitive empathy and communication are still issues in relationships where both parties are autistic, these things are even more difficult when only one partner is autistic.
One of the most difficult barriers to a successful relationship between an autistic and an allistic is the difficulty the allistic has in empathizing with their autistic partner. There’s so much focus on the autistic squeaky wheel that it can sometimes be difficult for allistics to recognize when they need to practice empathy too!
It’s important for allistics in the autism community to understand that we all live in a neurotypical culture.
Difficulties in communication and empathy in mixed, autistic/allistic pairings can in many ways be likened to a culture clash.
This analogy is one I first heard from Dr. Stephen Shore, a wonderful man and autistic advocate. Stephen likes to say that one of the reasons he and his wife connected and understood each other so well when they first met is that they both knew what it felt like to be cultural outsiders—he being on the autism spectrum, she having only just immigrated to the US from China. (I recommend his memoir, Beyond the Wall, to anyone interested in the full story.)
All autistic people identify in some way with the feeling of being an outsider, a misfit, or having been born “on the wrong planet.” The metaphor of autism as a culture usually makes intuitive sense.
While autistic people don’t have a true, united culture in the anthropological sense, our physiological differences result in practical differences that mimic a united culture.
Interestingly, many of the “social difficulties” involved in autism don’t cause the same problems when autistic people are socializing with each other. Things like autistic conversation style, topic choice, nonverbal communication, and so on, can seem strange and even alienating to allistics, yet perfectly fine to other autistics.
Of course, there |
look for in any analysis like this. A hint is that the Kaplan-Meier curves cross each other.
Censoring
If you're still with me, you might be wondering how we handle shows that didn't start 60 years ago, but still haven't been cancelled, like "The O'Reilly Factor" which (can this possibly be true?) has been running continuously for 18.5 years. Do we just pretend Bill got cancelled at the 18 year time point? Of course not – that's not fair, even to Bill.
In human terms, imagine we're studying a new cancer drug. We give it (or placebo) to people at "Time 0" and see how long they live. But realistically, we're not going to give 1,000 people the drug on the same day. We enroll in dribs and drabs. Some people have longer follow-up, some people have shorter – like this:
Figure 6: Time-span of some selected shows. How do we handle shows that are still going?
We want to use ALL the data, though. How do we manage?
We "censor" individuals at loss to follow-up. That means we include the data we have, but don't assume they were cancelled. In fact, we assume that their risk of being cancelled is the same as shows that we have more data for.
So when we censor data, the statistical models give us results as if the censored data point would have experienced the same effect as all the other datapoints, had it not been censored. In the TV example, our statistics on the rate of TV show loss would assume that a censored show had the same risk of loss as one that we continued to have data for. This is probably reasonable. It may not always be reasonable in humans.
I wrote at the beginning that survival analysis is kind of beautiful. In the end, maybe the best thing to take from this article is not the nitty-gritty details of how these analyses are done, but rather to remember, when life is tough and you're feeling low, that if you can hold on just one more day, you're that much more likely to hold on one day more. Survivors survive. So keep on surviving.
The Methods Man is F. Perry Wilson, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. He earned his BA from Harvard University, graduating with honors with a degree in biochemistry. He then attended Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. From there he moved to Philadelphia to complete his internal medicine residency and nephrology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. During his research time, Wilson also obtained a Masters of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania. He is an accomplished author of many scientific articles and holds several NIH grants. If you'd like to see more of his work, please visit him at www.methodsman.com or follow @methodsmanmd on Twitter.
2015-04-20T09:00:00-0400SpaceVR – a young startup that is perhaps best known for raising over $100,000 on Kickstarter last year – is announcing today that it will be moving forward with its plan to make true outer space virtual reality experiences available to the masses.
The company’s initial Kickstarter-funded plan was to place a VR camera on the International Space Station. Data from this camera would be obtained through a series of SD card drops from the device. This footage would then be collected, processed, and packaged into high-resolution immersive videos showcasing the beautiful reality of the vast unknown.
This plan, however, has now changed. Today, SpaceVR is no longer dependent on crowd-sourced funds thanks to a $1.25 million seed investment from the China based investment firm, Shanda Group. This influx of cash will allow SpaceVR to develop what it is calling, “The world’s first platform for creating cinematic, live, virtual space tourism…allowing consumers to experience the first ever 360-degree video content from low earth orbit.”
SpaceVR’s new game plan for achieving this lofty goal no longer involves the ISS. Instead, the organization will be constructing its own specially designed satellite and equipping it with the necessary payload to relay continuously updated video feeds from up there beyond the stars.
Ryan Holmes – SpaceVR’s founder and CEO – explained this ambitious project in more detail during an interview with UploadVR.
Holmes explained that his company is currently working to launch their vessel on one of Elon Musk’s Space X rockets. Holmes admitted that his payload’s presence on that rocket is not currently guaranteed, and so he is currently focusing his efforts on building the satellite while they wait for the proper paperwork to be approved.
The satellite itself will cost $400,000 to build, according to Holmes, and will consist of four major components:
-An X Band radio for communicating the data.
-Reaction wheels: essentially gyroscopes used to stabilize the spacecraft and its cargo.
-Magnet torques: magnets that use the earth’s own magnetic field to keep the satellite properly oriented during its orbit.
-A camera rig consisting of two 240 FOV 4K sensors
The pipeline for creating actual consumer content will be relatively simple for such an ambitious project: the two 4K sensors will capture high resolution footage from all around the satellite; this data will be relayed back to earth through the X band radio; SpaceVR then runs that footage through a post-production process to convert it into interactive 360 degree videos; and, finally, those videos are packaged and released cohesively to the public.
Holmes confirmed that SpaceVR is intended to run on all major HMDs including Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and HTC Vive. The company is using a subscription model, meaning that users will need to pay $30 a year to access its content.
The realities of space travel imply a certain amount of potential disaster. When asked what risks were involved in this project, Holmes listed a myriad of possible mission-ending scenarios that could occur:
“The short answer about what could go wrong is: a lot. Our rocket could explode. The payload could explode. The payload might not turn on. The radio might fail to transmit.”
When asked why his company is spending so much time, money, and effort to pursue such a risky aspiration, Holmes’ response was to say:
“The reason we work on this is we all believe it really matters. The original inspiration came from documentary I saw about the space program called Overview. After you listen to enough astronauts talk about their experiences you begin to notice a pattern. Seeing the earth from space changed who they were. At SpaceVR, we want everyone to be able to experience that. We want everyone to be able to experience space.”
Holmes also explained that he believes this new direction will provide “more control and more content” for his supporters than the original Kickstarter vision. If any of his backers disagree, however, Holmes confirmed that they are free to contact SpaceVR and request their money back.
SpaceVR hopes to complete its satellite in the next six months. Holmes is currently eyeing a launch date sometime in “early 2017.”
Disclosure: Shanda Group is also an investor in UploadVR.
Tagged with: camera, experience, immersive, outer space, satellite, space, space vr, VR(CNN) -- It was lost in the confusion of the Oscar envelope snafu, but "Moonlight" made history.
The coming-of-age drama about a gay black man growing up in Miami became the first film with an all-black cast to win the Academy Award for best picture.
The movie, whose cast includes best supporting actor winner Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes and Janelle Monáe, has been a critical darling during awards season.
With the win, it shattered a glass ceiling for black films.
"Very clearly, even in my dreams this could not be true," director Barry Jenkins said in amazement when it was announced that "Moonlight," not "La La Land," had won. "But to hell with dreams, I'm done with it, 'cause this is true. Oh my goodness."
In 2014, "12 Years a Slave" won best picture, but its cast was not all black.
Both "Moonlight" and "12 Years" were produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B company.
"Moonlight" made Oscar history in other ways.
Ali, who played a sympathetic drug dealer who mentors a bullied young man, is the first Muslim actor to win best supporting actor.
Jenkins became the first African American to score nominations for best director, best picture and best adapted screenplay in the same year. The film's co-editor, Joi McMillon, became the first African American to earn a nomination for achievement in film editing.
The "Moonlight" win came in a year in which the Academy has been hailed for more diversity.
White actors had especially dominated the major acting categories for two years, giving rise to the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag. This year, seven of the 20 nominees were people of color.
Viola Davis, who won best supporting actress, became only the second black woman to win an Emmy, an Oscar and a Tony for acting. Whoopi Goldberg is the other, and the only black actor to have a so-called EGOT -- an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar.
April Reign, who created the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, tweeted Sunday night about the importance of the evening.
"Viola, Mahershala, and the wins for Moonlight happened because they were DESERVED," she wrote. "Not because of #OscarsSoWhite. I want that very clear."
Earlier in the evening, Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, who wrote the play that became "Moonlight" and co-wrote the screenplay, won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay. The pair paid homage to the disenfranchised in their acceptance speech for that award.
Jenkins said: "All you people out there who feel like there's no mirror for you, that your life is not reflected, the Academy has your back, the ACLU has your back, we have your back and for the next four years we will not leave you alone, we will not forget you."Kellyanne Conway's casual invocation of a make-believe massacre in Ohio shouldn't be dismissed simply as a slip of the tongue. Comparing Conway's lie to Uzbek propaganda tactics, Central Asia scholar Sarah Kendzior argues that the Bowling Green massacre should be viewed as a part of a broader initiative to demonize Muslims and create an alternate history of terrorist threat in America.
Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to Donald Trump, told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Feb. 2 that two Iraqis orchestrated the “Bowling Green Massacre” in 2011. This, she said, prompted the Obama administration to place a six-month ban on refugees from Iraq. According to Conway, the reason we have never heard of this bloodbath on Kentucky soil is “because it didn’t get covered.”
There is a reason the Bowling Green Massacre didn’t get covered: It never happened. Everything about the story, from the existence of the massacre to the subsequent ban on refugees, was invented in order to justify the Trump administration’s own ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Conway is notorious for coining the phrase “alternative facts” to describe lies, first dropping it in late January to claim that Trump’s inauguration had drawn record crowds instead of its actual middling turnout. Trump lied flagrantly throughout his campaign, often with the explicit purpose of denigrating Muslims, claiming falsely that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheered 9/11 and that Syrian refugees are common participants in terrorist plots.
These lies have now translated into actual policy, including the proposed renaming of the anti-terrorist program “Countering Violent Extremism”—which had investigated violent acts carried out by some of Trump’s white supremacist supporters—to “Countering Islamic Extremism,” which shifts the focus of investigation to Muslims, who commit a comparatively small number of terrorist acts in the U.S.
This endless recitation of blatant lies by American policy officials is somewhat new, though one can see its roots in the Bush administration’s fraudulent tales of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and in Karl Rove’s 2004 claim that “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.” For those who study authoritarian states, however, these kinds of easily disprovable lies are all too familiar. The purpose of an obvious lie is not to deceive, but to assert state power. To lie in this way is to say to the public, “We know you know that we are lying, but we do not care, because you have no control over this situation.”
Conway’s fabricated “Bowling Green Massacre” was quickly debunked and widely mocked. Though conspiracy theories and disinformation have now become a regular part of U.S. discourse—a practice encouraged and enabled by the Trump regime—U.S. citizens still have the freedom to document what we see and to say what we know. Our memories have not yet been officially rewritten.
But Conway and other members of the Trump administration’s continual gaslighting of the U.S. public is dangerous nonetheless. Constructing parables of fictional violence strips us of the ability to trust our leaders and assess the state of our national security, leading to a combination of cynicism and paranoia. If an actual terrorist attack occurs, citizens may be left scrambling for reliable information. Moreover, the administration’s lies are aimed at scapegoating a religious minority: Trump has been pounding the drumbeat of “radical Islamic terrorism” for over a year, lumping in all Muslims with the very small number who have violent aims.
As a scholar of Uzbekistan, I watched the same propaganda tactics play out a decade ago, with terrible results. For 25 years, Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, was ruled by the dictator Islam Karimov, a communist apparatchik who assumed the presidency in 1991 and remained there until he died in the summer of 2016.
Upon assuming power in the newly independent state, Karimov took a series of steps Americans may soon recognize. He purged the political opposition, distracted the public with slogans and spectacles, declared war on the media, expanded the military and surveillance apparatus, reduced the majlis (parliament) to lackeys who rubber-stamped the directives of his elusive inner circle, abused executive power to gain wealth for himself and his family, made the judiciary subservient to his own objectives, and proclaimed he was making Uzbekistan great again. Karimov emphasized that citizens were in constant danger from both domestic dissidents and foreign terrorists, and that the greatest danger of all was posed by Muslim extremists who—if not for Karimov’s vigilance—would destroy Uzbekistan.
As Karimov persecuted both real and perceived enemies and consolidated his power, Uzbekistan’s political and economic conditions deteriorated. A brief period of relative openness in the 1990s—still a period of moderate authoritarianism, to be clear—gave way to some of the harshest repression of free speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly in the world. In May 2005, these tensions came to a deadly culmination in the eastern city of Andijon, where over 10,000 Uzbeks came out to protest the jailing of pious Muslim businessmen under false pretenses as well as the declining economy and lack of civil liberties. The protests attracted a large number of curious bystanders, some of whom were hopeful Karimov would arrive and address their concerns. Instead they were greeted with military fire. The government slaughtered over 700 citizens, including children.
This was the worst bloodshed in the history of independent Uzbekistan, and Karimov quickly tried to control the flow of information, expelling both foreign and Uzbek journalists from the country and censoring the news. Even stating that the Andijon massacre had happened became a crime: The Uzbek folk singer Dadaxon Hasanov, for example, was persecuted for merely writing a song called “There was a massacre in Andijon,” and citizens were arrested for playing it. But in order to truly direct the narrative, the Uzbek government needed more than just censorship. They needed a scapegoat. And that is how the invented terrorist group “Akromiya” came into play.
The Uzbek government used the name Akromiya to describe a loose collective of imprisoned businessmen who had been inspired by a tract written by an Uzbek intellectual named Akrom Yo’ldoshev. There was no actual organized terrorist group called Akromiya; Uzbeks accused of being members—and paraded on television in elaborate show trials—found the idea of such a group baffling. But the origins of Akromiya contain parallels with Conway’s invocation of a fake Kentucky massacre: The government created Akromiya as a foundation on which to base future persecution.
The term Akromiya first appeared in 2000 in a state encyclopedia written by Zuhriddin Husniddinov, a former member of the Uzbek national security services who was then working primarily as a state propagandist for Karimov, much like what Conway does for Trump. In the encyclopedia, after giving a fictional rendering of Yo’ldoshev’s tract, Husniddinov outlined Akromiya’s nefarious plan to carry out civilian attacks—a plan that, again, did not exist. (Yo’ldoshev’s actual text was a set of musings on Islam that did not even contain the word “Uzbekistan,” much less call for its destruction.) Husniddinov invented Akromiya by drawing on preexisting tropes about Islamic terrorism that resonated with the Uzbek population—much as Conway did in her discussion of the “Bowling Green Massacre.”
CONWAY’S CASUAL INVOCATION OF A MAKE-BELIEVE MASSACRE SHOULD BE VIEWED AS A PART OF A BROADER INITIATIVE TO DEMONIZE MUSLIMS.
Later, when witnesses to the Andijon massacre and devout Muslims were being rounded up as “Akromiya” members, state-sanctioned academics cited additional spurious evidence. These scholars used, in other words, “alternative facts”—lies imbued with authority due to the power of those who utter them. The results of this fabrication were threefold: It changed the account of an actual slaughter committed by the Uzbek government; it enabled the persecution of innocent citizens who witnessed it under the pretext of fighting terrorism; and it contributed to the notion that “radical Islamic terrorism” was the primary threat facing Uzbekistan, drawing attention away from the abuses of the Karimov regime.
There are obviously enormous differences in the history and politics of the United States and Uzbekistan, but under the Trump administration, the former is increasingly using propaganda tactics common in the latter. Conway’s casual invocation of a make-believe massacre should be viewed as a part of a broader initiative to demonize Muslims and create an alternate history of terrorist threat in America. The flagrancy of the lie should be noted as emblematic of a regime that does not fear consequences for deception or abuse of authority.
It was easy to debunk the Bowling Green Massacre. It was less easy to debunk Akromiya given Uzbekistan’s tight control of media and sources—including photographs, interviews, and works of state propaganda that were difficult to access from the West—but I managed to do it in 2006, publishing the results of months of research in a peer-reviewed paper that was used by various human rights organizations to help refugees falsely accused of Akromiya membership get asylum in the U.S. Those Uzbek refugees, a decade later, are now potential targets of the Trump administration due to their religious faith.
What has changed in the last decade is the nature of Western governments and especially the government of the U.S., which now openly violates human rights and vilifies Muslims while abandoning even the pretense of democratic norms and values. I am writing this on day 14 of the Trump administration, and as I do, an alert has popped up from The New York Times telling me over 100,000 visas have been revoked due to U.S. executive orders protested as inhumane and unconstitutional by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. By the time you read my words, I do not know what other atrocities will have transpired.
The propaganda tactics of a Central Asian dictatorship I studied from afar are being practiced by my own government. There is no refuge for the persecuted, and there is no escape from the state’s constant lies. Much as the U.S. has its fake Bowling Green Massacre, it may well have its own version of Akromiya in the future, with innocents designated as terrorists in order to suppress domestic dissent. This maneuver is fairly standard in authoritarian regimes, particularly ones with skilled propagandists.
Conway’s words, therefore, should not be dismissed merely as disprovable nonsense. They should be heeded as a warning and viewed as a contribution to a greater narrative, one that the government may insert into public life whenever it deems necessary, much as the government of Uzbekistan did in 2005.
Copyright © 2017 World Policy Institute
2017Jackie Evancho, the 16-year-old “America’s Got Talent” star who performed the national anthem at Donald Trump’s inauguration, has spoken out against the president for his decision to rescind Obama Administration-era protections for transgender public school students.
Evancho has an older transgender sister, 18-year-old Juliet, who is currently suing her Pittsburgh school district for refusing to allow trans students to use identity-corresponding bathrooms.
It was reported today by the New York Times that Trump intends to reverse the Obama Administration’s guidance that public schools nationwide should allow transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
Also Read: Trump to Reverse Obama's Transgender Bathroom Guidelines
Evancho decided to perform the national anthem at last month’s inauguration despite criticism from LGBT activists. She said she wanted to unite the country with her performance.
“I hope to just kind of make everyone forget about rivals and politics for a second and just think about America and the pretty song that I’m singing,” she said.
Also Read: GLAAD Beefs Up Staff Over 'Rising Threats' to LGBTQ Community in Trump Era (Exclusive)
In an interview with CBS News prior to the inauguration, Juliet Evancho said she supported her sister’s decision to perform on Capitol Hill, but did not express her feelings about Trump.
“”The way I look at it is, Jackie is singing for our country, and it’s an honor for her to be singing in front of so many people,” she said. “So I feel like that’s really where I look at it. And that’s where I’m going to leave it right now.”Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, May 10, 2011. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/files
REUTERS - U.S. federal agents are investigating whether high-speed trading companies violate U.S. laws by using fast-moving market information not available to other traders, a FBI spokesman confirmed on Monday.
Launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about a year ago, the investigation called the High-Speed Trading Initiative, is still in its primary stages, a senior FBI official and an agency spokesman told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story.
The spokesman who spoke to the Journal said high-speed trading based on information about orders that other investors do not have access to and hence putting them at a disadvantage could violate insider-trading laws.
Separately, an FBI spokesman, who did not want to be identified by name, told Reuters the agency was probing high-frequency traders front-running others’ trades by getting to exchanges first, among other areas.
The spokesman said a big trade, such as bank shorting a million shares of a company under investigation, could be considered a material event.
The FBI has deployed a large number of agents, looking at proprietary-trading outfits as well as fast-trading operations at brokers who buy and sell orders on behalf of clients, such as mutual funds and pension plans, the Journal said.
Regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that oversees broker dealers are working with the FBI on the probe, the Journal reported.An 87-year-old woman said she was left "petrified" after being punched by a teenager on a bus.
The youngster, a 14-year-old girl, was sentenced to four months in detention for the assault on the pensioner while on the 166 bus through Croydon last October.
During a sentencing hearing at Croydon Youth Court on Thursday, the court heard that the victim, Marion, had been left "changed" by the attack and was "always looking over her shoulder".
Reading her statement, Jonathan Efemini, prosecuting, said: "I enjoyed using the buses, the independence they gave me, and I liked talking to the drivers.
Ms Endecott is punched in the face by the 14-year-old girl (Metropolitan Police)
"Since I was attacked I am now so frightened.
"It has changed me. I am now always looking over my shoulder. I am petrified of bumping into the girl who punched me.
"Even in my house, when I hear a creak, I get scared someone is there."
The court heard that Marion was so traumatised by the event - which left her with painful bruising for almost a month - that she had to live with her daughter for two weeks.
"When I shut my eyes, especially when I go to the bus stop where it happened, I see her fist coming towards me. It's frightening," Mr Efemini read.
"Sometimes I go to sleep with the lights on. I never used to, but I feel better with them on."
The defendant, who cannot be named because of her age, admitted the attack at around 3.20pm on Friday October 16, following an argument with the bus driver.
Mr Efemini told the court that she had boarded the bus with another female, but refused to pay the fare.
After a row, the victim stood up to leave the bus because she did not want to be delayed and lived nearby.
The court heard that the defendant laughed, and when Marion said that it was not funny, she responded by punching her in the face.
The victim suffered bruising and swelling to her left eye and was taken to St Helier Hospital for treatment.
District judge Peter Greenfield gave the defendant the maximum possible detention sentence for her age and said: "This is very serious.
"If the victim had fallen back it could have killed her.
"I cannot fathom this at all. You clearly must have known the victim was older and vulnerable.
"It was a random attack on a clearly very vulnerable woman."
Raheema Jamal, mitigating, said the defendant, who lives in care and has a previous conviction for assault, had a troubled childhood which contributed to her actions.
But commenting on a police interview with the defendant, Judge Greenwood said: "You seemed to apportion blame on the lady, which is incredible.
"She was an innocent victim."
The judge sentenced the youngster to 16 weeks detention and training for common assault.
She will spend half the time in detention before undergoing a rehabilitation programme.
During the hearing, the defendant also pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal damage after throwing a table into a window at her home earlier this month.
Judge Greenfield described her as a "persistent offender" but did not award a separate sentence.Reports emerged yesterday that the Padres and Rays were discussing a deal that would send outfielder Wil Myers to San Diego. Subsequent reports greatly expanded the possibilities of that deal, including multi-team concepts, different packages from San Diego, and spin-off deals. If you would like to catch up on the earlier rumors, follow the page break link.
Various reports have indicated that a deal is close but that multiple different permutations are still in play. Here’s the latest, from this morning on:
Jim Bowden of ESPN.com reports on Twitter that the deal is done, while Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that it is nearing the finish line. No draft choices will be moved in the deal, says Sherman.
The Rays are down to two possible scenarios, and are waiting to hear whether the Nationals are in or out, Topkin tweets. Regardless, Tampa is set to move Myers, Hanigan, and two lower-level minor league players. On its end, San Diego would send Rivera, Smith, and Bauers, as well as Ross and Turner. It appears that Tampa would either keep the latter two players or flip them to D.C. for Souza and an A-ball lefty. (Twitter links.) Turner, of course, was taken 13th overall in last year’s draft and would therefore need to be included as a player to be named later.
Lefty Jose Castillo is one of the other players that would move from Tampa, ESPN.com’s Keith Law hears (Twitter link). Since signing to a $1.55MM bonus, the 18-year-old Venezuelan has spent each of the last two years with the Rays’ Rookie league affiliate, mostly as a reliever. Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs recently gave an update on Castillo in his Rays prospect breakdown, noting that the projectable hurler has a big fastball and has returned to health after sitting out much of 2014 with a tender arm.
is one of the other players that would move from Tampa, ESPN.com’s Keith Law hears (Twitter link). Since signing to a $1.55MM bonus, the 18-year-old Venezuelan has spent each of the last two years with the Rays’ Rookie league affiliate, mostly as a reliever. Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs recently gave an update on Castillo in his Rays prospect breakdown, noting that the projectable hurler has a big fastball and has returned to health after sitting out much of 2014 with a tender arm. Another young lefty, Travis Ott, appears to be the final name in this potential scenario, according to a report from Rosenthal (Twitter links). Rosenthal cautions that this is not a final agreement, but the scenario a source outlined for him, and adds that competitive balance picks could also be a component. (The Padres have the fifth competitive balance Round A choice, which is currently the 41st overall choice.)
Earlier Updates
12:02am: A big deal is in the works between San Diego and Tampa, but it will not go through until the morning at the earliest, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com tweets.
YESTERDAY, 10:19pm: A Padres official says the club is “still working,” Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets.
8:40pm: Passan tweets that there’s a chance that the players acquired in a potential Myers deal could be flipped to another club. While the deal currently being discussed only involved Tampa and San Diego, he gets the sense that the situation could mirror the Dodgers’ acquisition of Andrew Heaney (who was, of course, flipped to the Angels just hours after being acquired). While Passan doesn’t specify, I’d imagine that the Padres are more apt to hang onto Myers than flip him.
Topkin tweets, however, that it’s possible that a third team is indeed in the mix, further complicating the picture.
7:12pm: Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets that there is “significant optimism” that a trade sending Myers to San Diego will be completed. A deal is said to be very close, according to Passan. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports hears the trade is “said to have a chance,” and he’s also heard Smith’s name as a potential component (Twitter link).
6:45pm: The Rays and Padres have discussed a number of possibilities, but nothing is close enough regarding Myers for a deal to get done tonight, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Bowden tweets that the Padres are not yet out on Upton either.
5:52pm: Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio tweets that Padres catching prospect Austin Hedges’ name has also come up in trade talks surrounding Myers.
5:48pm: The Rays have recently been inquiring about Padres farmhands Matt Wisler, Burch Smith and R.J. Alvarez recently, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo, who adds that the trio has likely come up in Myers trade talks.
4:56pm: The Padres and Rays are in discussion on a significant trade that would send Wil Myers to San Diego in exchange for some of the Padres’ better young prospects, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Rosenthal notes that it’s not certain whether a trade is particularly close at this time, but an acquisition of Myers would likely take the Padres out of the running for Atlanta’s Justin Upton.
San Diego GM A.J. Preller has taken a dogged approach to acquiring bats this offseason, casting a wide net and touching base on a number of players including Pablo Sandoval, Yasmany Tomas, Jay Bruce and Upton. Of course, Preller’s club has an agreement to acquire Matt Kemp from the division-rival Dodgers as well.
A deal for Myers may be more pragmatic than an acquisition of Upton, who is under team control for only the 2015 season at a not-insignificant price of $14.5MM. Myers, on the other hand, is under control for another five seasons. The 2013 American League Rookie of the Year missed much of the 2014 season with a broken wrist, which is a large part of the reason that he batted just.222/.294/.320 when on the field. However, when he was fully healthy a year prior, Myers posted an outstanding.293/.354/.478 triple-slash to go along with 13 homers in 373 plate appearances. He, of course, was the centerpiece of the blockbuster trade that sent James Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City.Audio We Talk About The Liberated Lobsters On The Bob and Sheri Radio Show In Charlotte-
Click the link below to hear the audio interview
Joey C Interviewed by Bob and Cheri In Charlotte
I was wrong to assume that because I predominantly write our hyperlocal blog for our Cape Ann residents that people would understand how preposterous the notion that you could have time to move all the lobster gear even if they knew where the lobsters were released and to set it and for those lobsters which were probably miles away from that location would ever get caught.
I was obviously wrong and people did not understand with the outlandishness of it all that it was a joke.
It’s on me.
What I am happy for is that the releasing of the lobster story which would have been a simple story largely forgotten by now has gotten huge legs and all the positives of Buddhism are highlighted. For that I am grateful.
For those of you who would like to learn more about Chokhor Duchen click to find out.
You know the craziest part? So many people think I’m hatin on Buddhism, but I download a Buddhhism podcast from this guy that Lindsay Crouse recommended that I listen to- Lama Marut.
Check him out, the guy makes a lot of sense.
http://www.lamamarut.org/
also sign up for the upcoming Summer Retreat, here are our interviews talking about the upcoming 2011 Summer Retreat-
For More Info-
For more info-
http://www.thesummerretreat.com/
Receiving the coordinates of where the lobsters were released the boys went out yesterday and hauled the lobster traps they set all over that ocean bottom and caught exactly 534 lobsters, the precise number the monks released.
Thank you and come again next year Mr Buddhist monks, we would like to invite you back again and again to purchase our lobsters and “restock the pond”
From Reuters-
GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Instead of plunging headfirst to their death in a pot of boiling water, 534 live lobsters escaped the dinner plate and belly flopped to freedom into the dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean. A group of Tibetan Buddhists flanked the sides of a whale-watching boat at dusk on Wednesday, sprayed the lobsters with blessed water, clipped the bands binding their dangerous claws and gently released them one by one into the deep water below.
Video coming from our boys, the crew of the mighty Degelyse-
More pics and lots of video to comeAs most people know by now, celebrated film critic Roger Ebert passed away yesterday. He was 70 years old. No cause of death has been disclosed as of yet, though his battle with cancer in recent years has been well publicized. Though Ebert will always be best known for his passion for movies. As many others have pointed out already, Roger Ebert might be the most recognizable film critic of this generation.
What made Ebert so noteworthy was not just his encyclopedic love for motion pictures, but how he was able to convey said thoughts and emotions to the every man. Before him, film criticism was simply the domain of snooty academics, but not after. It can also be argued that his trailblazing work has had a profound influence on all forms of critique. Even game journalism.
Though speaking of, Roger Ebert is no stranger to gamers either, but many were not particularly fond of the man. Mostly due to his belief that video games was not art, nor could it ever be. It's a stance that Ebert would go back and forth on, for many years, but for a while he was the poster child of "the old media guard" that simply "didn't get it."
But in retrospect, and even during his lifetime, there are some of us who believe his bombastic opinions of the medium was nothing but the brightest of positives. Because it created dialogue that helped to stir the passions of those involved, and those on the side line, who sometimes became involved as a direct result, to help champion the validity of video games and give it a voice.
Ebert's passing is sad, but also ironic. Just two days before his death, Ebert updated his blog, in which he addressed his forthcoming 46th year anniversary as a film critic, which was the following day. There he detailed the road ahead, which included plans for a number of projects. Including…
"Ebertfest, my annual film festival, celebrating its 15th year, will continue at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, my alma mater and home town, April 17-21. In response to your repeated requests to bring back the TV show "At the Movies," I am launching a fundraising campaign via Kickstarter in the next couple of weeks. And gamers beware, I am even thinking about a movie version of a video game or mobile app. Once completed, you can engage me in debate on whether you think it is art."
As noted, Ebert's stance on gaming got under the skin of many who adore the medium, and the man clearly enjoyed the reactions he received, along with the exchanges that ensued. It's a shame that we'll never see this movie based on a game or app that he spoke of, since it would have no doubt generated even more discussion and debate.
And in the end, no matter its view on gaming and gamers, whether positive or negative, it would have reminded us all of how much love there is for video games.Signup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world
Israel’s surrogacy bill passed its first reading through the Knesset on Monday, overcoming a hurdle and becoming one step closer to law.
The bill, first announced in January, is intended to stop the need for gay Israeli couples to go abroad to adopt by granting same |
Political Report:
This is a tidal wave. — Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 8, 2017
From Bloomberg's Jennifer Epstein:
Two House Republicans announced their retirements today BEFORE tonight's results became clear. Going to be many more to come. — Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) November 8, 2017
The Post's Paul Kane:
The worst House Dem retirements in '09-'10 (Tanner, Gordon, other Blue Dogs) came soon after McDonnell won #VAGOV 2009 in a blowout. — Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) November 8, 2017
Weigel:
Dems have won all three of the marquee off-year races -- NJGov, VAGov, NYC Mayor -- for the first time since 1989. — Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) November 8, 2017
And the Post's Mike DeBonis, on the infinitesimal half life of Trump's loyalty to fellow Republicans down on their luck:
The wheels on the bus go bump, bump, bump.... https://t.co/syAriK0jxF — Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) November 8, 2017
Senate Committee Subpoenaed Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer A Senate committee moved last month to force former Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer to testify in a hearing Wednesday about corporate data breaches, after she initially declined lawmakers’ invitation. WSJ
POCKET CHANGE
How Business Titans, Pop Stars and Royals Hide Their Wealth Records from an offshore hideaway show how an American billionaire grew one of the world’s largest trusts and another owned part of a company accused of exploiting the poor. NYT
Ackman Is Defeated in Activist Bid to Jolt ADP Board The billionaire hedge fund manager William A. Ackman suffered a stinging rebuke on Tuesday when his campaign to shake up the $50 billion payroll-processing firm failed. NYT
TRUMP TRACKER
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
— Ross appears to have misled reporters to get on Forbes list. Some stunning stuff from the magazine that maintains the world ranking of billionaires. Forbes's Dan Alexander: "Fresh off a tour through Thailand, Laos and China, United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr. picked up the phone on a Sunday afternoon in October to discuss something deeply personal: how much money he has. A year earlier, Forbes had listed his net worth at $2.9 billion on The Forbes 400, a number Ross claimed was far too low: He maintained he was closer to $3.7 billion. Now, after examining the financial-disclosure forms he filed after his nomination to President Donald Trump's Cabinet, which showed less than $700 million in assets, Forbes was intent on removing him entirely...
So began the mystery of Wilbur Ross' missing $2 billion. And after one month of digging, Forbes is confident it has found the answer: That money never existed. It seems clear that Ross lied to us, the latest in an apparent sequence of fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers that have been going on with Forbes since 2004. In addition to just padding his ego, Ross' machinations helped bolster his standing in a way that translated into business opportunities. And based on our interviews with ten former employees at Ross' private equity firm, WL Ross & Co., who all confirmed parts of the same story line, his penchant for misleading extended to colleagues and investors, resulting in millions of dollars in fines, tens of millions refunded to backers and numerous lawsuits. "
RUSSIA WATCH:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
— Sessions to face Papadapoulos questions. Politico's Kyle Cheney and Elana Schor: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions will appear before the House Judiciary Committee next week, and Democrats said Tuesday they’re prepared to pepper him with questions about a campaign adviser who attempted to broker a meeting between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sessions — a top policy adviser to the Trump campaign last year — has flummoxed lawmakers with his accounts of his own contacts with Russian officials during the campaign. Now he faces new scrutiny about how much he knew about the adviser, George Papadopoulos, who has since pleaded guilty for lying to investigators about his own attempts to parlay contacts with the Russian government into an advantage for the Trump campaign."
— Trump camp knew about Carter Page trip to Moscow. Axios's Alayna Treene: "Page also admitted to meeting with high-level Russian officials, and said he relayed that information to his campaign supervisors... It's long been known that Page, who has become a key figure in the Russia investigation, traveled to Moscow in 2016. But prior to his testimony he maintained that it was in a private capacity, and unrelated to his role with the Trump campaign. However, the transcript reveals that top members of the Trump camp knew more than they have let on."
CHART TOPPER
"It’s not just Rand Paul’s street: Americans are a lot less neighborly than they used to be," writes The Post's Christopher Ingraham:
What Rand Paul's Grass Trimmings Say About Social Capital in America Today https://t.co/0DUWfsiX4w pic.twitter.com/HxttDBwz2i — Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) November 7, 2017
People are least likely to socialize with neighbors in cities, bc hell is other people and cities are full of them https://t.co/FifgJixY7e pic.twitter.com/Bo9d680hKN — Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) November 7, 2017
DAYBOOK
Today
The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade holds a hearing on “Administration Priorities for the International Financial Institutions.”
The Professional Risk Managers’ International Association holds an event on redefining financial services regulation.
The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance holds a hearing on “Treasury’s Role in Safeguarding the American Financial System.”
The Washington Examiner holds an event on the tax reform bill with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.)
Coming Up
The Peterson Institute for International Economics holds an event on the policy implications of sustained low productivity growth on Thursday.
. The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance holds a hearing on “The Role of Ginnie Mae in the Housing Finance System” on Thursday
THE FUNNIES
From The Post's Tom Toles: "The Republicans went off to change the tax code and all you got was this lousy thank you:"
BULL SESSION
Republicans are trying humor to promote their tax plan:
Democrats call GOP tax plan a'scam,' citing cut to student loan program:
After the shooting in Texas, House Speaker Paul Ryan said "enforcing the laws we got on the books" on guns is the solution:
Here’s what happened in Virginia’s 2017 election:
Trevor Noah says former Trump adviser Carter Page has a tell:The Cisco RV 220W Wireless-N VPN Firewall has been added to the Router and Wireless Charts.
The RV 220W is a PPTP / IPsec / SSL VPN router with Gigabit ports and integrated switchable 2.4 / 5 GHz 802.11n access point positioned for the small business market.
Cisco has packed a lot into the 220W, which appears to be its new top-of-line SMB wireless router. It has an all-metal case (except for plastic front panel), upgradeable antennas (RP-SMA connectors) and bottom mounting slots for mounting flexibility.
The four-port 10/100/1000 port switch has a good set of basic managed switch features including Jumbo Frames (disabled by default), port and tag-based VLANs with inter-VLAN routing, port enable / duplex / speed settings and priority, rate-based and 802.1p QoS for LAN to WAN traffic.
Routing features include DHCP reservation, NAT / routing mode, static routes, dynamic DNS clients for TZO and DynDNS, one-to-one NAT, schedulable rule-based firewall, URL-based content filtering, traffic meter and remote management. Connection to the web-based administration is via HTTPs by default but can be switched to HTTP.
On the wireless side, the switchable dual-band radio supports four SSID, each with its own security settings. You can lower the maximum number of associated clients per SSID from the default of 20 and enable AP Isolation, which will keep clients from seeing each other. I didn't find any controls, however, to keep wireless traffic from connecting to wired LAN clients, for setting up "guest" Internet-only access, for example.
The 220W's main attraction is its flexible VPN features. It can handle IPsec / PPTP / L2TP passthrough, act as a PPTP server, handle 25 site-to-site or client-to-gateway IPsec tunnels and 5 SSL connections. You can check the full feature set in the PDF user guide.
Like its lower-cost RV 120W sibling [reviewed], the RV 220W runs on a Cavium Octeon Plus CN5010 CPU, but clocked at 400 MHz vs. 300 MHz on the 120W. The CPU is under the darker heatsink in the photo below.
Other key 220W components include a Broadcom BCM53115 Gigabit switch, 128 MB of RAM and 32 MB of flash. The component detail photo below has CPU and switch heatsinks removed and the radio mini-PCI board removed.
The radio module pictured below uses the same Broadcom BCM4322 Intensi-fi Single-Chip 802.11n Transceiver used in the RV 120W. But it's a different module that has components allowing switchable dual-band operation.
Routing throughput running the latest 1.0.1.0 firmware and our router test process measured 728 Mbps LAN to WAN, 720 Mbps WAN to LAN and 1113 Mbps totally with up and down tests running simultaneously. This is a new high on the Routing throughput charts. The Maximum Simultaneous Connections maxed out our test capability at 34,925.
The IxChariot plot below shows significant throughput variation. But that is more an artifact of the test file size than the router itself.
On the wireless side, the RV 220W is Wi-Fi Certified and properly defaults to 20 MHz bandwidth mode out of the box. It also properly limits link rates to 54 Mbps when using WEP security. I couldn't test for 54 Mbps link limit for WPA / TKIP because the router only allows mixed TKIP+AES. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is not supported, which is not surprising, given the business focus of the product.
Also of note is that when Auto bandwidth mode is selected on either band, you can't set the channel.
Highest 2.4 GHz throughput of 61.5 Mbps was measured using our wireless test process in Location A running downlink in 20 MHz bandwidth mode. Highest 5 GHz band throughput of 69.8 Mbps was again in Location A, but downlink with 40 MHz (Auto) bandwidth mode.
Compared to other routers, I'd classify the 220W's wireless performance as average; not the best, but not the worst. Uplink speeds were generally lower than downlink, however. And switching to Auto bandwidth mode to enable channel bonding did not appear to significantly improve speeds on either band.
Comparing the 220W to two leading dual-band consumer routers, the 2.4 GHz performance table below shows in-the-ballpark performance in 20 MHz bandwidth mode. But for 40 MHz bandwidth mode, the 220W still putts along at 20 MHz mode-like speeds, while the NETGEAR WNDR3700 and Cisco Linksys E4200 bump up to significantly higher throughput.
In case you're wondering, I did check to see that higher link rates indicative of 40 MHz mode were being used when I ran the 40 MHz mode tests.
The 5 GHz table shows that, like most other routers, the 220W failed to provide connection in our low-signal test locations E and F. Throughput at our marginal test location D came in generally lower than the comparison products.
Here are links to the IxChariot wireless test plots if you'd like to explore further:
You can further explore the RV 220W's performance and compare to other products using the Router and Wireless Charts. Or read the full review.When porn meets real motherhood An adult star photographed breast-feeding is accused of exposing her baby to pedophiles
What we have here is a tempest in a porn star's breast pump -- and it reveals just how discomfiting some find the overlap between sex and motherhood.
Just weeks after adult actress Madison Young gave birth, she launched an art exhibit titled "Becoming MILF." The idea was that she would explore how she now embodies a contradiction, the dichotomy to end all dichotomies -- that of the Madonna and the whore. At the show's opening, she served up self-made breast milkshakes and displayed a baby quilt made of burp cloths and "porn star panties." Surely it goes without saying that this sort of art doesn't appeal to everyone, or most, but it's brought about criticism from the unlikeliest of sources: a fellow pornographer.
Advertisement:
I'm less interested in the sex worker Twitter war that has ensued than in how the controversy taps into culture-wide mommy issues, but the details are like so: Sex worker activist Furry Girl (presumably a stage name) took to Twitter to criticize Young for publicly breast-feeding -- in a recent photograph, video blog and at a live event. She tweeted that only "creeps & pedophiles" are interested in seeing a porn star breast-feed and insinuated that exposing her child to such an audience was abusive: "It's funny to see how many feminist kinksters don't think consent matters when it comes to creating erotic art w/ a baby." She called Young "a revolting person" and dubbed her defenders "baby fetishists" and "pedos."
Given the degree of vitriol, you might be imagining a debauched scenario in which Young breast-fed her child in a freaky fetish film -- but nothing of the sort took place. Her alleged crimes are as follows: She posed for a black-and-white photograph dressed up like Marilyn Monroe while clutching her daughter to her bare breast. (The symbolism is not too subtle.) Then, in a video clip posted to her blog, she nonchalantly breast-fed while announcing that she would nurse live and in-person at an upcoming event meant to promote "health awareness for our queer, kinky and sex positive communities." Then, at said event, Young delivered on the promise while talking about... breast health. Other presenters talked about such titillating topics as breast cancer, antiretroviral drugs and safe sex. It wasn't a sex party; it was an adult sex-ed class hosted by sex workers.
The emotional response to her public breast-feeding conveys the Madonna/whore dichotomy better than Young could ever hope to do with her kitschy quilt and breast milkshakes. The idea that there is something inherently prurient about a porn star breast-feeding plays right into that classic either-or thinking: Her breasts are erotic in one venue, so they can't be wholesome in another. It's a wonder anyone lets her breast-feed at all! On the one hand, it's surprising to see this attitude coming from a pornographer; on the other hand, it's perfectly appropriate given the way motherhood is fetishized in porn.
It isn't just porn stars who are chastised when their breasts suddenly become utilitarian, though. We Americans love us some boobs, until they're desexualized -- then they seem obscene. Just think of all the moms who have been kicked out of restaurants for flashing a wee bit of cleavage while trying to feed their fussy newborn. That isn't to mention the disgust directed at women who dare talk about the physical pleasures of breast-feeding. We don't like to think of moms as sexual beings -- except for in the taboo-busting world of porn (paging Dr. Freud). It's fitting for a porn star mama, the rare industry "MILF" who is actually a mom, to remind folks that, generally speaking, one has to have sex in order to become a mom.
Maybe the other lesson here is that sexual objectification is the worst when you don't choose it. As Young tweeted to her critic, "[T]he only one sexualizing this image of me breastfeeding is you. Which makes me feel truly disgusted and violated."DES MOINES — When defending his plan to shift management of the state’s $5 billion Medicaid program to private companies, Gov. Terry Branstad often says 39 other states have taken similar action.
Only a handful of states, however, have moved as many Medicaid patients to private management as Iowa has planned.
Iowa has been among those 39 states that deliver at least some Medicaid services through private companies, also called managed-care organizations, or MCOs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization that researches and studies national health issues and U.S. health policy.
If Iowa’s Medicaid managed-care plan is implemented March 1, however, it will join a much smaller group of states with the vast majority of its Medicaid patients served by private companies.
Roughly 630,000 Iowa residents receive Medicaid services, and all but 50,000 would be covered by managed-care organizations under the governor’s plan, according to the state Department of Human Services.
That means about 92 percent of Iowa’s Medicaid population would be covered by the out-of-state companies under the governor’s plan. Only five other states have 92 percent or more of their Medicaid patients covered by managed-care organizations, according to Kaiser.
Tennessee and Hawaii have their entire Medicaid population served by managed-care organizations, Kansas has 95 percent and New Jersey and Oregon 93 percent each.
Three more states have at least 90 percent of their Medicaid patients covered by managed-care organizations — Kentucky, Delaware and New Hampshire.
The most common rates of Medicaid patients under private management are between 60 percent and 80 percent of the population. Of states with managed-care organizations, 25 of the 39 states fall in that range.
In response to a question about why the governor compares Iowa’s transition to all 39 states with managed Medicaid, his office referred to a December 2015 letter from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to Iowa’s Medicaid director. In the letter, CMS said it has worked with 39 states and the District of Columbia “to transition some or all of their Medicaid beneficiaries into managed care.”
It also noted that more than 60 percent of the national Medicaid population is enrolled in managed care.
Democratic state lawmakers who oppose Branstad’s plan want to halt its implementation and go back to a fee-for-service model. That also would keep Iowa on the proportional fringes nationally: The state now has the fourth-highest rate — 51 percent — of Medicaid population in fee-for-service, Kaiser reported.
The only states with a higher rate are those with 100 percent of their Medicaid population in fee-for-service are Alaska, Connecticut and Wyoming.
Branstad in January 2015 announced his plan to shift management of the state’s Medicaid program to private health care companies. Three companies were chosen, and the program was to launch Jan. 1.
Federal officials delayed implementation, concluding after a review that the state was not adequately prepared. The program is set to launch March 1, pending final federal approval.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT NEWS AND SPORTS The day's top stories right in your inbox. I am above 13 years of age, and agree to sending policies. SIGN ME UP Thank you for signing up for our e-newsletter! You should start receiving the e-newsletters within a couple days.
Branstad and supporters said the transition to private Medicaid management will create cost efficiencies and ultimately yield more robust services and better health outcomes.
Critics have countered that the plan was rushed and implementation has been poor, and that Medicaid management by for-profit companies may lead to reduced services.
Medicaid, funded jointly by the state and federal governments, provides health care services to low-income children and seniors, and some adults and individuals with disabilities.Awer Mabil has been on the periphery with Denmark's Midtjylland but the former Reds winger is convinced toughing it out will reap long-term rewards.
The club slumped to third after their breakthrough championship of 2014-15 in the Danish Superliga.
Mabil made just nine senior appearances in his first season outside Australia.
Caltex Socceroo star in EA Sports’ world's best
"It hasn't been what I expected. To be honest, in terms of playing-wise.
"I haven't played a lot but in saying that I've had some great experience, and just because I'm not playing doesn't mean it's not going to happen," he told Goal Australia.
"It's a matter for me now about learning about the mental side of the game because the other side of the game I think I'm good at, except for defending but I'm still working on that.
"But the mental side of the game here in Europe, you have to be strong, so it's something I'm learning."
With the Superliga season having a long winter break, players only get two weeks' holiday between campaigns.
Mabil will spend part of that time in Kenya supporting his Barefoot to Boots Foundation, which provides football gear for refugees.
"It really does take football off my mind," the 20-year-old said.
"I don't want just football to control my emotions because it has too much emotions, in terms of when things are not going your way, you know what I mean?
"So that's another way of refreshing and helping at the same time."
The skilful winger concedes that he has questioned his decision to join Midtjylland at times - "sometimes I feel like 'what am I doing here, if I'm not going to play?'" - but believes the move will pay off in the long run.
"I have a dream of going to the Premier League or La Liga, so I know this is the path I have to go through and not everything's going to be handed to me," he saidThe idea of a “thin ally” within fat activism is a complicated one- both because classifying body sizes can be difficult, and because (though relative privilege because of size is a real thing) the culture of fat hatred hurts people of all sizes. For the purpose of this piece I’m talking about people who don’t identify as fat who engage in fat activism (everything from retweeting size acceptance stuff or attending rallies.) I also want to point out that, as always, I’m speaking for myself here and other fat people may disagree with what I’m about to say.
First of all, I want to talk about why I think having thin allies is important:
They aren’t subject to the “you are only trying to justify your fat!” argument
In an ideal world people would understand that our bodies need no justification. But this isn’t an ideal world and the truth is that an entire panel of fat people can have their message dismissed in less than a minute by this (totally bullshit) derailment technique and the bigotry upon which it is built.
Their privilege can mean that they are listened to
In an ideal world people would listen to fat people about our experiences and what we think is best for us. But this isn’t an ideal world and sometimes people whose prejudices get in the way of hearing what fat people are telling them are able to process the information when they hear it from a thin person.
Is this incredibly frustrating? Yes. Is it totally bullshit? Yes. Is it theoretically how social justice is supposed to work? No. Is it how it often works in real life? Yes. And I’ll point out that good allies also center fat people’s voices and work as part of their ally work and/or to give people information for future study.
It’s just nice to have someone stick up for me
As a fat person I have had tons of bad experiences with fat phobia and fat bashing where other people either joined in or sat by and did nothing while I was forced to fend for myself. So it feels really nice when someone sticks up for me, even if they are doing it “imperfectly.”
This is especially true considering the difficulties and challenges that allies face:
They put themselves in harm’s way
The fat hate trolls who are always yammering on the periphery of fat activists also target our allies with the same range of cyberbullying to threats on health, safety, and family. Many fat people avoid activism to avoid dealing with this (which is a completely legitimate choice!) so when people open themselves up to this horrific treatment to help dismantle a system that actually privileges them, I appreciate that.
Many thin allies suffer professionally in terms of professional respect, accolades, and even promotions and pay.
They will never “do it right”
Fat community is not a monolith, and members of the community have very different ideas about our goals, and how we should accomplish them. That means that every single thing someone does as an ally (including what they have been specifically asked to do by some fat activists) other people in fat community will disagree with.
Call Out Culture and Kick the Puppy Syndrome
The issue with never pleasing all the activists can become more difficult because of call out culture – where activists are often very quick to criticize someone doing what they see as imperfect ally work, sometimes harshly and very publicly. And even though allies are theoretically supposed to roll with this form of education, in the real world it can definitely hurt, and it can definitely make someone less likely to do ally work.
This can be further intensified because our allies are around and open to listening to us, while the people who are actively and purposefully engaged in fat oppression are not around and are unwilling to listen to us. When we can’t take out our frustrations on our worst oppressors, we sometimes take them out on our best allies which makes them less likely to be allies and/or puts them in a state of paralysis where they are scared to make a mistake that will not only lead to public humiliation but, they fear, actually make things worse instead of better.
I’ve definitely been guilty of unnecessarily harshly calling people out, and taking out my frustrations on allies, and it has never benefited me or my activism. The theoretical argument says that allies should just suck it up because they are not in as bad a position as fat people are, but I’m not sure that’s realistic or entirely fair, or helpful.
No cookie for you
There is a school of thought that allies shouldn’t be praised or rewarded for being allies because it’s what everyone should do. This is often expressed as the idea that you don’t get a cookie for doing what’s right.
In terms of the way that I interact with allies, I disagree with this emphatically. I think that even if it’s true theoretically, the reality is that it definitely isn’t what everyone does, and it’s difficult work with real negative consequences.
I also think it’s important to remember that allies don’t have to do this, they can stop at any time and their lives may well be better and easier for it, and often their ally work is about dismantling systems that are currently benefiting them.
So I don’t want to take allies for granted and I really appreciate people who take on ally work and I’m happy to give allies a cookie (though it will be store-bought because I can’t bake for shit.)
It doesn’t cost me anything to appreciate people, in fact it often makes me feel better to recognize people who are helping. And not for nothing but it’s certainly been my experience that giving positive feedback to my allies increases the likelihood of continued ally work (and shows other people that doing the right thing has benefits) which is something that ultimately benefits me and my work.
If You Are An Ally
Being an ally can be difficult, but that’s also part of the deal. While I stand by everything I said, I also want to be clear that none of that is a “get out of jail free” card to not be constantly educating ourselves, centering the voices of the oppressed communities we are trying to work in solidarity with, doing our own research, trying to use incidents of being called out as educational opportunities, and trying to have compassion for people who are having a difficult time and taking their frustrations out on us.
Fat Activism Conference So, for Say Something Sunday this week, I recommend you thank an ally! And if you are someone who is/wants to be an ally find a way to be an ally today – post something fat positive, challenge a fat phobic remark, spend some time researching questions you have about how to be an ally to fat activists. Speaking of research, if you want to hear a bunch of amazing speakers talk about fat activism from an intersectional perspective, then theis for you!
REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR THE FAT ACTIVISM CONFERENCE!
This year we have a kick ass line up of speakers. This is a virtual conference so you can listen by phone or computer wherever you are, and you’ll receive recordings and transcripts of each talk so that you can listen/read on your own schedule. The Conference will be held September 23-25, 2016
Like this blog? Here’s more cool stuff:
Check out the Body Confidence Blog Carnival! Eleven days of awesomeness
Like my work? Want to help me keep doing it? Become a Member! For ten bucks a month you can support size diversity activism, help keep the blog ad free, and get deals from size positive businesses as a thank you. Click here for details For ten bucks a month you can support size diversity activism, help keep the blog ad free, and get deals from size positive businesses as a thank you.
Book and Dance Class Sale! I’m on a journey to complete an I’m having a sale on all my books, DVDs, and digital downloads to help pay for it. You get books and dance classes, I get spandex clothes and bike parts. Everybody wins! If you want, I’m on a journey to complete an IRONMAN triathlon, andon all my books, DVDs, and digital downloads to help pay for it. You get books and dance classes, I get spandex clothes and bike parts. Everybody wins! If you want, you can check it out here!
I’m training for an IRONMAN! You can follow my journey at www.IronFat.comFLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The New York Jets, disheartened to hear about an 8-year-old Jets fan in Cleveland who was reportedly tackled by a drunken Browns fan after Sunday's game, reached out to the boy's family Wednesday and offered VIP treatment at a Jets home game.
Matt Higgins, the Jets' executive vice president of business operations, contacted the family after reading of its plight at 6 a.m. on Twitter. The Jets offered to fly the family to New Jersey to watch a game in a luxury suite at the New Meadowlands Stadium and receive autographed memorabilia from coach Rex Ryan and players.
The family politely declined, according to the Jets.
"It's terrible, what happened to that little boy," Higgins told ESPNNewYork.com. "As a father myself, I can say it tugs at you. We reached out to them, hoping we could raise their spirits. But, in talking to the family, they'd like to maintain their privacy. They have no plans to take us up on the offer at this time, but it's an open-ended invitation."
The boy went to the game at Cleveland Browns Stadium in a Jets jersey with his father, who was born in New York. Much to the chagrin of the local crowd, the Jets rallied for a 26-20 overtime victory. The boy's mother, identified only as Danielle by ABC affiliate WEWS because she didn't want to reveal her last name, said the fans in the stadium were great, but things got out of control outside after the game.
"Calling him a bad word, to my husband and to my son, throwing food at them," she said, according to WEWS.
When the family reached the parking lot, the situation got uglier.
"As [my husband] was walking, holding my son's hand, a guy from behind tackled him. A drunken Browns fan tackled him and pulled him out of his dad's hand. He was on the ground crying," Danielle said, according to the station.SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Southeast Asian nations are prioritizing spending on their navies and coastguards amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, but as their capabilities grow, so does the risk that any confrontation in the contested waterway will be harder to contain.
Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PICTURE WAS PROCESSED BY REUTERS TO ENHANCE QUALITY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS
Annual defense spending in Southeast Asia is projected to reach $52 billion by 2020, from an expected $42 billion this year, according to IHS Janes Defence Weekly.
The 10 nations of Southeast Asia are expected to spend $58 billion on new military kit over the next five years, with naval procurement comprising a large chunk, it said.
Much of this equipment is likely to be used in and around the South China Sea, where Beijing’s creation of artificial islands has alarmed some Asian countries and stoked tension between China’s navy and the U.S. air force.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims.
“As their capabilities in the maritime space expand, it means the range and lethality of (Southeast Asian) strike forces will also increase,” said Tim Huxley, executive director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in Asia.
“If there is a confrontation and it escalates, there is a potential for a more lethal conflict.”
The interest in beefing up maritime capabilities was apparent last week at the IMDEX Asia maritime defense show in Singapore, where regional naval chiefs and defense procurement officials mingled with contractors from the United States, Europe, Israel and other parts of Asia.
Mock-ups of state-of-the-art submarines and warships, patrol vessels and amphibious boats as well as surveillance aircraft and drones were all on display.
“I had no free time. Several senior officers visited our stand and were keen on what we had to offer,” said an executive from a major European defense contractor.
PEOPLE-SMUGGLING
It’s not all about geo-politics.
Regional governments are also concerned about piracy and the smuggling of goods and people.
Malaysia and Indonesia have sent their navies out to search for thousands of migrants from mainly Myanmar and Bangladesh who are believed to be adrift at sea.
But while the maritime wish-lists are long, Southeast Asian budgets are tight everywhere except Singapore.
“Military officers are being told to repair and keep using equipment that should have been replaced decades ago,” one regional military source, who declined to be identified, said on the sidelines of the IMDEX show.
An Indonesian military source said the new government of President Joko Widodo was focusing on maritime defense, but that the build-up would take time.
Southeast Asian government sources said there had been a deliberate move to acquire capabilities that allow naval forces to operate more effectively in coastal zones.
After Singapore built six Formidable-class multi-role frigates in partnership with France’s state-controlled naval contractor DCNS, others followed suit, said Richard Bitzinger, a security expert at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Malaysia has ordered six corvettes worth around 9 billion ringgit ($2.50 billion) from DCNS. Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand are also in talks with suppliers from Russia and Europe.
UNDERWATER CAPABILITIES
Submarines are also popular.
Vietnam has taken possession of three Russian-built Kilo-attack submarines and has three more on order, something experts say underscores Hanoi’s determination to counter China’s more powerful navy.
Singapore, which has four second-hand submarines, has ordered two from Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. Indonesia has ordered three from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding.
“Submarine force development suggests the navies are wary of maritime power projection capabilities in the region,” said Rukmani Gupta, senior armed forces analyst at IHS Janes.
Amphibious ships that can carry tanks, helicopters, troops and perform search and rescue missions are also in vogue.
Singapore’s ST Engineering is building four Endurance-class vessels for Singapore’s navy and one for Thailand, while Indonesia and the Philippines are looking to add similar ships to their fleets.
“These multi-purpose vessels can be fitted for a range of missions. They are ideal for Southeast Asian navies, which have small budgets but a range of needs,” said Huxley.
The Philippines hopes to get by year-end the first of 10 coastguard vessels Japan is building for it. Japan is also supplying used navy patrol boats to Vietnam.
There has also been renewed interest in fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that improve maritime patrol capabilities.
Earlier this year at a Malaysian defense show, Boeing promoted its Maritime Surveillance Aircraft, which includes the radars and sensors that are on its P-8 Poseidon planes but not its anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
“As Southeast Asian navies add new capabilities for warfighting, any future conflict in the region is likely to be faster, more intense and more lethal, and therefore perhaps more devastating,” Bitzinger wrote in a research paper this month.A LABOUR MP made an “unreserved apology” today for breaking House of Commons rules by sending out invitations to a £45-a-head party fundraiser from parliamentary e-mail accounts.
East Hull MP Karl Turner lined up speakers including Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott for the Hull and Humber Economic Summit, in East Hull next month.
Questions were asked after invitations were sent from the MP’s parliamentary e-mail address, and those wanting tickets - £45 for individuals and £400 for parties of 10 - were advised to book via the parliamentary e-mail of Jack Davies, Mr Turner’s publicly-funded parliamentary aide.
The summit wasn’t officially advertised as a Labour Party event, sparking inquiries by East Riding councillor Mike Whitehead, who also wanted to know why people were told to make out cheques to “Karl Turner MP.”
Today he referred the matter to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Hudson.
Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, said ticketholders, including Siemens and Associated British Ports, had been sold tickets under false pretences and were owed an apology and the offer of a refund.
Mr Turner apologised for sending out the e-mail and said |
of Sexual Medicine.
The findings are no surprise, said study leader David Veale, a psychiatrist at King's College London.
"It's an emotional feeling," Veale said of penis shame. Like other forms of body dissatisfaction, penis-size anxiety is rarely linked to reality, he told LiveScience.
Measuring up
Men worry far more than women about penis size, according to Veale and his colleagues. One study, published in April in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that women preferred larger penises only up to a point (anything bigger than a flaccid length of 2.99 inches (7.59 centimeters) did not additionally impress women), and preferences also varied based on a guy's height. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found similarly ambivalent female preferences. In that study, women who experienced frequent vaginal orgasms were much more likely than other women to express an interest in better-endowed guys. For women who didn't prefer vaginal orgasms, penis size was a far less pressing matter.
Nevertheless, men continue to fret over the size of their penises, listing it among their top body concerns along with height and weight, according to a 2008 study in the Journal of Health Psychology. Veale and his colleagues wanted to quantify that anxiety — an important step toward being able to evaluate psychological treatments designed to boost guys' self-image.
To do so, the researchers recruited 173 men online and at King's College London, and asked them to complete a battery of questionnaires on body image, erectile function and concerns about their penises. In addition, 46 of the men agreed to have their penises measured by a urologist in both flaccid and erect states.
Feeling shame
By comparing the men's answers to the questionnaires to their stated concerns about their genitalia, Veale and his colleagues were able to narrow down their scale to 10 questions that were sure to reveal a guy's inner fears about his penis. The questions, available for download on the King's College London website, measure a man's fear of being alone or rejected because of his penis size, his terror that others will laugh at him, and his anxieties about being naked around women and other men.
The most surprising response, Veale said, was men agreeing with the following statement: "Others will be able to see the size or shape of my penis even when I have my trousers on."
"That must be extreme self-consciousness," he said.
Among the men tested, 30 percent reported dissatisfaction with their genitals. About 35 percent of the men were very happy with their penis size, with the rest falling somewhere in between satisfied and dissatisfied. Older guys and gay or bisexual men were more likely to show high penis anxiety, the researchers reported. Gay or bisexual men typically have more body-image problems than straight men do, the researchers wrote, and also have more opportunities to compare body parts.
The penises measured in the study ranged from 2.75 inches to 7 inches (7 to 18 centimeters) long in a flaccid-but-stretched state, and from 3.93 inches to 7.87 inches (10 to 20 cm) when erect. Girth ranged from 2.75 inches to 5.11 inches (7 to 13 cm) when flaccid and from 3.54 inches to 6.69 inches (9 to 17 cm) when erect.
(A recent Journal of Sexual Medicine study found that the average American man's penis measures 5.6 inches, or 14.2 cm, long when erect.)
The bottom line to all these numbers, however, is that they meant not a whit for men's perceptions of their penis size. Big or small didn't matter as much as the fears men carried in their heads. Some of those fears came from harsh experience, Veale said.
"Quite a few of them have been teased about their size either by an ex-partner or in the showers as an adolescent," he said.The largest known prime number has just shot up to 257,885,161 – 1, breaking a four-year dry spell in the search for new, ever-larger primes.
Curtis Cooper at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg made the find as part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS), a distributed computing project designed to hunt for a particular kind of prime number first identified in the 17th century.
All prime numbers can only be divided by themselves and 1. The rare Mersenne primes all have the form 2p – 1, where p is itself a prime number.
The new prime, which has over 17 million digits, is only the 48th Mersenne prime ever found and the 14th discovered by GIMPS. The previous record holder, 243,112,609 – 1, which was also found by GIMPS in 2008, has just under 13 million digits. All of the top 10 largest known primes are Mersenne primes discovered by GIMPS. Until today, the most recent addition to the list was found in 2009, but it was smaller than the 2008 discovery.
Advertisement
Volunteer sifters
Though there are an infinite number of primes, there is no formula for generating these numbers, so discovering them requires intensive computation. GIMPS uses volunteers’ computers to sift through each prime-number candidate in turn, until eventually one lucky user discovers a new prime.
Cooper runs GIMPS software on around a thousand university computers, one of which spent 39 days straight proving that the number was prime. This was then independently verified by other researchers.
Though there is little mathematical value to finding a single new prime, these rare numbers are prized in their own right by some. “It’s sort of like finding a diamond,” says Chris Caldwell at the University of Tennessee, Martin, who keeps a record of the largest known primes. “For some reason people decide they like diamonds and so they have a value. People like these large primes and so they also have a value.”
Prime-hunting isn’t a completely esoteric pastime though, as these numbers underpin the cryptographic techniques used to make online transactions secure.
Prizes for primes
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an internet civil liberties group, is offering prizes of $150,000 and $250,000 to the discovery of the first prime with at least 100 million and a billion digits, respectively. Previous prizes for primes 1 million and 10 million digits long have already been awarded.
Cooper will receive a $3000 prize from GIMPS for making the discovery.
Don’t expect to see the next largest prime any time soon though. The problem becomes harder over time, as larger primes are both more rare and harder to check. “Those two things work together to spread them out as time goes on,” says Caldwell.Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure are action-adventure games produced by Philips for the CD-i as part of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda video game series. Not designed for Nintendo platforms, the games owe their existence to negotiations related to Nintendo's decision not to have Philips create a CD add-on to the Super NES. During these negotiations, Philips secured the rights to use Nintendo characters in CD-i third-party developer games. The Faces of Evil and The Wand of Gamelon were developed by Animation Magic and were both released in North America on October 10, 1993,[1] and Zelda's Adventure was developed by Viridis and was released in North America on June 5, 1994.[2] The games were given little funding or development time, and Nintendo provided only cursory input. None of the games are canonical to the Zelda franchise.[3]
The Philips CD-i did not sell well and the games saw relatively small sales figures. Though the games initially received largely positive reviews,[4][5] they have been universally criticized since the mid-2000s. This is attributed to the reaction of many gamers to the obscure games' full motion video cutscenes when they first became widely available through video-sharing websites such as YouTube. The cutscenes are perceived to be of poor quality. Because the aging early 1990s visual effects of the titles failed to live up to the graphic effects of the 2000s, and because for many fans this was their first experience of the games, the CD-i Zelda titles have developed a critical reputation as particularly poor based largely on animation quality and to an extent awkward controls. In the eyes of "devout" hardcore gamers, according to Edge, the games are now considered "tantamount to blasphemy".[6]
Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon are played using the side-scrolling view introduced in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, while Zelda's Adventure has a top-down view reminiscent of the original The Legend of Zelda.[1][7] All the CD-i Zelda games begin with animated FMVs to illustrate the capabilities of the CD-ROM format, save Zelda's Adventure, which begins with a live-action video.[7]
History [ edit ]
In 1989, Nintendo signed a deal with Sony to begin development of a CD-ROM-based system known as the SNES-CD (also known as the "Nintendo Play-Station", with separated words) to be an add-on to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that would allow for FMV and larger games.[8][9] However, Nintendo broke the agreement and instead signed with Philips to make the add-on, which caused Sony to spin off their add-on into its own console called the PlayStation (with "PlayStation" as one word due to a copyright issue with the trademark "Play-Station" owned by Nintendo).[7][8][10] Witnessing the poor reception of the Sega Mega-CD, Nintendo scrapped the idea of making an add-on entirely.[8][9] As part of dissolving the agreement with Philips, Nintendo gave them the license to use five of their characters, including Link, Princess Zelda, and Ganon, for games on Philips's console called the CD-i, after the partnership's dissolution.[2][9]
Contracting out to independent studios, Philips subsequently used the characters to create three games for the CD-i, with Nintendo taking no part in their development except to give input on the look of the characters[9][11] based on the artwork from Nintendo's original two titles and that of their respective instruction booklets.[12] Philips insisted that the development studios utilize all aspects of the CD-i's capabilities including FMV,[13] high-resolution graphics, and CD-quality music.[12] Because the system had not been designed as a dedicated video game console, there were several technical limitations, such as laggy controls (especially for the standard infrared controller),[13] and numerous problems in streaming-audio, memory, disc access, and graphics.[12]
The first two games were showcased at the 1993 CES and surprised audiences with their degree of animation.[14] All the CD-i games in The Legend of Zelda series were released after Link's Awakening but before Ocarina of Time, as illustrated in the timeline with the relevant games marked with asterisks.
Video games [ edit ]
Link: The Faces of Evil [ edit ]
Paired with Zelda: Wand of Gamelon in a simultaneous release, Link: The Faces of Evil represents the first of the Zelda games to be released by Philips for the CD-i. Following the traditional Link-saves-Zelda plotline, Faces of Evil was patterned most closely upon Nintendo's previous side-scroller, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. The game broke new ground in the video game industry by using outsourced Russian animation to create all cutscenes,[12] and the game received largely positive contemporary reception.[4][15] Modern criticism is almost universal in its harsh negativity toward the game and the animated cutscenes have become particular targets of derision.
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon [ edit ]
Reversing the traditional Link-saves-Zelda plotline, Wand of Gamelon stars Zelda as she adventures to rescue Link and her father the king who have not returned from their quest. As with Faces of Evil, the game was patterned most closely upon Nintendo's previous side-scroller, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and again features outsourced Russian animation for all cutscenes.[12] Despite the game's similarly positive contemporary reception[5] along with Faces of Evil, modern critics have almost unanimously derided and ridiculed the game for its inability to live up to modern expectations with the animated cutscenes again having become a particular target of negative reception.
Zelda's Adventure [ edit ]
Released nearly 8 months after the first two Zelda CD-i games, Zelda's Adventure was created by a different third-party developer, Viridis. The game again follows a nontraditional Zelda-saves-Link plotline, but it uses a different game engine than Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon. Whereas the first two CD-i games were patterned on the side-scrolling Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Zelda's Adventure took the top-down The Legend of Zelda as its model. Zelda's Adventure featured FMV cutscenes, but rather than using drawn animation, the game used live-action scenes. Reception for the game was poor, and whereas some modern critics have given more nuanced reviews of the first two games, modern criticism for Zelda's Adventure is unanimously negative.
References [ edit ]The first woman in Tennessee and the fourth in the nation to enlist as a combat engineer in the Army went AWOL last month and is now considered a deserter, according to a military spokesperson.
Erika Lopez made headlines in July when she enlisted for a role that could put her on the front lines of battle, just after the U.S. Army lifted its ban on women in combat roles.
Ms. Lopez was in basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, by September but was placed on convalescent leave by the end of the year, according to a local CBS affiliate.
Ms. Lopes was scheduled to return from leave on Jan. 4 but did not show up. She was reported AWOL on Jan. 5, CBS reported.
“After 30 days in an AWOL status, a soldier is considered a deserter and a federal warrant is issued for his or her arrest,” Army spokeswoman Tiffany Wood said.
Once arrested, Ms. Lopez would be taken to the nearest military installments and handed over to military police, Ms. Wood said.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced in December that he would open all military combat roles across all services to women, a move that was met with some backlash after a massive Marine report indicated that mixed-gender units tend to have lower performance levels in battlefield situations.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t surprised to see Fate/Extella on the exhibit floor at E3. I had forgotten that XSEED had announced that it would be there – but as soon as I saw the game set up, I jumped at the chance to play it.
I am a pretty huge Fate fan, and I’ve been excited for Extella since it was announced. Despite being incredibly excited by it, I was really worried by all of the screenshots we’ve gotten so far. Putting aside the non-direct-feed shots of course, most screens from the game so far looked lackluster to me. Many looked out of focus, and just generally…poor.
Having played the game now, I understand why. To begin with, Extella is gorgeous. The art style is true to the Extra games, and keeps that same feel going forward. The speed at which the game moves is definitely the culprit for the bad screens though, as there is very little downtime in the game. There is so much motion between you and the enemies that I’m almost surprised that the screenshots are as clear as they are.
The gameplay was really great with moment to moment action. It definitely feels very similar to typical Musou style games in the basic gameplay. You had square as the normal attack and triangle as strong attacks, as well as other typical actions like blocking, jumping, mid-air recovery, etc. Combos were fluid and quick, and the action was just as fast.
The demo I played was only a single map, and I was playing as Nero (Saber Extra) for the duration. During the battle, I cam up against Elizabeth Bathory (Lancer Extra), Gilgamesh (Archer), Nameless (Archer), and Tamamo no Mae (Caster Extra). The objective of the map was to destroy a number of ‘Plants’ which were summoning tougher enemies. It all felt like pretty basic objective stuff, and the end of the battle culminated in a showdown with Tamamo. The fight was hectic, and that was also when I decided to use the transformation.
The transformation for Nero was the white armor with the gauntlets, as we’ve seen before. I was happy that, despite it being plenty powerful, it wasn’t a kill everything button. The damage per attack was certainly higher than normal, but the overall power still wasn’t enough to bring Tamamo to her knees in the time allotted – I think it was very well balanced.
Overall, I’m even more excited for this game now than I was before. I’m hoping that more characters will be added before the game launches (We need an Assassin, Beserker, and Rider at least!) but either way, I think this game will definitely be something to look forward to. Fate feels right at home with the Musou style gameplay.
Fate/Extella is set for a November 10th release in Japan this year, and is currently looking at a winter release window this year for North America.With free agency and the draft process revving up, there are plenty of questions for every NFL team. But for most, there’s one issue that trumps the rest. This is the latest in a team-by-team look at the offseason tasks that just can’t get botched.
When the Texans’ season ended in New England, where Houston got its second beatdown in as many trips to Foxborough, most of the panic was directed at Matt Schaub. Yes, Schaub threw for 343 yards — one less than Tom Brady — but it required 51 attempts to get there. In today’s NFL, teams just don’t win Super Bowls without their best player residing under center, and although Schaub has put together his share of solid years in Houston, he isn’t the type of quarterback who wins in January. Or at least that’s how the thinking seemed to go.
That opinion of Schaub may be true, but in evaluating how far apart the Patriots and Texans actually were, the more telling difference was among those getting the throws, rather than those making them. New England spent almost the entire game shorthanded (as the Pats had been for the most of the year) after Rob Gronkowski reinjured his forearm. The typical Patriots still had their impact — Wes Welker had eight catches for 131 yards, and Aaron Hernandez added six for 85 — but it was the output of a lesser name that said everything anyone needs to know about the New England offense. For the entire regular season, Shane Vereen had eight catches for 179 yards. He totaled about half that against Houston, hauling in five passes for 83 yards, two of them for touchdowns. Vereen lined up all over the formation, and New England used the reserve running back to constantly exploit the coverage deficiencies of Houston’s inside linebackers. It was the exact type of opponent-specific game planning that has made the Patriots a problem for the past decade.
It’s also the type of game planning not often seen from the Texans. Coming into that playoff game against New England, the book on Houston was simple: “Get a lead and the game is over.” Offensively, the Texans have a specific plan, and against most teams they execute that plan well. The run game wasn’t nearly as effective last year as it had been in years past (mostly due to a lack of consistency and the resulting shuffling on the right side), but the run-first, play-action-later Houston offense still had plenty of moments. It’s when the running isn’t an option — either because of ineffectiveness or a big deficit — that the plan falters. Former Texans lineman Ephraim Salaam refers to it as “staying on schedule,” but with offenses like the ones in New England, New Orleans, and Green Bay, relying on point production that can so easily come off the rails just doesn’t feel like an option anymore.
Fifteen years ago, the zone-blocking scheme held dear by Mike Shanahan and offensive line coach Alex Gibbs was a way to win deep into the playoffs. John Elway and Terrell Davis were the ultimate play-action combination, and it was enough to win back-to-back Super Bowls. These days, very few teams lean on the straightforward zone running game for the majority of their offense. Shanahan’s new team did plenty of zone blocking this year, but it was combined with read-option looks and the constant running threat of Robert Griffin III. No offense to Matt Schaub, but I’m not sure teams are too worried about his feet.
As teams find new ways to use players who don’t fit certain boxes, the Texans are trying to shove their players into them. James Casey was almost exclusively a fullback in Houston a year ago before signing a three-year, $14.5 million deal in Philadelphia. Casey won’t be a fullback for Chip Kelly. He’ll likely be some form of H-back/slot receiver similar to the role Hernandez plays in New England. For years, there have been complaints about finding receiving complements to Andre Johnson, and instead of trying to figure out how Casey could exploit opposing linebackers, the Texans made him a lead blocker. (And let’s not forget Jacoby Jones, who left Houston and became a big player in Baltimore’s Super Bowl run.)
With Casey and Kevin Walter now gone, finding that secondary receiver has become Houston’s most pressing offensive issue. There are concerns at other spots on both sides of the ball (right guard and tackle, inside linebacker, nose tackle, and outside linebacker), but the first step in developing some creativity on offense is finding more players who deserve it. No team in the league is more in need of a player like West Virginia’s Tavon Austin, but he’ll likely be long gone before Houston picks at no. 27. There will be options at the end of the first round — notably Cal’s Keenan Allen, Louisiana Tech’s Quinton Patton, and Clemson’s DeAndre Hopkins — but the Texans could also be a candidate to drop down and look to add an extra third-round pick in the hope of filling one of those other needs as well. No matter how they choose to get him, Houston needs another pass catcher somewhere in this draft.
Whatever personnel Houston ends up with, the ultimate onus for their offensive development rests with Gary Kubiak and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison. Schaub probably isn’t the franchise’s answer for the future at quarterback, but he deserves a system that at least gives him a chance to prove himself. That system isn’t in place in Houston, and until it is, the Texans will be a long way from where they want to go.CAIRO -- A top antiquities official says an Egyptian excavation team has discovered the remains of a new pyramid that dates back to the 13th Dynasty, some 3,700 years ago.
The head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, Mahmoud Afifi, said in a statement Monday that the remains were located north of King Sneferu’s bent pyramid in the Dahshur royal necropolis south of Cairo. Due to the bent slope of its sides, the pyramid is believed to have been ancient Egypt’s first attempt to build a smooth-sided pyramid. The necropolis was the burial site for courtiers and high-ranking officials.
An image provided by Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities on April 4, 2017, shows the remains of a pyramid discovered south of Cairo, in the Dahshur royal necropolis. The pyramid is said to date to the 13th Dynasty, about 3,700 years ago. Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities
Robot finds hidden chambers under Ancient pyramid
Adel Okasha, the head of Dahshur necropolis, said that the remains belong to the inner structure of the pyramid, including a corridor. Other remains included blocks showing the interior design of the pyramid.
Alaa Al-Shahat, Head of the Central Administration Department for Cairo and Giza Antiquities, said in a statement released by the Ministry of Antiquities that all the parts of the pyramid discovered thus far were “in a very good conservation condition,” and that further excavation was expected to reveal more of the ancient structure.Last night I was bored of my usual gaming routine, I needed something fresh. I recalled I had a myriad of games I purchased from the Humble Bundle. For those of you who don’t know, HumbleBundle.com sells games in a bundle and you get more games based on how much you donate. I remembered that I bought this space game called Ad1ft. That’s all I knew, that it was a space game. I booted up Adr1ft and from the initial tutorial, I could tell this game was going to be fun.
The controls in this game are really in depth and at times, can cause a bit of frustration. I couldn’t tell you how many times I bumped into walls because I miscalculated. Normally, not a big deal. In Adr1ft however, hitting a wall too hard may just end in your death. Your spacesuit isn’t indestructible and the more damage it takes, the more oxygen you have to collect to survive. It’s not that the control scheme is bad, rather, it’s complex. There are about 7 keys and 3 mouse buttons needed to maneuver through this destroyed space station and they must be used in combination for perfect movement (and to not bash your head into the wall).
The graphics in this game don’t fit on a scale of one to ten. This is a 15. This game is BEAUTIFUL. Too often I’ve seen walking (or in this case, floating) simulators get a bad rap in the graphics department. Never before in any other space game (including the fiasco that is No Man’s Sky) have I ever actually felt like I was in space, like I could float away forever. There was one scene in particular where I had to float outside the space station and you could tell something terrible happened here.
The next thing is the story, I’m about 3 hours in and I can tell I’m being pulled into something, but I don’t feel forced to complete it. This is honestly the first game in awhile where I just want to explore and see what this game has to offer in it’s nooks and crannies. The attention to detail is amazing and while I may occasionally do an objective, I’m taking it slow and just enjoying the ride. Like I said, I can tell the game wants to tell me something, but it understands that it’s so gorgeous that I just want to explore it and I’ll do the story eventually.
This game is a breath of fresh air (ha! Space pun, get it? be…because there’s no air in space, ha…pl..please laugh, I’m so cold…soooo cold in space). Aside from the difficult controls, which can be mastered with a bit of practice, this game is fantastic. The soundtrack fits the scene, the environment makes me feel like I’m really stranded in space and the game understands that I want to explore the environment it has to offer. This is a MUST for anyone looking for a new game but doesn’t want to throw 60 bucks at their Steam account.Ulta 21 Days of Beauty Spring 2016 03/13/16 through 04/02/16
The Fall 2016 Event
All calendars (online, in-store, and Ulta brand) are available below. All steals are shipping free for Platinum members. The minimum for everyone else is back to the $50 minimum. I love the Ulta 21 Days of Beauty. Twice a year, usually starting in March and September, Ulta has a 21 day sale where select brands or items are deeply discounted for one day only. The spring event (which is usually more impressive that the fall event) will run from 03/13/16 through 04/02/16. The second 20% prestige coupon should arrive shortly after this sale wraps, which would be on 04/03/16 if it followed the same pattern as last year. The January 2016 20% off prestige offer did not follow the 2014 and 2015 pattern though. These deals come from the upcoming catalog, and the special event page online that is updated now.
*All steals are in-store and online unless they are specified as online only.
Sunday, March 13th- It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Finishing Powder -$12 (50% off); 8oz Philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating Face Wash -$14 (5o% off).
Monday, March 14th- Stila One Step Correct -$18 (50% off); Perricone MD Cleansers (online only -50% off).
Tuesday, March 15th- Smashbox Baked Fusion Softlights -$16 (50% off); Honest Beauty Everything Makeup Palette (online only) -$20 ($15 off).
Wednesday, March 16th- BareMinerals Loose Eyeshadow -$7.50 (50% off); It Brushes For Ulta, Your Face & Eye Essentials Mini 5 Piece Travel Brush Set (online only) -$18 ($12 off).
Thursday, March 17th- Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick -$11 (50% off); Exuviance AP25 Peel -$37.50 (50% off).
Friday, March 18th- Tarte Tartiest Clay Paint Liner -$12 (50% off); Clarisonic (any white device or Alpha Fit) -$30 off (regularly $119-$199).
Saturday, March 19th- Too Faced Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush -$15 (50% off); Philosophy Purity Cleansing Cloths 30 count -$7.50 (50% off); Benefit Cosmetics Brow Bar Wax (free with $50 Benefit purchase).
Sunday, March 20th- Pur Cosmetics 4-in-1 Mineral Foundation -$19.50 ($10 off); Dermadoctor Kakadu C Cleanser and Serum -$18-$47.50 (50% off).
Monday, March 21st- Too Faced Lip Injection Plumping Lip Gloss -$11 (50% off); Cargo Bronzer and BeachBlush (online only -50% off).
Tuesday, March 22nd- Mally Beauty Face Defender -$25 ($15 off); Stila Eyes Are The Window Eye Shadow Palettes (online only) -$29 ($20 off); Japonesque Velvet Touch Blush (online only) -$11 (50% off).
Wednesday, March 23rd- Butter London Nail Lacquer and Patent Shine 10x Lacquer -$10 ($5-$8 off); Laura Geller Love Me Dew Moisturizing Lip Crayon (online only) -$8.50 (50% off).
Thursday, March 24th- Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water -$16 (50% off); StriVectin Best Sellers Starter Trio -$17.50 (50% off); 2oz Philosophy Anti-Wrinkle Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer -$30 (50% off).
Friday, March 25th- Anastasia Beverly Hills Perfect Brow Pencil -$12 ($11 off); Serovital-HGH Dietary Supplement 120 count -$69.30 (regularly $99).
Saturday, March 26th- Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mascara -$10 ($11 off); Mario Badescu (25% off the entire brand).
Sunday, March 27th- It Brushes for Ulta Airbrush All Over Shadow Brush -$7 (50% off); Dermalogica Everyday Essentials Set -$9 (50% off).
Monday, March 28th- Pur Cosmetics Dirty Girl Mudd Masque -$18 ($11 off); Bliss FatGirlSixPack (online only) -$19 (50% off); Rodial Heroes Collection Kit (online only) -$40 (50% off).
Tuesday, March 29th- Laura Geller Baked Blush-n-Brighten -$15 ($13 off); Benefit Cosmetics Stay Don’t Stray Eye Shadow Primer -$13 (50% off); Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming
Eye & Face Gels (online only- 35% off).
Wednesday, March 30th- (Ulta exclusive) Lorac Riesling Romance Eyeshadow Palette -$15 ($70 value); LORAC CC Creams -$15 (50% off); DERMABLEND Setting Powder (online only) -$13.50 (50% off).
Thursday, March 31st- Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner -$11 (50% off); 1oz Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Anti Wrinkle Booster Serum -$37.50 (50% off); LIPSTICK QUEEN Medieval Tinted Treatment (online only) -$16 ($8 off).
Friday, April 1st- BareMinerals Blush and All Over Face Color $10-10.50 (50% off); Peter Thomas Roth Unwrinkle 4 Piece Kit -$44 (50% off); Per-fekt Lash Perfection Gel &
Liquid Lash Curler -$14 ($14.50 off).
Saturday, April 2nd- It Cosmetics No. 50 Serum Primer -$24 (50% off); 6.75oz Murad Acne Clarifying Cleanser 6.75oz -$14 (50% 0ff); Benefit Cosmetics Brow Bar Wax (free with a $50 Benefit purchase).
The Ulta Brand has Special Event Days Assigned to its products from 03/13/16 to 04/02/16.
Mondays- Ulta Foundations -$5 each.
Tuesdays- Ulta Lip Glosses -$3 each.
Wednesdays- Ulta Mascaras -$4 each.
Thursdays- Ulta Beauty Nail lacquer -$2 each.
Fridays- Ulta Beauty Eye Shadow Palettes -$12 each; Ulta Beauty Shower Gel and Body Lotion -$4 each.
Saturdays- Ulta Beauty Automatic and Gel Eyeliner Pencils -$3 each; Ulta Beauty Smoothies, Butters, and Scrubs -$5 each.
Sundays- Ulta Beauty Lipsticks and Lip Butters -$3 each.
Hot Buys that will run throughout the event (while supplies last).
–Japonesque Luminous Foundation -$18 (50% off)
–Laura Geller Baked Liquid Radiance Foundation -$20 ($18 off)
–Smashbox Camera Ready BB Water Broad Spectrum SPF 30 -$25 ($17 off)
–Butter London LIPPY Moisture Matte Lipsticks -$10! ($12 off)
–Lorac Alter Ego Lip Gloss -$8 (50% off).
–Algenist Firming and Lifting Eye Gel -$34 (50% off)
–Tarte Maracuja Oil -$25 ($23 off)
–Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer -$31.50 ($10.50 off)
There will usually be at least one Platinum only steal. This is not announced in advance and will be emailed out the day of. Although I will add it to this post once I receive the email, it is a good idea to make sure you’re signed up for emails (especially if you’re a Platinum member).
Reviews of steal products I’ve tried: Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick, Too Faced Sweethearts Blush, Cargo Bronzer and Beach Blush, StriVectin Tightening Neck Cream, StriVectin Intensive Concentrate for Stretch Marks and Wrinkles, Anastasia Beverly Hills Perfect Brow Pencil, Mario Badescu Whitening Mask, Mario Badescu Flower and Tonic Mask, Mario Badescu Strawberry Scrub, Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels, and Stila Smudge Stick. Some of these are loves, others are hates, and some are middle of the road. I write about all products, good, bad, or ugly.
Though I have not written official reviews (yet), I also love the following products: Clarisonic (I own a Plus), Benefit Brow Bar (only had one bad experience where she took my brows too thin; all other experiences were great), Butter London Nail Polishes (I am in the middle of a swatching project and have polish swatches for this brand in red, copper/bronze, purple, pink, and blue so far), Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe & Herbs and Rosewater, Laura Geller Baked Blush-n-Brighten (this is my all-time favorite blush, because it lasts longer on my dry cheeks longer than anything other that Tarte blushes, which I also love), and It Cosmetics No. 50 Serum Primer (this silky smooth primer is my favorite).
I highly recommend studying the online brochure (which I have copied for you above), because it lists all products (including items added after the catalog printed and items that are available online only). UltaMate members should also get a physical copy in the mail (that includes items for sale in-store and online). It is a good idea to plan your purchases ahead of time, so you are ready to strike the moment the deal releases. Ulta runs on Central time, so daily steals are available right at 10pm PST. That usually means steals from the previous day disappear right at 10pm PST. If you’re up past 10pm PST, that is the best time to order (unless you’re waiting to see if a Beauty Break or new gift releases in the morning). While the deals have run a little over, Ulta usually cut them off right on time. The best deals are usually gone when you wake up in the morning from people who started shopping right as the day switched over, so plan strategically. Waiting for the Beauty Break announcement with the Too Faced Sweethearts Blush (and other really popular steals) will usually backfire. I missed Peach Beach two years in a row.
Rules for the sale. Ulta says each person can only purchase two of each steal. Placing multiple online orders (if the system prevents you from adding more than 2 of one item in a single order) or picking up in person usually gets around the limit. Although I’ve only ever received two at a time, I’ve missed out on Too Faced Sweethearts Blush and tarte Bronzer on days I saw multiple people buying more than two. Some stores may hold customers to the limit, but my store clearly does not. The most important rule is steals are 24 hours only and while supplies last. If they sell out in 10 minutes, that is it. You will not get a rain check and can only hope the deal you missed will repeat in the next event. Many deals repeat but plenty do not.
I will continue to post offers I am aware of, so no worries if you happen upon this post after the offers above expire. If you have questions about any Ulta Coupon, I go over all types. Targeted Offers are exclusive to UltaMate |
in opposition to Israel.
“The other projects include a training initiative for PA security forces, in addition to a vaguely worded endeavor to deliver 165 ‘ocean containers’ to the PA in Jericho,” Peacock noted. “The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, or INL, recently issued a call for bids from contractors capable of helping the U.S. government train PA security organizations. While the provision of security assistance is not new, the endeavor seeks to bring about ‘a longer-term institutional development focus.’”
The funding will fuel development from July 30, 2017 to July 29, 2017, which is stated in the program’s Statement of Work (SOW).
“[The money will be used to focus on] maintaining and sustaining PA capabilities to provide security,” the SOW reads. “Additional four (4) one-year option periods may be exercised based on continued availability of funding and INL’s desire to continue this program.”
A number of key players are coordinating to build up the Palestinian government, which has received major support from the U.N. during the Islamic people’s conflict with Israel.
“INL will work with the United States Security Coordinator, or USSC, a Department of Defense team, in coordinating the action, which focuses on personnel support at facilities in the West Bank and in Jordan,” Peacock explained. “PA Security Forces receiving U.S. assistance include the National Security Forces, Palestinian Civil Police, Presidential Guard, Civil Defense, the Preventive Security Organization and also the Ministry of Interior.”
It appears as if major steps are being made to build up a bigger and stronger regime – one many believe is being set up to eventually rival the Jewish State in the Holy Land.
“The selected contractor will provide training mentors, or TMs, language assistants such as interpreters and translators, plus subject-matter experts,” added Peacock. “The TMs specifically will be deployed to the Jordan International Police Training Center and the Prince Hussein Bin Abdullah II Academy of Civil Protection.”
Paying for peace or future conflict?
Even though the PA is led by Islamic terrorists seeking to destroy Israel, the USSC ironically maintains that one of the objectives behind the exorbitant project funded by the U.S. is to fight terrorism and live peacefully alongside Israelis.
“[Our goal is to ensure that the PA eventually possesses] professional and self-sustaining security institutions, accountable to and under legitimate civilian authority, that effectively combat terrorism and criminal threats to law and order,” the USSC stated. “[We also seek to give the PA the ability to] perpetuate an environment of security and stability for the Palestinian people … [We also seek to be] able to provide for the national security of a future Palestinian State, and serve as a stable and peaceful neighbor to the State of Israel.”
Obama’s State Department is slated to deliver 165 “ocean containers” to the PA to the area referred to as “Jericho, Palestinian Territory, Occupied.” February proposals submitted by USAID are requesting funding to pour into the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education – a controversial system that has taught Palestinian youth and young adults in the past to detest their Israeli neighbors and to not acknowledge that the State of Israel exists.
—-
Copyright OneNewsNow.com. Reprinted with permission.
VN:F [1.9.6_1107]
please wait... Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)ROY MILLER "Roy is well known across the country for his incredible pieces made from Flint Ridge, with the button-base ( Dovetails ) being his forte." ---------2000, by Chips staff, "Chips, Vol. 12. #1," p. 11. "He ( Roy Miller ) has instructed numerous people ( at knap-ins ) and has been an inspiration to many others." ---------2000, by Chips staff, "Chips, Vol. 12. #1," p. 11. "Although well known for his buttons ( Dovetails ), Roy is very well accomplished at making a long and impressive list of types ( of points )." ---------2000, by Chips staff, "Chips, Vol. 12. #1," p. 11. FLINT RIDGE QUARRY "One of the greatest of the known aboriginal quarries is located on what is commonly called Flint Ridge, a narrow irregular plateau-capped line of hills in licking and Muskingum Counties, Ohio." ---------1919, by W. H. Holmes, "Handbook of Aboriginal American Antiquities," Part I "Introductory The Lithic Industries," Smithsonian Institution, bulletin 60, p. 173-181. "The extent of the ancient operations ( at the Flint Ridge quarries ) is almost beyond belief and can be realized only imperfectly by those who have not visited the locality." ---------1919, by W. H. Holmes, "Handbook of Aboriginal American Antiquities," Part I "Introductory The Lithic Industries," Smithsonian Institution, bulletin 60, p. 173-181.
ROY MILLER
FLINTKNAPPER If there is any one person who's name immediately conjures up colorful stone it's Roy Miller. That's because, as a flintknapping artist, his canvas is made of some of the most colorful stone in the world, Flint Ridge flint. Roy has an advantage over other knappers because, a few years ago, he bought several acres of the ancient Flint Ridge quarry in Licking County, Ohio. His land has produced some of the most colorful pieces of Flint Ridge flint that has ever been seen and he is putting it to good use.Yugo M70 AK-47 Style N-PAP Rifle, 7.62x39, Semi-Auto W / 1 - 30 Round Mags
Made in the same factory that produced top quality rifles for former Yugoslavia like the M70B1 and M70AB2, our newly manufactured PAP rifles
are the semi-auto version of the famous military series M70 rifles. These beauties are the latest imports from the world famous Zastava factory.
This one is the HI-CAP PAP Classic and features a full teak wood stock matching fore end wood and an ergonomic pistol grip.
It also features a hammer forged barrel, specialized safety lever, and factory buttpad.
Unlike the first batch of imports this new second generation rifle also has a built in side rail mount for true hold accuracy when mounting a scope.
Rifle features a Beautiful Teakwood Stock and forearm and ergonomically shaped molded and textured pistol grip.
Comes complete with one 30 round AK-47 magazine
Barrel: 16.25" with a 1:10 twist, Overall: 36.25", Weight: 7.7 lbs. Condition: New.
Rifle also features an exclusive safety lever design that also acts as a bolt lock / hold open for ultimate safety and lightning fast chambering.
( See Image )
Rifle comes complete with 1-30 round mag and cleaning rod. Mag types may vary.
Legally accepts all high cap mags and drums regardless of country of origin.
Receivers are stamped but slightly heavier than typical stamped receivers. These are built like tanks....
If you can only have one AK in your Arsenal let me suggest the N-PAP Gen II.
The Yugo AK's are regarded as some of the finest quality AK rifles in the world and these are no exception.
Extremely well made with very tight tolerances - These rifles will feed, function and fire flawlessly for thousands and thousands of rounds.
Note - Some images show rifle with optional scope and mount. These photo's are informational only to demonstate how rifle accepts scope and mount.
Scopes, Mounts, and Scope Packages Sold Seperately.A city in Japan is teasing plans of the world’s first spa-themed amusement park.
In a concept video, Beppu City on Japan’s Kyushu island showed off an idea for a new “spamusement park.” The video featured visitors at typical amusement park attractions—a carousel, ferris wheel and roller coaster—but instead of seats for each ride, there were hot tubs.
If you're already wondering if this is a joke, so are we.
In the video, visitors entered the rides wearing only a towel—which begs the question: Are visitors to the potential site supposed to walk around in wet towels all day? Also: How does the water stay inside the ride and off electrical equipment? And how are we keeping all these rides clean?
Despite many logistical questions, the spamusement park could become reality.
The mayor of Beppu declared that once the video reached 1 million views (a somewhat low bar in 2016 for a video of people in towels riding roller coasters), the city would begin working on the onsen (hot spring) amusement park. The video has been viewed more than 2 million times since it was uploaded last week and the mayor announced in a statement that work has begun. However, it’s entirely possible that the rides shown in the video will not actually happen.
“We are still discussing safety issues, for example, whether we could actually run hot water inside a roller coaster,” a spokesperson for Beppu’s tourist department told The Japan Times. “But the rides will be something fun.”
Beppu is already an onsen tourist destination—there are more than 2,000 hot springs for visitors to choose from. However the city recently launched an initiative to become the “spa city of the world.” Last year, Beppu welcomed 437,764 foreign tourists.
No completion date for the project has yet been announced.Play Stop Popout X
Why have mortality rates among pregnant women in Texas doubled in recent years? There’s no one explanation, Krugman admits — and then proceeds to pounce on one explanation: cuts to Planned Parenthood.
And you’ll never guess: Krugman is full of it!
Krugman Column
“States of Cruelty” (August 29, 2016)
Sponsor
The Jason Stapleton Program is a great Monday-to-Friday libertarian podcast, looking at current events from a libertarian perspective. Check it out!
Study Referenced
Recent Increases in the U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate (PDF)
Related Article
“Ontario vs. Michigan: Lessons from the Wolverine State,” by Bob Murphy, Joel Emes, & Ben Eisen
Book Mentioned
The Primal Prescription: Surviving the “Sick Care” Sinkhole, by Bob Murphy and Doug McGuff
The Contra Cruise
Join us October 9-16 for an unforgettable week at sea!
Need More Episodes?
Check out the Tom Woods Show, which releases a new episode every weekday. Become a smarter libertarian in just 30 minutes a day!1984 Ferrari 288 GTO Reading time: about 2 minutes. Cars
Ferrari
Luxury
Racing
Rare
The Ferrari 288 GTO was destined to compete in the borderline-insane world of Group B rallying. The FIA introduced the regulations that would define Group B in 1982, and it triggered an arms race amongst automakers that is often referred to today as the golden age of rally. The only downside was the number of drivers and fans who died as a result of the competition to push 800+hp cars around courses with little to no regard for either driver or spectator safety.
In 1986 an accident took the lives of drivers Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto at the Tour de Corse. It was to be the final straw and the FIA disestablished the class, leaving the Ferrari 288 GTO without an arena in which to compete.
All in, Ferrari built 272 examples of the 288 GTO. The model was based on the Ferrari 308 GTB/GTS, however there actually weren’t many interchangeable parts. In order to compete with the vehicles that were being built by the likes of Audi and Lancia, Ferrari developed a sleeved down version of the 308 GTB V8 engine that was capable of 400 bhp / 366 lb ft in street-tune from 2855cc – largely thanks to twin IHI turbochargers, Behr intercoolers, and Weber-Marelli electronic fuel injection.
Whereas the Ferrari 308 GTB/GTS had their V8s mounted transversely, the 288 GTO had its engine mounted longitudinally – to create adequate room for the turbos and intercoolers. Ferrari then mounted the 5-speed transmission to the rear of the engine making it clearly visible from the rear, right under the license plate.
In order to keep weight to an absolute minimum, the body of the 288 GTO was made from a GRP and carbon compound, and the doors, decklid, and bonnet were shaped from aluminium. This focus on reducing mass resulted in a total weight of 1160 kgs (2557.4 lbs), which when combined with 400 hp at the crank resulted in a 0-60 mph time of 4.8, a 0-100 mph time of 10.2 seconds and a top speed of 189 mph – making it the fastest car in the world when it was introduced.
The GTO you see here was the first to be imported into Japan, where it had been bought by world renowned collector Yoshiko Matsuda – a man who at one time owned three Ferrari 250 GTOs and a range of other iconic models from Maranello. It’s due to be sold by RM Sotheby’s on the 12th of March with an estimated value of between $2,300,000 and $2,600,000 USD – which is starting to sound cheap when compared to the sums being paid for prancing horses at auction over the past few years.
If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here.
Photo Credits: Karissa Hosek ©2015 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’sToday marks the grand beginning of an ongoing new feature for HippoChippies: The Indie Hour! I have an incredibly large backlog of independent free games I’ve picked up through hours of scouring the web. I want to find the best indie games that you can play for free and give them the attention they deserve. I have tons of these games hiding in folders on my desktop, and I’ve barely touched any of them.
The goal of this new segment is to set aside one hour and get some impressions on as many of them as I can. I feel like it’s better t play some of these games for five minutes, rather than let them sit on my computer and never touch any of them at all. Wish me luck, and hopefully I’ll find a few surprises deep down in here. And honestly I’m just curious to figure out what an “Empyreal Nocturne” could possibly be.
Alright, first up The White Chamber.
Oh god anime emo mega man just stepped out of a coffin.
WHY IS HE A GIRL OH GOD.
Hmm, it’s a point and click adventure game.
This computer is asking strange questions. “Do you know where you are?” Seems kind of interesting so far.
Neat atmosphere, spooky dark space station. I’ll try to come back to this later.
6 minutes in.
Halloween House
I have pressed literally every button on my keyboard and nothing worked. I can move up and down on the main menu, but have no ability to actually select any of the options. 10 out of 10. 8 minutes in.
Well I found a readme. CTRL is what selects menu options. Even thought I totally hit that. Halloween House time!
Poor Michael is stuck at home babysitting his sister on Halloween, and his parents didn’t get him any candy. What kind of family is this.
Alright, this game made me laugh out loud. I like it already. Jam sandwiches are the food of lies.
I’m pretty sure Jason lives in this kid’s attic.
Lots of horror movie references. I like it! Moving on now, I’ll have to come back to this too. Very pleased with these games so far! 14 minutes in.
Starting “Fiend“.
Looks creepy. I’m being sent to “a little town in the woods”. I bet that’ll go well. I’m being sent by my “compnay”. -Spell check is hard-
Who doesn’t love tank controls? Answer: everyone.
I have no idea how to progress, or why this bird keep repeating the same horrible chirping sound every two seconds. Help.
I’m frozen on a text box and I surrender. Next please. 19 minutes in.
Now “Empyreal Nocturne“.??????????
I am a flying blue arrow controlling smaller flying blue “birds”? I am supposed to fight a large segmented flying red object by using my small blue things to shoot it, or sacrifice them to speed up to it.
I’m not reeeaallly sure this is for me.
Moving on now. 22 minutes in.
Judith
Well it has pretty main menu screen music.
Ooooh Terry Cavanagh! I know that fool!
Jeff is meeting Emily in what seems to be a hedge maze.
“We’re both married, but not to each other.”
Well now I’m sneaking around with a married woman.
Exploring a house, it really seems like a maze. Kind of confusing trying to figure out where I’m supposed to be headed.
I…I have to finish this game now. I can’t ruin what’s happening, but you have to play this.
The end. That was an incredible game. The story is presented in such a way that there’s no way you can quit halfway through. It only took about 15 minutes too! Now I have to wrap my mind around what exactly happened. Excellent. 40 minutes in.
One Night
I’m being told about a mysterious building and then spooky music plays. I heard a dude yell. Trapped in a dark room now. Got out. Creepy noises are creepy. Even spookier music! Finding a bunch of weapons. I feel like something’s about to go down.
Using items to get through doors and other passages. Solved a puzzle for a key! Yay!
Intense music. Scary things happening. Now a music box is playing.
Only 10 minutes of the Indie Hour to go! This seems like a really cool game, the music is especially good. Seems like it would be able to maintain a pretty unnerving atmosphere for a while. 50 minutes in.
Seiklus
Well it’s stuck at the title screen with no way to do anything. The opening title theme is pretty neat though. Aaaaaand I listened to the entire thing waiting for it to do something, now it started the song over. That was a spectacular failure. I will have to try that again sometime. Tried it three times and it never actually let me play the game.
Okay, I finally got it to work. Just had to exit everything and restart a couple times. I am a tiny person running around vines while collecting green fireballs. I can handle this probably. Now i went inside a tree and opened a treasure chest. A bird flew out of it. What is this game. Now I’m stuck trying to climb some thorny vines to get into a cave. I think I’m done for now. 55 minutes in.
And for the final game…
Toribash
I am controlling a humanesque 3D model by choosing what joints he is supposed to move. I’m supposed to fight another weird looking model by performing complex maneuvers by manipulating individual body parts. This seems insanely complicated. Wow, I can’t even imagine trying to learn all of these controls. Seriously, my brain cannot comprehend this. I’m sure this game is fun for somebody. 60 minutes in.
Time’s up!!! I think that was a pretty successful beginning of the Indie Hour; I played all kinds of stuff and it was all very interesting. Some of it definitely isn’t for me, but that’s fine; I’m really glad I got to experience as wide a variety of games as I did. Judith was definitely my favorite of these indies, I absolutely recommend that everyone give it a try. One Night seems like it will be really great too. All of these games are 100% free, and I’ve linked to all of their downloads in this post!
-Zach
Image Source: studiotrophis.com indiegames.com gameclassicfication.com digipen.edu distractionware.com moddb.com autofish.net toribash.com
AdvertisementsLooking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
Former Democratic congressman Tom Perriello has a word of advice for public servants: do what’s right, even if it costs you your job.
In a new op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, the progressive politician says that voting in favor of the Affordable Care Act was the right thing to do, despite the fact that it cost him his seat in Congress.
Perriello was elected to represent Virginia’s 5th District in 2008 in the Democratic wave that put President Obama in the White House. In 2010, he voted for the Affordable Care Act, knowing that the then-unpopular bill would dim his reelection prospects.
During the contentious healthcare debate, I held more than 23 town hall meetings, in every county of my district. More than 18,000 Virginians attended these events. Thousands more dialed in to participate in conference calls. Most constituents at these meetings had already decided whether or not to support the Affordable Care Act. Many of them were angry. I was literally spit on and verbally berated regularly, but still always respected the rights of conservative constituents to face me unfiltered.
Though he was indeed ousted in the 2010 Tea Party shellacking, Perriello says “I never regretted my vote. Not once.” The Democrat, now running for the Virginia governorship, says he still receives notes of gratitude from voters about how the ACA lowered their insurance bills and extended their coverage for life-saving procedures.
“It may sound cheesy in this polarized, chaotic and cynical political moment, but public office is not about doing what’s easy. It’s about service. In voting to pass the ACA, I made a long-term bet that it would save lives well worth the short-term political costs.”
Read the whole thing.
Watch the rousing speech President Obama gave to House Democrats on the eve of the vote for the Affordable Care Act in 2010. “We are not bound to win, but we are bound to be true.”Who is going after FDLR and who not? Posted by ethuin on January 31, 2015 · 2 Comments
It has been roughly four weeks after a six-month ultimatum for Rwandan FDLR rebels to voluntarily disarm expired, until – on Thursday 29th January – military operations against the group were announced. In the slipstream of the visit of DRC’s army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Etumba, concrete announcements were made that FARDC will head the chase of the notorious Rwandan militia that contributed widely to insecurity in eastern DRC throughout the past 20 years. For more background, this page has followed recent development here, here, here, and here and Simone Schlindwein as well as Jason Stearns have offered excellent analysis pieces recently.
These announcements came after increasing international pressure on the Congolese government and MONUSCO, which both have been accused by observers as well as the Rwandan government anxious about FDLR’s delay tactics and possible survival as as armed group. In the shadow of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa – attended both by DRC president Joseph Kabila and MONUSCO head Martin Kobler.
Meanwhile, Congolese and international media remained confused over the nature of the announcement as humanitarian anxieties are on the rise. In fact, it is possible that these operations will be accompanied by an uncertain fate. The most telling comments behind closed doors ranged from “we all have a terrible headache about this” to “this is like opening a door and you don’t know what is behind”. Why is that? Here is to some bits of the current state of the art, bearing in mind a rather volatile situation in terms of information:
MONUSCO’s role in the operations remains absolutely unclarified. In their public communication, senior staff aimed at appeasing by stating that operations will be carried out jointly – a claim not officially confirmed. As of now, FARDC intends to launch unilateral military operations in which they seem only to demand logistical and supply assistance.
As of now, it seems that Gen.’s Sikabwe, the newly appointed head of the 34th military region covering North Kivu (previously head of operations in Ituri) and Mandevu, will be among the leading commanders on the army side. Whether or not they stand the usual MONUSCO vetting process remains to be seen.
In the worst case, MONUSCO may not be able to monitor frontline events, a fact underlined by the non-existence of a proper contingency plan while MONUSCO’s drones are stuck in Beni area and unavailable for the FDLR zone until further notice.
The Force Intervention Brigade, supposedly the part of MONUSCO’s armed forces that shall lead offensive action against non-state armed groups in eastern DRC, might have been sidelined for there is no information they will form an integral part of the FARDC-led operations such as for instance in the fight against M23.
A day before operations were officially announced, a pamphlet heralded the creation of a new FDLR splinter, called FPP (Force de Protection du People) and combining parts of FDLR with local militias. This will complicate the identification of who is FDLR and who is not.
FDLR leaders of both FOCA (‘the’ FDLR) and RUD (a splinter group that broke away in 2006/07) have repeatedly made clear they will not engage in open fighting. Although intelligence sources approximate their positions adequately, the armed units of FDLR are dispersed over vast spaces covering parts of Lubero, Rutshuru, Masisi, and Nyiragongo.
An earlier joint plan of operations was never adopted by the Congolese government, that opted for the FARDC plan instead. MONUSCO leaders, according to repetitive rumours, had limited insight into the approved planning.
On the basis of these and other elements, the actual déroulement of anti-FDLR operations is subject to myriad uncertainties. While previously reticent troop-contributing countries seem to have lessened their reluctance to engage FDLR militarily, the situation may change in a way that they might end up not engaging for an emerging set to reasons, including a de facto sidelining in the operational planning (as it seems to be the case for the FIB components). The political climate between Kinshasa and MONUSCO has been worsening in addition, with the Congolese government reportedly lacking trust in the UN mission. Key figures on the MONUSCO may soon reach their term limits and recent reshuffling on the Congolese side render the personnel constellation into a potential carousel, possibly impacting on the smoothness of collaboration.
With not more than two months left until MONUSCO (and its FIB) will need Security Council approval and after a strategic review that stipulates the mission’s downsizing (and asset transfer to other missions such as UNMISS and MINUSCA), the FDLR operations may now turn into the actual litmus test for both the UN’s largest and most long-standing peacekeeping operation and the 2098-induced doctrine of peace enforcement. The auspices are mixed.While America’s first president, George Washington, said he could never tell a lie, America’s current president, Donald Trump, is at war against truth.
Lets begin with a source I do not often quote on matters of economic philosophy or political preference, the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal. In a breathtaking editorial on Wednesday the Journal, comparing Trump’s behavior to a drunk clinging to an empty gin bottle, warned about “the damage that Mr. Trump is doing to his Presidency with his seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other falsehoods.”
ADVERTISEMENT
I would offer two amendments to the wording of the editorial. First, some of Trump’s false statements are bald-faced lies. Second, they do not only damage his presidency. They damage America. They damage American security. They damage the alliance of democratic nations. They directly help our adversaries and enemies.
When Trump speaks so many falsehoods, as the Journal states correctly that he does, there are only two explanations for this behavior. Either explanation of Trump’s pattern and practice of repeatedly making false statements would be unprecedented in the history of the American presidency, from Washington to Trump.
The first explanation would be that the president is a pathological liar. The second explanation would be that he is so profoundly incapable of separating truth from falsehood that it raises a legitimate question about whether to trigger the incapacity provision of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Major historical events do not escape Trump’s penchant for falsehood. He lied when he charged that the father of Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzTrump unleashing digital juggernaut ahead of 2020 Inviting Kim Jong Un to Washington Trump endorses Cornyn for reelection as O'Rourke mulls challenge MORE (R-Texas) was involved in President Kennedy’s assassination. He lied when he claimed to have seen American Muslims celebrating the attacks on 9/11. He lied when he claimed he was always against the Iraq War.
I would propose that it is an outright lie for 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 to continue to slander former President Obama with his false charge that Obama committed the crime of ordering illegal wiretapping against him in 2016. This charge that he continues to make has been debunked and repudiated by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence committees, the Justice Department and the directors of the FBI and NSA.
Even giving Trump the benefit of the doubt that he incompetently reads Breitbart and watches Fox News and immediately tweets angry accusations believing whatever he reads or hears is true, his slander against the British Government Communications Headquarters, falsely claiming British intelligence committed illegal wiretapping against him, demonstrates a lack of competence and integrity that causes real damage to American and Western security.
As the Journal editorial suggested, if America was ever threatened by North Korea or any nation, many Americans and foreign leaders and citizens would simply not believe Trump because he claims it, even if he is right.
If there is ever a legitimate need for an international coalition of allies against a foreign enemy or terrorist group, many leaders and citizens of allied nations would be reluctant to join a multinational force under Trump’s command. They would disbelieve his claims about the threat and fear his military judgment.
If Trump actually believes that the CIA is comparable to Nazi Germany, as he has falsely said, or if he actually believes that British intelligence has committed crimes against America, as he has falsely charged, these loony tune views would make him incompetent to anticipate a crisis or command a response because good intelligence is essential to being commander in chief or leader of allied nations.
Trump regularly bears false witness against political opponents, internationally respected media, democratic allies, the size of his crowds, the margin of his close election and a list of subjects too long to fully describe here.
When a president wages war against truth, it poses a clear and present danger to America and democracies around the world.
Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), then-chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. in international financial law from the London School of Economics. He can be read on The Hill’s Contributors blog and reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.Section 66(1) of the Income Tax Act allows principal business corporations (certain corporations in the mining, oil and gas, and renewable energy and energy conservation sectors) to fully deduct exploration and pre-development expenses incurred in Canada from its income in the year the expenses were incurred.
Many corporations with exploration and development expenses, however, are in a non-taxable position in a given tax year and are unable to deduct these expenses. Whilst unused exploration and pre-development expenses can be carried forward indefinitely, qualifying corporations can also choose to transfer these deductions to flow-through-share (FTS) investors.
FTSs are attractive to corporations that have difficulty raising capital to finance exploration and pre-development activities, notably junior resource corporations, which have little prospect of generating revenue in the foreseeable future, and which will go out of businesses and not be able to use the deductions without FTS investments. They are also attractive to investors as they are permitted to fully deduct the cost of their FTSs from their income: the deduction is worth more to an individual than to a corporation since personal income tax rates are notably higher than corporate tax rates.
While FTSs are not a recent addition to the Canadian tax regime, the super flow-through-share (SFTS) is. In the 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update (Finance Canada 2000), the Government of Canada announced the non-refundable Investment Tax Credit for Exploration (ITCE). It was intended to be temporary (expiring at the end of 2003) 15% investment tax credit for investors in flow-through shares of mineral exploration companies. The impetus for the SFTS was the low price of metals that occurred throughout the 1990s and which caused a significant contraction in mineral exploration. While metal prices rebounded to historical highs by the mid 2000s, the tax credit was renewed for additional one year periods. It was re-instated in 2006 as the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC) which was set to expire March 31, 2009 but subsequent budgets have extended the credit for one year periods and is currently set to expire March 31, 2014. Many provinces also have comparable programs.
It is useful to provide an example of how FTSs in general and the tax credit specifically benefit the investor. Mary is an investor located in BC who earns $150,000 a year and is taxed at the highest rate both federally (29%) and the second highest provincially (14.7%).
She decides to invest $10,000 in a mining exploration company though the purchase of FTS. In the tax year in which she makes the purchase, she is able to deduct the $10,000 from her income. Had she not made the purchase, she would have paid $2,900 in federal taxes and $1,470 in provincial taxes on the $10,000. As a result of the deduction, Mary saved $4,370 in income taxes making the cost of the investment to Mary only $5,630.
Since Mary invested in a mining exploration company, she is also eligible for provincial and federal tax credits. The value of the BC tax credit is 20% or $2,000. The federal METC is 15% but is calculated on the value of the investment minus any provincial tax credit. In Mary’s case it is calculated on $8,000 for a federal tax credit worth $1,200. Because the tax credits are in effect a grant, the value of the federal and provincial tax credit is subject to income tax, resulting in Mary incurring a tax liability of $1,390. In total, Mary garners a tax benefit of $6,180. Of the $10,000 initial investment, Mary shoulders $3,820 (38.2%) of the cost while taxpayers bear $6,180 (61.8%) of the cost of the investment.
In order for Mary to break even (ignoring inflation and other time costs of money), she only needs to sell the $10,000 investment for $4,888.03 (the adjusted cost basis of the shares is zero). If she sells for this amount, she will only pay $1,068.03 in capital gains taxes, leaving Mary with the initial after-tax cost of the investment ($3,820). In this scenario, the taxpayer is left with a $5,111.97 deficit. Because Mary sold at a value less than her original investment, this implies that the company’s stock price decreased and it can be assumed that they did not find any mineral deposits of value implying no additional corporate taxes to make up the difference.
In fact, in order for the taxpayer to break even (assuming no additional corporate taxes), Mary would have to sell the shares for $28,283.75 which represents an unlikely 182% return on her (and the taxpayers) investment. Clearly, the tax regime for FTS is preferential even without the METC and one has to wonder how much additional influence the tax credit has had on investment in mining FTS.
There is evidence to indicate that the investments in mining FTS is predominately done for tax planning reasons as demand for these products increases at the end of the calendar year. They are also actively marketed to investors who are looking for last-minute tax deductions. An unintended cost of the SFTS regime is that it is likely shifting investment dollars away from other, less risky, and unsubsidized investments.
The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada credits the METC as contributing significantly to mineral exploration activity and new mineral discoveries in Canada. In particular: increasing exploration expenditures from approximately $300 million in the late 1990s to an estimated $3.9 billion in2012, well in excess of the lows seen in the late 1990s. If one examines exploration expenditures along with the Metal Price Index (MPI) one see a high correlation between expenditures and metal prices and it is likely that the true driving force behind the expansion was the increase in metal prices.
In terms of the value of the deposits found, the value has increased, however, most of this increase is due solely to the rise in prices. This indicates that the increase in exploration is not paying off in terms of an increase in the value of located deposits.
There is little evidence that the METC and their related provincial counterparts induces increased exploration activity over that stimulated by commodity prices. On the investor side, the METC subsidizes high risk investments and appears to be predominately used for tax planning purposes by high income taxpayers rather than for calculated investment purposes. On the administration side, the FTS regime is associated with high administrative and compliance costs and most of the benefits accrue to tax lawyers and accountants.
Many low and middle income tax payers are themselves unable to benefit from deductions yet there is no corresponding ability for them to flow through their deductions to other.It is time to end these tax credits that benefit only wealthy investors and restore fairness to our tax system.
AdvertisementsCondividi Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Google
LinkedIn
Pocket
Mi piace: Mi piace Caricamento...
"Qui siamo su Facebook, non vorrete mica notizie selezionate?" Questo il succo delle risposte che il social media manager de " Il Messaggero " ha dato a chi, sulla pagina Facebook del giornale, commentava la decisione di dare rilevanza all'affaire tra Belen Rodriguez e il marito Stefano De Martino. Va ben oltre, nelle sue risposte. Arriva a scr |
appended to the slice using append function. The definition of append function is func append(s []T, x...T) []T.
x...T in the function definition means that the function accepts variable number of arguments for the parameter x. These type of functions are called variadic functions.
One question might be bothering you though. If slices are backed by arrays and arrays themselves are of fixed length then how come a slice is of dynamic length. Well what happens under the hoods is, when new elements are appended to the slice, a new array is created. The elements of the existing array are copied to this new array and a new slice reference for this new array is returned. The capacity of the new slice is now twice that of the old slice. Pretty cool right :). The following program will make things clear.
package main import ( "fmt" ) func main() { cars := []string{"Ferrari", "Honda", "Ford"} fmt.Println("cars:", cars, "has old length", len(cars), "and capacity", cap(cars)) //capacity of cars is 3 cars = append(cars, "Toyota") fmt.Println("cars:", cars, "has new length", len(cars), "and capacity", cap(cars)) //capacity of cars is doubled to 6 }
Run in playground
In the above program, the capacity of cars is 3 initially. We append a new element to cars in line no. 10 and assign the slice returned by append(cars, "Toyota") to cars again. Now the capacity of cars is doubled and becomes 6. The output of the above program is
cars: [Ferrari Honda Ford] has old length 3 and capacity 3 cars: [Ferrari Honda Ford Toyota] has new length 4 and capacity 6
The zero value of a slice type is nil. A nil slice has length and capacity 0. It is possible to append values to a nil slice using the append function.
package main import ( "fmt" ) func main() { var names []string //zero value of a slice is nil if names == nil { fmt.Println("slice is nil going to append") names = append(names, "John", "Sebastian", "Vinay") fmt.Println("names contents:",names) } }
Run in playground
In the above program names is nil and we have appended 3 strings to names. The output of the program is
slice is nil going to append names contents: [John Sebastian Vinay]
It is also possible to append one slice to another using the... operator. You can learn more about this operator in the variadic functions tutorial.
package main import ( "fmt" ) func main() { veggies := []string{"potatoes","tomatoes","brinjal"} fruits := []string{"oranges","apples"} food := append(veggies, fruits...) fmt.Println("food:",food) }
Run in playground
In line no. 10 of the above program food is created by appending fruits to veggies. Output of the program is food: [potatoes tomatoes brinjal oranges apples]
Passing a slice to a function
Slices can be thought of as being represented internally by a structure type. This is how it looks,
type slice struct { Length int Capacity int ZerothElement *byte }
A slice contains the length, capacity and a pointer to the zeroth element of the array. When a slice is passed to a function, even though it's passed by value, the pointer variable will refer to the same underlying array. Hence when a slice is passed to a function as parameter, changes made inside the function are visible outside the function too. Lets write a program to check this out.
package main import ( "fmt" ) func subtactOne(numbers []int) { for i := range numbers { numbers[i] -= 2 } } func main() { nos := []int{8, 7, 6} fmt.Println("slice before function call", nos) subtactOne(nos) //function modifies the slice fmt.Println("slice after function call", nos) //modifications are visible outside }
Run in playground
The function call in line number 17 of the above program decrements each element of the slice by 2. When the slice is printed after the function call, these changes are visible. If you can recall, this is different from an array where the changes made to an array inside a function are not visible outside the function. Output of the above program is,
slice before function call [8 7 6] slice after function call [6 5 4]
Multidimensional slices
Similar to arrays, slices can have multiple dimensions.
package main import ( "fmt" ) func main() { pls := [][]string { {"C", "C++"}, {"JavaScript"}, {"Go", "Rust"}, } for _, v1 := range pls { for _, v2 := range v1 { fmt.Printf("%s ", v2) } fmt.Printf("
") } }
Run in playground
The output of the program is,
C C++ JavaScript Go Rust
Memory Optimisation
Slices hold a reference to the underlying array. As long as the slice is in memory, the array cannot be garbage collected. This might be of concern when it comes to memory management. Lets assume that we have a very large array and we are interested in processing only a small part of it. Henceforth we create a slice from that array and start processing the slice. The important thing to be noted here is that the array will still be in memory since the slice references it.
One way to solve this problem is to use the copy function func copy(dst, src []T) int to make a copy of that slice. This way we can use the new slice and the original array can be garbage collected.
package main import ( "fmt" ) func countries() []string { countries := []string{"USA", "Singapore", "Germany", "India", "Australia"} neededCountries := countries[:len(countries)-2] countriesCpy := make([]string, len(neededCountries)) copy(countriesCpy, neededCountries) //copies neededCountries to countriesCpy return countriesCpy } func main() { countriesNeeded := countries() fmt.Println(countriesNeeded) }
Run in playground
In line no. 9 of the above program, neededCountries := countries[:len(countries)-2] creates a slice of countries barring the last 2 elements. Line no. 11 of the above program copies neededCountries to countriesCpy and also returns it from the function in the next line. Now countries array can be garbage collected since neededCountries is no longer referenced.
I have compiled all the concepts we discussed so far into a single program. You can download it from github.
Thats it for arrays and slices. Thanks for reading. Please leave your valuable feedback and comments.
Next tutorial - Variadic FunctionsApple’s Penchant for Consumer Security
Reading Time: 4 minutes
At a security “deep dive” at Apple on Friday, executives went into depth on Apple security philosophy and technological approach to the matter. I’ve sat through many technology company’s technical briefings but never one from Apple which went deeper on custom silicon solutions than I had seen before. I’ll weave some technical tidbits I learned into this article but there was a theme which came up that struck me. More than a handful of times, presenters used the phrase “balancing security with ease of use”.
This seemed to be a key phrase and philosophy that is driving Apple’s thinking. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense in light of so many other security issues that exist in corporate, government, and other high-security environments where computers are used. You can build Fort Knox-level security into a personal computer but it would come at the expense of user experience — and oftentimes does. Apple is attempting something that seems unprecedented at an industry level. To bring industry leading security but do so by actually enhancing the user experience. Prior to Touch ID for example, many organizations required eight, and sometimes longer, PIN numbers. Imagine entering that many numbers every time you pick up your smartphone. To emphasize this point, Apple shared a great statistic: their average users unlocks their phones 80 times a day. Other reports state people look at their phones upwards of 130 times a day but those are less of the average and more the heavier users. Regardless, the simple act of logging into our phone via a secure form of login like passcodes or fingerprints is now taken for granted in much of Apple’s ecosystem when, just a few years ago, anyone could have stolen my phone and have access to my personal information. Here again, Apple shared that 89% of their users with a Touch ID-capable device have set it up and use it. In our own consumer study of iPhone owners, we learned 85% of respondents said they use either Touch ID or a pin to log in to their iOS device. Again, this seems unprecedented given where we were in consumer security just a few years ago. Touch ID is a clear example of enhanced security and enhanced user experience. It is difficult to objectively argue that logging in to our devices with Touch ID is not only faster, more natural, and more efficient than the old swipe to log in but it is also inherently more secure.
After sitting through the technical explanations of how Apple has specifically designed the interplay of custom silicon like the A-series processors, iOS, and the Secure Enclave coprocessor, I came to the realization that, while I knew the iPhone was a secure device, I really had no idea just how secure it actually is. It can’t be overstated how essential Apple’s custom designed silicon is to the security of iOS products. For example, in a Mac, running software designed by Apple but using a main CPU and GPU made by Intel/AMD/Nvidia, they have put security measures in place including encrypting the entire storage disk. However, with the custom A-series processors, custom designed secure enclave co-processor, and custom designed iOS, Apple is able to encrypt every single file on your iOS device, not just the entire disk.
Secure Enclave: A Security Designed Coprocessor
I came away from this discussion with a much greater appreciation of the Secure Enclave. Some details on this product are outlined in Apple’s Security White Paper, but we were given a bit more depth at this briefing. Yet I still desire a great deal more technical details should we be able to acquire them at some point. From the white paper, here is some detail on the Secure Enclave:
The Secure Enclave is a coprocessor fabricated in the Apple A7 or later A-series processor. It utilizes its own secure boot and personalized software update separate from the application processor. It provides all cryptographic operations for Data Protection key management and maintains the integrity of Data Protection even if the kernel has been compromised. The Secure Enclave uses encrypted memory and includes a hardware random number generator. Its microkernel is based on the L4 family, with modifications by Apple. Communication between the Secure Enclave and the application processor is isolated to an interrupt-driven mailbox and shared memory data buffers. Each Secure Enclave is provisioned during fabrication with its own UID (Unique ID) that is not accessible to other parts of the system and is not known to Apple. When the device starts up, an ephemeral key is created, entangled with its UID, and used to encrypt the Secure Enclave’s portion of the device’s memory space.
There is a great deal of security “magic” that happens in the Secure Enclave but this co-processors sits at the heart of Apple’s encryption techniques. Everything from booting up securely to individual file level encryption runs through the secure enclave. This means someone can’t hack into just part of my phone and get some of the data. It is all protected and encrypted. A hacker needs my passcode or she gets nothing. There is no middle ground. Apple’s security designed ecosystem runs through a series of trusted chains with the secure enclave at the center. It is a deep system of trust built from the silicon up.
The Security Battle
What I find most interesting about Apple’s story around security is how it goes much deeper than a feature. While security, in this case, could be perceived as a feature, my read on what Apple is doing is going a step beyond simply making security a feature and making it a priority. It is a deep guiding philosophy to which Apple appears to be unwaveringly dedicated. In an age where billions of consumers are now using computers more often than they ever did at any point in history, it is clear we are in a new era of consumer computing being led by smartphones. Looking back historically at the efforts of hackers in the PC era, one can only imagine it would be magnitudes worse in this era with more people online than ever. Some may argue Apple is emphasizing and picking this battle when consumers really don’t care much about security and privacy. The big debate about how much consumers care about security is certainly a valid one. What I appreciate about Apple’s efforts is they are making it so consumers don’t have to care. Apple is simply doing it anyway and going out of their way to ensure consumers have the best security possible at the moment and making secure environments the default while also enhancing the user experience. Which is not only the way it should be, but it is the right thing to do.Cubs win
Paul Messersmith-Glavin, left, and his brother Michael Glavin watch the Cubs play in the World Series at Wrigley Field. (Photo by Michael Glavin)
In September, I interviewed Lara and Paul Messersmith-Glavin, two members of the Portland-based Institute for Anarchist Studies. We talked about anarchist theory and how anarchists believe if you change social conditions, you can make empathy, solidarity and altruism part of human nature. When I suggested you really had to be an optimist to be an anarchist, Paul replied: "I'm a Chicago Cubs fan. I have to be an optimist."
Well folks, the optimists were right. Paul, a Chicago native, got to travel back home and was at Wrigley Field for Games 3 and 4 of the World Series. The Cubs, of course, won it all in a dramatic Game Seven.
I reached out to Paul and he shared some thoughts about what the World Series meant to him. The following is in Paul's own words:
****
I was raised a Cubs' fan by my father, John. I didn't have a choice in the matter, growing up in a working-class neighborhood on Chicago's North Side. The Cubs are the North Side team. The Cubs always lost and, when they didn't - when they got close by actually going to the playoffs - they eventually would lose.
They hadn't gone to the World Series since 1945, or won it since 1908.
This prepared me as I looked around at the world at a young age and realized it needed to change. I threw myself into radical politics in high school. Being a Cubs' fan, I learned not to get my expectations up about how fast things would change. I brought my dedication and my long-term view to my organizing work.
I realized that sayings like, "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game" had meaning.
Eventually, I came to identify with the anarchist tradition. I found it to be the most comprehensive, democratic, and liberatory set of principles and practices. Like Cubs fans, anarchists hadn't won in awhile: Spain, 1936 leading up to the Civil War, when tens of thousands of anarchists had collectivized work places around the country, had huge organizations, and political collectives.
For both Cubs' fans, and anarchists, our glory days were far in the past.
Being a Cubs' fan prepared me to always hope for the future. No matter how bad things were, or how badly we were being beaten, a better day would come. We just had to hang in there and not give up.
This year, all that striving, all that hope, all that perennial optimism paid off: The Cubs not only went to the World Series, they won it.
I was fortunate to receive a ticket for two World Series games at Wrigley. The police had shut down the streets around the Field for blocks in every direction. Thousands of fans flocked to Wrigley all three days games were played there and on the night they won in Cleveland.
The feeling in the stands was electric.
I've been going to Wrigley since I was a young boy, but the buzz was never stronger. It was so magical being there, seeing a World Series game played for the first time in 71 years, and I realized the rewards of perseverance. I had dreamed for years that the Cubs would be in the World Series and, after countless heartbreaks, black cats, overeager fans reaching for playable foul balls, and monk's curses, we were. Despite all the barriers and failures, we were one of the two teams left standing. Everyone else had gone home.
It was us now, making history.
The Cubs split the first two games in Cleveland. I watched them lose the next two straight, the first night with my sister, the second with my brother. Of course, I thought, the Cubs are solidifying our identity before they shatter it completely.
Going into Game Five, we were down 3-1 in the series. I watched that game with my family in Chicago on TV. We had to win to take it back to Cleveland and extend our life. In fact, we had to win the next three straight.
We did win that night. And then we won the next game. I was feeling confident going into Game Seven, although I didn't say anything publicly for fear of jinxing it. I'd had a feeling that 2016 was going to be our year for several years now. And it was.
If the Cubs can win the World Series, anything is possible. Another world is possible. Things can be different.
For years I endured the abuse of people joking about the Cubs, just as people joke about anarchism. They say it would never work, people just aren't like that, people are selfish and greedy, not realizing that it is capitalism that makes them that way.
For 108 years, Cubs fans have kept going, despite the realities that beat us down everyday, despite the team trying their best and still losing, year after year.
In organizing work, one looks around at the state of the world and makes a conscious decision to try and change things despite the realities staring you in the face. You decide you are dedicated to something, and you make that your life's work, despite the odds, despite what has happened in the past, because you have hope - and perhaps some healthy naivete - and you keep going.
After 108 years, the Cubs are baseball's Champions. Anything really is possible, dreams do come true, and perseverance in the face of adversity does pay off. You just have to keep going.
Being a lifelong Cubs' fan necessitates an optimistic orientation toward the human spirit, to the power of endurance, to the importance of hanging in there. There's always next year, and there's always the possibility of a brighter future. It's the utopian impulse, and after 108 years, that impulse was confirmed by reality.
If, after 108 years of futility and loss, the Cubs can finally win the World Series, then perhaps us anarchists and others desiring a better, fundamentally different world, can finally win as well. All we can do is hope, and keep working toward it.Indonesia’s new Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Anies Baswedan has a huge task ahead of him.
Australia was alarmed when its students ranked 19th in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests in 2012. But Southeast Asia’s largest economy performed much worse. Its students scored the second-lowest out of 65 countries. Vietnamese students scored better than Indonesians (and Australians), ranking 17th on the chart.
The Indonesian government has made efforts to improve the quality of education. It has mandated 20% of the national budget for education. There are plans to improve the learning process and to enhance the quality of teachers.
But there is one big problem that has often been overlooked.
Students caught in the crossfire
In many places in Indonesia, there is a long-standing conflict between communities and the schools that provide education for their children.
Trapped in the middle of the conflict are the students whose studies are often disrupted as a consequence.
Research in Bulukumba regency, in South Sulawesi and Sekadau, and Bengkayang regency, in West Kalimantan, revealed that one in three schools visited is in conflict with communities for several reasons.
First, schools often lack proper land documentation. Second, communities are “free-riding”, using school properties without proper care. Third, schools face vandalism or theft.
These challenges exist not only in these two provinces, but across Indonesia, wherever increased urbanisation is converting villages to cities or creating new jurisdictions as a consequence of decentralisation.
Conflict over land
EPA/WEDA
Schools in rural areas often start with members of the community granting or selling a piece of land without proper documentation. As time goes by, these schools expand. Yet the land certification had never been completed until another party brings this issue to the front.
For example, the school bought the land a long time ago when the price of land was still low but did not immediately process proper land titles. As the price of land dramatically increased with the process of urbanisation, the next of kin of the former land owners became tempted to claim the land and demand a large amount of money.
Problems of schools that lack proper land documentation are widespread in Indonesia. In Mamuju regency in West Sulawesi, nearly all elementary schools - about 90% - do not own land titles. In Bulukumba regency, 70% of schools have the same problem. Half of the elementary schools in Lebak regency in Banten province also don’t own land titles.
Many schools have been ignoring this problem. Principals and teachers are too busy with teaching duties to resolve this. In extreme cases, the community seals the schools, barring entry to students and teachers.
In Sumenep regency in East Java, students had to temporarily use people’s home terraces before moving to a classroom of an Islamic school and then to a seaweed warehouse. In Bulukumba, students had to use the basement of people’s homes.
Problems in land documentation reflect school’s ignorance of the legal status of their land. Also, school officials often do not know how to handle land documentation problems, not to mention lacking the funds to acquire land. This is not only the case in rural areas or outside Java but also in urban areas and in Java.
The free-riders problem
Another type of conflict happens when communities use school grounds for non-school activities such as grazing areas for their cattle or goats after school time. This makes the school dirty and creates unsanitary conditions for students. It may cause health problems and prevent students’ full participation in the education system.
Villagers also often use school grounds to store community tools and equipment. In one fishing village we visited, the fishermen put their net in the schoolyard as it was close to the sea.
Communities also use school grounds for recreational activities. Anybody can enter the school area to play football and, in the process, destroy plants or break classroom windows.
This issue affirms the fact that schools have been viewed as common goods and community members act like free riders. Anybody in the neighbourhood is free to take advantage of the school yard. Schools are regularly used by trespassers for individual benefits.
Vandalism and theft
The third conflict is caused by vandalism and theft of school property. Schools in both rural and urban areas face this issue.
In some cases, young delinquents loiter, get drunk and spray graffiti on school grounds. These activities are often combined with criminal action where school assets are stolen. School officials feel it is unsafe to keep various learning resources and materials at school.
While problems of land documentation have been reported in local media, the problems of free riders and vandalism are often unreported. Unless we visit the schools, we would not know they face these challenges. Schools seem to be helpless in defending themselves in these conflicts with the community.
Possible solutions
How should this be solved? For one thing, the new minister and regional governments should be aware of this long-standing problem.
The government should provide training for school principals to help them learn “soft” skills to engage with the community and revitalise school committees. School principals need to understand the culture of the local community and be open to working with them. Appointing principals who are part of the community might help ease the problems.
The school committee has an important role as a mediator between the school and the community. But often it is seen as a money-collecting institution for the school.
Many school committees have been inactive and lack the capacity to intervene. Conflicts with the community should be a spur to revitalise the school committee.
In terms of land issues, the local government should start documenting schools that presently lack land titles. Each school should keep its own land documentation.
The local government should also set aside budget funds to acquire problematic pieces of land. To solve this problem, government agencies, for example the Education Agency and the Land Agency, need to work together.
In terms of free riding, vandalism and theft, it is important to note that many schools still have no clear physical boundaries. Schools need financial assistance to build proper fences or hire security guards to protect grounds after school hours.
It is crucial for the government to enact measures that will improve learning processes and teaching capacity. But these measures can only be effective when schools are free from conflict with their communities.
The PISA results show that Indonesian students face serious challenges in their schooling. We should, at the very least, make sure they can study in peace.A Durham Regional Police constable who recently received a commendation for saving a man’s life is now facing condemnation from the same police force for attempting to save a kitten she believed was being neglected while its owner binged on crystal meth.
Const. Beth Richardson will face a charge of discreditable conduct before a Police Services Act tribunal on Wednesday.
If found guilty she faces a possible demotion.
Richardson, a 17-year veteran, was called to an Oshawa home as backup in January after police received a call about a woman who was in the midst of a days-long drug binge.
According to the statement of particulars, Richardson noticed a kitten “cowering under a table” inside the home.
Believing the animal was in distress and in a state of neglect she arranged for a friend to take the cat and have it examined by a veterinarian at her own cost.
But according to Durham Regional police, “Richardson did not advise her supervisor or any other officers that she had taken the cat from the owners nor did she document her actions.”
The woman’s boyfriend later called police demanding the return of the pet, and asking for theft charges to be laid against Const. Richardson.
When the kitten was returned, the couple decided not to lay charges.
Richardson’s lawyer, Joseph Markson, called it the “most ridiculous case” he’s seen in 20 years practicing law.
“One would hope that an officer with sworn duties to take care of people who they encounter, who sees an animal in distress, would do something about it,” he argued.
“Beth was concerned that if this kitten stayed in the care of this young woman who couldn’t even take care of herself, that the kitten was in immediate danger…she wanted to make sure that the kitten wasn’t left at risk in that home and was properly cared for. I would think that’s very consistent with her duties as a police officer.”
Markson said his client is an exemplary officer and doesn’t deserve to face discipline and potentially have her record marred.
“Why resources are being wasted trying to scar my client with the label of discreditable conduct is beyond me. It makes no sense.”
“She loves animals,” he adds. “Her heartstrings are just pulled when she sees animals in distress. I think she’s a real benefit to policing in Durham and she loves public service.”
Richardson is also receiving online support. A woman named Lucinda Knowlton started a petition on Change.org, urging police not to punish Richardson.
In an April 2016 Durham police newsletter, Richardson was credited with helping save the life of a man who had slit his wrists and throat.
Paramedics said if it weren’t for Richardson’s quick action applying pressure to the neck wound, the man would have likely died.
Police Services Act charge for Const. who took kitten from home by CityNewsToronto on ScribdWelcome to the Mormon Expression Archive
Mormon Expression was a podcast that I ran from 2009 to 2014. I am currently in the process of adding all of the content here. Check back for more content and coming soon, a history of Mormon Expression!
–John
The History of Mormon Expression
Mormon Expression in Pictures
Mormon Expression Voices
The Mormon Expression Archive
Episode 285: John says Goodbye
Episode 284: What I learned being a Mormon and why it wasn’t all Bad
Episode 283: How we know beyond a shadow of a Doubt that the Church isn’t True
Episode 282: Why the Church Cannot Reform on the Gay Marriage Issues
Episode 281: Top 10 Things You Would Expect To See If The Church Were Actually True
Episode 280: Mormonism and the Red Scare
Episode 279: Top 10 Goofiest Things in the Doctrine and Covenants
Episode 277: The Top 10 Goofiest Things in the Book of Mormon
Episode 276: How to build a transoceanic vessel
Episode 275: How to Become an Ex-ex-Mormon
Episode 274: Mormonism Vs. Orwell
Episode 273: Burning Down The House: The End of the Mormon Expression VIP Lounge
Episode 272: The Top 10 Goofiest Ideas in the Pearl of Great Price
Episode 271: The Top Ten Lesser Known Mormon Scandals
Episode 270: Post Mormon Spirituality
Episode 269: John’s Dilemma
Episode 268: What To Do If You Decide To Leave The Church
Episode 266: The New Comers Guide to Utah Culture
Episode 265: John Delivers a Message to your Mormon Loved Ones
Episode 264: Mormonism and the Prosperity Gospel
Episode 263: Mormonism and PTSD
Episode 262: Mormonism vs. Voltaire
Episode 261: The Church’s PR and Kate Kelly
Episode 260: Mormon Privilege in Utah
Episode 259: The Tight Vs. Loose Translation Theories
Episode 258: The Great Weird Off – Mormonism Vs. Jehovah’s Witness
Episode 257: Mormonism and Plato
Episode 256: Dialogs with Myself – How John Larsen Disagrees with John Larsen
Episode 255: The Most Problematic Areas for Mormon Apologists
Episode 254: The Grand Demonic Conspiracy
Episode 252: What it means to be a Bishop
Episode 251: The Kübler-Ross model and Mormonism
Episode 250: HeartSell
Episode 249: The Time Commitment Required To Be A Good Mormon
Episode 248: Now What?
Episode 247: The Ex-Mormon Struggle for Identity
Episode 246: The Governing Philosophy and Structure of the Church
Episode 245: The First Four Verses in the Book of Mormon
Episode 244: The Doctrine of Mormon Heaven
Episode 243: The Doctrine of Mormon Hell
Episode 242: Mormonism and Violence
Episode 241: The Church and Technology
Episode 240: Leaving the Church and Finding Yourself
Episode 239: D&C 77 For Dummies
Episode 238: Top Ten Things ExMos Do That Suck
Episode 237: Nibley’s Book of Mormon Challenge
Episode 235: The Great Satanist Scare
Episode 234: Epistemology
Episode 233: Listener’s Q and A
Episode 232: The Euthyphro dilemma and Mormonism
Episode 231: Elder Uchtdorf’s Talk, “Come, Join with Us”
Episode 230: “The Not Even Once Club”
Episode 229: The Mormon View of Divinity
Episode 228: How the Church Takes Things From You and Sells Them Back
Episode 227: The Divorce
Episode 226: Is the Mormon God a Narcissistic Psychopath?
Episode 225: Top Ten Ways to Transition Out of the Church
Episode 224: Passive Aggression and Mormonism
Episode 223: Are Mormons Persecuted?
Episode 222: Tolerance
Episode 221: Top Ten Ways the Church is Like North Korea
Episode 220: Searching for the Smoking Gun and the Parallax Problem
Episode 219: Ex-Mormonism as a Hero’s Journey
Episode 218: The Ex-Mormons Come to Dinner
Episode 214: The Male Standard Within the LDS Church
Episode 213: Top Ten Reasons to Open Your Mouth and Take a Stand
Episode 210: Conversations with Mike Tannehill
Episode 206: Mormonism and Race
Episode 204: The Resignation of John and Zilpha
Episode 203: Secrets and Wives with Sanjiv Bhattacharya
Episode 200: The Top Ten Changes to the Temple
Episode 199: Pre Existence for Dummies (Live)
Episode 198: Children in LDS Families
Episode 197: Baptism for the Dead
Episode 196: Young Women and Priesthood Sessions Review
Episode 195: April 2012 General Conference Sunday Sessions
Episode 192: Myths Concerning the Community of Christ
Episode 191: Alcohol 101 for Mormons
Episode 190: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
Episode 189: The Kinderhook Plates for Dummies
Episode 188: The Adam-God Doctrine for Dummies
Episode 187: Doctrine and Covenants 129 for Dummies
Episode 185: The White Horse Prophecy for Dummies
Episode 184: A Closer Look at “Anti-Mormon” Statements
Episode 182: Sex 101 for Mormons
Episode 181: State of The Union
Episode 180: John Dehlin
Episode 179: Women in LDS Families
Episode 177: The God of the Lost Keys
Episode 176: Top 10 Reasons to Leave the Church
Episode 175: Top 10 Reasons to Stay in the Church
Episode 174: Live Event: Mormon Fight Songs for Dummies
Episode 173: A Critique of the Critics
Episode 171: Divorce in the LDS Culture
Episode 170: William and the “I Am An Ex Mormon” Videos
Episode 167: Articles of Faith for Dummies Part 4
Episode 166: Articles of Faith for Dummies Part 3
Episode 165: Articles of Faith for Dummies Part 2
Episode 164: Articles of Faith for Dummies Part 1
Episode 163: Top 10 Mormon Sites to Visit in Salt Lake City
Episode 162: Chuck Borough the Atheist, Agnostic, Believer
Episode 161: October 2011 General Conference Relief Society and Priesthood Sessions
Episode 160: October 2011 General Conference Sunday Sessions
Episode 159: October 2011 General Conference Saturday Sessions
Episode 158: D&C 19 for Dummies
Episode 157: Top 10 Anachronisms of the Book of Mormon
Episode 156: Dale Morgan Lecture: Will Bagley
Episode 152: Mormonism and Masonry part 4: Joseph Smith and Beyond
Episode 151: John, Zilpha and God
Episode 150: The Temple Recommend Questions for Dummies
Episode 149: Mormonism and Masonry part 3: The Book of Abraham and Nauvoo
Episode 148: Top 10 Unique Mormon Doctrines
Episode 146: Tub Talk with John and Zilpha
Episode 145a: Mormonism and Masonry: Into the Restoration Part 1
Episode 145b: Mormonism and Masonry: Into the Restoration Part 2
Episode 144b: Mormonism and Masonry: The Background Part 2
Episode 144a: Mormonism and Masonry: The Background Part 1
Episode 142: The History of Online Mormonism: The Board Wars
Episode 141: The Top 10 Mormon Criminals
Episode 140: Top 10 News Stories in Mormonism: May 2011
Episode 139b: D&C 8 and 9 for Dummies Part 2
Episode 139a: D&C 8 and 9 for Dummies Part 1
Episode 138: Top 10 Apostates from the Quorum of the 12
Episode 135: Battlestar Galactica and Mormon Theology
Episode 133: Feedback
Episode 132: Mark E. Petersen’s Steps in Overcoming Masturbation
Episode 131: Bias, Balance and Objectivity
Episode 130: Grant Palmer
Episode 129: Duwayne R. Anderson
Episode 127: Bookclub: Added Upon
Episode 125c: Conference Review Part 3
Episode 125b: Conference Review Part 2
Episode 125a: Conference Review Part 1
Episode 123: The Development of LDS Temple Worship 1846-2000
Episode 122: Bookclub: Goodbye I Love You
Episode 121: Church Handbook of Instructions 2010
Episode 119: Levi Peterson
Episode 118b: Polygamy Manifesto for Dummies Part 2
Episode 118a: Polygamy Manifesto for Dummies Part 1
Episode 117: Mathew Gill, Prophet of The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ
Episode 116: Pure Mormonism
Episode 114: Book Club: Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
Episode 111: Steven Fehr
Episode 110: A Discussion with a Current Bishop
Episode 106: Mormon Nudists
Episode 105: Richard Packham
Episode 102: Book Club: The Backslider
Episode 101: 2010 Mormon News in Review
Episode 100: The Live Anniversary Show
Episode 99: The God Makers Reviewed
Episode 97: The Utah Boy’s Ranch
Episode 95b: Doctrine and Covenants 132 for Dummies part 2
Episode 95a: Doctrine and Covenants 132 for Dummies Part 1
Episode 94: Mixed feelings for Mormonism
Episode 92: The Kirtland Temple
Episode 90: Ed Decker
Episode 89b: The 14 Fundamentals of Following a Prophet for Dummies Part 2
Episode 89a: The 14 Fundamentals of Following a Prophet for Dummies Part 1
Episode 88: Saturday’s Warrior for Dummies
Episode 87: The October 7th 2010 LDS Protest
Episode 86: Mormon Meeting House Architecture
Episode 85b: 180th Semi-annual General Conference Priesthood Session Review
Episode 84: The Church Handbook of Instructions for Dummies
Episode 82: Tom Kimball and Signature Books |
to start talking about it.
I’m not saying every player exhibiting poor behaviour needs an intervention, hugs and yoga classes. All stories need villains and I wouldn’t trade BM and rivalry in our world for anything. But Idra was clearly next level in that regard. We could say Naniwa is at that level also, having been booted from numerous teams for his behaviour, remaining teamless for a long time for his efforts, before being picked up by the ever-silent Alliance.
Their silence is part of the problem.
ESL milking Naniwa’s reaction to losing is part of the problem.
Don’t milk it, ESL, it’s not going to increase your viewership - people will just watch the GIF on Reddit.
And let’s not forget the progamers not exhibiting this kind of behaviour, but who still may be just a little unhappy - the lonely progamer leaking his lucrative contract with a new team to a female online he shouldn’t trust, the broken keyboards, the poor sleeping patterns, the social isolation, unhealthy diet, whatever it may be.
Training, dedication and skills are important, but they are not separate to a healthy mind - they are one and the same. Progamers give up a lot to be the best, to do the best job they possibly can for their fans.
I don’t have a solution. If I did, I’d sell it to EG for dirty, filthy money and a year’s supply of Monster. But THIS is what we should be talking about, not how journalists should or shouldn’t have reacted because they’re undervalued, for fuck’s sake.
Get enough sleep, eat well, exercise, don’t make idiotic decisions out of loneliness. If you’re overreacting to losing, angry as all hell even though you’re PAID TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES, work out what it is that’s actually bothering you and deal with that crap. And if you’re in a situation that will simply never make you happy and you’re doing it purely for the money, just get out and save us all the trouble.
Now, if we can all join hands, we’ll sing Kumbaya and do some trust exercises.Is Mindfulness for You?
An Honest Look into a Mindfulness Journey
We intuitively use Poetry to Heal or express Joy!
Why do you think this magic word ‘mindfulness’ lights up so many fires? Hearing the word we beautifully connect to the care-takers of this world, the carriers of the ancient spiritual practices, the alchemyof the soul. We hope to enter the magic dance between the world of energy and the world of matter.
Promises of Mindfulness
The conscious relationships, change of diets, conscious or mindful living, the balance with ourselves and Nature that creates the transformation within the body, mind and soul live as the highest potential promise within all of us.
Is it our love for God or the question: How does the mind heal the body? or How to tap into the endless Divine Potential that excites our minds or is it a purely selfish quest: towards more happiness, more Enjoyment, more Fulfilment?. It makes one wonder where does this quest come from? Could it be the religions' eternal promise woven into our sub-conscious mind or a conscious manipulation of all the beings on this planet who wish to capitalise on our Hedonism?
The road to mindfulness promises practitioners that they can finally live their lives ‘enlightened’ without ‘worries’, ‘troubles’, or ‘struggles’. OMG what a tall order! If you are into quick fixes, the magic wonders of fast food, taking pills to improve your IQ, the work with Mindfulness will probably not be your cup of tea.
Researching Mindfulness
Mindfulness and meditation has become a subject of many studies. Via a variety of techniques, mindfulness allows us to be more aware of our cognitive processes, our thinking and feeling, and therefore improve our emotioanl intelligence and maintain a calmer perspective. Psychologists and neuroscientists from Oxford and University College London plan to recruit children aged 11 to 16 from 76 secondary schools as part of a seven-year study. They wish to test some of the claims about the power of mindfulness meditation to tackle increased stress among the students.
Mindfulness and Religions
Does Mindfulness belong to a religion? Yes, to all of them. Each of the world's religions use spiritual tools such as: meditation, prayer, devotional singing, practicing compassion to reach Peace, Love and Bliss. Claiming supremacy over the tools and monopolising such wonderful experiences led to the major holocausts of humanity, burning books of ancient philosophers, and the huge distortion of the Truth.
The power thirsty humanity hid the divine Essence behind the racism, false spiritual sovereignty, inequality, the destruction of all the other Beings on Earth, behind the sentence: ‘There is only one road to the Truth.’
Mindfulness Journey as a Self-Development Journey
The self development journey is a beautiful life-long journey. It takes an effort to be commitment to the beauty of life and a courage to fall in love with practitioners of this amazing wisdom. We call them yogis, sages, poets, and feel inspired by their words. Yet, a word of warning, Mindfulness cannot be learned but only inspired.
Will it be your Hedonism or your love for God to push you into the hands of 4 directions of the world is probably irrelevant, the tools have existed since the beginning of time available for all to practice but the true magic is always within the heart of the alchemist himself.
Learning Mindfulness gives one a gift of experiencing Life fully
AoL consciousness research These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.A view of the Los Angeles skyline as heavy smog shrouds the city in 2015. (Mark Ralston/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)
It turns out there will be a conference in Atlanta next month about climate change and its effects on public health. It just won’t have the federal government behind it.
The reason? Former vice president Al Gore.
“He called me and we talked about it and we said, ‘There’s still a void and still a need.’ We said, ‘Let’s make this thing happen,’ ” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “It was a no-brainer.”
News of a revived conference comes days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly canceled its long-planned Climate and Health Summit in the lead-up to the change in White House administrations. Benjamin called the move a “strategic retreat” given the climate skepticism of the incoming administration.
Emails sent to participants and scheduled speakers did not explain the reason behind CDC’s decision. Nor did the agency offer an explanation in response to a request for comment from The Washington Post, saying only that it was exploring the possibility of holding the event later in the year.
The meeting now planned for Feb. 16 will take place outside of any government circles. Rather than at CDC, it will be held at the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta. It will be a one-day event rather than the three days originally planned. Its sponsors now include nongovernmental groups such as the Harvard Global Health Institute, the Turner Foundation and the Climate Reality Project, an education and advocacy group founded by Gore. Organizers say they are aiming to attract as many as 200 attendees from around the country to talk about the mounting risks to human health posed by climate change.
[CDC abruptly cancels long-planned conference on climate change and health]
President Trump entered the White House with an environmental policy agenda opposed to that of the Obama administration and many other nations that have pledged support to the Paris climate agreement. The Washington Post's Chris Mooney breaks down what a Donald Trump presidency will mean when it comes to climate change. (Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)
The CDC’s move last week exasperated some environmental and public health advocates, who see the issue as an increasingly urgent one and argue that the agency should have gone forward with the summit unless told otherwise by the Trump administration.
“The meeting was important and should have been held,” one scheduled attendee told The Post. “Politics is politics, but protecting the health of our citizens is one of our government’s most important obligations.”
The cancellation got the attention of Gore, who organizers said hatched the idea to salvage some semblance of the gathering.
“Today we face a challenging political climate, but climate shouldn’t be a political issue,” Gore said in a statement Thursday. “Health professionals urgently need the very best science to protect the public, and climate science has increasingly critical implications for their day-to-day work.”
It’s not clear whether CDC employees who were scheduled to attend the agency-planned event will be allowed to attend its replacement at the Carter Center. A CDC spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
[As the climate changes, risks to human health will accelerate, White House warns]
Evidence has continued to mount that climate change poses major risks to public health around the globe. Scientists say a warming planet could mean millions more deaths from extreme heat, more frequent outbreaks of disease, longer allergy seasons and more extreme weather.
For instance, researchers writing in the Lancet last year argued that addressing the problem of climate change could be “the greatest global health opportunity of this century.” Not adequately addressing the problem, however, “threatens to undermine the last half century of gains in development and global health.”
The Obama administration also viewed the problem of climate change and health as a serious threat. It held a White House summit on the topic, and the president oversaw initiatives to highlight the links between climate and health, including a 300-page report last summer that underscored how a warming climate could exacerbate major public health problems.
Benjamin said Thursday that given the urgency of the issue, waiting to find ways to address it isn’t an option.
“There’s a thirst out there for this,” he said. “This allows the scientists to get together. We feel really strongly that climate change is affecting our health. We know it’s happening now.”Bestcoinexchange brings to you an exclusive interview with Justcoin, one of the leading online exchanges in Scandinavia. Fredrik August Harto, the Operations manager at Justcoin took his time and shared his opinion about Bitcoin and the future of crypto-currency itself.
BCE: When did the idea of creating an exchange born? Where did the impulse came from?
F.A.H.: The company was founded on May 7, 2013 by Klaus Bugge Lund and Andreas Brekken.
BCE: How many members does your team contain? What are their specializations?
F.A.H.: Currently 6. Our team members have specializations in management, development, support and communication. We are constantly looking for new members to our team.
BCE: What is your slogan?
F.A.H.: Scandinavia’s largest bitcoin-exchange.
BCE: What makes your service better than the other exchanges?
F.A.H.: We have heard that our UI is extremely user friendly and that the response time in support and ID verifications are among the swiftest. We also have a tiered fee structure, which makes it possible for our users to trade without fee if their monthly trade volume exceeds 100 BTC.
BCE: What effort do you put to ensure the security and privacy of your users? What encryption do you use? Any other security methods?
F.A.H.: All traffic to our servers is encrypted using our extended validation SSL certificate. In addition, Cloudflare monitors all our traffic to protect us from DDoS attacks. Also, over 90 % of our user’s funds are stored in a fire-proof bank vault. We are offering a 2-Factor Authentication provided by Google Authenticator.
BCE: Do you take part in crypto-currency conferences?
F.A.H.: We are arranging a Bitcoin-meetup in Oslo June 2014, there is an overwhelming amount of people attending.
BCE: What needs to be done that Bitcoin would go mainstream?
F.A.H.: In order to become attractive to others than the especially interested, I believe more stores must accept it as a payment method. We are seeing more and more companies looking to accept Bitcoin, both to be on top of technology trends and to reduce payment processing costs.
BCE: Do you believe that cyber-currency can grow to a future currency and will rule out cash/credit cards? If yes, will it be Bitcoin, do you think?
F.A.H.: If not outrule, it will at least become a solid alternative to the fiat currency and its payment methods. I believe the trustability of an alternative currency is stronger if it doesn’t get replaced every now and then, thus Bitcoin (or another digital currency) must show stability and predictability over time.
BCE: Is Bitcoin mining a difficult task nowadays for a regular user?
F.A.H.: The difficulty is certainly higher than ever, making it unfeasible to mine for small “amateur” mining rigs.
BCE: Who do you think is behind Satoshi Nakamoto’s name? How the Bitcoin story would unfold if the creator of Bitcoin reveals himself/herself/themselves?
F.A.H.: No idea who that might be, and I don’t really think it is of any importance anymore. Bitcoin is not dependant on any single person or entity.Aaron Cruden in action for the All Blacks during the Rugby Championship match against Argentina at Waikato Stadium earlier this month.
A French rugby magazine has claimed All Blacks first-five Aaron Cruden could be poised for a big-money move.
A possible salary of $NZ1.2 million per season to play for Montpellier in France has been mentioned by Midi-Olympique for the Chiefs and New Zealand pivot.
It's being reported that Cruden may be eyed as a possible replacement for Demetri Catrakilis when New Zealander Vern Cotter takes over the coaching reins at Montpellier next season.
Cruden was seen as the logical replacement in the All Blacks No 10 shirt when Daniel Carter retired from international rugby, but Hurricanes star Beauden Barrett has seemingly usurped Cruden with a series of standout performances in Super Rugby and test matches this year.
READ MORE:
* Ben Smith and Beauden Barrett develop lethal combination for All Blacks
* All Blacks make nine changes
* Squire ready to rumble in BA
* AB confirms Crusaders deal
* Manu quits Chiefs for Blues
Valuers du Rugby reports Cruden is already in negotiations with Montpellier, a club whose All Black alumni include the late Jerry Collins.
Valuers says the annual salary being offered to Cruden is NZ$1.54m when premiums are included.
It's understood Cruden is contracted to New Zealand Rugby to the end of 2017.
Fellow All Blacks Sam Whitelock and Ben Smith have also been touted as targets for French clubs with wishlists and deep pockets but Midi-Olympique says the chances of them moving away from NZ Rugby are slim.
Cruden has also been linked in the British press this week with English club sides Harlequins and Worcester.
According to The Rugby Paper, Cruden's representatives have begun the process of putting out feelers to a number of Premiership clubs, but he "will only consider making a move if his £700,000 (NZ$1.25m) wage demands are met".
- Comments are now closed on this storyOnce upon a time, "telecommuter" was easy to define: it was anyone who wasn't working where everyone else was, but who still needed all that network access. In general, the setup was simple—provide e-mail and a VPN—and it was also centralized. IT issued you a laptop. IT set up your VPN access. If your company was all bleeding edge and had a BlackBerry Server, IT issued you a BlackBerry. The VPN software slowed all but the fastest pipes to a crawl, which was okay, because 99 percent of your work under that setup was e-mailing Microsoft Office documents around the office. Even a BlackBerry could handle that.
No one really liked this approach, but users didn't want to suggest using their own stuff instead. Setting up e-mail on non-BlackBerrys was a tedious procedure, and no phone browser could even begin to handle webmail at a level anyone would want to use, even if the screens could have handled it. And IT departments hated these kinds of requests. Really. I've been doing telecommuting setups in various ways since the early/mid '90s. It sucked for IT as much as—if not more than—it did for the users.
The result was a centralized, highly regulated, overcontrolled mess that everyone wanted to work, but there was no real impetus to make it happen on any level other than "gosh, wouldn't it be great if we could..."
Flash forward to 2011. What if you had told me, in 1995 or so, that in 16 years, I'd have the telecommuting setup I have now? With IT not controlling devices, with self-service for devices setup, where our primary usage guidelines were "don't be stupid, and if you even think you've lost your phone, let IT know immediately so we can wipe the data on it"? I'd have laughed in your face. Not because I would have hated the idea, but because it was too fanciful. It would be like talking about an iPad to Da Vinci.
The shift
There's a temptation to point at the iPhone and say, "That's why." This is partially true, in that the popularity of the iPhone has been a motivating force, but other things happened, too—in particular better bandwidth and supporting infrastructure.
From an IT point of view, the biggest change was bandwidth. In the last 20 years, high-speed bandwidth at home has gone from something only rich geeks had to something only people living way out in the boonies can't get. Everyone who might want to telecommute has DSL/cable modems now, and if you live in the right places, even faster connections. In the US, recent figures talk about broadband penetration of around 65 percent. That's still too low, but compared to when I first started dealing with telecommuting, it's astoundingly high. High speed access, including WiFi and cellular connections, is critical to telecommuting because it makes actually doing work bearable.
Once companies could assume that everyone had decent bandwidth at home, users no longer needed to care about special (and routinely horrible) low-bandwidth websites and about how large a file was. Broadband allowed companies to jettison the modem pools and the banks of analog phone lines. (That's right, kids. At the dawn of time, to allow telecommuting, every company pretty much had to be their own miniature dial-up provider. It wasn't cheap.) The removal of many zeros from the cost of telecommuting support removed much of the corporate resistance to the idea.
Then all of a sudden, there was this...explosion of infrastructure. HTML made posting information dead easy. Blogging software/content management systems made using HTML for that purpose even easier, and allowed the conversation to become bidirectional. E-mail went from a "you must have experts and servers and stuff" to "Gmail." Calendaring moved from the realm of things like Exchange and Notes to something as simple as e-mail. The idea that you don't have to have everything inside the company network pushed not just e-mail and calendaring, but all kinds of business-critical services, outside the company firewall. It seems weird to think of Salesforce.com as 'earth-shattering' but really, it was. And a wholesale commoditization of IT, not just in terms of computers and phones and such, but across the entire realm of IT, happened.
Telecommuting as a separate thing is pretty much dead. You get e-mail on your phone, you write documents on your iPad, you run videoconferences on your laptop, and you do that anywhere you happen to be. When people conduct FaceTime chats on airplanes over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the idea that there's this special "telecommuting" thing you have, and that you need special gear to do it, is dead, dead, dead. Everyone is "telecommuting."
This is the issue for most companies and IT departments: not if they will allow telecommuting/remote working, but how they will manage it. How do you deal with every employee wanting to BYOD, (Bring Your Own Device), expecting that they can get to the resources they need from home, in a hotel, or on an airplane? When everyone working for you has a smartphone, how do you justify making them carry two? When everyone buys a personal tablet, how do you say, "No! You may not use that for work!" (More importantly, why would you say that?)
While there are some companies and IT departments in the "WE MUST CONTROL EVERYTHING" mode, the truth is, most companies have realized that judicious use of BYOD, Cloud, etc., not only makes for happier employees but it gives them a lot of flexibility they would not have otherwise. From what I've seen, the trick is not to look for some "perfect product" that does everything, but to create a measured approach that's right for your needs.
None of this is to say that the shift beyond corporate boundaries comes without problems. It does—and security is chief among them.Earlier in the week, craftsman Aslam received his first order in the last two months — to make 100 brass peg measures to be exported to Europe. The 40-year-old craftsman on Moradabad’s Lal Masjid Road clinched the deal at Rs 70 per piece from an exporter who gave him a fixed design for these bar accessories.As Aslam concentrates on his job, vowing to give the measures a perfect finish and deliver them on time, the government’s demonetisation policy still haunts him.“We have been devastated by demonetisation. For two months (since November 8), there was no work. Most of the household factories here have shut down. Most of us have become unemployed,” says the craftsman and father of four children aged between 2 and 14, narrating stories about his growing nervousness as days pass, savings dwindle and debts mount. Aslam is now prepared to leave his “creativity” behind if he manages a “petty job” with a fixed salary.“Mujhe Dilli mein hi kuchh chhota mota kaam mein laga do (Kindly place me in some petty jobs in Delhi),” he repeatedly pleads to this writer.A small brass factory in Moradabad that has survived demonetisation. A large number of karkhanas have shut shop post November 8.Along the bylanes of Lal Masjid and Bada Shah Safa area in Moradabad, a sense of hopelessness was palpable among craftsmen who in ordinary circumstances would swear by a profession passed down generations.“In this area, there used to be 25 karkhanas (factories), each employing three to seven artisans. After demonetisation, hardly three-four have survived,” says Tariq Naim, a craftsman who runs his factory from Panache Home in Bada Shah Safa area.Naim, a commerce graduate, narrates some of the hurdles faced by small factory owners in his neighbourhood: dwindling demand and the restrictions on weekly cash withdrawals. In fact, cash is a must for buying raw material, as the sellers ask for a premium if the payment is not made in cash, they say.“The Union budget should give concessions to the sectors that are hit most by demonetisation. We hardly have demand for our door handles as the entire construction industry is hit,” says Naim, as he works on an Apple MacBook. The brass door handles that he makes weigh 8 to 10 kg per piece and are used by real estate companies that build high-end villas.So, will Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley extend some sops in his February 1 budget that will work as a balm for demonetisation pains suffered by Aslam, Naim and thousands of other small and big entrepreneurs in Moradabad and other industry zones in Uttar Pradesh — the state that will vote next month?As this article is being written, the Election Commission of India is yet to take a call on whether the February 1 budget needs to be postponed in the wake of assembly elections, the first phase of which will take place on February 4.Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear a plea on January 20 regarding advancing the budget by a month, but indicated that it found nothing wrong.In poll-bound states, as this writer witnessed in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad and Uttarakhand’s Pantnagar, there’s a glimmer of hope that the budget in the midst of an election campaign will directly or indirectly result in a shower of more sops than usual.“We expect the budget to give sops for hilly states, something that will immensely benefit us,” says GS Rawat, regional manager of Uttarakhand’s state public sector undertaking called SIDCUL, which supervises Pantnagar industrial town, among others.Pantnagar, home to units of big corporations such as Tata Motors, Bajaj Motors, Ashok Leyland, Britannia Industries Nestle India, Titan Industries and Dabur India saw some post-demonetisation turbulence, but many of those units had scaled down production even before demonetisation.“What the budget should do is create an environment for a low interest rate regime so that the demand for our products go up,” says an additional general manager of a company, requesting anonymity.For car and two-wheeler companies in Pantnagar, the impact of demonetisation was limited to labour and truck management. Some of the units had scaled down production two-three years earlier, mainly because of low automobile demand in the wake of a prolonged high interest rate regime.Further, pathetic road conditions and last year’s political instability in Uttarakhand — the toppling of Chief Minister Harish Rawat-led Congress government, imposition of President’s Rule and the reinstatement of Rawat as CM after the Supreme Court’s intervention — took the shine off Pantnagar’s hitherto robust investment climate built on the state’s peaceful environment and labour force.The state government has, however, created land banks in two adjoining places — 803 acres at Nepa to woo environmentalfriendly industries and 1,000 acres at Khurpia, which will be linked to the proposed Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor. The big question is whether there will be further incentives in the budget for large investors in industrial corridors, something that will bring in new investment to the hill state.Like in Pantnagar’s industrial units, the large and organised export houses in Moradabad too were only marginally impacted by demonetisation.“We have not lost any business but, yes, we had to delay the delivery of some orders,” says Raghav Gupta, managing director of CL Gupta Exports Ltd, the largest export house in Moradabad, employing 5,000 people and with an annual turnover of Rs 360 crore.Gupta does not expect any major concessions in the Union budget, but keeping in mind the labour-intensive nature of the sector, the relaxation in provident fund norms for handicraft exporters — extended to textiles and apparel sectors last year — could be offered to handicrafts as well, he reckons. The government under a scheme decided to bear the employer’s contribution of 12% of provident fund for new employees in the garment industry earning less than Rs 15,000 per month, for the first three years.Pantnagar industrial town is hit more by high interest rate regime than by demonetisationAs the FM reads out his budget speech on February 1 just ahead of elections, he will possibly keep in mind the list of industrial hubs that fall in the election battleground — Pantnagar (automobiles), Moradabad (brass), Agra (footwear), Aligarh (locks), Kanpur (textiles and leather), Ludhiana (bicycles and garments), among others.No one knows what the North Block mandarins have prepared so far for the budget, but you don’t need to be a punter to wager that this will be an “election budget” — with as much politics as economics, or even more of the former.San Antonio FC defender Greg Cochrane has been named to the USL Team of the Week, the league announced today. Cochrane helped lead San Antonio to its league-leading 13th shutout of the season last Wednesday, while also recording an assist.
Cochrane played a pivotal role in the 1-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Aug. 23, playing 90 minutes in defense while keeping a shutout and adding the lone assist in the game. The assist marked the third for Cochrane this season, which is tied for second on the club in 2017. With the assist, Cochrane also tied his total from the 2016 USL season, and now has six overall in his SAFC career, which is second-most all-time. Of San Antonio’s 13 shutouts this year, Cochrane has started in 12 of them, playing 90 minutes in 11.
The 26-year-old defender has played in 96.5 percent of the club’s USL minutes (4,603 of 4,770) since joining the team, and has only missed one league match during his tenure.
The honor marks the second Team of the Week inclusion for Cochrane this season, and his third overall since joining the club prior to the 2016 season. Today’s announcement marks the first inclusion of a San Antonio FC player in the Team of the Week since midfielder Kris Tyrpak earned the honors following the club’s 3-1 win over the Tulsa Roughnecks on June 17. San Antonio has had at least one representative in the USL Team of the Week 10 times this season.
The full USL Team of the Week:
GK – Jake Fenlason, Orlando City B
D – Greg Cochrane, San Antonio FC
D – Jimmy Ockford, Reno 1868 FC
D – Ramon Martin del Campo, Ottawa Fury FC
M – Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville City FC
M – Sunny Jane, Richmond Kickers
M – Kevin Kerr, Pittsburgh Riverhounds
M – Jimmy McLaughlin, FC Cincinnati
F – Chandler Hoffman, Real Monarchs SLC
F – Chris Cortez, Phoenix Rising FC
F – Michael Cox, Orlando City B
Bench: Jake McGuire (BST), Tyler Polak (CIN), Braeden Troyer (RIC), Victor Souto (PGH), Antoine Hoppenot (RNO), Alex Dixon (OKC), Ben Spencer (TOR)Evolution
By Langdon Smith (1858-1908)
When you were a tadpole and I was a fish
In the Paleozoic time,
And side by side on the ebbing tide
We sprawled through the ooze and slime,
Or skittered with many a caudal flip
Through the depths of the Cambrian fen,
My heart was rife with the joy of life,
For I loved you even then.
Mindless we lived and mindless we loved
And mindless at last we died;
And deep in the rift of the Caradoc drift
We slumbered side by side.
The world turned on in the lathe of time,
The hot lands heaved amain,
Till we caught our breath from the womb of death
And crept into life again.
We were amphibians, scaled and tailed,
And drab as a dead man's hand;
We coiled at ease 'neath the dripping trees
Or trailed through the mud and sand.
Croaking and blind, with our three-clawed feet
Writing a language dumb,
With never a spark in the empty dark
To hint at a life to come.
Yet happy we lived and happy we loved,
And happy we died once more;
Our forms were rolled in the clinging mold
Of a Neocomian shore.
The eons came and the eons fled
And the sleep that wrapped us fast
Was riven away in a newer day
And the night of death was passed.
Then light and swift through the jungle trees
We swung in our airy flights,
Or breathed in the balms of the fronded palms
In the hush of the moonless nights;
And oh! what beautiful years were there
When our hearts clung each to each;
When life was filled and our senses thrilled
In the first faint dawn of speech.
Thus life by life and love by love
We passed through the cycles strange,
And breath by breath and death by death
We followed the chain of change.
Till there came a time in the law of life
When over the nursing sod
The shadows broke and the soul awoke
In a strange, dim dream of God.
I was thewed like an Auroch bull
And tusked like the great cave bear;
And you, my sweet, from head to feet
Were gowned in your glorious hair.
Deep in the gloom of a fireless cave,
When the night fell o'er the plain
And the moon hung red o'er the river bed
We mumbled the bones of the slain.
I flaked a flint to a cutting edge
And shaped it with brutish craft;
I broke a shank from the woodland lank
And fitted it, head and haft;
Than I hid me close to the reedy tarn,
Where the mammoth came to drink;
Through the brawn and bone I drove the stone
And slew him upon the brink.
Loud I howled through the moonlit wastes,
Loud answered our kith and kin;
From west to east to the crimson feast
The clan came tramping in.
O'er joint and gristle and padded hoof
We fought and clawed and tore,
And cheek by jowl with many a growl
We talked the marvel o'er.
I carved that fight on a reindeer bone
With rude and hairy hand;
I pictured his fall on the cavern wall
That men might understand.
For we lived by blood and the right of might
Ere human laws were drawn,
And the age of sin did not begin
Til our brutal tusks were gone.
And that was a million years ago
In a time that no man knows;
Yet here tonight in the mellow light
We sit at Delmonico's.
Your eyes are deep as the Devon springs,
Your hair is dark as jet,
Your years are few, your life is new,
Your soul untried, and yet --
Our trail is on the Kimmeridge clay
And the scarp of the Purbeck flags;
We have left our bones in the Bagshot stones
And deep in the Coralline crags;
Our love is old, our lives are old,
And death shall come amain;
Should it come today, what man may say
We shall not live again?
God wrought our souls from the Tremadoc beds
And furnishd them wings to fly;
He sowed our spawn in the world's dim dawn,
And I know that it shall not die,
Though cities have sprung above the graves
Where the crook-bone men made war
And the ox-wain creaks o'er the buried caves
Where the mummied mammoths are.
Then as we linger at luncheon here
O'er many a dainty dish,
Let us drink anew to the time when you
Were a tadpole and I was a fish.I saw Eric this weekend at KCON. I know this is a post about an upcoming drama but I promise I’ll tie to to the glorious and perfect specimen of a man that is Eric Moon in a second. There were a few dramas vying for the post Yongpal Wed-Thurs time slot on SBS but a dark horse has emerged to clinch the deal. The drama after Yongpal will stick with the same dark thriller-esque vibe and is a mystery drama called The Village centering around a corpse. Interesting…….
The snippet synopsis describes a quiet idyllic village where there is almost zero crime, then one day the peace is shattered when the villagers discover a corpse surreptitiously buried. There is no clue as to how the corpse got there, who the person was in life, or how the person died (suicide, natural death, murder). A cop arrives to investigate the mysterious unknown corpse and traces back to everyone who came in contact with it in the village, uncovering the secrets of this village which is not ordinary and idyllic in the least.
T
The connection to Eric for this drama is on screenwriter Do Hyun Jung, who is not prolific in the least and has only two dramas under her belt. If she doesn’t write much it helps to have a career defining work and she did that with her first drama ever being the incredible Que Sera Sera, starring Eric and Jung Yumi. Seeing Eric in person makes me even more desperate for him to do a drama this year, and it would be a match made in drama heaven for the screenwriter to get him for The Village. Casting starts immediately this month so maybe he’s ready for some acting change of pace after doing his idol gig for the last year.
The directing is less impressive with the PD being Kim Yong Seok who directed Iljimae and The Great Seer (Dae Poong Soo), with the even more alarming recent project under his belt which is acting as the producer (but not PD) of the most recent SBS stinker Hyde, Jekyll, Me. The terrible writing for HJM was mostly to blame for the mess so I won’t hang that failure on him, but in general PD Kim hasn’t impressed me either with his directorial flair in all his previous efforts. With that said, I’m mostly checking out The Village for the different and cool sounding synopsis, it totally sounds like one of this twisty J-doramas, doesn’t it?Last May, Andrea Mears, a 23 year old woman in Connecticut assaulted a teenager named Austin Haughwout. Mears was upset that Haughwout was flying his remote controlled helicopter (also known as a drone) at the beach. The assault was caught on film, and Mears was charged with third degree assault and breach of the peace. Despite the fact that her assault of a minor was caught on film, that she attempted to fabricate a story about the assault, and the victim expressed opposition to probation, Mears was nevertheless granted a form probation that will erase the charges from her record after two years.
According to Haughwout, he went to Hammonasset State Park in Madison, Connecticuit to fly his remote control quadcopter. Soon after landing on his last of four flights, an angry woman, later identified as Mears approached him. Mears was on the phone with the police, attempting to get them to respond to the flight by claiming that Haughwout was “here taking pictures at the beach with a helicopter plane.” Her claims to the police turned out to be false, instead she was creating a story that would allow her to assault Haughwhout. But what she didn't know was that Haughwhout was recording the entire incident. When police arrived, they initially planned to arrest the boy, until he showed them the footage, after which |
essence of what is, complete within itself.
‘…as contemplation ascends from nature to soul, and soul to intellect, and the contemplations become always more intimate and united to the contemplators, and in the soul of the good and wise man the objects known tend to become identical with the knowing subject, since they are pressing on towards intellect, it is clear that in intellect both are one, not by becoming akin, as in the best soul, but substantially, and because thinking and being are the same.’13
The wise man is so because he has become vision, directed within himself.14 In contemplating (creating and seeing) eternity within oneself, one moves towards it.15 In bringing one’s contemplation to vision, one perceives substance from within it,16 and comes to unity with oneself. One contemplates…(One)self – as the god ‘silently present’. 17
‘But whoever has become at once contemplator of himself and all the rest and object of his contemplation, and, since he has become substance and intellect and “the complete living being”, no longer looks at it from outside – when he has become this he is near, and that Good is next above him, and already close by, shining upon all the intelligible world. It is there that one lets all study go…’18
Contemplation and living Being unite in Intellect as truth, beauty, eternal life and vision. The life (activity) of ‘Mind’ is far superior, far more vital, creative and real, than life in this world.
Notes
1. On this point which is crucial not only to an understanding of this Platonic/Neoplatonic current in philosophy and its influence on the Western visual arts, but, more broadly, to an understanding of how our reasoning functions, Plotinus, like Plato, confusingly used the term ‘reason’ both in reference to an activity of the physical body and the activity of Soul. For Plato and Plotinus, the former activity is concerned with the material world and the latter with contemplation of and in the spiritual. As with everything in the two realms, the first reason is the inferior copy of the latter. Ficino’s contribution to this confusion of reason as a function of matter with (disembodied) spiritual contemplation is exemplary: ‘Reason by itself grasps the incorporeal Reasons of all things…reason investigates heavenly things, and does not have a seat of its own in any part of the body, just as divinity also does not have a particular seat in any part of the world…’ followed immediately by ‘Reason…perceives not only those things which are in the world and the present, as sensation does, but also those which are above the heaven, and those which have been or will be.’ Commentary on Plato’s Symposium on Love, Trans. J. Sears. Dallas: Spring Publications, 1985, Speech V, Chapter 2, pp.84-85. ↩
2. Enneads, III,8,3 ↩
3. ‘When therefore he who is embarked on the contemplation of this kind imagines size or shape or bulk about this nature, it is not Intellect which guides his contemplation because Intellect is not of a nature to see things of this kind, but the activity is one of sense-perception and opinion following sense-perception.’ VI,9,3. Thus, an attempt to accurately depict the physical appearance of a person or an object, because it would focus the viewer’s attention on the sensory world, is not only not necessary but might distract the Soul from its purpose. Porphyry wrote of Plotinus ‘He showed, too, an unconquerable reluctance to sit to a painter or a sculptor, and when Amelius persisted in urging him to allow of a portrait being made he asked him, “Is it not enough to carry about this image in which nature has enclosed us? Do you really think I must also consent to leave, as a desirable spectacle to posterity, an image of the image?”’ Porphyry, ‘On the Life of Plotinus and the Arrangement of His Work’ in The Enneads, Third ed. Abridged. Trans. S. MacKenna. London: Penguin, 1991, cii. ↩
4. III,8,5 ↩
5. III,8,4. Compare with Plato on birth in Phaedrus. Also compare with Rorty on Aristotle’s notion of activity: ‘An activity can only be identified as such if it has been brought to its natural fulfilment: so, for instance, the activity of reproduction has not occurred unless an offspring has been produced…’ A. Oksenberg Rorty, ‘The Psychology of Aristotelian Tragedy’. Midwest Studies in Philosophy, XVI (1991), pp.70-71. ↩
6. ‘… all things are a by-product of contemplation…the truest life is life by thought…’ III,8,8. ↩
7. ‘… all things aspire to (the activity of) contemplation, and direct their gaze to this end – not only rational but irrational living things, and the power of growth in plants, and the earth which brings them forth…’ III,8,1. ‘…we must strike for those Firsts, rising from things of sense which are the lasts. Cleared of all evil in our intention towards The Good, we must ascend to the Principle within ourselves….It must be our care to bring over nothing whatever from sense, to allow nothing from that source to enter into Intellectual-Principle…’ VI,9,3. ↩
8. ‘The Soul has a greater content than Nature has and therefore it is more tranquil; it is more nearly complete and therefore more contemplative. It is, however, not perfect, and is all the more eager to penetrate the object of contemplation, and it seeks the vision that comes by observation … it possesses its vision by means of that phase of itself from which it had parted.’ III,8,6. ↩
9. Nietzsche believed that the artist of genius, inspired by the Dionysiac impulse, goes beyond physical phenomena and, through an inward vision, finds unity with the eternal One: ‘Only insofar as the genius in the act of artistic creation coalesces with this primordial artist of the world, does he know anything of the eternal essence of art; for in this state he is, in a marvellous manner, like the weird image of the fairy tale which can turn its eyes at will and behold itself; he is at once subject and object, at once poet, actor, and spectator.’ The Birth of Tragedy, (1872) Section 5, in F. Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy and The Case of Wagner, Trans. W. Kaufmann. New York, Vintage, 1967, p.52 and ‘…the tragic artist…creates his figures like a fecund divinity of individuation…and as his vast Dionysian impulse then devours his entire world of phenomena, in order to let us sense beyond it, and through its destruction, the highest artistic primal joy, in the bosom of the primordially One. The Birth of Tragedy, Section 22, in The Birth of Tragedy and The Case of Wagner, op. cit., p.132. The same religious belief in creativity was held by another extremely influential vitalist and Neoplatonic contemporary of Nietzsche’s – Bergson, whose best known work is titled Creative Evolution (1907). ↩
10. III,8,4. See note 1. Superior to representational art with its referent in this world is the art of which it is desired to evoke, in the viewer’s ‘mind’ through contemplative ‘reason’, its referent in Intellect – the art of physical creation (resulting in the viewer’s critical appreciation of the work of another) contra the art of contemplative creation (in which the viewer is stimulated to complete the process, internally). On the determination of aesthetic value: ‘“Do you think that it will be a poor life that a man leads who has his gaze fixed in that direction, who contemplates absolute beauty with the appropriate faculty and is in constant union with it? Do you not see that in that region alone where he sees beauty with the faculty capable of seeing it, will he be able to bring forth not mere reflected images of goodness but true goodness, because he will be in contact not with a reflection but with the truth? And having brought forth and nurtured true goodness he will have the privilege of being beloved of God, and becoming, if ever a man can, immortal himself.”’ Symposium, 211a-212c. ↩
11. ‘In proportion to the truth with which the knowing faculty knows, it comes to identification with the object of its knowledge. As long as duality persists, the two lie apart, parallel as it were to each other; there is a pair in which the two elements remain strange to one another, as when Ideal-Principles laid up in the mind or Soul remain idle. Hence the Idea must not be left to lie outside but must be made one identical thing with the Soul of the novice so that he finds it really his own. The Soul, once domiciled within that Idea and brought to likeness with it, becomes productive, active; what it always held by its primary nature it now grasps with knowledge and applies in deed, so becoming, as it were, a new thing and, informed as it now is by the purely intellectual, it sees (in its outgoing act) as a stranger looking upon a strange world. It was, no doubt, essentially a Reason-Principle, even an Intellectual Principle; but its function is to see a (lower) realm which these do not see.’ III,8,5. Compare with. Met., and De Anima 430a: ‘…(intellect) is itself thinkable just as the thought-objects are, for in the case of things without matter that which thinks is the same as that which is thought. For contemplative knowledge is the same as what is so known. …Each of the objects of thought is potentially present in the things that have matter, so that while they will not have intellect, which is a capacity for being such things without matter, the intellect will have within it the object of thought.’ ↩
12. V,8,9. Compare with Phaedo on Plato’s differentiation between the visible world and the true world ‘not in nature’, attainable by those who have purified themselves through philosophy (108a-114c), Ficino: ‘Therefore go ahead; subtract its matter if you can (and you can subtract it mentally), but leave the design. Nothing of body, nothing of matter will remain to you. On the contrary, the design which came from the artist and the design which remains in the artist will be completely identical.’ Ficino op. cit., pp.92-93, and Bergson’s method for bringing duration into consciousness: ‘Matter (separate from consciousness) thus resolves itself into numberless vibrations, all linked together in uninterrupted continuity, all bound up with each other and travelling in every direction like shivers through an immense body. In short, try first to connect together the discontinuous objects of daily experience; then resolve the motionless continuity of their qualities into vibrations on the spot; finally fix your attention on these movements, by abstracting from the divisible space which underlies them and considering only their mobility (that undivided act which our consciousness becomes aware of in our own movements): You will thus obtain a vision of matter, fatiguing perhaps for your imagination, but pure, and freed from all that the exigencies of life compel you to add to it in external perception. Now bring back consciousness…At long, very long, intervals, and by as many leaps over enormous periods of the inner history of things, quasi-instantaneous views will be taken, views which this time are bound to be pictorial, and of which the more vivid colours will condense an infinity of elementary repetitions and changes. In just the same way the multitudinous successive positions of a runner are contracted into a single symbolic attitude, which our eyes perceive, which art reproduces and which becomes for us all the image of a man running…The change is everywhere, but inward; we localise it here and there, but outwardly.’ Matter and Memory. (1896). Trans. N. Paul, W. Palmer. New York,1988, p.208. ↩
13. III,8,8 ↩
14. ‘The Sage, then, has gone through a process of reasoning when he expounds his act to others; but in relation to himself he is Vision: such a man is already set, not merely in regard to exterior things but also within himself, towards what is one and at rest: all his faculty and life are inward-bent.’ III,8,7. ↩
15. ‘What then, if one does not depart at all from one’s contemplation of it (eternity) but stays in its company, wondering at its nature, and able to do so by a natural power which never fails? Surely one would be (would one not?), oneself on the move towards eternity and never falling away from it at all, that one might be like it and eternal, contemplating eternity and the eternal by the eternal in oneself…eternity is a majestic thing, and thought declares it identical with the god…’ III,7,5. ↩
16. Bergson believed that intuition probes the flow of duration, placing one within the object, giving an absolute. ↩
17. V,8,11 ↩
18. VI,7,36 ↩
ImageImage copyright Getty Images
A 24-hour service has been launched for NHS patients, offering GP consultations via videolink on smartphones.
The pilot scheme will initially cover 3.5 million patients in greater London.
Patients will be able to check their symptoms through the mobile app and then have video consultations within two hours of booking.
The Royal College of GPs has warned the service may not help patients with complex needs.
The new free service has been launched by a group of London GPs and the online healthcare provider Babylon.
Patients joining will leave their existing practice, with their records transferred to a group of five central London surgeries.
Virtual consultation
Dr Mobasher Butt, who is part of the team behind the GP at Hand service, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's high time that NHS patients were given the opportunity to benefit from technology to improve access to healthcare.
"We've benefited from this kind of technology in so many different aspects of our lives, whether that be shopping or banking, and it's really time that we were able to do that in healthcare for NHS patients."
Jane Barnacle, director of patients and information at NHS England London, said GP practices were right to carefully test innovative new technologies that could improve free NHS services for their patients while also freeing up staff time.
But the Royal College of GPs is concerned the new service might only work for younger healthier commuters and not those with complex health conditions.
Concerns
Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, who chairs the RCPG, said: "We are really worried that schemes like this are creating a twin-track approach to NHS general practice and that patients are being 'cherry-picked', which could actually increase the pressures on traditional GPs based in the community.
"We understand that with increasingly long waiting times to see a GP, an online service is convenient and appealing, but older patients and those living with more complex needs want continuity of care and the security of their local practice where their GPs know them.
"We notice there is an extensive list of patient conditions such as frailty, pregnancy and mental health conditions that are the essence of general practice and which GPs deal with every day, but which are not eligible for this service.
"We are also concerned that patients are being given the option of switching back to their local surgery if they are not satisfied with the level of service offered by the app.
"As well as issues with patient confidentiality and the safety of the patient record, it is hard to see how this could be achieved without adding to the huge burden of red tape that GPs are already grappling with.
"While this scheme is backed by the NHS and offers a free service to patients, it is undoubtedly luring GPs away from front-line general practice at a time when we are facing a severe workforce crisis and hardworking GPs are struggling to cope with immense workloads."
Dr Richard Vautrey from the British Medical Association said: "This approach risks undermining the quality and continuity of care and further fragmenting the service provided to the public."
GP at Hand strongly deny that care would be compromised in any way.The Week That Was: 2014-02-08 (February 8, 2014) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.” ― Socrates Number of the Week: 0.60 miles per day
###################################################
Un-Science or Non-Science? Writing in Bishop Hill, Andrew Montford observes that once climatologists get a new generation of climate models into the open, as may occur with the Assessment Reports of UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the climatologists spend the next few years writing papers on their analyses of the outputs of the models. They do not attempt to validate the models against actual observations, which those engaged in empirical research and model testing would do.
The publication of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) was accompanied by a new round of climate models – the CMIP5 climate models. CMIP stands for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, under the World Climate Research Programme. “The Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) archives much of the CMIP data and provides other support for CMIP. PCMDI’s CMIP effort is funded by the Regional and Global Climate Modeling (RGCM) Program of the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division of the U.S. Department of Energy‘s Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program.” http://cmip-pcmdi.llnl.gov/
On his blog, Roy Spencer presents his updated analysis of 90 CMIP5 Climate Models. Over 95% of these models over-estimate the observed warming, the surface warming as measured by HadCRUT4 and the atmospheric warming as measured by the University of Alabama in Huntsville. These models that overestimate global warming since 1983 are being used to justify many environmental and energy policies in the US. As Spencer reports, these models should not be used to force expensive and property-destroying energy policies down our throats.
In August 2013, the White House reported to Congress that Federal Climate Change Expenditures in FY 2013 amounted to $22.6 billion. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) share amounted to $4.572 billion. By far, the largest single category was Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ($1.8 billion). As the major funder of the PCMDI-CMIP effort, the DOE has the responsibility to the US taxpayer of insisting that the CMIP models be rigorously tested and validated (only one model can be valid). DOE has failed to do so, and it is clear that DOE has a financial incentive not to do so. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Un-Science or Non-Science?, and http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/legislative_reports/fcce-report-to-congress.pdf
**************
Funding Failure: Last week, TWTW reported that the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean array of buoys is failing for lack of maintenance. These buoys monitor the warming and cooling events in the equatorial Pacific, known respectively as El Niño and La Niña, which are important natural for climate change. About 50% of the NOAA-maintained buoys are not reporting. The budget for maintaining the buoys fell from about $10-$12 million to $2-3 million. Somehow Washington can spend $22.6 billion in 2013 on climate change but not maintain critical instruments on understanding weather and climate change. The amount for buoys is tiny compared to DOE spending on renewables.
TWTW Reader Timothy Wise reminded us of a GAO report last February, which stated that there is a significant timing gap between the end of scheduled life existing satellites, and replacement with new satellites. The US has two complementary sets of satellites, polar-orbiting ones, and geostationary ones. They are used by weather forecasters, climatologists, the military, etc. According to the GAO report, the timing gap between end of scheduled life and replacement with new satellites could span from 17 to 53 months or more, depending on how long the current satellite lasts and any delays in launching or operating the new one. As reported in past TWTWs, based on three separate, but somewhat overlapping government reports, the US has spent some $165 billion on climate change since 1993, but the US cannot spend the money needed to maintain critical instrumentation. Another source for funds is the $8 Billion in “Energy Payments in Lieu of Tax Provisions in the FY 2013 Federal Climate Change Expenditures. A new report will not come out until early 2015. See link under Measurement Issues.
**************
Plateau: NOAA, and other entities that report annual temperatures, are becoming desperate on how to report a no trend in global warming. They mislead the public by stating that last year was the X — warmest on record rather than stating bluntly that there has been no surface warming trend for 16 or 17 years. It is somewhat similar to Fridjof Nansen’s small team crossing southern Greenland in 1888. After finally climbing the mountains in the southeast they came to a huge plateau. For days they crossed it, not knowing if they would come to a mountain range or a warm valley as some had speculated. Finally, they came to the mountains in the southwest that also ring the plateau. The crossing took 49 days, including the time spent climbing and descending the mountains. Are we on a similar plateau about temperatures?
Some scientists predict temperatures trends will rise, other predict they will fall. Regardless if the temperature trends rise, or fall, the failure of the models to predict the plateau is all too evident. The models are unsuitable for establishing government policies on climate and energy use. See links under Defending the Orthodoxy and Measurement Issues.
**************
New Hot Spot: The old hot spot cannot be found. The falsely claimed human fingerprint to global warming (actually whatever the cause) of a distinct warming trend centered about 10 km (33,000 feet) above the tropics does not appear on satellite or weather balloon measurements.
An article in the Wall Street Journal brought up a warm area in the northeast Pacific off the coasts of Canada and Alaska. Bob Tisdale examined the hot spot and reported that the anomaly may be a great as 7 degrees F. But according to Tisdale, the ARGO buoys show no unusual warming (or cooling) event for the top 700 meters, “so the warming event appears to be surface related.” In a personal communication, Joe D’Aleo writes it has survived there for six months. Simply, the cause of this hot spot is not known at this time. See link under Changing Weather and Article #2.
**************
Fraying Solidarity: The problems with the 95% certainty of the climate science and surveys that 97% of scientists agree that [fill in the blank], are creating problems in the climate establishment. The general public is becoming increasing skeptical. In his article “Science can’t settle what should be done about climate change,” Mike Hulme, Professor of Climate Change in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and of Climategate note, argues for a more politicized atmosphere for addressing global warming/climate change. TWTW suggests the science has long been political. It is set up in a manner that does not produce a scientific solution. There is no effort to attempt to validate the models, on which the entire climate establishment depends. It is clear the climate establishment cannot model natural climate change, which is a necessary step to successfully modeling the human influence. See links under Problems in the Orthodoxy
**************
More Fraying Solidarity: The long-delayed approval process for the northern leg of the Keystone Pipeline to bring oil from Canada to Nebraska, and then to the Gulf Coast, is producing discord in the environmental industry and in organizations that support them. Some leaders of the environmental industry are questioning if the fight against Keystone is an issue they should continue. Even the Washington Post has editorialized in favor of Keystone. The oil will move whether or not Washington approves it. The question is who will benefit the most.
The White House had the audacity to announce the decision will not be a political one. For over 5 years it has been little else but political. No doubt, the administration will delay the decision until it becomes clear it can no longer use an impending decision for political advantage, such as fund raising. See links under: Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up, Questioning Green Elsewhere, and Washington’s Control of Energy.
**************
Drilling in Britain: The opposition to smart drilling for natural gas in deep shale is now proposing to stop the drilling by bringing up property trespass – can a drill pass under their lands, no matter how deep underground, without the property owners permission. Andrew Montford suggests a simple way of averting the issue. Repeal the Petroleum (Production) Act 1934, which nationalizes ownership of onshore oil and gas resources. He states that shale gas development will take place on a voluntary basis.
Writing in Master Resource, Robert Bradley makes a similar argument for private mineral rights in South America. One difficulty may be size of land holdings and acquiring rights of way. It remains to be seen if such actions are forthcoming. See links under Energy Issues – Non-US.
**************
Number of the Week: 0.60 miles per day. The Wall Street Journal reports that as of January 31, 2014, the application for the northern leg of the Keystone pipeline has been under approval review for 1960 days. The leg is 1179 miles long. This works out to 0.60 miles per day, or 0.025 miles per hour (mph).
According to the Guinness Book of Records, “in a speed test carried out in the Seychelles, a male giant tortoise could only cover 15 feet in 43.5 sec (0.23 mph) despite the enticement of a female.” So there you have it. A male, giant tortoise of the Seychelles can be enticed to move about 10 times faster than the Washington bureaucracy in considering the Keystone pipeline. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/RachelShweky.shtml
###################################################
ARTICLES:
For the numbered articles below please see this week’s TWTW at: www.sepp.org. The articles are at the end of the pdf.
1. The Stealth Carbon Tax
By S. Fred Singer, American Thinker, Feb 3, 2014
http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/02/the_stealth_carbon_tax.html
2. Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent
Weather Experts Blame Oceanic Quirk for Extreme Cold and Unusual Warmth Across U.S.
By Robeert Lee Hotz, WSJ, Jan 31, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303743604579355184004388274-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwMjEwNDIyWj
3. Robert Bryce: The Real Climate ‘Deniers’ Are the Greens
While renewables subsidies have punished Europe, shale gas has cut U.S. emissions
By Robert Bryce, WSJ, Feb 2, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304007504579346774109467020?mod=ITP_opinion_0
4. Rising Coal Use Clouds Europe’s Future
Turn Away From Gas Seen Impacting Continent’s Industrial Base
By Stephen Fidler, WSJ, Feb 6, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304450904579367074233771140?mod=WSJ_Energy_2_4_Right
[SEPP Comment: Striking graphic on difference for natural-gas prices for selected countries.]
###################################################
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Challenging the Orthodoxy
95% of Climate Models Agree: The Observations Must be Wrong
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Feb 7, 2014
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/02/95-of-climate-models-agree-the-observations-must-be-wrong/
Climate Scientist Who Got It Right Predicts 20 More Years of Global Cooling
By Barbara Hollingsworth, CNSNews, Jan 28, 2014
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/climate-scientist-who-got-it-right-predicts-20-more-years-global
Obama Misled on Climate Change Facts
By H. Leighton Steward, Politix, No Date
http://politix.topix.com/story/10271-obama-misled-on-climate-change-facts
2013: The NASA/Hansen Climate Model Prediction of Global Warming Vs. Climate Reality
By Editor, C3 Headlines, Jan 31, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.c3headlines.com/2014/01/2013-nasa-hansen-climate-model-prediction-global-warming-reality-those-stubborn-facts.html
Looking at the last refuges of AGW theory that fails data scrutiny
By Joseph D’Aleo, ICECAP, Feb 3, 2014
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/political-climate/looking_at_the_last_refuges_of_agw_theory_that_fails_data_scrutiny/
Defending the Orthodoxy
2013 sixth-hottest year, confirms long-term warming: UN
By Staff Writers, Geneva (AFP), Feb 05, 2014
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/2013_sixth-hottest_year_confirms_long-term_warming_UN_999.html
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Fighting the Wrong Battle: Public Persuaded About CO2 As Pollutant – Not As Cause of Warming
By Tim Ball, WUWT, Feb 5, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/02/05/fighting-the-wrong-battle-public-persuaded-about-co2-as-pollutant-not-as-cause-of-warming/
The Polar Vortex: Climate Alarmism Blows Hot And Cold
By Larry Bell, Forbes, Feb 2, 2014
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2014/02/02/the-polar-vortex-climate-alarmism-blows-hot-and-cold/
It’s time to get rid of the EPA
By Bill Wilson, Fox News, Feb 5, 2014
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/02/05/it-time-to-get-rid-epa/
Global Warming’s Tree Ring Circus Brings Us The Costliest Show On Earth
By Larry Bell, Forbes, Feb 2, 2014
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2014/02/04/global-warmings-tree-ring-circus/
Social Benefits of Carbon
Evolution in Natural Vegetation: The Role of C02
By Staff Writers, SPPI, Feb 6, 2014
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/originals/evolution_in_natural_vegetation_the_role_of_c02.html
Link to paper: Evolution in Natural Vegetation: The Role of C02
By Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Feb 5, 2014
http://www.co2science.org/subject/e/summaries/evolutionnaturalco2.php
Health-Promoting Effects of Elevated C02 on Medical Plants
By Staff Writers, SPPI, Feb 5, 2014
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/originals/health_promoting_effects_of_elevated_c02_on_medical_plants.html
Modern Transportation and Food: How Carbon-based Fuel Kept the ‘Third Horseman’ in Check
By Pierre Desrochers, Master Resource, Feb 3, 2014
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/02/modern-transportation-vs-famine/
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Science can’t settle what should be done about climate change
By Mike Hulme, The Conversation, Feb 4, 2014
http://theconversation.com/science-cant-settle-what-should-be-done-about-climate-change-22727
Hulme tries to throw all scientists under a bus. It’s just “the debate is over”. Cook, consensus take collateral hit.
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 5, 2014
http://joannenova.com.au/2014/02/hulme-tries-to-throw-all-scientists-under-a-bus-its-just-the-debate-is-over-without-lauding-the-consensus/#more-33188
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above.]
A methane mystery: Scientists probe unanswered questions about methane and climate change
By Roz Pidcock, The Carbon Brief, Jan 31, 2014
http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2014/01/a-methane-mystery-scientists-probe-unanswered-questions-about-methane-and-climate-change/?utm_source=Weekly+Carbon+Briefing&utm_campaign=cd6d014c53-Carbon_Brief_Weekly_18_7_137_18_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3ff5ea836a-cd6d014c53-215218249
Seeking a Common Ground
The Overselling of Climate Modeling Predictability on Multi-Decadal time Scales in the 2013 IPCC WG1 Report – Annex 1 Is Not Scientifically Robust
By Roger Pielke Sr. WUWT, Feb 7, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/02/07/the-overselling-of-climate-modeling-predictability-on-multi-decadal-time-scales-in-the-2013-ipcc-wg1-report-annex-1-is-not-scientifically-robust/
The global warmer’s dilemma
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Feb 7, 2014
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2014/2/7/the-global-warmers-dilemma.html
Link to press release: NERC signs MoU with multinational energy company Shell
By Staff Writers, Natural Environmental Research Council, Feb 7, 2014
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/press/releases/2014/03-shell.asp?cookieConsent=A
Will The Overselling Of Global Warming Lead To A New Scientific Dark Age?
By Patrick Michaels, Forbes Feb 3, 2014 [H/t Bud Bromely]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmichaels/2014/02/03/will-the-overselling-of-global-warming-lead-to-a-new-scientific-dark-age/
What scientific ideas are ready for retirement?
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Feb 2, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/02/02/what-scientific-ideas-are-ready-for-retirement/
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC
For a full list of articles see www.NIPCCreport.org
Atmospheric CO2 Helps Oak Trees Recover from Natural Disasters
Reference: Day, F.P., Schroeder, R.E., Stover, D.B., Brown, A.L.P., Butnor, J.R., Dilustro, J., Hungate, B.A., Dijkstra, P., Duval, B.D., Seiler, T.J., Drake, B.G. and Hinkle, C.R. 2013. The effects of 11 years of CO2 enrichment on roots in a Florida scrub-oak ecosystem. New Phytologist 200: 778-787.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/feb/4feb2014a1.html
Modelling Decadal to Centennial Climate in the Equatorial Pacific
Reference: Ault, T.R., Deser, C., Newman, M. and Emile-Gray, J. 2013. Characterizing decadal to centennial variability in the equatorial Pacific during the last millennium. Geophysical Research Letters 40: 3450-3456.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/feb/4feb2014a2.html
Ault et al. write “these findings imply that the response of the tropical Pacific to future forcings may be even more uncertain than portrayed by state-of-the-art models because there are potentially important sources of century-scale variability that these models do not simulate.” Such uncertainty must be adequately addressed before model projections can be taken seriously.
Including the Stratosphere in Models of Global Climate Change
Reference: Marsh, D.R., Mills, M.J., Kinnison, D.E., Lamarque, J.-F., Calvo, N., and Polvani, L.M. 2013. Climate change from 1850 to 2005 simulated in CESM1(WACCM). Journal of Climate 26: 7372-7391.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/feb/5feb2014a1.html
[SEPP Comment: If “the models overestimate the short-term cooling following large volcanic eruptions,” the models may overestimate the cooling effect of aerosols, and the warming effect of carbon dioxide.]
Modelling the Asian Summer Monsoon: Another Revealing Analysis
Reference: Sperber, K.R., Annamalai, H., Kang, I.-S., Kitoh, A., Moise, A., Turner, A., Wang, B. and Zhou, T. 2013. The Asian summer monsoon: an intercomparison of CMIP5 vs. CMIP3 simulations of the late 20th century. Climate Dynamics 41: 2711-2744.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/feb/5feb2014a3.html
Models v. Observations
+++Government abandons temperature records+++
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Feb 4, 2014
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2014/2/4/government-abandons-temperature- |
is being rendered in the Atari’s 160×96-pixel color graphics mode (obviously enlarged dramatically in the emulator) while No Man’s Sky is running at the 32-inch LCD’s native 1920×1080-pixels — 135 times more discrete pixels than the Atari is pushing.
What a difference three decades, on both the hardware and software front, make. Not surprisingly, bringing out Rescue on Fractalus for this video has me playing it again after all these years. Both of these games are definitely worth spending some time with.
UPDATE [11/15/2016]: I’ve just learned over at the RetroGamer mag forums that someone is working on a PC (Windows) remake of Rescue on Fractalus entitled Fractalus (video). Looks interesting — give it a whirl.New Persona 4: The Golden Videos Have Team Attack & Bike Scene Clips
By Spencer. April 23, 2012. 11:07pm
Atlus released two new Persona 4: The Golden trailers in Japan. One clip focuses on the game’s cast of characters with pop art of Yosuke pulling a trashcan off his head. Check the video above for a look at some of the new team attacks and characters using the moped to travel around town.
The other video is a story trailer with anime cutscenes and a glimpse at Kanji & Naoto’s team attack. There are some spoilers in there so if you skipped Persona 4 for PS2 and have not seen the anime series you may want to skip it!
Persona 4: The Golden comes out in Japan on June 14.Wilson told indycar.com on Sunday that his car got caught on a seam in the track that pitched the car into the wall
Justin Wilson was involved in a crash during the IndyCar finale at Auto Club Speedway. (Photo: Brian Cleary, Getty Images)
FONTANA, Calif. — Justin Wilson will return to his home in Longmont, Colo., following hospitalization for injuries sustained Saturday during a crash in the IndyCar season finale.
Wilson, 34, was transported from Auto Club Speedway to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, Calif., for treatment of three non-operable pelvic fractures and a small pulmonary contusion. He was held overnight for further observation, according to Dr. Michael Olinger, IndyCar's medical director.
Team owner Dale Coyne visited Wilson in the hospital.
"Justin is in good spirits," Coyne said. "The doctors say he will be six to eight weeks of non-load bearing on his right leg before he can start rehab. Knowing Justin, he will be back on his mountain bike before you know it."
CHAMPION: Scott Dixon earns third IndyCar title
POWER: Finally scores victory in season finale
Wilson told indycar.com on Sunday that his car got caught on a seam in the track that pitched the car into the wall. Tristan Vautier's car struck Wilson's from the side.
"It just wiggled and I tried to catch it but it just came around," Wilson said. "I was not where I needed to be on the angle of the exit and if you get that wrong then the aerodynamics and the track seams can really get you and they certainly did."
Simona de Silvestro, Josef Newgarden, Oriol Servia and James Jakes also were involved in the crash. None of them suffered injuries. De Silvestro was able to continue racing.
WATCH: Wilson triggers multicar crash at IndyCar season finale
<!--iframe-->
Younger brother and racer Stefan Wilson tweeted Sunday afternoon, "Will be by JWs side all way until we get him home. Upgraded from walker to crutches, and complaining of hospital food… he's recovering fast!"
Will be by JWs side all way until we get him home. Upgraded from walker to crutches, and complaining of hospital food… he’s recovering fast! — Stefan Wilson (@stef_wilson) October 20, 2013
Justin Wilson broke his back in August 2011.
Vautier said he didn't see Wilson before he hit him. Other drivers did but in an effort to avoid Wilson, they collided with each other.
EARLIER: Allmendinger, Munoz, Mann, Sevaadra crash
"I guess I was the first guy to see him spinning," Newgarden said. "It seemed kind of bad on my right side. The big thing for me was just to get out of (Wilson's) way. I didn't want to T-Bone him. Unfortunately I collected Servia.
"If everyone's safe, that's the best thing we can hope for right now."
The car of Justin Wilson gets towed after a crash during the MAVTV 500 Saturday night at Auto Club Speedway. (Photo: Robert Laberge, Getty Images)
Said Servia: "I was just behind, and I saw (Wilson) getting loose. Josef tried to miss Justin and collected me. It was just one of those things where we're all fighting for real estate and what can you do."
The accident comes two weeks after four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti broke his back, his right wrist and suffered a concussion when his car sailed into the catchfence, sending debris and a piece of fencing into the crowd, in an Oct. 6 crash in Houston.
Stefan Wilson tweeted late Saturday night that Justin had a small fracture to his pelvis but his back looked OK on a cat scan. He also said Justin would have an MRI to further check his back.
JW update. Had catscan, all back looked okay on this scan. Small fracture to pelvis. Will have MRI next to check back further. 62 lat G’s! — Stefan Wilson (@stef_wilson) October 20, 2013
Earlier, Stefan Wilson tweeted that Justin was ok and was getting X-rays.
JW awake alert talking, at hosp just getting X-ray. Thanks for message of support — Stefan Wilson (@stef_wilson) October 20, 2013
Follow Jeff Olson on Twitter @jeffolson77Preamble: I started home brewing in late 2012 and got serious about it in 2013. Before then I enjoyed (some would say collected) hundreds of different beers.
When 2013 came to a close I thought to myself it would be a good idea to try a New Year’s resolution; to not buy a beer in 2014. For many years I was buying craft beer. On the social app Untappd I had clocked in something north of 430 beers. That’s a lot of beer & a lot of money. I had set up a few rules for myself in 2014:
Try to drink a beer every day
Purchase of a beer at a bar was OK. (That happened about once a month…I don’t get out much.)
Make your own beer
On New Year’s Eve I went out and bought about 15-20 12oz beers and a few 22oz beers to help me try something new for my homebrew inspiration as the year went by. I also had a number of home-brewed beers left over from “Holiday 6-Packs” I had been making and handing out to fellow craft beer lovers. Yes, I was trying to convert them. With the beer I “collected” I was able to create a pipeline so I could make it during the dry-times when I didn’t have a homebrew ready to drink.
My strategy was pretty simple on the production front. I would bottle the beers that would last in bottles (high gravity beers, malt-forward beers, etc) and keg the other beers. The kegged beers became my everyday brews. The bottle beers were used while the legged beer was carving. I would also hand out the bottle beers to friends as the year went by as I was still trying to convert them.
The Double Brew Day
Making 2 beers in one day may seem like a big task but when you take a look at it, it’s not really that bad. When you make 2 beers you only have to lug out your equipment once. I don’t know about you but taking out your pots, getting out your stand, and all that other stuff is cumbersome. Why not just do it once?
To make the double brew day easier I would measure out all my grain (I am an all grain brewer), hops, water and other ingredients the day before. That makes thing move faster on brew day. There were times I spent an hour measuring everything out. That would eat into some serious time, especially since the double brew day I would be there for 6 or 7 hours.
Get friendly with the Partigyle Method of Brewing
I want to lay out as close to this headline as possible that I cheat a partigyles and I am not ashamed of it. Here’s my method:
Do a mash and sparge as you normally would with a beer that has a fairly big grain bill like a barleywine, IIPA, or “big” stout.
Add some other grains/ingredients to make the 2nd beer.
Mash & sparge the “2nd runnings”
Add adjucnts during the boil (usually it was a combo of LME and some type of sugar)
I was able to make a variety of beers AND save money in the process. My second beer would cost me as little as $13 for 5 gallons. I made a few combos like a barleywine/porter, IIPA/brown ale, IIPA/Pale Ale, Imperial Stout/Porter, and others.
My pace
Since I was drinking a beer a day I usually did a double brew day about once a month and had to stick to that schedule. As I was finishing the beer in my keg another batch was about done fermenting. When I was force carbing the new beer or waiting for it to finish fermenting I was drinking a bottled beer.
There were times where things got really hairy. During the summer I had a few bottle bombs (boy that wasn’t fun) and as the fall came around I got my second infection in two years. The next brew day I did my first 10-gallon batch.
Final thoughts
YOU CAN DO THIS! For you to go an entire year without buying a beer and more importantly enjoying your home made beer you need only one thing; discipline. There is little room for a Saturday where you say, “I just don’t feel like brewing today”.
You’ll also learn a lot about brewing. As I mentioned before my second infection is forcing my way into sour beers. Because of that infection, I did my first 10-gallon batch.
You also save a ton of money. Craft beer is more than likely one of the things that got you into home brewing. Craft beer is good, but it’s expensive. I recently figured out that averaging out all my ingredients and hardware I am making a beer for $.67 a pint. Compare that to a $10 6-pack. I know, I know I’m not making craft caliber beer, but’s it’s mine, it’s homemade, and it’s damn good.
AdvertisementsZomia [the highland region straddling China, Thailand, Burma, and the rest of Southeast Asia] is the largest remaining region of the world whose peoples have not yet been fully incorporated into nation-states. Its days are numbered. Not so very long ago, however, such self-governing peoples were the great majority of humankind. Today, they are seen from the valley kingdoms as “our living ancestors,” “what we were like before we discovered wet-rice cultivation, Buddhism, and civilization.” On the contrary, I argue that hill peoples are best understood as runaway, fugitive, maroon communities who have, over the course of two millennia, been fleeing the oppressions of state-making projects in the valleys-slavery, conscription, taxes, corvée labor, epidemics, and warfare. Most of the areas in which they reside may be aptly called shatter zones or zones of refuge. Virtually everything about these people’s livelihoods, social organization, ideologies, and (more controversially) even their largely oral cultures, can be read as strategic positionings designed to keep the state at arm’s length. Their physical dispersion in rugged terrain, their mobility, their cropping practices, their kinship structure, their pliable ethnic identities, and their devotion to prophetic, millenarian leaders effectively serve to avoid incorporation into states and to prevent states from springing up among them. The particular state that most of them have been evading has been the precocious Han-Chinese state. …The huge literature on state-making, contemporary and historic, pays virtually no attention to its obverse: the history of deliberate and reactive statelessness. This is the history of those who got away, and state-making cannot be understood apart from it. This is also what makes this an anarchist history.
If you visit the hill country between Thailand and Burma (as I am doing now) there are few better books to read than Jim Scott’s The Art of Not Being Governed.
Even those outside the Southeast Asian highlands, however, must read this book, especially students of development and state-building. It’s certainly among the best books I’ve read this past year, prompting many deep thoughts about war, states, and the development machine.
One of many quotable bits:
While the rhetoric of high imperialism could speak unselfconsciously of “civilizing” and “Christianizing” the nomadic heathen, such terms strike the modern ear as outdated and provincial, or as euphemisms for all manner of brutalities. And yet if one substitutes the nouns development, progress, and modernization, it is apparent that the project, under a new flag, is very much alive and well.
The link from ancient hill tribes to modern-day development is this: many of the poor who states and institutions aim to develop (notice I did not say “help develop”) exist in spaces and cultures perceived as primitive and waiting for advancement into something more modern. But many of these cultures and peoples formed and exist largely in opposition to states.
The economies, practices and cultures of the supposedly uncivilized are not primordial but adapted, in self-preservation. Why? Well, states historically (and in too many contemporary cases) have been coercive and extractive. Evading rather than entering states has often been the most sensible way to improve well-being. Only recently have (some) states become less predatory. (Or perhaps they remain as destructive in their assimilation, but the lure of consumer products has become too great?)
I don’t think this story applies to all peoples (maybe not even most peoples), but Somalis, or the pastoralists straddling Sudan, Kenya and Uganda (like the Karamojong), or Afghans suddenly look different (and yet more familiar) to me after reading this book.
Scott writes that his book may apply little after the Second World War. Fine, warrant us caution, but I’d argue that self-appointed statebuilders in Africa or the Central Asia have a great deal to gain from this book. See it here.Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee yesterday unexpectedly boycotted a vote to confirm Gina McCarthy, President Barack Obama's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, denying the committee a quorum and preventing McCarthy from moving to a full confirmation vote. The move, announced Thursday morning, was unexpected. It made Democrats mad. It shouldn't have been unexpected.
The issue is that Republicans won't sign on to McCarthy -- or any EPA administrator -- until she agrees to force the EPA to submit everything they do to a very "business-friendly" (time- and money-intensive) analysis. Here's how Politico explains it:
Advertisement:
Republican leaders were unmoved, though, saying the Obama administration deserves blame for the impasse by refusing to fully answer questions that GOP nominees have posed about McCarthy and EPA. They include questions about the “underlying data used to justify EPA’s job-killing regulations,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement to POLITICO.
Here's how the New York Times editorial page's Robert B. Semple Jr. explains it:
A case in point was the request that the agency undertake “whole economy” cost-benefits analysis of its rules and regulations. Ms. McCarthy had earlier replied that the agency already conducts detailed, peer-reviewed analyses of those rules. So what more do Mr. Vitter and his colleagues expect? They want the agency to superimpose on its own reviews an industry-friendly cost-benefit model that — in addition to adding new layers of bureaucratic red tape — could also lead to weaker regulation. Their other requests would impose similarly time-consuming and non-essential burdens.
I quote both paragraphs in full to make a minor point: I shouldn't have to go to an opinion writer or ideologically aligned journalist to figure out what Republicans are actually asking for here. I'm not complaining that the boilerplate objective version is too charitable to Republicans -- though it is -- I'm saying it's too vague. There's nothing in the objective mainstream reporter handbook that says you have to completely avoid explaining the contours of the argument. Some context on "whole economy" cost-benefit analyses analysis would be useful in figuring out this dispute, even in a story that goes out of its way to be fair to both sides. Lest you think I'm picking on Politico, the AP version was even more vague..
But this is "dog bites man news," and therefore not news. Senate Republicans are blocking the confirmation of an Obama appointee they admit is qualified and not personally offensive (she was a Romney appointee for chrissakes), because they want the EPA to not carry out its mission. They will abuse Senate procedure to get their way. The press is now so used to this that there will be essentially no outcry. Either they will pointlessly delay this for a while and then give in or they'll just keep going until Obama pulls the nomination -- the ball is in their court, even though they are the minority party in the Senate. They've gotten used to this sort of power, and, more important, the ability to wield it without incurring negative consequences. The press has processed GOP obstruction as normal and reports on it as such. Democrats make noise about reforming Senate rules and never actually do. This is how they've also kept the courts conservative and how they have almost succeeded in crippling the National Labor Relations Board. Cranky liberal bloggers call it nullification, and no one else cares.
Though that's not quite true. It's not that no one cares. The Republicans on the EPW committee know that some people care a great deal, and those people are the dedicated activist conservatives who fund campaigns and turn out for primaries. The total takeover of the entire Republican Primary system by movement conservatives has prevented Republicans from retaking the Senate, but it's been quite effective in making every Senate Republican act as much like Ted Cruz as they think they can get away with. For a Republican elected official, there's very little downside to preventing the EPA from performing its congressionally mandated function. The press will barely notice and the talk radio listeners back home will admire your guts.
Here's the qualifying detail: Democrats did this to Bush once, too. In 2003 Democrats used a similar boycott to delay a vote on Bush EPA administrator nominee Mike Leavitt. Republicans at the time, obviously, were outraged. (If you want a sense of how different a time 2003 was, read the second-to-last paragraph of that story, in which the process of filing for cloture to break a hold or filibuster is explained in great detail, because at the time that was still an unusual occurrence.) Both sides have participated in the arms race that is the exploitation of Senate rules and violation of Senate norms. Democrats felt they had very good reasons to resort to extreme measures to block Bush's agenda. Republicans currently feel the same way.
At the time, it was widely reported that the number of questions Democrats demanded answers to was unprecedented (400! More than 1,100 questions have been submitted to McCarthy, with 1,075 of them coming from David Vitter), and it was also acknowledged that their real beef wasn't with Leavitt, but with how the Bush administration would interpret the Clean Air Act. This is the exact precedent Republicans are now using to justify their boycott. ("You did it first" is considered a perfectly legitimate position in Congress.) So, with that in mind, let's look at what happened next: Leavitt went on to be confirmed 88-8, a little more than two months after the announcement of his nomination. It remains to be seen whether Republicans will allow McCarthy to be confirmed at all, and I won't be remotely surprised if they don't.
Advertisement:
Here's another important difference. At the same time that Republicans are blocking McCarthy's confirmation, this is happening:
On Wednesday, a confirmation vote on Thomas Perez’s nomination for labor secretary was postponed amid GOP threats to invoke an obscure procedural rule that would have prevented the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee from meeting.
And this is happening:
A top House Republican won't allow Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray to testify before his congressional committee, saying Mr. Cordray doesn't legitimately head the agency because of the controversial way in which he was appointed last year.
And this (make sure to read this block quote, it's the best one) is happening:
Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., continues his hold of Ernest Moniz to be Obama’s Energy secretary not because of the nominee himself but because of cuts to a nuclear-waste facility in his state. His office confirmed Thursday that nothing has changed on that front.
It's not the individual case, it's the very obvious GOP strategy of blocking everything they can and delaying what they can't.
But perhaps my views color my analysis. In that case, I bring up the precedent not merely to say that Republicans are worse when they do this than Democrats are (though they are, obviously, because on the whole they're stupider and more extreme), but simply because it strengthens the bipartisan case for abolishing the Senate, a useless, undemocratic vestigial legislative body that is an embarrassment to America.Electrification works in 3,286 villages out of 18,452 unelectrified villages in the nation have been completed so far, Parliament was informed on Monday.
"As on 01.04. 2015, there were 18,452 unelectrified villages in the country. It has been decided to electrify all un-electrified villages by 01.05.2018. Electrification works in 3,286 villages out of those mentioned above has been completed so far," Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
Under Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), he said, there is a provision for providing electricity access to un-electrified villages/habitations through micro-grid and off-grid distribution network where grid connectivity is either not feasible or not cost effective.
"So far, 1,849 villages have been sanctioned under off-grid distribution for electrification in 13 states," he said.
In a separate reply he said, that in Uttar Pradesh, 1,529 villages were still to be electrified as on April 1, 2015.
All these un-electrified villages have been sanctioned for electrification under DDUGJY.
"The electrification works in 795 villages have been completed so far," the minister said.The Essex council which wiped a “racist” Banksy mural dealing with the growing immigration row said they would have erased the image even if they had been aware of its famous creator.
The graffiti, which has been painted a wall of a Clacton-on-Sea Boathouse, shows five pigeons waving banners reading “Migrants not welcome”, “Go back to Africa” and “Keep off our worms” at an exotic bird beside them.
Tendring District Council said it was “obviously” unaware the piece had been created by the provocative, world-famous artist but said it would still have removed the piece anyway as some local people could missing the “social comment” Banksy was trying to make.
Nigel Brown, the communications manager of Tendring District Council said the council was “damned if you damned if you don’t” over the controversial image.
Next Thursday a by-election will be held in Clackton after Douglas Carswell defected from the Conservatives to Ukip.
Polls have shown that Mr Carswell has a massive lead over his Tory challenger in a campaign that is heavily framed around immigration and Euroscepticism.
Mr Brown said that they had received a complaint that the mural, which could have been worth up to £400,000, could be “potentially offensive or racist.”
He said the council has a policy to act on complaints about graffiti within 48-hours but were “obviously not” aware that it had been created by the world famous artist Banksy.
Mr Brown told Radio Four: “We received the complaint that it they felt the mural could be potentially offensive or racist and our anti-graffiti team act on complaints and they went down there the day before yesterday, had a look at it and went back yesterday and removed it
He added: “It’s very difficult and it is easy in hindsight to look at something differently but to be honest I think we should have still removed it.”
Graffiti has already been sprayed on the wall where the Banksy was (@tombarton)
He added: “We totally appreciate the irony and the social comment that Banksy has made however that could be seen as offensive and racist and once we have that sort of complaint we have a policy to remove that type of material after 48 hours. There is no criticism of our staff.
“Whether it is Banksy or not. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
The mural still appears on the artist’s website which he uses to publically announce his latest works by posting an image with no explanation or details of its location.
The scrubbed out stain where the mural used to appear has since been covered with new, less artistic graffiti.The Edge: Dawnfall is new miniature Board Game by Awaken Realms for 1-4 players. Created by Michał Oracz (man behind 13 years of Neuroshima Hex and recent hit Cry Havoc) it brings next level of competitive gameplay to the table. Fresh, exciting, pure and rewarding.
Game features six asymmetric factions with customization options, each with different set of units as well as cinematic spells and skills. It is played on two boards: conflict board where you resolve battles and campaign map where you can follow rich scenarios, learn the story and impact your world.
This game is created for 1-4 players.
With 1 faction box you can play against a Darkness faction controlled by the game. (although for full experience you will need another faction box to play a player vs player mode).
With 2 faction boxes (or conflict box), you can play with 2 players (1vs1) and co-op versus a Darkness faction controlled by the game.
With 4 faction boxes (or 2 conflict box), you can play with 4 players (2vs2 or free-for-all) and co-op versus Darkness faction controlled by the game.
The Edge: Dawnfall will offer 6 faction, each with different story, gameplay and amazing, high quality plastic models.
Biggest modes are 9 cm high!
The Edge is not just a game, but also a complex, rich universe. There is no good and evil here, just survival and conflicting interest of each faction.
With the help of amazing writers, we have created set of stories that brings life into this game and factions. You can see first story book "Battle of Eld-Hain" by clicking below!
SEE FULL GAMEPLAY VIDEO!
We are dedicated to make our games as easy to learn as possible. Instead of complicated instruction, we want you to open the box, set up all the components and start playing right away, learning mechanism on the go.
The Edge: Dawnfall will provide special starting scenarios, so that players will be able to open the game and immediately start playing!
While designing skill cards we did not want to go the easy way and put “+x bonus” on them. Instead we designed them to be highly dynamic and story related. Hound pulling sniper on his line of movement? Angel of Death with a final charge from the sky? Brute taunting his enemies? All possible in The Edge!
The Edge will have also rich campaign story mode, where the game will be played on 2 boards: economic /political map of the world and regular, conflict Board Game for resolving battles. This way, game will play on two levels, just like in Total War computer games series.
Scenarios will enable you to dive into rich The Edge universe, where you will learn about each factions motivation.They will also force you to take hard decisions with consequences later on in the game.
Each faction from The Edge have different set of units, skill cards and other feel of play. This makes every match up really exciting and you can find a game style that will fit you best.
With large hex system we believe we brought revolution to overall movement and game dynamic. All actions are operated on small hex, but all movement and ranges are considered with Large Hexes (7 small hexes). This way, it is very easy to move around and flow of the game on big board is amazing!
The Edge comes with really BIG miniatures and we want you to feel their power and presence. Big units can push over smaller units out of their positions and this gives the game additional dimension.
Gameplay is focused on gathering crystals that will be added to your mana pool. They are constant source of power for your skills. Players are growing in power turn by turn and game is more tense with time.
You will be able to build your army and deck of skills. Thousands of possibilities limited only by your imagination!
Michał Oracz, creator of the game have vast experience in production and delivery of highest quality games - he spent 15 years in Portal Games and was actively involved in production of titles like Neuroshima Hex (over 100k copies sold). We know how to keep quality at best level.
All components not including miniatures will be produced in Europe (Poland), so we will have direct control over quality.
Estimated shipping prices (worldwide) for economical tracked postage (usually takes about 4 weeks to ship worldwide). Game weight will be about 3 kg.
Please note, that shipping will be paid after the Kickstarter campaign ends, from the Pledge Manager level. Prices are not final and might slightly change in the Pledge Manager, depending on how many stretch goals we will unlock.
Also, if you come from a country with limited postal access, there might be an additional fee required. VAT tax for European Union is included in the price of and because of no VAT tax regulations for countries outside of EU we are able to offer cheaper shipping prices for the rest of the wolrd.
Michał Oracz. A board game veteran, with over 15 years of experience in game design and storytelling (in Portal Games). Author of board games, RPGs, mobile games. Best known for Neuroshima Hex and Neuroshima universe, De Profundis, Theseus the Dark Orbit, Earthcore: Shattered Elements, Witchcraft, This War of Mine and Cry Havoc. To create The Edge Dawnfall we have teamed up with. A board game veteran, with over 15 years of experience in game design and storytelling (in Portal Games). Author of board games, RPGs, mobile games. Best known for N First of all - you are pledging to bring this project to life. Without your support this game will not see daylight. But if we will meet our target easily, we will be adding special content and components to every copy of the game. To keep things simple - your Kickstarter edition will be far richer then the one that will be available in retail. We have planned not only additional content, but also full modules.
World's largest hobby miniature painting studio and creators of unique miniatures and various tabletop games. We have aThis game is being created by a team of people passionate about both the tabletop experience and rich storytelling.This ring has a spectrolite labradorite stone with an absolutely gorgeous and unique teal shimmer set in a solid bezel with embellishments added by hand. The ring is size 6 US.
DETAILS
☼ This listing is for the exact item you see in the picture, please contact for custom orders.
☼ Ring band - Size 6 US
☼ Spectrolite Labradorite from Finland - 10mm x 7mm Oval Cabochon
☼ Each piece is hand crafted starting with raw metals and gemstones. Traditional techniques and tools are used as often as possible and I take pride in my craftsmanship, each piece is made to last a lifetime.
SHIPMENT + DELIVERY
☼Your purchase will ship to you within 1-2 business days of purchase.
Within CANADA -> 3-5 Days
Within USA -> 5-12 Days
International -> Please contact for estimate
Twitter ---> https://twitter.com/Faceted_Fox
Instagram ---> https://www.instagram.com/facetedfox/
www.FacetedFox.com
IMPORTANT
☼ Please note all monitors colors are not calibrated the same and I do my best to take accurate photos in natural light and do not photoshop the colors. Please allow for some variations due to your monitor as each piece is unique.MADISON, WI, September 29, 2008 - A plot of land on the campus of Auburn University shows that 110 years of sustainable farming practices can produce similar cotton crops to those using other methods.
In 1896, Professor J.F. Duggar at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn University) started an experiment to test his theories that sustainable cotton production was possible on Alabama soils if growers would use crop rotation and include winter legumes (clovers and/or vetch) to protect the soil from winter erosion.
Today, his experiment on the campus of Auburn University is the oldest, continuous cotton experiment in the world and the third oldest field crop experiment in the United States on the same site. The experiment, known as "the Old Rotation," has continued with only slight modifications in treatments and was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1988.
Researchers at Auburn University and at USDA-Soil Dynamics Laboratory in Auburn, AL, have prepared the first ever comprehensive research publication covering the entire 110-yr history of this experiment. It was published in the September-October issue of Agronomy Journal, and provides insight into issues both past and present that effect sustainable crop production in the South.
The thirteen plots in the Old Rotation include (i) continuous cotton, (ii) a 2-yr rotation of cotton with corn, and (iii) a 3-year rotation of cotton-corn-wheat-soybean. These crop rotations include treatments with and without winter legumes (usually crimson clover and/or vetch) and with and without fertilizer nitrogen.
After more than 110 years, the Old Rotation continues to document the long-term effects of crop rotation and winter legumes on cotton production in the Deep South. It provides growers, students, and faculty with a living demonstration of fundamental agronomic practices that result in sustainable crop production. Long-term yields indicate that winter legumes are as effective as nitrogen fertilizer in producing non-irrigated, 10-yr average cotton yields of 1,100 pounds lint per acre. Winter legumes and crop rotations contribute to increased soil organic matter. Higher soil organic matter results in higher crop yields.
In 1997, the Old Rotation entered a new era of agricultural production where boll weevil eradication, genetically modified crops, and conservation tillage almost eliminated the need for the plow and pesticides. In 2003, irrigation was added to half of each plot. Yields of cotton, corn, wheat and soybean continue to increase far beyond the yields of Professor Duggar's generation. Since initiating conservation tillage practices in 1997, all-time, non-irrigated record yields have been made on all the crops grown on the Old Rotation: 1,710 pounds cotton lint per acre in 2006, 95 bushels wheat per acre in 2001, 236 bushels corn per acre in 1999, and 67 bushels of double-cropped soybean per acre in 1997 after wheat.
###
The full article is available for no charge for 30 days following the date of this summary. View the abstract at http://agron. scijournals. org/ cgi/ content/ abstract/ 100/ 5/ 1493.
A peer-reviewed international journal of agriculture and natural resource sciences, Agronomy Journal is published six times a year by the American Society of Agronomy, with articles relating to original research in soil science, crop science, agroclimatology and agronomic modeling, production agriculture, and software. For more information visit: http://agron. scijournals. org.
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) www.agronomy.org, is a scientific society helping its 8,000+ members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy by supporting professional growth and science policy initiatives, and by providing quality, research-based publications and a variety of member services.The House of Representatives passed a pair of bills Thursday aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants and the cities that grant them official sanctuary.
“Kate’s Law” would increase penalties for people who sneak back into America after being deported, with some facing up to 10 years in the slammer.
The measure is named for Kate Steinle, who was shot and killed in San Francisco two years on Saturday, allegedly by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times.
The other bill — the “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” — requires that local authorities honor federal “detainers” placed on illegal immigrants so they can be picked up to face deportation.
Failure to comply would cost municipalities federal funding for law-enforcement efforts.
The Justice Department has already threatened New York City with the loss of $4.3 million in anti-crime grants over its “sanctuary city” policies, and in April gave officials until Friday to prove they aren’t violating federal law.
Mayor de Blasio called both bills “un-American.”
“New York City has hit on the right approach to make this the safest big city in the country: welcome immigrant communities to build trust and cooperation with local law enforcement,” he said.
President Trump hailed passage of the measures — largely along party lines in the Republican-controlled House — and urged the Senate to follow suit so he could sign them into law.
“These were bills I campaigned on and that are vital to our public safety and national security,” Trump said.
The Senate, which has rejected previous versions of both bills, is expected to consider the legislation following its Fourth of July recess.A woman has been charged in two bizarre burglary cases in Dauphin County. Police say 52-year-old Connie Frances Perris entered two apartments on the 300 block of Market Street in Lykens Borough on Thursday, Nov. |
our diet differences. Recipes like this are super awesome because it is not only something she can eat but I can eat it as well.
This recipe is os good that it most omnivores will love it as well! They will not even think to ask if they are vegan once they try it! My family always has a ton of potlucks and get-togethers for the holidays, this recipe will defiantly be in my rotation for things to bring!
Overall, this recipe is super easy! You can whip it up after a long day of work or if you have a quick sweet tooth.
What are your go-to Holiday recipes? Do you have anything you would like for us to try and Veganize? Let us know in the comments!
Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
Makes 9-12 cookies
Ingredients
2.5 cups of oats
1 cup of pumpkin purée
2 tablespoons of Stevia
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 dash of cinnamon
Instructions
-Preheat oven to 350
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly mixed
- Scoop batter out onto a lined baking dished
- Bake for 10 minutes
- Let coolNSW fullback James Tedesco is confident he can return for the Wests Tigers’ NRL clash with Newcastle next weekend, before heading into camp for State of Origin III.
Tedesco revealed on Friday he tore a lateral ligament in his ankle in the Blues’ 18-16 loss to Queensland on Wednesday night, while celebrating a NSW try.
He was ruled out of the Tigers’ clash with the Gold Coast at Campbelltown on Friday night, and originally feared the injury could be a repeat of the ankle syndesmosis he suffered in 2014, which required surgery and ruled him out for nine weeks.
However, he is now hopeful he will face Newcastle on Sunday week before ramping up preparations for the July 12 Origin decider.
Mitchell Pearce and James Tedesco of the Blues celebrate after Pearce scored a try. Source: Getty Images
LIVE stream the 2017 NRL Telstra Premiership on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week Foxtel Now trial and start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW!
“It’s not as bad as I first thought,” Tedesco told Sydney radio station C91.3. “It’s the ankle I injured before and had surgery on it, but luckily it wasn’t that bad again.
“I tore a lateral ligament.
“It’s very sore at the moment so I’ve been icing it all night and hopefully get it right for next week.”
Tedesco injured the ankle while celebrating the Mitchell Pearce try, which gave the Blues a commanding 16-6 first-half lead.
James Tedesco of the Blues seeks medical attention during game two. Source: Getty Images
He had the swollen ankle strapped at halftime, before being removed from the field for a concussion test late in the second half.
By Friday, he could at least see the comical side of his ankle injury.
“I went to celebrate with him (Pearce),” Tedesco said.
“I jumped up and I rolled it as I was celebrating with him.
“It’s pretty funny, but it’s not ideal.”These crispy potatoes with turmeric and mustard seeds represent so many things to me:
My favorite way of eating potatoes as a child. My standard contribution to family dinners as a teen. One of the first things I made to convince my husband that I knew how to cook early in our marriage. What I still turn to when I want something simple and tasty.
Though this is a very simple and standard dish from Southern India, there are many variables- the kind of potato used, with skin or without, twice cooked or sautéed raw. So many decisions to make and variations that result.
You can even add some greens to the curry like my kale and potato curry recipe from last spring.
I have made it my lifelong mission to make the perfect potato curry 🙂
My conclusion– it’s very hard to make a mistake in this dish. All the variations are great.
Here is the most traditional and basic version. Give it a try!
Print Crispy Potatoes with Turmeric and Mustard Seeds Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Serving Size: Serves 4 Ingredients 1 pound potatoes red or yukon gold potatoes 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds 1 teaspoon chana dal 1 teaspoon urad dal pinch of asafoetida ½ teaspoon turmeric powder ¼ teaspoon chili powder (to taste) salt to taste Method Wash and cube the potatoes (keep the peels on). Set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the mustard seeds, dals, turmeric and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the potatoes. Stir until combined well. Add the chile powder. Cook until the potatoes are well done and slightly crispy. Salt to taste. Notes * You can cut the potatoes a few hours earlier if you need to and keep them in a covered bowl with cool water to avoid a color change. * You can make the same dish taste very differently by boiling the potatoes whole, peeling, then cutting them into large cubes before cooking. * Add in some onions while sautéing for a flavor boost. 3.1 http://globalveg.com/2014/12/04/turmericpotatoes/ Copyright: Global VegScientists have created the world's thinnest lens, one two-thousandth the thickness of a human hair, opening the door to flexible computer displays and a revolution in miniature cameras
Scientists have created the world's thinnest lens, one two-thousandth the thickness of a human hair, opening the door to flexible computer displays and a revolution in miniature cameras.
Lead researcher Dr Yuerui (Larry) Lu from The Australian National University (ANU) said the discovery hinged on the remarkable potential of the molybdenum disulphide crystal.
"This type of material is the perfect candidate for future flexible displays," said Dr Lu, leader of Nano-Electro-Mechanical System (NEMS) Laboratory in the ANU Research School of Engineering.
"We will also be able to use arrays of micro lenses to mimic the compound eyes of insects."
The 6.3-nanometre lens outshines previous ultra-thin flat lenses, made from 50-nanometre thick gold nano-bar arrays, known as a metamaterial.
"Molybdenum disulphide is an amazing crystal," said Dr Lu
"It survives at high temperatures, is a lubricant, a good semiconductor and can emit photons too.
"The capability of manipulating the flow of light in atomic scale opens an exciting avenue towards unprecedented miniaturisation of optical components and the integration of advanced optical functionalities."
Molybdenum disulphide is in a class of materials known as chalcogenide glasses that have flexible electronic characteristics that have made them popular for high-technology components.
Dr Lu's team created their lens from a crystal 6.3-nanometres thick - 9 atomic layers - which they had peeled off a larger piece of molybdenum disulphide with sticky tape.
They then created a 10-micron radius lens, using a focussed ion beam to shave off the layers atom by atom, until they had the dome shape of the lens.
The team discovered that single layers of molybdenum disulphide, 0.7 nanometres thick, had remarkable optical properties, appearing to a light beam to be 50 times thicker, at 38 nanometres. This property, known as optical path length, determines the phase of the light and governs interference and diffraction of light as it propagates.
"At the beginning we couldn't imagine why molybdenum disulphide had such surprising properties," said Dr Lu.
Collaborator Assistant Professor Zongfu Yu at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, developed a simulation and showed that light was bouncing back and forth many times inside the high refractive index crystal layers before passing through.
Molybdenum disulphide crystal's refractive index, the property that quantifies the strength of a material's effect on light, has a high value of 5.5. For comparison, diamond, whose high refractive index causes its sparkle, is only 2.4, and water's refractive index is 1.3.
This study is published in the Nature serial journal Light: Science and Applications.
###Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Apple CEO Tim Cook, stubbornly refusing to announce a large-screen iPhone at Apple's press event in San Francisco on September 10, 2013
Some wise person — I wish I knew who — once said that everybody has two businesses: their own, and show business. The same is true in the world of technology, except the two businesses people have are their own, and Tim Cook’s.
Everyone, in other words, seems to have strong opinions about what Apple should be doing. And a remarkable percentage of the people who share their thoughts state them not as a suggestion or a preference but as an imperative so absolute that ignoring it could plunge the company into crisis. To emphasize the seriousness of the matter, their headlines usually use the words “Apple must…”
There are, however, a few problems with this approach to Apple commentary:
The stuff Apple must do usually amounts to following an industry trend in much the same way that everybody else is doing it, right this very moment. Though Apple does frequently respond to industry trends, it’s not in the company’s nature to do so in precisely the way that everybody expects, and it often bides its time before doing anything at all. Time and time again, Apple doesn’t do what Apple must do…and yet the results aren’t calamitous. In some instances, the things people insist Apple must do — such as make a netbook — are not only not necessities, but terrible ideas.
Herewith, a few examples. Just to show this has been going on for a long time, let’s begin with an example that’s almost three decades old.
Apple must open the Mac architecture.
Decreed by: Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and his colleague Jeff Raikes, in a June 25, 1985 memo to Apple’s John Sculley and Jean-Louis Gassée
Why? Allowing 3-5 other leading computer manufacturers — such as Wang, AT&T or DEC — to make Mac-compatible machines would help expand the platform and ensure Apple’s reputation as a technological innovator.
What Apple did: Nothing, until a decade later, when it allowed some third-party hardware companies to license the Mac OS — a decision it reversed in 1997 when Steve Jobs returned to the company.
Aftermath: Microsoft’s operating systems went on to dominate the PC industry for decades. They still do. But almost 29 years after Gates and Raikes’ memo advising Apple to follow the same strategy as Microsoft, Apple isn’t just still selling Macs — it’s also the most profitable PC company on the planet.
Apple must release the iPhone.
Decreed by: DSLReports forum member Cortland on February 28, 2005
Why? It would create converts who’d then buy Macs instead of Windows PCs.
What Apple did: Less than two years after Cortland’s directive that Apple should enter the smartphone market with something called the iPhone, the company followed it.
Aftermath: The iPhone did indeed help sell Macs. More important, it outsold them, and became Apple’s most important product.
Apple must do a netbook now.
Decreed by: Cnet’s David Carnoy on February 27, 2009
Why? “It’s the biggest growth category in laptops.” And nobody’s spending $1,000 on the MacBook Air.
What Apple did: It never released anything remotely like a netbook, though I guess you could make the case that the iPad, at $499, was a netbook killer in disguise.
Aftermath: In October of 2010, Apple released much-improved new versions of the MacBook Air, which became very popular. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry, having found netbooks to be profit killers, decided to replace them with Ultrabooks — thinner, slicker, pricier laptops that paid the sincerest form of flattery to the MacBook Air.
Apple must embrace the online version of Google Voice.
Decreed by: Don Reisinger of eWeek on August 10, 2009
Why? After the uproar over its initial rejection of Google’s Google Voice app for the iPhone, the company could reconsider and approve the software. But “that won’t happen.” So it needs to publicly acknowledge that it’s O.K. with Google offering a purely web-based version for iPhones.
What Apple did: The thing Reisinger declared would not happen — it approved the Google Voice app.
Aftermath: Perhaps chastened by the FCC’s investigation of the Google Voice affair, Apple stopped rejecting apps purely on the grounds that they competed with the iPhone’s built-in apps. A happy ending for everybody involved.
Apple must announce the Verizon iPhone.
Decreed by: MSNBC.com’s Wilson Rothman on October 19, 2010
Why? To screw Google by encouraging Verizon customers to spurn Droids in favor of waiting until the likely January arrival of the iPhone. Not announcing the Verizon phone during Apple’s October 20 press event, Rothman said, would be “dumb.”
What Apple did: It waited until January 11, 2011 to announce the Verizon iPhone, which didn’t go on sale until a month after that.
Aftermath: Once it was available, the iPhone 4 had the strongest launch of any device in Verizon history.
Apple must launch NFC in the iPhone 5.
Decreed by: Brett King on May 10, 2011
Why? With NFC technology increasingly important for mobile payments and other applications such as data-transfer-through-bumping, “it’s either that, or let Google change everything and rethink your iPhone branding strategy.”
What Apple did: It didn’t build NFC into the iPhone 5, 5s or 5c. At this point, I suspect that few holdouts expect it to arrive in any future model.
Aftermath: Mobile payments via NFC haven’t turned out to be as big a deal as many folks once thought they would…though of course, it’s possible that they’ve been hampered by the fact that iPhones don’t support them. Meanwhile, iOS 7’s AirDrop feature mimics NFC without requiring its presence.
Apple must deliver the iPad Mini.
Decreed by: Mashable’s Lance Ulanoff on July 25, 2012
Why? Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus 7 are hits at 7 inches for $199, so Apple needs to offer a tablet at the same price and size.
What Apple did: On October 23, 2012, Apple did release the iPad Mini — but it had a 7.9-inch display and cost $329, making it something less than a direct competitor for Amazon and Google’s cheapo models.
Aftermath: Apple later knocked the price of the Mini down to $299, while adding a $399 Retina model. And both Amazon and Google, when they upgraded their 7 inchers, greatly improved the specs and raised the price to $229 — nudging the whole market slightly in Apple’s nicer-but-pricier direction.
Apple must make an iPhone with a bigger screen.
Decreed by: Business Insider’s Henry Blodget on February 1, 2013
Why? “After five years of having the best smartphone on the planet, Apple has arguably fallen behind the competition. And the biggest and most obvious reason Apple has fallen behind the competition is its stubborn insistence on sticking with a small iPhone screen.”
What Apple did: Since Blodget’s post, the company has released two phones — the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c — with screens the same size as that of the iPhone 5. (Blodget followed up his first post with one noting an analyst’s contention that a bigger-display iPhone had been delayed until 2014, saying that if that was true, Apple was “hosed.”)
Aftermath: Despite the new iPhones’ relatively dinky displays, both models managed to outsell their principal rival, Samsung’s Galaxy S 4, in October, which would seem to suggest that their screen size isn’t a crippling competitive disadvantage.
Apple must buy Netflix.
Decreed by: blogger John Henwood on February 9, 2013
Why? “A purchase of Netflix would not only give Apple a massive footing in internet based TV, but it would give them a valuable management team that could help drive their innovations forward once again.”
What Apple did: It’s shown no interest in buying Netflix, a purchase which would cost at least $20 billion. Instead, its TV strategy to date has consisted of quietly beefing up Apple TV’s content lineup.
Aftermath: People who take seriously the possibility of Apple spending billions on a high-profile company — who are legion — would do well to keep in mind that it’s never paid more than a few hundred million for an acquisition, and rarely buys anything that anybody’s ever heard of.
Apple must announce touchscreen Mac computers soon.
Decreed by: Gary Judge of Head4Space.com on February 23rd, 2013
Why? Microsoft and Google are doing touchscreen machines and “Apple need to be ready to decapitate its own market before others do.”
What Apple did: It’s been less than a year, so “soon” may not have come and gone yet. But so far, no Mac Touch.
Aftermath: I wouldn’t rate the odds of Apple releasing touchscreen Macs at zero percent — years ago, I asked Steve Jobs himself about the possibility, and he didn’t rule it out. But the difficulties Microsoft is having with Windows 8 show that adding touch to a non-touch operating system is no cakewalk. Me, I think the chances are far higher that Apple will eventually do iOS devices in Mac-like cases — though I’d never say that the company must do so.
Apple must fire Tim Cook.
Decreed by: Fraser Seitel on April 9, 2013
Why? “Three words: miserable shareholder relations.” (More words behind paywall.)
What Apple did: Continued to employ Tim Cook.
Aftermath: By September, Seitel was no longer demanding Cook’s ouster. Actually, he was generously sharing advice on how Cook could avoid being fired. (Example tip: Cook should buy a blue blazer.)
Apple, incidentally, isn’t the only tech company that gets advice in the form of musts. If you’ve been paying attention, for instance, you know that Microsoft’s musts have included turning Windows into open-source software, buying Palm and rebranding itself as Bing. It’s failed to do any of the above, and has — so far — lived to tell the tale.
I’m not going to demand that pundits stop telling tech companies what they must do. But here’s a modest proposal: If you say that a company must do something, and it doesn’t — and catastrophe doesn’t ensue — wouldn’t it be fair to write a follow-up story acknowledging that your advice didn’t turn out to be so essential after all?Deadly clashes continued for a second day Tuesday in Western Sahara as Moroccan troops tried suppressing antigovernment protests waged by the indigenous Sahrawi population.
It is the worst violence since the Moroccan government first occupied the Western Saharan territory 35 years ago, and started only hours before Moroccan officials started a new round of informal talks at the United Nations in New York with the pro-independence Polisario Front, which claims the disputed territory as a homeland under the name of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. It has an exiled government in Algeria, its patron.
Moroccan authorities say four policemen and one firefighter were killed by rioting protestors in the past two days, with only one civilian casualty. Meanwhile, the Polisario Front said 11 civilians have been killed, 723 have been injured, and 159 are unaccounted for.
Analysts say that Moroccan authorities provoked the clashes to derail talks that began on the same day in New York.
“This is just to add yet another issue to the negotiations, to stall,” says Anna Badia Martí, an internal law professor in the Universidad de Barcelona. “It’s their way of indefinitely delaying the process. The occupying force always benefits from a protracted process.”
Contested region
Moroccan authorities are preventing foreign media from reaching the vast, mineral-rich, and largely uninhabited swath of mostly desert land on the Atlantic Ocean. It was Spain’s last colony before it precipitously withdrew in 1975, allowing Morocco to occupy it peacefully. After years of guerrilla war, the Polisario was mostly defeated after Morocco built a huge wall splitting the territory in two, denying the rebels access to the coast.
A UN-brokered cease-fire was signed in 1991 with the promise of a referendum to decide whether the region should become an independent nation. But Morocco has wrenched efforts for a negotiated solution, effectively annexing its half and leaving the Polisario with a huge landlocked Sahara desert.
There are conflicting reports about the number of deaths in and around Laayoune. Morocco considers the coastal city the heart of its Southern Provinces, while the Polisario Front claims it as the capital of a future independent state.
A fragile cease-fire
Clashes broke out early Monday when Moroccan police, backed by helicopters and water guns, stormed a tent camp in the outskirts of Laayoune set up early in October by about 20,000 Sahrawis to demand Morocco improve services and provide greater autonomy.
Dozens of tents were set ablaze during Monday's raid, sparking riots in the tent camp and nearby Laayoune. Reports of clashes continue, although Moroccan authorities said its forces have full control of the city under curfew.
The Monitor could not get independent confirmation of either report.
Northern Africa is strategically and economically critical to Western interests. France, Morocco’s former colonial power with veto power in the UN Security Council, has long supported the government in the capital of Rabat. The United States and Spain have sought a neutral line, favoring the status quo.
But the Polisario has threatened to break the cease-fire following this week’s violence, raising alarms in Europe and Washington, which have called for calm.
“We’ve never been this close to war,” said Becharaya Beyún, the Polisario’s delegate in Spain, on Tuesday. If foreign powers don’t intervene, “we will resort to all legal instruments, and in this case a return to hostilities is closer than ever.”Freshly minted CNN political analyst Kirsten Powers said on Tuesday there’s “an element of sexism” to raising questions about Hillary Clinton’s health.
Appearing on CNN’s “New Day,” during a discussion about Clinton’s health, host Alisyn Camerota said, “This is the thing. She had a fall years ago and then she wore those big sort of coke bottle glasses. And so they feel that there’s a germ of maybe she had a mental — maybe her concussion caused some sort of brain something?”
Powers replied, “Yeah, but what is that based on? There’s nothing to suggest that she’s having any problems health wise. And so even this picture that’s been circulating where somebody is helping her up the stairs. Okay, so what if she fell down.” (RELATED: Here’s A Photo Of A Hillary Aide Helping Her Stand Up)
“Or there’s another email from Sidney Blumenthal where he refers to her getting rest because she’s not feeling well and at the end of it, he says get well. Well nobody says get well to somebody who is seriously ill. That’s not what you say,” Powers claimed.
“So the things that they’re pointing to I don’t think support it and honestly, I think there’s an element of sexism to this,” Powers insisted. (RELATED: CNN: Will Trump Follow Drudge’s Lead And Question Hillary’s Health? [VIDEO])
“How so,” Camerota asked.
“The way they talked about her, the way you watch Drudge posting things about granny and grandma. Well, Donald Trump is a grandpa. So what’s the idea here that somehow because she’s a woman and she’s a grandma and she is frail but he is this robust person who according to his doctor is astonishingly excellent health which is already in itself a kind strange thing for a doctor to be saying. So I think it’s the really low blow attack against her.”
Formerly of Fox News, Powers became a new CNN political analyst this week.
Follow Steve on Twitter and FacebookCLOSE Nov. 30 -- 140 world leaders gather in Paris today for the start of the U.N. summit on climate change. The aim is to agree on cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. But after a recent wave of terror attacks, geopolitics may take center stage. Bloomberg's Bloomberg
Emissions from a Houston industrial plant. (Photo11: Marc St. Gil/ US EPA)
Reducing carbon emissions as spelled out in the recent Paris climate agreement would prevent "hundreds of thousands of premature deaths" and save "billions of dollars" in the U.S. alone, according to a study published Monday.
The nearly 300,000 deaths over the next 15 years would be prevented by reducing air pollution, which can lead to heart attacks, lung cancer or other respiratory illnesses, the study said.
"Many people view climate change as a future problem, but our analysis shows that reducing emissions that cause warming — many of which also contribute to air pollution — would benefit public health here and now," said study lead author Drew T. Shindell, a professor of climate sciences at Duke University.
The paper appeared in the peer-reviewed British journal Nature Climate Change.
By 2030, clean energy policies could prevent about 175,000 premature deaths (with about 22,000 fewer each year after 2030) while clean transportation could prevent about 120,000 premature deaths (and about 14,000 annually thereafter), the study said.
National economic benefits are valued at about $250 billion per year.
"Burning fossil fuels in power plants, industry and motor vehicles is the main source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions," Shindell said. "Air pollution linked mostly to these same sources is also the leading environmental cause of premature death worldwide. By curbing their emissions, you score on two fronts."
To come up with the projected savings, the study used computer simulations of future greenhouse gas emissions and the already-established effect of air pollution.
When the worldwide health and climate impacts of the reduced emissions are both factored in, the value of the long-term benefits could roughly quintuple, becoming 5 to 10 times larger than the costs, the study said.
The study notes, however, that the U.S. will have to go far beyond its current planned reductions in energy and transportation emissions to achieve the goal.
The U.S. would need to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 40% by 2030, as compared with 2005 levels, according to the study.
Chip Knappenberger from the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute, a libertarian thinktank, countered that the vast bulk of the health benefits from reducing greenhouse gas emissions as mentioned in the study would not come from reducing greenhouse gas emissions — but rather from air-quality improvements, most of which do not stem from climate-change mitigation.
He added there’s little reduction in air pollution that is a direct result of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1TBizrzShock jock flashback: Trump Jr. mocks Aurora shooting in old interview
Donald Trump Jr. before the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis. (Photo11: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Network)
Donald Trump is not the only member of his family being haunted by old taped comments.
In a series of interviews by radio "shock jocks" unearthed by CNN, Donald Trump Jr. made jokes about the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, lamented how "you can't even make fat jokes now," stereotyped Muslims and jokingly called an Obama defender a "commie."
Trump Jr. appeared on the Opie and Anthony radio show on July 20, 2012, the same day a gunman opened fire and killed 12 people at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo. After the hosts listened to a soundbite of a witness describing the shooting, Trump Jr. exclaimed, "Overall, I give the movie two thumbs up!"
In an appearance on Opie and Anthony earlier in 2012, Trump Jr. bemoaned political correctness and how "you can't even make fat jokes now."
"That's almost the worst one," he said. "It's easier to do a racial thing than it is a fat one, because everyone knows they're fat and they get really offended."
"You can't say anything anymore without them being criticized," Trump Jr. said. "You know, we've gotten to a point where you can't be a politician and actually say what you're thinking because someone's gonna get offended and god forbid, like everyone's so sensitive now, it's ridiculous."
During a discussion in another 2012 Opie and Anthony interview, the hosts and Trump Jr. struggled to remember the name of assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh.
"Muhammad something or other," Trump Jr. said.
"He had a beard. He wasn't nice to his wife,"one of the hosts said.
"Yeah, Ali," Trump Jr. said.
Trump Jr. also played along with the hosts' jokes about the abuse child beauty pageant contestants suffer, during a discussion about the TLC show Toddlers and Tiaras. And Trump Jr. said the mothers at those pageants are "all fat. Ugly."
On another occasion, Trump Jr. said people feel they can't criticize President Obama because they fear being labeled a racist. "Like, that in itself is racism," he said. "Like, it's so, you know, it's so ridiculous and that's what we've become, and he's played that card very well. And by the way, if I was in his shoes I'd be playing that card too because you can get away with it in this country and we allow it."
When one of the hosts defended Obama's foreign policy, Trump Jr. said, "I didn't realize that you were a commie! That's, that's nice. I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding."
Trump Jr.'s father has faced similar scrutiny for comments he made on Howard Stern's radio show over several years, including one exchange in which he gives Stern permission to refer to his daughter Ivanka as a "piece of a--."
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2eqTL42Why did the KIN token take a complete dive after ICO?
Raquel Jackson Blocked Unblock Follow Following Oct 12, 2017
Two words. Horribly Overvalued.
…And I feel bad for everyone that didn't realize this. I personally know a lot of people who were anticipating this ICO and super stoked to get into a “real” ICO opportunity. When I first looked at the opportunity at a glance, it didn’t look half bad, but then it came to the numbers… They raised $50 million in capital from external sources prior to the coin offering. $50 million is A LOT. If you can’t develop whatever you’re trying to do with that amount of money you suck as a developer, Ethereum foundation was built with less than half the amount. A more proper approach for this ICO would have been doing it in multiple stages with development progress made along the way.
Later I found Polychain Capital invested in this project. A capital firm which apparently invests ONLY in highly technological blockchain driven projects. Very hypocritical. These guys turned down a project (I won’t say which one) that had 10x more blockchain technology usage and potential. Its obvious that all these dumb capital companies are greedy as hell and are in it for nothing but the money and I have zero respect for them, in this case they just dumped the risk to the public with this garbage ICO. The KIN token is so far from blockchain dependent that it operates like a fricking gift card more than anything else.
Everything KIK wants to do can be accomplished with fiat currency or a simple payment integration with their app. They claim the ethereum chain can’t handle the volume because block times are too slow, well if they used fiat, PayPal can do millions of transactions a second! There is your problem solved... without blockchain! Pretty fucking easy.
Sorry guys but a $1.25 billion valuation after its all diluted makes 0 sense. The founder made a half decent messaging app, lets be real here, its far from revolutionary and their brand is dying. After reading the whitepaper, more than half of the technology is centralized and I’m not even going to be a hater here, there is nothing wrong with semi-decentalized systems, we all know that on-chain is heavily limited but realistically the KIN token and ICO should of never happened its an overrated project and I’d be willing to short it if I could.
For the record:
As a blockchain coder myself, I am an advocate and huge supporter for good projects & ICOs. I don’t hate ICOs at all - but this KIK/KIN project was never a good deal in my opinion. The valuation makes no sense and neither does the actual product require anything blockchain.
Vitalik would never stamp his name anywhere near this cash grab. I would bet my life on it.
At this rate Apple may as well do a friggin ICO for their iTunes cards. SMH.Are you still typing with two fingers? Do you still need to look at your keyboard before every keystroke?
Touch Typing Study is a free, user-friendly learning website that is designed to help you learn, practice and improve your typing speed and accuracy.
Once you can touch type you will not need to look at the keyboard to find the letters you want to type and you will also be able to type at a much faster speed!
Touch typing is a method based on muscle memory instead of sight. This method allows you to achieve much higher speed of data entry, especially if you need to transcribe text from other visual material.
Typing with the touch typing method significantly improves your computer productivity; it increases data entry speed and, where possible, reduces fatigue and injury to the eyes.
Touch Typing Study contains 15 lessons, a speed test and games from which you can learn to type step-by-step, monitor your own progress and have fun!I’m writing this a little bit later than I usually like to, but I wanted to let all of you know that I will be attending GASP-Con XI in Pittsburgh, PA this weekend. I found about this convention from Pete Figtree, the guy behind the ever-excellent Ruthless Diastema Games blog. Ever since I found about what Pete does, I’ve been talking to him off and on. It’ll be cool to have a chance to meet him this weekend.
I have to admit, I didn’t follow my own rules with this convention, although I tried. Much like when I went to Con on the Cob, I am schedule for precisely zero games. I’m a touch perturbed about this because I am completely unable to register for any games. The website, though offering me the chance to see what games are offered when, and said games having slots available, the site states that registration for games is closed, so I cannot add my name to the list. Don’t quite know why this is the case. It’s not odd that it would be like that today, which is the first day of the convention but what is odd is that this was the case two weeks ago, as well.
That having been said, I intend to have a good time. I have a hotel lined up for this one and I’m going to spend tonight getting a few scenarios ready to run just in case I find myself at an open table with players in front of me. As usual, I will be giving you all somewhat in-process updates about the convention as well as follow-up coverage.
Oh, and as a side note, I do still have my expanded covered for Con on the Cob coming. Things have been busy for Ethan over at The Gamer’s Haven, and he doesn’t quite have the audio files ready yet. I’ll get that coverage up as soon as I am able.
If you’re in the Pittsburgh area and need something to do this weekend, come check out the convention. Who knows, maybe I’ll see you there!
[tags]rpg, rpgs, role playing games, GASP-Con, conventions[/tags]“[P]rocedures would need to be in place to enable the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services to verify that the credits were being paid to eligible insurers who were offering qualified insurance as defined under federal and state law on behalf of eligible enrollees,” the report notes. “[Our] estimates reflect an assumption that adequate resources would be made available through future appropriations to those executive branch agencies to ensure that such systems were put in place in a timely manner. To the extent that they were not, enrollment and compliance could be negatively affected.”
Likewise, by fracturing the marketplaces, the AHCA would make the user experience for enrollees more frustrating. “With more plans that are eligible for subsidies offered directly from insurers or directly through agents and brokers and not through the marketplaces’ central websites, shopping for and comparing plans could be harder, depending on insurers’ decisions about how to market their plans.”
These complications won’t just resolve themselves. They will require the kind of competent execution Trump has shown no aptitude for.
Consider for a moment how difficult the implementation of the Affordable Care Act was for President Barack Obama, who ran an unusually tight ship and was a model of competence and deliberation compared to Trump. When ACA enrollment opened for the first time, the website didn’t work. The political consequences of that horrifying failure were exacerbated by the fact that insurers canceled thousands of plans ahead of the Obamacare rollout, leaving their former beneficiaries uninsured and without a working portal through which to purchase new coverage. Amid a nasty backlash, the Obama administration rushed out an order grandfathering plans that hadn’t been canceled and he spent the rest of his presidency answering for how things had gone so badly awry.
Do Republicans in Congress want to be on the hook when Obamacare beneficiaries lose their plans and can’t find comparable ones on Healthcare.gov? Do they trust the Trump administration to come up with quick solutions when people find that their new, deregulated plans are crap? Do they think Trump will care, or have the capacity to respond, when the Government Accountability Office determines that the federal government is wasting billions of dollars subsidizing scam health insurance plans? Thinking past the imperative they feel to pass something, if only because this gridlock makes them look ridiculous, do Republicans believe Democrats will fix these problems in the future, rather than scrap Trumpcare for something like Medicare for all when they inherit the mess?
As a general rule, it is a bad idea to make laws that will create political crises, especially when the president lacks the capacity to address them.
I think Republicans should not pass the AHCA because it is a bad bill, but even if I thought it was a good bill, I would be ratt |
festival’s website showed that performers Sunday night included Jake Owen and Luke Combs, along with Jason Aldean, who was set to take the stage about 9:40 p.m. ABC News reports that Aldean was on stage when the shooting occurred, but is OK. A video shows Aldean singing and playing a guitar as gunshots ring out. He briefly continues to perform, before stopping and running off the stage. You can watch the video below:
Aldean said on Instagram, “Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate.”
Country singer Jake Owen was among those at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. He tweeted, “Gun shots!!! Vegas. Pray to god. Love you guys. Love you Pearl.”
Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others arent. Please pray. — Jake Owen (@jakeowen) October 2, 2017
Owen later tweeted, “Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others arent. Please pray.”
Another musician, Luke Combs, tweeted there was an active shooter at Route 91 Harvest, a three-day country music festival being held on the Las Vegas Strip.
Active shooter at @Route91Harvest in Vegas. We're safe. Love you guys. — Luke Combs (@lukecombs) October 2, 2017
“Active shooter at @Route91Harvest in Vegas. We’re safe. Love you guys,” Combs said.
I have never seen a dead body in person and to be running out and seeing dead bodies everywhere is terrifying. I hope everyone is safe. — KingLurch (@austinnolson) October 2, 2017
Dan Bilzerian, running from shooter at concert near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, says “a girl just got shot in the f*cking head.” pic.twitter.com/FaS0VfeF7I — Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017
Dan Bilzerian, the professional poker player and businessman, posted a video running from the concert saying, “a girl just got shot in the f*cking head.”
Witnesses told reporter Nathan O’Neal that hundreds of shots were fired after a loud bang that sounded like a firecracker.
https://twitter.com/NateNews3LV/status/914728749668507648
“Clip after clip after clip, bullets flying everywhere, people running,” the witness said. “It was really, really bad. We were the furthest VIP stages away from Mandalay Bay and they (the bullets) were ricocheting everywhere where we fear. They were firing from somewhere high and they were unloading clip after clip after clip. Multiple shooters, has to be.”
But police are saying they believe there was only one shooter. In chaotic active shooter situations, witnesses often report hearing or seeing multiple shooters, as sounds echo and come from different directions, and police and others are misidentified as gunmen.
Two girls who were front row at the concert -saw shooting begin – saw woman with what they say was a hole in head/not moving. #LVshooting pic.twitter.com/3NVDWEPYgf — Lauren Blanchard (@LaurenBlanch12) October 2, 2017
Two women who were in the front row of the concert told Fox News’ Lauren Blanchard they heard the shooting start and saw a woman with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. She was not moving, they said. “We were at the Jason Aldean concert and everything was fine. And then we heard two pop noises and thought it was the sound system. He kept continuing like nothing was wrong and then we heard it continue and he was still going and then he fell,” one of the women said. The other woman told Blanchard, “(Aldean) dropped and ran, he just ran off the stage. And then people started dropping to the floor and we were running out.”
Another witness told ABC News, “Jason Aldean was playing and it just kind of sounded like some fireworks going off, and then I think there was the first kind of volley and then the second volley, and my buddy says ‘I got hit.’ … He got hit three times and people started diving to the ground. It was pretty much chaotic. Lots of people got hit.” The witness said his friend, who was shot three times in the chest, is going to be OK. He said another victim he was trying to help get to the hospital died in his arms.
ABC NEWS: Las Vegas shooting witness says "we watched these people getting gunned down…the air just reeked of gunpowder." pic.twitter.com/gyrTR2OwJZ — Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017
Witness Jake Freeman told ABC News he went to the rooftop lounge at the top of his hotel, overlooking the strip. “There were people drinking. Nobody had any idea what was going on. And I had a birds-eye view of the Route 91 Harvest music festival right across the street. My friend and I personally saw crowds of people running out of the festival and bodies hitting the ground. We absolutely watched these people getting gunned down from the shooter on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. We couldn’t see the Mandalay Bay at all, the Mandalay Bay was behind us. … We did realize that they were being shots. We could hear the gunshots, coupled with what we heard, machine gun fire downstairs, we knew that it was an active shooter situation. We actually went down to the lobby to see if we could find out more.” He said when the elevator doors opened to the lobby, “the air just reeked of gunpowder. Crowds of people were running to the elevators trying to escape.”
Videos taken by concertgoers at the festival show people screaming and running as multiple gunshots can be heard. A witness says it sounded like a “machine gun.” In the video one person can be heard yelling, “get down,” while another shouts, “stay down” as shots ring out.
Police said in the initial radio dispatches that shots were fired and it sounded like it was coming from an “automatic” weapon. “We have an active shooter inside the fairgrounds,” the officer said:
Las Vegas police scanner initial scanner traffic of shooting pic.twitter.com/OGgHfbuPuF — SacKat (@sachibub10) October 2, 2017
No official word from police but scanner traffic indicates a shooter at Mandalay Bay. Casino looks empty from as close as I could get. pic.twitter.com/4ocKgy2y13 — Blake Apgar (@blakeapgar) October 2, 2017
People at the Mandalay Bay casino and hotel reported that the casino was being evacuated.
I'm on the 6th floor. Shots reported on floor 29 now. Listening to LVPD scanner feed. Security guard shot on 32nd floor. — Stefinatrix (@Stefinatrix) October 2, 2017
Several roads in the area were being shut down and police were telling people in the area to barricade inside.
Police blocking Las Vegas Blvd at a Tropicana pic.twitter.com/YNV5nAifgQ — Chase Stevens (@CSStevensphoto) October 2, 2017
Employees and guests at @TopgolfLasVegas are barricaded. Reports of active shooter. — Dana Resnick Gentry (@DanaGentryLV) October 2, 2017
Shooting in Las Vegas. People fleeing (video from the Mandalay Bay hotel) pic.twitter.com/hs98J5uK6T — Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) October 2, 2017
On lockdown in #lasvegas …active shooter across the street 😧 pic.twitter.com/Kwfp6eROEd — Warren (@Warrystar) October 2, 2017
Not sure what's happening at the Excalibur, police are evacuating pic.twitter.com/6b8EDL2sH1 — Max Michor (@MaxMichor) October 2, 2017
Other hotels were also being shut down with guests barricading themselves inside rooms, according to social media reports. Officers, including several SWAT units, were searching the hotels and responding to multiple calls of reported shooters that turned out to be false, according to scanner reports.
“There has been multiple, multiple phone calls and accusations, or conjecture coming through social media that there are multiple shooters at other resorts, that has been proven to be false,” Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. “Additionally there has been accusations or beliefs there is some explosives going off. That is also fault. The only explosive in this event was from our SWAT team breaching the room.”
Those who are in lock down at casinos and other locations along the strip are being asked to stay where they are.
“I still want them to shelter in place,” Lombardo said. “They will be contacted by first responders and they will advise them when they are free to go. It is better to shelter in place than to be unaware.”
The FBI and ATF are also at the scene, according to reports. But they have not taken over the investigation at this time, ABC News reports.
Police have asked anyone with cell phone or other videos from the shooting to provide them to investigators. “Anybody that may have cell phone video or any type of video associated with this event that would be a benefit to the investigation, please respond to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters at 400 South Martin Luther King and we will take custody of that video. Please bring that down to the headquarters.”
Family members can go to a “family retreat area” to help locate loved ones at the headquarters. Anyone looking for information about family members can call 1-866-535-5654.
The White House said in a statement that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting.
“The President has been briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas. We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Trump then tweeted:
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval tweeted, “A tragic & heinous act of violence has shaken the #Nevada family. Our prayers are w/ the victims & all affected by this act of cowardice.”
Police said in a press release, “This is still an active investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigations is asking for anyone with videos or photos concerning the shooting to call 1-800-CALLFBI or (800) 225-5324. LVMPD and Clark County Coroner’s Office have set up a hotline for family or friends to report a missing loved one connected to this incident. The hotline is only to take reports on missing people. The number is (866) 535-5654. LVMPD also opened up a family reunification center at its headquarters at 400 S. Martin L. King Blvd. in Building B. The identification process of all of the injured and the deceased will take time, so authorities are asking the public for patience.”
Police added, “Anyone wishing to help is asked to donate blood for the injured victims of the Strip shooting. United Blood Services will start taking donations at 7 a.m. at two locations: 6930 W. Charleston in Las Vegas or 601 Whitney Ranch Drive in Henderson. UMC will also be hosting a blood drive in conjunction with United Blood Services. It will be held at UMC’s Delta Point Building located at 901 N. Rancho Lane. There will be updates as to the exact time of the blood drive as more information is available.”Kotlin Functors, Applicatives, And Monads in Pictures. Part 1/3
Alberto Ballano Blocked Unblock Follow Following Mar 28, 2017
Actually this is a translation of another translation from Haskell to Swift.
I read through the original post and I found it really interesting for learning new concepts of FP, so I decided to do an additional translation (having also some fun in the way).
I also wanted to see how far can Kotlin get compared to Swift :)
If you enjoy this post be sure to say thanks to the author of the original version: Aditya Bhargava, @_egonschiele on Twitter.
Here’s a simple value:
And we know how to apply a function to this value:
Simple enough. Lets extend this by saying that any value can be in a context. For now you can think of a context as a box that you can put a value in:
Now when you apply a function to this value, you’ll get different results depending on the context. This is the idea that Functors, Applicatives, Monads, Arrows etc are all based on. The Option data type defines two related contexts:
Note: the pictures use Maybe (Just | None) from Haskell, which correspond to a custom Kotlin’s Option (Some | None) implementation.
sealed class Option<out A> {
object None : Option<Nothing>()
data class Some<out A>(val value: A) : Option<A>()
}
In a second we will see how function application is different when something is a Some(T) versus a None. First let’s talk about Functors!
Functors
When a value is wrapped in a context, you can’t apply a normal function to it:
This is where map comes in ( fmap in Haskell). map is from the street, map is hip to contexts. map knows how to apply functions to values that are wrapped in a context. For example, suppose you want to apply a function that adds 3 to Some(2). Use map :
fun sumThree(n: Int) = n + 3
Option.Some(2).map(::sumThree)
// => Some(5)
or with a simple syntax using an anonymous lambda:
Option.Some(2).map { it + 3 }
// => Some(5)
Bam! map shows us how it’s done! But how does map know how to apply the function?
Just what is a Functor, really?
A Functor is any type that defines how map ( fmap in Haskell) applies to it. Here’s how map works:
So we can do this:
Option.Some(2).map { it + 3 }
// => Some(5)
And map magically applies this function, because Option is a Functor. It specifies how map applies to Some s and None s:
inline fun <B> map(f: (A) -> B): Option<B> = when (this) {
is None -> this
is Some -> Some(f(value))
}
Here’s what is happening behind the scenes when we write Option.Some(2).map { it + 3 } :
So then you’re like, alright map, please apply { it + 3 } to a None?
Option.None.map { it + 3 }
// => None
Well, there's a gotcha here since the code above doesn't compile. Why? Well because in this case None doesn't have a proper type, so you cannot do a plus with type Nothing. But it should be fine because you normally won't write that code but something like:
val option: Option<Int> = someCallThatMightReturnNone()
option.map { it + 3 }
// => None
Like Morpheus in the Matrix, map knows just what to do; you start with None, and you end up with None! map is zen. Now it makes sense why the Option type exists. For example, here’s how you work with a database record in a language without Option :
val post = Post.findByID(1)
return post?.title
But in Kotlin using the Option functor:
findPost(1).map(::getPostTitle)
If findPost(1) returns a post, we will get the title with getPostTitle. If it returns None, we will return None!
We can even define map as an infix function for ( <$> in Haskell), and do this instead:
inline infix fun <B> map(f: (A) -> B): Option<B> {... }
findPost(1) map ::getPostTitle
Note: we have to use just map because <$> wouldn't compile. Another option would be to override a common operator like / or *
Here’s another example: what happens when you apply a function to an array?
Arrays are functors too*!
*Basically Kotlin provides an extension function to all iterables in the form:
inline fun <T, R> Iterable<T>.map(transform: (T) -> R): List<R> {..}
Okay, okay, one last example: what happens when you apply a function to another function?
{ a: Int -> a + 2 } map { a: Int -> a + 3 }
// =>???
Here's a function:
Here’s a function applied to another function:
The result is just another function!
typealias IntFunction = (Int) -> Int
infix fun IntFunction.map(g: IntFunction): IntFunction {
return { x -> this(g(x)) }
}
val foo = { a: Int -> a + 2 } map { a: Int -> a + 3 }
foo(10)
// => 15
So functions can be Functors too! When you use map on a function, you’re just doing function composition!
Well, that's it for today, I hope you got the idea about what's a Functor. Since the original post was pretty long, I'll continue in the next series with Applicatives. Now go try write some Functors in Kotlin!
Wanna play around with the code? Take a look at https://github.com/aballano/FAM-Playground
Want more? Go try applicatives in the second part!The Boston Globe reports that hackers early last week took down the servers of MJ Freeway, a system that tracks marijuana sales and inventory, and helps dispensaries prepare regulatory paperwork. The company says no customer or patient information was stolen during the attack, but large amounts of data was corrupted. The recovery process has been slow, and at least some customers are abandoning the company.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.
With their sales systems down, dispensaries have spent the last week struggling to keep things flowing smoothly. One medical nonprofit, New England Treatment Access (NETA), notified clients in the days after the attack that sales would be slower than usual because staff would have to execute them manually. Other outlets, according to Marijuana Business Daily, were forced to close temporarily.
According to a video statement issued yesterday by MJ Freeway CEO Amy Poinsett, the attack took out both MJ Freeway’s production and backup servers, in what she described as an “unprecedented malicious attack.” While the damage from the attack was severe, Poinsett said “much is reparable.”
The recovery process appears to have been agonizing, requiring one-on-one work with clients to recover data and migrate to new infrastructure. Poinsett admits in her statement that “it’s taking more time than we’d like it to,” and some of MJ Freeway’s customers have run out of patience. In a more recent update posted to their website, NETA says that “Our staff has been working night and day with [MJ Freeway] to get us back online, but to no avail. Therefore, we have decided to transition to a new system.”
For more on the pot industry, watch our video.
An MJ Freeway spokesperson told the Globe last week that the attack was specifically targeted at MJ Freeway, which is based in Denver. The company reports that it has received no ransom demands, suggesting that the attack could have been personally or politically motivated.
MJ Freeway, which serves more than 1,000 clients, is one of the most prominent startups providing technical infrastructure for the booming legal marijuana industry. In a 2015 Bloomberg profile, the company’s services were described as something like SAP or Oracle for weed, with features like automatic sales reports, staff scheduling, and crop data tracking.
There is currently no information on possible culprits in the attack.The new refrain from influential elements of the commenting class is that the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has given up on economic reforms, or that the government is not doing enough.
Perhaps some of these individuals are feeling a distinct sense of buyer’s regret? It was, after all, the same folk who over-hyped Modi the reformer before his and the BJP’s epochal 2014 election victory, comparing him, variously, to iconic economic liberalizers such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. (Regular readers will know that I have generally been sceptical of such claims.)
The fact is that, just as the “Modi as icon of minimum government" trope was over-hyped and unrealistic, and quickly revealed itself to be just that, the “Modi as non-reforming status quo-ist" is equally at odds with the actual reality.
Part of the problem, apart from the curdling of unrealistic expectations, is an issue of terminology. By “economic reform", Anglo-American style commentators have in mind a fairly specific, and fairly narrow, set of policies, which involve drastically rolling back the government’s role in the economy, thus tilting the balance between the market and the state sharply in favour of the former.
By this metric, the first generation of reforms pursued, after 1991, by the P.V. Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee governments qualify as “genuine" reform—policies such as dismantling the licence-permit-quota Raj, divestment of public sector units (PSUs), loosening controls on foreign trade and investment, and so forth.
This logic suggests that what the Modi government ought to have pursued is the so-called second generation of reforms, those left unfinished by Vajpayee at the time of the BJP’s shock defeat in 2004 and which were never even attempted by the atavistically socialist Congress-led government that ruled from 2004 to 2014.
It is often asserted that these second-generation reforms are of factor markets—land, labour and capital—along with continued divestment of PSUs, rationalization or elimination of remaining distorting subsidies, paring back of large social welfare schemes, and so forth.
As it happens, the Modi government made a valiant, and in the end unsuccessful, attempt to rewrite the land acquisition law, a poisoned chalice left by the departed Congress-led government. The Modi government also has empowered states to reform labour laws, and Rajasthan, in particular, has led the way. Plus, further reforms may be pushed by the centre in the second half of the budget session.
Apart from these, the Modi government has reformed the conduct of monetary policy, is in the process of reforming the financial sector, and has proposed sweeping and potentially game-changing new rules on bankruptcy—all of which would enable the capital markets to function much more efficiently, a crucial ingredient of structural transformation and sustained economic growth.
What Modi most emphatically has not done—and this is the principal gripe of the cheerleaders-turned-naysayers—is to dismantle India’s social welfare and redistributive schemes. Rather, his government is attempting to reduce, if not eliminate, the associated leakage and corruption, by moving towards direct benefit transfers (DBTs) as administered via the much-discussed JAM trinity of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile.
Modi should, therefore, be described as a pragmatic modernizer of the role of government in the economy, rather than an ideologically motivated economic reformer in the conventionally defined narrow sense. And this is all of a piece with the economic policies that he pursued in Gujarat, which were chiefly about making government work better, without corruption and undue red tape, not slashing the scope and size of government, as a doctrinaire free marketeer would wish.
In other words, Modi is attempting as prime minister exactly what he did as chief minister, and this is precisely what should have been expected—and, indeed, was correctly predicted, by many perceptive Modi supporters in the social media.
What, therefore, has really got the goat of some commentators is that Modi did not, after all, do what they, in their wisdom, wished and urged him to do. Chagrined perhaps that their idol turned out to have feet of clay, even if this was based on misunderstanding him, they have now pivoted to claiming that there is almost no reform happening—and you can bet that this note will be sounded loudly and repeatedly from now until 2019.
Some of this tribe further up the ante by arguing that Modi is likely to lose the 2019 election if he fails to deliver a larger dose of reforms. Yet, they provide no data-based analysis to support the claim that economic reforms win elections—or lose elections, for that matter. They also discount the reality that Modi is a supremely successful politician, who never lost an election he contested as chief minister, and who defied all odds to lead his party to an overwhelming electoral victory in 2014.
My contrary assumption, therefore, is that Modi has calculated both the type and quantum of economic reforms that he deems politically feasible. I assume, further, he believes that voters will reward his stewardship of the economy in 2019. I am sure Modi cares not a whit if that passes someone’s litmus test of whether he is a reformer or not.
Every fortnight, In the Margins explores the intersection of economics, politics and public policy to help cast light on current affairs.
Comments are welcome at
views@livemint.com. To read Vivek Dehejia’s previous columns, go to www.livemint.com/vivekdehejiaA file with about 500,000 bank account records of all those persons, included in the so-called “Lagarde list” was delivered on Tuesday evening by the secretary-general of the Greek cabinet, Mihalis Kalogirou to Chief Prosecutor Elias Zagoraios.
The record, to which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras referred to during the cabinet meeting earlier in the day, is from a USB stick delivered to Kalogirou by former HSBC IT employee Hervé Falciani, who revealed the names and bank accounts of thousands of customers, during the secretary’s visit to Paris.
The material passed on by Falciani includes bank account records which are expected to shed light on the “Lagarde list” case, as well as reveal depositors and money routes, and hence the feeders of these accounts.
The file, which is encrypted, is extensive and will require technical expertise and special software to open it. The prosecution is expecting clarifications as to whether the decryption will take place during the holidays or right after.
Tsipras Calls on Tax Evaders
During Wednesday’ cabinet meeting, Tsipras claimed that the government will continue to pursue tax evaders with such initiatives, as it has the “political will”, Kathimerini newspaper reports.
The Greek prime minister also noted that big tax evaders will be given the opportunity to admit to their crime and pay up what they owe before the Greek state goes after them.
(With Information from ANA-MPA)Photos by Seppo Samuli
Coalition formation talks between the Left-Greens, who were given the mandate to form a new coalition last week, and the Pirate Party, the Reform Party, the Social Democrats and Bright Future ended today after being unable to reach an agreement on major platform issues. Left-Green chair Katrín Jakobsdóttir told reporters she has not decided if she will return the mandate to the President, or attempt to form a new coalition.
While no specific cause for the breakdown was disclosed, RÚV points out that the Left-Greens and the centre-right Reform Party were having difficulties finding common ground on a number of issues, amongst them fishing management and some proposed tax increases on high income earners. In fact, Stundin reports that the Reform Party remained unconvinced of the proposed coalition’s strength.
The Pirates, for their part, released a statement emphasising that their ideas on government policy did not get in the way of forming a coalition.
Katrín told reporters that she has not yet decided if she will return the mandate to the President, or if she will attempt to form a coalition with a different configuration of parties instead.
As reported, coalition talks between the Independence Party, the Reform Party and Bright Future broke down last week, as they could not reach an agreement on a common platform; most notably, regarding the management of fisheries and the question of a public referendum on accession to the European Union.
As it stands now, there are very limited options in terms of what new coalition could be formed. Attempts at forming coalitions around both the centre-to-right parties and centre-to-left parties have failed, making a coalition between more dissimilar parties even less likely.
This would leave the possibility of a þjóðstjórn, or national government, wherein there is no ruling coalition nor opposition; rather, all parties must work together and share ministerial posts. This has only been attempted in emergency situations and even then, only temporarily.
Related:
Decision ‘16: Iceland’s Looming Political ShitstormWith just days to go before the BitTorrent piracy case involving Aussie ISP iiNet goes to court, anti-piracy group AFACT has made a second significant legal retreat. The group, which represents Hollywood movie studios, has now dropped its claims that iiNet engaged in primary acts of copyright infringement.
Next week the case of Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Disney Enterprises, Inc. and the Seven Network (all under the umbrella of AFACT), against Australian ISP iiNet will finally get to court.
AFACT’s position in the case – officially known as Roadshow Films Pty Ltd & Ors v iiNet Ltd – is that iiNet “failed to take reasonable steps, including enforcing its own terms and conditions, to prevent known unauthorized use of copies of the companies’ films and TV programs by iiNet’s customers via its network.”
AFACT previously demanded disconnection for those iiNet subscribers alleged to have infringed their copyrights by sharing material using BitTorrent. iiNet refused to comply and legal action against them followed.
In addition to AFACT’s assertion that iiNet committed secondary acts of infringement, i.e it is responsible for the copyright infringing actions of its subscribers (something it denies), AFACT had earlier claimed that iiNet engaged in primary infringement too.
Now, just days before the trial begins, AFACT has withdrawn this key part of its claim against iiNet.
The ridiculously optimistic primary infringement claim centered around AFACT’s assertion that iiNet cached the illicit content being shared by their file-sharing customers on their own network, which effectively turned the ISP into a distributor of copyright works. Of course, this is how all ISPs and indeed the Internet works – by simply copying digital data from one place to another.
A spokesman for iiNet told AustralianIT that the withdrawal indicated that AFACT’s legal team had earlier “fundamentally misunderstood” how an ISP works and had been “clutching at straws”.
Indeed, it is very difficult to disagree with this assessment, but AFACT remains upbeat.
“The authorization part of the case, which says iiNet failed to prevent online copyright theft of customers, has always been the main part of the case. The cache and conversion claims were always subsidiary,” said an AFACT spokesperson.
This isn’t the first time that AFACT has removed a key claim against iiNet. Earlier the anti-piracy group alleged iiNet was a primary copyright infringer and directly responsible when it refused to disconnect alleged pirates within its subscriber base. The allegation, know as “conversion”, is that iiNet interfered with the studio’s “right of possession”, a breach of their rights. It was later withdrawn.
The outcome of the case will be hugely significant in Australia. If AFACT wins, all ISPs in Australia could be held legally liable if they are made aware of copyright infringers on their network yet fail to take action against them.By J.R. Wu
TAIPEI (Reuters) - U.S. semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Device Inc expects to return to operating profitability in the second half of this year, Chief Executive Lisa Su said Wednesday.
"I expect our revenue to grow for the full year," said Su, speaking on the sidelines of the Computex technology trade show in Taipei.
In mid-April, AMD reported first-quarter revenue fell 19 percent year-on-year, with a net loss of $109 million. But the company indicated that second-quarter revenue could grow from the same period a year earlier, which would end a run of six straight quarters of decline.
Su said AMD was looking to accelerate its market access in China when it signed a $293 million agreement to licence its processor technology to a joint venture it formed with Tianjin Haiguang Advanced Technology Investment Co, an investment unit of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The technology will help China produce its own server chips for datacentres, a market dominated by Intel Corp, one of AMD's biggest rivals, along with Nvidia Corp.
AMD has also completed a joint venture deal, first announced in late 2015, that brings in Nantong Fujitsu Microelectronics Co. as a controlling partner in AMD's chip test and packaging operation in Penang, Malaysia and Suzhou, China.
Jiangsu-based Nantong Fujitsu paid AMD $371 million for an 85 percent slice of the venture.
(Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Stephen Coates and Kenneth Maxwell)Dr Who lookalike has time-travelling funeral in Tardis-style coffin
A David Tennant lookalike who died in a tragic accident had a time-travelling funeral - to go out just like his Dr Who hero.
Seb Neale, 26, had a coffin like a Tardis time machine complete with blue flashing light for his out-of-this world send-off.
His family replaced sombre funeral music with the Dr Who theme tune and mourners sang along and burst into applause.
'Fantastic' funeral: Seb Neale was given a Dr Who-themed send-off by his friends
And the order of service card was like a glossy souvenir brochure with picture of Seb dressed as Tennant with his sonic screwdriver.
More than 200 mourners were greeted with words: 'I'm a time lord... I'm not a human being. I walk in eternity.'
And instead of readings from the scriptures, the service used original scripts from classic Dr Who episodes.
One said: 'One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine. Goodbye.'
Lookalikes: Avid Dr Who fan Seb Neale (left) and David Tennant (right)
Sci-fi fan Seb died from head injuries after a simple fall at home at the end of a night out at a friend's barbecue.
His shocked parents Jenny and Steve asked Seb's friends to help organise the funeral service to celebrate his love of Dr Who.
University graduate Seb ran a sci-fi collector's business from his home in Risca, South Wales.
He had been a fan of Dr Who since he was a child and was delighted when David Tennant landed the role of the doctor - because he looked so much like the actor.
Family say he dressed as Tennant 'virtually every day' and loved flirting with women just like the Doctor because of his good looks.
A family tribute read: 'Seb never missed an opportunity to make the most of his similarity to the latest Doctor Who.
'You could even say he exploited it, and if there was a pretty girl about, so much the better.
'With his sociable nature, he enjoyed a laugh, a joke and a pint.'
The decorated coffin that Sebastian's friends made to look like a tardis
More than 100 tributes were left his Facebook page - many from other Dr Who fans - as a tribute to Seb, who had a younger brother Sonny, five, who also loved the series.
University friend Heather Robertson said: 'I remember the first time I saw Seb - he had on a long leather coat and walking stick.
'It didn't take long to get to know him because he was always so outgoing.'
His mum Jenny, 42, described Seb as: 'A lovely boy with an infectious laugh. He would always wear a suit and was a lovable gentleman.
'He was eccentric and was very much his own person.'
His council official step-father Steve Williams, 38, said: 'Seb would have loved to have seen it - if you can describe a funeral as fantastic then that is what it was.
'It was not everyone's idea of what a funeral should be but it gave us a great comfort.
'He loved Dr Who and really enjoyed looking like David Tennant. So many of the lines from the series fitted what we wanted for the funeral service.
'All his friends made so much effort to get it right. He was out for fun and it summed up the impact he had during his life.'All photos by Kim Raff
In many ways, Misty Snow, 31, is an ideal candidate to displace Utah's incumbent Republican Senator, Mike Lee, in this year's election. Misty's campaign platform, which focuses heavily on paid maternity leave and women's reproductive rights, is family-friendly in a state that has more children per capita than any other in the nation. She is of the people, for the people: Misty currently works as a cashier at Harmons grocery store in Taylorsville, Utah. And she is young and progressive—but not a blue-bleeding hardline liberal—in a state that has historically voted red.
"Women's issues matter to me, and I'm a working class person," says Misty. "We don't have a representative democracy anymore, and the only way to fix that is to elect people who really understand the issues that matter to Utahans."
But there is something else that sets her apart from her colleagues, and it could be her greatest challenge in the election this November: Misty is the first-ever transgender candidate from a major political party to be nominated for a seat in the US Senate––and Utah has a particularly fraught relationship with the LGBT community.
Read more: 'We Can't Sit on the Sidelines': The Trans Woman Running for State Legislature
Misty Snow was born in Salt Lake City in 1985. Her father died when she was three years old, leaving Misty's mother to raise her and her younger brother as a single parent. Like the majority of Utah's population, Misty grew up Mormon, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).
At one time, says Misty, "[The church] was the only place |
the one American initiative that could have decisively altered the trajectory of Eastern Europe was not “destruction and sabotage” but Marshall Aid, which Stalin instructed his allies to reject.
UE says: The unfavourable conditions of the Russian Revolution are shown by the fact that “Russia had suffered the worst losses out of any country during the war.”
No. It is hard to imagine that Russia would have suffered the Revolution without three years of world war, and it is true that battle and non-battle deaths of Russian soldiers up to 1917 were heavy (1.8 million). At the same time Russia's losses were fewer than Germany’s absolutely, and (given Russia’s large population) were proportionately fewer than of those of Britain, France, Italy, Serbia, Rumania, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey (Broadberry and Harrison 2005). Russia’s economic loss of GDP per head up to 1917 was less than that of Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, and Turkey (Markevich and Harrison 2011). The latter conclude: “We have seen that the economic decline up to 1917 was not more severe in Russia than elsewhere. In short, we will probably not be able to explain why Russia was the first to descend into revolution and civil war without reference to historical factors that were unique to that country and period.”
UE says: “By the time Joseph Stalin took (absolute) power in 1929, many – including, perhaps, himself – believed the threats the USSR faced were justifications for his purges and the Gulags.”
Seriously incomplete. There is no “perhaps” here: Stalin had a precise understanding that is now well documented (e.g. Khlevniuk 1995; Simonov 1996; Davies et al. 2003; Harrison 2008; Velikanova 2013). In 1921, 1924, 1927, and 1929 there was no foreign threat. But rumours of war were frequent, because the Soviet Union’s strategy of inciting revolution and mutiny abroad kept Soviet foreign relations in a state of continual tension. In domestic society, Stalin's secret police told him, every rumour was destabilizing; peasants and workers started to wonder when the chance would come to get rid of the Bolsheviks. Stalin was aware that above all he had to secure the regime internally and externally and that drift could only weaken him. This is why he launched Soviet society simultaneously on the courses of forced industrialization, mass collectivization of the peasantry, and political violence. Justification? Yes, of course, if taking power and holding it are sufficient motivations. Not otherwise. Khrushchev was personally responsible for tens of thousands of killings under Stalin, and this left him with a bad conscience. In trying to come to terms with it he blamed Stalin many times but not Hitler, the CIA, or anyone else outside the country.
UE says: “The country did face a very real Nazi threat that, failing industrialisation, it would not have been able to overcome.”
No. Stalin changed course towards industrialization, collectivization, and mass violence in 1929, when there was no significant external threat. The Nazis came to power in 1933, and no European leader (including Stalin) recognized the threat from Hitler before 1935. Before Hitler, a threat to Siberia appeared from the East in 1931 with the Japanese annexation of Manchuria. These threats came after, not before, Stalin’s “revolution from above.” As for whether the Nazi threat justified Stalin’s policies after the event, I have written about this in many places (most recently Harrison 2010).
UE says: “This reasoning is consistent with the fact that once Stalin died and the more immediate western threats disappeared, ‘de-Stalinisation’ took place: the Gulags were softened and reduced in size; the cult of personality was dismantled … things certainly improved once the Nazi threat had been eliminated.”
No. The Nazi threat was eliminated in 1945. The softening of the Soviet regime after 1953 had everything to do with Stalin’s death and nothing to do with the disappearance of “immediate western threats.” De-Stalinization took place not because of the disappearance of western threats but because the entire Soviet leadership was tired of living in fear of their own lives, and then went further because Khrushchev and Mikoyan had bad consciences about their own responsibility for past mass killings. The Gulag was dismantled immediately, not because of the disappearance of western threats but because Lavrentii Beriia had long before determined that it was an economic drain and a source of social contagion but Stalin had prevented him from acting on his findings. There was bitter resistance to dismantling the cult of Stalin from other communist leaders (especially Mao), not because of western threats but because it threatened their own legitimacy (and their own cults). The cult of Stalin was dismantled but was soon replaced by the cult of Khrushchev.
UE says: “The Great Leap Forward (GLF) … undoubtedly caused a large degree of famine, surely because of the over-centralised and inflexible nature of the policy.”
Seriously incomplete. A centralized, inflexible policy was enough to start a famine, but it does not begin to explain explain how the famine proceeded, nor does it explain the secrecy that then shrouded it for decades.
Think about what is required for an act of policy to cause millions of famine deaths. Here is the problem: When people starve to death, they do not die suddenly and unexpectedly. It takes them months, even many months to weaken, become sick, and die. Some die before others. Some die of hunger; some are carried off by diseases to which they lose immunity. Some die at home; some drop dead in the street. Some die passively; some steal or even kill for food; a few turn to cannibalism. In other words, a policy that causes millions of famine deaths (such as in the USSR in 1932 to 1934) or tens of millions (in China in 1958 to 1960) cannot go unnoticed by those carrying out the policy.
In fact, in both the USSR and China, the famine process worked like this (Davies and Wheatcroft 2004; Chen and Kung 2011). First, the leaders issued quotas for the collection of food, province by province. They also gave the provincial leaders to understand that their future depended on meeting the quota. The provincial leaders competed to raise more grain than their neighbours in order to show loyalty and to save their own lives and the lives of their families. And they passed these incentives down the line to their subordinates charged with doing the actual work. When some people reported that the quotas were too heavy, or they resisted or dragged their feet, they were arrested and others took their place. Food collections began and the first people started to die. When some people reported that other people were dying, they were told that this was just “simulation or provocation”: enemies were maliciously withholding food and starving their own children to cause trouble (Davies and Wheatcroft 2004, p. 206).
While the first ones were dying, the people responsible for extracting grain from the villages had to go deeper and deeper into the countryside to find food and take it by force. On every journey along all the different routes they took, they had to go past the people from whom they had already taken food, who were now dead or dying, to find more food that they could take. In China, the provincial leaders of lower rank had more to prove and Chen and Kung (2011) show these people tried harder, so that more grain was collected and more people died in their provinces. Returning from every journey past the already dying and dead people, they sometimes reported what they had seen (although it was sometimes “forbidden to keep an official record”) but in public they had to remain absolutely silent about, not just at the time but for the rest of their lives. The same applied to everyone with business that required them to move around the countryside. While they were doing this, others had to be ordered to stop some of the dying people who were not dead yet from moving out in search of food elsewhere. They had to be ordered to stop them because the food that had been collected and stored elsewhere was destined for others; if the dying people were allowed to eat it, it would not be available to feed Stalin’s Great Breakthrough or Mao’s Great Leap Forward. A particular reason for these orders is that when hungry people are allowed to mix with people that have enough to eat, it is extraordinary difficult to stop kind people from giving some of their food to starving families; the Germans found this in occupied Europe when they tried to cut Jewish communities off from food, and this is one reason why they first herded Jews into ghettoes and later decided to accelerate the Holocaust (Collingham 2010, pp. 205 ff). Finally, both at the time and later, the surviving victims and perpetrators alike learned never to talk about it, perhaps not even to their children. As a result, witnesses of terrible things (such as Yang 2012) often concluded the events they had seen were isolated and exceptional.
In other words, the “over-centralised and inflexible nature of the policy” was enough to start a famine, but further deliberate actions were required to ensure government priorities for food supplies when millions of people were dying of hunger. All this must be read into the “over-centralised and inflexible nature of the policy,” and it suggests why those words do not begin to provide a full explanation.
UE says: “It is also worth noting that the remaining Cold War paranoia was certainly not a USSR-only phenomenon, with McCarthyism and the red scare in the US reaching levels which now seem ridiculous to most.”
No. McCarthyism was ridiculous and, partly as a result of it, the FBI missed many Soviet agents that were actually at work in American government and society after the war (Moynihan Commission 1997).
UE says: “In Poland, the popular party Solidarity wanted some form of worker ownership – in other words, socialism – until, in desperation, they had to turn to the IMF, who made capitalist policies a condition for any aid. In Russia, Boris Yeltin’s ‘free market’ reforms were resisted, which was met with force; similarly, in China, the Tienanmen Square massacres were not made in favour of capitalism but in favour of democracy and worker control” (citing Naomi Klein).
No. None of us can possibly know what demonstrators in China or elsewhere “really” wanted. Politics is the art of the possible, and for this reason people tend to express their choices strategically, in the light of the constraints they perceive and the choices they expect others to make. I saw this myself in Russia: As long as the communist party was in full control, many dissenters preferred to limit their demands by appealing to rights guaranteed by the Soviet constitution, asking for a return to “true” Leninism, calling to rehabilitate Old Bolsheviks like Trotsky and Bukharin, and so forth. Only when the communist monopoly gave way did it become politically and psychologically possible for free thinkers to go further; some didn't but many did. UE refers to IMF conditionality in a disparaging way; but why would a responsible aid donor give aid without wishing to rule out uses of its resources that would be damaging or counterproductive? UE relies on Klein’s Shock Doctrine as a source; on its use of evidence see Harrison (2009).
UE says: “While estimates of deaths from Mao’s GLF are exaggerated using dubious estimation techniques (which effectively allow the demographers to pick the number arbitrarily), little to no cover has been given to the increase in Russian deaths during the ‘transition’ to capitalism, which, by a reasonable estimation method of simply counting the increase in death rates, claimed 4 million lives between 1990 and 1996” (citing Utsa Patnaik).
No. UE (or perhaps Utsa Patnaik) seems to confuse demographic studies with the literary and journalistic accounts written by people who do not have a good understanding of error margins. Demographers know that when people die in numbers so large that they are not recorded individually there is always an error margin. The error margin has several sources: mismeasurement of the population before and after the shock, imputation of normal mortality during the shock (required to infer excess mortality), and correctly apportioning the birth deficit between babies not born (or miscarried) and babies born and died within the famine period. In other words the best available estimation techniques give rise to ranges rather than point estimates, and it is from these ranges that nonspecialists feel entitled to pick and choose.
As for the cause of Russia’s mortality spike in the transition years, the research attributing it to mass privatization (Stuckler and McKee 2009) has been widely disseminated; less well known is that it has also been thoroughly criticized (Earle 2009; Earle and Gehlbach 2010; Brown, Earle, and Telegdy 2010; Battacharya, Gathmann, and Miller 2013; see also reply by Stuckler and McKee 2010). In the last years of the Soviet Union Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign temporarily prevented millions of Russians from drinking themselves to death. However, it did not alter their desire to drink. Their deaths were postponed and so stored up and waiting to happen when alcohol became cheaper again and more easily available. Thus, the increase in Russian deaths during transition is more plausibly attributed to an increase in the availability and collapse in the price of alcohol.
I’ll conclude on the subject of atrocity. UE writes: “I do not hope to defend anyone's atrocities, though I am happy to refute some of the absurd exaggerations that sometimes pervade these debates … the important thing is that we examine the history of both systems in context, rather than lazily parading the kill count of the other side to try and shut down debate.” I noticed that the UE blog goes further, wishing to move debate on from “disingenuous ‘Black Book of Communism’-style kill count porn” (the "Black Book" reference is to Courtois et al. 1999).
This shocked me. Is there room for debate over the scale, causes, and significance of the excess deaths that arose around the world from communist policies? Absolutely. Should any figure in the Black Book of Communism be above discussion? Of course not. But kill count porn? The demand for these people to be remembered and their suffering acknowledged comes from the victims themselves. “We were forgotten. For our broken lives. For our executed fathers. No one apologized. If we don’t preserve the historical memory, we shall continue to make the same mistakes” (Fekla Andreeva, resettled as a child with her “kulak” family, whose father was executed in the Great Terror, cited by Reshetova 2013; see also Gregory 2013).
ReferencesIn Vancouver, 33% of sales are to Chinese investors (National Bank)
Buying a home in the US or Canada has been an effective way for foreign residents to launder some money and get their wealth out of harm’s way. In the trophy markets on the US West Coast and in the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Toronto, rumors of a massive influx of Chinese money have swirled with growing intensity for years.
The Chinese economic elite are worried about a devaluation of the yuan. They’re worried about getting rolled up by their own government. They’re worried about markets collapsing. They’re worried about pollution. They’re worried about a million things. They have one foot out the door. If push comes to shove, they’re ready to make the move.
So capital flight from China has turned into a tsunami. And this money has to go somewhere.
The meme is this: These desperate buyers prefer a higher price because it’s more efficient for them to get their money out. This pumps up prices. Which impresses other Chinese investors, and they flock in ever greater numbers to those markets. American-Chinese businesses have sprung up to cater to them with special packages that take care of everything, including travel arrangements.
The real estate industry, benefiting from higher prices and higher unit sales, has largely downplayed this trend. Realtors and sellers love moneyed buyers and are not inclined to ask too many questions.
Estimates of the magnitude have ranged all over the place. Thick opacity covers much of the industry in this respect, and there is no city-by-city data.
In San Francisco, one of the hot spots for Chinese buyers, it has been estimated that the percentage is around 3% to 5%, so not huge. But prices are set at the margins. These prices then cascade through the market via the multiplier effect of comparable sales in the area, which is used to determine future prices.
The National Association of Realtors comes up with annual estimates of foreign buyers. As we reported last year, it found that in the 12-month period through March 2015, buyers from China had plowed $28.6 billion into US residential real estate, surpassing Canadians as top foreign homebuyers for the first time.
This $28.6 billion is interesting. It’s a survey-based guess from an organization with an agenda. And it is a national average. But there are only a small number of markets where Chinese buyers are active in large numbers, so a national average, even if accurate, obscures local trends. And buyers can hide behind shell companies, so the beneficial owners might never be known.
In August, we reported on RealtyTrac’s much juicier, and darker, version of what is going on with Chinese buyers in West Coast markets [Foreign “Smart Money” Frets about Turmoil at Home, Flees, Plows into US Housing Bubble 2, Thinks it’s a “Safe Haven”].
There are other reports and estimates, but reliable city-by-city data is nowhere to be found. For whatever reason.
Now another estimate, this time for Vancouver, the hottest housing market in Canada, which itself is currently one of the biggest housing bubbles in the world. Peter Routledge, a financial analyst at the National Bank of Canada, authored the eye-popping note, which in turn was reported by Bloomberg.
Foreign buyers are a hot topic in Vancouver, where home prices have soared to levels that are nearly as ludicrous as those in San Francisco. According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the “benchmark price” for all types of homes in February soared 22.2% year-over-year as home sales jumped 36%.
Who is buying all these homes, at these prices? No one knows.
But according to Routledge’s study, in 2015, Chinese investors plowed C$12.7 billion into Vancouver homes, out of C$38.5 billion in total sales. That’s 33%!
In Toronto, Chinese investors accounted for C$9 billion of the C$63 billion in total sales, or 14%!
And in San Francisco? He didn’t check. But we wouldn’t be surprised if the number came out fairly high as well. These numbers are far higher than industry soothsayers would like us to believe.
He cautioned, however, that these “back of the envelope calculations” were, as Bloomberg rephrased his note, a hypothetical approach to gauge capital flows. To get the data, he’d extrapolated from a Financial Times survey of 77 high-end buyers and data from the US National Association of Realtors. This way of approximating what’s going on in the market, he said, pointed to the need for reliable data.
The new Canadian government, bowing to pressures to do something about the distortions caused by the influx of Chinese money, announced on Tuesday in its 2016 Budget that it would earmark C$500,000 to figure out how to track foreign buyers:
Households rely on housing market data to make informed decisions in buying and selling their homes, while governments depend on data to design effective housing policies. Currently it is not possible to fully understand the role of foreign homebuyers in Canada’s housing market since a comprehensive and reliable data set on the number of homes sold to foreign homebuyers does.
But Philip Cross, a former chief economic analyst at Statistics Canada, the agency charged to do this, told Bloomberg that the C$500,000 could only pay for five researchers for one year, and would “not be enough to even plan a potential survey or data collection method.”
So perhaps, it’s just another gesture designed from get-go to not lift the veil of obfuscation.
Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp., the government housing agency, is also trying to figure out how many foreign buyers ply the Canadian housing market.
In the US, the Treasury Department is launching a pilot program to identify and track foreign buyers that hide behind shell corporations. But it is limited to only high-end properties, and only to two markets, Manhattan and Miami-Dade, and only to buyers hiding behind shell corporations. So no real answers either.
Like San Francisco and other trophy cities, Vancouver is struggling with an affordability crisis for locals. To get a grip on the problem, the city commissioned a report last year, and the results were just presented to the City Council. Read… The Vacant Condos in Vancouver
Enjoy reading WOLF STREET and want to support it? Using ad blockers – I totally get why – but want to support the site? You can donate “beer money.” I appreciate it immensely. Click on the beer mug to find out how:
Would you like to be notified via email when WOLF STREET publishes a new article? Sign up here.FORMER Essendon skipper Jobe Watson has returned the 2012 Brownlow Medal to the AFL.
AFL CEO Gill McLachlan revealed the prestigious medal was now in the League's possession, meaning the final curtain can now be drawn on the Essendon supplements saga.
"I am not going to go into too much detail. The Brownlow Medal has been handed back in," McLachlan said.
He would not discuss when or how the handover took place.
"All I'm saying is the medal is with me," McLachlan said.
Watson relinquished the 2012 honour after the final appeal to his suspension for an anti-doping violation was dismissed in October.
He had already served the season-long ban handed down by WADA to 34 past and present Essendon players and made the call to relinquish the award before the AFL Commission made the inevitable decision to strip him of the honour.
Watson made his feelings clear in a statement released in November.
"It is with mixed emotions that I have decided to hand back my 2012 Brownlow Medal," Watson said at the time.
The AFL Commission subsequently awarded the 2012 Brownlow to former Hawk Sam Mitchell and Richmond's Trent Cotchin, presenting the pair with their respective medals at an official but low-key function in December.
Watson subsequently told Essendon he did not want to be considered as the Bombers' captain this season but he has remained in the club's leadership group for 2017.
Meanwhile McLachlan said the AFL would release the findings of its internal review into how the League handled the Essendon supplements saga before the opening round of the season.
The review, flagged in February 2014, a year after the Bombers first invited ASADA to investigate its 2012 supplements program, is expected to make a set of recommendations including having the AFL CEO step away from the AFL Commission in the consideration of such matters to ensure the CEO can play a more significant operational role.
The format of the release is yet to be finalised.
McLachlan also backed the AFL's response to the news in January that former Bombers coach James Hird had been admitted to hospital after a major health scare.
He said the AFL had decided not to make public comment at the time but had reached out to people close to the family to express their concern and offer their support.
"If we can help we're there," McLachlan said.During President Donald Trump's campaign rally Saturday, first lady Melania Trump made a rare speaking appearance, leading the crowd in prayer before delivering a speech of her own.
In a video recovered from the event, you can see that before Melania Trump began the Lord's Prayer, Donald Trump came over and touched her on the arm. As he does so, Melania Trump seems to flinch and look away before saying "thank you" and moving on — around the 11 second mark in the video below:
It's a moment that has reminded many of Inauguration Day, when Melania Trump was caught looking similarly unhappy with Donald Trump:
While it's been established that Melania Trump is a grown woman who has power and autonomy (no need to #FreeMelania, guys), this video has still caught the eye of some people on Twitter because, as Ursula the Sea Witch once noted, don't ever underestimate the importance of body language:
The flinch at 14 seconds is mesmerizing. https://t.co/RNeaF0wB4T — James Brennan (@Denver_Brennan) February 21, 2017
It's a warning squeeze. I'd venture to guess he doesn't like her getting more cheers than him. — Megravy & Beescuits (@onedankmom) February 19, 2017
But was Melania Trump actually flinching away from the touch of her husband? Was she simply startled by the gesture? Was she unhappy, perhaps, that he was giving her a hint to get a move on with her prayer when she was reveling in the applause?! Who knows? Some mysteries aren't meant to be solved.At the beginning of this year, I set a goal for myself to go through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
For those who aren’t familiar with The Artist’s Way, the book is structured as a 12-week program to free your inner creativity, boost your creative output, and get past any blocks in your life that may be holding you back. The process is that you read one chapter a week, work through some questions at the end of each chapter, have a daily writing task called morning pages, and try one new experience a week.
While the book is focused on artists, in today’s day and age where most work is knowledge work, the book applies to any type of work or part of your life that requires deep thought and skill.
In essence, the book is a process to be your most creative self in knowledge work and get through blocks.
A block is an unconscious response to internalized negative beliefs that manifests itself through self-limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, envy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces.
Julia Cameron explains, “Very often a creative block manifests itself as an addiction to fantasy… this is where you spend more time dreaming about art than doing art. Or watching TV shows about cooking rather than cooking.” For writers, this often manifests itself as an addiction to reading.
After nearly 4 months I completed The Artist’s Way in April and am thrilled that I did. It took me longer than 12-weeks as I took two weeks for one chapter, and 3 weeks for another, but I can actually say I got through it.
My 5 Biggest Learnings from The Artist’s Way
1) Morning page(s)
The biggest practice in the book is the idea of doing morning pages. Every morning, the first thing you are supposed to do is sit down and write 750 words in a stream of consciousness. It doesn’t matter what you write just that you get through them. Julia Cameron describes doing morning pages as an active form of meditation and I think it is an apt description.
You don’t realize how many things are floating around in your subconscious. By writing down whatever you are thinking about, no matter how trivial, you are able to get your thoughts out of your mind and onto the page. This lets you start the day with a fresh slate. In some sense, you can think of it as a warm up or mental stretch before a day’s work of thinking. Like most things, these are easiest to complete when you have no other distractions: No browsers open, nothing on your screen open, phone away, etc.
It is super important to not take a shortcut and just stop at 300 words or wherever. Some of the most meaningful reflections came on the days when I was struggling to get though the page and in the last few hundred I would push through some thought that was holding me back.
I did morning pages throughout, only missed 3 days, and have kept up with them since completing The Artist’s Way. It generally takes me about 15 to 25 minutes and I do my morning page in Word where it is essentially one page single-spaced. You can also handwrite them, which is about 3 pages, or use something like 750words.com which has analytics tools built in to nudge you to keep up with doing them.
2) Artist’s Date
The second main practice in the book is the Artist’s Date. This is where you set aside time once a week, of at least two hours, to go and see or try something new and fun. The idea is to get yourself out of your day-to-day and out of your serious/self-judging zone to give yourself some space where you can just experience, experiment, and play.
This can range from going to a place you have never been, writing poetry, building something, flying a drone, seeing a concert, playing with Legos, going for a bike ride, cooking a new recipe, or some other creative pursuits where you can just have fun and not worry about it being “good.” For my Artist’s Dates, I created an NYC Bucket List and would pick one thing a week from it to go and explore. I’ll write more about this soon.
3) Reviewing morning pages quarterly
9 weeks in your task for the week is going back through your morning pages and tallying up what you have been writing about. It is fascinating to see what has been occupying your mind.
This was one of my favorite parts. You may think that that thought in your mind is not really a big deal but by doing this task you find out that you wrote about it for 45 of the past 63 days (true story). It was really useful to see what I constantly came back to, what I had fixed, and what I had changed. I now do this quarterly.
4) Getting past blocks
It is interesting to see all the things that subconsciously bother you or hold you back from projects you otherwise would like to do. The book does a good job of finding, defining, and getting past any blocks you may have.
Doing the morning pages and the weekly tasks are the biggest ways these surface. For myself, completing The Artist’s Way gave me the confidence to drop a writing client that had been holding me back and focus my time on other projects that would have a bigger impact. This includes a book project which I will begin sharing info on soon.
5) The Artist’s Way boosts creative output
The science of creativity shows that in any creative pursuit, whether its science, rap, writing, or what have you, quality of output comes from quantity of output.
The Artist’s Way is a process to jumpstart your output of work to open the door to you doing your best work.
I would say going through the process of the book certainly boosts your creative output.
In 2014, I tried The Artist’s Way but only made it 5 weeks through. Even with just those five weeks, doing the morning pages I noticed an increase in my creative output. For example, I wrote a short story in an afternoon one day because it was bursting out of me.
This time while doing The Artist’s Way I finally responded to a long letter I received 6 years ago from one of my friends continuing some conversations we had on life. I had been hesitating for years to start it because I knew it was going to be an undertaking. Inspired by daily writing I was doing I finally put the time forward to write it and finish it. It turned out to be a mini-memoir, 24 pages long, and is one of the things that I am most proud of having written.
The Artist’s Way Overall
I would highly recommend The Artist’s Way to anyone who is feeling stuck in their life, career, work, etc. as a good process to get yourself unstuck.
If you want still are curious, you can read hrough my best friend Rahaf Harfoush’s week-by-week takeaways for when she did The Artist’s Way.I watched all of season 3 in two sustained and rather vulgar gulps, in an exercise otherwise known as bingeing. The madness of this practice—the sheer velocity of it—is enough to addle the brain, devastate the heart, and twist the nervous system into a veritable knot of anxiety. It is a 48-hour coup de foudre and, if you think it is difficult for the viewer to survive this ravishment, imagine what it must be like for those of us who have created it. It is not unlike watching one’s child or one’s lover walk a tight rope without a net, so excruciating is the sense of vulnerability it engenders. I am deeply immersed in the character of Red. My investment in her, on a creative level, is inestimable. And so I scrutinized her, sitting rigidly upright on my cranberry couch, blinds closed against the bright summer’s day, and this is what I learned:
Her hunger for survival is directly connected to her mettle, which could be confused with integrity were it not for the carefully (if perversely) skewed calibrations of her moral compass. She needs to reclaim her kitchen, and she will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. We see the needle begin to oscillate when she enters Healy’s office. What is she doing? We feel that she and Healy have an “understanding.” They are far from enemies but neither are they bosom buddies, although she has animatedly and openly defended his virtues, to the chagrin of his petulant and self-consumed “mail order bride.” Red has established her willingness to fight for what is decent and, in her mind, unimpeachable. But then our throats tighten as we watch her snuggling up to Healy over a tea tray and we blink in a kind-of disbelief as we begin to form the (by now) uncomfortably clear impression that she is flirting with Healy, and that she is using all of her albeit rusty wiles to seduce him. Dear God, we ask ourselves, why? Then it comes: She wants the kitchen back. Healy recoils, stung, and Red hits him with a truism so old and so quintessentially inarguable that it stuns: A woman’s ability to seduce is the only currency she is left with, when all else fails. It is the only coin she can call her own and, if she must, she will spend it.
The kitchen is Red’s laboratory, her studio, and her nursery. It stands for everything that defines her and it facilitates her modus operandi: Above all else, Red longs to be useful. It is her nature, her instinct, and her prayer. Of course, she has sprung from the clay of that dangerously gifted and unpredictable sculptress Jenji Kohan, and therefore to that clay she may one day return. But before that day comes, I fervently hope that she will continue to tread this crooked, whimsical, brave, and unexpected path to self-fulfillment, because now it is too late for me. I belong to her. Lending, I now know, an entirely new meaning to Russian roulette.
Related Stories
•11 way-too-early predictions for Orange Is the New Black season 4
•Orange Is the New Black: Recaps/rankings of episodes 1-13Whether LeBron James, the kingpin of this summer's celebrated free-agent class, will join them remains to be seen. James will announce his decision at 9 p.m. ET Thursday during a one-hour special on ESPN.
Wade and Bosh are expected to announce their decision on Wednesday afternoon, according to the source, and continue to lobby James, along with Heat president Pat Riley, to join them in Miami, despite the financial complexities involved for the Heat to make room for all three.
Both players are expected to get the maximum amount allowable under the league's collective bargaining agreement, though the addition of James could change the players' salaries. Contracts cannot be officially signed until Thursday.
It was not immediately clear whether Bosh -- who spent seven seasons with the Toronto Raptors -- will sign with Miami outright or join the Heat through a sign-and-trade deal. Bosh could earn $125 million over six years via sign-and-trade, but only $96 million in five without it.
"Either way, he's definitely going to Miami," the source said.
League sources say Riley is trying to convince Bosh to take the five-year max deal and leave Toronto outright. The Raptors are trying to persuade Bosh to demand a six-year deal and a sign-and-trade so that they get something out of the deal.
Earlier this week, the Raptors reportedly had been reluctant to do a sign-and-trade, especially with Miami, contending the Heat did not have any players of interest. But if Bosh leaves outright, the Raptors are left with, at most, $4 million in cap space to replace Bosh.
One source with knowledge of Toronto's thinking told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that the Raptors, as of 9 a.m. ET, had yet to hear anything official from Bosh's camp about his intentions.
Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo, in a text message to The Associated Press on Wednesday morning, said, "I have nothing official from anyone."
Amid a growing sense among rival executives that James intends to stay with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that James is still seriously considering joining forces with Wade and Bosh in Miami and had a discussion about the possibility that all three could wind up playing together for the Heat on a conference call early Wednesday morning.
James or not, the Heat could emerge as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference with Wade and Bosh aboard.
Wade, Bosh and James have maintained a dialogue throughout the free-agent process and in the days leading up to July 1, keeping alive the possibility that all three could wind up playing together for the Heat while also sifting through the various options on the table.
ESPN.com reported June 28 that the trio held a scaled-down version of the free-agent summit originally suggested by Wade to seriously discuss their futures, with a focus on the idea that all three could team up with the Heat. Sources close to the situation insist, though, that James has not promised anything to his Team USA colleagues and is not tipping off which way he's leaning.
For much of Monday and Tuesday, several team executives and league insiders expressed their belief to ESPN.com that James re-signing with the Cavaliers, and Wade and Bosh landing together in Miami, was the most likely outcome of a saga that began three years ago when James, Wade and Bosh all signed contracts that enabled them to become free agents in the summer of 2010.
But the New York Knicks, after securing a verbal commitment from free agent power forward Amare Stoudemire, have not surrendered in the chase for James, despite a growing sense |
For an example of how this works, we can look at the early labor/socialist movement.
In the years between WWI and WWII, Socialism, as it had existed prior to that period, was utterly destroyed by the concerted efforts of government and capital. Once eradicated, it was replaced with an imitation in the form of a Capitalist welfare state in which men and women no longer fought for their fair share of the natural bounty of their physical world, but a state in which technocratic specialists argued that the wages of the middle class, rather than the exponential profits of the Capitalist class, be heavily taxed to support the once more powerless poor.
Woodrow Wilson passed a law called the Sedition Act which, among other things, made it illegal to deter men from joining the army or fighting in WW I. The Socialists were, as they are today, anti-war, so Wilson used the Sedition act to sentence Eugene V. Debs and the leaders and financers of the Socialist Party to ten-year sentences in Federal prison. In the labor arena, the American Federation of Labor (now the AFL-CIO) continued its betrayal of labor by fighting to end Socialism and the Socialist party (ending rival unions in the process) since it enthusiastically supported entry into WW I. The AFL-CIO profited from the eradication of Socialism, becoming an arm of the Democratic Party, as it remains to this day. The Rand School of Social Sciences (a socialist school that provided free education to the working classes) was raided and driven into closure (its library is now held at NYU). The Charles H. Kerr publishing company (the only socialist publisher in the nation, publishing the only socialist periodical) was labeled subversive and denied the use of the Postal Service, forcing it into bankruptcy. The American Legion was formed as a manifestly fascist organization that roamed the streets in mobs, even committing a massacre in Centralia, Washington in which 6 were killed (most of them members of the IWW).
The first “Red Scare” was manufactured in America in 1919 (two years after the Russian Revolution). The New York Times (then still a far-right newspaper) published lurid articles claiming that Anarchists in the Soviet Union had declared all females over 18 to be public prostitutes. In Congress, legislation was introduced to deport anarchists to a penal colony created in the Philippines. 500 leftists (including Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman) were loaded aboard a ship and deported to the Soviet Union for ideological associations alone. In the New York State Assembly, Republicans had the Sergeant at Arms drag the five Socialist assemblymen before the House and had them expelled. Race riots between black and white laborers in Chicago were fomented.
Simultaneously, John D. Rockefeller II gradually assumed control of Rockefeller philanthropy, which had already been effectively organized for a tool of societal subversion by the Baptist minister and Rockefeller Sr’s right hand man, Frederick T. Gates. Rockefeller Jr, not wanting to try to compete with his father’s reputation as a Capitalist, decided to devote himself to philanthropy (which is the unelected shaping of society via the purchase of its institutions and creation of its ideals).
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, labor made its most significant advances against Capital and Government, to the point that Capital was actually afraid of labor, and saw the edifices of classic liberalism failing. Rockefeller Philanthropy had already donated over $100 million to the University of Chicago (which has been since then a virtual possession of the Rockefeller family), and close to $90 million for the education of blacks in the South. (The Tuskegee Institute was a Rockefeller-funded Institute. Booker T. Washington was a freed slave that argued that black people weren’t ready for actual education, only education in the trades, which was the curriculum offered at the Tuskegee Institute.) It donated tens of millions of dollars to universities around the nation, so now Rockefeller Jr. set about defining the curriculum of higher education.
The purpose of John D. Rockefeller Jr’s philanthropy was to prevent the end of the classic liberal, Capitalist republic, and that goal was sought through the philanthropic foundation of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial (LSRM). Rockefeller Jr. placed a man named Beardsley Ruml (behavioral psychologist, CEO of MACY’s and later chairman of the Federal Reserve) in charge of LSRM, and Ruml placed Charles Merriweather in charge of an organization called the Social Science Research Institute (SSRC).Through the LSRM, the SSRC began to provide funding for Social Sciences in order to establish them in higher education and government.
Some of the academic and governmental associations created and/or funded by the LSRM include the American Anthropological Association, the American Psychological Association, the Commonwealth Fund, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the National Science Foundation, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Rockefeller Jr. poured hundreds of millions into the social sciences, and once all these councils were dependent upon Rockefeller funding, the Problems and Policy Committee was formed. The Problems and Policy Committee was a group of Rockefeller insiders that took upon itself the authority to determine what research could be conducted and what personnel was allowed to involve themselves in research within all the dependent councils and organizations–within American higher education as a whole.
In reading the works of the Social Sciences in the inter-war years, it is clearly expressed that the Social Sciences were to be anti-socialist. The habit of modern academic Social Sciences of misleading students into believing that Auguste Comte or Emile Durkheim et al were the fathers of social science is just propaganda for incoming Freshmen. The father of our Social Sciences was David Hume and John Locke, and the institutional sponsors and creators of academic social sciences were employed to reinforce the dogmatic Skeptic philosophy of the early Classic Liberal philosophers. The academically respected research done by Social Scientists since then has, in one way or another, only reiterated or expanded upon the dogma of skepticism, denied the intrinsic humanity of all humans, and reinforced the atomization of our society.
Socialism, which was an ideology based upon dialectics, classical economic theory, or dialectic materialism was replaced by a skeptic impostor created by the Social Sciences and the public was none the wiser to the change because the catastrophes of the Great depression followed by the Second World War and then the Second Red Scare under McCarthy drew their attention away. To this day, the Social Sciences are only capable of attempting to perpetuate a Classic Liberal, Capitalist Utopia. That’s why specialists trained in the Social Sciences are virtually incapable of recognizing fundamental and systemic corruption and collapse in our society, or of realizing that every age of society, including ours, eventually comes to a close. They are marginalized by social controls embedded in Academic and Occupational socialization and accordingly believe, and teach, that some minor adjustment within the system will cure all ills, They are trained to deceive society to pursue minor, irrelevant change, all the while believing that deception is necessary because the human species is somehow flawed and incapable of social interaction or integration. This deception is accomplished in millions of ways, such as selective “studies” churned out with extreme bias, skewed statistics, little oversight or peer review of data, and complete lack of scientific method (the term “social science” is a public relations term, those academic disciplines have never been science, nor accredited as such by real science). This sloppy and subjective method implemented by the social sciences allows those engaging in it to retain their blindness to the fact that they just perpetuate the sacred values of their moral tribal community.
OWS is still a minor movement compared to Socialism in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. And the modern population is almost completely lacking in any political understanding, having been degraded to party lines and the false right/left dichotomy by the guiding hand of psychologists, sociologists, economists, and political scientists, etc. designing the majority of the lingual noise flooding our senses through omnipresent media, manipulation, and deeply embedded social controls. The government, and its senior partner Capital, never destroy popular dissent when that dissent can be co-opted, and all it takes to co-opt that dissent is to throw some money at it. As William Hockings said “Pragmatism demands that power must be maintained”. Buying OWS is a small matter compared to the co-opting of socialism and the labor movement. Powerful movements in opposition to Government and Corporate power are co-opted and converted rather destroyed. A good example is the “Civil Rights” movement. It went from Black Nationalism to Blacksploitation in under ten years thanks to the combination of government, education, and media capturing the movement and converting its valuable political power into profit and propaganda.
Given the long history and profit potential of gaining the trust of popular movements and then selling them to the highest bidder (it’s practically America’s pastime), there are always shrewd sociopaths intent on gaining control because the profit they understand can be made from betraying those movements. Every popular movement has these people attempting to gain control, and they usually do. True infiltrators don’t want to “prevent the process”, they want to maintain and increase the power of the movement while steering it toward the goal of creating a vehicle for personal profit. This is done through a gradual mitigation of Democratic participation and increase of powers at the top, and increasingly seeking to abandon the disenfranchised classes that began the movement in favor of the moneyed classes looking to purchase it. Popular movements go seeking funding without ever realizing that their greatest potential danger is finding a wealthy contributor, because once they do, their expenses rise to equal that level of funding, and then the movement is exponentially more dependent upon that source of wealth than they are upon the people the movement was created by and for.
How do you prevent it? Don’t give up your voice (Never agree that non-violent actions must be submitted for approval or consensus by group decision; when the spirit is willing and numbers are with you, just do it) or allow the Democratic process within assembly to be marginalized, and most importantly, just like everything else in our world, keep your eyes on the money and always ask, in any circumstance, “Que Bono?”ctvtoronto.ca
Parking in Toronto just got a little more complicated thanks to a new bylaw that restricts how many vehicles homeowners can park on their driveways.
City council quietly passed the regulation, part of the new harmonized zoning bylaw, at its last meeting of the summer, CTV has learned. The bylaw took effect Oct. 1.
The law allows residents with a single-car garage to park one vehicle in the garage and one on the driveway. Those with double garages may park two vehicles in the garage and two on the driveway.
Details can be found in the online version of the bylaws. The parking section (10.5.80) begins on page 29.
The change has sparked some debate among Torontonians.
"It's nonsense," Scarborough resident Sal Lamantia told CTV Toronto's Naomi Parness. "In terms of my own driveway, it should be my own decision."
Others say the new rule keeps streets looking cleaner.
The law was created after some residents complained others were turning their driveways into parking lots, city officials said.
The city will rely on complaints in enforcing the restriction, officials said. Fines will be determined in court, and could reach up to $5,000.
The regulation is being grandfathered in, meaning residents used to packing several cars on the driveway are still allowed to do so.
They'll have to show they've been doing it for a while, which could prove difficult, said Lance Cumberbatch, director of the municipal standards and licensing division.
Residents buying or building new homes will be most affected by the change.
At least one resident has appealed the bylaw, sending the matter to the Ontario Municipal Board for review.
With a file from CTV Toronto's Naomi ParnessVMware Update Manager is one of the most necessary tools in your environment, it’s also built really well and can be customized to fit your environment.
However there are times that the update manager plugin within vCenter Client can break. So lets look at a hidden tool to fix most of your Update Manager woes.
For this post, I am demonstrating how to fix a faulty database connection, after windows updates broke the Update Manager Service.
The ODBC connects to the DB fine, however Update manager shows the following in the plugin manager and when you try to enable it.
So here the issue is pretty obvious, no connection to the database. Which we know is online.
So to get Update Manager to reconnect to the database, we can do this using;
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager\VMwareUpdateManagerUtility.exe
Running this application/executable displays a dialog box which allows you to change 4 settings;
Proxy Settings
Database Settings
Re-Register to vCenter Server
SSL Certificate
These options are pretty self-explanatory. For the SSL Certificate, this is where you want to replace the self signed with a company compliant certificate.
So for me, all I had to do was re-enter the details for the database, and click apply, and you can see that it was successful. I went back into vCenter Plugin Manager and Enabled the plugin.
This main reason behind this post was to highlight the tool for you guys, its small and simple, but removes any hardships of having to reinstall the product or powershelling your way out of trouble.
Regards
Dean
Follow @saintdle
Found this useful? Then share: LinkedIn
Email
Twitter
Facebook
Google
Reddit
Pinterest
Print
Like this: Like Loading...Book Review of Black Flame: The revolutionary class politics of anarchism and syndicalism. Oakland, CA: AK Press. By Michael Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt.
by Deric Shannon
At the outset, after reading Black Flame, it's impossible not to reflect on the massive amount of research that such a work must have entailed. The book is a narrative about anarchism and, with interest in anarchism on the rise worldwide, it could not have come at a better time. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, we need new narratives of the anarchist tradition to understand where we've been. Secondly, Black Flame contains critiques of the ways that "radical" circles contemporarily have too often turned away from the radical class politics that have always defined the socialist movement.
Ironically enough, this is both a major strength of the book, but also, in my opinion, one of its weaknesses. As Schmidt and van der Walt state their case early in the book, "'(c)lass struggle' anarchism, sometimes called revolutionary or communist anarchism, is not a type of anarchism; in our view, it is the only anarchism" (19--emphasis theirs). This essentially leads to the authors deciding throughout the beginning of the book who the "real" anarchists are and who gets defined out.
Again, there are strengths and weaknesses with this approach.
This is one of the major strengths of the book, first and foremost, because some contemporary anarchists do seem to have lost their commitment to radical class politics. Indeed, demands to end capitalism and class society are often drowned out in some anarchist spaces, replaced instead by a politics of identity and guilt that mirrors a sort of "Oppression Olympics", where identity becomes fetishized and separated from a radical class analysis and commitment to ending class society[1]. Black Flame offers a reminder to us that anarchism is a part of the socialist movement and that a concern with social oppression without a commitment to ending class society is just liberalism that is sometimes dressed up in anarchist colors--albeit with some noble goals.
Secondly, Schmidt and van der Walt take this approach in order to demonstrate that anarchist histories have often been muddled due to past academic accounts of the anarchist tradition. Indeed, scholars often argued "that anyone who held an antistatist position must be an anarchist, even if they disagreed over fundamental issues like the nature of society, law, property, or the means of changing society" (17). Given this loose definition of anarchism, it provides a space for anti-state liberals like Murray Rothbard, a supporter of a stateless free market distopia, within the anarchist tradition. However, focusing on anarchism as an ideology based in historical social movements easily demonstrates that anarchism is, and has always been, a socialist philosophy with no room for "free" market ideas.
One can see echoes of this problem in contemporary liberals who refer to themselves as "anarcho"-capitalists. Nevermind that capitalism requires the state to manage class antagonisms and, thus, the idea is preposterous to begin with. It is an insult to the history of anarchism and working class struggles to suggest that anarchism could somehow be compatible with a capitalist, "free" market worldview. To compound matters, there are likewise racists who have co-opted the label. Referring to themselves as "national anarchists" (as the Nazis famously appropriated the term "socialist" in "national socialist"), these racial separatists deserve as little space in the anarchist tradition as supporters of a stateless "free" market (which is to say, none at all). Schmidt and van der Walt outline a socialist anarchism, based in working class movements, that would provide no space within anarchism for the apostles of a hierarchical society--be they capitalists or racists.
Again, these are the major strengths of this approach--of locating anarchism within its history embedded in working class social movements.
However, this approach leads the authors to define anarchist thinkers like Proudhon out of the tradition. Proudhon had a major impact on the development of anarchism as a political philosophy and influenced such well-known revolutionary anarchists as Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin. Likewise, they exclude the individualist strain of anarchism, removing the likes of William Godwin, Benjamin Tucker, and Max Stirner--all of whom, it might be added, opposed capitalism and the state. However, with different focuses and, importantly, without revolutionary, commitments, Schmidt and van der Walt exclude them from their "broad anarchist tradition" due to strategic differences[2].
In my opinion, this is one of the weaknesses of this approach. Imagine, for example, a world in which Marxists were expected to agree on strategy or otherwise be defined out of the tradition. We would effectively lose a chunk of past Marxisms (e.g. those that arose in response to the rise of fascism in Europe like the Frankfurt School), we'd lose contemporary Marxists such as Hardt and Negri--indeed, much of contemporary Marxist thinking would no longer be Marxism.
For contemporary anarchism, this would remove all of the anarchists who argue for an "exodus" strategy out of capitalism from the tradition. That is, some anarchists (alongside many Marxists) have eschewed traditional revolutionary strategy in favor of attempting to create an exodus out of capitalism. This is an old tradition within anarchism, typically arguing for the creation of alternative institutions that, when nurtured, will some day replace capitalism and the state.
I have some objections to defining them out of anarchism. For example, many of these anarchists are able theorists and doubt the ability for a traditional capital "R" revolution to be successful in the modern era. Indeed, as history has moved forward, the state has become better and better armed with new weapons capable of massive destruction on a scale that was unimaginable in the days of anarchism's early formation. Questioning whether or not an armed revolutionary struggle is possible in the modern era makes sense--and anarchists should be having these kinds of strategic debates among ourselves. Defining them out of the anarchist tradition removes a critical strategic voice from the tradition that has raised rational objections to traditional strategy[3].
As well, it might even be a mistake to think of these different strategies as somehow separate and necessarily at odds with each other. If we are to overthrow capitalism, we do need replacements. Much of this infrastructure could come from mass movements, neighborhood assemblies, and worker's councils developed in the process of a revolutionary struggle. This has always been a part of anarchist revolutionary strategy.
But, being anarchists, we will settle for nothing less than the demolition of all social hierarchies. Thus, things like rigid gender roles and norms, normative expectations around sexual practices, internalized racism, lack of social viability for the disabled, etc. must be swept into the dustbin of history with capitalism and the state as well. Some of these processes are going to require cultural and conceptual change, in addition to the institutional changes we seek in a revolutionary struggle. Anarchist free schools, spaces like infoshops, indymedia centers, and the like provide spaces for experimenting with new social and cultural forms. Through collective projects like these we get to experience non-hierarchical organization and culture in our bodies--demonstrating that other worlds are possible and introducing new ideas into our stifling, sick, and hierarchical culture. So, while mass organizing might be necessary for overturning the existing social order, our everyday lives must be transformed as well. Many counter-institutions that anarchists are currently building can serve as spaces for doing just that.
These are, however, in many ways rather minor points. After all, I agree with the authors that a line needs to be drawn between those who can rightfully be called "anarchists" and those who have no business using the label. As I mentioned before, I would exclude capitalists and racists, for example. Anyone who espouses a classing of society, private ownership of productive property, or support for social hierarchies like sexism or racism has no place in the anarchist tradition. I would, however, personally argue for a broader "broad anarchist tradition" than the authors.
So, with the good and bad that comes from defining the broad anarchist tradition this way, Schmidt and van der Walt set about the rather large task of writing a history of what they see as the two traditions within anarchism: mass and insurrectionist anarchisms. According to the authors, mass anarchism and insurrectionist anarchism can be differentiated thusly:
Mass anarchism stresses that only mass movements can create a revolutionary change in society, that such movements are typically built through struggles around immediate issues and reforms (whether concerning wages, police brutality, high prices, and so on), and that anarchists must participate in such movements to radicalise and transform them into levers of revolutionary change. What is critical is that reforms are won from below; these victories must be distinguished from reforms applied from above, which undermine popular movements. The insurrectionist approach, in contrast, claims that reforms are illusory, that movements like unions are willing or unwitting bulwarks of the existing order, and that formal organizations are authoritarian. Consequently, insurrectionist anarchism emphasises armed action-"propaganda by the deed"--as the most important means of evoking a spontaneous revolutionary upsurge. (20)
Schmidt and van der Walt argue for the consistency of the mass anarchist approach. Indeed, the authors outline how "the insurrectional act was increasingly seen as elitist; rather than inspiring the working class and peasantry to action, at best it reinforced the passive reliance of the masses on leaders and saviors from above, substituting a self-elected vanguard for the popular classes" (133). Thus, the preferred strategy in Black Flame is one of patient organization, fighting for immediate demands while continuing to push for a future world without rulers, bosses, workers and slaves--that is, mass anarchism.
Schmidt and van der Walt also outline what they see as the best way for a militant minority in social movements, as anarchists are, to fight for this future world. It is through organizational dualism that anarchists can have the most impact in social movements. This means that anarchists would belong to anarchist specific organizations based on some common agreements and principles, as well as to social movement organizations. It is from mass social movements that revolution might come, and it is the revolutionary anarchist organization that argues within those mass movements for such a revolutionary rupture. In addition anarchists would argue for organizing those social movements in ways that prefigure the kind of world that anarchists want to create (e.g. democratic, egalitarian, non-hierarchical).
The question, then, that the authors pose is how much level of agreement and unity in tactics and theory should exist within the anarchist organization? Schmidt and van der Walt make a case for platformism, or organizing the specific organization around theoretical and tactical unity in a very tight and disciplined sense (although allowing for different "tendencies" within the organization). One can see the contemporary forebears of dual organizationalism in non-platformist groups like the Workers Solidarity Alliance (in the US and Canada) and the groups affiliated with the neo-platformist anarkismo project[4] like NEFAC (Northeast Federation of Anarchist Communists--USA), the WSM (Workers Solidarity Movement--Ireland), and the ZACF (Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front--South Africa, of which the authors are members)[5].
Throughout this well-researched history, Schmidt and van der Walt touch on many other important issues within the anarchist milieu. They argue against the notion that syndicalism is somehow separate from anarchist communism, defining syndicalism as "the view that unions--built through daily struggles, a radically democratic practice, and popular education--are crucial levers of revolution, and can even serve as the nucleus of a free socialist order" (7). Indeed, this has been an accepted, if controversial, anarchist idea from its inception--though not all anarchists regarded unions as having that revolutionary potential (in fact, many anarchists argue that unions, being mediators between workers and capital, can ONLY serve a reformist role--an argument which the authors reject).
Likewise, they research and write about anarchist positions on national liberation struggles, race, gender, internationalism, armed action--this list could go on--all with painstaking research and detail. There is too much content to comment on in a single review. And, importantly, Schmidt and van der Walt do so paying critical attention to anarchism as an international movement, citing anarchists from as disparate places as Germany, Britain, China, Japan, Uruguay, and so on. The authors have done a great service to the anarchist community by drawing out these international ties and decentering the West within anarchism's historical tradition showing that we are, indeed, an international movement and that the demands for socialism combined with freedom within anarchism are not limited to the West.
As a reviewer, it is common practice to recommend a book one finds valuable and interesting. If you have a passing interest in radical politics, get this book. If you have an interest in anarchism, get this book. If you are an anarchist already, whether you agree with the authors' perspective or not, get this book. This is a thoroughly researched narrative of a political movement that promises freedom, equality, and social viability for us all.
Yours for a new world!
About the author
Deric Shannon is a long time anarchist living in Connecticut where he teaches sociology at the University of Connecticut. He is a co-editor of Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An Introductory Anthology of Anarchy in the Academy (Routledge 2009) and co-author of Political Sociology: Oppression, Resistance, and the State (Pine Forge Press forthcoming). He is a member of the Workers Solidarity Alliance and a believer in radically different futures.
[1] Please note, I am not arguing that we should reject the politics of identity in favor of class politics, nor that class politics are any more "central" than struggles against other hierarchies. Rather, I would argue for an intersectional approach to politics that takes into account struggles around specific identities and the ways that they overlap and intersect with the struggle against capital and the state. That is, these fights against white supremacy, heternormativity, patriarchy, capitalism, the state, etc. are not separate fights--they are one in the same and it is a mistake for anarchists to ignore any of them or to privilege some struggles over others.
[2] It also leads to them defining Marxists like Daniel De Leon and James Connolly into anarchism.
[3] This is not to suggest that I agree that revolution, in the traditional sense, is not possible. It seems to me that if we had popular support, there might not be a military to point those new weapons at us!
[4] http://www.anarkismo.net
[5] http://workersolidarity.org/ ; http://nefac.net/ ; http://www.wsm.ie/ ; http://www.zabalaza.net/
Written for InterfaceDonald Trump coming to the DeltaPlex Copyright by WOODTV - All rights reserved In this Dec. 3, 2015, photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) [ + - ] Video
24 Hour News 8 web staff -
WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will be in the Grand Rapids area next week.
Trump will be at a rally at the DeltaPlex Arena in Walker on Monday, Dec. 21. The event is free to the public, but people who wish to attend must register.
This will be Trump's second visit to Michigan since he announced he was running for the Republican nomination for president. When he visited the east side of the state earlier this year, he saw a huge turnout from supporters and national and state media.
The DeltaPlex visit is expected to be no different, so doors are opening at 5 p.m. even though Trump is not expected to take the podium until 7:30 p.m. Attendees are advised to arrive early.
Parking will cost $5, according to the DeltaPlex's website.
A recent poll from NBC and the Wall Street Journal shows Trump leading in the race for the Republican presidential nomination with 27 percent of the vote. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas followed with 22 percent and Marco Rubio was in third place with 15 percent.
Tuesday's GOP presidential debate may lead to changes in those numbers. Lower-tier candidates will debate starting at 6 p.m. and the top nine candidates will square off at 8:30 p.m on CNN.On this special episode of Life Lessons, Colton and Bookie explore a few character relationships throughout Gintama and how much they could either evolve or destabilize if they were to go on. After all is said and done, Colton and Bookie have a fun time coming up with their own crack shippings! Some funny ones, some not so funny, and some that are just sort of weird. Enjoy and have a Happy (belated) Valentines Day!
DOWNLOAD HERE
WARNING: THIS SPECIAL IS SPRINKLED WITH MANGA SPOILERS! SO PLEASE USE THESE TIME CODES TO AVOID SAID SPOILERS AS BEST AS YOU CAN!
0:05:40 – Ofusa and Kantarou
0:12:00 – Yamazaki and Tama
0:20:09 – Shinpachi and Otsuu
0:25:36 – Katsura and Ikumatsu
0:31:30 – Otae and Kyubei
0:38:14 – Hijikata and Mitsuba
Show Notes
Follow @NientedeNada and @1X70023 on Twitter!
Listen to Just a Gintama Podcast’s Gintaladies episode on Ikumatsu!
Our special episode about Katsura!
Elizabeth’s laser eyes
AdvertisementsWhen the group’s bitcoin ETNs – which are now at $330MM in AUM - launched in 2015, it took one year to attract the initial $10MM in AUM.
ST. HELIER, CHANNEL ISLANDS, OCTOBER 18, 2017 – Ether Tracker One and Ether Tracker Euro just crossed $10MM in assets under management (AUM) a week after beginning trading on Nasdaq Stockholm.
“When the group’s bitcoin ETNs – which are now at $330MM in AUM - launched in 2015, it took one year to attract the initial $10MM in AUM. The Ether Trackers achieved that in less than a week. Initial demand for the Ether ETN from investors of all types has been exceptional, driving substantial volume for an un-seeded ETN; especially one in an emerging asset class. The community that was demanding the product has shown up in full force; and now, the community has a new request – research,” says Ryan Radloff, Principal at CoinShares.
In an effort to service this new wave of investors who are requesting professional asset research, CoinShares Research is launching analyst coverage on Ethereum and its native token, ether.
Announced today, CoinShares Research will serve the CoinShares’ family of investors with the first full-time research team dedicated to delivering market-leading insight into the top 5 crypto-assets; and coverage is beginning with ether.
“When we looked around at the available research in crypto to date, it either revolved strongly around bitcoin, or took a generalist approach to ‘the next biggest crypto-assets.’ While seminal work has been done on bitcoin as an asset – the same could not be said for ether. With this asset highlight, we aim to rectify that situation,” says Ryan Raldoff, Principal at CoinShares.
Launched today, the inaugural Ether Asset Highlight provides an overview of the current state of Ethereum combined with an assessment of key drivers behind long-term utility and speculative value of the ether token. The initial coverage also looks at ether’s performance relative to other more traditional asset classes as well as bitcoin.
“We took a specific approach and laid out the foundational pillars to understanding ether as an asset, work which we intend to build on in analyses to come. What you’ll find in this research coverage is a pragmatic discussion with a simple valuation approach to consider. You won’t find flashy price targets, and a bunch of marketing,” says Christopher Bendiksen, Head of Research at CoinShares.
CoinShares as a platform is home to crypto-currency’s only multi-strategy offering of investment vehicles; a family which now represents more than $350MM in crypto-assets under management.
“We are excited to bring CoinShares Research to life as we begin to support the needs of the next wave of crypto investors. Now that we have a team covering ether, bitcoin and a few others on a full-time basis, expect more great coverage to come soon,” says Ryan Radloff, Principal at CoinShares.
CoinShares serves a global investor base seeking to invest in the emerging digital asset market(s) with a family of products which offer exposure to bitcoin and other emerging digital currencies/assets. CoinShares represents GABI - the first regulated bitcoin fund in the world; Bitcoin Tracker One (and Bitcoin Tracker Euro) and Ether Tracker One (and Ether Tracker Euro) the first exchange traded bitcoin and ether products, globally; and CoinShares Fund 1 - the first fund denominated in cryptocurrency (ETH). CoinShares is backed by a team with deep experience in Exchange Traded Products, Hedge Funds, Commodities, FX, Market Making and both active and passive investment in frontier markets. For more information on CoinShares, please see the factsheet at coinshares.co.uk or Fitch Carrere | [email protected]
###
"The following important information relates to the Global Advisors (Jersey) Limited (“GAJL”) who are acting as Distributor to Coinshares. GAJL is authorised and regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission in the conduct of investment business and fund services business.
GAJL is registered as a commodity trading advisor, operating pursuant to a CFTC regulation article 4.7, with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and a member of the National Futures Association. (No. 0405699). GAJL is a registered company (No. 102184) with its trading offce at F3 The Forum, Grenville Street, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 4UF, Channel Islands.
This information is directed only at persons who: a) Are expert investors who fall within the defnition of “Expert Investors published by the Jersey Financial Services Commission b) Are otherwise permitted to read this factsheet in compliance with the governing laws of their respective jurisdiction. It is not directed at or intended for retail clients. Any person considering an investment into any of GAJL’s products must ensure that they are suitably qualified, experienced and knowledgeable on such investments considering jurisdictional rules, regulations and restrictions, tax implications, residence or domicile and their financial circumstances. Past performance is not a guide to what may happen in the future.
Prospective investors should be aware that the value of their investments could fall as well as rise. Any investment carries the risk of potential loss of capital and investors may not get back the value of their original investment. Information may include data and opinions derived from third parties sources, GAJL does not accept liability for the accuracy or completeness of any such information or opinions which can be subject to change without notice. Furthermore, the information provided does not constitute an offer to buy or to sell shares, nor does it constitute investment, legal or tax advice. Details relating to the investment including the risk disclosures can be found in the Offering Document or any other appropriate documents as issued from time to time.
This brief statement cannot disclose all the risks and other significant aspects of the various market traded by GAJL. Pursuant to an exemption from the CFTC in connection with accounts of qualified eligible persons, this information does not require to be, and has not been, filed with the CFTC. The CFTC has not passed upon the merits of participating in any of GAJL's investment programs or the adequacy of the contents of this information. Taking into account the information herein, if you are in any doubt as to whether this investment is suitable for you, you should consult your financial advisor.
CoinShares is the parent company of XBT Provider, the Issuer of COINXBT, COINXBE (bitcoin-tracker ETNs listed on Nasdaq Stockholm) and COINETH, COINETHE (ether-tracker ETNs listed on Nasdaq Stockholm). It is not a licensed financial advisor. The views presented in this document are the opinions of CoinShares and where relevant have been attributed as such. Bitcoin and ether are volatile instruments and prices can move quickly. CoinShares is not responsible for any financial losses incurred directly or indirectly by the recipient.
This publication and the information contained in it must not be distributed and/or redistributed to, used or relied upon by, any person (whether individual or entity) who may be a US person under Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933. US persons include any US resident; any corporation, company, partnership or other entity organized under the law of the United States and other categories set out in Regulations.
This document does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation or initiate to subscribe or to make an offer to buy ay securities, nor does it provide a basis for any contract or obligation of any kind.
XBT Provider by CoinShares constructs and issues the products. We do not, however, give any financial advice or accept client funds. For questions regarding investing or trading please contact your advisor, brokerage or bank. If you have technical questions regarding our products, please contacts us. For more info on the notes and CoinShares, reach out to [email protected]or you can find details on the website here: www.coinshares.co.uk"Search Gallery PokeDex Piplup mnrART 632 027 Sandshrew - P |
alternative for people who want to hold assets that can have sustained purchasing power."
Bitcoin has typically been a very volatile currency and the price has even surged to over $1,216 in 2013. But the cryptocurrency has been gaining more legitimacy with policymakers talking about its potential and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last year classed it as a commodity.
At times, bitcoin has managed to act as a safe-haven asset. The digital currency found some support last year when Greece was close to default. Concerns over the health of the Chinese economy and the prospect of a further depreciation of the yuan have also helped support bitcoin, Lee said.
"It's kind of a mess worldwide in terms of economy and all different asset classes," Lee told CNBC.
Clarification: This article has been amended to reflect the date when bitcoin began trading.Gershon Koffie was one of those rare commodities in modern day football. A player who actually stuck around a club for, well, for longer than a cup of coffee really.
The second longest serving current Whitecap, behind Russell Teibert, Koffie played six seasons in Vancouver after joining the club late in the 2010 USL season.
He leaves it, for the fresh pastures of New England, as the Whitecaps all-time leader in MLS play, with 137 appearances and over 10,000 minutes played.
Six seasons. That never used to be anything special for football players. I grew up in a time where Testimonial matches were commonplace. Games and events to celebrate a player’s long lasting relationship with a club, usually ten years, raising money for the player in the process. I’ve served on a few Testimonial committees in my time.
The Whitecaps even headed over to England back in the NASL days of 1980 to play in a Testimonial match against Leeds United for goalkeeper David Harvey.
Changed days in a modern game where money and fame is king, it just doesn’t feel that players have any loyalty to clubs any more. And it’s understandable. Clubs treat players as mere commodities, so why should they get any special treatment back.
Koffie loved it in Vancouver though and was loyal to the club, the fans and the city. His emotional parting words were, “Words cannot explain my love for Vancouver. Vancouver has a room in my heart and it owns the key.” You know he meant every word.
But as much of a wrench that it always feels when a long time member of the club moves on, it was the right decision for both Koffie and the Whitecaps, and the ‘Caps got a pretty good deal out of it.
Koffie has the desire to play in Europe (he had trials in Sweden and Demark before coming to Canada) and as well as getting general and targeted allocation money for him, the Whitecaps also secured a percentage of any future transfer fees. Fees which I feel will come sooner, rather than later. Koffie has told us before that he never wanted to play in MLS for any team other than Vancouver. Now he doesn’t have much choice, for now at least.
The Whitecaps also cleared $241,000 off the cap, in a defensive midfield position which is stacked with quality and players pushing hard to come through like Deybi Flores, who has excelled so far preseason, and Ben McKendry.
Most of the freed cap space will be replaced by the salary of Blas Perez we expect. We know some will view it as shipping off a hero to bring in a villain, but Carl Robinson has brought in players that will most definitely improve the team and offer the ‘Caps something more than what they had last season.
Koffie was stagnating in Vancouver. He needed a fresh challenge to get out of it. I would have moved him on last year, as we mentioned at the time. He’s a player who’s threatened so many times to have that breakout season. We know the skill he has, the talent he brings, the goals he can score.
He’d put it all together for a game or two and then seem to fall back again a few matches down the road. It was infuriating for us, for Robinson and no doubt for Koffie himself. The consistency just wasn’t there, or able to be unlocked, to take him up to the next level.
Maybe New England and new surroundings will help bring it out of him. He’ll be a regular starter and back working again with the man that brought him over to North America from Ghanaian side International Allies, Tom Soehn.
We hope it does and we can only wish Gershon all the very best with the Revolution. Apart from when he comes back to BC Place in June of course!
He’s a great guy off the pitch. We’ve had a number of long chats with him over the years, the most recent of which was just a couple of weeks ago. He was feeling really happy both professionally and personally, felt settled and dismissed the European transfer rumours that had been swirling around during the offseason. We’d even planned a couple of fun things we were going to do for AFTN in the next couple of months! That’s how quickly football moves.
Gershon Koffie has had a stellar Whitecaps career since making his debut in a rather uneventful draw against Puerto Rico Islanders on September 5th 2010. AFTN has watched his journey every step of the way and here’s our farewell gallery, capturing some images of Gersh from all his years with the ‘Caps, from 2010 to 2016.
Good luck and goodbye.French site MacG, which has a very decent track-record, cites “reliable sources” as stating that a new 15-inch MacBook Pro and 27-inch iMac are going on sale on Wednesday. (Update: We are now told their sources don’t know whether it’s the Retina or non-Retina iMac.)
Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro back in March, the most notable update being the inclusion of the Force Touch trackpad fitted to the new 12-inch MacBook. The machine also got 5th-generation Intel Core processors, the base model running at 2.7GHz, configurable to 3.1GHz, and Intel Iris Graphics 6100 GPU.
While the site had no specific details, it’s likely the 15-inch model will likewise get CPU and GPU bumps, alongside the Force Touch trackpad …
NordVPN
MacG notes that shipping on the higher-end 15-inch model has for some time been showing 2-3 weeks, sometimes a sign that a new model is on the way. Additionally, we note that the machines are listed as discontinued on the B&H Photo site.
The site had no specifics on the 27-inch iMac.There are more skeletons tumbling out of the closet of controversial meat exporter and a regular at former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha’s residence, Moin Qureshi. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has found that the payment to Jean Louise Deniot, the French architect who designed Qureshi’s Rs 200-crore palace in Delhi’s Chattarpur locality, was paid through hawala channel. Denoit was chosen to design the house by Nasreen Qureshi, wife of Moin Qureshi.
ED sources say that the French architect was paid an ‘obscene amount’ through a web of companies in Hong Kong and Dubai. The payment was made to Deniot in four tranches -- two each from Qureshi’s meat-marketing companies in Hong Kong and Dubai. dna has learnt that the French architect is also involved in designing a 24,000 sq ft French-style mansion in New Delhi’s tony diplomatic neighbourhood of Malcha Marg. In addition, Deniot has been paid by unknown persons for building a 25,000 sq ft mansion in Chandigarh.
Deniot’s multi-million dollar project for an ‘Indian client’ at Mayfair, overlooking Hyde Park in London, is also under ED scanner.
Why is ED on Nasreen's trail?Qureshi's Pakistani origin wife Nasreen has allegedly spent millions of dollars in shopping for luxury brands in New York, Paris and London. The ED is scanning hotel records where Nasreen stayed during her shopping sprees. The shopping bills along with the hotel bills were allegedly settled through hawala.
Who cleared Nasreen's bills?According to ED sources, the bills were cleared by Dubai-based companies owned by Nasreen’s father and brother, both of whom are Pakistani nationals. “The money to the Dubai-based companies of Nasreen’s brother was sent by a Delhi-based agent of Moin Qureshi,” said ED sources.
Will designer daughter spill the beans?Qureshi’s fashion designer daughter Pernia Qureshi’s transactions are also likely to be probed to ascertain his wife’s role in the hawala payments. A string of such ‘shopping trips and hotel stays’ are under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate.
Who own the Dubai-based firms?Investigators believe that most of the hawala payments for these high-end purchases were routed through Dubai-based companies owned by Nasreen's brother, who is a Pakistani citizen. The ED is probing the money trail behind the purchases of high-end luxury interiors for the Qureshi’s French-style Delhi mansion. Nasreen had paid Deniot to decorate the mansion with antique French chandeliers, mother-of-pearl cabinets, 17th century Italian urns, custom made velvet-coated stools and other luxury interiors from across the world.
When the couple is likely to be quizzed?\The ED is likely to question both Moin Qureshi and his wife Nasreen in the first week of February.The body of a cat that was mistaken for a stray and euthanized without the owner's consent has been sent by the SPCA to the Department of Agriculture in Truro, N.S., for a necropsy.
Animal activist Sarah Fraser picked up the cat in the Herring Cove area, thinking it was a stray, and had it euthanized at the Lady Hammond Animal Hospital in Halifax on Saturday.
Kara Jenkins said the cat, known as Fuzz, was the family pet for 15 years. She was shocked when she found out her cat had been taken and euthanized without her knowledge or approval.
The SPCA's chief provincial inspector, Joanne Landsburg, said the necropsy will look for any underlying health problems that may have contributed to the cat's condition.
The results are expected within three weeks.
What is legal?
The Lady Hammond Animal Hospital, in a statement detailing its involvement, says hospital veterinarians Dr. Umer Khan and Dr. Yasser Hammid expressed condolences to the owners of the cat.
The statement said Fuzz was malnourished, emaciated, had matted fur and was bleeding from the mouth.
The statement reads, "We scanned the cat for a microchip or any identification, none was found. The cat really looked like a stray. Upon discussion with the client, they decided, as they had limited funds to care for the cat, to humanely euthanize the cat as it was suffering and in pain, and its condition was only getting worse."
Veterinarians with the Lady Hammond Animal Hospital said Fuzz was bleeding from the mouth (Lady Hammond Animal Hospital )
In an email to CBC, Khan and Hammid defended the hospital.
"Being a doctor, if any animal is presented to me it is my duty to diagnose and treat the patient regardless of whether it is stray, feral, or owned," they wrote.
The hospital pointed to Nova Scotia's Animal Protection Act, which allows for an animal deemed to be in critical condition by either a veterinarian or a peace officer, to be euthanized with or without the owner's consent.
According to provincial law, if the suffering of an animal is not unduly prolonged, reasonable efforts should be made to find the owner and gain its consent. But even if the owner does not consent, and if the SPCA deems that prolonging the animal's life would cause it undue suffering, it can be legally euthanized.Writers are getting mad as hell about digital versions of their books getting pirated online. Ursula K. Le Guin and Harlan Ellison will sue you. But we like horror mogul Stephen King's approach: insults!
Asked about digital piracy, King emailed Motoko Rich of the New York Times:
The question is, how much time and energy do I want to spend chasing these guys. And to what end? My sense is that most of them live in basements floored with carpeting remnants, living on Funions and discount beer.
Or reading novels by Cory Doctorow, the Boing Boing blogger with a little-known sideline in fiction. Doctorow doesn't mind if you copy his books — in fact, he gives them away. To guys living in basements floored with carpeting remnants, living on Funions and discount beer.PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) Executive Council Committee Member Murat Karayılan has made striking statements regarding the ongoing state terror and popular resistance in North Kurdistan.
Answering questions by Radio Dengê Kurdistan, Karayılan said the process has entered a new phase as of 14 December, and a state of civil war is taking place at the moment.
Karayılan stressed that the Turkish state wants to seize the will of Kurdish people, and vowed to continue the resistance in response to the attacks.
Below is a compilation of the outstanding parts from PKK Executive Karayılan's interview provided by ANF English service.
What is the goal of the Turkish state in perpetrating an intense onslaught against self-rule?
The struggle of our people has entered a historic and significant phase. There is a war ongoing in the Middle East, in which the Kurdish people and their freedom struggle has come into prominence. It is known by everyone that the region will be restructured at the end of this war.
Kurdish people's success in mainly Kobanê and Shengal have proved them a main actor in the Middle East. The region cannot be redesigned without the Kurdish people. In this regard, a new phase has begun. The Treaty of Lausanne which is based on a denial of Kurds is now losing effect. This reality has scared the sovereign powers that hold Kurdistan under their control. As Davutoğlu himself has stated, this decision of an all-out war was made after the Kobanê victory, at the MGK (National Security Council) in late October.
They want to break leader Apo's (Öcalan) will by means of this war. The war had already began in İmralı on 5 April. It was started against Leader Apo. This war has now entered a new phase with the attacks aimed at our people today. The Turkish state wants to leave the Kurdish people without will, suppress them and impose slavery. They want the Kurdish people to surrender and not to demand self-rule. The AKP has started this war for this purpose and it is deepening it more and more every day. This war entered a new phase after 14 December.
What is this new phase?
The conflict is evolving into a civil war. Some liken it to the 90's but the current process is more like the periods of 1925, 1930 and 1938 when our people in Dersim were crushed by the Turkish state for defending self-rule. The method and the situation is still same. This is an operation of occupation, massacre, seizure of will and imposition of slavery. This is a civil war declared by Turkey against the Kurdish people living within its borders. The President openly pledges to crush us into the trenches and respond to every uprising with repression. They clearly want to seize the will of our people who have reached a stage of national and organisational struggle under the leadership of President Apo.
Declaration of self-rule by the people in many areas is a progressive occasion from the point of the Kurdish freedom movement. The Turkish state and AKP want to draw the Kurdish people away from this stage. They want to make the Kurdish folk a slave by re-seizing the positions they gained at the cost of their children's lives. The massacre that targeted Dersim, Zilan and Sheikh Said's cause is now perpetrated by AKP in a new postmodern manner. In an attempt to hide the happenings from the world, mobilised pro-government media reflects everything reversely, which hinders the perception of the truth, even by those calling themselves intellectual. There are also some collaborators from among Kurds, and these attribute all the happenings to the trenches.
Trench is a self-defense. Kurdish people have been forced to dig trenches to defend themselves. The point in question is, however, not trenches but the intention to leave the Kurdish society without will. While doing this, they don't want to world to know and learn about it. Despite the internet age, they reverse the truths in an attempt to reflect the happenings in another way, justifying the operations on the excuse of trenches and the PKK. This is not true. Kurdish people have become a will and they want to live by enjoying their rights like all other folks, without being deprived of their honour and status. The state wants to render Kurds slaves part by part, like in Cizre, Silopi, Sur, Kerboran, Nusaybin now, and Gever, Bismil, Derik before them. A large-scale war is being waged against the Kurdish people.
On the other hand, an effort is also being made to reflect the reality wrongly. State forces are shelling and burning a mosque, and later say that PKK did it. The state puts the blame of its own perpetration on the other side. It distorts the truths in an attempt to not to reflect the civil war and not allow the world see it. The state wants the Turkish society and Kurdish people not to realize what is going on. It wants to weaken the Kurdish people and bring them down to a point of not being able to defend themselves, just like what happened in 1920's.
With a desire to confront Rojava, the Turkish state wants to achieve a result by creating a war and conflict in the Kurdish politics. It is making a huge effort to hinder the Kurdish people from taking a place in the restructuring of the Middle East. This is the main strategy of the AKP government.
Youths, women, children, elderly and everyone is resisting the attacks in the areas of self-rule. What does trench and barricade, a new manner in the Kurdish popular resistance, mean?
Before anything else, I salute all our people resisting the attacks. The voice of Kurdish youth in Kobanê, which resonated all around the globe in the person of Arin Mirkan and Gelhats, does today resonate in Cizre, Silopi, Nusaybin, Kerboran and Sur where people are resisting with the same spirit. This means a new level in the Kurdish freedom movement. This is a very sacred instance.
Our answer to those who repeatedly complain about trenches is; these trenches are for self defense and defence of will. Those questioning trenches should then produce a solution against these fascist attacks. Will they be able to stop AKP's gangs? No. In other words, these remarks just call for a surrender.
Everyone calling themselves a Kurd, a Kurdistan citizen, patriot and democrat should see and join this resistance. They should be in solidarity with this battle of humanity against atrocity and fascism. This is a battle of existence and will, it has such a national goal.
One other goal of this struggle is democracy. Kurdish people's resistance against AKP fascism is also for Turkey's democracy and attainment of a will by the Turkish society. In this regard, this resistance is a fight for Turkey's democracy and freedom, which is why all the leftist, socialist, democratic and pro-peace movements should embrace it and show solidarity. This is the resistance of all ethnic and religious minorities. It is the resistance of diversities, democracy and freedom against 'one language, one nation, one state, one flag, one religion'. The peoples of Turkey, all those oppressed by the system, all laborers and faith groups should own the Kurdish people's resistance in Cizre, Silopi, Nusaybin, Kerboran, Sur and all across Kurdistan.
These attacks result from the weakness of the state. They have started these attacks for fear over the Kurdish people's growing stronger. They wouldn't deploy tanks on the streets if they were not weak and afraid. They know this is the final point. Yet, the will of our people is stronger than tanks. This is a popular resistance that is stronger than everything else. The AKP cannot perpetrate another Dersim genocide today. For this reason, all the patriots, Kurdish people and their friends should stand together and break the attacks of the AKP that is living its weakest period.
Turkish state says 200 members of PKK and YDG-H have been crushed. How do you assess these claims?
This is not true. AKP is telling that guerrillas have come down from the mountains to cities in order to justify its attacks against our people. HPG hasn't got involved in this war and process yet. It is the Kurdish youths and our people that have taken up arms, dug trenches and are resisting in the areas under attack.
If the state has killed so many people, where are their corpses then? Where are their arms? These are all a lie. They are murdering our civilian people with the assertion “we are deploying troops as guerrillas have come down from the mountain”. The youths are resisting with light arms but we stand by them to the end. They are the future of Kurdistan, they are fighters of freedom and democracy. The Kurdish people shouldn't leave the youths alone as they follow the perspective of Leader Apo who says that peace will be brought by democratic resolution and freedom. The state wants to break this resistance and wants Leader Apo to step back. This is why such an all-out war is being waged against the Kurdish people today.
The army has also become a part of this war in previously Farqin and now Cizre. I would like to warn the AKP, state and military officials that they are playing with fire. If they continue like this, guerrillas will also join this war in a self-sacrificing manner, and the bond between the Kurdish people and Turkish Republic will be severed entirely. If they crush our people with tanks and artillery, we will no more be able to live together. AKP officials are now planning to crush Kurds and then bring them to the table. Excuse us but nobody would sit at the table with those who killed our children, mothers and elders. We are not needy of them. The situation is no more the way it used to be. They need to know this reality and act accordingly. The army firstly avoided deploying troops in cities. But why has it done that now? This is obviously a coup aimed at democracy and Kurdish people. These attacks are severing the ties between the Turkish and Kurdish peoples. Everyone should take careful steps and know that Kurdish people do never surrender and they attribute the life to resistance.Profits of $5.6 billion for the second quarter of 2011 were up by 13 percent over the same period last year. The jump happened amid record oil prices, however.
Oil and gas production in the second quarter were down 11 percent from the same time in 2010, to 3.43 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Part of the drop in production came about because the company had to sell off some oil fields in order to pay for the cost of the U.S. spill.
Investors hope that chief executive Bob Dudley, who took over from Tony Hayward in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, will outline his plans for the future of the company.
Some analysts have speculated that BP could break itself up, similar to the way ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil have done.
There have also been further problems with the company's Russian subsidiary.
Its Russian partners in the TNK-BP joint venture scuppered a proposed link between the company and state-owned Rosneft.
"We expect the momentum of our recovery to build into 2012 and 2013 as new projects come on stream, particularly in higher-margin areas; as we complete current turnaround activity; as we return to work in the Gulf of Mexico; and as uncertainties reduce," Dudley said in a statement.
"At the same time we will increasingly focus both our portfolio and our investments on long-term value growth."
During this time last year, the company made a $17.15 billion loss after a pre-tax charge of $32 billion to cover costs relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
"These are a disappointing set of results," Peter Hutton, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, told CNBC Tuesday.
"Russia was a bit quick and India is going to take some time to come through."
BP recently paid Reliance Industries £4.4 billion for a 30 per cent stake in 23 offshore oil and gas projects in India.
The company should consider selling off its refining and marketing arm to focus on its core business, Hutton added.
"The management needs to focus on how it can liberate the strong value that we see."ZIBOLKY, Ukraine — Like many of her neighbors in this old Soviet collective farm, Maria Onysko prefers to be paid in grain instead of cash for the modest plot of land she rents out.
“I have two cows and four pigs, many chickens,” said Ms. Onysko, 62. “So we use it for them.”
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, farmland in newly independent Ukraine was divided among villagers, acre by acre, creating a patchwork of agricultural endeavors that are often inefficient or unprofitable. Some land is rented to fruit growers, grain operators or large-scale farming businesses. Some locals work small plots on their own. Some acreage sits fallow, stuck in legal limbo after the owner has died.
Ukraine was once the breadbasket of the Soviet Union, known for its rich soil where grain, sunflowers and livestock flourished. But farming production dropped sharply in the chaotic decade after the collapse of communism, and recovery has come in fits and starts. Production is only now returning to peak levels of the 1990s, stymied by the corruption, red tape and inefficiencies that have plagued the broader Ukrainian economy for years and left the villagers living humble existences.
Restoring Ukraine’s farming legacy will be crucial to the success of the country’s newly elected president, the billionaire businessman Petro O. Poroshenko. Such efforts would go a long way toward fixing Ukraine’s economy and reducing its dependence on Russia. Agriculture once accounted for nearly 20 percent of the gross domestic product; it is now roughly 10 percent.Two ridings on Prince Edward Island had the highest voter turnout in the country on Monday, while the worst performers were spread out from Newfoundland to the prairies.
The best place in Canada for getting out the vote was the eastern P.E.I. riding of Cardigan, at 77.9 per cent, and the second was the central riding of Malpeque with 77.1 per cent.
The high turnout in Cardigan is particularly pleasing to Owen Parkhouse, a Morell resident who mounted a one-man campaign to get people to vote, putting up lawn signs from all four candidates and a fifth encouraging people to vote.
"It's great news and if the little story that we had on signs and whatnot and getting people to go out to the polls made any success I'm very thankful," said Parkhouse.
"That's great and we should be the example for the rest of the country."
P.E.I. also led the country in voter turnout as a province at 74 per cent.
The lowest voter turnout was in Fort McMurray-Athabaska, at 41.4 per cent. All of the bottom five ridings were in places where incumbents won by a large margin.
Top Five
Riding Turnout Notes Cardigan 77.9% Liberal incumbent Lawrence MacAulay has held this riding since 1988 Malpeque 77.1% Liberal incumbent Wayne Easter held this riding in the Island's closest race Saanich-Gulf Islands 75.2% Green Leader Elizabeth May defeated Conservative Gary Lunn, former minister of state for sport Ottawa Centre 74.6% NDP incumbent and foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar won 52 per cent of the vote Louis Hebert 73.0% NDP Denis Blanchette defeated Bloc Quebecois incumbent by close to 9,000 votes
Bottom FiveFormer friends and colleagues of Michael Sona testified on Monday as the Crown kicked off its case against the 25-year-old accused of trying to keep some Guelph, Ont., residents from voting in the 2011 federal election.
Sona faces the single charge of wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent a voter from casting a ballot, in the so-called robocalls case related to automated calls made during the lead-up to the May 2, 2011, election.
Sona's former roommate, Chris Crawford, said he overheard the former Conservative staffer talking about voter suppression tactics and advised him it wouldn't be smart to use them, the witness told a trial in Guelph, Ont.
Another witness from the 2011 Conservative campaign team in Guelph, John White, said Sona was a highly enthusiastic campaign worker and "gung-ho."
White was in charge of get-out-the vote efforts, or making sure supporters turned up at polling stations. He also pulled a number of non-supporter lists from the Conservatives' database. Elections Canada believes it was a list from the Conservative Party database that was used to make the misleading robocalls.
Crawford, who in 2009 was a Conservative Party intern with Sona and who went on to work with Sona on the campaign of Conservative candidate Marty Burke in Guelph, testified he heard Sona talking to campaign manager Ken Morgan late one night.
Crawford said Sona and Morgan were close, and that he remembers Sona talking to Morgan about voter suppression tactics such as making late-night phone calls claiming to be on behalf of an opposing party, or to direct them to the wrong polling station.
Voter suppression not'smart to do,' trial told
Crawford said he didn't think much of it at the time.
"In campaigns you often hear yammering on about different things and you don't think these things will actually happen. You give people the benefit of the doubt," Crawford said.
Crawford had to reread two parts of his statement to an Elections Canada investigator to refresh his memory. He made the statement March 6, 2012, 10 months after the mysterious misleading robocall was made and after an initial flood of media reports about the investigation.
Crawford said he later told Sona that voter suppression is "something I wouldn't think was smart to do." He said Sona didn't say much in response.
During the cross-examination, Sona's lawyer, Norm Boxall, asked whether Crawford recalled Sona saying he agreed with or approved of voter suppression tactics. Crawford said he didn't remember Sona saying anything like that, and agreed with Boxall that there was no suggestion that Sona or anyone else on the campaign would use the tactics.
"No, no," Crawford said.
Crawford agreed that many Canadian Conservatives look to the U.S. for strategies. Crawford himself has gone to the Conservative Political Action Conference, he confirmed.
Untraceable calls
Sona and Crawford lived together when both were Conservative Party interns in 2009.
Crawford was in charge of canvassing in Guelph for the Conservatives' 2011 campaign.
Boxall zeroed in on the time when Sona's name hit the news as a possible perpetrator, which happened before Crawford went to the party to say he wanted to talk to Elections Canada. He approached then director of communications Fred Delorey, who referred him to Conservative Party lawyer Arthur Hamilton.
Boxall asked Crawford about a promotion he got two months after speaking to Elections Canada. Crawford said it meant a $15,000 raise.
Another Conservative Party staffer, Matthew McBain, who now works for a cabinet minister, described a conversation he had with Sona about making untraceable phone calls.
McBain worked in opposition research at Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa, which White described as a job where staffers do things others might not want to do.
White said he referred Sona to McBain after Sona asked him about making untraceable calls.
McBain said he advised him to stay away from "stunts."
'Commonplace' conversations
White said the conversation wasn't unusual and agreed it didn't raise any alarm bells.
"Those sorts of conversations are commonplace so I can't say that they didn't happen... conversations about various nefarious activities that could happen to you or would be fun to do to someone else. But I've never really taken them very seriously," White said.
He said he doesn't recall the conversation being about poll-moving calls.
"I think I would have remembered that," he told the court.
The other witnesses for the Crown include Sona's colleagues from that campaign and from Parliament Hill. The prosecutor said they're expected to say that Sona bragged about the misleading robocalls.
The witnesses will also include:
Matt Meier, who owns RackNine, an automated calling service used to make the misleading calls.
RackNine Chris Rougier, who was in charge of voter relations at the Conservative Party.
The most important witness in the Crown's case may be Andrew Prescott, the campaign's deputy and a friend of Sona's. Prescott signed an immunity agreement to protect him from whatever testimony he provides.
Prescott handled IT issues for the campaign and was the campaign's main contact with RackNine, the Edmonton-based company behind the services used to make the automated calls.
He is expected to testify Tuesday or Wednesday, followed by four witnesses who worked for the Conservative Party or for Conservative MPs on Parliament Hill.
The trial is to last eight days.
Sona has maintained innocence
Sona has always said he had nothing to do with the calls, but faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the single charge.
Sona, 22 at the time of the campaign, was the director of communications for Burke.
Burke's campaign manager, Ken Morgan, moved to Kuwait in the months after the election and isn't expected to be back in Guelph to testify.
While hundreds of people outside Guelph also complained about misleading or harassing robocalls, a report by Elections Canada later found that there wasn't enough evidence to support the idea of a co-ordinated campaign to suppress the vote across the country.Thai Cuisine
Thai cuisine is one the most popular cuisines in the world and national cuisine of Thailand. Complexity is the specialty of this food. These are lightly prepared dishes with heavy aromatic elements with a spicy edge. Fundamental tastes like sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy are combined in a precise manner to create the magnificent Thai dish. Good care is given to the appearance, smell, and context of the food. In 2011, seven of Thailand’s popular dishes appeared on the list of the “World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods (Readers’ Pick)“— a worldwide online poll of 35,000 people by CNN Travel. Thailand had more dishes on the list than any other country. They were: Tom yam goong (4th), Pad Thai (5th), Som tam (6th), Massaman Curry (10th), Green Curry (19th), Thai fried rice (24th) and Moo nam tok (36th).
Regional cuisines and historical influences
Thai cuisines are precisely divided into four regional cuisines based on four different regions of the country.
Central Thai Cuisine from the central rice-growing plains of Bangkok.
Northeastern Thai cuisine is also known as Isan from the dry Khorat plateau.
Northern Thai cuisine from the forested mountains and valleys of the Thai highlands.
Southern Thai cuisine of the Kra Isthmus which is bordered on two sides by tropical seas.
Thailand’s cuisines and culinary traditions have been influenced by its neighboring regions. Thai cuisines share its dishes with neighboring nations like Burma, China etc. It was also influenced by western and Chinese culinary cultures. Many of the popular Thai dishes were derived from Chinese dishes. And the ingredients like peanuts, corn papaya were brought from Portuguese and Spain in the 17th century.
Serving
Thais eat with a fork and spoon. However, the tradition was to eat with the right hand while seated on mats or carpets on the floor. Such customs are still found in traditional households.
Important to Thai dining is the practice of khluk, mixing the flavors and textures of different dishes with the rice from one’s plate. The food is pushed by the fork, held in the left hand, into the spoon held in the right hand, which is then brought to the mouth. Chopsticks where a foreign utensil for most of the native tribes in Thailand except for Thai Chinese. The traditional way of eating for the majority of Thai natives was with hands like peoples of India. Thai meals typically consist of rice (khao in Thai) with many complementary dishes shared by all. The dishes are all served at the same time, including the soups, and it is also customary to provide more dishes than there are guests at a table. In most Thai restaurants, diners will have access to a selection of Thai sauces either brought to the table by wait staff or present at the table in small containers. These may include fish sauce, lime juice, chopped chilies, dried chili flakes, sweet chili sauce, and even sugar.
Ingredients
Thailand is a nation of different geographical landscapes and cultural diversities. Hence it’s no surprise that Thai cuisine features many different ingredients and way of cooking food. Thai food is well known for its extensive use of fresh herbs and spices than dried ones. Basic Thai flavors are derived from garlic, galangal, coriander, lemongrass, shallots, pepper, shrimp paste, fish sauce and chilies. Pork and chicken are the commonly used meats. Duck, beef and water buffalo are also used. Traditionally fish, crustaceans, and shellfish play an important role in Thai cuisines. Freshwater varieties come from the many rivers, lakes and other water sources. And the seafood comes from the tropical seas of the southern half of the country.
Rice, noodles and starches
Rice is the first and most important part of any Thai food. It’s so important so that the Thai word for rice and food is one and the same; khao. There are a number of rice verities available in Thailand, One of it is ‘khao chao’ a non-glutinous rice variety, another indigenous variety are sweet smelling jasmine rice, sticky rice, red cargo rice etc. Noodles are usually made from either rice flour, wheat flour or mung bean flour. An important Thai noodle variety is khanom chin which is fresh rice vermicelli made from fermented rice and is often eaten with spicy curries. Noodles adapted from Chinese cuisines to suits Thai tastes are called kuaitiao and these come in three varieties. Sen yai, sen lek and sen mi are these varieties. Tapioca flour and rice flour are used in desserts and as thickening agents.
Pastes and sauces
Any Thai food is incomplete without sauces and pastes. A sauce that is found in many Thai dishes and used in every part of the country is nam pla, a very aromatic fish sauce. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in Thai food and it provides a |
iff or shutout, and Tanaka might’ve figured the home run would stick with him for the length of his career. And that much is true, in that the game was documented, and Cabrera’s homer is something people will always be able to look up. But no one thinks of Yu Darvish and remembers that his career began with a four-pitch walk of Chone Figgins. No one thinks of Daisuke Matsuzaka and remembers that his career began with a single by David DeJesus. No one thinks of Stephen Strasburg and remembers that his career began with a 2-and-0 line drive by Andrew McCutchen. People will remember Tanaka for however Tanaka performs overall, and, one start in, it seems there’s an awful lot to like.
Which should surprise absolutely no one. Tanaka isn’t just a rookie — he’s a rookie recently given a nine-figure contract. Against the Jays, he threw two-thirds of his pitches for strikes. He kept the ball on the ground, outside of the dinger, and he didn’t issue a single walk while he struck the hitter out eight times. It was, granted, a Jays lineup without Jose Reyes, but it was a Jays lineup with everybody else, and Tanaka needed very little time to settle in and find a dominant groove. And along the way, he happened to pitch a lot like another front-of-the-rotation American League arm.
Tanaka, previously, drew a range of comparisons, including the obvious Hisashi Iwakuma and Hiroki Kuroda and the only slightly less obvious Dan Haren. There are only so many starters in baseball who throw a high number of splitters. But one thing we’ve come to realize is that splitters and changeups behave in very similar ways. Obviously, they are not the same pitch to the pitchers, but it doesn’t really matter what the pitcher thinks — it matters what the hitter sees. We can get away with grouping changeups and splitters together, and if you do that, we can have some fun with Tanaka’s first start.
To whom did Tanaka pitch most similarly? Fewer than half of his pitches were fastballs. A quarter of his pitches were splitters, and according to Gameday and Brooks Baseball, he mixed in sliders, curves, and cutters. I pulled up all the starters from 2013-2014, plugged in Tanaka’s pitch frequencies, and did some simple math to identify the most similar repertoire, just in terms of mix. Velocity wasn’t included, but I wanted to find the repertoire comparison first.
As evidence of legitimacy of method, Kuroda shows up as a good comp. Iwakuma shows up as a better comp. But the best comp, according to the method, is 2013-2014 Anibal Sanchez. Fewer than half of Sanchez’s pitches have been fastballs. A quarter of his pitches have been changeups — his changeup is very good — and then there’ve also been sliders and curveballs. It’s a comparison I like, and it’s a comparison I hadn’t heard before. And it’s a comparison that, for Tanaka, is encouraging, given that Sanchez has been one of baseball’s best starters.
Sanchez might have a little extra fastball velocity. He seems to have a little extra curveball velocity, too, and Tanaka’s splitter appears to be quicker by a tick or two than Sanchez’s changeup. It’s not a perfect comp. During the start, the Toronto broadcast noted that Adam Lind said there wasn’t much speed differential between Tanaka’s hard fastball and his hard splitter. In that regard Tanaka is similar to Felix Hernandez, who barely has any velocity difference at all between his fastball and his change. That’s a different comp, but Yankees fans can’t complain if Tanaka keeps getting compared to some of the most successful pitchers in the world.
And we’ll have to see where Tanaka goes from here. It’s interesting to observe that he changed even within the one start. Through the first three innings, just 21 of 58 pitches (36%) were fastballs or cutters. Through the final four, 26 of 39 pitches (67%) were fastballs or cutters. Said Tanaka, later:
“It was good that I increased the numbers of fastballs after two innings,” Tanaka said. “I think that was good for me.”
If Tanaka, going forward, throws more like 50-60% fastballs, then Sanchez might not be so good of a comparison. But if Tanaka ends up with a more consistent feel for his secondary stuff, then he could remain in the same area, and then Sanchez would make as much sense as anyone. Recall that last year Sanchez was worth 6.2 WAR, or 6.0 WAR, depending on your preference. He was worth a WAR starting with 6.
Before ending, let’s look at some Tanaka footage. One of my favorites at-bats was the showdown between Tanaka and Jose Bautista in the bottom of the first. This was just three batters in, and it was a four-pitch sequence. Tanaka started with a first-pitch curve — his first-ever curve — and first-pitch curves usually get taken:
Tanaka followed that by coming in, a little off the inside edge:
He did more or less exactly what he wanted, and though the pitch was a ball, Bautista was slightly backed off and the crowd responded as if Bautista were almost hit. Then came the splitter to get ahead:
With Bautista clearly looking to punish the ball into left field, Tanaka subsequently dropped a perfect 1-and-2 slider that would’ve been almost impossible to pull with any authority:
Bautista didn’t go all the way around, but it didn’t matter, because the pitch was a strike anyway. Look at the target, look at the execution, and look at the spot. That might’ve been as perfect a pitch as Tanaka threw all game, and the whole at-bat was a demonstration of his upper-level command.
Bautista in particular was frustrated by Tanaka. When they met in the third, Bautista popped out. When they met in the fifth, Bautista went down swinging at a splitter, a little up:
I’ll throw in another whiff, for good measure:
It should be noted that Tanaka made mistakes. Every pitcher makes mistakes, and Tanaka allowed that dinger in the first. Two.gifs up, he kind of missed to Bautista with his splitter, and he missed in a dangerous place. And immediately preceding that splitter, Tanaka threw the following 1-and-2 slider:
That’s an elevated slider over the middle of the plate to a dangerous hitter with the pitcher ahead in the count, and though Bautista fouled the pitch off, you can see that Tanaka was upset with himself. On several occasions in his debut, Tanaka left his pitches up. Most often, he got away with it, and literally everyone will miss spots from time to time, but Tanaka won’t be impossible to hit hard. On Yu Darvish’s off days, he has trouble finding the strike zone. He’s a guy you wait out. On Tanaka’s coming off days, he’ll probably miss in the zone, like he did to Bautista and like he did in the first to Cabrera. That’ll lead to extra-base hits, and that’ll lead to runs and big innings. But Tanaka’s command seems better than average, so those big innings should be few and far between. No one’s immune to them, but they can be limited.
In Japan, Masahiro Tanaka was one of the best pitchers in the league. Coming over, he was paid to be one of the best pitchers in the league. In Tanaka’s debut start, he pitched like one of the best pitchers in the league, and he generated results like one of the best pitchers in the league. It’s true that, sometimes, Tanaka’s going to leave a breaking ball up. Even Greg Maddux allowed almost 400 dingers.The New York Red Bulls open up their U.S Open Cup play with quite a test. Not only did they draw a strong team, they drew their bitter cross town rivals: New York City FC. These teams will meet three more times after Wednesday night’s match, however, none may be bigger then this one. The Red Bulls will meet NYCFC in a single elimination cup tournament for the first time. This is sure to bring the best out of both the players and the supporters.
Hudson River Rivalry: U.S Open Cup Preview
Key Factors
Red Bulls Home Success
The Red Bulls once again continue to be one of the best teams at home in the MLS. They have won five of their eight matches in Harrison this season and have been unbeaten in seven of them. Despite their lack of success on the road, they continue to play well while in the confines of Red Bull Arena.
Success vs. NYCFC
The Red Bulls have dominated the series since the two sides first played in 2015. They have won five of six meetings and have a 3-0-0 record against NYCFC at Red Bull Arena, holding NYCFC to one goal in each of those three matches. NYCFC have struggled to score in this series as a whole, being outscored 18-5 in all six meetings. This success should certainly give the Red Bulls confidence, regardless of their up and down form recently.
Lineup
Jesse Marsch certainly has some decisions to make for this Open Cup match. Including this game, the Red Bulls will have three matches in a ten day span. After Wednesday’s game, they will travel to Philadelphia this Sunday to play the Union, then meet NYCFC at Red Bull Arena again on the 24th. While Marsch would like to not go full strength for this match, he may think otherwise. Is he willing to sacrifice the match in Philadelphia to advance to the next round of the U.S Open Cup? While he has stated that MLS Cup is the team’s ultimate goal, the club has never won the U.S Open Cup either. Another early exit from a cup tournament will certainly heighten frustration with the supporters, as well as having it come at the hands of one of the team’s biggest rivals.
Predicted Starting XI
Final Thoughts/Match Prediction
This is going to be an intense match. NYCFC have never won at Red Bull Arena and will certainly be looking to reverse that trend. With the blue side of New York having a lot to play for, the Red Bulls will have to absorb some early pressure. However, in the end I see the Red Bulls continuing their dominance over NYCFC at home. The Red Bulls take this one by a score of 3-1 and advance to the next round.An animal rights groups is raising concerns about a Northern California farm that supplies eggs for Whole Foods and Organic Valley as well as other retailers and distributors.
Vancouver has three Whole Foods outlets.
The video purports to show disturbing conditions at Petaluma Farms that provides "certified humane eggs" to Whole Foods.
Warning Graphic Video
On mobile? Click here for video of alleged animal abuse
In the video, birds can be seen crammed into small pens, covered in feces or crowded together outside pens in conditions the video suggests are stressful.
Several birds look emaciated or diseased, but its hard to tell from the video alone how many birds are being kept in these conditions.
Whole Foods has rejected the allegations, saying they visited Petaluma Farms where the video was shot and didn't see any of the conditions portrayed in the video.
Direct Action Everywhere video showing hens jammed into cages alleged to have been shot at Petaluma farms in Northern California. (submitted by Direct Action Everywhere)
Petaluma Farms owner Steven Mahrt says the video doesn't represent the farm's operation.
"They had to go through 15 barns off-and-on for over a year to find three chickens they could use to make their point in the video," he said.
In an emailed statement, Whole Foods Market president Joe Rogoff called the video misleading.
"The video paints a distorted picture of our animal welfare standards by deliberately combining information about different species of animals, certification groups and factory farms not even associated with our company or products," he said.
"Since 2004, we have sold cage-free eggs exclusively but we also recognize there are still additional opportunities for improvements."
A hen rescued by Direct Action Everywhere is checked by a veterinarian. (submited by Direct Action Everywhere)
Rogoff said Whole Foods has been working with farmers to establish its own standards for egg-laying hens and will require compliance by the end of 2015 for private label egg suppliers with all others following suit after that.
Activists plan protests in 50 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada including Vancouver. In an email, Direct Action Everwhere said it would deliver speeches at Whole Foods outlets and hold signs with images of animals rescued as part of its investigation.Catalonia, roughly the size of Belgium and accounting for about one-fifth of Spain's economic output, already has significant powers over matters such as education and healthcare (AFP Photo/LLUIS GENE)
Madrid (AFP) - Spain's public prosecutor on Wednesday ordered a criminal probe of over 700 Catalan mayors who are cooperating with an October 1 independence referendum deemed illegal by Madrid.
The move increases the pressure on Catalan officials just one day before the pro-separatist camp officially kicks off its referendum campaign in the Mediterranean port of Tarragona.
Furious at the decision to instigate a probe, Catalan municipal associations called on all the region's mayors to protest in Barcelona on Saturday to show their "rejection of a Spanish judicial system that goes after the media, ballot papers, ballot boxes... and now mayors".
The prosecutors' office ordered the mayors who have agreed to help stage the vote be summoned to court as official suspects and if they do not appear to "order their arrest", according to a copy of the ruling obtained by AFP.
Pro-independence Catalan president Carles Puigdemont dubbed the move an "atrocity scarcely worthy of a democracy", and said he would attend Saturday's protest.
Catalonia's pro-separatist government has asked the wealthy northeastern region's 948 mayors to provide facilities for polling stations for the plebiscite.
So far 712 mostly smaller municipalities have agreed to participate, according to a list posted on the website of Catalonia's Municipal Association for Independence (AMI) which represents 750 municipalities.
"They can arrest us! They're crazy!," David Rovira, the pro-separatist mayor of L'Espluga de Francoli, a town of some 3,800 residents, told AFP by phone, adding that Madrid had "proposed nothing" to appease Catalonia's demands for greater autonomy.
Jordi Turull, spokesman for the Catalan government, told reporters that the executive would support the region's mayors and would "respect their decision".
The ruling comes a day after prosecutors ordered police in Catalonia to seize ballot boxes, election flyers and any other item that could be used in the referendum.
Prosecutors have already launched an official complaint against Puigdemont and members of his government over their referendum plans, accusing them of civil disobedience, misfeasance and misappropriation of public funds -- the latter carrying jail sentences of up to eight years.
And on Wednesday, the official referendum website was shut down following a court order, the Guardia Civil police force said, prompting Puigdemont to immediately tweet the address of a new website.
- 'Don't go' -
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government has vowed to do everything in its power to stop the referendum. It argues that Spain's 1978 constitution stipulates that regional governments cannot call an independence referendum.
Rajoy on Wednesday urged Catalans to boycott the referendum.
"If anyone urges you to go to a polling station, don't go because the referendum can't take place, it would be an absolutely illegal act," he said.
Spain's Constitutional Court has suspended a referendum law that was fast-tracked through Catalonia's regional parliament last week but the Catalan government has vowed to go ahead with the vote nonetheless.
Catalan authorities routinely ignore the court's decisions as they do not recognise its legitimacy.
In his first public comments since the Catalan government signed a decree calling the referendum, Spain's King Felipe VI said the rights of all Spaniards will be upheld against "whoever steps outside constitutional and statutory law".
But constitutional law professor Javier Perez Royo said it would be difficult for the state to stop the referendum if huge numbers of Catalans disobey the law and vote.
- Economic worries -
Catalonia, which is roughly the size of Belgium and accounts for about one-fifth of Spain's economic output, already has significant powers over matters such as education and healthcare.
But Spain's economic worries, coupled with a perception that the region pays more in taxes than it receives in investments and transfers from Madrid, have helped push the cause of secession from the fringes of Catalan politics to centre stage.
Hundreds of thousands of Catalans rallied on Monday in Barcelona on their national day to demand their region's secession from Spain and support the right to vote.
One big banner at the rally read: "Goodbye Spain".
Opinion polls show that Catalans are evenly divided on independence. But over 70 percent want a referendum to take place to settle the matter, similar to the plebiscite held in Scotland in 2014.TOURE NEBLETT: Let’s just look at members who are supporting this Landrieu bill, right. Mary Landrieu from a red state. Senator Kay Hagan from a red state. Joe Manchin from a red state. Senator Pryor from a red state. Senator Mark Begich from a red state. Do you notice anything? We see red state Democrats who are dealing with the challenge of living and governing in a gerrymandered world where sometimes they have to deal with what the folks on the right – very low support from the Republican side for this – what the folks on the right want.
If You Listen To Nobody But Those Like You….
(HT: Newsbusters)
I’ve hated gerrymandering for years and wished someone would write an algorithm to draw Congressional Districts that would just about make it impossible. Perhaps I should feel vindicated that a cracker-jack pundit on MSNBC is seeing things my way. Here’s Toure Neblett getting religion on gerrymandering. It’s just that there are two problems. One, you can’t gerrymander a Senate District. The 2nd, more serious problem is his attitude.
He manages to condescend from a position of ineluctable ignorance. I mean Heaven Forefend! You must sometimes deal with what folks on the right actually want. Why, if it gets any worse for the Democrats on ObamaCare, they’ll have to publically testify that Conservatives don’t all have hookworms and green teeth. Bless their poor, little hearts.
And it gets worse! If you’re a Democrat from Oregon, you sometimes have to deal with rural people. Poor Jeff Merkley – it’s tough when your entire state is gerrymandered with an electorate from the cast of Deliverance. Toure’ however, had not yet finished dazzling us with his geopolitical insights. Diane Feinstein is dealing with a gerrymandered electorate in California,
Sen. Feinstein sometimes just goes to the right and just, you know, bucks her party from time to time. So she’s sort of an outlier in this situation.
but Barabara Boxer isn’t. So how do I break this to Toure’ Neblett gently? Feinstein and Boxer are from the same state!
Toure’ Neblett is the perfect representative for what the American Progressive Movement has become. He is blissfully unaware that a real world exists that could possibly see things differently for honest and condign reasons. He is the product of the post-modern American university education. The Nietzchean Last Man with a microphone and a primetime slot to autobeclown with to his heart’s content. At least he’s on MSNBC where the vast majority of the viewers won’t be bright enough to figure out the poor man is a few thousand lumens short of a solar flare.
But it’s the attitude that he projects while being wrong that is far worse than his lack of knowledge. He *hates* the fact that he or his ilk even have to acknowledge rural people or folks on the right. He’s a bit more subtle than Senator Bilbo, just not terribly much. My concern here is that this really is what people on the Left habitually think. I mean, he’s brutally wrong here; yet he still bristles with resentment and rank condescension that I could possibly disagree with a brilliant idea like ObamaCare.
I’m willing to concede that your typical staff member at The Obama White House has a higher brain density and more central nervous system function than Toure’ Neblett. I just wonder some days whether they have any greater respect for the rest of the country than the idiotic bloviator sharing his “ideas” on MSNBC. And that, more than the painful ignorance, is the problem with progressives like Toure’ Neblett.A Polk County Jail employee was arrested Friday for stalking.Online arrest records show 39-year-old Ryan Scrivner was arrested by Des Moines police and charged with one count of stalking.Scrivner is a detention supervisor at the Polk County Sheriff's Office.Scrivner posted bond following an initial court appearance on Saturday.Officials said Scrivner is a civilian detention officer supervisor employed by the Polk County Jail since 2008."The Polk County Sheriff's Office is aware of his arrest and we are currently in the process of conducting an administrative investigation to review the allegations surrounding his criminal charge," reads a statement from the Sheriff's Office.Scrivner has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
A Polk County Jail employee was arrested Friday for stalking.
Online arrest records show 39-year-old Ryan Scrivner was arrested by Des Moines police and charged with one count of stalking.
Advertisement
Scrivner is a detention supervisor at the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Scrivner posted bond following an initial court appearance on Saturday.
Officials said Scrivner is a civilian detention officer supervisor employed by the Polk County Jail since 2008.
"The Polk County Sheriff's Office is aware of his arrest and we are currently in the process of conducting an administrative investigation to review the allegations surrounding his criminal charge," reads a statement from the Sheriff's Office.
Scrivner has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
AlertMeThe Lewis and Clark Expedition as depicted in a painting by Newman Myrah entitled “Bartering Blue Beads for Otter Robe”. A Girandoni Air Rifle was taken on the expedition and greatly impressed the Native Americans. Painting courtesy of the U.S. Army
The alpine region of Tyrol, a borderland between Italians and Germans, has long bred skillful hunters and tough mountain warriors. Around 1778, a Tyrolean master gunsmith, Bartolomeo Girandoni (1729-1799), invented the Girandoni air rifle, which attracted the attention of Joseph II, the Austrian emperor.
Air rifles had been used since the 16th century, mainly to hunt small game. They were a favorite of poachers, because the lack of noise and smoke meant they could be used covertly.
Girandoni’s extraordinary design had two innovations that made it a formidable military weapon, rather than a sporting gun for wealthy nobles. First, it was a breech-loader, with a 20-round tubular magazine fixed alongside the barrel. To load the weapon, the user simply elevated the muzzle and pressed a spring-loaded slider, which picked up a ball and snapped it into place. To reload the magazine, the user opened a plug at the front of the magazine and emptied the contents of a “speed loader” into it. Second, it used very high pressure: 800 psi (54.4 atmospheres, or 5515.8 kPa) held in a riveted sheet-iron pressure flask that formed the weapon’s butt-stock. A fully-charged pressure flask was good for up to 80 shots.
The weapon’s advantages included a high rate of fire, no smoke, relatively low recoil, and less noise than a musket. With no black powder residue to foul the bore, it needed less cleaning. Shooters could load and fire while lying flat.
But there were significant disadvantages: The mechanism was complex and fragile. Like most rifles of the era, it was too fragile to mount a bayonet. It took 1,500 strokes on a hand pump (similar to a modern bicycle pump) to charge the air cylinder. The weapon became useless if the pump were lost or damaged. But above all, the Girandoni was simply incompatible with the tactical doctrine of the era. As much as weapons or terrain, doctrine shapes the behavior of armies.
In the late 18th century, black powder rifles were precision sniper weapons. In battle riflemen targeted aristocratic officers, conspicuous in their gaudy uniforms. The officers found the whole idea repugnant, and unsporting. Brave soldiers stood up in the open and traded musket volleys at point-blank range. Napoleon Bonaparte actually disbanded the French army’s rifle units in 1807, because he considered rifles too expensive, and too slow to load and fire.
Issued to a few units of Tyrolean sharpshooters, the Girandoni served in combat against the Turks, but apparently never in Austria’s Napoleonic wars. By 1815, it was withdrawn from service. Around 1803, one of these weapons wound up in Philadelphia, Penn. An aide to President Thomas Jefferson, Capt. Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) acquired the piece. When Jefferson sent an expedition to explore the newly purchased Louisiana Territory, Lewis took the Girandoni along, to impress the native tribes he encountered. This is mentioned repeatedly in the journals of Lewis and Clark.
“My Air-gun…astonishes them very much, they cannot comprehend it’s shooting so often and without powder…” -Meriwether Lewis Jan. 24, 1806
Somehow, this air rifle survived, and was eventually purchased by a collector. A gunsmith was commissioned to make some high-quality replicas. When the weapon was disassembled, he found that the main spring had been repaired exactly as described in the journals of Lewis and Clark. This historic weapon is now on loan to the museum of the National Rifle Association in Fairfax, Va.
The Girandoni air rifle is a might-have been; a footnote to military history. Each one was hand-crafted by master gunsmiths, making them very costly. Probably no more than 1,500 were ever built. Some of the materials and techniques used were carefully guarded “trade secrets” that died with the craftsmen.
At the very same time that the Austrian army was struggling to keep the Girandonis in repair, an American inventor, Eli Whitney (1765-1825) was trying to manufacture muskets with moving parts machined so precisely that they would be “interchangeable” between weapons of the same type. It was a revolutionary idea in a world where every complex mechanism was individually filed and ground to fit. The development of precision machine tools and gauges in the early 19th century had not progressed far enough to make Whitney’s dream a reality until after his death. If Girandoni’s brilliant design had connected with Whitney’s interchangeable parts, armies equipped with mass-produced smokeless magazine rifles would have been quickly forced to adapt their tactics and doctrine, and subsequent history might have taken a very different path.
Specifications
Caliber:.462 in (11.68mm)
Muzzle velocity: 500 fps (152 m/s)
Weight: 10 pounds (4.5 kg)
Length: 48 inches (1.2 m)
Magazine capacity: 22 rounds
Effective range: 150 yards (137 m)
“At … 50 feet, (15 meters) … capable of placing ten shots into a group the size of a quarter.”A black teenager, killed by an off-duty police officer in St. Louis, was shot eight times, six of the bullets striking him from behind, an independent autopsy by a famed forensic expert revealed.
The autopsy was performed at the request of the victim’s family by Dr. Cyril Wecht, who has previously investigated the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley and JonBenet Ramsey.
According to Wecht, 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers was shot eight times. Six bullets hit the back of both his legs, one shattered his femur and another struck the side of his head, inflicting a fatal injury.
Attorneys for the dead young man’s family believe the autopsy results suggest Myers was running away from the police officer.
"The evidence shows that the story we've been given by the Police Department does not match up," attorney Jerryl Christmas said, as cited by the AP. "There's no evidence that there was a gun battle going on."
Another Myers family lawyer, Jermaine Wooten, said shots the young man received from behind contradicted police allegations that the teen was facing the officer the whole time, the St. Louis American reported.
Police earlier said it was the dead teenager who started shooting and fired at least three rounds at the officer, before his gun jammed. The policeman, whose name is not disclosed allegedly fired back 17 times.
Autopsy results reveal that a St. Louis cop shot Vonderrit Myers Jr. six times from behind. https://t.co/SlLmZQU7Pepic.twitter.com/45ciBkzCP5 — [ Police News ] (@InsidePolice) October 24, 2014
The police said its forensic analysis revealed the presence of gunpowder residue on Myers’ hands and clothes, which proved he was shooting a gun.
The police explanation of what happened did not contradict the findings of the independent autopsy, according to the officer's attorney, Brian Millikan.
He insists the policeman was firing at Myers not when he was running away, but when he was lying on his side with a gun in his hand.
"He was propped up on his left elbow, and his legs were facing out at the policeman as he went down, but he was still holding the gun and pointing it at the policeman," Millikan said, according to AP.
Myers' parents were present at the autopsy results announcement but did not speak to the press afterwards. Earlier they claimed their son did not possess a gun.
Wecht received a subpoena to hand over his autopsy report to a grand jury reviewing Myers’ death.
An official autopsy by St. Louis Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Graham is not expected for several weeks. A preliminary report on Graham’s autopsy said Myers was shot up to seven times in the lower part of his body and received a fatal shot in his right cheek.
Myers was shot dead October 8, with his death provoking mass protests in St. Louis. The incident happened just two months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, which led to violent clashes between crowds protesting the shooting and police behavior.In a piece for the Just Security blog (6/5/17) about the impact of weapons industry contributions on a Saudi arms vote, Ryan Goodman notes that “money also pollutes other policy spaces that influence congressional votes”—including the news media:
In March of this year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee invited former ambassador Gerald Feierstein—director of the Center for Gulf Affairs at the Middle East Institute—to speak about the situation in Yemen and about his views on the sale of US arms to the Saudis. As one might have anticipated from his interview in the Washington Post, Feierstein told the committee, “Accusations of war crimes leveled against Saudi and Coalition armed forces and threats to end arms sales to the Saudis have the potential to inflict long-lasting damage to these relationships.” Limiting the supply of munitions, he said, would be “counter-productive,” and he added, “I don’t understand why if you’re concerned about Saudi actions causing collateral damage you would limit the ability of them to acquire the kinds of weapons that would limit collateral damage and would allow them to be more accurate.” (The answer is that you may be concerned the Saudis would use those more accurate weapons to target civilians, funeral homes and other objects on a no-strike-list.)
Never disclosed in the Washington Post interview or in the Senate hearing was the source of funding for Feierstein’s Middle East Institute. According to its most recent public report, the Institute counts among its chief donors leading members of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and major arms manufacturers. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait provide the highest level of support as “Platinum Sponsors,” and the UAE is also a donor. Raytheon, the manufacturer of the very weapons at issue in the Senate hearing, is a Gold Sponsor of the Institute. It is worth noting, of course, that the Middle East Institute is not unique in Washington. The defense industry and foreign governments pump money into many think tanks.Each day until Feb. 2, the final day of the 2013 NFL season, we're going to break down a Giants free agent. We'll analyze his season, his future and the odds of him re-signing with the team this offseason.
Position: Guard/Tackle
2013 Stats: Started 11 games at right guard
'13 salary: $1,000,000
David Diehl, an 11-year veteran, is expected to announce his retirement in the coming weeks as his body can no longer withstand the pounding in the NFL trenches. He’ll walk away as one of the most durable, toughest and versatile offensive linemen in Giants' history.
Drafted in the fifth round (160th overall) in 2003 out of Illinois, Diehl was no sure bet to make the roster. Not only did he make the team, he became the first rookie to start all 16 games since tight end Mark Bavaro in 1985.
Diehl, 6-foot-5, 315 pounds (most of his career), started the first 120 regular-season games and seven postseason games of his career over seven-plus seasons, the longest such streak by a Giant since the start of the 16-game season in 1978.
During the streak, he started at right guard, left guard, right tackle and left tackle. Diehl, who played in 164 regular-season games and 11 postseason games, started at left tackle in Super Bowl XLII and XLVI. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 2009.
After a subpar 2012 season, Diehl returned with vigor this season, reshaping his body and playing at 300-305 pounds. But the years of pounding had caught up to Diehl and he wasn’t the player he once was.
Quarterback Eli Manning was sacked a career-high 39 times and the Giants ranked 28th in the NFL in total offense as the offensive line struggled.
Nonetheless, Diehl’s legacy is in place. He’ll go down as one of the best mid-round draft picks in club history and a tough-as-granite performer.
Chance for a return: 0%
Why? The spirit is willing but Diehl has gotten everything he could out of his body and it’s time to move on.
Projected contract: N/ALast week I was in Rome. I was at the Palazzo del Quirinale, the home of Giorgio Napolitano, the President of the Republic of Italy. I was there to attend the 2012 International Balzan Prize Foundation awards ceremony. I was invited as a guest of the Foundation.
Until the beginning of September, I had never heard of these awards. I received a message via LinkedIn asking if I was interested in attending this event. I was told the Balzan Foundation gives out prizes in the sciences and the humanities and that this year the two science fields being honored were Solid Earth and Epigenetics. And that the prizewinners would be given their prizes at a ceremony in Rome on November 14.
I was intrigued. I did not think that this would amount to much. And of course traveling to Rome is very expensive. So I wrote back that although I appreciated the invitation I could not attend. I then received an e-mail from the press officer of the Foundation that I was being invited as their guest and I would receive a grant that would cover my expenses. Since the last time I was in Rome I was 20 years old, I thought it is time to go back. I am glad I did. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I was the only American journalist/science writer there. The other journalists were from Italy and Switzerland.
I learned that the International Balzan Foundation was founded in 1957. That past recipients of the prize have included included Pope John XXIII, Jorge Luis Borges, James Sloss Ackerman, John Elliott and Shinya Yamanaka who won the Nobel prize this year.
I was curious about how the grant was started. I was delighted to find out that Eugenio Francesco Balzan was a journalist. He was born in 1874 in Italy and was managing director of the newspaper il Corriere della Sera, from 1903-1934. The paper still exists today.
As a special correspondent he went to Canada to do a series of articles on Italians who emigrated there seeking better circumstances. They had hard times, as did Balzan who emigrated to Switzerland in 1933 to escape the rise of fascism. He lived in Zurich and Lugano and made a considerable fortune. He died in 1953. Three years later, his daughter Lina established the Balzan Foundation in his honor. The foundation has offices in Switzerland and Italy and the award ceremonies rotate each year between Rome and Berne.
I loved the fact that he was a journalist and that he was opposed to the Mussolini regime. And so I thought of Balzan as I watched the President of Italy, who also fought against the Mussolini regime, present the awards. I do not know Italian, but I found his speech moving. I was overcome by a sense of history and how wonderful it was that a journalist left such a glorious legacy where great men are honored for their contributions to making our world a better place.
It was a very formal ceremony. Each of the four 2012 Balzan Prizes winners were given 750,000 Swiss Francs (approximately $790,000.)The prizewinners were each introduced by prominent professors in Italy who read their citations. This year's winners were:
Ronald Dworkin (USA), New York University, for Jurisprudence
Reinhard Strohm (Germany), University of Oxford (UK), for Musicology
Kurt Lambeck (Australia), Australian National University, for Solid Earth Sciences, with emphasis on interdisciplinary research.
David Baulcombe (UK), University of Cambridge, for Epigenetics.
I got to know the prize winners and their families quite well. After the ceremony, I had the opportunity to interview them at the Hassler hotel which is right on top of the Spanish steps.
I heard that Sylvester Stallone was staying there to attend a film festival. In fact, he was sitting in the lobby while I was conducting |
"Make sure that [gun components sold in kits] are serialized, that those manufacturing them have appropriate licensing, and make sure that for people to buy them they have to pass a background check."
But so far, Congress has shown zero interest in regulating ghost gun products.
"We don't want gun crime; we don't want people getting shot," Serbu says."But most people realize that ultimately there's nothing really that we can do about it."
There is research suggesting that gun regulation can limit violence and reduce fatalities. But Serbu doesn't buy it. He thinks requiring background checks for ghost gun kits would just anger hobbyists like himself without stopping a single criminal.
"How many laws are you going to stack in front of them before it's going to work?" he asks. "Unfortunately we just have psychopaths out there who are going to do this kind of thing."
For now, hobbyists such as Serbu along with criminals and terrorists can all order as many of these weapon kits online as they want, no questions asked.Pickets returned to the Minneapolis Warehouse District on Saturday, nearly 81 years to the day after a strike there turned violent when police shot 67 truckers, killing two and sparking the city's labor movement.
Their cause this time: To remember the events of July 20, 1934, by dedicating a plaque on the side of the Sherwin Williams building on 3rd Street N., where striker Henry Ness was killed by officers.
"How many slugs did they say he had put in him?" Gail Martinsen asked her sister, Nadine Ness, as they stood on the corner where their grandfather was shot.
"They said that there were 38 bullets in his back," Ness said, noting many strikers were shot in the back and some were shot before they got out of their trucks.
John Belor, a member of an organization of unemployed workers, also died 10 days after being shot on July 20.
On Saturday, families of 13 strikers waved picket signs bearing photographs of their loved ones. A group called Remember 1934, which commemorated the strike's 80th anniversary last year, raised the money to cover the cost of the plaque and ceremony.
The July 20 violence came during the third in a series of three strikes in 1934 that centered on efforts to unionize truckers in Minneapolis under the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. One month earlier, a confrontation referred to as Deputies Run ended in a battle that killed deputized business owner Arthur Lyman and special policeman Peter Erath.
David Riehle, a Remember 1934 member, said anyone studying American history would say the events of 1934 in Minneapolis and other cities were pivotal moments in the nation's labor movement.
"These strikes were explosive," he said. "The powers that be were shaken by what happened. They said at the time that they were afraid of not just one strike in one city, but of facing an organized working class that may be carrying out a revolution."
Finding their stories
Gladys McKenzie, Riehle's wife and a fellow committee member, has worked to find descendants of the strikers.
"We really need to find these people and we really need to get their stories," McKenzie said. "There's a window of opportunity for doing that that's going to close on us."
At a booth Saturday, she helped families slap together their picket signs and greeted people like John Hanson. His father was among those who were picketing on July 20, which also has been called Bloody Friday. Hanson later took the stage to tell the audience how his father, also named John Hanson, witnessed a friend being shot by police.
"The bastards — they shot him in the back," he said his father told him. He said his father also recalled how the strikers were made up of World War I veterans, immigrants and the unemployed, all with varying political views.
Committee members say the plaque is the first tangible memorial to acknowledge a labor movement in Minneapolis. After the ceremony, some families lingered to share stories in front of the memorial.
"We have weekends off, we have breaks, we have lunch, we have fair wages — within reason," Nadine Ness said. "[Many] don't understand what got them there. They are standing on the shoulders of heroes and they don't know it. And I think this plaque helps in that direction, to show these were amazing people, and look at what they did."Reservoir Gods
Witch Burning 101, Lesson #1: How to Burn a Witch
If anything, this show has become a life event for me. Every Wednesday I turn off all the lights and get spooky with it! Last night’s episode, ‘Burn, Witch. Burn!’, literally took my breath away for all the right reasons. But there was one scene, and I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about, that will forever live in infamy through the memories of my imagination! Like something straight out of a Quentin Tarantino flick, you just couldn’t look away– even though, ya know, they were friggin’ BURNING A WOMAN ALIVE!
There was so much action and story going on last night I hardly know where to start. So many twists and turns– it’s usually at this point in the season that I start to lose track of where the writer’s are going with the story! I mean– we had zombie daughters out for revenge, a failed attempt to overthrow the Supreme, a double blindside at Witch Council and a good ole’ fashion REAL WITCH BURNING that took a page straight out of Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic Reservoir Dogs. If you don’t watch this show, I feel sorry for you! 🙂
And just to set the mood a little, I’ve included the audio track from the song they played during that Witch burning scene last night, Dr. John’s 1973 classic ‘Right Place, Wrong Time’:
Army of Darkness… and Witches
The episode begins on Halloween in 1831 New Orleans, back in the days when it was totally not cool to be black. Our maid friend, LaLaurie, is celebrating Hallow’s Eve with her version of ‘Guess What’s In The Bowl?’.
“Go on… cop a feel!”
Did I mention that this game takes place in her ‘Chamber of Horrors’. Do not go in there, Jacques! Of course, he does anyways and starts feeling up whatever is inside! Those ain’t grapes Jacques:
1830’s Version of Fear Factor?
And I don’t think those are sausages Jacques:
Nom Nom Nom!
The real lesson to be learned from all of this, however, is that you do not want to fuck with Mother LaLaurie! Even if you have special LaLaurie daughter status! Although I guess it would kinda suck if your moms was a serial murderer who ran a chamber of horrors– probs not a good idea to bring your boyfriend over on HALLOWEEN! So the 3 daughters plot to murder their mother since clearly they ain’t ever gettin’ laid in a house like that!
But LaLaurie finds out about this plot and, as we all know, it doesn’t end well for the daughters! LaLaurie is pissed right off and ends up locking them in cages with the rest of her ‘slaves’. And since her daughters were “full of shit” about the whole murder plot thing, LaLaurie decides to take the phrase ‘eat shit’ to a whole new level!
The inventor of the phrase ‘Eat Shit’.
Flash forward to present time and LaLaurie’s daughters are back. Except this time, they are back as Voodoo Zombie Bitches, summoned by the Voodoo Queen who is out for revenge on LaLaurie and the Coven. But they are just chilling on the front lawn minding their own business… for now! That’s when shit really starts to get fucked up! Luke Ramsey, the local neighbor boy and idiot, decides to go for a walk because he thinks it’s just some elaborate prank!
“See, guys… no big deal, someone just randomly decided to set up a Zombie obstacle course for no reason!”
Luke, you and those random stoner teenagers wandering around Witch Manor, are idiots! Because while you’re busy admiring the nice little prosthetic Zombie arms… this bitch his getting Voodoo with it:
“Lavitate Los Manos”
Ah yes, traditional Voodoo levitation spells work like a charm, don’t they? This actually reminded me of a hilarious clip from American Dad that I had to include… Steve thinks he’s going to Hogwart’s but reallllly, well just watch the clip if you want a good laugh:
That makes me laugh every time! Anyways… so while the Voodoo Lady is all chillin’ in the air, she decides now would be a great time to wake up her evil minions of the dead… and Angela Bassett, as Marie Laveau, continues to look BAD ASS to the EXTREME:
Angela Bassett’s audition tape for X-Men’s Storm
Then it BEGINS! And with that, the zombie’s awaken from their slumber and start by instantly murdering the stoner teens which we ALL saw coming. But it was Luke that I was most concerned about because I know we haven’t seen the last of the Ramsey’s yet! So as the Zombies are eating the stoner teen’s entrails, Luke realizes that these zombies are the real deal and decides to get outta dodge, but not before he gets a ho in the back! Hahaha… what a ho!
Meanwhile, Zoe is trying to prevent everyone from leaving the house with no success, Maid LaLaurie wants to go visit her zombie daughters outside and Nan has now headed outside into the zombie obstacle course to try and save her crush Luke. If one thing is true, some of these characters do, at least, act as stupid as some of the characters we have seen in American horror movies over the years! And running INTO a front lawn of walking undead is as stupid as they come! But at least there is Zoe, the only smart one who is FORCED into the situation of having to save Nan and Luke!
But before we get to that… Madame LaLaurie decides to let one of her undead daughters into the fucking manor! Are you mentally challenged woman?! Cus these are the results of your actions:
“Mommy’s little girl is all grown up… and undead”
Still following? Told ya there was lots going on. So Voodoo Zombie starts wandering upstairs after Spaulding puts Queenie to bed and knocks his freaky ass out with a candlestick on the way there. This startles Preci ous Queenie, who currently holds the world record for world’s largest arms, and she starts going all human voodoo doll on the zombie and literally stabs herself in the arm and slits her own neck…
“Ya, I still got a bit of dirt in there from the whole lying 6 feet under for 140 years thing”
…yup, you definitely just read that correctly! So crazy Voodoo Zombie finally ends up meeting her demise, but it’s her own mother, Madame LaLaurie that finishes the job… with a fire poker:
“Sorry about the whole torturing thing…”
BAM! Zombie is dead. So not sure what exactly happened to LaLaurie or how she was somehow able to avoid that zombie chokeslam, but either way she survived and saved Queenie’s ass… and that is A LOT of ass to save!
Meanwhile outside, Nan and Luke are still being attacked by the undead and Zoe had been backed into a corner and was being chased by a swarm of undead. Luckily for Zoe though, the gardener has a pretty good budget at the manor and Zoe uses this to her advantage:
Zoe ‘Ash Williams’ Benson to the rescue
The New Orleans Chainsaw Massacre! YIKES! But that’s not even all of it… while Nan and Luke are getting away finally, Zoe’s new weapon runs out of gas so she uses the next best thing… a spell that somehow puts the Voodoo Lady on her ass and the zombie with her! Pretty convenient… and powerful:
“High School is NOTHING like Sabrina the Teenage Witch!!!”
Looks like Zoe is a lot more powerful than we all thought! So all and all, it was a successful Halloween-themed World War Z with the only casualties being those stupid Stoner kids! Let’s just say it could have been A LOT worse! And please AHS, no more zombies… I’m sooo over it (look no further than the trainwreck that is The Walking Dead Season 4).
I’ll Be Your Mother Until You Die
Also following from last week, after Delia had acid thrown in her face, we hear screaming from the bathroom and Fiona finds her daughter… and ya, she’s not doing too good:
“Am I laughing or crying?”
Delia is taken to the hospital after the acid bath and the results are not good as she will not be getting her eyesight back! Also, did anyone else notice how SKETCHY AS FUCK that hospital was!? Like really, every light in that place was flicking on and off… and the staff are all like “No biggie!” Not to mention that old crazy dude in the diaper! Um… wtf AHS, this isn’t Briarcliff Hospital!?!?!? I guess it’s true that Fiona was high as fuck on some non-prescript drugs, but still… everything about that hospital was creepy for no good reason except the fact that this is AHS!
Welcome to Briarcliff Hospital– The Sketchiest Hospital on Earth
So Fiona’s wandering through these sketchy as fuck hospital hallways and comes across a mother who just gave birth to a stillborn baby… but no big deal, since of course Fiona can easily bring the baby back to life! If these Witches have the ability to bring the dead back to life than why in the fuck can’t Fiona simply heal her daughter’s vision? I mean, she’s wandering around the hospital, bringing dead babies back to life like it’s no one’s business… so I really, really hope we get some sort of explanation about this!
And Fiona is an interesting one to say the least. On the one hand, she is clearly a villain (or supposed to be?) as she’s already committed a couple of pretty violent murders (Anna Lee and Madison) with more viciousness to come! On the other hand, she’s at her daughter’s side in the hospital and ends up bringing a new born back to life for no apparent reason except to be nice? She is definitely a hard one to figure out and, with no real villain on this show, I’m cheering for everybody! And oddly enough, this WORKS!
But what really struck me from this particular scene was the fact that Fiona had asked the mom to say she would be the baby’s mother until she died… maybe some foreshadowing for what is to come with Fiona and Delia. Obviously Fiona has been a bad mother in the past and I feel as though this whole scene has a lot more meaning, especially considering it was the only break from all the ACTION!
And before I forget, some other stuff happened with Hank (Delia’s serial killer husband). He got into a bitch fight with Fiona about who actually cares about Delia… meh, whatever. We all know how this is gonna go down anyways– with Hank dying in some gruesome way. But more importantly, we see that Delia is in fact a clairvoyant and was somehow able to listen to her husband’s thoughts… you know, the ones about how he had sex with some chick whom he then proceeded to murder! I get the feeling Delia is not going to take to kindly to cheating murdering husband’s… so hopefully she gets rid of Hank and soon– the quicker, the better!
Stuck In The Middle With Myrtle
After the events of World War Z, Fiona signs off on Nan taking care of Luke to heal from his ‘ho wound’ (why does that make me laugh every time!?) and praises Zoe for saving the day… let the speculation start about the Supreme again! It appears to be Zoe after she obliterated the Voodoo Zombies earlier but I still have a sneaking suspicion that Zoe is too obvious a choice!
After burning the remaining undead, the Witch’s Council returns only this time they’re coming after Fiona in full force because Myrtle Snow just can’t let things go. So they have charged her with gross neglect, malfeasance and willful disregard for the well being of the Coven! And I kinda see why… after all, the school was attacked by voodoo zombies, Delia was attacked by acid and Madison is…. well… let’s just say she’s hanging out on a limb…
“Needs a little elbow grease.”
Spaulding… I think you may have pulled on her arm just a little too hard. No idea what this scene even meant but it was fucking hilarious watching Spaulding, in his night gown and cap, pull off Madison’s arm as the music comes to a screeching halt! Classic!
So as you can see… Fiona ain’t runnin shit up to management standards! The council decides to abdicate her from the Coven which doesn’t end up going too well for our friend Ms. Snow. And it was a shocker! Fiona basically accuses Myrtle of throwing acid in her daughter’s face!
But wait… there’s no evidence you say? Oh, there is plenty of evidence that Fiona somehow pulls out of her ass. Clever little Witch! So off come the gloves… literally, and it’s revealed that Myrtle has spilled some acid on her own hand:
AHS’ version of the OJ Simpson trial: “If the glove fit… you must burn the witch!”
And she was in New Orleans well before the Council arrived… yup, she has a bit of a stalker problem and, luckily for Fiona, she decided to take pictures of Myrtle’s bad habits prior to their second arrival and show the Council! And just like last night’s Survivor: Blood vs. Water, Myrtle was blindsided but unforunately for her, there is no Redemption Island in AHS… only good ole’ fashioned witch burnings! The Council has no choice but to BURN THE WITCH!
Right Place, Wrong Time
Every now and then, television or a particular movie does something so epic and so original that it instantly becomes classic! Case in point… the movie Reservoir Dogs! Anybody that has heard the song “Stuck In The Middle With You” by Stealers Wheel knows exactly what I’m talking about. For those interested, check out that now infamous scene from Reservoir Dogs below:
And last night, AHS totally went all Reservoir Dogs on us. As soon as the blindside was complete and Myrtle was ousted from the Council… the beat from Dr. John’s classic ‘Right Place, Wrong Time’ started to play as Myrtle says ‘Go ahead… burn me!’ I nearly fell off my fucken couch in excitement! I know I keep mentioning Angela Bassett (Marie Laveau) and her stellar performance this season as the Voodoo Queen, but Frances Conroy has completely KILLED in her role as Myrtle Snow!
Now I couldn’t find a copy of this scene as it only aired last night, but just remember that Right Place, Wrong Time was playing in the background throughout… it was really a joy to see! Check out some screen caps and, if you haven’t seen it, do yourself a massive favor and go watch this NOW:
As Dr. John starts playing, they lead Myrtle out to some gravel pit… the Witches are all dressed in black except Myrtle:
A little cloudy with a chance of Witch Burning!
Of course, they bring the whole crew along because it’s a Witch Tradition… all students must be present for Witch burnings. No exceptions:
“So glad we didn’t cut class today!!!”
Myrtle is led to her pyre and she is dressed for the occasion:
“Right place, wrong time… you got that right!”
And can’t forget the creepy bodyguard type dudes that look like they literally came from Reservoir Dogs! Oddly enough, I want to know what this guys deal is based on appearance alone:
Next season on AHS: This guys backstory!
BOTH of them:
“Assume the position”
Another cool part about this whole scene was that they kept going back and forth between the various characters… it was rather quick because they were doing it to the beat of the song, but it worked SO SOOOO WELL! This particular shot of Fiona Goode dressed in her Witch gear was just straight-up BAD ASS:
“We ain’t playing Survivor, honey!”
And just like Reservoir Dogs, someone gets covered in gasoline while a classic hit from the 70’s plays in the background. This will never ever get old… just saying:
“I hope someone drops a house on you!”
And the song ends with this lovely shot of Fiona’s cigarette with Myrtle all tied up and drenched in gasoline in the background:
“Smoking ain’t cool? I beg to differ.”
And for the grand finale, let the fireworks begin!!! Myrtle Snow has met her end…
TOASTY!
…or has she? Needless to say, this was easily my favorite scene in American Horror Story history! Even if it just aired, there was nothing even close, in my opinion, that tops this scene… it was THAT good! And yup, the episode ain’t even over yet!!!
Misty-fying Conclusion
Finally I got to see a Witch burning on this show and it lived up to all the hype! But the aftermath of this burning is really going to set things off in a different direction for the remaining 8 episodes.
We head back to Witch Manor and find Fiona popping some pills when Queenie comes to her door. She is feeling a little bit guilty over the good ole fashioned witch burning we all just witnessed. And as it turns out, the acid burns on Myrtle’s hands were not from throwing acid at Delia, but rather from Queenie doing her voodoo doll thing on Ms. Snow! Didn’t see that one coming:
“Dipping Sauce?”
Looks like Myrtle may not have been so guilty as we had first thought! And Fiona is getting a lil’ bit smarter with her students. Rather than MURDERING Queenie like she did the last two women that crossed her path (see Madison and Anna Lee), Fiona instead manipulates Queenie by complimenting her abilities and telling her what great powers she has! So naive Queenie.
Meanwhile, back at the site of our Witch burning… Stevie Nicks Misty Day is randomly walking through this gravel pit, since that’s what hippy witches do, when she stumbles upon some coyotes… who are having a snack:
“Tastes a little burnt…”
She chases them away and decides that Peace and Love are much better than Death and Decay and starts casting her resurrection spell… she may have leveled up in the process:
“Lavate Los Manos”
And the episode leaves us all hanging from a noose with this lovely image:
“Morphine… NOW!”
Looks like Myrtle is not dead after all! And I think the show is way way way better with Frances Conroy in it! So with fate bringing Misty and Myrtle together, I’m very very curious to see how they are going to react to this incident (and Fiona more specifically).
Also, don’t forget there is still a big war brewing with the Voodoo people… and what in the fuck happened to FrankenKyle? As much as I hate that story, the guy was last seen vanishing on Halloween so WTF! It can’t be the last we’ve seen of him, that’s for sure. Please though AHS… I’d like to see more Voodoo Queen, more Voodoo backstory and definitely more Lily Rabe and Frances Conroy… but please, much MUCH less Hank (if you asked yourself who the fuck is Hank, my point is proven)!
Episode Score: 10. Perfect Score! Simple as this: there was an actual WITCH BURNING to Dr. John’s ‘Right Place, Wrong Time‘ that already has cult classic written all over it! Not to mention that ending with Misty! ♥♥♥ Lily Rabe ♥♥♥
For those that want to see a preview of next week’s episode titled ‘The Axeman Cometh”, it’s posted below! It looks like this is going to be another one of those bizarre episodes that is going to use a real life historical figure in the show. This time though, the character is going to be based on the infamous ‘Axeman of New Orleans’! This is why this show is so amazing, original and crazy… it can take a fairly obscure historical event or character and make it new and fresh again! I’ve already done a little Wikipedia creeping on our Axeman friend and needless to say, the story sounds pretty freakin’ messed up! Enjoy:Souvenir clock featuring King Pumipon Adunyadet and his mother.
By Giles Ji Ungpakorn
September 25, 2009 -- Many Thais, whether they are royalist ``Yellow Shirts'' or pro-democracy ``Red Shirts'', are waiting for King Pumipon Adunyadet [often spelled Bhumipol Adulyadej in the Western press] to die. It may take years. Their feelings will be different, either positive or negative. This is because Pumipon has influenced Thai society for years. But the issue to discuss is whether this influence is created by others or based on the king's own power?
Most Thais, both Yellow and Red, believe that Pumipon is the most powerful political actor. Many academics like Paul Handley believe this too. But it is not the case. If Pumipon was powerful, like an absolute monarch, when he dies there would be a civil war between those who want to become the next king. That is unlikely.
There will be a power struggle and rivalries, but it will be a struggle among the elites, including former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, to see who can use the monarchy for their own ends. After the 2006 coup, Thaksin lost this battle. Maybe he might return to the fight. Among the Yellow Shirts there will also be such rivalries.
When Pumipon dies, my guess is that the Thai army and the conservative elites will hold a gigantic and very expensive funeral for him. Resources which ought to go to welfare and raising wages will be used for this. My guess is the funeral will be at least twice as long as the one recently organised for his sister, which lasted a whole year. Perhaps Pumipon’s funeral will last five years. Extensions of other kingly activities could take the whole thing to 10 years! Pictures of the King will increase even more.
The reason for this huge funeral will not be in order to satisfy “millions of Thais who will be heart-broken by Pumipon’s death”. Many will be celebrating in private. No, the reason for a huge funeral will be in order to shift the propaganda machine into an even higher gear. The conservative elites will be desperately trying to promote and re-promote the ideology of the monarchy. Anyone who opposes the army, or the authoritarian elites who are now in power, anyone who campaigns for democracy, will be accused of lese majeste [insulting royalty] and of trying to “overthrow Pumipon”. The fact that he is dead will be of little consequence.
While all this is going on, the extremely unpopular and disrespected crown prince will be gradually shifted onto the throne. His equally hated mother, the queen, will be there too, but both will be under the larger-than-life picture of Pumipon. We will never be able to forget Pumipon and his so-called “wonderful works”. We will see the crown prince, but the words “Pumipon” will be blaring out from loudspeakers.
If all this propaganda does not work, there will be the lese majeste law, the contempt of court law, the computer law and the internal security law. If that does not work, the army can always shoot pro-democracy demonstrators.
When the generals staged coups or intervened in politics, they were not following the orders of Pumipon. Pumipon has always been shy, timid and lacking in courage and character. Pumipon has no leadership qualities. He goes with the flow. When Thaksin was prime minister, he praised Thaksin. When the soldiers staged a coup, he praised them. His speeches use obscure language so that the elites can make their own interpretations and Pumipon does not have to take any responsibility. He is happy that people crawl to him and he is happy accumulating his vast wealth. The queen and the crown prince have a reputation for being tyrants. Maybe that is so, but they have no more real power than Pumipon.
So when the generals decide to do anything, they stage an elaborate play in order to make us think that they are going to the palace to “take orders”. In fact they are there to “tell” the king what they have already decided to do. Pumipon will nod in agreement or will be unavailable for an audience, depending on the advice he gets from the Privy Council. The advice is not based on decisions made by Prem, the Privy Council chairperson, it is based on the consensus of those in power in the army and outside. After Pumipon’s nod of agreement, the generals come out of the palace and announce to the public that they have “taken orders” from the king. That way they can build legitimacy for their actions and fear to oppose them.
When Pumipon dies, the powerful army will still be there. The tanks and guns will not have disappeared. The raw and repressive power of the conservative elites rests with the army. But the generals will panic because their sole source of legitimacy will have died. That is why they will extend the funeral as long as possible. When Pumipon dies, the generals will still pretend to go to the palace and “receive orders” from the queen and the crown prince. Occasionally, when it is some minor and rather silly issue, there might be real orders and the generals will follow them just to keep the royals happy. But on all important matters of policy, they will be merely informing the royals of their decisions.
If the crown prince is hated and despised by Thais, why would the army promote him to be the next king? If Pumipon is all powerful, why does he not appoint the princess as his heir to the throne? The answer is that Pumipon is too cowardly to decide anything. The army is reluctant to appoint the princess over the crown prince because their false claim that the monarchy is steeped in “ancient tradition” would collapse by such an appointment. Not only that, changing the succession, because the prince was unsuitable, would mean that the monarchy could always be changed and even be abolished.
Do not think for one second that when Pumipon dies, Thailand will descend into chaos. It is and has been in chaos for the last three to four years despite Pumipon. It was in chaos in the mid-1970s. Pumipon is not universally loved by all Thais. Most Thais are Red Shirts. Most Red Shirts tolerate the present king. A few love the king, but most are waiting for him to die. After Pumipon dies most Red Shirts will not tolerate the crown prince or his mother. The queen lost popular support after she openly sided with the [royalist, far-right] Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
When Pumipon dies, the work of those who want a republic will not be easier. The king’s death will provide opportunities and dangers. The royalist Yellow Shirts will be more desperate and dangerous. But the legitimacy of their actions can be attacked. Democracy does not fall from a branch like a ripe mango. We have to reach up and pick it and at the same time, reach up and pull down the conservative elites and their entire authoritarian system.
[Giles Ji Ungpakorn worked in the faculty of political science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. He was forced to leave Thailand after being charged under Thailand's anti-democratic les majeste laws. He is an activist with the socialist Turn Left Thailand group. Visit http://www.pcpthai.org/ and http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/.]YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia (Reuters) - When writer Anton Chekhov arrived on the Russian island of Sakhalin in 1890, he was overwhelmed by the harsh conditions at the Tsarist penal colony. It wasn’t just the floggings, forced prostitution and ill-treatment of children in the colony. It was the environment itself. “There is no climate on Sakhalin, just nasty weather,” Chekhov wrote. “And this Island is the foulest place in all of Russia.”
Russian workers riding an airboat clean up an oil slick in the river Kolva near the Russian town of Usinsk in this August 16, 1995 file photo. REUTERS/Gennady Galperin/Files
More than a century on, Sakhalin’s prisoners have been replaced by oil and gas workers, most of whom seem to agree that Chekhov’s description still fits.
The sparsely populated island — which is the length of Britain — has some of the most extreme weather on earth. Marine cyclones and violent snowstorms rip through its forested hills, and the ocean waters off its northern coast freeze solid for a good part of the year. In winter, temperatures drop to minus 40 Celsius and snow can pile three meters high.
Workers at Exxon’s Odoptu oil field, eight km (five miles) off the northeast coast of Sakhalin, had to shovel their way out of their dormitory last winter to clear pipe valves and free oil pipelines of snow. “The blizzards were so bad that at one point we had to evacuate half of the staff,” says Pavel Garkin, head of the field’s operations.
Now Moscow hopes to attract global oil players to another extreme location: its icy Arctic waters. Shared by Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Russia and the United States, the Arctic may hold around one-fifth of the world’s untapped oil and gas reserves according to a U.S. Geological survey. The past few years have seen a rush of activity in the region, with UK oil explorer Cairn Energy drilling for oil off the west coast of Greenland and Norway’s Statoil, one of the world’s largest offshore oil producers, pushing further and further up the Nordic country’s serpentine coastline, drilling wells inside the Arctic Circle beneath both the Norwegian and Barents Seas.
In September, Russia and Norway put an end to a 40-year dispute over maritime boundaries in the Barents Sea, freeing Russia to push for increased exploration under its portion of the waters just three years after the country spelled out its Arctic claim by planting a rust-proof flag on the sea bed more than four km (14,000 ft) under the North Pole.
The rewards could be huge. Russia, the world’s top oil producer with output of more than 10 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), estimates that its Arctic zone holds around 51 billion tonnes of oil, or enough to fully meet global oil demand for more than four years, as well as 87 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. Unlike Norway, Russia is not currently producing in its Arctic offshore, but the country’s Natural Resource Ministry says it wants to invest at least $312.8 billion by 2039 to explore the shelf. Most of this money will go to the Arctic.
But even as Russia opens its northern waters to exploration, there’s reason to pause. In the wake of BP’s catastrophic leak in the Gulf of Mexico this spring, Russian officials and experts warn an oil spill under the ice could turn out far worse than one in warmer deepwater climates. Arctic conditions — remoteness, fragile ecosystems, darkness, sub-zero temperatures, ice, high winds — make dealing with an oil spill a massive task.
At an annual conference for global oil and gas heavyweights held on Sakhalin at the end of September, Russian government officials and offshore industry professionals paid close attention to the dangers of drilling on the Arctic continental shelf. “I have attended 13 of the 14 Sakhalin oil conferences, and this is the first where government regulators were visibly and vocally concerned about offshore oil spill risks,” says Michael Bradshaw, an expert on Russia’s Far East energy industry and professor at the University of Leicester.
It’s not that a spill is more likely in the Arctic than in a warmer, deep-water locale, says Nils Masvie, a director at Norwegian offshore risk-assessment firm Det Norske Veritas. “But you cannot extrapolate and say the risk is the same in a cold climate. No, the risk is higher.”
That’s because it’s so much harder to manage a spill and offshore emergency in the ice and dark. “Sometimes search and rescue operations stop in the evening because it is too dark, resuming again at eight o’clock when the light returns. But if something happens on the Arctic Barents Sea in November it would be, ‘OK, we’ll come back for you in March,’” says Masvie, whose company verifies and certifies equipment used in offshore oil and gas production, such as the Nord Stream gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea for Russian gas giant Gazprom.
LESSONS FROM KOMI
Russia’s track record with oil spills does not inspire confidence.
During the 1970s oil boom, primitive production, drilling and pipeline technology caused pollution levels in rivers, oceans, lakes and ground water to soar. In 1975, for example, several large West Siberian rivers that run north through Russia’s biggest oil production region and empty into the Arctic Ocean had oil concentrations 21 times the maximum permissible level, according to a government report, “Status of Environmental Pollution in the USSR 1975-1976”. Scientists attributed the large-scale contamination to the widespread use of such unsophisticated oil production practices as intense water flooding, where workers inject water into wells at high pressures to drive out the oil. Most pipes also lacked leak-detection technology.
One of the worst spills occurred in August, 1994, when the aging pipeline network in the northern Komi Republic sprang a leak.
The oil spill was officially put at 79,000 tonnes, or 585,000 barrels, though independent estimates put it at up to 2 million barrels. At the high end that would have been half as big as BP’s 4 million barrel Gulf disaster. Two months after the spill started, heavy rains broke a dam that contained the oil, releasing a massive slick into rivers and across forested tundra near the city of Usinsk.
Komi borders the Arctic Circle where the cold makes it hard for oil to evaporate. The oil that didn’t immediately spill into the Arctic Ocean-bound Kolva, Usa and Pechora rivers spread over 186 sq km (72 square miles) of marshland and tundra. There it froze during winter months, according to an |
-match ban
Will miss their 2014 World Cup campaign
Simunic accused of 'pro-Nazi' chants in qualifying game
FIFA finds him guilty of discriminatory behavior
Croatia international Josip Simunic will miss the World Cup after being banned for 10 matches by FIFA for his 'pro-Nazi' chants as he celebrated his country's qualification to the finals in Brazil next year.
FIFA's disciplinary committee said Monday that Simunic's chants following Croatia's 2-0 win over Iceland in a playoff match last month -- were "discriminatory and offended the dignity of a group of persons concerning... race, religion or origin."
The 35-year-old Simunic had grabbed a microphone at the end of the match in Zagreb on November 19 and shouted loudly "za dom" -- translated from Croatian as "for the homeland" -- with the crowd replying "spremni", meaning "ready", four times in response.
"The committee took note that the player, together with the crowd, shouted a Croatian salute that was used during World War II by the fascist "Ustase" movement," read a statement on the official FIFA website.
JUST WATCHED Fighting racism in football Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Fighting racism in football 05:27
JUST WATCHED FIFA pass racism reforms Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH FIFA pass racism reforms 02:02
JUST WATCHED Racism in Football: Part 1 Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Racism in Football: Part 1 14:23
"Given the gravity of the incident, the committee decided to suspend the player for ten official matches," the statement went on, adding the stipulation that the ban would take effect only from the start of the World Cup next June.
Simunic has also been banned from the stadiums where the matches are being played and has been fined 30,000 Swiss francs ($33,530).
Simunic, who was born in Australia, has always denied his chants had fascist connotations.
"I was born and raised in countries with western democratic systems and any form of intolerance or bigotry is strange to me and not a part of my personal system of values," he told the official website of the Croatian football federation.
"Additionally, I have devoted my entire life to doing anything I could to help my country, Croatia, and I am immensely proud of that."
Dinamo Zagreb defender Simunic spent the bulk of his career in the German Bundesliga and made his international debut for Croatia in 2001.
Croatia has fallen foul of both European governing body UEFA and FIFA for the actions of its supporters in the past.
UEFA sanctioned its federation on three occasions during Euro 2012 involving crowd disorder and racist behavior by its fans as they exited at the group stages.
World governing body FIFA has also toughened its stance on racism with its president Sepp Blatter setting up a special task force earlier this year after several high-profile incidents.Page 1A
Lending cut more by banks taking aid
Analysis: Conduct counter to U.S. goal
Banks that received federal assistance during the financial crisis reduced lending more aggressively and gave bigger pay raises to employees than institutions that didn't get aid, a USA TODAY/American University review found.
The reduction of credit during the worst of the recession raises questions about whether the $247 billion assistance program achieved one of its primary goals: to stimulate the economy by reviving the flow of credit to businesses and individuals.
USA TODAY and the American University Investigative Reporting Workshop used federal bank data to conduct the first comprehensive analysis comparing the behavior of 940 banks in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and 7,400 banks outside it. Key findings about TARP's first year:
•Lending fell. The amount of loans outstanding to businesses and individuals fell 9.1% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2009, at banks that participated in TARP compared with a 6.2% drop at banks that didn't.
•Employee pay rose. Average pay at banks getting aid rose 9.4% in the program's first year. By contrast, non-TARP banks increased salaries 1.8%.
•Cost-cutting limited. Banks in TARP cut costs less than those outside the program. Government-aided banks increased branches by 2.7% while non-TARP banks cut branches by 1.2%.
The differences narrowed in the last three months of 2009 as many banks repaid the government.
President Bush signed TARP into law on Oct. 3, 2008, at the peak of the financial crisis. The program sought to stabilize the financial system and restore the flow of credit. Banks have repaid about $181 billion, including interest and dividends.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, says the analysis shows that TARP "has been highly ineffective."
The Treasury Department, which runs TARP, says the program succeeded. Treasury spokeswoman Meg Reilly says that "overall lending is improving as a result of the government's actions."Blackberry and Android usually don't go together in one sentence, but that's about to change. The shrieks and awe built around the prospect of a Blackberry smartphone running Android is in full force this week after the revelation that BlackBerry has purchased two Android-centric domain names: AndroidSecured.com and AndroidSecured.net.
Back in February, Blackberry announced a partnership with Google to allow the search giant's suite of mobile productivity tools to run on the smart phone maker's device management system, but the new
AndroidSecured.com page reveals more details about the alliance. The site redirects to a page on BlackBerry.com marked with the iconic BlackBerry logo and Android logo sandwiching a plus sign, and headlined by the words "Bring Android to Work."
The discovered BlackBerry.com page confirms that BES12 will support Android devices, and it has started a lot of chatter about the possibility of a huge partnership between BlackBerry and Android. The
two companies are working together to marry BlackBerry's BES12 enterprise device deployment service and new security features in Android 5.0 Lollipop for increased mobile security, better device
management, and easier deployment of enterprise apps for Android devices.
Lollipop and BES12
"BlackBerry and Google are working closely together to set new standards in enterprise mobile security for organizations deploying Android devices," according to the page, which goes on to further
argue that Android Lollipop and BES12 are "better together."
Blackberry has seen better days, after the Canadian company reported that it sold 1.1 million smart phones during the last quarter - 0.5 million less than in the previous quarter. So we can expect that such a move on BlackBerry's part as a last-ditch effort and a way to reclaim its former glory from the disastrous touchscreen Storm handset (total flop).
This news is most certainly exciting for Hilary Clinton (secure sexts to Bill), and we're excited too! Not only do we miss using the crackberry BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) feature, but also this means a
high-end BlackBerry Android device to replace our need for two phones (work and personal). Possibly bringing a Quad HD curved display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a six-core Snapdragon 808 processor.
BES12 already comes with support for Lollipop, and features like end-to-end security, global support, and the ability to lock down certain assets on any corporate device are already built-in. With this
new partnership, BES12 will also integrate with Google Play for Work, with increased focus on application management.
Blackberry's M.O. has always been that its phones are built for work, for security, for pushing out a few more words-per-minute with that hardware keyboard. The hardware has always been great, but besides that, the software needs some major help. On the other end, one of Android's shortcoming is its platform for security, so it makes sense why they're partnering with BlackBerry in order to directly address that. This is a big win for both sides.
Google will get a boost to its security ecosystem (not to mention access to a huge new batch of enterprise customers) and BlackBerry will get an Android-based fan base to help boost their sales.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
COOK COUNTY, Ill. -- A mother is suing the Cook County Sheriff's Department accusing officers of taking inappropriate nude photos of her daughter's dead body.
According to WGN-TV, Jessica Mejia, 20, was killed in 2009 when a car driven by her ex-boyfriend crashed into a pole in unincorporated Cook County.
The lawsuit claims deputies improperly removed her clothing at the scene and took nude photos.
"This was a young lady that just died and was treated with less dignity than a deer carcass you find on the side of the road," Don Perry, the attorney representing the Mejia family, told the Chicago Tribune.
The trial is scheduled to begin next Monday. A spokesperson says the department acted appropriately to preserve evidence.
The driver, Nicholas Sord, pleaded guilty last fall to drunken driving and was sentenced to 56 months in prison.BRITAIN could be in sight of political extinction within nine months if the result of Scotland’s independence referendum on 18 September 2014 goes the wrong, or right, way. Yet its would-be executioners, presenting the longest winding-up order in history in Glasgow on 26 November, looked anything but bloodthirsty.
As Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond and his deputy Nicola Sturgeon walked through the highlights of the 667-page Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland with telling matter-of-factness, the thought struck me that this was the moment of anti-Brigadoonery that these politicians – leading figures in the Scottish National Party, or SNP, which has governed the country since 2007 – had spent their careers preparing for.
Brigadoon is the idyllic Highland village that emerges through the twilight for a single day in every hundred years, on this occasion to enchant (and in one case seduce) candid American travellers. The Broadway musical of 1947 and Hollywood film of 1954 defined Scotland in the minds of mid-twentieth-century audiences much as did Mel Gibson’s atrocious Braveheart in its last half-decade. It is all there: heather, bagpipes, clans, thistles, tartan; Celtic mists, whirling dances, fey characters, cod lyrics. Scotland as fantasyland – a depiction encapsulated by a remark attributed to the film’s producer Arthur Freed, explaining the decision to abandon the original plan to film on location and instead build an elaborate stage-set: “In Scotland, we found nothing that looked like Scotland.”
Scotland is a mirage, but a mirage of such potency that it bends evanescent reality to its implacable if charming will. This, the Brigadoon version, represents everything the SNP veterans have dedicated their careers to reversing. (The equally imperturbable fifty-nine-year-old Salmond, forty-three-year-old Sturgeon, and forty-nine-year-old finance minister John Swinney, completing a senior triumvirate, all seem to have been around forever.) And on the platform at the modernist Glasgow Science Centre, their notably sober tone seemed designed to implant the single message that, at last, reality would have its day; above all, that this reality – Scotland’s political independence – was the arrival of normality in their country.
The prosaic, almost downbeat orchestration, at an event where media representatives from around the world were gathered to report on the future of this country of five million people, was in its way as audacious as the modern SNP gets. It’s yet another twist in a campaign where some observers have seemed wrongfooted by the party’s clinical – and harder to caricature – approach. (The Economist’s glum description of Scotland’s Future as “more like a corporate prospectus for a share offering than a blood-tingling cry for freedom” is revealing, though it’s fair to say that a vehement current to the SNP’s left tends to the same lament.)
More broadly, the SNP’s very lack of poetry also reveals what, in today’s incarnation, distinguishes this unusual party from its competitors: seriousness, confidence, discipline and overriding clarity of purpose. The prospect of being an executioner, as Samuel Johnson didn’t quite say, concentrates the mind wonderfully.
SCOTLAND as Realityland; Glasgow Science Centre as Brigadoon pulled back through the looking-glass; imagery, and history, in reverse, so that the old-new country can join the modern world on its own terms – so convincing was the performance that it was easy to forget both how much effort had gone into seeking the audience’s suspension of disbelief, and how many doubts there are over the SNP’s own romance-free counter-narrative.
The doubts begin with the opinion polls, which since the start of the referendum campaign proper in early 2012 (and indeed long before) have shown a substantial lead for the anti-independence side among those expressing a view. The sheer consistency of the polls, irrespective of the ups and downs of public debate, is their main characteristic. The launch of Scotland’s Future did nothing to alter the pattern, with three surveys published in the ensuing fortnight finding the “yes–no” verdict (to the proposition “should Scotland be an independent country?”) at 27–56 per cent, 34–57 per cent and 33–52 per cent.
A second doubt lies with the people more generally, many of whom express varying degrees of discontent over what they see as the shrill tone, vacuous content and unreliable evidence of the contending parties. Scotland is not immune from the same mix of apathy, cynicism and disillusion that today affects almost all democracies, and this is arguably worse news for the SNP’s hopes of change than for the defence of the status quo from the Better Together alliance of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties.
A third doubt concerns the limits, rather than the extent, of the SNP’s ambition. The party’s vision of independence – in March 2016, if all goes to plan – is heavily qualified by reassurances of what will not change. The party’s chief strategist Stephen Noon has even referred to the aim as “cooperative independence.” The new Scottish state will, Scotland’s Future says, keep Queen Elizabeth and her successors as the head of state, will thus remain in the Commonwealth as well as in the European Union and NATO (albeit free of the nuclear weapons now located just north of Glasgow), and will continue to use sterling as its currency. Moreover, what Alex Salmond calls the “social union” – multiple family bonds and cross-border affinities, as well as freedom of movement – will persist. Scotland’s independence will benefit both countries, as England – in Salmond’s equally felicitous (or is it just glib?) phrase – loses a “surly lodger” only to gain a “good neighbour.”
A fourth doubt is the ambiguity in the SNP’s prospectus between its claims as a party and its hopes for the country. Scotland’s Future includes support for measures, such as an expansion of child care, that can only be the outcome of policy decisions taken by the government of the day, rather than part of the future state’s structures of political-legal authority. The document’s overlapping roles as manifesto and national wishlist are exemplified in its commitment to a constitution for the new state, whose contents and process of creation cannot, by definition, be guaranteed in advance. The traces of the SNP’s long-standing self-definition as “Scotland’s party,” a presumption that its opponents always found particularly infuriating, can be felt here.
THE SNP’s blueprint, then, gives the party’s adversaries – in the media as well as politics – plenty of targets to aim at. Behind the fusillades, two themes stand out: the party’s economic prognoses and its political evasions. Several recent reports, for example from the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, cite both external factors (the ending of the British government formula that grants Scotland higher levels of public spending than England) and internal (Scotland’s economic structure and demographic profile) to suggest that independence will require painful readjustment and have a negative impact on living standards.
Many observers also question the SNP’s belief that the path to statehood following a “yes” vote would be smooth. Some European Union opposition to Scotland’s automatic membership is certain, both in Brussels and from member states such as Spain and Belgium worried about setting precedents for Catalonia and Flanders. Negotiations with London over contentious issues (such as the division of debt and pension obligations, and of hydrocarbon resources) could be fierce. And agreement between separate states with diverging economies to a sterling zone and Bank of England oversight would be difficult. The “rUK” (“rest of,” “residual,” “remaining” or “rump” – perhaps also “resentful” – United Kingdom) would, it is said, have little incentive to be generous.
With all this weaponry, the “no” side ostensibly has every reason for confidence. In fact, its nervousness is palpable, and reservations about its campaign are beginning to be expressed. The most fundamental is that the effort to halt the independence train is by default a negative one, making it vulnerable to several kinds of entrapment: a reactive stance, exposure to a “hope against fear” drumbeat, difficulty in mobilising support, and confusion over its chosen ground. (Is the campaign to be waged in Scotland alone, or with the input of voices from across the United Kingdom? But would too much outside engagement, from London especially, prove counterproductive in a political arena highly sensitised to any southern interference? The conundrum is symbolised by prime minister David Cameron’s refusal to enter into direct debate with Alex Salmond.)
This key limitation is reinforced by organisational strains and political circumstances. Better Together was chosen as the governing slogan of the anti-independence campaign precisely to accentuate the positive. The political union created by the joining of Scotland and England’s parliaments in 1707 is a success, was the message; the union has been tested by fire and girded by social solidarity; the devolution of powers in the 1990s has proved its flexibility and democratic responsiveness; it is worth preserving.
A united front of habitual enemies – Scotland’s Labour, Tory and Lib Dem parties – was assembled under the Better Together banner, launched in June 2012. It was backed by the Scottish secretary in the UK government (initially the emollient Michael Moore, abruptly replaced in October 2013 by his notionally more pugnacious LibDem colleague Alistair Carmichael); was provided occasional foghorn support by David Cameron, chancellor George Osborne, and sundry Westminster committees; and was headed by the unflappable Alistair Darling, who had emerged with credit from a tough role as Labour chancellor during the financial whirlwind of 2007–10. (Yes, Scottish politics is still largely a boys’ club, though its Labour and Conservative parties are led by women, respectively Johann Lamont and Ruth Davidson.)
But if the firepower is there, the spark is missing. The very diversity of voices, in contrast to the greater focus of Yes Scotland (the umbrella of the SNP-dominated pro-independence campaign), may partly be to blame. Time and chance also contribute. The timing of the referendum in September 2014 owes much to the unexpected SNP landslide in the Scottish election of 2011, which followed its four years of minority government. The party was bound to convene a plebiscite on its raison d’être during its four-year term, with the wider electoral calendar making 2014 near certain. It proved impossible to agree a third, “devo max” voting option, offering Scots more autonomy short of independence (as many wanted), thus making the referendum a zero-sum affair. Their choice will coincide with the fifth year of Britain’s Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition, whose record and style have depleted further what little support it had in Scotland. The health and education policies of the London and Edinburgh governments have increasingly diverged in these years, accentuating Scottish awareness of cross-border policy difference and where the potential for more rests. On such fortuitous sequences the destiny of nations may depend.
IF SERENDIPITY favours Yes Scotland over Better Together, so does the war of teleology. The battleground here is history itself: will the referendum process vindicate or condemn the 300-year British union, fulfil or rebuff the old-new idea of Scottish statehood?
For the “no” side, Scotland’s choice to remain in Britain (leaving the Edinburgh parliament intact, with a promise from London to discuss extending its powers) would be proof that a capacious plurinational union can enable relaxed expression of dual – indeed multiple – identities while retaining popular legitimacy on its own account. For the “yes” side, statehood would be the culmination of Scotland’s long march from submerged partner to self-realised actor on the world stage. (Even after a defeat – the narrower the better – many independistas would conclude that the long-term momentum remained with them, and after a decent interval press for a rerun.)
Scotland’s history is rich enough in principle to feed both camps, which makes the current disparity – where the independistas seem replete and the unionists famished – all the more striking. At root, the former believe, and the latter worry, that as the binding forces which “forged” Britain in earlier centuries (religion, empire, industry, war, welfare) have eroded, the underlying tendency now is towards its “break-up.” (The landmark works alluded to, which are just the tip of an immense historiography, are Linda Colley’s Britons: Forging the Nation published in 1992, and Tom Nairn’s The Break-up of Britain, published in 1977, each of which opened and influenced minds at a critical juncture.)
The last two decades of change have given this view an extra injection: the idea that modern Scotland is embarked on a journey of self-realisation. Its traces can be observed across genres, among them television (the STV series Road to Referendum, presented by the astute Glasgow Herald columnist Iain Macwhirter), literature (James Robertson’s epic novel And the Land Lay Still), art (the National Collective’s manifesto) and publishing (the collection Unstated: Writers on Scottish Independence). Scotland’s creatives, it can seem, are all Hegelians now.
The pull of the idea, for all that its precise influence is hard to assess, lies in the linkages it allows: between a degraded past and an imagined future, a liberated culture and a hoped-for social transformation of personal and national experience. The last is perhaps the most alluring. Macwhirter’s TV documentary (which merges politics and economics, soccer and celebrity into a super-compressed narrative of seven decades) is emblematic of a wider, popular standardisation of Scotland’s post-1945 story in light of the drive towards greater self-government. The saga – a purposive national journey binding countless individual memories and associations – mixes nostalgia and idealism, a potent brew that finds a congenial echo among many Scots.
It also seems more plausible than any other saga on offer. The growing political gulf between Scotland and England makes Scotland’s independence look more a natural extension of existing trends than would be a Britain-wide constitutional settlement. England’s perennial lack of democratic voice is both anomalous and dysfunctional to the whole system. As the cracks widen, a new progressive orthodoxy on both sides of the border contrasts Scotland’s fluid, dynamic, hope-filled political landscape with Britain’s inert, sclerotic, fear-filled one. It is an invitation to hyperbole, especially on an invigorated left, but also a tale with shaping potential.
It would be too much to say that no rival portrayal of “Scotland in Britain” can compete. After all, plenty of contemporary British institutions and events have a Scottish component (political, sporting and military, for example.) But it is ever harder to cohere these into a justification for continued union, above all one that combines head and heart. Here also, the anti-independence side – having long evinced complacency – is starting to admit to the thinness of its message. Its most historically literate sympathiser, the novelist Allan Massie, enjoins fellow unionists to “strike a chord of feeling,” as well as offer to reconstruct the union “in some quasi-federal or confederal form.”
It’s late in the day for that, and in any case it may be a flawed diagnosis. The former Tory leaders John Major and William Hague, and their Scottish equivalents, when opposing claims to more self-government in the early 1990s, sought (as Massie advises) to “challenge the emotional appeal of nationalism”; they sounded tinny and anachronistic, and were unsuccessful. Moreover, alternative constitutional proposals tend to be seen as “concessions” that serve to confirm the integrity of the independence case. The Labour politician Brian Wilson, Scottish nationalism’s most trenchant critic, takes a more combative line that puts partnership at the heart: “Britain together is not a failed state and Scotland, within it, is not a failed nation. Together, we have built great institutions including the Welfare State, the National Health Service, the BBC, the armed forces, the labour movement and many more. We defeated Fascism together and have created a liberal, tolerant democracy together... It is our entitlement to turn our backs on all of that, but why would we do it?”
What, though, if the erosion of such foundation stones by successive market-friendly London governments leaves Scotland capable of and intent on protecting them on its own account? This is the contention of Neal Ascherson, former Observer foreign correspondent and author of Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland. The model promised by Scotland’s Future, he writes, is a “moderate, statist social democracy” of the kind millions hoped for when electing Tony Blair in 1997; attempting to “preserve and grow” what was built in the post-1945 years makes the SNP “in spite of itself, the most truly British party in these islands.” In addition, “Scotland’s departure from the union could mean all kinds of liberations and reinventions for the islanders who live under the crown,” with England at last able to “disinter its identity and the buried radicalism of its people.”
THESE compelling arguments make 2014 seem even more a pivotal year. And the collisions between contingency and destiny keep on coming. The September referendum is preceded by two anniversaries laden with national symbolism (and that’s leaving aside the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow in July–August, where Scotland, unlike in the Olympics, competes under its own flag).
The first is of Bannockburn, the battle near Stirling in June 1314 won decisively by Scottish pikemen against English knights, which secured the kingdom’s independence against its aggrandising southern neighbour. An event cherished by generations of Scots, which began to be marked by nationalists only in the 1950s, is bound to be coloured on this occasion by a degree of anticipatory fervour – though no doubt, too, by recollections of Victorian-era “unionist nationalism,” according to which the Scots’ medieval struggles permitted them to embark on political union with England centuries later on equal terms and with honour intact. Teleology with a dash of chutzpah, which might yet be the unionists’ last card.
The second anniversary, in August, is the opening shot in a four-year series of Great War commemorations. The British government’s choice of Glasgow Cathedral for the launch ceremony can be regarded as appropriate, not least as the casualty rate among Scots in 1914–18 was among the highest in Europe. Moreover, the war was, as pointed out by the thoughtful libertarian Alex Massie, invested with an intense Scottish (qua Scottish–British) patriotism. Again, though, the combination of location and timing makes it inevitable that the event will be infused by awareness of the big decision to come, and take on an even more politicised feel as a result. The SNP parliamentarian and journalist Joan McAlpine, writing in the (pro-Labour) Daily Record, is off the mark early: “The outburst of hysterical patriotism in 1914 represented the worst of British – arrogance, self-delusion and a desire to dominate on the world stage.”
THIS high-pressure climax will turn the referendum dial up to eleven. (The malice, especially in much online commentary, is already tedious and unpleasant beyond measure.) It’s on the ground, though, among the people – strangely, often forgotten – that things could become more complicated and interesting. Scots, at once a diverse and federative bunch, have proved adept at getting what they want, constitutionally and politically. (Their shuffling of votes between local, Scottish, British and European elections is a democratic masterclass.) They will be calculating what kind of referendum outcome is most conducive to their society’s coherence, to their own life chances, and to their country’s prosperity. The risks of a missed chance for independence will weigh on many minds. So too may the possibility that deferring that leap could well create space for “devo max,” after its regretted absence from the ballot paper. The ability of the consumer-citizen Scots to extract a “three-for-two” deal from a zero-sum choice mustn’t be underestimated. They are, after all, dedicated shoppers.
A near dead heat, a low turnout? After a three-year clash of certitudes, such outcomes might carry a Through the Looking Glass touch. (“On this occasion, the kitten only purred: and it was impossible to guess whether it meant ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”) They would also raise uncomfortable echoes of 1979, when just such a referendum result left a long trail of regrets. However the independence question in 2014 is answered, the Scots will also want to leave doors to the future open. •At a recent talk in Europe, I was asked during the Q&A by a Chinese member of the audience to suggest an English language reading list on China. Here is what I came up with as old favorites:
Caixin magazine (subscribe online)
The Party – Richard McGregor
Red Capitalism – Carl Walter
Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics – Yasheng Huang
Avoiding the Fall – Michael Pettis
Inside China’s Shadow Banking – Joe Zhang
A couple that are on my to-buy list, but have not yet arrived:
China’s Second Continent – Howard French
Age of Ambition – Evan Osnos
And below is the remainder of my list from a year ago
One Billion Customers – James McGregor
The Chinese – Jasper Becker
River Town – Peter Hessler
Tide Players – Jianying Zha
Poorly Made in China – Paul Midler
Factory Girls – Leslie Chang
Stumbling Giant – Tim Beardson
Tiger Head, Snake Tails – Jonathan Fenby
On China – Henry Kissinger
China’s War with Japan – Rana Mitter
What am I missing that I should use the summer to catch up on?
You can read more of my views on China on my LinkedIn Influencer blog. And please follow me on Twitter @gordonorr
Image credit: Lochaven / FlickrMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 24: Peter Ladhams of South Australia poses during the Under 18 Championship portrait session at Etihad Stadium on June 24, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Justine Walker/AFL Media)
PORT ADELAIDE has plundered the SANFL's big men in the rookie draft, taking South Adelaide's Ken Farmer Medallist Brett Eddy, young Norwood ruckman Peter Ladhams and mature-age Sturt player Jarrod Lienert with its picks in the final player selection period.
South Adelaide's Emmanuel Irra was appointed to the Power's Category B rookie list.
The four South Australian appointments to its list provide Port with some useful size and class for its SANFL sides next year, with the option of injecting some excitement into the Power if required.
Eddy was a comfortable winner of the SANFL's leading goal kicker award after bagging 68 goals for the season.
Ladhams had a strong 2015 campaign in the state under-18 team and played four games in this year's state championships, kicking two goals.
The 18-year-old won the running vertical jump and improved his 20m sprint and beep test performance at the recent SA draft combine.
Lienert was a revelation for Sturt in the SANFL this year, playing in the Double Blues' premiership-winning side and himself being crowned the league's Star Search award winner, averaging 16.4 disposals and four marks from 17 minor round games.
Irra played four league games for the Panthers this year and will be part of the club's Academy program as a Category B rookie.
It follow's Friday night's haul of four strategic list recruitments via the national draft.
Peter Ladhams draft profile
Junior club: Modbury/Norwood
Rep teams: SA
DOB: 14/1/1998
Height: 203cm
Weight: 95kg
Brett Eddy draft profile
Previous clubs: Collingwood/South Adelaide
Height: 193cm
Weight: 92kg
Jarrod Lienert draft profile
Previous clubs: Imperials/Sturt
Height: 195cm
Weight: 98kg
Emmanuel Irra draft profile - Category B rookie
Previous clubs: Sacred Heart College/South Adelaide
Height: 183cm
Weight: 82kg3. Fanboys Are All Against Diversity
wikipedia
It’s no secret that serious fans hate change. That’s one of the things that makes us so hard to please: we hate stagnation, but we also hate making things different. Just give me the same Batman story over and over for years, but also shake things up and keep me guessing. That’s a big reason why a lot of fans have complained about decisions made by Marvel and DC.
There was no outrage when Jaime Reyes debuted because he was a fresh character who, despite taking the mantle of an established white guy, didn’t feel like he was being shoved down our throats to meet some quota. There was no outrage when Ryan Choi took over for the Atom a decade ago; nor was there any fury when Cassandra Cain became Batgirl years before that. Green Lantern Kyle Rayner was revealed to be half-Mexican; Green Arrow Connor Hawke, Oliver Queen’s son from the 90s, had a mother who was half-Korean and half-black. At the time, these were just natural developments of the stories; there was no “look how diverse we’re becoming” message being pushed.
Contrast that with the Jane Foster Thor, who within the first few issues of her tenure was confronted by a sexist rant from Absorbing Man that was very clearly meant to echo the internet detractors. She also had Titania, a female villain who regularly fights She-Hulk, surrender to her simply because she respects her so much as a fellow woman. She actually says “This is your one-time girl-power pass.” As if this Thor is some trailblazer for female superheroes. That is such ham-fisted writing that women should be insulted. Even Sam Wilson, whose ascension to the rank of Captain America at least makes sense due to his long running association with Steve Rogers (unlike Riri Williams’ takeover for Iron Man), had in-story racism hurled at him that was deliberately invoking the online bigotry. The message from insecure writers is: “if you don’t like these choices then you’re just as awful as the bad guys in the story.”
It is very possible to agree with the politics that inspired a decision without wanting them to be front and center in your superhero media. Superheroes can often tackle real world issues, but at least have some subtlety in your approach. The X-Men have been stand-ins for racial and sexual minorities for decades and many stories have been written about them that are metaphors for racial genocide, civil rights abuse, and human rights violations. Political statements were made via the plot and not with ridiculous dialogue that hits you over the head. It’s the difference between recognizing the similarities that the Mutant Registration Act has with the communist fear-mongering of the Hollywood Blacklist and lazily having the hashtag #MutantLivesMatter trending on twitter in the pages of an issue. One can be in support of social justice and also object to the lazy shoe-horning of social justice issues into the books that are designed to make them look more progressive than they actually are.As Netflix continues to barrel into living rooms across the country, the thriving company announced new agreements Tuesday that will enable one-click access to its streaming video services on compatible partner devices. The new deal will place a dedicated Netflix button, complete with the Netflix logo, on remote controls that ship with various consumer electronics including Watch Instantly-enabled televisions, Blu-ray players and set top boxes. Manufacturers on board include Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, Dynex (Best Buy’s in-house brand), Haier, Memorex, Boxee, Iomega and Roku. The deal is big news for Netflix, and it stands to substantially increase brand visibility. Netflix claims that there are currently more than 250 devices on the market compatible with its streaming video service. Hit the break for Netflix’s full press release.
Streaming From Netflix Will Soon be Even More Convenient With Netflix One-Click Remotes Introduced by Major Consumer Electronics Makers
Members to Benefit with a Netflix One-Click Button on Remote Controls for New Internet Connected TVs, Blu-ray Disc Players and Other Devices that Stream from Netflix
LOS GATOS, Calif., Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) today announced that streaming from Netflix on TVs will soon be as easy as one click of a remote control as a number of the world’s leading consumer electronics companies have joined in a development effort to place Netflix-branded one-click buttons on remotes that operate Internet connected TVs, Blu-ray disc players and other devices that connect the Internet to the TV.
Beginning this Spring, buttons that specify “Netflix” – including some featuring the iconic red Netflix logo – are planned to be situated prominently on remote controls that operate certain new Blu-ray disc players from a variety of companies including Best Buy’s in-house Dynex brand, Haier, Memorex, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba. Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba also will place the Netflix one-click button on remote controls for select new Internet-connected TVs. Remote controls for the Boxee, Iomega and Roku set-top boxes also will feature the Netflix one-click remote.
“For members who want even more convenience when instantly watching TV shows and movies streaming from Netflix, the answer is about to be right in their hands,” said Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt. “No more turning on the TV, going to a home screen and searching for the Netflix icon. With the Netflix one-click remote, it’s simply a matter of pushing the Netflix button to instantly watch any of the vast selection of TV shows and movies available to stream from Netflix.”
The Netflix one-click remote is the latest in a series of rapid technological advancements by Netflix to enable Netflix members to instantly watch TV shows and movies streamed by Netflix over the Internet. Today there are more than 250 Netflix ready devices on the market.The issue is that boot2docker doesn’t support
-v /Users/mattes/project1:/data/project1 out |
aryl Beattie, with James Allen, Mark Howard and Tom Clarkson trackside.
Chris Brown, Amanda Keller, Carrie Bickmore and Charlie Pickering will bring behind the scenes coverage.
TEN Late News relocates to Melbourne for the week and on Saturday morning, TEN will broadcast the inaugural Grand Prix breakfast hosted by Steve Quartermain and Natarsha Belling.
This is the most extensive coverage of the Grand Prix in its history, with over 27 hours of television across the three days on TEN and ONE.
The 2013 Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix returns to the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne and motorsport fans can catch the electric atmosphere live and exclusively on TEN and ONE.
Featuring Aussie’s Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo, and the world’s premier drivers, including world champion Sebastian Vettel, and defending Australian Grand Prix champion Jenson Button, the Australian Grand Prix is the first race of the 2013 Formula One season.
Throughout the weekend TEN’s expert team are set to supply first class commentary on all of the action around the circuit. World-renowned motor racing identity Alan Jones joins the team this year and as one of only two Australians to have ever won the Formula One world Championship, he is uniquely placed to give an insight into the psyche of the drivers through this big weekend. He joins TEN’s motorsport host Greg Rust and expert commentator Daryl Beattie, and alongside them James Allen, Mark Howard and Tom Clarkson will have all the breaking news from the track.
Nicole Livingstone will bring roving interviews from the Qantas Paddock Club, and a host of TEN stars including Chris Brown, Amanda Keller, Carrie Bickmore and Charlie Pickering will also be based there, delivering all the colour and excitement from behind the scenes.
On Saturday morning, TEN will broadcast the inaugural Grand Prix breakfast. Hosted by Steve Quartermain and Natarsha Belling, it’s the perfect start to ignite a huge weekend of motorsport and will feature special guest appearances from Formula One legends and drivers, along with some exciting musical performances.
In addition to the weekend’s main coverage, Ten Late News relocates to Melbourne for the week. As the countdown to the chequered flag begins, Hamish Macdonald and the team speak to some of the key players involved in motorsport today.
Hamish is also one of the drivers competing in the Mazda6 Celebrity challenge. Pitted against a host of other celebrities including TEN’s meteorologist Magdalena Roze, and The Project’s Lehmo, they will battle it out over four days on the Albert Park circuit.
Friday, March 15
12pm – 7.00pm Live on ONE
(Ade 11.30am, Bris 11.00am and Perth 9.00am)
Saturday, March 16
F1 Breakfast 8am-11am on TEN
(Ade 7.30am, Bris 7am, Perth 5am)
Qualifying coverage 11.00am – 6.30pm on TEN
(Ade 10.30am, Bris 10.00am, Perth 8.00am)
Sunday, March 17
10.00am – 7.00pm on TEN
(Ade 9.30am, Bris 9.00am, Perth 7.00am)
RelatedNotice I don’t have carbohydrates, per se, in that chain of causality.
The idea, simply stated, is that perhaps the very root and fundamental cause of obesity and other “diseases of civilization”—obesity being a good ill-health marker—is malnutrition. But, because food is plentiful and we’re not talking about malnutrition in terms of chronic caloric deficit, the malnutrition is subclinical, i.e., no obvious micronutrient deficiencies such as would usher in rickets, scurvy, and other well-documented, easy-to-spot diseases arising out of micronutrient deficiencies like vitamin D, C, or others. Or, to put it another way, sufficient or even excess macronutrient nutrition in the face of mal-micronutrient-nutrition.
This is an idea that’s been brewing for some time and in fact, while not stating it explicitly in my book draft because I’m still thinking about it and would like to get more input, I did focus substantially on nutrition vis-à-vis the nutritional density of quality animal foods/fat and whole plant foods being crowded out by processed and fast foods, alternatively known as crap-in-a-bag/box/bottle. In other words, nutritionally bankrupt calories sufficient for energy utilization, insufficient for adequate or optimal biochemical and hormonal functioning.
Neither is the idea new, I don’t think; and anyone familiar with the work of Dr. Weston A. Price will immediately know what I mean. It’s just that thanks to the great work of both Dr. Stephan Guyenet and almost-Dr. Chris Masterjohn over the years, my understanding—or perhaps synthesis—of all the information at hand is working to give me a better understanding, way of thinking, et cetera…that I can then convey to you…in particular, recognizing that my readership goes from those who’ve been here for the duration, to those who popped in days, weeks or only a few months ago and who stick around to “see what he’ll say next.”
Stephan was the very first to open my eyes to the world beyond an Atkin’s style, low carb diet (at the time, I had yet to make even basic, dutiful distinctions between Atkins and De Vany’s EvFit), when near the very start of his blog back in 2007 or ’08, he began blogging about the marvelous health of relatively “primitive” populations; or at least, those existing on diets of Real Food without a lot of interaction with the industrial world (…as though those people aren’t industrious…but you know what I mean). At that time, I pretty much thought it was all about carbs. Enter Chris Masterjohn, via Stephan, and the very first thing he referenced was a specific micronutrient—Activator X or, Vitamin K2 MK-4 Menatetrenone most likely—that Price had isolated in his worldwide research of primitive peoples in the 1930s, and that he ultimately used to halt and reverse tooth decay (remineralize cavities), another huge marker of ill health. He was a dentist.
(I have for years used roughly that same formulation to keep my teeth pearly white and smooth, with little need of brushing, no need of flossing…and this…after having two surgeries in the early 2000s for gum disease.)
Now enter Gary Taubes and his fine work. I know there has been a materially relevant dispute going on between he and Stephan, but I’ll set that aside because it really doesn’t matter much to me. The ideas of both have seemed, in my awareness, to have evolved and developed over the years and I see no reason for that not to continue. I trust that it will.
…Where all the parties are honest dealers and continue in their searches and exchanges of information and ideas, things tend to run toward synthesis. In the end, it’s highly likely that two honest dealers can actually both be wrong—or some melange of wrong & right—but that the one’s thesis vs. the other’s antithesis, and vice versa, result in an overall synthesis more right than at the outset…and the process continues.
To be clear, I’m not making any just-so judgments on their respective ideas at this point; I’m simply describing a process of gaining knowledge—whether that German dialectic process is best attributed to Hegel, Kant, Fichte…or even Marx or Engels—that I believe all of us have been engaged in for years now, and it’s very healthy.
Stay honest. We may never get there but we can get ever closer. It’s…mathematical.
I could have chosen to write this post without even mentioning any of the foregoing gentlemen. On the other hand, I’ve had the privilege of meeting all of them in person, with email correspondence with Stephan for a very long time, and to a shorter extent, email exchanges with Chris & Gary. Here’s the deal: none of them ever try to persuade me to any view explicitly, and they never come off as authoritative even though I see them as such, relative to me. It’s always, always, about thinking. They deal with me honestly.
…When I was scouring the Internet for some things I could use in my book that I’d never blogged about, one of the top choices was this, by Chris Masterjohn: Understanding Weston Price on Primitive Wisdom.
First time that post from October of last year has ever been linked to, here; and while I’ve been aware of it for a couple of months, it’s like one of those early Stephan posts that I chewed on for weeks or months before blogging about. It’s kinda funny. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration ought to be enough, one might think. But it wasn’t until that Masterjohn post that I began to draw a more comprehensive and meaningful distinction between Paleo and Ancestral Health or Wisdom.
Paleo is the given; the evolutionary, environmentally given. It’s what you have available in any environment and if ultimately insufficient, you have to move on or suffer consequences. Enter cost/benefit dynamics and potential degeneration—as an acceptable cost over other alternatives or risk undertaking. Remember that these people were foremost and always: on their own. It’s also a long process of gaining wisdom; so while Paleo is broader, it covers only survival…presumably, with the ability to migrate when survival becomes too hard or impossible. Then, Ancestral health ushers in the idea of enhanced or, optimal Paleo in my view…or even better dealing with neolithic food (soaking, sprouting, fermenting, etc.). No longer is it merely sufficient to kill meat and gather veggies, tubers and nuts. You’re going for the big nutritional bang!
Money quote:
If rampant tooth decay can occur without the introduction of modern industrial foods, as it did during the Archaic period among the lower Pecos hunter-gatherers in Texas, what was it that protected many of the “primitive” groups that Price studied? In Price’s view, this protection resulted not simply by accident, but from accumulated wisdom. Indeed, he wrote the following: “In my studies of these several racial stocks I find that it is not accident but accumulated wisdom regarding food that lies behind their physical excellence and freedom from our modern degenerative processes, and, further, that on various sides of our world the primitive people know many of the things that are essential for life—things that our modern civilizations apparently do not know. These are the fundamental truths of life that have put them in harmony with Nature through obeying her nutritional laws. Whence this wisdom? Was there in the distant past a world civilization that was better attuned to Nature’s laws and have these remnants retained that knowledge? If this is not the explanation, it must be that these various primitive racial stocks have been able through a superior skill in interpreting cause and effect, to determine for themselves what foods in their environment are best for producing human bodies with a maximum of physical fitness and resistance to degeneration. “A very important phase of my investigations has been the obtaining of information from these various primitive racial groups indicating that they were conscious that such injuries would occur if the parents were not in excellent physical condition and nourishment.” Indeed, Price stated that “some of the primitive races have avoided certain of the life problems faced by modernized groups,” not that all of them had. To Price, it was not primitiveness itself that proved protection, but the wisdom that the successful groups had accumulated over time. Presumably they had learned through trial and error processes that involved mistakes, or else they could never have had any consciousness about the types of injuries that would occur without proper nourishment.
So, perhaps we have reason to consider evolution not only on a level of genes and biochemical processes, but individual behavior and more: social behavior. I’ll save the rant about forcing social behavior and being willing accomplices to the forcing of others—in a quest to live at their expense—for another post…
For the time being, let’s focus on the wisdom of people who’ve never watched a TV show in their lives, listened to a radio program, nor read any of the classics…not to mention any recent thing I could reference in an instant on PubMed. I continue with Chris, citing Price’s finding, duly summarized (references are included in the link, above).
The natives often went to great lengths to nourish their soil. After heavy rains, the Swiss villagers would collect runaway soil by hand and return it to their pastures and fields. Their milk products were several times higher in fat -soluble vitamins than the equivalent milk products from most European and American sources, including lower Switzerland. The Gaelics of the Outer Hebrides collected the residue of the smoke of peat fires to fertilize their soil, which Price confirmed to be highly effective using a laboratory experiment.
-soluble vitamins than the equivalent milk products from most European and American sources, including lower Switzerland. The Gaelics of the Outer Hebrides collected the residue of the smoke of peat fires to fertilize their soil, which Price confirmed to be highly effective using a laboratory experiment. The natives of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory knew of scurvy, and prevented it by using the vitamin C-rich adrenal glands of moose. These natives also had a plant product that they used for the prevention and cure of type-one diabetes. Price cited evidence that Canadian natives of the sixteenth century also knew that a drink made from the roots of spruce trees could also prevent scurvy. He cited another case in which a native cured xerophthalmia with vitamin A-rich flesh behind fish eyes.
The natives of the Andes, central Africa, and Australia all carried knapsacks with balls of clay that they would use to dip in their food to prevent “sick stomach.”
The natives he studied practiced systematic child spacing of two and one-half to four years, and used special diets for pregnancy, lactation, and pre-conception, always for the mother and sometimes for the father.
Many of the groups would wrap newborns in an absorbent moss that was changed daily but would not wash the baby until several weeks after birth, which prevented irritation and infection of the skin.
In some of the Pacific Islands, inland-dwelling groups relying mostly on plant products understood their need for shellfish and thus engaged in trade with the coast-dwelling populations to obtain these foods. This trade continued even during war time, although war was often started during famines when certain members of the inlanddwelling populations would turn to cannibalism and attempts to hunt coast-dwelling fishermen.
Price observed that the “knowledge of veterinary science is quite remarkable” among the Masai and that they knew of the protective effect of malaria against syphilis.
The Peruvian natives invented the antimalaria drug quinine.
Natives of the Andes knew of goiter, and used kelp to prevent it. Some African groups also knew of goiter and treated it with various iodine-rich plant foods.
Price noted that “probably few primitive races have developed calisthenics and systematic physical exercise to so high a point as the primitive Maori.... This has a remarkably beneficial effect in not only developing deep breathing, but in developing the muscles of the body, particularly those of the abdomen, with the result that these people maintain excellent figures to old age”. Price considered not only their diet but their “system of social organization” to be responsible for their development of “what was reported by early scientists to be the most physically perfect race living on the face of the earth.”
Now you know why I so often say that no matter what: you’re on your own. But when I say that, what I really mean is that you and yours are on your own and the foregoing ought to illustrate it well. You do it together and in small groups, where each member’s contribution is important to all. It’s a far cry from centralized authority over a population of millions.
So why in the world include Gary in all this? Isn’t he about carbs and only about the carbs? Maybe, maybe not, but what I intend to highlight is a little context. And frankly, he’s given many statements over the years to signal his willingness to go with the science (“maybe potatoes are fine,” as I recall, going way back). But he also gave an interview that was just published: FiveBooks Interviews > Gary Taubes on Dieting. Other than Sisson’s Primal Blueprint as a rather surprise recommendation from Gary, what other book do you suppose he recommended?
Do I need to ask? Hence, the synthesis, and the sense that when you are dealing with honest people, things tend toward convergence, and everyone’s better off. Quoting Taubes.
Weston Price was a great dental scientist and did some really important work. What I didn’t know when I read this for the first time is that Weston Price’s book was the culmination of a long line of dental research in the first half of the 20th century, demonstrating that high fat diets are required in childhood when teeth are developing, to protect against cavities. Weston Price travelled around the world with his wife – whom he refers to as Mrs Price – and did his 1930s equivalent of controlled dietary experiments. He visited populations that were so isolated that they didn’t have access to modern Western foods (ie refined flour and sugar or refined white rice) and he compared their teeth, gums and jaws to people of similar genetic stock that did eat Western food. He began high in the Swiss Alps, in a village that is a mile above the nearest road, and he compared their teeth and jaws to the Swiss living in one of the major Swiss cities. He visited pygmies in Central Africa, and a variety of African tribes, Native American populations, Inuits and South Pacific islanders. Everywhere he went he took photos of their teeth and jaws. So you’ve got these populations that eat no sugar and refined flour with beautiful white teeth and perfect jaws, and other populations with the same genetic background, but living near Westerns outposts or cities or trading with the West. Not only were the kids’ mouths riddled with cavities, but their jaws were a mess… You just look at the pictures. People who were eating refined flour and sugar were a mess, and people who weren’t seem to have been very healthy. It’s hard to tell with this kind of research, but as far as what was done in the era, Price did a pretty good job of convincing readers – he certainly convinced me – that there is something going on when you add Western food to any baseline diet. This is not modern science, it’s not something you can base public health recommendations on, but it is a book that can change your paradigm about what’s healthy and what’s not. And it’s a good read… He’s a great storyteller. There are parts that I didn’t even believe could be true…You think this is crazy, and then you turn the page and there’s a photo of Mrs. Price, a dowdy-looking middle-aged woman in a pith helmet and a long skirt, standing next to two pygmies with two enormous elephant tusks towering above them.
Then, after some discussion of dental health vs. other health markers, Gary continues:
One of the fundamental observations that I discuss in Good Calories, Bad Calories is the absence of cancer in populations that do not eat Western diets. We think of cancer as inevitable. But the chief statistician of the Prudential Insurance Company, who later became one of the founders of the American Cancer Society, compiled the observations that populations that don’t eat Western diets don’t get cancer nearly as much. One of the explanations put forward in the early 20th century was that the meat in Western diets was the cause of cancer. But people at the time pointed out that the same absence of cancer is true of the Inuit, the Native Americans of the Great Plains and pastoral populations like the Masai. These are people who live exclusively on animal products – so whatever is causing the cancer, it’s unlikely to be that. There is now a growing body of research showing that insulin and insulin-like growth factor are cancer promoters. I actually have a five page article about this research in the journal Science today. The idea is that you avoid cancer by keeping insulin levels as low as possible, which means avoiding these same fattening carbohydrates we’ve been talking about, and arguably eating an animal product, fat-rich diet. It’s the same type of diet we’ve been eating for two million years, prior to agriculture, and the same diet that many of these indigenous populations were still eating through the early 20th century. Actually, while I was doing research for this story I interviewed the head of the cancer research centre at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre at Harvard Medical School, as well as Craig Thompson, the president of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in Manhattan. Both of them told me they were effectively on the Atkins diet – very low carb, high fat, mostly animal products – not because they wanted to lose weight, but because they didn’t want to get cancer. [emphasis added]
It’s interesting to me how, over the years, if you look up my post record, I go back and forth. I’ll go long spaces of time where’s it’s all about the fat loss. But I have done a lot of posts on cancer and its relative absence amongst primitive peoples and how refined sugar is probably a big factor (and vitamin D deficiency—and epidemiology of dark skins living at high latitudes being my next interest), not to mention how intermittent fasting might help in prevention. But that ought to be easy to understand. Cancer is rare amongst animals in the wild. We’re animals, but largely domesticated. That makes a difference.
The thing about Gary’s book, Good Calories, Bad Caloeies, that most resonated with me was not, in fact, his position on the role of carbohydrates, per se, in obesity, but 1) his heroic effort in digging up pre-WWII research on obesity, demonstrating that that a World War shifted focus and lost knowledge, and 2) his slaying of the Hydra-headed monster of the dual saturated fat and cholesterol cons.
…So let’s find a way to try and synthesize all of this.
First, in deference to Gary, I do think that carbohydrate plays an important role in obesity, but that it’s possibly a downstream contributor, after malnutrition and subclinical ill health. And, of course, that the processed packages carbohydrate comes in is implicated in malnutrition by crowding out nutrients. Chris: paleo is absolutely a mere “given foundation,” and being at the top of the food chain, we can do better than the evolutionarily given. We can optimize, pass along wisdom, and thrive better. Stephan: I do think that food reward plays an important role in obesity, but I think it’s a modern aberration. Or, I’m sure that many H-Gs find their food highly rewarding on many levels, not the least of which is their satisfaction in being able to do it all on their own.
In short, all of these guys are doing exactly what they should be doing—pursuing a passion to gain more knowledge and put it out there, get feedback, and hit the lab or keyboard, as applicable.
In terms of carbohydrate as a contributor to obesity, in no particular order:
All carbohydrate is not created equal. Not only are some natural, and some manufactured, but the natural ones contain natural nutrients, anti-nutrients, toxins and even poisons. The manufactured ones contain far more unknowns in composition. And ancient wisdom has tended to separate out known nutrients from the others, or in various ways, contend with some of them.
All people—all individuals, populations and cultures—are not evolved equal. Not only do we have environment to consider—equator to arctic, sea level to high-altitude—but now, mass migration. Then gender, then fertility, and so on. In addition, we have to consider pedigree. An individual that never consumed processed food likely has a metabolism that functions in different ways and on different levels from someone who grew up eating crap-in-a-box. Or, how about modern migration, where dark skins are living at extreme latitudes and white skins at the equator?
Carbohydrate has been a valuable canary in the coal mine. That’s because carbohydrate is cheap-ass, compared to other foods and as such, has been exploited by clever marketing. Essentially, you can take the same wheat-based carbs, toss in some fat, protein and SUGAR (then the other 2-3 inches of ingredients on the label), and create a myriad of different enticing products to line shelves or to be served up “fresh” at fast food outlets. The textures and flavors can be as different as is a raw oyster to a too-tough steak, and even the macro-nutrient ratios of carb/protein/ fat can differ somewhat…but the micronutrient profiles will remain the same: crap.
, protein and SUGAR (then the other 2-3 inches of ingredients on the label), and create a myriad of different enticing products to line shelves or to be served up “fresh” at fast food outlets. The textures and flavors can be as different as is a raw oyster to a too-tough steak, and even the macro-nutrient ratios of carb/protein/ can differ somewhat…but the micronutrient profiles will remain the same: crap. Most modern, processed carbohydrate comes packaged with a plethora of “confounding variables,” because it’s processed, needs preservation…not to mention colors and textures to make it enticing and competitive contra all the other stuff you’re “hunting and gathering” into your shopping cart…quite unlike going for the venison buck with a 4-point rack vs. a 3-point.
When you restrict carbohydrate intake in modern society, that means you are typically replacing processed crap-in-a-bag/box/bottle with real foods like meat, fish, fowl, veggies, fruits and nuts that you have to “process” at home: cook & prepare. At least, it used to be that way, even with Atkins at the outset. Then they, too, fell victim to the profiteering of offering various dubious concoctions of processed stuff, only it was “ low carb.”
.” When you restrict carbohydrate intake in a primitive society, particularly a more tropical one, you may starve, unless you move on. One presumes, logically, that they are exploiting their food resources in the most optimal way considering cost, risk, time, etc.
Concerning the foregoing….
I’m a big fan of Karl Popper and falsifiability. Over the years, many have objected, but my reply has always been that Popper applies only to scientific propositions and it always ends there, because I’m completely right about that. It’s simply not science if an actual formal hypothesis is advanced and there’s no way for a test to render it…FALSE. That ought to come as mere common sense. For example, if I hypothesize that every 1,000 times tossing of a coin will result in 500 heads and 500 tails, owing to some “law of large numbers” (and lots of tedious math), that’s testable, and of course, it’s false. It won’t always come down to that, precisely. The cool part is that’s certainty. The proposition is forever false, no need to revisit: done. You are CERTAIN!
And if I say that “all swans are white,” that’s equally testable, but other factors such as environment and context get introduced. For a long time, that’s what people believed, ’cause they never observed a counter-exapmple. …Until Australia was discovered, and their black swans.
That second example is materially different from the first, because in the context of knowledge at the time, while one could not say it was absolutely true, one could say that it wasn’t false so far as all knowledge and observation was concerned. The entire relevant context had not yet been explored (we knew there were unexplored lands in the world). But now we can say it’s false, absolutely. We can lay it to rest.
(Just one more thing: faith based-beliefs are not falsifiable, and thus, they are not science. It’s why they call them “faith based.”)
OK, with all that in mind, I have, for a number of years, considered the idea that “carbohydrates alone cause obesity” falsified. On point, with all lean and healthy populations:
Yes, this is an absolute; we’re done, nothing more to see here concerning an hypothesis that carbohydrate—as an independent variable—absolutely causes obesity amongst human animals. That hypothesis has been falsified. Nothing more to think about, and for God’s sake, wast time and money on.
So, are Gary’s ideas dead?
I don’t think so.
How many smart naturalists in all disciplines in the UK at the very dawn of excellent science figured that all swans were white? And owing to the disparity in time, distance and environment, had a disease cropped up specific to the white swan of the species, could that not have been dealt with competently, without reference to the as-yet undiscovered reality of black swans?
…Ah, so now we get down to it.
The obesity epidemic and all the downstream diseases are applicable only to “white swans.” This is what was largely known in a rather xenophobic, isolationist or even elitist burgeoning industrial society way back. You can fault them for that if you like, but it’s irrelevant to the science, much of which Gary unearthed in his first book (now unpack the metaphor: it was about obesity research in a similar vacuum, that being modern people eating modern food, much of it of poor nutritional value).
I haven’t asked him to weigh in on this idea—he’s a lot bigger than me and he played football—but how can you fault a guy for being totally honest about white swans and their hardships while being innocently ignorant of the confounding black swans and their experience?
In the end, all I have really heard Gary admonish is to please test it. While it’s hard enough as it is for him even to get that done, I have some thoughts along those lines.
But first, some observations about the state of the research, such as it is. It’s no secret that the state of current research focusses on macronutrients. Carbohydrate. Fat. Protein. Ratios. The most I see is some studies that separate out sub-categories of fat into saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated (how about chain lengths within each?). There may be additional attention to detail, but I don’t know.
But unless I’ve been off grid, I just a can’t think of any studies that take into account micronutrients as a major role in obesity. No wonder. That would up the game substantially, owing to the introduction of quite a few more variables. So let us now go forth with a steam of consciousness, as to how we might get a better sense and idea of things—and even if never done, let it serve as a beacon against certainly until it is.
Imagine testing two isocaloric diets against one another, and even the same proportion of macronutrients. Let’s do 70% carb / 15% each of protein & fat. But, the kicker is that one group gets their food in boxes and the other, from wise people flown in from some isolated island. Test the markers over time, including body composition.
. But, the kicker is that one group gets their food in boxes and the other, from wise people flown in from some isolated island. Test the markers over time, including body composition. Then, make it crossover after a month or three, so each group of subjects shifts diets. Test again.
Then, reverse it: 70% fat, 15% each of the other two. Do a crossover as well.
, 15% each of the other two. Do a crossover as well. Or, how about one group eats just real food and the other crap-in-a-box, no restrictions at all on caloric intake or macro-ratios? You object? That’s already been done! It’s already real reality! We already know how it comes out. Its life; it’s the white swan and the heretofore unknown black, because now we know about black swans. Indeed. It should be enough. It obviously isn’t. For you it is, but real people are stupid people, and until they know better, “just people.” …Until they know better. So, let’s do it in a metabolic ward. And crossover too. Let’s see how those natives’ health markers react to crap-in-a-box.
Obviously, I could go on and on. Designing the very basis or thesis of a study is pretty easy, but the point is, these are studies I’m pretty sure have never even been contemplated in the vaunted literature, much less ever conducted.
But it may surprise you to read me write that I get it, don’t expect them to, and it would likely be too hard and expensive; because to be sure, these would need to be metabolic ward studies of hundreds of people. Otherwise, any results will be criticized on various grounds: because there’s money, prestige, ivory towers, and political positions and appointments to consider.
So, you’re still on your own. That’s why I’m here and why I’ll stay.
Listen, the crap “food” producers aren’t going to fund them because, while they don’t know what the exact outcome will be, they know they’ll look like crap. The Alphabets (ADA, AHA, etc.) aren’t going to fund them because they get their money from the aforetrashed “food” producers. Government isn’t going to fund them because…well, the list is too big. See, whores only want money, and they’ll fake an orgasm or suck a cock they otherwise wouldn’t, to get it. Government has their whole-whore-on in too many places, and with too many variables, to say precisely why they won’t fund it. They just know, rightly, that it would be bad for them in many ways.
It’s been a long time since government said “we’re going to the moon”—damn the consequences being implied.
The United States never “goes to the moon,” anymore.
And it’s time we stopped pretending that America is anything like that country that once did. The whole world are whores, now. We spread metaphoric legs with the best of them.
…And a part of me regrets ending this post by insulting whores.Perhaps more than any company, Facebook shapes public perceptions. Nearly half of all American adults get some news through the site, and about a fifth say it’s their primary source. Millions use Facebook to discuss politics, and its algorithm strengthens information bubbles, feeding users articles that fit their preconceptions and connecting like-minded individuals, who reinforce each other’s beliefs.
It’s also a surveillance system of staggering scope. With detailed profiles of over 2 billion active users, Facebook helps advertisers target potential customers, earning billions in annual revenue. Users give Facebook their information voluntarily — though it’s not clear how many really understand the deal — which makes it a free trade or a massive con, depending on how you frame it.
And as I wrote previously, the company’s ambitions go far beyond its already questionable forays into invasion of privacy.
At this point, some of you are thinking “well, if you don’t like it, don’t use Facebook.” But evidence is piling up that the social network played a key role in Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential race. If it shapes public perceptions, facilitates foreign intelligence operations, and influences the outcome of elections, then it’s affecting your life, even if you’re not on it.
Facebook’s hardly the first media innovation to do that. Every new mass communications technology — telegraph, newspapers, telephone, radio, television — led to powerful companies exerting monopolistic influence over public information. This not only ran counter to the public interest but, as with other trusts, created market distortions, hindering free enterprise.
While print, radio and TV news editorialize, Facebook facilitates information sharing, with consumption primarily filtered by individual preferences (as determined by an algorithm designed to keep users on the site). This makes it different, but no less influential. Arguably more.
To stop excessively powerful companies from distorting markets and public discourse, the government employed regulations and antitrust, breaking up the most entrenched monopolies. I won’t go so far as to call for the break up of Facebook, but 2016 should be a wake up call. The company exerts considerable influence over the flow of information, and does not act in the public interest. We should regulate it.
Russian Influence
Before the 2016 election, Facebook sold over $100,000 worth of ads to a Kremlin-linked company called the Internet Research Agency. It’s a professional “troll farm” that sets up fake accounts and conducts influence campaigns on social media, message boards, and other websites on behalf of the Russian government.
Facebook enabled the trolls’ efforts to microtarget users who profiled as receptive to their messages on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and various hot button issues, such as immigration. The ads reached as many as 70 million Americans, and because they didn’t show up outside their targets’ feeds, few people who might have been concerned saw them.
Besides the ad buys, Russian operatives employing fake identities used Facebook to organize political rallies in the United States. For example, a Facebook group with 133,000 followers called “Secured Borders” — which was outed as a Russian front in March 2017 — used Facebook Events to invite people to a “Citizens Before Refugees” protest on August 27, 2016 with this announcement:
Due to the town of Twin Falls, Idaho, becoming a center of refugee resettlement, which led to the huge upsurge of violence towards American citizens, it is crucial to draw society’s attention to this problem.
Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs says there hasn’t been any increase of violence. But Breitbart and InfoWars repeatedly claimed there was, and pushed a made up story about migrants gang raping a child.
This shows the sophistication of Russia’s influence campaign, and its symbiosis with the most extreme pro-Trump media. There’s no indication they worked together. But Secured Borders’ decision to focus on this particular town in Idaho shows the trolls paid attention to Breitbart and InfoWars, and acted accordingly.
Social media played a crucial role in Russia’s efforts to influence the election. Creating and disseminating fake news — the actually false kind, not the “I don’t like what it says” kind — buying campaign ads that target individuals who profile as susceptible voters, and remotely organizing events all relied on Facebook and Twitter.
Another example: a Russian-run Facebook group with over 225,000 followers called “Heart of Texas” spread memes and advertised rallies promoting anti-immigrant, anti-Hillary, and pro-secessionist causes. That’s consistent with Russia’s efforts to promote separatist groups throughout the West.
For anyone still insisting there’s no evidence Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election, this should put that to rest.
Even Americans who are happy with the 2016 results should be concerned. Perhaps you don’t care about the integrity of American elections for its |
that “under the patronage of a radical, rightist America we can conduct a radical, rightist policy without paying the price.” No more. Netanyahu can still get a standing ovation from the Israel lobby, but not at U.C.L.A.
PhotoMeasure M, which will increase sales tax in Los Angeles County by a half-cent to fund transit projects starting July 1, passed in the county by nearly 70 percent, exceeding the minimum of 66.7 percent. According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, a majority of the proposal's yes votes came from millennials and Latino voters.
Eighty-five percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 were in favor of Measure M, while 5 percent were not and 10 percent weren't sure, according to a poll conducted internally by Measure M's campaign, Yes on M, a week before Election Day. Age groups 30 to 49 were also heavily in favor, while most of the voters who were opposed to the measure were older, somewhere between 50 to 70.
Geographically speaking, many supporters were located in L.A., with strong support from Valley folks in North Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Encino and neighborhoods near Ventura Boulevard, who will benefit from the Orange Line. Unincorporated areas such as Marina Del Rey, Altadena and Hacienda Heights also showed support, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Office. Additionally, the SGV Tribune reports that support was also higher in areas with a large number of Latino voters, such as Cudahy, where 86 percent of voters were in favor of the measure.
Downey, Cerritos and Whittier were less enthused, though still voted over 60 percent in favor. Support was below 60 percent more affluent areas, such as Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills. Bill Carrick, a political consultant who acted as principal strategist for the Yes on M Campaign, noted that areas with higher incomes and areas that voted Republican in the presidential election were generally less inclined to support Measure M. But not all who cast a vote against Measure M were against taxes in general, as many communities who were slow to embrace Measure M did vote for taxes that supported education.
Carrick hypothesized that people voted for what affected them. Younger voters are still dealing with a daily commute, and fewer cars on the road or alternative transportation choices appeal to them. Older voters may be retired and are more likely to own cars, and are perhaps not interested in paying for additional transit they feel like they won't use.
Pauletta Tonilas, LA Metro's chief communications officer, told LAist that, "The plan will help residents of all ages across L.A. County, providing more travel options, improvements to local streets and better programs for seniors, persons with disabilities and students. Right out of the chute, we’ll be moving several projects into the environmental process and expediting those already undergoing environmental work, with the first Measure M projects starting construction within the next couple of years."
For voters who may be impatient, perhaps that whole next couple of years thing turned them off. Tonilas previously told CBS Los Angeles that their first priority is construction at the 96th Street station, which will connect to LAX. That project is one to look forward to, but it doesn't break ground until 2018.
Yonah Freemark, an urbanist who specializes in transit issues, told KPCC that the plans could be hindered further if federal funding doesn't come through. The Republicans, who now control the government, are not keen on the National Highway Trust Fund, as noted in the Republican Platform 2016 which can be read here.
"The ambitions of Measure M, the things that voters were promised, do rely on those federal funds," he said.
If you need a refresher on what transit in L.A. could look like if all goes as planned, here's a cool animation that shows our potentially bright future.Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks during a Republican Party of Dubuque County reception at Park Farm Winery, in Durango, Iowa. (AP Photo/Telegraph Herald, Nicki Kohl)
Yes, presidential candidate Ted Cruz uses his taxpayer-funded Senate office account to travel the country. It’s something of a time-honored American political tradition.
USA Today’s Paul Singer reported Thursday that Cruz (R-Texas) traveled for fundraisers and other political events and reimbursed himself from his official congressional bank account because he had some Senate business on the trip as well. The week before, he found evidence that Hillary Clinton, as a New York senator running for president in 2008, did the same.
And President Obama, you’ll remember, got hit repeatedly in 2012 for mixing business with politics.
But as long as a politician proves there was official business on the trip, it’s completely legal to fit in some campaigning, too. Is it right? Maybe not. Is it normal? Absolutely.
We’re reminded of a lawsuit against the Carter White House in 1979 when Sen. Edward Kennedy’s labor supporters alleged that people in the administration were, among other things, using federal dollars for “travel expenses, costs of meetings and other political outlays.”
But even then such critiques were met with a yawn. “Such allegations have been made in connection with renomination or re-election campaigns of presidents down through history,” The Washington Post wrote at the time. The D.C. district court threw out the case for lack of standing.
D.C.-based lawyer Stanley Brand, who specializes in campaign law, had a similar reaction.
“This happens all the time,” he said. “It’s standard procedure because it’s logistically difficult to do any other way.”
There are perks to being a federal office holder running for president. The rub is that those same advantages also attract more scrutiny.A new survey of thousands of police officers from departments around the U.S. suggests that the majority don’t agree with the federal government’s stance on marijuana.
Marijuana is still a Schedule I substance under federal law, meaning it’s categorized as one of the most dangerous drugs, with a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. But a Pew Research Center survey published Wednesday reveals that 68 percent of police officers believe marijuana should be legal in some form.
Nearly one-third of the officers said weed should be legal for medical and personal use, while 37 percent said it should be legal for medical use alone. Just 30 percent said that weed should not be legal at all.
The law enforcement community is less enthusiastic about marijuana legalization than the general public, which has shown record-high levels of support for legal weed in recent years. The latest Pew survey shows that 49 percent of Americans believe marijuana should be legal for medical and personal use, with an additional 35 percent in favor of legal weed for medical use alone. Just 15 percent of the public believes marijuana should be illegal.
Pew Research Center
The Pew survey comes as the nation’s police officers are being left to navigate an ever-evolving patchwork of laws on marijuana. Legal recreational marijuana has been approved in eight states and Washington, D.C., which continues to ban sales, unlike the state programs. A total of 28 states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes.
These relaxed laws reflect a shift in public attitudes toward marijuana, with many Americans now viewing the plant as having therapeutic value ― or at least seeing it as no more harmful than other drugs like alcohol or cigarettes.
But that doesn’t mean law enforcement priorities toward marijuana have kept up with public opinion. In 2015, U.S. police made more than 574,000 arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana, more arrests than they made for all violent crimes combined, according to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch. The arrest data shows that black Americans continue to be arrested at a higher rate than their white peers, despite statistics that show they use the drug at the same rate.
The future of marijuana policy at both the state and federal level hangs in the balance as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), has clearly outlined his personal opposition to weed and legalization efforts. At his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, he left the door open to increased federal interference in state-legal marijuana operations, a course of action that would appear to put him at odds with Trump’s stated position on the issue.
Pew’s data is the result of online interviews with 7,917 law enforcement officers from 54 police and sheriff’s departments across the U.S., administered between May 19 and Aug. 14, 2016. Pew also polled 4,538 respondents from the general public between Aug. 16 and Sept. 12, 2016.Emmanuel Adebayor spent six months on loan at Crystal Palace in 2016
Emmanuel Adebayor has described his move to Crystal Palace in 2016 as the "worst decision" of his career.
The former Manchester City and Tottenham striker joined Palace on a six-moth loan spell in January last year but was released at the end of that season after scoring just once in 15 appearances.
"I had some great experiences in England in clubs who are among the best in the country," said Adebayor, who currently plays for Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir.
"The only error that I made was to sign for Crystal Palace in January 2016.
"I did it just to please my entourage, who were saying to me: 'Manu, you have to start playing again!' It was the worst decision of my career."With cold and flu season in full swing, some are turning to natural and non-chemical alternatives to harsh cleansers and synthetic detergents.
“There are synthetic chemicals in air fresheners, cleaning products, in candles, all of that stuff,” said parent and nurse Nicole Pisani, who now turns to essential oils for cleaning, aromatherapy and nutritional support. “I finally said, ‘I’m done, I’m going to start just using oils.’ I got rid of all the other stuff.”
Pisani said she shies away from store-bought products, partly because she’s surrounded by harsh chemicals at work.
“I myself am more sensitive to synthetic fragrances now,” she said. “We were just down in Chicago and we Ubered and the driver had like two air fresheners in his vent and within five minutes my head was just pounding. I’m sure it was because of all that synthetic fragrance, it was overwhelming in the car.”
Essential oilsPisani favors doTerra brand products and encourages others to give them a try. She recently started hosting oil classes throughout Kenosha County.
“I use oils for cleaning, to support our immune system, to support our health and wellness in general,” she said. “It works, but the most important thing is to educate yourself about it and buy high-quality oils. Not all oils are equal.”
The essential oil industry is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, along with vitamins and supplements. Pisani recommends people only buy oil tested and verified by established third-party groups and sold by reputable dealers.
Greg Richards, assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s Biological Sciences Department, agreed. He said the quality of essential oils matters.
“It depends on the product, but some of the natural cleaners and oils are very effective,” he said. “With citrus ones, they have citric acid, which is a known germ-killing compound. That’s naturally found in citrus fruits, but if you have a higher concentration in some oils, it can be a good anti-microbial. It is natural and is not toxic to people.”
Richards said many parents are shying away from harsh, synthetic cleansers because they fear young children will be exposed to it.
“The big push right now is to have things that are good at getting rid of germs but are still safe for people,” he said. Still, he recommends people investigate the claims and ingredients used in products not regulated by the FDA before using.
Growing demandDr. Erin Merritt, owner and pharmacist of Modern Apothecary, 4924 Seventh Ave., said she has noticed a steady increase in sales of high-quality, essential oils over the past few years. The downtown store is filled with diffusers, providing a subtle-yet-calming aroma.
“I had no idea it was going to be this big of a draw, or that we would have 100-plus oils,” said Merritt, who sells doTerra and Young Living oil and accessaries, and now offers classes.
“It’s a more natural alternative to all of the chemicals, and they do have some health benefits and anti-bacterial properties, which is why they are also popular for cleaning,” she said.
Some purchase oils to aid digestion (peppermint, lemon) or aromatherapy (lavender, eucalyptus), but most are used topically for massaging or cleaning.
“They do have a lot of other benefits besides just smelling nice,” she said.
She recommends people interested in using them educate themselves about best practices. For example, some highly concentrated oils (clove, oregano, black pepper) need to be diluted in a “carrier” oil such as coconut or olive before application to the body.
For cleaning kitchen counters, Merritt suggests combining lemon oil and water, with maybe a touch of vinegar, in a spray bottle for easy application.
Never store concentrated oil in plastic containers, she cautioned.
Avoiding antibacterial soapsAurora Health Care’s Dr. Cynthia Abban, who specializes in adult and pediatric dermatology and microbiology, also recommends people shy away from hand soaps with antibacterial agents in favor of non-medicated cleansers that lather with warm water.
“We don’t know the long-term side-effects of chemicals as antimicrobial agents, especially when you’re using them with kids,” she said. Abban said there is still not enough evidence proving essential oils will prevent illness during cold or flu season, even though oils have been proven to be effective germ-killers on surfaces.
“This is a question we really need to look at to see (oils’) effects against what we used traditionally,” she said. “Essential oils for relaxation and for the anti-bacterial effects may be more effective in small concentrations.”
The silver liningNorwex towels and washcloths have also become more common in recent years. These products are lined with silver particles that kill bacteria.
“Historically, people used to put silver coins in water to keep it from having contaminating microbes grow in the water,” Richards said. “Silver can work.”
Mandy Christol sells Norwex products throughout southeastern Wisconsin and business is booming.
“I sell it because it makes my cleaning a lot easier and reduces the number of chemicals I use in my house,” Christol said. “I haven’t bought a bottle of Windex in three years. It’s money-saving and it’s nice to know I’m not having my kids ingesting all that. They can even help clean.”
She said the shift is a result of an over-reliance on antibiotics and cheap artificial products, which concerns young parents and millenials.
“We’ve probably been sick less since we’ve been cleaning this way,” she said.A A
A doctor at the Arkansas Children's Hospital conducted a surgery on a Little Rock zoo chimpanzee. The Children's Hospital can, at times, be a wild place. Especially for ear, nose and throat doctor, Abby Nolder. She works to heal little wild kids like Zack; a three-year-old who was getting his final checkup on his ears from Dr. Nolder. Last week, Nolder conducted a similar surgery she would on a child, but on a chimpanzee. The surgery came about when Little Rock Zoo Veterinarian, Sarah Kline noticed a polyp inside the chimpanzee's nose. Kline said Mikey the chimp had been suffering from seasonal allergies for as long as she'd known him, but when she saw the blockage in his nose, she knew she couldn't remove it on her own. "When we saw it, we knew we needed to do something physical about it," said Kline. "The polyp that came out of his sinuses was basically filling the entire right side of his nose, he couldn't breathe at all through the right side of his nose," said Nolder. Nolder said the polyp grew as big as a golf ball. The Zoo staff would give Mikey medication for his headaches but that only worked as a temporary fix. "He was very good at letting us know (about his headaches), he would touch his hand to his head," said Kline. Nolder agreed to Kline's request to perform a surgery on Mikey and remove his polyp. "I'm a little bit nervous, it'll be our first time," said Nolder. Nolder said while she was studying CT scans the anatomy of the chimp's sinus cavity is similar to a human's. The Zoo staff trained Mikey to present his arm for anesthesia, but on the day of the surgery, Kline said the high adrenaline level caused the staff to use a higher level of anesthesia to put him under. All of the sinus scopes and video instruments were donated for the procedure. The Children's staff were able to remove the polyp in just 20 minutes. "It went really well, I didn't know what to expect but once I got in there it went really smoothly. I'm used to working on children, but his nose was much bigger than most of the kids I work on so it made for more room to work on which made it a little easier," said Nolder. Both Nolder and Kline said this surgery is another measure the Little Rock Zoo takes to ensure a good quality of life for their animals. "We want people to make a very visceral connection with them so we need them to be healthy and their hundred percent," said Kline. Little Rock Zoo Spokesperson Susan Altrui said "he's doing great!" When asked about Mikey's current condition.By Michael Molcher
It can be easy to dismiss Judge Dredd. Critics have often turned their noses up at its extreme satire, from morbidly obese activists campaigning for extra food to fads for giant noses and drug-induced ugliness. Just last week, one commentator labeled the comic either a power fantasy for Nazis or a too-subtle piece of lefty irony.
But despite all the absurdities, Dredd remains not only one of Britain's most successful comic creations, but also one of the most relevant sci-fi stories of our time. Here is a comic strip that predicted everything from labour automation to the rise of authoritarian government to the banning of smoking in public. We should be deeply unnerved by how much its writers got right. For a too-subtle satire, Judge Dredd currently seems terrifyingly on the nose.
The character is often considered a reaction to Margaret Thatcher's Britain but he was actually created in 1976 and published the following February. Writers Pat Mills and John Wagner could see the political writing on the wall. Since then, Dredd has gone from a noble, even heroic, guardian who maintains that all are equal beneath the totalitarian boot-heel of the law, to the upholder of a brutalising authoritarian system.
The character is known for his unchanging nature but there are levels of complexity to the way he thinks about the system he upholds. He once walked away from the his job entirely and has, on occasion, fought for remarkably liberal ideals, such as his recent – in the end calamitous - demand for the repeal of harsh anti-mutant laws. But throughout his publishing history he has remained the embodiment of a dehumanising regime which crams people into mile-high tower blocks and denies them due process, all ostensibly for their own safety.
You can see the political DNA of the character in his ridiculously grandiose uniform. It was designed by Carlos Ezquerra, an artist who lived under the fascist regime of General Franco's Spain and channeled that experience into his work, for instance by emphasising the symbol of the eagle on Dredd's shoulderpad. The combination of silliness and serious commentary is reflected in the scripts, which switch easily from grotesque, satirical farce to moving pathos to police procedural and back again, often in the same story.
Perhaps it’s this combination of absurdity and violence which makes Judge Dredd easy to dismiss.
After all, what relevance could this throwback to the 1970s possibly have for us? What possible lessons could we draw from a city with 95% unemployment due to wholesale automation, harsh laws against outsiders, a giant wall built to keep people out, a slave labour class denied basic rights, brutal and unquestioning law enforcement which presumes guilt, a 'future shocked' population so overcome by the horrors of their world that they turn to anger if not continually distracted by fripperies and fads, a fractured opposition eternally prone to in-fighting, a disinterested electorate which has previously selected both an orangutan and a serial killer for the role of city mayor, and a ruling system so restrictive that it routinely and mercilessly destroys lives without any accountability?
You actually have to try very hard to avoid the parallels between Dredd’s world and our own.
The strip has effectively predicted the rise of Donald Trump not once, but twice.
Consider Robert 'Bad Bob' Booth, the red-necked populist president elected on a tide of jingoism, who willingly antagonised America's allies and enemies before firing off a nuclear arsenal to the cheers of his adoring public. It was in the aftermath of this Atomic War that the Judges suspended the constitution and brought in draconian laws to 'preserve order'.
Consider the blonde-coiffured 'Mad' Chief Judge Cal, the vain, erratic, and gossamer-skinned head of the Judges' Praetorian-like internal affairs division, the Special Judicial Squad, who seized power in a coup. When the citizens refused to turn out as expected to a parade in his honour, Cal suggested he might need glasses because he could not see the adoring crowds he just knew were there. He then sentenced the entire city to death for the slight. Any similarity between this story and a US president obsessing for weeks with how many people turned up to his inauguration is obviously coincidental.
And then there was the vote.
Northern Irish writer Garth Ennis' 1991 story Twilight's Last Gleaming built on the Democracy storylines begun years before by Wagner and his writing partner Alan Grant. Back then, Dredd had gone from executing every pro-democracy terrorist he could find to doubting the system so strenuously that he resigned and took the 'Long Walk’ into the irradiated desert outside the Mega Cities. When he returned, Dredd reacted to growing discontent and pro-democracy protests by forcing through a referendum.
This was a simple yes-or-no vote about which political system should govern Mega-City One: democracy or the Judges. No road map, no plan. Just yes or no.
For weeks ahead of the vote, the polling was clear. The Judges were going to lose. Commentators dismissed the notion that any other result was possible. But when it came to voting day, barely a third of the distracted, politically-illiterate population voted. Those that did overwhelmingly chose the Judges.
A distracted society bored with democracy? An entire nation’s future decided on a single, irreversible vote? An American electorate willingly giving up on freedom in return for authoritarian rule? Who could imagine such things?
Twilight's Last Gleaming was published in 1991. Letter to a Democrat, which kicked off the period in which Dredd was plagued by doubts about the system, came out five years before it. The worrisome 2000s and the frankly terrifying 2010s were years away and yet Judge Dredd was shining an uncannily prescient light into the future.
This supposed relic of the age that brought us Spitting Image and alternative comedy still has a lot to say, but his current storylines are looking still further ahead, to the horror of what happens on the other side of authoritarian government. After all, fascism is based on the notion that you should give up your freedom for security. What happens when this is exposed as a lie?
The recent Day of Chaos storyline, in which a massive terrorist attack on Mega-City One wiped out much of the population, has opened up a new era for the Judicial system. It showed the Judges' lie for what it was. If they can't keep the people safe anymore, then what use are they?
At this very moment, in the Every Empire Falls on-going series of interconnected stories, Irish writer Michael Carroll is exploring the extremes that a system now weakened and backed into a corner will go to in order to maintain itself. Meanwhile, in the recent Titan collection, writer Rob Williams brutalised Dredd in a way few writers have done before, in order to see just how far such a supposedly noble belief in the law will go.
Back in the real world, social media is often ablaze with people insisting 'we need Judge Dredd' whenever there is any kind of civil unrest in the UK or US. I've spoken to cops at US comic conventions who without irony cite Dredd as a role model, an 'if only' fantasy of what professional life could be. You only have to look at US news reports to see how closely some police forces now resemble their colleagues in the armed forces.
All too often, Dredd’s brutality is excused as "necessary" or with the justification of 'he’s harsh but fair'. Other than harsh, he is none of these things. Ravaged by atomic war and disorder, the people of Dredd's America gave up their freedoms with barely a thought. If you listen closely to the news, you can now hear the type of arguments which were once made in Dredd's world and laid the groundwork for the despotic rule of Justice Department.
Everything is in crisis, they say, but we can be safe if we just give up some small, trifling rules - rules that only the guilty hide behind anyway. If only we believe in the authorities, then they can protect us. Trust in the Judges, citizen.
Dredd's satire now is sharper than it has ever been. And that should scare us all.
Michael Molcher is a comics journalist, and award-winning podcaster and the publicity coordinator for 2000 AD. He has written extensively about Judge Dredd and 2000 AD for Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection from Hachette Partworks as well as for SFX, Comic Heroes, 2000 AD, and the Judge Dredd Megazine. The opinions expressed in this piece are his own, not those of his employers. Follow him on Twitter.
The opinions in politics.co.uk's Comment and Analysis section are those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the website or its owners.Story highlights Officials say they found the wreckage of a plane believed to have been carrying Rivera
"Everything points to that this is the plane," says the transportation minister
Besides Rivera, two pilots and four other passengers were on board
The plane lost contact with air traffic controllers outside Monterrey, Mexico
Mexican authorities said Sunday they found the wreckage of a small plane that they believe was carrying Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera.
Six others, including two pilots, were also thought to be on board the plane, which took off from Monterrey, Mexico, earlier in the day and soon lost contact with air traffic controllers.
"Everything points to that this is the plane," Communication and Transportation Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza told CNN affiliate Foro TV, about a wreckage site in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.
JUST WATCHED Mexican singer's plane missing Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Mexican singer's plane missing 01:57
His ministry issued a statement saying authorities were working to access the site by land in order to confirm exactly what's there.
Alejandro Argudin, director general of Civil Aviation, said he believes no one on board survived the crash. "The aircraft was destroyed, totally fragmented," he told CNN affiliate Televisa.
Born in Long Beach, California, to Mexican immigrant parents, Rivera, 43, released her debut album in 1999, according to her website. She sings traditional Mexican ballads, and was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in 2002 in the category of "Best Banda Album."
In October, People en Espanol named Rivera to its list of the 25 most powerful women.
Famous for her music, she is also known for her tumultuous personal life. The singer was a single mom at the age of 15 and is the mother of five, her website said.
Rivera's "I Love Jenni" reality show began airing on Telemundo's mun2 network last year.
She is a judge on the popular TV show, "The Voice, Mexico," which was scheduled to air Sunday night. Noting its concern for Rivera, Televisa said it would air a special report on the singer instead.
A fellow judge on the show took to Twitter following news of Rivera's disappearance.
"My heart is devastated," wrote Beto Cuevas. "All my prayers are with you, Jenni, and your family."
The private LearJet took off from Monterrey at 3:15 a.m. and lost contact with air traffic controllers about 60 miles away, according to a statement from the transportation ministry. The singer had a concert in the northern Mexican city Saturday night.
Two helicopters assisted in the search for the plane, which had as its destination the airport in Toluca, near Mexico City. The cause of the suspected crash was not immediately clear, and the ministry has opened an investigation.Looking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
Last May, as Donald Trump was locking up the Republican nomination, a prophetic clip began circulating among portions of the left. It was a nearly one-year-old segment of ABC’s Sunday show This Week, featuring Rep. Keith Ellison, the Minnesota Democrat then on the verge of winning a sixth term. “Anybody from the Democratic side of the fence who’s terrified of the possibility of a President Trump better vote, better get active, better get involved,” Ellison warned, “because this man has got some momentum and we better be ready for the fact that he might be leading the Republican ticket.”
Ellison made his prediction in July 2015, shortly after Trump had launched his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants “rapists.” His fellow panelists laughed along with moderator George Stephanopoulos, who offered Ellison a lifeline. “I know you don’t believe that,” he said. But Ellison insisted, “Stranger things have happened.”
Now, Trump is president, and Ellison, who saw it coming, is after a new job: running the Democratic Party. He announced his candidacy for Democratic National Committee chair in mid-November, and he and former Labor Secretary Tom Perez are the front-runners for the position, which the nearly 450 members of the DNC will vote on in late February. Ellison, an early and vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders who campaigned hard for Hillary Clinton last fall, is running to unify a fragmented party. Sanders backs him. So do Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader. So does the AFL-CIO. Win or lose, the 53-year-old Ellison, a Muslim, African American co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is poised to hold a position of influence in the party during one of the darkest moments in its history. Democrats are out of the White House and in the minority in Congress, and they’ve lost their window to reshape the Supreme Court. They control both the governor’s mansion and legislature in just six states; with another round of redistricting looming, the electoral map is only poised to get worse.
The role of the DNC chairman is to run a political machine that helps to elect Democrats throughout the country, not to dictate the party’s policy priorities. But Ellison’s blueprint for defeating Trumpism is nonetheless rooted in the anti-establishment politics of Sanders. The DNC has become the “Democratic Presidential Committee,” he argues; short-sighted focus on big-dollar fundraising and swing states has weakened the party on a county-by-county level. Change starts with shifting the party apparatus toward assembling a multicultural army of organizers, focused on the communities likely to bear the full brunt of the new president’s policies. Ellison says the proof that this can work is in his district. Emphasizing door-to-door engagement over TV advertising, Ellison boasts he’s juiced turnout in his safe Democratic seat to some of the highest levels in the country. Even as the Upper Midwest goes red, Minnesota Democrats have scored victories at the state level, bolstered by Ellison’s Minneapolis machine.
Many Democrats underestimated the extent to which Trump’s religious intolerance and ravings about “inner cities” would appeal to broad, largely white swaths of the electorate. Ellison, who built his career battling racist institutions, knew better than to make that mistake.
Republicans are eager to take him on, because in many ways, the story of Keith Ellison is the story conservatives wanted to believe about another cerebral African American community organizer from the Midwest—Barack Obama. Raised Catholic in Detroit, Ellison converted to Islam, dabbled in black nationalism, and marched with the Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan—all before his first bid for Congress in 2006. His past dogged him in that run, and it has continued to be an issue in the DNC race: Billionaire Haim Saban, one of the Democrats’ biggest donors, has trashed him as an “anti-Semite.”
As a young activist in Minneapolis, Ellison learned to build coalitions outside the scope of party politics. He also learned the limits of what such activism could achieve without political power. For Ellison, it was a time of experimentation, education, and sometimes radical dalliances that ultimately imbued in his politics a hard-edged pragmatism. Many Democrats underestimated the extent to which Trump’s religious intolerance and ravings about “inner cities” would appeal to broad, largely white swaths of the electorate. They banked on the arc of progress to knock him back. Ellison, who built his career battling racist institutions, knew better than to make that mistake.
Ellison was the third of five boys raised in a big brick house in a mixed-race enclave of Detroit known as Palmer Woods. His father, Leonard Ellison Sr., was a psychiatrist, an atheist, and a hard-ass who quizzed his sons on current events and drove them to Gettysburg to walk the battlefield every Easter. Leonard was a Republican, not an activist. While he once helped to integrate a sailboat race run by an all-white Detroit yacht club, he mostly believed in nudging a racist system through relentless achievement. The Ellison boys were expected to become either doctors or lawyers. They all did.
If his trajectory was ordained by his father, Ellison’s worldview bore the imprint of his mother, Clida, a devout Catholic from a Louisiana Creole family. The congressman’s maternal grandfather was a voting rights organizer in Natchitoches. Clida was sent to a boarding school for safety; the Ku Klux Klan once burned a cross outside their house. Clida’s family tree—with roots in the Balkans, France, Spain, and West Africa—was a prism for understanding the absurdity of the South’s racial caste system. Ellison’s younger brother, Anthony, now a lawyer in Boston, recalled Ellison struggling with their mother’s revelation that some of their Creole ancestors had owned slaves. During visits to a family cotton farm in Louisiana, Ellison brought notebooks and a tape recorder and spent hours interviewing relatives.
Ellison’s political awakening, which he credits to reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X at age 13, came during a period of racial turmoil in Detroit. When riots started after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Ellison, then five, hid under his bed as National Guard personnel carriers cruised past his block. Over a two-and-a-half-year period in the early 1970s, one Detroit police unit that formed after the riots was accused of killing 21 African Americans. Ellison feared crime and the people tasked with stopping it. After graduating from high school in 1981, he majored in economics at nearby Wayne State University, moving out of his leafy neighborhood and into a one-bedroom apartment in the city’s crack-ravaged Cass Corridor.
Ellison’s first brush with controversy came a few months into his freshmen year. After joining the student newspaper, the South End, he persuaded the editor to publish a cartoon featuring five identical black men dribbling a basketball alongside a man in a Klan robe who was clutching a club. Above it was a question: “How many Honkies are in this picture?” It was meant to poke fun at racial caricatures, but students didn’t see the humor. An African American classmate stormed into the newspaper’s office to confront him—a scene Ellison breezily recounted in a follow-up column mocking the outcry. His critics were “still living in the Jim Crow era,” Ellison wrote. The firestorm made the pages of the Detroit Free Press.
In the months to follow, friends noticed a change in Ellison. “He seemed to be a little more introspective, a little more circumspect,” says Mary Chapman, a Detroit writer who worked on the South End. “Maybe he grew up.”
Or maybe he found religion. Ellison had drifted from his mother’s Catholic church, but it had left a void. In his 2014 memoir, My Country, ‘Tis of Thee, Ellison writes that he began attending a mosque when he was 19—drawn by a billboard he passed on his commute. Clida Ellison described the reveal as more confusing than shocking. “He announced one day that he was going to mosque,” she said, “and my next question was: ‘What’s mosque?'”
Increasingly, he devoted his energy to anti-apartheid activism, and his columns took on a new urgency. When Bernie Goetz was acquitted of attempted murder after shooting four black men on a New York City subway, Ellison warned, “[I]t won’t be long before police officers, old ladies, weekend survival gamers, and everyone else considers it open season on the brothers.”
He read a lot of Frantz Fanon, the Marxist anti-colonialist writer from Martinique, and in 1985 he attended a campus speech by Louis Farrakhan, the controversial Nation of Islam leader who blended calls for black empowerment with lengthy diatribes against Jews, gays, and other groups. “I remember talking to him and being surprised at how far left he had gone,” says Chuck Fogel, an editor at the South End who lived next door to Ellison. But there was an air of experimentation to everything he did. In high school, Ellison had formed a short-lived ska and thrash-metal band called the Deviants. Now, Ellison would fiddle with his guitar incessantly, studying different variations of “Johnny B. Goode,” Fogel recalls. Sometimes it was the Chuck Berry version. Sometimes it was Jimi Hendrix. “He was trying on things and searching.”
Many Democrats view Ellison as the kind of organizer the moment demands, capable of harnessing the resurgent movements of the left—racial justice and economic populism. But critics have flogged a consistent narrative about his past, one that has haunted him since his first run for Congress in 2006. The case against Ellison has its roots in his time at the University of Minnesota Law School, where he began making a name for himself as a fierce critic of police and a Farrakhan defender. It was a radical identity he outgrew, one that friends insist doesn’t represent the Ellison of |
the former is compelled to clear the road for himself or, at any rate, to assist the conjuncture of events in discovering him. Nevertheless, the leader is always a relation between people, the individual supply to meet the collective demand. The controversy over Hitler’s personality becomes the sharper the more the secret of his success is sought in himself. In the meantime, another political figure would be difficult to find that is in the same measure the focus of anonymous historic forces. Not every exasperated petty bourgeois could have become Hitler, but a particle of Hitler is lodged in every exasperated petty bourgeois.
The rapid growth of German capitalism prior to the First World War by no means signified a simple destruction of the middle classes. Although it ruined some layers of the petty bourgeoisie it created others anew: around the factories, artisans and shopkeepers; within the factories, technicians and executives. But while preserving themselves and even growing numerically – the old and the new petty bourgeoisie compose a little less than one-half of the German nation – the middle classes have lost the last shadow of independence. They live on the periphery of large-scale industry and the banking system, and they live off the crumbs from the table of the monopolies and cartels, and off the spiritual alms of their theorists and professional politicians.
The defeat in 1918 raised a wall in the path of German imperialism. External dynamics changed to internal. The war passed over into revolution. Social Democracy, which aided the Hohenzollerns in bringing the war to its tragic conclusion, did not permit the proletariat to bring the revolution to its conclusion. The Weimar democracy spent fourteen years finding interminable excuses for its own existence. The Communist Party called the workers to a new revolution but proved incapable of leading it. The German proletariat passed through the rise and collapse of war, revolution, parliamentarism, and pseudo-Bolshevism. At the time when the old parties of the bourgeoisie had drained themselves to the dregs, the dynamic power of the working class also found itself sapped.
The postwar chaos hit the artisans, the peddlers, and the civil employees no less cruelly than the workers. The economic crisis in agriculture was ruining the peasantry. The decay of the middle strata did not mean that they were made into proletarians, inasmuch as the proletariat itself was casting out a gigantic army of chronically unemployed. The pauperization of the petty bourgeoisie, barely covered by ties and socks of artificial silk, eroded all official creeds and first of all the doctrine of democratic parliamentarism.
The multiplicity of parties, the icy fever of elections, the interminable changes of ministries aggravated the social crisis by creating a kaleidoscope of barren political combinations. In the atmosphere brought to white heat by war, defeat, reparations, inflation, occupation of the Ruhr, crisis, need, and despair, the petty bourgeoisie rose up against all the old parties that had bamboozled i.e. The sharp grievances of small proprietors never out of bankruptcy, of their university sons without posts and clients, of their daughters without dowries and suitors, demanded order and an iron hand.
The banner of National Socialism was raised by upstarts from the lower and middle commanding ranks of the old army. Decorated with medals for distinguished service, commissioned and noncommissioned officers could not believe that their heroism and sufferings for the Fatherland had not only come to naught, but also gave them no special claims to gratitude. Hence their hatred of the revolution and the proletariat. At the same time, they did not want to reconcile themselves to being sent by the bankers, industrialists, and ministers back to the modest posts of bookkeepers, engineers, postal clerks, and schoolteachers. Hence their “socialism.” At the Yser and under Verdun they had learned to risk themselves and others, and to speak the language of command, which powerfully overawed the petty bourgeois behind the lines. [2] Thus these people became leaders.
At the start of his political career, Hitler stood out only because of his big temperament a voice much louder than others, and an intellectual mediocrity much more self-assured. He did not bring into the movement any ready-made program, if one disregards the insulted soldier’s thirst for vengeance. Hitler began with grievances and complaints about the Versailles terms, the high cost of living, the lack of respect for a meritorious non-commissioned officer, and the plots of bankers and journalists of the Mosaic persuasion. There were in the country plenty of ruined and drowning people with scars and fresh bruises. They all wanted to thump with their fists on the table. This Hitler could do better than others. True, he knew not how to cure the evil. But his harangues resounded, now like commands and now like prayers addressed to inexorable fate. Doomed classes, like those fatally ill, never tire of making variations on their plaints nor of listening to consolations. Hitler’s speeches were all attuned to this pitch. Sentimental formlessness, absence of disciplined thought ignorance along with gaudy erudition – all these minuses turned into pluses. They supplied him with the possibility of uniting all types of dissatisfaction in the beggar’s bowl of National Socialism, and of leading the mass in the direction in which it pushed him. In the mind of the agitator was preserved, from among his early improvisations, whatever had met with approbation. His political thoughts were the fruits of oratorical acoustics. That is how the selection of slogans went on. That is how the program was consolidated. That is how the “leader” took shape out of the raw material.
Mussolini from the very beginning reacted more consciously to social materials than Hitler, to whom the police mysticism of a Metternich [3] is much closer than the political algebra of Machiavelli. Mussolini is mentally bolder and more cynical. It may be said that the Roman atheist only utilizes religion as he does the police and the courts, while his Berlin colleague really believes in the infallibility of the Church of Rome. During the time when the future Italian dictator considered Marx as “our common immortal teacher,” he defended not unskillfully the theory which sees in the life of contemporary society first of all the reciprocal action of two classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. True, Mussolini wrote in 1914, there lie between them very numerous intermediate layers which seemingly form “a joining web of the human collective”; but “during periods of crisis, the intermediate classes gravitate, depending upon their interests and ideas, to one or the other of the basic classes.” A very important generalization! Just as scientific medicine equips one with the possibility not only of curing the sick but of sending the healthy to meet their forefathers by the shortest route, so the scientific analysis of class relations, predestined by its creator for the mobilization of the proletariat, enabled Mussolini, after he had jumped into the opposing camp, to mobilize the middle classes against the proletariat. Hitler accomplished the same feat in translating the methodology of fascism into the language of German mysticism.
The bonfires which burn the impious literature of Marxism light up brilliantly the class nature of National Socialism. While the Nazis acted as a party and not as a state power, they did not quite find an approach to the working class. On the other side, the big bourgeoisie, even those who supported Hitler with money, did not consider his party theirs. The national “renaissance” leaned wholly upon the middle classes, the most backward part of the nation, the heavy ballast of history. Political art consisted in fusing the petty bourgeoisie into oneness through its common hostility to the proletariat What must be done in order to improve things? First of all, throttle those who are underneath. Impotent before big capital, the petty bourgeoisie hopes in the future to regain its social dignity through the ruin of the workers.
The Nazis call their overturn by the usurped title of revolution. As a matter of fact, in Germany as well as in Italy, fascism leaves the social system untouched. Taken by itself, Hitler’s overturn has no right even to the name counter-revolution. But it cannot be viewed as an isolated event; it is the conclusion of a cycle of shocks which began in Germany in 1918. The November Revolution, which gave the power to the workers’ and peasants’ soviets, was proletarian in its fundamental tendencies. But the party that stood at the head of the proletariat returned the power to the bourgeoisie. In this sense the Social Democracy opened the era of counter-revolution before the revolution could bring its work to completion. However, so long as the bourgeoisie depended upon the Social Democracy, and consequently upon the workers, the regime retained elements of compromise. All the same, the international and the internal situation of German capitalism left no more room for concessions. As Social Democracy saved the bourgeoisie from the proletarian revolution, fascism came in its turn to liberate the bourgeoisie from the Social Democracy. Hitler’s coup is only the final link in the chain of counterrevolutionary shifts.
The petty bourgeois is hostile to the idea of development, for development goes immutably against him; progress has brought him nothing except irredeemable debts. National Socialism rejects not only Marxism but Darwinism. The Nazis curse materialism because the victories of technology over nature have signified the triumph of large capital over small. The leaders of the movement are liquidating “intellectualism” because they themselves possess second- and third-rate intellects, and above all because their historic role does not permit them to pursue a single thought to its conclusion. The petty bourgeois needs a higher authority, which stands above matter and above history, and which is safeguarded from competition, inflation, crisis, and the auction block. To evolution, materialist thought, and rationalism – of the twentieth, nineteenth, and eighteenth centuries – is counterposed in his mind national idealism as the source of heroic inspiration. Hitler’s nation is the mythological shadow of the petty bourgeoisie itself, a pathetic delirium of a thousand-year Reich.
In order to raise it above history, the nation is given the support of the race. History is viewed as the emanation of the race. The qualities of the race are construed without relation to changing social conditions. Rejecting “economic thought” as base, National Socialism descends a stage lower: from economic materialism it appeals to zoologic materialism.
The theory of race, specially created, it seems, for some pretentious self-educated individual seeking a universal key to all the secrets of life, appears particularly melancholy in the light of the history of ideas. In order to create the religion of pure German blood, Hitler was obliged to borrow at second hand the ideas of racism from a Frenchman, Count Gobineau [4], a diplomat and a literary dilettante. Hitler found the political methodology ready-made in Italy, where Mussolini had borrowed largely from the Marxist theory of the class struggle. Marxism itself is the fruit of union among German philosophy, French history, and British economics. To investigate retrospectively the genealogy of ideas, even those most reactionary and muddleheaded, is to leave not a trace of racism standing.
The immense poverty of National Socialist philosophy did not, of course, hinder the academic sciences from entering Hitler’s wake with all sails unfurled, once his victory was sufficiently plain. For the majority of the professorial rabble, the years of the Weimar regime were periods of riot and alarm. Historians, economists, jurists, and philosophers were lost in guesswork as to which of the contending criteria of truth was right that is, which of the camps would turn out in the end the master of the situation. The fascist dictatorship eliminates the doubts of the Fausts and the vacillations of the Hamlets of the university rostrums. Coming out of the twilight of parliamentary relativity, knowledge once again enters into the kingdom of absolutes. Einstein has been obliged to pitch his tent outside the boundaries of Germany.
On the plane of politics, racism is a vapid and bombastic variety of chauvinism in alliance with phrenology. As the ruined nobility sought solace in the gentility of its blood, so the pauperized petty bourgeoisie befuddles itself with fairy tales concerning the special superiorities of its race. Worthy of attention is the fact that the leaders of National Socialism are not native Germans but interlopers from Austria, like Hitler himself, from the former Baltic provinces of the Czar’s empire, like Rosenberg; and from colonial countries, like Hess, who is Hitler’s present alternate for the party leadership. [5] A barbarous din of nationalisms on the frontiers of civilization was required in order to instill into its “leaders” those ideas which later found response in the hearts of the most barbarous classes in Germany.
Personality and class – liberalism and Marxism – are evil. The nation – is good. But at the threshold of private property this philosophy is turned inside out. Salvation lies only in personal private property. The idea of national property is the spawn of Bolshevism. Deifying the nation, the petty bourgeois does not want to give it anything. On the contrary, he expects the nation to endow him with property and to safeguard him from the worker and the process-server. Unfortunately, the Third Reich will bestow nothing upon the petty bourgeois except new taxes.
In the sphere of modern economy, international in its ties and anonymous in its methods, the principle of race seems unearthed from a medieval graveyard. The Nazis set out with concessions beforehand; the purity of race, which must be certified in the kingdom of the spirit by a passport must be demonstrated in the sphere of economy chiefly by efficiency. Under contemporary conditions this means competitive capacity. Through the back door, racism returns to economic liberalism, freed from political liberties.
Nationalism in economy comes down in practice to impotent though savage outbursts of anti-Semitism. The Nazis abstract the usurious or banking capital from the modern economic system because it is of the spirit of evil; and, as is well known, it is precisely in this sphere that the Jewish bourgeoisie occupies an important position. Bowing down before capitalism as a whole, the petty bourgeois declares war against the evil spirit of gain in the guise of the Polish Jew in a long-skirted caftan and usually without a cent in his pocket. The pogrom becomes the supreme evidence of racial superiority.
The program with which National Socialism came to power reminds one very much – alas – of a Jewish department store in an obscure province. What won’t you find here – cheap in price and in quality still lower! Recollections of the “happy” days of free competition, and hazy evocations of the stability of class society; hopes for the regeneration of the colonial empire, and dreams of a shut-in economy; phrases about a return from Roman law back to the Germanic, and pleas for an American moratorium; an envious hostility to inequality in the person of a proprietor in an automobile, and animal fear of equality in the person of a worker in a cap and without a collar; the frenzy of nationalism, and the fear of world creditors... all the refuse of international political thought has gone to fill up the spiritual treasury of the new Germanic Messianism.
Fascism has opened up the depths of society for politics. Today, not only in peasant homes but also in city skyscrapers, there lives alongside of the twentieth century the tenth or the thirteenth. A hundred million people use electricity and still believe in the magic power of signs and exorcisms. The Pope of Rome broadcasts over the radio about the miraculous transformation of water into wine. Movie stars go to mediums. Aviators who pilot miraculous mechanisms created by man’s genius wear amulets on their sweaters. What inexhaustible reserves they possess of darkness, ignorance, and savagery! Despair has raised them to their feet fascism has given them a banner. Everything that should have been eliminated from the national organism in the form of cultural excrement in the course of the normal development of society has now come gushing out from the throat; capitalist society is puking up the undigested barbarism. Such is the physiology of National Socialism.
German fascism, like Italian fascism, raised itself to power on the backs of the petty bourgeoisie, which it turned into a battering ram against the organizations of the working class and the institutions of democracy. But fascism in power is least of all the rule of the petty bourgeoisie. On the contrary, it is the most ruthless dictatorship of monopoly capital. Mussolini is right: the middle classes are incapable of independent policies. During periods of great crisis they are called upon to reduce to absurdity the policies of one of the two basic classes. Fascism succeeded in putting them at the service of capital Such slogans as state control of trusts and the elimination of unearned income were thrown overboard immediately upon the assumption of power. Instead, the particularism of German “lands” leaning upon the peculiarities of the petty bourgeoisie gave way to capitalist-police centralism. Every success of the internal and foreign policies of National Socialism will inevitably mean the further crushing of small capital by large.
The program of petty-bourgeois illusions is not discarded; it is simply torn away from reality, and dissolved in ritualistic acts. The unification of all classes reduces itself to semisymbolic compulsory labor and to the confiscation of the labor holiday of May Day for the “benefit of the people.” The preservation of the Gothic script as opposed to the Latin is a symbolic revenge for the yoke of the world market The dependence upon the international bankers, Jews among their number, is not eased an iota, wherefore it is forbidden to slaughter animals according to the Talmudic ritual. If the road to heaven is paved with good intentions, then the avenues of the Third Reich are paved with symbols.
Reducing the program of petty-bourgeois illusions to a naked bureaucratic masquerade, National Socialism raises itself over the nation as the worst form of imperialism. Absolutely vain are hopes that Hitler’s government will fail today or tomorrow, a victim of its internal inconsistency. The Nazis required the program in order to assume power; but power serves Hitler not at all for the purpose of fuming the program. His tasks are assigned him by monopoly capital. The compulsory concentration of all forces and resources of the people in the interests of imperialism – the true historic mission of the fascist dictatorship – means preparation for war; and this task, in its turn, brooks no internal resistance and leads to a further mechanical concentration of power. Fascism cannot be reformed or retired from service. It can only be overthrown. The political orbit of the regime leans upon the alternative, war or revolution.
Postscript
P.S.: The first anniversary of the Nazi dictatorship is approaching. All the tendencies of the regime have had time to take on a clear and distinct character. The “socialist” revolution pictured by the petty-bourgeois masses as a necessary supplement to the national revolution is officially liquidated and condemned. The brotherhood of classes found its culmination in the fact that on a day especially appointed by the government the haves renounced the hors d’oeuvre and dessert in favor of the have-nots. The struggle against unemployment is reduced to the cutting of semi-starvation doles in two. The rest is the task of uniformed statistics. “Planned” autarky is simply a new stage of economic disintegration.
The more impotent the police regime of the Nazi is in the field of national economy, the more it is forced to transfer its efforts to the field of foreign policy. This corresponds fully to the inner dynamics of German capitalism, aggressive through and through. The sudden turn of the Nazi leaders to peaceful declarations could deceive only utter simpletons. What other method remains at Hitler’s disposal to transfer the responsibility for internal distresses to external enemies and to accumulate under the press of the dictatorship the explosive force of nationalism? This part of the program, outlined openly even prior to the Nazis” assumption of power, is now being fulfilled with iron logic before the eyes of the world. The date of the new European catastrophe will be determined by the time necessary for the arming of Germany. It is not a question of months, but neither is it a question of decades. It will be but a few years before Europe is again plunged into a war, unless Hitler is forestalled in time by the inner forces of Germany.
November 2, 1933
Last updated on: 25.4.2007Underwater World
Cable, Cable Everywhere...
It is one of the sad-but-true facts of business that what you build, or make, may be absolutely critical to the survival of a hugely successful or important industry, but you yourself don't really make much money off it. The cheapest iPad costs around $600 but the Samsung processor which runs it, and without which the iPad is just a pretty, but useless slab of metal and glass, costs around $14 — about 2% of the market price. Prices of potatoes have jumped sharply in recent weeks, but rest assured that the farmer who actually plants and harvests it will get a small percentage of the final price you pay, with middlemen capturing the rest. And so it is, with submarine cables.As of 2010, there were about 1.1 million km of fibre optic cables laid across the world's oceans and circling the globe, according to Terabit, a telecom consulting company.And despite all the talk of 3G, 4G and the fights between telcos and regulators about who gets how much spectrum at what price, the internet couldn't function without the wired part of it. Click on a link while surfing the internet on your smartphone, and pretty much the only 'wireless' aspect is the data sent by your phone to the cell tower and service provider's telecom switch.If you're in Mumbai, and you click on a link of a website hosted on a server in the US, the signal likely travels through fibre optic cables through the ocean floor off the coast of Mumbai, through West Asia, Europe, and across the Atlantic to the US east coast. Or it could go the other way, through Chennai, Singapore, Tokyo and across the Pacific to the US west coast. It's the same story if you text someone in London, or call someone in Tokyo. RCom owns about 65,000 km of such undersea cable, much of which it acquired in 2003 at the tail end of the dotcom bust by buying FLAG Telecom for fire-sale prices. A year or so later, the Tatas bought Tyco, another high-profile casualty of the bust and acquired another several thousand km of fibre optic cable (both own many more tens of thousands of kilometres of cable laid on land).Between the two, they now own 20% of the total length of fibre optic cables on the ocean floor and about 12% of high-capacity bandwidth (defined as 1 million Mbps or more — your home broadband connection is probably a couple of Mbps) capacity across the globe, according to Terabit. A third player, Airtel, is part of various consortia which collectively own another 225,000 km of cable(again, it has several thousand more kilometres of cable on land).As owners of submarine cables, RCom, Tata and others like them are essentially the wholesalers of internet bandwidth — selling capacity in bulk to internet service providers around the world who then sell it to you and me. The undersea cable business of RCom has 386 customers comprising mobile operators, internet service providers and other big telecom companies.RCom is currently 'evaluating' a listing of its submarine cable business in Singapore. No numbers have been released officially, but the media speculation is that the company is hoping to raise Rs 7,500 crore, possibly more, by selling off 75% of the business. Most of that money will be used to repay part of a crippling debt burden of Rs 39,000 crore.This is not the first time that RCom has talked of listing FLAG. In 2007, it had initiated the process of doing so, on the London Stock Exchange, with the proceeds to be used to expand the cable network.Given that it has been a critical part of the one of the biggest boom industries over the last generation or so, how profitable has it been for the likes of RCom and others, to own all this wiring?The roots of the current fibre optic cable system go back to the dotcom boom. Over half of the 1.1 million km of cable currently deployed, entered service in 1999-2002."Ten to fifteen years ago, people invested in submarine cables on the basis of applications that had yet to be built," says Sunil Tagare, founder of buysellbandwidth.com, who, in an earlier avatar, was one of the pioneers who developed and implemented the FLAG system in the late 1990s, which Reliance later bought (Tagare declined to talk about FLAG to ET on Sunday). "They were building for applications like movies and video on demand, which eventually did materialise of course, but took a much longer time to do so, than expected."We often need to store private data in programs, for example passwords, secret keys, and their derivatives, and we usually need to clear their traces in the memory after using them so that a potential intruder can't gain access to these data. In this article we will discuss why you can't clear private data using memset() function.
memset()
You may have already read the article discussing vulnerabilities in programs where memset() is used to erase memory. However, that article doesn't fully cover all the possible scenarios of incorrect use of memset(). You may have problems not only with clearing stack-allocated buffers but with clearing dynamically allocated buffers as well.
The stack
For a start, let's discuss an example from the above-mentioned article that deals with using a stack-allocated variable.
Here is a code fragment that handles a password:
#include <string> #include <functional> #include <iostream> //Private data struct PrivateData { size_t m_hash; char m_pswd[100]; }; //Function performs some operations on password void doSmth(PrivateData& data) { std::string s(data.m_pswd); std::hash<std::string> hash_fn; data.m_hash = hash_fn(s); } //Function for password entering and processing int funcPswd() { PrivateData data; std::cin >> data.m_pswd; doSmth(data); memset(&data, 0, sizeof(PrivateData)); return 1; } int main() { funcPswd(); return 0; }
This example is rather conventional and completely synthetic.
If we build a debug version of that code and run it in the debugger (I was using Visual Studio 2015), we'll see that it works well: the password and its calculated hash value are erased after they have been used.
Let's take a look at the assembler version of our code in the Visual Studio debugger:
.... doSmth(data); 000000013F3072BF lea rcx,[data] 000000013F3072C3 call doSmth (013F30153Ch) memset(&data, 0, sizeof(PrivateData)); 000000013F3072C8 mov r8d,70h 000000013F3072CE xor edx,edx 000000013F3072D0 lea rcx,[data] 000000013F3072D4 call memset (013F301352h) return 1; 000000013F3072D9 mov eax,1....
We see the call of memset() function, that clears the private data after use.
We could stop here, but we'll go on and try to build an optimized release version. Now, this is what we see in the debugger:
.... 000000013F7A1035 call std::operator>><char,std::char_traits<char> > (013F7A18B0h) 000000013F7A103A lea rcx,[rsp+20h] 000000013F7A103F call doSmth (013F7A1170h) return 0; 000000013F7A1044 xor eax,eax....
All the instructions associated with the call to the memset() function have been deleted. The compiler assumes that there is no need to call a function erasing data since they are no longer in use. It's not an error; it's a legal choice of the compiler. From the language viewpoint, a memset() call is not needed since the buffer is not used further in the program, so removing this call cannot affect its behavior. So, our private data remain uncleared, and it's very bad.
The heap
Now let's dig deeper. Let's see what happens to data when we allocate them in dynamic memory using the malloc function or the new operator.
Let's modify our previous code to work with malloc:
#include <string> #include <functional> #include <iostream> struct PrivateData { size_t m_hash; char m_pswd[100]; }; void doSmth(PrivateData& data) { std::string s(data.m_pswd); std::hash<std::string> hash_fn; data.m_hash = hash_fn(s); } int funcPswd() { PrivateData* data = (PrivateData*)malloc(sizeof(PrivateData)); std::cin >> data->m_pswd; doSmth(*data); memset(data, 0, sizeof(PrivateData)); free(data); return 1; } int main() { funcPswd(); return 0; }
We'll be testing a release version since the debug version has all the calls where we want them to be. After compiling it in Visual Studio 2015, we get the following assembler code:
.... 000000013FBB1021 mov rcx, qword ptr [__imp_std::cin (013FBB30D8h)] 000000013FBB1028 mov rbx,rax 000000013FBB102B lea rdx,[rax+8] 000000013FBB102F call std::operator>><char,std::char_traits<char> > (013FBB18B0h) 000000013FBB1034 mov rcx,rbx 000000013FBB1037 call doSmth (013FBB1170h) 000000013FBB103C xor edx,edx 000000013FBB103E mov rcx,rbx 000000013FBB1041 lea r8d,[rdx+70h] 000000013FBB1045 call memset (013FBB2A2Eh) 000000013FBB104A mov rcx,rbx 000000013FBB104D call qword ptr [__imp_free (013FBB3170h)] return 0; 000000013FBB1053 xor eax,eax....
Visual Studio has done well this time: it erases the data as planned. But what about other compilers? Let's try gcc, version 5.2.1, and clang, version 3.7.0.
I've modified our code a bit for gcc and clang and added some code to print the contents of the allocated memory block before and after the cleanup. I print the contents of the block the pointer points to after the memory is freed, but you shouldn't do it in real programs because you never know how the application will respond. In this experiment, however, I'm taking the liberty to use this technique.
.... #include "string.h".... size_t len = strlen(data->m_pswd); for (int i = 0; i < len; ++i) printf("%c", data->m_pswd[i]); printf("| %zu
", data->m_hash); memset(data, 0, sizeof(PrivateData)); free(data); for (int i = 0; i < len; ++i) printf("%c", data->m_pswd[i]); printf("| %zu
", data->m_hash);....
Now, here's a fragment of the assembler code generated by gcc compiler:
movq (%r12), %rsi movl $.LC2, %edi xorl %eax, %eax call printf movq %r12, %rdi call free
The printing function (printf) is followed by a call to the free() function while the call to the memset() function is gone. If we run the code and enter an arbitrary password (for example "MyTopSecret"), we'll see the following message printed on the screen:
MyTopSecret| 7882334103340833743
MyTopSecret| 0
The hash has changed. I guess it's a side effect of the memory manager's work. As for our password "MyTopSecret", it stays intact in the memory.
Let's check how it works with clang:
movq (%r14), %rsi movl $.L.str.1, %edi xorl %eax, %eax callq printf movq %r14, %rdi callq free
Just like in the previous case, the compiler decides to remove the call to the memset() function. This is what the printed output looks like:
MyTopSecret| 7882334103340833743
MyTopSecret| 0
So, both gcc and clang decided to optimize our code. Since the memory is freed after calling the memset() function, the compilers treat this call as irrelevant and delete it.
As our experiments reveal, compilers tend to delete memset() calls for the sake of optimization working with both stack and dynamic memory of the application.
Finally, let's see how the compilers will respond when allocating memory using the new operator.
Modifying the code again:
#include <string> #include <functional> #include <iostream> #include "string.h" struct PrivateData { size_t m_hash; char m_pswd[100]; }; void doSmth(PrivateData& data) { std::string s(data.m_pswd); std::hash<std::string> hash_fn; data.m_hash = hash_fn(s); } int funcPswd() { PrivateData* data = new PrivateData(); std::cin >> data->m_pswd; doSmth(*data); memset(data, 0, sizeof(PrivateData)); delete data; return 1; } int main() { funcPswd(); return 0; }
Visual Studio clears the memory as expected:
000000013FEB1044 call doSmth (013FEB1180h) 000000013FEB1049 xor edx,edx 000000013FEB104B mov rcx,rbx 000000013FEB104E lea r8d,[rdx+70h] 000000013FEB1052 call memset (013FEB2A3Eh) 000000013FEB1057 mov edx,70h 000000013FEB105C mov rcx,rbx 000000013FEB105F call operator delete (013FEB1BA8h) return 0; 000000013FEB1064 xor eax,eax
The gcc compiler decided to leave the clearing function, too:
call printf movq %r13, %rdi movq %rbp, %rcx xorl %eax, %eax andq $-8, %rdi movq $0, 0(%rbp) movq $0, 104(%rbp) subq %rdi, %rcx addl $112, %ecx shrl $3, %ecx rep stosq movq %rbp, %rdi call _ZdlPv
The printed output has changed accordingly; the data we have entered are no longer there:
MyTopSecret| 7882334103340833743
| 0
But as for clang, it chose to optimize our code in this case as well and cut out the "unnecessary" function:
movq (%r14), %rsi movl $.L.str.1, %edi xorl %eax, %eax callq printf movq %r14, %rdi callq _ZdlPv
Let's print the memory's contents:
MyTopSecret| 7882334103340833743
MyTopSecret| 0
The password remains, waiting for being stolen.
Let's sum it all up. We have found that an optimizing compiler may remove a call to the memset() function no matter what type of memory is used - stack or dynamic. Although Visual Studio didn't remove memset() calls when using dynamic memory in our test, you can't expect it to always behave that way in real-life code. The harmful effect may reveal itself with other compilation switches. What follows from our small research is that one cannot rely on the memset() function to clear private data.
So, what is a better way to clear them?
You should use special memory-clearing functions, which can't be deleted by the compiler when it optimizes the code.
In Visual Studio, for example, you can use RtlSecureZeroMemory. Starting with C11, function memset_s is also available. In addition, you can implement a safe function of your own, if necessary; a lot of examples and guides can be found around the web. Here are some of them.
Solution No. 1.
errno_t memset_s(void *v, rsize_t smax, int c, rsize_t n) { if (v == NULL) return EINVAL; if (smax > RSIZE_MAX) return EINVAL; if (n > smax) return EINVAL; volatile unsigned char *p = v; while (smax-- && n--) { *p++ = c; } return 0; }
Solution No. 2.
void secure_zero(void *s, size_t n) { volatile char *p = s; while (n--) *p++ = 0; }
Some programmers go even further and create functions that fill the array with pseudo-random values and have different running time to hinder attacks based on time measuring. Implementations of these can be found on the web, too.
Conclusion
PVS-Studio static analyzer can detect data-clearing errors we have discussed here, and uses diagnostic V597 to signal about the problem. This article was written as an extended explanation of why this diagnostic is important. Unfortunately, many programmers tend to think that the analyzer "picks on" their code and there is actually nothing to worry about. Well, it's because they see their memset() calls intact when viewing the code in the debugger, forgetting that what they see is still just a debug version.For 57 minutes on Thursday night, America saw Hillary Clinton deliver a polished primetime acceptance speech, interrupted only by positive chants from the hall.
And for two weeks leading up to those 57 minutes, the most pivotal of the Democratic National Convention, a tightly organized hierarchy of delegates, floor "whips," floor captains, and regional coordinators honed a system unseen by viewers at home to counter hecklers in real time and intercept rumored protests, aided in secret by allies in the ranks of agitated Bernie Sanders delegates.
The whip operation relied on the same strict preparation and careful execution that Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook has made his trademark, according to details provided by two operatives involved, |
But what if you just don't have the time (or money) to pop into your derm's office that regularly? Here are the six next-best treatments top dermatologists recommend for getting rid of those under-the-surface cysts ASAP.
Whatever you do, don't try to pop it. "The hardest thing for me to communicate with my patients is that often, around age 20, women experience a major change in their acne. No longer are the zits the juicy whiteheads that explode with a satisfying pop. By the mid-20s and 30s, acne is made of deep pockets of white blood cells, and these can't be popped. Keep your hands off these awful kinds of zits; popping only makes them worse." --Scott Dunbar, a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group
Ice it like a sprained ankle. "Applying an ice cube directly to your pimple for several seconds will constrict small blood vessels feeding the cyst and immediately decrease redness and size." --Nazarian
Try Renee Rouleau Anti-Cyst Treatment. "Since cysts form on the inner layers of the skin, they need a product that can be absorbed deep down. This Renee Rouleau product does that, and it has a lactic acid-based formula that acts as an anti-inflammatory." --Karen Hammerman, a dermatologist with Schweiger Dermatology Group
Mix this cocktail of three acne products. "The combination of these three over-the-counter products--a sulfur-containing cream (try Olay Professional Pro-X Clear Intensive Refining Sulfur Mask), a benzoyl peroxide cream (try Arithmetic Acne Control Complex), and a mild cortisone cream (try Cortizone-10)--usually proves very effective when mixed and applied two to three times a day over the cyst for seven to ten days. The cyst will start to significantly reduce in size after two to three days." --Leyda Bowes, the medical director at Bowes Aesthetics in Miami
Layer your treatments correctly. "Treat painful undergrounders with this order of medications: a hydrocortisone cream to reduce inflammation, a 2 percent salicylic acid product to dry out excess oil, and then benzoyl peroxide to kill acne-causing bacteria." --Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City
Color correct the cyst away. "Use makeup with a slight green tinge to help mask redness and blend your pimple into your natural skin tone." --Nazarian
More from Allure:
Also on HuffPost:You've heard it before: "The Internet is forever." So you should know that when your friend posts a picture of you staggeringly drunk on Facebook, it may come back to haunt you.
Businesses are now using social networking sites to scope out applicants, and that embarrassing picture — and other bad behavior found on your profile — may make your job search more difficult.
See also: 7 Tips for Keeping Your Day Job
In a recent Jobvite survey, over 40% of companies said they reconsidered candidates based on the content of their social profiles, including Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
Employers are more likely to view a candidate negatively if there are signs of illegal drug use or posts of a sexual nature on their profiles. Positive posts can influence decisions as well; over 60% of companies involved in the study said that evidence of volunteering or other charitable acts reflected well on the applicant.
Pictures aren't the only pieces of content that can change an employer's mind — text is also a major factor. Nearly two-thirds of participating companies said that profanity and spelling and grammar mistakes in statuses and tweets reflected poorly on job applicants.
What can you do to ensure your social media use doesn't ruin your chances for employment? The infographic below details types of online behavior that can help or hurt you in your job search.
Image: Flickr, Santiago RodriguezHere’s part two of my sleepers & busts for the 2013 fantasy basketball (re-draft) season. In case you missed Part 1, you’ll want to check it out!
Cleveland Cavaliers
Sleepers: Andrew Bynum C, Anderson Varejao PF/C, Dion Waiters SG – It is hard to just pick one of these guys because they are all currently going outside the top 100 picks (according to ESPN live draft results). Bynum is the biggest question mark because he is dominate when he plays. Have no problem taking him in the rounds 8-10 knowing he could return 3rd round value. Speaking of value, Varejao, A.K.A. Sideshow Bob, gets forgotten about even though he averaged 14 points/rebounds per game last season. He is almost guaranteed to get a double-double every time he plays. At the same time, he will very likely get hurt at some point so draft him late, trade him early in the season. Dion Waiters is the #1 sleeper for the Cavs as he could lead the Cavaliers in scoring. That is not a joke as Waiters can score the ball and will frequently put up the most shots on the team.
Bust: Kyrie Irving, PG – The talent and stats are there, the health is not. He missed 15 games his rookie year, missed 23 games last season, oh yea he also missed most of his freshman year in college due to an injury. This is a player that has NEVER played more than 60 games in his career and has had injuries throughout his career. There are plenty of great PGs that are being taken in rounds 1 & 2 so no reason to risk a first round pick on him.
Dallas Mavericks
Sleeper: Samuel Dalembert, C- Makes a great pick near the end of drafts as he has averaged 8 points, 8 rebounds, & 1.8 blocks per game in his career. Dalembert is going to be the starting center for the Mavs and they literally don’t have another true center on the roster (ha Fab Melo doesn’t count). He will play big minutes and have some big games throughout the season. Great source for blocks especially considering his low price tag.
Bust: Dirk Nowtizki, PF- Ahh Dirka, Dirka, Dirka,…Actually I like most of the Mavs players this season, but Dirk is going in the 2nd to 3rd round in most drafts and that is way too high for a 35 year old player who considers himself a role player. Last year. he averaged 17 points per game and that was the first time in 12 seasons that he averaged less than 21 points per game. The warnings were there last year and his name has more value than his production. Stay away!
Denver Nuggets
Sleeper: Javale McGee, C – No surprise here as he is the main sleeper for this team. He will play 30-35 minutes per game and could lead the NBA in blocks as he averaged 2 blocks a game while playing less than 20 minutes per game last year. There is a very good chance he averages a double-double with 3 to 3.5 blocks per game. The FG% will also be stellar and his FT% is pretty bad, but his volume of FTs taken is low. This will be McGee’s breakout season because if it isn’t, then it is never going to happen. However, I believe in him (ha never thought I would say that about Javale McGee).
Bust: Danilo Gallinari, SF – Yes he is hurt, but I wouldn’t waste a roster spot on him as stash player either. Think he returns around the All-Star break at best and his minutes will be limited when he does play. Forget about him this season.
Detroit Pistons
Sleepers: Andre Drummond, PF/C & Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, G – Drummond is on all the sleeper lists and it is hard to leave him off this one as well. Caldwell-Pope is being forgotten in most drafts and rightfully so with the addition of Brandon Jennings. However, I think Pope plays a lot of minutes and could eventually be the starting SG next to Jennings.
Bust: Brandon Jennings, PG – Something just doesn’t seem right about him and I’m not talking about his jaw injury. He has shot 40% or better JUST once in his four year career. That is pitiful and I don’t think that gets better this season. Also, his scoring drops as there are plenty of other scoring options on this team. Thinking his season line will be 40 FG%, a career low 14 points per game, but his assist will hover around 6 per game. Those numbers are nothing special and neither is Jennings…boom goes the dynamite.
Golden State Warriors
Sleeper: Draymond Green, PF – Hard to pick a sleeper for this team as there are so many players that are similar like Marreese Speights, Green, and Harrison Barnes, but I think Green can have a solid fantasy contribution this season. He can shoot the ball from anywhere on the court, is a tough rebounder and can pass the ball. Just a heads-up that if/when Bogut goes down, Speights would be the first person I would pickup to replace him as Speights has a great mid-range game and can pile up the rebounds.
Bust: Andrew Bogut,C – My hate for Bogut continues; it is a problem that I can’t get past. I cannot re-iterate enough that he will get hurt and miss time like always. Steph Curry would’ve been here, but his numbers last year were sick nasty (very good) and he played 78 games so it’s hard to call him injury prone after last season.
Mark Kaplan
DSE NBA EditorCorbyn to launch Labour's new business initiative BelfastTelegraph.co.uk Jeremy Corbyn will launch a campaign to formulate "a new business settlement that benefits both workers and employers". https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/corbyn-to-launch-labours-new-business-initiative-34728580.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/article34728579.ece/4e4dd/AUTOCROP/h342/PANews%20BT_P-ba89c276-6fb7-467a-83e2-58e067105448_I1.jpg
Email
Jeremy Corbyn will launch a campaign to formulate "a new business settlement that benefits both workers and employers".
Labour's Workplace 2020 initiative is aimed at boosting the rights of employees and encouraging trade union membership.
Mr Corbyn first unveiled the idea when he addressed the May Day rally in London - the first time the head of the party has addressed the rally in 50 years.
At a formal launch event at green energy company Ecotricity in Stroud, he is expected to say: "Workplace 2020 will be at the heart of how Labour is going to develop our alternative for the workforce of the 21st century.
"Instead of David Cameron's Agency Britain, with its zero hours contracts, insecurity and wage undercutting, we will be engaging with workers and employers to shape the policies that will deliver the high quality jobs of the future.
"Instead of a race to the bottom in jobs, pay and workplace rights, we will be shaping a different approach for the 2020s: based on a full-employment, high-skilled workforce, with decent pay, rights for employed and self-employed, and a voice at work through collective bargaining.
"That's the basis for a new business settlement in the economy of the future, one that benefits both workers and employers - and break with the low-pay, low-investment, low-productivity record of Tory Britain."The queen of pop strikes back at demo leaks and announces "Rebel Heart"
One Madonna surprise follows another, as the Queen of Pop has dropped her forthcoming album, Rebel Heart — with six new songs immediately available for purchase — onto iTunes for preorder, well ahead of schedule.
The arrival of the preorder and its songs on Dec. 19 follows a flood of leaks earlier in the week, where over 10 demo tracks from the album's sessions found their way to the Internet.
"I was hoping to release my new single, 'Living for Love,' on Valentine's Day with the rest of the album coming in the spring," Madonna said in a statement. "I would prefer my fans to hear completed versions of some of the songs instead of the incomplete tracks that are circulating. Please consider these six songs as an early Christmas gift."
Among the six new tracks are "Bitch, I'm Madonna" (featuring Nicki Minaj), the reggae-ish "Unapologetic Bitch" and "Illuminati." Producers on the set include Diplo, Kanye West and Billboard. The diva has been working on the album for most of 2014, collaborating with an array of producers and songwriters.
Rebel Heart is scheduled for release on March 10 through Interscope Records and is Madonna's 13th studio album. It follows 2012's MDNA, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Listen to first single, "Living for Love," below:
Twitter: @keith_caulfieldIt's no great secret that the ups and downs of Alberta's finances are tied to the price of energy.
For better or for worse, the province has ridden that roller coaster for decades — posting surpluses in times of plenty and running deficits when energy prices drop.
Alberta is about to record its worst financial year ever. In October, the province pegged the current year deficit at $6.1 billion, which, not coincidentally, is just about the exact drop in energy royalties for the year.
That $6 billion figure, however, might be a little optimistic based on assumptions of $50 US a barrel for oil. For every $1 drop in the price of oil, the provincial coffers take a hit of $170 million Cdn.
Alberta budget 2015/2016 price sensitivities (Government of Alberta)
Right through the end of 2015, most of the government price assumptions held up. West Texas Intermediate averaged $48.60 US a barrel in 2015, and the Canadian dollar averaged 78 cents US. The heavy/light oil differential came in a little better than expected, and natural gas prices were only slightly lower.
The better way to do it is what any sensible person would do with a variable income. You would calculate the amount of revenue that you can count on come hell or high water. - Ron Kneebone, University of Calgary
So far, 2016 has been a different story, with oil trading consistently under $40 US a barrel. The assumption for 2016-17 was for the price of oil to average $61 a barrel, double what crude is trading at today.
Ron Kneebone, an economist with the University of Calgary's school of public policy, says the province will be lucky to show a deficit of $6 billion Cdn this year and will likely post one of roughly $8 billion in 2016/2017.
Blowing through $14B in 2 years
"Do you understand how big that is?," asked Kneebone. "The Heritage Fund is worth about $17 billion; we're going to blow through an amount nearly equivalent to the Heritage Fund in two years."
Alberta has faced a lot of criticism for the way it has handled its natural resource revenue over the years. It hasn't saved most of it, like Norway, nor has it stashed away as much as Alaska.
Instead, Alberta has found ways to spend that oil revenue.
Kneebone said it's too easy to increase spending when there's no political cost, when you don't have to ask taxpayers for more money, when building a new hospital or raising the wages of public sector employees.
"They don't have to raise tax rates on anybody, which gets people mad," said Kneebone. "So they spend royalty income very easily, and this is why Alberta tends to have very high levels of spending relative to other provinces."
Alberta's budget position as compared to oil and natural gas prices from fiscal 198081-2015/16. 2015 numbers are estimates. (CBC/sourced from government data )
A few years of discipline
You can see from the chart that Alberta had a pretty solid run through the 2000s, posting surpluses as high as $8.5 billion. That had a lot to do with natural gas prices, which were often above $6 per gigajoule, a level only dreamed of today.
That was the era of Ralph bucks, the $400 given to each Albertan in 2006 under the government of premier Ralph Klein. That was also a time when the provincial government tried to impose some discipline on itself, according to Kneebone.
"For a few years in the early 2000s, they had a rule that said that they would only allow themselves to spend $3.5 billion worth of natural resources royalties, and they would have to save the rest." said Kneebone.
"The problem was that politicians were allowed to control that number, and the very next year, they pushed it up to $4 billion that they were allowed to spend and they after that it went up to $4.75 billion, the year after that $5 billion, and the year after about $6 billion, and the year after that they said, 'to hell with it, we'll just spend it all.'"
Out of politicians' reach
Kneebone suggested putting the majority of energy revenues out of the reach of politicians.
"The better way to do it is what any sensible person would do, with a variable income," said Kneebone.
"You would calculate the amount of revenue that you can count on come hell or high water."
Kneebone suggests calculating the royalty revenue received when oil trades at a modest price — say $30 US a barrel, using that revenue to fund education and health care, while saving the rest.
"It removes that volatility from the government's budget, because now all they get to spend is the revenue from $30 oil. It prevents the government from going on these big spending binges when oil prices are high and then having to cut everyone's salaries and closing hospitals when oil prices go down."
Kneebone said that royalty revenue should be replaced by a less variable source, such as a provincial sales tax, something that has been dismissed by the government.
Without that, he expects a $30 billion deficit by the end of current government's mandate and then a massive round of cuts in the years to follow.
"If you remember Ralph Klein, we're going to repeat that, and it's really sad that we keep doing this, but that's what's going to happen again."Rate this post
This last week my son and I were on vacation and I took along a Simmtronics 10.2 netbook running Ubuntu Linux 9.10 Remix along with IBM Lotus applications like Notes and Sametime. I brought it so I could have reasonable access to the Internet and check in to see if there were any urgent emails I needed to respond to for work.
The screen, as you might guess from the name of the netbook, is slightly larger than ten inches measured diagonally. This is smaller than most laptops but larger than the first generation of netbooks. The screen resolution was 1024 x 600 and the display itself was quite vibrant.
After a few days on Remix I decided I wanted to go back to the regular Ubuntu Gnome desktop and so when I got home I downloaded and installed Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala.” There’s nothing wrong with Remix, it’s just that I’m used to the regular desktop and I decided the screen was large enough to support it.
Here are some observations about getting the most of that smaller screen while running the Ubuntu desktop.
Basic philosophy
You have a lot less vertical real estate that horizontal, so you need to get rid of the clutter taking up vertical space. Use the smallest fonts that you find readable.
Use smaller fonts
Open up System | Preferences | Appearance and click the Fonts tab. Change all the fonts sizes from 10 to 9. If you can’t read these, change them back to 10.
Autohide that bottom panel
At the very bottom of the screen there is a bar (“pane’,” in Gnomish) that holds the collection of applications that you have open. Find an unused area and right click, then choose Properties. Check the Autohide entry. This will get rid of the bar except when your cursor is near the bottom edge of the screen, leaving more room for your application windows.
Handle dialog boxes that are too long
Sometimes a dialog box will come up and it won’t fit entirely on the screen. This is especially annoying if there is a button on the bottom that you need to press and you can’t get to it. You can move the dialog box or any other window up for full access by holding down the Alt key and then dragging the windows with the left mouse button.
If you use Firefox …
Get rid of the status bar by unchecking Status Bar in the View menu.
Consider using the Tree Style Tab extension to put the tabs on the right or left instead of the top. I’m still not so sure about this, but it may just be lack of familiarity. Play with the options in the extension to move the tabs but also make them autohide.
Switch from Firefox to Google Chrome as your browser
This is my most controversial suggestion. Chrome has a more elegant user interface and is designed to make good use of the space you have available. In my opinion, Firefox needs to radically change its look to work efficiently on smaller screens. Chrome is available for Linux, Mac, and even Windows.
While Chrome has only a tiny fraction of the extensions that Firefox does, I’m really loving its speed and behavior. On a larger and faster machine, it feels even better.
In Chrome, switch to smaller fonts
Press the Ctrl key and the “–” key (Ctrl+-) consecutively to make the default fonts smaller. This is persistent, so you don’t have to redo it every time you start the browser. To make the fonts bigger, use the plus key instead of the minus.
What suggestions do you have for working with the smaller screens on netbooks?
Also see: Life with Linux: The seriesHow to save the world - don't have more than two children
British couples should have no more than two children to save the world from global warming, according to a green think tank.
Campaigners from the Optimum Population Trust said limiting family size was the'simplest and biggest' contribution people could make to saving the planet.
While Britain need not follow the example of China and ban large families, having more than two children should be frowned upon in the same way as using a patio heater or driving a gas guzzling car.
But critics said doctors and governments had no right to tell parents how many children to have - and that population control could lead to more problems than it solved.
Family of four: The perfect number?
The controversial call comes from Prof John Guilleband, emeritus professor of family planning at Imperial College London, and GP Dr Pippa Hayes.
The Optimum Population Trust was at the centre of a row in 2003 after suggesting the ideal population for the UK was 30 million - around half its current level.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, they called on family doctors to 'break their silence' on the links between large families and climate change.
'Unplanned pregnancy, especially in teenagers, is a problem for the planet, as well as the individual concerned. But what about planned pregnancies?" they said.
'Should we now explain to UK couples who plan a family that stopping at two children, or at least having one less child than first intended, is the simplest and biggest contribution anyone can make to leaving a habitable planet for our grandchildren?'
A child born in the UK will be responsible for 160 times more greenhouse emissions than a child born in Ethiopia, they said.
'We must not put pressure on people, but by providing information on the population and the environment, and appropriate contraception for everyone, and by their own example, doctors should help to bring family size into the arena of environmental ethics, analogous to avoiding patio heaters and high carbon cars," they added.
In the UK which has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in western Europe, population is officially projected to rise from 60.6 million to 77 million in 2050 - more than another two Londons. A 'two child' policy would reduce the figure to 55 million, they said.
The researchers warn with world population exceeding 6.7 billion, humans consumption of fossil fuels, fresh water, crops fish and forests is outstripping the planet's biological capacity.
Countries such as Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and Thailand, have reduced their fertility rates by improving access to contraception and through education, they said.
Critics of population control say it fails to tackle the real threats to the environment. And reducing Britain's population could lead to huge social problems if there were not enough young people to pay for the care of the elderly.
Robert Whelan, of the Civitas think tank, said the way to tackle environmental problems was through eradicating poverty - not limiting population.
'These people think that they know how many children people should have. But the only people who should make that decision are parents themselves," he said.
'We have to treat with great suspicion any attempt to interfere with the choices of parents either in the third world or in the first world.' Most mainstream green groups shy away from discussing overpopulation, believing the subject is too controversial.
The Optimum Population Trust's supporters include actress Susan Hampshire and environmentalist Jonathan Porritt.
Its views echo those of Malthus - the 18th century economist who claimed population would rise more quickly than food production triggering mass starvations.
Until it was discredited by Nazism, population control in the first half of the 20th century was most closely associated with eugenics - the belief that 'undesirable' qualities should removed from populations to improve future generations.
The rise of the green movement in the 1970s and 1980s led to a revival in calls for population control.This week, the Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator Phill Jupitus welcome
Clive Anderson, a qualified barrister who by his own account is not a very good writer, isn't interested in stand-up comedy or acting and couldn't give a damn about broadcasting, yet has written gags for top comedians, hosted a string of hugely successful TV and radio shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Loose Ends and is a leading light of British Light Entertainment.
Anne Dudley, an award-winning musician, composer, arranger, conductor and producer and a founding member of the Grammy-Award-winning, avant-garde, synth-pop "anti-group" The Art of Noise; she has collaborated with Elton John, Pulp, The Spice Girls, Tom Jones and comedians like Bill Bailey, Terry Jones and Stephen Fry. She has produced, composed and arranged dozens of TV and movie soundtracks, including for Les Misérables and The Full Monty, for which she won a Brit Award and an Oscar.
Richard Williams, a world-famous animator who has won 3 Oscars, 3 BAFTAS and over 250 other international awards in more than six decades of animating hundreds of adverts and dozens of full-length features - and the title sequences of major feature films such as The Return of the Pink Panther; What's New, Pussycat? and the original Casino Royale. He is perhaps best known to the general public as the animation director of the smash hit movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In the movie industry, he is known as "the animator's animator"..
This week, the Museum's Steering Committee discusses how the Old Bailey isn't very old; how the Wool Sack was found to be a sack of horsehair; and how Disney provided the perfect workstation for animators.
The show was researched by James Harkin and Stevyn Colgan of QI.
The producers were Richard Turner and Dan Schreiber.Spiralling budgets in F1’s traditional feeder categories have forced an increasing number of young drivers to abandon their Grand Prix ambitions and turn towards alternatives such as sportscars and DTM.
Even those who have had an opportunity to prove their talent have found it a struggle to break into the highest level, with dominant GP2 champion Vandoorne facing another year in the F1 reserve driver role - and a possible switch to the Japan-based Super Formula series next season.
Coulthard said that this trend poses a major issue for F1, which he thinks could find itself increasingly starved of the best young talent in years to come.
“There seems to be a fundamental problem with the ladder into F1,” he told Motorsport.com. “We are losing more of the champions of lower formulae.
“In the past F3000 or even F3 champions moved on to F1, but now they don’t make it any more.
“Obviously, there are now less cars on the grid in F1 so there are less opportunities, and somebody has to pay in the end.
“That makes it difficult for most young drivers, and I’ve never seen such depth in F3 in my whole life,” added the Scotsman, referring to this year’s 33-strong European F3 field.
One driver still in with a chance of making his Grand Prix debut next year is DTM champion Pascal Wehrlein, who is remains in contention to land a seat with the tail-end Manor squad.
Coulthard, who competed in DTM from 2010-12, singled out the German tin-top series as one category that still offers a passage to F1 for young talents.
“DTM seems to be the one formula that either drivers come back to from Formula 1 or come up from DTM to Formula 1,” he said.
“You’d expect single-seaters to be the more obvious way, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”
Interview by Stefan ZieglerOXNARD, Calif. -- The company line for the Dallas Cowboys is that player acquisition is a 365-days-a-year promise and if a player is available they deem an upgrade, they will pursue it.
With four words, owner and general manager Jerry Jones cut through that when it came to the possibility of the Cowboys looking at Nick Foles as a backup to Tony Romo.
"Foles isn't an option," Jones said.
And why not?
"We can't get him any snaps," Jones said. "We got four that are going to get snaps."
The Cowboys have Kellen Moore (17) and several other young quarterbacks behind Tony Romo. Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports
The answer reaffirmed the Cowboys' commitment to Kellen Moore as the No. 2 behind Romo. The Cowboys selected Dak Prescott in the fourth round of the draft and they also have Jameill Showers, who spent most of last season on the practice squad.
Making how the Cowboys approached the backup spot this offseason even more curious is the fact that they went 1-11 without Romo last year.
Foles was released by the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, and while the Cowboys broached the subject, it was not something considered for very long.
"We like Moore," Jones said.
Moore has played in only three games in his career -- all last season -- and lost his only two starts. He had four touchdown passes and six interceptions but he is a favorite of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan since their time together with the Detroit Lions.
Coach Jason Garrett said the Cowboys were excited about Moore's progress in the offseason.
"We're going to give him an opportunity," Garrett said.
The Cowboys have been bullish on Moore the entire offseason. They did not get into the high-end stakes for backups like Chase Daniel or Colt McCoy. They made an offer to Matt Moore, but he opted to return to the Miami Dolphins.
They evaluated all of the top quarterbacks in the draft and nearly traded back into the first round to take Paxton Lynch, but opted against it. They eventually settled on Prescott in the fourth round.
"At some point you have to develop guys," executive vice president Stephen Jones said. "Cincinnati last year had a really solid football team. You look at what they did with A.J. [McCarron], a fifth-round pick out of the SEC and he came in and had every opportunity and -- nothing to do with him -- had a chance to win a playoff game for them.
"So, at some point you've got to commit your resources to getting your young guys ready or you're always in that mode of older, veteran guys. And I think Tony, where he is in his career, we're starting a journey and obviously made a significant pick there with Dak. And we obviously like what we've seen in Showers. And think Kellen is mature beyond his years and comfortable with where we are. But at some point you can get too crowded."
Foles was a third-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012 and has a 19-16 career record. He has 53 touchdown passes and 27 interceptions but his play fell last year after his trade to the Rams. He had a 4-7 record with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions and lost his job to Case Keenum. The Rams moved up in the draft to take Jared Goff No. 1 overall.
His pedigree might be better than what the Cowboys have, but they're sticking with what they have.
"We know Foles pretty well," Jones said, alluding to his time with the Eagles.By George Eliason, an American journalist living in Ukraine.
On January 13th 12 Ukrainian passengers on a bus in Ukraine heading toward Donetsk in Ukraine’s breakaway Donbass region were killed in an explosion near the Ukrainian town of Volnovaha. Ten casualties were reported directly and two more died later in the hospital. Both the Kiev Government and Marie Harf of the Obama Administration were quick to put the blame on the Novorussia army (the defenders of the breakaway region) saying it was an artillery strike from them. “Attacks on the airport of Donetsk and the shelling of the bus, which killed 10 people and injured 13 more, constitute gross violations of the Minsk agreements”, – said Harf.
The problem is that the nearest artillery set up in Donetsk Republic (DNR) is over 50 kilometers away, which is well out of range.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko immediately ordered another mobilization of conscripts, and Kiev tightened the blockade of Donbass by stopping bus and train travel near the war-torn area.
The problem for the Ukrainian and the US Administration’s claim is that video footage from the scene shows clearly that the area was actually mined — the Ukrainian Government had killed these people. The video footage was taken by Ukrainian soldiers at the scene.
Further complicating the claim that this was an artillery attack is in an apparent attempt at a coverup by Kiev. This hole is what the Ukrainian government is claiming to be the crater from the shell blast. The hole itself has square edges obviously made with the shovel used to dig it.
Simplifying the investigation is this image from the scene that shows a Ukrainian soldier with what appears to be a claymore mine. Claymore mines are direction anti-personnel mines that can be triggered remotely.
Shown in the Vkontakte social media post below Pravy Sektor has taken responsibility for the attack saying they killed 15 terrorists and took 3 prisoners. The men, women, and children on the bus were civilians whose crime was traveling on a bus on the wrong day. The area they were traveling in is completely in the Ukrainian governments control. This is another outrage.
What is Kiev Up To?
For the last few days Kiev has gone on the offensive again. In the last 24 hours Kiev has broken the peace treaty over 60 times. Incendiary shells rained down on Donetsk overnight. Over the previous 24 hours prior to that Kiev attacked over 40 times. Donbass forces are now on a counter offensive retaking towns Poroshenko’s forces have attacked with tanks in what is supposed to be neutral area.
In a hacked document from Ukrainian SBU (equivalent to FBI) head Valentin Nalyvaichenko, dated December 25th, 2014, attacks on civilians in towns occupied by the Ukrainian army were ordered. (Note: this is in the Ukrainian Government controlled area, not in the rebel-held area.) The document states that patriotic nationalist officers were to set up temporary artillery positions and kill civilians. The reasoning according to the document is low Ukrainian troop morale. Local citizens are questioning the soldiers’ right to be there, and these citizens support the the Novorussia volunteers. Ukrainian conscript-soldiers are losing the will to continue fighting in the war. (The objective of simply killing the local residents — the people who live there — is not what they had thought that the alleged ‘Anti-Terrorist Operation,’ or ATO, was all about.) The document was not written by conscripts, who are the general Ukrainian population; it was instead written by a true-believing nazi, or fascist racist, an individual who instead represents the people that the Obama Administration (now with the full support of the U.S. Congress) had placed into power during the February 2014 coup — and these nazis’ particular hatred is directed specifically against Russians, and against anyone who supports Russia and Russians. The killing of the residents there is thus a morale-booster for the relatively few nazis who are fighting on the side of the Ukrainian Government, but not for the majority of that Government’s troops, for whom it is the opposite: very depressing to be participating in.
The document stipulates that after the attacks are completed, nationalist officers were to then move the artillery positions and blame Donbass defense forces for the attack. This propaganda move is designed to enrage conscripts in the Ukrainian army against “the enemy” and raise morale needed for the offensive Kiev is now beginning. The officers would be reassigned to a different location away from the apparent war crime.
The document shown above is more clear evidence of crimes against humanity by the Ukrainian government. The question is how long will they be allowed to investigate their own criminal actions, and when will the world demand justice for the people of Ukraine and Donbass?Sean Burnett, in camp on a minor league deal, has an April 1 opt-out. (Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post)
VIERA, Fla. — The Nationals will wake up Thursday morning, run their fingers across the Grapefruit League calendar and count only seven more days left in Florida. Three home games and four road games, including Sunday’s split-squad action, remain before a flight to D.C. for two exhibition games.
“This time of year, there’s a lot of packing and a lot of getting things loaded up again,” Stephen Strasburg said. “Spring training went by really fast. Not looking forward to that. I am looking forward to getting settled up in D.C.”
After Lucas Giolito was sent to minor league camp on Wednesday, the Nationals have 40 players left in spring training. Only 25 will make the active roster. The rotation — Max Scherzer, Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Roark and Joe Ross — is set. As is the projected |
rate than last year.”
F1 set a target of reducing lap times by five seconds based on the pole position time at the 2015 Spanish Grand Prix. During testing Ferrari lapped the track six seconds faster than that benchmark.
Several drivers have made minor errors during the weekend so far and three of them – Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Jolyon Palmer – have hit the wall. Hamilton said this wasn’t necessarily a reflection of how hard the new cars are to drive.
“Our job is to put the car where it is most uncomfortable,” he said. “We’re not there to make it sit on rails so we’ve got to take it over the edge or just hold it on the edge of that cliff through the whole lap and that’s the fun of what we do.”
2017 F1 seasonThe Associated Press
BEIJING - Chinese border guards shot and killed one person who was allegedly trying to illegally cross from North Korea on Thursday, authorities said.
The incident took place shortly before 4:00 p.m. (0800 GMT) after the suspect attempted to evade arrest by border guards, according to a brief statement from the Helong city government in Jilin province. It said the shooting is under investigation.
China's 1,416-kilometre border with North Korea is a key crossing point for refugees from the impoverished hard-line communist state.
While China is treaty-bound to return refugees to its communist ally, it usually deals with them quietly to avoid attracting international condemnation.
North Korea is known to punish defectors harshly with labour camp sentences or even execution in some cases.
While some North Koreans stay in China, most are believed to travel on to South Korea.
Observers say the overall flow of refugees has dropped in recent months amid a slight improvement in economic conditions inside North Korea and increased obstacles on the Chinese side, including new fences and observation points.Part of the deal with libertarianism, in my experience, is that you get to embrace the “me first” economic school while still holding your nose about those churchy rubes in mainstream conservatism. You get all of that welfare mother hating without that anti-science, apocalyptic aftertaste. The only problem is that you always end up supporting social conservatives anyway. I can’t tell you how many people have acted all hurt and offended when I point out that the Koch brothers are just garden variety Republicans. Also too, libertarians get offended when you point out that, however many position papers they published on the police state, Cato’s biggest effect on the world is to elect Republicans– and there’s nothing the GOP likes as much as unfettered police power. It’s tense, is what I’m saying.
One issue that libertarians and social conservatives can always agree on is voucher schools, right? Get the government out of our government schools! Let the benevolent power of the market fix all of our problems. Including the problem where our students are taught that the massacre of American Indians and the Klan weren’t so cool. From Indian Country:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s voucher program to privatize public education has come under fire recently for spending state tax dollars to teach Bible-based curriculum. An August 7 post on MotherJones.com, a news outlet covering the 2012 elections, took a look at the program and 14 “wacky facts” kids will learn under the state’s new program. One of those “facts” is that “God used the Trail of Tears to bring many Indians to Christ.” The tidbit comes from a 1994 A Beka Book, which offers Christian education materials, titled America: Land I Love. Another “fact” the schools will teach is that the Ku Klux Klan “in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross. Klan targets were bootleggers, wife-beaters, and immoral movies. In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians.” That information comes from United States History for Christian Schools (Bob Jones University Press, 2001).
Whoops. Although if you can smash a union or two and get some teachers off of the government dole, small price to pay, amirite?#RememberThatCub: Glenallen Hill
Alex Patt Blocked Unblock Follow Following Sep 13, 2017
By: Alex Patt
The late 90s and early 2000s were fun right? It was a time of big home run sluggers that mashed baseballs into orbit, and there was plenty of that at Wrigley Field during that time. Sammy Sosa being the obvious one of course, but he was not the only Cub that hit some memorable home runs during that era. Our latest #RememberThatCub features the Glennallen Hill, the outfielder with tree trunk sized arms.
Hill played 13 years in the majors and played with seven different teams including the Cubs, Mariners, Giants, Indians, Angels, Blue Jays and Yankees. He had two stints on the North Side from 1993–1994 and mid-1998 through mid-2000.
Hill came to the Cubs his first time around on August 19th, 1993 in a trade that sent Candy Maldonado to the Indians. He signed back with the Cubs as a free agent through 1994 and then went to the Giants in 1995. Hill was part of the 1998 team that won the NL Wild Card in game 163 against the Giants when he was claimed off waivers from the Mariners on July 6th of that year. He resigned as a free agent prior to the 1999 season and remained a Cub until July 21st, 2000 when he was traded to the Yankees for Ben Ford and Oswaldo Mairena.
With the Cubs in total he slashed.304/.360/.906 with 59 home runs, 167 RBIs and 4.7 bWAR in 331 games. Hill was mainly a utility player who did not play every day, he would play matchups and would share left field with Henry Rodriquez in his 1998–2000 Cubs stint. He never qualified for an All Star game but was still a valuable player to have on the team. In 1999 he reached 20 home runs while playing in only 99 games, so just imagine if he was a full-time player.
Now we get to his greatest Cubs moment, which took place on May 11th, 2000 at Wrigley Field. Hill came to bat in the bottom of the second against Brewers pitcher Steve Woodard as Chip Carey on TV asked his partner, “Do you like the (Hill’s) red shoes for the blue shoes better?” The Woodard pitch abruptly interrupted the question when Hill smashed it out of Wrigley Field and onto the roof of the yellow building on the corner of Waveland and Kenmore Avenue. “It’s got to be the shoes folks!” Carey exclaimed as Hill trotted around the bases with the 21,995 people cheering.
To put a little perspective on that blast, here is a crude yet fairly accurate overhead photo showing the path of that ball which traveled over 500 feet.
Estimated path of Hill’s rooftop home run (Google Earth)
Hill’s final major league season was with the Angels in 2001 before retiring. He went on to do some coaching with the Rockies organization for a number of seasons including being the MLB team’s first base coach in 2007. He was one of the first base coaches to wear a helmet after the death of Mike Coolbaugh, a minor league coach he was killed by a line drive to the head. Today Hill manages the Albuquerque Isotopes.
It is of note that Glenallen Hill did admit in 2008 that he was doing steroids during his career. His name was on the Mitchell Report and he let it out before the 2008 spring training season. It seemed pretty obvious looking back considering his size. But hey, he still gave us some entertainment.
Do you #RememberThatCub?
Alex Patt is a contributor for Wrigley Rapport and other sports podcasts and publications. You can follow him and his work on twitter @chifanpatt1Image copyright El Pais Image caption El Pais splashed photos of the alleged ledgers on its website on Thursday
Spain's ruling conservative Popular Party has denied allegations that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and others benefited from secret party accounts.
Photographs of ledgers showing business donations and payments to party figures were published by the centre-left daily El Pais on Thursday.
Allegedly kept by two former party treasurers, they cover nearly 20 years.
The party's secretary general has told reporters all payments to its leaders were clean and legal.
"We have only one set of books and they are clean," Maria Dolores de Cospedal told a news conference in Madrid. "We have absolutely nothing to hide."
Mr Rajoy and his party were elected by a landslide in November 2011 on a promise to reduce the high public deficit.
Spaniards have been asked to accept painful austerity measures as the government battles to avoid an international bailout. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has reached a record 26%.
'Rajoy resign'
El Pais said Mr Rajoy had collected 25,200 euros (£22,000; $34,000) a year between 1997 and 2008.
It published photographs of what it said were ledgers kept by former treasurers Luis Barcenas and Alvaro Lapuerta between 1990 and 2009.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Mariano Rajoy first entered government in 1996
Money was allegedly paid by outside firms via Mr Barcenas, who stepped down in 2009 and is currently under investigation for money-laundering.
Investigators recently revealed that Mr Barcenas held a Swiss bank account which at one point held as much as 22m (£19m; $30m) euros.
Until 2007, Spanish political parties were allowed to receive anonymous donations. If the party leaders declared the income in tax statements, it may not be illegal, Reuters news agency notes.
This does not help to calm down the difficult moments that we are going through, economically, politically and the climate on the street Jose Antonio Monago, Popular Party politician
However, the allegations raise ethical questions about the Popular Party's dealings during the period of Spain's building boom, when politicians granted large numbers of development contracts.
In a statement, the party denied making any "systematic payment to certain people of money other than their monthly wages".
"Given the information published today by El Pais, the Popular Party insists that its remuneration of top Popular Party officials and staff has always respected the law and its tax obligations," it said in a statement.
"The People's Party has no knowledge of the handwritten notes that were published and of their content, and it cannot be recognised, in any case, as this political party's books."
But one senior Popular Party figure, Jose Antonio Monago, who is the president of the Extremadura region, expressed concern.
"This does not help to calm down the difficult moments that we are going through, economically, politically and the climate on the street," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"This is a time for maximum transparency."
On Thursday morning, as news of the allegations spread, the hash tags lospapelesdebarcenas (the Barcenas papers) and RajoyDimision (Rajoy resign) were among the top terms trending among Spanish users of Twitter.Everywhere he goes, fans tell broadcaster, filmmaker, self-made millionaire and libertarian-moralist Adam Carolla that he should run for president.
Now Carolla's done the next best (and much smarter) thing: His new book, President Me: The America That's In My Head, serves up Carolla's contrarian, politically incorrect prescriptions for fixing our broken society.
Like his previous bestsellers (and his hugely successful podcast), President Me is pure, unfiltered Carolla. He somehow combines the candid common sense of an old-fashioned Everyman with a freak savant's audacious ingenuity.
True, Carolla's raw, frat-boy prose will turn some readers off. That's a shame, because there are a lot of truly original (and non-partisan) ideas in President Me, mixed in with the crude jokes and curse words.
(By the way: If you're a longtime "Carolla-tard" and figure you can skip this book because you've heard all the material already, you're wrong. I'm a daily listener and there's a lot of stuff in here that Carolla has kept "chambered" -- as he'd phrase it – especially for President Me.)
Each chapter is devoted to a different federal department. Here are candidate Carolla's promised reforms for ten of them:
11. The Federal Election Commission
"We shouldn't tell the candidates when and where [the presidential debates] are going to be. The whole thing should be off the cuff. The presidency is a job where you have to think on your feet. We should be able to see this in action. How great would it have been if they had told Romney he was going to a fund-raiser and Obama that he was going to a photo op with a business owner and when they walked into the building there was a capacity crowd and we forced them to sit down with George Stephanopoulos and explain the differences in their health care plans."
10. The Department of Commerce
"One American business that is doing just fine is the tattoo industry. "[T]he reason I want to get the government involved in this issue is that I don't think it's a great sign for our future. There are more people under thirty who have tattoos than ones who don't. This makes me shudder. It shows that the next generation has no plans for the future. (…) This 'f--- the future' attitude is the cause of many of our nations' biggest problems." "Last year the city council in D.C. proposed a waiting period for tattoos. I'm down with this notion, and will make it a federal law. I also think the waiting period should apply based not only on age but also on tattoo. No matter how old you are, if you want to get Wile E. Coyote on your t---y, you're going to have to wait while we check to make sure you're not on government assistance."
9. The Department of Energy
"We'd never have to build another hydroelectric dam or dig another coal mine if women would stop blow-drying their hair (…) "No wonder women can't think. They spend a significant portion of their lives with a deafening device deep-frying their brains. (…) "I think the reason we don't have an equal society where women get the same wages as men and they're all engineers and other unrealistic stuff is because they spend all that time on their hair and not on the brain right beneath that hair. Don't get me wrong: if guys did this we'd be in the same sinking boat. "And this is why all hairdressers are flaky and nuts. They're all on their third marriage, believe firmly in guardian angels, and their best friend is a macaw named Blue Man who doesn't judge."
8. The Department of Transportation
"My Department of Transportation will also mandate that crash-test dummies need to get fatter. I've seen all that slow-motion footage of test wrecks. The dummies in those crashes have a far smaller body mass index than most Americans. This could tie in well with my get-rid-of-airbags decree. Most Americans are now coming with their own airbags…"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsDR9jtxhGg
7. NASA
"As budget cutter in chief, I hereby declare NASA gone. I'm going to put all of that money and brainpower toward fixing problems here on Earth. Let's figure out how to get a car from L.A. to Vegas without stopping for gas first, and then we can focus on a manned mission to Mars. "Don't get me wrong, I'm into the technology. (…) Though I do think we could do a better job naming the shuttles. The last one was called Atlantis. Why would you name your spacecraft after an underwater city? What does that have to do with flying through space? And the bottom of the ocean is not the image you want to conjure up when thinking of a space vehicle."
6. The TSA and the FAA
"But as commander and idea man in chief, I've come up with a way to make airport security fun and profitable for all Americans. This is an idea I'm in love with. Are you paying attention TV executives? Consider this a pitch. It's a competition reality show. "We've all seen the guy who's late for his flight, just made his way through security, and is rushing to get to the gate and trying to get himself together after taking off the belt, emptying his pockets, taking out the laptop, losing the shoes, removing the hat and being grunted at by Mo'Nique's angrier sister. Well, this show is about families competing to see who can get their s--- back together while on the move and dodging other passengers. You have to get from the end of security to your gate in the fastest time. (…) It's Family Feud meets Wipeout in an airport. I call it – Terminal Velocity."
5. The Department of Health and Human Services
"This next section may get a little controversial, but like I said, I'm President Truth Teller. I don't think that half of the people that claim to be disabled actually are. I bet if you took the list of people currently getting disability payments from the government, sent them a letter saying they've been entered to win a million dollars in the Dr. Pepper Cadillac Challenge at the Cotton Bowl, and all they had to do was throw a football through a hole in the P of a giant Dr. Pepper can, 85 percent of them would be on a plane the next day. As president, I'm going to enact this sting operation and save us billions. (…) "By the way, I always notice a ton of handicapped spots in front at the Home Depot. Why? Are there a ton of quadriplegics putting additions on their houses? Maybe that's how they got handicapped in the first place, falling off a roof trying to install a skylight."
4. The Department of the Treasury "I don't know what the budget is for the Secret Service but I think I can significantly cut down the cost. As President Carolla, I won't need a bunch of guys in sunglasses and black suits. I just need some crows. A flock of attack crows would be the ultimate in security. "They could live on the White House roof and all we'd have to do is put out a can of corn once a week. Then, whenever the motorcade left, they'd follow along. And if anybody got too close to me they would swoop down in a sea of black wings and razor-sharp beaks and talons. Death from above."
3. The Department of Education
"There is competition in the world. Kids need to fail, they need to know that they're not doing well, but that if they work hard they can recover. Right now we're heaping praise on everyone for just walking through the door and minimizing the accomplishments of kids who do bust their asses. Our kids are going to look back on us and be pissed we didn't give them the skills to go out in the real world and thrive. I know they talk about the three Rs in school but we need to add a fourth and most important one – Resiliency – the ability to know that you're not perfect but that you can get better if you look within, internalize the struggle, and work harder, instead of bring everyone else down."
2. The FCC
"When Mitt Romney talked about ending the subsidy to PBS and everyone went apes---, I was completely on board. This is a plan I will enact in the Carolla administration. Why should my tax dollars pay for this? Shouldn't Sesame Street make enough off Elmo merchandise alone to fund PBS for the next sixty years."
1. The Department of LaborStar Wars Sequels: Rumors About Timeframe, Characters
Posted By Eric on November 4, 2012
We have two new sets of rumors aboutfor you today. The first one comes from Marketsaw, the very same blog that posted on October 21, 2009 that "George Lucas is preparing to unleash another STAR WARS trilogy upon us." That rumor seemed far-fetched at the time, but now Marketsaw, which had previously reported rumors that turned out to be correct, appears to have been vindicated yet again. Here are some of the best quotes from their secret source's new report Wow, that is a lot of rumor material! Now, naturally, there's a tendency to instantly discount this information as pure fiction. However, as we've already noted, Marketsaw's sources have accurately predicted developments in theuniverse before. We'll just have to wait and see if their scoops were right yet again.Now we move on to the blog Nerdvana, where writer Dustin Diehl has the following for us:Further out than fifty years after? That doesn't exactly square with Marketsaw's collection of sequel trilogy rumors. In any event, we are just a few years away from finding out who was right about what details.After years of teasing the press, Donald Trump is officially running for President, exactly as VDARE.com's Matthew Richer bravely predicted. One can't help but think The Donald thought his announcement would be greeted by rapturous applause. Instead, there's been barely concealed fury from the Main Stream Media.
Some people say he's not a serious candidate. But the argument over "seriousness" is one I can't take seriously. Hillary Clinton is widely favored to be the next President and I have yet to find anyone who can name one actual accomplishment of her time as First Lady, Senator, or as Secretary of State.
Some say he's just a shallow salesman. But I'd rather a salesman than someone like Paul Ryan, who cynically and shamelessly lies to his own supporters.
Yet the MSM seems angriest because Trump mentioned immigration. I take great joy in quoting from Think Progress below:
“When do we beat Mexico at the border?” Trump asked the crowd at his announcement at his namesake Trump Tower in New York City. “They are not our friend, believe me…The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems…When Mexico sends its people, they are not sending their best. They are not sending you. They are sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs and they are bringing crime, and they’re rapists.” “Some, I assume are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting,” Trump continued. “They are not sending us the right people. It’s coming all over South and Latin America and it’s coming probably from the Middle East. But we don’t know because we have no protection and we have no competence. We don’t know what is happening and it has got to stop and it has to stop fast.” Trump also indicated that he would build a “great, great wall on the southern border” and that he would undo the president’s executive action known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. [Watch Donald Trump Go Full Nativist, by Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, June 16, 2015]
Would it be better if more "mainstream" Republican candidates were making these arguments? Well, yes. But such is donor control over the Republican Party that only someone with his own source of funding can say these kinds of things. And it will be fun to watch him criticize the other Republican candidates.
Besides, who is the Beltway Right to complain? Trump has been given speaking slots at CPAC (even as conservative intellectuals are chased away), has partnered with conservative movement organizations like Americans for Limited Government, and regularly appears on Fox News. Any conservative whining that Trump is not "serious" has to explain why he was apparently "serious" enough to be used as a source of media attention and funding in the past.
And who actually is a "serious" Republican candidate with well thought out positions? Jeb Bush?"Would you like Belinda naked tomorrow?" Nick asked while we were sitting around our bush lunch table. "It's not in the program but she's fine with the idea."
After some discussion, we decided against it on the basis that it would be out of context.
Belinda Roedl is an international fashion model who had been flown from Germany to WA to serve as our photographic subject in the spectacular Kimberley scenery. Over the next few days she'd be in bush attire at a cattle muster, in a swimsuit in Emma Gorge swimming hole and rather inappropriately in a tutu by a roadside boab tree.
We were at Home Valley Station, at the Kununurra end of the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley on a five-day Leica Cameras' photographic workshop led by Leica ambassador Nick Rains. Nick is one of Australia's most highly-regarded landscape photographers and an exceptional photographic teacher. The tour was to expand our knowledge and to see the world differently.
Getting the right shot: Belinda Roedl models swimwear at Emma Gorge. Photo: David McGonigal
For me, the conjunction of spectacular Kimberley scenery and legendary Leica lenses seems inevitable. I last stayed at Home Valley Station in the late 1980's when I was writing the Australian Geographic Book of the Kimberley. By chance, my photographer then, Robbi Newman, used Leica cameras – as had Nick Rains when he provided the cover image for a later edition of the book.
The tour had just seven participants plus a lot of expertise. Besides Nick, Darren Centofanti an Australian photographer based in India, had come to teach us about photographing people and Colin Perkovic was representing Leica Australia and had a four-wheel-drive filled with a mouth-watering array of very expensive cameras and lenses.
While Belinda was an excellent model, the Kimberley landscape of Home Valley Station was the highlight of the trip. On my first visit, I'd been impressed by the ramparts of the Cockburn Ranges, rising beyond the homestead and lit as if from within at sunset. The red rock and soil of the Kimberley and the crocs on the riverbank show that this really is a place where the outback meets the sea.
But, beyond the sandstone and the hospitality of our hosts, the station left few memories from the early visit. By contrast, this time we visited local gorges and waterholes, boabs and viewpoints – and took a helicopter flight along the nearby Pentecost River. I rediscovered the reward of staying in one place and digging deep, rather than skimming across all the highlights of a whole region.
I love photography, not so much the ever-changing technical world, but using training and emotion to capture a moment so that anyone who looks at my image experiences the same feeling I had when I pressed the shutter. There's also a lot to be said of a job where work is measured in thousands of a second. My whole working life as a photographer wouldn't add up to 15 minutes.
Illuminated boab tree at dusk. Photo: Phil Curran
How does a dedicated photographic trip work? In many ways it's like a regular tour but, um, focused on coming home with the best possible images and a different way of seeing things. So that means if a fence would ruin the shot, you either cross the fence or go somewhere else. It's often said that you shouldn't see your entire holiday through a lens. But if that's your passion, it will be a holiday with long-term rewards.
The hours are both the drawback and delight of landscape photography. The best outdoor photography is created in the warm light of dawn and dusk, so it's not a career for party animals and it's useful if you can nap in the middle of the day. If you wish to take advantage of the clear night air to do some star photography, then you'll be sleep-deprived.
To be in position at first light, we would be up very early to drive or walk to the chosen location in the dark. In the middle of the day we'd have lectures that gave us remarkable insight into how a professional photographer works with Photoshop and Lightroom.
Not surprisingly, there was a lot of camera talk over meals. While it was a Leica tour, there was no issue if you wished to use another make of camera. However, the images captured by the Leica cameras and those remarkable Leica lenses were annoyingly superior. And I learned how Leica created the 35mm film camera in 1914 by turning cinema film sideways and thus significantly increasing the size of the negative image.
It was obvious that Nick had fully reconnoitred Home Valley Station (often referred to as HV8, its cattle brand) in advance. Even the initial selection of Home Valley itself was a good choice as this is a working cattle station owned by the indigenous Land Corporation on behalf of the Balanggarra people of the East Kimberley. The tourism sides of the operation are managed by Voyages, which also operates Ayers Rock Resort. So the accommodation and tours are well planned, yet we were staying on an active station with daily cattle movement.
Muster at Kimberley. Photo: David McGonigal
Our first sunset was typical of our location shoots. We drove towards the Cockburn Range and then walked about a kilometre through the scrub to a lone boab tree framed against the background of the sunlit escarpment. As the sun was setting, the lighting became more dramatic every few seconds. We ended up staying well after dark, experimenting at "painting" boab photographs by flashlight and torch. The conversation over steaks at Home Valley's outdoor Dusty Bar & Grill that night was animated and ranged over technique and technology, cannily guided by our photographic leaders.
Pre-dawn we were walking to the Homestead Billabong to set up as the first line of light stained the eastern sky. Two of our number were keen fishermen and they provided great subjects in the early light. Nick moved among us, quietly suggesting a different perspective, a change of lens or perhaps some fill flash. After taking his advice the images were always better.
There were many memorable moments. A short helicopter flight over the Pentecost River with the doors off best captured the veins of the streams flowing into Cambridge Gulf. Stockmen rounding up cattle in the late afternoon provided iconic backlit outback images of red dust and action. Emma Gorge at nearby El Questro was the unlikely setting for a swimsuit shoot, while Aboriginal kids splashed nearby.
A jarring moment was photographing Belinda in an incongruous tulle tutu leaping in the air by a roadside boab while Darren supervised her and us. The technicalities were challenging as we had to synchronise a four-wheel-drive driving past to put some dust in the air – and she had to jump over and over again till it all came together. The photographers were unanimous that we wouldn't ever take a job as a fashion model in the very unlikely event that one was offered.
The seminar on the last day pulled together the group's best images and they were impressive. During our farewell dinner, I looked at the boisterous, animated group and thought of the friendships that had been forged over tripods and reflectors. Perhaps that is the most significant advantage of any photo tour: you may become friends with your photographic hero. Nick Rains had long been a byline I recognised (most recently for the cover of this month's Qantas magazine) but now he's a friend. That's quite a holiday souvenir.
HOW TO CHOOSE A PHOTO TOUR
Pick a photographic leader whose style of work you wish to emulate or understand. You may love a photographer's work but it might be in a style you don't wish to do yourself. Their tours will reflect what they do so it might not develop your photography much. For example, Nick Rains in an expert in capturing a natural landscape while Peter Eastway is brilliant at working an image substantially in Photoshop. Some tours have several photographers to cover different aspects.
If you want to improve your landscape photography don't pick a tour that will concentrate on "The Faces of Rajastan" for example. There's so much to learn in any given area of photography that the time is likely to be closely oriented to the topic, rather than photography in general.
There's an advantage to taking a tour hosted by a camera brand that you use, or intend to use. While most pros have a working knowledge of most cameras, their understanding of the finer features will be for the cameras they use themselves. If it's a tour hosted by Leica, or Nikon or Canon, then it's likely you'll have the newest cameras, lenses and accessories to play with, too.
Don't compromise: make the most of the chance to travel with your photographic hero. Go to his or her website and see if there's a link to future tours – there's probably will be. In the past few years I've travelled with Jonathan Scott (of Big Cat Diary fame), Freeman Patterson, Peter Eastway and Nick Rains, of course, and led a memorable Antarctic voyage with Art Wolfe, Frans Lanting, Tui du Roy and Daisy Gilardini all on board.
Look beyond the photography and make sure you pick a tour to a destination you want to visit. Photographers travel a lot so you should be able to match the photographer and destination you want.
Prepare to pay a premium for a photographic tour. The additional cost should not only cover the photographer's fee but any specific photo needs from early transfers to helicopter flights.
MORE INFORMATION
leica-akademie.com.au
GETTING THERE
Both Qantas and Virgin Australia operate flights between Sydney or Melbourne to Kununurra via Perth or Darwin. See qantas.com.au;virginaustralia.com.
From Kununurra it's about a 90-minute drive to Home Valley Station along a partially dirt road.
STAYING THERE
Home Valley Station offers a range of accommodation, from suites to rooms, to tents, to camping facilities. The best accommodation costs from A$320 (NZ$352) per room, twin share, including breakfast while a camping site costsA$17 per night per person. see www.hvstation.com.au.
SEE + DO
HVS offers a wide range of tours and activities from fishing or horse riding, to walks, sunset tours and helicopter rides.
The writer was a guest of Leica Camera Australia and Voyages Indigenous Tourism.
Traveller.com.auA woman looks at her phone as Chinese paramilitary police wear masks to protect against pollution in Beijing. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Sometimes living in China feels like dystopia has already arrived. As thick clouds of choking smog envelop the Chinese capital this week, more bad news has emerged to make life here feel even more like a grim science fiction movie.
Not only are Chinese authorities collecting vast amounts of personal data on all of their citizens, that data is now for sale.
A report in the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, translated by the SupChina newsletter and website on Wednesday, found that vast amounts of citizens’ private information can be freely bought by strangers, for very affordable prices.
For just 700 yuan, or $100, the paper’s reporters were able to find huge amounts of information about a colleague — including a full list of hotel rooms checked into, airline flights taken, Internet cafes visited, border entries and exits, apartment rentals and real estate holdings. All they needed was his personal ID card number.
They were also able to purchase data to pinpoint another colleague’s location in real time via his mobile phone or buy detailed information about bank transactions, driving infractions and train journeys — even whom their colleague stayed with during each hotel visit.
SupChina headlined their report “Cashing in on dystopia” and framed it with an image of “Big Brother,” the supreme leader of the totalitarian superstate of Oceania in George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
The data is available on hundreds of tracking services advertised on China’s Internet platforms. Some may be fraudulent, but others are clearly accessing information from national police and government databases, as well as banks and mobile carriers, David Bandurski, a researcher at the University of Hong Kong’s China Media Project, wrote in the SupChina piece.
It is either being sold by the police and authorities — or outsiders are hacking into national databases, Bandurski wrote.
If that wasn’t bad enough, China is already in the midst of an ambitious plan to centralize everyone’s data and issue everyone a score based on their “social credit.”
Here’s how we reported that back in October.
Imagine a world where an authoritarian government monitors everything you do, amasses huge amounts of data on almost every interaction you make, and awards you a single score that measures how “trustworthy” you are. In this world, anything from defaulting on a loan to criticizing the ruling party, from running a red light to failing to care for your parents properly, could cause you to lose points. And in this world, your score becomes the ultimate truth of who you are — determining whether you can borrow money, get your children into the best schools or travel abroad; whether you get a room in a fancy hotel, a seat in a top restaurant — or even just get a date. In that story, William Glass, a threat intelligence analyst at cybersecurity expert FireEye, warned that a centralized system would be both vulnerable and immensely attractive to hackers. “There is a big market for this stuff, and as soon as this system sets up, there is great incentive for cybercriminals and even state-backed actors to go in, whether to steal information or even to alter it,” he said.
It seems as though those warnings are coming true rather faster than anyone might have imagined.
In a separate story this week, NPR reported on how Shanghai was already rolling out its version of the social credit system, called Honest Shanghai.
Here's how NPR described the phone app, which was released in November.
You sign up using your national ID number. The app uses facial recognition software to locate troves of your personal data collected by the government, and 24 hours later, you're given one of three "public credit" scores — very good, good, or bad.
A city government official told NPR the score draws on up to 3,000 items of information collected from nearly 100 government entities to determine an individual's public credit score, adding the city also plans to reach for other sources of personal information. A good score earns rewards like discounted airline tickets, and a bad score could one day lead to problems getting loans and getting seats on planes and trains.
But it also quoted Zhu Dake, a humanities professor at Tongji University in Shanghai, as warning the authorities could start judging people in moral or ideological grounds.
“They're using modern technology to create a vision of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four,” he said.
On the streets of Shanghai, citizens didn’t seem to mind, NPR’s Rob Schmitz reported.
But on social media, some people did react with concern to the story that appeared in Southern Metropolis Daily last month.
"It's definitely the police who sold this information. You don't need to pretend it is not |
firearm in a crime of violence -- a count that brings a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years. Prosecutors there are recommending a 12-year sentence, but Payne could argue for seven years, according to prosecutors and his lawyers.
The Nevada indictment stems from what authorities have described as the "massive armed assault'' by rancher Cliven Bundy and his co-defendants to thwart federal officers who tried to corral about 400 cattle near the Bundy ranch in April 2014.
With out-of-custody co-defendants Jason Patrick, Jon Ritzheimer and Shawna Cox watching from the courtroom's gallery in Portland, Payne pleaded guilty in the refuge case before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown.
Gabriel said Payne, 32, a U.S. Army veteran, accompanied Ammon Bundy to Harney County in November and December to meet with Sheriff Dave Ward and present their "redress of grievances.''
Prosecutors alleged in a criminal complaint that the two urged the sheriff to protect Burns-area ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and son Steven Hammond from returning to prison on federal arson charges. They both told the sheriff that if the Hammonds spent one more day in jail, there would be "extreme civil unrest,'' the complaint said.
In January, Payne took on a leadership role, coordinating armed guards and providing tactical training of guards during the armed takeover of the bird sanctuary outside Burns, Gabriel said.
On Jan. 26, Payne was riding in the front passenger seat of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum's Dodge Ram truck when state police and FBI agents stopped the pickup as they were traveling on U.S. 395 to a community meeting in John Day.
The prosecutor pointed out that Payne immediately got out of the truck and surrendered to police at the initial stop before Finicum drove further and was fatally shot at a police roadblock.
When Payne was taken into custody, he was armed with a handgun, Gabriel said.
"Mr. Payne complied with law enforcement orders as others did not,'' he said.
Payne's defense lawyer Rich Federico described the Nevada offer as a "contemplated agreement.'' The offer is on the table, he said.
Payne said his decision to plead is based on weighing the pros and cons of going to trial.
"His exposure in Nevada is massive,'' Gabriel noted in court.
Asked if he faced any pressure to take the plea, Payne paused briefly before answering, "No, other than I would say continued detainment which lends a realism to what the future would hold for the rest of my life if I did not take a plea.''
As the judge read the plea petition that Payne signed, he objected to the wording of the charge he was pleading guilty to, specifically that he conspired to impede federal employees at the wildlife refuge through "intimidation, threats and force.'' He had the judge change the "and force" to "or force,'' which the prosecution accepted.
Federico said Payne considers his right to bear arms "sacred,'' and before the refuge takeover, carrying firearms "was part of his regular routine and habit.'' It wasn't as if he suddenly showed up at the refuge and brought a gun, Federico said.
Under the deal, Payne won't be allowed to possess any guns or ammunition. This is his first criminal conviction, he told the court.
Judge Brown asked Payne to describe to the court what he did that makes him guilty.
Payne said he made his first adult decision at age 17 when he decided to join the Army and swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution.
He said he traveled to Harney County also "to uphold and defend the Constitution.''
"In pursuing that, I have come to understand that folks who work for the government perceive my actions as threatening or intimidating,'' Payne said. "I understand myself to be guilty of the charge I am charged with.''
Brown questioned him further on whether he impeded federal officers from doing their work at the refuge?
"As it has been presented to me, I understand that I did, your honor,'' he said.
Payne is expected to be transferred at some time to Nevada to enter guilty pleas and be sentenced there before returning to Oregon to face sentencing, Gabriel said.
Payne is an Iraq War veteran who served in an Army long-range surveillance unit. He has two children and lives in Montana.
He was indicted in Nevada on charges of conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to impede and injure a federal officer, assault on a federal officer, threatening federal law enforcement, four counts of using a firearm in a crime of violence, obstruction of justice and extortion. The indictment alleges he participated in the 2014 standoff near the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada.
If convicted in the Nevada case of four counts of using a firearm in a crime of violence, Payne could face the minimum mandatory sentence of seven years, plus 25-year consecutive sentences for each additional crime of violence conviction.
A tentative sentencing date for the refuge case was set for Nov. 18.
Before Tuesday's hearing started, co-defendant Ritzheimer, who sat in the second row of the gallery, asked other attendees sitting in front of him if they were Payne's family. They said no, and asked him, "Are you?''
"Yes,'' Ritzheimer said, smiling and added, "Not by blood.''
Patrick, who was just released from custody last week and faces trial in September, said it was hard for him to watch Payne's plea hearing.
"What I see is a good man compelled to lie because of the conditions they're in,'' Patrick said. "He's an honorable man, so it's disappointing to see that.''
Payne is the eighth defendant to plead guilty to conspiracy among the 26 people indicted on the charge in the refuge occupation. A ninth defendant, Travis Cox, is expected to enter a guilty plea Wednesday.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonianby Saul Cornell, Paul and Diane Guenther Chair in American History, Fordham University
* May 15 marks the 75th anniversary of United States v. Miller, a 1939 case in which the Supreme Court unanimously held that Congress could prohibit the possession of weapons that were not related to the “preservation or efficiency of a well regulated Militia.” For decades, this was the only consideration the Court gave the Second Amendment, and arguably, it was generally understood that the Amendment's scope was limited to the use of firearms in connection with military activities. This changed in 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller, and subsequently in 2010 in McDonald v. Chicago, when the Court declared that the Second Amendment provided an "individual right to possess a firearm.” The Court explained that they were not overturning Miller; that Miller only limited the type of weapon to which the individual right applies. As we consider the constitutional, legal and policy questions that now surround the Second Amendment, we should take a step back and ask if the Supreme Court got it right in Heller and McDonald. How should the Second Amendment be interpreted? ACS is pleased to raise this important question with progressive constitutional scholars and historians in an ACSblog symposium this week, May 5 through May 9.
In District of Columbia v. Heller, Justice Scalia engaged in a revisionist exercise, rewriting history to further his ideological agenda. If you have any doubts about this proposition, just consider the following: according to Heller’s logic, it would have been okay for the first Congress to pass a law making muskets illegal in the District of Columbia, but Congress would have been prohibited from banning dueling pistols. Such a conclusion is pretty hard to reconcile with the Amendment’s text and history.
Heller’s misuse of history borders on the scandalous, but we are pretty much stuck with it. The decision also points to history as the starting point for evaluating gun laws. Of course, this raises the thorny question about which history matters most when seeking to understand the meaning and scope of the right: Founding era, Reconstruction, the last century (or the future—Heller already assumes the existence of time travel—why not)?
Some gun rights advocates interpret Heller’s assertion that “ constitutional rights are enshrined with the scope they were understood to have when the people adopted them" to mean only laws on the books in 1791 count. This claim about original meaning is seriously flawed. The original meaning of a text is not the same as the original expected application of the text. Indeed, Scalia’s opinion mocks the idea that the right to bear arms would only apply to Revolutionary era muskets; so, if that it is true, it is hard to see how only laws regulating muskets are legal from a constitutional perspective.Hundreds of refugees, immigrants and even legal U.S. residents were detained this past weekend following President Trump’s controversial travel ban. Most of the people affected were Muslims, but the ban hit Jews, too.
One of them was Manny Dahari, a Yemeni Jew who saved his whole family from their native land. He has a green card and has lived in the United States for almost 11 years; the 23-year-old student is supposed to receive his American citizenship in a couple of months.
Dahari was on a family visit to Israel when Trump signed the order that included a 90-day ban on entry to all citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Yemen.
Facebook Share
Pinterest
Email
In a widely circulated Facebook post Dahari wrote before his departure for the States, he acknowledged that “there is a possibility I won’t be able to get on that plane back home. This is truly a nightmare. I never thought Mr. Trump’s decisions would affect me in any way.”
Dahari ended his post saying: “For my friends who have been celebrating Mr. Trump’s decision, you should know this does not only affect Muslims, but it also affects thousands of Jews and Christians escaping war and religious persecutions. I hope you take a moment to think about it.”
Before Dahari boarded his plane, his American attorneys advised him to stay in Israel until things became clearer, but he decided to give it a try regardless. “I wanted to take the risk because I was already late for school and didn’t want to skip another week,” Dahari told the Forward. “I had a lot of anxiety on the plane because I didn’t know what to expect.
“I always thought I was safe because of my legal status as a permanent resident in the U.S. and also because I am a Jewish refugee, but I learnt that wasn’t the case.”
He was detained and questioned for three hours and 30 minutes at John F. Kennedy International Airport, but eventually he was let into the country.
Read six facts about the 23-year-old Jewish refugee - including how he saved his whole family from Yemen.
The most interesting student at YU
Facebook Share
Pinterest
Email
Dahari is a student at Yeshiva University in New York, where he majors in marketing with a minor in political science. Last April, the school’s paper, The Commentator, called him the “Most Interesting Student in YU” in a profile.
“At first glance, his stylish haircut, dark skin, and American accent make him appear no different than a North American university student with Sephardic ancestry,” the paper wrote. But, “Underneath his conventional exterior lies a narrative that renders him one of the most interesting and courageous students at YU.”
Left Yemen as an unaccompanied 13-year-old
Dahari was born in Raida, a village near the capital of Yemen, as the fourth of eight children. Growing up, he experienced a lot of violent anti-Semitism in the war-torn country. Arab children would throw rocks at him and his siblings, Dahari told The Commentator.
Dahari’s life existed mostly of yeshiva and life within the close-knit Jewish community in Yemen until his bar mitzvah, when he received the unique opportunity to attend a yeshiva in the United States.
The then 13-year-old was the first in his family in many generations to leave Yemen, and he did so all by himself.
Dahari initially attended a Satmar yeshiva in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, but he struggled with the uncommon language and the fact that he was the only student with dark skin.
Over the following years, he attended a number of different yeshivas before he moved to Chicago and finished a secular high school education so that he could go to university. “The impetus for his decision was his desire to understand the world in which he lived and to not become a stereotypical Yemenite teenager with little worldly knowledge,” The Commentator wrote.
Shocked about state of America
Dahari has lived almost 11 years in America and is set to receive his citizenship in the following months. That’s why Trump’s executive order came as an even bigger shock to him.
“I escaped ‘my country’ as a kid because of religious persecution to seek refuge in a country I never thought would turn its back on the people who need its help,” Dahari wrote in his Facebook post. “A country that has opened its doors to immigrants and refugees from across the globe.”
Facebook Share
Pinterest
Email
He saved his family
For 10 years, Dahari wasn’t able to return to Yemen to visit his family. In 2009, two Jews were killed in Yemen, and the Daharis started sending more of their children out of the war-torn country.
But the escape of the parents themselves was more complicated, and involved a lot of effort by their son, Manny Dahari. He got the U.S. State Department and the Jewish Agency, an Israeli organization that specializes in helping Middle Eastern Jews immigrate to Israel, to help his family.
Last March, after a two-year ordeal during which Dahari stopped going to university to focus solely on saving his family, they were brought to Israel.
The rescue was done through a covert operation, and while many details of the mission have to be kept secret, we know that it involved Jordan and Saudi Arabia and bribing Yemeni rebels.
Facebook Share
Pinterest
Email
Today, Dahari’s family lives in Israel - together with a 600-year-old family Torah scroll that they managed to save. It was after a visit with them that Dahari was flying back to America, only to be detained at the airport.
He loves Jewish unity
Perhaps not surprising for someone who has lived such a scattered life, Dahari sees unity as the most meaningful aspect of Judaism.
“I think there is something incredible about Jews, which is unity,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “I see it everywhere – people will always help you simply because you are a Jew.”
Dahari recently spent a week in Israel as part of a YU student trip to help rebuild buildings that were in a settlement but were destroyed in a wildfire. “I’m here because I want to give back,” he told the Post. “Even though it might not be so much [help] physically, it’s an emotional support.”
Engaged in campus life
Facebook Share
Pinterest
Email
Dahari earned a degree in liberal arts from Oakton Community College in a Chicago suburb before he started his studies at YU.
In Chicago he was heavily involved with Hillel, and now, at YU, Dahari heads IAC Mishelanu, a pro-Israel campus program that “fosters leaders and provides a home for Israeli-American students,” according to the program’s website.
He is also a campus speaker for the Zionist Organization of America, and he has set up a club called Ksahrim to create connections between students and terrorism victims in Israel. He did this because he feels it’s too easy to become numb to the many headlines about attacks in Israel. I wanted “to make it more personal,” he told The Jerusalem Post.
Lilly Maier is a news intern at the Forward. Contact her at maier@forward.com or on Twitter, @lillymmaier
This story "Meet the Daring Young Yemeni Jew Detained at JFK by Trump’s Muslim Ban" was written by Lilly Maier.Blockchain development start-up BlockPay is creating tools to “supercharge” merchant sales but that also recognizes that private transactions fundamentally have to form part of any credible business approach. This ‘free’ blockchain Point of Sale (POS) system is being expanded by an imminent crowdfund that will push its digital currencies platform to new levels.
BlockPay, which is based in Munich, enables merchants to accept one or more digital currencies at zero cost. This includes currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, Smartcoins, EUR, USD and Chinese Yuan (CNY), risk-free online or at physical locations such as grocery chains and even vending machines. It is an Android app for tablets and mobile phones that can be easily be downloaded and claimed to be the first application that can accept multiple digital currencies all in one application.
Merchants receive payment in their local currency, which ensures their protection of value without having to worry about chargebacks, rolling reserves or fraud when accepting payment. The system touts robust privacy.
But let’s step back for just one minute. Bitcoin, for example, has a transparent and immutable distributed ledger, but which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it allows for clarity and accountability, which is a great tool for fighting fraud and corruption. On the other, it is a problem for many would-be users - corporate or otherwise.
Fit For Purpose?
Every transaction can be traced from one address to another, right back to its original account. Accidentally leak a little information about one of those addresses and one could reveal a string of user account names in the supply chain, seeing who is spending what.
Indeed, there are now companies such as Elliptic, which analyses the Bitcoin blockchain and helps crypto exchanges monitor transactions, to trace transactions that seek to hide their criminal origins or to conceal the illegal that they are put. For criminals and legitimate businesses alike, the blockchain’s transparency could pose a real problem.
And, the reason is not hard to fathom. If you can figure out where the money is going, you can gain a major competitive edge over a company, who their suppliers are and how much they are paying them, who they consult with, their customers, employees, management team, etc. The perfect recipe for industrial espionage you might think.
It is also one of the reasons why blockchain tech has not yet caught on in the business world. There are other reasons too - security, network effect and volatility to name three. But this is one of the numerous bumps along the road to the inevitable mainstream adoption of crypto.
Enter BlockPay
So given this backdrop it is perhaps not surprising that this is one of the issues that startup BlockPay, which gained basic funding for the project around six months ago, have addressed, along with creating more standard Point Of Sale merchant tools.
The foundation work to BlockPay products’ development has largely been driven by the Bitshares community and effectively BitShares Munich, which is headed up by CEO Christoph Hering, CMO Rodrigo Crespo and Ken Code, the Development Team Lead.
In order to add the new stealth options to BlockPay products, they are holding a crowdfund to raise the required capital, which is estimated at around $850,000 according to Ronny Boesing, CEO and founder of Danish crypto exchange CCEDK ApS (CCEDK). This latest funding forms part of the exchange’s strategy in financing four so-called Initial Coin Offerings (ICO’s) per month going forward.
In basic terms an ICO is a way of obtaining funding for start-ups, which US-educated Boesing in Denmark wants to help in “bootstrapping”, and provide a route for investors to participate as well. Relating to BlockPay, its ‘pre-ICO’ is scheduled to take place 23 August before a larger ICO that is expected to occur in 2017. (The ‘Level 1’ offer to initial investors actually commenced on Saturday, 20 August).
Pay Easily, Quickly & Cheaply
BlockPay’s offering consists of several parts that are combined into a free, downloadable Standalone app for merchants, as well as an available BlockPay Integrated system for merchants with existing e-Commerce or POS systems such as Odoo, an open source ERP system for small and big enterprises, SAP, grocery chains, gas stations, vending machines and kiosks and so on.
Not only available in over forty languages and counting, over 50,000 business that currently use Odoo are able to download the free BlockPay module and start to accept digital payments for free. Creating a Merchant account is free and a swift process to complete.
Echo App: Multi Currency, Multi-Asset
The next element is a multi-currency, multi-asset wallet in the form of the Echo app that allows customers to pay in any one of a dozen or more popular cryptocurrencies - Bitshares’ Smartcoins, Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum and Steem amongst others.
The second element is that all BlockPay systems already work with all existing crypto mobile wallets such as Jaxx, Mycelium, Circle and Dash wallet. The merchant, who pays no fee to utilize BlockPay, provides the amount due, and the customer pays either via a QR code or by NFC, simply tapping their phone on the terminal. Fast and easy, it is painless for both sides.
Furthermore, BlockPay enables merchants to accept one or more global digital currencies at zero cost, with several added benefits. Being crypto, there are no chargebacks, no possibilities of ID theft and it is faster and safer than cash.
No Bank Or Payment Processing
Payments are peer-to-peer, so there is no bank or payment processing company to just automatically reverse them if the customer complains. This is a perennial issue for many online merchants, especially when it is the policy of the payments company to side with the customer by default - many find themselves out of pocket.
And, whilst credit card payments might take a couple of days to show up in a merchant’s account and be subject to monthly and 2%-3% fees, digital currencies take just seconds to confirm and be deposited to the merchants secure blockchain account.
The customer covers the network fee which is typically under 4 cents. So this is very encouraging for users of digital currencies as well. Now one can travel anywhere in the world and never worry about which currency you will have to use.
All of this is really just entry level stuff for a technology that wants to compete with existing payments systems. But it is a mark of how young digital cash is that these kinds of apps - with interfaces slick and simple enough to be as user friendly as a credit card - are only just starting to emerge.
Transact Anonymously, Talk Privately
Then there is the privacy side of things. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general may have a reputation for anonymity, but many might say it is more like pseudonymity (i.e. a state of disguised identity).
The transparency of the blockchain means you can see exactly where money is going: you know the addresses, even if you do not immediately know who the addresses belong to. But that is something that can often be gleaned with patience and the right approach, especially if the owners have been careless.
Clearly, that is unacceptable for most businesses as well as most regular users too. Now various approaches have arisen to address Bitcoin’s transparency in the interests of financial privacy. Several ‘altcoins’ offer anonymity features that - one way or another - aim to obscure transactions to prevent them from being tracked.
As yet though, none has shown itself to be superior to the competition. In fact, we do not yet know the lengths to which organizations will go in order to unscramble transactions to gain the information they want. What proves robust against casual snoopers might be a cinch for the NSA to untangle.
Echo Wallet
The Echo wallet combines what is claimed to be Bitshares’ Stealth crypto transactions with secure voice, video and messaging. Chat and media messages are not only encrypted, but can be self-destructing, similar to Snapchat.
Hering, BlockPay’s co-founder and CEO based in Munich, commenting about the significance of such an approach says: “It solves two major problems of our time, namely privacy and financial freedom. Firstly, Echo protects your personal chat, video and voice messages against hackers and censorship. And, secondly Echo gives you the choice to manage multiple currencies at your fingertips.”
Transferring funds takes 3 seconds or less. And, thanks to modern blockchain technologies Echo users can register their desired username on the blockchain with a few simple taps.
Hering, an ideologue who studied at the Munich Business School in the Bavarian capital created the app not just for business purposes, but because he regards our free communication and financial privacy as being “placed increasingly at risk.”
Evidently, we are entering a Brave New World of Internet commerce, where the blockchain is leveraged to its fullest to offer a range of benefits including speed, security, cost and privacy. The final irony is that those who pioneered Bitcoin e-commerce on the dark web do not seem so interested in these new developments. BlockPay will soon be available in the Android App stores as yet another free app from BitShares Munich.
Pre-ICO Investment
The pre-ICO to crowdfund the BlockPay project commences on August 23, 2016 at noon in co-operation with the decentralized exchange platform OpenLedger, its economic enterprise engine ICOO (Initial Coin Offering OpenLedger) and CCEDK.
The latter will provide escrow services for the ICO, as well as issuing the asset and distributing the related BlockPay tokens at the end of the ICO. The ICOO is effectively the ICO of ICO’s and is (1) a crypto token of its own issued and tradable via CCDEK/OpenLedger, and (2) A crowdfunding ‘3.0 model’ that makes it possible for businesses to leverage the platform and ecosystem in order to host an ICO.
CCEDK has an ordering module to allow interested parties to buy the tokens, with two options to purchase either via the ICO page on BlockPay.ch or the ICO Live button at CCEDK.com. Once the 5 million BlockPay tokens set aside for crowdfund have been sold the ICO ends.You need Javascript and either Adobe Flash or Html5 to view this video.
US President Barack Obama laid out his administration's strategy today for combating the Islamic State organisation in Iraq and Syria by forming a broad international coalition against the group.
"We're moving ahead with our strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist organisation," Obama said in his weekly radio address.
Obama insisted that the conflict with the Islamic State "can't be America's fight alone".
"What's needed now is a targeted, relentless counter-terrorism campaign against ISIL that combines American air power, contributions from allies and partners, and more support to forces that are fighting these terrorists on the ground. And that's exactly what we're doing," he added.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday night, Obama announced his decision to authorise US air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time, and to add to targeted areas in Iraq.
Obama is leading an effort to form a coalition of Western allies and Gulf Arab states to take on the extremist group, whose savage methods have included beheading two American journalists.
"We have to use our power wisely. And we have to avoid the mistakes of the past," said Obama, who wants to avoid a repeat of the Iraq war and has vowed not to send large numbers of US combat troops there.
Obama met with NATO allies last week in Wales and later this month will hold a leaders security conference at the UN general assembly in New York, aimed at gaining commitments from nations willing to join the coalition.
Saudi Arabia has agreed to host a training mission for those Syrian rebels deemed moderate by the United States.Image copyright Getty Images
Immigrants from the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 contributed more to the UK than they took out in benefits, according to a new study.
They added £4.96bn more in taxes in the years to 2011 than they took out in public services, the report produced by University College London (UCL) found.
Campaign group Migration Watch criticised the report for what it said was a selective use of dates.
Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said it was too narrowly focused.
"It [the report] has not properly addressed the issues of the pressures of public services," he said. "There's things that I think rightly concern the public on access to schools, hospitals, roads, housing."
'Positive picture'
UCL's report, The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK, was published by the Royal Economic Society in the Economic Journal.
The countries that joined the EU in 2004 - known as the Accession Ten, or A10 - were Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption People in Northampton have mixed views on the contribution made by migrants to the UK
The analysis included migrants' share of all public services costs, covering those that increase when the population increases, such as health and education, and those that stay fixed, such as the armed forces and defence.
If the fixed costs are excluded, the net benefit of immigration from these countries would more than double to £10.5bn.
The study also said immigrants from the wider European Economic Area - the European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - had made a positive financial contribution to the UK.
It found that:
EEA immigrants had made a fiscal contribution of £4.4bn between 1995 and 2011, non-EEA immigrants had made a negative net contribution of £118bn, and British people had made a negative net contribution of £591bn
More recently, between 2001 and 2011, European arrivals contributed £20bn and those from outside Europe £5bn
Immigrants who arrived since 2000 were 43% less likely than British people to receive state benefits or tax credits, and 7% less likely to live in social housing
They were better educated, with 62% of those from the first 15 EU countries and 25% from the A10 countries having a degree, compared with 24% in the UK
Prof Christian Dustmann, co-author of the study, said: "A key concern in the public debate on migration is whether immigrants contribute their fair share to the tax and welfare systems.
"Our new analysis draws a positive picture of the overall fiscal contribution made by recent immigrant cohorts, particularly of immigrants arriving from the EU."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption UCL's Prof Christian Dustmann and Migration Watch UK's Sir Andrew Green debate the economic contribution made by immigrants to the UK
He said EU migrants, in particular, made "the most substantial contributions" because of their "higher average labour market participation compared with natives and their lower receipt of welfare benefits".
Migration Watch chairman Sir Andrew Green said: "If you take all EU migration including those who arrived before 2001 what you find is this - you find by the end of the period they are making a negative contribution and increasingly so.
"And the reason is that if you take a group of people while they're young fit and healthy they're not going to be very expensive, but if you take them over a longer period they will be."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption James Brokenshire: "Levels of net migration at the moment are... not sustainable"
BBC economic editor Robert Peston said Prof Dustmann and his co-author Tommaso Frattini had "exploded" the idea that the majority of immigrants were benefit and public-service tourists - but, as Migration Watch had highlighted, they had also shown that, over the longer term, immigrants to the UK had been a burden on the state.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw, meanwhile, said the report built on a study carried out by the same authors published a year ago which came to broadly the same conclusions.
Then, as now, the analysis of the data provoked a "storm" of criticism from Migration Watch - leading the think tank to release its own study in March.
Mr Brokenshire said the latest report had taken "a very narrow focus".
He said: "We do need a sustainable immigration system bringing it down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands because it is those pressures that we see."
Anthony Reuben, head of statistics, BBC News
Image copyright PA
If we are only interested in tax and benefits, the perfect person for the economy would arrive the day after they finish education, work for 40 years, not have children and then leave the day after they retire.
It is no surprise, then, that the relatively young, already educated migrants from EU accession countries are closer to that model than people who have arrived in Britain longer ago, or indeed the population in general.
The big question that this research does not address is what happens to those migrants in the future; in particular, will they stay in the country after they retire?
And also, what effect if any have they had on the amount of in-work benefits and out-of-work benefits paid to the rest of the population?
Political debate
Shadow immigration minister David Hanson said: "This report shows that immigration since 2001 has contributed to the public finances as well as to the economy.
"However, the impact of different kinds of immigration varies and the system needs to be fair - so we need stronger border controls to tackle illegal immigration and stronger action against employers who use immigration to undercut local wages and jobs, but we should welcome international university students who bring in billions."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Shadow immigration minister David Hanson: "There are benefits to the UK from migration but there are also things that need to be managed"
UK Independence Party spokesman Steven Woolfe said that while it was clear immigration could be economically advantageous, the study did not show "what wealth our own people could have generated if they weren't subjected to wage-reducing, employment-displacing mass immigration from the EU".
Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert, said: "UCL tells us what we already knew - that, overall, migrants contribute positively to our economy.
"Can we now see a response from government that acknowledges that and which helps local authorities adapt effectively to changes in their population and promotes a sense of community?"
Katerina Davies, who has as worked and paid taxes in the UK since she moved from the Czech Republic in 2007, said more should be done to help integrate migrants into communities.
She said: "Integration is the best way forward if there is a problem with cultural differences. I think if you come to a country and decide to live there you should accept their culture; obviously keep your own identity but accept the law and the culture you're moving to."
Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to renegotiate the terms of the UK's membership of the EU, before holding a referendum in 2017 on whether to leave, if he is re-elected in six month's time.Here is a misleading headline in the International Business Times:
Similar stories, with similar errors, have appeared in The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Huffington Post, and other outlets.
What you need to understand here is that there are bunch of different organizations out there that call themselves the Ku Klux Klan. None of them is "the" organization, and none of them is directly descended from the original Klan, which died out over a century ago. Anyone can buy some sheets and set up shop as a Klan, but he won't be speaking for anybody but himself and whoever he can convince to join him.
In this case John Abarr, a Montana Klansman who claims to have given up the idea of white supremacy, has created yet another KKK grouplet. It's called the Rocky Mountain Knights, and he says he's opening its doors to minorities. There are no signs that any have actually joined. (This is not, I should add, just a case of white separatists trying to cooperate with black separatists. That's a phenomenon with a long history, but it does not generally entail inviting African Americans into the klavern.)
Needless to say, if Abarr really has given up on the Klan's core ideology, it would make more sense to throw away the brand name and call his club something else. But I suppose he thinks this will get the group publicity, and evidently he's right.
The IBT report wavers back and forth when it comes to recognizing that this is one oddball's effort and not a general move toward a tolerant, cuddly Klan. It mentions that the Rocky Mountain Knights are a "new KKK group," and it quotes another Klansman dismissing Abarr's project. But it describes that critic as coming from "the more traditional elements of the organisation," as though they were all paying dues to the same coffers.
If nothing else, this is an interesting inversion of a dynamic that the far right saw in the '90s, when the militia movement came to prominence. The militias tended to focus on issues such as gun control and paramilitary law enforcement, not on policing racial boundaries, and many militiamen were overtly hostile to white supremacists. While some racists returned the disdain, others tried to enter the movement by forming militia groups of their own. If Abarr is sincere about his ideological conversion—and that's a big if—then this is basically the same process happening in reverse.
I don't expect it to go far, though, because I can't imagine many anti-racists would be interested in adopting the Klan brand name.
Bonus link: For an interesting case in the '30s of some people who did use the Klan's brand name for rather different purposes, even inviting some nonwhites into the fold, check out this story from Studs Terkel's Hard Times, in which a West Virginia Klan with two black members staked out a militant position in labor's battles with the coal companies.
Another bonus link: I explored the Klan's history in this piece from 2005.
[Via Corey Robin.]In 2014, Microsoft planned to announce two new Surface devices. One was the Surface Pro 3, and the other was the now infamous "Surface Mini", which never saw the light of day. At Windows Central, we love finding details on, and seeing, Microsoft's canceled and never before seen products. So we're excited to be able to exclusively show you the never before seen Surface Mini. Let's dig in!
Microsoft Surface Mini images
On the outside, the Surface Mini is essentially a smaller Surface Pro 3 in portrait orientation. It's housed in a case-like material and design that feels soft and felt-like. However, this is actually part of the Surface Mini. It's not a case you can remove, it's the actual physical design of the Surface Mini. It has a built-in kickstand in the landscape orientation and is slightly angled at the edges for easier gripping when using the Pen and taking notes. This gives it a somewhat large bezel, however.
The kickstand works similarly to the kickstand found on the non-Pro Surface 3 introduced a year later. It has three locked positions: one for viewing, one for typing on the screen, and one that's somewhere in between. We wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft used the same kickstand mechanism in the Surface 3 that it had been working on with the Surface Mini. When closed, the kickstand sits flush with the device, just like on any other Surface. The Surface Mini was going to come in a variety of colors, too.The White House clarified that Mr. Trump would only consider a meeting if the North Korean leader met a series of conditions, starting with a sharp curtailment of his provocative behavior. North Korea carried out its most recent ballistic missile |
” over to his three eldest children.
Stalwart Donald Trump supporter Newt Gingrich has denounced the president-elect’s decision to continue as executive producer of the reality show “The New Celebrity Apprentice” when he’s in office.
“I think it’s weird. It’s weird. I don’t think it’s relevant,” he told Fox News on Friday.
“He is going to be the executive producer of the American government and a huge TV show called ‘Leading the World.’”
Gingrich suggested Trump turn the program over to his three eldest children. “He ought to just relax, give the executive producer to Eric or Donald or Ivanka. I think he is still going through some transition things here where it hasn’t quite sunk in totally,” he added.
The president-elect announced his plans on Thursday to continue his relationship with the NBC reality franchise. He’ll run the show in his “spare time,” Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said Friday, dismissing concerns that he won’t have much downtime as president.
“Were we so concerned about the hours and hours and hours spent on the golf course by the current president?” she said on CNN, in reference to President Barack Obama. “I mean, presidents have a right to do things in their spare time or their leisure time. I mean nobody objects to that.”
But Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) slammed Trump for continuing with the program when he apparently doesn’t have time for regular intelligence briefings, Politico reported. “I consider it bizarre,” he said.
The president-elect has a “big stake” in the NBC production, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told ABC. And that’s what worries critics concerned about Trump’s potential conflicts of interest in the White House.
It would be difficult for him to be impartial about issues such as telecommunication laws, a rival TV program or legislative decisions that may affect brands advertising on his program, if Trump continues his association with the show, they believe.
NBC’s parent company, Comcast, is a media conglomerate regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, which he will soon oversee.
Trump will “be tempted, consciously or otherwise, to favor NBC or use the White House to promote this source of revenue,” Norm Eisen, who served as Obama’s chief ethics lawyer, told the Chicago Tribune.Would you pay $60 to boost a character to level 90?
Blizzard has explained its decision to sell World of Warcraft level 90 character boosts for $60.
Those who buy the Warlords of Draenor expansion get a single level to 90 boost at no extra cost, but Blizzard will sell the boost from the World of Warcraft store so players can instantly level more characters.
Last week WOW Insider spotted the level 90 boost on the store and took a picture before it was removed from Blizzard.
Speaking to Eurogamer, World of Warcraft lead encounter designer Ion Hazzikostas said Blizzard decided to sell the boost separately because it didn't want players to have to buy two copies of the expansion in order to boost more than one character.
"We realised as soon as we came out with Warlords of Draenor boost to 90, we knew that there was going to be demand for more than 1," he said.
"It's tremendously awkward to tell someone that you should buy two copies of the expansion just to get a second 90. That's odd. So we knew at that point we were going to have to offer it as a separate service."
But why go for $60, a price point that came in higher than many were expecting? Because Blizzard didn't want to "devalue the accomplishment of levelling".
"In terms of the pricing, honestly a big part of that is not wanting to devalue the accomplishment of levelling," Hazzikostas said.
"If our goal here was to sell as many boosts as possible, we could halve the price or more than that - make it $10 or something. And then hardly anyone would ever level a character again.
"But levelling is something that takes dozens if not over 100 hours in many cases and people have put serious time and effort into that, and we don't want to diminish that."
He added: "I am not an economist, I'm not the one setting the dollar value myself, but it's not the profit maximising price. That was not our aim here."
Some players have expressed concern that the new boost will eradicate levelling from the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, creating, in effect, an environment in which players pay for progression.
Hazzikostas denied this assertion.
"The intent here isn't to create a world where no-one levels," he said.
"It's just to allow people who want to purchase additional level 90s, maybe they want a second or third alt and they don't have time to level it themselves because they have a family or etc - it's to allow them to do that."
Blizzard is yet to announce the cost of the character boost in Europe.The weekend is here the time has come once again to look back at our social data on the week’s biggest events.
It’s been a big week for video game, movie and TV fans, and those following politics will be pleased to know there’s plenty of drama to talk about.
Jump to story
Mercury Transit (Monday)
Uncharted 4 Day (Tuesday)
New Pokémon (Tuesday)
Orange is the New Black Season 4 Trailer released (Tuesday)
Crazy Bernie (Wednesday)
Sadiq Khan’s first week as London Mayor (Thursday)
Assassin’s Creed trailer released (Thursday)
Assassin’s Creed trailer released
The world premiere of the Assassin’s Creed trailer caused quite a stir between Wednesday and Thursday.
The trailer, which premiered late on Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show, got a huge boost in mentions and trended into the early hours.
Michael Fassbender appears as the protagonist in the action packed film, expected this December.
Sadiq Khan’s first week as London Mayor
A dramatic week on social saw newly elected London Mayor Sadiq Khan take on Donald Trump, while Katie Hopkins threatened to run down the road naked. We wrote all about it here.
Crazy Bernie
As Trump decided to turn his attention towards attacking “Crazy Bernie”, the term began to trend on Twitter.
The jibe did nothing to harm the Democrat’s online sentiment for the last 24 hours, however.
Our dedicated US Elections data viz can keep you up to date on the candidates’ progress as the race heats up.
Orange is the New Black Season 4 trailer
Netflix dropped the OITNB Season 4 trailer on Tuesday and social went crazy.
The trailer sparked 75k mentions on Tuesday.
There were thousands of mentions of Alex who didn’t appear in the trailer after a cliffhanger ending to season 3.
@OITNB ALEX WHERE ARE YOU BOO — s o p h i a (@sophiabiba) May 11, 2016
New Pokémon
The starter Pokémon from upcoming Pokémon Sun and Moon were revealed on Tuesday, and they trended on Twitter all day.
We took a look at the mentions and found that Litten is the top mentioned new Pokémon.
This was the top shared tweet on the day:
Uncharted 4 day
The hype has been growing for weeks and the game finally came out early this week.
Click the geo-tagged map to see how mentions have grew up to the release date.
We tracked over 96k mentions of the game on Tuesday as gamers celebrated the release by posting their initial reviews and thoughts online.
So it’s #Uncharted4 day! Goodbye world. See you on the other side. — Sam Cains (@samcains90) May 10, 2016
Many commenters decided to stay up late on a school night to complete the hotly anticipated game. Others have taken to social media to criticize delivery companies for not bringing the game on time.
Do I download Uncharted 4 and play it tonight, or do I wait until tomorrow and get the hard copy? Decisions decisions… — Will Eikeland (@WillTheGreat84) May 10, 2016
Woah hold up the mail’s here but where is uncharted 4 at — Charlie (@JurassicGarden) May 10, 2016
PlayStation promoted #Uncharted4, alongside a custom emoji for the game, which trended for hours on Twitter, while @youtube, @playstation and @naughty_dog were the top mentioned Twitter accounts alongside the game as it was released.
It didn’t take long for a cool easter egg in the game to be found, with players able to play Crash Bandicoot within Uncharted 4. This garnered over 2k tweets and a whole lot of “OMG”ing.
Mercury transit
On Monday social prepared itself for the rare astronomical occurrence in which the Earth, Mercury and the Sun line up together.
#MercuryTransit trended throughout the morning, with thousands of people getting excited for the event.
NASA provided near-live coverage and tweeted the amazing spectacle.
Mercury is trekking in front of the sun today for the 1st time in 10 years, seen here from 7:55am ET #MercuryTransitpic.twitter.com/LXOSJaILzk — NASA (@NASA) May 9, 2016
Here’s what the conversation looked like on the big day:9 Hours. The culmination of years of curiosity, anticipation, excitement, and longing, all wrapped up in 9 Hours. I just played and completed Halo 4 on Heroic in almost exactly 9 Hours. And after playing it, I can say one thing for sure, everything important about Halo 4 is the Master Chief and Cortana. Let's face it, they are the reason we've all been so hyped for this game. Their story is why we've been hooked to this series. Their ongoing journey is why we keep coming back again and again.
As a fan of Halo, I divide Halo in to two forms, the gameplay and the fiction. We haven't had a lack of Halo Gameplay. ODST and Reach (no matter what anyone says), have given us a healthy dose of the classic Halo gameplay that makes these games so great; the encounters are great, the gunplay is great, and the sandbox is unparalleled. But what has been missing for over 5 years has been the story of the Master Chief and Cortana; their journey, their interactions, their effect on each other, and their effect on us as players. In that regard, Halo 4 delivers in spades and is probably everything you could've hoped for and more.
From the very start of the game, the emotional cues will hit you hard. It will be like coming back to old friends, reliving the best moments, and by the time you leave them again, you'll realize that these moments will resonate with you as much as any (if not more than) you've had before. The Chief and Cortana talk and interact with each other more than any previous Halo. At times it feels like Prince of Persia Sands of Time in the way the two stars interact with each other. The Chief doesn't go on rants, but he definitely talks more and says the things that he should be saying. Things that previously we as the player wanted to ask Cortana or other characters in the game are now done by the Chief himself.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me talk a little more concretely about the game. The very first thing you will notice are the graphics. The opening CG will blow your mind. You will sit there, confused as to why they decided to incorporate live action scenes in to the game until you finally realize youre looking at CG. It is phenomenal. This game itself is gorgeous in EVERY way, and it will consistently wow you. There is nothing else to be said about graphics. They are the cream of the crop and seeing Halo in all its glory is incredibly satisfying. There is not a single part of the game where I thought the game was lacking technically. The game is polished to perfection. Not a single instance of slowdown. The only time you'll ever hit a hitch is the classic "Loading...Done", but that lasts only for a split second, and when transitioning to the next part of the level, so it's never in the middle of combat. No issues such as the Reach frame rate drops, no consistently low frame rate from CEA. Just buttery smooth.
Scenario wise this game throws at you every type of encounter you can think of. With every Halo game there is always a great appreciation of a game's highest highs, but always a slight (if not frustrating) disappointment at the inevitable lows. Halo 4 does not have lows. It's as if 343 looked at the past 5 Halo games, and took from them every exciting scenario, every combat setup and packaged it all into one campaign. No Library. No Sacred Icon. No Quarantine Zone. No Cortana. At worst you're seeing some slight and deliberate toned down moments, only to finding yourself grinning at the next big moment that 343 throws at you. Even with all that, it feels like 343 held back a little with Halo 4 due to its nature of being the start of a trilogy. If Halo 2 and Halo 3 are more "epic" in scope to Halo 1, then I can only imagine where 343 plans on taking the next games in this trilogy.
The Sandbox is where the new elements of Halo 4 get to shine. If Halo 4 is about meeting old friends, then a big part of the excitement is the new stories and new experiences they have to share. In this case, thats the new enemies, guns and vehicles. The Promethean Knights have been very well examined in the Vidocs and they play as you can imagine. They are a great new addition to the Halo sandbox, but in this game at least, they are only that, an addition. While 343 are right when they say that the Covenant is no longer the main threat, they still have a large part to play in the game. Strictly game play wise, I would say that the Covenant and Forerunner Prometheans are divided 50/50. So keep that expectation in check. You'll be seeing both throughout the game pretty equally. This is why I mentioned before that it feels like 343 held back a little and Halo 4 shows it in its enemy variety. Just like Halo 1 established the Covenant, and then introduced more variations of enemies and newer foes in the next games (Wild Halo 2 Brutes, Halo 3 Brute packs, Brute Chieftains, Drones, grunts driving vehicles in Halo 2, suicide grunts, etc...), in that same way I think 343 has made a good start at establishing the Prometheans. But in the next games, there does need to be work put in to make a more comprehensive enemy sandbox for the Prometheans. Most of you already know everything you need to about the Promethean weapons. The dual firing mode is great and useful, and they weapons look and sound great. The only exception is the Promethean Suppressor. That gun sounds like a toy and plays like one too. Light Rifle and Scattershot are fantastic. The human shotgun is probably the best looking Halo gun ever. The Pistol, BR and DMR are all great and have their own place in the sandbox. Using them is so satisfying, but that is partly due to the fact that every grunt, jackal and crawler is 1-shot headshot. You cannot understand how much more enjoyable that makes this game. Thank you Halo overlords!
I wanted to quickly mention QTEs. Do not worry about them. QTEs are extremely rare. Thats all.
For fans of exploration, you should be happy to hear that you will have to do some hunting for the Terminals. I played the game fairly thoroughly and I only found 2 terminals. For reference, I found all the terminals in CEA on the first play through. So, you do have something to look forward to, now that all the skulls are unlocked from the beginning.
By now all of you have heard the music of Halo 4. You will never understand that importance of a game's score until you've played Halo 4. I think 50% of the way that I felt while playing (and feel now that I'm sorting out my thoughts) has to do with the impression the music left on me. While there is a lot that makes it "just another Halo" for the casual observer, I guarantee you that every one of you will understand that this is a different trilogy; a new story and a new emotional journey. All of that is tied to the music. It is different and amazing. Different and amazing but also very appropriate. All that talk of the "tone" of this game being different, "the more personal story", all of that is conveyed through the music. This music is grandiose, and industrial, and bombastic, and sinister, and ethereal. Believe me, by the time the credits roll and you start reflecting on this game, the music will be a huge architect of shaping those thoughts. A small contingent of people will surely be disappointed that it isn't Marty's classic Halo score, (and even I hope that it makes a little more of an appearance in future games) but this score truly is a big part of what makes Halo 4 so unique and distinctly new.
So for anyone that's loved Halo before, you will love it now. For many others, there have been some barriers to Halo which 343 has put great effort in to breaking down. The graphics are breath taking. The story, especially due to the characters, is A LOT more engaging. The game's pacing is absolutely brilliant, with none of the crippling lows that previous games were hindered by. Of course, if you didn't like Halo's gameplay before then you won't like it now. If you didn't like the controls, or didn't like the sandbox then you won't like it now. But if you were ever interested in Halo before and believed that it had more potential than some of the games were doing justice, than you will be extremely pleased by Halo 4. Halo 4 is consistent in a way that no other Halo is. It has graphics like no other Halo. It has character interaction like no other Halo. It polishes the best of the past, and brings with it exciting and interesting new elements, and it's a wonderful promise for everything that is to come in this new trilogy. All of that wrapped in a heroic 9 Hours.
* I'm conveying my general feelings about this game, that's why I haven't dwelled in to many specifics. Of course like with any game, that are tiny things that you wish were a little bit different (legendary logo for example), but that those small quirks and nitpicks are what you all should discover for yourself. I'm not going to taint your image or your view of this game by overlaying what I think should be different or not be different.Share
As if we needed any further confirmation that Big Brother is, in fact, watching, the Associated Press reports today that the Central Intelligence Agency has an entire department devoted to monitoring Twitter and Facebook posts. In addition, the CIA briefs President Obama daily on top tweets and popular Facebook posts and trends.
The arduous task, carried out by a team known as the “Vengeful Librarians,” includes sifting through more than 5 million tweets a day. (In total, Twitter’s 100 million users publish approximately 140 million tweets every day.) Doing so has enabled the CIA to view how events in the US are being received overseas — like, say, the assassination of Osama bin Laden — as well as allowing the agency to keep tabs on international events, like the uprising in Egypt this spring.
The CIA’s social media monitoring, which is carried out by “several hundred” analysts at a facility in McLean, Virginia, and elsewhere around the US, was started on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission as a way to bolster the agency’s counterterrorism and counterproliferation initiatives.
Monitored sources include traditional newspapers and television broadcasts, as well as social media. The focus on Twitter began in 2009 after the micro-blogging platform played a key role in the Iranian Green Revolution.
Because tweets do not always have location data tied to them, the Vengeful Librarians cannot track where exactly the majority of tweets originate. Instead, the intelligence team keeps track of what language tweets are published in. For instance, the team wanted to find out the world reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden. It found that the majority of tweets published in either Urdu (the language of Pakistan), or Chinese were mostly negative. Arabic and Turkic tweets accused Obama of being pro-Isreal. Tweets in Hebrew thought Obama’s speech was too pro-Arab.
The CIA team has also used Twitter to monitor reports of real-time events, and can focus on a few Tweeters who are publishing accurate reports. The team found that, in these situations, other Twitter users actively stamp out erroneous information when it is reported, which proves the usefulness of Twitter as a primary source for breaking news.
So, for those of you out there who forget that what you say online can often be seen by anyone, remember: in some windowless office building in Northeast Virginia, a CIA agent may be watching.
[Image via Benjamin Haas/Shutterstock]The Shanghai Composite Index is now down around 29 percent since its peak closing on June 12 © AFP/File Greg Baker Shanghai (AFP) - US investment bank Goldman Sachs has estimated the Chinese government has spent up to 900 billion yuan ($147 billion) in the last two months to try to prop up stock prices and halt a market rout.
After the Shanghai market peaked in mid-June and then fell 30 percent in three weeks, the government intervened with a rescue package that included funding the state-backed China Securities Finance Corp. (CSF) to buy stock.
Goldman said the government spent 860-900 billion yuan to support the stock market in June and July, according to a research report issued Wednesday.
The report put the total war chest of potential funds available for market support at around 2.0 trillion yuan -- including funds already spent.
Bloomberg News on Thursday reported that the CSF -- previously a largely unknown institution that helped provide financing to brokerages -- was seeking an additional 2.0 trillion yuan, which would bring its total market support funds to 5.0 trillion yuan.
Worries the government is preparing to exit the market, despite repeated denials, were the trigger for the biggest one-day fall in eight years of 8.48 percent last month.
But Goldman said fears of an imminent exit by the "national team" -- as the media and market regulator have dubbed the players supporting the market on behalf of the government -- are overdone.
"The probability of a rash exit is low as the market has not yet stabilised and the government has no pressing need for the funds," the report said.
It forecast the benchmark Shanghai index would trade in a range from the mid-3,000 point level but would be capped at 4,500 points.
On Thursday, the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.89 percent at 3,661.54 points. It is now down around 29 percent since its peak closing on June 12 -- nearly the level that sparked the initial government intervention.
Other analysts have said they expect the market to test support at 3,500 points and possibly at the 3,200 level in volatile trading.
Goldman said the government has picked up heavyweight blue-chip stocks in sectors such as banking, insurance, food and beverage, and healthcare.The sequel to Samsung’s wildly popular Galaxy S II will launch in April. ZDNet Korea claims to have confirmed the time frame with Cheil Worldwide, Samsung’s marketing and advertising agency. The firm is reportedly planning a huge campaign in the United Kingdom, one of the Galaxy S III’s initial launch markets, and the focus of the ad blitz will be this year’s Summer Olympics, which will take place in London. An earlier report from an industry insider also pegged April as the launch month for Samsung’s highly anticipated next flagship smartphone. BGR exclusively published full specs for the Galaxy S III earlier this week, and highlights include a 4.8-inch 1080p high-definition display, a 1.5GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, a ceramic case, embedded 4G LTE and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
ReadC Programming Exercises, Practice, Solution
Last update on January 30 2019 13:15:10 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)
What is C Programming Language?
C is a general-purpose, imperative computer programming language, supporting structured programming, lexical variable scope and recursion, while a static type system prevents many unintended operations.
C was originally developed by Dennis Ritchie between 1969 and 1973 at Bell Labs, and used to re-implement the Unix operating system. It has since become one of the most widely used programming languages of all time, with C compilers from various vendors available for the majority of existing computer architectures and operating systems.
The best way we learn anything is by practice and exercise questions. We have started this section for those (beginner to intermediate) who are familiar with C programming.
Hope, these exercises help you to improve your C programming coding skills. Currently, following sections are available, we are working hard to add more exercises.... Happy Coding!
[ Want to contribute to C exercises? Send your code (attached with a.zip file) to us at w3resource[at]yahoo[dot]com. Please avoid copyrighted materials.]
Popularity of Programming Language Worldwide, Feb 2019 compared to a year ago:
Rank Change Language Share Trend 1 Python 26.42 % +5.2% 2 Java 21.2 % -1.3 % 3 Javascript 8.21% -0.3 % 4 C# 7.57 % -0.5 % 5 PHP 7.34 % -1.2 % 6 C/C++ 6.23 % -0.3 % 7 R 4.13 % -0.1 % 8 Objective-C 3.04% -0.8 % 9 Swift 2.56 % -0.6% 10 Matlab 1.98 % -0.4 % 11 TypeScript 1.61 % +0.2 % 12 Ruby 1.54 % -0.2 % 13 VBA 1.44% -0.0 % 14 Scala 1.17% -0.1 % 15 Kotlin 1.15 % +0.3 % 16 Visual Basic 1.15 % -0.1 % 17 Go 1.05 % +0.3 % 18 Perl 0.58 % -0.2 % 19 Rust 0.43 % +0.1 % 20 Lua 0.35 % +0.0 % 21 Julia 0.3% +0.1 % 22 Haskell 0.3% +0.0 % 23 Delphi 0.25% -0.1 %
Source : http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html
TIOBE Index for February 2019
Feb 2019 Feb 2018 Change Programming Language Ratings Change 1 1 Java 15.876% +0.89% 2 2 C 12.424% +0.57% 3 4 Python 7.574% +2.41% 4 3 C++ 7.444% +1.72% 5 6 Visual Basic.NET 7.095% +3.02% 6 8 JavaScript 2.848% -0.32% 7 5 C# 2.846% -1.61% 8 7 PHP 2.271% -1.15 9 11 SQL 1.900% -0.46% 10 20 Objective-C 1.447% +0.32% 11 15 Assembly language 1.377% -0.46% 12 19 MATLAB 1.196% -0.03% 13 17 Perl 1.102% -0.66% 14 9 Delphi/Object Pascal 1.066% -1.52% 15 13 R 1.043% -1.04% 16 10 Ruby 1.037% -1.50% 17 12 Visual Basic 0.991% -1.19% 18 18 Go 0.960% -0.46% 19 49 Groovy 0.936% +0.75% 20 16 Swift 0.918% -0.88%
Source : https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/
List of Exercises with Solutions :This article is over 5 years old
Charge alleges GMP broke health and safety laws in shooting death of unarmed man in 2012 as he sat in a car
Greater Manchester police have pleaded not guilty to breaking health and safety laws in the shooting dead of an unarmed man.
Anthony Grainger was shot dead in 2012 as he sat in a car.
On Monday at Westminster magistrates court, the force announced it would fight the case and formally entered a plea of not guilty.
The GMP chief constable, Sir Peter Fahy, is technically named in the charge but did not attend the hearing. Judge Howard Riddle sent the case to the crown court. GMP face a fine if convicted.
Grainger, 36, was shot through the chest as he sat in a car in the village of Culcheth, Cheshire.
The charge alleges failures in the police's planning and actions, contrary to health and safety laws, as officers attempted to arrest Grainger in a pre-planned armed operation.
The police failings, the charge alleges, exposed Grainger to unnecessary risk.
Fahy is named in the charge because he is chief constable. He is not facing criminal allegations personally, has no need to attend court and, if the jury convicts, he will not get a criminal record.
No individual officer has been charged over the shooting, including the one who opened fire.
The decision not to charge the officer who shot Grainger came after the director of public prosecutions decided a jury would believe the police marksman's claim to have acted in self-defence.
The next hearing in the health and safety case against GMP will be later this month at Southwark crown court.Astronomers have taken an unprecedented look at the superenergetic jets blasted out by black holes, and thus have answered a key question about the composition of these mysterious beams.
Scientists found evidence of nickel and iron in the jets emitted by a relatively small black hole, suggesting that "normal" matter plays a bigger role in these enigmatic structures than does exotic antimatter.
"We've known for a long time that jets contain electrons but haven't got an overall negative charge, so there must be something positively charged in them, too," study co-author James Miller-Jones, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research in Australia, said in a statement. [Images: Black Holes of the Universe]
"Until now, it wasn't clear whether the positive charge came from positrons, the antimatter 'opposite' of electrons, or positively charged atoms," Miller-Jones added. "Since our results found nickel and iron in these jets, we now know ordinary matter must be providing the positive charge."
The researchers took the measure of 4U1630-47, a black-hole candidate just a few times more massive than the sun. They studied the object's X-ray emissions using the the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite and analyzed the black hole in radio wavelengths using the Australia Telescope Compact Array system.
The radio observations keyed the team in to the sudden appearance of the jets, while XMM-Newton's data revealed emission lines in the jets' X-ray spectrum corresponding to iron and nickel. Further, these lines were shifted significantly, much as the sound from a siren changes pitch when a fire truck or ambulance approaches and then passes an observer, researchers said.
"It led us to conclude the particles were being accelerated to fast speeds in the jets — one directed towards Earth, and the other one in the opposite direction," co-author Simone Migliari, of the University of Barcelona, said in a statement.
The team calculated the mind-blowing velocity of the narrowly focused jets to be about 66 percent of the speed of light, or 440 million mph (708 million km/h).
Because positively charged atoms are much heavier than positrons, the jets are likely carrying a great deal more energy away from the black hole than previous studies had been able to confirm, researchers said.
The new findings also could help answer another long-standing mystery about black-hole jets: the location from which they are launched. Some astronomers think jets are powered by the spin of their host black holes, while others posit that they spring from the disk of material that surrounds and feeds these light-gobbling monsters.
"Our results suggest it's more likely the disk is responsible for channelling the matter into the jets, and we are planning further observations to try and confirm this," Miller-Jones said.
Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on SPACE.com.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Guile now does delimited continuations.
Ahem! I say: Guile now does delimited continuations! Whoop whoop!
Practically speaking, this means that Guile implements prompt and abort, as described in Dorai Sitaram's 1993 paper, Handling Control. (Guile's abort is the operator that Sitaram calls control.)
I used to joke that all of this Guile compilation work was to bring Guile back into the 2000s, from being stuck in the 1990s. But delimited continuations are definitely a twenty-teens topic: besides PLT Scheme, I don't know of any other production language implementation that has delimited continuations as part of its core language. (Please correct my ignorance.) If this works out, and the implementation proves to be sufficiently bug-free, this is a great step forward not only for Guile but for the concept itself of delimited continuations.
Edit: Readers suggest that I add Scheme48, OCaml, and Scala to the list. Still, too few implementations for such a lovely construct.
Furthermore, I retrofitted Guile's existing catch and throw APIs, implementing them in terms of prompt and control, and providing compatible shims for Guile's C API.
Thanks again to Matthew Flatt for blazing the trail here.
rambling
So, for the benefit of those dozen or so people that will probably implement delimited continuations after me, here's a few strategies and pitfalls. For the rest of you, I recommend rancid wine.
First, I should make a disclaimer. Here, my focus is on a so-called "direct" implementation of delimited continuations; that is to say, I don't rely on a global continuation-passing style (CPS) transform of the source code.
There was recently an article posted to the Scheme reddit about Femtolisp, a Lisp implementation by Jeff Benzason. I thought it was pretty neat. I was especially pleased that he decided to support shift and reset ; but bummed when I found out that he did so by local CPS-transformation. So you couldn't reset from arbitrary functions.
A local CPS-rewrite strategy doesn't work very well, because prompts are fundamentally dynamic. There is something fundamentally dynamic about them, that they are part of the dynamic environment (like dynamic-wind). So to support that via CPS, you end up needing some kind of double- or triple-barrelled CPS, with abort continuations as well. I think? I think.
So for me, direct implementation means that you use the language's native stack representation, not requiring global or local transformations.
Also I should confess that I didn't glean anything from Gasbichler and Sperber's Final Shift paper; in all likelihood, again due to my ignorance. So if I say things that they've said better, well, stories have to be retold to live, and it won't hurt if I add my interpretation.
the seitan of the matter
So, Digresso Riddikulus: poof! Where were we? And what's up with this jack-in-the-box? Yes, direct implementations of delimited continuations.
Here's a C program:
int baz (); int bar () { return baz (); } int foo () { return bar (); } int main () { return foo (); }
And here's a C stack:
Right! So you see that function calls are pushing frames on the stack.
When you're programming normally, you have a top-down view of the stack. It's like standing on a ladder and looking down -- you see the top rung clearly, but the rest is obscured by your toolbelt.
Laying out the frames flat like this allows us to talk instead about the whole future of this program -- what it's doing, and what it's going to do. The future of the program is known as its continuation -- a funny word, but I hope the meaning is clear in this context.
Now, consider a C program that calls into some hypothetical Scheme, assuming appropriate Scheme definitions of foo, bar, and baz :
int main () { return eval ("(foo)"); }
And the corresponding pixels:
It should be clear that there are logically two stacks at work here. However they both correspond, in this case, to the same logical control-flow stack -- eval doesn't return until foo, bar, and baz have returned.
Also note that the "C" stack has been renamed the "foreign" stack, indicating that Scheme is actually where you want to be, and whatever is not in the Scheme world is heathen. This model maintains its truthiness regardless of the implementation strategy of the Scheme -- whether it reuses the C stack, or evaluates Scheme expressions on their own stack.
So! Delimited continuations, right? Let's try one. Here's some Scheme code that begins a prompt, and calls baz.
(% (baz) (lambda (k) k))
If baz returns normally, well that's the value; but if it aborts, the partial continuation will be saved, and returned. Verily, pixels:
The red dot and line indicates that that position in the continuation has been saved, and if we abort, we'll abort back to that line. It's like grabbing a cherry from the tree, and then falling down a couple of rungs on the ladder. Yes? Yes.
Expanding the example with an implementation of baz, we have:
(define (baz) (abort) 3)
So, baz will abort to the nearest prompt, and if the abort comes back, it will return 3. Like this:
Abort itself needs to capture a partial continuation |
Republican Party believes that sound money, which retains its buying power, is an essential foundation for new jobs, a higher standard of living, protection of savings, a secure national defense, and the general economic growth of the country.
Business and Economic Policy
The Republican Party has as a primary concern the continued advancement of the well-being of the individual. This can be attained only in an economy that, as today, is sound, free and creative, ever building new wealth and new jobs for all the people.
We believe in good business for all business—small, medium and large. We believe that competition in a free economy opens unrivaled opportunity and brings the greatest good to the greatest number.
The sound economic policies of the Eisenhower Administration have created an atmosphere of confidence in which good businesses flourish and can plan for growth to create new job opportunities for our expanding population.
We have eliminated a host of needless controls. To meet the immense demands of our expanding economy, we have initiated the largest highway, air and maritime programs in history, each soundly financed.
We shall continue to advocate the maintenance and expansion of a strong, efficient, privately-owned and operated and soundly financed system of transportation that will serve all of the needs of our Nation under Federal regulatory policies that will enable each carrier to realize its inherent economic advantages and its full competitive capabilities.
We recognize the United States' world leadership in aviation, and we shall continue to encourage its technical development and vigorous expansion. Our goal is to support and sponsor air services and to make available to our citizens the safest and most comprehensive air transportation. We favor adequate funds and expeditious action in improving air safety, and highest efficiency in the control of air traffic.
We stand for forward-looking programs, created to replace our war-built merchant fleet with the most advanced types in design, with increased speed. Adaptation of new propulsion power units, including nuclear, must be sponsored and achieved.
We should proceed with the prompt construction of the Atomic Powered Peace Ship in order that we may demonstrate to the world, in this as in other fields, the peaceful uses of the atom.
Our steadily rising prosperity is constantly reflecting the confidence of our citizens in the policies of our Republican Administration.
Small Business
We pledge the continuation and improvement of our drive to aid small business. Every constructive potential avenue of improvement both legislative and executive—has been explored in our search for ways in which to widen opportunities for this important segment of America's economy.
Beginning with our creation of the very successful Small Business Administration, and continuing through the recently completed studies and recommendations of the Cabinet Committee on Small Business, which we strongly endorse, we have focused our attention on positive measures to help small businesses get started and grow.
Small Business can look forward to expanded participation in federal procurement—valuable financing and technical aids—a continuously vigorous enforcement of anti-trust laws—important cuts in the burdens of paper work, and certain tax reductions as budgetary requirements permit.
Small business now is receiving approximately one-third, dollar-wise, of all Defense contracts. We recommend a further review of procurement procedures for all defense departments and agencies with a view to facilitating and extending such participation for the further benefit of Small Business.
We favor loans at reasonable rates of interest to small businesses which have records of permanency but who are in temporary need and which are unable to obtain credit in commercial channels. We recommend an extension at the earliest opportunity of the Small Business Administration which is now scheduled to expire in mid 1957.
We also propose:
Additional technical research in problems of development and distribution for the benefit of small business;
Legislation to enable closer Federal scrutiny of mergers which have a significant or potential monopolistic connotations;
Procedural changes in the antitrust laws to facilitate their enforcement;
Simplification of wage reporting by employers for purposes of social security records and income tax withholding;
Continuance of the vigorous SEC policies which are providing maximum protection to the investor and maximum opportunity for the financing of small business without costly red tape.
Labor
Under the Republican Administration, as our country has prospered, so have its people. This is as it should be, for as President Eisenhower said: "Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country—they are America."
The Eisenhower Administration has brought to our people the highest employment, the highest wages and the highest standard of living ever enjoyed by any nation. Today there are nearly 67 million men and women at work in the United States, 4 million more than in 1952. Wages have increased substantially over the past 3 1/2 years; but, more important, the American wage earner today can buy more than ever before for himself and his family because his pay check has not been eaten away by rising taxes and soaring prices.
The record of performance of the Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further. The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers. Social Security has been extended to an additional 10 million workers and the benefits raised for 6 1/2 million. The protection of unemployment insurance has been brought to 4 million additional workers. There have been increased workmen's compensation benefits for longshoremen and harbor workers, increased retirement benefits for railroad employees, and wage increases and improved welfare and pension plans for federal employees.
In addition, the Eisenhower Administration has enforced more vigorously and effectively than ever before, the laws which protect the working standards of our people.
Workers have benefited by the progress which has been made in carrying out the programs and principles set forth in the 1952 Republican platform. All workers have gained and unions have grown in strength and responsibility, and have increased their membership by 2 millions.
Furthermore, the process of free collective bargaining has been strengthened by the insistence of this Administration that labor and management settle their differences at the bargaining table without the intervention of the Government. This policy has brought to our country an unprecedented period of labor-management peace and understanding.
We applaud the effective, unhindered, collective bargaining which brought an early end to the 1956 steel strike, in contrast to the six months' upheaval, Presidential seizure of the steel industry and ultimate Supreme Court intervention under the last Democrat Administration.
The Eisenhower Administration will continue to fight for dynamic and progressive programs which, among other things, will:
Stimulate improved job safety of our workers, through assistance to the States, employees and employers;
Continue and further perfect its programs of assistance to the millions of workers with special employment problems, such as older workers, handicapped workers, members of minority groups, and migratory workers;
Strengthen and improve the Federal-State Employment Service and improve the effectiveness of the unemployment insurance system;
Protect by law, the assets of employee welfare and benefit plans so that workers who are the beneficiaries can be assured of their rightful benefits;
Assure equal pay for equal work regardless of Sex;
Clarify and strengthen the eight-hour laws for the benefit of workers who are subject to federal wage standards on Federal and Federally-assisted construction, and maintain and continue the vigorous administration of the Federal prevailing minimum wage law for public supply contracts;
Extend the protection of the Federal minimum wage laws to as many more workers as is possible and practicable;
Continue to fight for the elimination of discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry or sex;
Provide assistance to improve the economic conditions of areas faced with persistent and substantial unemployment;
Revise and improve the Taft-Hartley Act so as to protect more effectively the rights of labor unions, management, the individual worker, and the public. The protection of the right of workers to organize into unions and to bargain collectively is the firm and permanent policy of the Eisenhower Administration. In 1954, 1955 and again in 1956, President Eisenhower recommended constructive amendments to this Act. The Democrats in Congress have consistently blocked these needed changes by parliamentary maneuvers. The Republican Party pledges itself to overhaul and improve the Taft-Hartley Act along the lines of these recommendations.
Human Welfare and Advancement
Health, Education and Welfare
The Republican Party believes that the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of the people is as important as their economic health. It will continue to support this conviction with vigorous action.
Republican action created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare as the first new Federal department in 40 years, to raise the continuing consideration of these problems for the first time to the highest council of Government, the President's Cabinet.
Through the White House Conference on Education, our Republican Administration initiated the most comprehensive Community-State-Federal attempt ever made to solve the pressing problems of primary and secondary education.
Four thousand communities, studying their school populations and their physical and financial resources, encouraged our Republican Administration to urge a five-year program of Federal assistance in building schools to relieve a critical classroom shortage.
The Republican Party will renew its efforts to enact a program based on sound principles of need and designed to encourage increased state and local efforts to build more classrooms.
Our Administration also proposed for the first time in history, a thorough nation-wide analysis of rapidly growing problems in education beyond the high schools.
The Republican Party is determined to press all such actions that will help insure that every child has the educational opportunity to advance to his own greatest capacity.
We have fully resolved to continue our steady gains in man's unending struggle against disease and disability.
We have supported the distribution of free vaccine to protect millions of children against dreaded polio.
Republican leadership has enlarged Federal assistance for construction of hospitals, emphasizing low-cost care of chronic diseases and the special problems of older persons, and increased Federal aid for medical care of the needy.
We have asked the largest increase in research funds ever sought in one year to intensify attacks on cancer, mental illness, heart disease and other dread diseases.
We demand once again, despite the reluctance of the Democrat 84th Congress, Federal assistance to help build facilities to train more physicians and scientists.
We have encouraged a notable expansion and improvement of voluntary health insurance, and urge that reinsurance and pooling arrangements be authorized to speed this progress.
We have strengthened the Food and Drug Administration, and we have increased the vocational rehabilitation program to enable a larger number of the disabled to return to satisfying activity.
We have supported measures that have made more housing available than ever before in history, reduced urban slums in local-federal partnership, stimulated record home ownership, and authorized additional low-rent public housing.
We initiated the first flood insurance program in history under Government sponsorship in cooperation with private enterprise.
We shall continue to seek extension and perfection of a sound social security system.
We pledge close cooperation with State, local and private agencies to reduce the ghastly toll of fatalities on the Nation's highways.
Rural America's Recovery—Agriculture
The men and women operating the farms and ranches of America have confidence in President Eisenhower and the Republican farm program. Our farmers have earned the respect and appreciation of our entire nation for their energy, resourcefulness, efficiency, and ability.
Agriculture, our basic industry, must remain free and prosperous. The Republican Party will continue to move boldly to help the farmer obtain his full share of the rewards of good business and good Government. It is committed to a program for agriculture which creates the widest possible markets and highest attainable income for our farm and ranch families. This program must be versatile and flexible to meet effectively the impact of rapidly changing conditions. It does not envision making farmers dependent upon direct governmental payments for their incomes. Our objective is markets which return full parity to our farm and ranch people when they sell their products. There is no simple, easy answer to farm problems. Our approach as ever is a many-sided, versatile and positive program to help all farmers and ranchers.
Farm legislation, developed under the Democrat Administration to stimulate production in wartime, carried a built-in mechanism for the accumulation of price-depressing surpluses in peacetime. Under laws sponsored by the Republican Administration, almost $7 billion in price-depressing surplus farm products have been moved into use, and the rate of movement is being accelerated.
Agriculture is successfully making the transition from wartime to peacetime markets, with less disruption than at any time after a great war. We are gratified by the improvement this year in farm prices and income as a result of our policies.
Our Republican Administration fostered a constructive Soil Bank Program further to reduce surpluses and to permit improvement of our soil, water and timber resources. The Democrat Party tactics of obstruction and delay have prevented our farm families from receiving the full benefits of this program in 1956.
However, by aggressive action, we now have the Soil Bank in operation, and in 3 months, half a million farmers have contracted to shift more than 10 million acres from producing more surpluses to a soil reserve for the future. For this they already have earned $225 million.
This program is a sound aid to removing the burdens of surpluses which Democrat programs placed on farmers. It is now moving into full operation.
Benefits of Social Security have been extended to farm families. Programs of loans and grants for farm families hit by flood and drought have been made operative.
Tax laws were improved to help farmers with respect to livestock, farm equipment, and conservation practices. We initiated action to refund to the farmers $60 million annually in taxes on gasoline used in machinery on the farm.
Cooperation between the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the State Departments of Agriculture and land grant colleges and universities is at an all-time high. This Republican Administration has increased support for agricultural research and education to the highest level in history. New records of assistance to farm and ranch families in soil and water conservation were attained in every year of this Republican Administration.
Convinced that the Government should ever be the farmer's helper, never his master, the Republican Party is pledged:
To establish an effective, new research program, fully and completely implemented to find and vigorously promote new uses for farm crops;
To move our agriculture commodities into use at home and abroad, and to use every appropriate and effective means to improve marketing, so that farmers can produce and sell their products to increase their income and enjoy an improving level of living;
To encourage the improvement of quality in farm products through agricultural research, education and price support differentials, thus increasing market acceptance both at home and abroad;
To further help and cooperate with the several States as co-equals with the federal government to provide needed research, education, service and regulatory programs;
To develop farm programs that are fair to all farmers;
To work toward full freedom instead of toward more regimentation, developing voluntary rather than oppressive farm programs;
To encourage agricultural producers in their efforts to seek solutions to their own production and price problems;
To provide price supports as in the Agricultural Act of 1954 that protect farmers, rather than price their products out of the market;
To continue our commodity loan and marketing agreement programs as effective marketing tools;
To make every effort to develop a more accurate measurement of farm parity;
To safeguard our precious soil and water resources for generations yet unborn;
To encourage voluntary self-supporting federal crop insurance;
To bring sympathetic and understanding relief promptly to farm and ranch families hard hit with problems of drought, flood or other natural disaster, or economic disaster, and to maintain the integrity of these programs by terminating them when the emergency is over;
To assist the young people of American farms and ranches in their development as future farmers and homemakers;
To continue and expand the Republican-sponsored school milk program, to encourage further use of the school lunch program now benefiting 11 million children, and to foster improved nutritional levels;
To provide constructive assistance by effective purchase and donation to ease temporary market surpluses, especially for the producers of perishable farm products;
To give full support to farmer-owned and farmer-operated co-operatives;
To encourage and assist adequate private and cooperative sources of credit, to provide supplemental credit through the Farmers Home Administration where needed, with an understanding of both the human and economic problems of farmers and ranchers;
To expand rural electrification through REA loans for generation and transmission, and to expand rural communication facilities;
To continue the improvement of rural mail delivery to farm families;
To promote fully the Republican-sponsored Rural-Development Program to broaden the operation and increase the income of low income farm families and help tenant farmers;
To work with farmers, ranchers and others to carry forward the Great Plains program to achieve wise use of lands in the area subject to wind erosion, so that the people of this region can enjoy a higher standard of living; and in summation:
To keep agriculture strong, free, attuned to peace and not war, to stand ready with a reserve
capacity at all times as a part of our defense, based on sound agricultural economy.
We are an expanding nation. Our needs for farm products will continue to grow. Farm prices are improving and farm income is climbing.
Our farm and ranch people are confident of the future, despite efforts to frighten them into accepting economic nostrums and political panaceas. Record numbers of farms are owned by those who operate them.
The Republican Party is pledged to work for improved farm prices and farm income. We will seek that improvement boldly, in ways that protect the family farm. Our objective is a prosperous, expanding and free agriculture. We are dedicated to creating the opportunity for farmers to earn a high per-family income in a world at peace.
Federal Government Integrity
The Republican Party is wholeheartedly committed to maintaining a Federal Government that is clean, honorable and increasingly efficient. It proudly affirms that it has achieved this kind of Government and dedicated it to the service of all the people.
Our many economic and social advances of the past four years are the result of our faithful adherence to our 1952 pledge to reverse a 20-year Democratic philosophy calling for more and more power in Washington.
We have left no stone unturned to remove from Government the irresponsible and those whose employment was not clearly consistent with national security.
We believe that working for the Government is not a right but a privilege. Based on that principle we will continue a security program to make certain that all people employed by our Government are of unquestioned loyalty and trustworthiness. The Republican Party will, realistically and in conformity with constitutional safeguards for the individual, continue to protect our national security by enforcing our laws fairly, vigorously, and with certainty. We will act through the new division established to this end in the Department of Justice, and by close coordination among the intelligence services.
We promise unwavering vigilance against corruption and waste, and shall continue so to manage the public business as to warrant our people's full confidence in the integrity of their Government.
We condemn illegal lobbying for any cause and improper use of money in political activities, including the use of funds collected by compulsion for political purposes contrary to the personal desires of the individual.
Efficiency and Economy in Government.
We pledge to continue our far reaching program for improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of the Federal Government in accordance with the principles set forth in the report of the Hoover Commission.
We are unalterably opposed to unwarranted growth of centralized Federal power. We shall carry forward the worthy effort of the Kestnbaum Commission on Intergovernmental Affairs to clarify Federal relationships and strengthen State and local government.
We shall continue to dispense with Federal activities wrongfully competing with private enterprise, and take other sound measures to reduce the cost of Government.
Governmental Affairs
Postal Service.
In the last four years, under direction from President Eisenhower to improve the postal service and reduce costs, we have modernized and revitalized the postal establishment from top to bottom, inside and out. We have undertaken and substantially completed the largest reorganization ever to take place in any unit of business or government:
We have provided more than 1200 badly-needed new post office buildings, and are adding two more every day. We are using the very latest types of industrial equipment where practicable; and, through a program of research and engineering, we are inventing new mechanical and electronic devices to speed the movement of mail by eliminating tedious old-fashioned methods.
We have improved service across the country in hundreds of ways. We have extended city carrier service to millions of new homes in thousands of urban and suburban communities which have grown and spread under the favorable economic conditions brought about by the Eisenhower Administration.
We have re-inspired the morale of our half-million employees through new programs of promotion based on ability, job training and safety, and through our sponsorship of increased pay and fringe benefits.
We have adopted the most modern methods of transportation, accounting and cost control, and other operating procedures; through them we have saved many millions of dollars a year for the taxpayers while advancing the delivery of billions of letters by a day or more—all this while reducing the enormous deficit of the Department from its all time high of almost three-quarters of a billion dollars in 1952 to less than half that amount in 1955.
We pledge to continue our efforts, blocked by the Democratic leadership of the 84th Congress, for a financially sound, more nearly self-sustaining postal service—with the users of the mails paying a greater share of the costs instead of the taxpayers bearing the burden of huge postal deficits.
We pledge to continue and to complete this vitally needed program of modernization of buildings, equipment, methods and service, so that the American people will receive the kind of mail delivery they deserve—the speediest and best that American ingenuity, technology and modern business management can provide.
Civil Service.
We will vigorously promote, as we have in the past, a non-political career service under the merit system which will attract and retain able servants of the people. Many gains in this field, notably pay increases and a host of new benefits, have been achieved in their behalf in less than four years.
The Republican Party will continue to fight for eagerly desired new advances for Government employees, and realistic reappraisement and adjustment of benefits for our retired civil service personnel.
Statehood for Alaska and Hawaii.
We pledge immediate statehood for Alaska, recognizing the fact that adequate provision for defense requirements must be made.
We pledge immediate statehood for Hawaii.
Puerto Rico.
We shall continue to encourage the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in its political growth and economic development in accordance with the wishes of its people and the fundamental principle of self-determination.
Indian Affairs.
We shall continue to pursue our enlightened policies which are now producing exceptional advances in the long struggle to help the American Indian gain the material and social advantages of his birthright and citizenship, while maintaining to the fullest extent the cultural integrity of the various tribal groups.
We commend the present administration for its progressive programs which have achieved such striking progress in preparing our Indian citizens for participation in normal community life. Health, educational and employment opportunities for Indians have been greatly expanded beyond any previous level, and we favor still further extensions of these programs.
We favor most sympathetic and constructive execution of the Federal trusteeship over Indian affairs, always in full consultation with Indians in the management of their interests and the expansion of their rights of self-government in local and tribal affairs.
We urge the prompt adjudication or settlement of pending Indian claims.
District of Columbia.
We favor self-government, national suffrage and representation in the Congress of the United States for residents of the District of Columbia.
Equal Rights.
We recommend to Congress the submission of a constitutional amendment providing equal rights for men and women.
Equal Opportunity and Justice
Civil Rights
The Republican Party points to an impressive record of accomplishment in the field of civil rights and commits itself anew to advancing the rights of all our people regardless of race, creed, color or national origin.
In the area of exclusive Federal jurisdiction, more progress has been made in this field under the present Republican Administration than in any similar period in the last 80 years.
The many Negroes who have been appointed to high public positions have played a significant part in the progress of this Administration.
Segregation has been ended in the District of Columbia Government and in the District public facilities including public schools, restaurants, theaters and playgrounds. The Eisenhower Administration has eliminated discrimination in all federal employment.
Great progress has been made in eliminating employment discrimination on the part of those who do business with the Federal Government and secure Federal contracts. This Administration has impartially enforced Federal civil rights statutes, and we pledge that we will continue to do so. We support the enactment of the civil rights program already presented by the President to the Second Session of the 84th Congress.
The regulatory agencies under this Administration have moved vigorously to end discrimination in interstate commerce. Segregation in the active Armed Forces of the United States has been ended. For the first time in our history there is no segregation in veterans' hospitals and among civilians on naval bases. This is an impressive record. We pledge ourselves to continued progress in this field.
The Republican Party has unequivocally recognized that the supreme law of the land is embodied in the Constitution, which guarantees to all people the blessings of liberty, due process and equal protection of the laws. It confers upon all native-born and naturalized citizens not only citizenship in the State where the individual resides but citizenship of the United States as well. This is an unqualified right, regardless of race, creed or color.
The Republican Party accepts the decision of the U.S.. Supreme Court that racial discrimination in publicly supported schools must be progressively eliminated. We concur in the conclusion of the Supreme Court that its decision directing school desegregation should be accomplished with "all deliberate speed" locally through Federal District Courts. The implementation order of the Supreme Court recognizes the complex and acutely emotional problems created by its decision in certain sections of our country where racial patterns have been developed in accordance with prior and long-standing decisions of the same tribunal.
We believe that true progress can be attained through intelligent study, understanding, education and good will. Use of force or violence by any group or agency will tend only to worsen the many problems inherent in the situation. This progress must be encouraged and the work of the courts supported in every legal manner by all branches of the Federal Government to the end that the constitutional ideal of the law, regardless of race, creed or color, be steadily achieved.
Immigration
The Republican Party supports an immigration policy which is in keeping with the traditions of America in providing a haven for oppressed peoples, and which is based on equality of treatment, freedom from implications of discrimination between racial, nationality and religious groups, and flexible enough to conform to changing needs and conditions.
We believe that such a policy serves our self-interest, reflects our responsibility for world leadership and develops maximum cooperation with other nations in resolving problems in this area.
We support the President's program submitted to the 84th Congress to carry out needed modifications in existing law and to take such further steps as may be necessary to carry out our traditional policy.
In that concept, this Republican Administration sponsored the Refugee Relief Act to provide asylum for thousands of refugees, expellees and displaced persons, and undertook in the face of Democrat opposition to correct the inequities in existing law and to bring our immigration policies in line with the dynamic needs of the country and principles of equity and justice.
We believe also that the Congress should consider the extension of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 in resolving this difficult refugee problem which resulted from world conflict. To all this we give our wholehearted support.
Human Freedom and Peace
Under the leadership of President Eisenhower, the United States has advanced foreign policies which enable our people to enjoy the blessings of liberty and peace.
The changes in the international scene have been so great that it is easy to forget the conditions we inherited in 1953.
Peace, so hardly won in 1945, had again been lost. The Korean War, with its tragic toll of more than an eighth of a million American casualties, seemed destined to go on indefinitely. Its material costs and accompanying inflation were undermining our economy.
Freedom was under assault, and despotism was on the march. Armed conflict continued in the Far East, and tensions mounted elsewhere.
The threat of global war increased daily.
International Communism which, in 1945, ruled the 200 million people in the Soviet Union and Baltic States, was conquering so that, by 1952, it dominated more than 700 million people in 15 once-independent nations.
Today.
Now, we are at peace. The Korean War has been ended. The Communist aggressors have been denied their goals.
The threat of global war has receded.
The advance of Communism has been checked, and, at key points, thrown back. The once-monolithic structure of International Communism, denied the stimulant of successive conquests, has shown hesitancy both internally and abroad.
The Far East.
The Korean War was brought to a close when the Communist rulers were made to realize that they could not win.
The United States has made a Collective Defense Treaty with the Republic of Korea which will exclude, for the future, the Communist miscalculation as to announced American interests and intentions which led to the original aggression.
The United States has made a security Treaty with the Republic of China coveting Formosa and the Pescadores; and the Congress, by virtually unanimous action, has authorized the President to employ the armed forces of the United States to defend this area. As a result, the Chinese Communists have not attempted to implement their announced intention to take Formosa by force.
In Indochina, the Republics of Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos are now free and independent nations. The Republic of Vietnam, with the United States assistance, has denied the Communists the gains which they expected from the withdrawal of French forces.
The security of Southeast Asia has now been bolstered by the collective-defense system of SEATO, and its peoples encouraged by the declarations in the Pacific Charter of the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.
The Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The Middle East has been strengthened by the defensive unity of the four "northern tier" countries—Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan—which hold gateways to the vast oil resources upon which depend the industry and military strength of the free world. This was made possible by the liberation of Iran from the grip of the Communist Tudeh Party. Iran has again made its oil reserves available to the world under an equitable settlement negotiated by the United States.
We have maintained, and will maintain, friendly relations with all nations in this vital area, seeking to mediate differences among them, and encouraging their legitimate national aspirations.
Europe.
In Western Europe, the scene has been transformed. The Federal Republic of Germany, which until 1953 was denied sovereignty and the opportunity to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has now had full sovereignty restored by the Treaties of 1954, and has become a member of NATO despite the intense opposition of the Soviet Union.
NATO itself has been strengthened by developing reliance upon new weapons and retaliatory power, thus assisting the NATO countries increasingly to attain both economic welfare and adequate military defense.
On our initiative, the political aspects of NATO are being developed. Instead of being merely a military alliance, NATO will provide a means for coordinating the policies of the member states on vital matters, such as the reunification of Germany, the liberation of the satellites, and general policies in relation to the Soviet Union.
Austria has been liberated. The freedom treaty, blocked since 1947 by the Soviet Union, was signed in 1955. For the first time since the end of World War II, Red Army forces in Europe evacuated occupied lands.
The emotion-charged dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia about Trieste was settled with the active participation of the United States. The City of Trieste was restored to Italian sovereignty, and United States and British forces withdrawn.
The Spanish base negotiations, which had long languished, were successfully concluded, and close working relations in this important respect established between the United States and Spain.
The Americas.
Our good neighbor policy continues to prove its wisdom.
The American Republics have taken effective steps against the cancer of Communism. At the Caracas Conference of March, 1954, they agreed that if International Communism gained control of the political institutions of any American republic, this would endanger them all, and would call for collective measures to remove the danger. This new Doctrine, first proposed by the United States, extends into modern times the principles of the Monroe Doctrine.
A first fruit of the Caracas Doctrine was the expulsion of the Communist regime ruling Guatemala. Today, Guatemala is liberated from Kremlin control. The Organization of American States has grown in vigor. It has acted promptly and effectively to settle hemispheric disputes. In Costa Rica, for the first time in history, international aerial inspection was employed to maintain peace. The Panama Conference was probably the most successful in the long history of the Organization of American States in its promotion of good will, understanding and friendship.
Relations with Soviet Russia.
Far-reaching steps have been taken to eliminate the danger of a third world war. President Eisenhower led the way at Geneva. There he impressed the Soviet leaders and the world with the dedication of the United States to peace, but also with its determination not to purchase peace at the price of freedom.
That Summit Conference set new forces into motion. The Soviet rulers professed to renounce the use of violence, which Stalin had made basic in the Communist doctrine. Then followed a repudiation of Stalin, the growth of doctrinal disputes within the Communist Party, and a discrediting of Party authority and its evil power. Forces of liberalism within the Soviet Bloc challenge the brutal and atheistic doctrines of Soviet Communism. For the first time, we see positive evidence that forces of freedom and liberation will inevitably prevail if the free nations maintain their strength, unity and resolution.
The future.
We re-dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of a just peace and the defense of human liberty and national independence.
We shall continue vigorously to support the United Nations.
We shall continue our cooperation with our sister states of the Americas for the strengthening of our security, economic and social ties with them.
We shall continue to support the collective-security system begun in 1947 and steadily developed on a bipartisan basis. That system has joined the United States with 42 other nations in common defense of freedom. It has created a deterrent to war which cannot be nullified by Soviet veto.
Where needed, we shall help friendly countries maintain such local forces and economic strength as provide a first bulwark against Communist aggression or subversion. We shall reinforce that defense by a military capacity which, operating in accordance with the United Nations Charter, could so punish aggression that it ceases to be a profitable pursuit.
We will continue efforts with friends and allies to assist the underdeveloped areas of the free world in their efforts to attain greater freedom, independence and self-determination, and to raise their standards of living.
We recognize the existence of a major threat to international peace in the Near East. We support a policy of impartial friendship for the peoples of the Arab states and Israel to promote a peaceful settlement of the causes of tension in that area, including the human problem of the Palestine-Arab refugees.
Progress toward a just settlement of the tragic conflict between the Jewish State and the Arab nations in Palestine was upset by the Soviet Bloc sale of arms to Arab countries. But prospects of peace have now been reinforced by the mission to Palestine of the United Nations Secretary General upon the initiative of the United States.
We regard the preservation of Israel as an important tenet of American foreign policy. We are determined that the integrity of an independent Jewish State shall be maintained. We shall support the independence of Israel against armed aggression. The best hope for peace in the Middle East lies in the United Nations. We pledge our continued efforts to eliminate the obstacles to a lasting peace in this area.
We shall continue to seek the reunification of Germany in freedom, and the liberation of the satellite states—Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and other, once-free countries now behind the Iron Curtain. The Republican Party stands firmly with the peoples of these countries in their just quest for freedom. We are confident that our peaceful policies, resolutely pursued, will finally restore freedom and national independence to oppressed peoples and nations.
We continue to oppose the seating of Communist China in the United Nations, thus upholding international morality. To seat a Communist China which defies, by word and deed, the principles of the United Nations Charter would be to betray the letter, violate the spirit and subvert the purposes of that charter. It would betray our friend and ally, the Republic of China. We will continue our determined efforts to free the remaining Americans held prisoner by Communist China.
Recognizing economic health as an indispensable basis of military strength and world peace, we shall strive to foster abroad and to practice at home, policies to encourage productivity and profitable trade.
Barriers which impede international trade and the flow of capital should be reduced on a gradual, selective and reciprocal basis, with full recognition of the necessity to safeguard domestic enterprises, agriculture and labor against unfair import competition. We proudly point out that the Republican Party was primarily responsible for initiating the escape clause and peril point provisions of law to make effective the necessary safeguards for American agriculture, labor and business. We pledge faithful and expeditious administration of these provisions.
We are against any trade with the Communist world that would threaten the security of the United States and our allies.
We recognize that no single nation can alone defend the liberty of all nations threatened by Communist aggression or subversion. Mutual security means effective mutual cooperation. Poverty and unrest in less developed countries make them the target for international communism. We must help them achieve the economic growth and stability necessary to attain and preserve their independence.
Technical and economic assistance programs are effective countermeasures to Soviet economic offensives and propaganda. They provide the best way to create the political and social stability essential to lasting peace.
We will strive to bring about conditions that will end the injustices of nations divided against their will, of nations held subject to foreign domination, of peoples deprived of the right of self-government.
We reaffirm the principle of freedom for all peoples, and look forward to the eventual end of colonialism.
We will overlook no opportunity that, with prudence, can be taken to bring about a progressive elimination of the barriers that interfere with the free flow of news, information and ideas, and the exchange of persons between the free peoples and the captive peoples of the world. We favor the continuance and development of the "exchange-of-persons" programs between free nations.
We approve appropriate action to oppose the imposition by foreign governments of discrimination against United States citizens, based on their religion or race.
We shall continue the bipartisan development of foreign policies. We hold this necessary if those policies are to have continuity, and be regarded by other free nations as dependable.
The Republican Party pledges itself to continue the dynamic, courageous, sound and patriotic policies which have protected and promoted the interests of the United States during the past four years.
In a world fraught with peril, peace can be won and preserved only by vigilance and inspired leadership. In such a world, we believe it is essential that the vast experience of our proven leader, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, continues to guide our country in the achievement and maintenance of a just, honorable and durable peace.
Bulwark for the Free World—Our National Defense
The military strength of the United States has been a key factor in the preservation of world peace during the past four years. We are determined to maintain that strength so long as our security and the peace of the world require it.
This Administration, within six months after President Eisenhower's inauguration, ended the war in Korea by concluding an honorable armistice. The lesson of that war and our lack of preparedness which brought it about will not be forgotten. Such mistakes must not be repeated.
As we maintain and strengthen the security of this Nation, we shall, consistent with this Administration's dedication to peace, strive for the acceptance of realistic proposals for disarmament and the humanitarian control of weapons of mass destruction.
Our country's defense posture is today a visible and powerful deterrent against attack by any enemy, from any quarter, at any time.
We have the strongest striking force in the world—in the air—on the sea—and a magnificent supporting land force in our Army and Marine Corps. Such visible and powerful deterrents must continue to include:
A) A |
, a Taco John's manager in Minnesota. Business picked up thanks to the cleverly named specials, so the chain started using it in advertising jingles. In 1989, Taco John's filed a trademark application with the U.S. government and was rewarded with Trademark No. 1,572,589. By the website's count, the chain has sent out "hundreds" of cease-and-desist letters to other restaurants since then.
Weirdly enough, Taco John's only owns the trademark in 49 of the 50 states. In 1979, Greg Gregory, a second generation New Jersey restaurateur scored a trademark for "Taco Tuesday." Since Gregory beat Olsen to it, Gregory's Restaurant and Bar in Somerville is the only Jersey restaurant that can use the phrase—and it still does. Its Taco Tuesday special is currently two tacos for $1.75.
Waara told Priceonomics that Taco John's doesn't want Taco Tuesday to become generic or part of the public domain, which is why it so aggressively polices its usage. "It's just unfathomable to us not to protect it," she said. "It's part of our DNA. Taco Tuesday is this American institution. Not to take the chance to talk about it and our story, that would go against who we are."Greg Nelson has bought 343 items from the online giant since 2014. But after sending 37 back he is now blocked from using it and can’t reclaim his credit balance
Computer programmer Greg Nelson is a self-confessed Amazon addict, buying hundreds of items on its site. But after sending back 37 items of 343 purchased, the online giant has blocked his account with immediate effect – and told him he would lose a gift card balance that he had on the account.
He insists there was a genuine reason for all his returns over the past two years – the goods were either faulty, damaged or not as described. However, Amazon has refused to let him continue buying from the site without giving him, in his words, a “proper explanation”.
Amazon told Nelson that the money held on his account as a gift card balance is lost to him, as gift vouchers can only be used on the site and have no transferable value.
His case will alarm anyone blocked by Amazon who has spent a lot of money building up a large library of Kindle books or other digital purchases, as they will fear being unable to access much of it (see below).
Customers who may, for example, have been given a £200 gift voucher for Christmas, and then had their account closed before they spent the money, would lose the lot under the terms of the policy.
I can’t sing Yodel’s praises – they lost my £400 item and only offered me £20 compensation Read more
Nelson says: “As a previously fervently loyal fan of Amazon who has been a customer since 2002, I understand that it is trying to protect its business – however I find its actions in this situation totally egregious. I could understand if there were evidence that I had somehow tried to abuse the system, but I haven’t. Of course, Amazon can refuse to serve whom it likes, but surely it cannot legally keep gift card balances and other purchased goods which have already been paid for by the customer – despite what any potentially unfair small print might say?”
He emailed Amazon to point out the unfairness in closing accounts based on unpublished limits of legitimate returns, but says he received a standard response refusing to reopen his account. He has also questioned whether it is legal for the internet giant to refuse to refund a customer’s unspent gift balance.
Nelson is the latest person to fall foul of the company’s policy of banning customers who exercise their consumer rights to return goods.
A spokesman for Amazon told Guardian Money he could not discuss Nelson’s case, except to say the company would not reopen his account.
“Our goal is to deliver the best experience for the millions of customers who shop with us. In a tiny fraction of cases we are forced to close accounts where we identify extreme account abuse. This decision is only taken after we have reviewed the account carefully and tried to work with the customer over an extended time period to resolve any issues,” he said.
The former distance selling rules, now part of the consumer contracts regulations, allow online shoppers to return an item within 14 days without giving a reason for a full refund, provided the item is in the original packaging. Amazon voluntarily extends this policy so items can be returned inside 30 days, but acts against customers who do it too often.
I could understand if there were evidence that I had tried to abuse the system, but I haven’t Greg Nelson
Items that are damaged or not as described, or simply don’t last as they should, are all often sent back by unhappy consumers, as they would return an item to a physical shop.
Although relatively rare, Amazon has been cancelling customers accounts since at least 2008, and in some cases has even reportedly cancelled the accounts of other family members living at the same address.
In November last year Money highlighted the case of Nigel Colledge from Kingskerswell, South Devon, who similarly had his account cancelled despite spending thousands of pounds with the firm.
He bought 246 items in 2015 alone, and had been a customer since 2006. The self-confessed electronics junkie, who prided himself on having all the latest gizmos, said the majority of items he returned were high-value electronic items that had failed. He had chosen to cancel problematic purchases rather than wait for Amazon to simply exchange the item. It is unclear whether that would have saved him from being banned as Amazon refuses to explain the policy, or to differentiate between returns made for genuine or other reasons.
In January Amazon closed down another customer, Katy Kilmarton, after she returned 30 out of 112 items bought. She also lost a £170 gift card balance and the remaining months of her Amazon Prime membership, which costs £79 a year.
Money spent several hours on the Amazon website this week, but could find no reference to the policy. We have repeatedly asked the company what constitutes too many returns, but it has refused to divulge the figure.
Nelson points out that both the customer and the company have no control over deliveries once they leave the warehouse, and asks if it would ban a customer who just happened to have several deliveries damaged by the courier.
While thousands of UK consumers boycotted Amazon over its controversial tax situation, many disabled and elderly customers – and those who live in rural areas away from big shops – have come to depend on the company’s slick online operation. Are they now going to have to accept damaged or wrongfully described items to avoid the risk of being banned, asks Nelson.
Amazon has cancelled my account and now I can’t access Audible books Read more
What happens to purchased items
Having an Amazon account blocked could make life difficult for Kindle users. Although you will still be able to view the books you’ve already bought, and can buy more, users had better hope they don’t have a problem in the future.
Amazon says it sends customers whose account it is closing a weblink that allows them to view previous digital orders. They can also check whether purchased items are still in warranty.
How customers who have bought electronic items that develop a subsequent fault within the warranty period will fare is less clear. When their account is closed they are told: “Please do not make contact through the standard customer service channels again, as they will no longer be able to assist you.”
When your account is closed you also lose access to the Amazon Prime on-demand film streaming service, and if you have paid £79 for an annual subscription the money is lost. The DVD-sending service LoveFilm is also owned by Amazon, as is the popular talking books service Audible; books are downloaded so anyone who has had their account closed will keep past purchases. LoveFilm users will have to join their local library. Comics fans who signed up to download site Comixology, taken over by Amazon in 2014, will also be looking elsewhere.
How easy it is to set up an alternative account remains to be seen. Most people will simply use a partner’s account. If you choose to close your account you lose access to everything.
This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
The links are powered by Skimlinks. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that Skimlinks cookies will be set. More information.Batgirl #18 is in stores December 27th, and Monkeys Fighting Robots has your exclusive first-look at the book courtesy of DC Comics.
The issue, entitled “White Elephant”, is a standalone story, perfect for fans of the series and newcomers alike.
The preview shows Barbara Gordon getting ready for her company holiday party and taking a brief break to beat up Burnside’s latest costumed rogue. But this isn’t the only action Batgirl will see this issue. The Clown Princess of Crime is also in town, throwing a wrench in Babs’ plans for a night out.
Check out the first four pages of the book, plus its two covers, right here:
BATGIRL #18 Preview 1 of 6
About the issue:
It’s the holiday season in Burnside, and everyone is getting into the spirit…including Harley Quinn! After the maid of mischief infects Barbara Gordon’s company party with a killer virus, Batgirl must embark on a wild-goose chase around the city to find a cure. The clock’s ticking—will our hero save the day in time?
Batgirl #18 is written by Hope Larson, with art by Sami Basri, colors by Jessica Kholinne, and letters by Deron Bennett. Covers are by Dan Mora and Joshua Middleton.
With the “Rebirth” era officially coming to a close, what’s been your favorite DC title of late? Let us know in the comments!Apple and the U.S. government are gearing up for a public and legal battle over FBI Director James Comey's demand that Apple give the FBI a tool to break the passcode on San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook's iPhone, a tool Apple argues create a "backdoor" around the iPhone's security, putting customer privacy and safety at risk and setting a dangerous precedent in the U.S. and abroad. Google CEO Sundar Pichai sided with Apple on Wednesday, but Apple CEO Tim Cook also got a more surprising endorsement for his stand against the FBI: Gen. Michael Hayden, former NSA director (1999-2005) and CIA chief (2006-2009).
In a conversation with Wall Street Journal associate editor John Bussey posted Wednesday, Hayden said that he understands both sides of the unbreakable end-to-end encryption debate, but when it comes to demanding a backdoor, "I think Jim Comey's wrong." Comey's logic, Hayden said, "is based on the belief that he's the main body, and that you should accommodate your movements to the movements of him, which is the main body. And I'm telling you, with regard to the cyber domain, he's not — you are."Looking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
Carne asada with an assault rifle on the side? Not so much. Chipotle has now become the third food and beverage chain to explicitly ask customers not to bring loaded firearms into its stores, after a demonstration at a Dallas franchise over the weekend provoked a backlash from a leading national gun-reform group.
On Saturday, members of the Dallas County chapter of the gun-rights activist group Open Carry Texas brought along their military-style assault rifles with their appetites for burritos. “I personally carry an AK-47,” one member told a local reporter. “There were a few AR-15s there. The rifles were loaded. There’s no reason to carry an unloaded weapon—it wouldn’t do any good.” Openly carrying rifles (but not handguns) is legal in Texas.
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America moved swiftly with a social media campaign denouncing the stunt, which came on the heels of similar efforts focused on Starbucks, Jack in the Box, and Facebook. On Monday, Chipotle responded. “We are respectfully asking that customers not bring guns into our restaurants, unless they are authorized law enforcement personnel,” the company said in a statement. The Chipotle spokesperson noted that the demonstration in Dallas “caused many of our customers anxiety and discomfort.”
Those Chipotle patrons had more reason to be uncomfortable than they may have realized. As I reported in an in-depth story last week, members of Open Carry Texas have harassed and bullied people who have expressed concern about their demonstrations. That harassment has included specifically targeting and degrading women, from publishing a schoolteacher’s personal information (she was soon attacked as a “stupid bitch” and “motherfucking whore”) and calling women who promote gun reforms “thugs with jugs,” to obliterating a naked female mannequin at a gun range. See the videos, images, and other disturbing details here.
For that story, I spoke with the head of Open Carry Texas, CJ Grisham, who told me that he would no longer engage in the harassment of women. “I’m not going to play those childish games anymore, so you won’t catch me using ‘thugs with jugs’. I’ve moved on,” he said.
But on Saturday, as word spread that Moms Demand Action was mobilizing around the Chipotle incident, Grisham took a shot at them on the Facebook page of an Open Carry Texas colleague: The women, Grisham said, are “encouraging their fellow sycophants to call and prevent you from going in. You may want to warn the manager to expect a relentless stream of calls from cackling wenches.”Since you never quite know where the next diamond in the rough will come from, I’ve made it my duty to scout the ceremonial first pitchers from this season’s Opening Weekend. And if any teams do sign any of these pitchers, I would appreciate a handsome bonus and perhaps some swag. You know, like a jersey with my name on the back and an ill-fitting hat.
Sheriff Simon Leis Jr (AP Photo/David Kohl)
Leis Jr may be able to catch criminals, but he lacks the same ability in regards to batters. His mechanics are a mess, often dropping his shoulder and creating the dreaded inverted ‘W,’ putting undue stress on his arm. His motion does not allow for much deception or velocity. He needs to learn how to use his legs more to drive to the plate and keep the ball down.
OFP (Overall Future Potential): 40
Delaware Basketball Player Elena Della Donne (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Tall and lanky, Della Donne has all the physical gifts to succeed on the mound. Though there is not much projection in her frame, with professional coaching, she could easily add 5 mph to her fastball and more break to her off-speed offerings. She gets good downhill plane on her pitches, but should get more groundball outs than she does as she is prone to opening her hips too soon and letting her front shoulder fly. She is a risky gamble, but with the proper mechanics could have the ceiling of a number three starter.
OFP: 60
Actor and Comedian Bill Murray (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Though advanced in age, Murray shows an innate feel for the mound. His stuff grades out as below average, but with excellent command and pitchability, has the ability to surprise. Though he lacks the stamina for starting or the stuff to get through a lineup multiple times, he has continuously surprised. Makeup issues are a question, but if he dedicates himself to baseball, he could have a career out of the bullpen.
OFP: 45
Marine Lance Cpl. Bryan Carpenter (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Solidly built, Carpenter has a short arm action that looks awkward, but generates tremendous velocity. Though he doesn’t have the standard pitcher’s build, he works quickly and uses a variety of breaking balls to get the job done, with some wondering if he is a Tommy John surgery waiting to happen. He will sometimes telegraph his pitches, showing the baseball to the batter too early, and will struggle with control. He has a bulldog’s mentality and refuses to back down, getting the most out of his physical gifts. A true competitor, Carpenter would be a great fit as a seventh inning setup man for anyone willing to take a flyer.
OFP: 50
Miss America Laura Kaeppeler (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
Tall and lanky, Kaeppeler has a body to dream on. With her loose arm action and a full-time commitment to baseball, Kaeppeler could become a front-of-the-rotation ace, provided that she’s willing to put in the work in the weight room. A risky gambit, she’s all tools at this point having received little-to-no baseball instruction, but is the type of pitcher who could either lead a rotation or soon be driving the buses in the California League.
OFP: 70Texas took a very small step toward legalizing medical marijuana that some advocates say could do more harm than good. The state’s Republican-controlled legislature voted Monday to approve Senate Bill 339, a measure that would allow doctors to prescribe cannabidiol, a marijuana-derived product with very little tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, in it, to patients suffering from extreme, chronic seizures.
SB 339 has now passed both chambers of the Texas legislature, which means the bill will soon head to Texas Governor Greg Abbott's desk. But despite the fact that this was the first time a medical marijuana bill has made it this far through Texas' legislature, marijuana advocates’ support for the bill’s passage was tepid. “On a certain level, the legislature should be commended for acknowledging the medical value of marijuana,” Heather Fazio, the Texas political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, said. “It is an historic vote in that sense.”
Yet Fazio also pointed out that the bill's passage would do little for the people it ostensibly serves. “Not a single patient will be helped by this legislation,” Fazio said.
Fazio’s negative opinion of SB 339 hinges on a single word choice, which would put Texan medical practitioners in an awkward position if the bill is passed. In the 23 U.S. states that have legalized the medical use of marijuana, the laws typically call for doctors to “recommend” marijuana, rather than prescribe it; under federal law, it is still illegal for doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients, yet that is precisely what this bill approves. Doctors who prescribe drugs that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration are vulnerable to a whole host of penalties, including having their licenses suspended.
Despite the perceived shortcomings in this bill and the fact that two other bills, House Bill 3785 and Senate Bill 1989, were scuttled just weeks after being introduced, private investors are bullish on marijuana’s future in Texas. Advocates have begun running television ad campaigns comparing the negative effects of marijuana to the negative effects of alcohol.Monterey – Residents on the Monterey Peninsula and in Salinas awoke Thursday morning to what turned out to be a heavy mix of smoke from the Soberanes Fire with a marine layer. The smoke is posing a potential health risk for many.
Some areas received an “unhealthy” and “unhealthy for sensitive groups” rating on Thursday from the Monterey Bay Air Resources District, including Salinas, Toro Park, Monterey, Carmel, Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield and Fort Ord.
The air agency said sensitive people, including those with asthma or heart disease, infants, children, pregnant women and older adults should take precautions to avoid exposure to smoke.
“The last few days we’ve had good weather” for fighting the fire, said Larry Kurtz, a Cal Fire spokesman. “We’ve had a low pressure system, a lot of overcast, high humidity (that) slows the fire down.”
But the low pressure system of the last few days tends to keep the smoke trapped and close to the ground. “That’s why people have been eating a little smoke and we’re sorry about that,” Kurtz said.
Some effects of the acrid smoke include watery eyes, coughing, throat irritation, trouble breathing and headaches.
“Our emergency department is reporting a 20-percent increase in respiratory-related illnesses … over our normal numbers during this time of year since the fire started,” said Monica Sciuto, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula communications manager. “Most cases are for those community members who have underlying respiratory illness such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or asthma.”
Community Hospital has created a resource page for air quality specific to the fire at www.chomp.org/fire.
“The small particles, the PM2.5 size (particulate matter, 2.5 micrometers or less), are the issue and can get deep into your lungs,” said Amy Clymo, a compliance and engineering manager with the Monterey Bay Air Resource District.
The PM2.5 particles are so small that they can get into the lungs, potentially causing serious health problems. Ten micrometers is less than the width of a single human hair.
Clymo suggested people experiencing adverse effects from the smoke consult their physicians or consider leaving the area until the smoke has cleared.
Dr. John Koostra, a pulmonologist at Community Hospital, said the particulates are very toxic and recommends avoiding the smoke by staying indoors, possibly donning an air mask or using an air purifier.
In the Salinas Unified School District, administrators moved into a “red alert” because of the poor air quality.
The district moved to have the schools go to a rainy day schedule which kept children inside, including eating lunch indoors, said Martha Martinez, Salinas Unified School District superintendent. Similar measures were taken by the Carmel Unified School District and the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District.
Martinez said that even though the Monterey Bay Air Resource District may categorize air quality in the Salinas area as “good” or “moderate” based on a monitor in one part of town, each of the 14 schools in the district can use common sense to decide if it is healthful to allow student activity outdoors on smoky days.
“I appreciate the cooperation from the health department … about what to do and when to go to ‘red alerts,’ ” said Martinez. “I’d rather err on the side of caution.”
According to Clymo, the agency’s smoke forecast for Friday says it will be similar to Thursday with smoke in the morning and improving in the afternoon.
“Healthy individuals are not impacted too much but should limit outdoor activity,” said Clymo.
Carmel Valley was ranked “unhealthy” and Big Sur was marked “very unhealthy” by the air quality agency.
According to Clymo, the smoke on Thursday registered up to San Juan Bautista in San Benito County and across the Monterey Bay to Santa Cruz, putting those areas into the “unhealthy for sensitive group” category which, she said, is unheard of.
The air resource district forecast for Friday said “high pressure building will continue to adversely affect air quality. Smoke transport is expected to be similar to Thursday as well as impacts to those affected communities.”
Kurtz cautioned that temperatures in the area will heat up from the high pressure system moving in which increases fire activity. The upside, if there is one, is that smoke goes higher into the atmosphere before spreading out in a high pressure system.
Air quality in Big Sur is forecast to remain “very unhealthy” and Carmel Valley “unhealthy.” Toro Park, Monterey, Greenfield and Fort Ord will be in the “unhealthy for sensitive group” ranking while Salinas, Carmel, Gonzales, Soledad, King City, San Juan Bautista, Pacific Grove and Lockwood will be in the moderate range, and Santa Cruz, Gilroy and Hollister will be in the “good” range.
Herald staff reporter Carly Mayberry contributed to this report. James Herrera can be reached at 831-726-4344.In his 2005 avant-garde movie “Confessions of a Sociopath,” the filmmaker and performance artist Joe Gibbons stares into the camera and announces with a growl: “I’m Joe Gibbons. I don’t need a job. I just take what I need.” He then adds, in a more buoyant tone, “I’m just kidding about that.”
Apparently not. Mr. Gibbons, a former lecturer in art at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was sentenced on Monday to one year in prison after he pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court in Manhattan to third-degree felony robbery for entering a Capital One Bank in Chinatown this past New Year’s Eve, stealing $1,002 and filming it all on a pocket-size pink and silver video camera. He claimed it was an act of performance art coupled with dire financial straits.
Mr. Gibbons, 61, is something of a cult figure in the performance art world: His work, mostly film installations, has appeared four times in the Whitney Biennial and is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. His M.I.T. profile cites his predilection for exploring “the boundaries between fact and fiction.”
And yet Mr. Gibbons, as a bank robber, had all the skill of Woody Allen in “Take the Money and Run.” In Chinatown, he handed the bank teller a note reading: “THIS IS A ROBBERY. LARGE BILLS. NO DYE PACKS / NO GPS.” The bank teller, Mr. Gibbons said, gave him small-denomination bills and an exploding dye pack that burst as he dashed away.A year after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scuttled plans to build its own nationwide database of vehicle license plate data, tA+he agency is seeking bids from private contractors to provide the agency access to the same information.
DHS canceled last year’s plan in the wake of TSA domestic spying revelations and subsequent outrage over increasingly intrusive government surveillance. At the time, we predicted DHS would find another way to track every single car on the road, likely by relying on the services of private companies like Vigilant Solutions, one of the largest aggregators and purveyors of license-plate data.
Companies like Vigilant, as well as police agencies in all 50 states, use automated license plate readers (ALPRs) to capture an image of every license plate they encounter. Plate readers—essentially high-speed cameras mounted on patrol cars or at fixed locations—can scan up to 1,800 plates per minute.
The system marks the time and vehicle location and then checks the plate against a “hot list” of stolen vehicles, lapsed registrations, outstanding fines or warrants, etc. The system can also check for drivers with unpaid taxes or child support, lack of insurance or even to alert the repo man. Without legislative protections, private contractors will be free to sell license-plate data to the highest bidder.
With enough ALPRs, authorities can track the day-to-day movements of everyone who drives a car. By storing and mining that data, authorities can create a detailed profile of someone’s life: where they go and when, who they see, what they do. And this applies to everyone, whether they’re suspected of wrongdoing or not. This tracking of the public en masse raises serious privacy and constitutional concerns.
One way to fix this is to limit the amount of time authorities can retain license plate data. The shorter, the better. The NMA advocates that license plate information shouldn’t be stored at all and deleted immediately if it doesn’t result in a “hit.” Unfortunately, data retention polices vary widely by law enforcement agency, and some retain the information forever. DHS wants to access data going back five years (an outrageously long time), which raises the question of why keep data on a vehicle (and by extension a person) if they haven’t been implicated in wrongdoing? The answer should be obvious.
(For the rest of this article, click the link.)
Read more on alerts.motorists.org
The Best of Gary NorthFormer longtime middleweight champion Anderson Silva is officially off the UFC 212 card.
UFC officials today made the announcement.
Silva originally was expected to co-headline the pay-per-view event, which takes place June 3 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio De Janeiro.
Silva’s initial opponent for the card, Kelvin Gastelum (13-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), got pulled following a positive test for marijuana. Although a few fighters were willing to step up, nothing materialized, and Silva (34-8 MMA, 17-4 UFC) ultimately declared himself off the card over the weekend.
Now it’s official.
The removal comes a day after Silva criticized the handling of the situation and “The Almighty” UFC President Dana White’s treatment of the middleweight division.
Silva specifically pointed to Georges St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC) getting a shot at Michael Bisping’s (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) middleweight belt; Silva said he thought Yoel Romero (12-1 MMA 8-0 UFC) was the most worthy contender. (Later in the day, White, in fact, said he was scrapping plans for Bisping vs. St-Pierre and that Romero instead will get the next shot.)
Silva, who’s No. 10 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, most recently fought in February, where he defeated Derek Brunson via unanimous decision. Since a memorable title run from 2006-2012, which included 10 consecutive title defenses (a UFC record shared by current flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, the 42-year-old Brazilian is 1-4 with one no-contest.
Here’s today full announcement:
“Following the April 6 removal of Kelvin Gastelum from his UFC 212 bout against Anderson Silva, UFC officials attempted to find a replacement to meet Silva on June 3. However an opponent was not secured to face the former middleweight champion on short notice, prompting his removal from the card at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “Due to Anderson Silva’s withdrawal, customers may request a full refund of their purchased tickets until May 18, 2017. “To request a refund of a purchase made at the event box office or points of sale, the customer must return to the point of purchase with the original tickets. For credit card transactions, the refund will be credited to credit card statement. For debit card transactions, the refund will be credited to the account linked to the debit card used for the purchase. “To refund a purchase made online or through the call center, the customer should access atendimento.tudus.com.br, and select the category “Cancellation” and list “UFC 212” as the subject.”
For more on UFC 212, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.The European Central Bank has surprised financial markets by cutting interest rates in the eurozone to zero, expanding its money printing programme and reducing a key deposit rate further into negative territory as it seeks to revive the economy and fend off deflation.
ECB can only buy time, not solve eurozone growth woes Read more
The ECB chief, Mario Draghi, implied interest rates would stay “very low” for at least another year but played down speculation they could be cut even further.
Unveiling a bigger package of help for the eurozone than investors had expected, Draghi predicted that inflation in the single currency bloc would remain stuck in negative territory over the coming months and cited a host of risks to economic growth from stumbling emerging economies, volatile financial markets and the slow pace of structural reforms.
“Rates will stay low, very low, for a long period of time and well past the horizon of our purchases,” Draghi said, referring to the ECB’s quantitative easing (QE) programme, where the bank pumps money into the European economy by buying bonds from banks, which is expected to run until at least March 2017.
But asked at a news conference how low the ECB could go on interest rates, he said: “From today’s perspective and taking into account the support of our measures to growth and inflation, we don’t anticipate that it will be necessary to reduce rates further. Of course, new facts can change the situation and the outlook.”
Going further than economists had expected, the Frankfurt-based ECB cut the eurozone’s main interest rate from 0.05% to zero, initially prompting a sharp drop in the euro against the pound and the dollar.
As part of a package of measures to revive lending and economic activity in the eurozone, the central bank cut its two other interest rates, expanded QE and announced new ultra-cheap four-year loans to banks, allowing them to borrow from the ECB at negative interest rates.
Eurozone GDP and inflation Eurozone GDP and inflation
On currency markets, there were big swings in the euro as traders sought to establish if the ECB had now exhausted its options or if more stimulus was still to come. On stock markets, share prices were boosted when the rate cuts were announced but gains were cut as Draghi suggested there was no additional help to come.
Economists said the package of measures announced was more than had been expected.
“The European Central Bank announced a broad attack on below-target inflation, using all monetary policy tools at once to boost the economy and increase inflation,” said Tomas Holinka, economist at economic researchers Moody’s Analytics.
“While the bank has revealed its policy instruments step by step in the past, now it announced all of them – cutting the interest rates, expanding the QE programme and providing long-term liquidity – together.”
George Efstathopoulos, portfolio manager at fund manager Fidelity International, commented: “This is a bold stance from Draghi and the ECB, which should be positive for both financial markets but more importantly the real economy.”
How the ECB is trying to revive the eurozone Read more
As expected by markets, the deposit rate was cut by 10 basis points, further into negative territory to -0.4%. The latest cut in the deposit rate means the ECB will be charging banks more to hold their money overnight, with the aim of encouraging them to lend it to businesses. The marginal lending rate, paid by banks to borrow from the ECB overnight, was cut from 0.3% to to 0.25%.
The ECB expanded QE to €80bn (£61bn) a month, up from €60bn. That was more than the €70bn economists had been expecting, according to the consensus in a Reuters poll of economists. The programme will now include buying bonds issued by companies and not just by financial institutions.
ECB (@ecb) Monetary policy decisions https://t.co/eZRPXZcJCy
The ECB had come under growing pressure to increase support for the eurozone’s flagging economy after the single currency bloc slipped back into negative inflation in February.
But the latest moves come amid growing scepticism on financial markets that central banks have enough ammunition left to bolster growth and stop falling prices becoming entrenched. The ECB itself is now predicting inflation in the eurozone will be just 0.1% this year, 1.3% in 2017 and 1.6% in 2018 - all under its target for inflation close to but below 2%.
Draghi echoed comments by his UK counterpart, Bank of England governor Mark Carney, that governments cannot leave central banks to do all the work on driving the economic recovery.
Draghi said: “Monetary policy is focused on maintaining price stability over the medium term and its accommodative stance supports economic activity. However, in order to reap the full benefits from our monetary policy measures, other policy areas must contribute decisively.”
Those comments reflected evidence that “the effectiveness of monetary policy is clearly diminishing”, said Alasdair Cavalla at the consultancy Centre for Economics and Business Research.
“Draghi threw down the gauntlet to fiscal policymakers, arguing for infrastructure spending while lowering the ECB’s own growth forecasts,” said Cavalla.
Against that backdrop of bleaker growth prospects and falling prices, Draghi had already indicated the central bank would announce fresh stimulus at the conclusion of this week’s policy-setting meeting.
Economists had widely expected the ECB to expand QE and cut the deposit rate so the reduction of the main interest rate and the marginal lending rate caught markets off-guard.
Alex Edwards, analyst at currency transfer company UKForex, said: “The ECB has delivered nothing more than dovish news. Rates were cut, inflation forecasts slashed and an extra $20bn announced in quantitative easing. Draghi has not left many stones unturned, and the fact he announced this all at once sent the euro spiralling downwards.
“The euro has been extremely volatile since Draghi spoke, and bounced back as quickly as it fell after he also hinted that rates may now be at their bottom. It’s going to be a very bumpy ride for the euro into the end of the week.”New research calculates the impact of the average westerner’s carbon emissions to help people understand their own contribution to climate change
The average westerner’s carbon emissions destroy 30 square metres of Arctic sea ice every year, according to new research.
The work indicates that, even with current efforts to cut emissions, the Arctic will lose all its ice in summer within about 20 years.
Plummeting Arctic sea ice cover is one of the most obvious signs of climate change and is increasingly linked to extreme weather events such as storms and floods in Europe and severe cold snaps in the US.
The new study revealed a linear link between emissions of CO2 and the loss of Arctic sea ice, which has shrunk by half in the last 40 years. The link enables people to understand their own contribution to climate change, according to the leader of the work, Prof Dirk Notz, at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany.
“It allows us, for the first time really, to intuitively grasp how we all individually contribute to global warming,” he said. “The observed numbers are very simple. For each tonne of CO2 that a person emits anywhere on this planet, three square metres of Arctic summer sea ice disappears.”
“So far the global warming debate has always been about very large numbers like billions of tonnes of CO2 or very small numbers like 0.1C of temperature change,” he said. “Our study allows us to understand that it is really our own individual actions, every day, that contribute to ongoing global warming.”
The research, published in the journal Science, analysed the declining extent of Arctic sea ice from 1953 to 2015 and found it tracked the emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel burning and other human activities. The relationship fits well with the underlying physics.
As a result, it is possible to calculate how much Arctic sea ice is lost as a result of an individual’s emissions. The average annual emissions of a citizen of the 35 rich nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is 10 tonnes per year, leading to 30 sq m of ice being lost. Citizens of the US, Canada and Australia have a higher carbon footprint - about 16 tonnes - each causing almost 50 sq m of ice loss per year. In the UK, the average emissions are 7.5 tonnes per year, meaning 22.5 sq m of ice loss.
Prof Len Shaffrey, at the University of Reading in the UK, said the new research was |
the high seas. But rapes or violent shipboard crimes? Bermuda is indifferent to prosecuting rapists and criminals on Bermuda flagged ships.
Compare Bermuda’s madness with the customs policy in Canada toward cruise ships. For a period of a year or so, customs officers in Halifax, Canada arrested four crewmembers and cruise passengers with child pornography on their computers. All of then served jail time. A good use of Canadian customs and judicial resources.
But in Bermuda, you’ll never see a cruise rapist, pedophile or child porn pervert arrested by the customs personnel or sentenced by Magistrate Warner. There’s no money to be made in arresting real criminals.Of the various radio and TV and internet items today related to MLK that I heard, the one that caught my attention most was an interview with Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on Star Trek. I heard it on NPR, but here is a transcript from the Wall Street Journal Speakeasy blog.
It sounds like you put a lot of thought into the part. Why did you want to quit after the first season?
After the first year, Grace Lee Whitney was let go so it became Bill and Leonard. The rest of us became supporting characters. I decided to leave the show after the first season.
What convinced you to stay on?
I was at a fundraiser and the promoter of the event said there’s somebody that wants to meet you. He is your biggest fan. I stood up and turned to see the beatific face of Dr. Martin Luther King walking towards me with a sparkle in his eye. He took my hand and thanked me for meeting him. He then said I am your greatest fan. All I remember is my mouth opening and shutting.
What was that like?
I thanked him so much and told him how I’d miss it all. He asked what I was talking about, and told me that I can’t leave the show. We talked a long time about what it all meant and what images on television tell us about ourselves.
Did you know then how much of a role model you’d become?
Oh, god, no. I thought of it as a stepping stone to Broadway. I went back to Gene and told him what had happened, and that I was staying. He smiled up at me and said, thank god for Dr. Martin Luther King.Lakshmi with her mother before the operation
Lakshmi Tatma was joined at the pelvis to what was, in effect, a headless, undeveloped twin.
A team of surgeons in the southern city of Bangalore operated on Lakshmi for 27 hours to separate her spinal column and kidney from that of her twin.
It is hoped the procedure will allow her to survive beyond adolescence.
"Lakshmi is stable and sound," the doctor leading the operation, Sharan Patil, told a news conference which was shown live on television channels across India.
'Optimistic'
"She has withstood the operation, she is safe and doing well," he said.
X-RAY OF LAKSHMI 1. Spine cut from the front to remove extra limbs 2. Wide gap between pelvic bones closed using bone grafts 3. More operations may be needed to correct club feet and rebuild pelvic floor muscles
Lakshmi is still on ventilation.
"We will keep a close watch on her for the next 48 to 72 hours and won't move from the hospital until she stabilises," Dr Patil said.
More than 30 doctors "worked relentlessly through the night to make the operation successful," he said and added that there was "no setback at any stage of the surgery".
Dr Patil said he was "optimistic about the child's survival".
The surgery began at 0700 local time (0130 GMT) on Tuesday and ended at 1000 local time (0430 GMT) on Wednesday.
Lakshmi's parents, poor labourers from the northern Indian state of Bihar, would be allowed to see their daughter this afternoon.
The child has been hailed by some in her village in Bihar as the reincarnation of the multi-limbed Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.
Dr Patil says he's optimistic about the child's survival
Conjoined twins are rare, occurring in about one in every 200,000 births.
They originate from a single fertilised egg, so they are always identical and of the same sex.
The overall survival rate of conjoined twins is somewhere between 5% and 25%.
Historical records over the past 500 years detail about 600 surviving sets of conjoined twins - more than 70% of which have been female twins.Native Alaskans have been using punk ash for over a hundred years to intensify the effects
of chew / dip tobacco. It's called Iq'mik or Blackbull when mixed!!!
Punk ash is mixed with long cut tobacco and chew dip like copenhagen, the mixture is
dependent upon the users tolerance. It can have quite a strong effect the first time it is used,
so moderation is required until a tolerance is built up.
Its effects have been compared to the sensation a smoker gets on their first cigarette after
they have quit smoking for a long time or that first dip of chew you ever took.
Punk ash and tobacco are commonly mixed either in the chew can or in a ziploc bag with a
little added water and allowed to absorb for a period of time. ie, 2-3 days...
Apparently, the Punk ash effects the Alkalinity of the nicotine allowing it to be readily and
rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream increasing the “nic hit” one receives. The effect is
noticeably quicker and stronger than standard chew.
As seen on the National Geographic Alaska State Trooper show! (Grizzly episode)Tomakomai, the champion in 2004 and 2005, was going for a three-peat, something achieved only once. With Tanaka on the mound, the team was surely a favorite. But just as the tournament was beginning, the big-shouldered pitcher became ill with a stomach virus. It enfeebled him with fever, diarrhea and vomiting. The team doctor fed him fluids through an IV, but day after day, Tanaka had difficulty recovering his strength.
He nevertheless pitched Tomakomai to a 5-3 victory in the first of the six games the team played. His coach, Yoshifumi Kouda, then gave the ball to someone else in Game 2, risking everything by trying to rest his pitcher. The team fell behind by 7-1, and Tanaka was finally brought in during the third inning. Tomakomai rallied to win, 10-9.
Downcast players routinely wept after a defeat, winners and losers leaving with a handful of dirt scooped from the field as a keepsake. The crowds, on the other hand, grew only more excited as the relentless winnowing went on. A showdown was shaping up with the two best pitchers — Tanaka and Saito — as combatants.
In the two previous years, the Koshien crowds were drawn to Tomakomai, an underdog squad that had somehow beaten better-known teams despite the so-called snow handicap that limited its training.
But this time, the entire country seemed infatuated with Saito, who played for Waseda Jitsugyo High School in Tokyo. He had the fetching face of a heartthrob. With the temperature on the field sometimes climbing above 100 degrees, Saito had the habit of pulling a folded blue hankie from his pocket to pat the sweat off his face. He was affectionately nicknamed the Handkerchief Prince.
Kouda, the Tomakomai coach, said, “We were almost cast into the role of villains.”
Feeling sickly, Tanaka had yet to be his sharpest in four games over 10 days while pitching a taxing 32 2/3 innings. The night before the final, Kouda asked his ace if he wanted to start the game, and Tanaka begged off.
“If possible, I want to pitch later,” the coach recalled him saying.
Kouda complied with his tired pitcher’s wishes but did not allow him to rest too long. Tanaka entered the scoreless game with one out in the third inning. Both he and Saito threw masterfully. Tomakomai took a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth, but Waseda tied it up in the bottom of the inning. The two pitchers, like weary but indomitable warriors, kept the score at 1-1 through 15 innings, when the game was declared a tie. The teams would need to return to the precipice in a second championship game the next day.I just read Andrew Chen’s Mobile app startups are failing like it’s 1999. He raises a good point about the closed nature of mobile app development, which for the most part is a reflection of the Apple way of doing things and especially the appstore review process.
Most software products are not a billion dollar business
Before I touch on how that process can be improved, I want to talk about what I see as the core problem here – many of those VC backed apps, are not in fact, startups. They are startups in the old-school sense, in that they are a new business starting up, however they are not what VCs are claiming they want to back – in short, they are not appropriate for VC funding.
Once you take VC money, the game and expectations change completely, and the vast majority of those failed mobile “startups” never had any chance of living up to those expectations in the first place. Some of those actually have decent launches in relative terms, if they were considered as normal software products and not as startups that were hailed as the “next big thing”. If they had just raised regular funding, via friends and family, loans and personal funds, they could have been a nice small business that generates a decent revenue stream for their founders.
As it stands though, with VC money, those apps will be considered a failure, which is too bad. The mobile trend, just like any other funding trend (social, local, offers etc), makes VCs take a leap of faith and buy into the dreamy future the creators of those apps are painting, while in fact they are just building regular software that is derivative of existing products with a small, fairly insignificant twist. There are exceptions, but most of the apps I see founded leave me wondering how someone can consider them a possible billion dollar business.
In fact, I’d go further and say that the fact those founders have no initial product actually helps them raise – as it’s easier to sell dreams than reality. I have a post coming up on that exact topic, which I call the funding paradox.
Reducing costs and time to market
What can do we do to combine the agility we learned in the past decade with the requirements of the App Store?
Back to the original point of Andrew’s article – lack of agility and relatively high time to market in the mobile space. This problem is not unique to mobile and many software products have this process – despite the introduction of more agile development models in the last couple of decades.
I co-founded my current startup, Binpress, to counter that exact problem. While each app has its own concept and core features that are unique to it, the fact of the matter is that many features are shared across apps. Things like in-app notifications, sharing options, review reminders, UI elements and so forth – are developed from scratch at each company. Those are solved problems that do not need to be developed over and over again.
At Binpress we build a curated inventory of code components for any development vertical, including mobile apps (our fastest growing category right now). We are a marketplace and a discovery tool for free and commercial mature code solutions that solve common needs in software development.
Our main goal in building such a service is to promote code sharing as a business that improves the software industry as a whole. There’s no need for every app dev team to build their own solutions for everything, when much of it has already been done to death before. You waste time and money building it, and you waste time and money debugging and QA’ing it, when mature solutions are already available.
I like to make the analogy to car manufacturing which is a mature market compared to software development. Consider that no car company makes their own wheels, or their own screws, and some don’t even make their own engines. They focus on designing cars that best integrate those various components which are built by companies that are experts at it.
I am convinced that this kind of component-based development is the future of the software industry. Cherry pick mature solutions to fill out necessary but not unique core features, shorten your development cycle and concentrate on the unique value your product delivers to your target audience. It’s really a no brainer.
Check out Binpress and let me know what you think is the solution to the app development life-cycle.
To know when the next article is published, please subscribe to new articles using your Email below or follow me on Twitter.• Andrew Gilligan said delivery of cycle superhighways a "nightmarishly difficult" test of strength and came close to failing
• An unnamed borough was threatened with powers to seize control of their roads if cycle superhighways were blocked
• Gilligan warns of "deficiencies" in the network as he was unable to persuade some boroughs on cycling
• "Old men in limos" were comprehensively outfought by campaigners in PR battle, he says
• London "still in the foothills" of becoming a cycle-friendly city
• Gilligan calls on Londoners to secure specific commitments from all London mayoral candidates ahead of May 2016 elections to continue the cycling programme
• Says 5% growth in London cycling justifies continued investment
London's cycling commissioner, Andrew Gilligan, has admitted the city's cycle superhighways came close to not happening, and that it was a "nightmarishly difficult" test of strength to overcome at times "ferocious resistance".
In a speech at the Hackney Cycling Conference on Friday, Gilligan said the threat of mayoral powers to seize control of one borough's roads was used on parts of the cycle superhighway scheme.
Gilligan praised campaigners for winning the PR battle against the "old men in limos" (OMILs), but said London is only in the foothills of becoming a great cycling city, and pressure needs to be sustained ahead of the next mayoral elections in May 2016 to ensure the work continues.
Gilligan said: "We are, as I speak, building four segregated cycle superhighways in London, we're building about 15 cycle safe segregated junctions, the first of about 50, including those on the superhighways. We've started building the first back street Quietway routes; by 2016 there will be seven of them finished."
He said: "It was at times nightmarishly difficult to manage this, and we saw some absolutely ferocious resistance, kicking and screaming, and we saw a lot more passive resistance, heel digging and foot dragging from whom Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman called Old Men in Limos; you've heard of the MAMILs, those were the OMILs. A lot of objections, which would nearly always start with the words 'Of course I support cycling...'"
Gilligan praised campaigners, particularly founders of Cycling Works, brothers Chris and Jono Kenyon, for helping win support for cycle superhighways from London businesses, to the dismay of the OMILs who, he said "were comprehensively outfought in the PR and public support battle."
He said political support from the Mayor's office also "prevented these projects from dying a dozen deaths".
"You'll have to read our memoirs, if anyone wants to publish them, to find out how difficult it all was and how close it all came to not happening."
Gilligan said the battle is not yet over, however, and though the large Transport for London (TfL) schemes on roads controlled by the Mayor, including the cycle superhighways and junction improvements, are secure, those on boroughs' roads, such as the Central London Grid, Quietways and Mini Hollands, are "in a much more mixed position".
Not all London boroughs equal for cycling
While he praised Waltham Forest for the delivery of its Mini Holland scheme, he said other boroughs "are not terribly interested", with too much cycling money in boroughs being spent on shared space, pavement cycle routes and "tarting up" of public spaces with little benefit for people on bikes.
Gilligan said: "Any deficiencies you may notice, and you may notice a few, in the network of routes on borough routes are not on the whole from want of trying by us. They are because we haven't been able to persuade the borough concerned."
"In the end I can't force them, I can't send in the troops to occupy the town hall to make them not do toucan crossings and things like that."
Using mayoral powers to ensure cycle routes are built
However he inferred some mayoral powers were used during cycle superhighway negotiations, and this same power might be required in future.
He said: "There is, in fact, a power in the GLA Act in the setting up of a mayoralty which allows the mayor to take control of any road in London, and we have to get the agreement from the Secretary of State so it's not quite the slam dunk we hoped it was."
"However we did contemplate using that power in one or two cases on the superhighways. We didn't have to in the end, the threat of it was enough.
"I wonder if it might be worth asking future mayoral candidates whether they would be prepared to use that."
Call to arms
Gilligan's speech was also a call to arms to ensure the cycling programme continues after the May 2016 Mayoral election, and to ensure specific commitments are made by all candidates as happened in 2012 as a result of the London Cycling Campaign's "Love London, Go Dutch" campaign.
Gilligan said: "I think we've made enormous progress - unprecedented progress - over the last couple of years, but I believe we're still in the foothills of making London a cycle friendly city and the task for Londoners is to make sure the progress we've made continues after May."
"There is a chance that whoever's elected next might not care so passionately about cycling. There is also a risk that parts of TfL might feel they have 'done their bit' by delivering the segregated routes they are doing now; they have ticked the box, they can get back to buses and trains."
"It's a mistake to think transport investment is a zero-sum game, in which any investment comes at the expense of everyone else. Most of the schemes we're doing for cyclists have huge benefits for almost everyone else."
He said "The need to keep investing in cycling, continue the programme, is absolutely demonstrated not least by figures yesterday showing a 5% rise year on year cycling on London's roads."
"You only have to look outside this building or any other building in London just to see how astonishing are the numbers of people going around on bikes."
One small section of cycle superhighway 2 (CS2) has opened - a bus stop bypass - and more will open next month, according to Gilligan. Vauxhall Cross, he says, is six weeks from opening.
He said: "My hope in delivering these segregated routes is people realise that traffic doesn't melt down, it is not the end of the world, it becomes less difficult to do more routes like that."In 2016, state polls understated Republican support by large margins in many small states. In the five states in bold, Hillary Clinton lost the statewide vote despite leading in the polls. Key Pre-election
polling average Election
result
It was the biggest polling miss in a presidential election in decades.
Yet in many ways, it wasn't wholly out of the ordinary.
Over all, the national polls missed the result by only a few points: Hillary Clinton is on track to win the popular vote by around 1.5 percentage points, not especially far from her roughly four-point lead in an average of national polls.
But the state polls were a different story. They systematically underestimated Donald J. Trump's standing in the Upper Midwest and Northeast. His strength there was enough to make him the president.
Few saw it coming. Mrs. Clinton led in nearly every high-quality survey of Minnesota, Maine, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. It was her modest but consistent edge in those states and others that led analysts to project that she had an excellent chance at victory. This includes our poll-based forecast, which gave Mrs. Clinton an 85 percent chance to win, alongside those from other organizations, which put Mrs. Clinton's chances at between 71 percent at FiveThirtyEight and greater than 99 percent at the Princeton Election Consortium.
Her campaign, with its own polling, concluded the same thing. She barely even campaigned in Maine, Wisconsin or Minnesota, and visited Michigan only in the last week of the race.
Yet in the end, her polling lead proved illusory.
All of these states have something in common: They have a large number of white voters without a college degree. Mr. Trump also outperformed the polls in other mostly white and rural states, whether Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri or Indiana.
The states with a large number of white working-class voters tend to be somewhat less populous than the more diverse and well-educated states along the coasts. A result is that the state polling averages were off by more than usual, even though the national numbers weren’t far off.
State Polling Errors in 2016 Were the Largest in Decades Average absolute difference between polling average and final vote in the ten states closest to the national average with at least three polls. 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 3.4 pts. 3.4 pts. 2.3 pts. 1.8 pts. 1.7 pts. 1.7 pts. 2.3 pts. 3.9 pts. Average absolute difference between polling average and final vote in the ten states closest to the national average with at least three polls. 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 3.4 pts. 3.4 pts. 2.3 pts. 1.8 pts. 1.7 pts. 1.7 pts. 2.3 pts. 3.9 pts.
Mrs. Clinton tended to outperform in big, liberal states with larger Hispanic populations. That was true in battlegrounds, like New Mexico and Nevada. It was also true outside the battlegrounds, in Illinois, California, New York and Washington.
Over all, the two types of misses nearly canceled out in national polls. But Mr. Trump's gains among white working-class voters were far more important, because those voters are overrepresented in the most important battleground states.
Analysts are only beginning to unpack how the polls were so off in the Midwest and Northeast. It will be hard to know until voter file data — which includes information on exactly who voted — is updated. That could take months.
But there are already theories. The polls’ samples might have overrepresented well educated voters. The educational composition of the electorate is one of the biggest mysteries for pollsters. It’s not included in the voter file and it’s hard to model (it’s much harder to tell how educated people are based on their names or where they live; race is easy by comparison).
Or undecided, well-educated Republican voters in the suburbs around Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Grand Rapids might have broken for Mr. Trump at a higher rate than expected. The polls may have slightly overestimated black turnout as well.
Was this polling miss unusual? The size and direction of the error in 2016 was big, but not totally out of the norm. This was part of the reason we had been writing about the possibility of Mr. Trump’s victory and cautioning that an 85 percent chance was not a 100 percent chance. (In comparing Mrs. Clinton’s chances of losing to the chances that an N.F.L. kicker would miss a 37-yard field goal, we tried to give an example of a low-probability event that nevertheless still happens. See also: The Cubs rallied to win the World Series.)
Should we have given Mr. Trump higher odds of winning? It’s possible. The history of polling errors did not suggest so, but that history now has one more election with several consequential misses.
In 2012, the state and national polls were off by a similar amount, but in the other direction.
2012
The polls systematically underestimated President Obama's support across the battleground states, and nationwide. But it didn’t really matter that he won many states by a few more points than state polls suggested. If the polls had been off in the other direction by the same amount, Mitt Romney would have squeaked out a win.
Below, the state polling errors in the presidential elections since 1988:
2008
2004
2000
1996
1992Justice Ginsburg seemed troubled by the board’s criteria. “It’s a nebulous standard,” she said.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer, joined by Justice Kennedy, pressed Mr. Keller for the standard the state uses to allow some plates but not others.
“I just think you have to have some kind of legitimate reason,” Justice Breyer said. “It doesn’t have to be much. It could be just a little.”
But neither justice seemed satisfied with Mr. Keller’s responses, which were vague and abstract.
The veterans’ heritage group won in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans. The court said the proposed message on the license plate was private speech and that Texas had discriminated against the group’s view that “the Confederate flag is a symbol of sacrifice, independence and Southern heritage.”
In the early part of Monday’s argument the group seemed likely to prevail. But some justices seemed to grow uncomfortable with the implications of a ruling in its favor, which could make states choose between having any specialty license plates and allowing all sorts of vile and vulgar speech.
Justice Scalia asked about “dirty words” on personalized vanity plates. Mr. Keller said a ruling against Texas would require it to allow such plates along with specialty plates celebrating Al Qaeda and the Nazi party.
Chief Justice Roberts proposed a solution. “There is an easy answer to that,” he said, “which is they don’t have to get in the business of selling space on their license plates to begin with.”
By the time R. James George Jr., a lawyer for the heritage group, began his argument, he seemed to have amassed a majority. But he took a hard line, and it may not have served him well.Even on his best behavior, Ron Artest is an awkward fit with Lakers
While he’s been an excellent teammate, contrary to his reputation, Artest isn’t helping the Lakers on court as much as Trevor Ariza, the man he replaced, did last season.
The long list of those who think the Lakers miss Trevor Ariza just increased by one. Even Ron Artest agrees? "He's a better player than me," Artest said Tuesday. But Ron-Ron, nobody ever said he was better, we just said he was a better fit. "He's a better player," Artest repeated emphatically. "He's won a ring, I haven't. I can't even compare to him. He's a better player." Artest also agrees, incidentally, with the part about Ariza being a better fit. "He probably is," Artest said. "He's a role player, a great role player. I haven't been a role player. Many times I've had to carry the load, this is a different look for me."
It is this different look that has some of the Lakers covering their eyes. Entering the season's final stretch, basketball's wackiest star is performing his nuttiest act yet. Ron Artest is barely raising an eyebrow. He hasn't figured out the flow of the Lakers offense this season, he has sometimes seemed a step slow on defense, and he's made little impact on the team's toughness. In a move engineered by the Buss family last summer, Artest was signed here from the Houston Rockets to replace Ariza, who then signed with Houston, after balking at the Lakers' contract offer. It is a move that some Lakers folks would now take back. It was a move that many of us thought should never have happened in the first place. Ariza didn't have Artest's star power, but he was a better offensive complement to Kobe Bryant, a more versatile team defender, and a guy who had survived the championship battle to win a ring. He was a known quantity who would have been an invaluable soul in the difficult quest to win a second consecutive title. Artest was a Lakers unknown who is still, well, a Lakers unknown. "With Ron, there's a little synapse there, a little delayed reaction," Coach Phil Jackson said. "That's just Ron, regardless. All the guys have had to get used to it." The adjustment has been fine in the locker room, where, contrary to initial fears, Artest has been a model of unselfishness and deference. The adjustment hasn't been so easy on the court, where he's been just as quiet. After 70 games, the team is 52-18, four games behind the pace of last season's Lakers. Less than a month before the playoffs, the difference between the two versions can be found in the difference between Artest and Ariza. This year's team seems unsure of itself. Last year's team had no doubt. While Artest is averaging fewer points, rebounds and assists than Ariza, he has better shooting percentages, but it's not about their numbers, it's about their presence.
The Lakers are still waiting for Artest, 30, to fit into an offensive flow where the younger Ariza existed seamlessly. The Lakers are still waiting for Artest to shut down more opponents like he shut down Denver's Carmelo Anthony at the end of last month, and make the sort of big defensive plays Ariza made regularly. "Artest is still figuring things out, but we expected that," said teammate Lamar Odom. Expected it, or feared it? Remember, the Buss family suddenly acquired Artest and dumped Ariza seemingly without similar enthusiasm from either General Manager Mitch Kupchak or Jackson. While both men publicly endorsed the deal, one must wonder whether today they are still shaking their heads. Artest is certainly shaking his head. While his previous comments about Ariza were made with a straight face, it was clear that they contained some annoyed sarcasm. Here he is, on his best behavior, and it's still not enough? He didn't force the Lakers to sign him. He didn't ask to shoulder Ariza's memory. He's just trying to fit in, and growing increasingly frustrated that he's not. "People see me play, they know what type of player I'm about," he said. "'What I was before, it's not as important, what's more important is winning and playing team ball. I could be averaging a lot of points and making people real happy, but that means somebody else would not be reaping the benefits. They won a championship last year, a lot of guys deserve to still shine." Spoken like a great teammate. If only he were so eloquent on the court, where, as Jackson noted, there often seems to be something missing. "I don't know. I don't know," Artest said, pausing. "I mean, I'm making my mark defensively. My defense has been unbelievable. I don't know whose defense has been as unbelievable as mine." He also notes that he has lost 15 pounds during the season, saying he's down to 253 and slowly working into postseason shape. "It's OK to put it on me, talk about me, that means I'm still alive," Artest said. The Lakers can only hope. bill.plaschke@latimes.comtwitter.com/billplaschke
MORE:It was a slow Friday afternoon and then BAM, the Major League Soccer Player's Union had to go and release their 2012 player salaries. Naturally the world flocked to the website to take a long look at this list.
FC Dallas made a few moves this winter and we all were curious as to how it would hit the bottom line for the salary cap. Also when news broke that Brek Shea became a "Young DP", that made seeing this list even more interesting.
There are few surprises with this club in terms of salaries but a few worth noting.
So Shea is at $310k, newcomers Blas Perez at $285k, Hernan Pertuz at $84k, and Carlos Rodriguez at $55k. Overall, those three additions from this winter are pretty good at the bottom line. Perez we all figured would be high in the salary range but kudos to FCD for landing Pertuz and Rodriguez at manageable rates
Of course the big shocker for everyone else around the league will be centering around George John's salary at $47k. Naturally he'll come in on the All MLS Under 100k team. So will Zach Loyd at $73k.
I think Dallas fans will also rest easy seeing Daniel Hernandez's numbers go way down to $75k for the season. That restructured deal as a player-coach was a very smart move on the club's part.
One big shocker to me was seeing Jackson Goncavles at $120k - that figure seems a bit steep for a player with jekyll and hyde tendencies.
Ricardo Villar at $80k seems about right to me though.
Lastly, the big number, David Ferreira taking up a big $600k (obviously his DP tag lowers that number on the books).(CNN) -- It arrived in Rich Stevens' mailbox a few weeks ago: the notice that Citibank had "rate-jacked" the Visa cards belonging to him and his wife.
Some credit card holders have seen their interest rates go up dramatically, a practice called "rate-jacking."
"In my case, from 9.5 percent to 16.99," the 54-year-old nurse from the Long Island hamlet of Merrick, New York, told CNN. And his wife's rate zoomed from 7.95 percent to 16.99 percent, he said.
Stevens said he did not know why the rates had soared; his credit rating is great.
But, like thousands of other credit card customers around the nation, he has been notified his rate is skyrocketing.
"It almost borders on loan-sharking, from my perspective," he said.
In the blogosphere, writers are livid at the instant rate hikes -- called "rate-jacking."
Citigroup seems to be the target of most bloggers' venom -- partly because Citigroup issues so many credit cards and partly because Citi began sending the notices at about the same time it was getting a $20 billion, taxpayer-financed government bailout.
No one at Citigroup would talk on camera to CNN about the matter. Instead, the company issued a written statement, which said: "To continue funding in this difficult credit and funding environment, Citi is repricing a group of customers."
Citi told CNN that anyone unhappy with the new rates can opt out and continue paying the lower interest, but they must close their account when their card expires. It's all in the fine print.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, said she is sick of the fine print.
She agreed that credit card companies get away with whatever they want, as long at they put their desires into the fine print.
"They have this provision that says they can raise the rate -- any time, any reason," she said.
In September, Maloney got the House to pass by an overwhelming margin of 200 votes the "credit card holders' bill of rights," which would have stopped rate-jacking and the imposition of other fees by banks.
But the bill has languished in the Senate since September. "There's a lot of pushback from the financial industry," she said. Watch how card companies are trying to woo customers »
Critics say that pushback is linked to donations from the banking industry to the politicians responsible for regulating credit cards.
The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee is Christopher Dodd. His staff said the Connecticut Democrat has his own credit card bill containing tough language to stop things like rate-jacking and shortening of billing cycles -- two issues that anger consumers.
But even Dodd's own bill has failed to gain traction -- it has sat since July.
Dodd himself received more than $4 million from the financial sector during the last campaign, according to campaign records. His office did not respond to CNN's questions about that.
It did say that he has tried repeatedly to protect consumers, but added, "legislation has been met with stiff opposition by the credit card industry."
On Thursday, the Federal Reserve is expected to vote on its own new rules regarding credit cards, rules in the works for four years that could clamp down on rate-jacking.
Whatever is passed, Maloney said, probably would not take effect until 2010.
All About Christopher Dodd • Citigroup Inc. • Credit Card Debt • U.S. SenateNow there is a logo for those who have taken up parts of HTML5 into their sites, and for anyone who wishes to tell the world they are using or referring to HTML5, CSS, SVG, WOFF, and other technologies used to build modern Web applications.
The World Wide Web Consortium ( W3C ) launched an HTML5 logo last January 18, 2011 which caused quite a stir in the web development community. The announcement came with this statement:Two days later, the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) contested that the HTML5 logo program does not replace "HTML" as the official term for the the web design standard and proclaimed instead that HTML is the new HTML5 In response to mostly negative community feedback, including criticisms from The Web Standards Project ( WaSP ), W3C retracted on January 21, 2011 to say that the logo "represents HTML5, the cornerstone for modern Web applications." WaSP is requesting W3C to create a new moniker for the umbrella of modern web technologies. W3C and WHATWG are currently in disagreement with regards to how HTML should progress. While W3C maintains the traditional practice of versioning their standards (e.g.: HTML 4.01, HTML5), WHATWG pushes HTML to be a " living standard ", thus the removal of the version number.W3C has been criticized for delays in delivering the HTML5 standard which is currently still in a working draft status. WHATWG acknowledges that there are "solid" HTML5 specs that can be implemented into products already. Web browser manufacturers could already start supporting these features. Because WHATWG maintains HTML as a living document, using their specification could allow web browser manufacturers to support specific HTML5 capabilities immediately without having to wait for W3C to officially complete their work on HTML5.Whether W3C or WHATWG's published proposal would prevail depends on the support of implementors like Microsoft, Mozilla, Google, Apple |
application of nitrogen fertilizer affect yields, water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions? Modeling approaches for inclusion of multiple ecosystem services has advanced rapidly over the past few years (e.g., ref. 32). Analysis of the impact of land use choices to maximize a bundle of ecosystem services has been done at regional (e.g., ref. 17) and national scales (e.g., ref. 19). To date, lack of consistent global datasets has hindered application of high-resolution analysis at global scales. However, work on global datasets also is advancing rapidly (e.g., ref. 33). Our approach could be expanded to incorporate other datasets on ecosystem services and integrated with models such as InVEST (34) that calculate estimates of the provision of a number of ecosystem services as a function of land use and land management choices. In general, it should be possible to solve for the combination of optimal choices of extensification and intensification to find how best to increase agricultural production while maintaining the highest valued bundle of ecosystem services. Doing so would require information on grid cell costs of intensification as well as the implicit values that society places on the relative importance of various ecosystem services. If a broader array of ecosystem services and a broader set of actions (intensification and extensification) are analyzed, it is likely that the total social value from selective solution compared with BAU would be many times greater than found here. This analysis makes a number of assumptions about the rate of growth in future demand for crops and the proportion that can be met by intensification and extensification, as well as how much extensification can occur in various grid cells due to sub-grid cell heterogeneity. We analyzed the effect of changes in these assumptions in SI Appendix, where we show that changing assumptions affects the specific magnitudes but not general tenor of the trade-offs between agricultural expansion and carbon storage. Our analysis of selective extensification does not include several other potentially important factors such as climate change, or changes in broader economic factors such as changes in quality of inputs, trade barriers, infrastructure, and transport systems. Future climate change will likely influence yields and the provision of other ecosystem services and change the results. Similarly, changes in quality of inputs, trade barriers, infrastructure, and transport systems can influence the yields and desirability of agricultural production in different locations, thereby changing the relative crop advantage by location. For example, high transport costs would generate added value to producing output closer to consumers. Each of these changes will affect the quantitative results but not the overall conclusion about the importance of selective extensification. Nonetheless, showing what is possible and actually achieving it are not the same thing. Like West et al. (23), Foley et al. (7), and others, this paper shows what is feasible in biophysical terms. We show how careful consideration of both carbon storage and crop yield can maximize carbon storage while meeting agricultural production goals, subject to assumptions about sub-grid cell heterogeneity that may limit extensification options. Moving closer to desirable outcomes requires attention to institutional, political, social, and economic factors, because billions of people must change what they are doing. These changes will require recognition by political leaders and the general public of the value of carbon storage (and other ecosystem services). Otherwise, there will be little push for carbon policies such as establishing a price for carbon storage, and therefore little incentive for landowners to incorporate carbon or value of other ecosystem services into their decision making. Without this, we are likely to see a trajectory much closer to BAU than the selective extensification path. As an example of national policy redirection, Brazil has incorporated the value of preventing deforestation in the Amazon and elsewhere into its national Forest Code. The rate of deforestation in Brazil has been reduced by 83% since 2004 (35). This reduction was achieved primarily by the creation of new protected zones and stricter enforcement of land use regulations. Our analysis can help build on such successes by more precisely identifying areas that are good candidates for protected status and areas where agricultural production should be encouraged.
Methods The crop advantage measure for each grid cell is defined as the marginal benefit of extensifying land in different locations and is defined for each 5 × 5-min grid cell with geospatial coordinates ( x, y ) as follows: C A x y = C Y x y Δ C x y, [1] where C Y x y is the per-hectare calorie yield in each grid cell and Δ C x y is the per-hectare carbon storage loss that would occur if the grid cell was converted from forest or grassland to cultivation. C Y x y was calculated by combining data from the EarthStat dataset (28, 29) with FAOSTAT (4) values on caloric content of each food group. We calculated the per-hectare calorie yield of each xyth grid cell, C Y x y, as follows: C Y x y = ∑ i = 1 175 Y i x y * A i x y * C i, [2] where Y i x y is the dry weight in tons per hectare of the ith crop, A i x y is the fraction of crop area planted to crop i, and C i is the caloric content of the ith crop per ton. C i is calculated as follows: C i = ( S i * 365 Q i ), [3] where S i is the variable from FAOSTAT’s Food Balance Sheet dataset named “Food supply (kcal/capita/day)” and Q i is FAOSTAT’s “Food supply quantity (kg/capita/yr).” This process created a gridded map of worldwide per-hectare calorie yield. We calculated per-grid cell calorie yield by multiplying the per-hectare calorie yield by the amount of hectares present in each grid cell, which we used for calculating aggregate calorie production. When summed globally, per-grid cell calorie yield matches the FAO’s estimate of total caloric production. To calculate the change in carbon storage ( Δ C x y ) with extensification, we use the method from West et al. (23). We subtract the amount of carbon storage (aboveground and belowground) in potential natural vegetation ( P N V C x y ) and one-quarter of the soil carbon associated with potential natural vegetation ( S C x y ) from crop carbon ( C C x y ) that would exist on the grid cell if it was fully extensified: Δ C x y = C C x y − P N V C x y − 0.25 ( S C x y ). [4] Data on potential natural vegetation carbon comes from West et al. (23), which used carbon values from the tier 1 methodology of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (30), applied to potential natural vegetation data (36). To estimate soil carbon loss, we used gridded data on global soil organic carbon density (measured as kilograms of carbon per square meter to a depth of 1 m) from International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (37) interpolated to match the resolution of the data from Monfreda et al. (28) and Ramankutty et al. (29). To calculate the carbon stored in each of the 175 crops, we assumed crop carbon storage of annual herbaceous crops is equal to their annual net primary productivity (23), calculated as follows: C C x y i = D F i * C * Y i x y R i, [5] where C C x y i is the crop carbon of the ith crop on the xyth grid cell, Y i x y is the dry weight in tons per hectare of the ith crop on that cell, D F i is the proportion of dry matter of the yield for crop i, C is the carbon content of dry matter (0.45 g C per g dry matter), and R i represents the proportion of the crop that leaves the farm (rather than remaining on the field or belowground). Carbon stocks in woody crops were calculated in Gibbs et al. (38). Summation over each of the 175 crops gives C x y, the total carbon that that would be stored in the grid cell’s crop cover if the grid cell was fully converted to cultivation (assuming the same proportional crop mix as in 2000). Finally, we converted Δ C x y to be the change in carbon per hectare extensified. Assuming that annual net primary production is equal to a crop’s biomass likely overstates the amount of stored carbon in crops because the biomass is only storing carbon for part of the year. In the context of identifying which areas are better left natural, this assumption makes our conclusions and estimation of saved carbon conservative. Accounting for crop carbon, however, has a very small impact on the overall results because the amount of carbon able to be stored in crops is much less than the amount of natural carbon storage in most locations.
Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge support for this research from The Nature Conservancy. We are also grateful for comments from seminar participants and the University of Minnesota and comments from two reviewers, which greatly improved the manuscript.
Footnotes Author contributions: J.A.J., C.F.R., B.S., J.F., and S.P. designed research; J.A.J. performed research; J.A.J., C.F.R., B.S., and S.P. analyzed data; and J.A.J., C.F.R., B.S., and S.P. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1412835111/-/DCSupplemental.MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of meddling in FIFA’s affairs and hinted that it was part of an attempt to take the 2018 World Cup away from his country.
[np_storybar title=”Scott Stinson: FIFA probes could finally bring about a richly deserved reckoning” link=”http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/soccer/fifa-probes-could-bring-about-a-richly-deserved-reckoning-for-an-embarrassing-scandalous-enterprise”%5D%5B/np_storybar%5D
Putin said in televised comments Thursday that he found it “odd” that the probe was launched at the request of U.S. officials for crimes which do not involve its citizens and did not happen in the United States.
Corruption charges in the U.S. were announced Wednesday against 14 people, with at least two of them holding American citizenship. Seven of the 14 were arrested Wednesday morning in Zurich ahead of a FIFA meeting and Friday’s presidential election in which Sepp Blatter is expected to win a fifth term.
In a separate probe, Swiss prosecutors opened criminal proceedings into FIFA’s awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.
Putin said even if “someone has done something wrong,” Russia “has nothing to do with it.” He then tried to portray the probe as a U.S. attempt to go after dissenters, likening the case to the persecution of whistleblowers Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.
“Our American counterparts, unfortunately, are using the same methods to reach their goals and illegally persecute people. I don’t rule out that this is the case in relation to FIFA,” Putin said. “I have no doubt that this is yet another evident attempt to derail Mr. Blatter’s re-election as FIFA president. We are aware of the pressure that he was subjected to in relation to Russia holding the 2018 World Cup.”
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who is also a FIFA executive committee member and is in Zurich for the governing body’s congress and presidential election, said Wednesday that his country welcomes the investigation.A far-right activist's shocking rant on Channel 4 News has caused outrage among viewers.
Former BNP member Jack Buckby told student Barbara Ntumy 'I hope you don't get raped' while debating the issue of whether Britain should allow more Syrian refugees into the country.
The activist, who stood in the by-election for murdered MP Jo Cox's seat last year, was discussing the 'alt-right' with the member of the National Union of Students Black Students' Campaign.
Former BNP member Jack Buckby told student Barbara Ntumy 'I hope you don't get raped' while debating the issue of whether Britain should allow more Syrian refugees into the country
Buckby produced a refugee application form and said: 'You know what, put your money where your mouth is – Syrian refugees application form.
'Take one home, take in a Syrian refugee. I hope you don't get raped.'
There were gasps in the studio and the comment seemed to anger many on social media as well.
Jennifer McGee wrote: 'Jack Buckby is vile watching #channel4news on +1 and shocked at hearing him say "I hope you don't get raped" talking about Syrian refugees.'
Another user posted: 'Literally cannot believe what I've just seen, did he just say "i hope you don't get raped" on national live tv what the fuck channel 4 news'
Rhammel Afflick said: 'Jack Buckby honestly said "take in a Syrian refugee, I hope you don't get raped".... sorry?'
The activist, who stood in the by-election for murdered MP Jo Cox's seat last year, was discussing the 'alt-right' with the member of the National Union of Students Black Students' Campaign
There were gasps in the studio and the comment seemed to anger many on social media as well
He made the shocking remark after saying that he wanted to deport 'people who are drain on society'.
But when Ntumy responded 'who gets to decide who is a drain on society', Buckby accused her of 'faux outrage'.
Bucky stood in the Batley and Span by-election for anti-imkigration Liberty GB – despite all major political parties not contesting the seat following Jo Cox's murder by extremist Thomas Mair.FGCU logo (Photo: FGCU)
Florida Gulf Coast University women's soccer head coach Jim Blankenship has announced the addition of graduate transfer Kiana Rugar from Albany. Rugar will have one year of eligibility remaining.
"We are very excited to welcome Kiana to The Nest and the women's soccer family here at FGCU," Blankenship said. "She has proven herself as an excellent college soccer player and she brings valuable experience and leadership qualities to our young 2017 squad. We lost a couple of important attacking pieces with the graduation of our seniors, so when the opportunity to add a player of Kiana's caliber comes along, it was a no-brainer."
The 5-foot-7 senior forward from New Fairfield, Connecticut, leaves the University of Albany as the program's all-time career assist leader and second in career points. As a three-year starter for Albany, Rugar was instrumental in helping the Great Danes capturing back-to-back American East tournament championships in 2015 and 2016, as well as winning the American East regular-season championship in 2016. Last year, she had a team-high six goals and four assists.
Rugar, who will be graduating with a degree in psychology this spring, plans of pursing her masters in environmental studies at FGCU.Jessica Levenson's UpWorthy links us to this YouTube video of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt describing his proposed "Second Bill of Rights, aka an Economic Bill of Rights in 1944, just after his state of the Union, in her article, What This President Said About U.S. Security Needs To Be Tattooed On Every Congressperson's Hand. I found it to be so remarkable and inspiring, poignant, and sad, that I retrieved the full transcript from Wikipedia.
“The Economic Bill of Rights”
Excerpt from President Roosevelt's January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union:[2]
“ It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.
This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.
As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.”[3] People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.
For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.Anish Kapoor named his colossal sculpture Cloud Gate, but everyone in Chicago calls it the Bean. One hundred and ten tons of polished stainless steel, it seems to float above its cement plinth like a visitor from a distant and exciting future. In the five years since it was installed atop the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park, it has become a Chicago icon. It receives more visitors than any destination besides Navy Pier, while voters in a Chicago Reader poll ranked it as the city’s best attraction—ahead of Wrigley field and Lake Michigan. Endlessly photographed, featured in movies and advertisements, lauded by critics and embraced by the public, Cloud Gate has become the city’s chosen mirror and the face it puts forward to the world. It might be the most popular work of contemporary art in America, the one work of abstract post-minimalist sculpture you would take your mom to see. The success of Cloud Gate is especially surprising given the fate of other major works of public art in recent decades, such as Rachel Whiteread’s House and Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc, both of which had to be torn down in the face of public opposition. So what is it about the Bean that makes it so different, so appealing?
As in the best tradition of Renaissance sub-contracting, Kapoor has found a way to please his audience while exalting the interests of his patrons, and the efficacy of his visual rhetoric stems from the elegance of his solution. As an object, Cloud Gate is undeniably seductive, at once monumental and inviting. It is also willfully opaque. From a distance it looks like a droplet of mercury, blown up to immense size. Up close, it becomes clear that the droplet is arched, creating a passageway on an east-west axis, joining the city to Millennium Park and the lake further on. The space above this passageway has been hollowed out, creating a central cavity, which Kapoor describes as an omphalos or navel. From outside, Cloud Gate retains some Pop resonances—balloon, blood cell, mushroom, donut, UFO—while never succumbing to any one of them. Within the central cavity, though, it becomes a total environment, enveloping visitors in a silvery canopy, and at the same time breaching the boundary between sculpture and architecture.
Curved at every point on its surface, Cloud Gate has the appearance of an impossible object, too smooth to be man-made and too eccentric to come from nature. It barely touches the ground, creating an illusion of uncanny lightness. The mismatch between its exterior and interior—the curving outer surface seemingly sustained by surface tension; the inside, apparently collapsing into a void—also creates a paradoxical effect, pitting internal cohesion against a vacuum. But Cloud Gate’s most spectacular effect has more to do with its skin than its form. Before it was unveiled, all of Cloud Gate’s rivets and sutures were painstakingly sanded away according to Kapoor’s instructions to “remove all traces of the hand.” As a result, the entire surface, polished to a silvery sheen, functions as one unbroken fun-house mirror, reflecting both passersby and the Chicago skyline in similar degrees of distortion while bringing them into a shared visual plane. It’s a surprisingly intimate illusion, causing sky, city and citizenry to meet in the same impossible space.
In the right weather conditions the sculpture seems to vanish in the camouflage of its reflected surroundings. At moments like this, Cloud Gate becomes most fully itself: a dematerialized, disembodied object without mass or substance. It is part Pop symbol and part ineffable, desirable thing, the very image of what Zygmunt Bauman calls “liquid modernity.”
•
Cloud Gate’s mirrored surface works in two ways: it makes the sculpture seem weightless while transforming its skin into a screen. Although its shape has a genetic connection to Constantin Brancusi’s elegant form-making, this emphasis on skin over volume has more in common with trends in contemporary architecture and product design. In some ways, Cloud Gate seems like a compilation of the hallmark gestures of today’s most prominent architects, the leaders in what the critic Hal Foster has termed the “global style” in architecture. Its silver skin quotes Frank Gehry’s trademark titanium cladding, and its central void recalls his buildings’ neo-Baroque swirls. Its swooping silhouette also brings to mind Norman Foster’s penchant for big, basic shapes—the translucent domes, shimmering pyramids and shiny gherkins his firm has erected everywhere from Boston to Kazakhstan. Finally, its use of mirrors and concealed supports echoes Renzo Piano’s concern with light construction and Foster’s preoccupation with transparency. Such associations are all the more insistent given Cloud Gate’s position in Millennium Park between Gehry’s Pritzker Pavilion and Piano’s Modern Wing of the Art institute.
But however much it shares in the reigning idiom of neo-modern architecture, Cloud Gatealso draws on the language of industrial design. Not that the two are opposed—both disciplines rely on the same values of lightness, sleekness and transparency to imbue their works with the gleam of the now. No company has been able to make better use of this look than Apple. Apple’s flagship stores, with their translucent walls and staircases, promise a dream of boundless access and unmediated vision, while its products are designed to enclose a maximum of computing power in a minimum fold of material. [1] Their curved surfaces and invisible seams obscure the human work that went into their production (Kapoor’s “traces of the hand”), making them seem as if they emerged fully-formed out of a technological nursery. At their best, Apple products seem weightless; they become pure gateways, offering access without boundaries and memory without mass. For the moment they remain unsurpassed as material embodiments of the idea of the digital commodity. And isn’t Cloud Gate something similar, writ large? It translates the language of connectivity and distributed com- puting—present in its very name—into a visual rhetoric of techno-futurity and civic self-confidence, the perfect monument for the age of the iPod.
Cloud Gate is product as advertisement, and its message is the same as the one conveyed by the rest of Millennium Park, which in essence is this: we are not Detroit. Both proclaim that Chicago is not a dying Rust Belt city, but a nexus in the circulation of global capital. Naturally this involves a bit of obfuscation and bluster. Millennium Park enacts this effacement quite literally: it is built over the old Illinois Central Rail yard, which it conceals under acres of expensively engineered garden. Every available inch is given over to corporate sponsorship. You can take a stroll from the Boeing Gallery to the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink, past the AT&T Plaza, through the Chase Bank Promenade and on through the Exelon Pavilions to the McDonald’s Cycle Center and the British Petroleum Bridge. The buildings in the park create a strange impression. They range from the superb (Piano’s Museum extension) to the self-derivative (Gehry’s Pritzker Pavilion) to the hopeless (Gehry’s BP Bridge), but as an ensemble they seem out of proportion to each other and to the rest of the city, as if a collection of architectural bonsai has been arranged in the world’s largest sculpture garden.
Here a comparison with Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc might be in order. A curving wall made out of a single piece of raw steel, 12 feet high and 120 feet long, it was installed in the middle of New York’s Federal Plaza in 1981. Slightly tilted, the wall bisected the plaza, forcing workers in the surrounding office buildings to navigate around it. From the outset, Tilted Arc became a magnet for free-floating social anxiety. Its critics accused it of attracting graffiti and rats, and imagined that it might be used as a shelter for terrorists intent on attacking the New York County Clerk’s office. (Objections were also raised about its cost, though at $175,000, it seems quaint compared to the $24 million spent on Cloud Gate). After years of litigation, it was finally removed in 1989.
Even with the passage of time, the depth of this hostility remains puz- zling. After all, Tilted Arc was no more abstract or monumental than Cloud Gate. But the message or effect of Serra’s work is almost the antithesis of Kapoor’s. Kapoor’s work privileges virtual experience, while Serra’s insists on sensual immediacy. You photograph yourself in the reflection of the surface Kapoor creates; you plunge bodily into Serra’s tunnels. [2] Cloud Gate is about lightness and futurity; Tilted Arc was about gravity and weight, the way the steel wall met the ground and the way it served as its own support. One work seems to have touched down in Chicago out of the sky, while the other burrowed into a particular site. Cloud Gate, designed to obscure the process that went into its manufacture, looks impossibly new. Fashioned out of COR-TEN steel, Tilted Arc looked like it came straight out of the blast furnace and quickly developed a patina of orange rust. Whereas Cloud Gate’s skin conceals its structure (a hidden armature of giant rings supports the steel surface), Tilted Arc insists on structure as form. In short: Tilted Arc adopts the procedures of industry, while Cloud Gate speaks the language of the post-industrial economy.
Let me suggest, then, that this is the underlying reason for the opposition to Tilted Arc. Kapoor’s work, in its lightness and smoothness and breezy populism, figures the frictionless movement of money and ideas which is the promise of the digital economy. Serra’s work, with its hard tectonics and insistence on place, remains rooted in the world of things made by people in physical space. The real anxieties surrounding Tilted Arc had very little to do with vermin and urban blight, and everything to do with the unease engendered by what is perceived as an outmoded socio-economic order. Tilted Arc revealed what Cloud Gate and Millennium Park were built to efface, and that is why it had to be torn down. [3]
Kapoor doesn’t privilege the site or demystify structure. he doesn’t do any of the things post-minimalist sculpture was supposed to do in the days when it seemed to be playing an endgame with history. So what? Cloud Gate is a hit. People love it. It’s glamorous and strange and silly. It manages to stay aloof while entertaining a crowd. But what does this brilliant bauble mean in the center of a bankrupt city? And isn’t there something unseemly about being asked, so insistently, to enjoy?
One of the things Cloud Gate’s brilliant surface makes it easy to forget is that it isn’t just a mirror or a void or a gate. It’s also a triumphal arch, and like the rest of Millennium Park, the triumph it celebrates is the triumph of Daleyism—that particular blend of hereditary democracy, crony capitalism and corporate welfare that is Chicago’s gift to the world. It’s the voice of a hollowed-out liberalism, reduced to a nub of empty rhetoric, that celebrates community even as it forces the privatization of public goods, embraces education while shutting down schools, and exalts the middle class as it undermines unions. To the world, Cloud Gate says that Chicago is a city of the future. Under its breath, it whispers who that future is really for.
And this, finally, is the truth Cloud Gate’s quicksilver skin was engineered to deny: that they took our city from us, perverted our ideals, and in return, asked us to wish on a magic bean.Sporting a surprisingly bright, lovely green coma Comet 252P/Linear poses next to the Large Magellanic Cloud in this southern skyscape. The stack of telephoto exposures was captured on March 16 from Penwortham, South Australia. Recognized as a Jupiter family periodic comet, 252P/Linear will come close to our fair planet on March 21, passing a mere 5.3 million kilometers away. That's about 14 times the Earth-Moon distance. In fact, it is one of two comets that will make remarkably close approaches in the next few days as a much fainter Comet Pan-STARRS (P/2016 BA14) comes within 3.5 million kilometers (9 times the Earth-Moon distance) on March 22. The two have extremely similar orbits, suggesting they may have originally been part of the same comet. Sweeping quickly across the sky because of their proximity to Earth, both comets will soon move into northern skies. ORG XMIT: C1qC60dTsLU_ZWPceQXv [Via MerlinFTP Drop] (Photo: Justin Tilbrook, NASA / Astronomical Society of South Australia)
An emerald-green comet will brush the Earth Monday, followed one day later by a kissing cousin that will swerve closer to the planet than any other comet in nearly 250 years.
The first and bigger of the two comets will be visible Monday to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere, as long as city lights are far away. Stargazers in the United States will probably need only binoculars to see the bigger comet in late March. Scientists, however, are bringing out the big guns. The Hubble Space Telescope, the powerful ground-based Gemini telescopes and others will be trained on the celestial visitors, which will provide an extraordinary close-up of objects usually glimpsed only at a distance.
“This is one for the record books,” says Michael Kelley of the University of Maryland, who’s never heard of two comets approaching close to Earth a day apart. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for professionals to learn more about comets, and if you have a chance to try to find them … it’s a fantastic chance to see part of history as it happens.”
The first member of the pair, known as comet 252P/LINEAR, is a bright green color from the carbon gas it’s puffing out, says the University of Maryland’s Matthew Knight. 252P will slide past Earth at a distance of roughly 3 million miles. That’s well beyond the moon but near enough to put 252P in the top 10 of closest-approaching comets.
252P wasn’t expected to get terribly bright, but it has been “surpassing all expectations,” says amateur comet-hunter Michael Mattiazzo of Australia. It may even be visible to the unaided eye in southern hemisphere suburbs where light pollution is low.
Astronomers discovered the trailing member of the pair, P/2016 BA14, a few months ago. It was shrugged off as yet another asteroid, or space rock. Then astronomers peering through a telescope saw it had a tail – and was therefore a comet. That means BA14 and its larger companion “are among the closest comets to pass by Earth in recorded history,” says Knight, who took the first snapshot revealing BA14 is a comet. The only comet known to have skimmed past us at a smaller distance was Lexell’s Comet in 1770.
Scientists aren’t yet sure of the nature of the relationship between 252P and its hanger-on. Perhaps BA14 broke off 252P decades ago. Both comets could be pieces from an even bigger comet, or they could be unrelated. If the upcoming studies show they’re family, they’ll provide an almost unprecedented scientific bonanza.
“Comets split relatively often,” Knight says, “but we rarely get a chance to study them soon after it happens, and when we do usually only the bigger fragment survives. …We have two fragments in this case.”
“A lot of things in the sky remain immobile,” says Bob King, an amateur astronomer and Sky & Telescope blogger. But anyone looking at 252P through a telescope when it’s very near will see it move, he says. “You feel a little, ‘Whoa, the solar system is closer than I thought.’… It really is a thrill.”
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1pyWhefNothing has more impact on sailors' careers than their evaluations. Good marks and they move up, bad marks and they go home.
Navy officials are tweaking the rules for how the evaluation (enlisted) and fitness report (officer) system works, and everyone will now be graded for fostering a healthy command climate and fighting sexual assault. Skippers and admirals will also be accountable for the conduct and climate of their organization.
The new instruction, dated May 1, in effect and available now. It was announced to the Navy in NavAdmin message 113/15 on May 5.
They factor into the enlisted advancement system for those E-6 and below and are the key documents looked at by selection boards for selecting all grades of chiefs and officers.
And if you are a good sea lawyer and want to read the whole things yourself, you can find it at — http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/instructions/BUPERSInstructions/Pages/default.aspx.
What you need to know:
1.Surveys and skippers. The fitness reports have new standards by which commanding officers will be evaluated, such as command climate surveys. COs are required to conduct one within two months of taking charge, and then at the one year mark and each year after that — and they'll be knocked if they don't get them done.
"Failure to conduct required command assessments is considered a leadership deficiency for grading purposes," said the new instruction, dated May 1.
× Fear of missing out? Fear no longer. Be the first to hear about breaking news, as it happens. You'll get alerts delivered directly to your inbox each time something noteworthy happens in the Military community. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to our Newsletter: Sign up for the Navy Times Daily News Roundup
The new rules also grade them on classified material handling and their sailors' security clearances.
2. Healthy command climate. Everyone from the lowest E-1 to the top admiral will now be graded on helping to foster healthy command climates and fighting sexual harassment.
"For commanding officers, indicate the extent to which they have or have not established a command climate where allegations of sexual assault are properly managed and fairly evaluated," the instruction says.
It also calls for marks on whether victims of any criminal activities feel they "can report the criminal activity without fear of retaliation, including ostracism and group pressure."
The same thing applies for the evaluations of every leader in the command down to the leading petty officer level.
To get high marks in military bearing, even the most junior sailors must "demonstrate how they have cultivated or maintained command climates where improper discrimination of any kind, sexual harassment, sexual assault, hazing and other inappropriate conduct is not tolerated."
3. New rules for admirals. It's lonely at the top. Admirals are going to start being evaluated for the attitudes they foster at their commands, including integrity, accepting responsibility for subordinates' actions and "undertaking necessary action," though the instruction doesn't give examples of this.
4. The same language. Because more reservists are pulling duty, from drills to orders that can cover years, it's important that reserves and active-duty speak the same language in evaluations and fitness reports. Reservists on any type of active-duty must now receive concurrent reports from the active duty command with which they're serving..
5. Be honest. The evaluation system depends on evaluators, from work center supervisors to COs, accurately depicting their subordinate's performance.
But the success and failure of the system relies on the individual evaluators from work center supervisors up to the commanding officer.
"If you don't think someone is measuring up, you need to be brutally honest and upfront with those people, because one poor evaluation is not going to make or break someone's career," said Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Bill Moran.Week 2, The Spread Will Save the Seahawks, Exactly Like It Did Last Season
Okay, so you know when you put that swear jar out and you told yourself every time you swore you would put a quarter in the jar and then, one day, you would be able to buy yourself a new flat screen TV? Well, congratulations, after Sunday’s game, you’ve earned yourself a month-long, Price Is Right-esque European vacation highlighted by a week in Paris, a weekend in Venice, and the running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain—all because the Seahawks lost in the most gut-wrenching way possible. Remember when the Nazis faces melted off during Raiders of the Lost Ark? That is my sense-memory of this game. It was traumatic. Like, Saturday night, I went to bed after seeing the girl I liked cuddling on the couch with another guy, had a text conversation with her the next morning where she told me if we dated she would do it again and I should get used to it, but still the worst thing that happened to me this weekend took place exclusively on Sunday between 1:00PM – |
27
1: Gargoyle's Gift (Sp) sanctuary 3/day, shatter 2/day, or vampiric touch 1/day
2: Glutton's Feast (Sp) You can cast heroes’ feast once per day. The food created by this effect consists of raw or rotting meat and rancid milk. Those who partake of this feast consume their food shockingly fast, as if they were starving—it takes only 1 minute to gain the effects of this spell. Nonworshipers of Xoveron must make a Fortitude save (16 + your Charisma modifier) to avoid being sickened by the feast for 6 hours (though all other benefits of the feast still apply). This ability is the equivalent of a 7th-level spell.
3: Death-Stealing Gaze (Su) You gain the death-stealing gaze ability of a nabasu (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 64). You can activate this ability as a free action, and can use it for up to 3 rounds per day plus an additional number of rounds equal to your Constitution bonus—these rounds need not be consecutive. The saving throw to resist this gaze is equal to 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Charisma modifier. Nabasu demons who gain this boon can use their death-stealing gaze at will, regardless of their total number of growth points. Boons - Fiendish Obedience Evangelist Source Book of the Damned pg. 102
1: Master of Desolation (Sp) detect secret doors 3/day, soften earth and stone 2/day, or meld into stone 1/day
2: Ruinwalker (Sp) The Horned Prince is master of all ruins, and his blessing lets you flash instantly from place to place in such desolate areas. You can cast dimension door (self only) as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to your Hit Dice. Both the start and end point of your teleportation must be within a single continuous area of ruins terrain, such as an ancient dungeon or catastrophe-wracked city. Whether a given area constitutes ruins terrain is decided at the GM’s discretion.
3: Wake the Ruined Realm (Sp) At your bidding, the remains of ancient civilizations and shattered cities rise up to destroy your foes. Once per day as a standard action, you can cause a Large stone statue within 30 feet to animate as a stone golem. The golem obeys your commands and remains active for up to 1 hour. If the stone statue you target is a statue of Xoveron, the resulting stone golem gains the advanced creature template. Exalted Source Book of the Damned pg. 102
1: Gargoyle’s Gift (Sp) sanctuary 3/day, shatter 2/day, or vampiric touch 1/day
2: Glutton’s Feast (Sp) You can cast heroes’ feast once per day as a spell-like ability. The food created by this effect consists of rancid milk and raw or rotting meat. Those who partake of this feast consume their food shockingly fast, as if they were starving—it takes only 1 minute to gain the benefits of this spell. Those who don’t worship Xoveron must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 16 + your Charisma modifier) or be sickened by the feast for 6 hours (though all other benefits of the feast still apply).
3: Death-Stealing Gaze (Su) You gain the death-stealing gaze ability of a nabasu. You can activate this ability as a free action and use it for up to 3 rounds per day plus a number of additional rounds equal to your Constitution modifier—these rounds need not be consecutive, but they must be used in 1-round increments. All living creatures within 30 feet of you when your death-stealing gaze is active must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + half your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier) or gain a negative level. A humanoid slain in this manner immediately transforms into a ghoul under your control. You can create only one ghoul in this manner per round. If multiple humanoids die from this ability simultaneously, you choose which of them rises as a ghoul. Nabasu demons that gain this boon can instead use their death-stealing gaze at will, regardless of their total number of growth points. Sentinel Source Book of the Damned pg. 102
1: Gargoyle Magic (Sp) stone fist 3/day, protection from arrows 2/day, or fly 1/day
2: Idol of Desolation (Sp) You can take on the strength of stone without sacrificing your awareness to temporarily become a sentinel of stone. You can cast statue as a spell-like ability once per day.
3: Sculptor’s Strike (Su) The strike of your weapons causes a specified foe to calcify and harden into stone, bit by bit, eventually transforming that enemy into a favored child of Xoveron. To use sculptor’s strike, you must first designate a foe in sight within 30 feet as a standard action. Once you’ve designated the foe, whenever you deal damage to that creature with a melee weapon (including unarmed strikes and natural weapons), the creature takes 1d6 points of Dexterity drain in addition to the normal damage. If the target succeeds at a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + half your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier) this drain is reduced to 1 point. A creature drained to 0 Dexterity in this way is permanently transformed into a gargoyle (as per polymorph any object, except no Fortitude save is allowed) and must succeed at a Will save (using this ability’s DC) or have its mind also become that of a gargoyle (as per baleful polymorph). When a creature is transformed in this way, all Dexterity drain caused by this effect is instantly healed and the creature’s hit points are fully restored. The mental change can be reversed by any effect that removes curses, but the physical transformation can only be reversed by miracle or wish. You can activate sculptor’s strike once per day to designate a foe, but once you’ve done so, that foe remains susceptible to your ability until you or it is slain. If you designate a different foe on a later day, any previously designated foe is no longer designated and can no longer be affected by this ability (unless you designate it once again at a later date). For Followers of Xoveron Feats Channel Discord Magic Items - Wondrous Items Dagon's Eye Traits Demonic Persuasion
CEDemon LordsGargoyles, gluttony, ruinsRanseur5-horned gargoyle skullBoarBlack, brownPerch atop a high outcrop and look out over the surrounding terrain. If the outcrop is in an uninhabited area, you need do nothing more but wait for an hour, but if the outcrop is in an inhabited area (such as a city), no passersby should realize you are a living thing—any who do must be slain before the hour’s end. Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against effects that cause sickness, nausea, fatigue, or exhaustion.3/day,2/day, or1/dayYou can castonce per day. The food created by this effect consists of raw or rotting meat and rancid milk. Those who partake of this feast consume their food shockingly fast, as if they were starving—it takes only 1 minute to gain the effects of this spell. Nonworshipers of Xoveron must make a Fortitude save (16 + your Charisma modifier) to avoid being sickened by the feast for 6 hours (though all other benefits of the feast still apply). This ability is the equivalent of a 7th-level spell.You gain the death-stealing gaze ability of a nabasu (64). You can activate this ability as a free action, and can use it for up to 3 rounds per day plus an additional number of rounds equal to your Constitution bonus—these rounds need not be consecutive. The saving throw to resist this gaze is equal to 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Charisma modifier. Nabasu demons who gain this boon can use their death-stealing gaze at will, regardless of their total number of growth points.3/day,2/day, or1/dayThe Horned Prince is master of all ruins, and his blessing lets you flash instantly from place to place in such desolate areas. You can cast(self only) as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to your Hit Dice. Both the start and end point of your teleportation must be within a single continuous area of ruins terrain, such as an ancient dungeon or catastrophe-wracked city. Whether a given area constitutes ruins terrain is decided at the GM’s discretion.At your bidding, the remains of ancient civilizations and shattered cities rise up to destroy your foes. Once per day as a standard action, you can cause a Large stone statue within 30 feet to animate as a stone golem. The golem obeys your commands and remains active for up to 1 hour. If the stone statue you target is a statue of Xoveron, the resulting stone golem gains the advanced creature template.3/day,2/day, or1/dayYou can castonce per day as a spell-like ability. The food created by this effect consists of rancid milk and raw or rotting meat. Those who partake of this feast consume their food shockingly fast, as if they were starving—it takes only 1 minute to gain the benefits of this spell. Those who don’t worship Xoveron must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 16 + your Charisma modifier) or be sickened by the feast for 6 hours (though all other benefits of the feast still apply).You gain the death-stealing gaze ability of a nabasu. You can activate this ability as a free action and use it for up to 3 rounds per day plus a number of additional rounds equal to your Constitution modifier—these rounds need not be consecutive, but they must be used in 1-round increments. All living creatures within 30 feet of you when your death-stealing gaze is active must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + half your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier) or gain a negative level. A humanoid slain in this manner immediately transforms into a ghoul under your control. You can create only one ghoul in this manner per round. If multiple humanoids die from this ability simultaneously, you choose which of them rises as a ghoul. Nabasu demons that gain this boon can instead use their death-stealing gaze at will, regardless of their total number of growth points.3/day,2/day, or1/dayYou can take on the strength of stone without sacrificing your awareness to temporarily become a sentinel of stone. You can castas a spell-like ability once per day.The strike of your weapons causes a specified foe to calcify and harden into stone, bit by bit, eventually transforming that enemy into a favored child of Xoveron. To use sculptor’s strike, you must first designate a foe in sight within 30 feet as a standard action. Once you’ve designated the foe, whenever you deal damage to that creature with a melee weapon (including unarmed strikes and natural weapons), the creature takes 1d6 points of Dexterity drain in addition to the normal damage. If the target succeeds at a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + half your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier) this drain is reduced to 1 point. A creature drained to 0 Dexterity in this way is permanently transformed into a gargoyle (as per, except no Fortitude save is allowed) and must succeed at a Will save (using this ability’s DC) or have its mind also become that of a gargoyle (as per). When a creature is transformed in this way, all Dexterity drain caused by this effect is instantly healed and the creature’s hit points are fully restored. The mental change can be reversed by any effect that removes curses, but the physical transformation can only be reversed byor. You can activate sculptor’s strike once per day to designate a foe, but once you’ve done so, that foe remains susceptible to your ability until you or it is slain. If you designate a different foe on a later day, any previously designated foe is no longer designated and can no longer be affected by this ability (unless you designate it once again at a later date).By Doug Powers • November 2, 2012 02:31 PM
**Written by Doug Powers
In spite of ongoing major complications in New York City, particularly on Staten Island (as you’ll see in the video below), Mayor Bloomberg is insisting the marathon go on this Sunday as scheduled. To say the least, it isn’t proving to be a popular decision among those who continue to be affected by the storm:
As hundreds of thousands of Big Apple residents suffer in homes left without power by Hurricane Sandy, two massive generators are being run 24/7 in Central Park — to juice a media tent for Sunday’s New York City Marathon. And a third “backup” unit sits idle, in case one of the generators fails. The three diesel-powered generators crank out 800 kilowatts — enough to power 400 homes in ravaged areas like Staten Island, the Rockaways and downtown Manhattan. As of Friday morning, five generators sat outside of the park along with electrical stations and transformers. “I am from Coney Island where everything is flooded and underwater,” Yelena Gomelsky, 65, said. “I live 1 block from the ocean where everything is floating. “[Seeing the generators and water] makes me feel so bad. People have no food, no water, nothing.
According to the NY Post, the generators in question are not city-owned:
The New York Road Runners Club, which organizes the world-famous race, is paying for the generators, which were supplied by Long Island-based On Site Energy for the massive, 80-yard-long tent, which also will be used by runners carbo-loading during a pre-race pasta dinner tomorrow. Neither would say how much the machines cost, but a Fire Department permit revealed a $37,500 fee to run them constantly through Nov. 6. “These are our private generators. We are not draining any resources from the city’s plan to recover,” Road Runners spokesman Richard Finn angrily insisted.
The most intrusive, nanny-statist mayor in the country who never thinks twice about telling everybody else what and where they should eat, drink, smoke, drive or live apparently can’t muster a “hey, Runner’s Club, mind if we push back the race a week and rent those generators from you to assist in alleviating some storm-related human suffering?”
Some runners will volunteer for relief efforts instead of competing in the race. Bloomberg has already done his part to help storm victims by shamelessly pimping for Al Gore, so it’s on to the marathon — and then maybe Bermuda.
The day of the storm, the New York Times wrote in an editorial that a “Big Storm Requires Big Government.” We have a big government, and then some. That doesn’t seem to be working out very well so far for these people:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Chuck Schumer: “I know what you’re going through, sweetheart.”
Meanwhile, over the weekend I doubt we’ll hear President Obama bragging too much about getting Bloomberg’s endorsement yesterday.
Update: The marathon this year has been canceled. It’s hard to believe the race was still under consideration for such a long time. Look for Bloomberg to blame climate change for the length of his indecision.
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBeclick to enlarge Foxx is staking her campaign on the notion that marginalized people deserve a say in how the system treats them.
Jeffrey Marini
Eating kale chips in a downtown tea shop after a day of campaigning, Kim Foxx described the overhaul she wants to give the Cook County State's Attorney's Office if she wins the March 15 Democratic primary election against two-term incumbent Anita Alvarez, then the general election in November. Her plan for the 900-attorney office, which oversees and prosecutes everything from juvenile justice to drug and gang crimes to robberies and murders, ranges from prosecuting police misconduct charges more vigorously to keeping fewer nonviolent offenders in jail. Some of these changes, I suggest, sound radical. She pondered on the word for a moment, then smiled. "Let's go with 'transformative.' " Whatever the proper adjective, Foxx, a 43-year-old former assistant state's attorney, chief of staff to Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle, and Alvarez's leading challenger, wants to end what she has called "the tough-on-crime boogeyman approach" to criminal justice that has led to a massive increase in the number of people, particularly blacks and Latinos, ensnared in the system "without making our communities safer." Her campaign comes at a time of crisis for Alvarez and Chicago's criminal justice system as a whole. The death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, caught on video in October 2014 and released to the public last November, brought international attention to a police department long plagued by accusations of brutality and racism. The incident eventually prompted Mayor Rahm Emanuel to fire police superintendent Garry McCarthy and appoint a new leader for the Independent Police Review Authority as he tried to head off calls for his own resignation. Alvarez, whose office has the ability to prosecute police accused of misconduct, was heavily criticized for waiting 13 months before bringing first-degree murder charges against officer Jason Van Dyke, who fatally shot the black teenager 16 times. As protesters in Chicago and around the country decry high-profile police killings of blacks and racial inequities in imprisonment and sentencing, Foxx has emerged as a serious contender who speaks to many of their concerns—based in part on her upbringing in the kind of poor African-American communities that many say have been failed by the criminal justice system. Raised in poverty by a single mother in Chicago's public housing projects and, at one point, in homeless shelters, she says she is committed to a shift away from the punitive style of policing and prosecuting that has helped produce an era of mass incarceration. "You cannot look at the criminal justice system in a vacuum. We need a broader and more holistic view of how we prevent crime and how we keep communities safer," a view to which the state's attorney must be held accountable, she says. "The public has to hold feet to the fire on these issues. And Anita Alvarez's feet have not been held to the fire."
click to enlarge Foxx, pictured in this campaign video still as a young adult, lived with her mother and brother in the Cabrini Green public housing complex until
she was eight years old.
she was eight years old. Courtesy of Kim Foxx
A kid in Cabrini Green Foxx is tall and slender, with straight black hair falling just below her shoulders. She has an unforced, conversational tone in interviews and a relaxed air at public events; if she dislikes shaking hands and working a room, she doesn't show it. She speaks freely of her childhood in Chicago, and with good reason: her biography is the stuff of pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps legends. Foxx's mother, Gennell Wilson, had already given birth to a son, Stephen Anderson, while in high school. She dropped out in 1972, her senior year, after daughter Kim Anderson was born. (Foxx is her married name.) Wilson raised her two children on the eighth floor of a building in the Cabrini Green public housing complex until Foxx was eight years old, mostly without her children's father. "He just wasn't around," says Anderson, who eventually went on to study acting at Juilliard and is now a successful commercial actor. (He appeared in a Superman-themed Turkish Airlines commercial during this year's Super Bowl.) "[Our father] would reach out for the holidays or birthdays, but there wasn't a day-in, day-out relationship." Anderson remembers his mother sitting him down several times and saying, "I'm sorry you don't have a father. But I'm doing the best I can." The absence of their father was mitigated by an otherwise tight-knit community. Nearly their entire extended family, including aunts, cousins, and their maternal grandmother, lived in the projects with them. But the rest of the world seemed remote. "We were really isolated—our entire world was this island," Anderson says. "We didn't know too much about the outside neighborhoods. Even going to Jewel, at Clark and Division, was an extraordinary event." That island was further isolated by segregation. "We saw them on television, but we never actually thought we would know white people," Anderson says. Cabrini Green became synonymous in those years with crippling poverty and extreme violence. Fear often hung thick in the air. Foxx remembers a group of Cabrini residents gathering in an apartment to watch the premiere of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on MTV. They giddily discussed the video afterwards—until shots rang out from another floor of the building. "Our high of watching this Michael Jackson video was crushed by [shouts of] 'Everybody get in the back!' " Foxx recalls. Wilson eventually decided the family had to leave. She had resolved to live somewhere in Old Town or Lincoln Park—anywhere, as long as it was within the boundaries of the LaSalle Language Academy magnet school. The move was unprecedented. "No one in our family had a history of getting out of Cabrini Green," Anderson says. "There was no script for that." But the family could barely afford to stay in the area. Often unable to make rent or seeking cheaper accommodations, the family moved constantly—five times between third and eighth grade, Foxx says. She recalled a recent driving tour of her old apartments that she gave her younger daughter, in which she recounted stories of her family's deprivations. Because her mother's income was limited, some of the apartments lacked refrigerators or stoves. Unable to afford enough bedrooms for everyone, her mother sometimes slept on the couch. Foxx remembers one apartment at North and Larrabee as "so roach infested it was awful." But Wilson managed to keep the family within the boundaries of LaSalle, and then, when the kids were old enough, Lincoln Park High School. During this time Wilson took jobs as a telephone operator, a Better Business Bureau agent, and a waitress, finally securing a position as a communicable disease investigator for the city's Department of Public Health, Anderson says. Wilson got that job, Foxx says, by lying about her qualifications, telling the city she had earned an associate's degree despite dropping out of high school—a lie that would come back to haunt both Wilson and Foxx years later. The position was a "good city job," Foxx remembers, and the family's finances stabilized. But during her junior year of high school, a confrontation between Wilson and a coworker led to her being suspended for six weeks without pay. Wilson, who has since died, was already living paycheck to paycheck; the suspension forced the family into homelessness. Anderson refers to that period—the first time that he and his sister had ever lived apart—as "the horror." Wilson and her children first stayed with friends and family, then Anderson moved in with a friend while Foxx and her mother rotated through a series of friends' and family's houses and north-side homeless shelters. Although the suspension lasted just six weeks, it took the family six months to save up enough money for a security deposit and first month's rent for a new apartment. Foxx contributed too. She had worked since her sophomore year at the now-closed Color Me Coffee in Lakeview (she paused from telling this story to claim hipster cred for being a barista "before it was a thing"). While she and her mother lived in shelters, Foxx put her wages "into the kitty" to help pull the family out of homelessness. Both Anderson and Foxx now say they look back on their mother's sacrifices with a sense of awe. But one night, when Foxx and her mother were living in a Salvation Army shelter, the frustrations of poverty won out over such gratitude. Foxx wanted to go to a friend's birthday party. The shelter, however, required her to be in for dinner. Her frustration at months of homelessness finally boiled over. She flew into what she now calls a "teenage rage," screaming at her mother about how tired she was of the family's predicament. She stormed out of the shelter, determined to find housing somewhere else. Later that night, Foxx received a call from a north-side hospital. Her mother had been found unconscious on a bench in Lincoln Park after attempting suicide by swallowing a large number of pills. Foxx was devastated. She visited her in the hospital the next day and was shocked to see her mother, sitting in her hospital bed, so vulnerable. "She told me they took her shoelaces. And I didn't get it. She said, 'They think I'm going to hurt myself with my shoelaces.' " "Her having to explain to me that she seriously attempted to end her life... " Foxx trailed off, brushing away a tear. "I was like, 'Wait a minute—did you just try to leave me?' " Foxx had been unaware of her mother's own frailties. "This is a woman who was, despite everything, a model of strength for me," Foxx recalls. Those frailties surfaced few times in Foxx's life, but they reemerged around 2011 when, after a decade and a half of work in law and politics, she began weighing a run against Alvarez. As she mulled her options, she encountered opposition from an unlikely source: her mother. Wilson became terrified of what opposition researchers for Foxx's opponent might find about her—most seriously, the fact that she had lied about holding an associate's degree. " 'Kim's gonna get me fired! They're gonna dig up all this dirt on me!' " Foxx remembers her saying. Wilson may have feared she would be forced back into a homeless shelter. "She called me selfish," Foxx recalls. "She threw everything but the kitchen sink at me to convince me." Eventually, Foxx acquiesced to her mother's fears and chose not to run. Her desire to reform the criminal justice system was strong, but her desire to protect her mother proved stronger.
Foxx, pictured in 2010 during her time time as a Cook County assistant state’s attorney, comforts Esperanza Medina, the victim of an acid attack.
Dom Najolia/Chicago Sun-Times
A prosecutor—and a survivor Foxx's upbringing makes for a compelling story in ads and speeches—one recent TV spot features her daughter, Kendall, reciting the Lord's Prayer, while Foxx recalls her mother's ritual of putting her and her brother into the bathtub whenever gunshots rang out in Cabrini Green. But these highly personal stories also seem like her natural frame of reference. Speaking at the City Club on February 18, Foxx recalled the horror she felt after hearing that her mother had repeated this ritual when her own children visited their grandmother in Englewood one New Year's Eve. Gunshots and fireworks rang out, and Wilson couldn't tell which was which. The two little girls went into the tub. "My experience was being repeated with this generation," Foxx said. When asked about the scandal over false confessions from mostly black men in Chicago that drew national headlines in 2012, Foxx immediately recalled a high school classmate who she says spent years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. But she also believes that there are victims and there are perpetrators—and perpetrators need to be punished. For example, Foxx used to fear for her grandmother's safety as she walked to a Washington Park currency exchange to pay her bills. "I don't want to worry about someone knocking down my grandmother and taking her money order," she told me. "I don't want people afraid to send their children outside. I don't want elderly people afraid to walk to the grocery store." While she aims to ensure that young black and Latino men are not being unjustly incarcerated, she also wants "to make sure that people aren't being victimized. We can care about both." To a young Foxx, those dual concerns seemed embedded in the legal system—at least under the right circumstances and in the right hands. And from an early age, Foxx's family felt certain that she was destined to become a lawyer. "Kim was the mediator, the litigator," Anderson recalls. "She wasn't bossy, she just had the wherewithal. She was that girl." For years, Foxx has said, her mother introduced her to strangers by saying, in essence, This is Kim, she's going to be a lawyer. And Foxx internalized her mother's vision, setting out to make this delicate balance of protection and prosecution her life's work. Foxx attended Southern Illinois University, studying political science—and sending portions of her financial aid checks back home to her mother. She attended law school there too, and there met her husband, Kelley Foxx. They have two daughters, Kendall, 10, and Kai, 13. After a brief stint doing insurance defense for Cigna, Foxx landed a job at the Cook County Public Guardian's office, the agency tasked with representing vulnerable children and adults. Foxx was an assistant public guardian, representing children in custody struggles or in foster care cases alongside public defenders, who represent parents, and the state's attorney's office, which prosecutes parents. Many of the children who came through Foxx's door were victims of sexual or physical abuse, or had parents who were incarcerated or addicted to drugs. "These kids' conditions read like my life," she told the City Club.
"What would have happened to me at age eight if someone had said to me, 'This isn’t your fault. You can recover from this. This does not define you'?" —Kim Foxx
That's because Foxx was also sexually assaulted as a child. Starting at age five she was abused by a teenage family member over a period of several years. Foxx says the matter was "dealt with internally." (In an October interview with Chicago magazine, she said, "My mother beat the [daylights out] of him.") Another time, at age seven, she was raped by two older boys while walking home from school. Through working with abused and neglected children in the foster care system, Foxx says, she was finally able to talk openly about that aspect of her own history. Hearing her clients' stories helped her realize that discussing her own traumatic experiences could help both her and the children she represented. "What would have happened to me at age eight if someone had said to me, 'This isn't your fault. You can recover from this. This does not define you'?" she asked. "It gave me a chance to deal with my own issues and advocate for them more zealously." Foxx spent three years as an assistant public guardian before moving to the state's attorney's office, first under Richard Devine, then later under Alvarez, where she continued to work with juveniles. She quickly realized that many of the foster children she represented through the guardian's office ended up in juvenile detention only a short time later. The experience made her think about how to stem the flow of juveniles from foster care into the criminal courts. "If we don't intervene, we are guaranteeing ourselves to see you down the line," she told Internet radio host Ria Rai Harris of The Straight No Chaser in February. Foxx spent 12 years as an assistant state's attorney, prosecuting child abuse. She says she prosecuted sex crimes and became an expert on prosecuting shaken baby syndrome. But she eventually found the "hopelessness" of much of her work suffocating. Foxx was then recruited to Preckwinkle's office, where she eventually became chief of staff. She was drawn to work with Preckwinkle, she says, because of the county president's attempts to reform the criminal justice system and its vast racial disparities. Foxx speaks frequently of the Cook County jail's overwhelmingly black and Latino population. ("Eighty-six percent." She repeats the number twice. "What are we doing?") She also decries the jail's use as a "warehouse" for those suffering from mental health issues. "How dare you cut mental health services," Foxx said at a candidates' forum at Chicago State University in early February, referring to recent city- and state-level cuts. "Those people are showing up to our jails!... Pigeonholing people into our courtrooms is not a good use of our resources." Both Alvarez and Donna More, the attorney and former state and federal prosecutor also running in the primary, have attacked Foxx over her ties to Preckwinkle. (A $25,000 donation from Preckwinkle's political fund in February 2015 was flagged by the Sun-Times as improperly disclosed; the Illinois State Board of Elections later agreed, and subsequently fined the Foxx campaign. Foxx spokesman Robert Foley said in a statement the campaign disagrees with the ruling.) But Foxx shrugs off the attacks based on her ties to Preckwinkle. "The notion that I'm the insider... " She trails off, laughing. "The things I'm talking about are so far from 'the inside.'" Rather, Foxx is staking her campaign on the notion that marginalized people—people like the kind of person she used to be—deserve a say in how the system treats them. "Those people have to be at the table," she says, "and push the agenda."
click to enlarge A still from a police dashcam video shows officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting Laquan McDonald in October 2014.
Chicago Police Department via AP, File
Campaigning in a post-Laquan McDonald world When Foxx began her campaign in August 2015, two things had changed since the last state's attorney's race three years before: First, her mother had died of lung cancer in 2012, at age 58 (she was buried March 15, just days before the primary), so Foxx no longer had to worry her campaign would cost her mother a job. Second, the nation was mired in a painful and heated debate over police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system. The Laquan McDonald footage, taken from the dashcam of a CPD squad car, would not be released for another three months. But high-profile police killings of African-Americans like Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, had pushed the Black Lives Matter movement into the headlines around the country. And locally, the killing of Rekia Boyd by off-duty officer Dante Servin, the announcement of reparations to be paid to the torture victims of former police commander Jon Burge, and the Guardian's report of a CPD "black site" in Homan Square had made racism and policing a hot-button issue long before the McDonald tape came out. In November, a judge ordered the tape released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request; immediately afterwards, Alvarez announced murder charges against Van Dyke. But 13 months had passed since McDonald's death. Activists flooded the streets, shutting down sections of the Loop and the Magnificent Mile on multiple occasions, including Black Friday. Joined by local and national calls from activists and writers, from Reverend Jesse Jackson to the New York Times op-ed page, protesters demanded the state's attorney's resignation. It was exactly the kind of criminal justice scandal that had led Foxx to run in the first place. She immediately went on the attack, and continues to speak about the case at nearly every public engagement. "What's happened in the Laquan McDonald case is an indicator of a pattern of a lack of prosecutions for this type of misconduct [by] the state's attorney's office," Foxx said during a January debate on WBEZ. She says that if she had been state's attorney, she would not have waited nearly as long to bring charges against Van Dyke as Alvarez did. Foxx is also the only candidate in the state's attorney race calling for an independent prosecutor for every police shooting case, including McDonald's. Because the state's attorney's office's day-to-day work relies on a close relationship with the CPD, "an inherent conflict exists whenever the state's attorney has to prosecute a police-involved shooting," Foxx recently wrote in Crain's Chicago Business. Foxx also opposes mandatory minimums for gun crimes (though she wants stiffer penalties for repeat gun offenders and felons) and says she wants to end the "school-to-prison pipeline," in part by decriminalizing actions she says never should have been considered crimes in the first place, like fighting on school grounds. She suggests she would deal with officer misconduct more aggressively too. DNAinfo Chicago recently reported that 80 percent of CPD squad car dashcams and other recorders "had not been activated or were 'intentionally defeated' by police personnel," leaving the department without potential evidence for some cases. Foxx appeared incredulous that Alvarez has not brought charges against those officers: "To simply say, 'Oh, we have no audio. Oh well... Why are we finding out later, after you have not charged cases, that they are deliberately destroying evidence and you did nothing about it? If you present a case to me where audio or other evidence has been altered, it's my responsibility to do something about you. Because it damages the credibility of the cases and threatens public safety when I don't have my police officers handling evidence in the appropriate way." I asked Foxx if she is worried about opponents of criminal justice reform blocking her agenda. The Fraternal Order of Police, for example, endorsed Alvarez in 2008 and 2012, and has gone to great lengths to protect officers accused of misconduct. In New York last year, police appeared to be in near revolt against Mayor Bill de Blasio over his perceived lack of support.
"I think Foxx knows that the space that we’ve carved out has given her campaign a stable foundation. It made Alvarez’s foundation unstable and made Foxx’s stable." —Timothy Bradford, Black Youth Project 100 organizer
Foxx said she isn't worried. "People have been so cautious in their approach," she said. "And that's how our systems have been allowed to stagnate and become so dysfunctional." As she discusses what she sees as that dysfunction, Foxx uses the rhetoric of the social movements demanding racial justice and police accountability. She can talk at length about the Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates (she says his article on reparations that cites Chicago's history of racist housing practices was revelatory for her) and the effect of Michelle Alexander's best seller The New Jim Crow on both her views of race and mass incarceration and the national discussion around them. Although Foxx's camp says she has not actively courted support from groups like Black Lives Matter, the day before we spoke, Foxx met with Martinez Sutton, the brother of Rekia Boyd. He attends nearly every Chicago Police Board meeting to speak out about his sister's killing. "He refuses to allow it to go away," Foxx says. "The unrelenting pressure that [he and other activists] have put on the CPD |
month, Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, ticked off violent episodes in Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon, and concluded sarcastically, “A really excellent time to divest ourselves of security assets.”
Mr. Bennett, who opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, might seize on any excuse to undermine the talks. But Israeli officials, and analysts with close ties to the government and security establishment, said the argument also had traction in more mainstream quarters. The deterioration in Iraq, which borders Jordan, has revived concerns about vulnerability on Israel’s eastern flank.
“From the Straits of Gibraltar to the Khyber Pass, it’s very hard to come by a safe and secure area,” Mr. Netanyahu told reporters here on Thursday. “Peace can be built on hope, but that hope has to be grounded in facts,” he said. “A peace that is not based on truth will crash against the realities of the Middle East.”Arsenal Holdings plc results for the six months ended November 30, 2014
Turnover from football increased to £148.5 million (2013 - £135.9 million) with strong growth in commercial activity driven by the new kit partnership with PUMA.
Significant investment in the squad with a record level of expenditure on player acquisitions (£93.7 million) which has in turn resulted in a higher amortisation and higher wage costs in the profit and loss account.
Profit on sale of player registrations amounted to £26.7 million which was significantly higher than the prior period comparative (2013 - £6.1 million).
Minimal activity during this half year in the Property side of the Group.
Group recorded an overall profit before tax of £11.1 million (2013 – loss of £2.2 million).
The Group has no short-term debt and its cash reserves, excluding the balances designated as debt service reserves, amounted £138.8 million (2013 - £120.6 million).
The liabilities for player acquisitions are in part payable in instalments and transfer creditors rose to £82.8 million (2013 - £37.9 million).
Overall result for the year expected to be fully compliant with all of the requirements of both the Premier League and UEFA financial regulatory regimes.
Click here for the full report
Commenting on the results for the six months, the club’s chairman, Sir Chips Keswick, said:
“Our commitment to investment in the squad was evidenced by a record level of expenditure on players joining the club. Crucially, this investment remains at a level which is consistent with our principle of affordability and which is financially sustainable in accordance with the applicable regulatory regimes. On the field, the team has produced some strong results and the squad is looking fit and better balanced. However, we need to find our best form on a more consistent basis as we approach, what I hope will be, an exciting end to the season.”
The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial information differs from legislation in other jurisdictions."Disturbing", "violent" and "inappropriate". That's one person's view of Dumb Ways to Die and they have urged the ad watchdog to ban the award-winning campaign on the basis it causes alarm and distress to children.
Metro Trains' Dumb Ways to Die has been the darling of the ad industry globally since its launch last year, with success heightened by a record haul of 28 awards at Cannes, following up a bagful of gongs at D&AD, and pretty much every award show of the last few months. And if that wasn't enough, even supermodel Kate Moss recently said the app was her favourite game.
But one local mother didn't agree. She told the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) that its out-of-home executions had "disturbed" her pre-school-aged child and called for them to be removed.
"I am against many of the images in this advertising campaign. They are disturbing and violent images of death/torture/suicide camouflaged behind cute cartoon characters. [They are] inappropriate for public areas where children often view them."
But the ASB didn't agree and dismissed the case. "It was a very unrealistic image and the text referred to situations that were improbable and unlikely to be understood by children," it ruled.
Other cases to be dismissed by the watchdog involved major brands such as Nature's Own 'Bear Grylls' campaign, Kotex's 'Don't Sweat It' sports liners push and Sony with an ad for video game 'The Last of Us'.
But, local magazine Nude Muse wasn't so lucky. The title pulled a transit ad - which showed naked women covering certain areas of their body with objects - after the watchdog ruled it didn't treat sexuality and nudity with sensitivity to its audience, which included children.
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.FCC Boss Takes Aim At Efforts To Bring Broadband To The Poor
from the with-friends-like-these... dept
So we've noted how new FCC boss Ajit Pai has breathlessly claimed that closing the digital divide will be the top priority for his commission. But we've also noted how his actions as FCC boss have run in stark, dramatic contrast to that stated goal. Whether it's making it easier for prison phone monopolies to rip off inmate families, his decision to kill a plan to bring much-needed competition to the cable box, or his attacks on net neutrality, so far Pai has made it painfully clear that protecting AT&T, Comcast and Verizon is actually where his priorities lie.
In the last week Pai took his "love for the poor" to soaring new heights by falsely taking credit for year-old job plans at Charter Communications, and cheering as Congress dismantled consumer privacy protections at large ISP behest. But Pai also took what most analysts believe will be the opening salvo in a war against subsidized broadband service for the poor.
Last year the Wheeler-lead FCC voted to expand the Lifeline program, first created by the Reagan administration and expanded by the Bush administration. Originally, low-income homes received a $9.25 monthly credit that could be used toward wireless or traditional phone service. The 2015 changes not only gave these homes the option to use this money for broadband in an attempt to modernize the fund, but also placed the lion's share of ISP eligibility administration in the hands of the FCC in an attempt, in part, to better police fraud.
A number of states sued over the move, in part because large ISPs (which enjoy even greater regulatory capture on the state level) didn't want the federal government spending money on anything that might improve regional competition. This week, Pai issued a statement saying (pdf) that he would be killing the FCC's legal defense of the 2015 changes, and freezing all federal approval of federal provider eligibility. Why? This power belongs in the hands of the states, not the FCC, claims Pai:
"Congress established our universal service programs as a joint federal-state partnership. And through the years, many states have helped consumers and protected taxpayers by enforcing the rules of the road. As Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) recently observed in introducing bipartisan Lifeline legislation with Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), we need to ‘return the role of state utility commissions in determining Lifeline eligibility. State utility commissions are key to policing against fraud and harmonizing federal and state initiatives that will help us close the digital divide.’ By letting states take the lead on certification as envisioned by Congress, we will strengthen the Lifeline program and put the implementation of last year’s order on a solid legal footing. This will benefit all Americans, including those participating in the program."
On a superficial level Pai does a wonderful job making this all sound perfectly reasonable, obfuscating much of the motivation for the shift as a noble quest to restore states rights (which is what most news coverage will focus on). The problem, again, is that companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon (a former Pai employer) have an absolutely incredible amount of control over state legislatures and regulators. It's a primary reason why more than twenty states have passed laws banning your town or city from upgrading its broadband networks -- even if nobody else will.
Pay-to-play state-level politics is also responsible for the kind of utter shitshows we've seen in states like West Virginia, where state leaders threw millions of dollars in subsidies at companies like Frontier and Verizon, then tried to bury the fact that these companies spent this money on over-priced, un-used hardware and redundant consultants, while doing little to nothing for the benefit of state residents. Tennessee Representative Marsha Blackburn is another perfect example of what state "oversight" of broadband providers looks like.
So yes, there's a reason large ISPs prefer regulatory oversight of these kinds of programs in the hands of the states, and it has absolutely nothing to do with state rights. It has everything to do with ensuring that these funds aren't used in a way that might increase competition, and decrease their bottom lines. It's simply easier, and by proxy cheaper, to accomplish via lobbying on the state level. Especially after Wheeler's FCC did an arguably-good job finally cracking down on fraud in the E-Rate and Lifeline programs (I'll note here that Pai voted against holding AT&T accountable for ripping off the program in 2015).
Granted while this reconfiguration takes place, carriers waiting to learn if they can actually service the poor will be prohibited from doing so. Those growing familiar with the arguably-massive chasm between Pai's words and his actions were quick to cry foul, stating that this is just an attempt to begin applying the death by a thousand cuts "solution" to the program. Others, like consumer advocate and former FCC staffer Gigi Sohn (who, unlike Pai, actually has a reputation for caring about low-income communities) issued fairly clear warnings:
"The Chairman is masterful in using the argument "the FCC lacks legal power" to undercut just about every pro-consumer and pro-competition policy he doesn’t like. He used this excuse recently in declining to defend the FCC rules that lowered prison phone rates, and he will certainly do the same when addressing the FCC’s privacy rules for broadband and, ultimately, its network neutrality rules. I won’t get into the details about how Chairman Pai committed his own process foul by having his Wireline Bureau, in the order revoking the nine Lifeline designations, undercut a legal determination voted on by the full Commission in the Lifeline Modernization Order. Instead, I’ll repeat what should now be obvious – the new FCC majority fundamentally dislikes the Lifeline Program and will seek to weaken it by any means possible."
While Pai's approach is certainly eloquent and clever, the folks that have actually spent years fighting for the poor are quick to note that the claims about state rights are little more than a hollow show pony. Meanwhile, somebody might want to tell Ajit Pai that to be considered a champion of the poor, you need to start by, you know, actually being a champion for the poor.
Filed Under: ajit pai, digital divide, fcc, lifeline, poor, state's rightsBrisbane coach Wayne Bennett is standing firm behind his criticism of Cronulla, sarcastically claiming that former Sharks star Jack Bird must have injured his shoulder while falling out of bed.
The Broncos splashed out $3.5 million to lure Bird their way on a four-year deal, but will be without their star recruit for the opening rounds of the 2018 NRL season after he was forced to undergo a shoulder reconstruction.
Bennett accused Cronulla of not passing on any medical information, and claimed the Sharks told Brisbane that Bird's 2017 end-of-season scan results indicated he did not require an operation for his chronic shoulder problem.
But Bennett said when Bird underwent more scans at the Broncos, it was clear surgery was needed.
The Sharks hit back at those accusations, saying: "The comments made with regards to the Sharks sweeping a player's injury under the carpet are misleading and false."
Bennett brushed aside Cronulla's claims of innocence, and couldn't help but have a sarcastic dig at the Sharks.
"He didn't play any more football after they gave him the clearance," Bennett said of the 22-year-old.
"I'm not sure whether he fell out of bed or not. Maybe that's what happened.
"What I said in the first place - nothing has changed.
"Jack's had the operation and it's much more serious than they thought."
The Sharks said Jack underwent the standard exit medical assessment with the club's medical staff on September 14.
They deemed surgery was not necessary.
Bird then carried the injury into the Prime Minister's XIII annual fixture in Papua New Guinea - while he was still under contract with the Sharks.
"As Jack competed, we assume that the Australian medical staff deemed Jack fit to play," the Sharks said.
The war of words has set the scene for a fiery round 15 Cronulla-Brisbane clash at Shark Park next year.Review: Fred Thomas, 'Changer'
Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify or Apple Music playlist at the bottom of the page.
toggle caption Courtesy of the artist
There's a line on Fred Thomas' last album, 2015's All Are Saved, that perfectly captures his stream-of-consciousness style: "If you see me and I seem too entertaining / I'm not singing, I'm just talking to you." Thomas delivers his songs in a conversational cadence, jamming as much as he can into each line. His sneakily catchy tunes aren't effortless, but it feels as if he's chatting with you on the street — or even talking to himself in the mirror — rather than singing to you from a stage.
Though Thomas has made music since the late '90s, both solo and with his Michigan band Saturday Looks Good To Me, All Are Saved was an artistic and critical breakthrough. After its release, Thomas quit his job, got married, moved from Ann Arbor to Montreal, and began focusing on music full-time. Hence the title of his new album, Changer, and its keen reflections on big decisions and life-altering memories.
Thomas explores the emotions behind those decisions with wry perspective and unsentimental honesty. He's interested in elusive, incomplete feelings — or, as he describes them in "Voiceover," "All those left-behind feelings / Those student-loan feelings / Those DUI feelings / The-phone's-about-to-die feelings." He opens the album with, "There was something I was trying to say / But I kept losing my grip on the slippery meaning," and throughout Changer he chases that meaning, probing his experiences in the hope of figuring them all out.
In "Brickwall," Thomas examines how friends drift with age, waxing nostalgic for an indie-rock era — "Spending your time looking at books about New York from the 1990s / But you know it's not the same anymore" — reflected in his jangly chords. A lament for opportunities lost in "Open Letter" includes a priceless couplet: "Love is always looming, but it's tired of your attention / It feels like an excuse you use to rename old conventions." He's funny, too: In "August Rats, Young Sociopaths," he imagines rats at the end of autumn complaining, "F***, man, can't something be kinda good before it's kinda gone?"
Thomas' rangy musings accompany music that's impressively varied. Some tunes are riffs repeated into mantras; others are sharply crafted melodies that stay with you; some use minimalist electronics to create abstract, wordless atmospheres. Surprising touches add drama: Take the horns during the climax of "Voiceover," the twangy accents of "2008," or the soothing vocal interludes from singer Anna Burch in "Misremembered."
It all serves Thomas' main goal: to look hard at life and explore small moments that stick around longer than you'd expect. During the album's plaintive closer, "Mallwalkers," he asks, "Where you're stoned in your basement, playing games / Hanging out with your dogs / Could it ever be possible to just pause on that feeling?" The answer is probably no, but hearing Thomas capture feelings so well on Changer might convince you otherwise.LMAX is a new retail financial trading platform. As a result it has to process many trades with low latency. The system is built on the JVM platform and centers on a Business Logic Processor that can handle 6 million orders per second on a single thread. The Business Logic Processor runs entirely in-memory using event sourcing. The Business Logic Processor is surrounded by Disruptors - a concurrency component that implements a network of queues that operate without needing locks. During the design process the team concluded that recent directions in high-performance concurrency models using queues are fundamentally at odds with modern CPU design.
Over the last few years we keep hearing that "the free lunch is over"[1] - we can't expect increases in individual CPU speed. So to write fast code we need to explicitly use multiple processors with concurrent software. This is not good news - writing concurrent code is very hard. Locks and semaphores are hard to reason about and hard to test - meaning we are spending more time worrying about satisfying the computer than we are solving the domain problem. Various concurrency models, such as Actors and Software Transactional Memory, aim to make this easier - but there is still a burden that introduces bugs and complexity.
So I was fascinated to hear about a talk at QCon London in March last year from LMAX. LMAX is a new retail financial trading platform. Its business innovation is that it is a retail platform - allowing anyone to trade in a range of financial derivative products[2]. A trading platform like this needs very low latency - trades have to be processed quickly because the market is moving rapidly. A retail platform adds complexity because it has to do this for lots of people. So the result is more users, with lots of trades, all of which need to be processed quickly.[3]
Given the shift to multi-core thinking, this kind of demanding performance would naturally suggest an explicitly concurrent programming model - and indeed this was their starting point. But the thing that got people's attention at QCon was that this wasn't where they ended up. In fact they ended up by doing all the business logic for their platform: all trades, from all customers, in all markets - on a single thread. A thread that will process 6 million orders per second using commodity hardware.[4]
Processing lots of transactions with low-latency and none of the complexities of concurrent code - how can I resist digging into that? Fortunately another difference LMAX has to other financial companies is that they are quite happy to talk about their technological decisions. So now LMAX has been in production for a while it's time to explore their fascinating design.
Overall Structure Figure 1: LMAX's architecture in three blobs At a top level, the architecture has three parts business logic processor[5]
input disruptor
output disruptors As its name implies, the business logic processor handles all the business logic in the application. As I indicated above, it does this as a single-threaded java program which reacts to method calls and produces output events. Consequently it's a simple java program that doesn't require any platform frameworks to run other than the JVM itself, which allows it to be easily run in test environments. Although the Business Logic Processor can run in a simple environment for testing, there is rather more involved choreography to get it to run in a production setting. Input messages need to be taken off a network gateway and unmarshaled, replicated and journaled. Output messages need to be marshaled for the network. These tasks are handled by the input and output disruptors. Unlike the Business Logic Processor, these are concurrent components, since they involve IO operations which are both slow and independent. They were designed and built especially for LMAX, but they (like the overall architecture) are applicable elsewhere.
Business Logic Processor Keeping it all in memory The Business Logic Processor takes input messages sequentially (in the form of a method invocation), runs business logic on it, and emits output events. It operates entirely in-memory, there is no database or other persistent store. Keeping all data in-memory has two important benefits. Firstly it's fast - there's no database to provide slow IO to access, nor is there any transactional behavior to execute since all the processing is done sequentially. The second advantage is that it simplifies programming - there's no object/relational mapping to do. All the code can be written using Java's object model without having to make any compromises for the mapping to a database. Using an in-memory structure has an important consequence - what happens if everything crashes? Even the most resilient systems are vulnerable to someone pulling the power. The heart of dealing with this is Event Sourcing - which means that the current state of the Business Logic Processor is entirely derivable by processing the input events. As long as the input event stream is kept in a durable store (which is one of the jobs of the input disruptor) you can always recreate the current state of the business logic engine by replaying the events. A good way to understand this is to think of a version control system. Version control systems are a sequence of commits, at any time you can build a working copy by applying those commits. VCSs are more complicated than the Business Logic Processor because they must support branching, while the Business Logic Processor is a simple sequence. So, in theory, you can always rebuild the state of the Business Logic Processor by reprocessing all the events. In practice, however, that would take too long should you need to spin one up. So, just as with version control systems, LMAX can make snapshots of the Business Logic Processor state and restore from the snapshots. They take a snapshot every night during periods of low activity. Restarting the Business Logic Processor is fast, a full restart - including restarting the JVM, loading a recent snapshot, and replaying a days worth of journals - takes less than a minute. Snapshots make starting up a new Business Logic Processor faster, but not quickly enough should a Business Logic Processor crash at 2pm. As a result LMAX keeps multiple Business Logic Processors running all the time[6]. Each input event is processed by multiple processors, but all but one processor has its output ignored. Should the live processor fail, the system switches to another one. This ability to handle fail-over is another benefit of using Event Sourcing. By event sourcing into replicas they can switch between processors in a matter of micro-seconds. As well as taking snapshots every night, they also restart the Business Logic Processors every night. The replication allows them to do this with no downtime, so they continue to process trades 24/7. For more background on Event Sourcing, see the draft pattern on my site from a few years ago. The article is more focused on handling temporal relationships rather than the benefits that LMAX use, but it does explain the core idea. Event Sourcing is valuable because it allows the processor to run entirely in-memory, but it has another considerable advantage for diagnostics. If some unexpected behavior occurs, the team copies the sequence of events to their development environment and replays them there. This allows them to examine what happened much more easily than is possible in most environments. This diagnostic capability extends to business diagnostics. There are some business tasks, such as in risk management, that require significant computation that isn't needed for processing orders. An example is getting a list of the top 20 customers by risk profile based on their current trading positions. The team handles this by spinning up a replicate domain model and carrying out the computation there, where it won't interfere with the core order processing. These analysis domain models can have variant data models, keep different data sets in memory, and run on different machines. Tuning performance So far I've explained that the key to the speed of the Business Logic Processor is doing everything sequentially, in-memory. Just doing this (and nothing really stupid) allows developers to write code that can process 10K TPS[7]. They then found that concentrating on the simple elements of good code could bring this up into the 100K TPS range. This just needs well-factored code and small methods - essentially this allows Hotspot to do a better job of optimizing and for CPUs to be more efficient in caching the code as it's running. It took a bit more cleverness to go up another order of magnitude. There are several things that the LMAX team found helpful to get there. One was to write custom implementations of the java collections that were designed to be cache-friendly and careful with garbage[8]. An example of this is using primitive java longs as hashmap keys with a specially written array backed Map implementation ( LongToObjectHashMap ). In general they've found that choice of data structures often makes a big difference, Most programmers just grab whatever List they used last time rather than thinking which implementation is the right one for this context.[9] Another technique to reach that top level of performance is putting attention into performance testing. I've long noticed that people talk a lot about techniques to improve performance, but the one thing that really makes a difference is to test it. Even good programmers are very good at constructing performance arguments that end up being wrong, so the best programmers prefer profilers and test cases to speculation.[10] The LMAX team has also found that writing tests first is a very effective discipline for performance tests. Programming Model This style of processing does introduce some constraints into the way you write and organize the business logic. The first of these is that you have to tease out any interaction with external services. An external service call is going to be slow, and with a single thread will halt the entire order processing machine. As a result you can't make calls to external services within the business logic. Instead you need to finish that interaction with an output event, and wait for another input event to pick it back up again. I'll use a simple non-LMAX example to illustrate. Imagine you are making an order for jelly beans by credit card. A simple retailing system would take your order information, use a credit card validation service to check your credit card number, and then confirm your order - all within a single operation. The thread processing your order would block while waiting for the credit card to be checked, but that block wouldn't be very long for the user, and the server can always run another thread on the processor while it's waiting. In the LMAX architecture, you would split this operation into two. The first operation would capture the order information and finish by outputting an event (credit card validation requested) to the credit card company. The Business Logic Processor would then carry on processing events for other customers until it received a credit-card-validated event in its input event stream. On processing that event it would carry out the confirmation tasks for that order. Working in this kind of event-driven, asynchronous style, is somewhat unusual - although using asynchrony to improve the responsiveness of an application is a familiar technique. It also helps the business process be more resilient, as you have to be more explicit in thinking about the different things that can happen with the remote application. A second feature of the programming model lies in error handling. The traditional model of sessions and database transactions provides a helpful error handling capability. Should anything go wrong, it's easy to throw away everything that happened so far in the interaction. Session data is transient, and can be discarded, at the cost of some irritation to the user if in the middle of something complicated. If an error occurs on the database side you can rollback the transaction. LMAX's in-memory structures are persistent across input events, so if there is an error it's important to not leave that memory in an inconsistent state. However there's no automated rollback facility. As a consequence the LMAX team puts a lot of attention into ensuring the input events are fully valid before doing any mutation of the in-memory persistent state. They have found that testing is a key tool in flushing out these kinds of problems before going into production.
Input and Output Disruptors Although the business logic occurs in a single thread, there are a number tasks to be done before we can invoke a business object method. The original input for processing comes off the wire in the form of a message, this message needs to be unmarshaled into a form convenient for Business Logic Processor to use. Event Sourcing relies on keeping a durable journal of all the input events, so each input message needs to be journaled onto a durable store. Finally the architecture relies on a cluster of Business Logic Processors, so we have to replicate the input messages across this cluster. Similarly on the output side, the output events need to be marshaled for transmission over the network. Figure 2: The activities done by the input disruptor (using UML activity diagram notation) The replicator and journaler involve IO and therefore are relatively slow. After all the central idea of Business Logic Processor is that it avoids doing any IO. Also these three tasks are relatively independent, all of them need to be done before the Business Logic Processor works on a message, but they can done in any order. So unlike with the Business Logic Processor, where each trade changes the market for subsequent trades, there is a natural fit for concurrency. To handle this concurrency the LMAX team developed a special concurrency component, which they call a Disruptor[11]. The LMAX team have released the source code for the Disruptor with an open source licence. At a crude level you can think of a Disruptor as a multicast graph of queues where producers put objects on it that are sent to all the consumers for parallel consumption through separate downstream queues. When you look inside you see that this network of queues is really a single data structure - a ring buffer. Each producer and consumer has a sequence counter to indicate which slot in the buffer it's currently working on. Each producer/consumer writes its own sequence counter but can read the others' sequence counters. This way the producer can read the consumers' counters to ensure the slot it wants to write in is available without any locks on the counters. Similarly a consumer can ensure it only processes messages once another consumer is done with it by watching the counters. Figure 3: The input disruptor coordinates one producer and four consumers Output disruptors are similar but they only have two sequential consumers for marshaling and output.[12] Output events are organized into several topics, so that messages can be sent to only the receivers who are interested in them. Each topic has its own disruptor. The disruptors I've described are used in a style with one producer and multiple consumers, but this isn't a limitation of the design of the disruptor. The disruptor can work with multiple producers too, in this case it still doesn't need locks.[13] A benefit of the disruptor design is that it makes it easier for consumers to catch up quickly if they run into a problem and fall behind. If the unmarshaler has a problem when processing on slot 15 and returns when the receiver is on slot 31, it can read data from slots 16-30 in one batch to catch up. This batch read of the data from the disruptor makes it easier for lagging consumers to catch up quickly, thus reducing overall latency. I've described things here, with one each of the journaler, replicator, and unmarshaler - this indeed is what LMAX does. But the design would allow multiple of these components to run. If you ran two journalers then one would take the even slots and the other journaler would take the odd slots. This allows further concurrency of these IO operations should this become necessary. The ring buffers are large: 20 million slots for input buffer and 4 million slots for each of the output buffers. The sequence counters are 64bit long integers that increase monotonically even as the ring slots wrap.[14] The buffer is set to a size that's a power of two so the compiler can do an efficient modulus operation to map from the sequence counter number to the slot number. Like the rest of the system, the disruptors are bounced overnight. This bounce is mainly done to wipe memory so that there is less chance of an expensive garbage collection event during trading. (I also think it's a good habit to regularly restart, so that you rehearse how to do it for emergencies.) The journaler's job is to store all the events in a durable form, so that they can be replayed should anything go wrong. LMAX does not use a database for this, just the file system. They stream the events onto the disk. In modern terms, mechanical disks are horribly slow for random access, but very fast for streaming - hence the tag-line "disk is the new tape".[15] Earlier on I mentioned that LMAX runs multiple copies of its system in a cluster to support rapid failover. The replicator keeps these nodes in sync. All communication in LMAX uses IP multicasting, so clients don't need to know which IP address is the master node. Only the master node listens directly to input events and runs a replicator. The replicator broadcasts the input events to the slave nodes. Should the master node go down, it's lack of heartbeat will be noticed, another node becomes master, starts processing input events, and starts its replicator. Each node has its own input disruptor and thus has its own journal and does its own unmarshaling. Even with IP multicasting, replication is still needed because IP messages can arrive in a different order on different nodes. The master node provides a deterministic sequence for the rest of the processing. The unmarshaler turns the event data from the wire into a java object that can be used to invoke behavior on the Business Logic Processor. Therefore, unlike the other consumers, it needs to modify the data in the ring buffer so it can store this unmarshaled object. The rule here is that consumers are permitted to write to the ring buffer, but each writable field can only have one parallel consumer that's allowed to write to it. This preserves the principle of only having a single writer. [16] Figure 4: The LMAX architecture with the disruptors expanded The disruptor is a general purpose component that can be used outside of the LMAX system. Usually financial companies are very secretive about their systems, keeping quiet even about items that aren't germane to their business. Not just has LMAX been open about its overall architecture, they have open-sourced the disruptor code - an act that makes me very happy. Not just will this allow other organizations to make use of the disruptor, it will also allow for more testing of its concurrency properties.
Queues and their lack of mechanical sympathy The LMAX architecture caught people's attention because it's a very different way of approaching a high performance system to what most people are thinking about. So far I've talked about how it works, but haven't delved too much into why it was developed this way. This tale is interesting in itself, because this architecture didn't just appear. It took a long time of trying more conventional alternatives, and realizing where they were flawed, before the team settled on this one. Most business systems these days have a core architecture that relies on multiple active sessions coordinated through a transactional database. The LMAX team were familiar with this approach, and confident that it wouldn't work for LMAX. This assessment was founded in the experiences of Betfair - the parent company who set up LMAX. Betfair is a betting site that allows people to bet on sporting events. It handles very high volumes of traffic with a lot of contention - sports bets tend to burst around particular events. To make this work they have one of the hottest database installations around and have had to do many unnatural acts in order to make it work. Based on this experience they knew how difficult it was to maintain Betfair's performance and were sure that this kind of architecture would not work for the very low latency that a trading site would require. As a result they had to find a different approach. Their initial approach was to follow what so many are saying these days - that to get high performance you need to use explicit concurrency. For this scenario, this means allowing orders to be processed by multiple threads in parallel. However, as is often the case with concurrency, the difficulty comes because these threads have to communicate with each other. Processing an order changes market conditions and these conditions need to be communicated. The approach they explored early on was the Actor model and its cousin SEDA. The Actor model relies on independent, active objects with their own thread that communicate with each other via queues. Many people find this kind of concurrency model much easier to deal with than trying to do something based on locking primitives. The team built a prototype exchange using the actor model and did performance tests on it. What they found was that the processors spent more time managing queues than doing the real logic of the application. Queue access was a bottleneck. When pushing performance like this, it starts to become important to take account of the way modern hardware is constructed. The phrase Martin Thompson likes to use is "mechanical sympathy". The term comes from race car driving and it reflects the driver having an innate feel for the car, so they are able to feel how to get the best out of it. Many programmers, and I confess I fall into this camp, don't have much mechanical sympathy for how programming interacts with hardware. What's worse is that many programmers think they have mechanical sympathy, but it's built on notions of how hardware used to work that are now many years out of date. One of the dominant factors with modern CPUs that affects latency, is how the CPU interacts with memory. These days going to main memory is a very slow operation in CPU-terms. CPUs have multiple levels of cache, each of which of is significantly faster. So to increase speed you want to get your code and data in those caches. At one level, the actor model helps here. You can think of an actor as its own object that clusters code and data, which is a natural unit for caching. But actors need to communicate, which they do through queues - and the LMAX team observed that it's the queues that interfere with caching. The explanation runs like this: in order to put some data on a queue, you need to write to that queue. Similarly, to take data off the queue, you need to write to the queue to perform the removal. This is write contention - more than one client may need to write to the same data structure. To deal with the write contention a queue often uses locks. But if a lock is used, that can cause a context switch to the kernel. When this happens the processor involved is likely to lose the data in its caches. The conclusion they came to was that to get the best caching behavior, you need a design that has only one core writing to any memory location[17]. Multiple readers are fine, processors often use special high-speed links between their caches. But queues fail the one-writer principle. This analysis led the LMAX team to a couple of conclusions. Firstly it led to the design of the disruptor, which determinedly follows the single-writer constraint. Secondly it led to |
Wales, folks! Here you can conspire with UKIP and still be on the payroll.
Council elections are approaching but the media who would ordinarily be all over any UKIP related news are refusing to touch this one. This being so, it’s up to us to get the information out there. In this era of alternative facts and fake news, real news, it seems, is down to us. There can be no excuse for Labour giving UKIP power by hiding it behind a red rosette and we, as people who are opposed to the far right infiltrating our country, have an obligation to make the truth known.
Please share, share and share again. Be unashamed about it. If we don’t take it upon ourselves to out this duplicity, Labour will get away with it and if they get away with it this time, they will feel emboldened to do it again and again.
UPDATE 18/2/2017
Following intervention by Jonathan Edwards, Plaid Cymru MP, Jeremy Corbyn has taken steps to suspend M Beddows from the Labour party. Ongoing investigations are apparently underway. If justice is to be served, we should see a slew of similar suspensions in the upcoming days but I don’t think we will. I think it’s far more likely that, having offered up their embarrassing and intimidating sacrificial lamb (and a Labour minnow to boot) Labour will carry on tootling away and the story will fizzle out.
Meanwhile, well done, Mr Edwards and Mr Corbyn on Beddows’ suspension. Not so sure that this reflects particularly well on Mr Carwyn Ostrich Jones though. Leading from behind again, as is his preference.
AdvertisementsWashington (CNN) President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, did not include receiving thousands of dollars in speaking fees from three Russian companies in initial financial disclosures to the Office of Government Ethics covering the last two years, copies of the reports show.
Flynn submitted the initial disclosures in mid-February, just days before he resigned from his post after it became public that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. His resignation came amid federal probes into allegations that Trump associates colluded with Russian operatives to interfere in the US election.
The initial disclosures left out that Flynn received money from Russia's state-funded television network, RT, for a speech in Moscow in December 2015 and from air cargo company Volga-Dnepr Airlines and cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Government Security Solutions Inc. for speaking engagements in the United States. The initial document also left off nearly two dozen other speeches from a diverse array of organizations, including business groups and financial services companies, which Flynn was required to itemize.
Flynn included the speaking fees in disclosure forms he filed Friday, according to the documents. Both sets of filings were made public as part of a White House release of financial disclosures of 180 White House officials.
Flynn attorney Robert Kelner said Flynn "had only just begun the financial disclosure filing process at the time he left the White House.
"He filed a draft form explicitly listing his speakers bureau contract, and he expected to engage in the usual process of consultations with the White House Counsel's Office and OGE regarding what he was expected to disclose," Kelner said. "That process was suspended, however, after he resigned. When the White House asked him this week to complete the process and to itemize the specific speaking events, he did so."
When asked to list sources exceeding $5,000 year, in his initial paperwork, Flynn disclosed only five organizations from which he received speaking fees in the past two years, including a speakers bureau that set up many of the speaking engagements that he detailed in his second filing. The revised forms specify nearly 30 entities that paid Flynn to give speeches during the same period, saying he received at least $250,000 from individual companies, groups and speakers bureaus for the work.
Fourteen of those speeches were arranged by Leading Authorities, the bureau Flynn listed on his initial disclosure. The agency set him up with the three speeches to Russian groups, as well as talks to a slew of other companies and organizations, such as Wells Fargo and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.
Flynn also left some speeches off his initial forms that don't appear to be linked to Leading Authorities or another speakers bureau. Those include talks to Halifax Investment Management and Black Duck Software, which he identified only as consulting jobs in his initial filing.
The initial and recent disclosures also show discrepancy in how he listed a speaking engagement paid for by Ibrahim Kurtulus, a former official with the nonprofit Assembly of Turkish American Associations, a Turkish-American advocacy group based in D.C.
In his initial forms, Flynn lists Kurtulus in a section detailing sources of income exceeding $5,000 in the past two years. In his revised forms, Flynn provided more detail in a section of the form covering income from the past year, saying he received $10,000 from Kurtulus for a speech he delivered in October 2016.
The disclosure forms show Flynn made as much as $1.5 million last year. According to his financial snapshot, Flynn received $827,055 in salary and bonus from his firm, Flynn Intel Group, alone.
CNN has reported that Flynn gave the speech in Moscow, paid for by the Russian television network RT, but the existence of the other two speaking engagements paid for by Russian companies was disclosed last month by House Democrats.
In his recent filing, the retired lieutenant general listed the speaking engagement for "RT TV" when asked in the form to disclose "compensation exceeding $5,000 in a year," but did not specify the amount. CNN previously reported that Flynn, according to a top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, was paid more than $33,000 of a $45,000 speaking fee by RT for the speech in December 2015, with most of the remainder of the money going to Leading Authorities, the speakers bureau.
The US intelligence community has long assessed RT, formerly called Russia Today, to be a propaganda tool of the Kremlin, writing in a January report on Russian interference in the US election that the organization had participated in disinformation campaigns aimed at the US. Flynn initially said he was paid by his speakers bureau for the talk.
The forms say Flynn received "compensation exceeding $5,000 in a year" from the Russian airline and cybersecurity company for speaking engagements in the United States. House Democrats last month also revealed the existence of those two speeches, saying Flynn received $11,250 from the airline and $11,250 from the cybersecurity firm.
The White House acknowledged in March that Trump's transition team was aware before Flynn was tapped to serve as national security adviser that he had engaged in work that would likely require him to register his consulting firm as a foreign agent.
Flynn's Justice Department filing last month raised questions when it revealed that Flynn's firm worked on behalf of a Turkish-owned company, Inovo BV, to improve US confidence in Turkey's business climate.
Flynn Intel Group received $530,000 in payments from the company and acknowledged in its registration as a foreign agent that the work may have benefited the Turkish government.
The White House has many advisers who earned millions of dollars last year, including President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, whose assets combined with her husband's could exceed $700 million.
Ivanka Trump and her husband, senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner, collected about $195 million in income, according to a new financial snapshot of about 180 of the men and women serving in Donald Trump's White House.
Other Trump aides with lucrative histories include Trump's top economic adviser Gary Cohn, the former president of banking giant Goldman Sachs, who netted up to around $75 million in the previous year. White House chief strategist Steve Bannon made up to $2.5 million.
The newly released financial disclosure forms list the assets the Trump aides held when they walked in the doors of the White House in January -- before administration counsel advised them to resign from various postings, divest certain holdings or recuse themselves from future decisions. But the documents nevertheless offer a portrait into the lives of several key White House aides, especially those who came from Wall Street or have other ties to the financial industry.
Kushner, like Trump, a prominent real estate titan, held a position in 267 separate entities, ranging from the Trump transition team to dozens of property holdings in New York and New Jersey.
Ivanka Trump, who just this week formally said she would join the West Wing after serving as an informal adviser to her father, has yet to file her own disclosure forms. But the White House said earlier on Friday that her documents would look largely similar to her husband's.
Bannon's forms reveal numerous ties to various conservative organizations and sources funded by the family of influential Trump donors Bob and Rebekah Mercer, such as Breitbart News, which he led as executive chairman, and Cambridge Analytica, a data firm used by many Republican clients. Other income sources for him are Bannon Strategic Advisors, a consultancy firm valued at as high as $25 million, along with Affinity Media Holdings, which could have awarded him capital gains of as high as $1 million last year.
Bannon is also in the process of selling some of his stake in Cambridge Analytica and Glittering Steel, another Mercer-backed entity, according to the forms.This article is over 1 year old
Handwritten advice to Japanese courier in lieu of a tip exceeds pre-auction estimate by more than 31,000%
'More valuable than a regular tip': Einstein's handwritten note to courier sells for $1.5m
A note that Albert Einstein gave to a courier in Tokyo briefly describing his theory on happy living has sold at auction in Jerusalem for $1.56m (€1.33m ), according to auctioneers.
The winning bid for the note far exceeded the pre-auction estimate of between $5,000 and $8,000, according to Winner’s auctions.
Playful Einstein photograph goes up for auction Read more
“It was an all-time record for an auction of a document in Israel,” said Winner’s spokesman Meni Chadad, adding that the buyer was a European who wished to remain anonymous.
The note, on Imperial Hotel Tokyo stationery, says in German that “a quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest”.
A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest Albert Einstein
Bidding in person, online and by phone started at $2,000. A flurry of offers pushed the price rapidly up for about 20 minutes until the final two potential buyers bid against each other by phone.
Applause broke out in the room when the sale was announced.
“I am really happy that there are people out there who are still interested in science and history and timeless deliveries in a world which is developing so fast,” the seller said on condition of anonymity after the sale.
A second Einstein note written at the same time that simply reads “where there’s a will, there’s a way” sold for $240,000, Winner’s said.
The German-born physicist, most famous for his theory of relativity, was on a lecture tour in Japan when he wrote the autographed notes, previously unknown to researchers, in 1922. He had recently been informed that he was to receive the Nobel prize for physics, and his fame outside scientific circles was growing.
A Japanese courier arrived at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo to deliver Einstein a message. The courier either refused to accept a tip, in line with local practice, or Einstein had no small change available.
Either way, Einstein didn’t want the messenger to leave empty-handed, so he wrote him two notes by hand in German, according to the seller, a relative of the messenger.
Dreamer, rebel, lover: the hidden sides of Albert Einstein Read more
“Maybe if you’re lucky those notes will become much more valuable than just a regular tip,” Einstein told the messenger, according to the seller, a resident of the German city of Hamburg.
Two other letters Einstein wrote in later years were also auctioned on Tuesday, fetching prices of $33,600 and $9,600.
In June, letters written by Einstein about God, Israel and physics sold for nearly $210,000 at a Jerusalem auction.
Einstein served as a non-resident governor of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. When he died in 1955, he left the institution his archives, making it the owner of the world’s most extensive collection of his documents.I get lonely.
Motherhood is lonely.
It just is.
Even if you're lucky enough to have one or two steady friends, how often do you really get to spend time with them? Life gets busy, babies need to nap, kids get sick, have rehearsals, practices, husbands get home late from work, things change, plans get canceled, you forget to reschedule, and who's court is that ball in this time? It's just really, really, hard to have friends in this stage of life.
Sometimes, I go to Target and walk around just to have interaction with people outside of my house. When I’m out with the boys and I look up from the chaos long enough to see another mama doing the same things I’m doing, I just want to run over to her and say, “Are you lonely too? Do you want the same things I want? Do you struggle with the same things I do? Will you judge me for failing? For being scared? For wanting to run away from my kids? For forgetting to put shoes on the oldest and a clean diaper on the youngest? Can we be friends? Am I freaking you out? I don’t care. HOLD ME.”
Sometimes I just want to have a long conversation with someone other than my husband. Someone with female anatomy. Someone in the same life stage as me. Someone that gets me. But I can’t dwell on those thoughts. Loneliness breeds jealousy, and bitterness, and anger, and regret, and then guilt, and sleeplessness, grumpiness, impatience, grudges, depression, and on... and on... and on...
Mama, I know that you’re lonely too. It's ok. Just remember that this is a season and it is the most sacred season you will ever have the honor of experiencing. This is the time when your babies need you and want you and enjoy having you around. This is the time when they will cling to your legs as you try to leave the house without them and run into your arms when you come home as if you’d been gone a lifetime. You will never be more loved and wanted and needed as you are right now...in this moment.
This is the season of boo-boos and spit up and dirt. It’s the season for 10 minute showers, half shaved legs, and one eyed mascara. You will get lonely. And jealous. And maybe sometimes you’ll begrudge your life and wish you had someone else’s. You’ll get frustrated and angry and you’ll want to escape. This will be the most unglamorous and unappreciated time of your life, and sometimes it just totally sucks. That’s ok. But have peace in knowing that this will be the season you look back on longingly. One day, we’ll gladly give up all the friends in the world to have our babies small again. To be able to fit them on our laps and read them stories and go on adventures and eat pancakes at every meal.
When loneliness creeps up in your heart and you start to feel sorry for yourself and wish for something other than what you have right now, fill that emptiness where your social life used to be with baby belly laughs and movie nights and pillow fights and silly songs. Don’t let temporary loneliness steal this season of your life.
I'm not saying that friendship isn't important. Obviously, it is, or we wouldn't feel its lack so strongly. We were never meant to live in isolation. Women, especially, need friendship. But sometimes, our friendships take the back seat in life and we can let that destroy us and affect our motherhood, or we can embrace it and give ourselves, and our friends, grace.
If you have friends, do whatever you can to spend time with them as often as life allows. But maybe you're in the same place I am right now. Maybe you're in a new city, and you don't know anybody, and then you meet people but they already have their group of friends and circles and you just kind of feel like the oddball out. It's easy to get discouraged and feel defeated. It's easy to cling to the computer and your online friends. Don't. Find a moms group, a meet up, a park where moms often hang out. Step out of your comfort zone, ask for phone numbers, and be intentional about forming friendships. Sometimes it will fail. But maybe it won't! Your new best friend could be sitting across from you at the playground feeling just as lonely as you. Don't convince yourself that you're the only one in the world that doesn't have friends. (I really need to practice what I preach...)
The point is, don't let loneliness steal this season from you. It's precious and it's beautiful and it will be over way too soon.
<<<<<>>>>>
Thanks so much for reading! Keep up with me on facebook and instagram!
Hey everyone! I just wrote a 30 day devotional for moms going through a tough time. It's called Deep Cries Out and it's out NOW! Click here to purchase and watch a video about my journey through postpartum depression and writing this book.U.S. President Donald Trump (R) speaks to Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May during in a working dinner meeting at the NATO headquarters during a NATO summit of heads of state and government in Brussels, Belgium, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Matt Dunham/Pool
President Trump told United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May that he wouldn’t visit Britain until their press treats him more favorably, according to a Saturday report from The Sun.
The article cited senior diplomats and said Trump told May, “I haven’t had great coverage out there lately, Theresa.”
The prime minister reportedly replied: “Well, you know what the British press are like.” To which Trump said, “I still want to come, but I’m in no rush.”
“So, if you can fix it for me, it would make things a lot easier,” Trump added. “When I know I’m going to get a better reception, I’ll come and not before.
The White House did not return a request for comment.
This report marks one of many phone calls between Trump and a foreign leader to have gone public. The transcript of Trump’s calls with the leaders of Australia, Mexico, and Philippines have all previously leaked.This is a 2016 photo of Henderson Alvarez of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. This image reflects the Oakland Athletics active roster as of Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, when this image was taken. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) less This is a 2016 photo of Henderson Alvarez of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. This image reflects the Oakland Athletics active roster as of Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, when this image was taken. (AP Photo/Chris... more Photo: Chris Carlson, AP Photo: Chris Carlson, AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Return of A’s starter Henderson Alvarez could be delayed 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
A struggling A’s rotation has received more bad news: The return of Henderson Alvarez could be delayed.
In what was expected to be his final rehab start, the right-hander allowed two earned runs and recorded eight strikeouts in five innings of Triple-A Nashville’s 6-3 win Sunday over Fresno. He exited an inning early with shoulder soreness and returned to Oakland to meet with team doctors Monday night.
“He feels a little better than he did yesterday, so we’ll probably know more after the doctors take a look at him,” manager Bob Melvin said. “This is kind of his first little setback.”
Alvarez could have an MRI as soon as Monday. It appears unlikely he’ll start during this weekend’s four-game series with the Yankees, which was his targeted return date before Sunday’s appearance with Nashville.
This marks yet another blow for a starting pitching staff that entered Monday 4-14 with a 7.86 ERA over its past 21 games. Alvarez, who signed a one-year contract with Oakland in December, hasn’t appeared in a major-league game since last May.
In 22.2 innings for High-A Stockton and Nashville, the 26-year-old Venezuelan has allowed eight earned runs on 18 hits and six walks. He has tallied 20 strikeouts and surrendered just two home runs. When healthy, the 2014 NL All-Star should offer a measure of stability to a rotation that owns the AL’s worst ERA.
“We’re looking forward to his return,” Melvin said. “There’s a chance it’s going to be a little bit longer than we were hoping here. Everything had gone so well, but typically you will get a bump in the road from time to time. That’s the case it is with him.”
Pitching changes loom: Right-hander Jesse Hahn is no longer scheduled to start Tuesday in Nashville. When asked about the switch, Melvin said he’d probably announce a change to the A’s rotation later.
Hahn, who is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in five Triple-A starts this season, could be called up to replace one of several players. Starters Eric Surkamp, Kendall Graveman and Sean Manaea have all labored through rough outings of late.
Rangers suspensions: MLB’s chief baseball officer, Joe Torre, told The Wall Street Journal Monday that he expects to announce the suspensions from Sunday’s Blue Jays-Rangers brawl on Tuesday. For Texas, shortstop Rougned Odor and pitcher Matt Bush are in line for suspensions.
“You see any number of those over the course of the season,” Melvin said of the brawl, which included Odor punching Jose Bautista after a hard slide by the Toronto outfielder. “It looked pretty spirited, and it probably had some history to it. But unless you’re there and know exactly what’s going on, it’s tough to comment on that.”
Read Full ArticleAbout This Game
Features
Experience the charming farming in between 1950 and 1970
Original drafted Old-timer tractors of well known brands like John Deere, Lanz Bulldog etc.
Pure Realism due to features like the dynamic ground with furrows.
Two different scenarios – Toskana and the northern Alp-Region.
Enjoy being a farmer between 1950 and 1970 in the Agricultural Simulator – Historical Farming. The game takes you to the good old days and you will experience the charming farming of the 60's and 70's. Fans of nostalgia and history will be glad to work with original designed machines and to till a field with well known Old-timer Tractors. With the new feature – the dynamic ground Agrar Simulator – Historical Farming presents the first real furrows which will be left when working at the fields with strong machines. The furrows will have impact on the driving behavior of the tractors and guarantee pure realism. It is up to the player to decide in which region he would like to cultivate his farm. There are two amazing scenarios – idyllic highlands, valleys and woods in the alp-region or the fascinating Toscana region with measured climate.A University of Queensland researcher hopes to use a chemical found in lemons and other citrus fruits to make clean, renewable jet fuel.
Dr Claudia Vickers is modifying baker’s yeast to produce a synthetic form of the natural chemical limonene. “Limonene is a volatile chemical that is best known for contributing to the smell of citrus fruits,” Dr Vickers said.
“It was first identified in turpentine oil in the late 1800s and is now used as a flavour and fragrance in foods, household cleaning products, and perfumes. It also holds promise as an anti-cancer agent.”
Dr Vickers said the environmental benefits of using limonene as a fuel were particularly exciting.
“It might sound unlikely, but limonene one day could be a renewable, clean source of aviation fuel,” she said.
“Fifty per cent of a 747’s weight on take-off is its fuel.
“If you consider all the planes flying around in the world, that’s a lot of fuel – and non-sustainable fossil resource carbon – being emitted in the atmosphere.”
Limonene extracted from citrus peel had been used successfully as a jet fuel component in demonstration flights in the past.
“However large-scale limonene production from citrus peel is impractical,” Dr Vickers said.
“Producing it in yeast should provide a route to much greater yields of limonene which are easier to extract.”
Limonene yields from the modified yeast are not yet high enough to be commercially viable, but Dr Vickers has plans to further modify the yeast for improved yields.
The same technology could be used to make a variety of other sustainable products from limonene, including rubbers, plastics, and paints.
Dr Vickers, from UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology last month won a UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award for her work with lemons and yeast.
Her research into synthetic limonene builds on earlier Queensland Government-funded research at the AIBN, which demonstrated that sucrose from sugarcane is one of the best biofuel feedstocks available in the state.
The feasibility research had the backing of industry partners including Boeing, Virgin Australia, Mackay Sugar, IOR Energy and US biotech company Amyris.
Dr Vickers said that the research offered an exciting future for Queensland’s sugar industry.
“Currently 80 per cent of Australian sugar is exported. Instead of exporting sugar, we could export value-added products worth much more – or use them to replace non-renewable products in our own domestic market.”
“As the amount of easily-extractible fossil fuels decreases and the demand for alternatives to petrochemicals increases, these markets will become more and more important.”
UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Max Lu congratulated Dr Vickers during the award ceremony at Customs House.
“Chemicals derived from yeast can play a role in future-proofing the Queensland economy by capturing part of the $2 trillion global chemical market,” Professor Lu said.
“Dr Vickers and her AIBN colleagues are opening doors to new technologies that are likely to have great benefits, environmentally and economically.”
A United States Department of Agriculture report predicts “green chemicals” produced using biomass will represent 22 per cent of the chemical market by 2025.
Source: University of QueenslandThe Cincinnati Bengals have made their second official free agency move this offseason with the re-signing of center T.J. Johnson.
Per league source, #Bengals and Johnson agreed to the 1 year, $600K ERFA tender offer. Team feels he still has upside. — Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) March 7, 2016
The team announced Monday that Johnson, who was slated to become an exclusive-rights free agent, was re-signed, meaning he'll be under contract with the Bengals for at least one more season. This is the team's second re-signing after inking wide receiver Brandon Tate to a one-year deal last week. Both deals are among the easiest the Bengals will encounter this offseason, so it's no surprise they're getting them out of the way early.
Johnson, who is classified as a third-year NFL player for 2016, joined the Bengals in 2013 after being drafted out of South Carolina with the 251st overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. During his redshirt senior year in 2012, Johnson started in all 13 games at center and broke the school's record for starts over a career. He was named to the Coaches All-SEC second-team and finished his career having started every game between 2009-12.
After coming to the Queen City, Johnson spent his rookie season on the practice squad. In 2014, Johnson made the 53-man roster, played in four games (Games 3 and 12-14) and was inactive (coaches decision) for Games 1-2 and 16. He was active but did not play for Games 4-11 and 15.
In 2015, Johnson appeared in 12 games, including the Wild Card playoff game. He's played both backup guard and backup center over his career, which has helped him remain on the 53-man roster as he's continued to develop.
The Bengals felt good enough about Johnson's progress that they've re-signed him and will give him another shot to make the final roster in 2016. It's unlikely he'll be able to overtake Russell Bodine for the starting center spot, but he will still be just one injury away from becoming the team's starting center.
That will be his 2016 outlook unless the Bengals opt to draft another center in this year's NFL draft, or, sign another center in free agency. It's certainly possible the team tries to upgrade that position, which could then leave Johnson and Bodine battling for the backup spot. NFL teams rarely keep more than two centers, but for now, expect Johnson to make the final roster this year.The official live stream of Sky News has been pulled from YouTube after a copyright complaint from competing news outlet Fox News. Instead of the latest news, visitors to Sky News' website are greeted with a black screen stating that Sky violated Fox's copyrights.
Week in and week out copyright holders scour the Internet to detect and report millions of alleged infringements.
On YouTube most takedown notices are automated through the Content-ID system, a tool which allows rightsholders to upload their work and take down unauthorized copies.
Unfortunately this process is far from flawless which results in many false and inaccurate DMCA claims. We’ve highlighted this issue before, but today it’s literally hitting mainstream news.
Starting a few hours ago the online live feed of Sky News stopped working. Not because of a technical issue, but due to a copyright complaint from fellow news network Fox News, which is also owned by Rupert Murdoch.
As a result, visitors to the Sky News Live stream page, which is hosted by YouTube, are now welcomed by the following message.
“This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Fox News Network, LLC.”
Sky News Live
There is no further information available on the reason for the takedown, but it seems plausible that it’s the result of a Content-ID mismatch.
Fox News is adding its broadcasts to YouTube’s system and this most likely included the same footage Sky News showed. This would make sense, as many news organizations rely on the same independently licensed material.
At the time of writing the official Sky News Live feed on YouTube is still offline. There is an alternative live feed available through YouTube that still works.
Unless there’s a real copyright feud between Sky News and Fox News this latest example shows that YouTube’s Content-ID system is far from optimal. In this case, the error will probably be swiftly corrected, but for independent publishers it can take weeks for their content to be reinstated.
TF contacted Sky News and Fox News Network for a comment. At the time of publication we haven’t heard back yet.
Update: Fox also took down its own livestream briefly, which supports the theory that it’s the result of a Content-ID mismatch.
Update: After at least 8 hours Sky News has now changed the embed on their live stream page. The original video is still down.For a lot of people, FedEx driver Matt Uhrin may just be America’s hero of the day.
When a group of anti-American protesters picked the sidewalk in front of the downtown Iowa City, Iowa, branch of Bank of America to burn several U.S. flags Thursday, they couldn’t have known Uhrin would be making a delivery at the same time.
According to protester Jordan Adams, of Iowa City, the group picked the Wells Fargo location at Ped Mall because of the bank’s support for the Dakota Access Pipeline. Donald Trump’s election and racial, ethnic and gender inequality were also on the protest agenda.
“I’m here because of my belief that everything that Trump is doing is horrible,” Adams told Little Village Magazine. “It’s threatening to black people, Hispanic, LGBTQ, women and to the protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
A similar protest at Ped Mall on Inauguration Day also included a flag burning that was interrupted when a bystander unsuccessfully tussled with the protester in an attempt to rescue the Stars & Stripes.
Visit WND’s Flag Store for all your flag needs (fire extinguisher not included).
Thursday’s rescue was far more successful.
Video on Little Village Magazine’s Facebook site shows one member of the group attempting to light the flags held by four others. About 75 feet in the background, FedEx driver Uhrin can be seen reaching into his truck parked at the curb to retrieve a fire extinguisher. In a matter of seconds an obviously angry Uhrin can be seen – and heard – descending on the protesters, his fire extinguisher fully engaged.
“What do you think you’re doing? [Unintelligible] Get out of here! Get the f*** out of here!”
A second video, via YouTube, shows Uhrin leaving with the rescued flags only to return 30 seconds later, flags and fire extinguisher still in hand, to take the one flag still in the protesters’ possession. The altercation nearly comes to blows, with Uhrin outnumbered, and ends with “Back off! You don’t like it, get the f*** out!”
Warning: Vulgar language:
Uhrin refused to comment on the incident to local media except to say his actions had nothing to do with his employer.
Commenters on social media overwhelmingly expressed support for Uhrin, saying FedEx should give him a raise and promising to switch their deliveries to UPS or the U.S. Postal Service if he was disciplined or fired
An online “Save the FedEx Driver” petition exceeded its goal of 10,000 signatures
“Let’s make sure Matt Uhrin keeps his job at FedEx,” the petition read. “He was standing up for our American flag and should be commended, not punished!”
Early Saturday, FedEx tweeted that it had reviewed the incident and had no plans to terminate Uhrin.
“We have reviewed the matter in Iowa City involving driver Matt Uhrin. He remains a FedEx employee & we have no plans to change his status.”
FedEx’s decision to stand behind Uhrin earned it a big thank you from conservative columnist Ann Coulter, who promised the company all her delivery business.
Two of the protesters, Kelli Ebensberger and Paul Osgerby, were cited for not having a permit for an open burn. City code requires anyone doing an open burn to obtain a permit from the fire marshal. The citation is a simple misdemeanor that carries a fine of $65 to $625 and up to 30 days in jail.
Like the reporting you see here? Sign up for free news alerts from WND.com, America’s independent news network.
“It’s not for the content of what they were burning but rather for violating the city ordinance of open burning,” Sgt. Scott Gaarde told the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
An Iowa law making it illegal to defile, cast contempt upon, satirize or deride a flag was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in December 2014 and state prosecutors have been told not to enforce it.
In November, candidate Donald Trump created controversy when he tweeted that flag-burning should be illegal: “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!”
Adams was critical of both the charges filed against the protesters and the Fed Ex driver’s actions to prevent the flag burning, especially his use of the fire extinguisher.
“We’re here to change the minds of people who disagree with us, but there is no space for that when we are being attacked,” Adams said.
Osgerby, who was cited, defended the protest, saying, “You can’t look at a flag one-dimensionally. This isn’t us badmouthing veterans or service people. Atrocities have been committed in the name of that flag. You can’t just take one view of the flag as a symbol of freedom when it has been used and continues to be used as a means of oppression.”
The charges against Osgerby and Ebensberger are the only two charges police expect to file in relation to the incident, reported the Press-Citizen.A Gallup poll released just in time for Independence Day shows Americans could use a pick-me-up in how proud they are to be American. The number of those “extremely proud” to be Americans dropped to 52 percent, a new low since the poll was first conducted in 2001.
While all groups have declined from the 2003 high of 70 percent, millennials have declined the most. While 60 percent of those 18-29 were “extremely proud” in 2003, that number has dropped to just 34 percent, making them the least proud demographic.
Liberals are also to blame, as they saw the second lowest percentage at 36 percent in the poll. In 2003, only 56 percent were “extremely proud” to begin with.
The lack of pride from millennials and liberals is not surprising. “There’s overlap between some of those categories: Millennials are more likely to be liberal and nonwhite than older Americans are, for example. If we’re clumping people together, though — which we are because that is what we do — it’s those millennials that are dragging our extremely proud numbers down,” Philip Bump for The Washington Post writes.
“Because no one who is 18 to 29 today was in that same age group in 2001 or 2003, the trends in patriotism among young adults could be evidence that those in the millennial generation are less patriotic than young adults in generations that preceded them. And that generational change may help explain why there has been further decline in patriotism among all U.S. adults over the last three years,” Gallup also notes.
Among the most patriotic demographics included Republicans at 68 percent, those 50-64 at 64 percent, and conservatives at 61 percent.
Gallup also points to “Implications” of the results:
The vast majority of U.S. adults indicate they are at least moderately proud to be Americans, but as they celebrate the Fourth of July this year, fewer say they are extremely proud than at any point in the last 16 years. Americans’ continued frustration with national conditions — likely tied to their concern about the economy and lack of faith in public institutions — is probably one reason patriotism is at a recent low point.
Democrats are more likely than liberals to say they are “extremely proud” to be Americans, but still have a low rating of 45 percent. It’s worth wondering then if the DNC really meant it when they fundraised with their “America Is Already Great” hat.
In this climate of lacking patriotism, it’s also no wonder schools are declaring the American flag to be “disrespectful.”
Latest VideosShe also questioned the need for the training session, claiming that the party does not have a suitable definition of anti-Semitism, and questioned claims that Jewish schools need security after a string of anti-Semitic attacks.
Her comments prompted one activist in the room to shout "you're telling lies" while a group of others interrupted her to say everyone, not just Jews |
in our minds was how the public sees the trajectory on this issue," says Michael Dimock, the report's lead author and director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. "Do they see a future in which gay marriage is going to be the rule, not the exception, in American society?"
For the first time in Pew polling, just over half (51%) of Americans favor allowing same-sex couples to marry legally, the report says. The telephone survey was conducted May 1-5 among 1,504 U.S. adults. The margin of error was +/-2.9 percentage points.
The survey found a strong link between personal experiences and attitudes about homosexuality. About 87% of Americans know someone who is gay or lesbian, compared with 61% in 1993. About 68% of those who know a lot of gays or lesbians favor same-sex marriage, compared with 32% of those who don't know anyone.
"As for the gay marriage issue, it's not about whether we will have families. We already do. It's about whether we will enjoy the same protection as our siblings, neighbors and co-workers," says Rick Rosendall, president of the not-for-profit Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C. "The more people recognize that their siblings, neighbors and co-workers include gay men and lesbians, the clearer it is that those family members, neighbors and co-workers should be treated the same as they are."
Same-sex marriage is or will be legal in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Several states also have domestic-partnership provisions for same-sex couples.
"This poll should caution us to redouble our efforts in explaining to Americans what marriage is, why marriage matters, and what the consequences of redefining marriage are," says Ryan Anderson, a scholar at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Anderson, who promotes marriage between a man and woman, says it's not quite clear what Pew's poll question means, since same-sex marriage is legally recognized in 12 states. "The more important question is not what will happen -- but what we should do."
Thomas Peters, communications director of the not-for-profit National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage, says Pew's poll numbers are no surprise. "Gay marriage activists have spent a huge amount of money and cultural influence trying to convince Americans of the lie that redefining marriage is inevitable," he says in an e-mail.
This survey is part of Pew's "LGBT in Changing Times" series, which is focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage this month.
STORY: Views of homosexuality vary across nations, report says
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/14Agnm1A utility that handles compressed files like zip and rar is an essential requirement for every Windows PC. The softwares that are most popular in this area are WinZip and WinRar. Both of these are paid softwares, so some of us are even running cracked version of these tools. But there are some freeware tools that does the same thing as WinRar and WinZip and some do it even better. Here are some of the best freeware application that you can use instead of WinZip and WinRar.
1. 7-Zip: One of the most popular freeware application that works with compressed files. Infact, some people haven't heard any further than WinZip, WinRar and 7-zip. Just read on, there are some more coming. For now, let's see what 7-Zip has to offer.
• High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression
• Supported formats:
Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS
• For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
• Self-extracting capability for 7z format
• Integration with Windows Shell
• Powerful command line version
• Plugin for FAR Manager
Download Size: 840KB (32 bit), 1.1MB (64 bit)
7-Zip is a good program. The fact that it's open source will appeal further to some of us. Overall, it's a nice program and you should try this out.
2. IZArc: IZArc s the ultimate freeware archive utility supporting many archive formats like: 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, B64, BH, BIN, BZ2, BZA, C2D, CAB, CDI, CPIO, DEB, ENC, GCA, GZ, GZA, HA, IMG, ISO, JAR, LHA, LIB, LZH, MDF, MBF, MIM, NRG, PAK, PDI, PK3, RAR, RPM, TAR, TAZ, TBZ, TGZ, TZ, UUE, WAR, XXE, YZ1, Z, ZIP, ZOO. With a modern easy-to-use interface, IZArc provides support for most compressed and encoded files, as well as access to many powerful features and tools. It allows you to drag and drop files from and to Windows Explorer, create and extract archives directly in Windows Explorer, create multiple archives spanning disks, creating self-extracting archives, repair damaged zip archives, converting from one archive type to another, view and write comments and many more. IZArc has also build-in multilanguage support.
Main Features:
• With IZArc you can open CD image files like ISO, BIN, CDI and NRG. It is also possible to convert such files from one type to another (BIN to ISO, NRG to ISO).
• If you need to send large files to your colleagues, friends or customers who may not have archiving tool you can easily create self-extracting archive that can be extracted by simple double click.
• IZArc can be configured to run your preferred Anti-Virus scanner when you open any archives.
• IZArc supports 256-bit AES encryption to secure your data.
• IZArc is integrated in Windows so you can perform all archiving operations by using right-click menus in Windows Explorer.
Download Size: 3.5 MB
3. TUGZip is a powerful freeware archiving utility for Windows that provides support for a wide range of compressed, encoded and disc-image files, as well as very powerful features; all through an easy to use application interface and Windows Explorer integration.
Main Features:
• Supports ZIP, 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, BH, BZ2, CAB, CPIO, DEB, GCA, GZ, IMP, JAR, LHA (LZH), LIB, RAR, RPM, SQX, TAR, TGZ, TBZ, TAZ, YZ1 and ZOO archives.
• Supports BIN, C2D, IMG, ISO and NRG disc-images.
• Support for external plugins.
• Windows shell integration, e.g. drag & drop, shell context menu and drop handlers.
• Create 7-ZIP, BH, BZ2, CAB, JAR, LHA (LZH), SQX, TAR, TGZ, YZ1 and ZIP archives.
• Script support which allows you to make automated backups.
• Basic features like: add, extract, delete, rename, run, view, checkout, install, test, comment, SFX, virus-scanning, disk-spanning and much more.
• Repair corrupted ZIP and SQX archives.
• Can extract multiple archives at once using Multi Extract.
• Encrypt archives using 6 different algorithms. Blowfish (128-bit), DES (56-bit), Triple DES (168-bit) and Rijndael (128-bit, 192-bit and 256-bit).
• Create self-extracting encrypted archives.
Download Size: 3.9 MB
4. Quick Zip: Quick Zip is a powerful and fast utility that provides support to ZIP and other popular archive formats. Features include built-in support to 21 types (or 36 extensions) of archives and encoding formats; full integration to the shell, including an archive icon, which associates different archives with different icons, context menus, tool tips, drag-and-drop, and cut and paste; and a folder list, which shows the directory structure of files. You can add the current date and time in order to store and pick different versions of files in the same archive.
Download Size: 4.27 MB
5. DropZip: You can drag a ZIP or RAR file (or even multiple ZIP/RAR files) onto the DropZip icon and they will be magically unzipped into a folder with the same name as each ZIP or RAR file, for example. Drag your Zip file hello.zip from My Documents onto the icon. Look in My Documents, there will be a new folder called hello.
It also has another feature if you drop a folder (it must be one folder on its own) then that folder will be converted to a ZIP file (note the folder won't be deleted). This is not designed to be a replacement for your normal ZIP or RAR programs; instead, it is designed for convenience when you need to quickly unzip or unrar something.
Download Size: 9.2 MB
6. PeaZip free archiver utility is a portable, open source archiving, encryption and file split tool.
PeaZip archiver is cross platform, it runs on Windows 9x, 2000, XP, Vista and on Linux and supports handling of many archive and compression formats. PeaZip allows to edit, save and restore archive's layouts; apply powerful multiple filters to archive's content; handle multiple archives at once; export job definition as command line; encrypt, split and join files and compress executables with strip/UPX.
Download Size: 2.6 MB
7. ALZip claims to be the fastest archiver program. It is indeed fast. ALZip can open 36 different file formats and create upto 8. It can create self extracting archives and integrates seamlessly into the Windows shell just like any other zip program. Some additional features like archive repairing, testing or installing archived programs are also available. ALZip is free for homeuse, but being a shareware version it keeps displaying popup ads which is the only annoying thing in this program. Other than that, it's a nice utility.
Download Size: 5.5 MB
8. jZip is built on the 7-Zip technology. It offers the same kind of compression capabilities offered by 7-zip but in an easier more streamlined user interface. You can read the full review of jZip on Softpedia.
Download Size: 2.3 MB
9. ZipGenius is the absolutely free software for Windows® that lets you compress files to almost any kind of archive. ZipGenius supports more than 20 compressed archive formats, including CD/DVD-ROM image files in ISO9660 standard. This is the file compression suite you were searching for: it is free and easy to use, plus it supports more than 20 formats of compressed archives, including RAR, ARJ, ACE, CAB, SQX, OpenOffice.org documents and the excellent 7-zip. ZipGenius now can precompress executable files going to be added to a ZIP archive through the UPX compressor.
ZipGenius is presented in two editions: STANDARD and SUITE that differs for the content they ship to user's Desktop.
While the suite edition is the full setup package that includes all the optional modules of the ZipGenius project, because it is a setup layout oriented to experts and power users, the standard setup package just includes the main ZipGenius application because it is designed for most Windows users, that just want to open/compress/decompress archives in several formats.
Download Size: 4.9 MB
10. ZipStar is a FREE archiving application for home users. Use it to create and unpack the archive formats SQX, CAB and ZIP. ZipStar relies on the well-known Squeez technology, one of the fastest engines for file compression and extraction which is also used in SpeedCommander and Squeez.
Thanks to the integrated Quick View for the most common file and multimedia formats you can view files within archives without first having to extract them. You can compress and extract files directly from Windows Explorer! One thing I like about ZipStar is it's Office 2003 look.
ZipStar is completely compatible to Windows XP and Vista and can be used freely for non-commercial use.
The main features are
• Direct support for the archive formats SQX, ZIP and CAB
• Full support of ZIP64 (no restrictions regarding the archive size and number of files within a ZIP archive) and Deflate64
• Complete Windows Explorer integration
• Integrated Quick View for many file formats
• Archive Favorites and Archive Folders
• Archive information window which displays the most important archive properties
Download Size: 6.6 MB
___________________________________________________
Courtesy : www.instantfundas.comDelhi’s air quality entered the ‘very poor’ zone on Christmas Day on Monday.
The situation deteriorated after sunset with nine out of 17 stations of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in the city recording ‘severe’ air quality.
Monday’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) was 372, classified under the ‘very poor’ category of the CPCB. On Sunday, the reading was 305. The AQI is calculated on a scale of 0-500. An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.
The levels of PM10 and PM2.5, too, saw a substantial increase throughout Monday. The PM10 concentration went up from 365.8 microgrammes per cubic metre (μg/m3) at 6am to 403.6 μg/m3 at 6pm. The level of PM2.5 saw an increase from 226.9 μg/m3 at 6am to 268.9 μg/m3 at 6pm.
Both PM10 and PM2.5 are ultra-fine particles, the dominant pollutants in Delhi. The acceptable levels of PM10, the larger particulate matter, and PM 2.5, which measures the finer and more dangerous particulate matter, are 100 μg/m3 and 60 μg/m3, respectively.
According to Met officials, the particulate matter concentration rose due to a fall in wind speed and presence of high-level of moisture — factors which trap pollutants. Humidity was recorded at a maximum 100% by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
“The wind speed was poor throughout the day. At one point, it picked up to 15-17km/hour for some time. However, in the evening it significantly went down to 5-6km/hour. On Tuesday too, not much improvement is expected in terms of air quality. Wind speed will pick up during the day and then will go down again,” Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior Met department scientist, said.
On Tuesday, clear sky is expected with shallow fog in the morning. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 23 and 07 degrees Celsius respectively.
On Monday, the maximum temperature was 22.8, a degree above normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius, a notch below what is normal this time of the year.
Sunday was the coldest day yet this December with minimum temperature hitting a low of 6.3 degree Celsius. The previous lowest in December 2017 was on 15th with the minimum recording of 7.3 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature on Sunday stayed at 25.1, four degrees above what is normal this time of the month.
First Published: Dec 26, 2017 00:06 ISTMagnentius (Latin: Flavius Magnus Magnentius Augustus; c. 303 – August 11, 353) was an usurper of the Roman Empire from 350 to 353.
Early life and career [ edit ]
Born in Samarobriva (Amiens), Gaul, Magnentius was the commander of the Herculians and Jovians, the Imperial guard units.[1] When the army grew dissatisfied with the behavior of Emperor Constans, it elevated Magnentius at Autun on January 18, 350. Constans was abandoned by all except a handful of retainers, and he was slain shortly afterwards by a troop of light cavalry near the Pyrenees.
Usurper [ edit ]
Magnentius quickly attracted the loyalty of the provinces in Britannia, Gaul, and Hispania, in part because he proved to be far more tolerant towards both Christians and Pagans. His control of Italia and Africa was secured through the election of his men to the most important offices. However, the short-lived revolt of Nepotianus, a member of the Constantinian dynasty, showed Magnentius that his status as emperor needed to be consolidated.
Magnentius tried to strengthen his grasp on the territories previously controlled by Constans, moving towards the Danube. Vetranio, commander of the Pannonian army, had been elected Augustus by his troops in Mursa on 1 March. This revolt had a loyalist mark, since Vetranio was supported by Constantina, and Constantius II himself recognized Vetranio, sending him the imperial diadem.
Demise [ edit ]
The remaining emperor of the family of Constantine I, Constantius II, broke off his war with Persia, and marched west from Syria. Despite Magnentius' efforts to win Vetranio over to his cause, the elderly Vetranio reached Constantius with his army, resigned the crown, and went into retirement in Bithynia.
A Nummus of Magnentius
After electing Magnus Decentius (probably his brother) as Caesar and gathering as many troops as possible, Magnentius advanced his armies to meet those of Constantius in the Battle of Mursa Major in 351; Magnentius led his troops into battle, while Constantius spent the day of battle praying in a nearby church. Despite Magnentius' heroism, his troops were defeated and forced to retreat back to Gaul.
As a result of Magnentius' defeat, Italy ejected his garrisons and rejoined the loyalist cause. Magnentius made a final stand in 353 at the Battle of Mons Seleucus, after which he committed suicide by falling on his sword.
Following the suppression of Magnentius' rebellion, Constantius began to root out his followers. The most notorious agent he employed in this search was the primicerius notariorum Paulus Catena ("Paul the Chain").
Some sources state that Magnentius' father was a Briton and his mother a Frank.[2] Gibbon gives that he was probably born in one of the colonies of Franks or Alemans founded by Constantius' grandfather, Constantius I. in Gaul.[3] His wife, Justina, later married Valentinian I.
Notes [ edit ]
^ Zosimus, ii.58 ^ Drinkwater pp.131–59. Original sources: Epit. de Caes. 42.7; Zos. HN 2.46.3, 54.1; Zonar. 13.6.1. ^ Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XVIII., p. 588, note 72, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XVIII., p. 588, note 72
References [ edit ]
Cameron, Averil, and Peter Garnsey ed., The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol XIII, Cambridge University Press, 1988.
,, Vol XIII, Cambridge University Press, 1988. Drinkwater, J.F. (2000). "The revolt and ethnic origin of the usurper Magnentius (350–53), and the rebellion of Vetranio (350)". Chiron (30).
(in French) Pierre Bastien (numismat) fr] Le Monnayage de Magnence (350 – 353), Wetteren (Belgium), Édition numismatique romaine, 1983
Media related to Magnentius at Wikimedia CommonsInstalling World of Warcraft (WoW) in Ubuntu or Linux Mint (with Wine) is pretty easy, however there are various crashes that can occur, especially if you're not using the latest Wine and also, the FPS can be pretty low without a few tweaks, so I though I'd document everything I did to get World of Warcraft to work properly on my laptop (Nvidia Optimus, so I was able to test the game with both Nvidia and Intel graphics), even in large scale PvPs and hopefully, this will help you play WoW under Ubuntu or Linux Mint.
Install World of Warcraft in Ubuntu / Linux Mint
2. Optional but recommended Install the latest Wine development release:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wine/wine-builds sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install --install-recommends wine-devel winehq-devel
For better FPS with the dxd9 gxapi, you can use Wine Staging with the CMST option enabled (but note that wine-staging tends to get buggy from time to time).
3. Right click the downloaded installer, right click it and select Open With > Wine Windows Program Loader (update: with newer Wine versions, double clicking the installer should work too):
4. And finally, launch Battle.net from the menu / Dash (the icon should also be on your desktop unless you've deselected that option) and install World of Warcraft:
Fixing various potential World of Warcraft crashes (Ubuntu / Linux Mint w/ Wine)
If Battle.net crashes on start:
Fix it by launching winecfg (type "winecfg" in a terminal) and on the Libraries tab, under "New override for library", enter "dbghelp" (without the quotes), then click "Add". Next, select "dbghelp" under "Existing overrides" and click "Edit" and in the new pop-up, set it to "Disable":
Update August 2016: after some Battle.net update, the app crashes due to some issues with msvcp140. To fix this issue, open winecfg (type "winecfg" in a terminal), and on the Libraries tab, enter "msvcp140", then click "Add".
Update 2 August 2016: if Battle.net still crashes, change the "dbghelp" library override settings (see above) to "Native, then Builtin".
Next, select "msvcp140", click "Edit", and set it to "Native then Builtin".
B. If you're on 64bit and the World of Warcraft 64bit game client crashes with an error similar to this:
ERROR #132 (0x85100084) Fatal exception! Program: C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Wow-64.exe ProcessID: 57 Exception: 0xC0000005 (ACCESS_VIOLATION) at 0033:0000000005A11A71 The instruction at "0x0000000005A11A71" referenced memory at "0x00007F38ACD6C028". The memory could not be "read".
... you'll need to force World of Warcraft to use the 32bit client. If you use Battle.net to launch the game (that's only possible if you don't use OpenGL, see below), you can change WoW to use the 32bit client from the Battle.net settings available via left-click on the blue icon on the top-left Battle.net corner - the menu is not responsive and unfortunately you have to click quite a few times to get it to work.
Or, you can launch World of Warcraft using a script - adding "-noautolaunch64bit" will force the 32bit WoW client to be launched instead of the 64bit one. If you're already using a script, simply add "-noautolaunch64bit" at the end of your WoW launch command. Or, if you're not using a script already, create a new text file in your home folder - let's call it "wow" and in this file, paste the following:
#!/bin/sh WINEDEBUG=-all wine "/home/YOURUSERNAME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/World of Warcraft/WoW.exe" -noautolaunch64bit
#!/bin/sh WINEDEBUG=-all wine "/home/YOURUSERNAME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft/WoW.exe" -noautolaunch64bit
Then save the file and make it executable using the following command (assuming you've created the "wow" file in your home directory):
chmod +x ~/wow
Then double click the "wow" file and run it to launch WoW (you can also launch it from the command line using "~/wow", or edit the World of Warcraft desktop file to point to your newly created script).
C. 64bit only: if you're using Bumblebee and World of Warcraft crashes with the following error:
X Error of failed request: GLXUnsupportedPrivateRequest
sudo apt-get install virtualgl-libs:i386
D. If World of Warcraft fails at the login screen (it's unable to connect) when launching the game through Battle.net and you're using the OpenGL gxapi, you'll find a work-around below, under the WoW Linux/Wine optimizations and tweaks - see "A. Use OpenGL".
Optimizations and tweaks (increase the World of Warcraft FPS under Linux, etc.)
A. Use OpenGL With the latest World of Warcraft 7.0.3 patch, using OpenGL is no longer usable due to the various visual glitches it causes, so I no longer recommend it. However, I'll leave the instructions here in case you want to try it.
There are numerous reports saying that World of Warcraft runs better using OpenGL. In my test, I did indeed get a much higher FPS when using Nvidia graphics, but not using Intel graphics. However, this depends on hardware so it may not be the case for you.
Unfortunately, running World of Warcraft with OpenGL from Battle.net is not possible at the time I'm writing this article, at least it wasn't in my test (and there are others who are experiencing the same issue) because World of Warcraft fails to connect. There is a work-around though.
To get World of Warcraft to connect when using OpenGL, you need to launch it using a script. To do this, create a new text file in your home folder - let's call it "wow" and in this file, paste the following:
#!/bin/sh WINEDEBUG=-all wine "/home/YOURUSERNAME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/World of Warcraft/WoW.exe" -opengl
#!/bin/sh WINEDEBUG=-all wine "/home/YOURUSERNAME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft/WoW.exe" -opengl
#!/bin/sh WINEDEBUG=-all __GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1 wine "/home/YOURUSERNAME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/World of Warcraft/WoW.exe" -opengl
#!/bin/sh WINEDEBUG=-all __GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1 wine "/home/YOURUSERNAME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft/WoW.exe" -opengl
Note: I've used "WINEDEBUG=-all" to turn off debugging output to improve performance a little bit further.
Next, make the script executable (the following command assumes you've called the script "wow" and created it in your home folder):
chmod +x ~/wow
Then double click the "wow" file and run it to launch WoW (you can also launch it from the command line using "~/wow", or edit the World of Warcraft desktop file to point to your newly created script).
navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Wine, select the Wine folder and right click it, then select New -> Key and rename the newly created key to "OpenGL" (without the quotes);
, select the Wine folder and right click it, then select and rename the newly created key to "OpenGL" (without the quotes); select the "OpenGL" key, right click it and select New -> String Value;
rename "New Value #1" to "DisabledExtensions" (without the quotes);
double click on the newly created "DisabledExtensions" and enter "GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object" (without the quotes) into the "value" field.
If you see black textures in the game or the game crashes, enable S3TC texture compression by following the steps below: If you see black textures in the game or the game crashes, enable S3TC texture compression by following the steps below:
sudo apt-get install driconf
Then launch driconf: it should show up as "3D Acceleration" in the menu/Dash (you can also launch it by pressing ALT + F2 and entering: "driconf") and on the Image Quality tab, set "Enable S3TC texture compression even if software support is not available" to "Yes", then close the window.
C. If you're still getting low FPS, here are a few game configuration tweaks (Config.wtf)
To be able to use the tweaks below, you need to run World of Warcraft at least once, or else the configuration file doesn't exist.
Open the Config.wtf file with a text editor (the file should be located under ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft/WTF/) and paste this:
SET M2UseShaders "0" SET UseVertexShaders "0" SET useWeatherShaders "0" SET ffxGlow "0" SET ffxDeath "0" SET ffxSpecial "0" SET weatherDensity "0" SET reflectionMode "0" SET maxFPS "60" SET ffx "0" SET maxFPSbk "5" SET mapShadows "0"
Other tweaks:
Using some WoW addons can considerably lower your FPS so if the FPS is bad, you can try removing them (note that you'll have to remove the addons and not just disable them!) and see if that improves your FPS;
For better performance, you can try the latest Wine Staging.
For Ubuntu 14.04 and 14.10 / Linux Mint 17 and 17.1, you can use the Oibaf PPA (it requires Linux kernel >= 3.17 and wine from THIS PPA) which includes updated graphics drivers as well as Gallium Nine support which should get you a FPS boost in World of Warcraft with Direct3D.
Update your graphics drivers - for Nvidia, you can use a PPA.
Update: for a couple of Curse-compatible applications that work on Linux, which you can use to install or update WoW addons via curse.com, see THIS article.
Are you playing World of Warcraft under Linux? What other optimizations / tweaks have you used?A Few Postgres Essentials
Postgres is our favorite database—it’s reliable, powerful and secure. Here are a few essential tips learned from building, and helping our customers build, apps around Postgres. These tips will help ensure you get the most out of Postgres, whether you’re running it on your own box or using the Heroku Postgres add-on.
Postgres connections are not free, as each established connection has a cost. By using a connection pooler, you’ll reduce the number of connections you use and reduce your overhead.
Most Postgres client libraries include a built-in connection pooler; make sure you’re using it.
You might also consider using our pgbouncer buildpack if your application requires a large number of connections. PgBouncer is a server-side connection pooler and connection manager that goes between your application and Postgres. Check out some of our documentation for using PgBouncer for Ruby and Java apps.
Postgres allows you to see what clients are connected and what each of them is doing using the built-in pg_stat_activity table.
By explicitly marking each connection you open with the name of your dyno, using the DYNO environment variable, you’ll be able to track what your application is doing at a glance:
SET application_name TO 'web.1';
Now, if you will be to quickly see what each dyno is doing, using heroku pg:ps :
$ heroku pg:ps procpid | source | running_for | waiting | query ---------+---------------------------+-----------------+---------+----------------------- 31776 | web.1 | 00:19:08.017088 | f | <IDLE> in transaction 31912 | worker.1 | 00:18:56.12178 | t | select * from customers; (2 rows)
You will also be able to see how many connections each dyno is using, and much more, by querying the pg_stat_activity table:
$ heroku pg:psql SELECT application_name, COUNT(*) FROM pg_stat_activity GROUP BY application_name ORDER BY 2 DESC; application_name | count ----------------------------+------- web.1 | 15 web.2 | 15 worker.1 | 5 (3 rows)
Long running queries can have an impact on your database performance because they may hold locks or over-consume resources. To avoid them, Postgres allows you to set a timeout per connection that will abort any queries exceeding the specified value. This is especially useful for your web dynos, where you don’t want any requests to run longer than your request timeout.
SET statement_timeout TO '30s';
Being able to determine which part of your code is executing a query makes optimization easier, and makes it easier to track down expensive queries or n+1 queries.
There are many ways to track which part of your code is executing a query, from a monitoring tool like New Relic to simply adding a comment to your SQL specifying what code is calling it:
SELECT `favorites`.`product_id` FROM `favorites` -- app/models/favorite.rb:28:in `block in <class:Favorite>'
You will now be able to see the origin of your expensive queries, and be able to track down the caller of the query when using the pg_stat_statements and pg_stat_activity tables:
$ heroku pg:psql SELECT (total_time/sum(total_time) OVER()) * 100 AS exec_time, calls, query FROM pg_stat_statements ORDER BY total_time DESC LIMIT 10; ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- exec_time | 12.2119460729825 calls | 7257 query | SELECT `favorites`.`product_id` FROM `favorites` -- app/models/product.rb:28:in `block in <class:Product>'
Many ORMs provide this feature built-in or via extensions, make sure you use it and your debugging and optimization will be easier.
There is much more you can learn about Postgres, either via the excellent documentation of the project itself, or the Heroku Postgres Dev Center reference. Share your own tips with the community on the #postgrestips hashtag.Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is a San Francisco, California-based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) and his girlfriend at the time, Erin Burkett, in 1990.[1]
The label has released material for many notable bands including NOFX, Good Riddance, Descendents, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, The Loved Ones, Screeching Weasel, Propagandhi, Rise Against, Lagwagon, Strung Out, No Use for a Name, Less Than Jake, Against Me!, Hi-Standard, Snuff, and Anti-Flag. Fat Wreck Chords has released 157 studio albums to date.[1]
History [ edit ]
The label was started by Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) and his girlfriend at the time, Erin Burkett, in 1990.[1] Michael wanted a label that would represent himself, signing only bands he liked and that had similar beliefs. In the beginning Erin would fill orders and handle mail when Michael was on tour. The operation moved into its own office around 1993.[1]
The label grew during the 1990s selling over a million records per year. It had eighteen employees and four offices.[1]
A documentary about Fat Wreck Chords called 'A Fat Wreck' was released on October 25th, 2016.[2]
Business practice [ edit ]
One somewhat uncommon and defining characteristic of Fat Wreck Chords is that they only sign one-record deals with bands. This allows the bands working with Fat Wreck Chords to have a choice as to if and when they want to put a record out on the label.[3] In some cases, bands have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords but also on other labels.
The label has never been a member of the Recording Industry Association of America as indicated on the frequently asked questions portion of the label's website:
"Are we a member? Not only no, but FUCK NO! We spent three years having our label's name (which was misspelled) removed from their members list. A year went by, then our name showed up again on their fucking list! Who are these sonsabitches [sic]?! Needless to say, we're in the process of having our name removed again, but they aren't being too cooperative."[4]
Politics [ edit ]
Many bands on this label participated in the campaign Punkvoter, which was started by Fat Mike and attempted to encourage the youth in the U.S. to vote in the 2004 U.S. presidential election for John Kerry and against George W. Bush.
Imprints [ edit ]
The label has had two subsidiaries over the years, Honest Don's and Pink & Black. Honest Don's released records from Chixdiggit and Teen Idols amongst others, while Pink & Black released albums from female-fronted bands like Fabulous Disaster and Dance Hall Crashers.
Fat Mike also advanced $50,000 to Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky of Propagandhi which he recouped within months from sales of Propagandhi records to help them start up their own label, G7 Welcoming Committee,[5] though G7WC is independent from Fat Wreck.
Discography [ edit ]
Compilation albums [ edit ]
Fat Wreck Chords regularly releases compilation albums, often to promote bands signed to the label, but also, since 2003, to raise funds for various charities. The earliest Fat Wreck Chords compilations all have titles with some reference to fatness.
Shortly after Fat Music Volume IV was released, Fat Wreck Chords released a similarly titled album, Short Music for Short People, which features 101 songs, all averaging approximately 30 seconds. The shortest song ("Short Attention Span" |
. They also honor the courage and sacrifice of the United States' armed forces.
The eagle and shield is a representation of the gilt eagle and shield overlooking the Old Senate Chamber. The shield represents the United States of America. The twenty stars represent the US's twentieth state, Mississippi, the home of John C. Stennis. The three arrows in the eagle's talons symbolize the ship's and air wing's ability to project power. The burst of light emanating from the shield, representative of the emergence of a new nation in the United States Senate Seal, portrays the birth of over 25 major Naval Aviation programs under Senator Stennis' leadership, including all aircraft carriers from USS Forrestal to USS Harry S. Truman, and aircraft from the F-4 Phantom to the F/A-18 Hornet. The eagle is representative of John C. Stennis' stature in the Senate, where he was respected and admired as a "soaring eagle" by some of his colleagues.[citation needed]
The ship herself is pictured in the seal. On the edges of the flight deck are the words "Honor, Courage, Commitment" which are the United States Navy's Core Values.
The seal, after selection by the ship's crew, was submitted to Mrs. Margaret Stennis Womble, the ship's sponsor and daughter of Senator Stennis, and to Mrs. John Hampton Stennis, the matron of honor and wife of Senator Stennis' son, for their approval. In February 1995 they approved the design.
See also [ edit ]Due to the delayed launch again part of this information is no longer applicable! latest update
OUFTI-1 will now be launched Friday, April 22. The launch is scheduled for 21:02:13 UTC in Kourou using a Russian Soyuz rocket. The satellite will be placed in its orbit on T + 10091,13s (23:50:24 UTC).
About half an hour later, around Saturday, April 23 00:20 UTC, the satellite will deploy its antennas and will be activated the beacon. The beacon of OUFTI-1 transmits continuously 100 mW at 145,980 MHz, during 2 minutes every 3 minutes (2 min ON – 1 min OFF). OUFTI-1 will be in an orbit with an angle of 98° to the equator and at an altitude between 450 and 660 kilometers.
The intention is that the cubesat remains operational for about two years, after which it will eventually fail as a result of the solar radiation. It took more than eight years to develop OUFTI-1 acronym of “Orbital Utility For Telecommunication Innovation”.
He has a D-STAR transponder on board, 435.045 MHz uplink, 145.950 MHz downlink. A second task is to test solar cells with a higher efficiency. The cubesat was developed by the University of Liège students.
The coding of the telemetry parameters and TLE’s are documented on the website:
http://events.ulg.ac.be/oufti-1/radioamateurs
OUFTI-1 at Estec:
http://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2016/04/Fly_your_satellite/OUFTI-1_at_ESTECIs there anything quite as exhilarating as knowing that, despite their posturing to the contrary, Big Banks took a real hit, thanks to a broad-based populist movement? Maybe we can move onto the cable behemoths next: "A Month Without Cable," where everyone cancels their cable for a month and uses Netflix instead -- I can dream, can't I?
During “Bank Transfer Day” earlier this month, 40,000 Americans moved their money from the nation’s biggest banks to credit unions, voicing their distaste with the action’s of America’s financial behemoths. About 650,000 Americans joined credit unions in October, which is more people than in all of 2010 combined. According to cg42, a consulting firm that does work for the biggest banks, “the nation’s 10 biggest banks could stand to lose as much as $185 billion in deposits in the next year due to customer defections.” Of the banks, “Bank of America is the most vulnerable and could lose up to 10% of its customers and $42 billion in consumer deposits in the next year.”
Plus, you know, a lot less money to buy politicians!Some of the best New York Yankees clubs were simply known as “Derek Jeter’s team,” just as the Boston Red Sox still belong, in some spiritual sense, to Big Papi, David Ortiz. Other clubs have been identified by a big-ego or big-brain manager, like Tony La Russa’s St. Louis Cardinals.
The surging Washington Nationals, six games ahead in the NL East after a 3-2 win on Sunday to take three of four games from the New York Mets, cannot be described as any one man or manager’s team.
But as they reach the all-star break 18 games over.500 (the same level over.500 as “The Mighty Cubs”), they are becoming a closely knit club of several interlocking leaders who take their cue from Manager Dusty Baker. The skipper gives more prominent roles to those who rise to a challenge and finds spots to showcase anyone who has a natural presence or swagger.
“Dusty has been meticulous in learning his guys. It’s been organic,” veteran Jayson Werth said. “As he learns us, he puts people in roles where they can succeed but also lead.”
Always a leader himself, Baker looks for — and so far has found — many on his squad deserving of battlefield promotion or heightened respect. On Sunday, for instance, Baker decided that holding off the injured Mets through the late innings might be a defining midseason kick in the gut to the NL champs. They’re down. Stomp ’em. So who’s got big feet for the job? Burning the book, Baker bypassed six plausible relievers at his disposal to call instead for starter Tanner Roark to get seven crucial outs. Why?
“Tanner is a horse,” Baker said.
“You can’t show anything out there — be stone-faced,” Roark said. “Once the other dugout sees that it looks like you’re getting in your own head, they smell blood in the water, and they want to attack.”
Without changing expression, Roark got them all — seven up, seven down.
[Nationals beat Mets again, take six-game division lead into all-star break]
If this sounds familiar, perhaps it is because in the seventh inning Saturday, Baker asked Max Scherzer whether he had enough left in the tank to get the last out of the inning. “Yes,” said Scherzer, who has one blue eye and one brown eye. “Which eye do I look in?” Baker asked, to find out whether Scherzer was telling the truth. “The [bleeping] brown eye,” Scherzer shot back. “That’s my pitching eye.”
Everybody snorted or laughed. Scherzer stayed in the game and go the out.
Week by week, month by month, Baker is figuring out who wants the ball in the late innings. He knew Jonathan Papelbon, who got Sunday’s save, lived for those moments. But when Pap was hurt, only Shawn Kelley looked like he had the stomach to close, so he did.
Who wants to hit in the middle of the lineup? Baker knew that MVP Bryce Harper did. But now it’s clear that Daniel Murphy (.348 batting average), who hit a two-run homer Sunday, and Wilson Ramos (.330), who had the game-winning RBI blast off the 380-feet sign in right field, do, too. In fact, as Harper has semi-slumped and mini-sulked at times, Baker had meetings with both Murphy and Harper to tell them they would be flipped, with Murphy now in the No. 3 hole associated with Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Ted Williams. “That was the hard one,” Baker said.
[Bryce Harper refuses to doubt his prodigious talent]
Who wants the tough defensive play to come his way with the game on the line? Danny Espinosa, back at his beloved shortstop position. So Baker stuck with him, sent hot prospect Trea Turner to Class AAA and made it clear Espinosa was The Shortstop, not a temporary shortstop. Espinosa’s bat suddenly burst into flames; he has 18 homers and in a recent four-game series had 15 RBI. After two hard singles Sunday, he flung his bat 40 feet in disgust after a strikeout as if to say, “Me, Danny Espinosa, strike out?”
And which pitcher will tell Baker to get the heck off his mound? The guy with one brown eye.
Whether Baker’s managerial methods improve the competitive temperament of a franchise that has had several end-of-season disappointments remains to be seen. But if you ask the Mets — they’re the 25 guys lying flat on their backs looking blankly up at the sky after losing six out of seven games to the Nats in home-and-home series by a combined score of 39-19 — they probably think Washington has improved its comfort level on center stage far too much to suit the best interests of the Metropolitans.
The first and foremost man among this new Nats force is, without doubt, Daniel Thomas Murphy, the player formerly known as Nobody Special, who’s now mimicking the role of George Brett. He leads by tough, understated, old-school example, spiced with occasional puckish on-field humor and self-deprecation. Though he and Harper get along well, Murphy is a Bryce antipode in many ways. From the way he plays, it’s clear that nobody ever told Murphy that baseball was anything except fun.
And Murphy probably isn’t going to wear neon shoes to the All-Star Game that incorporate the Declaration of Independence, several battleships and, oh, somewhere, a corporate logo.
Murphy, who views New York with all the compassion that General William Tecumseh Sherman felt for Atlanta, has 21 RBI and seven homers against the Mets this season. On both Saturday and Sunday, the Mets had six players in their lineup with fewer RBI all season than Murphy has against the Mets in just 13 games.
Asked to explain how he could be so magnificent in the four games here, carrying the Nats almost by himself and crushing his former teammates with 10 RBI on three homers, two doubles, two singles and a walk, Murphy replied, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not ‘carried.’ ”
That would be seven “no’s,” one for each of the teammates who he quickly mentioned by name, complete statistical citations of their worthiness or compliments to their character. He was even wise enough to start with Harper.
“I’m just a small piece of it, but I’m really excited to help us win games,” Murphy said. Cling to those words. T-shirt ’em. They will be Murphy’s hottest take until the end of his Nationals contract in 2018.
There’s many a slip or injury, ’twixt the cup and the lips, but the Nats are rolling at a 98-win pace, and though they no longer mention ring sizes, they don’t think anybody’s better.
“You don’t look at the number [of games ahead in the division] too much,” Baker said. “And you definitely don’t look back over your shoulder. You kind of glance in the rearview mirror. Then, one day, we might be up on the crest of a hill, look back, and we won’t see anybody in the rearview mirror.”New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that no stone should be left unturned to involve and integrate the youth of India in the nation's progress and development.
In a series of tweets released on the occasion of National Youth Day, which is also observed as the birth anniversary of social reformer, philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda, the Prime Minister said, " Let us pledge to leave no stone unturned to integrate our youth in India's progress and ensure youth-led development across the Nation."
"On his birth anniversary, I bow to Swami Vivekananda. He is a personal inspiration, whose thoughts and ideals have influenced me deeply," he further stated.
"Swami Vivekananda is revered as one of the most prolific thinkers and a guiding light who took India's message to the entire world. Share quotes of Swami Vivekananda and thoughts of Swami Vivekananda that influenced you. I will RT some of them this evening," the Prime Minister said.
Several functions are being organised across the country to celebrate the 151st birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863 into an aristocratic family in Bengal. His original name was Narendra Nath Datta.
He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna and a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world.
He credited with raising inter-faith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India.
Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
He is best known for his inspiring speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893, which began, "Sisters and brothers of America...," and in which, he introduced Hinduism.
After Ramakrishna's death, Swami Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He delivered hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India,
Swami Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated as National Youth Day in India. He died on July 4, 1902 at the age of 39 in Belur, Maharashtra.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a rare news conference in Salt Lake City today that is drawing headlines about a supposedly new, accommodating stand on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.
The Mormon Church is now willing, news accounts says, to support anti-discrimination legislation in the realms of housing and employment. In return, all the Mormons want are laws that “protect religious freedom.”
We already have that. It’s called the Bill of Rights. So what is the church really after?
The news conference, said D. Todd Cristofferson, one of the 12 apostles of the church, was held to raise concerns about “the increasing tensions and polarization between advocates of religious freedom on the one hand and advocates of gay rights on the other.” Another apostle, Jeffrey R. Holland, said church leaders were calling for “laws that protect faith communities and individuals” against unfair treatment.
That’s fake “war on religion” speak. What they want is legal permission to use their religion as an excuse to discriminate.
The Associated Press explained: “Mormon leaders still want to hire and fire workers based not only on religious beliefs, but also on behavior standards known as honor codes that require gays and lesbians to remain celibate or marry someone of the opposite sex. The church also wants legal protections for religious objectors who work in government and health care, such as a physician who refuses to perform an abortion, or provide artificial insemination for a lesbian couple.”
Substitute the word “black” or “Jewish” or “Catholic” or, say, “Mormon” for LGBT in these statements, and everyone would be outraged.
Or, as Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for LGBT rights, put it: “All Americans should have the right to be employed, receive housing and services in environments free of discrimination. We await the day the church embraces that fully, without any exceptions or exemptions.”
The church’s “new” position looks like an outgrowth of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling, in which a 5-4 majority said the owner of a closely held business could refuse to comply with a federal law (in that case, the Affordable Care Act) on the basis of his personal religious views.
Apparently the news conference today was the product of five years’ behind-the-scenes negotiations. Five years for this?Tuesday, Feb. 10, 12:07 p.m.: The Detroit News' managing editor responds today to Tom Gage’s tweet Monday about being taken off the baseball beat. Gage is unhappy and let it be known.
Gary Miles says:
“We don’t discuss our specific assignment changes, but over the last several years, we’ve had several beat changes in Sports and other departments, sometimes to adjust to changing resource levels and sometimes to freshen the perspective or approach to our coverage. “Last year, before the beginning of the 2014 Tigers season, we talked to Tom about making a shift after the end of the season, and indeed that took place. Tom now covers a variety of topics in sports, where his contributions will touch many areas of interest to our readers.”
“He remains a valued member of The Detroit News sports staff.”
Original article, Monday afternoon:
Tom Gage, lead writer in The Detroit News's baseball lineup since the late 1970s, confirms Monday afternoon that he's pulled off the Tigers beat.
His sentiment about being reassigned is clear on Twitter:
thanks to all who've asked, but after 36 yrs, am no longer on #Tigers beat despite winning Spink Award - not my doing, will greatly miss it — Tom Gage (@Tom_Gage) February 9, 2015
Gage, 66, expects to stay in the sports department. "That's my understanding," he tells Deadline in a brief phone interview Monday night.
"I wish I could say more," he adds, "but I better just leave it with what's in my tweet."
Comment requests were emailed to editor-publisher Jonathan Wolman, as well as the paper's sports editor and managing editor.
Unofficial word of the beat shakeup surfaced Jan. 19 in a Detroit Sports Rag blog post by Jeff Moss, who calls the switch "unfathomable:"
Just days after it was announced that Gage would be entering the sportswriters’ wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Detroit News announced that he was being demoted in favor of Chris... McCosky. Can you imagine? One day you are going to Cooperstown and the next you are being replaced.
The annual honor mentioned in Gage's tweet was announced Dec. 9 by the Baseball Writers Association of America and will be presented during July's induction ceremony for National Baseball Hall of Fame players. The Spink Award is “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”
The association's announcement says:
Gage’s strength has been the freshness and flow of his writing, aiming to appeal to the hardcore fan’s family as well as the hardcore fan.
In its 29-paragraph report on Gage's selection, The News recounts his "three-decade-plus run as Tigers beat writer – a run that continues to this day." The next paragraph adds:
He's never taken a sick day, for which his readers — and bosses — are appreciative.... "He's the ultimate professional," said Phil Laciura, sports editor of The News. "He always put 100 percent into everything he did. He's always been one of the most dependable people I've ever worked with."
Social media reactions Monday include this from past News staffer Michael J. Happy, now digital content manager at Fox Sports Detroit:
What the hell is The Detroit News thinking? This is like the Tigers willingly taking Miggy out of the everyday lineup.
A fan tweeting as @katieg1975 tells the writer: "I'm 39 years old. Have followed your reporting in the Detroit News since I learned to read a newspaper. You will be missed!"
Gage joined The News in 1976 after working at a New Orleans daily and moved into the Tigers beat three years later. He and his wife Lisa live in Grosse Pointe.
In five months, no matter what he's covering, Gage formally enters the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., as the first Detroit News honoree since the late Joe Falls in 2001.
Here's how Royal Oak reader Steve Evans responds to Gage's tweet:July 4 is a national holiday that celebrates the creation of the United States of America in 1776, a day for patriots of all flavors. With the festivities and fireworks comes a salute to all those who have made the nation what it is.
As the Founders knew, a self-governing nation requires exempla virtutis, ideal examples of statesmanship and moral character. Their own came mainly from the Bible and Plutarch. The courage and greatness of biblical heroes and ancient statesmen were reiterated in churches, classrooms, and public assemblies for U.S. generations that followed.
In time, Americans created their own national pantheon. In statesmanship, Benjamin Franklin and Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John Kennedy led the way. Iconic military heroes John Paul Jones, Stephen Decatur, Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert E. Lee followed. Their personalities and feats remain etched in the heads of older citizens.
Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers were revered inventors. Lewis and Clark, bold explorers, guided by Sacajawea, then folk heroes Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, and Kit Carson, confidently tamed the frontier. Wyatt Earp brought justice to the Wild West. Likewise, Indian chiefs Crazy Horse and Geronimo epitomized the brave Indian warriors who fought back. Esteemed exempla in 20th-century America included Pocahontas, Martha Washington, Clara Barton, Louisa May Alcott, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, and Jacqueline Kennedy.
But who are the heroes in postmodern America? To whom do Americans look to define liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
Fast forward sixty years. A generation—two, actually—has come into adulthood likely hearing America is not about Plymouth Rock but smallpox blankets. Thomas Jefferson is a slaveholder and misogynist first, then the author of the Declaration of Independence. Woodrow Wilson of Princeton University and the Treaty of Versailles turns out to be an unspeakable racist. The horror show begins with Christopher Columbus, don’t forget, agent of invasion and genocide.
Mid-twentieth century up-from-slavery black heroes, George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington, have fallen out of favor. Freedom fighters Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks have moved to center stage. Since 1983, civil rights leader Martin Luther King has had a special day set aside as a federal holiday, the only individual to have such an honor.
Textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin eagerly assures the nation’s curriculum supervisors its American histories contain new, improved heroes, pointing proudly to Crispus Attucks, Juan Sequin, Dolores Huerta, Ida B. Wells, Zitkala-Sa, and Speckled Snake.
The loss of legacy heroes to multiculturalism is well documented. Colonial Williamsburg’s visitors have dropped by half in the last three decades, and it’s fast losing money, says the Boston Globe. Legacy America no longer appears to be a box-office family favorite.
More to the point, for those Americans stripped of their nation’s history or taught to hate it, celebrities and television personalities fill a hole. Sports and show people — historically they have had the status of gladiators, jesters, and prostitutes — command vast audiences and loyalties. They are exempla. Not surprisingly, the pick-up is different from Plutarch. Marilyn Monroe is more of a national icon than Martha Washington.
Who are today’s models of probity? Is probity what Americans really go for?
Tom Brady and LeBron James at least offer something wholesome. Eminem and Kanye West do not. Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, and Rhianna are models for millions. Pole-dancing and spread-eagled in a 2013 video, stuffing dollar bills into her hotpants, Rhianna draws 250 million YouTube hits, a staggering number.
Let it be, we might say, trying to adjust to postmodern latitude, until we learn that earlier this year with great fanfare Harvard University gave Rhianna a major humanitarian award for her philanthropy and good works.
America’s contemporary exemplars likely embody what New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd calls “Hollywood values.” These include good looks, talent and charm, but also “out-of-control egos, blatant materialism, a dog-eat-dog ethos, and a devotion to pretense.”
Many American hearts and minds ask for a simple plot line. They respond to shiny names; they want scripted emotions and tweets. Entertainers Donald J. Trump (tough guy, billionaire or monster, take your pick) and Oprah Winfrey (sweetie, earth mother, black saint) have more in common than you might think. Such charismatic individuals make magic in front of a camera. They are geniuses in their realms. But when these demotic figures seek to control political culture and policy, watch out.
Intoxicated by their own fabulousness, and thinking that they offer something profound, celebrities crave the center of attention. They need to be at the top of the food chain. They can’t get enough of themselves, which is exactly — based on their own studies of history — what the Founders feared in public life.
With exemplars, there’s room for many types and styles, of course, old and new, high-minded and vernacular, even Republican and Democrat. But it is essential to draw a bright line between entertainment and political capacity. The rise of celebrity tribunes building their brand, able and eager to move millions, is daily disquieting. But on no day more than Independence Day.Last Friday, NASA GISS and NOAA NCDC had a press conference and jointly announced the end-of-year analysis for the 2014 global surface temperature anomaly which, in both analyses, came out top. As you may have noticed, this got much more press attention than their joint announcement in 2013 (which wasn’t a record year).
In press briefings and interviews I contributed to, I mostly focused on two issues – that 2014 was indeed the warmest year in those records (though by a small amount), and the continuing long-term trends in temperature which, since they are predominantly driven by increases in greenhouse gases, are going to continue and hence produce (on a fairly regular basis) continuing record years. Response to these points has been mainly straightforward, which is good (if sometimes a little surprising), but there have been some interesting issues raised as well…
Records are bigger stories than trends
This was a huge media story (even my parents noticed!). This is despite (or perhaps because?) the headline statement had been heavily trailed since at least September and cannot have been much of a surprise. In November, WMO put out a preliminary analysis suggesting that 2014 would be a record year. Earlier this month, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) produced their analysis, also showing a record. Estimates based on independent emulations of the GISTEMP analysis also predicted that the record would be broken (Moyhu, ClearClimateCode).
This is also despite the fact that differences of a few hundredths of a degree are simply not that important to any key questions or issues that might be of some policy relevance. A record year doesn’t appreciably affect attribution of past trends, nor the projection of future ones. It doesn’t re-calibrate estimated impacts or affect assessments of regional vulnerabilities. Records are obviously more expected in the presence of an underlying trend, but whether they occur in 2005, 2010 and 2014, as opposed to 2003, 2007 and 2015 is pretty much irrelevant.
But collectively we do seem to have an apparent fondness for arbitrary thresholds (like New Years Eve, 10 year anniversaries, commemorative holidays etc.) before we take stock of something. It isn’t a particularly rational thing – (what was the real importance of Usain Bolt’s breaking the record for the 100m by 0.02 hundredths of a second in 2008?), but people seem to be naturally more interested in the record holder than in the also-rans. Given then that 2014 was a record year, interest was inevitably going to be high. Along those lines, Andy Revkin has written about records as ‘front page thoughts’ that is also worth reading.
El Niños, La Niñas, Pauses and Hiatuses
There is a strong correlation between annual mean temperatures (in the satellite tropospheric records and surface analyses) and the state of ENSO at the end of the previous year. Maximum correlations of the short-term interannual fluctuations are usually with prior year SON, OND or NDJ ENSO indices. For instance, 1998, 2005, and 2010 were all preceded by an declared El Niño event at the end of the previous year. The El Niño of 1997/8 was exceptionally strong and this undoubtedly influenced the stand-out temperatures in 1998. 2014 was unusual in that there was no event at the beginning of the year (though neither did the then-record years of 1997, 1990, 1981 or 1980 either).
So what would the trends look like if you adjust for the ENSO phase? Are separate datasets differently sensitive to ENSO? Given the importance of the ENSO phasing for the ‘pause’ (see Schmidt et al (2014), this can help assess the underlying long-term trend and whether there is any evidence that it has changed in the recent decade or so.
For instance, the regression of the short-term variations in annual MSU TLT data to ENSO is 2.5 times larger than it is to GISTEMP. Since ENSO is the dominant mode of interannual variability, this variance relative to the expected trend due to long-term rises in greenhouse gases implies a lower signal to noise ratio in the satellite data. Interestingly, if you make a correction for ENSO phase, the UAH record would also have had 2014 as a record year (though barely). The impact on the RSS data is less. For GISTEMP, removing the impact of ENSO makes 2014 an even stronger record year relative to previous ones (0.07ºC above 2005, 2006 and 2013), supporting the notion that the underlying long-term trend has not changed appreciably over the last decade or so. (Tamino has a good post on this as well).
Odds and statistics, and odd statistics
Analyses of global temperatures are of course based on a statistical model that ingests imperfect data and has uncertainties due to spatial sampling, inhomogeneities of records (for multiple reasons), errors in transcription etc. Monthly and annual values are therefore subject to some (non-trivial) uncertainty. The HadCRUT4 dataset has, I think, the best treatment of the uncertainties (creating multiple estimates based on a Monte Carlo treatment of input data uncertainties and methodological choices). The Berkeley Earth project also estimates a structural uncertainty based on non-overlapping subsets of raw data. These both suggest that current uncertainties on the annual mean data point are around ±0.05ºC (1 sigma) [Update: the Berkeley Earth estimate is actually half that]. Using those estimates, and assuming that the uncertainties are uncorrelated for year to year (not strictly valid for spatial undersampling, but this gives a conservative estimate), one can estimate the odds of 2014 being a record year, or of beating 2010 – the previous record. This was done by both NOAA and NASA and presented at the press briefing (see slide 5).
In both analyses, the values for 2014 are the warmest, but are statistically close to that of 2010 and 2005. In NOAA analysis, 2014 is a record by about 0.04ºC, while the difference in the GISTEMP record was 0.02ºC. Given the uncertainties, we can estimated the likelihood that this means 2014 was in fact the planet’s warmest year since 1880. Intuitively, the highest ranked year will be the most likely individual year to be the record (in horse racing terms, that would be the favorite) and indeed, we estimated that 2014 is about 1.5 to ~3 times more likely than 2010 to have been the record. In absolute probability terms, NOAA calculated that 2014 was ~48% likely to be the record versus all other years, while for GISTEMP (because of the smaller margin), there is a higher change of uncertainties changing the ranking (~38%). (Contrary to some press reports, this was indeed fully discussed during the briefing). The data released by Berkeley Earth is similar (with 2014 at ~35% ~46% (see comment below) ). These numbers are also fragile though and may change with upcoming updates to data sources (including better corrections for non-climatic influences in the ocean temperatures). An alternative formulation is to describe these results as being ‘statistical ties’, but to me that implies that each of the top years is equally likely to be the record, and I don’t think that is an accurate summary of the calculation.
Another set of statistical questions relate to a counterfactual – what are the odds of such a record or series of hot years in the absence of human influences on climate? This question demands a statistical model of the climate system which, of course, has to have multiple sets of assumptions built in. Some of the confusion about these odds as they were reported are related to exactly what those assumptions are.
For instance, the very simplest statistical model might assume that the current natural state of climate would be roughly stable at mid-century values and that annual variations are Gaussian, and uncorrelated from one year to another. Since interannual variations are around 0.07ºC (1 sigma), an anomaly of 0.68ºC is exceptionally unlikely (over 9 sigma, or a probability of ~2×10-19). This is mind-bogglingly unlikely, and is a function of the overly-simple model rather than a statement about the impact of human activity.
Two similar statistical analyses were published last week: AP reported that the odds of nine of the 10 hottest years occurring since 2000 were about 650 million to 1, while Climate Central suggested that a similar calculation (13 of the last 15 years) gave odds of 27 million to 1. These calculations are made assuming that each year’s temperature is an independent draw from a stable distribution, and so their extreme unlikelihood is more of a statement about the model used, rather than the natural vs. anthropogenic question. To see that, think about a situation where there was a trend due to natural factors, this would greater reduce the odds of a hot streak towards the end (as a function of the size of the trend relative to the interannual variability) without it having anything to do with human impacts. Similar effects would be seen if interannual internal variability was strongly autocorrelated (i.e. if excursions in neighbouring years were related). Whether this is the case in the real world is an active research question (though climate models suggest it is not a large effect).
Better statistical models thus might take into account the correlation of interannual variations, or have explicit account of natural drivers (the sun and volcanoes), but will quickly run into difficulties in defining these additional aspects from the single real world data set we have (which includes human impacts).
A more coherent calculation would be to look at the difference between climate model simulations with and without anthropogenic forcing. The difference seen in IPCC AR5 Fig 10.1 between those cases in the 21st Century is about 0.8ºC, with an SD of ~0.15 C for interannual variability in the simulations. If we accept that as a null hypothesis, the odds of seeing a 0.8ºC difference in the absence of human effects is over 5 sigma, with odds (at minimum) of 1 in 1.7 million.
None of these estimates however take into account how likely any of these models are to capture the true behaviour of the system, and that should really be a part of any assessment. The values from a model with unrealistic assumptions is highly unlikely to be a good match to reality and it’s results should be downweighted, while ones that are better should count for more. This is of course subjective – I might feel that coupled GCMs are adequate for this purpose, but it would be easy to find someone who disagreed or who thought that internal decadal variations were being underestimated. An increase of decadal variance, would increase the sigma for the models by a little, reducing the unlikelihood of observed anomaly. Of course, this would need to be justified by some analysis, which itself would be subject to some structural uncertainty… and so on. It is therefore an almost impossible to do a fully objective calculation of these odds. The most one can do is make clear the assumptions being made and allow others to assess whether that makes sense to them.
Of course, whether the odds are 1.7, 27 or 650 million to 1 or less, that is still pretty unlikely, and it’s hard to see any reasonable model giving you a value that would put the basic conclusion in doubt. This is also seen in a related calculation (again using the GCMs) for the attribution of recent warming.
Conclusion
The excitement (and backlash) over these annual numbers provides a window into some of problems in the public discourse on climate. A lot of energy and attention is focused on issues with little relevance to actual decision-making and with no particular implications for deeper understanding of the climate system. In my opinion, the long-term trends or the expected sequence of records are far more important than whether any single year is a record or not. Nonetheless, the records were topped this year, and the interest this generated is something worth writing about.
ReferencesThe brackets for the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Online Final on July 9 (NA) and 10 (EU) have been confirmed and will provide us with some of the most exciting matchups possible. With young upstarts like Lucky Bounce and Supersonic Avengers taking on top established teams like Kings of Urban and Flipsid3 Tactics, this tournament's action won't disappoint. Editor's Picks Success in a bottle: Moses' journey through competitive Rocket League Rocket League's Moses has the skill and power to take teams to the top, and he has several times. Here's the story of a player whose impressive résumé is nowhere near finished.
EU Rocket League Championship: FlipSid3, We Dem Girlz reigning kings The Rocket League group stages wrapped up last weekend, revealing an obvious divide between the top two teams and the bottom six heading into the online finals.
NA Rocket League Championship Series: Lucky Bounce soars, Kings of Urban sinks |
its value. However, what they miss is that this argument is made within a larger argument where Marx assert production on the basis of exchange value breaks down.
According to Marx, even if we begin with the assumption that commodities sell at their values, we end up with a collapse of production on the basis of exchange value; which means, ultimately commodities can no longer be sold at their values.
Marx’s conclusion is not based on the direct result of production on the basis of exchange value, but on the impact production for profit must have on production on the basis of exchange value — production for profit emerges from within production on the basis of exchange value, but inevitably destroys it. The result has nothing to do with the values of commodities, which we can assume is always realized; but with the use value of one commodity in particular: labor power.
In Capital, labor power is always bought at its value and the product of labor is always sold at its value; yet the sum value of the latter is always greater than the former. The value of labor power is symbolized by “v”, while the value of its product is symbolized by “v+s”. At some point in the development of the capitalist mode of production the assumption that labor power is sold at its value no longer holds true.
Now, nothing I am saying here is new: Labor theorists have known about this at least since Henryk Grossman reiterated why this must be true in a paper he wrote in 1929. There is no question that Marx was correct, since his prediction was expressed rather explosively in the Great Depression; and there has been no refutation of Grossman’s argument in the 80 years since he laid it out. After almost a century, not a single labor theorist has come forward with any credible proof refuting Grossman’s argument.
Grossman labeled the point where labor power had to be sold below its value as “capitalist breakdown”; but this name may be a semantical error: In the Grundrisse, Marx called it the breakdown of production on the basis of exchange value. In the paper, Grossman argues that due to the chronic overaccumulation of capital, the capitalists would begin to run into what, a year later, Keynes would call “technological unemployment”: too much capital and a population of unemployed workers:
“There is a growing shortage of surplus value and, under the given conditions, a continuous overaccumulation. the only alternative is to violate the conditions postulated. Wages have to be cut in order to push the rate of surplus value even higher. This cut in wages would not be a purely temporary phenomenon that vanishes once equilibrium is re-established; it will have to be continuous. After year 36 either wages have to be cut continually and periodically or a reserve army must come into being.”
Obviously the “violation of postulated conditions” Grossman speaks about here is the assumption that labor power is bought/sold at its value. Thus, although Marx initially makes the assumption that all commodities are bought and sold at their values, at a certain point in the development of production for profit this assumption would be violated because the ever increasing improvement in the productivity of labor would make it impossible for labor power to purchased at its value.
Once production for profit comes into direct conflict with production on the basis of exchange value and labor power must be sold below its value, what happens to exchange value and money? Exchange value in the form of a commodity money expresses (and can only express) the value of the commodity. If the commodity is sold below its value, the commodity money realized in a market transaction must be below the value of the commodity.
And when might the prices of commodities fall below their values? When there is a glut of commodities on the market, of course — a depression. The argument Marx was making in Capital is that capitalist production for profit inevitably produces a glut of commodities in the market, leading to a depression and the breakdown of production on the basis of exchange value.
There is nothing exceptional about this observation, it is so obvious as to not even be worthy of notice — every asshole simpleton economist will admit to the possibility of too many commodities being thrown on the market and, therefore, falling prices, or what some call deflation. What Marx also showed is that these were not simply ordinary commodities — they were capital in the form of commodities. Thus, the falling prices not only affected the prices of commodities as simple values, but also their prices as capitalist commodities: the collapse of production on the basis of exchange value also had implications for production for profit.
However the collapse of production on the basis of exchange value is not the same thing as the collapse of production for profit and the two should not be confused. While chronic overproduction meant commodities had to be sold below their values, a way needed to be found for this to be done at a profit — and this is the “genius” of Keynes: Keynes realized that the price of labor power was always denominated in some state issued currency. If the currency issued by the state could be severed from commodity money, the value it represented would then represent would be purely notional — it would become a numeraire having no value.
A debased currency — lacking any definite connection to a commodity — would, in other words, represent no value at all — not even symbolically. The values of commodities could be suppressed simply by severing the currency in which their prices were deniminated from commodity money.
Modern inconvertible fiat currency is just this sort of object; representing no value and expressing the values of all commodities as zero. The value of commodities expressed in dollars or euros is always zero — no matter the quantity of currency in question. Thus it is not, as Moseley asserts, that inconvertible state issued fiat dollars function as a measure of value, but that the value of commodities when expressed in modern fiat is always zero.
In other words, with modern fiat, commodities are not treated as values at all; they are treated as use values of a special type — capital.
The implications of this will be examined next.
To be continued
AdvertisementsWhen buying used phones off of eBay, Craigslist, or the like, a primary concern of anyone purchasing CDMA devices (Verizon, Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, etc.) is the status of the phone's ESN (electronic serial number). If a device's ESN is registered as "banned" on its carrier because it has been listed as stolen or is attached to an unpaid account, then that phone cannot be activated on said carrier. Thus, the phone is either useless or has to be activated on a pre-paid carrier, which is generally not all that desirable and drastically decreases a device's worth.
Update: JCase has now released a free version of PocketESN. While it performs all of the same checks as the Pro version, it only works on the phone in which it's installed. Hit the widget at the bottom to grab it. JCase has now released a free version of PocketESN. While it performs all of the same checks as the Pro version, it only works on the phone in which it's installed. Hit the widget at the bottom to grab it.
Enter PocketESN, a creation from our boy Justin Case that allows you to quickly and easily check the status of a device's ESN by scanning the barcode (or entering the number manually) found beneath the battery. While this app is simple in nature, it's infinitely useful to anyone who often deals in used cell phones, as it will potentially prevent them from being duped by dishonest sellers claiming their device is "clean."
While its $5.99 price tag may seem a bit steep, it's definitely a small price to pay for peace of mind when spending $200-500 for a device. If something like this sounds useful but you would only use it occasionally, JCase is also working on a 99c-per-use version of the app.
The app was not found in the store. :-( Go to store Google websearchLEONI TWP., MI - A large dog was rescued from a vehicle fire Wednesday night by a group of bystanders who saw a smoking silver SUV in a parking lot and jumped into action.
Police and rescue crews were called to the vehicle fire at about 9 p.m., Nov. 22, in the Meijer parking lot on E. Michigan Avenue, Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety Director Mike Jester said.
The dog was rescued by bystanders who saw the animal in distress and got it out before police arrived at the scene, Jester said.
The dog's owner suffered minor burns to his hands attempting to get the dog out of the vehicle and was treated at the scene, Jester said.
One of the bystanders told police he administered CPR to the dog prior to the arrival of rescue crews, Jester said.
The dog was given oxygen by first responders until its breathing returned to normal, Jester said. The owner said he would take the dog to see a veterinarian later as a precaution, Jester said.
The interior of the car was damaged in the fire, but not believed to be beyond repair, Jester said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, he said.Virgin Media Business will begin its rollout of the ‘super-connected cities’ initiative in Leeds and Bradford, after being awarded the right to provide nation’s first wireless concessions outside of the capital.
The network will be operated by partner company Global Reach Technology and run along Virgin’s fibre network.
1.2 million people will benefit from the free service which entails small cell transmitters being placed in the cities’ lampposts to provide public access to 4G and Wi-Fi. The new service is expected to go live before the New Year at Bridge Street in Bradford and Briggate in Leeds, with Millennium Square in Leeds and City Park in Bradford set to follow suit early in 2013.
“Small cells can transform the mobile experience by providing the connectivity needed to match the explosive broadband demand from the rapidly growing number of smartphones and tablets,” said Kevin Baughan, director of wireless, Virgin Media Business.
“In Leeds and Bradford, we’re working with both the local authorities and mobile operators to put in place the infrastructure that will give residents, consumers and businesses access to the wireless connectivity that they need,” he added.
This deal will be the first to use public funds of about £150 million allocated for the provisioning of fast broadband in 10 cities.
“These projects in Leeds and Bradford are an important step towards making the vision of super-connected cities a reality and enabling future prosperity and innovation,” said Baughan.World
EU to Build Research Center in Beijing, Strengthens EU-China Relations
In lieu of strengthening the bond between China and the European Commission (EC), the latter will be establishing a research and innovation center in Beijing. The EC will invest 3 million euros into what will be the first EC-funded center in mainland China that will focus on research and development.
Like Us on Facebook
Advertisement
The new European Research and Innovation Center of Excellence serves as a huge step to the EU-China scientific and technological ties. Apart from its main headquarters in Beijing, it will also have smaller offices in different cities in China.
"The aim is to establish a center here in China that can help European researchers on the first step toward the Chinese market, help them connect with Chinese companies, and at the same time, enable Chinese researchers to interact better with the European side," said Sara Medina, board member of SPI, a Portuguese company that promotes cooperation between the EU and China.
The new establishment will organize networking events for Chinese and EU researchers as well as help EU countries enter China for research and development. The project will start construction in January 2017 and is expected to be operational in 2019.
EU-China relations recently took a hit when EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger, in a speech in front of world business leaders in Hamburg, called the Chinese "slit-eyes" and mocked the Chinese businessmen in the audience for wearing "single-breasted dark-blue jackets, all with their hair brushed from left to right with black shoe polish."
Oettinger has apologized after China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the speech.
Advertisement
Advertisement
©2019 Chinatopix All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permissionThe Eagle and The Chicken
A man found an eagle's egg and put it into the nest of a prairie chicken. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.
All his life, the eagle, thinking he was a prairie chicken, did whatever the other prairie chickens did. He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. He clucked and cackled. And he flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that's how prairie chickens were supposed to fly.
Years passed. The eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong wooden wings.
"What a beautiful bird!" said the eagle to his neighbor. "What is it?"
"That's an eagle - - the chief of the birds," the neighbor clucked. "But don't give it a second thought. You could never be like him."
So the eagle never gave it another thought. And it died thinking it was a prairie chicken."
Fly like the eagle or strut around the chicken yard like a prairie chicken, its own choice.
Moral : Fly like the eagle or strut around the chicken yard like a prairie chicken, its own choice.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Daniel Holtzclaw cried as the guilty verdicts were read out in December
An Oklahoma City police officer has been convicted of raping and sexually assaulting black women in the poor area he worked in.
Daniel Holtzclaw, 29, stopped the women while out on patrol, searched them and then forced himself upon them.
Holtzclaw was convicted of assaults on eight victims, including a grandmother in her 50s and a 17-year-old.
The jury recommended a prison term totalling 263 years. He is due to be sentenced in January.
"Justice was done today, and a criminal wearing a uniform is going to prison now," Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said.
Standing with 'imperfect' accusers
The verdict was delivered on Holtzclaw's birthday - a reporter at the trial tweeted a video of supporters of the victims singing Happy Birthday in celebration at the verdict.
The case has drawn attention on social media, with some users commenting on a perceived lack of interest in the case from major media outlets.
Image copyright Twitter
Image copyright Twitter
The court heard from several women during the trial.
The grandmother said she was driving home late at night when Holtzclaw pulled her over, asked if she had been drinking and then told her to get into his squad car and and ordered her to perform oral sex.
Another victim, who was 17 at the time, said Holtzclaw pulled up in his car as she walked home one night, drove her there, told her he had to search her, forced off her clothes and raped her.
Holtzclaw's lawyer insisted his client had been attempting to help the drug addicts and prostitutes he encountered in his work. Many of the women had arrest records or histories of drug abuse.
Two of the victims spoke out on their experiences at a news conference a day after the verdict was handed down.
"I wasn't a criminal, I have no record, I didn't do anything wrong," said Janie Higgins. "He picked the wrong lady to stop that night."
"I was helpless, I thought he was going to shoot me and kill me," she said. "He did things to me I didn't think a police officer would do."
Image copyright AP Image caption There were protests outside the courtroom as the jury deliberated
Ms Higgins said she was traumatised and had a stroke following her encounter with Holtzclaw and that she went to therapy.
"I still live with this day after day."
Another victim, Sade Hill, spoke of her experience being violated by Holtzclaw in a hospital.
"I just couldn't even believe it. I was speechless, I was scared," she said. "I didn't know what to do. I felt like I was in survival mode so I had to do what he was making me do."
Ms Hill was abused in 2013 and did not come forward with her story until this July.
She said she never doubted during the trial that Holtzclaw would be brought to justice.
"My faith was strong in this whole situation," she said. "Black lives do matter. We matter. We are survivors."Mitt Romney has been touring dilapidated factories and boarded up storefronts around the nation looking to bolster his argument that President Obama has wrecked the economy. But business and community leaders at the sites are not always happy with being characterized as depressed ruins.
The latest example is in California, where the presidential candidate held a press conference in North Hollywood at Valley Plaza, an empty shopping center where multiple attempts to reverse its fortunes have failed to get off the ground. Romney admitted its problems predated Obama, but nonetheless blamed him for making the recession “worse” and thus helping squash development plans at the site.
“Sadly, as we look around us at this development, we see a development that is no longer going to be a development,” he said. “The Valley Plaza development program has been scrapped in part because of the challenges of the economy.’
In fact, the mall’s current struggles have little to do with recent events and its current owners say that it absolutely will be developed in the coming months.Valley Plaza’s troubles began in 1994, when it was badly damaged in the Northridge earthquake. Purchased by developer J.H. Snyder, attempts to redevelop the site in 1999 and 2003 stalled, well before President Obama took over or the recession even began.
The recession dealt Valley Plaza the final blow as Snyder defaulted on their loan this year and decided it was too expensive to refinance. So their creditor, iStar, owned by a major Romney donor Jay Sugarman, foreclosed on the property and shut down the struggling development push. According to Snyder, iStar’s terms were simply too expensive to continue.
Victor Veireck, president of the local Chamber of Commerce, told TPM that Romney’s account of the site was simplistic even while he agreed with his larger assessment of the national economy. He blamed a host of factors, mostly local, but none more significant than the quake.
“There’s more to Valley Plaza than just the national situation, there were other things involved and it was not a thriving plaza before the economic collapse,” Veireck said. “It was more the earthquake that — I hate to say — shook things up.”
And contrary to Romney’s assertion that development is dead at the site, iStar is working on a new investment in the location that they plan to debut in the next several months. Nor do they sound too pleased with the area’s portrayal as a helpless victim of the economy: Sugarman’s company put out a response to Romney’s press conference pledging to turn Valley Plaza into an “economic engine” through “considerable investment in a modern, quality project” at the site. The company’s stock has shot up over the last year.
Democratic City Councilman Paul Krekorian held a counter-event at the site to slam Romney for belittling the area’s ongoing “economic revitalization.”
“For Mr. Romney, Valley Plaza is just an easy backdrop for a cheap photo op,” he said in a statement. “Even as Mr. Romney is dropping in to preen for the cameras, the new owner of Valley Plaza is hard at work preparing plans for a major new development on this site – a significant long-term investment in the bright future of North Hollywood.”
iStar’s effort to highlight their development plans after Romney’s visit recalls a recent trip by Obama to an Alcoa factory in Iowa. Romney warned the site would lose jobs thanks to the National Labor Relations Board’s suit against Boeing over alleged labor violations. Alcoa, who produces material for the airline giant, told reporters that in fact their employment situation was unaffected by the case.
Romney was asked about Krekorian’s statement and iStar’s plans and told reporters that he was referring only to the recent Snyder deal that had been scrapped. Apparently undercutting his dramatization of North Hollywood’s woes, Romney declared that there was “retail vitality” in the “wonderful community,” but lamented that Valley Plaza is no longer a bustling business like it once was in the 1960s when John F. Kennedy visited.
“I’m sure there’s going to be something done here,” he said. “I’ll tell you, if I’m president, there will be something done in places around the country to put people back to work.”
Correction: An earlier version of this post stated that Romney visited an Alcoa plant in Iowa. President Obama visited the plant.One of my hobbies is bookbinding and my hope is to go to school for my MLS to concentrate on Archiving and Restoration. Well, my match happens to work next door to an archivist.
She sent along the most AMAZING stuff.
First was a really cool surprise, I love Lego and London, so I got Lego Big Ben!
Also, some tools for bookbinding, a bone folder is used for "ironing in" the creases when you fold paper. The adhesive is PVA, sort of a high test Elmers and then a set of large dividers she said was suggested by the restorer as more handy than the smaller ones most people use and since I don't have a set at all, I'm super stoked!
Next came a BEAUTIFUL bookbinding reference book. Seriously BEAUTIFUL. If i could only keep one of my bookbinding books, it would be this one.
Then the last surprise came along, a single volume reference for an MLIS student.
I can't even express how amazed I was as each package showed up. Tiggyvashti7 is an amazing Santa and I am so grateful!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!SmartThings, the open-platform smart home company that sold itself to Samsung a year ago, is rolling out its first new product line since it was acquired by the Korean electronics giant.
The new SmartThings "smart hub," a router-like device that supports various wireless protocols and powers a series of sensors around the house, has a new design and is equipped with a more powerful processor to support video monitoring.
That means that SmartThings users can connect a home monitoring camera, either a D-Link camera or a Samsung-made one (natch), to the new hub and monitor the live video feed from the SmartThings mobile app. While the app will serve a continuous live-stream of video, video isn't sent through SmartThings' servers, the company says, and is only recorded in the event of activity. The new hub will also have battery back-up capabilities, lasting 10 hours in the event of a power outage.
"We see home security as the biggest starting point, by far, for the smart home," Alex Hawkinson, SmartThings founder and CEO, said in an interview. "Before SmartThings was easy for early adopters, but I think now we're mass market easy."
The SmartThings mobile app for iOS and Android have been redesigned for a more intuitive experience, Hawkinson said.
The new SmartThings hub goes on sale today and costs $99, the same price as the previous model. Compatible sensors, like outlet switches, motion sensors, and moisture sensors, range in price from around $30 to $50. And SmartThings is using its new parent company to extend its retail presence outside the US, starting with the UK.
SmartThings, of course, is hardly the only company striving to become the dominant platform for connected homes, and competition is stiff. Everyone from media service operators, to big box retailers like Lowe's, to Google-owned Nest Labs, are trying to get in on the game, all of which have much better brand recognition than SmartThings.
But SmartThings does take an open-source approach that a few others don't. It supports nearly 200 devices, and has partnered with companies ranging from Honeywell to Bose to Schlage. It's also now working with GitHub, a web-based repository for source code where developers can create and collaborate on new projects.Abstract
Objectives: Existing treatments for schizophrenia can improve positive symptoms, but it is unclear if they have any impact on negative symptoms. This meta-analysis was conducted to assess the efficacy of available treatments for negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Methods: All randomized-controlled trials of interventions for negative symptoms in schizophrenia until December 2013 were retrieved; 168 unique and independent placebo-controlled trials were used. Negative symptom scores at baseline and follow-up, duration of illness, doses of medication, type of interventions, and sample demographics were extracted. Heterogeneity was addressed with the I2 and Q statistic. Standardized mean difference in values of the Negative Symptom Rating Scale used in each study was calculated as the main outcome measure. Results: 6503 patients in the treatment arm and 5815 patients in the placebo arm were included. No evidence of publication biases found. Most treatments reduced negative symptoms at follow-up relative to placebo: second-generation antipsychotics: −0.579 (−0.755 to −0.404); antidepressants: −0.349 (−0.551 to −0.146); combinations of pharmacological agents: −0.518 (−0.757 to −0.279); glutamatergic medications: −0.289 (−0.478 to −0.1); psychological interventions: −0.396 (−0.563 to −0.229). No significant effect was found for first-generation antipsychotics: −0.531 (−1.104 to 0.041) and brain stimulation: −0.228 (−0.775 to 0.319). Effects of most treatments were not clinically meaningful as measured on Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale. Conclusions and Relevance: Although some statistically significant effects on negative symptoms were evident, none reached the threshold for clinically significant improvement.
Introduction
Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome comprising a number of psychopathology domains and patients vary in which pathologies are manifest. 1, 2 Patients with schizophrenia experience “positive” psychotic symptoms as required by diagnostic criteria and include delusions, hallucinations, and disorganization of thought and behavior. The “negative” symptoms are conceptualized as a deficit or loss of some functions 3 and reflect pathology that Kraepelin 4 described as a weakening of the well-spring of volition resulting in emotional dullness and loss of drive for vocation. Negative symptoms group in 2 factors, one involving diminished expression of affect and alogia and the second involving avolition including anhedonia and asociality. 5 Negative symptoms together with impaired cognition are the major cause of the marked functional disability that is often associated with schizophrenia. 6 They underlie impaired vocational 7, 8 and social functioning 9 and place an enormous burden on patients’ carers. 10, 11 Negative symptoms are thus a key contributor to the enormous costs of schizophrenia to health services and society 12 and are identified as an unmet therapeutic need. 13
In clinical care, treatment of negative symptoms depends on ascertainment of cause. What appears to be asociality may be a paranoid withdrawal based on fear, or restricted expression of emotion by drug-induced akinesia, or low drive and apathy may be caused by sedating medication. 14 Negative symptoms that remain when secondary causes have been addressed tend to be persistent. Currently available treatments for schizophrenia can improve positive symptoms, 15 but the extent to which they can impact on negative symptoms is unclear. 16 As a result, many patients have persistent negative symptoms, despite optimal clinical care. 17 Initial evidence that “second generation” antipsychotics had therapeutic effects on negative as well as positive symptoms 18 have not been consistently replicated. 19 Thus, although there are approximately 40 different antipsychotic drugs that are licensed to treat symptoms of schizophrenia, no molecule is officially indicated for the treatment of negative symptoms. Some treatment guidelines suggest that other treatments, such as music therapy, may be useful when antipsychotic treatment fails. 20 However, the evidence base for these recommendations is generally weak.
The aim of the present study was to clarify whether any available treatments are effective for negative symptoms. We carried out a comprehensive meta-analysis of a range of different treatments, including all randomized placebo-controlled trials of interventions for negative symptoms in schizophrenia published up to December 2013. These studies included pharmacological trials of first- and second-generation antipsychotics (FGA, SGA), glutamatergic medications (Glut), antidepressants (AD), and combinations of these medications (Comb) 21–25 ; brain stimulation (BS) techniques such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation 26, 27 ; and psychological interventions (Psych) such as cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, and music therapy. 28–32 We assessed the efficacy of these treatments relative to placebo, controlling for potentially confounding clinical and sociodemographic modulators and publication bias.
Methods
The full details of the research protocol are appended in Supplementary Data.
Selection Procedures
Search Strategies.
Search strategies are detailed in Supplementary Data.
Selection Criteria.
Articles were included if they: (a) were original articles, written in English, (b) included patients with a DSM or ICD diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, (c) included participants aged 18 or above, (d) reported raw data to allow meta-analytical computations, and (e) were randomized placebo-controlled trials of either a double-blind, open-label, or crossover design. We excluded: (a) abstracts, pilot datasets, reviews, articles in language other than English; (b) articles of populations with other psychiatric diagnoses; (c) articles of children and young adolescents; (d) articles failing to report raw data; (e) articles with lack of randomization and control group or observational studies; (f) articles with overlapping datasets. Specifically, in case of multiple publications deriving from the same study population, we selected the articles reporting the most recent or largest dataset. Some of the included articles did not have a placebo group (ie, head-to-head comparison of 2 treatments only) or had several trials, each using different doses. Consequently, the primary efficacy analysis was restricted to unique placebo-controlled trials employing the highest doses. Trials reporting the results of several treatments using the same placebo group were included in the analysis with appropriate corrections of the sample size.
Recorded Variables.
The following variables were recorded from each article: author, year of publication, type of intervention (FGA, SGA, Glut, AD, Comb, BS, Psych); all the above categories of interventions, at the exception of FGA and SGA, were added on interventions on a stable antipsychotic regime (see Supplementary Data for a detailed account), details of intervention (including dosage of medication), design (double-blind, crossover, open-label), quality criterion (A or B, see quality assessment below), type of placebo condition, duration of trial in weeks, epidemiological data of treatment, and placebo samples (baseline and endpoint sample sizes, mean age, male percentage, duration of illness, drop-outs), the Negative Symptom Subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia (PANSS-NS), 33 the Withdrawal-Retardation Subscale of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-WR), 34 and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). 35 The last 3 variables composed the primary outcome measure and for them the following additional data were extracted: mean value at baseline (and SD of the mean), mean value at endpoint (and SD of the mean), change in means between endpoint and baseline (see below), direction of change (baseline > endpoint or endpoint > baseline), SD and P value of change. 36 As secondary outcome measure reflecting the clinicians’ impression on treatment response, we also extracted values for the Clinical Global Impression Scales 37 : Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S) scores, severity scale (change in means between endpoint and baseline, SD of change) and for Clinical Global Impression Improvement Scale (CGI-I) scores, improvement scale (mean value at endpoint, SD of the mean). To achieve a high standard of reporting, we have adopted the QUORUM guidelines. 38 Quality assessment is detailed in Supplementary Data.
Statistical Analysis
The mean difference in the primary outcome measures (PANSS-NS, SANS, BPRS-WR) between treatment and placebo groups was standardized by calculating the difference between the 2 mean changes (difference of post- and pretreatment score) divided by the pooled SD of the difference scores, or, if this was not available, by the pooled baseline SD. 39 There were no significant differences in the SD based on change score or baseline for treatment group for the main analyses trials ( P =.12 or control group P =.54). A negative change of the standardized mean difference (SMD) indicates a larger reduction in our primary outcome measures at endpoint compared with baseline in the treatment group and thus an improvement in negative symptoms compared with placebo group.
The SE of each study’s standardized effect size was calculated from the estimated effect and the group sizes of the 2 groups. 40 Meta-analyses were completed by pooling the standardized effect sizes between trials using a random effects models, which incorporate the between study heterogeneity due to the variety of case mix and settings between trials. 39 Our sensitivity analyses also revealed that there were no studies with an unusually large effect on the pooled effect size, which suggests that our effect sizes did not vary considerably. For completeness and clarity, in a supplementary analysis we additionally calculated the percentage of change in the primary outcome measures between treatment and placebo group from pre to follow-up.
Several articles reported trials with 2 or more experimental groups and only 1 placebo group. To avoid counting the placebo patients twice, we followed the recommendation of the Cochrane Collaboration and divided the placebo group equally into 2 (or more) groups with smaller sample size, so that the total numbers of participants add up to the original size of the group. We thereby avoided an inflation of sample size which would lead to an increase of type I errors and thus overoptimistically small SEs.
Sensitivity analyses were conducted to weigh up the relative influence of each individual trial on the pooled effect size using STATA’s user-written function, metainf. 41
Homogeneity between the trials was assessed using Cochran’s Q test and by calculating the measure of heterogeneity or inconsistency ( I2 ). 42I2 describes the percentage of total variation across trials that is due to heterogeneity rather than sampling error and ranges between 0% (no inconsistency) and 100% (high heterogeneity) with values of 25%, 50%, and 75% suggested as low, moderate, and high heterogeneity. 42 Forest plots are used to graphically show the meta-analysis results. The secondary outcome measures (CGI-S diff and CGI-I) were then regressed on the primary outcome measures to establish clinically meaningful cutoffs for data interpretation. Such an approach correlating the BPRS, PANSS, SANS scores, and CGI scores has been previously adopted in several studies 43–45 and used to better understand the clinical impact of the primary outcome measures. Publication biases were assessed and detailed in Supplementary Data.
Results
Database
Our literature search uncovered 244 articles ( figure 1 ), which included both placebo-controlled trials and head-to-head comparisons between different molecules or between different doses of the same molecule (for details see Supplementary Data and Supplementary Data ). On average 1.8 different treatment groups were reported (range 1–6) resulting to a total number of 440 trials; 223 of them lacked a placebo group. Out of the remaining 217 placebo-controlled trials, 27 studies used different doses of the same drugs and only the highest dose was used for the analyses, leaving 168 “unique” trials from 146 published articles for the primary analysis. This dataset was leading to a total population of 6503 patients in the treatment arm and 5815 patients in the placebo arm, for the meta-analysis. Mean age of the participants in 158 of 168 trials was 38.0 (SD = 7.86) years. The mean duration of illness in months was 158.5 (SD = 83.92, N = 95). The mean duration of interventions was 12.4 (SD = 13.86) weeks. The percentage of male patients was 68.9 (SD = 14.59, N = 153). Attrition rates (expressed as % drop-outs) were 10.9 (SD = 17.56, range: 0%–77.8%). Details are appended online (see Supplementary Data ).
Efficacy of Treatments for Negative Symptoms
There was a significant heterogeneity across individual trials ( I2 = 77.7%, Q = 748 (167), P <.0001, P <.001, see figure 2 ). The effect sizes of the 7 different treatment groups varied between −0.23 (BS) and −0.58 (SGA, see table 1 ). With the exception of BS ( P =.41) and FGA (P =.07) all treatment effects were significant. A metaregression with treatment group as a categorical independent variable indicated however no between-group differences F (6, 161) = 0.80, P =.57, all pairwise comparisons not significant ( P values ≥.09). Forest plots for all trials together and for each treatment group separately are appended online (see Supplementary Data – Supplementary Data ). These effects, even if statistically significant, did not cross the threshold for minimal clinical improvement as detected by clinicians with the CGI (see below). The supplementary analysis ( Supplementary Data ) showed that the mean % change of treatment groups was 16.1% (SD = 12.6%, N = 158), while the control group changed on average by 7.9% (SD = 11.1%, N = 158). Percentage improvement in the treatment group compared with control group between the treatment groups varied between 4.8% (FGA) and 12.7% (psychological treatments; see Supplementary Data, Supplementary Data ).
Fig. 2. View largeDownload slide Forest plot showing the pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) (and 95% CI) for the included placebo-controlled trials. The size of the box represents the weight given to the trials of the respective treatment group. A negative effect size corresponds to improvement in the treatment group relative to the placebo group over time. The red line indicates no statistical significant difference from placebo over time. The dashed line indicates minimally detectable clinical improvements over time. The latter line at y = −0.97 is the predicted SMDs of negative symptoms when mean net CGI-S reduction in treatment is 1 (metaregression of negative symptoms on CGI-S: constant = −0.23, β =.735 [95% CI: 0.423 to 1.047], t = 4.70, P <.0001, adjusted r2 = 42.5%). CGI-S, Clinical Global |
townhall was organized by Fightback at Ryerson University under the title of “United Against Trump!”. At that event, with more than 100 in attendance, a fire alarm was pulled just as several Trump supporters left the venue. This resulted in the event having to be moved outside temporarily (but with no loss of enthusiasm!). In the months following, individuals associated with the alt-right made threatening comments and messages against Fightback activists on campus.
At York University, a campaign of vandalism and hate graffiti has been waged against Socialist Fightback Students since the start of the fall term. Nazi-inspired slogans such as Gott mit uns ("God with us") as well as clear Nazi symbols have been scrawled across our posters. An activist of our campus club was aggressively verbally attacked by an alt-rightist at York when he challenged them over the issue of vandalism.
In Hamilton, far-right activists identifying with the “Proud Boys” organization sabotaged a meeting of the Socialist Fightback club at McMaster University. This event was directed towards first-year students who had met us during frosh week. The fascists advertised a dummy meeting at the same place and time as ours, and then reported this dummy meeting to the administration. The administration then shut down our event, and the police intimidated and threatened our activists and first-year students trying to attend the meeting (see statement). After this attempt at intimidation, Socialist Fightback Hamilton has stepped up the fight against the far-right in the city to show we will will not be intimidated. Our efforts have gained significant support from organized labour and have even been covered in the local Hamilton press.
At the University of Toronto, rumours circulated on online chat-boards that alt-right supporters were going to crash a public meeting in September on the topic of the fight against fascism and racism. Just prior to the Anti-Trump Townhall at Ryerson, there were discussions on reddit chat boards which included the threat of physical violence. Fightback takes all threats, vandalism, and sabotage by the far right seriously. We are not intimidated by these actions of the far right, and we believe the way forward is to stand up and fight back. It appears that in a number of instances our preparations scared off the rightists from attending.
It is notable that the far right are resorting to such cowardly and sneaky attacks. This is a result of their rallies and meetings having been shut down by the mass mobilization of workers, youth, minorities and socialists. The fascists have had to beat a retreat. These cowardly acts of vandalism, sabotage and anonymous threats are a sign of weakness, not a sign of strength.
Shut down the far right through mass mobilization!
The white supremacist protest and terrorist attack in Charlottesville, and the attempts by the far right to organize rallies and meetings in different cities, have created an immense backlash. There is a powerful urge among workers and youth to get organized and fight back. We have seen anti-fascist protests being held in one city after another.
The surest way to defeat the far right and guarantee that the fascists have no platform is by establishing a broad-based, mass united front. This united front should be composed of socialist and labour organizations, trade unions, student unions and organizations, and organizations representing oppressed communities.
The key to victory is mobilizing the broadest section of the working class, as well as students, youth and especially marginalized groups, into mass struggle against the fascists. Historically, anti-fascist action has been most successful where mass mobilizations are organized.
The anti-fascist demonstrations organized in Boston and Vancouver to counter the far right a week after Charlottesville show the way forward. In Boston, some 40,000 people came together to drown out the far right, and in Vancouver that same weekend some 5,000 rallied to shut down an anti-Islam demonstration. In both cases the far-right rallies were cancelled in the face of mass opposition. The fascists had no platform and were shut down.
After this demonstration of mass opposition against the far right, dozens of far-right and fascist rallies were cancelled all across North America, demonstrating the power of a broad-based, united movement. Facing mass mobilization of workers, youth and marginalized communities, the far right was forced to retreat and was made painfully aware of their weakness.
A key role in the fight against the far right must be played by the trade unions. A fantastic example of the role and power of the trade unions was shown in San Francisco a few weeks after the events in Charlottesville. The International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU) organized a work stoppage in response to a planned rally of the far right in San Francisco. The ILWU Local 10 represents dock workers in the San Francisco Bay Area, many of whom are black and/or Hispanic. For example, the union includes workers at the Port of Oakland, which is the fifth-busiest container port in the United States. A work stoppage therefore has a significant impact on the capitalist system.
The work stoppage motion passed by ILWU Local 10 explained the threat posed by fascist thugs to unions and all the oppressed; called on all unions, anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations to help organize a counter-demonstration; and organized a strike at the port so that members could join the march to stop racist and fascist intimidation. The far right cancelled their rally out of fear; nonetheless the massive anti-fascist demonstration went ahead. The ILWU motion for a work stoppage to mobilize the fight against the far right is an example for unions across the continent.
Closer to home, the Hamilton & District Labour Council (HDLC) has announced a rally to Shut Down Hate for Saturday, September 30. That the HDLC is taking a lead in the fight against fascism represents a solid step forward. Trade unions taking a lead in the fight against fascism significantly emboldens workers of all backgrounds, and puts the far right on the back foot.
Trade unions and labour councils must take the examples in San Francisco and Hamilton as an example. They should make preparations for similar rallies and begin concerted efforts to mobilize their members. Where the threat is real, work stoppages should be organized to bolster the rallies and marches against the fascists, and to send a clear message to the bosses and the capitalist state.
“Free speech” and liberal hypocrisy
There has been a torrent of criticisms from the right wing, and especially from liberals, that the anti-fascist movement is undermining free speech. These liberals claim that the attempt to mobilize to shut down the far right is an attack on free speech. The criticism of these people is utterly false, and reeks of hypocrisy.
This “free speech” critique comes from the same people who have been utterly silent as the police and National Guard were sent in to repress Black Lives Matters protesters, and raised no criticisms as police kettled the #OccupyWallStreet protesters, or as the police were sent to pepper-spray protesters at the #noDAPL and Idle No More protests. Neither did they raise their voice as mass arrests occurred during the G20 in Toronto and during the heroic Quebec student movement of 2012, or as anti-strike legislation and court injunctions have been repeatedly slapped against trade unionists across North America.
The far right themselves are no supporters of free speech either. This is shown demonstrably by their sabotage of socialist organizing. And what of Heather Heyer’s free speech? She has been silenced forever.
For these liberal “defenders” of free speech, the democratic rights of black people, Indigenous people, racial and religious minorities, progressive youth and students, socialists and the labour movement are of little importance. Most of these liberals have supported, or acted as apologists, for the repression of the democratic rights of these groups.
However, when it comes to the supposed free speech of fascists, racists, sexists, homophobes, and xenophobes, the liberals work up a storm of outrage and condemnation. The fact is these liberals focus on defending the far-right groups and ideology that openly proclaim their intention of using physical violence to repress our democratic rights.
The far-right organizations, from the Nazis to the KKK, from the Proud Boys to the Soldiers of Odin, all promote physical violence against the left wing and typically of racial, religious, or sexual minorities or women as a fundamental part of their program.
The struggle for democratic rights for workers, for women, for racial minorities, were all won through militant struggle. Many were injured, jailed and even killed by state repression or fascist gangs in the various struggles for democratic rights; free speech, the right to vote, freedom to assemble, freedom to organize a union, and freedom to organize political parties.
The program of the fascists is precisely to claw back these democratic rights through brute, physical force. The only way for us to preserve our democratic rights is through the same means through which we won these rights in the first place: militant mass struggle to defend our rights.
This is exactly what Fightback is advocating—Using our hard-won democratic rights to engage in mass mobilization to shut down the fascists. If they hold a meeting, we show up with hundreds or thousands to their meeting. We protest it, effectively shutting down the attempt of the fascists to organize. If they hold a rally, we repeat what happened in Boston, outnumber and surround them, forcing the fascists to retreat with their tail between their legs.
The liberal criticism of the anti-fascists for using mass mobilization to shut down the fascists exposes their hypocrisy. They are opposed to anti-fascists using our democratic rights (free speech, right to assembly, etc.) to mobilize against the fascists. However, they are in favour of those same rights being used by the fascists, to facilitate the carrying out of their program of racial violence.
After the retreat of the far right on the streets and at open public meetings, there is now an attempt by the fascists to make use of free speech clubs to organize themselves at university campuses. The fascists cannot organize publicly under their own banner because of the mass revulsion and backlash towards their ideas and program.
As a result, the fascists are forced to organize under the cowardly banner of “free speech”. It goes without saying that free speech is totally in contradiction with their political program. The fascists being forced to organize themselves in such a sneaky manner is yet another sign of their weakness and lack of support in society.
These “free speech” clubs, in providing a platform to the far right, are giving the fascists the means to organize around their platform of racist terror, repression of democratic rights and physical violence. Any events with fascist speakers should be shut-down by mass mobilization, regardless of the title of the group that has booked the room space.
Weakness of the far right
In this fight against the racist forces emboldened by Trump, it is necessary to have a sense of proportion. We should not be complacent, and one death is one death too many, but there is no danger of the fascists coming to power as in the 1920s and 1930s. These forces are actually very weak in society and lead the majority of workers to react with utter revulsion. It is notable that in the days after Charlottesville, even conservative politicians and newspapers were calling for the fascists to be shut down. This is not because these more “respectable” representatives of the capitalist class are wedded to democracy. This is because they are afraid of the backlash the far right will elicit amongst the people.
The capitalists are not currently relying on fascist terror to keep the workers in check. Instead, they rely on the liberals and reformists to sing the workers to sleep and make workers believe they have no power. Far-right provocations show the impotence of the liberals and reformists in practice and shatter the illusions of the workers. The capitalists are desperately trying to leash and muzzle their mad dogs for fear that they will spark off a far more radical and united mass movement of workers and the oppressed.
Capitalism is in crisis internationally. This has led to a collapse in confidence in the political establishment, state institutions, and the status quo. There is extreme inequality and polarization between the classes. A small minority has taken all the wealth while the majority stagnates or goes downward. In Canada, two men control as much wealth as the poorest third of the population. This economic polarization has had its reflection in a political polarization. Internationally there is a crisis of the so-called middle. Liberal defence of the status quo becomes increasingly untenable. Anti-establishment arguments, from both the left and right, gain in prominence. Examples include Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Jeremy Corbyn and Brexit.
It is vital that we understand that the anti-establishment arguments of the right cannot be defeated by pro-establishment arguments from the liberals. When people are sick of the status quo, they will not support more status quo. Hillary Clinton cannot defeat Trump. The Clintons have created the conditions for the rise of the Trumps of this world. The right recognises that there is a crisis and demagogically blame immigrants, Muslims, and black people. This can only be countered by a left-wing anti-establishment argument that lays the blame on the bosses and bankers who are actually responsible for the crisis in society. Mass mobilization against the far right must be united with socialist politics that can win the argument amongst those looking for an alternative to the failed status quo.
The class balance of forces are incredibly favourable to the left. The traditional class base of fascism in the interwar period, small shopkeepers and the petit-bourgeois in the countryside, has been decisively eroded. The working class is the overwhelming majority in almost every country. Students, who supported fascism in the 1930s, now stand firmly on the left. For every sad individual who turns to the far right, 100 or 1,000 turn towards the ideas of socialism. The task before us is to organize en masse against the racists, demand that the mass trade unions play a unifying role, and adopt socialist ideas that can undercut the racist ideology of the fascists and undercut the social conditions that promote racism. The workers united shall never be defeated.
We will not be intimidated!
Shut down the racists through mass mobilization!
Trade unions and student organizations must take a lead!
Only socialism can defeat the far right!I recently went on a trip to southern France and noticed that the McDonald's restaurants there are miles ahead of the franchises I've seen in the US.
They take McCafé seriously over there. Most American and UK franchises I've been to incorporate the McCafé drinks menu into the regular food menu, but the McDonald's restaurants I saw in Marseille had an entirely separate area for the café, which looked more like a Starbucks than a fast-food restaurant.
McCafe More
The menu is illustrated on colorful display boards behind the café-style counter, and pastries are displayed in a large glass case.
They have a pretty impressive spread for a McDonald's:
McCafe 2 More
They even sell macarons!
McCafe 1 More
And cookies are placed in pretty glass jars:
McCafe 3 More
The smoothies advertised on the board behind the cookies are actually served in glasses, too, rather than the plastic cups you'd see in other McDonald's cafés.
I didn't try anything from the café because I had just filled up on lunch elsewhere, but I got a chance to try the regular food while I was waiting through a train delay in the Marseille station.
The ordering system is pretty sophisticated. Customers place their orders on touch screens that allow people to select different languages — which I found helpful because my high-school-level French is pretty rusty — and peruse the menu.
They have a blue-cheese burger featured, a step above most American offerings:
McDonald's 2 MoreNow Playing: Aurora seen from International Space Station
Now Playing: Astronauts go spacewalking outside ISS
Now Playing: Legal trouble for Elon Musk
Now Playing: New, foldable smartphone aims to take on Samsung
Now Playing: Virgin Galactic sends a test passenger into space for future space tourism
Now Playing: SpaceX launches Israeli lunar spacecraft into orbit
Now Playing: Google forgets to inform customers of a hidden microphone in one of its products.
Now Playing: Samsung unveils its first foldable phone
Now Playing: Samsung's foldable smartphone may be coming soon
Now Playing: 'GMA' Hot List: Screen time for babies under age 2 has doubled since the mid-90s
Now Playing: Future iPhones could have a foldable display
Now Playing: Facebook called 'digital gangsters'
Now Playing: Virgin Galactic's race to get you into space
Now Playing: Facebook may face major fines
Now Playing: Instagram addresses a glitch
Now Playing: NASA ends mission for Mars rover, Opportunity, after 15 years
Now Playing: Exciting news for electric cars
Now Playing: Amazon acquires Eero, maker of home Wi-Fi systems
Now Playing: Google says it's working on augmented reality phone featureData compiled by the New York Police Department as a result of the city’s controversial focus on stop-and-frisk measures has shown that those suspects who were white were more often to be found in possession of weapons and drugs.
The analysis of 2012 statistics provided by the Public Advocate’s office shows that the likelihood that an African American detained for search would be found in possession of a weapon was half that of a white person.
Specifically, the New York Police Department uncovered a weapon in one out of every 49 stops of white New Yorkers, while for Latinos a weapon was found for every 71 stops, and for African Americans that number was 93 stops.
Meanwhile, the likelihood that a stop of an African American New Yorker would yield contraband was one-third less than that of white New Yorkers stopped.
The NYPD uncovered contraband in one out every 43 stops of white New Yorkers. By contrast, it took the Department 57 stops of Latinos and 61 stops of African Americans to uncover contraband.
Recent testimony by several New York police officers in connection to a lawsuit allege that the department regularly targets young black men and other minorities, which are judged by an arbitrary notion of “reasonable suspicion.”
Further, the stop-and-frisk practice is allegedly tied to quotas by which superiors measure success rates over the city’s police precincts.
In March, following evidence provided by a leaked recording, Officer Pedro Serrano, an 8-year veteran of the New York Police Department testified that during a meeting with Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormick he was told in no uncertain terms what individuals to focus his duties on.
“I don’t have any trouble telling you this: male blacks 14 to 20, 21,” said McCormick.
Serrano’s testimony was presented as part of Floyd v. City of New York, in which four plaintiffs claim they were racially profiled by the NYPD. Four other police officers presented evidence for the prosecution.
That trial concluded this week following two months of testimony, while Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, who will provide a ruling within a few months, seemed to indicate heavy skepticism over the high error rate of New York police stops.
“A lot of people are being frisked or searched on suspicion of having a gun and nobody has a gun,” said Judge Scheindlin on Monday during closing arguments in the trial.
“So the point is: the suspicion turns out to be wrong in most of the cases,” she added.
This most recent analysis of the NYPD’s statistics may well add more fuel to the fire over the stop-and-frisk controversy. The report by the Public Advocate’s Office leaves little room to interpret its findings after surveying the 2012 data.
“Despite the overall reduction in stops, the proportion involving black and Latino New Yorkers has remained unchanged. They continue to constitute 84 percent of all stops, despite comprising only 54 percent of the general population. And the innocence rates remain at the same level as 2011 – at nearly 89 percent.”
Meanwhile, in a separate analysis by the New York Civil Liberties Union of these same statistics, the group revealed that out of 532,911 stop-and-frisk searches in 2012, just 729 guns were found.
On Monday, Judge Scheindlin referred to the “high error rate” correlated with the stop-and-frisk practice, in which 88 per cent of stops yielded no evidence of criminality.
“You reasonably suspect something and you’re wrong 90 percent of the time,” said Scheindlin to a lawyer representing the city.
For his part, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken an unbending stance on city police’s stop-and-frisk policy.
"If you end street stops looking for guns, there will be more guns on the streets, and more people will be killed. It’s that simple,” said Bloomberg during an April speech.
Mayor Bloomberg has often aimed his defense of the policy at the media, in particular the New York Times, for allegedly turning a blind eye to the victims of the city's gun violence,A London bluegrass outfit that doesn’t mind describing its members as "urban hillbillies" sings about the joy of making your own moonshine in this week’s Reaney’s Pick video.
Black N’ Bluegrass is heard playing a spirited original,My Own Damn Still. It was cowritten by banjo player Jordie Steinmann and mandolin player Jordan Patterson. Their bandmates Dawn Redskye, Don Espiritu and Mike Ge have all added their own touches to the arrangement. Steinmann, Patterson and Redskye can all be heard singing around one mic, in classic ‘grass style. The song’s subject, moonshine and its production, also is a bluegrass classic.
My Own Damn Still is likely to be heard when Black N’ Bluegrass launches its new EP at Call the Office on Tuesday.
During last week’s video shoot, the band joked about its own pro-still sentiments.
"I’ve been brewing my own beer for a while," Steinmann said, a little more seriously.
Such talk is in keeping with the Black N’ Bluegrass mystique as purveyors of "rough around the edges bluegrass" and "urban hillbillies," to reference the band’s Facebook page.
If the lineup — or at least three-fifths of it — looks familiar, it should. South Porcupineraised bassist Ge, guitarist and singer Redskye, who grew up in Forest, and Toronto-tied Steinmann also are members of the fine London alt-country band Blackwood Honeybees.
Former Catholic Centre secondary school student Espiritu and former H.B. Beal student Patterson, are in with the three ‘Bees.
"I did a lot of busking," Patterson said of pre-Black N’ Bluegrass experiences.
In the lineup are four multi-instrumentalists. Redskye (guitar, mandolin and vocals),
Steinmann (banjo, guitar, vocals) Patterson (violin, mandolin, harmonica and vocals) and Espiritu (guitar, banjo) can all switch as needed.
An admirer asked how band members divide time between the ‘Bees and the bluegrass quintet. "It’s pretty well split," said Steinman.
"It’s not," said Ge, who was quick to add: "I was being facetious."
Seriously, the band is planning to work on a full-length album, now the EP is ready to go. Black N’ Bluegrass expects to seek production allies for the album.
"For the EP, we did it ourselves," a band member said during the shoot, to general approval.
– – –
IF YOU GO
What: London band Black N’ Bluegrass launches EP
Also on the bill: Thames Valley Bluegrass Boys and Montreal’s The Heroin Hayride.
When: Tuesday, doors open 8 p.m.
Where: Call the Office, 216 York St.
Details: $3, $5 with purchase of EP. 19-and-up. Visit facebook.com/Black.N. Bluegrass or facebook.com/calltheofficeThe Grand Tour has arrived. Fans around the world have awaited this moment for months while executives at the Amazon hold their breath. This is an unprecedented investment into a proven team, albeit one transitioning from old school to new media. Millions of dollars were poured into the production, matched only by the marketing dollars used to promote it.
As we enter the age of online a la carte programing, the highly anticipated new Amazon Prime Series marks a fundamental shift of old school entertainment entering a new chapter of online consumption. Have the series producers and Amazon executives found themselves the show we all want to watch? In order to answer that question, we need to examine the first episode of The Grand Tour in-depth.
MUSIC
My earliest concern for The Grand Tour was how they were going to tackle music licensing. As the series would be comprised of key members from the last generation of Top Gear, we can’t ignore the expectations for something similar.
Advertisement
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
Under the wings of the BCC, Top Gear film editors had access to a vast collection of music for their films. It has always been my belief that sound and music make up a majority of a great film. If you have great visuals with no supporting sound, you’re likely going to have a undesirable segment.
Luckily for The Grand Tour, Executive Producer Andy Wilman has built a great post-production team who seemed to pay close attention to music. The debut episode, “Holy Trinity,” even used tracks from Jóhann Jóhannsson and the Oscar nominated score of Sicario. A pleasant surprise. (The dad-rock cover of “I Can See Clearly Now”? It was fine, just fine.)
Advertisement
SOUND DESIGN
A rushed production can easily be spotted by how little sound design you find in a final edit. For the BMW M2's Eboladrome track test segment and the Holy Trinity McLaren P1/Porsche 918/Ferrari LaFerrari track battle, it was obvious a ton of time and effort was spent in the edits.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
Advertisement
The hypercar audio was properly captured and mixed, with loads of work spent on the Portuguese road segment between the P1 and 918. Nothing stands out as being out of place, as I suspect the post production team of W. Chump and Sons have a lot of talent sourced from the old BBC and Bedder 6 days. Bedder 6 was the former production company of Top Gear owned by A. Wilman and J. Clarkson.
But it was the final studio segment where the boys review the lap times between the hypercar trio which should be regarded as the highlight for sound design in the episode. Matching the 16-bit style lap-time graphics straight out the 1986 arcade game OutRun, The Grand Tour features sound effects straight out of the era too.
It’s a subtle yet brilliant cue for why this new Amazon series is something special: little things inspired by arcade games from the 1980s that we all love.
Advertisement
CINEMATOGRAPHY
After more than 20 seasons of Top Gear under the helm of Wilman and Clarkson, we’ve always expected a high level of cinematography from the team. This can be attributed to good writers and directors on set, not just the camera crews. When shooting cars in motion, you need an abundance of shots to cut together even a short sequence. The faster the segment, the more diversity of shots required.
Advertisement
The Holy Trinity segment at Portimão had a great usage of long-lens shots, playing with the elevation of the track. These shots are much more challenging than it may seem; finding the right placement of cameras to give layers in frame is a time consuming effort. Seeing the LaFerrari rise over a crest, showing neutral slide as it becomes unweighted, then dives down the crest on the opposite side—that doesn’t come easy, and the people behind the camera nailed it.
My only criticism would be one too many forced, frantic shots. It feels a bit contrived when the camera operators are purposefully hunting for three cars going around a corner we’ve already seen them go around twice before. It’s an old trick we’ve seen for the past decade of Top Gear, something they invented, but also something I wish the elite of our industry would move away from. It’d be wrong of me not to point that out, but at the same time, very few viewers would even notice such a detail.
Advertisement
Finally, the aerial cinematography in The Grand Tour has set the bar high for everyone else looking to produce car films. An absolute aerial ballet we would be lucky to see performed; probably more impressive than the cars on track.
POST PRODUCTION
The Grand Tour clearly is an leap forward for the production team capturing the stories. Shooting and editing in 4K is no easy task. But when faced with one challenge in the left hand, a gift is handed to the right.
Advertisement
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
The Grand Tour has no time constraints for episode length like you would find on traditional television. This is best seen in the opening segment of the Holy Trinity film featuring the P1 and 918 on the mountain road. It breathes. The pacing brings you into a moment that feels special, something we strived for with APEX: The Story of the Hypercar.
With my shameless self-promotion out of the way, it is important to recognize that the editors and script writers of The Grand Tour have left their fingerprint on the final edit. They’ve set the bar for what we can expect in the series episodes to come: Polished, beautiful, and powerful moments that make us care about the vehicles and the journeys the three hosts take us on.
Advertisement
GRAPHICS
In the studio, the aforementioned OutRun arcade style graphics used for studio segments give the warm and fuzzy feeling for car enthusiasts. Any car enthusiast between the age of 30 and 50 who doesn’t recognize the style should rethink calling themselves a car enthusiast; an Easter-egg which we can all tip our hat to.
Advertisement
But the most impressive elements in the debut episode would be the level of detail obtained by the motion graphics used on the static hypercars while sitting in the garage at Portimão. In previous Top Gear episodes, we’ve seen editors use manufacturer supplied animations, cutting it into segments in the most seamless way possible to make them look custom while they most frequently are not.
For The Grand Tour, this is a whole new level of motion graphics for a scripted entertainment show. My guess is they got help from the manufacturers to provide their computer models to recreate and display the hybrid powertrains beneath the skin of the cars. Bravo to the producers for that move.
STUDIO
The concept of a roving studio that visits different countries for each episode is genius in concept, but must be a logistical fucking nightmare for the team behind the scenes. Considering how sterile and controlled of an environment you need to film such segments, the cost must be staggering to get the tent perfect.
Advertisement
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
From the onset I love the concept, although I think the unfamiliar space may have thrown the team and trio off. It could also be that they’ve been out the game for a few extra months, but it feels as if a few more rehearsals could help tighten up the jokes and pacing. Also, the in-tent audio mixing was one of the weakest parts of the entire episode, with some errors making the final edit.
The opening sequence was built up by the press in the weeks leading up to the premiere as being something epic. A bit of an exaggeration, but a necessary evil: The throat clearing to transition us from the old to the new. It was executed properly, and the concept was solid. Although as much as I know it was needed, with a new age of social media already telling most of the stories, we could’ve skipped it entirely.
Advertisement
THE HOLY TRINITY TEST
It took a while and the anticipation was high, but finally the holy trinity; a track battle between the three top-tier manufacturers and their hypercars: The Porsche 918, McLaren P1, and Ferrari LaFerrari.
Advertisement
Certainly it wasn’t the first review of all three. In fact, my friend Chris Harris shot his review of all three the same week and at the same location as The Grand Tour, and his video was out months prior.
But the Amazon team did an excellent job finding the balance between performance testing and entertainment, favoring on the side of entertainment. The genuine moment of seeing both the LaFerrari and McLaren P1 look a bit out of control under heavy braking into Turn 1 at Portimão told more than the words being spoken; proper story telling.
Advertisement
The writing within the segment was spot on, especially the moment where Hammond returns to pit lane stating something completely contrary to what he had just said moments earlier. Well thought out and executed in the edit.
Its pretty clear this is one of the earliest segments filmed for the new The Grand Tour series. Clarkson, May and Hammond each feel comfortable in their old Top Gear voices, something I’m sure will be addressed in future segments after they had time to digest their new home and platform. My hope is that their new voices, voices that the series needs, will be better defined in future segments.
Advertisement
THE BMW M2 TEST
Seeing the new benchmark track for the series was a pleasant surprise. The new track has a defined character and charm that the old Dunsfold airfield lacked. It was a smart move by the series producers to retain such a benchmark, using the first episode to properly establishing its place in the show. The “Your Name Here” Corner will certainly fill a sponsorship by series end, as much as it looks to be a joke, we can expect Amazon to take the cash much like we already see DHL sponsorship.
Advertisement
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
What impressed me the most about the M2 segment was actually the tracking, car-to-car shots. They’re fast, much faster than we’ve seen elsewhere. The low-angle perspective and movement of the BMW M2 while chasing the camera car is impressive and more challenging to capture than one would expect.
The series debut was well-written, beautiful, and enjoyable to watch. It is a show that gives you the warm and fuzzy feelings we’ve all missed over the past two years. We’re going to see this series grow over the coming years and that is what makes me want to continue to watch.
Advertisement
Is it ground-breaking? Not really. But it is the next evolutionary step in automotive entertainment that, like its name suggests, is a tour we should not miss.
J.F. Musial is a New York based producer and director of automotive content. He founded TangentVector, the automotive-centric production company that spawned /DRIVE. He now makes content for automakers and racing series like WEC and F1, and documentaries like APEX: The Story of the Hypercar.Kim Kardashian-West wants everyone to know that the mysterious lines of white powder that appeared on a table in the back of her Snapchat Story is totally just sugar.
Observant followers noticed that there appeared to be two lines of powder on a table behind Kim during a Snap posted on Monday evening, promoting The Kids Supply, a children's clothing line launched by Kim and husband Kanye West in May.
Given the fact that the white powder was lined up like it was ready to blow, people called out Kim, accusing her of accidentally snapping lines of cocaine.
SEE ALSO: Kim Kardashian is selling her own fidget spinner knockoff and it's shaped like a money sign
Image: screenshot/twitter
But Kim wasn't having it. She responded to the allegations by stating she does "not play with rumors like this." According to Kim, the lines of powder was just sugar from their trip to a popular candy store in New York.
I do not play with rumors like this so I'm gonna shut it down real quick. That's sugar from our candy mess from dylan's candy shop https://t.co/oICdPQVi8d — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 11, 2017
UPDATE: July 11, 2017, 10:17 p.m. PDT Kim posted again to Snapchat on Tuesday night to address the mystery. According to Kim, the white substance on the table in her hotel room was just markings in the marble table.
"We did go to Dylan's Candy Shop. I did think that it was our Pixie Stix," Kim said on Snapchat. "But after all that this table in the background, is a marble table, you guys. Like, come on!
"I don't play like that...I have kids, it's not my lifestyle. I've never been like that," she continued.
Photos circulated online that did prove Kim and daughter North West did indeed go to Dylan's Candy Bar on Monday.
Kim Kardashian West & North West at Dylan's Candy Bar in New York City yesterday 07.10.17 pic.twitter.com/g5PGjRCdyE — Misz Goody2Shoes (@MiszG00dy2Shoes) July 11, 2017
Regardless, the internet had mixed reactions to Kim's sugar response.
you tell 'em kimmy — Taylor Trudon (@taylortrudon) July 11, 2017
You keep your sugar in cut lines? neat — Ben. (@Ben_Widdows19) July 11, 2017
And the sugar happens to be lined up so perfectly pic.twitter.com/WAmHoZeuya — bob champagne (@soghal) July 11, 2017
While it wouldn't be unbelievable for a millionaire to have some nose candy in their home, it also isn't a stretch that a family with young children would have a sugar mess.Now what? Reebok has experienced 11 consecutive quarters of growth, but CrossFit must continue to grow as a sport for Reebok to break through its sales ceiling.
So what? The partnership was the first in a series of strategic alignments that helped Reebok recommit itself to fitness.
Page Content
Once a power player in the athletic footwear market, Reebok fell from the collective consumer consciousness in the 1990s.
Following acquisition by adidas Group, Reebok resurfaced with a new goal rooted in its old strong suit: to be the leading fitness brand in the world. First up: CrossFit.
To do that, it’s hitched itself to a millennial target and four fitness brands defining modern exercise, chief among them CrossFit. Reebok is enjoying the exclusive licensing rights to CrossFit’s trademark and title sponsorship of its summer games, but can the fitness program make Reebok relevant again?
"The real test is still in front of us—making the Reebok brand more relevant to consumers.”
Those are the words adidas Group CEO and chairman Herbert Hainer said to shareholders in a 2007 annual report. At the time, Reebok had been a subsidiary of adidas Group, the global sporting goods parent company of adidas and TaylorMade, for just more than a year. Reebok, once the leader in the athletic footwear market, ahead of Nike, had fallen out of relevance more than a decade earlier. When it was aquired by adidas Group for $3.8 billion in January of 2006, Hainer warned critics of the long road to the brand’s recovery.
Each March for the next four years, the |
4 Violent Outburst
3 Avalanche Riders
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Street Wraith
3 Igneous Pouncer
4 Valley Rannet
4 Jungle Weaver[/deck]
Over a third of our deck is cycling creatures that allow us to churn through our deck, hitting land drops while filling our graveyard. From there, a [card]Demonic Dread[/card] or [card]Violent Outburst[/card] WILL cast [card]Living End[/card], forcing the opponent to sacrifice all of their creatures, returning all of our monsters to the field.
Yes, this deck is pretty unfair.
The main issue now is deciding what lands to play, and the options really expand with your budget. Access to [card]Stomping Grounds[/card], [card]Overgrown Tomb[/card], and [card]Blood Crypt[/card] are really nice with the land cyclers we are playing, but we can get by with basics. [card]Blackcleave Cliffs[/card] and [card]Copperline Gorge[/card] are some nice options, while [card]Karplusan Forest[/card], [card]Sulfurous Springs[/card], and [card]Llanowar Wastes[/card] offer us some painful alternatives. [card]Verdant Catacombs[/card] is nice, but again, basics will get there more often than not. The choice is yours!
As long as Living End remains unbanned I promise this deck is good for cheap wins.
Living End Sideboard
I’ve also included a pretty potent and extremely budget sideboard that wouldn’t change too much given unlimited money. Personally, I would play [card]Leyline of the Void[/card] over [card]Faerie Macabre[/card], but this is about what I played in my last Modern Grand Prix.
[deck]4 Faerie Macabre
1 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Brindle Boar
4 Ingot Chewer
4 Shriekmaw[/deck]
This gives us some options to attack the graveyard, gain life, kill artifacts, and kill creatures.
Cheap Modern Fun
Cheap laughs, cheap fun, cheap wins. Modern offers all of these. Hope you find the idea of one of these enjoyable enough to put together for yourself. Have a great Thanksgiving week!
<3 Travis twitchtv.com/Traviswoo Questions! Comments!! Think there's something I forgot!?BEIJING (Reuters) - China has tightened security regulations in Tibet’s border region to battle the risks of terrorism and ‘separatism’, the state-owned Global Times said.
A paramilitary policeman stands guard in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China November 17, 2015. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
The move follows a call by China early in December for southwestern neighbor India to avoid complicating a simmering dispute over a visit by a senior exiled Tibetan religious leader to a border region.
The two countries fought a brief border war in 1962.
Beijing views exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who says he simply wants genuine autonomy for his homeland, fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese.
Sunday’s change “provides a legal foundation to combat potential terrorist activities brought by the further opening-up of Tibet,” the paper quoted Wang Chunhuan, a scholar of the Tibetan Academy of Social Science, who worked on the new law, as saying.
The measure brings land ports and trade zones within the scope of the previous law, and charges low-level government with the responsibility of tipping off police to help regulate the border, according to the article, published late on Monday.
“The need to combat separatism, infiltration, illegal migration and terrorism is growing more severe by the day,” as Tibet’s economy opens to the world, Ba Zhu, deputy head of the region’s border defense police, said in a Dec. 14 announcement, the official Tibet Legal Newspaper reported at the time.
Rights groups say China tramples on Tibet’s religious and cultural traditions, charges denied by Beijing, which says its troops peacefully liberated Tibet in 1950.
Army troops in Tibet had built a “steel Great Wall” to defend the border, the Himalayan region’s Communist Party chief, Wu Yingjie, said in a December speech published on the official China Tibetan News Agency website on Tuesday.
Wu also quoted President Xi Jinping as saying, “To govern the nation, we must govern our borders; to govern our borders, we must first stabilize Tibet.”
Military capability in the region must be stiffened so as to “absolutely not allow any person, at any time, in any way, to separate out any part of Tibet,” Wu urged.Photo essay and story by Jagath Dheerasekara
March 28, 2010 -- Newcastle, Australia -- A mass community protest at the biggest coal port in the world, Newcastle, succeeded in preventing coal ship movements all day. Hundreds of peaceful protesters occupied the harbour from 10 am.
Naomi Hodgson, spokesperson for organisers Rising Tide Newcastle, said: “Today was scheduled to be a busy day in the world's busiest coal port. Ordinarily, there would have been at least four or five coal ships moving in or out of Newcastle harbour today, but instead there were none. This an amazing demonstration of the power of peaceful mass action by the community. Hundreds of people united to protest the rapid expansion of the Australian export coal industry – this country's number one cause of climate change.”
“We succeeded in not only shutting down the harbour, but in showing the political leaders in this country exactly what true leadership on climate change looks like. If Australia is serious about climate change, we will put an urgent stop to the expansion of coal, and begin replacing this devastating industry with safe and renewable alternatives.”
Australia's coal exports account for more greenhouse pollution than all onshore sources combined according to environment activists and scientists.Back at rookie minicamp in May, offensive line coach Dave Magazu hinted at changes within the Bears’ blocking scheme this fall, saying, “We’ve changed offensively a little bit.” He deferred follow-up questions about what the changes were specifically, saying that the answers would reside in the tape.
Through two preseason games, it’s evident that the Bears will be using a zone-based run-blocking scheme this fall.
That’s not to say the Bears didn’t use some zone-blocked run schemes last year. They did. However, once Kyle Long slid outside to right tackle, they were forced to play with limited athletes at guard – Matt Slauson, Vladimir Ducasse and Patrick Omameh. Consequently, they leaned heavily on man and drive-blocked run schemes, which typically left second-level defenders (linebackers) unblocked to read, react and attack downhill.
However, against the Patriots, all but one of the Bears’ first quarter run plays were zone-blocked...Via George King: The Brewers have special assignment scout Dick Groch following the Yankees early in the season, leading to trade speculation. Milwaukee was scouting the team’s catchers in Spring Training and the Yankees were said to be monitoring Rickie Weeks. Groch worked for New York years ago and was the scout who originally signed a youngster named Derek Jeter.
Weeks, 31, lost his starting second base job to Scooter Gennett and is now just a bench player for the Brewers. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez could also make sense for New York, though he is owed a ton of money this season. The Brewers have gotten off to a nice little start this season — they swept the Red Sox in Fenway Park over the weekend — so I don’t think they’ll be selling anytime soon. Still, the fact that they have one of their top talent evaluators assigned specifically to the Yankees is a bit interesting.Story highlights A new blood screening test shows a rise in Zika cases in Puerto Rico
Pregnant women are at high risk for delivering "dozens or hundreds" of babies with microcephaly
(CNN) Puerto Rico could see dozens, if not hundreds, of babies with microcephaly in the coming months, Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Friday while announcing the results of blood screenings underway in the U.S. territory.
"Based on the best info available, Zika is increasing rapidly in Puerto Rico," Frieden said. "The importance of this is that thousands of pregnant women could become infected, which could lead to dozens or hundreds of babies born with microcephaly."
Microcephaly is a birth defect in which the baby is born with a small head and brain, which often leads to serious developmental delays or even death.
Though Frieden has sounded the alarm about projected cases of microcephaly in Puerto Rico in the past, the current warning is based on data coming in from a newly developed nucleic acid blood screening test, authorized by the Food and Drug Administration under an investigational new drug application.
The test, which has been in place since April 3, is "very sensitive, able to identify even a few copies of virus per milliliter of blood," and has shown no false positives to date, said Dr. Matthew Kuehnert, director of the CDC's Office of Blood, Organ and Other Tissue Safety.
Read MoreSee How Dead Island Is Going To Handle
by David 'Hades' Becker [ Wednesday, 25th of May 2011 - 05:13 PM ]
Before you move off to the video though, I'd like to make my normal comments. So bare with me. Or ignore these words and watch the clip.
The video clip is mostly game play footage. Awesome right? We get to see how Dead Island will be a Dead Rising meets Borderlands type of game, as game play goes. To be honest if there is no time table to have to keep, I am completely down. That was the only thing that drove me nuts with DR and it looks like Dead Island uses the concept but not as strict.
I am also a huge fan of the emphasis on melee weapons being the primary form of protection. I find it funny that when zombies are on the loose everyone becomes a firearms expert and head shots are handed out like candy on Halloween. That takes training where as swinging a machete to a zombie's neck or a spiked baseball bat to the skull is something that anyone who has now physical handicaps can do.
Until we find out how these people become a MacGyver and can somehow can hook an electrical current to a machete without shocking themselves in the process I am going to stay a little weary on that part of the story. I'm not saying that would be impossible or a game breaker, I just like to have logic in my zombie games. Is that too much to ask?BRISBANE’S “house of horrors” grandmother tried three times to kill her 11-year-old step-grandson – once in a fire and twice by suffocating him in his bed, police will allege.
The 58-year-old Caboolture woman will face court today charged with four counts of attempted murder, attempted arson and interfering with a corpse.
Police this month revealed they were investigating the deaths of two boys, one aged three years and the other seven months, at the Morayfield home, as well as the attempted murder of two boys, aged 11 and nine, in a fire.
WARNINGS IGNORED: Children not separated
Police will allege the 11-year-old boy woke on two separate occasions to the grandmother trying to smother him in his bed. They will claim she used a pillow and a tea towel in her attempts to murder the boy.
They said both deaths and the fire occurred when the grandmother was at the house.
It is understood investigators will rely on the boy’s version of events – a version denied by the grandmother.
media_camera Eleven year old boy involved in the incident.
Detectives yesterday confirmed they were continuing their investigations into the suspected murders of the two younger children – one being the woman’s seven-month-old grandson.
“Today is one step, there are still further steps to be taken in the investigation, so today is just one step,” Detective Acting Inspector Ben Fadian said.
The Courier-Mail can reveal police charged the woman with interfering with a corpse under the belief she lied about how and where the youngest boy died.
Police renewed their investigation into the death of the three-year-old boy, who died in July 2013 from a suspected infection, following a fire at the family’s Morayfield home on February 27.
The two older boys claimed to have been trapped inside their bedroom during a fire that broke out when they were being cared for by their grandmother. Police enlisted the help of the fire brigade to recreate the fire in an effort to determine why the boys had been unable to escape from the bedroom.
“Investigations to date show the children’s escape from the bedroom was intentionally impeded,” police said.
media_camera The seven-month-old baby who died with his grandmother and his father.
The father of the two older boys said he was horrified to learn the woman had been charged with attempting to murder one of his sons on three occasions.
“No one has called me,” he said. “I have no contact details for them (the boys). It’s pretty bad.”
The three-year-old boy died on July 27 after suffering flu-like symptoms. He was taken to hospital but went into cardiac arrest.
On September 27, seven months after the fire, the children’s mother found the baby boy dead in his cot.
media_camera The baby’s father at the gate to the property yesterday.
The grandmother is believed to have told police she put the child to bed with a bottle the night before and got up at 2am to check on him after hearing him stir.
She said she woke at 7am to the sounds of the boy’s mother “screaming hysterically”.
The boy’s father said this month that he believed his mother was not capable of killing “anything”.
He said he woke one morning to the news his son was dead.
Yesterday, the man walked out of his house carrying a sign with the words “private property no entry”, saying he would expose “lies” and “corruption” in the case.
Police yesterday questioned the children’s mother about whether she had taken steps to protect the children.
Solicitor Tim Meehan, from Bosscher Lawyers, said the grandmother was “assisting police”.
Additional reporting Chris McMahon and Trenton Akers
Memories of laughter where there are children no more
NESTLED among stands of trees and tropical palms, at the end of a winding drive, is Brisbane’s “house of horrors”.
It’s a place where boys once laughed and played. Where a large block of garden provided endless room to run and chase. But there were no children behind the wire fence of the Morayfield home yesterday – the home where police suspect two children were murdered and another two locked in a fire.
It was once home to the children’s grandmother. Police say she was there when the three-year-old boy died.
She was there when a fire broke out inside the house, threatening two boys in their beds. And she was there when the youngest – an infant of seven months – died at night.
She was the last to see both boys alive and the only adult home when the fire started.
The woman’s son – and the father of the youngest boy – walked the neglected yard to place a sign at the property’s front gate. He said he would expose “lies” and “corruption” in the case.
In a previous interview, the man said his mother was a beautiful kind-hearted person.
“I highly believe my mother would not be capable of killing anything,” he said. “Why would she all of a sudden? She is still the same person from 20 years ago.”
The sign he held yesterday – “private property no entry” – warned media to keep away. It was a repeat of an earlier warning when a visitor threatened to assault journalists waiting in the street.
The home’s four bedrooms are no longer home to those who played and slept there. Two little boys are dead. Two older boys are now in a “safe house”.
The Courier-Mail was once invited inside, viewing the small room where the fire took hold. There was no sign of the flames the family claimed began when someone threw an object through the window.
The grandmother has denied any wrongdoing – both with the fire and the deaths of the two boys.by NRA Staff - Monday, June 5, 2017
A son saved his mother’s life after receiving a panicked phone call late one evening. In Sidney, Maine, a man knocked on an 84-year-old woman’s door, asking to use her phone. When she refused his request, the man started to bang on her front door. He climbed a snow bank and broke a bay window at the front of the house. It was then that the woman called her son, who grabbed his Ruger and drove over, unsure whether he would find his mother alive. Coming through the garage entrance, the armed citizen announced his presence, yelling, “I have a gun, get out of this house!” The intruder attacked the woman’s son, who shot the assailant in the chest and held him at gunpoint until the police arrived. The attacker was taken to the hospital and was to be arrested and charged after treatment. (Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, 3/19/17)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
You never know when being friends with your neighbors might come in handy and that’s exactly what one lady found out when she was out of town and someone broke into her condo. Late one Saturday night, an elderly man heard the sound of breaking glass in his apartment complex and went to investigate. The man found a burglar breaking into one of the condos. When the burglar charged at the man, he fired one shot from his pistol and missed. Police nearby heard the gunshot and came to investigate. When they arrived, they found the neighbor holding the burglar at gunpoint. They immediately arrested the young thug on suspicion of committing burglary with assault or battery, and unarmed burglary of an unoccupied dwelling. (South Florida Sun Sentinel, Deerfield Beach, FL, 3/14/17)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
June 1982
A youthful hoodlum leaped over the counter of Alma Harris’ South San Diego, Calif., restaurant and attacked her. As he tried to strangle her with a telephone cord, she grabbed a revolver and shot him four times. The assailant fled, but only made it about a block before collapsing. (The Union, San Diego, CA)Jake Pearson, The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Jean Stapleton, the stage-trained character actress who played Archie Bunker's far better half, the sweetly naive Edith, in TV's groundbreaking 1970s comedy "All in the Family," has died. She was 90.
Stapleton died Friday of natural causes at her New York City home surrounded by friends and family, her children said Saturday.
"It is with great love and heavy hearts that we say farewell to our collective Mother, with a capital M," said her son and daughter, John Putch and Pamela Putch, in a statement. "Her devotion to her craft and her family taught us all great life lessons."
Little known to the public before "All In the Family," Stapleton co-starred with Carroll O'Connor in the top-rated CBS sitcom about an unrepentant bigot, the wife he churlishly but fondly called "Dingbat," their daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and liberal son-in-law Mike, aka Meathead (Rob Reiner).
Stapleton received eight Emmy nominations and won three times during her eight-year tenure with "All in the Family." Produced by Norman Lear, the series broke through the timidity of U.S. TV with social and political jabs and ranked as the No. 1-rated program for an unprecedented five years in a row. Lear would go on to create a run of socially conscious sitcoms.
Stapleton also earned Emmy nominations for playing Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1982 film "Eleanor, First Lady of the World" and for a guest appearance in 1995 on "Grace Under Fire."
Her big-screen films included a pair directed by Nora Ephron: the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan romance "You've Got Mail" and 1996's "Michael" starring John Travolta. She also turned down the chance to star in the popular mystery show, "Murder, She Wrote," which became a showcase for Angela Lansbury.
The theatre was Stapleton's first love and she compiled a rich resume, starting in 1941 as a New England stock player and moving to Broadway in the 1950s and '60s. In 1964, she originated the role of Mrs. Strakosh in "Funny Girl" with Barbra Streisand. Others musicals and plays included "Bells Are Ringing," "Rhinoceros" and Damn Yankees," in which her performance -- and the nasal tone she used in "All in the Family" -- attracted Lear's attention and led to his auditioning her for the role of Archie's wife.
"I wasn't a leading lady type," she once told The Associated Press. "I knew where I belonged. And actually, I found character work much more interesting than leading ladies." Edith, of the dithery manner, cheerfully high-pitched voice and family loyalty, charmed viewers but was viewed by Stapleton as "submissive" and, she hoped, removed from reality. In a 1972 New York Times interview, she said she didn't think Edith was a typical American housewife -- "at least I hope she's not."
"What Edith represents is the housewife who is still in bondage to the male figure, very submissive and restricted to the home. She is very naive, and she kind of thinks through a mist, and she lacks the education to expand her world. I would hope that most housewives are not like that," said Stapleton, whose character regularly obeyed her husband's demand to "stifle yourself."
But Edith was honest and compassionate, and "in most situations she says the truth and pricks Archie's inflated ego," she added.
She confounded Archie with her malapropos -- "You know what they say, misery is the best company" -- and open-hearted acceptance of others, including her beleaguered son-in-law and African-Americans and other minorities that Archie disdained.
As the series progressed, Stapleton had the chance to offer a deeper take on Edith as the character faced milestones including a breast cancer scare and menopause. She was proud of the show's political edge, citing an episode about a draft dodger who clashes with Archie as a personal favourite.
But Stapleton worried about typecasting, rejecting any roles, commercials or sketches on variety shows that called for a character similar to Edith. Despite pleas from Lear not to let Edith die, Stapleton left the show, re-titled "Archie's Place," in 1980, leaving Archie to carry on as a widower.
"My decision is to go out into the world and do something else. I'm not constituted as an actress to remain in the same role.... My identity as an actress is in jeopardy if I invested my entire career in Edith Bunker," she told the AP in 1979.
She had no trouble shaking off Edith -- "when you finish a role, you're done with it. There's no deep, spooky connection with the parts you play," she told the AP in 2002 -- but after O'Connor's 2001 death she got condolence letters from people who thought they were really married. When people spotted her in public and called her "Edith," she would politely remind them that her name was Jean.
Stapleton proved her own toughness when her husband of 26 years, William Putch, suffered a fatal heart attack in 1983 at age 60 while the couple was touring with a play directed by Putch.
Stapleton went on stage in Syracuse, N.Y., that night and continued on with the tour. "That's what he would have wanted," she told People magazine in 1984. "I realized it was a refuge to have that play, rather than to sit and wallow. And it was his show."
Stapleton was born in New York City to Joseph Murray and his wife, Marie Stapleton Murray, a singer. She attended Hunter College, leaving for a secretarial stint before embarking on acting studies with the American Theatre Wing and others.
Stapleton had a long working relationship with playwright Horton Foote, starting with one of his first full-length plays in 1944, "People in the Show," and continuing with six other works through the 2000s.
"I was very impressed with her. She has a wonderful sense of character. Her sense of coming to life on stage -- I never get tired of watching," Foote told the AP in 2002. He died in 2009.
Her early TV career included guest appearances on series including "Lux Video Theatre," "Dr. Kildare" and "The Defenders."
She and Putch had two children, John and Pamela, who followed their parents into the entertainment industry.
Her post-"All in the Family" career included a one-woman stage show, "Eleanor," in which she portrayed the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Stapleton spent summers working at the Totem Pole Playhouse near Harrisburg, Pa., operated by her husband, William. She made guest appearances on "Murphy Brown" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and even provided the title character's voice for a children's video game, "Grandma Ollie's Morphabet Soup."
For years, she rarely watched "All In the Family," but had softened by 2000, when she told the Archive of American Television that enough time had passed.
"I can watch totally objectively," she said. "I love it. And I laugh. I think, 'Oh,' and I think, 'Gee, that's good."'MONTREAL — This one had sobering loss written all over it for the Montreal Canadiens.
Coming off five straight wins against mostly marginal opponents — a hard-fought one against the Columbus Blue Jackets being an exception — and up against a Western Conference juggernaut in the St. Louis Blues, who were coming in angry on the heels of a three-game losing streak, the odds seemed to favour that outcome.
The thing is, Montreal’s 4-3 loss to the Blues on Tuesday boiled down to one unlucky sequence and did very little to dull the confidence they’ve gained as a team over the last couple of weeks of winning hockey.
It would’ve fit the presupposed narrative to a tee if the game had effectively ended less than three minutes into the second period, when the Blues got goals from Scottie Upshall and Brayden Schenn to put them up 3-1 in the span of just seven seconds. It had marked the 10th time the Canadiens had allowed two goals within a minute, and on the previous nine occasions their resolve to punch back had been less than apparent. More of the same would’ve reinforced the idea that their recent winning streak had created a bit of a mirage.
But given that the Canadiens battled back with a big goal in the second period, another in the third to tie the game 3-3, and kept coming after Schenn capped a hat trick on a hope shot from the corner that hit Canadiens defenceman David Schlemko’s skate and squeezed its way through goaltender Carey Price to make it 4-3 with 7:49 remaining, there was nothing sobering about this loss.
“You lose some games throughout the season and some of them are really frustrating,” said Canadiens coach Claude Julien. “This one — I feel like at least the guys competed well, and I’d have liked for us to have had a better result for it but I’m not disappointed in the effort of our players.”
Nor should he be.
The Canadiens played with the belief they could beat one of the league’s best teams. Some may not have seen it that way through the first 10 minutes of the game, over which they had failed to register a shot on net. But a closer look revealed they missed six attempts during that span and came out of the opening frame with two more shot attempts than the Blues and with a 1-1 tie.
They also didn’t wilt after allowing those two quick strikes and after getting dominated for the first 15 minutes of the second period.
And about that particularly tough sequence, it had much less to do with how the Canadiens were playing and much more to do with the Blues seizing momentum off a couple of mental errors their opponents made on the goals against.
You have to give credit where it’s due.
“They took away the boards from us and hemmed us in,” said Julien.
“I would say we were playing against a good hockey team,” Julien added. “They’re big, they’re talented, they’re a team that’s been through a lot and gone far — even in the playoffs.”
This Canadiens team is something else. Its defence has been completely rearranged, with a player on each pair that wasn’t in a Montreal uniform last season. On offence, it’s got a whole new fourth line from the one it ended last season with. In fact it’s a whole new fourth line than the one it began this season with.
The team was also playing its third straight game without top-line centre Jonathan Drouin.
All things considered, the Canadiens have done a good job distancing themselves from a franchise-worst start to a season in 76 years.
“We don’t need to go back there, in my estimation,” said Julien.
“The way we’ve been playing lately, even down 3-1 we still had an opportunity,” Julien added. “That second goal gave us some life at the end of the second period and we came out in the third determined to get ourselves back in and we did.”
That second goal was Shea Weber’s 500th point in the NHL, and the one in the third came off his stick as well. Both of them were scored off set faceoff plays, where Andrew Shaw drew the puck back and Weber fired both of them in before Blues goalie Jake Allen could react.
The Canadiens came close in the third, outshooting the Blues 12-8, out-chancing them marginally in the frame, too.
Even with the result in St. Louis’ favour, Montreal showed its mettle and flashed the type of confidence that can help them continue to carry forward on a positive note.
That’s important considering the next challenge the Canadiens will face, with a strong Calgary Flames team visiting the Bell Centre Thursday and a motivated and desperate Edmonton Oilers team in town Saturday.Hello guys!
At first, I would like to welcome you here! I decided to create this blog to share my thoughts, solutions and all the things I consider interesting. It will be mainly about computer science, programming, computer security, but I will see how it evolves. 🙂
I currently doing M.Sc degree on Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, at the Department of Computer Science. In this semester I’m having labs on the course Probabilistic Methods of Algorithms. Long story short – we are doing some simulations to analyze several statistics of algorithms, like quick sort, etc. After I attended William Kennedy’s talks on CodeDive conference I got fascinated by GoLang and I decided to do a few simulations in this language.
The task was:
Simulate the process of throwing n balls to n bins. Analyze the numbers of balls in the bin with the highest number of balls (average and concentration). Compare it with theoretical calculations
So I launched VSCode and started coding. My first approach was to write a single goroutine program, which solves this task. Number of bins/balls for which I did the simulation ranged from 50 to 1000 with step 50. For each number I repeated the experiment 100000 times to calculate some statistics. I launched it and…
Hurray! It works and the results are good. The average (expected value) is O(log(n)). The Chebyshev’s inequality for k = 2 tells, that at minimum 75% of experiments should be between those bound lines. It’s +/- 1 from the expected value, so it’s pretty well concentrated. Those two other lines show the bounds, where the probability, that the max load will be higher/lower is negligible low. Works also.
OK, but let’s switch to something more interesting… How long did the simulation run?
$ time./bins real 0m29,764s user 0m30,330s sys 0m0,113s 1 2 3 4 5 $ time. / bins real 0m29, 764s user 0m30, 330s sys 0m0, 113s
Nice, but hey, I’ve got here a i5-4460 with 4 cores. It can be better! Let’s use goroutines!
Before adding Goroutines for binCount := from; binCount <= to; binCount += step { results := performExperiment(binCount, binCount, points) resultsMap[urnCount] = results } 1 2 3 4 for binCount : = from ; binCount <= to ; binCount += step { results : = performExperiment ( binCount, binCount, points ) resultsMap [ urnCount ] = results }
After adding Goroutines var wg sync.WaitGroup for binCount := from; binCount <= to; binCount += step { wg.Add(1) go func(resultsMap map[int][]Result, count int) { defer wg.Done() results := performExperiment(count, count, points) resultsMap[count] = results }(resultsMap, binCount) } wg.Wait() 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 var wg sync. WaitGroup for binCount : = from ; binCount <= to ; binCount += step { wg. Add ( 1 ) go func ( resultsMap map [ int ] [ ] Result, count int ) { defer wg. Done ( ) results : = performExperiment ( count, count, points ) resultsMap [ count ] = results } ( resultsMap, binCount ) } wg. Wait ( )
Doesn’t it look great? Just add a few lines and you have all your cores working. But after I’ve run it, I was a bit surprised…
$ time./bins real 2m2,016s user 7m11,653s sys 0m2,443s 1 2 3 4 5 $ time. / bins real 2m2, 016s user 7m11, 653s sys 0m2, 443s
4 times slower?! I was expecting the otherway… and I had no idea what’s wrong. OK, no worries, that looks like a case for the profiler. Let’s try it out. I added this to main
Enabling CPU profiler f, err := os.Create("bins.prof") if err!= nil { log.Fatal(err) } pprof.StartCPUProfile(f) defer pprof.StopCPUProfile() 1 2 3 4 5 6 f, err : = os. Create ( "bins.prof" ) if err!= nil { log. Fatal ( err ) } pprof. StartCPUProfile ( f ) defer pprof. StopCPUProfile ( )
Generating call graph $./bins.exe $ go tool pprof bins.prof Type: cpu Time: Dec 10, 2017 at 9:32pm (CET) Duration: 2.22mins, Total samples = 8.61mins (388.58%) Entering interactive mode (type "help" for commands, "o" for options) (pprof) png Generating report in profile001.png 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 $. / bins.exe $ go tool pprof bins.prof Type : cpu Time : Dec 10, 2017 at 9 : 32pm ( CET ) Duration : 2.22mins, Total samples = 8.61mins ( 388.58 % ) Entering interactive mode ( type "help" for commands, "o" for options ) ( pprof ) png Generating report in profile001.png 4 times slower?! I was expecting the otherway… and I had no idea what’s wrong. OK, no worries, that looks like a case for the profiler. Let’s try it out. I added this to main
This steps allowed to generate a graph, which shows, which calls are most time consuming. A quick look shows the main problem: mutex in rand.Int63. Ahh, right, there’s a linear congruential generator, so the next random value depends on the previous one. Two goroutines cannot use it at one time. But the overhead in locking and unlocking the mutex is really huge…
OK, then let’s create a seperate generator for each goroutine, so they don’t have to compete for it.
RNG for each Goroutine var wg sync.WaitGroup seed := time.Now().UnixNano() for urnCount := from; urnCount <= to; urnCount += step { wg.Add(1) go func(resultsMap map[int][]Result, count int, seed int64) { defer wg.Done() r := rand.New(rand.NewSource(seed)) results := performExperiment(r, count, count, points) resultsMap[count] = results }(resultsMap, urnCount, seed) seed++ } wg.Wait() 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 var wg sync. WaitGroup seed : = time. Now ( ). UnixNano ( ) for urnCount : = from ; urnCount <= to ; urnCount += step { wg. Add ( 1 ) go func ( resultsMap map [ int ] [ ] Result, count int, seed int64 ) { defer wg. Done ( ) r : = rand. New ( rand. NewSource ( seed ) ) results : = performExperiment ( r, count, count, points ) resultsMap [ count ] = results } ( resultsMap, urnCount, seed ) seed ++ } wg. Wait ( )
After tweaking $ time./bins.exe real 0m12,611s user 0m45,837s sys 0m0,180s 1 2 3 4 5 $ time. / bins.exe real 0m12, 611s user 0m45, 837s sys 0m0, 180s
It’s 3 times faster than the single Goroutine version! If we now look at the call graph, we can see that above 50% of the time the CPU spends at generating random numbers.
Things to remember:
Don’t use the global random generator in goroutines. Create a seperate generator for each If you have performance issues but don’t know why – use Golang’s pprofWe’re toadally pleased to announce the release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup 0.20: “Scarf Our Wanderful Fried Frogs”! 0.20 features a new species, some new items and spells, dungeon updates, and |
primaries on April 26, the Republican candidates only have the Indiana primary next week. The primary takes place Tuesday, May 3 and has 57 delegates at stake.
According to FiveThirtyEight, 30 delegates are awarded in winner-take-all fashion to the candidate with the most votes statewide. The remaining 27 delegates are split among nine congressional districts with each district getting three delegates. A candidate will be awarded three delegates for each congressional district he wins.
Ted Cruz will try to cut into Donald Trump’s lead. Early polling data shows Trump with a narrow lead on Cruz in Indiana. Trump swept all five of the April 26 primaries to increase his delegate lead. Cruz responded to the loss by reiterating the importance of Indiana.
Here’s a look at the latest Indiana GOP polls.
RealClear Politics Average
RealClear Politics keeps a running average of the Indiana polls. The average includes data from three polls. The CBS News/YouGov poll conducted April 20-22, the FOX News poll conducted April 18-21 and the WTHR/Howey Politics poll conducted April 18-21.
CANDIDATE VOTE% Donald Trump 39.3 Ted Cruz 33.0 John Kasich 19.3
CBS News/YouGov
The CBS News/YouGov poll was conducted April 20-22. It has a margin of error of 6.6 percentage points.
CANDIDATE VOTE% Donald Trump 40 Ted Cruz 35 John Kasich 20
FOX News
The FOX News poll was conducted April 18-21. It has a margin of error of 4.0 percentage points.
CANDIDATE VOTE% Donald Trump 41 Ted Cruz 33 John Kasich 16
WTHR/Howey Politics
The WTHR/Howey Politics poll was conducted April 18-21. It has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.This is how, as per the survey, Modi government has improved the implementation and the outcomes of the MGNREGS:
First, job cards of 10.9 crore active workers of the scheme were digitsed. On top of this, 8.7 crore of these had their cards seeded with Aadhar.
Second, 4 crore workers were brought into the Aadhar payment bridge
Advertisement
Third point is about how the Modi government is improving upon the transparency and accountability of the entire scheme. Since September 2016 alone nearly 39 lakh MGNREGS assets have been geotagged.
Fourth, nearly 95 per cent of the schemes wages were paid directly into the beneficiary’s accounts. This greatly cut down the leakages which had come to be taken for granted with the MGNREGS.
Fifth, close to 68 per cent of job cards were verified and updated.
Sixth, as the economic survey states, over the last two years the scheme has increased its focus on creation of durable assets, diversification of livelihood opportunities, selection of public works in congruence with other infrastructure programmes, and on natural resource management.A drop-in tool to connect to your app and execute both Java and SQL commands from the comfort of your computer’s terminal.
Start up your app and you’ll see the DebugPort notification in your system tray, then tap on the “Start” button to start up the REPL servers. Tapping the “Kill” button will kill the notification and stop any running servers.
Note: The lib-noop dependency for releaseCompile makes it so that your production builds do not include a working version of the DebugPortService at all, and avoids exposing your app via a REPL to your users in the Play Store.
Add the following to your project root’s build.gradle if you don’t already have jitpack defined as a repository:
The inner-workings of the REPL telnet servers has remained the same, however the big new feature in Android DebugPort 2 is that it is now a super-simple drop-in library. All you need to do to get it working with your app is add the dependencies to your build.gradle and a MIN_PRIORITY notification will be available in your device’s system tray which allows you to start and stop the servers.
With that in mind, about a year ago I started working on Android DebugPort. Version 1 allowed you to call into the library and start up two telnet servers: one that exposed a REPL into your app’s runtime, and another that exposed a SQLite console to run queries against your app’s databases.
Nowadays it’s fairly common for languages and platforms to provide a REPL ( R ead E val P rint L oop) to make it easy to execute arbitrary code from the command line. While a Java REPL is in the works for Java 9, I imagine we’re going to have to wait many years before we can use it with Android apps — if we ever get to use it.
After tapping “Start”, you can use telnet on your computer to connect to your app!
The Debug REPL
$ telnet 192.168.2.27 8562
Trying 192.168.2.27...
Connected to 192.168.2.27.
Escape character is '^]'.
Android DebugPort v2.0.0
Report issues at https://github.com/jasonwyatt/Android-DebugPort/issues
BeanShell 2.0b6 - by Pat Niemeyer (pat@pat.net)
bsh %
The tool’s Debug REPL is based on beanshell and automatically exposes a variable referencing your app’s Application class: app. Aside from being able to run just about any Java statement, it also contains a number of pre-defined helper methods you can use to inspect state. Run help(); to see what they are:
bsh % help();
Available Commands:
Access:
call(Object obj, String method, Object... params)
Call a method, regardless of access modifiers, on the
provided object.
get(Object obj, String fieldName)
Get the value of a field, regardless of access modifiers,
on the provided object.
set(Object obj, String fieldName, Object value)
Set the value of a field on the provided object to the
given value, regardless of access modifiers.
Field Inspection:
fields(Class class)
List all of the fields available for a particular class.
fields(Object obj)
List all of the fields available for a particular object.
fieldsLocal(Class class)
List all of the fields defined locally for a particular
class.
fieldsLocal(Object obj)
List all of the fields defined locally for an object.
Method Inspection:
methods(Class class)
Get the available methods for the provided class.
methods(Object obj)
Get the available methods for the provided object.
methodsLocal(Class class)
Show all of the locally-declared methods for the provided
class.
methodsLocal(Object obj)
Show all of the locally-declared methods for the provided
object.
Other:
exit()
Exit this interpreter.
help()
Show this help message.
source(String scriptPath)
Load and run a Beanshell script within your app's assets
folder.
bsh %
One particular command that can be quite helpful is source(scriptPath);. Using it, you can run any beanshell script contained in your app’s assets folder. This helps when you want to be able to run a particular operation over and over.
For example: Imagine your app has a feature which highlights an element when an event is seen on an event bus. To do this manually in the REPL you would need to import any classes needed to trigger the event, then trigger it. With source(scriptPath) you pass the name of a script that encapsulates all that code and does the work for you, without requiring you to type it all into the command line every time.
The SQLite REPL
It can be a real pain in the rear to figure out the state of your app’s SQLite databases without help: you need to root your phone, then extract the database file using adb and open it locally on your computer.
With Android DebugPort, you no-longer need to go through that pain. Instead, just telnet to the SQLite server, pick one of your databases, and start running queries!
$ telnet 192.168.2.27 8563
Trying 192.168.2.27...
Connected to 192.168.2.27.
Escape character is '^]'.
Android DebugPort v2.0.0
Report issues at https://github.com/jasonwyatt/Android-DebugPort/issues
SQLite Database REPL
sqlite> show databases;
+----------+
| Database |
+----------+
| my_data |
+----------+
sqlite> use my_data;
Using database `my_data`
sqlite>
As with the Debug REPL, the SQLite REPL also provides some help to explain the added functionality built into Android DebugPort for working with your databases:
sqlite> help;
Help:
As you'd expect, you can execute any valid SQLite statements
against the database to which you're currently connected (see:
`USE [database name];` below).
In addition to regular SQLite commands, Android DebugPort provides
additional functionality via several additional commands.
Available non-SQLite commands (case insensitive):
Databases:
CREATE DATABASE [database name];
Create a new database called [database name].
DROP DATABASE [database name];
Drop the database named [database name] from the app's
collection of databases.
USE [database name];
Connect to the database called [database name]. All SQL
commands will be executed against this database until
USE is called again.
Inspection:
SHOW CREATE TABLE [table name];
Show the CREATE TABLE command used to create [table
name].
SHOW DATABASES;
Show all available databases for the app, including
temporary databases.
SHOW TABLES;
Show all of the tables defined for the database to which
you are currently connected.
Other:
exit; or quit;
Exit this interpreter.
help;
Show this help message.
sqlite>
Wrapping Up
In the project’s README, there are additional instructions for how you can customize the ports on which to run the servers. It also explains how to provide some additional beanshell commands to run when the Debug REPL starts up.
I want to thank GitHub user nohum for pointing me in the right direction for implementing the drop-in support for version 2.0.
I hope you find Android DebugPort as useful in your projects as I have in mine!It’s the season to be jolly … I think it can be also it’s the season for serious chocolate lovers! When you say Christmas you think chocolate, they come together like best friends. Kids and adults indulge in all kinds of chocolate desserts with no guilt, it’s Christmas!
This is an easy kit kat chocolate dessert with lots of fun preparing it with your kids. Not just looking cute, but it tastes nice also.
You will need Kit Kat chocolate bars (the one of four parts), as many as you want, depending on how many piece you want, keeping in mind each one makes 2 to 3 trees.
White chocolate melt colored green.
Confetti and stars (made of sugar), you can also have any small sugar Christmas decoration, as cane, santa, snowmen….up to you.
Cut 2 or 3 triangles out of each Kit Kat bar, keep the trimmed edges to make the tree trunk. Place on parchment paper. Put the green chocolate melt in a ziplok bag and make a very tiny cut at to pipe the garlands. Sprinkle the confetti (and the decorations you find), and finally place the star.
PS: to attach the trunk to the tree put a little chocolate melt
Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before placing them on a tray, using a little chocolate melt that serves like glue to prevent the trees from falling. Sprinkle coconut powder to look like snow between the trees.
So cute to be eaten! Try it with your kids and have fun, these are the best moments spent with your kids especially during the magical Christmas season. Enjoy!
If you really like this post give it many likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More festive posts are yet to come. Ho Ho Ho!H/T:
Jackie Greene celebrated his 36th birthday at the Warfield in San Francisco last night and what a celebration it was. Jason Crosby, Mark Karan, Nicki Bluhm, Ross James, Bruce Spencer and Alex Nelson were among the guests who came to celebrate. And oh yea, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh!The marathon show was 26 songs long and included an acoustic set with Bob Weir, a Grateful Dead set with Bob and Phil Lesh and an encore. Yea folks, this one was pretty epic.Here is great footage of from nowiknowuryder of “Dark Star > I’m So Gone > Dark Star.” It’s great to see Bob and Phil back on stage again and Jackie Greene has always been one of my favorite leads with them post Jerry. Hard to believe that this guy is only 36 years old!Technical debt is a metaphor coined by Ward Cunningham in 1992. This concept refers to the work that needs to be done so that a software development project could be considered as “complete”. Could you try to measure your amount of technical debt? Could you use some tools to do this? These are some of the questions that this article explores.
In a brief informal survey of Agile practitioners, the idea of putting some number on the amount of technical debt was mostly considered as strange. Somebody even answered that if you had a good definition of “done”, your project should never create any technical debt. For those who live in a less perfect world, technical debt could be created in all the software development activities: architecture, design, coding, testing and configuration management. You don’t have to be an evil programmer to create some debt, especially in large projects. You just duplicate some code because you don’t know that the same feature is also implemented elsewhere in the system or you rely mostly on manual testing to verify an urgent change needed for a bug in production. Sometimes, it is the requirements or the concept that changes and you should refactor some to make variables names more meaningful.
Tools to detect some of the technical debt issues have existed for a long time. There are plenty of them available for code analysis or test coverage. Some might provide “absolute” information, like the violation of a coding standard, and other will just produce “smells” that needed to be manually examined. In any cases, you should not expect a solution that will compute a precise number… even if some companies have done this. Each project has its own context and each software team and developers have their own view on what is acceptable. Multiple reports from these tools will however provide you with a trend. You might for instance wonder if your continual decrease in test coverage might be caused by trying to produce in each iteration an amount of code larger than what your testing resources might examine?
The global tools
The main principle behind the global tools is to provide a dashboard to software development managers so that they can assess the quality of their codebase. This is done mainly by aggregating the data produced by internal or external existing tools that provides a specific type of information. If these global tools can provide an interesting overview of the situation of your codebase, their users notice that you need a certain amount of investment to make them running according to your rules.
Bliss
Bliss is a technical debt dashboard that focuses mainly on the coding and testing aspects of software development. Bliss measures technical debt as an accumulation of flags reported by various static analyzers, mainly open source, that run against your code base hosted on GitHub or Bitbucket. Bliss can provides some reports on the source of technical debt, its evolution and how each developer is contributing to it.
Vendor: Bliss
Web site: https://founderbliss.com/
CAST Application Intelligence Platform
CAST Application Intelligence Platform (AIP) is defined as “an enterprise-grade software quality analysis and measurement solution designed to analyze multi-tiered, multi-technology applications for technical vulnerabilities and adherence to architectural and coding standards.” AIP is a commercial tool available in SaaS mode or on premises. It aims to provide a bottom-up view of technical debt but has also many other features like benchmarking. This tool relies on some other CAST proprietary tools to perform its analysis
Vendor: CAST Software
Web site: http://www.castsoftware.com/
SonarQube
SonarQube, or “the software previously known as Sonar”, is an open source platform that provides a dashboard to visualize the quality attributes of your code, tests, design and architecture. Built originally with Java in mind, the platform covers now more than 20 programming languages. The basic version of SonarQube and many plugins are open source but there are also some enterprise commercial solutions for larger teams or for some specific technical contexts.
Vendor: SonarSource
Web site: http://www.sonarqube.org/
Teamscale
Teamscale is a commercial tool that aims to makes software quality visible and empowers software development managers to take action against software quality decay. Teamscale points to quality defects that are easily missed: clone detection reveals redundancy in your code, architecture conformance analysis detects unwanted dependencies, bug pattern search finds potential programming errors. It works with many languages and version control systems. Teamscale provides plugins to manage quality in both Eclipse and Visual Studio.
Vendor: CQSE
Web site: https://www.cqse.eu/en/products/teamscale/landing/
In a future part of this article, we are going to present some tools that can be used to assess the technical debt in specific software development activities: architecture, design, coding and testing.
References
Technical debt definition in Wikipedia
Technical debt on Ward Cunningham wiki
Managing Software Debt: Building for Inevitable Change, Chris Sterling, Addison-Wesley
Tools for Identifying and Addressing Technical Debt (slides)Story highlights 11 Secret Service members are interviewed and put on leave, the agency says
Rep. King says prostitutes were brought to a room, and one woman didn't leave
5 troops working with the Secret Service in Colombia are also under investigation
The incident occurred shortly before Obama arrived for the Summit of the Americas
A group of Secret Service agents and officers sent to Colombia ahead of President Barack Obama were relieved of duty and returned home amid allegations of misconduct that involved prostitution, according to two U.S. government sources familiar with the investigation.
The 11 Secret Service members -- both agents and uniformed officers -- were interviewed Saturday at the agency's Washington headquarters, after which they were placed on administrative leave, Assistant Director Paul Morrissey said in a statement.
They are under investigation after preliminary findings revealed that they brought back several prostitutes to the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, sources told CNN on Saturday.
Also Saturday, the U.S. military announced that five service members assigned to support the Secret Service in its assignment have been "confined to quarters" in Colombia after they violated curfew and "may have been involved in inappropriate conduct" at the same hotel. The statement, from U.S. Southern Command, did not offer more details, including whether prostitution was involved.
The command's leader, Gen. Douglas Fraser, said he is "disappointed by the entire incident and that this behavior is not in keeping with the professional standards expected of members of the United States military," according to the statement.
The alleged misconduct overshadowed the start of the sixth Summit of the Americas, where the president was to focus on trade, energy and regional security.
None of the agents or officers being investigated was part of the president's personal protective detail and Obama isn't based at the hotel. But dignitaries and journalists reporting on the hemispheric meeting were staying there, a U.S. government official said.
Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, was briefed on the matter and told CNN that the government personnel brought prostitutes back to their rooms Wednesday night and "one of the women did not leave the room in the morning."
A hotel manager tried to get in the room, and eventually the woman emerged and said "they owed her money," according to King. Similarly, U.S. government sources said there was a dispute between at least one Secret Service member and a woman brought back to his hotel over a request to be paid.
At least one of the women brought to the hotel talked with police, and complaints were filed with the U.S. Embassy, the sources said.
"The Secret Service saw that report, and they immediately began an investigation," King said.
A hotel staffer gave Colombian security personnel the entire list of U.S. government personnel staying there, said a U.S. military official who couldn't speak for attribution because of the ongoing investigation.
A spokesman for Colombia's National Police declined to comment, referring questions to the Secret Service.
King, the Republican from New York, said the issue isn't about any "criminal allegations but a dereliction of duty."
"My understanding is that there are no allegations of any crime being committed," he told CNN's Don Lemon. "It violates the Secret Service code of conduct."
Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovon said that the group of agents in Cartegena were relieved of duty Thursday -- prior to the president's arrival in Colombia -- and replaced after "allegations of misconduct."
The U.S. government sources said that, because the trip already had a large security detail, only some of the recalled agents and officers were replaced. Still, the sources said there was no threat to the president.
Morrissey, the assistant director from the Secret Service, noted his agency's "zero tolerance policy on personal misconduct." He said that putting the accused employees on leave is "standard procedure" as the agency conducts a "full, thorough and fair investigation."
"This incident is not reflective of the behavior of our personnel as they travel every day throughout the country and the world performing their duties in a dedicated, professional manner," Morrissey said. "We regret any distraction from the Summit of the Americas this situation has caused."
The U.S. military is conducting its own investigation and will mete out "punishment, if appropriate... in accordance with established policies and the Uniform Code of Military Justice," the Southern Command said in its statement.
A senior military official and senior Secret Service official decided the five U.S. service members would stay in Colombia, confined to their hotel except for work-related business, because their "special skills" were still needed, according to a U.S. military official. Barred from contacting others about the matter, they will return to the United States with the rest of their unidentified unit at the end of the mission, according to the military.
Ronald Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter who has written a book about the Secret Service, called the incident "clearly the biggest scandal in Secret Service history."
The Washington Post, which was the first to report the story, said it was alerted to the investigation by Kessler.
Jon Adler -- president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents Secret Service agents and other federal law enforcement officers -- urged caution in jumping to conclusions, characterizing the incident as "isolated" and not necessarily a scandal.
"That's just sort of an overdramatic interpretation of an isolated incident," he said. "We have to trust the process of the internal review."
While soliciting prostitution is legal in certain areas of Colombia, it is considered a breach of the agency's conduct code, the government sources said. High-level officials in the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security were outraged over the incident, the sources said, noting that the investigation indicated the prostitutes were brought back to a hotel that had been secured for the summit.
The president arrived in Cartagena on Friday, the same day he first learned about the incident, White House press secretary Jay Carney said from the coastal resort city. Obama will spend more time in Colombia, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips, than any other U.S. president.
Two nearly back-to-back explosions in Cartagena -- which caused only minor damage and no casualties, Colombia National Police spokesman Cantihho Toncell said -- were a reminder of the violence that has gripped Colombia as its government has battled powerful drug cartels. Violence has significantly fallen off in recent years as the Bogota-based government, aided by U.S. extradition efforts, has successfully picked apart the cartels.
Still, there is an extensive security presence in the walled colonial city of Cartagena for the summit -- including more than 7,600 police officers and thousands more troops.From Homosexual Marriage to Polyamorous Pods
Written by Kathy Valente and Laurie Higgins
Marriage “progressives” ridiculed opponents of homosexual “marriage” when they suggested the next logical step would be the legalization of plural unions. The conservative argument is that if natural marriage is allowed to be redefined by jettisoning the central defining feature of sexual complementarity, the next feature to be jettisoned will be the criterion regarding numbers of partners. It’s been a little less than two weeks since Governor Patrick Quinn celebrated the signing of SB 10, which redefined marriage to allow two people of the same sex to “marry,” and the media are once again eager to give voice to yet another group seeking to further dismantle marriage: polyamorists.
Polyamory: Married & Dating is a cable television program that’s gotten a wink and a nod from ABC’s formerly serious program Nightline. Polyamory: Married & Dating follows the exploits of a Peter Pannish husband, Michael, and his foolish wife, Kamala Devi, a “sex coach” and “goddess,” who share their home and bed with assorted sexual partners. Oh, yes, the goddess and her husband are also raising their six-year-old son in the midst of this sexual anarchy. They defend their bed-hopping by repeating the Left’s favorite cliché about raising children: “It takes a village to raise a child.”
One of the goals of this couple is to “speed up acceptance” of polyamory, a cultural change which they believe is within ten years of realization. A professional “psychologist/sex therapist” interviewed for this Nightline episode wants people to believe that “polyamory…is about creating love and lasting relationships.” As Michael’s and Kamala’s sexual partners move in and out of their bed, home, and son’s life, it would seem that the “lasting” part of relationships is not even on their relationship radar. Unfortunately, people who have no grounding in the truth of Scripture will be enslaved to their fallen natures and will believe anything that allows them to indulge in sin.
“It’s quite normal already,” Michael quips. He’s right. Sin is normal for the unregenerate.
Whether he realizes it or not, this child-man has been affected by Alfred Kinsey’s book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Kinsey, whose so-called “research”—much of it now-debunked—from the late 1940’s paved the way for the sexual revolution, found that most married men have and naturally want extramarital affairs, children are naturally sexual and should be allowed to engage in what comes natural, and that ten percent of the population is homosexual. This “research,” aided and abetted by the most infamous of child-men, Hugh Hefner, became the catalyst that eventually drove comprehensive sex ed curricula into many government-run schools (Illinois’ elected officials recently saw fit to mandate it for our children as well).
What people don’t know is that Kinsey’s pool of study participants was composed mostly of incarcerated men—not your average family man. His “research” on children involved using pedophiles who experimented on children as young as 5 months old. Some of the data were obtained by “Rex King,” an Arizona rapist of 800 children, and the Nazi pedophile, Von Balluseck. Dr. Judith Reisman has spent decades exposing Kinsey’s criminal junk science.
When a lie is repeated often enough, it is eventually accepted as true. Just ask the 95 Illinois lawmakers who bought this lie: “When two men love each other, they should have the same right to marry as a man and a woman.” Liberals who view the autonomous self as the center of the moral universe will not cease their attack on society’s most important cultural institution until nothing of it remains but the empty shell of the word “marriage.” We cannot remain silent as the Left promotes these lies.
Click HERE to make a tax-deductible donation to support IFI.Back in February, Nexon Korea posted 3 positions for Project Knock, which is the codename for the the sequel to Dungeon & Fighter (or Dungeon Fighter Online). The 3 positions are namely Server/ Client Programmer, Game Artist, and Project Manager, with an emphasis on Unreal Engine experience preferred. And yes, Nexon did mention Project Knock is the sequel to Dungeon & Fighter. Is the series moving to Thingsoft for a new perspective?
Strangely, the developer is not Neople, the studio behind the original MMORPG. Instead, new acquisition Thingsoft is working on Project Knock. Thingsoft is still working on Peria Chronicles, so it is strange why this decision was taken. Earlier today, Nexon posted several available positions for Project NT, the codename for Peria Chronicles, including game planning, programming, and more. When will we finally get to see a demo for the game?Regular, platinum and gold Visa cards are displayed in New York March 18, 2008. REUTERS/Chip East
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Imagine running the world’s largest credit card network, and not having your own plastic.
That’s what happened to Visa Inc Chief Executive Joseph Saunders.
He spoke Thursday morning at a Goldman Sachs financial services conference in New York, and had come from San Francisco, Visa’s headquarters.
Unfortunately, his credit cards didn’t make the trip.
“I’m supposed to start off, and say that I’m very happy to be here, and I guess I am. But it’s 4:15 in the morning as far as I’m concerned, and I lost my wallet on the way here,” Saunders said. “It’s rather embarrassing when somebody steals my credit cards.” The comment prompted laughter.
Saunders began his presentation at 7:15 a.m EST.
Saunders did not elaborate. Visa did not immediately return a call seeking further comment.For Baba Brinkman, the world’s only peer-reviewed rapper, the term “climate change sounds so benign.” The world is not facing a smooth transition to warmer, longer summers. We’re looking at the destruction of our planet as we know it; this is climate chaos.
And maybe if we can’t convey the drama in a name, we need a whole new set of tactics. Baba’s suggestion: how about rap? His Rap Guide to Climate Chaos just hit its funding goal on Indiegogo. And coming off performances at those 2015 UN climate talks in Paris, Baba is ready to spread the gospel of climatology and incite a global response.
With songs like “Laudato Si,” based on Pope Francis’ encyclical on our environmental crisis, and “Make It Hot,” Baba’s unrelenting flow focusses on understanding and criticizing our current inaction.
I ain’t got not spare change to donate to carbon offsetting. I don’t even want to calculate my footprint, I find it upsetting.
Polemics on climate change don’t have to come in verse, but Baba does more than just entertain supporters and berate deniers. He channels the energy and aggression of rap to confront the comfortable: Those who say they can’t make a difference and those who think they do enough. Art has long been a tool to expose social hypocrisy, and the Rap Guide to Climate Chaos has a little something for everybody.
Baba’s adamant about humanity’s need to address climate change, he offers a lot more than just preachy words on living off the grid, man. He breaks down the conflicts people have about reducing their offset and acknowledges we’re not going to get anywhere if we ask people to skip their vacations.
Here he is again on “Make It Hot”:
“But here’s what I’m willing. I’m willing to pay a tax. “A fee that’s calculated against my carbon impacts. “And globally harmonized to switch incentives around. “And make sure most of the carbon stores safely under ground.”
That’s more or less the core of Baba’s attitude about why humanity has not acted on the overwhelming evidence that climate change poses an existential threat to our social order. Acting individually, or as Baba puts it, “donating your piggybank to the national debt,” is not a feasible solution, and nobody is going to agree to sacrifice without collective action. The problem is that policymakers won’t act until the people are on the street demanding more taxes for everyone!
And for those who doubt that rap can help break the ice, the Coalition of Rainforest Nations would beg to differ. The delegation of countries with significant rain forests brought Baba into their corner for the Paris conference to help smooth over the tense negotiations with freestyle verses on topics like carbon credits for the aviation industry.
“I was like the court jester,” Baba tells Inverse. The moderators of the meetings would announce that “before breaking, we’ve got our resident rap artists, Baba Brinkman here, and he’s gonna provide a hip hop summary of what we just experienced.”
His rhymes closed out many a conference meeting, helping earn the rainforest nations valuable concessions that allow high-emission nations to offset their CO2 output with funds to keep carbon-fixing trees in the ground.
INVERSE LOOT DEALS Meet the Pod The first bed that learns the perfect temperature for your sleep, and dynamically warms or cools according to your needs. Buy Now
“I was providing levity and humor and galvanizing a sense of purpose to what people were doing — energizing the troops.”
The technical scientific jargon set to a beat and rhyming, sometimes mixed with cliches of classic rap, is not an everyday experience and, admittedly, can come across as a little jarring.
“I make it hot, so hot even climate change skeptics will believe me I make it hot like the temperature it needs to be before the Tea Party will believe the IPCC.”
But Baba has an established record of translating classic scientific debates into popular and engaging rap records. He has already followed up his breakout “Rap Guide to Evolution” with rap guides to human nature, wilderness and, most recently, religion. The choice of climate chaos seemed like a natural progression after his experiences in Paris and considering the issue was a “dinner table topic” for his family in Canada. Baba lays it out in his song, “What’s Beef?”
“What about my worldview, how was it shaped? A little Canadian environmentally raised,” he begins. “When I was 13, my momma was working/ on her masters on climate change researching/ and my dad ran a company that planted trees/ taking carbon out the atmosphere with forestry.”
He even wades into the American presidential election, mocking Republican climate deniers and even dressing up as a very orange Donald Trump in the video for “What’s Beef?” As a Canadian citizen, he may not be able to vote, but he’s a firm believer in Senator Bernie Sanders’ proposed carbon tax, while stressing that Secretary Hillary Clinton’s subsidies for solar energy do not go far enough.
Baba’s wide-ranging interests converge wonderfully on climate change. It’s passionate, political and never boring, despite his (almost) academic attention to detail. Though the album isn’t finished, he’s already laying out plans for his next project “to help pay the bills” that will focus on artificial intelligence.
Singularity in verse. That’s weird enough to make Ray Kurzweil proud.
Full disclosure: I contributed $25 to the Rap Guide to Climate Chaos.ISIS are using sophisticated fake Syrian and Iraqi passports to smuggle jihadists into Europe amid the migrant crisis, British intelligence has warned.
Extremists are exploiting the flow of migrants into Europe by posing as refugees and using new identities to avoid detection by border officials, officials say.
The warning has sparked fears terrorist sleeper cells are being set up in Britain and other EU nations.
ISIS are using sophisticated fake Syrian and Iraqi passports to smuggle jihadists into Europe amid the migrant crisis, British intelligence has warned (file picture)
The false passport in the name of Ahmad al-Mohammed (left) was found at the Stade de France after the Paris terror attacks and was registered in the Greek island of Leros. Fellow ISIS suicide bomber Bilal Hadfi (right) is also thought to have illegally returned to Europe to help carry out the massacre
Intelligence and security agencies are said to be'very mindful' of the possibility that ISIS are using refugee routes across the continent, the Daily Telegraph reports.
A senior British intelligence official told the newspaper: 'Islamic State is skilfully exploiting the migrant crisis to smuggle terror cells from Syria into major European countries such as the UK.
'Jihadists travel to Raqqa to meet up with (ISIS) commanders, where they receive training and new passports.
'They then make their way back to Europe posing as migrants with new identities, making it virtually impossible for security officials to detect potential terrorists among those fleeing persecution.'
Hundreds of Britons are said to have made their way to join ISIS - and there are fears many have since returned to the UK.
The chairman of the commons home affairs committee, Keith Vaz, described the issue as 'deeply concerning' adding that it was 'vital' that resources were found to'secure the external border' to prevent Paris-style atrocities.
The chairman of the commons home affairs committee, Keith Vaz (pictured), described the issue as 'deeply concerning'
The French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve (pictured) warned ISIS has formed an entire 'industry' out of making fake passports stolen in Iraq
It comes a day after French officials warned ISIS has formed an entire 'industry' out of making fake passports stolen in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
The French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve made the claim as he argued for the creation of a special task force to travel to Greece to help clamp down on stolen or fake passports.
At least two of the ISIS extremists who launched a murderous attack in Paris in November are suspected to have used established migrant routes through Europe pretending to be refugees and using Syrian passports.
The forged documents were found at the scene of one of the suicide bomb attacks at the Stade de France, further fueling speculation that ISIS may have a ready source of blank passports.
Some analysts at the time of the attacks suggested that the discovery of the Syrian passports was in no way conclusive that the jihadis had used them to enter Europe.
The documents may have been deliberately planted to stir up hatred and distrust towards migrants, particularly refugees fleeing the war in Syria.
Slovak prime minster Robert Fico suggested the EU was committing 'ritual suicide' with its migration policy
Yesterday, the Slovak prime minster Robert Fico suggested the EU was committing 'ritual suicide' with its migration policy.
He urged the 28-member bloc to stop the inflow of migrants and called the EU's proposed quota system for distributing migrants a 'complete fiasco'.
His warning came as the Netherlands' EU commissioner Frans Timmermans claimed 60 per cent of those flocking to Europe were economic migrants and not fleeing from war.
The 51-year-old Slovak leader, a left-winger known for his anti-immigrant rhetoric, told Czech newspaper Pravo: 'I feel that we in the EU are now committing ritual suicide and we're just looking on.'
Holland's EU commissioner Frans Timmermans claimed more than half of those coming to Europe as asylum seekers are not fleeing conflict.
He told Nos: 'More than half of the people now coming to Europe come from countries where you can assume they have no reason whatsoever to ask |
it plans to build custom white space receivers, too—otherwise, residents can't take advantage of the new signal.
Getting to "standards"
Initially, the FCC had called for both a geolocation database and spectrum-sensing to keep white space transmitters from interfering with wireless mics or TV stations. Last month's rules dropped the spectrum-sensing requirement, which Knightly says were "extremely restrictive" because devices had to "defer to even the slightest noise." Without the need for spectrum sensing, the hardware should stay much cheaper.
As for how much hardware will be needed, that's part of the experiment. The team can't build thousands of custom devices for users, so only a few dozen people will test the new network until commercial hardware is available. But there's some question about how many nodes will be needed to blanket the community; while white space signals should have terrific propagation, each node still has only limited capacity.
Knightly says the team will have to deploy numerous nodes to handle capacity issues, but it will experiment with things like energy efficiency. For instance, when traffic drops in the middle of the night, can the network simply switch off most of its nodes to save power and yet still provide adequate capacity?
The research is funded in part by the government, but Knightly and his team also work closely with companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and Bell Labs on white spaces hardware and software (Microsoft Research has long been working on what it calls "WhiteFi" transmission protocols, for instance.)
One of the goals is to do the basic white space research needed to develop comprehensive standards, like the 802.11 standards that have helped to make WiFi ubiquitous. We want to "provide early experiences to industry and IEEE standards [bodies] and ISPs," says Knightly, who predicts that basic IEEE standards will appear soon.
For Rice students, who are "deeply involved" in the TFA network, this should be an incredible opportunity to help guide the development of a promising new tech. That's because the research team gets to do so much; as the grant application puts it, "the project team will serve as researchers, the wireless network service provider, the network equipment and protocol designers, and community-technology educators and advocates." To say nothing of the really fun part—students driving around Houston in cars with prototype hardware, doing "mobility experiments."Share:
LAHORE - Amidst growing realization worldwide regarding the hazardous effects of combustible tobacco products consumption, the calls for switching to safer alternates to ensure tobacco harm reduction are gaining momentum.
Recently, the advocates of smoke-free tobacco products from different Asian countries gathered for the first time ever in Jakarta, Indonesia, to call on their governments to allow and regulate the use of electronic cigarettes and ‘heat-not-burn’ tobacco products, which are considered far lesser harmful alternates to smoking. The event is regarded as a major headway towards smoke-free products.
The estimates of the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggest that almost half of the world’s 1.1 billion smokers live in Asia, with Indonesia and India having among the biggest populations of smokers, globally. Thousands die each day in these countries due to complications related to smoking such as heart diseases and cancer.
The world health body also notes that in the year 2015 alone, over 1.1 billion people smoked combustible tobacco products that “would kill up to half of its users.” Estimates also measure the death toll caused by smoking at 7 million people across the globe, annually. Slowly and gradually, combustible tobacco products have become one of the biggest public health challenges to ever surface on the world map.
In this alarming scenario, several countries throughout the world are switching to smoke-free products to minimise the potential health risks.
In recent years, England has pioneered scientific research and government policies on tobacco harm reduction to achieve a faster decline in smoking rates than most other countries. Keeping in mind its responsibility to share more information about ways to quit smoking, Public Health England recently initiated the ‘Stoptober’ campaign to encourage smokers to switch to vaping. The UK government is eyeing to reduce smoking to 12 per cent of adults not later than the end of 2022 and it seeks a ‘smoke-free generation’ to reduce smoking to 5 per cent or less in the adult population in the long-run, says Frontier Economics in its central forecast ‘for a smoke-free England by 2040.’
The document cites relevant data and estimations of the British government to suggest that smoking could be reduced to 5 per cent as soon as 2029. “This would require the more rapid decline in smoking in England since 2012, which coincided with the increased popularity of e-cigarettes, to be sustained,” it says. The report also highlights the projected positive impact of e-cigarettes in the proposed creation of ‘smoke-free England.’
“Greater use of e-cigarettes and novel smoke-free products could assist in delivering a smoke-free England earlier. To achieve smoke-free target earlier, there is a need to reverse the decline in smokers switching to e-cigarettes.”
UK’s Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group said in a research report issued last year that “large-scale substitution of e-cigarettes or other non-tobacco nicotine products, for tobacco smoking has the potential to prevent almost all the harm from smoking in the society.”
According to another research report on heat-not-burn products from the Committee of Toxicology (COT), an official body that gives independent scientific advice to the UK government, the heat-not-burn products are 50 to 90 percent safer in comparison with conventional cigarettes.
Britain is not the only country to have taken the related measures for promoting smoke-free products. Generally, European countries have shown a remarkable improvement in reducing hazardous effects of smoking with the active implementation of European Union Tobacco Products Directive introduced in 2014. This directive clearly distinguishes e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products from combustible tobacco.
Noted harm reduction advocate David T Sweanor says smoke-free tobacco products have given Sweden the lowest smoking rate in Europe. The products that heat tobacco rather than burning have helped Japan to achieve the world’s fastest decline in cigarette use. In addition, the smoke-free products are legally available and gaining rapid popularity in Korea and the United States. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced this year that its anti-tobacco regulation would be fully geared towards harm reduction, while New Zealand’s Ministry of Health has also recently endorsed the use of electronic cigarettes.
Still, switching to the safer alternatives to smoking is regarded as a challenge in some Asian countries, including Pakistan, due to low public awareness and lack of legislation to distinguish between combustible tobacco products and heat-not-burn products. These smoke-free products can complement the traditional tobacco control policies as a new product category that encourages smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives to cigarettes, in turn providing a major benefit to public health
In a country like Pakistan where smoking poses serious challenges, England’s experience can serve as role model in the introduction and implementation of harm reduction measures by switching to practicable alternates. According to some estimates, 100,000 people in Pakistan die of smoking annually (274 daily) and over 5,000 people are hospitalized every day due to tobacco-related diseases. Experts suggest that switching to non-combustible alternatives is a better option than continuing to smoke. In view of the successful experience of UK, authorities in Pakistan should review regulation of non-combustible products as a priority to drive down smoking rates and cigarette consumption.
With proper legislation, effective oversight and regulatory measures to differentiate and categorise smoke-free products separately from combustible tobacco products, Pakistan can also join the global revolution for a smoke-free future and tobacco harm reduction.My first thought when I heard about the shooting of Alton Sterling last Tuesday was: OK, here we are again. Then after reading about the killing of Philando Castile the next day, and the shooting of police at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas the day after, the domino effect of violence left me paralyzed. I felt in my heart it was time to put something out there and call on my fellow athletes to band together. I had to say something. I just didn’t know what.
Every time something like this happens, people rush online to Twitter and Instagram to share their opinions. Everybody says the same thing but we never get anywhere. At first I wasn’t going to post anything because I wanted to get all the information first. I slept on it overnight and woke up in the middle of the morning to a nagging voice: What am I going to say? I didn’t want it to be the same things as everybody else: #AltonSterling, #PhilandoCastile, #DallasPoliceShooting. When I chose to speak out, it was a matter of being honest, speaking from the heart about what’s going on and calling on my colleagues to step up, get out there and put pressure on the people in charge to not let this happen anymore. No more hashtags.
Do athletes have a responsibility to stand up? I don’t want to put it all on athletes. I believe all people need to rise up and make their voices heard. But I do think that athletes have the biggest reach, especially now with social media and all the people that follow us. We have one of the biggest platforms to speak out, one where people pay attention to what we have to say, whether it’s everyday civilians or those in positions of power. We have that influence. It’s just a matter of if we want to use it or not. Everybody uses it for different reasons. But at a time like this, you have to put aside the politics of business and whether a sponsor or somebody from a company that you represent is going to call you about it. If you’re a human being, this affects everybody.
Whether you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or you’re a mailman or you’re homeless, this affects you. No athlete should think: If I speak up, I’m going to lose an endorsement or a sponsorship. Because if that’s the case then you have to question the kind of people that you’re doing business with and ask yourself where their heads and morals are at.
Barack Obama calls for peace at Dallas memorial service for five police officers Read more
So what next? I don’t have the answer. Nobody does. But what we can do is start bring a continuous awareness and keep this conversation going. We can’t keep riding on this merry-go-round where tragedy happens, it’s all over TV and social media, everybody talks about it, then in three and four days it’s over with.
In three weeks I’ll travel to Rio with the United States’ Olympic team to perform on a global stage. I haven’t spoken with my team-mates yet about the opportunity before us and how we can take advantage of it, because at the end of the day I want it to be genuine. If you don’t feel like you want to make a statement or make a stand, then don’t do it. You shouldn’t feel forced to do it. You have to want to do that. For me, I do feel like this is a platform where we should – we as athletes, we as Americans – use it for something. Whether we make a statement out there or send a message, we can show the world that we’re united. Whatever way we want to do it, this is a chance to do something meaningful before an audience of billions. I don’t know what that something is yet, but we still have time to figure it out.
But how can we make a change back home? You can start off small. If everybody just focuses on their own community, then we’re making progress. We can’t try to solve all the issues at once. We’ve just got to zero in on our own individual communities and once we build that up and that becomes stronger, then I think everything will settle down and be cool again. There needs to be a mutual respect from both sides: between the police officers and the people in the streets. We have to reintroduce that respect factor into our local communities because there’s no respect from either side anymore.
We all know our history, especially when it comes to sports and activism. We know Ali. We know Jim Brown. We know Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But over the years as athletes started making more money, they started thinking: I don’t want people to talk bad about me for talking politics. But this is not really about politics. There’s nothing political about taking a stand and speaking on what you believe in. The teams and the support systems around athletes urge them to stay away from politics, stay away from religion, stay away from this, stay away from that. But at certain times you’ve just got to put all of that aside and be a human being. That time is now.Bloomberg
El programa, llamado Coin, por Contract Intelligence, realiza la abrumadora tarea de interpretar acuerdos de créditos comerciales que, hasta que el proyecto se puso en marcha en junio, consumían 360.000 horas al año del tiempo de los abogados. El software revisa documentos en segundos, es menos propenso a errores y nunca pide vacaciones.
Si bien el sector financiero ha promovido por mucho tiempo sus innovaciones tecnológicas, una nueva era de automatización avanza a toda máquina a medida que la potencia computacional barata converge con los temores de perder clientes a manos de startups. Posible gracias a inversiones en aprendizaje automático y una nueva red privada en nube, Coin es solo el comienzo para los mayores bancos de Estados Unidos. La firma recientemente formó centros tecnológicos para equipos especializado en big data, robótica e infraestructura de nube con el fin hallar nuevas fuentes de ingresos, al tiempo que reduce gastos y riesgos.
La iniciativa para automatizar labores mundanas y crear nuevas herramientas para banqueros y clientes –parte creciente del presupuesto tecnológico de US$9.600 millones de la firma– es un tema clave conforme la compañía celebra su día anual del inversor el martes.
Detrás de la estrategia, supervisada por el director de operaciones Matt Zames y la directora de TI Dana Deasy, hay un trasfondo de ansiedad: si bien JPMorgan salió de la crisis financiera como uno de los pocos grandes ganadores, su dominio está en riesgo a menos que busque agresivamente nuevas tecnologías, según entrevistas a media docena de ejecutivos bancarios.
Software redundante
Ese fue el mensaje que Zames tenía para Deasy cuando se unió a la firma tras dejar BP Plc a fines de 2013. Los sistemas internos del banco neoyorquino, una amalgama de décadas de fusiones, tenían demasiados programas de software redundantes que no trabajaban juntos a la perfección.
“Matt dijo: ‘Recuerda esto en primer lugar: tenemos que ser desde todo punto de vista los líderes en tecnología para servicios financieros’”, dijo Deasy la semana pasada en una entrevista. “Todo lo que hemos hecho desde ese día viene de esa reunión”.
Tras visitar compañías como Apple Inc. y Facebook Inc. hace tres años para entender cómo trabajaban sus desarrolladores, el banco se propuso crear su propia nube computacional llamada Gaia, que se puso en marcha el año pasado. Con una capacidad ilimitada, el sistema ya ayuda al banco a automatizar algunas actividades de codificación y hace que sus 20.000 desarrolladores sean más productivos, lo que genera ahorros de dinero, dijo Zames. De ser necesario, la firma también puede recurrir a servicios de nube externos de Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. e International Business Machines Corp.
Gasto en tecnología
El presupuesto total de tecnología de JPMorgan para este año corresponde al 9 por ciento de su ingreso proyectado, el doble del promedio del sector, según la analista de Morgan Stanley Betsy Graseck. La cifra en dólares ha subido a medida que JPMorgan impulsa las defensas cibernéticas después de una violación de datos de 2014, que expuso la información de 83 millones de clientes.
“Hemos invertido fuertemente en tecnología y marketing, y estamos viendo sólidos retornos”, dijo JPMorgan en una presentación el martes antes de su día del inversor, destacando que el gasto en tecnología en su división de banca de consumo totalizó cerca de US$1.000 millones en los últimos dos años.
Un tercio del presupuesto es para nuevas iniciativas, cifra que Zames quiere que alcance al 40 % dentro de algunos años. El ejecutivo espera que los ahorros generados por la automatización y el retiro de tecnología antigua le permitan inyectar aún más dinero en innovaciones.
Coin ha ayudado a JPMorgan a reducir los errores en servicio de crédito, la mayoría de los cuales provenía de errores humanos en la interpretación de 12.000 nuevos contratos mayoristas al año, según sus diseñadores.
“Estamos comenzando a ver los frutos reales de nuestra labor”, dijo Zames. “Esta no es una promesa vacía”.Published April 1, 2017
Based on the success of our Online Master of Science in Computer Science and our Online Master of Science in Analytics, Georgia Tech is proud to offer a new collection of online masters degrees.
NOTE: If you have arrived at this website by entering the well-known Konami Code on a Georgia Tech website, you are automatically enrolled in your choice of the degree programs below, tuition free!
College of Computing: Master of Science in Machine Forgetting
With recent advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, there are valid concerns that our networked computer systems know too much. In response to this, the College of Computing will be offering an online Master of Science in Machine Forgetting. This degree will teach you to leverage advanced cybersecurity techniques to randomly delete massive amounts data. If you are successful, we expect to hear High Performance Computing systems say something like “Shit, where did I put my keys?” We can’t tell you anything else or “they” will figure it out, so everything related to this degree will be 256-bit AES encrypted, including this important message:
g+w2K8kMC21ybGsoQEotD4lgNqmJBvDz2kyfbKbUH5/pu2I7rN//ycokDGKxzbyKL1ymFUwEC4tjv8jtmiy2zJNKFUCTAFbZ07X8MHa5JI4MI+L9+sDas+aZYCwifQEGSoHUgjes0uOTvEBbC2Hp41kJwnXLVIePi5blUvuOLaI=
which you can decrypt at http://aesencryption.net/ assuming you know (or can guess) the right password. For a hint, email Dr. Loof Lirpa, Assistant Vice Provost of Online Master’s Degrees.
SPECIAL COURSE AVAILABLE SOON: A Big Data Analysis of Freeways with Gaps.
College of Design: Master of Science in Digital Squiggles
Students in the College of Design learn that details matter. In particular, whether you’re designing a logo, a new chair, or an iconic building to grace the Midtown skyline, you need the right curves. Just ask Nike. Seriously, just do it. If you get a Master of Science in Digital Squiggles you’ll always know which part of that weird French curve tool to use.
SPECIAL COURSE AVAILABLE SOON: Urban Transportation Planning in the Absence of Bridges.
College of Engineering: Master of Science in Gadgets
The College of Engineering is proud to offer a hands-on degree using project based learning methods and leveraging our makerspaces. In order to earn your Master of Science in Gadgets you will be given a 28 gallon crate full of miscellaneous broken electronics, cables, machines, and tools. You must fix at least 70% of them to get the degree. If you manage to turn them into a self-flying car, you will get a PhD and a free lunch with Elon Musk.
SPECIAL COURSE AVAILABLE SOON: Rapid Construction: How to 3D Print a Bridge.
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts: Master of Science in Killer Robot Policies
Georgia Tech has a thriving college focused on the Humanities and Liberal Arts. Our new interdisciplanary Master of Science in Killer Robot Policies combines the Ivan Allen College’s Human-Computer Interaction and Public Policy expertise. The three laws of robotics are inadequate in the age of advanced AI like Siri, Watson, and Alexa. We’re pretty sure our phones are trying to kill us. Get this degree, and help shape how that will happen.
SPECIAL COURSE AVAILABLE SOON: The Psychology of Road Rage Amid the Angst of the Infinite Commute.
Scheller College of Business: Master of Science in Management of Online Degrees
The Scheller College of Business is focused on helping our students navigate the rapidly changing world of business. We are proud to offer an online Master of Science in Management of Online Degrees. Do you have too many online degrees, and no easy way to keep track of them? Then this online degree is exactly what you need! You’ll even learn how to color code them so you know which ones came from real universities, and which ones carried malware.
SPECIAL COURSE AVAILABLE SOON: Building Bridges – the Key to Business Success.
College of Sciences: Master of Science in Hymenoptera
The College of Sciences will combine the success of our Urban Honeybee Project with our awesome mascot Buzz, by offering the first ever Master of Science in Hymenoptera. Among other things, you will learn that a yellow jacket is not a bee! In lieu of a thesis, you may genetically modify yourself to grow your own wings. If you get this degree, you’ll be treated like a queen.
SPECIAL COURSE AVAILABLE SOON: Interstate Mathematics, How To Turn a Freeway into an Imaginary Number, a.k.a. I85 to 85i.
For further information on any of these programs, please contact:
Dr. Loof Lirpa, Assistant Vice Provost of Online Master’s Degrees
Email a comment to Dr. Loof LirpaWhen I was asked to create this set of cookies inspired by the wedding scene in the upcoming Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 movie, I jumped at the chance. Not only am I a big fan of the movies, but Katniss is one of those especially inspiring characters. Strong, smart and beautiful, she takes the #likeagirl movement to the next level.
These decorated sugar cookies recreate Peeta’s beautiful ocean-themed wedding cake for the nuptials of District 4 victors Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta. Remember this scene in the book?
“Four people wheel out a huge wedding cake from a side room. Most of the guests back up, making way for this rarity, this dazzling creation with blue-green, white-tipped icing waves swimming with fish and sailboats, seals and sea flowers. But I push my way through the crowd to confirm what I knew at first sight. As surely as the embroidery stitches in Annie’s gown were done by Cinna’s hand, the frosted flowers on the cake were done by Peeta’s.”
I especially loved that, for Peeta, “doing the cake was a kind of therapy.” Often I find myself getting lost in the process of icing a batch of cookies and over the years, many people have told me they find it relaxing as well.
Considering my admiration for Katniss, I could not resist adding a quiver of arrow cookies to the set (idea inspired by Pinterest) as well as a sparkling Mockingjay.
Personally, I love the opportunity to use a specific theme when decorating for any event. These cookies would be fabulous to serve at a Mockingjay Part 1 viewing party (or even for Part 2 next year, when we’ll likely see the actual wedding) or can translate into an amazing theme for a Hunger Games birthday party or wedding (so fun!).
Even if you aren’t a fan of the movie, these cookies would serve well at any party or occasion celebrated by the sea!
Shopping list:
Include all of the ingredients (food) as well as the tools — two separate lists.
Dani’s Sugar Cookie Cutout Recipe
Royal icing: 1/2 cup meringue powder, 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, water
Food coloring gels
Luster dust in silver
Disco dust in silver and royal blue
Candy beads in blue, black and ivory
Candy pearls in black (these are the smaller beads)
Sanding sugar in gray
Food coloring markers (thin tip and regular) in black
Tools:
Cookie cutters: mini banner cookie cutter set, primitive bird, wave, flower, seal, sailboat, mini fish
Expert icing bottle kit (includes royal icing recipe, bottles, spatula)
Heart applicator, decorating tweezers
Soft bristle paintbrush
Wooden skewers
Decorating tweezer
Toothpicks
Directions:
To make the cookie base, use your favorite sugar cookie recipe or follow Dani’s Sugar Cookie Cutout Recipe
Step 1:
After your dough has chilled, let it come back to room temperature for rolling. I use nonstick Silpats as liners on my cookie sheets but parchment paper works well too. I also use plastic wrap as a substitute for bench flour. This keeps my dough soft and pliable and I am able to re-roll it several times.
Step 2:
I find it helpful to use dough spacers to roll my dough to 1/4 inch thick.
Step 3:
Once your dough is rolled, press firmly into the Silpat to make each cut.
Step 4:
I cut my shapes as close as possible to maximize dough use.
Step 5:
Pull away all the negative-space dough and re-wrap in plastic wrap (or re-roll immediately). Place the Silpat on your baking tray and chill for 10 minutes in the freezer. Then re-position each cookie shape to space out on Silpat and bake following recipe instructions.
Photos By: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/SheKnowsWhew…it’s turning out to be a busy fall. Being October, we’ll be turning to perfecting our Halloween costumes and of course gathering wood for the coming winter, like good little hobbits and island people. To those down under, Winter is Coming…to an end.
Can we just take a moment to reflect on how cool it is to see the Plexverse expanding in so many exciting ways? Since we announced Plex DVR, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of recordings grabbed from thin air and added to Plex libraries around the world. And since we announced Plex Cloud just a week ago, we’ve seen an incredible response with people emailing, PMing, calling, and showing up at our door begging for invites (hint: it helps to bring treats for Barkley).
This brings us to the reason we’re here today. At the same time as we’ve been adding the massive new DVR functionality and allowing our server to run in the cloud, we’ve also been hard at work on things important to folks who run their Media Servers locally and stream remotely. We all know it’s hard to manage the limited bandwidth our miserly ISPs provide us. Sometimes, all it takes is one bad apple trying to stream a full-quality video to ruin the experience for everyone else. Well, no longer…
Today, we’re taking the wraps off the first few parts of an incredibly sophisticated Media Server component that helps you manage the most precious of resources: your upstream bandwidth and your CPU’s ability to transcode. This Plex Pass feature is available to our beloved premium members today in the latest Plex Pass release of the Media Server.
There’s so much intelligence in there that during development we started referring to it as the “Streaming Brain” and had to take some Asimov-level steps to ensure it didn’t become sentient and start passing judgment: “I’m sorry, Mike, but I’m cutting off your access to Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. You’ve clearly had enough.”
Because internally, all things must be reduced to their emoji essence, Greg found the closest ones to streaming (shower) and brain (robot) and we started referring to the feature as simply:
Our resident illustrator, Craig, was inspired to ink something up, marketing loved it, and hey, now we’re thinking of getting t-shirts printed.
In a nutshell, McStreamy the Showering Robot brings two awesome new capabilities to the server:
Enhanced ability for the server to communicate with players. Instead of playback just failing with a generic error, we can now give much more specific reasons. Simple change, but really nice.
Intelligent management of bandwidth and CPU usage to make sure that Plex never tries to exceed the limits of your Internet connection or processor. (Don’t hate on my upstream. And if you have fiber, I guarantee you that you don’t have beaches and coconuts.)
Peek under the hood, and there is some seriously cool stuff going on:
Advanced heuristics compute the best streaming parameters given available CPU and bandwidth.
Plex Sync and other non-time-critical transfers are treated on a best-effort basis, but will take advantage of available bandwidth when possible, scaling up and down based on usage with real-time traffic shaping.
Prioritization of streaming transcode sessions over non-critical work (Media Optimizer, Plex Sync, and other CPU intensive operations).
Bandwidth limits are performed with WAN traffic, but users with interesting network topologies can customize what constitutes remote vs. local traffic.
In order to have this all work properly, the Media Server needs to do a deep analysis of your media, since the “average” bitrate reported by most files is actually pretty useless when it comes to knowing true bandwidth requirements. (Variability in media and real-time conversion are two of the hardest challenges with our platform in general.) We silently slipped this more extensive analysis into a release a while ago so it could work on your libraries ahead of release. During other scheduled maintenance tasks, it’s been hard at work figuring out exactly how much bandwidth is needed to successfully stream your media without buffering.
If you made it this far, congratulations, and thanks for reading! To summarize, this new feature will make streaming remotely, to multiple users, with a range of available bandwidth and CPU, much more reliable. It’s the first step of many we have planned: McStreamy will get smarter over time, and gain new capabilities. We’re fairly sure it won’t evolve into Skynet, but who are we to hold it back?!
You can find information on how to make use of the new controls on our support site.
Barkley demonstrating bandwidth limiting:Cross-party group report finds support differs for refugees who come to UK via asylum route rather than resettlement
A costly “two-tier system” of providing protection for refugees in Britain has developed, leaving many at risk of homelessness and destitution, according to a report from a cross-party group of MPs.
The study by the parliamentary group on refugees says the way the system is structured seriously damages the prospect of integrating new refugees and reports that the British Red Cross had to help more than 1,200 destitute refugees in just nine months last year.
The parliamentary panel that carried out the nine-month inquiry included David Burrowes, Thangam Debbonaire, Caroline Lucas, Lord Dubs and Sally Hamwee. Burrowes, the Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate and vice chair of the group, said: “For too many refugees, being granted their status is the beginning of a period characterised by homelessness and destitution. Protection must mean more than just a piece of paper.”
The MPs and peers identify as a key problem a 28-day cut-off period after which all state support, including housing, is withdrawn from newly recognised refugees once their status is confirmed.
The report says this “move-on” period, after which they are forced to leave their Home Office-provided accommodation, is too short and “leaves too many newly recognised refugees homeless and destitute”.
It says that the risk of homelessness and destitution after being recognised as a refugee in Britain faces the majority whose claims have been recognised through the asylum process.
More than 50,290 people successfully applied for refugee status through the asylum route last year, compared with fewer than 10,000 who were resettled in Britain after being nominated by the UN high commissioner for refugees.
Refugees applying to live in UK face being sent home after five years Read more
The MPs’ report, Refugees Welcome?, says that those who come to Britain through the resettlement route are provided accommodation and receive support to access services and find employment.
“For refugees who have gone through the asylum system, there is no such support,” it says. “This was not always the case. Between 2008 and 2011, the government funded a programme to help newly recognised refugees navigate the move-on period, offering 12 months of support to access housing, education, social security and the job market. However, funding for the programme was ended in September 2011.”
The MPs say that a two-tier system has developed for refugees in Britain as a result. They recommend that the 28-day move-on period is extended to at least 50 days, reflecting the time it takes to find accommodation and financial support.
The study highlights the experience of Anas, a Syrian refugee who was left unable to access jobseeker’s support or secure accommodation after a Home Office spelling mistake on his official paperwork.
“Isis and Assad mean that it’s no longer safe for me at home. When I arrived in Britain I was so thankful to have been offered safety,” he said. “All I wanted was to be a good person and give back to the country which sheltered me, but I couldn’t for no better reason than because my paperwork was wrong and it took five months to fix it. I will always be grateful to Britain, but I will never understand a system which stops people like me from getting on my feet and contributing to society.”
His experience contrasted with that of Nour, who came on the Syrian refugee resettlement scheme. He received correct paperwork in a timely fashion, had access to English classes within weeks of arriving and received assistance in finding steady accommodation. He is now studying computer science at Birmingham University.
“When I arrived in Britain, I wanted a hand up, not a hand out, to get back on my own two feet, continue my work and studies and start supporting my family. I’m grateful to Britain for the support I received and I hope to have the opportunity to repay the country with my work. I want all refugees to have the same opportunity,” he said.
Debbonaire, the Labour MP for Bristol West and chair of the group, said: “A refugee is a refugee, however they were granted status. Most will want to return home when conflict is over and, in the meantime, want to contribute to this country. These are often skilled professionals and, by definition, they all have strength and determination to offer.
“But there are administrative flaws in the system, which could be easily fixed. Creating a two-tier system for refugees, loading the dice against people who come here to build a new life, is not just the wrong thing to do, but a costly missed opportunity for Britain.”These aren't the Patriots you're looking for.
Hate them or love them, the Patriots are supposed to be the one consistent, reliable force in the NFL. We know what we're getting when we watch them play. When we tune into a Patriots game, we expect to see the highest possible quality of football. Tossing aside the way we feel about them (and our jealously of their success), they're football nirvana. We're guaranteed to see Tom Brady dissect a defense, Rob Gronkowski spike a football, and Bill Belichick coach a well-prepared defense.
But that didn't happen on Thursday night.
A week ago, the reigning champs kicked off the 2017 NFL season with the most in-your-face, arrogant pregame celebration, spearheaded by Mark Wahlberg, who by the way left the Super Bowl early. Fans wore Roger Goodell clown shirts. The scoreboard read 28-3. Five replica Lombardi Trophies, each the size of Sauron's tower, took the field.
That field, which no longer exists, would be the site of a demolishing. The Patriots ended up losing to the Chiefs by 15 points. Alex Smith, a quarterback who's allergic to throwing the ball downfield, roasted the Patriots for 368 yards, 10.5 yards per attempt, and four touchdowns -- including two of at least 75 yards. Meanwhile, rookie running back Kareem Hunt averaged 8.7(!!!) yards per run, totaling 246 yards from scrimmage. In all, the Patriots allowed the most yards (537) and points (42) in the Belichick era.
In our season predictions, I wrote that the Patriots would flirt with a 16-0 season. Well, the Patriots' flirtation lasted about as long as Wahlberg's attendance at the Super Bowl.
This Sunday, the Patriots defense's task won't get any easier, as they'll head to New Orleans for a date with Drew Brees and the Saints at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. Say what you want about the recent versions of the Saints -- they still can't play defense, evidenced by the walloping Sam Bradford gave them -- but what they can do is put up points at the Superdome. And the Patriots' defense will be challenged to slow them down. If the Patriots thought Smith was a handful, just wait until they go up against Brees.
And that begs the question: Can the Patriots' defense, which was just embarrassed by Alex freakin' Smith, rebound against an explosive Saints offense?
Drew Brees indoors
Before dissecting the Patriots' defense, it's important to contextualize just how dang good Brees and the Saints have been at home in the Brees-Payton era. Since 2006, the Saints' record at home is 55-33. That has a ton to do with Brees' level of play indoors.
In domes, he's completed 68.9 percent of his passes, averaged 8.0 yards per attempt, thrown 257 touchdowns and 105 interceptions, and posted a 102.5 passer rating. Outdoors, he's completed 64.38 percent of his passes, averaged 7.1 yards per attempt, thrown 192 touchdowns and 105 touchdowns, and posted a 90.3 passer rating.
This game will be played inside the Superdome in New Orleans. So, the Patriots can expect Brees to be at his best.
Dont'a Hightower's availability could be a problem
Dont'a Hightower's status is just as important as the location of the game. Hightower, a linebacker who mainly plays as an edge defender, is reportedly dealing with a minor MCL sprain and his status for Sunday's game is unknown.
Hightower left Thursday's game in the third quarter. Without Hightower in the fourth quarter, the Patriots gave up 21 points.
|
shot and hauntingly scored short film following depressed ex-employees as they wander the earth until they eventually stumble upon a surreal, cult-ish refuge.
Twin Bed. While SNL’s music videos this season have yet to reattain the hit-after-hit consistency of the Lonely Island era, this catchy single by the women of the cast about the sexiness of doing it in your childhood bedroom during the holidays gave us some of the funniest images of the year.
Me Trailer. This shot-for-shot parody of the trailer for Spike Jonze’s Oscar-winning film Her (not to be confused with one of the million “Him” videos the Internet made) saw Jonah Hill as a shy man who falls in love with his own voice – a possibility so plausible it’s a little surprising Jonze’s movie didn’t address it.
Bird Bible. SNL’s fake commercials are so ingrained into its format, and often so simple in concept, that they begin to fade from our memories the moment they end. Not so for this bizarre ad for a bible depicting religious historical figures as birds (the only video this season to re-air in a later episode after its initial run), which featured a blend of absurd avian imagery and enjoyable deliveries by Mike O’Brien and Kate McKinnon as soulless Christian parents.
Ooh Child. Some of the best moments on SNL this year were built around specific songs that magically established a mood, just to subvert it moments later. Case in point, this slow-burn short with Lena Dunham trying to sing along to The Five Stairsteps’ “Ooh Child” during a roadtrip, only to be thwarted by the car’s navigation commands. Bonus points for the solid twist out.
Dyke & Fats. Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant revealed themselves to be hilariously progressive in this stereotype-fueled 70s buddy cop show, which honestly wouldn’t make the worst SNL spinoff movie.
The Beygency. The one saving grace of the Andrew Garfield episode was this trailer for an Adjustment Bureau-style conspiracy thriller starring Garfield as a man on the run for his life after making one innocent criticism about Beyonce. (Luckily, Queen B approved.)
When Will the Bass Drop? While SNL didn’t need The Lonely Island to swoop back in to make another great digital short (this season has proved that the current film team has managed just fine without them), none of us were complaining at this thrilling case study in heightening, which featured just the right amount ecstasy-driven surrealism and over-the-top violence.
Honorable Mentions: We Did Stop, Wing, Cocktail Hour.
LIVE
Mornin’ Miami. Miley Cyrus’ episode is one we’d rather forget, but at least it launched the run of this amusing recurring sketch in which dead-inside morning news hosts record bizarre promos, which came back again in the Drake episode and a third time in the dress rehearsal for the Charlize Theron episode.
NASA Shutdown Cold Open. One of the strongest of the creative cold opens from the season’s first half was this scene that cleverly contextualized the government shutdown within the popular Gravity film setup, with astronauts trapped in space and no one manning mission control except a janitor.
Michelle Obama Cold Open. SNL made an uncharacteristically bold move with a cold open that turned its critical eye toward itself, using Kerry Washington to mock the show’s whitewashed cast by scrambling to play Michelle Obama, Oprah, and Beyonce, all in one scene. The piece included a tongue-in-cheek promise from the producers to fix the situation unless they fell in love with another white guy first, six Matthew McConaugheys, and the Rev. Al Sharpton walking out to say this sketch taught us nothing. And while some unconvinced viewers saw this as an attempt by the show to sweep its diversity problem under the rug, Kerry Washington’s excellent performance and the eventual hiring of three black women in January made this cold open one of the most memorable live moments on SNL in years.
Olya Povlatsky. Kate McKinnon’s character work has positioned her as a load-bearing pillar in the cast, with her numerous Weekend Update appearances as proof. The hardest hitting has been the miserable Russian woman Olya, who originally appeared last season but whose tales of woe came back just in time for the much scrutinized living conditions at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Jebidiah Atkinson. The best new character of this season has been Taran Killam’s Jebediah Atkinson, an 1860s newspaper critic who slammed the Gettysburg Address and has now extended his snarky one-liners to all speeches of history and aspects of pop culture. Admittedly Jebediah has lost a little steam since his first appearance in the Lady Gaga episode, but the amount of fun Killam seems to have with the character has made the bit an ongoing success for Weekend Update.
Baby Boss. Beck Bennett has managed to stand out among the numerous new cast members, both for his knack for playing into the awkward humor of the Good Neighbor videos, as well as his ability to command the stage during live sketches – specifically, as a powerful CEO who has the body of a baby.
Your Love. The most pure-fun moment of the season came during the surprisingly-good Josh Hutcherson episode, in which the cast weaved the lyrics of The Outfield’s “Your Love” into a cheesy 80s rom-com scene. (Watch the video here.)
Baby, It’s Cold Outside. One of the few sketches from Jimmy Fallon’s episode that didn’t pair him up with Justin Timberlake was this satisfying twist on the notoriously rapey holiday tune, with Cecily Strong as a postcoital clinger.
Women’s Group. In yet another showcase of the cast’s females, Melissa McCarthy played a woman who upends a chill women’s group with her violent plans to avenge her father’s death.
Black Jeopardy. Michael Che’s script gave us one of the edgiest takes on race we saw on SNL all season, with Louis CK as a very white contestant on a very black version of a very white game show. While some were offended, the rest were relieved SNL has emerged from the dark tunnel of controversy better equipped to approach a sensitive subject matter.
Blue River Dog Food. In a live show in which actors often seem to, at best, merely hit their marks and recite recently rewritten lines, straight-up acting in scenes often goes overlooked. This gradually intensifying argument about dog food was a striking exception, with Cecily Strong and Seth Rogen’s impressive commitment paying off in dividends.
Cat Commercial. The one indisputably hilarious moment from a disputably successful episode featured Charlize Theron and Kate McKinnon as (disputably) lesbian cat lovers in an infomercial for a pet adoption agency, giving us a wonderful clash of context between adorable mewing kittens and darkly personifying descriptions.
Honorable Mentions: Shallon, Slumber Party, Little Mermaid.
Erik Voss is a writer and performer living in Los Angeles. He hosts the Evil Blond Kid podcast and performs on the house team Wheelhouse at the iO Theater.When Nicholas Lemann announced that he was leaving his post as dean of Columbia Journalism School after 10 years on the job, many of his journalistic colleagues wanted to know the reason—the real reason—for his departure. A New York Times report on Lemann’s resignation shoehorned a reference to the industry’s “turbulent decade” into the very first sentence, while assuring readers that “he was not leaving because he was unhappy.”
To his friends in academia, Lemann told The Daily Beast in an interview at his Columbia office, the choice to leave was rather obvious. “It’s just the way life works,” he said. One needs change.
Guiding America’s top journalism school since 2003, Lemann managed to navigate that “turbulent decade” and remains bullish on the future of the industry, mostly dismissing those who judge journalism to be in the throes of crisis. Indeed, Lemann methodically explains—slowly, precisely —there is plenty to be excited about. “I’m not so bullish on the newsroom size of the top 25 metro daily newspapers in the United States,” he admits, but this doesn’t mean that journalism is stagnant. “Reuters is growing. Bloomberg News is growing. Newspapers in India are growing. Patch is still growing. Lots of people are doing startups.” And those who pooh-pooh the need for young reporters to drop $81,000 on journalism school, claiming that students are signing up for an industry that barely exists? “It does exist. Our hiring numbers [for graduating students] are up pretty substantially in the time I have been here.”
Anyway, Lemann forcefully rejects the idea of some previous golden age of media, a His Girl Friday idyll when “things were better” for journalism, journalists, and consumers. “There was more carnage in the big city newspaper business between 1950 and 1975 than there has been between 1995 and today,” he says. It was a brutal time to be a newspaper man, when many big cities transitioned from highly competitive markets to single newspaper towns. “Everyone thinks that 20 years ago, some problem or another didn’t exist,” Lemann insists. But there was never a time when one could reliably earn a salary and pensions as, say, a long-form journalist or documentary filmmaker. Back in the good old days, newspapers routinely went bankrupt and media monopolies were common. “People tend to feel, whatever the pressing problem of the moment, that humans before me didn’t have to deal with it.”
And Lemann also bats away the complaint that the new media outlets that do exist are destructively partisan. It’s a consistent question—one he often fields, he says, from those who long for an authoritative voice, a 21st-century Walter Cronkite. “What they are really saying is—and they don’t think they are saying this—that a world of less press freedom, a sort of managed oligopoly, is paradise.” In other words, more is almost always better. And the nostalgics can take comfort that the opinion media complex isn’t a recent invention: “Journalism was opinion journalism from about 1700 to 1900.”
Nor is Lemann bothered by the popularity of sharp-elbowed, hyperpartisan cable news outlets like MSNBC and Fox News. “It’s a free country and it’s really problematic, in a policy sense, to say, ‘You shouldn’t be allowed to have Fox News.’” Offered the opportunity to lament the influence of News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, Lemann doesn’t take the bait. “The sky is falling [predictions] did not happen,” Lemann says. (When Murdoch purchased The Wall Street Journal in 2007, many media observers predicted disaster for the paper, that a once great institution would become a higher-brow version of Fox.) True, some of the more wonkish, long-form reporting on economic matters has vanished, but Lemann cites the addition of a “great” new book review section (“way better than the old Journal’s”), added at a time when other newspapers, like the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, have scrapped such standalone sections.
News consumers are savvy, Lemann believes. He argues that most viewers understand that Fox’s “fair and balanced” slogan is to be taken with a wink—and compares the current climate of partisan media to the one he observed in his youth, though on a larger scale. A native of Louisiana, he recalls the right-wing radio stations and the copies of John Birch Society propaganda in friends’ houses. Even in the 1960s, “you could bathe in comforting right-wing or left-wing opinion without there being an Internet or cable television.”
There are, however, a few recent developments in journalism that give him pause. The speed of Internet news has produced a “copy hunger,” and he worries how organizations will feed the beast “while keeping editorial standards.” But this isn’t a new phenomenon either. Lemann says that a fabulist like “Stephen Glass couldn’t have happened at The New Yorker,” where he is a staff writer, because of a rigorous fact-checking process—something that budgets cuts and the speed of the Web have made anachronistic. (It’s perhaps worth noting that the material Jonah Lehrer was accused of “self-plagiarizing” existed on The New Yorker’s website, while the articles published in the magazine have all checked out.) It’s a significant concern, but while the hive mind of the Internet demands a steady stream of new material, it also acts as a collective fact-checker and ombudsman.
Columbia Journalism School graduate A.J. Liebling’s famous lament that “freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one,” Lemann says, no longer holds true. It might have been a “turbulent decade” for journalism, but the shakeup has produced a more varied, more interesting media landscape. “As a consumer of news, this is the best time there has ever been.”TV ad showed call centre workers singing with their mouths full. Many objected it could encourage bad manners amongst children.
Shopping channel Auctionworld's consistently poor customer service, misleading guide prices and delays in delivery of goods resulted in a flurry of complaints, which were passed to Ofcom who issued a fine and revoked its licence to broadcast.
3. Paddy Power plc (2010) 1,313 complaints - not upheld
Viewers complained that the image of a cat being kicked across a pitch by a blind football player was offensive to blind people and could encourage animal cruelty
4. The Christian Party (2009) 1,204 complaints - not upheld
People objected that the strap line 'There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life' was offensive to atheists and couldn't be substantiated
Atheists complained the claim made by the Christian Party could not be substantiated.
5. British Safety Council (1995) 1,192 complaints - upheld
Leaflet featured the Pope wearing a hard hat with the strap line "The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt always wear a condom". Although intended to raise awareness for National Condom Week and promote safer sex, the ASA agreed with complainants that it was offensive to Roman Catholics
Roman Catholics complained at the use of the Pope's image to promote condoms was offensive
6. Marie Stopes International (2010) 1,088 complaints - not upheld
A TV ad offering sexual and reproductive healthcare advice, information and services attracted complaints for various reasons, including that it promoted abortion
7. Volkswagen Group Ltd (2008) 1,070 complaints - upheld in part
The ASA upheld, in part, against ad campaign that depicted an engineer fighting multiple versions of himself. The ASA ruled that the level of violence in two of the ads meant they should only be shown after the 9pm watershed
8. Yves St Laurent Beaute Ltd (2000) 948 complaints - upheld
The ASA agreed with public complaints that a poster ad for Opium perfume featuring a naked Sophie Dahl was sexually suggestive and likely to cause serious or widespread offence
This YSL advert featuring Sophie Dahl was banned
9. Department of Energy and Climate Change (2010) 939 complaints - upheld in part
The ASA received objections that this TV and press campaign about climate change was misleading and scaremongering. The ASA didn't agree with the majority of the objections, but did uphold complaints about claims in some of the press ads for exaggerating the likelihood and impact of extreme weather conditions
DECC ran four associated nursery rhyme themed press ads over the course of October, November and December 2009
10.Barnardo's (2008) 840 complaints - not upheld
Designed to raise awareness of domestic child abuse, the TV campaign featured repeated scenes of violence and drug taking, which many viewers found upsetting and not suitable for broadcast at times when children were likely to be watchingImpredicative polymorphism, a use case
{-# LANGUAGE ExtendedDefaultRules, TupleSections #-} module Main where import qualified Prelude import Boa last_elt(xs) = def $: do assert xs "Empty list" lst <- var xs -- Create a new variable, lst ret <- var (xs.head) while lst $: do ret #= lst.head -- Assign variable ret lst #= lst.tail return ret first_elt(xs) = def $: do l <- var xs l.reverse -- Destructive reverse return (last_elt(l)) factorial(n) = def $: do assert (n<=0) "Negative factorial" ret <- var 1 i <- var n while i $: do ret *= i i -= 1 return ret test = def $: do print "Hello" print ("factorial 10 =", factorial(10)) main = do test l <- varc [1, 2, 3] print ("first and last:",) print (first_elt(l),) print (last_elt(l))
x = x + 1
x
5 = x
data LValue a data RValue a instance (Num a) => Num (RValue a) class LR lr instance LR RValue instance LR LValue var :: RValue a -> IO (forall lr. (LR lr) => lr a) (#=) :: LValue a -> RValue a -> IO () foo = do x <- var 42 x #= x + 1
LValue
RValue
a
Num
LR
LValue
RValue
var
var
(#=)
x
forall lr. (LR lr) => lr a
Illegal polymorphic or qualified type: forall (lr :: * -> *). LR lr => lr a Perhaps you intended to use -XImpredicativeTypes In the type signature for `var': var :: RValue a -> IO (forall lr. LR lr => lr a)
Couldn't match expected type `LValue a0' with actual type `forall (lr :: * -> *). LR lr => lr a1' In the first argument of `(#=)', namely `x' In the expression: x #= x + 1
do
(>>=)
In a recent question on stackoverflow I made a comment about how Haskell can be considered a good imperative language because you can define abstractions to make it convenient. When I was going to make my point by implementing a simple example of it I found that what I wanted to do no longer works in ghc-7.0.4. Here's a simple example of what I wanted to do (which works in ghc-6.12.3). It's a simple library that makes Haskell code look a bit like Python.On the whole it's pretty boring, except for one thing. In imperative languages there is (usually) a disctinction between l-values and r-values. An l-value represent a variable, i.e., something that can be assigned, whereas an r-value is simply a value. So in Python, in the statementtheon the left is an l-value (it's being assigned), whereas on the right it's an r-value. You can use the same notation for both in most imperative languages. If you want to do the same in Haskell you have (at least) two choices. First you can unify the concepts of l-value and r-value and have a runtime test that you only try to assign variables. So, e.g.,would type check but have a runtime failure. I will not dwell further on this since it's not very Haskelly.Instead, we want to have l-values and r-values being statically type checked. Here's the interesting bit of the types for a simple example.We have two type constructorsandrepresenting l-values and r-values of some type. The r-values is an instance of. Furthermore, the classwhere the type is eitherorThefunction creates a new variable given a value. The return type ofis the interesting part. It says that the return value is polymorphic; it can be used either as an l-value or as r-value. Just as we want.The assignment operator,, takes an l-value, an r-value, and returns nothing.So in the example we expectto have type, in which case the assignment will type check.If we try to compile this we getThe problem is that universal quantification is not normally allowed as the argument to a type constructor. This requires the impredicative polymorphism extension to ghc. If we turn it on it compiles fine in ghc-6.12.3.But, with ghc-7.0.4 we getI can't really explain the rational behind the change in the ghc type system (Simon say it's simpler now), but I feel this has really made ghc worse for defining DSELs. When you define a DSEL you usually use the-notation for the binding construct in the embedded language. This is the only programmable binding construct (by overloading), so there is little choice. With the change in ghc-7 it means you can no longer make DSELs with a polymorhic binding construct (like I wanted here), because the binder seems to be monomorphic nowPlease Simon, can we have polymorphic do bindings back?My favorite genre growing up has always been medieval. Stories like Lord of the Rings were a staple of my childhood, with Game of Thrones and The Witcher filling the void in my later years. But the problem is that, in the realm of video games, there aren’t a whole lot of engaging medieval games that capture what I want. I want a vast medieval world to explore so I can get new armor, fight evil villains, gallop over hills and through forests, and take part in sieges.
Then comes along Kingdom Come: Deliverance. An open world RPG set in first person, Warhorse Studios’ mission in creating this game is to give the player the complete experience of being a knight in the Kingdom of Bohemia. You start as the son of a blacksmith who seeks revenge against those who killed his family and, throughout the game, takes on the mantle of a knight.
The game is meant to be as realistic as possible, with a combat system modeled after real historical combat, rather than flashy moves seen in games like The Witcher. Your character needs to eat and sleep, food spoils over time, and armor needs to be repaired. The music is period accurate performed by Czech musicians, and everything else in the game is designed to be as accurate as possible. The castles were even designed with the help of architects and historians.
On the surface this sounds awesome. It’s a dream come true for fanatics of medieval history. But there’s one aspect that may drag the game down or help it soar through its uniqueness. All the medieval franchises I mentioned at the beginning of this article have one thing in common: they’re medieval fantasy. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is not. For some this is a major draw. For once they can use swords and armor without dragons and witches getting in the way of their historical experience. For others it might be a turn off. Medieval castles and cities aren’t typically as grand as in the fantasy genre. The medieval era is generally considered impressive mostly because of the legends and fantasy that are part and parcel of how we view the period in pop culture. In reality, it’s generally a lot less impressive.
Will the realism add to the world or detract? I’m not entirely sure, to be completely honest. I think some people might be mildly disappointed that it’s not fantasy-esque. But I also think there’s a major draw in being realistic.
So this all begs the question: how realistic is too realistic? Alfred Hitchcock famously said, “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” And the same can be said about games. On paper, the idea of a “knight simulator” that encompasses nearly every aspect of the role sounds awesome. But is it? I imagine it will be interesting, if not fun, at first but after a while might get tiring. Is there enough flavor to spice up the game in a way that keeps people playing for hours?
The answer ultimately is that we’ll have to wait until release. But I can definitely speculate up until then. And I believe the fun in the game is going to rest on the shoulders of the quests and the combat. If the combat is engaging, challenging, and rewarding, then battles of any sort, be it sieges or against lone bandits, will be enjoyable. And missions are going to be what provides variety to what could otherwise be a horseback travel simulator.
The combat is designed to be as realistic as possible while providing a ton of variety through various moves and weapons, so if that pays off then it’s a huge plus for the game.
The missions are supposed to be nonlinear, so the ability to go about them in nearly any way we want could provide some unique experiences based on how we like to play. And, set against the backdrop of a deposed king trying to regain his kingdom from his evil brother, we might have some incredibly interesting stories to tell.
How much narrative drives the actual game remains to be seen, but the trailer does seem to imply that it’s a major part. So the story is another major aspect that will determine how well this game performs under review.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is unique in its wholly historical approach, and this could make or break the game. It might become the definitive medieval RPG or its level of detail could fall flat when people get bored by tedium. But I’m excited because, if the risks pay off, this game could quite possibly be one of the most impressive games of 2018.
Take a look at the trailer below and let us know what you think. Then tune back in a few months for the review. Hopefully we’ll have good things to say.
Advertisements
Share this: Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Tumblr
WhatsApp
Like this: Like Loading...Permits filed with the city of Orlando show where we can expect to find the first phase of the new Super Nintendo World at Universal Orlando. The entire Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone area will be replaced by a new 8.8 acre land featuring Mario Kart and Donkey Kong rides, as well as other Nintendo based attractions, restaurants, and shops. ET Adventure is the only area attraction expected to remain through this process.
WFTV is also reporting that future Nintendo lands will appear within Universal’s Islands of Adventure as well as a yet-to-be announced new theme park to be built on the 500-acre plot recently acquired by the company located south of the current resort. Check out the image below to see exactly where in the park this first phase is going to be built, and read on for more rumored details and permit information.
Known internally as Project 487, Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Florida will be replacing A Day at the Park with Barney, Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster, Curious George Goes to Town, Fievel’s Playland, and Animal Actors On Location. (The nearby ET Adventure is set to remain open.) Construction is set to begin by early 2018 and the new land could be opening by 2021 at the latest, (just in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary.)
The new land will likely contain 3 new rides, at least one dining location, entertainment, and of course gift shops. We can expect to see an interactive Mario Kart ride that will utilize Augmented Reality goggles to make it look like you’re firing koopa shells at the other cars. We’ll be getting a new Donkey Kong mine car coaster that has sections that appear to jump the track. And there will even be a Yoshi omnimover ride for the kids, overlooking the Mushroom Kingdom.
We’ve discussed the possibility of Nintendo taking over the KidZone area many times before, but this is the first public confirmation of said plans. Check out our new video below for more details on the possible Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi rides expected to open at the new land. Hopefully other properties like Zelda and Pokemon will be utilized at the other theme parks in future phases. Stay tuned for more breaking Nintendo news and construction updates coming soon!
That’s all for now, but you can learn more about Super Nintendo World and check out our previous coverage and construction updates here. And be sure to subscribe to the news feed to never miss an update! Or enter your email address in the form below to be notified of new posts.
Subscribe to Receive Email Updates
Share Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
EmailAs Illinois prepares to get its medical marijuana program up and running, the pot industry converged on Chicago this past weekend to push the drug’s health benefits and increase awareness.
The event took place on Saturday and Sunday, with local officials, marijuana experts, and pot advocates educating attendees on the drug’s benefits, proper use, and how the plant’s sale would be regulated. Other speakers also gave recommendations regarding how to cook with marijuana.
Held at Chicago’s famous Navy Pier, the Cannabis Conference was put together by a nonprofit organization called My Compassion, which is made up of patients and educators who promote the positive effects of marijuana when used against various diseases, including cancer and multiple sclerosis.
“We have experienced first hand how cannabis has helped these conditions while reducing many of the pharmaceutical prescriptions,” My Compassion wrote on the conference’s website. “Across the country cannabis is showing positive results in improving people’s health in turn giving hope and a better way of life.”
Speaking with the Chicago Tribune, the Dan Linn of Illinois NORML, which is urging the state to get rid of penalties for those who use pot legally and responsibly, said the conference would be a good avenue for marijuana education.
“This event offers a way for people to learn more about our new medical cannabis law and the changing political landscape,” he said. “There is widespread support for medical cannabis and there is growing support for legalizing cannabis entirely. This event helps to legitimize the industry and this movement and remove the stigma from people who support ending the prohibition on this plant.”
In addition to talking up the drug’s medicinal use, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the conference also featured out-of-state vendors looking to sell new businesses items and services ranging from hydroponic equipment to security consultation.
The event arrived as Illinois continues to explore the rules and regulations it will implement regarding the use of medical marijuana. As RT reported last year, Illinois became the 20th state in the US to legalize the drug for medicinal purposes, though its four-year trial program will feature some of the toughest regulations in the country. Users will not be allowed to grow their own plants, for example, and dispensaries will be subject to 24-hour surveillance.
The law officially took effect on January 1, but regulations have yet to be completed. Signed into law by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, the Medical Cannabis Pilot Program will license at least 21 growing operations and 60 dispensaries across Illinois.Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who is reportedly being vetted by Donald Trump as a potential running mate, was fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in the winter of 2014 after three decades in the military. Here he tells the real story of his departure from his post and why America is not getting any closer to winning the war on terror.
Two years ago, I was called into a meeting with the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and the director of national intelligence, and after some “niceties,” I was told by the USDI that I was being let go from DIA. It was definitely an uncomfortable moment (I suspect more for them than me).
I asked the DNI (Gen. James Clapper) if my leadership of the agency was in question and he said it was not; had it been, he said, they would have relieved me on the spot.
I knew then it had more to do with the stand I took on radical Islamism and the expansion of al Qaeda and its associated movements. I felt the intel system was way too politicized, especially in the Defense Department. After being fired, I left the meeting thinking, “Here we are in the middle of a war, I had a significant amount of combat experience (nearly five years) against this determined enemy on the battlefield and served at senior levels, and here it was, the bureaucracy was letting me go.” Amazing.
At the time, I was working very hard to change the culture of DIA from one overly focused on Washington, DC, to a culture that focused on our forward-based war fighters and commanders. It was not an easy shift, but it was necessary and exactly the reason I was put into the job in the first place.
In the end, I was pissed but knew that I had maintained my integrity and was determined in the few months I had left to continue the changes I was instituting and to keep beating the drum about the vicious enemy we were facing (still are).
I would not change a lick how I operate. Our country has too much at stake.
We’re in a global war, facing an enemy alliance that runs from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Havana, Cuba, and Caracas, Venezuela. Along the way, the alliance picks up radical Muslim countries and organizations such as Iran, al Qaeda, the Taliban and Islamic State.
That’s a formidable coalition, and nobody should be shocked to discover that we are losing the war.
If our leaders were interested in winning, they would have to design a strategy to destroy this global enemy. But they don’t see the global war. Instead, they timidly nibble around the edges of the battlefields from Africa to the Middle East, and act as if each fight, whether in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Libya or Afghanistan, can be peacefully resolved by diplomatic effort.
As we defeat them on the ground, we must clearly and forcefully attack their crazy doctrines. Defeat on battlefields does great damage to their claim to be acting as agents of divine will.
This approach is doomed. We have real enemies, dedicated to dominating and eventually destroying us, and they are not going to be talked out of their hatred. Iran, for example, declared war on the United States in 1979 — that’s 37 years ago — and has been killing Americans ever since. Every year, the State Department declares Iran to be the world’s primary supporter of terror. Do you think we’ll nicely and politely convince them to be good citizens and even (as President Obama desires) a responsible ally supporting peace? Do you think ISIS or the Taliban wants to embrace us?
No, we’re not going to talk our way out of this war, nor can we escape its horrors. Ask the people in San Bernardino or South Florida, or the relatives of the thousands killed on 9/11. We’re either going to win or lose. There is no other “solution.”
I believe we can and must win. This war must be waged both militarily and politically; we have to destroy the enemy armies and combat enemy doctrines. Both are doable. On military battlefields, we have defeated radical Islamic forces every time we have seriously gone after them, from Iraq to Afghanistan. Their current strength is not a reflection of their ability to overwhelm our armed forces, but rather the consequence of our mistaken and untimely withdrawal after demolishing them.
We have failed to challenge their jihadist doctrines, even though their true believers only number a small fraction of the Muslim world, and even though everybody, above all most living Muslims, knows that the Islamic world is an epic failure, desperately needing economic, cultural and educational reform of the sort that has led to the superiority of the West.
So first of all, we need to demolish the terror armies, above all in the Middle East and Libya. We have the wherewithal, but lack the will. That has to change. It’s hard to imagine it happening with our current leaders, but the next president will have to do it.
As we defeat them on the ground, we must clearly and forcefully attack their crazy doctrines. Defeat on battlefields does great damage to their claim to be acting as agents of divine will. After defeating al Qaeda in Iraq, we should have challenged the Islamic world and asked: “How did we win? Did Allah change sides?”
We need to denounce them as false prophets, as we insist on the superiority of our own political vision. This applies in equal measure to the radical secular elements of the enemy coalition. Is North Korea some sort of success story? Does anyone this side of a university seminar think the Cuban people prefer the Castros’ tyranny to real freedom? Is Vladimir Putin a model leader for the 21st-century world?
Just as the Muslim world has failed, so the secular tyrants have wrecked their own countries. They hate us in part because they know their own peoples would prefer to live as we do. They hope to destroy us before they have to face the consequences of their many failures.
Remember that Machiavelli insisted that tyranny is the most unstable form of government.
It infuriates me when our president bans criticism of our enemies, and I am certain that we cannot win this war unless we are free to call our enemies by their proper names: radical jihadis, failed tyrants, and so forth.
With good leadership, we should win. But we desperately need good leaders to reverse our enemies’ successes.
Flynn is the author of the new book “The Field of Fight” (St. Martin’s Press), out Tuesday.I have a terrible memory for details but a fantastic memory for embarrassment and disappointment. To this day I remember spelling “errand” wrong during a third-grade spelling bee. I wondered, “What the heck even is an errand?” My intimate relationship with errands developed only later.
I wish I remembered more clearly the first time I picked up a comic not published by Marvel or DC. What I do know is that at some point I set out to learn what independent comics were all about. I still haven’t figured this out, I think, but my search brought me to a list that purported to include the best comics of the year. It was the Ignatz Awards nominees, circa 2011, brought to you by SPX, the Small Press Expo.
Explaining SPX
I wondered, “What the heck even is SPX?” Since its inception in 1994, SPX has been the indie comics world’s preeminent annual show. Those more familiar with comics and cosplay conventions can think of it as a miniature version of that, with greater emphasis on comics and individual cartoonists. Those familiar with indie shows can think of it as home. The names on that list were totally new to me then but are absolutely familiar now: Michael DeForge, Gabrielle Bell, Box Brown, Sammy Harkham. For me, SPX offered a doorway into a new universe of comics, and it continues to do so six years later.
SPX is back for another round this weekend at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. One of the best parts of the show is finding fresh comics from old favorites and new faces. Heading into this weekend’s installment of the show, here are nine SPX debut books to consider (note: this list is not at all comprehensive and is completely the product of my own preferences).
READ: Need more convincing on why independent comics rock? Here’s the article for you!
NOW #1 (Fantagraphics)
We begin with the first issue of NOW, the new anthology magazine from Fantagraphics. It was back in 2005 that editor Eric Reynolds launched MOME, a quarterly comics anthology magazine that included some of the most important talents in the industry. In his eulogy to the series, after its final issue was |
the rocket. The country may be attempting to develop a useable nuclear weapon and the means to carry it, or it may just be seeking to hold the world's attention, making concessions which can easily be withdrawn, says our correspondent.
Bookmark with: Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionIn many cases, the groom will rape his kidnapped bride to prevent her from returning to her family due to shame
By Lin Taylor
LONDON, Aug 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - About one in five young women and girls in Kyrgyzstan are kidnapped for marriage, according to a study published on Wednesday which found their babies are smaller than average, probably due to their mothers' psychological distress.
Bride kidnapping, which also occurs in countries like Armenia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and South Africa, is particularly common in rural parts of the Central Asian country even though it is illegal, researchers from the U.S.-based Duke University said.
The practice, known as "ala kachuu" which means "to take and run away", involves a potential groom forcibly taking a young woman or girl back to his home before pressuring her to agree to marriage by writing a letter of consent and wearing a "marriage scarf" over her head.
In many cases, the groom will rape his kidnapped bride to prevent her from returning to her family due to shame, according to the United Nations Population Fund.
"After kidnapping, these women are no longer assumed to be virgins. In addition, they might be perceived as stubborn and belligerent if they resist the marriage... (and) become less attractive to other potential suitors," the report said.
Between 16 and 23 percent of women in Kyrgyzstan are abducted for marriage, but the rate is much higher among ethnic Kyrgyz where a third of all marriages are due to kidnapping, it said.
Ethnic Kyrgyz make up 70 percent of the country's 6 million population which also includes Uzbeks, Russians and Turks.
Kidnapped brides tend to be younger than those in love marriages or arranged marriages, with 19 being the mean age, the study found.
Nearly one in 10 girls in Kyrgyzstan are married before they turn 18, according to global charity Girls Not Brides.
Although Kyrgyzstan outlawed bride kidnapping in 2013 and banned child marriage in 2016, nearly 12,000 young women and girls are thought to be kidnapped for marriage each year, the Women's Support Centre in Kyrgyzstan says.
The study, published in the journal Demography, also said babies born to kidnapped brides weighed 80 to 190 grammes less than those from arranged marriages. Smaller birth weights have been linked to a higher risk of disease, lower education rates and earnings, it said.
It was unclear why these babies were smaller, but it was likely due to the psychological trauma suffered by the mother from being in a forced marriage, said economics professor Charles Becker, who co-authored the study.
There also seemed to be an underlying tolerance for bride kidnapping even though it is illegal, he added.
"The stigma of having been kidnapped does not seem to be large among the Kyrgyz, and people are willing to discuss it openly, even with strangers," Becker said in a statement.
"Our next step is to explore why the practice of kidnapping is unofficially accepted in a country that quite recently had a woman president."
About 15 million girls a year are married before the age of 18, Girls Not Brides estimates.
(Reporting by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Emma Batha. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian issues, conflicts, global land and property rights, modern slavery and human trafficking, women's rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Howie Rose, the Islanders’ television broadcaster for 20 years, is done with the Nassau Coliseum, having called his last game there. But Rose is not done being “angry’’ that Saturday’s first-round Game 6 against the Capitals may be the last Islanders game ever on Long Island.
If the Islanders, trailing 3-2, don’t win the series, their next home game won’t be until next fall in Brooklyn. Because NBC is televising Saturday’s game, Rose won’t be calling the contest for MSG-Plus.
Rose could be back for Game 7 in Washington, but the national networks take over for the second round. Tuesday’s Game 4 marked Rose’s Coliseum swan song. MSG-Plus ratings were up 50 percent for Isles playoff games from 2013’s number.
“My emotions aren’t as much melancholy as anger,’’ Rose told The Post Friday. “It never should’ve come to this. So I’m not looking at it through the mechanism of, ‘Gee, wasn’t it great, hearing all the noise in the building this season?’
“All that stuff, I just get angry, I’m pissed off they’re leaving,’’ added Rose, a Nassau County resident. “I’m not happy about it in the least. I’m not yet in the process of trying to make sense of it in a historical standpoint that creates wistfulness. My blood boils thinking about them leaving. Sorry if I don’t have any flowery prose.’’
Then Rose uttered what many torn Long Islanders will feel when they walk into the house off Hempstead Turnpike for the game Saturday at 3 p.m. when the Islanders try to keep the series — and building — alive.
“The Islanders should’ve been on Long Island for freaking forever,’’ Rose said.
Redevelopment of the Coliseum turned into a political mess, so after 43 years, they are leaving for the borough in which Rose was born. Rose, who grew up a Rangers fan and used to call Blueshirts games on radio, said the Islanders became “a political pawn.’’ That, he says, hurt attendance because of stalled plans to transform the decaying arena.
“You look at the low attendance figures in the past, the fans just were beaten to a pulp by ownership issues, management issues, every possible series of events,’’ Rose said.
“A confluence of circumstances that discouraged people from showing up. The place was a dump. No one took any lengths to make it anything other than a dump. It never should’ve come to this. Everyone was trying to see what they were going to grab from it.’’
Rose, who has a contract to continue calling games at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, said his feelings in no way suggest he doesn’t think or hope it can work in Kings County:
“This has nothing to do with Brooklyn – I hope they have eternal success there.’’
But he’s still stunned the Islanders couldn’t make it work on Long Island, like the Nets couldn’t make it work back when they won titles in the ABA. The Coliseum will be renovated into a smaller venue — partly to attract minor league sports.
“Two major league teams were here — now the idea is to downsize it,’’ said Rose, who is calling the Subway Series Mets-Yankees games for 710 WOR AM this weekend. “Long Island is actively trying to be a minor league town when it was major league. Good luck to Nassau County.’’@cbellsola
Es, sin lugar a dudas, el gran historiador catalán vivo. Después de una carrera de seis décadas centrada en la historia contemporánea y de decenas de libros publicados, Josep Fontana (Barcelona, 1931) sigue plenamente activo, en una doble vertiente de investigador y de referente moral -especialmente de la izquierda, pero no sólo. "los historiadores -afirma- tenemos que enseñar a la gente a pensar por su cuenta", y no lamenta haber ido siempre "contracorriente". Con su característico pesimismo gramsciano, explica a Públic, desde su piso del barrio del Poble Sec de Barcelona, que el mundo no va precisamente cada vez mejor, ero se muestra esperanzado con los movimientos de protesta que surgen "desde abajo".
"Hay una guerra de clases y la estamos ganando". Esta es una frase del magnate estadounidense Warren Buffet que usted ha citado en alguno de sus libros.
Lo reconocen los mismos que se benefician. En estos momentos, donde más se evidencia es en el crecimiento de la desigualdad. Las estadísticas en todas partes, en los EE.UU., en la UE, en España y donde se quiera, muestran que, año tras año, la desigualdad sigue aumentando. No ha habido ningún tipo de freno. Desde los años 70 del siglo pasado hasta ahora, este proceso se está incrementando. Y todos los mecanismos están montados para que esta situación no se detenga. De modo que aquí sí hay una clarísima contradicción de intereses entre un mínimo del uno por ciento o del uno por mil que se beneficia, y una gran mayoría que, por el contrario, pierde.
Este proceso de crecimiento de la desigualdad, usted le llama 'la Gran Divergencia', y sitúa el inicio en los años 70.
Este es un término equívoco, porque los historiadores lo utilizan para otra cosa, para las diferencias entre el crecimiento de Europa y del resto del mundo. Pero lo usó Paul Krugman para indicar lo que estaba pasando. Y es correcto. Esta divergencia gradual se manifiesta, por ejemplo, en la separación cada vez mayor entre la productividad del trabajo y las ganancias salariales. Que es lo que crea esta situación de acumular los beneficios sólo en la parte alta. También hay un fenómeno que ha aparecido en estos últimos, o al menos no se daba desde épocas muy anteriores, que es el de los trabajadores pobres. Cuando yo era joven, un individuo normal que tenía un trabajo de jornada completa se suponía que estaba capacitado para mantener una familia. Esto ha dejado de ser verdad. Es una realidad nueva y preocupante. Sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que todo indica que la tendencia es que esto se vaya agravando.
"Cuando yo era joven, un individuo normal, si tenía trabajo a jornada completa, se suponía que estaba capacitado para mantener a ina familia. Esto ha dejado de ser verdad"
¿Qué desencadenó este proceso?
En los años 70, una serie de factores de temor de que peligrara la estabilidad social nacida después de la II Guerra Mundial se acaba desvaneciendo. Estos temores estaban relacionados por un lado con la URSS como amenaza global –una amenaza relativamente falsa, pero que actúa con esta función–, y por otra parte con el miedo a la extensión del comunismo en las sociedades occidentales. En los años 70 está claro que esto ya no funciona. A finales de la década, la decadencia de la URSS está clara, y al mismo tiempo, y yo diría que sobre todo, la frustración de los intentos del 1968, que mostraron que no existía ningún potencial revolucionario que pudiera estallar. Entonces, por parte del mundo empresarial, empieza un claro recorte de concesiones.
¿Concesiones que se habrían otorgado, simplificándolo mucho, por miedo a la revolución?
Por todo ello. También por el estado del bienestar, que se instala a partir de 1945 para tener un mundo en paz. En paz y con crecimiento capitalista asegurado. Este proceso se empieza a ver en Estados Unidos. durante la presidencia de Jimmy Carter. En aquel momento, con un presidente demócrata y las dos cámaras dominadas por los demócratas, no se aprueba una propuesta que hacen los sindicatos de una ley que los garantice la continuidad de los derechos que habían conseguido en la época de de Roosevelt. Este proceso se acentuará en los EE.UU. en la etapa de Ronald Reagan, y pasará en el Reino Unido en época de la señora Thatcher, con la lucha contra los sindicatos y su desarme, que debilita considerablemente el movimiento obrero. Posteriormente se extenderán al resto de Europa. Y se acentúan después de la gran crisis del 2007-2008, cuando una situación de crisis permite montar este tipo de doctrinas de la austeridad que dicen que, para volver a estar como antes, es necesario que 'os sacrificáis'. Porque la prueba que sólo se dirige a un sector es que esta doctrina nunca ha tenido en cuenta la necesidad de subir los impuestos que se cobran en el mundo empresarial. Al contrario, se han rebajado con la excusa que así se puede estimular la actividad, cosa que se ha demostrado largamente que no sucede.
"La doctrina de la austeridad nunca ha tenido en cuenta la necesidad de subir impuestos al mundo empresarial"
¿Qué papel jugaría en todo ello el fenómeno de la deslocalización industrial?
Es simplemente un elemento dentro de este juego. La deslocalización tiene la gran ventaja para las empresas de ir a buscar países en los que no sólo hay salarios más bajos sino que no tienen que asumir costes sociales. Esto es fundamental. En Bangladesh se puede hundir un edificio y morir miles de personas, y esto no lo pagan los que encargan los tejidos o las zapatillas deportivas. Pero también hay otro factor: la deslocalización de los beneficios. Cosa que, de hecho se ha tolerado. Ahora empieza a haber alguna protesta, como la reciente respecto a Zara. Pero no hay nadie que haya actuado ni que tenga intención ni capacidad de actuar. El mundo bancario practica este juego de una manera continuada. Todos nuestros grupos bancarios tienen una división de subcentrales y filiales que les permiten jugar de esta forma. Al fin y al cabo, los bancos controlan la política. La controlan por los créditos que dan a los partidos, y por los cargos que dan a los políticos cuando acaban con este trabajo. No hay ninguna posibilidad de que esta situación se modifique, si no cambian mucho las cosas. Se han apoderado de la política y la deslocalización no es nada más que un elemento de este fenómeno.
¿Se han apoderado también del pensamiento? Usted habla de la "Batalla de las ideas", que se habría desarrollado en paralelo.
Es evidente que han saltado alarmas. Por un lado, ha habido actuación empresarial en el mundo universitario, sobre todo en el terreno de las ciencias sociales, a partir de las subvenciones y el mecenazgo. Es evidente que, si tú no eres 'de los buenos', no esperes que te vengan a ofrecer una ayuda para una investigación privada. Por otro lado, hay otro elemento fundamental que es el control de los medios de comunicación. El papel político de los medios es importantísimo. Menos el de la prensa de papel, que cada vez tiene menos actividad. Es grande el de la radio, pero sobre todo es importante el de las televisiones. Y está claro que las televisiones privadas tienen unos filtros muy claros respecto a lo que dejan pasar política e intelectualmente. Los noticiarios, que constituyen la base de la información que recibe un ciudadano medio, están perfectamente filtrados, hasta extremos a veces ridículos. Evidentemente, detrás están los intereses empresariales, que están claramente presentes.
"Los noticiarios, que constituyen la base de la información que recibe un ciudadano medio, están perfectamente filtrados, hasta extremos ridículos"
En este sentido, ¿cree que los valores ideológicos de las clases privilegiadas se han extendido al conjunto de la población?
La función que ejercen los medios consiste sobre todo en determinar la opinión en cuestiones que tienen que ver con la política inmediata. En cuanto a influir en ideas sobre la sociedad... seguramente su función es más subsidiaria, a pesar de que pueden acabar influyendo. Pero tampoco se puede olvidar que, ante el choque entre la realidad y el mundo que te intentan pintar los medios, hay unas formas de rechazo y de repensamiento que se manifiestan, sobre todo, en reacciones desde abajo, en toda esta serie de movimientos de protesta que se producen en el tejido social. De hecho, yo diría que una de las grandes esperanzas de futuro reside justamente en esta función crítica que se está produciendo desde abajo, y que tiende a crear formas organizativas, más que en la función que pueden seguir teniendo partidos que, de alguna manera, ejercen una función educadora desde arriba. Es decir, que interpretan desde arriba. No puedes estar engañando y envenenando indefinidamente a la gente cuando el contraste con la realidad de cada día les obliga a la fuerza a reflexionar. Ahora, que de todo esto tengan que surgir fuerzas que tengan un peso fundamental en la transformación social, seguramente tendrá que pasar mucho tiempo para que sea así.
Sobre estas formas de rechazo, usted se mostraba optimista el 2011, cuando surgieron toda una serie de movimientos de protesta contra las políticas de austeridad, ¿Piensa lo mismo ahora?
Yo no he sido nunca optimista. No es una cuestión de ser optimista o no. Las grandes transformaciones de después de la II Guerra Mundial tuvieron a la socialdemocracia como un actor fundamental. Pero es evidente que, a finales del siglo XX, la socialdemocracia estaba totalmente sobrepasada. Es la etapa de triangulación entre Clinton, Tony Blair y aquí Felipe González, que acaban asumiendo un mensaje común para derecha e izquierda, que es lo del neoliberalismo, pero que administran con pequeñas diferencias, para funcionar. Esto, evidentemente, ha acabado con cualquier capacidad de la socialdemocracia para seguir haciendo esta función. Los partidos comunistas, obviamente, quedaron desbordados mucho antes, y no tienen claramente un sustituto. Lo que se ha producido últimamente, que preocupa a muchos y que seguramente no siempre se interpreta bien, es que se ha producido una erosión de este sistema bipartidista, que funcionaba prácticamente en todas partes, y que se esté agrietando.
Y estos cambios, ¿hacia donde van?
Es difícil saberlo. Lo que si se anuncia es que el sistema se erosiona. Yo no diría que sea el mismo problema en España, en donde de hecho el sistema todavía sigue funcionando muy activamente, a pesar de que sí que se muestra en algún aspecto. Es evidente que la función que ejercía el PSOE, como brazo izquierdo de este elemento, se desgasta. Lo que pasa es que el que lo tendría que sustituirlo no acaba de funcionar. Porque posiblemente sea muy difícil que funcione una opción que lo que pretendería es agrupar a todas estas fuerzas que salen desde abajo, de la protesta social. Es muy difícil coordinar estas fuerzas, y probablemente es imposible tratar de dirigirlas desde arriba para hacer un nuevo partido. Lo que parece claro es que el sistema, tal como estaba funcionando, se está desgastando rápidamente, porque ya no convence a la gente.
¿Cree que fenómenos como la victoria de Trump en Estados Unidos. o el auge de la extrema derecha en Europa, son otra forma de rechazo popular?
Todo esto que ahora llaman "populismos"... Cuando se produjo el Brexit, una de las personas que lo vio más claro fue el señor Tony Blair, que sabía de qué hablaba, y dijo que se estaba acabando la capacidad de las élites dirigentes para seguir convenciendo a la gente, y que lo que había por debajo se iba tanto hacia la extrema derecha como hacia la extrema izquierda. Este es un fenómeno nuevo que muestra que se están produciendo cambios. Cuando se habla de manera simplista de "populismos", creo que no se entiende que lo que hay detrás es mucho más complicado. Supongo que esto se acabará viendo en EStados Unido, en donde evidentemente la respuesta ha sido un gran error, como se está viendo en la formación de su gobierno. Hay muchos testigos del mundo rural norteamericano que apoyaron a Trump porque pensaban que acabaría con la corrupción de Washington, y es evidente que lo que hará es establecer una corrupción todavía mayor. Trump subió [al poder] con dos promesas. Una, acabar con la corrupción del sistema. Y evidentemente, la idea de los demócratas de presentar como candidata a Hillary Clinton, que representaba lo más corrupto que pudiera haber, fue una equivocación brutal. Y segunda, Trump prometió a los trabajadores que acabaría con la deslocalización, pero no les dijo en ningún momento que acabaría con la evasión de impuestos. Eran promesas elementales que mucha gente entendía.
¿Es más fácil que a las clases populares, descontentas con la situación actual, les lleguen antes estas promesas de la extrema derecha o la derecha populista, por el hecho de ser más elementales, que las de la izquierda?
Evidentemente. Han hecho un tipo de promesas que parecían responder al malestar de la gente. Cuando la señora Le Pen dice: "prohibiremos que vayan a la escuela los hijos de los inmigrantes"... La idea de expulsar a los inmigrantes, y así habrá más puestos de trabajo, es una idea muy primaria. Pero hablamos de esto y la gente se olvida de una cuestión a la que no se presta atención, o que se intenta esconder. Y es que el crecimiento de la desigualdad no se produce sólo en el interior de las sociedades desarrolladas, sino también a escala global. Hay un potencial de millones y millones de africanos famélicos, y de gente de toda una área que va desde el Próximo Oriente hasta el Afganistán que están preparados para saltarnos encima. Es una idea difícil de obviar, sólo hay que ver los números primarios de la demografía. En estos países, el empobrecimiento no lleva camino de desaparecer. De alguna manera, una de sus expresiones es el yihadismo.
"El crecimiento de la desigualdad no se produce tan solo en las sociedades desarrolladas, sino también a escala global"
Los teóricos neoliberales dicen justo lo contrario. De hecho, esgrimen como gran punto a favor de la globalización el crecimiento económico de determinados países, sobre todo de Asia.
Han crecido unos países determinados del Este asiático. Del resto, olvídese. El gran crecimiento es el de China, y además se ha producido con unas reglas diferentes, se mantiene con unas reglas diferentes y tiene unos proyectos de futuro diferentes. El crecimiento en India es más complejo. Sí que ha habido crecimiento, pero no disminuye la pobreza. Las estadísticas que dicen que la pobreza se ha reducido en el mundo son tramposas, porque la mayor disminución de la pobreza se ha producido en China, y el volumen de población de China las distorsiona. No ha habido disminución de la pobreza en África subsahariana, donde no está claro que haya desarrollo de ningún tipo.
¿Ve también un aumento del autoritarismo en el mundo, o una disminución de las garantías democráticas?
Si se produce un aumento de los movimientos sociales, de actuaciones de base y de protesta, el autoritarismo puede ser una primera respuesta inmediata del sistema, para tratar de mantener el orden. Pero no tiene demasiada capacidad `para el futuro. La idea de que un dirigente carismático puede resolver los problemas colectivos creo que cada vez tiene menos recorrido. Las situaciones son complejas, sobre todo cuando los sistemas no son homólogos. Tomemos el caso de China. Es evidente el papel dominante del Partido Comunista chino. Pero, por ejemplo, el desarrollo económico de China se produjo a través de mecanismos de descentralización: fueron pasando capacidades de dirección y de planificación a las entidades regionales y locales. Y no hay que olvidar que una de las bases del sistema chino es que las presidencias son temporales y no se repiten, de forma que no favorecen la aparición de líderes carismáticos. No se deben hacer transferencias demasiado simples de los tipos de modelo de las sociedades de Europa occidental. El caso de Putin, que en cualquier caso ha sido elegido, tiene que ver con una situación muy compleja, y evidentemente ha tenido mucho que ver con la forma que desde fuera se ha envuelto a Rusia. Estas cosas exigen un análisis muy fino.
"Si hay algún sector de la población que se pueda considerar como gran perdedor [del sistema], son evidentemente los jóvenes"
Volviendo al tema de las protestas, y centrándonos ahora en la izquierda, usted ha dicho alguna vez que los jóvenes que las protagonizan tienen mucho menos que perder que en 1968, porque ahora el sistema no es capaz de ofrecerles un futuro.
Esto está claro. Cuando el 1968, en París, los estudiantes soñaban con cambiar el mundo, el Partido Comunista y el sindicato comunista no optan por apuntarse a la revolución, sino por negociar unas subidas salariales. Evidentemente, el sistema ahora no tiene la capacidad de dar satisfacción en este sentido. Si hay algún sector de la población que se pueda considerar como gran perdedor [del sistema], son evidentemente los jóvenes, porque la situación de un joven parado no es la misma que la de un adulto parado, que se puede reintegrar. Un joven parado pierde las capacidades de formarse, y el sistema no se preocupa ni sabe qué hará con toda esta parte de la población que margina. Aquí la gente hablaba mucho del paro, que sí un veinte-y-tantos por ciento... y mientras tanto el paro juvenil era del 52%. Esto no se soluciona con una política sectorial, para jóvenes. Hay que cambiar la forma de funcionar del conjunto de la sociedad. Y aquí volvemos a tener en un lugar central los impuestos –que es lo que permite ofrecer servicios sociales– y los salarios. O actúas sobre esto, o todo lo demás son cataplasmas.
Hay quién habla directamente del fin del trabajo, porque el sistema ya no podrá ofrecer suficiente ocupación.
Esto son sandeces. La transformación del trabajo se ha producido siempre. Refiriéndose a los robots, por ejemplo, un economista norteamericano decía que el problema será saber de quién son los robots, a quienes beneficiarán. Es una tontería decir que la desaparición de trabajos mecánicos en la industria puede significar el fin del trabajo. Teóricamente, en una sociedad muy organizada, hay un sector en el cual las capacidades de absorción son ilimitadas. Es el sector servicios. Justamente, una de las enormes diferencias en la respuesta a la crisis de China y de los países occidentales es que la política del estado chino ha sido, en buena medida, la de absorber en el sector servicios buena parte de la gente que se quedaba sin oficio al desaparecer empresas que no eran rentables y que había que suprimir. Es evidente que la robotización puede hacer que se pierdan muchos puestos de trabajo, pero si los robots producen más beneficio, estos beneficios se tendrían que traducir en más impuestos, que permitan dar ocupación a más gente dedicada a servicios sociales. Si algo sabemos que falta en este país son médicos y enfermeras en los hospitales, en cantidad, y aquí no hay ningún robot que los pueda sustituir. Esto del fin del trabajo es una barbaridad. En todo caso, sería la de determinados tipos de trabajo
"Yo apoyé a Colau, pero no tengo nada que ver con ella, no tengo ninguna relación. Sólo me pareció que era una opción correcta y no me arrepiento"
Después de décadas alejado de cualquier significación política, el año pasado decidió apoyar en Barcelona en comú cerrando la lista de Ada Colau en las elecciones municipales en Barcelona. ¿Por qué lo vio oportuno, tantos años después?
Para empezar, yo sólo tuve actividad política en el tiempo del antifranquismo, que era cuando tenía un sentido. Después me he alejado. Y en este caso, yo apoyé a Colau, pero no tengo nada a ver con ella, no tengo ninguna relación. Sólo me pareció que, en aquel momento, era una opción correcta –que parecía absolutamente imposible que ganara–, y no me arrepiento. No quiero juzgar los errores que, evidentemente, también ha cometido su equipo. Pero, entre esto y un gobierno municipal Trias, yo no tenía dudas. Y no tengo ninguna actividad, participación ni, obviamente, beneficio.
¿Cree que el auge del independentismo en Catalunya en los últimos años ha catalizado, de alguna forma, un malestar social existente?
El inicio de una presencia política clara del independentismo –que ha habido siempre, pero era marginal– se produce cuando la gente, no los partidos, reacciona contra el mal gobierno. Y la gente siente que el mal gobierno es el que viene de fuera. Cuando después de esto el señor Artur Mas se hace ilusiones y convoca unas elecciones inmediatamente, entonces pierde el 8% de los votos. Lo que determina que la gente no tuviera esta visión simplista, sino que realmente estaba protestando de manera muy global contra un mal gobierno.
"La función esencial de los historiadores es despertar el espíritu crítico de la gente, enseñarles a pensar por su cuenta"
¿Qué papel tienen hoy en día la historia y los historiadores?
Podemos tener varios, y no todo el mundo juega el mismo papel. Los hay que se contentan con apoyar el discurso oficial que conviene. Pero aquello que mis maestros me enseñaron, gente como Jaume Vicens Vives o Pierre Vilar, es que nuestra función esencial es despertar el espíritu crítico de la gente, enseñarles a pensar por su cuenta. Y eso hace falta, porque la ignorancia es absolutamente increíble. Un ejemplo: la comisión que da el premio Nobel de la Paz pidió que acudiera, para una sesión especial sobre la paz mundial, a un personaje como Henry Kissinger –a quien ya le habían dado el premio. Eso suscitó todo tipo de protestas, porque Kissinger tiene responsabilidad sobre centenares de miles de muertes. Con esta ignorancia de la realidad histórica, es bastante útil que haya alguien que esté dispuesto a hacer que la gente sepa dónde vive y por dónde van las cosas.
¿Y ya les hacen suficiente caso?
Depende. Evidentemente, si tú eres una persona independiente y te atreves a ir a contracorriente, es evidente que encontrarás más bien rechazo. Pero eso mismo te da, por otro lado, el apoyo de mucha gente que sabe valorar lo que haces. Yo, en este sentido, no me quejo.
¿Cree que la historia, como otras ciencias sociales, se ha ido arrinconando en la enseñanza en los últimos años?
La historia, y no hablo de su lugar en la enseñanza, sino en líneas generales, es difícil que se margine por una razón elemental, y es que está presente cada día en un montón de cosas. Por ejemplo, el año que viene es el centenario de la revolución rusa: no puedes hacer desaparecer una realidad como esta, que volverá a ser objeto de discusión. En este sentido, la necesidad de usar la historia para entender el mundo en el que vivimos no se puede ignorar. La manera de traducirse después en el mundo de la enseñanza... eso es una cosa más compleja. Pero es evidente que la intención de los gobiernos, desde hace mucho tiempo y casi en todas partes, es controlar lo que se enseña.
¿En esto juega algún papel el hecho de que las empresas intervengan cada vez más en las enseñanzas superiores?
Sí. Pero esta función, las empresas la dejan un poco en manos de los aparatos de Estado, que son los que tienen la misión de ocuparse de estas cosas.
Si antes decía que la función de los historiadores es ayudar la gente a pensar por si misma, ¿el objetivo de este arrinconamiento de la historia sería privar al pueblo de elementos para poderlo hacer?
Esto es evidente. Desde este punto de vista sí que el mundo empresarial, cuanta menos educación tenga la gente con la que ha de tratar –excepto, evidentemente, las habilidades necesarias para hacer el trabajo que les encargan–, mejor. Esto se ha visto claramente en Estados Unidos, donde el papel de las empresas sobre todo en la educación universitaria es considerable. Por ejemplo, los hermanos Koch, que son propietarios de empresas químicas y de carbón, gastan millones financiando cátedras, naturalmente destinadas a explicar las cosas que les conviene que se expliquen, como por ejemplo valorar la libertad de empresa o negar el cambio climático. En este sentido sí que las empresas intervienen directamente. En nuestro país creo que todavía no les ha hecho falta.Hundreds of drug-drivers caught by police over Easter long weekend in NSW
Updated
One in six motorists tested for drug-driving in New South Wales returned a positive result over the Easter long weekend, police say.
Officers said they conducted 1,300 tests and caught 222 drivers with methamphetamine, cannabis or ecstasy in their systems.
Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said the figures were shocking.
"One in six is a very high figure - one we're not proud of, we know our average is one in 14," Assistant Commissioner Hartley said.
"We are testing more and more and we'll be testing 48,000 drivers this next financial year, towards 100,000 in 2016.
"We're very concerned over the behaviour this weekend.
"It appears the scourge of drugs is across the whole community, not just in driving."
Assistant Commissioner Hartley said police would triple their capacity to drug test across the state and move equipment to country locations.
Over a wet Easter, three fatal crashes killed four people.
Two cars veered over to the wrong side of the road in the rain, while a pedestrian was struck and killed walking through a 'don't walk' sign in Parramatta.
"Our thoughts and our prayers go the families of those people, but also to the police who attended those crashes and all the other emergency services who tried to help and do what they could to help and to reduce the trauma," Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said.
Almost 5,000 drivers caught speeding
Police issued 4,800 fines for speeding over the Easter period, about 400 fewer than the same period in 2014.
One driver, however, was booked driving 80 kilometres above the speed limit.
Deputy Commissioner Burn said the high incidence of speeding, despite education about the dangers, was alarming.
"More than 1,200 people a day, who clearly get the message - they didn't listen, or worse, they didn't care," he said.
Road safety expert Ann Williamson said the decline in road fatalities in the developed world had slowed and new ways to reduce death and serious injury needed to be considered.
Professor Williamson, from the University of NSW's Transport and Road Safety Research Centre, said lower speeds were effective in reducing crashes on high-speed roads, but special designs that forced drivers to slow down worked better on other roads.
Under the new design concept, known as "self-explaining roads", landscaping and design features such as trees and kerbside gardens tend to make drivers slow down naturally.
"Those treatments have been demonstrated to be quite effective at actually achieving what otherwise would have to done by a road rules and more enforcement, to try and make people do the right thing," Professor Williamson told 702 ABC Sydney.
Topics: police, drugs-and-substance-abuse, traffic-offences, |
pivots to cute puppy pictures because they perform better, is the avatar oppressing the human’s art?
In brand deals, is an avatar responsible for notifying the audience that the human was paid to endorse a product?
If avatars are their own moral agents and a social media manager randomly uploads content that conflicts with the avatar’s established ethics, who made the ethical slip up? The avatar or the manager?
With the audience’s interest in mind, at what point does it become advantageous to have one avatar dedicated to marketing and one for the human’s personal design?
Tribes and Defending Values
Does digitally marketing an avatar’s personality tip the scales of inequality if you have a charismatic personality? Of course. But, assuming acting isn’t the human’s medium, what does the avatar’s charisma have to do with the aesthetic of the human’s work?
It’s safe to say that optimizing social media marketing is just the competitive nature of business. But if socials give us the complete freedom to create an avatar for business, than there must be complete responsibility to not get carried away.
This choice is broken down into two schools of thought:
The Teleological position can be distilled down to “the right choice is the one that does the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people.” It emphasizes the notion that values must consider how they contribute happiness to everyone affected by those actions.
can be distilled down to “the right choice is the one that does the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people.” It emphasizes the notion that values must consider how they contribute happiness to everyone affected by those actions. The Deontological position states that it is our duty to act on our values regardless of the good or evil that presents itself in the outcome.
Is it ethical to hurt one person for the happiness of five avatars? What about hurting one avatar for the happiness of five humans? Does sticking to our “duty” prevent us from accepting factual evidence that challenges our accepted duty?
-isms Also Have Moral Agency
When the avatar decides on its values, it likely aligns with several tribal “-isms” (e.g. activism, post-modernism, Judaism etc.) The human must decide which ethical code will allow the avatar to remain loyal to the -ism and still achieve aesthetics in it’s platforms.
This pursuit is immediately more complicated when you toss in the fact that we currently live in a society plagued by -isms of vice and oppression.
Oppressive-isms are born out of vice — primarily judgement. But does that mean progressive-isms are inherently virtuous?
(Progressive)Equality-isms act differently because, by nature of their doctrine, each member is equal and free to express their freedom how they see fit. This means that each member must choose to express their freedom through virtue or vice.
At what point in liberty are you also opening the door for an avatar’s vice to derail the virtue of the human’s message?
At what point does that vice start to affect members of the avatar’s or human’s tribes?
The Equality Paradox
We can use the Law of Syllogism to figure out if loyalty to an equality-ism is inherently virtuous, and it will give us an idea of what to expect out of our reliance on social media.
For the sake of this hypothetical: we’ll define vice as the line in which liberty inadvertently oppresses a member of the -ism. However, this is a line that each equality-ism needs to decide for itself.
If (P)Vice is (Q)Unvirtuous And (Q)Unvirtuousness is (R)Oppressive Then (P)Vice is (R)Oppressive✓
Things get more complicated when we add an -ism
If (P)Equality-isms permit (Q)Vice And (Q)Vice permits (R)Oppression Then (P)Equality-isms permit (Q)Oppression — ✓ — *sorta
*In order to to validate the conclusion, we need to look at American philosopher Thomas Nagel’s “Moral Luck.”
Moral Luck states that conditions that are out of a moral agent’s control will allow us to appear virtuous or vicious; however, we do not deserve praise or reprimand for a contextual variable.
For a quick example, consider two scenarios:
Nazi A is in 1942 Germany and values oppression. Nazi A oppresses jews under the rule of the Third Reich.
is in 1942 Germany and values oppression. Nazi A oppresses jews under the rule of the Third Reich. Nazi B is in 2042 Boca Raton, FL and values oppression. Nazi B isn’t enabled by the Third Reich and doesn’t oppress anyone.
Was Nazi A less moral than Nazi B? Moral Luck says no.
In both situations the constant was valuing oppression. The conditions of the time they lived in enabled Nazi A to oppress, but those conditions were a variable that were out of the nazi’s control. Nazi B chose not to act on its value of oppression because it wasn’t enabled by the time it lived in. However, it still valued oppression all the same.
This means the core values of each moral agent are constant despite the outcome of their moral luck. One of the values of complete freedom is the option to give in to vice. If we know vice to be oppressive than our model becomes more fine tuned:
If (P)Equality-isms value (Q)Vices And (Q)Vices value (R)Oppression Then (P)Equality-isms value (R)Oppression
And then:
If (P)Equality-isms are (Q)Oppressive And (Q)Oppression is (R)Inequality Then (P)Equality-ism are (R)Inequality ✓ — A moral paradox
In Conclusion
The uninhibited freedom embodied by equality-isms shows us that one can not expect virtue or aesthetics when the moral agent separates freedom from responsibility. It is absolutely possible, but it is a complete gamble.
The same applies to your social media avatar. The human must choose where complete responsibility lies according to what the avatar’s virtues will be. However, forgoing responsibility for the sake of liberal activism leaves your avatar’s chances of achieving aesthetics up to luck.
Therefore, The logical path to virtue and aesthetics is to tether freedom and responsibility.
Parting Favors:Celebrity consumer champion Martin Lewis is the expert who, according to the polling, is one of the most trusted among the public when it comes to finances. So you can understand why Britain Stronger in Europe wanted to put his face on a leaflet. Well, Lewis is not happy with BSE this morning:
“I see a quote from me is being used by the Stronger in Europe leaflet. The quote is accurate, but to clarify I do not back either side. As so many have asked me questions on this, and wanting to know facts for EU debate. Im going to carefully write my (hopefully balanced views) should publish in a week or two.”
So BSE are suggesting on their leaflets that Britain’s most recognisable consumer champion backs Remain, when he doesn’t. Naughty…Two Fox News commentators suspended for on-air profanity in response to Obama's terrorism speech
Stacey Dash, actress turned Fox News contributor. Stacey Dash, actress turned Fox News contributor. Photo: Peter Kramer, Associated Press Photo: Peter Kramer, Associated Press Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Two Fox News commentators suspended for on-air profanity in response to Obama's terrorism speech 1 / 19 Back to Gallery
Two Fox News personalities were suspended Monday for using profanities on air in response to President Barack Obama's Sunday night speech regarding terrorism, according to CNN.
Ralph Peters, a "strategic analyst" speaking on Fox Business Monday morning, said Obama "is such a total pu---" on live TV. (Video here)
Stacey Dash, an actress who starred in "Clueless" who is a Fox contributor, said the president "doesn't give a sh--" during a lunchtime broadcast of "Outnumbered," according to CNN. (Video here.)
Dash's comment was partially bleeped, unlike the first.
"Earlier today, Fox contributors Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and Stacey Dash made comments on different programs that were completely inappropriate and unacceptable for our air," Fox senior executive vice president Bill Shine said in a statement to CNN. "Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel do not condone the use of such language, and have suspended both Peters and Dash for two weeks."
In response to the suspension, Dash tweeted: "Consequences. Some of us have to pay them. Gladly."
kparker@mysa.com
Twitter: @KoltenParkerThe following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
Where two years ago everyone was talking about 'casual' games, now they're all talking about'social' games. Key developers have recently attracted some very big numbers. This article is not really about Zynga itself, but rather examining what underpins their business model, the likely threats to which it must adapt and how Zynga – as standard bearer of the social game community – will likely fare in the coming year. As Zynga goes, so the rest of the social game market tends to follow.
The first thing to say is that the people running Zynga are both very smart and competitive. They have streaked ahead of all of their competition by applying a relatively simple strategy of picking up on gaming trends, copying them quickly and then maximising every avenue of Facebook to spread their message thoroughly. Zynga currently has 4 times as many monthly active players in their games as their next closest rival. To look at the distribution of players on an Appdata.com chart, you would be forgiven for thinking that there was an error in the metric reportage, such is the disparity.
It's also important to understand something about'social games': Most of them are not social. They tend to be single or multi-player games that use social networks (mostly Facebook) as an easy way to drive player adoption. What the industry is calling'social games' are more accurately described as 'viral games'.
The focus of most viral game developers is maximising trends. Trends rise and fall quickly in response to player boredom, retention is king, and developers spend much of their time reminding players to play, to invite their friends, to post stories from the game to their profiles, and other activity designed essentially to not let the player forget to come and play. Viral gaming relies a lot on ways to grab or nudge players’ attention. Like any third party game publisher they are reliant on the benevolence of their platform holders (primarily Facebook) and the market conditions that their platform has engendered.
This has resulted in predominantly short-term thinking. Viral game development is a battleground of very simple and usually cloned games, interruption marketing tactics, push-to-the-limit tactics to jog players into returning to play, and a lot of scrambling to be on the next trends as fast as possible. Viral game developers, such as Zynga, have little or no commitment to developing deep or rich game experiences because the market has not really rewarded that kind of activity. However that lack of depth is precisely the reason why viral gaming is showing signs of weakness typical in any runaway success.
Zynga this week received investment of $180m from DST, a Russian venture capital firm (which also owns a small share of Facebook itself), and this signals the end of something and the beginning of something else. The big question is this: Is it the beginning of the end? Or is it the end of the beginning?
Product Differentiation (or Lack Thereof)
“Let me point out to you guys: There’s got to be some reason why FarmVille has grown to 28 million daily active players and the next one, Farm Town, has five million and is not growing, right? If all that we were doing is everyone was copying each other then why is it that some are growing and some aren’t?”
Mark Pincus in a recent television interview on MSNBC’s “Press:Here”
What’s interesting about Zynga and their competitors is that there is almost no differentiation between their games. This has happened gradually over time, with companies originally starting out with their own unique rosters of games and slowly amalgamating their catalogues to the point that they are carbon copies of each other. Whether poker, pets, fish tanks, farms, or mafia simulators, each game type is replicated almost identically.
There are some subtle variations, but they don’t really amount to anything of significance. There are no viral game developers that have next-generation or revolutionary game designs that they alone wield. Mark Pincus’s quote above suggests that Zynga’s games must have an inherent difference that other similar games do not but they really don’t.
Secondly, all of the main developers have a “social bar”, which is the technical term for a set of links displayed above or beside each game to cross-promote players into other games. All the major developers have such a system in place, usually at top of each game page or (in Playfish’s case) to the left.
So that means the only real differences between the viral developers are:
Advertising strategy
Their willingness to exploit Facebook’s virality features
Ability to cross-promote within games.
Quality of internal metrics
So the secret to Zynga’s success, and the model that all the other developers practise to a lesser degree, is as simple as this:
Spend heavily on on-platform advertising to acquire players. Exploit Facebook’s virality features as much as possible. Zynga’s games are very aggressive in this regard. They push notifications, invites, reminders and requests more than any other game developers. Reward players based on attention rather than challenge. With the possible exception of Poker, all Zynga’s games aren’t at all challenging but rather are a build-and-wait simulation model. Use metrics in as Darwinian a fashion as possible to root out what works and what doesn’t as fast as possible. Zynga, unlike many developers, actively kills applications or change them quickly depending on what the market is telling them.
Zynga has way more players than their competitors because they spend more to get them, and when they have them they constantly remind and reward returning behaviour, and lastly kill any channels that just aren’t working.
It’s a very un-subtle strategy but entirely appropriate for the landscape and the platform that Facebook created, and the only reason that Playdom and Playfish have not kept pace is smaller or no advertising spend and an unwillingness to exploit virality to its fullest. Zynga are simply more competitive and they use what amounts to a very successful ad-spam strategy to buy player attention in any way that they can.
But Zynga’s model can only continue to work under these conditions:
If Facebook doesn’t significantly change the platform If player growth remains constant If advertising remains effective If game quality remains equivalent If trends remain easily copied
Kick enough of those legs out from under the Zynga table and they – and their competitors who have the same mindset that they do – could well be in for some tough times. It just so happens that this is exactly what’s about to happen.
Changes: Opting In vs. Opting Out
There are two important parts to building any successful viral application: It has to spread and it has to be retained. Spreading without retention is the typical path of quiz applications and strictly casual games. They tend to fly up the charts and subsequently decline just as quickly. On the other hand, applications that don’t spread but retain well tend to be boutique games like Battle Stations, Vikings of Thule or Tennis Mania which have small and loyal audiences but are unlikely to ever be blockbusters.
Getting an application to spread requires novelty and is fashion-driven. There’s no point making a farm game these days because everyone is sick of farm games and a new entrant will find it hard to spread. Playfish’s Country Story only has 10% of the audience size of FarmVille and is in decline, and their Poker Rivals game is performing very poorly in the engagement stakes (9% DAU to MAU compared to Zynga’s steady 24%). Both simply came way too late to the party, and I suspect their forthcoming Mafia game will not go far either.
Getting an application to spread also requires interruption. Zynga have demonstrated with Café World, Fish Ville and now Pet Ville an uncanny ability to build millions of players in only a few days. How? They cross-promote from other games and buy large blocks of advertising to spread the word. This works best in the current environment if you have the money to do it.
Retention is then the prime opportunity to monetise, but also a major source of sustained growth. The prime techniques for achieving high retention are:
Notifications to players, which appear mixed in with notifications about discussions they are having with friends on Facebook, tagged photos and other items. So players cannot fully ignore them. Notifications from specific applications can be blocked but many Facebook players don’t really know how to do that. Requests from players. Players can send requests from inside applications to one another. It is unclear whether this behaviour is entirely player-controlled. Requests also appear all within a mix of other kinds of requests (like event invites and friend requests). They too can be blocked if a player knows how. Stream publishing. Some casual games push high scores to Facebook profiles (this is actually quite effective for short periods of time) and others publish more rounded game stories. The Facebook implementation tends to reward a default behaviour of choosing to publish because it involves a pop-up dialog and two buttons, one coloured (publish) and the other grey (skip). Bookmarks. Players can bookmark a favoured application so that it becomes easy to access from the Bookmarks bar. Fan updates. Applications can be ‘fanned’ by players. Becoming a fan of an application gives that application the ability to send messages to the Updates part of a player’s Inbox, and also subscribes them to the applications stream publishes, just like Facebook Pages. Messaging. A recent addition is allowing players to directly message each other from inside other applications and have that go into the player’s Inbox rather than as Requests. Invites. Inviting your friends to play a game. Invites are among the oldest and most controlled mechanism to date because many early developers abused them when the Facebook Platform first launched. Some games use mechanics in which players must have a certain number of ‘neighbours’ in order to progress in the game. This is tantamount to making players invite their friends to play. It also causes strangers to add each other as friends just to gain game advantage. E-mail. Also a recent addition, developers can request players’ e-mail addresses as a way to further contact them.
Most of these systems are based around an opt-out structure. A player can choose to block them but in the majority of cases the players are more likely to simply ignore or put up with them rather than actively deal with them. That may lead developers to think that that is fine, but when opt-in systems are over-used to remind players, they leave a sense of poor experience and a feeling of being the victim of spam. And that reflects badly on Facebook itself.
Facebook’s solution is to replace most of these opt-out systems with opt-in equivalents. They are allowing players to have much more control over whether applications gain permission to contact them at all, which means that applications cannot spam their way to success. This change, combined with another update of the Facebook home page design, is really very significant. Going back to the list above, here’s what’s changing:
Third party applications are no longer getting access to notifications. Instead a new system called ‘Counters’ will allow applications to remind players to come back and play, but with two restrictions: The material that may be posted is more restricted than before, and players must bookmark an application before it can send them counters. This change is extremely important because notifications were essentially a free advertising channel for developers like Zynga. Tying counters to bookmarks means that applications will have to work hard to be bookmarked. This is why most viral games are very prominently encouraging players to bookmark at the moment. It is unclear at this time if requests will be similarly policed. At the moment it seems not, but it is likely that some developers will over-use them – as they did with notifications – and force Facebook to take action. Stream publishing remains but with one big caveat: Applications must contain explicit options for players to publish before they hit the publishing dialog. This is will kill an awful lot of needless publishing from players. Bookmarks will be improved. It looks like they will become more visible and more will be allowed. Fanning is unchanged. As with Bookmarks, every app is encouraging players to become fans. The up-take on this seems to be around 10% of the monthly active players. Most applications do not yet use the Updates feature of Fan Pages, so it remains to be seen whether players start de-fanning applications that do, or whether they embrace that kind of communication. Messaging is an addition to help developers because of the departure of notifications. Messages have to be explicit and have restrictions of only one-player-to-one-player however, so they won’t be mass-spam devices. Invites remain but are even more constrained. Applications are no longer permitted to use them as the default entry screen for players. Players must choose to invite rather than be cajoled into doing so. Gating is being banned. E-mail, like messaging, is being offered as a salve to developers concerned by the loss of notifications. I personally suspect that developers who use e-mail like their own personal spam-advertising mailing list are going to quickly discover that e-mail is totally ineffective for that kind of conversation.
Additionally, Facebook have promised to step up their compliance policing significantly to make sure that developers are not breaking the rules, and banning applications that do either until they are made compliant or permanently.
So for Zynga the real issue here is that they cannot really nudge players to return to applications nearly as easily as they used to. This is a big problem because they, and their competitors, are not sitting on catalogues of games which are good enough that they naturally encourage players to return and play them of their own accord.
Viral gaming up until this point has largely been a game of distribution plays rather than content plays, which is why the developers don’t really spend a lot of time on the depth of their games. In online gaming such as massive multiplayer games or first-person shooters players do not need nudging to come back and play again and again because the experience of playing is so good that they choose to return. No Facebook game comes anywhere close to offering that. They are closer to idle distractions.
Games of that nature simply do not register significantly with players and opting-in to receive information from any kind of product or service tends to make players much choosier about who can contact them than opting-out does.
Population: The End of Endless Growth and the Rise of Veterans
Facebook continues to blow away the competition in country after country, adding 0.5m players a day across the world, many of them game players. Mark Pincus has called this a social revolution based on a new spirit of playing together, of finding new friends and new connections, making new shared memories, building social connections and so on. All of these are laudable statements, but most of them are fantasy. Players don't, on the whole, play Mafia Wars in a social fashion, nor do they play Restaurant City in the mould of family board games. Viral gaming’s success is much easier to explain:
It's new.
What Facebook enables is the introduction of web gaming to normal people for the first time. This is why relatively ordinary game concepts like poker, virtual pet simulators, farming games and simple role-playing games have managed to penetrate so far. Taken in context, they're all as brand new as the equally simple Wii Sports was when Wii first launched. In any completely new game environment, unsophisticated games tend to rule the roost because players spend time being delighted by the strangeness of it all.
The problem is that delight fades, and nothing stays new forever. Novice players start to develop expectations, and become veterans. This effect applies equally to hardcore gamers, poker players, casual gaming housewives or any segment of game players except young children.
Viral game developers behave as though there is an endless supply of novices, but of course there isn’t. More accurately, there is due to population renewal, but the replacement rate of veterans with novices in stable markets is usually a lot lower than we’re currently seeing in the Facebook market, and that’s all because of Facebook’s meteoric growth.
Games Workshop, Nintendo, Mattel and Hasbro are examples of companies that have figured out how to manage a stable, renewing population of players. They've done so by finding or developing great, lasting games that build reputations that spread across the generations by encouraging veterans to initiate new novices.
Zynga’s games are not being built with renewal in mind. They are experiences built to appeal to novices and they inherently assume that novices are all there is. So they are simple to play, undemanding, lack challenge or consequence, and rely on time-oriented tasks. They may not realise it but Zynga, Playdom and Playfish (and others) are quietly educating millions of novices to expect more and then not delivering it to them.
Facebook's growth rate is slowing down. It will likely hit 400m players by next March but may well never reach 500m players. So the number of novices who are impressed by very simple applications is going to fall and the number of expectant veterans will rise. The veteran mindset is more demanding, sophisticated and selective.
Veterans diversify. They have less interest in playing what everyone else is playing and more interest in playing the perfect game for them. This is fatal for a market in which the content is completely undifferentiated, as viral gaming is. Game developers relying on mass audiences will increasingly find it difficult to compete with identikit software. Veterans will feel that they have already played such games to death. They will want something more.
Veterans are also choosy sharers: When people first started to use Youtube they used to share every video they discovered. Now, Youtube users and their peers have become used to the everyday Candid Camera clips that litter Youtube, and so they want video that is worth their attention. What was fun at the novice level is boring to the veteran. Novices are thus most likely to share gaming content to all of their friends where veterans will only do so selectively.
Veterans share as a means of expression and identity. What you share says something about who you are, and so the risk of bad sharing is that of damaged reputation. Few veterans want a reputation as a spammer. So they no longer pass on every Youtube clip that comes their way to all of their friends. Instead they share selectively to groups and individuals that they think will really like the shared item. It takes a Susan Boyle moment to overcome that kind of filtering.
Advertising: The Saturation Problem
Zynga has assembled the largest player base of any viral developer partly through acquiring customers via on-platform advertising. Reportedly they have spent at least $50m doing so. In most contexts online advertising is ineffective and the Facebook environment has stayed true to form. Zynga overcome this with sheer spending power: Even the most ineffective advertising does get at least some engagement, even if it is only 1%.
Online advertising tends to attract novices who don’t easily distinguish between platform and advert and tend to be more trusting. Veterans tend to unconsciously filter adverts away from their attention unless they are well targeted and personally relevant. As a result, entertainment (such as games) is particularly difficult to sell purely through advertising unless you plan to use mass advertising at a colossal scale (as Hollywood has proven).
Products generally appeal to players on the basis of solving a problem. This usually means a functional problem or a lifestyle problem, everything from fashionable socks to cheap flights to New York. This means that they can target and establish personal relevance based on like-for-like data. Google have made a fortune with text-matching advertisements for products and blogs by realising this, and Facebook’s own advertising is best at micro-targeting advertisements based on profile information about location, interests and etc that users have entered. So the loop of successful online products and services is finding a problem that some people need to have solved, solving it for them, and then telling them about that.
Games (and movies, books, music, etc) don't solve problems. They may, in retrospect, help solve a problem that the player never knew they had, but players don't start looking for entertainment in a problem-solving mindset. An interest in some subjects may help you target advertisements with partial success in targeting, but for most games that really doesn’t translate into anything meaningfully useful. Like-for-like data usually translates into boredom. To be entertained, a customer needs to be surprised.
Entertainment must take us somewhere new or we quickly lose interest. This means a compelling and different story is essential, a lot of attention from media helps, and you need an advertisement or message that will punch through to people based on mass interest with enough of a budget to make it stick. It also means that an increasingly veteran audience will be less likely to pay attention. So Zynga will have to spend more to acquire them, which leads to a cycle of further saturation, lack of interest and lowering ad engagement. This is why Zynga’s recent investment haul of $180m makes sense. They need the money to market like they’ve never marketed before.
That strategy will eventually fail, however, because the games being advertised are still shallow. Zynga may well get into more interesting marketing messaging (such as big competitions) but veterans eventually realise that these are just more tricks, and so will only interact as far as is necessary to obtain their bribe or just ignore them completely if they feel the bribes are not worth it.
The only real way out of this saturation problem lies in smaller-scale, sexier and more remarkable development, slower building of true fan-bases and building self-marketing software. This is very different from the trend-hopping, advertising-and-trick-sharing poor-software-quality strategy which viral developers have thus far employed.
Such an approach does not require deep marketing pockets and has been proven to work in the online game space before (EVE Online, Runescape, Puzzle Pirates, for example) but it’s a completely different way of approaching the whole market based on doing something different rather than copying everyone else. One for which I think none of the currently big developers really have the patience.
Equivalent Quality: The Problem with Formulaic Thinking
All the excitement over Facebook and Zynga reminds me of the Atari era:
When Atari invented Pong they realised that they were onto a good thing. They quickly established a platform that players really liked and proceeded to open the doors to other developers. Initially there were some good and interesting games but, as Atari's platform matured, poor quality software became a problem.
Novices who were impressed that they could play Pong in their living room morphed into veterans who got tired of Pong clones. The nascent game industry, high on the quick fortunes that it was making, didn't handle this at all well and continued to simply churn out product to cash in on trends. Deals were struck, games became an easy secondary revenue stream for the movie industry, and the publishers and the platform owners focused on extracting value rather than creating it.
An over-saturation of bad product led to a crash because the companies involved in the boom were convinced that games were a digital form of fast food. During certain periods in the history of gaming platforms, some companies have stumbled onto a way to churn content toward undemanding players and reap rewards for a period of time.
They get into the mindset that content is a “special sauce” and distribution is what really matters. And so the whole point of the games industry becomes the inventing and copying of digital Big Macs, Chickens Royale and a Fillets o Fish and shoving it down as many throats as possible before the other guy does. Competitors prefer to let each other do the heavy lifting of inventing, jump on the most promising trends with their own versions, and then really rely on distribution and marketing to win through.
A fast food formula consists of several elements:
Broad appeal. A key game mode. A mechanism to monetise players. A return path.
In viral games these correspond to:
Simple concept games. Run a farm. Feed your fish. Play Poker. The role-playing mode. All successful viral games incorporate role-playing levels and experience points, which give players goals to work toward. The mechanism is virtual currency. And the return path is reminders, notifications, etc.
When you have this in place you simply crank the handle. There's just one small problem: games are not fast food.
Consumers never get bored of hamburgers because they have a biological urge to eat and – provided they don't overdo it – they will always enjoy a familiar taste of a burger. Consumers may find that they prefer a burger from one chain over another and switch brands, but they often stick to the one they know best, so the reach of the distribution chain is what really matters.
Players do, however, get bored of Pong. Even if they utterly love the game for a time, 99% of players eventually get bored of Pong. They get bored of clones of Pong too. They don't just switch from one Pong clone another. Instead they start to look for more from Pong-type games, driving their expectations, and - when Pong has nothing else to give, they stop playing the Pong genre.
Player boredom is not easily solved. In the short term it can be achieved by instituting a few tweaks in a successful game or genre, running competitions to attract re-engagement, or other similar behaviour. However veterans eventually get wise to that kind of behaviour. Continuous development and expansion tend to work better, which are key advantages of online games over retail games, but they too have limits if the core of the game is essentially thin.
Players also do not have to play games. That's what Atari discovered too late: Players simply stopped buying into the platform at all. They got bored of being served the same few games in different packaging and moved on. As with Atari, the risk to Zynga is the fallacy of thinking that equivalent quality is just fine because it assumes that players are always looking to play. They're not.
Novice players are currently consuming all sorts of games on Facebook because they are new. The software quality of viral games is generally low but players don't seem to care for the moment. So in response, all of the major developers are simply serving the same five or six games in different packaging and they are all scrambling like crazy playing the distribution game, much like fast food chains do with their beef, chicken and fish sandwiches.
When developers assume that the task at hand is to simply get their version of a game in front of a player’s eyeballs before the competition and that quality doesn’t really matter, they are flirting with disaster. Viral game developers really do seem to believe that the only way for the adoption and profit graph to go is up because players are always looking to play.
Economists call that kind of thinking "irrational exuberance".
There is also no guarantee that a player will simply change and play a different game. A lot of the Zynga strategy seems to revolve around pushing players from one game into another and betting on this being an eternally repeatable process. By convincing themselves that the game business is all just a matter of winning at distribution, developers forget to create real value. They assume that equivalent value among their peers is enough because players are unable to go elsewhere.
They are, of course, utterly wrong. There really is nothing stopping players from simply going elsewhere to be entertained because the Facebook audience is not a captive audience.
Bucking Trends: When Someone Makes a Great Game that is Hard to Clone
The other risk is the developer who creates a game that can’t be easily copied. Part of why the fast food model is so compelling is the assumption that the equivalent quality will remain more or less as-is and that any new games that come along can be fairly easily copied. In the Atari era this was true because the platform had hard physical limits on what it could achieve, both internally in the silicon and externally in the one-button joystick. The Facebook platform is far less constrained.
Role-playing games are among the easiest of all games to copy. The role-playing game mechanic is incredibly simple at heart: A player is simply set a series of goals and a number of activities to reach that goal, and the rest of it is just time.
World of Warcraft players call this “grinding”. In games like World of Warcraft and EVE Online, grinding has a purpose: The character that you build or the spaceship that you’ve bought is intended to be used to overcome a tough challenge like a quest or a space battle. On the other hand, in FarmVille grinding is essentially all there is. You work your farm day and night assembling money to buy new stuff to put in your farm, which enables you to grind in different ways to earn more money to buy more stuff... and so on.
The big difference between the Warcraft style of grinding and the FarmVille style of grinding is the need for game balance. Game balance in World of Warcraft is a horribly complex feat of engineering, testing and design which, even after seven years, Blizzard still obsessively correct and re-correct with every major release. On the other hand, FarmVille has no game balance at all. All that needs to be changed is a few quantities or timer lengths that players particularly complain about. It’s entirely up to the player how long they want to spend harvesting virtual wheat to buy a tractor after that.
Grind-only role-playing games also consist of essentially one game mechanic: Acquire more stuff to unlock more stuff which, when acquired, will unlock even more stuff. Everything else is just customisation. Customisation is a bit important as it allows players to express their creative side, such as building their own unique farm, but customisation tends to become less interesting as a motivation once the novelty wears off. Anecdotally, many players in Restaurant City initially spend time laying out their dream restaurant until they realise that it is inefficient. So, eventually, all players end up creating sushi bars because they are the most efficient layout.
Games which require no real game balance combined with single-mechanic game structures are incredibly easy to study and copy. It took Zynga less than three months to ramp up Farm Ville after Farm Town appeared, less time to create Fish Ville after CrowdStar’s Happy Aquarium showed its appeal, and Mafia Wars likewise cannot have taken that long to ramp up. These games have since had further development in public but it’s the time it takes Zynga to go from a standing start to a first, reasonably playable, release that allows them to turn on the marketing machine and jump on forthcoming trends.
Even the one apparent exception to this observation, Poker, actually conforms to this rule. The only actual difference between Poker games on Facebook and other role-playing games is that they incorporate a slightly more complex resolution mechanic (the Poker playing). The goal is still much the same, i.e. acquiring levels and virtual stuff, and the game mechanic used to perform resolution is just Poker. Poker is completely generic and easy to clone.
So the big problem that Zynga has on the development front is a developer who comes along with a game that they can’t immediately decode and replicate. For example:
Real-time or Turn-based |
for Wednesday is "against Muslim culture."The women quickly lashed back, circulating posters on social media and outside that said, 'It is not a sin for a girl to wave a flag'; 'Nobody can question my freedom of expression,'; 'The hypocrites who call me sister and then challenge my freedom need to know I am not a fool'.Some men on campus had raised their voices against women in burqas holding up placards, claiming it is against Muslim culture. Women better stay off campus politics, some men students said, even as women raised even more placards in protest.Leyaqat Khan, who is contesting for the post of president of the students' union, told TOI, "On the one hand, candidates stand on the podium and speak of the protection of women and their dignity. They get off the podium and then hand the women flags. This is just against the ethos of this campus, and against Muslim culture."Although around 10,000 women are enrolled at the university, only one woman is contesting the students' union elections.On the day she filed her nomination papers, Kehkashan Khanam, the sole woman candidate, said, "It is difficult to contest here. If a woman contests, the general belief is that some politician is patronizing her.""Women students face suppression at AMU. It came as no surprise that just waving a flag outside the Union Hall was made such an issue. Some said it was against the tradition of the university. 'Tradition' is used as an excuse to suppress women. Why should they not be allowed to wave flags? Why should they not vocally support a candidate? For some groups, participation of women in politics is an aberration," a student said, asking that her name not be used.Abdullah Azzam, a candidate for the post of AMUSU president, said, "This is really unfortunate. Protests over women holding up flags is also about curtailing political rights."Shadab Bano of the history department of AMU Women's College said, "It is commendable, how women have come out with these posters. Some people don't want women in public spaces. Whenever students have taken out marches on serious issues, women too have joined the protests. But each time a memorandum was read, the women were asked to leave. When girls protest that they want to be present while memoranda are read, the response is just ridiculous: 'This is not JNU or DU', they are told.""Even in the time of the Prophet, women raised flags during wars. Who are these men now to suppress us? Why has it become so hard for the men to digest the fact that women can give them some competition?" an angry woman student said, asking not to be named.: ‘It is not a sin for a girl to wave a flag’; Nobody can question my freedom of expression,’; ‘The hypocrites who call me sister and then challenge my freedom need to know I am not a fool’ read posters that women students at Aligarh Muslim University hold up, in a bid to protect their rights.Some men on campus have raised their voices against women in burqas holding up placards, claiming it is not Islamic. Women better stay off campus politics, some men students say, even as women raise even more placards in protest.Leyaqat Khan, who is contesting for the post of president of the students’ union, said, “On the one hand, candidates stand on the podium and speak of the protection of women and their dignity. They get off the podium and then hand the women flags. This is just against the ethos of this campus, and against Muslim culture.”Although around 10,000 women are enrolled at the university, only one woman is contesting the students’ union elections, set to be held on Wednesday.On the day she filed her nomination papers, Kehkashan Khanam, the sole woman candidate, told TOI, “It is difficult to contest here. If a woman contests, the general belief is that some politician is patronizing her.”“Women students face suppression at AMU. It came as no surprise that just waving a flag outside the Union Hall was made such an issue. Some said it was against the tradition of the university. ‘Tradition’ is used as an excuse to suppress women. Why should they not be allowed to wave flags? Why should they not vocally support a candidate? For some groups, participation of women in politics is an aberration,” a student said, asking that her name not be used.Abdullah Azzam, a candidate for the post of AMUSU president, said, “This is really unfortunate. Protests over women holding up flags is also about curtailing political rights.”Shadab Bano of the history department of AMU Women’s College said, “It is commendable, how women have come out with these posters. Some people don’t want women in public spaces. Whenever students have taken out marches on serious issues, women too have joined the protests. But each time a memorandum was read, the women were asked to leave. When girls protest that they want to be present while memoranda are read, the response is just ridiculous: ‘This is not JNU or DU’, they are told.”“Even in the time of the Prophet, women raised flags during wars. Who are these men now to suppress us? Why has it become so hard for the men to digest the fact that women can give them some competition?” an angry woman student said, asking not to be named.Photo: Getty
You’ve found your pillow partner. Your forever friend. The person you want to share a Hyundai with for the rest of your life. Why not make the ceremony that joins you in an unbreakable flesh bond somewhat memorable and good?
Consider this: bagpipes.
Bagpipes were invented in Scotland or Ireland maybe and, as I understand it, they are made by shoving a few clarinets down the throat of a sheep. You strap the sheep to your body and you squeeze it and the sheep’s screams become eerie tunes after traveling up the nest of clarinets lodged in its throat.
The interesting thing about bagpipes is that nobody has ever thought to use these wonderful sheep horns as a part of their wedding. Think of what people will say when the lovely bride walks down the aisle to what sounds a lot like sheep being massacred. Think of how your uncle Angus, who you think is very Scottish, will feel when his ancestral music fills the marriage hall and vibrates the rafters. Be sure to call the local paper, because they will want to get a load of this rare and brand new trend.
If you’re not Scottish, don’t worry. Just pretend you are, or maybe your mother is a little Scottish from her dad’s dad. Say something like, yeah they came over from a small town in the high country and then just walk away. If they follow you, make up a city, something like Kilgarry or Stonehaven.
Why not make the ceremony that joins you in an unbreakable flesh bond somewhat memorable and good?
If your partner protests about the presence of bagpipes, that’s ok. Be sure to order a full squad of bagpipe professionals before you bring the idea up so that when your partner tries to argue against it you can say that you thought it would be really special and that you already ordered a full squad and that you did it for him/her. Once they’ve collapsed from guilt, you will have your bagpipe squad.
One common mistake people make when they introduce bagpipes at a wedding is to not use the bagpipes enough. Ask the squad to play throughout the ceremony. Ask the squad to follow you into your limo and serenade you and the wedding party. During your reception, find a way to rotate your bagpipe squad so that there is always at least one bagpipe piping its nightmare screams into the air.
Remember, your wedding is a special day. It’s not a day reserved just for the bride or the bottom, depending on your arrangement. It’s your day too. Make it unique. Do something totally different—something like bagpipes, which have never been done before in a wedding setting.There is a place in Rome where miracles are collected and examined, inspected and screened, and purged of all thirst for glory or pagan superstition. It is called the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
The Vatican's outpost in the Lateran Palace is on Piazza Giovanni Paolo II. The marble street sign, a more recent addition, will have to be redone soon, when a mason chisels the word "San," or "saint" into the sign. That will occur by no later than April 27, when Karol Wojtyla, aka Giovanni Paolo II, will be declared a saint in Rome, only nine years after his death. Rarely has the Vatican been in such a hurry to complete a canonization. John Paul II was a global pope, and now he is to become a saint of the 21st century, a global saint.
He has already been beatified. But to attain the second level of godliness, sainthood, another miracle, one that has been officially examined and cannot be explained by the laws of science, is required.
The necessary research is undertaken at the office on Piazza Giovanni Paolo II. Slawomir Oder, 53, is the "postulator" of "Causa Ioannis Pauli." He handles the red tape surrounding the canonization, acting as an intermediary between Heaven and earth, a sort of central collecting point for evidence, witness testimony and reports of miracles. His staff has inspected all of the writings of Karol Wojtyla, from an early play called "The Jeweler's Shop" to the words of his last, almost inaudible address.
The monsignor is a representative of the new Poland, multilingual, efficient and, most recently, sporting a neatly trimmed goatee. He looks like someone who could be managing a tech start-up. His office on the fifth floor of the Lateran Palace is filled with files, images of popes and souvenirs from his travels. A glass case next to the door contains a white cap and a pencil case. Monsignor Oder answers the question before it is even asked: "Yes, they are originals." He points to a round reliquary, which contains a piece of material with gray spots on it. "They are from the day of the assassination attempt," May 13, 1981. It's the most valuable item in his collection.
Oder's office is also responsible for the management of relics, which are divided into three classifications. The most valued are parts of John Paul's body, which include mostly hair or blood. Second are "contact relics," or clothing and accessories the deceased pope once wore. Finally, items that came into contact with a contact relic also make the list.
A Wondrous Story
There are currently about 400 "first-class relics" in circulation, and about 40,000 second-class relics, which consist almost exclusively of nine square-millimeter snippets of one of the pope's chasubles.
The number of third-class relics is potentially infinite, following the homeopathic principle whereby substances are effective, even in the greatest possible dilution. However, as Oder is quick to point out, such relics are not to be used as a talisman. A relic, he says, is no good-luck charm, but rather an object of meditation and a window into the faith. "Take a few," says the monsignor.
The "Positio," or final report, is kept in the safe. One copy was given to Pope Francis, while the original remains in Monsignor Oder's safekeeping. The Karol Wojtyla file weighs about four kilograms (nine pounds) and consists of four volumes, bound in apostolic eggshell-white material, and comprising a total of 2,709 pages. The file is titled "Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis," or "Report on the Life, Virtues and Reputation of Sanctity." The report includes, for example, the testimony of a certain Dr. Helmut Kohl (the former German chancellor), as well as that of the Dalai Lama and about 100 other contemporaries. Oder has visited all of them in the last few years. Each of those interviewed, if Catholic, was asked to swear upon his or her soul that he or she was telling the truth.
The "Positio" also contains a long, wondrous story that unfolded three years ago and 10,000 kilometers away, or, to be more precise, in the right temporal lobe of the brain of Floribeth Mora Díaz.
The house of Mora's family is on a steep street on the outskirts of San José, where the Costa Rican capital gradually gives way to the rain forest. Mora -- 50, wearing tight, red stretch jeans -- is a grandmother nine times over. She has constructed an altar on her veranda, a colorful, shimmering private shrine, complete with plaster cherubs, Sacred Heart candles, and printouts of prayers for John Paul II, who will soon be Saint John Paul II. "My saint," says Mora; there is no doubt that her claim is correct.
On April 13, 2011, Señora Mora was convinced that her head was about to explode. She could no longer feel her left leg and she was constantly vomiting. Her doctor had diagnosed Mora with "migraines," but she refused to believe him.
Her husband, Edwin Arce, took her to the emergency room at the Hospital La Católica in San José. He was determined that only the best would do for his wife, and La Católica was the best hospital in the city, despite the fact that some of the patients were admitted in handcuffs, owing to the prison located right around the corner.
A Positive Omen
The neurologist who evaluated Mora was Dr. Alejandro Vargas, a doctor so young, attractive and clever that he could easily be taken for a telenovela actor. Before Vargas operates on a patient's head, he likes to say: "With the help of God, vamos " Mora decided to interpret his words as a positive omen.
"My head felt like it was swollen, I didn't even dare to sneeze. The doctor gave me a contrast agent and did his examination. Then he told me I had an aneurysm" -- a bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms are not unusual in individuals over 50, especially when they are somewhat overweight and have hypertension.
"Her blood pressure was very high. She was suffering from a fusiform aneurysm," Vargas would later write in his report. "It could have been clamped, but the problem is that we don't have the technology for that. An operation was too risky."
Mora's aneurysm looked to be located in a region of the brain that was inaccessible to the surgeons. "Dr. Vargas said that he couldn't clamp the blood vessel," Mora relates. "He said that if he operated, I could fall into a coma or become permanently paralyzed. He told me there was nothing he could do."
Mora remembers how a priest came to administer her last rites. Dr. Vargas recalls that he had only said that nothing could be done for Mora in his hospital. "This type of case is certainly operated on in Mexico or the United States. I prescribed anti-hypertensive medication for the señora, as well as a sedative. After all, the aneurysm hadn't ruptured. There was still hope."
But Mora didn't think so. She had a problem in her head, one that not even the best doctor in Costa Rica could solve. She was in tears as her husband Edwin drove her back to Tres Ríos. "I called my brothers so that they could get the family together. I wanted to tell them they should always stick together, even without me, and that their mother had only a month left to live." Mora wept for three days and took the pills Dr. Vargas had prescribed. In between bouts of weeping, she prayed.
One of her children occasionally came into her room and tapped her to see if she was still alive. She had been sent home to die. It was what she would later say to every priest she encountered, to the archbishop and to anyone else who would listen.
The Only True Miracle
From a purely dogmatic standpoint, miracles make the church a little uncomfortable. God doesn't need to prove his omnipotence in the form of patients whose missing limbs suddenly reappear. The only true miracle is the resurrection of Jesus.
To Pope Benedict XVI, reports of farmers strolling across their village pond were just as suspect as the cult of Padre Pio or the apparitions of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the lame and sick go for salvation. The veneration of saints is no substitute for health insurance.
But people want miracles. A world without the possibility of the impossible would be like a lottery without a grand prize -- an empty world, a world without God. It's the reason people want saints. To the faithful, saints are like touchable, practical versions of God.
This sentiment explains why devout Catholics began chanting "Santo subito!" (Italian for "saint now!") shortly after Karol Wojtyla's death. On the day he died, "we perceived the fragrance of his sanctity, and in any number of ways God's People showed their veneration for him," said Benedict XVI, as he proceeded to beatify his predecessor in record time, after only six years of examination.
On May 1, 2011, the day John Paul II was beatified, one and a half million pilgrims came to Rome. Newspapers worldwide published special issues to commemorate the event, including La Nación in San José, Costa Rica.
But there is a difference between beatification and sainthood. Only a real saint has his own holiday, and only his relics can be worshipped everywhere, no matter what documents turn up in the future. Only a saint remains a saint until doomsday and beyond.
However, a "fragrance," no matter how strong, is not enough for sainthood. The rules can be found in the papal bull titled "Divinus perfectionis Magister." They state that it is not sufficient to have led an unblemished and virtuous life, or even to have wrestled down communism. Canonization requires a confirmed miracle.
The notion that he was capable of miracles was already attributed to John Paul II in the course of his beatification. In 2005 Marie Simon-Pierre, a nun from Puyricard in France's Provence region, claimed that she had been cured of Parkinson's disease by merely invoking the deceased pope.
According to the rules, simple martyrdom, such as death by assassination, would be sufficient for beatification. But a miracle is required for canonization, provided the pope enforces the rule. What's more, the miracle must have taken place after beatification. In the case of John Paul II, that would be anytime after May 2, 2011.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernard (Bernie) SandersPush to end U.S. support for Saudi war hits Senate setback Sanders: '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' MORE (I-Vt.) said on Sunday that he thinks his campaign still has a plausible path to the nomination.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I think we do have a path to victory," Sanders said on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Sanders said that although he was "beaten very badly" Saturday in South Carolina, losing by a large margin to rival 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, there are several states coming up in which he expects to do well.
He said the results in South Carolina are likely going to be "about as bad as it's going to get" for his campaign.
"I think we're going to win here in Minnesota; I think we're going to win in Colorado; I think we're going to win in Oklahoma; I think we're going to do really well in Massachusetts; and I think we're going to win in Vermont," he said.
"And I think we've got a number of states coming up that we're going to do extremely well and possibly winning, including California and New York State."
He added that his campaign's message has been resonating with people across the country.Text size
These are lonely days for Dish Network, the nation's third-largest pay-TV provider. A rapid wave of consolidation is transforming the media landscape, leaving Dish without a dance partner.
First, Comcast (ticker: CMCSA) teamed up with Time Warner Cable (TWC), and then AT&T (T) agreed to buy DirecTV (DTV), long considered Dish's most obvious suitor. As if rubbing salt in the wound, wireless operator Sprint (S) is finalizing a deal to buy T-Mobile US (TMUS); both had been seen as potential partners for Dish (DISH).
As those deals wind through the regulatory process, investors are left wondering what's next for the satellite-TV player.
Chairman Charlie Ergen still has some strong cards to play in the media game. Photo: Andrew Kelly/Landov
While Dish has 14 million TV subscribers, its value is now basically tied to spectrum, or wireless real estate, that it has acquired since 2008. The spectrum remains undeveloped, but it could ultimately be used for Dish's own wireless network or, more likely, to bolster someone else's. Bullish analysts think the spectrum alone could be worth $25 billion, after taxes, if sold. With a stock-market value of just $30 billion, investors are giving Dish short shrift for its satellite-TV business, which is highly profitable, even if slow-growing. As investors get a better handle on the spectrum's worth, Dish shares could rise 20%. The stock has shown surprising resilience since the company was left out of the merger parade. It closed the week at $66.37, a 52-week high.
THE NEXT LEG UP could come in November, when the Federal Communications Commission holds its largest spectrum auction since 2008. "Just from a stock perspective, you don't have to have a view on what Dish is ultimately going to do with the spectrum," says Jason Bazinet, who covers the media, cable, and satellite sector for Citigroup. "The thesis is that the auction itself will be a positive catalyst for the stock. You just have to look forward to November." Bazinet recently upgraded Dish to Buy with a price target of $79.
None
The FCC has already set a minimum price of $10.1 billion for the spectrum, which is expected to attract significant interest from wireless operators. But unlike Dish's holdings, which are nationwide, this spectrum is carved into regional pieces. There's no guarantee a buyer will get the whole pie. The spectrum being auctioned is also less conducive to high-speed data transmission than what Dish already owns.
As always, the Dish story is focused on Charlie Ergen, its founder, chairman, and majority shareholder. Long considered a maverick in the industry, Ergen has been more willing than any other pay-TV provider to shake up the status quo. He's amassed this huge swath of wireless spectrum, while helping his TV customers erase commercials and stream channels outside their home.
"He's a risk taker," says Marci Ryvicker, who covers Dish and the TV universe for Wells Fargo. "Either you believe that he is rational and brilliant or you believe he's irrational and stubborn." Ryvicker, who is in the former camp, has an Outperform rating on the stock. She says Ergen is better aligned with shareholders than any other executive she covers. His 51% stake in the company is worth some $15 billion.
A FORMER PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER, Ergen has often been a step ahead of everyone else. "On almost every negotiation, he's come out in significantly better position than anyone thought" he would, Ryvicker says.
Some think he may have finally overplayed his hand in merger talks with DirecTV. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission notes that he spoke with the company before it moved on to AT&T. His rivals are all now focused on amassing as much scale as possible. Together, Comcast and Time Warner Cable could save significant money on programming. And they'll control over a third of the broadband pipes into American homes. DirecTV, meanwhile, fortifies AT&T's TV business, known as U-verse, and, again, gives the combined companies more leverage in negotiating for content.
But there's likely to be value in being the nimble odd man out, especially as the media industry tries to evolve around disruptive forces, such as mobile video. As a more traditional TV distributor, DirecTV was unlikely to give significant value to Dish's spectrum. That was surely a sticking point in their merger negotiations.
No one knows what Ergen's next move will be. Dish executives declined to speak with Barron's. But it's clear that the spectrum will be front and center, possibly powering some sort of hybrid TV/wireless business.
In a recent note to clients, JPMorgan Chase analyst Philip Cusick points out that a wireless Dish network, using only a portion of its current spectrum, could support 20 million customers downloading 50 gigabytes per month. That usage is on par with the average home broadband user and 29 times greater than Verizon Wireless' average user.
In May, Ergen said: "If I think there's one place that analysts get it wrong and the marketplace gets it wrong, it's probably in valuing our spectrum. The good news…is that it's going to be valued for you, in the sense that there's another auction coming up."
OVER THE PAST 20 years of federal auctions, spectrum has sold for an average of $1 per megahertz-pop, according to Bazinet, the Citi analyst, who has closely studied spectrum transactions and carriers' capacity needs. Megahertz is a measurement of spectrum. The pop, or population, stands for how many people are covered by a spectrum license.
Dish now owns 56 megahertz of spectrum, all nationwide, meaning it covers 318 million people. At historical valuations, Dish's spectrum would be worth $17.8 billion, or 56 megahertz times 318 million people times $1. Dish, for what it's worth, paid $5 billion for the spectrum.
The Bottom Line As investors come to appreciate the value of Dish's spectrum, the stock could rise to $79 from a recent $66.
Bazinet argues that even the $17.8 billion badly undervalues Dish's spectrum. He points out that Dish's holdings are of better quality than the wireless carriers. Dish has "virgin" spectrum that can be crafted to handle today's one-way data-heavy transmissions. The carriers, though, are stuck with legacy networks meant to handle two-way phone conversations; like a divided highway, their spectrum is split between uplink and downlink traffic.
Mobile video has turned the formula on its head. In today's world, 90% of mobile traffic runs downstream. The carriers are basically left with an unused lane of spectrum that can't easily be converted.
Bazinet values Dish's spectrum at $2.19 per megahertz-pop. It's not a crazy number. By stripping out the value of their operating business, Citi estimates that Verizon's spectrum is valued at $3.52 per megahertz-pop, with AT&T at $2.72.
Ergen hasn't publicly commented since the latest round of deals were announced, but he was in a contemplative mood in May, as rumors swirled that Dish was being left behind.
On a quarterly conference call with investors, the Dish chairman said: "When I used to play poker, and everybody was throwing chips and betting crazy on the table, and I had really good cards, I always felt it was better just to sit back and watch them go at it. And every time they went at it, I'd learn something. As I sat back, they didn't learn anything about what I had. And I learned to trust my cards."
E-mail: editors@barrons.comThe top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee announced on Thursday that he will reintroduce a bill that would allow the Pentagon to close and realign military bases.
The Military Infrastructure Consolidation and Efficiency Act from Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., would give the Pentagon the authority to conduct another round of base realignment and closure, known as BRAC, in 2019.
"We should not be wasting hard-earned taxpayer money to maintain excess infrastructure that DOD has determined it does not need," Smith said in a statement. "It is time to do what's right for defense and move forward with this process."
The Pentagon, which has estimated it has about 20 percent excess infrastructure, requested $4 million in its fiscal 2017 budget submission to begin preparing for another BRAC in 2019, but was not provided the money.
The last round of base closures in 2005 did not yield savings as fast as some hoped and were seen as a disaster by many on Capitol Hill. Smith's bill includes some reforms to prevent similar problems from happening again, such as increasing congressional oversight and strengthening the independence of the commission that recommends base closures.
Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said this week that he and the Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., want to talk to Defense Secretary James Mattis about the possibility of another BRAC.
"We need to talk about it, I think it has to be considered as all things should be on the table," McCain said.I've come across a few news items recently re privacy issues, such as Phorm, and perhaps of more concern, the proposals suggested for government legislation to allow the monitoring of internet traffic. What can we as individuals do to protect our privacy?
Peter McCutcheon
Phorm involves rerouting traffic from the ISPs that adopt it. It appears that in the implementations of the system being considreed by UK ISPs, users will be able to opt out by setting a cookie within the PhormDiscover (formerly webwise.net ) domain to prevent redirection or by disabling cookies from webwise.net. There are also ways to nullify the attempt to use Phorm for advertising purposes, such as the Firephorm add-on for Firefox. However, some processing will be required to establish the opt-out. Ultimately, the best choice is to change your ISP to one that does not use Phorm or any similar service.
Another way to avoid Phorm - and to protect your privacy - is to access the internet via an encrypted proxy server. If your datastream is encrypted, it doesn't matter if your ISP uses DPI (deep packet inspection). A search for secure anonymous browsing will find plenty of services. It's about five years since I looked into this area, but the sites I tried at the time, such as Megaproxy and IDzap, are still going. I found Megaproxy's paid-for service worked best, but there's a good list of options at IP Info. However, bear in mind that, although your ISP won't be able to see what you are doing, the firm that decodes your datastream and accesses the net on your behalf can. It boils down to who you trust.
Anonymous internet services usually set up a "clientless VPN" (virtual private network) service that works through the web browser, so check if they also encrypt email. Lots of businesses now use VPNs for secure access across the net, including the Guardian, so encrypted traffic must be very common.
Anonymous surfing services often make you agree not to use them to do anything illegal, send spam etc. Some also prevent you from downloading files using automated downloaders.
• This corrected blog was restored on 5 April 2011 following the outcome of an investigation by the Readers' editor. In its original form, it said that Phorm involves rerouting all traffic from the ISPs that adopt it, whether users opt out or not. It has now been corrected.A rare albino kangaroo has been spotted roaming bushland outside Australia’s capital, surprising wildlife experts who say such creatures are easy prey and usually die young.
The kangaroo, an eastern grey, is believed to be two years old. Experts said this is old for an albino kangaroo, which stands out against the Australian bushland and therefore attracts more predators such as wild foxes and dogs. Albinos are also apparently more susceptible to skin cancer and sunburn and are more likely to have sight and hearing difficulties.
“Grey kangaroos are grey for a reason — they blend in with the rest of the environment,” a parks ranger, Brett McNamara, told The Canberra Times.
The albino, first captured on film last weekend by a park ranger at the Namadgi national park near Canberra, stands in stark contrast to the family of grey kangaroos with which it roams.
However, Mr McNamara said the albino’s closeness to its family may have helped to protect it. Rangers have not been able to get close enough to the kangaroo to definitely determine its gender but believe it is female and have nicknamed it Renee.
“They do form very close-knit mobs within that valley,” he said.
“There would be a dominant male kangaroo, there would be a harem of females that he would be keeping a close eye on, then there would be some adults and obviously the juveniles coming through.”
The rangers have refused to reveal the exact location of the kangaroo amid concerns about illegal hunting.
“We are concerned about its ongoing welfare because of some illegal hunting activities that do occur in the park,” Mr McNamara said.
“That something like this can occur, I know it’s all a bit clichéd, but literally a stone’s throw from the nation’s capital - what other national capital anywhere in the world could you do something like that?Indian companies doing business in Europe are witnessing a rebound in their business prospects in the region for the first time in two years, according to a report. (Image: Reuters)
Indian companies doing business in Europe are witnessing a rebound in their business prospects in the region for the first time in two years, according to a report. The survey by Ficci observed that a gradual turnaround has been achieved by Indian corporates by successfully re- positioning and re-aligning their operational capabilities in one of the most demanding and organised markets in the world. “Capitalising on and riding on the back of improved economic performance by a number of European economies, Indian companies have been able to grow and create a niche for their products there,” Ficci said on the survey findings. Moreover, it said, there has been a marked rise in number of companies who have successfully been able to reduce their losses while doing business in the region.
“These are heartening signs for Indian corporates as despite a gradual slowdown in India-Europe trade and economic relations, the region still remains India’s largest trading partner,” Ficci said. The survey noted that the current economic situation, though resulting in number of procedural and regulatory obstacles for Indian companies to expand and or do business in the continent, is still providing needed returns on the investments made. The survey revealed that the gradual economic recovery in Europe has far deeper ramifications on the business interests of Indian companies.
This includes holding on to their current level of businesses, furthering their footprint across the region, seeking a more pliant policy framework from respective European economies to ease the process of doing business there and seeking easy movement of human resources to finish the existing projects. According to the survey, the ongoing negotiations to sign an equitable and balanced free trade agreement between India and the EU are also closely monitored by Indian industry. The issue of visas and movement of professionals in the EU remain one of the most contentious concern areas for Indian firms.HTC has been trying to drum up some positive PR ahead of its new flagship phone launch on March 25. Last week it offered an olive branch to HTC One X owners upset that their phone wouldn't be getting a KitKat update, and now it's introducing a new "HTC Advantage" program targeted at new buyers of the HTC One, One Mini, and One Max family of phones.
Most prominently, HTC Advantage will offer a free, one-time replacement for new buyers who crack their screens during the first six months of ownership. You can send your phone to HTC using a prepaid shipping label and get it back within 8-10 days, or you can get a replacement phone for $29 before you send the damaged one in for repair. Given how frequently you see people trying to use phones with busted screens, this deal will probably appeal to at least some new buyers.
The bad thing is that HTC Advantage only applies to people who bought their HTC One, One Max, or One Mini after today—if you bought your phone five months ago and crack the screen tomorrow, you're not going to get any help from HTC.
Other components of the HTC Advantage program include a commitment to Android updates to provide flagship phones for two years after they release, which the company promised last week in its reddit AMA session. It will also give new buyers 25GB to 50GB of free Google Drive space with the purchase of a new phone. While these benefits currently only apply to the HTC One, One Max, and One Mini, it's a pretty sure bet that they will extend to HTC's new flagship as well.Former Spider-Man: The Animated Series story editor John Semper has his first job at DC Comics coming up, when he launches Cyborg as part of the DC Rebirth initiative.
Vic Stone, who in the post-Flashpoint DC Universe is no longer a Teen Titan but a founding member of the Justice League, will get a new backdrop as he moves away from being defined by his fellow superheroes and his father.
It was the former. They called me up and said, "Hey, we want you to do Cyborg." I said sure. I've never really, I mean, I've worked for Warner Bros. I've done animation for Warner Bros., but I've never really worked for DC Comics before, so it was a new experience. I'm always open to new experiences, and the people that called me where good people, people whom I trusted, and I said sure. I'm in.
I guess the first thing is what drew you to Rebirth? Did they just call you up and say, "Hey, we want you to do Cyborg, or was it a little more involved than that?
To me, the interesting thing about that is with Rebirth, so many of these characters are going back to what made them brave and back to basics. David did this critically acclaimed run that was all about kind of breaking from the basics and doing something wildly different. Is it kind of added |
PvP engagements. We think everyone will be happy if we make that not work. So we are.
We’ve implemented a system that will prevent high-level players from helping their lower-level friends slaughter lowbies. We’re pretty sure that will make the lowbies happy, and the folks that were doing it say “Yeah, that should probably be that way.”
Towns Are Safe
Speaking of safe things, towns should probably be on that list. Originally, walking into a town placed you under the protection of guards; if anyone attempted to attack you, guards would rush to your aid. However, this was still a bit lackluster--your PvP flag was still on, so clever grouped players could have a few heroes kite the guards while several others took you out. We made a change to that.
Now, entering a town will de-flag you from PvP combat, as long as you are not a criminal or outlaw. When you step into a town, you’ll get a five second buff, marking you as nearly-safe. After five seconds, when the buff expires, your PvP flag will be removed, and you’ll be secure from any threats so long as you stay within the town. Outlaws, of course, are still vulnerable in towns, but this buff should provide neutral players and Protectors a bit of added safety in addition to Guards.
Guard Empowerment
Speaking of guards, did you know we revamped over 500 guards throughout the world to have enhanced AI when interacting with the Karma System? If you’re an Outlaw, you’d better watch out. You’d better not cry. Why?
Guards.
They’ll get you.
That’s it for our changes, heroes! We hope you’re enjoying the season, and keep an eye out for more changes to Bloodscalp coming soon.
Check out everything you need to know about Season 2 with the Ascension Seasonal Overview video!Bitcoin Bitnik’s Reload Enables Bitcoin Repurchasing
Reload, a solution for automated Bitcoin repurchasing and reporting, has been launched by Bitnik, a Slovenian-based start-up. The company brands itself as a universal service that binds users’ Bitcoin wallets to their Bitcoin exchange accounts. Essentially, whenever they spend Bitcoin, Reload will use their exchange accounts to immediately repurchase the equivalent amount of Bitcoin.
Also read: User Data, Including Full Bitcoin Wallet Access, Retrievable from Secondhand Android Phones
Bitnik says that its service allows users to relax and spend their precious coins on goods and services without worrying about the Bitcoin supply. The service is available for BTM operators as well; they can use Reload and replenish their supplies from various Bitcoin exchanges. Interestingly, Reload is completely anonymous and does not hold user’s bitcoins. Anyone can sign up for the service; however, users must have an email address, single wallet address, and Exchange API credentials. Elaborating the features available in Reload, Bitnik CEO Peter Trcek says:
“It’s amazing how Reload, in one solution, offers both exchange integration for BTMs and enables users to re-buy Bitcoins automatically after making Bitcoin payments. Volatility is no longer an issue.”
Reload is Completely Free
Reload — primarily developed for Bitnik’s BTM operations — is completely free. Initially, the company had planned to use Reload to switch between exchanges in case one goes down or is unavailable. Later, though, the Bitnik team started using Reload for personal uses in their daily lives. The company soon realized that their service could potentially increase Bitcoin acceptance by making the currency easier to buy and sell. Thus, the decision to launch Reload to the public is aimed at providing a user-friendly solution that helps subscribers get easy access to Bitcoin.
Regarding use-cases, Bitnik says that there are many different use-cases:
“Personal users for day-to-day spending and avoiding volatility, for BTM operators for reporting and different exchange integration, for remittance (sender locks the price), for LBC sellers for reporting and automatic rebuys.”
Supports Over 20 Bitcoin Exchanges
Users can access over 20 Bitcoin exchanges with Reload. Some major exchanges like Coinbase (brokerage), Bitstamp, Kraken, BTC-e, and Bitfinex are extremely popular among customers. Bitnik is also open to adding new exchanges as demand dictates. Furthermore, Reload currently supports any wallet that uses a single address. Beatnik expects that Reaload’s ease of integration, safety, privacy, and speed will make the service a popular solution for Bitcoiners.
Reload’s software runs on Google’s servers, which should provide high availability. In fact, Beatnik’s own Lamassu BTM has been using Reload for repurchasing sold coins for months. Additionally, Reload calculates the exact cost of coin repurchase, allowing customers to monitor their transactions and repurchases.
Will you use Beatnik’s Reload service to repurchase your Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below!
Image Source: BitnikMost 15-year-olds don’t kill off their friends, much less turn the ordeal into a 90-minute feature set in the northern European woods. But cinematographer Martin Ahlgren did just that. Yes, the murders were on celluloid. And yes, the grown-up artist still trades in a kind of dark intensity.
Sure, you may have never heard of Ahlgren; you might not even know what a cinematographer does. But you’ve probably seen his work. He’s the one who turned scripts for the third season of House of Cards into austere, brooding scenes that landed him an Emmy nomination last week. Lately, the Swedish-born 40-year-old has won industry props and become a go-to guy for A-list showrunners, deep-pocketed brands, even Kanye West. All of which is to say: If there’s such a thing as an “it” cinematographer, Ahlgren’s surely in contention. Indeed, his own work has helped raise the profile of the often-overlooked form.
When I caught up with Ahlgren recently by Skype, he was dressed casually in a gray T-shirt, his longish blond hair pulled back and his black thick-rimmed glasses constantly threatening to slide off the bridge of his nose. He is polite and easygoing, and speaks with a calm thoughtfulness and the hint of a Swedish accent. Behind him, a bicycle leaned against a wall in a room filled with clutter — the remnants of his not-yet-fully-unpacked move to New York.
That’s where Ahlgren will be shooting the second season of Netflix’s Daredevil, the Marvel series that debuted in April and became a surprise hit among critics and fans. Not that long ago, Ahlgren was churning along filming commercials and music videos, most notably Kanye West’s “Power,” which has more than 50 million YouTube views. After a short stint on a Starz show (confusingly, also titled Power), Ahlgren was snapped up by House of Cards, where he managed principal photography for 11 of the season’s 13 episodes.
Ahlgren’s rise isn’t a typical Hollywood success story — it’s a sign of the growing importance of cinematographers in what’s widely seen as a golden age of TV drama. We’re conditioned to view the director as king (or, rarely, the queen) of the set. That’s still true in movies, but it’s a different story in TV, where the showrunner, usually a writer/producer, is the real power. (Think Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.) On television, directors come and go like hired hands, which can make cinematographers like Ahlgren both keepers of a show’s distinctive visual style and clutch problem solvers when the script calls for complicated scenes. That frequently means handling a thousand little details of lighting and camera placement, as when Ahlgren had to shoot two characters in a cramped jail cell for one House of Cards scene.
Growing up, Ahlgren binged on movies, even falling in love with the campy effects in Highlander. Sure, they were “hokey,” he says — but they also wowed him with the possibilities of the camera: That’s when he made that horror flick in the woods, killing off each of his friends in an different way. After high school, Ahlgren almost got sidetracked into a technical career; in 1996, he was set to attend the Royal Institute of Technology at Stockholm, just like his father and grandfather. But when a spot opened up at a film program, Ahlgren jumped. Later, when he moved to the School of Visual Arts in New York, he gravitated toward camera work, where he had a natural eye. After graduation, he even wrangled an unusual opportunity to shoot films without first serving as another cinematographer’s assistant. “There’s something to be said for having to learn it from scratch yourself,” Ahlgren says. “You’re always going to encounter certain things you haven’t seen before.”
No kidding. For a 2012 Kanye West project called Cruel Summer, Ahlgren traveled to Qatar to make a half-hour film about a car thief and an Arabian princess designed to be shown on seven screens at once: three in front, one on the floor, another on the ceiling, and one each to the audience’s left and right. After building a seven-camera rig that pointed in all the requisite directions, Ahlgren and a local crew shot for 20 hours a day, five days straight. The result was shown on the outskirts of Cannes, though not as part of the festival, in a custom-built theater.
Even though Ahlgren’s been on a roll, success as a cinematographer can be short-lived. “The life is very much feast or famine,” says Richard Crudo, president of the American Society of Cinematographers. And it’s easier than ever for amateurs to crash the gates, thanks to the lower cost of digital cameras and the sleek look they produce. Meanwhile, opportunities in film — long the ultimate goal for most of Hollywood’s visual-arts community — are more limited than ever, particularly in middle-tier movies with budgets in the $30 million range.
On the other hand, in place of those midrange films, now there’s narrative television, where Ahlgren is able to do his thing with very little interference from the suits at cable channels and Netflix. “They stay fairly hands off,” Ahlgren says. “That’s a tremendous creative freedom.”Spread the love
April 28, 2014
Jeremy Yachik was a cop who brought his brutality home. His psychopathic behavior led to him being caught on video kicking and beating his 15 year old daughter for the crime of “eating carrots.”
According to court records, the girl told Loveland police investigators that Yachik abused her almost daily for years. The abuse allegedly included restraining her hands with handcuffs or plastic zip ties and then slamming her head into a wall hard enough to leave a hole and choking her until she blacked out, according to a Loveland Police Department arrest affidavit.
The girl also said he beat her with ropes, restricted her food, shackled her in a darkened room for hours and force-fed her “ghost pepper sauce” that’s roughly 10 times hotter than habanero peppers, the affidavit said.
When asked why he was doing these things to his daughter he said that the teen “won’t communicate” with him, according to the affidavit.
Luckily his ex-girlfriend, Ashley Saint-Roberts, caught one of these abusive fits of aggression on video and turned it into police. However, when the allegations were first brought forward, the department tried to cover them up.
After showing the video to Glen Johnson, the Police Chief, Saint-Roberts said they failed to respond and she was forced to find another venue to expose this abuse.
Yachik even called Saint-Roberts and told her: “‘Nice try…trying to get me fired…it’s not going to work” according to the reports.
Yachik was arrested on Oct. 23, 2013. Johnson has since resigned.
Yachik was originally charged with 4 counts of child abuse resulting in injury, and one count of false imprisonment, somehow all misdemeanor charges, according to police records.
Now that Yachik has plead guilty to one count of child abuse, he is trying to stay out of jail. Yachik is scheduled for sentencing in the case on July 14 at 8:30 a.m. He is seeking a sentence of supervised probation.
Watch the two videos below and let us know how you feel about Yachik’s request to stay out of jail, in the comments below. Does he deserve supervised probation?
Here is the original news report.
Here is 5 seconds of the actual beating.
Yes, there are plenty of bad people in this world who are not law enforcement officers. However, this person was a cop, he had the authority granted to him, to arrest you and/or kill you. To add insult to injury, his fellow cops covered for him when they knew he was torturing his 15 year old daughter.
If they get off with no jail time, what does that say about the justice system in the US?Minutes after climbing aboard Muni Metro’s L-Taraval, a herd of 10-year-old San Francisco schoolchildren peered into the darkness, searching for an abandoned subway stop known as a “ghost station.”
Farther along, at Forest Hill Station, they rode an elevator to the top of the oldest subway station in the West, then descended to the other side by clambering down a seemingly endless set of stairs.
“It was fun,” said Audrey Imose. “I don’t usually get to explore Muni stations and see the ghost station. I don’t usually get to ride with my friends.”
For Audrey and about 20 other fifth-graders in McKinley School’s After-School Enrichment Program, it was an afternoon of learning about the new and the old of Muni, with an eye toward their future as transit riders traveling without their parents.
Now Playing:
For most of them, that future will arrive next fall when they enter middle school, and have to get themselves there and back on Muni. To help prepare them, Peter Albert, a recently retired Municipal Transportation Agency planner, taught a two-day after-school class on how to ride Muni.
The bulk of the class, and the funnest part, came during Metro rides together as he taught them the ins and outs of independent travel on Muni.
“It’s a passion of mine: helping city kids traveling by themselves feel safe, confident, responsible and welcome on transit,” Albert said. “It also helps assuage the anxieties of parents who are reluctant to let their kids ride alone.”
The first class started with a brief talk about what to expect, being aware of their surroundings and figuring out how to navigate the transit system. That included advice on how to get to and from the stations or stops safely and how to make transfers.
Then Albert had students draw maps showing their home, their neighborhood and their nearest Muni stops, stations and lines. Some of the students didn’t know the names of their street or their nearby stops, Albert said, but that was OK. The point, he said, was to boost the students’ awareness of Muni.
After the map exercise, the kids went for a short Muni ride from Harvey Milk Recreation Center at Duboce Park. Albert asked them to note the good and bad things they noticed on board. The class rode outbound through the Sunset Tunnel to the other side. They exited, crossed the tracks and caught the next train back. Afterward, they reported their observations.
The good things: friendly people on the train, a patient operator, good scenery, a smooth ride, and the fun of riding with fellow students. The bad: The train floor was filthy, a man at the boarding platform in the park was behaving erratically, trains were running late, and one passenger was grumbling about being on a train with a class of excited student passengers.
The highlight of the second class was a longer ride, but, first, students updated their maps, fidgeted as they listened to directions and then headed out with Albert in the lead. To pass the time during a five-minute wait at the Duboce Park stop for an inbound N-Judah train, they each jumped to try to touch the station’s identification sign. With help from some of the taller students, everyone succeeded.
When the train arrived, they crowded on board and stood, grasping posts and seat backs like veteran commuters. They exited a short while later at Van Ness Station and waited for the L.
They boarded the outbound train, as Albert reminded them to look for the abandoned “ghost station,” once known as Eureka Valley Station. Some pressed their hands and faces against the smoked-glass windows while others stood back and stared.
“There it is,” they shouted as the train rolled past the vacant platform west of Castro Station. “I see it.”
At Forest Hill Station, which Albert had taught them is the oldest subway station west of Chicago and very deep, they climbed into an elevator with room for the whole class, and rode to the station entrance far above. They crossed over to the other side and descended, most of them on a long set of wide staircases, for the ride back to Castro Station.
From there they walked about five blocks back to Duboce Park, where they reviewed the ride, and each received a fold-up Muni bag featuring a colorful transit map.
They all agreed that the ride was fun, an adjective few regular commuters use to describe their Muni adventures.
And, they said, the trips made them feel more comfortable about riding Muni without their parents.
“It was pretty cool. We got to see how we’ll get to middle school,” Lydia Melton said. “If we go to school or home, we’ll know how to do it by ourselves.”
Albert smiled as he listed to the students recap their brief Muni lessons.
“This is the next generation of Muni riders,” he said. “Like all Muni riders, they can approach this as a pain in the butt and one of the travails of the city. Or they can see it as a way to get around that doesn’t require a driver’s license and lets you see a lot of the city’s treasures.”
Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuanMayor Bill de Blasio announced a new initiate Thursday to provide free summer books to 29,000 kindergarten through second grade students in The Bronx and Brooklyn this summer. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Katie Honan
THE BRONX — The city will provide 10 to 12 free books to 29,000 kindergarten through second grade students in 107 elementary schools in The Bronx and Brooklyn this summer, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.
“Even though this is this greatest city in the world, we tolerated a reality where so few kids were on grade level reading by the end of second grade,” de Blasio said at Bedford Park Elementary School during a press conference Thursday.
“We need our kids to read. Some families have a lot of books around, some don’t. We want to even up the score.”
The new $1.4 million summer program is part of the city’s Universal Literacy program, which provides books and reading tutors during the school year to students in districts 9 and 10 in The Bronx and districts 17 and 32 in Brooklyn.
About 41 percent of students read at grade level, according to the mayor, and officials hope to have 100 percent at proficiency by 2026.
Kids will be able to read fiction and non-fiction books like "Curious George Visits the Library," "A Giraffe Can Laugh" and "Not a Lot, Robot!"
De Blasio read "Curious George at the Baseball Game" to about a dozen students at the school after the press conference.
The books will be delivered to the schools by June and there will be at fairs at the schools where students can choose from about 40 titles, officials said.
The literacy program will expand to all city school districts by the fall 2018 school year.
Department of Education Chancellor Carmen Fariña said she hoped the program would make “summer reading to be reading for pleasure” and not feel like homework.
“It's about coming back in September and having something in common to discuss with kids in the whole class.”From obstetrician and public health expert Malcolm Potts, responding to readers in the ongoing population forum:
Nearly all the fragile states such as Yemen (average number of children 6.2), Somalia (6.8 children), and the oxymoronic named Democratic Republic of the Congo (6.7) have rapid rates of population growth. (North Korea, with its mad despotic ruler is an exception proving the rule). Consider the Congo with 63 million people today and perhaps 186 million in 2050. Since World War II, there have been more deaths in the Congo from violence than anywhere else on earth. Yet the intentional community is doing almost nothing to help slow population growth in a voluntary way. I am on the board of Population Services International and we sell contraceptives at a subsidized prices in many countries, including the Congo. But we cannot keep up with demand because of shortages of contraceptives. The United Nations Population Fund and other agencies and donors interested in family planning and population growth should stop having so many staff going to innumerable meetings and start buying more contraceptives. Family planning is about commonsense, but common sense is a rare commodity when it comes to anything to do with sex and reproduction.Paula Smith, owner of Stickatude.com, says that her company’s “Don’t Re-Nig 2012” Obama bumper sticker, which has enraptured every redneck in America, is not racist at all, reports Forbes Magazine.
SEE ALSO: Trayvon’s Parents Support Friend’s Account Of Final Phone Call
The Hinesville, Georgia native told Forbes that the sticker has been in their inventory since June 2010, but only starting selling in the last few days. As previously reported by Newsone, renege is defined as “to go back on a promise, undertaking, or contract.” When asked about the racist connotation of the word “nigger,” and the obvious play on the word used on the bumper sticker, Smith had a predictably ignorant excuse handy:
According to the dictionary [the N word] does not mean black. It means a low down, lazy, sorry, low down person. That’s what the N word means.”
When asked about the origin of the bumper sticker, Ms. Smith said she just happened across it:
We just found it on the internet, and thought it was cute. It’s been up there since he’s been president.”
Smith further claims that she’s not racist at all and the term “re-nig” couldn’t possibly be a racially derogatory term directly at Obama because “he’s not even Black”:
He’s got a mixture of race. It’s his choice of what his nationality is. I’m a mixed breed. I call myself a Heinz 57,” she says, referring to an ancestry that’s part of French, Scottish, and German. “I just want someone that’s going to help the United States and not give it other countries all the time. And stop giving the immigrants the benefits that most Americans inside their own states can’t even get because they’re giving it others who don’t even live here as an American.”
Smith even pulls out the old stand by that she couldn’t be racist, because she has “black kids around [her]”:
I call them my own kids. I’ve helped black families…to guide them in the right direction. Paintball is one of these things. We like to laugh and have a good time. That’s our way of life.”
Though Smith may think it’s “cute” to call the President of the United States a “nigger,” there are thousands who disagree with her. Unfortunately, based on the number of vehicles sporting the sticker, not nearly enough.
‘LIKE’ NewsOne’s FB Page To Stay Up On Black News From Around The World
SEE ALSO:
Slain Black Youth Who Galvanized The Nation
Idaho White Supremacist Runs County Sheriff
Also On News One:A mother's heartfelt and humorous message of support for her child's gender choice has gone viral after she took out a classified advertisement in a Queensland paper to retract the birth of her daughter and celebrate her new son.
Yolanda Bogert of Jimboomba, a suburb in Brisbane's south-west, published a light-hearted birth retraction in The Courier Mail's births section on December 2 which said: "In 1995 we announced the arrival of our sprogget, Elizabeth Anne, as a daughter. He informs us that we were mistaken. Oops! Our bad. We would now like to present, our wonderful son - Kai Bogert. Loving you is the easiest thing in the world. Tidy your room."
The ad placed in the Courier-Mail.
Kai was known as Elizabeth Anne for the past 19 years but told his mother a few days ago that he no longer wanted to live as a girl.
Ms Bogert told The Courier Mail she had always known there was something different about Kai; there had been some small signs when he was younger and then more evident signs in later years, but they had never really been discussed openly."I would like to see his special day, his Martin Luther King Day, be a separate day to himself and to the recognition of his role in the civil rights movement in our country," Hutchinson told reporters during a news conference on January 6. "It's important that that day be distinguished and separate and focused on that civil rights struggle and what he personally did in that effort, the great leader he was during that cause. They need to be distinguished and separate."
But the holiday is far from settled in the state and in response to the growing criticism, Arkansas' Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson urged lawmakers to take up the issue again earlier this month.
Arkansas Democratic representative Jeff Wardlaw told Reuters that he voted against the bill last year because "I'm the kind of guy who does what his constituents tell him they want, and last year they indicated they didn't want a change."
MLK-Lee Day is criticized by many who see it as inherently contradictory to celebrate Lee, who led the army of the states defending slavery and after the Civil War fought to keep black people from voting, on the same day the country remembers MLK's legacy of racial justice and integration. In Arkansas, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to separate the two holidays, with lawmakers trying to pass a bill that would have created a separate memorial for Lee on a different date.
Since the mid-1980s, the third Monday in January has been designated as a US federal holiday in honor of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., celebrating one of the greatest Americans — except if you live in Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi, the three states where MLK Day is a joint holiday that also marks the birthday of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee.
Read more
Since the mid-1980s, the third Monday in January has been designated as a US federal holiday in honor of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., celebrating one of the greatest Americans — except if you live in Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi, the three states where MLK Day is a joint holiday that also marks the birthday of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee.
MLK-Lee Day is criticized by many who see it as inherently contradictory to celebrate Lee, who led the army of the states defending slavery and after the Civil War fought to keep black people from voting, on the same day the country remembers MLK's legacy of racial justice and integration. In Arkansas, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to separate the two holidays, with lawmakers trying to pass a bill that would have created a separate memorial for Lee on a different date.
Arkansas Democratic representative Jeff Wardlaw told Reuters that he voted against the bill last year because "I'm the kind of guy who does what his constituents tell him they want, and last year they indicated they didn't want a change."
But the holiday is far from settled in the state and in response to the growing criticism, Arkansas' Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson urged lawmakers to take up the issue again earlier this month.
"I would like to see his special day, his Martin Luther King Day, be a separate day to himself and to the recognition of his role in the civil rights movement in our country," Hutchinson told reporters during a news conference on January 6. "It's important that that day be distinguished and separate and focused on that civil rights struggle and what he personally did in that effort, the great leader he was during that cause. They need to be distinguished and separate."
In 1947, the Arkansas state legislature declared Lee's birthday on January 19 as an official holiday, which it then combined with MLK Day in 1985, two years after President Ronald Reagan signed a bill making the third Monday in January a federal holiday in honor of King.
Lee Day has also been a state holiday in Alabama and Mississippi for more than a century, along with many other southern states, where the Civil War remains an integral part of many people's identity.
Mississippi's decision to merge the MLK and Lee holidays was originally sold as a "cost-saving measure," Democratic State senator John Horhn told the Clarion-Ledger, "but many people then and now felt that it was a means to not give Dr. King his due and the singularity of recognition."
Virginia has celebrated Lee's birthday on January 19, which is also the birthday of fellow Confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, as Lee-Jackson day since 1889. After MLK Day became a federal holiday, Virginia combined all three birthdays to create Lee-Jackson-King Day. But the holidays were then separated in 2000, in response to the growing controversy over the implications of honoring two Confederate generals alongside a Nobel Prize-winning civil rights leader on the same day.
Recently, simmering racial tensions in the US have reignited debates over many Confederate symbols that represent pride for some and racism for others. The Confederate flag is flown throughout the south and its design appears on many state flags and license plates. In July, after a white supremacist gunned down nine black parishioners in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, the state's governor Nikki Haley removed the Confederate flag from the capitol.
Mississippi state senator Horhn said that he hopes his state follows the Arkansas governor's push to change the holiday. "It's not to say that Robert E. Lee didn't have major accomplishments," he told the Clarion-Ledger. "But the work of Dr. King changed this country and it changed it for the better."They may be roommates but that doesn’t mean Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts are friends.
Every other major pro sports franchise in the city of Toronto has congratulated the Argonauts on their CFL championship win – except the soccer team.
“Larry [Tanenbaum] to me is an absolute gem – his family is spectacular. It’s not hard to figure out why he’s had success,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said about the MLSE chairman who has an ownership stake in the Argos. “For him to keep doing great things for the city of Toronto is a lot of fun. Any time you’re around winning, that’s a real special thing. Obviously, a good example for us. It’s great they were able to look after that with their opportunity. It looked like a lot of fun.”
Even the Jays, completely owned by Rogers who have no stake in the CFL, gave props to the Argos.
But TFC remains silent on social media. That’s a statement in its own right. There have been many vocal Reds fans who were upset that the Argos were allowed to move to BMO Field for the 2016 season and the movement continues. A “No Argos at BMO” campaign remains strong from Toronto FC supporters.
When the #Argos (ugh) make it to the #GreyCup and two of these amazing banners magically appear on Lakeshore and the DVP.#NoArgosAtBMO #TFCLive pic.twitter.com/14m6poiHi2 — Casey Wolfgang // Writer & Music Photographer (@CaseyWolfgang17) November 19, 2017
Of course, they could just be busy. Toronto FC hosts Columbus in the second leg of the conference finals on Wednesday at BMO. Be sure to congratulate them if they win. Or not.
UPDATE: Toronto FC did finally send out a Tweet….The Department of Justice today posted a solicitation for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Programs (“Byrne JAG”). Recipients for FY 2017 will be notified of new conditions of their grants that will increase information sharing between federal, state, and local law enforcement, ensuring that federal immigration authorities have the information they need to enforce immigration laws and keep our communities safe.
"So-called'sanctuary' policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “These policies also encourage illegal immigration and even human trafficking by perpetuating the lie that in certain cities, illegal aliens can live outside the law. This can have tragic consequences, like the 10 deaths we saw in San Antonio this weekend. As part of accomplishing the Department of Justice's top priority of reducing violent crime, we must encourage these'sanctuary' jurisdictions to change their policies and partner with federal law enforcement to remove criminals. From now on, the Department will only provide Byrne JAG grants to cities and states that comply with federal law, allow federal immigration access to detention facilities, and provide 48 hours notice before they release an illegal alien wanted by federal authorities. This is consistent with long-established cooperative principles among law enforcement agencies. This is what the American people should be able to expect from their cities and states, and these long overdue requirements will help us take down MS-13 and other violent transnational gangs, and make our country safer."The free ride had to end sooner or later. Looks like it is sooner. For the past seven months, even after a price increase, Netflix has been the best deal in movies for US subscribers, as a monthly subscription priced at $9.99 allowed customers to have one DVD out at a time and watch unlimited streaming content at the same time. That wasn’t free, exactly, but it was a pretty damn cheap way to consume a great many movies every month.
That is changing slightly. The company today announced new pricing that will split DVD and streaming subscriptions into separate tiers. The cheapest plans will be $7.99 for unlimited streaming each month (remaining the same after the last pricing changes), and $7.99 for a new plan offering only DVDs, with one out at a time. So instead of paying $9.99 for both, you’ll now pay $15.98.
For new members, this pricing takes effect immediately. For existing subscribers, the changes go into effect “on or after September 1, 2011.”
The news comes from the official Netflix blog, which spins the price change as being the ‘lowest ever’ for unlimited DVDs. And that’s true. If you have no interest in streaming, or no interest in delivery of physical media, this won’t be a big deal. And, frankly, if you have interest in both, there’s no argument in which sixteen bucks a month is an unreasonable price to pay for the content available on Netflix. But if you want a lot more DVDs delivered per month, your prices will be escalating. And how much will a blu-ray plan be? That’s data we don’t have now.
(Netflix was down for maintenance at press time, so I couldn’t make a new subscription to check. The blu-ray surchage that applies to current plans may not be changing.)
After Netflix seemed to really de-emphasize physical media in the past year, this stands as a definite change of plan (ahem) as explained in the blog entry:
Reflecting our confidence that DVDs by mail is a long-term business for us, we are also establishing a separate and distinct management team solely focused on DVDs by mail, led by Andy Rendich, our Chief Service and Operations Officer and an 11 year veteran of Netflix.
There are many possible reasons for these changes, but in the end what will matter is what effect this has on the overall catalog(s) available via Netflix.
Given the company’s dominance of the DVD delivery and streaming marketplace, I can’t pretend to be surprised by these changes. A price hike was basically inevitable. Now we’ll see what it does to the Netflix stock price at the end of the day today, and the company’s customer base over time. So will the new prices change your interest in Netflix? Will you desert for other options?Property investors will need a 40 per cent deposit under tough new restrictions revealed today.
Restrictions to lending limits on residential properties are also being extended nationwide.
The new rules are being urgently introduced in an attempt to put a lid on New Zealand's spiralling property prices.
Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler has outlined the new rules this morning, and told banks they will be expected to act immediately.
Advertisement
The new loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) would take effect on September 1, but the Reserve Bank wants banks to "observe the spirit of the new restrictions" in the lead-up to the new policy.
All the major banks said they were supportive of the move.
"Once we have fully reviewed the proposal and its implications we will work with the RBNZ to implement the changes before they come into effect on 1 September," a Westpac spokesman said.
New rules - to begin September 1
Investors
• Restrictions for investor lending extended from nationwide from Auckland only
• Banks will be forced to require a 40 per cent deposit - up from 30 per cent - for at least 95 per cent of the loans they make in this area.
Home buyers
• Restrictions for owner-occupier lending extended from Auckland to nationwide.
• Required deposit level remains at 20 per cent for at least 90 per cent of bank lending.
Exemptions
- The exemption allowed under the current LVR policy will continue to operate, including for construction lending and major non-routine repairs of dwellings
The Reserve Bank said to "simplify" the LVR policy, it has proposed removing the distinction between lending in Auckland and the rest of the country.
Last month, the Reserve Bank left the official cash rate at 2.25 per cent, but Wheeler warned investors could soon be targeted by new LVR rules.
The Reserve Bank introduced LVRs of 20 per cent in 2013 to rein in the housing market, and last year it raised the limits to 30 per cent for investors in Auckland.
It will consult on the changes until August 10.
Today's announcement comes after Prime Minister John Key expressed frustration about the Reserve Bank's response to rising house prices, saying that it should not need any more time to investigate stricter rules for property investors and should "just get on with it".
Reserve Bank deputy governor Grant Spencer on July 7 said that the bank was considering new LVR restrictions, but would not introduce them before the end of the year.
Spencer also told the Government to get its own house in order, by taking another look at its immigration and tax settings.
Explore our interactive: How many houses can you afford in each suburb in New Zealand?
When people are saying 'let's stop investors from buying' they've |
so we highlighted the most ~interesting~ parts.
On his politicized Boy Scouts speech: Steve Helber / AP
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Biggest crowd they’ve ever had. What did you think?
WSJ: I thought it was an interesting speech in the context of the Boy Scouts.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.
WSJ: They seemed to get a lot of feedback from former scouts and –
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Did they like it?
WSJ: It seemed mixed.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: They loved it. (Laughter.) It wasn’t – it was no mix. That was a standing –
WSJ: In the – you got a good – you got a good reaction in –
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I mean, you know, he writes mostly negative stuff. But that was a standing ovation –
WSJ: You got a good reaction inside the arena, that’s right.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: – from the time I walked out on the stage – because I know. And by the way, I’d be the first to admit mixed. I’m a guy that will tell you mixed. There was no mix there. That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone. There was no mix.
And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. So there was – there was no mix. In fact, an official with the organization told BuzzFeed News they were unaware of any such phone call to the president. Not long after the speech, the chief of the Boy Scouts of America apologized to the Scouts for the president's "political rhetoric" that spurred backlash from some the scouting community. In a statement to BuzzFeed News on Tuesday, the Boy Scouts of America said that "the Chief Scout Executive’s message to the Scouting community speaks for itself."
On his role in the ongoing, flailing efforts to pass Republicans' health care reform, in which he brings up his Boy Scouts speech (again): Carolyn Kaster / AP
MR. BAKER: What have you been doing, Mr. President, sort of behind the scenes?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: A lot. A lot.
MR. BAKER: I mean, what do you think the crucial conversations have been?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Many conversations. I just had one with a certain senator that was very convincing to that senator. So I’ve done a lot. I mean, last night – last night it was amazing. I was at the – you know, I was in West Virginia doing certain things and making a speech to the Boy Scouts, and that was some crowd. That was an incredible crowd.
But I’ve been working hard, trying to get the senators to go along with it. And I – you know, I think I – you know, look, just don’t quote me on this unless it happens, but I think we have a pretty good shot. And that vote’s taking place at about 2:00 today, right? 2:00? Trump, however, had his critics, including those who thought he wasn't engaged enough in selling the repeal-and-replace effort to the American public. His mixed messages on how the Senate should go about replacing Obamacare also contributed to political confusion.
On what he's done in his first six months: Alex Brandon / AP
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Because people were saying, Trump has not produced. I honestly believe for six months I have done more than just about any president when you look at all of the bills that were passed, 42, 43.
MR. BAKER: What are you most proud of in the first six months?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: A lot of things. I think I’m proud of the Supreme Court choice. And that’s not just a nomination, that’s getting him through.
I’m very proud of opening up regulations. One of the reasons you see optimism is because people can actually use their land. They can farm their land. I’ve had tremendous and tremendous [he then pivots back to the size of the Boy Scouts crowd] – look, I had 45,000 people there yesterday. It’s the biggest crowd they’ve ever had, and they were – they were going wild yesterday in West Virginia.
But people can actually use their land and they can build.
When asked about taxes, the president pivoted to talking about his relationships with foreign leaders and discovering the size of other countries: PRESIDENT TRUMP: So I deal with foreign countries, and despite what you may read I have unbelievable relationships with all of the foreign leaders. They like me. I like them. You know, it’s amazing.
So I’ll call, like, major – major countries, and I’ll be dealing with the prime minister or the president. And I’ll say, 'How are you doing?"
"Oh, don’t know, don’t know, not well, Mr. President, not well."
I said, "Well, what’s the problem?"
"Oh, GDP 9 percent, not well."
And I’m saying to myself, "Here we are at like 1 percent, dying, and they’re at 9 percent and they’re unhappy."
So, you know, and these are like countries, you know, fairly large, like 300 million people. You know, a lot of people say – they say, "Well, but the United States is large." And then you call places like Malaysia, Indonesia, and you say, you know, "How many people do you have?" And it’s pretty amazing how many people they have.
So China’s going to be at 7 or 8 percent, and they have a billion-five, right? So we should do really well.
On job creation, Trump touted that Apple CEO Tim Cook is building "three big beautiful plants." But he wouldn't give any details and told the WSJ to call Cook and find out: Alex Brandon / AP
PRESIDENT TRUMP: But one of the things we’re doing that, so Gary and I are working – because I said, you know, Gary, we’re going to have Foxconn come in. We’re going to have a lot of companies that are coming in. Foxconn’s coming in with a big plan. We have Tim Cook I spoke to, and he’s promised me three big plants – big, big, big. I said, you know, Tim, unless –
WSJ: Really? Where?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ll have to see. You can call him. But I said, Tim, unless you start building your plants in this country, I won’t consider my administration an economic success, OK? And he’s called me and he says, you know, they’re going forward, three big, beautiful plants. You’ll have to call him. I mean, maybe he won’t tell you what he tells me, but I believe he will do that. I really believe it. But when Cook was asked by an analyst on Tuesday about Trump's claim, the CEO managed to completely avoid a hard answer. "We have created 2 million jobs in the US, and we're incredibly proud of that," Cook said during an earnings call. "We do view that we have a responsibility in the US to increase economic activity, including increasing jobs." As for the manufacturing plants, Cook neither addressed Trump's claim nor refuted it, BuzzFeed News reported.
When discussing job creation, the president said people in New York can't get jobs, so they should move: PRESIDENT TRUMP:... Where do we have the people? You know where we have the people? In New York state that can’t get jobs, in many other places that can’t get jobs. And people are going to have to start moving. They’re going to move to Colorado and they’re going to move to Iowa and Wisconsin and places where – like if Foxconn goes to Wisconsin, which is one of the places they’re very strongly considering – but if Foxconn goes to Wisconsin and they have a very low rate and the governor’s done an excellent job, you’re going to have a situation where you got to get the people.
But they’re going to start moving. And I’m going to start explaining to people when you have an area that just isn’t working – like upper New York state, where people are getting very badly hurt – and then you’ll have another area 500 miles away where you can’t – you can’t get people, I’m going to explain you can leave, it’s OK, don’t worry about your house.
You know, a lot of them don’t leave because of their house. Because they say, "Gee, my house, I thought it was worth 70,000 (dollars) and now it’s worth nothing." It’s OK. Go, cut your losses, right?
Trump then wondered if Scotland will vote to break from Britain over Brexit, which he said would be terrible because, well, the British Open. Alastair Grant / AP
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Is Scotland going to go for the vote, by the way? You don’t see it. It would be terrible. They just went through hell.
MR. BAKER: (Inaudible) – but they’re going to be –
PRESIDENT TRUMP: They just went through hell.
MR. BAKER: Besides, the first minister’s already made it clear she –
PRESIDENT TRUMP: What do you think? You don’t think so, right?
MR. BAKER: I don’t.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: One little thing, what would they do with the British Open if they ever got out? They’d no longer have the British Open.
MR. BAKER: (Inaudible.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Scotland. Keep it in Scotland. FYI, the golf tournament was played last year at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.
When Trump was asked about a possible agriculture deal with the UK, he delved into trying to get US cows into China. And the Boy Scouts. Again: Saul Loeb / AP
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I’ll tell you, you know, I did – I did a thing that nobody even wrote about – although, you did. (Laughter.) But when I was with President Xi, who I have a very good relationship with, I said: 'Do me a favor. Would you allow cattle, please, to come in?'"
I was last night in West Virginia, and I had farmers coming up to me and hugging me and kissing me because of the cattle stuff. They actually weren’t from West Virginia; they were from other places. (Laughter.)
But, you know, it was the Boy Scouts, so they came from all over the country, but –
When asked about the Justice Department, Trump said it should go after leakers, not the people fighting over who loves him the most: PRESIDENT TRUMP: Number one, they should go after the leakers in intelligence. I don’t mean the White House stuff where they’re fighting over who loves me the most, OK? (Laughter.)
It’s just stupid people doing that. The Trump White House has been a near-constant state of turmoil as inner feuding spills into the public arena, most recently with the ousting of Anthony Scaramucci just 10 days after he started as White House communications director. The move came after Scaramucci last week gave an expletive-laced tirade against other top White House aides to a writer for the New Yorker.
When Baker inquired about Russian investigation, Trump lied and said no one from his campaign "saw anybody from Russia": Richard Drew / AP Donald Trump Dr.
WSJ: He’s the Russian guy. So Sessions has recused himself, but is Bob Mueller’s job safe? There is speculation –
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, we’re going to see. I mean, I have no comment yet, because it’s too early. But we’ll see. We’re going to see.
Here’s the good news: I was never involved with Russia. There was nobody in the campaign. I’ve got 200 people that will say that they’ve never seen anybody on the campaign.
Here’s another – he was involved early. There’s nobody on the campaign that saw anybody from Russia. We had nothing to do with Russia. They lost an election and they came up with this as an excuse. And the only ones that are laughing are the Democrats and the Russians. They’re the only ones that are laughing.
And if Jeff Sessions didn’t recuse himself, we wouldn’t even be talking about this subject. In fact, Trump's own son, along with campaign manager Paul Manafort and a top adviser, agreed to a meeting with a Kremlin-linked attorney on the premise that she had dirt on Hillary Clinton. The White House also said the president later "weighed in" on his son's initial misleading statement about the meeting.
And the finale: When asked about his new (and since ousted) director of communications, Anthony Scaramucci: Pablo Martinez Monsivais / APFox nabs the hot comedy package, centered on Laura Steinel's spec with Jake Szymanski to direct.
After a heated bidding war involving multiple studios, Fox has nabbed the hot comedy script Women in Business.
Laura Steinel wrote the screenplay for the female-driven comedy, which has some strong attachments: Emma Stone, Kate McKinnon and Jillian Bell.
The buzzy package, repped by UTA, also has Jake Szymanski, who directed Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, attached to helm.
Gloria Sanchez and Chernin Entertainment will produce the film, which centers on two competitive women who are sent on a business trip to Canada. There, they hire a third woman off Craigslist to act as their intern, which derails their trip.
Steinel worked as a writer on the Amazon series Red Oaks, and Fox recently ordered her workplace comedy HR, which is executive produced by Sue Naegle and Jeff Schaeffer and stars Judy Greer and Patton Oswalt. She also wrote the comedy FAM-I-LY, which she will direct, with Sue Naegle and Jeremy Garelick producing. Taylor Schilling is attached to star. Steinel is repped by UTA, Principato Young and Ziffren Brittenham.
Szymanski previously directed for Funny or Die and Saturday Night Live before nabbing the helming gig for Fox's buzzy upcoming comedy Mike and Dave starring Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick. It hits theaters on July 8. Szymanski is repped by UTA, Mosaic and Sloane Offer.
Stone, most recently seen in Woody Allen’s Irrational Man, has the musical La La Land with Ryan Gosling and the Billie Jean King film Battle of Sexes coming up. She also is attached to a live-action Cruella project at Disney. Stone is repped by WME, Anonymous Content and Ziffren Brittenham.
McKinnon, who stars on Saturday Night Live, will next be seen in Sony’s Ghostbusters film, directed by Paul Feig. She’ll also appear in the comedy Office Christmas Party. McKinnon is repped by UTA, Principato Young and Hansen Jacobson.
Bell had a breakout role in 22 Jump Street, and also had roles in The Night Before and Goosebumps. She also will appear in Office Christmas Party. Bell is repped by UTA, 3 Arts and Stone Genow.The “Supergirl” fall finale lands tonight — but has the series proved a hero for the CW? Well, it hasn’t exactly been more powerful than a locomotive.
Season-to-date, “Supergirl” Season 2, now on the CW, has averaged a 1.2 rating/4 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. These numbers — like all in this post — are from Nielsen’s “most current” metric, which counts seven days of delayed viewing where available. Among total viewers, the sophomore run is bringing in 3.6 million audience members for each episode.
Compare those figures to CBS’ freshman run, which averaged a 2.8/9 and 11.2 million total viewers at this point last year. In other words, the show has more than halved itself in the key demo, losing 57.1 percent of adults 18-49 from Year 1. The drop-off looks even worse among overall eyeballs, where “Supergirl” has shed more than two-thirds of its CBS tune-in.
Also Read: Amazon's 'Grand Tour' Triples 'Man in the High Castle' Viewers (Exclusive)
So, does all that mean the CW is “Supergirl’s” kryptonite? No, not really — let’s get some very important asterisks out of the way.
First of all, CBS is correct when it calls itself “America’s Most-Watched Network.” Plus, the CW cares more about millennials than the broader 18-49 category, even though advertisers don’t. In other words, any show that traveled from the most popular English-language broadcaster to the least was going to experience significant drop-off.
Additionally, “Supergirl” had a very strong series premiere on CW in fall 2015, which skews this small-ish episode count. It fell off quite a bit as the season went on and the sample size expanded. That explains why it’s no longer on CBS, by the way.
Also Read: 'Supergirl', 'Arrow', 'The Flash': Shots and Moments Ripped Straight from the Comics (Photos)
Perhaps a better way of looking at “Supergirl” numbers is to do so with like shows on the same network. This paints a much brighter “S” on the chest.
The Melissa Benoist series is currently the second highest-rated show on the CW, two-tenths of a ratings point behind “The Flash” with 1.4. “Supergirl” had a thin lead over “Arrow,” which averages a 1.1 per episode — we’ll keep an eye on the silver medal race.
What we’re saying is that it’s certainly not doomsday (nor Doomsday) for “Supergirl” — but a powerful portion of the show’s once-mighty audience has fled faster than a speeding bullet.
Also Read: 'Supergirl': 9 Cat Grant Moments We'll Cherish Forever
The “Supergirl” fall finale takes off tonight at 8/7c on the CW.The national Republican Party has been engaging in months of soul-searching about its future.
Former presidential candidate Jon Huntsman offered up a good piece of advice in a speech at the Reagan Library recently: “When a party stops solving problems, the American people move away from it. We need to get back to problem-solving.”
Massachusetts voters have a chance in the special Senate primary election to put a problem-solver on the ballot under the GOP banner. Dan Winslow has been bringing a host of bright ideas to Beacon Hill since his 2010 election to the Massachusetts House. He has won bipartisan respect and scored several successes — especially in his efforts to cut “fluff” from the state budget. His delivery of jars of marshmallow fluff to the governor’s office (one for every budget line item he would cut) got him both attention and action.
Winslow’s Senate campaign has similarly focused on good ideas with across-the-aisle appeal: A national lottery to finance $20 billion more in merit-based scholarships; attaching some “strings” to federal aid to higher education to reward colleges that keep costs down; and a plan to reform Obamacare that he calls “excel and exempt” that would allow states like Massachusetts to opt out of the federal system.
He would lower the corporate income tax as part of his plan to grow jobs and the economy and make up the lost revenue by ending some of those corporate welfare “carve-outs” won by powerful lobbying groups.
“Ideas are the means by which you change government,” Winslow said during a Herald interview.
A former district court judge, former chief legal counsel to Gov. Mitt Romney with years of private sector law practice, Winslow would be a breath of fresh air in stale old Washington.
Republicans and unenrolled voters who choose a Republican ballot on April 30 can keep Dan Winslow and those new ideas in the fight. The Herald is pleased to endorse his candidacy.University of Portsmouth An artist's impression of the Dracoraptor
Palaeontologists were over the moon when two brothers, Nick and Rob Hanigan, discovered the bones of an almost complete theropod skeleton on a beach near Penarth, Wales, two years ago. The bones stretch back to the Jurassic Period, around 201-million-years ago, when the coast of Wales had a much warmer climate.
University of Portsmouth The fossilised remains of its foot
They are believed to be the oldest Jurassic dinosaur remains discovered in the UK and quite possibly the world. After analysing its skull and bones of the distant – yet much smaller – relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, scientists have concluded that this theropod is a previously undiscovered species of dinosaur which they have dubbed the Dracoraptor Hanigani – in honour of Wales, with Dracoraptor meaning “dragon robber” in Greek-Latin, and the Hanigan brothers.
University of Portsmouth How the dracoraptor may have looked
The small creature, which is believed to be an infant as its bones were not fully fused, measured just 70 cm tall and around 200 cm long, with most of that length coming in its tale to aid agility, according to the results published in PLOS One. David Martill, of Portsmouth University, said: "The Triassic-Jurassic extinction event is often credited for the later success of dinosaurs through the Jurassic and Cretaceous, but previously we knew very little about dinosaurs at the start of this diversification and rise to dominance.
Getty It was a distant relative of the T Rex
"Now we have Dracoraptor, a relatively complete two metre long juvenile theropod from the very earliest days of the Jurassic in Wales."Site to Foster Innovation in Oil, Gas Technology Development
Emails: Separate multiple email addresses with semi-colon Your Email: Send email to me as well Subject: Comments: 200 character limit.
Technology platforms will play a critical role in the oil and gas industry’s potential, and communities can play a huge role in ensuring these platforms can truly serve industry needs.
Seeking to foster more innovation within the oil and gas industry, Landmark Solutions and industry partners will launch next year the OpenEarth Community (OEC). The OEC is a global and open community of scientists, engineers and software developers in oil and gas companies, service companies, software providers, data vendors and technology developers committed to producing an open and shared exploration and production (E&P) platform to lower the cost and accelerate pace of innovation in the E&P industry.
“In the current climate, we have less resources, but we need to look in the mirror and think about what to do differently,” said Michael Jones, director of alliances, partnerships and strategy for Landmark, during a panel discussion among industry executives on the OEC at LIFE 2016, the Landmark Innovation Forum & Expo, Wednesday in Houston.
The idea for the community came after an examination by Landmark of the role that innovation can play in strategy. Jones said that they looked at what was happening in other industries and verticals, and determined that, rather than brainstorm alone, that they should join with other companies. The company’s proposal of the open community was met with positive response.
The OEC will be organized by charter, which will inform the group how to behave as a collective and a community, Jones told conference attendees. Members of the OEC include Royal Dutch Shell plc, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., CGG Veritas, Statoil ASA, Devon Energy Corp., and Baker Hughes.
An open platform offers obvious benefits, such as the ability to reduce cost while fostering quality and innovation, said Hovey Cox, senior vice president of marketing and strategy at CGG Veritas. The OEC can help companies reduce cost by eliminating the duplication of petrotechnical platforms being developed individually by companies.
The OEC can provide less obvious, even counterintuitive benefits. It might seem to make sense for one operator to develop interoperability of a platform in a closed environment. But that interoperability will be limited by the desires of the operator, said Cox. Interoperability across domains such as well construction, well management, geosciences, and field management is critical for allowing people in these disciplines to collaborate.
“With a closed system, typically a company buys and then experiences that technology. With an open system, work can be conducted for years to perfect the product for deployment,” Hovey commented. “Having an open platform also can provide more clarity on the security and auditability of the platform.”
Shell does not see the OEC as dilutive to its own software technology development, said Lex Mollinger, subsurface and wells IT strategy manager at Shell. Instead, he views it as a means of deploying technology more quickly.
“We are developing the same technology over and over,” Mollinger commented. “That’s actually a waste of resources. Why can’t we do it once or twice and leave it at that?”
The oil and gas industry is pretty good at developing connectors between applications, between applications and data stores, and among data stores themselves.
“We probably have more of those connectors and integration elements than applications, and it’s not differentiating at all. But we have to do it to make our landscapes work,” said Mollinger.
The open earth model provides a completely different mindset, said Mario M. Coll, senior vice president and chief information officer at Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Coll sees the OEC as a mechanism for opening up opportunities to share information, such as the capability for early kick detection in a well. Given the impact on equipment, human lives and the environment, Coll asked how the industry can’t not share such information.
“One of the struggles we have had as an industry is just the way we have been doing things and the lack of ability to draw in new talent,” said Coll.
In Silicon Valley, developers’ access to a lot of the open source capability has allowed for creativity and innovation. That environment is closed off the developers in the oil and gas industry. Coll believes that innovations such as the OEC can attract not just academics, but free-spirited visionaries who might go elsewhere.
Jones said the initiative is not about open source, but what Landmark calls open core. Through the initiative, Landmark will provide a platform substantially built on open source code. While capacity exists for quite a bit of open source code to be consumed, the industry is not ready for an unfederated open source environment.
“The model that we’re looking for here is much more of a Red Hat/Linux model,” said Jones. “At the point you want to consume the platform, you buy the platform as you would in any other space. The platform is simply a means to an end.”
Referencing a previous presentation at the conference importance of algorithms, Jones said that Landmark’s future business isn’t about the platform, but the smart stuff the company should do to drive innovation.
“The platform is the glue, and we need to provide a platform that everybody can and will contribute thinking to,” said Jones. That being said, it’s possible that, 10 years from now, the platform could be entirely an open source adventure.”
Tweet Emails: Separate multiple email addresses with semi-colon Your Email: Send email to me as well Subject: Comments: 200 character limit.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.At last, the Emmys have arrived!
No, we’re not talking about the 2015 Primetime Emmys broadcast — you’ll have to wait until next Sunday, Sept. 20 for that — but rather, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which were handed out Saturday evening at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Among the night’s winners:
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | Reg E. Cathey, House of Cards
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Margo Martindale, The Americans
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series | Bradley Whitford, Transparent
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series | Joan Cusack, Shameless
Outstanding Animated Program | Over The Garden Wall
Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series | Game of Thrones
Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series | Veep
Outstanding Casting for a Movie/Miniseries/Special | Olive Kitteridge
Outstanding Costumes For A Contemporary Series | Transparent
Outstanding Costumes For A Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series Or Movie | American Horror Story: Freak Show
Outstanding Hairstyling For A Miniseries Or A Movie | American Horror Story: Freak Show
Outstanding Makeup For A Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) | Game of Thrones
Outstanding Makeup For A Miniseries Or A Movie (Non-Prosthetic) | American Horror Story: Freak Show
Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special (Non-Prosthetic) | Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries, Movie Or A Special | American Horror Story: Freak Show
Outstanding Main Title Design | Manhattan
Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Drama Series, Miniseries or Movie | Game of Thrones
Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics | “Girl You Don’t Need Make Up,” Inside Amy Schumer
Outstanding Cinematography For A Miniseries Or Movie | Bessie
Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series | Boardwalk Empire
Outstanding Cinematography For A Multi-Camera Series | Mike & Molly
Outstanding Television Movie | Bessie
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series | The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
Outstanding Informational Series or Special | Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown
Outstanding Special Class Program | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (Live From Lincoln Center)
Outstanding Interactive Program | Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Outstanding Choreography | Derek Hough, Julianne Hough and Tessandra Chavez, Dancing With the Stars and Travis Wall, So You Think You Can Dance (tie!)
Outstanding Variety Special | Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program | Deadliest Catch
Outstanding Structured Reality Program | Shark Tank
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program | Jane Lynch, Hollywood Game Night
The Creative Arts Emmys will be broadcast Saturday, Sept. 19 at 8/7c, on FXX.The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has postponed further debate on the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) until after Congress' holiday break.
At the urging of some SOPA opponents, Representative Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican and committee chairman, said Friday he will consider a hearing or a classified briefing on the bill's impact on cybersecurity. More than 80 Internet engineers and cybersecurity experts have raised security concerns about the bill, which would require Internet service providers and domain name registrars to block the domain names of foreign websites accused of copyright infringement.
Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, called for both a classified hearing and a public hearing on the cybersecurity issues. In the lone hearing on SOPA, the committee did not hear from security experts and Internet engineers, he said.
"We have deep concerns about what this will do to cybersecurity," Chaffetz said. "I think it would be dangerous for members on this committee to vote on final passage of this bill without having at least one hearing and some clarification" on the security impact.
The bill markup, a hearing in which lawmakers offer amendments, will continue in January, said Smith, the main sponsor of the bill. The markup, which ran from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, was interrupted twice by votes on the House floor Friday.
The committee will have about 30 amendments to consider after it resumes debate on SOPA. Opponents of the bill flooded the committee with amendments in an effort to slow down the committee's march toward approval of the legislation.
Opponents of the bill on the Judiciary Committee include Republicans Chaffetz, Darrell Issa of California and Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, as well as Democrats Zoe Lofgren of California and Jared Polis of Colorado.
The committee, on Thursday, voted down about 20 amendments designed to address concerns from many members of the Internet and digital rights communities.
On Friday, the committee only voted on a couple of amendments, including one offered by Sensenbrenner that would have removed provisions in the bill allowing private copyright holders to seek court orders requiring payment processors and online advertising networks to stop doing business with websites accused of copyright infringement. The committee rejected the amendment in a 20-8 vote.
The bill allows the U.S. Department of Justice to seek similar court orders targeting ad networks and payment processors. The DOJ could also seek court orders barring search engines from linking to allegedly infringing sites, requiring domain name registrars to take down the websites and requiring Internet service providers to block subscriber access to the sites.
The bill gives the DOJ significant power to target overseas websites infringing copyright, Sensenbrenner said. "Enforcement should be a law enforcement function in this area," he said. "We don't give people very many opportunities to sue everybody in the world when law enforcement doesn't do what they want them to do."
Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, said the right for copyright holders to seek court orders is a "key provision" of SOPA. "If you are not going to allow this legal relief, you are severely damaging the bill," he said.
Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.The past two decades have seen falling homicide rates in Chicago, previously dubbed the ‘murder capital’ of the U.S. This decline in homicides has generally coincided with a period of gentrification of Chicago, but are the two related? Chris M. Smith takes a close look at how gentrifiers, private investors, and local government have contributed to the process of gentrification, which has had mixed results on gang homicides. She argues that while individuals and investors reduce homicide rates through gentrification, when local authorities demolish public housing, they may actually be intensifying gang violence through forced relocation.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Chicago, like other U.S. cities, experienced both rapid gentrification and a remarkable decline in crime. Political officials and city planners have since bolstered gentrification policies with the vision of revitalizing urban blight, decreasing crime, and bringing much needed tax revenue to urban neighborhoods. City dwellers and visitors easily spot gentrification when the address of a shabby payday-lending counter becomes a shiny new pet-grooming spa, and urban residents feel gentrification when they notice that they never used to feel safe walking in a particular neighborhood. Though the results of gentrification are familiar and visible, the processes of gentrification are incredibly complex in which higher income households directly and indirectly displace lower income households changing the character and composition of a neighborhood.
Various actors participate in the processes of gentrification. First, there are the gentrifiers themselves often hipsters, artists, and young urban bohemians moving into cheap neighborhoods located near the central business district with old Victorian housing stock and empty warehouses. They in turn develop a thriving art and music scene that attracts a second wave of young urban professionals to the neighborhood who pay higher rents for brownstones and invest in property renovations.
A second set of actors are the private investors who transform commercial districts from convenience stores, pawnshops, and check-into-cash counters into pedestrian-friendly streets of art galleries, yoga studies, and fine dining. High-end retail emerging in previously poor neighborhoods indicates a form of neighborhood change that requires profitable locations near a certain class of consumers. One such example would be the 1990s explosion of coffee shops in the U.S. as coffee shop giants and private entrepreneurs procured convenient storefronts in neighborhoods with residents willing and able to pay US$3 for a cup of coffee.
Figure 1 – Number of Coffee Shops by Type in Chicago, 1991-2004
Adapted from Papachristos et al. 2011
A third set of actors participating in the process of gentrification is the local and state political powers. Gentrification through state intervention includes rezoning, investments and permits in revitalization efforts, and the demolition of public housing. Public housing in the U.S. epitomizes decades of racial segregation, public disinvestment, concentrated poverty, and many devastating consequences. The Cabrini-Green housing projects of Chicago, for example, gained a national reputation of violence and danger following several high-profile murders including the 1992 murder of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis who was killed on his way to school by a stray bullet. In 2000, Chicago began its Plan for Transformation that included massive demolition efforts of public housing high rises. Today a Target shopping center stands where the Cabrini-Green high rises once stood.
In recent research, I show how each of these three gentrification processes affected the crime of gang homicide in Chicago from 1994 to 2005. My results were mixed. While the demographic shifts associated with gentrifiers and a count of neighborhood coffee shops associated with private investment both decreased neighborhood gang homicides over time, the demolition of public housing actually increased gang homicides in the short term.
The map in Figure 2 presents this pattern descriptively showing that most coffee shop and high education neighborhoods were not the same neighborhoods with high gang homicides and public housing demolition.
Figure 2 – Maps of Chicago Neighborhoods, 2000-2005
Adapted from: Smith 2014
The Chicago Police Department distinguished these homicides as motivated by inter-gang and intra-gang violence. Official crime data seldom include motive, so this measure of crime is very insightful. Gang homicides tend to garner heightened media attention thereby increasing the general public’s fear of a neighborhood’s residents and provoking the neighborhood image as bad or dangerous. Gang homicides are particularly threatening because they most often involve guns and occur publicly on the streets. The victims are disproportionately young minority males and innocent bystanders. Though the total number of homicides decreased in the city of Chicago from 1994 to 2005, gang homicides did not follow the same pattern.
Figure 3 – Number of Total Homicides and Gang Motivated Homicides in Chicago, 1994-2005
Adapted from Smith 2014
Figure 3 shows an overall decline in Chicago homicides ranging from 928 in 1994 to 448 in 2005. The gang homicide line is much more sporadic. Comparing these two lines suggests that mechanisms driving down total homicides may not have had the same effect on gang homicides. In fact, the proportion of gang homicides to total homicides actually increased during this time |
a request. Things like changing background music, set remodeling, wardrobe changes, etc. If you fulfill their requests, you’ll become closer. 10,000 Feet Alps: This is a continuation of the mini-game, “Look this way!” You’ll play this nostalgic game with Miku and friends. The speed of the song changes, so it can get difficult!
Songs shown include “Decorator” by Livetune, “Nisoku Hokou” by Deco 27, “Suki Kirai” by HoneyWorks, “Melt” by Ryo, and “Mikumiku ni Shite Ageru” by Ika_mo.
And modules shown include “Breath You” by Shirako Mugi, “Yume Miru Panda” by Yamako, “Koisuru Shirokuma” by Yamako, “Hatsune Miku V3” by iXima, “Kaito V3” by iXima, “Gothic” by Karasu-R, “Fraulein” by Hako, and “Fuwafuwa Coat” by Nananana10.
View the screenshots at the gallery. (Or download them in a 30mb zip here.) Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd is due out for PlayStation 3 and PS Vita in Japan on March 6.Dear Cincinnati,
The word floating from the Queen City down the Ohio via the Trinity River to the Stockyards and here in Fort Worth is that you have grown tired of your starting quarterback of the Bengals.
In any other circumstance, we would not give a bleep about a Bengals quarterback but, in the particular case of the Andy Dalton, a large number of us down here have a vested interest in his career.
Having been born at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and for years claiming the Bengals as my own, do not take this man for granted as a player or a human being. Remember where you were before Andy Dalton arrived to your awful, horrible, wretched, bad-joke franchise.
Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to the Star-Telegram
These days, our favorite former TCU quarterback who led the Horned Frogs to their greatest glory in the modern era is in the Cincy Sports Pit of Shame because of his playoff record.
He is also back in Fort Worth, where he and his family reside in the off-season, and preparing for his annual charity event Wednesday at Joe T. Garcia’s.
The event is open to the public. It raises money for Cook Children’s hospital, and specifically, a room at the hospital where kids can play with electronics while they receive treatment for some truly scary stuff. He also has a charity in Cincinnati.
Andy may be bland in interviews, but this man is everything we say we want in our high-profile athletes. He produces, and then, we absolutely destroy him for not winning every big game every single time.
“Yeah, there needs to be patience, but we are in a league where you have to win now and ‘What have you done for me lately?’” Dalton said in a recent phone interview. “I understand that. You get compared to guys who have been in the league for 10 years and playing the best football. You can look at [Drew] Brees or [Peyton] Manning and some of those guys — it takes a while.”
No, Andy Dalton did not just compare himself to Drew Brees or Peyton Manning, other than to say it takes time for even the best and most celebrated.
Dalton has not been perfect, but no man has done more for this team than he has. No, he’s not Bengals Super Bowl QB Boomer Esiason and he is not Ken Anderson — who should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — but Dalton has legitimized your franchise by being Andy Dalton. He helped raise expectations for a franchise that previously had zero.
It is not Dalton’s fault the man who owns and operates his team is the single cheapest owner in all of professional sports. Now that Donald Sterling has been kicked from his perch in the basement in the NBA, Mike Brown rivals Dan Snyder as the worst. The too bad part is that, by all accounts, Brown is a decent, congenial man who is simply rooted in antiquated and cheap ways to run a team.
That is not Andy Dalton’s fault.
Dalton is 40-23-1 in his career as a starter with the Bengals, and led this team to four consecutive playoff appearances, and three straight double-digit win seasons.
To put that in perspective, before Dalton arrived in 2011, the Bengals had been open for business since 1968 and never made four straight playoff appearances. Before Dalton arrived, this team had never won 10 or more games in three straight years.
The Bengals have put a good team around him, and he is in a brutal division that features the Steelers and Ravens, but at 27, he still has time to grow before he hits his ceiling.
“People look at the negative stuff — that I haven’t done this or that,” he said. “They don’t look at the stuff that we have done, or few have since we got there. But that’s how it is today, and I understand that. You can play it however you want.”
Dalton’s contract is such that the team can cut him at minimal cost after this season, and if the Bengals don’t win a playoff game, even a patient man like Brown might hit the dump button. There is a belief around the Bengals that they are good enough to be better than what they are, and the quarterback gets the blame.
I am not blind — he has to be better. In his four playoff games, he has one touchdown and six interceptions. He has to be more of a vertical threat, and with receiver A.J. Green, there is no reason not to have better numbers. It may not be in there, but to give up on him now after all that he is done is dumb.
I am also not (that) dumb — this team was an embarrassment before Dalton arrived. It’s not a coincidence that the team has improved since he took over.
No, he’s not Tom Brady, but who is?
Cincy, before you cut Andy Dalton and hate him for what he isn’t, remember what the Bengals were before he came to your town.
Sincerely,
Mac Engel
Fort Worth, Texas
TCU class of ’98
Listen to Mac Engel every Tuesday and Thursday on Shan & RJ from 5:30-10 a.m. on 105.3 The Fan."Metadata is extraordinarily intrusive. As an analyst, I would prefer to be looking at metadata than looking at content, because it's quicker and easier, and it doesn't lie."
Image: Screenshot
In just two sentences, Edward Snowden nailed the hypocrisy — or perhaps it's really just stupidity — at the heart of the Australian government's efforts to sell a mandatory data-retention scheme.
Snowden was appearing via a video link at the Moment of Truth event in New Zealand on Monday night. He was speaking to ardent fans — he scored a standing ovation laced with the tribal whooping of "Yeah!" and "Woo!" before he'd even begun — so he had an easy run. But he also spoke with a clarity that's hard to argue against.
"If I'm listening to your phone call, you can try to talk around things, you can use code words. But if I'm looking at your metadata, I know which number called which number. I know which computer talked to which computer. And yeah, that [capability to access metadata] exists comprehensively for all the Five Eyes analysts," Snowden said.
The signals intelligence agencies of all Five Eyes nations — the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand — have access to the NSA's XKeyscore, a federated search system that deals in metadata captured from the NSA's interception of international fibre links, as well as other sources.
XKeyscore also searches the last three to five days of content data, Snowden said, and that archive is growing — but that's another story.
Snowden isn't the first person to point out that metadata can be more revealing than content. Far from it.
Nigel Phair, who used to head up investigations for the Australian Federal Police's High-Tech Crime Centre, has said exactly the same thing.
"There is a wide range of information that goes under the umbrella of metadata, and I would argue in many instances, it's probably more valuable than the content that comes with it," Phair told ABC Radio National's Sunday Extra last month.
Or, as Stewart Baker, former general counsel of the NSA, said last year: "Metadata absolutely tells you everything about somebody's life. If you have enough metadata, you don't really need content."
Of course metadata tells you everything. Why else would police and spooks want it? A moment's thought reveals why. The content of the phone call may say, "Honey, I'm working late", but the metadata tells you the call is being made from a rent-by-the-hour motel, an hour after a call was made to an escort agency. You join the dots.
As I've said previously, anyone who's still trying to portray communications metadata as less revealing than the content — less deserving of a process like getting a warrant before it can be accessed — is either a fool or a liar.
Which brings me, once again, to Australia's favourite attorney-general, Senator George Brandis QC.
"We want to maintain the sharp distinction between metadata and content," Brandis said in that train-wreck TV interview on August 6, when he discussed the government's plans to retain internet metadata for use by domestic intelligence and law-enforcement agencies.
"That's why we are developing protocols to try and ensure that the integrity of that distinction is maintained," he said.
Now the reason why domestic agencies want to maintain that supposedly sharp distinction is obvious. Under current Australian law, they can access telephone metadata without a warrant. The police, plus a vast array of other organisations, do so half a million times per year. The spooks do it too, but we have no idea what the numbers might be. All of these people want the same warrantless access to internet metadata. And why not? They're busy people. It makes their job a lot easier.
The government seems to believe that the sharp distinction can be maintained by calling the data produced by us "content", and the data produced by the communication protocols and service providers "metadata".
That was an easy distinction with analog telephones. We talk down the wire, and the phone company creates some business records.
But smartphone apps make things a lot more complicated.
Say we ask an app to show us the nearest Italian restaurant. Our location is transmitted to a server somewhere, and results come back. We didn't type it in, but our location is a key part of that communication. Is it content, or metadata? Both? And what about the fact that our location was also sent to an advertising network? Now write that into a law that makes sense.
Yeah, good luck with that.
The problem with trying to maintain this content-metadata distinction, an accident of technological history, is that it completely misses the point.
The real test of whether specific kinds of private data should be accessible with or without a warrant should be the degree to which it's seen as an invasion of our right to a private life — regardless of how the data was generated, regardless of who generated it, and regardless of where it's stored.
The digital world is still evolving rapidly. More data is being collected than ever before, and it's increasing daily. The sheer scale, scope, and potential of digital surveillance represents a massive shift in the power relationship between the watchers and the watched — no matter how much the government pretends otherwise. But our notions of privacy are still being negotiated.
That means this conversation needs to move beyond the narrow circle of government, police, spooks, and, seemingly begrudgingly, ISPs. Snowden was blunt about this.
"When the bulk collection of private citizens' communications — emails, text messages, location data, metadata, calling records, what you order online, what you buy, who you talk to, who you love, what you do — when these things are collected by any arm of government without an individualised, particularised suspicion of wrongdoing on the individual level, that is a violation not just of rights on a national level, but of human rights that are not given to us by government, but are inherent to our nature," Snowden said.
"I think it's wrong of any politician to take away the public's seat at the table of government and say, 'You'll simply have to trust us.'"
Brandis is not only after a "simply trust us" regarding what metadata would be collected — he can't explain it, because he doesn't understand it — he's also after a "simply trust us" regarding what the metadata would be used for. When asked directly whether it'd be solely for terrorism cases, he weaselled it.
"Our primary focus is terrorism, but the fact is that access to metadata is an extremely useful criminal investigative tool," he said.
So the attorney-general wants to introduce a law, but he won't be straight with us about what it covers and when it'd be used — and he himself doesn't even understand the subject area.
Yeah, good luck with that too.
Now, what if Brandis were clear about the government's intentions? Explained clearly what data would be collected? That it'd be made available with a warrant, or perhaps some more efficient process that still included external oversight, for specific stated crimes — maybe terrorism and child sexual abuse? Made it clear that extending the system to other kinds of crime would require coming back to the people? I reckon most Australians would be OK with that.
But stumbling through the biggest shift in that power balance since the commercialisation of the internet a generation ago, or maybe even the invention of the telephone more than a century before that? Stammering in ignorance? Smearing the specifics with weasel words? Nah, not so much.The number of ironies surrounding the Tea Party’s latest depiction of Karl Rove as a Nazi is almost too many to count. It was, after all, the Turd Blossom who, together with Lee Atwater, launched the so called “southern strategy.”
That strategy was not novel at all from a world history perspective. In fact, virtually every fascist organization in the world that has ever gotten legs begins with a strategy similar to the “southern strategy.” It is where the elite industrialists first recruit a small core of totally devoted demagogues. Those demagogues are then assigned the task of rallying the most ignorant, low information, and most easily influenced elements of a culture for the purpose of creating social unrest.
It is a textbook approach to launching a fascist movement – for that matter, any extremist movement. In this case, the American elite, billionaire industrialists began by recruiting Karl Rove as their lieutenant demagogue. Karl was then ordered to rally as much of America’s intellectual, low-hanging fruit as possible. Karl began with southern bigots who already had a D.N.A. structure that allowed them to easily hate and Rove used that hate capacity wisely.
In his ugly career the Turd Blossom taught his recruited rabble to hate according to color, gender, sexual preference, social standing, education, regional origin, religion, and political party affiliation – Karl was successful, he helped launch the Tea Party. Karl’s billionaire enablers benefited greatly from Karl’s tea-bag, hate machine.
But there is also another chapter to how most fascist movements play themselves out. Most of the time the turd-blossom-type demagogue, the Karl Rove characters, are inevitably gobbled up by the very riff raff, and ignorant rabble that they helped launch. The billionaires inevitably press on, unscathed, and rarely even visible while the Karl Rove type demagogue dies by the very sword he handed to his excitable, hateful, and angry followers.
So as we look at the tea bagger picture of the Nazi S.S. trooper that captures Karl Rove’s true, inner spirit, a few thoughts should occur to all of us. First and foremost should be our recognition that almost every fascist demagogue ends up in the same place – gobbled up by the same radical wing-nuts he helped to create.Cars lined up at a Haikou, China gas station – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (Jan 2012)
Want to get rich? Open up a gas station, a car wash, or an auto repair garage in China. Car culture is sweeping through China as car ownership becomes affordable to countless new Chinese families. Car wash stations and auto repair shops are sprouting up all over the city I am living in – with demand still outpacing supply. Long line-ups are a regular occurrence at gas stations here. The consensus among locals I speak to is that everyone wants to have a car. Owning a car validates that someone has reached a certain point of “success” in their life and once you reach that point where you can afford a car you never go back to riding scooters again. The status works on a rising scale. The poorest of poor use pedal bicycles, which are becoming very uncommon here as people’s increasing wealth allows them to move up the chain to riding electric scooters. Once someone reaches the next plateau of wealth, they ditch the electric scooters and graduate to car ownership. The wealthier you get, the more expensive your car is. As the wealth here increases – and thus the number of automobiles increases – the Chinese will discover the ills and inconveniences of car ownership. They will reminisce about the days when they could actually get to their destination in a reasonable time on a bicycle or a scooter instead of sitting bumper-to-bumper not getting anywhere.
When they are sitting in a line-up for an hour just to fill their car with fuel they will miss plugging their scooter into the wall to re-charge it or hopping on their bicycle.
Yet they will find ways to rationalize sitting in traffic jams for two hours. They will tell you how comfortable their car is, how much they love listening to music in their car. They will find any reason to justify it – just like we have done since car culture swept through North America some forty plus years ago.
Below are a few photos I took of car-related business around the city while pedaling around on Saturday.
One of many car washing stations around the city – many of which didn’t exist a few years ago:
One-block-long line-up of cars waiting to get gas:
Some people got out of their car to get some fresh air while waiting for fuel:
Another car wash station:
Porsche SUV and other cars being washed:
Even the natural-gas-powered taxi cabs weren’t exempt from line-ups. This natural gas station had taxi cabs waiting in line to fuel up:
Cars slowly making their way through this gas bar:
Haikou, China – All photos by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (Jan 2012)
Chinese families thankfully don’t drive anywhere near the distances that Canadians or Americans drive, so cars don’t need to be filled up too often.
People largely live urban lifestyles here – I have yet to see a detached single family house in all my travels through China – so long commutes to work from the suburbs are uncommon here.
But this influx of car culture could change all that. Will the Chinese culture of urban lifestyles outweigh the pressures of sprawl? Time will tell.
James D. Schwartz is a Transportation Pragmatist and the Editor of The Urban Country. You can contact James at james.schwartz@theurbancountry.com or follow him on Twitter.
Related Articles:Tuesday - Drink Specials
Bar Name Drink Special
Vegas Bar $2 well vodka, well whiskey, bud & bud light $4 soco cherry limeade $4 mind eraser $4/$3 bartender called shots
Irish Pub 2.00 jack
Wurzbach Ice House Happy Hour Until 8:00pm $2.00 Domestics $3.00 Imports $2.50 Wells 8:00pm Until Close $1.50 Tecate and Tecate Light Cans $2.00 Modello Especial Cans $2.00 Dos Equis Cans $3.50 Purple Geckos
Hemingway's Tavern Night: $3 Bacardi & flavors $3 Sam Adams 4-8pm $2.50/$2.75 you call it happy hour
O'Malley's Sports & Spirits Noon-8pm Happy Hour $2.25 all wine $2.50 long neck domestics $3 wells & import bottled $3.50 Jim beam, Jack, Crown Royal, Makers mark & Smirnoff flavors Night: $2.50 bottle beer, wine, well & call liquor
Rbar 4-9pm 2.50 wells 2.50 domestics
Pressure Cooker Vodka flavors 3.50/3.75 import LNs 3.00
Boneheadz Sport Pub Night: $2 lonestar $3.50 crown $3.50 Vegas bombs 2-8pm happy hour $10 domestics $11.50 budlight, coors, miller buckets $2.75 domestic bottles, $3.25 import bottles $3 wells $4 titos, stoli, absolut $5 belvedere $3.25 Jim beam $4.25 jack & wild turkey $5 crown & makers $3.25 all infused liquids $4.50 Vegas bombs $5 bull blasters $4 red snappers, Washington apples, starf*ckers, kamakazies, woo woos, sunkist
I-10 Icehouse $1.50 Tecate, $1.50 tecate LT, $2.00 tattoo shots, $2.00 corona, $2.00 pacifico, $2.00 dos equis, $2.00 modelos
Safe House Drinkery $2.50 Crown Royal & XX
Tonic Bar 3 - 8pm $2.00 Domestic Pints $2.50 Import Pints $2.50 Wells $3.00 Calls $3.00 Jager Night: $2.25 Miller Lite Draft/Btl $2.50 Wells $3.00 Starfuckers
Houlihan's 3-6pm and 9pm-close 1/2 off well drinks, domestic drafts & Long Island Teas (excludes premiums) $1.00 off wine by the glass
Dolce Ultra Lounge Closed
Cross-Eyed Seagull $2 domestics and $2 well drinks until 7pm Lone Star and Lone Star Light for $2, and Smirnoff Flavors are $2.50
Kennedy's Public House $3 Enchanted Rock, Dripping Springs and Shiner Draft
Baker Street Pub $2.50 Smirnoff flavors & shiner
The Falls $2.50 Tuesday’s w 98.5 The Beat $99 Bottle Service
Dixie's Country Bar 1.50 Wells + 2.50 Domestics Happy Hour 3 - 7 pm $2 Miller + Coors $2.50 Wells $3 Wild Turkey, Svedka, Sailor Jerry, Fireball Whiskey, Firefly sweet tea, & Patron Cafe "XO"
Retox Drink specials are Happy hour is from 2pm-9pm Everyday. $2.25 beers $2.75 wells, including $4.50 bull blasters 9pm to close Vj Vinny w/$2.50 domestic beer, $4 Patron and $3 everything else
Key West Cove 3-8pm $2 well vodka, well whiskey, bud light, bud
Miami Bar 3-8pm $2 well vodka, well whiskey, bud light, bud
The Hangar $2.50 Lone Star & Lone Star Light $4.25 Ultimat Vodka $4.25 Skyy Flavors $4.00 Dive Bombers
Rebar $2.00 DOMESTIC, $3.75 PINNACLE AND FLAVORS,$3.75 CROWN
Stacy's Sports Bar 1-9pm $5 big ass beers all day$10 buckets
Cowabunga $6 domestic pitchers $2 Cuervo gold $4 patron
Texan II Night: $2 miller light $2 coors $3 tequila 2-8pm $2 wells/draft beer
Ticket Sports Pub Night: $3.75 svedka $4 firefly $4 three olive flavors 1-6pm $3 wells $3 pints (XX,Shiner,bud light,miller lite, coors light, lone star) $4 mojitos
Palm Restaurant 1/2 beer/ wines by the glass / premium well drinks
Bohanan's Bar 5-7pm 4 domestics bottle $7 bartender choice cocktails 6 house wine glass
Esquire Tavern 3-7pm $4 texas microbrews (ranger creek opa, lucky 'ol sun, live oak hefeweizen, big bark amber, independence pale ale, 512 ipa, 512 pecan porter $3 miller lite, bud light, Budweiser, lone star, XX) $5 old fashioned, French 75, Moscow mule, dark and stormy, & all premium wells $4 bartenders punch
Iron Cactus Mexican Restaurants & Margarita bar 3-6pm $3 house margaritas, domestic beers, well drinks, house wine $5 Mexican martinis, Texas teas
Waxy O'Connor's Irish Pub & Eatery 4-7pm $2.50 bud,bud light,American ale, bud select, bud light lime, miller lite, coors light, XX, Lone star, lone star light, Tecate, Tecate light, Sam Adams Light, Sam Adams cherry wheat $4 16oz pints XX, shiner, Sam Adams seasonal $4 well margaritas (rocks)
Red Square Bar Happy Hour EVERYDAY From 4:00 - 8:00p.m. & Reverse Happy Hour EVERYDAY From 11:00 - 2:00a.m $2.00 Melon Burst Shots $2.75 Wells $2.50 Domestic Beers $3.50 Imports $4.00 Wines $4.50 All Bacardi Rums $5 Long Islands $5.00 You Call It 1st Shelf VODKAS. THE NEW RUSSIAN HAPPY HOUR From 8:00 - 11:00p.m. $4 bottom shelf vodkas $6 middle shelf vodkas $8 top shelf vodkas EVERYDAY
Coyote Ugly 4-7pm 2 dollar domestics 3 dollar wells & imports
Rita's On the River 3-6pm $3 10oz house margaritas
VBar 2-7pm 20% off total bill
Pericos 4-7pm Happy Hour $3 House Margaritas & Parrot Tails $5 House Wine $2 Domestic Bottled Beers $3 Pints $4 22oz $6.75 House Italian Margaritas $4 Pericos Sangria $7 All Margatinis $3 Tecate Micheladas
Drink Texas Bar 2-8pm daily Draft beers from $3.00, Wells from $3.50, Wines by the glass from $5.00
Azuca Nuevo Latino 4 - 7 PM Domestic Beer at $3.00 All well drinks at $3.50 Azuca Cocktails (Pisco Sour, Caipirinha and Mojitos) at $3.50
Bar Louie - La Cantera 4PM-7PM Reverse Happy Hour 9pm-11pm $3 Drafts $4 Wines $5 Martinis 1/2 Price Select Apps & FlatbreadsNew York Yankees manager Joe Girardi. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
The New York City Council announced Tuesday its approval of a bill that will ban consumption of smokeless tobacco at Yankees Stadium and Citi Field, home of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York Mets, respectively.
The vote was 44-3 in favor of the ban, according to the New York Times’ Tim Rohan, and comes a day after the bill was approved 7-1 by the council’s health committee.
Smokeless tobacco has already been banned from baseball stadiums in Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and, as of last week, Chicago. The Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates do not allow smoking at their stadiums.
The move was met with incredulity by Cubs and White Sox players, who viewed the move as one that enters the arena of diminishing the ability for them to make their own choices. Cubs pitcher John Lackey opposed the ban, telling the Chicago Sun-Times that it is not right that a fan in the stadium can purchase and consume a beer but not tobacco.
“I get it, you don’t [want] your Little League kid to do that. I don’t want him [gestures to his nearby son] to do it. I don’t do it personally, honestly. But grown men should have their own choice.”
Cubs Manager Joe Maddon went a step further, saying that he does not support “over-legislating the human race.”
“I stopped chewing tobacco about 15 years ago, and I’m glad that I did because I think I feel better because of it. I know the pitfalls. But I’m into education; education the masses and let everybody make their own decisions. That’s what I’m about. So to tell me what I can and cannot do as an adult –unless it’s illegal; that’s something different.
According to a pair of articles from the New York Post, it does not appear as though the Mets are quite as disturbed by the ban, with one player telling the Post anonymously “if they apply a rule, we should abide by it.” Outfielder Curtis Granderson seemed to echo the sentiments of his teammates, saying that he is just unsure how the rules would be enforced, both for fans and players alike.
“Does that mean a fan at the game will get a citation or something, whether another fan acknowledges it and calls the police or the helpline?” Granderson said. “If a security guard or police or unmarked sees another fan doing it, do they do something? If you see a player doing something, do you give him something, during the game, after the game? It will be interesting to see what the definition is.”
Likewise, the Yankees have also not loudly opposed the ban, as the team attempted to take proactive measures during Spring Training. Per NJ.com, the team hung a sign reading, “Anyone Wanting Nicotine Replacement Therapy Supplies (Gum, Lozenges, or Patches) – To Kick The Habit – Please See Steve Donohue” in its clubhouse. Donohue is the team trainer.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi told the site that he personally does not recommend that players use chewing tobacco and that he felt the team’s move was the right way to go about easing the team into the change.
“They’re giving player a healthy alternative, which I think is a good thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that are dangerous in our world that aren’t outlawed. … But I would recommend our players not do it.”
The lack of outrage by the New York teams may be due to the lack of surprise. The move by the New York City Council falls in line with the notion that the baseball community has been more visibly wary of the dangers that come with tobacco use following the death of Hall-of-Famer and noted smokeless tobacco user Tony Gwynn to salivary gland cancer in 2014.
Tobacco use is already banned throughout the entirety of the minor leagues for players.Developer Joey Hess, a member of the Debian Installer Team, has made a change to the tasksel Debian component that is used during the installation of Debian; the modification causes the software to install Xfce instead of GNOME as the distribution's standard desktop. Shortly afterwards, another modification defined Lightdm as the default log-in manager, replacing GNOME's GDM. Unless the developers have second thoughts, these modifications, which were made over a week ago, will affect Debian 7.0 (Wheezy), which is currently in development.
Commenting on his changes, Hess explained that the measures ensure that the standard desktop will fit on the first installation CD, which GNOME currently does not. Hess said that there may be other reasons to prefer Xfce as the default, but added that this is a complex and subjective topic. "Unfortunately, Debian does not have a well-defined procedure for making such choices," explained the developer, "So, I've decided to be bold, and continue the tradition of making an arbitrary desktop selection for Debian in tasksel".
See also:
Comment: Desktop Fragmentation, a commentary from The H.
(djwm)It's not a joke, The Avengers 1 & 2 director Joss Whedon will be replacing Zack Snyder on Justice League, after Snyder Announced he's leaving to deal with a family tragedy.
The tragedy in question is a massive one: Snyder's daughter, Autumn, took her own life in March, at the age of 20. Zack Snyder and his wife/filmmaking partner Deborah are taking time away to heal their family. As Snyder tells it, trying to finish Justice League was initially his answer to working through the tragedy - but that has since changed:
“In my mind, I thought it was a cathartic thing to go back to work, to just bury myself and see if that was way through it,” Snyder told THR “The demands of this job are pretty intense. It is all consuming. And in the last two months I’ve come to the realization …I’ve decided to take a step back from the movie to be with my family, be with my kids, who really need me. They are all having a hard time. I’m having a hard time.” Whedon was apparently brought in to write additional scenes for the movie after seeing a rough cut; now, he will be finishing those scenes, in order to bring the film to completion. As Warner Bros. Pictures President Toby Emmerich tells it:
“The directing is minimal and it has to adhere to the style and tone and the template that Zack set. We’re not introducing any new characters. It’s the same characters in some new scenes. He’s handing a baton to Joss but the course has really been set by Zack. I still believe that despite this tragedy, we’ll still end up with a great movie.”
Again: This is real, and while Marvel and DC fans have more reason than ever to be united now, the result will likely be a lot of argument on line. Better strap yourself in. For his part, Snyder is making this painful announcement to help insulate Justice League from the savagery of online commentators:
"Here’s the thing, I never planned to make this public,” he says. “I thought it would just be in the family, a private matter, our private sorrow that we would deal with. When it became obvious that I need to take break, I knew there would be narratives created on the internet. They’ll do what they do. The truth it…I’m past caring about that kind of thing now. I want the movie to be amazing and I’m a fan, but that all pales pretty quickly in comparison. I know the fans are going to be worried about the movie but there are seven other kids that need me. In the end, it’s just a movie. It’s a great movie. But it’s just a movie." We wish the Snyder's family support and well-wishes during this difficult time in their lives; and wish Whedon the best while stepping into tragic situation to craft something that both fans and Snyder himself will be proud of.
MORE JUSTICE LEAGUE NEWS:
Justice League is still on track for release on November 17.Angle dodges question about armed revolution
For the first time, Sharron Angle has permitted herself to be directly questioned about her suggestions -- first reported on this blog -- of impending armed revolution. And she basically dodged.
From an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal:
"In fact, Thomas Jefferson said it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years," Angle said in January in an interview with conservative talk show host Lars Larson. "I hope that's not where we're going. But, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies." Asked Thursday whether she was calling for an armed revolution or a political revolution at the ballot box, Angle paused and shook her head as if the question were ridiculous. "I can't believe people are even asking that," Angle said in the brief interview. "I'm very much a proponent of the Second Amendment and the Constitution. But what we have to focus on here is a movement, a movement that's about retiring Harry Reid" by voting him out of office."
That's not an answer. Ms. Angle, what did you mean when you said that people are "looking towards those Second Amendment remedies"?
Again: This isn't about whether she was advocating the use of such "remedies" if the political process fails to reverse the country's direction. I'm happy to believe she wasn't. The question is this: Was she suggesting she believes this is a possibility in the current climate, however remote?
If her original quote had been offered in isolation, it would perhaps be understandable to ignore it. But there's a larger context here. She's repeatedly expressed similar sentiments. And she has a history of associating with groups that have similarly whacked out views. It's fair to press her on what she really believes.Written by Mike Hohnen on June 7, 2013
It’s a big day for fans of metal in Australia –Lamb Of God have announced their glorious return Down Under for September 2013, unleashing upon stages all over the country with Swedish purveyors of chug Meshuggah along for the ride. This is the second massive tour announced by Soundwave today, after they dropped news of Bring Me The Horizon and Of Mice & Men’s second coming for this year.
Just the words ‘Lamb Of God’ are enough to send fans crazy. Displaying one of the most pure forms of relentlessly brutal metal currently going round, the band only goes from strength to strength, and latest album Resolution is tough enough to reach through your speakers and smack your head into the desk. Seriously, try it.
It’s been a turbulent time for LOG since last appearing on our shores, despite their last tour here occuring just over a year ago. Frontman Randy Blythe was recently acquitted of manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic after a sad incident involving a young man’s death following a stage dive at one of their shows in Prague. As soon as Blythe was able to leave the country – and even before then – Lamb Of God were back on the touring wagon, and now we know they’re giving Australia some love as well.
Meshuggah is also one of those bands whose greatness cannot be adequately expressed with words. Bringing a level of technicality and style few manage to conquer, Meshuggah have remained in the throne high atop Metal Mountain |
10.5% of their population.
You might think that wings and potato wedges are traditionally Irish dishes based on the St. Patrick's Day "Specials" being advertised but a truly Irish-American dish served for St. Patrick's Day is corned beef and cabbage. The Irish who emigrated to the Americas were generally poor and this was the best meal most could afford. If you want to try this traditional meal then pair it with a Super Bock Black whose roast-malt bitterness will provide a nice counter to the saltiness of the corn beef. The bonus is it will even look like a traditional Irish stout.
St. Patrick's Day By The NumbersFinian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, he is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. For over 20 years he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organizations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. Now a freelance journalist based in East Africa, his columns appear on RT, Sputnik, Strategic Culture Foundation and Press TV.
The ousting of White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon marks the biggest political victory to date for opponents of US President Donald Trump. Seven months after taking office, Trump’s presidency now looks like a hollow shell.
We have become accustomed to tumultuous politics ever since Trump won the US presidential election last year. But the past week reached a new height of chaos. It kicked off with deadly protests last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, where Nazi-flag-waving white supremacists clashed with anti-fascists.
The week proceeded with the demolition of American Civil War statues – seen as icons of the white supremacists; then there were denunciations of President Trump for appearing to give succor to the neo-Nazis; next, numerous business leaders resigned in protest from Trump’s advisory panels; and finally, the ousting of Bannon from the White House staff.
Read more
His departure was preceded by several other firings in the White House last month, going back to the forced resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn in February over alleged secret dealings with Russian officials.
Trump came under intense pressure to get rid of Bannon, who has been depicted by critics as a Svengali figure, infiltrating the presidency with far-right ideology. Bannon has reportedly rejoined the right-wing news website Breitbart News, where he previously worked as editor before being recruited to the Trump election campaign last summer.
Bannon is described by the Washington Post as the “architect” behind Trump’s stunning presidential election victory over Democrat rival Hillary Clinton. After Trump’s inauguration in January, the new position of White House “chief strategist” was created for Bannon. Political opponents decried the appointment as representing a radicalization of the White House owing to Bannon’s supposed strident views on nationalism, immigration, and Muslims.
READ MORE: ‘No way can we accept racism’: Sessions fails to assuage anger over Trump's Charlottesville response
When Trump made his equivocal condemnation of the racial violence last weekend, in which he appeared apologetic for the white supremacists, equating the violence of Neo-Nazis with that of anti-fascists, it unleashed a political firestorm in the US media. Bannon was fingered as the toxic influence on the president, renewing calls for his resignation. Democrats have been aiming for him to be fired from the outset.
Trump hinted that his chief strategist’s position was in danger when, in a rancorous press conference on Tuesday, he sounded ambivalent about Bannon’s future at the White House. “We’ll see,” Trump said to media questions about the staffer’s job security.
As with much of this week’s events in the US, there seemed to be a large measure of hysteria. A day before rumors of his ousting, Bannon gave a surprise interview to a left-wing publication, in which he stated his condemnation of white supremacist groups. He called them “clowns.” Maybe it was just a cynical foil, but the public repudiation tends to negate opponents’ claims that Bannon was a toxic bigot marring the presidency.
In any case, Bannon is out. He has reportedly said that the radical populist agenda of the Trump presidency is now over. Recall that Trump vowed to shake up Washington’s political establishment – “drain the swamp” – and return governing power to the forgotten masses of ordinary, working Americans. Although an ex-Wall Street financier, Bannon is believed to have engendered the populism in Trump’s manifesto to ‘Make America Great Again.’
Read more
That’s all over, says Bannon. So, the question is: what becomes of the Trump presidency? Will it just be another rubber-stamp for the US establishment, corporate America, Wall Street banks and the political yes-men and women in Congress?
In truth, the Trump presidency was perhaps always that conformist creature. His early appointment of billionaires and Wall Street bankers to cabinet positions in his administration testified to that. But at least with people like Bannon in the inner-circle, there was a faint hope among grass-roots supporters that the Trump presidency might deliver on a radical shake-up of Washington to benefit the “little guy.”
That brings us to the bigger picture of political forces behind this week’s tumult around the president. It can be argued that Trump was never accepted as the elected president by powerful elements within the American political class. The so-called ‘deep state’ of the intelligence-military apparatus, influential media organizations like the Washington Post, the New York Times, and CNN, in conjunction with the Democrats, did not want Trump in the White House.
His potential for populist agitation against the political establishment was seen as a threat to vested interests.
But more than anything, it was Trump’s willingness to normalize bilateral US-Russia relations that alarmed his opponents, especially those in the deep state whose geo-strategic worldview is predicated on military dominance in foreign relations.
This systematic hostility towards Trump explains why for nearly seven months of his presidency, the US media have run an unrelenting campaign accusing him of being complicit in, or at least a beneficiary of, Russian meddling in the election.
However, the trouble for Trump’s opponents is that the ‘Russia-gate’ affair has failed to gain any traction. Lack of credible evidence to support the sensational claims has made the Russia-gate “scandal” look contrived, threadbare and, frankly, ridiculous in its overblown pretensions of being another Watergate – the scandal that caused President Richard Nixon’s ouster in 1974.
Is 'Putin's Russia' responsible for the Ku Klux Klan? (Op-Edge by @27khv) https://t.co/osQgxsAooU — RT (@RT_com) August 15, 2017
Trump has dismissed the claims of collusion with Russian state hackers as “a giant hoax.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has also blasted the claims of Russia meddling as “amusing rubbish.” Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks, the whistleblower site which released emails damaging Hillary Clinton over wide-ranging corruption, has consistently denied US intelligence claims of Russian hackers involved in the election.
Recall that it was the US intelligence agencies, primarily the Central Intelligence Agency, which spearheaded the Russia-gate story. That is proof it was shadowy unelected powers of the deep state which were orchestrating the political-media campaign to disenfranchise Trump.
With the Russia-gate ploy failing to further a soft coup against Trump, his opponents are scrabbling for an alternative means to damage his presidency.
The sudden emergence of turmoil over racial politics, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis appears to provide the sought-after alternative lever against Trump. It seems rather strange that such a fringe issue over Civil War statues and relatively marginal political groups should dramatically ascend to such national prominence.
Read more
Trump’s equivocation over white supremacist groups is certainly appalling. There is no doubt such hate-groups are odious clowns, as Stephen Bannon said.
But there is more than a suspicion that the racial controversy is being amplified way beyond reasonable proportions. The agenda seems to be back to the orchestrated effort to get Trump out of office, or to at least emasculate his presidency to a rubber-stamp status.
Former CIA chief John Brennan pilloried Trump this week as “a national security risk” over his alleged racism. Editorials in top media outlets deplored Trump for bringing the US into international disrepute. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US military also issued highly unusual rebukes of their supposed civilian commander-in-chief.
Where Russia-gate failed, the deep state playing the racial card seems like the new, improved mojo for sabotaging this president.'ISIS want to impregnate Yazidi women and smash our blond bloodline': Fears grow for the 300 women kidnapped from Sinjar
Jihadist troops bolster forces further south in apparent bid to broaden front with Kurdish peshmerga fighters
Expert tells MailOnline:'IS is coming under pressure and they need to show results to fuel their media machine'
Comes after air strikes and Kurdish forces helped to break siege of Mount Sinjar that allowed 45,000 Yazidis to flee
U.S. defence secretary Chuck Hagel said mission to rescue others stranded on mountain was now 'far less likely'
UN declares highest level of emergency for the humanitarian crisis as number of displaced Iraqis tops 1.5million
Advertisement
Fears are growing for the 300 Yazidi women reportedly kidnapped by Islamic State fighters last week amid claims they would be used to bear children to break up the ancient sect's bloodline.
The minority group is originally Aryan and has retained a fairer complexion, blonde hair and blue eyes by only marrying within the community.
But in a furious bid to convert all non-Muslims, ISIS jihadists have vowed to impregnate the hostages.
Some 45,000 Yazidi refugees have finally been able to escape from Mount Sinjar after U.S. air strikes and a fightback by Kurdish forces appeared to have broken the ten-day siege by Islamic militants.
However, as the women remain trapped, Kurdish militia are calling on Western forces to give them arms rather than plotting rescue missions.
Addressing the kidnapping, Adnan Kochar, chairman of the Kurdish Cultural Centre in London, told MailOnline: 'The Kurds and Yazidis are originally Aryans. But because the Yazidis are such a closed community they have retained a fairer complexion, blonder hair and bluer eyes. They don't marry non-Yazidis.
Scroll down for video
Humble: A child lies in a makeshift cot in a refugee camp at Silopi district after the family attacks by ISIS militants in the Sinjar region
A mother tries to cool her tiny baby down in the shade of a van as she fans him in the midday heat
A U.S. special forces team which flew over the mountain found that only around 5,000 Iraqi refugees remained, tens of thousands fewer than previously thought.
Some Yazidis even indicated to American forces that they saw the mountain as a safe haven and were reluctant to leave, it was reported by the New York Times.
U.S. defence secretary Chuck Hagel said it was now 'far less likely' America would undertake a rescue mission.
Desperate for a new life: Yazidis hold banners pleading to leave the country for good during a demonstration in Fishkhabour, Dohuk province
Up in arms: Yazidis demanded protection and evacuation from Iraq to safer areas such as Europe and the United States The declaration of a 'Level 3 Emergency' will trigger additional goods, funds and assets to help the displaced, said special representative Nickolay Mladenov, who pointed to the'scale and complexity of the current humanitarian catastrophe'. Mr Hagel said air drops of food and water had sustained the refugees and air strikes on Islamic State (IS) group militants had allowed many to escape. British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday revealed Britain had been working on 'detailed plans' to airlift up to 30,000 desperate Yazidis from the mountain. But Government sources told MailOnline that the number of people left stranded was now in the 'low thousands'. Britain will now concentrate on getting vital supplies like water and food to up to a million Iraqis that have been driven from their homes.
Despair: A Yazidi family mourns the death of a 40-year-old relative who died from ill health while walking from Sinjar mountains to the border crossing
Yazidis take refuge among the rubbish at the Fishkhabour border crossing. Some 1.5m Iraqis have been displaced by the fighting since the Islamic State uprising in June It was confirmed last night that SAS and SBS troops are already on the ground, supported by specialist signals and reconnaissance forces.
Since June, Iraq has been facing an onslaught by the Islamic State group and allied Sunni militants across much of the country's north and west. In recent weeks, the crisis has worsened as the militant fighters swept through new towns in the north, displacing members of the minority Christian and Yazidi religious communities and threatening the neighbouring Iraqi Kurdish autonomy zone. Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled the advance to take refuge in the remote desert Sinjar mountain range. The U.S. and Iraqi military have dropped food and water supplies and in recent days Kurds from neighbouring Syria battled to open a corridor to the mountain, allowing some 45,000 to escape. The UN said it would provide increased support to those who escaped Sinjar and to 400,000 other Iraqis who have fled since June to the Kurdish province of Dahuk. Others have fled to other parts of the Kurdish region or further south.
Forced into nomadic lifestyles: A graphic showing the movement of displaced Iraqis, in large part as a result of the Islamic State uprising Exhausted: Other Yazidis have fled to refugee camps like this one in Silopi district, in Sirnak, Turkey after trekking for hundreds of kilometres to safety Refugee: The swelling number of displaced Iraqis has forced the United Nations to declare its highest level of emergency to tackle the humanitarian crisis Humanitarian response: An RAF C-130 transport plane lands in heavy fog in Akrotiri, Cyprus, before being deployed to carry out aid drops to stranded Yazidis A GLOBAL RESPONSE: WHO'S DOING WHAT?
UK David Cameron has reigned back plans to airlift Yazidis off Mount Sinjar, but will continue to drop aid to the remaining Yazidis stranded there. The Prime Minister said armed forces assets were in place to 'help out in the right way' if the situation demanded it.
US American forces conducted a seventh airdrop of food and water for those remaining on the mountain, bringing the total aid delivered in co-ordination with the Iraqi government to more than 114,000 meals and 35,000 gallons of drinking water. Washington has already said it will ship weapons to the Kurds to help them fight back against the jihadists.
EU
The European Union is looking into how it could tighten sanctions to stop Islamic State militants from selling oil from fields they have overrun in Syria. The issue could come up at an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers called for tomorrow to discuss the humanitarian and security crisis in Iraq. The EU will increase aid to Iraq to £13.6million.
UN Declared the situation in Iraq a 'Level 3 Emergency' - a development that will trigger additional goods, funds and assets to respond to the needs of the displaced
France France is supplying arms in response to a request from Iraq's Kurdish leadership, President Francois Hollande's office said. France has dropped water, tents and medicine to Yazidis sheltering on the mountain amid fears of an impending humanitarian catastrophe.
Australia
Sending two C-130 Hercules transport planes for humanitarian aid drops to begin within two or three days
A total of 1.5 million have been displaced by the fighting since the insurgents captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, in June and quickly swept over other parts of the country. The United States has been carrying out air strikes in recent days against Islamic State fighters, helping fend back their advance on Kurdish regions. At the same time, Iraq's central government in Baghdad has been mired in political turmoil, after the president nominated a Shi'ite politician, Haider Abadi, to form the next government, putting him on track to replace embattled prime minister Nouri Maliki. Mr Maliki said yesterday he would not relinquish power until a federal court ruled on what he called a 'constitutional violation' by President Fouad Massoum. 'Holding on (to the premiership) is an ethical and patriotic duty to defend the rights of voters,'he said in his weekly address to the nation, insisting his actions were meant to 'protect the state'. Mr Maliki has grown increasingly isolated, with Iraqi politicians and much of the international community lining up behind Mr Abadi. Mr Abadi was picked to form a new government that can unite the country in the face of the Sunni militant onslaught, which many say Mr Maliki fuelled by initiating pro-Shi'ite policies that alienated the Sunni minority. Widespread discontent with Mr Maliki's rule has reached the point where both Saudi Arabia and Iran - regional rivals often bitterly divided over Iraq - have expressed support for Mr Abadi. The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have also offered support for new leadership. In Iran, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed hope that 'a government will be formed so that they (Iraqis) can give the necessary and appropriate response to the sedition-makers'. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it hoped Mr Abadi would establish 'a comprehensive national government that includes all components of the Iraqi people'. The UN Security Council said it was encouraged by President Massoum's decision to nominate a new prime minister-designate and urged Mr Abadi to work swiftly to form 'an inclusive government that represents all segments of the Iraqi population and that contributes to finding a viable and sustainable solution to the country's current challenges'.
Iraqi troops imposed heightened security in Baghdad on Wednesday.
Tanks and Humvees were positioned on Baghdad bridges and at major intersections, with security personnel more visible than usual as about 100 Maliki supporters rallied at Firdous Square.
At a meeting between Mr Maliki and senior military commanders broadcast on state television, the incumbent premier warned that security forces should not get involved in politics.
He also raised the spectre of further unrest by saying Sunni militants or Shiite militiamen might don military uniforms and try to take control of the streets and'make things worse'.
Meanwhile attacks in and near Baghdad killed at least 29 people and wounded scores more yesterday.
A graphic showing the plans that were put in place to rescue thousands of Yazidis trapped in Iraq. This appears to have been called off after the number of those trapped was far fewer than previously thought Scattered: A graphic showing the various escape routes the Yazidis have taken, often through hundreds of kilometres of desert terrain, after being attacked by ISIS
A car bomb in eastern New Baghdad killed eight while six people, including four police officers, died when a car bomb struck a checkpoint in western Baghdad.
A bomb at a central market killed five people while two died in a bombing in the commercial Karrada district. A car bomb in the Baiyaa neighborhood killed four and four more died in a mortar attack north of the capital.
The European Union's 28 foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Iraq tomorrow to co-ordinate their stance on military support for the Kurds and providing humanitarian assistance for those fleeing the fighting.
The EU currently has an arms embargo on Iraq but it provides loopholes for equipment sold or transferred to the Iraqi military or international forces in Iraq.
Sending arms directly to the Kurdish forces without going through Baghdad, however, could be seen as a violation of the embargo - thus the need for a decision by the EU ministers.Posted on November 5th, 2009
Today we’re going to take a look at the five beers that most define they way we think about beer. Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, they have shaped what beer is for the average consumer.
Budweiser – Regardless of how you feel about Budweiser, you can’t deny the huge role it has had in creating the modern American beer landscape. Wherever you are in the US, you can find a bottle, can or draft of Budweiser. Sure, Bud Light has replaced Budweiser as Anheuser-Busch’s signature brand, but it was good ol’ Bud that paved the way. A-B won over the masses thanks to Bud’s universal availability and year after year of clever commercials. Although certainly not the first light lager, Budweiser’s own special blend of corn and rice makes for an “easy to drink” beer that’s great for folks that don’t really like beer.
Guinness – It’s hard to overstate the influence of Guinness stout. For many (including myself), it was the first non-light lager beer they ever tried. In many ways it can be thought of as a gateway beer, introducing many to the world of beer beyond Budweiser. They’ve accomplished this with their velvety smooth texture and lightly roasted flavors. Although Guinness has a reputation as an extremely heavy beer, it’s deceptively smooth and light, which makes it dangerously easy to drink.
Anchor Steam – The original American craft beer. As we mentioned on Tuesday, Anchor Steam was the first brewery after Prohibition to brew without adjuncts or fillers, making it the first craft brewery. When Fritz Maytag bought the failing Anchor Brewing Company in 1965, he probably had no idea it would lead to the craft beer movement, but it did. Anchor Steam showed the world that American beer could be unique, substantial and delicious. The beer itself is a lovely hybrid of the best qualities of ales and lagers. It combines the light and smooth aspects of lager with the warm, round flavors of ale. It’s certainly worth a try.
Sam Adams Boston Lager – While Anchor Steam was the first American craft brewery, Sam Adams was the first to expand their distribution to a national scale. This enabled almost everyone in American to get a taste of lager done the proper way. Without any adjuncts like corn or rice in their beer, Sam Adams became the first American lager to be sold in Germany under their strict beer purity law, the Reinheitsgebot. Sam Adams lager is notably hoppy for a lager, something the company takes considerable pride in, which they should. It’s delicious.
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – Over the last ten years, much of the experimentation and innovation among craft brewers has happened in the realm of hops, and this is the one that started it all. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is one hoppy beer, even by pale ale standards. It delivers a massive hop taste that’s citrusy and floral, really showcasing what hoppy beer can be. Their signature use of Cascade hops also helped usher in that variety as the American hop. To this day, most American IPAs and pale ales have some Cascade in them.
What beers have really influenced the way you think about beer? Where do these beers stack up in your Top 5? Leave us a comment and let us know what your favorites are and where we missed the mark. And as always next time you have a brew let us know by tweeting what you drank and adding the ‘#mybeer’ hashtag.Forward
A note to my LDS friends: Please understand that the purpose of this post is not to disprove or discredit your belief system or you personally. I have a deep respect for each one of you and only desire that the lines of communication that exists between myself and you continue to stay open. I only wish that the rest of Christendom were as open to discussion and as kind in doing so as you have always been to me. Even during the times when I made a fool of myself as a self-righteous Christian and if I have done so now as an atheist. Please allow this post to represent my care for mankind and not a hate for god or religious people. If something here is offensive it was not my intent, but I challenge anyone and everyone that does read this to consider the purpose behind it and the logic behind my own doubt.
———————–
About two months ago I was browsing through my normal routine of atheist sites and blogs when I happened upon an advertisement for Mormon.org’s chat service which allows anyone to log onto the website and chat with a missionary from the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter Day Saints (also known as Mormons or LDS). I decided to log on and chat with the kind folks there to see why they believed what they did and so on, being an individual that is not entirely unfamiliar with LDS beliefs I came in with a foreknowledge of the basic LDS doctrine and simply wanted to challenge these kind people to think about the origin of their belief – something I had to do for myself once upon a time.
Missionary One: Initial encounter
The first missionary I talked to was a very kind young man, if I remember correctly he was 19 and in training to go to South America to present their version of the gospel to the people there, you see, the chat center is located in Provo, UT at the Missionary Training Academy where all the LDS missionaries go for a time prior to being sent out. (Most LDS members go on mission at some point in their life usually in their early 20’s, the mission generally lasts two years and is part of being a holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood). I explained to him that I was an atheist and that I was at one time a Christian, he spoke to me about his “relationship with god” and how he knew god was real because he felt him so strongly in his life and because he had seen god’s many blessings on him and his family. I explained to him a little about my past and how I too had a relationship with my own deity and that at one point I came to realize that this deity was merely my own mental and emotional interpretation of the god of the Bible and the god that I most wanted to serve. (aka, an imaginary friend that I molded after my own view of god). Eventually I gave this missionary my phone number and he and I talked about this subject on two different nights, he would also give me some verses from the Book of Mormon to read. I read what he asked each time that he did. During our last conversation he let me know that he was leaving to go on his mission and would therefore be unable to call again and asked permission to give my number to another missionary named Stephen, I agreed and issued one final challenge to him: I simply asked that he ask himself if he would be comfortable with even the idea of there not being a god and that if he could find a way to cope with that if he would then begin to challenge the idea of god that he had. He agreed.
Missionary two: Stephen
About a week or so later I received a call from Stephen, we essentially picked up where I had left off with the first missionary. We discussed at length on the mind’s ability to create psychosomatic reactions to stimuli that are often attributed to god which easily explains why LDS doctrine teaches that if you study the Book of Mormon and pray asking God if it is true there will often be a sensation in the chest (often referred to as the Burning Bosom). This sensation is nearly universal when it comes to religion, it is very similar to what I have felt while in worship or prayer to my former deity – this feeling is a psychosomatic effect of my subconscious desire to worship or experience the truth of god, it falsely confirms that “my god” is “the god” for almost anyone that needs it to. Stephen had no trouble understanding my viewpoint, but for some reason was unable to grasp that this could just as easily be the effect of Buddhist chanting as it is of praying to the Christian god – especially his god.
I can easily understand Stephen’s issue here, I was once the very same way, in fact it was my own time spent considering psychosomatic effects in religious conversion that assisted me in the painful destruction of my own god more than anything. Initially of course the Bible itself proved to be a study in contradictions, but the emotional aspects of my faith had to be more well explained and understood in order for me to fully reject their implied source. It seems to me that the best method by which we can encourage doubt among believers is less about disproving their theology, but more about proving the capabilities of their own mind…this was ultimately my goal in my discussion with Stephen.
Stephen consistently made it a point to ask me to pray that god would show me that what he said was true, I consistently made it a point to explain to him that I didn’t think that prayer was an appropriate method of discerning truth because it can be so incredibly temperamental. I’ll never understand why an individual can know that other religions experience the same exact feelings of god yet somehow they think that their experience is somehow more genuine than that of others…I was unable to get him to accept this hard truth despite his concession that I was not incorrect about that.
After our last conversation he asked me if I was OK with the local missionaries stopping by one day, I let him know that I didn’t think it was necessary but that I was more than open to it.
The Visitors
About a week after my last conversation with Stephen the sister missionaries from the LDS church came by. They came about 7 o’clock at night because I had to work late that night and they actually were driven to my house by a new member of the local congregation. The two sister missionaries were very cordial, both 24 or younger and quite intelligent. The driver was 26 and had only been a member of the LDS church for 2 months.
I explained to them all about how I had gone from extreme Christian to Atheist and how difficult that time period was for me emotionally. One thing that impressed me the most is that they, along with Stephen seemed to really understand the emotion that I was trying to convey. They seemed to understand because they felt like it would be intensely difficult for them to go through as well. I also made a point to explain that although the initial deconversion process was incredibly painful and that it essentially felt as if everything I had ever known had been ripped away from me that the end result was worth it because I gained a sense of self and a joy in being me. I explained that although I felt happy as a believer, it couldn’t compare to the happiness I feel now as a result of realizing my own potential and living a life without god. (Back when I believed God got a lot more credit than he deserved.)
After we talked for a while I let them know that I had decided to ask the Atheist community of Reddit if they had any questions that they would like me to ask the missionaries and I was overwhelmed with the number of questions I actually got (See them all here). I only got to read through the multitude of questions about an hour prior to their coming to the house so I didn’t get to really dive deep into these, plus the missionaries were running close to their very strict curfew.
Former Missionary:
One of the top rated responses from reddit was from Kadjar:
I was a missionary at that training center in Provo. I was one of the guys on the other end of that conversation. I’m now an atheist, and I’d be happy to give you any advice or answer any questions you might have before they come.
I read this directly to the missionaries and they seemed perplexed and saddened by it, but offered no other comment. I am incredibly glad for Kadjar though, that he/she was able to reject god despite being so bound to him.
Genetics, DNA, Israel connection
Another popular question came from disturbd:
Ask them if they understand genetics and how do they feel about the recent debunking of the Mormon belief that native Americans are descended from a tribe of Israel. Also, ask them why God would give humans and chimps such similar DNA sequences, noting that human chromosome 2 appears to be the result of the fusion of the great ape chromosomes 12 and 13, complete with identical insertion points for ERVS in both sub-telomeric regions. Don’t forget to remind them that numerous experiments have shown that ERV insertion points are random, and that the chances of the 16 ERV insertion point “coincidences” we find in humans/chimp DNA are about 1 in 2.057 x 10^138. In other words, damn near impossible. References: One Two Three
Unfortunately the missionaries refused the pages of evidence I offered to provide them on this, and since I am far from a geneticist I was unable to explain any further than the way the asker posed it. I do know that there is a group funded by the LDS church that claims to perform archaeological research in order to prove the claims made in the Book of Mormon. On that note, I could give this group no more credence than I could the Creation Museum or Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. Pseudo-science that attempts to prove one point of view is not science at all.
Mountain Meadows Massacre
One point of contention that I was unaware of was an event called the Mountain Meadows Massacre, this was pointed out by multiple redditors. My research shows a few conflicting views but from what I gather it seems that at one point in September of 1857 in the Utah territory a militia group with ties to the LDS church and church elders massacred over 120 men, women, and children.
One of the sister missionaries had heard of this and said that all of the elders that were connected to this event were removed from their positions, excommunicated from the church, and many of them were imprisoned. The church has also officially stated that this event should never have occurred. This answer satisfies me, though it doesn’t bring back any lives, recognition of wrongs is something we have been begging the Catholic church to do for hundreds of years.
Conclusion
There were a few other subjects brought up by my fellow redditors but we ran out of time before we could cover them. Some of the other things I did mention the sisters had never heard of (nor had I) but regardless of that they refused to take the pages I printed out for further research if they were interested. This is really where the crux of this post lies: If you are a seeker for truth, whatever that may be, then I believe that regardless of your position or situation you owe it to yourself, your family, and to your “god” to dig deeply for it. It is inconceivable to me that any person of faith would reject pages of information simply because it may take their focus off of god or their mission. I should add, however, that the young convert that drove the two missionaries to my home did seem very interested in the things I was saying and was very eager to take the paperwork I had prepared. She said that she would definitely look through it and I hope that she did.
While the missionaries at the MTA and during their missions they were essentially not allowed to be involved with any sort of study that might be deemed secular. This is, above all things, my major gripe with the LDS church, missionaries are told not to use the internet for personal reasons, they are told that everything they do should be for the Kingdom during this time on mission. These instructions are ones that I find incredibly convenient when a young missionary may be confronted with reasonable doubt while talking to a prospect and be challenged to find resources, the systematic cut off from information that could be detrimental to one’s faith shows me that there is a possible lack of confidence in the gospel being presented and a fear that certain information may inspire doubt in the missionary – the seed of doubt that I attempt to plant may grow into a greater thing if only it is watered with a bit of research and critical thinking.
The only other major gripe I have with the LDS church is that it, along with many other organized Christian organizations has funneled millions upon millions of dollars into campaigns against gay marriage in both California and Maine through Political Action Committee. The LDS and Catholic church are almost solely responsible for both of these states rejecting propositions to allow for homosexuals to freely marry (and adopt). You see, I have always had a lot of respect for my LDS friends. They have always been among the nicest and most knowledgeable people I have known. I always chalked this kindness up to understanding what it was like to be persecuted and being told that they were going to hell. The LDS church and it’s members have experienced the struggle of being a minority and having their rights challenged left in right, to go out and actively campaign against another minority in their struggle for rights is disturbing, among other things.The shoulder injury suffered on 15th September is in danger of leading him to the surgeon's table. Hard words for the Whites' captain, but it could be an unavoidable eventuality if the conservative treatment he has been undergoing continues without putting an end to the discomfort that has forced him to keep stopping.
The operating theatre has loomed large on Ramos since the moment his shoulder had enough at the Pizjuán. The difficulty is that Real Madrid's next match is against Barcelona at the Bernabéu. This is surely something that will affect the date that is chosen in the event that surgical intervention is to go ahead. If he is operated on, he will be out for a minimum of five weeks.
VÍDEO: Sergio Ramos's injury
After the 'Clásico, then what? That is the question that Sergio Ramos will have to face together with Real Madrid's medical team if the player continues to seek a lesser treatment in order to be available for the match against Barcelona on 21st November.
The fact is that time is running out for Ramos, who has already gone nearly two months carrying an injury that has continually caused him problems.I was about two weeks into my sophomore year at the University of Vermont and about 10 weeks into my first pregnancy when my friend Nancy Early picked me up in her red Fiat Spider and drove me to the Vermont Women’s Health Center on North Avenue in Burlington, Vermont. Nancy held my hand while a woman with a kind manner and a VWHC “Health Advocate” button narrated my abortion, sounding like voiceover for the world’s most compassionate nature documentary. After, I felt tired. I felt relieved. And I felt grateful that my abortion was safe and legal and, oddly, a familial legacy. Today—as the Trump administration defunds Planned Parenthood, states chip away at abortion access, and the U.S. Supreme Court tilts conservative—this legacy feels imperiled.
Abortion became legal in the United States with Roe v. Wade in 1973, but Vermont had legalized abortion almost exactly a year earlier. In January 1972 Beecham v. Leahy & Jeffords, a court case brought specifically to challenge Vermont’s 1846 law criminalizing abortion, came before the Vermont Supreme Court, who found on the part of Beecham. This decision made the existing abortion law unconstitutional on the grounds that it held doctors who provided abortion—but not the woman getting one—criminally responsible. (New York State had decriminalized abortion, the first U.S. state to do so, in 1971.)
A group of Vermont women thought that it wasn’t enough that abortion was now legal. They wanted a place that could offer safe abortions, and they wanted to put it in place before anyone could register opposition. As the Supreme Court was deciding Beecham, about 20 Vermont women started to meet clandestinely, and by March 1972 the Vermont Women’s Health Center, the country’s first free-standing, women-run health clinic, opened in Colchester. Though the VWHC merged with Planned Parenthood in |
les are not the best warmth for weight, but they usually make the fit very comfortable. You can make a hood and footbox more easily with vertical baffles. Horizontal Baffles : These baffles go horizontally around the bag, usually wrapping halfway or all the way around. It makes sleeping bags look like giant Michelin Man costumes, but it’s consistently better for warmth.
: These baffles go horizontally around the bag, usually wrapping halfway or all the way around. It makes sleeping bags look like giant Michelin Man costumes, but it’s consistently better for warmth. Continuous Baffles: This is a specific kind of horizontal baffle. Each baffle is one single tube that wraps around the whole sleeping bag or quilt, meaning there’s no extra stitching or walls inside the baffle. This allows users to physically move the down to help regulate temperature. You can move the insulation (usually down) to the bottom or sides for less warmth, or on the top for more warmth. These are only found in high-end sleeping bags and backpacking quilts.
Some sleeping bags have a combination of vertical and horizontal baffles, and are trying to capitalize on the positive properties of both methods.
Sleeping Bag Hoods
Hoods are the cherry on top of the cold-fighting cake of sleeping bags. While backpacking quilts and hoodless bags are gaining traction, a hooded sleeping bag is still by far the most popular kid on the block.
There are a few things to know about hoods:
Hood Cinch: A hood is nice, but it’s really there to help fend off extreme cold and keep in your head’s warmth. To do this effectively it needs an adjustable toggle and cinch. Some hoods have one, others have two. The cinch should be easy to operate in the dark, pull tightly around the whole of your head, and release easily.
A hood is nice, but it’s really there to help fend off extreme cold and keep in your head’s warmth. To do this effectively it needs an adjustable toggle and cinch. Some hoods have one, others have two. The cinch should be easy to operate in the dark, pull tightly around the whole of your head, and release easily. Down Collar: High-end down bags that are rated below freezing often have a down collar. This is a separate baffle beneath your neck that’s overstuffed with down. Added warmth and cozy as hell.
High-end down bags that are rated below freezing often have a down collar. This is a separate baffle beneath your neck that’s overstuffed with down. Added warmth and cozy as hell. Pillow Pocket: Some feature-filled hoods have a specific pocket for a pillow. Not a large pillow, but a place to stuff clothes, air pillows, or a compressed jacket. This is nice because it keeps your pillow from sliding around.
Sleeping Bags with Draft Tubes
A draft tube is a lot like the down collar, but it spans the entire length of your sleeping bag. It goes against the zipper, and is built to keep cold air from seeping through the zipper and into your bag.
Extra Warm : You should definitely consider sleeping bags with draft tubes because they are a solid last line of defense for when things get uncomfortably cold.
: You should definitely consider sleeping bags with draft tubes because they are a solid last line of defense for when things get uncomfortably cold. Can Interfere with Zippers: Draft tubes can interfere with a smooth zipping and unzipping process. Bags that are well designed will have a draft tube that doesn’t catch. Test this before you buy.
Sleeping Bag Zippers
The zippers on a sleeping bag are one of the most important elements.
Zipper Length : You need the zipper to be the length you want (full, half, or around the feet). Make sure you know what zipper length is most comfortable for you.
: You need the zipper to be the length you want (full, half, or around the feet). Make sure you know what zipper length is most comfortable for you. Zipper Durability : You need the zipper to last as long as the bag. Look for YKK zippers — these are industry-standard.
: You need the zipper to last as long as the bag. Look for YKK zippers — these are industry-standard. Usable at Any Moment : Can you locate and unzip it at 4 a.m. in the freezing cold? You’ll need the zipper most at that critical moment, so do a few test runs with it in store.
: Can you locate and unzip it at 4 a.m. in the freezing cold? You’ll need the zipper most at that critical moment, so do a few test runs with it in store. Heavy Duty Zipper Pulls : A small pull with no extra length for handling may cut down on weight, but doesn’t help you open the zipper.
: A small pull with no extra length for handling may cut down on weight, but doesn’t help you open the zipper. What Side is the Zipper On? If you want to zip two bags together for couples camping, check which side the zipper is on. There’s no standard for women or men across all the companies, so if you have a preference make sure to get the bag with the zipper on that side.
Footbox
The footbox has been mentioned before, but it’s a feature worth noting again.
Get a Well-Fitting Footbox : You really do want a footbox that is comfortable for you. This can mean a tighter footbox for higher warmth and extreme coziness, or it can mean a wide, open footbox so you can move around. What do you prefer?
: You really do want a footbox that is comfortable for you. This can mean a tighter footbox for higher warmth and extreme coziness, or it can mean a wide, open footbox so you can move around. What do you prefer? Reinforced Footbox: The footbox tends to get the brunt of the wear, including feet stomping and moisture from the tent sides and ceiling. A reinforced footbox will not only make the bag last longer, but make sure your feet stay warm through anything.
Sleeping Bag Pockets
Some people want a no-frills bag that totally cuts down on weight. Others want a luxury bag that can hold their phone, light, and other objects close at hand. For the second group, look for sleeping bags with pockets. This is more common in car camping sleeping bags than backpacking sleeping bags, but if you search you can find pocket-filled bags for either activity. (Ultralight bags rarely have pockets.)
Sleeping Bag and Backpacking Quilt Cut and Length
This is a large topic entirely dependent on your body size and sleep style, so note the cut and length of the sleeping bag (or backpacking quilt) before you buy.
Men’s Bags: Men’s sleeping bags tend to be cut wide in the shoulders, narrow in the hips, and taper down towards the feet (unless it’s a rectangular bag). Men’s bags are also longer on the whole, with “Regular” fitting a six-foot-tall person.
Women’s Bags: Women’s sleeping bags tend to be cut slimmer in the shoulders, wider in the hips, and taper a little less towards the feet for more movability. Women’s bags are shorter on the whole, with a “Regular” fitting a 5’6” person.
Comfort: As we discussed in the Types of Sleeping Bags, get a bag that is cut in a way that’s comfortable for you. This includes how warm you sleep, if you sleep on your back or side or stomach, and if you like to splay your legs. There are enough options at different weights out there that anyone should be able to find the bag that fits their specific sleep situation almost perfectly.
Sleeping Bag Weight
Obviously one of the most important considerations for any backpacking sleeping bag is weight. Go with less weight and you will thank yourself in the long run. Car camping sleeping bags are not so concerned with weight, but you don’t want to get a ridiculously heavy model that takes up half the car.
Ultralight Backpacking Quilt and Sleeping Bag Weight
1-2 Pounds: This is the target weight for ultralight sleeping bags or backpacking quilts. Most backpacking quilts weigh just over one pound, while most ultralight sleeping bags hover around two pounds. This is for 3-season bags that will work in most environments.
Wilderness Backpacking Sleeping Bag Weight
2-4 Pounds: These are lightweight sleeping bags built for most backpackers. Obviously, the two-pound bags are very light and will cost more. The four-pound bags are not as light, though still manageable. A three-pound bag is the sweet spot for most backpackers, and you can get a good down bag in that weight range that won’t totally break the bank.
Car Camping Sleeping Bag Weight
5-10 Pounds: Yes, there are car camping sleeping bags that weigh ten pounds. I don’t recommend buying one, but they exist. Sleeping bags that are more than four pounds are really meant for car camping, and you shouldn’t try to take one backpacking. They’ll be too bulky to fit in your pack, and probably heavier than your tent!
Sleeping Bag Compressibility, Stuff and Storage Sacks
A sleeping bag’s compressibility is tied to its weight, but they aren’t the same thing. Some sleeping bags weigh very little but don’t compress well; others weigh a moderate amount and compress excellently. This is impacted by the design, the insulation used, and the shell fabric.
There’s also the actual stuff and storage sacks for sleeping bags and backpacking quilts, which is how most people will compress them. Here are a few tips:
Lower weight is better than smaller size : Weight you will feel your entire hike. The size of a sleeping bag may make your pack bulge, but that’s better than it weighing a lot.
: Weight you will feel your entire hike. The size of a sleeping bag may make your pack bulge, but that’s better than it weighing a lot. Compressibility is nice : While weight is more important, if your bag doesn’t weigh much and stuffs down tiny you have more room for other items, or can go with a smaller (and lighter) backpack. It’s a general philosophy of “smaller is better”.
: While weight is more important, if your bag doesn’t weigh much and stuffs down tiny you have more room for other items, or can go with a smaller (and lighter) backpack. It’s a general philosophy of “smaller is better”. Get a specific compression sack: A stuff sack and compression sack are two different things. The stuff sack is what comes with the bag. You should be able to fit the bag in pretty easily. A compression sack has straps to truly compress the bag, making it as small as possible.
Sleeping Bag Care and Maintenance
The last major component to sleeping bags and backpacking quilts is care and maintenance. You have to take care of the expensive thing that keeps you warm, or it will no longer keep you warm.
The good news it that sleeping bag care and maintenance is really not that complicated. It’s also the same process for backpacking quilts, so assume that all of the instructions below are for both products.
How to Store Your Sleeping Bag or Backpacking Quilt
The first component of correct sleeping bag care is to store it properly. A sleeping bag works only if the insulation has enough loft to trap warmth. Therefore, do not store the sleeping bag in a compressed state.
The best way to store a sleeping bag is in a dry, cool area (like a closet), completely open, hanging over something. This allows the insulation to stretch out, breathe, and relax instead of staying squished up tight.
If you don’t have the room for that, keep it in the included storage sack. The storage sack is not the stuff sack. The storage sack is the much larger duffle that (hopefully) came with your sleeping bag. Store your sleeping bag in this in a dry, cool environment.
If your bag didn’t come with one, you can go buy any large container and put your sleeping bag in there, assuming it’s not compressed.
How to Wash a Down Sleeping Bag or Backpacking Quilt
Storage is all well and good, but eventually you’ll need to wash your sleeping bag. Yes, you will need to do it, because your oil, grime, dirt, and general muck is bad for the shell fabric. Also, if you have a down bag, your skin oils can seep into the feathers and shorten the lifespan considerably.
Synthetic bags can usually be thrown in the washer and dryer on a gentle cycle with ease, so they aren’t that complicated.
How to wash a down sleeping bag or backpacking quilt is a bit more complicated, but entirely doable. Here are the steps, from deciding when to wash it to letting it air dry.
1. When to Wash a Down Sleeping Bag
When your down sleeping bag or backpacking quilt has been used for a full season, smells bad, feels sweaty/sticky even if you haven’t used it in a while, or it has been a number of years, it’s time to wash it.
2. Follow Tag Instructions if Available
Most manufacturers will have a tag with instructions for washing. Find these, learn what the symbols mean, and then consult the manufacturer website. Most quality manufacturers will have specific instructions for your sleeping bag.
3. Buy Down Sleeping Bag Detergent
Your normal detergent won’t cut it for a high-end down sleeping bag. To be thorough, use the Nikwax Down Wash (or a comparable product) when washing. It’s best to buy a batch and have it on hand for any of your down products.
4. Find a Large Front-Loading Washing Machine and Dryer
If you have a large front-loading washing machine and dryer, great. You can use them. If not, consider going to a laundromat. You won’t want a top-loading washer because the agitator in the center has a strong chance of ripping the baffles in your down sleeping bag.
5. Make Sure the Washer and Dryer Are Clean and Ready to Use
Remember that sleeping bag shells are prone to rips and tears. Check the washing machine and dryer you plan to use for loose change, paper clips, or any other sharp object. Yes, do this manually with your own hands.
6. Turn the Down Sleeping Bag Inside Out
Most down sleeping bags have burlier, water-resistant shell fabric on the outside. This won’t help the water get to the down; it will inhibit it, and not clean it as well. Turn the bag inside out to make sure your down sleeping bag gets the full wash.
7. Zip All Zippers and Close All Velcro
Make sure everything is zipped up and tight. You don’t want pieces coming undone during the wash and dry cycle.
8. Wash in Cold Water on Delicate Cycle with Detergent
This is pretty simple. Make sure the water is cold and on a delicate cycle. You can wash in lukewarm water, and it will help to cleanse it more thoroughly, but cold water is always safer.
Also, make sure the place you put the down-specific detergent was clean. Use the instructions on that detergent to determine how much you need.
It may go without saying, but wash only one down sleeping bag at a time, with no other clothing or items.
9. Wash Again Without the Detergent
After your first wash the sleeping bag is relatively clean. The second wash, without the detergent, will make sure the down is free of any chemicals and ready to dry fully.
10. After Two Wash Cycles, Transport The Sleeping Bag Carefully
When a down sleeping bag is sopping wet the down has a higher chance of poking out of the shell. It is clumped, angry, and heavy in weird places.
Carry the down sleeping bag carefully from the washer to the dryer. (Yes, you can use a super-clean laundry basket instead of dramatically draping it over both arms.)
11. Dry on Low Heat for About 3 Hours
Drying the down bag is probably the least fun and most time-consuming part of this. You have to dry it on a low setting to keep the down and shell fabric intact. You also have to check the sleeping bag every 30 minutes or so and de-clump the down, because it will be sticking together.
Do this until all the clumps are separated, and the down feels relatively loose. It should also no longer be wet.
12. Let the Sleeping Bag Air Dry at Home
After the wash and dry cycle, let the down sleeping bag air out at home. Do this in a controlled environment, like a closet or garage, and don’t compress the bag at all. Let it sit there for three days.
After all of this you should be able to use a light, fluffy down sleeping bag that no longer has any smells!
Backpacker Types
A sleeping bag or backpacking quilt is an absolute essential for any backpacker. Whether you’re wilderness backpacking or car camping, you need something to cover you during sleep. Check out our thought process behind the different Backpacker Types that need a sleeping bag or backpacking quilt, and how we chose them below.
The Wilderness Backpacker needs a sleeping bag, plain and simple. We recommend sleeping bags with a temperature rating between 20-30 degrees. This allows the bag to be used most of the year. While some people only want a summer or warm weather bag, we find that one sleeping bag that can “do it all” is better for most people, rather than owning multiple bags for different seasons. You can always kick out a foot or open the zipper if you’re hot.
We also recommend down mummy bags for wilderness backpackers. They are proved to be warm, light, and packable. The hood is a great feature for colder nights, and mummy bags are cut a bit wider today for more movement. Down compresses better, lasts longer, and is generally warmer than synthetic.
Ultralight Backpackers need everything the Wilderness Backpacker needs, but it has to be light. As in, under two pounds. Still best for three-season use, we recommend backpacking quilts and super-light sleeping bags for the discerning Ultralight Backpacker. As weight is the primary concern, down, and high-end down, is a must for Ultralight Backpackers.
Keep in mind a backpacking quilt requires a solid sleeping pad that can keep you warm, so if you go this route know what you’re getting into.
Car camping sleeping bags are a whole other story. Weight is not a concern; neither is compressibility. You still want a three-season bag, but luxury features are nice. A bag that opens completely to form a blanket, a bag that has an area for a full pillow (and no hood), and bags that have pockets for phones and other essentials are what we recommend.
On the whole we think car camping sleeping bags should not cost more than $200, which is starkly different than the other Backpacker Types above. This means we like synthetic bags for car camping.
Affiliate Policy: We support the hours that go into our reviews, testing, and guides through affiliate commissions on purchases made through links in this article.The open connecting layout makes the whole interior merge into one where the materials are carried through to the next room to capture a sense of continuity amongst these very different rooms. An example is the raw concrete steps carried through inside the warm comfort spaces.
Another element that is cleverly repeated in most of the residence’s areas is the furniture. In particular, the well known Catifa chair from Arper is seen throughout the indoors. With different upholsteries and the variety in its frame, this feature indicates how continuity can exist through change. Of course both architects have a strong love forArper pieces and the Catifa model is definitely one of the examples why this love is so strong. Being extremely comfortable, this design can be incorporated to compliment opposite style type interiors. Classic yet Contemporary.
And it is this same ideology that makes this residence so appealing and adaptable to all tastes and lifestyle choices.Call the Doctor! Nasa spots Dr Who's crack in the universe in the middle of the Milky Way
For followers of the current season of Dr Who, it is more than a little disconcerting.
For this thick black snake-like object in space bears an uncanny resemblance to the crack in the universe which has haunted Matt Smith and his companion, Karen Gillan.
Luckily for us, this striking image is the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. In fact, astronomers say its ‘belly’ may be harbouring stars in the process of forming.
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers are referring to as a'snake'....
...but it bears an uncanny resemblance to the crack in space and time from this season of Dr Who
'The snake is an ideal place to hunt for massive forming stars as they have not had time to heat up and destroy the cloud they are born in,' said Dr. Sean Carey of NASA's Spitzer Science Center.
Spitzer was able to spot the sinuous cloud using its heat-seeking infrared vision. The object is hiding in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy, invisible to optical telescopes.
Because its heat, or infrared light, can sneak through the dust, it first showed up in infrared images from past missions.
The cloud is so thick with dust that if you were to somehow transport yourself into the middle of it, you would see nothing but black, not even a star in the sky.
Spitzer's new view of the snake provides the best look at what lurks inside. The yellow and orange spots located on and around it are massive stars just beginning to take shape.
The bright red spot located on its belly is a monstrous stellar embryo, about 20 to 50 times the mass of our sun.Bitnation, a blockchain-based “Governance 2.0” initiative with a collaborative platform for DIY governance, has launched its Decentralised Borderless Voluntary Nation (DBVN) Constitution using Ethereum, International Business Times reports.
The Bitnation Constitution was launched at a public event in Rio de Janeiro, hosted by Bitnation founder Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof and Alex Van de Sande, lead designer at the Ethereum Foundation. The video of the Bitnation Constitution launch event, promoted on Facebook as “Create Your Own Nation In 140 Lines Of Code,” was streamed live and is now online on YouTube.
Bitnation launched several pathfinders and proofs of concept including the first marriage registered on the blockchain and the first blockchain passport. The organization also developed and tested workable DIY land titles recorded on the blockchain in Ghana, where 70 percent of land lacks proper title, preventing investment and borrowing in real property markets. In November, Bitnation partnered with the Estonian government to offer a public notary service to Estonian e-residents based on blockchain technology.
In a recent U.N. working paper covered by Bitcoin Magazine, Brett Scott, the author of The Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money, praised Bitnation’s pioneering work on blockchain-based land-titles. “Bitnation has presented a vision – at least in principle – of hosting completely alternative state institutions (such as security and legal institutions) on blockchain systems, describing states as governance service providers that might be outcompeted by technological platforms,” he noted.
At the same time, Scott, whose vision is centered on a communitarian, social-libertarian approach, criticized Bitnation’s vision of a future stateless society as an extreme techno-libertarian position. According to Scott, modern democratic states can represent the interests of all.
Bitcoin Magazine reached out to Tarkowski Tempelhof and asked about her reactions to Scott’s paper.
"The left-versus-right-wing libertarian debate is rather pointless, in my opinion, because on a free market for governance, you can choose whichever economic model you prefer,” said Tarkowski Tempelhof. “For instance, you can choose to live in a communist commune like a Kibbutz will full economic redistribution, or a capitalist city like Hong Kong or Singapore centered around trade, commerce and private companies. Or you could choose a combination of the two. Having a free market doesn't imply any specific economic model."
Here Tarkowski Tempelhof, a globetrotter who moves around the planet a lot and can feel at home everywhere, is proposing to do away with geographically localized nation states and replace them with distributed opt-in governance systems. Her vision is very appealing to techno-libertarians and fans of John Perry Barlow’s manifesto “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace,” which was cited at the launch event in Rio de Janeiro. Of course, the devil is in the details: how to peacefully handle a dispute between persons who subscribe to different, independent distributed governance systems?
“The reputation system acts as an incentive mechanism to solve disputes,” answers Tarkowski Tempelhof. “Hence, if we have different legal codes, we are incentivized to agree upon one legal code and arbitrator for the specific dispute. If one of the parties refuse to cooperate to solve the dispute, it will be reflected in their reputation. And if people create an unnecessary amount of disputes, being a time and energy drain on other people, that will also be reflected in the reputation.”
One of the strongest objections to technocracy made by Scott in the U.N. paper is that smart contracts defined by algorithms alone without human mediation can be too inflexible.
"Contracts are representations of frequently ambiguous, unpredictable and messy relationships between imperfect humans with imperfect knowledge,” says Scott. “Such relationships cannot easily be pre-programmed, and much of the work of lawyers involves resolving and interpreting contracts in light of changing realities. Building systems that seek to move away from such politicized negotiation can sound utopian, but might equally lead to situations of inflexible technocracy.”
"To say that technology is inflexible, and not always adapted to human nature, is an important point to take into account,” concedes Tarkowski Tempelhof. “We shouldn't attempt to pre-program more than what's needed.
“Rather, all laws should compete on a free market, and be subject to the same reputation as people are, or nations or holons are,” is the solution that Tarkowski Tempelhof proposes. “That way, people can choose the law that fits them best, in each individual situation. In addition to temporary, reputation-based laws, Bitnation is also developing a platform with a significant human focus – core to our service proposition is using human arbitrators, and flexible, soft coded contracts done intuitively by all participants in the agreement.”
Bitcoin Magazine asked Tarkowski Tempelhof to summarize her long-term, 50-plus-year vision for Bitnation.
“I believe the nation state oligopoly is being phased out naturally, due to the forces of globalization, and we’re obviously trying to help fast-forward that process,” says Tarkowski Tempelhof. “But the question is what comes after it? Everything indicates it will be replaced by an even worse one-fit-all governance model, like the U.N., which will lead to perpetual war between people who simply wish to live life as they want, with their own legal code, their own lifestyle. Bitnation counters that dystopian future through creating an open-source nation model, that everyone can fork, to create their own nation. We believe we’ll make both nation states governments, as well as organizations like the U.N. irrelevant, simply through providing cheaper, more secure and better Do-It-Yourself governance services.”
Anticipating that many techno-libertarian readers will find Bitnation’s vision energizing and wonder how to join, we asked Tarkowski Tempelhof how to become a citizen of Bitnation, and what is expected from Bitnation citizens.
“You have to sign on the constitution, and you have to own some cryptoequity (though owning cryptoequity doesn’t automatically make you a citizen),” explains Tarkowski Tempelhof. “You can get cryptoequity either through buying it, or earning it through contributing with work. The equity pays you profit dividend. Later on we’ll enable a system where people can contribute with computing power as well, as the computing power of its citizens is basically the closest thing a virtual nation has to a natural resource, in the same way a nation state has gas or oil. It’s important to note, however, that you don’t need to be a citizen of Bitnation to use our services. Being a citizen only means contributing to Bitnation’s development, and getting dividend in return.”
The Bitnation Constitution is online on Github.Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) is a common web application vulnerability, in which an attacker/hacker fools the victim’s browser into generating requests to a website which performs specific actions on behalf of the logged in user or the victim.
The web server receiving the request and performs the desired actions of the request, which looks similar to the normal request that is generated by the users’ browser. CSRF vulnerabilities can change a lot in severity; good ones can modify settings or post on someone’s side, but critical ones can end with password change, account takeover, and so on.
CSRF vulnerability has been commonly highlighted in the OWASP Top-10 vulnerability list for the past few years. It’s a generally confused vulnerability by the developers who usually miss understanding the root cause of the issue, thereby performing half-baked solutions to prevent the CSRF problem.
Imagine a banking web application that transfers funds to another user based on his username. The following URL is created for the same:
“https://bank.example.com/transfer/money?username=John&amount=500”
So, assuming that the user is logged in and the above URL is received by the server of the web application, it will simply transfer 500 dollars to the username John.
Now this is a normal process until someone with evil aim creates a webpage with the following content and hosts it somewhere:
<html> <head> </head> <body> <img src=”https://bank.example.com/transfer/ money?username=Attacker&amount=2500″/> </body> </html>
If a logged in user (victim) of the banking application views the above page, the browser will try to load the image, which truly is a URL to transfer money to the attacker with the amount 2500 dollars.French president Francois Hollande addresses reporters, November 14, 2015. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty)
With the understanding that we are in the midst of the fog of war, and many early reports may be wrong, here are my initial thoughts on the events in Paris — all subject to change with additional information.
First, a multi-pronged military-style assault on civilian soft targets is exactly the kind of terrorist attack I’ve long feared. Every western capital is vulnerable to attacks like this, and the combination of open borders and thousands of European and American citizens fighting for ISIS renders all of our cities open to assault. This is likely not the last major urban attack, and we may see another soon.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Second, while it is encouraging to see Kurdish progress in Iraq (with considerable American air support) along with seemingly an increased American commitment to fighting ISIS – complete with a modest number of boots on the ground in Syria – this is all too little, too late. ISIS has been allowed not just to live, but to grow. And now it’s demonstrating massive increase in its destructive reach. Within the space of days, it has apparently brought down a civilian airliner, bombed Beirut, and now reportedly launched a multi-pronged urban assault in a western capital. This is what happens when terrorists are allowed safe havens and given free reign to recruit and spread their influence.
#related#Third, Francois Hollande is pledging to wage “pitiless” war. Good. Now let’s see if France backs up its words with actions. While France is often the butt of jokes about its military prowess, it not only has a centuries-old tradition of military valor, it breeds warriors still. May they be unleashed.
Advertisement
Fourth, if European leaders (and the Obama administration) retain a shred of sanity, they’ll rethink their approach to the migrant crisis and start to close their borders, quickly. There are almost certainly more terrorists who have recently arrived in European capitals, awaiting only weapons, organization, and an opportunity to launch the next attack.
Advertisement
Fifth, look for more firefights in Paris as the French police and military likely launch a crackdown orders of magnitude more potent than the crackdown after the Charlie Hebdo attack. If French intelligence services have been monitoring nascent terror cells, look for them to strike hard and fast to forestall any future attacks. For the time being, the gloves will come off.
Finally, my heart breaks for the victims of tonight’s savage attacks. France is our oldest ally, Paris is among the world’s most beautiful cities, and it is horrifying to think that its streets now run red with the blood of the innocent. May God bless and comfort the families of the fallen, and may God strengthen the hands of France’s warriors. It is time to grant ISIS the apocalypse it longs for.× Kidnapper Sues Victims for Not Hiding Him from Police
TOPEKA, Kan. — A man convicted of holding a Topeka-area couple hostage is now suing his victims, claiming that they reneged on an agreement to hide him from police.
Jesse Dimmick is currently serving an 11-year sentence for bursting into the home of Jared and Lindsay Rowley in 2009 and holding the couple hostage at knifepoint while running from police, who wanted to talk to him about a man beaten to death in Colorado.
The couple escaped and called police after Dimmick fell asleep. Now, Dimmick has filed suit in court claiming that he and the couple had an oral agreement that they would hide him from police.
In a hand-written, notarized court document, Dimmick claims that after breaking into the Rowley home, he offered the couple an unspecified amount of money to hide him from police, who he claims were “trying to kill me.”
Dimmick claims that the couple agreed to hide him, “therefore forging a legally-binding oral contract.”
“Later, the Rowleys reneged on said oral contract, resulting in my being shot in the back by authorities,” said Dimmick in the court document.
Dimmick, who does not have an attorney and is representing himself in court, is seeking $235,000 in damages – $160,000 to cover his medical expenses and another $75,000 in pain and suffering.
The couple, who say that they did not accept any money from Dimmick, has asked the judge to dismiss the case.
Dimmick is now being held in an Colorado jail in connection to the September 2009 murder of a Brighton, Colorado, man.A controversial social services provider that operates Canada’s only supervised drug injection centre and runs dozens more projects in Vancouver’s poverty-stricken Downtown Eastside appears headed for involuntary receivership and a possible court battle with the B.C. government, because of concerns over its “spending practices” and financial “irregularities.”
Steps are being taken to “protect provincial assets” including hundreds of social housing units owned by B.C. Crown corporations and managed by the PHS Community Services Society, a registered charity that grew from a single residential facility in 1993 to a $28-million-a-year, taxpayer-funded operation with more than 300 full-time employees.
The province will make an announcement regarding the PHS and its future sometime in the next few days, several government sources confirmed. One possible outcome is the removal of the society’s executive staff and board, with its operations placed under the direction of new management.
Also known as the Portland Hotel Society, the PHS serves thousands of Downtown Eastside (DTES) and area residents suffering from mental illness, drug addiction, infectious disease and other problems. Its activities have expanded in recent years to crack-pipe vending, food sales and catering, even beekeeping. But the society is best known for operating Insite, the intravenous drug facility it opened for temporary “scientific and research purposes” in 2003.
Insite became a permanent DTES fixture after the PHS and several drug users won a series of legal battles with the federal government, which wanted the tax-funded shooting gallery shut down.
The PHS also operates mobile needle exchanges and recently began offering alcoholics the opportunity to make their own booze.
Problems surfaced publicly in November, following a routine audit conducted by B.C. Housing, the province’s Crown corporation responsible for subsidized housing. The corporation announced it had “discovered some irregularities in the Portland Hotel Society’s spending practices,” and had hired accounting giant Deloitte LLP to conduct an independent financial review. A separate review was conducted by Vancouver Coastal Health, the public agency that oversees delivery of health services in the DTES.
Last week, B.C.’s deputy premier and minister responsible for housing, Rich Coleman, told reporters his government had examined the two reviews. They raised “significant concerns that we’re going to work through in the next week or 10 days, and [the government will] make some final decisions on how we’ll manage it going forward.”
Mr. Coleman said that forcing the PHS into receivership was “one of the options.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a well-placed government source says the province is looking at two scenarios: removing the society’s upper management and appointing a receiver to run its affairs, and filing a lawsuit against the PHS in an attempt to recover public funds. The province will decide on one option or both, the source indicated.
Contrary to earlier media reports, police have not been asked to investigate the PHS. There is no suggestion of criminal activities. Insite is not a “core” area of concern, according to a government source.
Rumours of questionable spending by PHS insiders on non-essential services such as limousine rides and entertainment have circulated for years in the DTES. The society successfully fought off attempts by one local newspaper to have its financial accounting made public, claiming that while most of its annual funding comes from taxpayers, opening its books to the taxpayers would jeopardize its competitive position in the DTES.
The PHS is the largest non-profit service provider in the neighbourhood, and its senior managers are among the industry’s highest paid. According to financial information it filed with the Canada Revenue Agency for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, the PHS paid six staff members between $120,000 and $159,000 each. Total “expenditure on all compensation” was $15,289,078, more than half the society’s total revenues (not including $6-million from a disposition of assets) in fiscal 2013.
The PHS reported it spent another $358,724 on travel expenses that year, and $398,794 on professional and consulting fees.
The province gave the PHS $18.7-million and the federal government contributed $2.27-million in 2013.
In an email sent Wednesday to the National Post, PHS co-executive director Mark Townsend said he had not spoken to Mr. Coleman, and was “not aware of any allegation of anyone here benefiting at the expense of our clients.” He said he is proud of the society’s work, adding that “all projects and programs are fully audited by our external auditors each year. What we do know is that our lack of administrative systems have left us vulnerable to |
provide wireless charging technology for the upcoming iPhone 8.While Energous CEO Steve Rizzone has continually hinted that his company has established an agreement with "one of the largest consumer electronic companies in the world," leading people to believe the partner is Apple, a new investor's note from Copperfield Research outlines why Apple has no plans to use Energous' WattUp radio frequency-based wireless charging solution.Copperfield Research examined multiple inductive charging patent applications filed by Apple starting in 2013, which now number more than a dozen, suggesting the patents are a clear indication of Apple's desire to pursue its own in-house inductive charging solutions for future products. Inductive charging, widely used today, relies on magnetic coils to provide power rather than radio waves.The patents by themselves are not a clear indication of Apple's plans, but in one patent filed in 2011, Apple makes its feelings on radio frequency-based charging clear, calling it "very inefficient," "not practical," and potentially hazardous. In the interest of full disclosure, however, the patent was filed before any prospective relationship with Energous.Furthermore, Copperfield Research suggests both rumored design decisions and recent news that Apple has partnered with Lite-On Semiconductor for wireless charging bridge rectifiers are indications of Apple's plan to use inductive charging.Bridge rectifiers, explains Copperfield Research, are used to convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC), a component needed for inductive charging and one that would not be necessary should Apple be relying on an all-in-one module from Energous.Apple's rumored decision to use a glass body also reportedly points towards inductive charging. A glass body would not be required for RF-based wireless charging technology, but is needed for an inductive charging solution.Many of Apple's inductive charging patents outline the improvements Apple has made in the field over the course of the last few years and give hints as to how wireless charging could work if Apple is indeed developing an in-house inductive charging solution for the iPhone 8.Patents point towards multiple objects that could provide power, such as a table top with a charging coil built in, a desktop charging station, or even a desktop or notebook computer, which could be used to provide power to an iPhone or iPad. Devices could even share power between one another, suggesting a fully charged iPad could charge an iPhone, or vice versa.Copperfield Research does believe that Apple had a partnership with Energous that gave the Cupertino-based company a way to research radio frequency-based charging without shelling out cash, but concludes that there is an "overwhelmingly conclusive mosaic" suggesting Apple will use in-house inductive charging for the iPhone 8.Copperfield Research is made up of an anonymous group of researchers that have shorted Watt's stock and may not be entirely impartial, but the evidence they have presented makes a compelling argument for the use of an in-house inductive charging solution rather than a partnership with Energous.🚨SAPPY POST ALERT🚨
Anyone who knows me like, even a little bit, knows that Tangled is my favorite movie of all time. I first saw it in theaters with my best friends after I had been accepted into Tulane University. When I was unhappy at Tulane and desperately trying to figure out how I could pursue my dreams of working in animation, I watched Tangled for comfort and inspiration. When I was struggling to finish at Woodbury, I had Tangled basically on loop to get me through. Honestly, this film helped me see the light (womp). So saying that getting the opportunity to work on Tangled the Series (as my FIRST job in animation no doubt) is an honor… is a big, fat understatement. I am so lucky to be a part of this beautiful show that means so much to me. A huge congratulations to every single person on this crew. We have made something truly special. So please tune into Tangled Before After tonight at 8pm Disney Channel… and go, LIVE YOUR DREAM. I sure am!Marion Barry in 1995, and the man who might play him on TV: Eddie Murphy. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post; Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
After years of talk, the unbelievable-but-true story of Marion Barry may be coming soon to a flat-screen TV near you — starring Eddie Murphy as D.C.’s former mayor-for-life.
We’re told that a still-untitled Barry biopic is in development by HBO Films, with the veteran comic and Oscar nominee attached as the star, Spike Lee as director, John Ridley as writer, and all three as executive producers.
D.C. journalists Harry Jaffe and Tom Sherwood have been tapped as consultants — “Dream City,” their 1994 book about D.C. politics, is among the source material the creators are eyeing — as have Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer, the filmmakers behind the 2009 documentary “The Nine Lives of Marion Barry.”
HBO officials would not comment. It’s not the first time the network has considered milking the Barry drama: In 2002, filming was reportedly due to start on a movie starring Jamie Foxx and written by Chris Rock that somehow never happened.
A rep for Councilmember Barry said he did not know about the latest project and had no comment.
Update, Friday: Marion Barry still has no comment, not even when The Root asked nicely
Read earlier: ‘Dream City’ revisited, 10/18/11
Marion Barry declines to discuss potential reality show all about Marion Barry, 3/25/10
“The Nine Lives of Marion Barry,” 6/18/09
Chris Rock script takes a crack at Marion Barry, 6/1/2002Douglas County District Judge Paula Martin on Friday denied a motion to suppress a police interview with an Illinois man accused of binding two of his children by their hands and feet June 13 in the parking lot of a Lawrence Walmart.
Aldolfo Gomez, 52, and his wife, Deborah Gomez, 43, of Northlake, Ill., face two counts each of child abuse stemming from the incident in which police found two of their children, ages 5 and 7, bound near the family’s vehicle.
The interview in question took place about an hour after Aldolfo Gomez was Tasered by police in the Walmart parking lot. Gomez’s court-appointed attorney, Elbridge Griffy, argued Friday that the interview should be tossed out because of Gomez’s mental state at the time.
Gomez testified at the hearing, saying he hadn’t slept in nine days, and felt he was in a dream when first approached by police.
“I wasn’t sure if he (the police officer) was real or not,” Aldolfo said.
Police interviewed Aldolfo for about 30 minutes the day of his arrest, and Aldolfo testified he remembered little of the interview.
“It was a haze,” he said.
Aldolfo also said he feared for his children’s lives and felt demons were after his family.
But Lawrence Police Det. Randy Glidewell, who conducted the interview, said Aldolfo appeared physically and mentally competent to understand his rights and answer questions.
“I didn’t notice any medical distress,” Glidewell testified. Gomez “was coherent and thought process was fine.”
Though Gomez mentioned demons, Glidewell said Gomez did not exhibit any signs of experiencing hallucinations during the interview.
Gomez declined an attorney and waived his Miranda rights during the interview.
“They may be unusual statements,” said Martin of Gomez’s mention of demons. “But there was no evidence he was hallucinating.”
Martin had previously ruled that Gomez was competent to stand trial.
Gomez is scheduled for trial Nov. 5, and his wife is scheduled for trial Oct. 22.
The couple also face five counts each of aggravated child endangerment for alleged treatment of the two young children and three older ones, ages 12, 13 and 15, whom police found in the vehicle. The older ones were not bound when police found them.
Douglas County prosecutors said the children have been placed in protective custody. The parents remain in the Douglas County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond each.CLOSE President Obama broke the record for commuting the most sentences in a single year, just one of the few records he has broken using his clemency power. USA TODAY NETWORK
President Obama speaks during a meeting with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly in White House Oct. 21. (Photo11: SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — President Obama granted 98 more commutations to federal inmates Thursday, bringing the total for this year to 688 — the most commutations ever granted by a president in a single year.
In all, he's now shortened the sentences of 872 inmates during his presidency, more than any president since Woodrow Wilson.
The actions were part of Obama's extraordinary effort to use his constitutional power to rectify what he sees as unduly harsh sentences imposed during the "War on Drugs." Through a clemency initiative announced in 2014, he's effectively re-sentenced hundreds of non-violent drug dealers to the sentences they would have received under today's more lenient sentencing guidelines.
Unlike a full pardon, which represents a full legal forgiveness for a crime, a commutation only shortens the sentence while leaving other consequences — like court-ordered supervision and restrictions on firearms ownership — intact.
But while Obama's commutation grants get most of the attention, he's also been quietly denying a record number of commutations at the same time — a function of the unprecedented number of applications submitted through the clemency initiative.
On Oct. 6, for example, the White House announced that Obama granted 102 commutations. It wasn't until a week later that the Justice Department updated its clemency statistics to reveal that he had denied 2,917 commutation petitions on Sept. 30.
Some advocates for inmates say there's not enough transparency about why some get clemency while others wait.
"We want answers for the families who are still waiting for their clemency," said Jessica Jackson Sloan, national director of the pro-clemency group Cut 50. "There needs to be more communication about why people are being denied."
As of Oct. 7, Obama has granted just 5.5% of commutation applications — still more than many of his predecessors. President George W. Bush granted just 0.1% of commutation applications that reached his desk, but was more generous with full pardons at this point in his presidency.
"While there has been much attention paid to the number of commutations issued by the president, at the core, we must remember that there are personal stories behind these numbers," White House Counsel Neil Eggleston wrote on the White House web site. "These are individuals -- many of whom made mistakes at a young age — who have diligently worked to rehabilitate themselves while incarcerated."
Eggleston said 42 of the inmates who had received commutations were serving life sentences.
Sixty-three of the inmates granted presidential mercy on Thursday will still have two years or more to serve on their sentences, part of a recent White House strategy of issuing deferred "term" commutations instead of the more common time-served commutations.
The longest of those: David Neighbors, a 34-year-old man from Evansville, Ind., whose 2008 life sentence for cocaine trafficking Obama commuted to 30 years. That means he has up to 22 more years left to serve.
And 42 of the commutations granted Thursday have strings attached. As part of an increasing practice of attaching conditions to his commutations, Obama required inmates with a documented history of drug use to enroll in a residential drug treatment program before being released.
At least one prisoner, Arnold Ray Jones of Texas, has refused to accept clemency because of that condition.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2eRwFoUBobby Montoya often dresses like a girl, plays with girl's toys, and most recently, wants to become a Girl Scout.
But when her mother, Felisha Archuleta, brought her to a local troop leader, the child's dreams were dashed. According to 9 News, the Girl Scouts worker said the child could not join, regardless of how the 7-year-old feels, because Bobby had "boy parts."
"I said, 'Well, what's the big deal?' She said 'It doesn't matter how he looks, he has boy parts, he can't be in Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts don't allow that [and] I don't want to be in trouble by parents or my supervisor,'" Archuleta told 9 News.
Bobby was heartbroken.
According to Fox News, the Girl Scouts Of Colorado have since admitted a mistake was made. Apparently the worker who turned Montoya away was unfamiliar with the group's policies, and Bobby is now welcome to join the group. It's unclear as to whether or not she has decided to join in light of the reversal.
Requests for transgender children to join the Girl Scouts have grown according to Fox News, and the group has been working to support them and their families.
However, Bobby's struggles go beyond the Girl Scouts experience. In an interview with 9 News (which you can see below) Montoya says how difficult it can be, especially in school. Often Montoya feels bullied or gets teased because of the way she dresses and acts. Bobby doesn't want these actions to cause change, but admits being made fun of can hurt, and even her mother feels the pain.
Bullying due to sexual orientation or gender identity has long been an issue, most recently in the wake of the suicide of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer last month. While Rodemeyer's case is certainly different from Montoya's both situations have shed light on the struggles of LGBT youth. You can find out more information about the effects of bullying because of sexual orientation and gender identity here, from here, from Mental Health America, or from The Trevor Project.Your first name
YouTube decided it was important to denigrate the holiday that brings American families together to give thanks on Thursday.
In a tweet posted by the official company account for the video service, YouTube shared an anti-Thanksgiving video made by the left-wing Teen Vogue publication.
The tweet sharing the video read: “‘Thanksgiving’ is a loaded word. These girls explain what it means to Indigenous people.”
YouTube’s tweet also included a gif of young Native American women proudly overturning a traditional Thanksgiving table.
"Thanksgiving" is a loaded word. These girls explain what it means to Indigenous people. https://t.co/zqMw96hLJy pic.twitter.com/sL4oIuqoBe — YouTube (@YouTube) November 23, 2017
The Teen Vogue video features the young Native American women delivering diatribes against Thanksgiving as a holiday celebrating land theft and genocide.
Several Twitter users were not happy with YouTube’s anti-holiday message.
You guys can keep YouTube in the #Divorce https://t.co/lwYQtItjNr — David Reaboi (@davereaboi) November 24, 2017
Nobody celebrates this because they hate people, lmao. It's a celebration where people come together and be thankful for what they have. Honestly, these people are the type of people who just purposely want to see the negative stuff in everything that exists. — Arbiter (@ArbiterTheDog) November 23, 2017
Can you stop ruining everything? — CrippleRickle♿️ (@SpinnyXd) November 23, 2017
YouTube, which is owned by Google, wasn’t the only Big Tech company to get in on the Thanksgiving Day shaming. Twitter promoted a “moment” offering a similar point of view that the holiday should be treated as a day of mourning instead of a time for expressing gratitude.
How some of America's indigenous people are observing Thanksgiving dayReal Last Words From Famous People Deathbed statements, last words, uttered by a number of famous people You may enjoy this book with over 5,000 people's last words: Real Last Words of Notable People Adams, John (1735-1826) "Thomas Jefferson--still survives..." (4 July 1826. Jefferson died on the same day.) Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848) "This is the last of earth! I am content." Addison, Joseph (1672-1719) "See in what peace a Christian can die." Akiba ben Joseph (c.40-c.135) "The paper burns, but the words fly free." (at the stake, when the Torah was also burned.) Antoinette, Marie (1755-1793) "Farewell, my children, forever. I go to your Father." Astor, Lady Nancy (1879-1964) "Jakie, is it my birthday or am I dying?" (Seeing all her children assembled at her bedside in her last illness.) Austen, Jane (1775-1817) "Nothing but death." (When asked by her sister Cassandra if there was anything she wanted.) Baer, Max (1909-1959) [American boxer, Heavyweight Champion 1934-5] "Oh God, here I go..." Barrie, James M. (1860-1937) [Author of Peter Pan and other works] "I can't sleep." Barrymore, John (1882-1942) Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him. Bass, Sam (1851-1878) [Texas Outlaw] "Let me go - The world is bobbing around me." (Also reported as "The room is jumping up and down" and "The world is a bubble - trouble wherever you go".) Beaverbrook, Lord (1879-1964) "This is my final word. It is time for me to become an apprentice once more. I have not settled in which direction. But somewhere, sometime, soon." (The last public statement before his death, speech at Dorchester Hotel, 25 May 1964) Beck, Martha ( -1951) [American murderess] "My story is a love story, but only those who are tortured by love can understand what I mean. I was pictured as a fat, unfeeling woman. True, I am fat, but if that is a crime, how many of my sex are guilty. I am not unfeeling, stupid or moronic. My last words and my last thoughts are: Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." (Before her execution.) Becket, Thomas (c.1119-1179) "I am ready to die for my Lord, that in my blood the Church may obtain liberty and peace." (One version of his last words.) Beecher, Henry Ward (1813-1887) "Now comes the mystery." Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827) "Friends applaud, the comedy is over." Beethoven's publisher's web site (www.schott-music.com) claims his secretary wrote that he said "Pity, Pity - too late!" Bevan, Aneurin (1897-1960) "I want to live because there are a few things I want to do." (During his last illness.) Bogart, Humphrey (1899-1957) "I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis." (Unverified -- attributed.) (A recent television biography of Bogart includes Lauren Bacall, his wife, saying that he was at home bedridden with cancer when she left the house briefly, maybe to do grocery shopping. "Hurry back", he said as she closed the door. When she returned he was dead.) Brown, James (1933-2006) "I'm going away tonight." (Reported by his personal manager, Charles Bobbit, who said he was at Brown's bedside when he died, and added that Brown said the statement above, then took three long, quiet breaths, and closed his eyes.) [American boxer, Heavyweight Champion 1934-5] "Oh God, here I go..." Browning, Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) "Beautiful." (When asked by her husband how she felt.) Bouhours, Dominique [French grammarian] "I am about to--or I am going to--die; either expression is used." Burbank, Luther (1849-1926) "I don't feel good." Byron, Lord (1788-1824) "Goodnight." Cavell, Edith Louisa (1865-1915) "Standing, as I do, in the view of God and eternity I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." (To the chaplain who attended her before her execution by the Germans, 12 October 1915) Chaplin, Charles (1889-1977) When the priest who was attending him at his bedsite said "May the Lord have mercy on your soul", Chaplin is reported to have replied "Why Not? After all, it belongs to him." However, this may be apochryphal, since the words are a quotation from his 1946 film, "Monsieur Verdoux", and Chaplin reportedly died in his sleep. Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1600-1649) "Stay for the sign." (After the English Civil War, Charles was tried for treason, convicted, and sentenced to death. His last words were spoken to the executioner, waiting to behead him. He asked if he might be given a moment to pray, and then, when he gave the sign, the ax could fall.) Charles II, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1630-1685) "I have been a most unconscionable time dying, but I beg you to excuse it." (Following the death of Cromwell, Charles I's son became King when the Stuarts were restored to the throne. Arts and Literatire thrived; Charles II was known as "The Merry Monarch".) Childers, Robert Erskins (1870-1922) (Irish Nationalist, executed by an Irish Free State firing squad) "Take a step forward, lads. It will be easier that way." Chubbock, Christine "And now, in keeping with Channel 40's policy of always bringing you the latest in blood and guts, in living color, you're about to see another first--an attempted suicide." (just before she shot herself during a broadcast) Claudel, Paul (1868-1955) "Doctor, do you think it could have been the sausage?" Cleveland, Grover (1837-1908) "I have tried so hard to do the right." Costello, Lou (1906-1959) "That was the best ice-cream soda I ever tasted." Coward, Noel (1899-1973) "Goodnight my darlings, I'll see you tomorrow." (On going to bed.) Coy, Bernard ( -1946) [American criminal] "It don't matter; I figure I licked the Rock anyway." (After he was shot down attempting to escape from Alcatraz Prison) Crane, Hart (1899-1932) "Goodbye, Everybody!" (Said when he committed suicide by jumping overboard during a steamship voyage.) Crosby, Bing (1903-1977) "That was a great game of golf, fellers." Crowley, Francis "Two Gun" (1900-1931) (American bank robber and murderer, before his execution in the electric chair) "You sons of bitches. Give my love to Mother." Czolgosz, Leon (1873-1902) "I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people, the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime." (Before his execution for the assassination of William McKinley.) Danton, Georges-Jacques (1759-1794) "Thou wilt show my head to the people; it is worth showing." (To his executioner, 5 April 1794) Dean, James (1931-1955) "My fun days are over." (Shortly before his fatal car crash.) Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886) "... the fog is rising." Eastman, George (1854-1932) "My work is done, why wait?" (His suicide note.) Emmett, Christopher Scott (1972-2008) "Tell my family and friends I love them, tell the governor he just lost my vote. Y'all hurry this along, I'm dying to get out of here." (Just before his execution in Virginia; he challenged the legality of lethal injections as cruel and unusual punishment, but a federal appeals court rejected his claims.) Feynman, Richard (1918-1988) "I'm glad I don't have to die twice - it's so boring" Fillmore, Millard (1800-1874) "The nourishment is palatable." Flynn, Errol (1909-1959) "I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it." (Said shortly before his death.) Fox, Charles James (1749-1806) "I die happy." Gainsborough, Thomas (1727-1788) "We are all going to Heaven, and Vandyke is of the company." (Attributed last words.) Gandhi, Indira (1917-1984) "I don't mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation." (Said the night before she was assassinated by Sikh militants.) Goldman, Charley ( -1970) [American boxing manager] "Only suckers get hit with right hands." Gwenn, Edmund (1875-1959) "It is. But not as hard as farce." in _Time_ 30 January 1984 (On his deathbed, in reply to the comment `It must be very hard.') Heine, Heinrich (1797-1856) "Dieu me pardonnera. C'est son metier." [God will pardon me. It is his trade.] (On his deathbed.) Henry, O. (1862-1910) "Turn up the lights, I don't want to go home in the dark." (Quoting a popular song, 5 June 1910) Hill, Joe (also Joel Emmanuel Hagglund or Joseph Hillstron) (1879 or 1882 to 1915) "Fire" (Just prior to his execution by firing squad in Utah for a murder he most probably did not commit.) Housman, A. E. (1859-1936) "That is indeed very good. I shall have to repeat that on the Golden Floor!" (To his doctor, who told him a joke just before he died.) Horatio, Lord Nelson (1759-1805 "Kiss Me, Hardy" (Thomas Hardy, the captain of HMS Victory, carried Nelson below decks after he had been hit, and this is what Hardy reported as Nelson's last words; but Nelson is also reported to have later said "Thank God I have done my duty"; Nelson's secretary, John Scott, recorded Nelson's last words as "God and my country". There is also speculation that what was recorded as "Kiss Me, Hardy", might have been "Kismet, Hardy".) Huss, John (c.1369-1415) "O sancta simplicitas! [O holy simplicity!]" (On noticing a peasant adding a faggot to the pile at his execution.) Jackson, Thomas Jonathan `Stonewall' (1824-1863) "Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." (He had been inadvertedly shot by his own men.) Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826) "Is it the Fourth?" (4 July 1826) Jolson, Al (1886-1950) "This is it. I'm going. I'm going." Kath, Terry Alan (1946-1978) [Founding member of the rock band Chicago] "Don't worry, it's not loaded." (Reportedly said to Don Johnson, while pointing a 9-mm semiautomatic pistol to his own head. The single bullet left in the chamber killed him instantly.) Kelly, Ned (1854-1880) [Australian folk hero and outlaw and legend]. "I suppose it had to come to this. Such is life." (As the hangman adjusted the hood to cover his face.) Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963) "If someone is going to kill me, they will kill me." (On arriving in Dallas, 1963) Keynes, John Maynard (1883-1946) "I wish I'd drunk more champagne." Lee, Robert Edward (1807-1870) "Strike the tent." Lehar, Franz (1870-1948) "Now I have finished with all earthly business, and high time too. Yes, yes, my dear child, now comes death." Lewis, Wyndham (1884-1957) "Mind your own business." (When his nurse asked him about the state of his bowels on his deathbed.) Louis XIV (1638-1715) "Why are you weeping? Did you imagine that I was immortal?" (Noticing as he lay on his deathbed that his attendants were crying.) Malcolm X (1925-1965) "Cool it, brothers..." (His last words before being assassinated.) Marx, Karl (1818-1883) "Go on, get out. Last words are for fools who haven't said enough." McLain, James ( -1970) [American criminal] "Take lots of pictures! We are the revolutionaries!" (Before being killed by the police, as he tried to shoot his way to freedom at his trial.) Morant, Lt. Henry H. ("Breaker")(b. Edwin Henry Murrant) (1864-1902) [Australian Anglo-Boer War soldier and poet] "Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!" (To the firing squad that executed him.) Morgan, John Pierpont (1837-1913) "I've got to get to the top of the hill..." Mussolini, Benito (1883-1945) "But, but, mister Colonel..." (Before being executed.) Napoleon I (1769-1821) "Chief of the Army." Narvaez, Ramon Maria (1800-1868) "I do not have to forgive my enemies, I have had them all shot." (Said on his deathbed, when asked by a priest if he forgave his enemies.) Oates, Lawrence (1880-1912) "I am just going outside and may be some time." (Before leaving the tent and vanishing into the blizzard on the ill-fated Antarctic expedition (1910-1912). Oates was afraid that his lameness would slow down the others.) Olivier, Laurence (1907-1989) "This isn't Hamlet, you know, it's not meant to go into the bloody ear." (To his nurse, who spilt water over him while trying to moisten his lips.) Palmerston, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount (1784-1865) "Die, my dear Doctor? That's the last thing I shall do!" (Attributed last words.) Philby, St John ( -1960) "God, I'm bored." Picasso, Pablo (1881-1973) "Drink to me." Presley, Elvis (1935-1977) "I hope I haven't bored you." (Concluding what would be his last press conference.) Raleigh, Sir Walter (1554-1618) "I have a long journey to take, and must bid the company farewell." Rhodes, Cecil John (1853-1902) "So little done, so much to do." Rodgers, James W. ( -1960) [American criminal] "Why yes, a bulletproof vest!" (On his final request before the firing squad.) Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945) "I have a terrific headache." Roosevelt, Theodore (1858-1919) "Put out the light." Rosenberg, Ethel (1918-1953) "We are the first victims of American fascism!" (Before her execution.) Rosenberg, Julius (1918-1953) "We are innocent. That is the whole truth. To forsake this truth is to pay too high a price even for the priceless gift of life. For life thus purchased we could not live out in dignity." (Before his execution.) Runyon, Damon (1884-1946) "You can keep the things of bronze and stone and give me one man to remember me just once a year." Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (1870-1916) "Put that bloody cigarette out." (Just before being killed by a sniper, 14 November 1916) Sanders, George (1906-1972) "Dear World, I am leaving you because I am bored. I am leaving you with your worries. Good luck." (His suicide note.) Sedgwick, John (1813-1864) "Nonsense, they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." (In response to a suggestion that he should not show himself over the parapet during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.) Senna (Da Silva), Ayrton (1960-1994) [Formula One Race Driver] "The car seems OK..." [A few seconds later his steering column broke and he died when his car hit the wall.] Shaw, George Bernard (1856-1950) "I want to sleep..." Smith, Adam (1723-1790) "I believe we should adjourn this meeting to another place." Stein, Gertrude (1874-1946) "Just before she [Stein] died she asked, `What _is_ the answer?' No answer came. She laughed and said, `In that case what is the question?' Then she died." Stevenson, Adlai E. (1900-1965) "I feel faint." (Before collapsing.) Thomas, Dylan (1914-1953) "I have just had eighteen whiskeys in a row. I do believe that is a record." Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862)
`Have you made your peace with your God?'
`I never quarreled with my God.'
`But aren't you concerned about the next world?'
`One world at a time.'
(Discussion with his aunt on his deathbed) Thurber, James (1894-1961) "God bless... God damn." Villa, Francisco `Pancho' (1878-1923) "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." Voltaire (1694-1778) "This is no time to make new enemies." (When asked on his deathbed to forswear Satan.) Wallace, William (1270-1305, Scottish Patriot) "Freedom" [Ascribed to him in the film "Braveheart"; his actual last words, before being hanged, disembowelled, drawn and quartered, are unknown.] Washington, George (1732-1799) "It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go." Webster, Daniel (1782-1852) "I still live." Wells, Herbert George (1866-1946) "Go away... I'm allright." Wilde, Oscar (1854-1900) "Either this wallpaper goes, or I do!" [The authenticity of this quote is complicated by his deathbed conversion back to Catholicism and the fact that a priest was with him up to the very end. Another deathbed quotation is also attributed to him: he asked for Champagne to sip as he died, and as he sipped, he is reported to have said: "Alas, I am dying beyond my means."] Special thanks to people who send us deathbed quotes that are new to us; we're always grateful for our readers' support and help. A correspondent named Nadia recently sent James Barrie, Jane Austen, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. John Whittington, in Australia, sent Joe Hill; Renee Greene of Atlanta sent in James Brown and Charlie Chaplin. Matt Hardin at the University of Queensland sent in Breaker Morant. Jaroslava Pallas sent us Marie Antoinette. Thanks to F. Manning for Bogart's last words. Special thanks to Thom McKee, trivia champ extraordinaire for a correction of John Sedgwick's place of death. Finally, Tom Davidson sent the quote from Christopher Scott Emmett; we don't usually include last words that are so recent, but the situation seemed unusual enough to go ahead and add it to the list. Search mapping.com or the web using google.com:For many of us, the Tension bodyboarding movies were a special time in our lives. A simpler time, when to watch some sick bodyboarding action you had to go and spend $30 on a VHS tape, not just chuck on YouTube or whatever the kids these days do. Tension was a genuine phenomenon back in the day (amongst the bodyboarding world anyway), taking CKY's rapscallion formula and applying it to our own poor, unsuspecting local shopping centres and well-to-do folk. The young-kids-being-idiots-and-getting-up-to-mischief mixed in with high performance bodyboarding action served creator Chris White bloody well across 10 films, and also made people like Ryan Hardy, Sean Virtue, Brad Hughes and Chad Jackson household names.
Apart from the hilarious shit and shakka-inducing bodyboarding action, one thing everyone loved was the soundtracks. Multi-genre before it was cool to like more than one of 'em, one track would be a rap song, the next a hardcore song, then a 70s classic, then a club track... And with that in mind we decided to go on a mission to find as many of those froth-worthy tracks we could on Spotify and chuck 'em all into one beautiful playlist, lovingly titled, TENSION BANGERS.
So follow it HERE or it's embedded for you below, and say hello to the soundtrack to the rest of your life.
Chris White has taken his hand to photography over videography these days, you can follow him on INSTAGRAM - which we highly recommend because there's some incredible imagery to be found. Some of which he's about to be selling as a photo book called DARK LIGHT - more info about that one HERE.Some things just aren’t cool. One of those, according to our no-drama president, is ignorance.
“It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about,” President Obama said during his recent Rutgers University commencement |
. As a result, the Jargon also had the beginnings of its own literature, mostly translated scripture and classical works, and some local and episcopal news, community gossip and events, and diaries.[7] Novelist and early Native American activist Marah Ellis Ryan (c. 1860-1934) used Chinook words and phrases in her writing.[11]
In Oregon, Chinook Jargon was widely used by Natives, trappers, traders, employees of the Hudson's Bay Company, missionaries, and pioneers who came across the Oregon Trail from the 1830s-1870s. In Portland's first half century (1840s-1890s) there were frequent trade interactions between pioneers and Native Americans. After about 1900, when such daily interactions were less frequent, Jargon was spoken among pioneer families to prove how early they arrived out west. Many Oregonians used Jargon in casual conversation—to add humor, whimsy or emphasis and to exhibit deep knowledge of Oregon's history. Though traditions of speaking Jargon faded away among the non-Native population, some of Oregon's tribal groups continued speaking Chinook Jargon, though usage was diminished. However, a strong revival occurred with the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon's 2012 "Chinuk Wawa" dictionary.[12]
According to Nard Jones, Chinook Jargon was still in use in Seattle until roughly the eve of World War II, especially among the members of the Arctic Club, making Seattle the last city where the language was widely used. Writing in 1972, he remarked that at that later date "Only a few can speak it fully, men of ninety or a hundred years old, like Henry Broderick, the realtor, and Joshua Green, the banker."[13]
Jones estimates that in pioneer times in the 1860s[14] there were about 100,000 speakers of Chinook Jargon.[15]
Name [ edit ]
Most books written in English still use the term Chinook Jargon, but some linguists working with the preservation of a creolized form of the language used in Grand Ronde, Oregon prefer the term Chinuk Wawa (with the spelling 'Chinuk' instead of 'Chinook'). Historical speakers did not use the name Chinook Wawa, however, but rather "the Wawa" or "Lelang" (from Fr. la langue, the language, or tongue).[citation needed] NB Wawa also means speech or words – "have a wawa" means "hold a parley" even in idiomatic English today,[10] and lelang also means the physical bodypart, the tongue.[16]
The name for the Jargon varied throughout the territory in which it was used. For example: skokum hiyu in the Boston Bar-Lytton area of the Fraser Canyon, or in many areas simply just "the old trade language" or "the Hudson Bay language".
Origins and evolution [ edit ]
There is some controversy about the origin of the Jargon, but all agree that its glory days were during the 19th century. During this era many dictionaries were published to help settlers interact with the First Nations people living there. The old settler families' heirs in the Pacific Northwest sent communiques to each other, stylishly composed entirely in "the Chinook". Many residents of the British Columbia city of Vancouver spoke Chinook Jargon as their first language, even using it at home in preference to English. Among the first Europeans to use Chinook Jargon were traders, trappers, Voyageurs, Coureurs des bois and Catholic missionaries.[17] [18]
Hawaiians and American in the region made much use of it as well. In some places Kanakas married into the First Nations and non-native families and their particular mode of the Jargon is believed to have contained Hawaiian words, or Hawaiian styles of pronunciation. Similarly the Jargon as spoken by a Chinese person or a Norwegian or a Scot will have been influenced by those individuals' native-speaker terms and accents. In some areas the adoption of further non-aboriginal words has been observed. The Chinook Jargon naturally became the first language in multi-racial households and in multi-ethnic work environments such as canneries and lumberyards and ranches where it remained the language of the workplace well into the middle of the 20th century. During the Gold Rush, Chinook Jargon was used in British Columbia by gold prospectors and Royal Engineers. As industry developed, Chinook Jargon was often used by cannery workers and hop pickers of diverse ethnic background. Loggers, fishermen and ranchers incorporated it in their jargon.
A heavily creolized form of Chinook Jargon (Chinuk Wawa) is still spoken as a first language by some residents of Oregon, much as the Métis language Michif is spoken in Canada. Hence, Chinuk Wawa as it is known in Oregon is now a creole language, distinct from the widespread and widely varied pronunciation of the Chinook Jargon as it spread beyond the Chinookan homeland. There is evidence that in some communities (e.g., around Fort Vancouver) the Jargon had become creolized by the early 19th century and that would have been among the mixed French/Métis, Algonkian, Scots and Hawaiian population there as well as among the natives around the Fort. At Grand Ronde, the resettlement of tribes from all over Oregon in a multi-tribal agency led to the use of Chinuk Wawa as a common tongue among the linguistically diverse population. These circumstances led to the creolization of Chinuk Wawa at Grand Ronde.[19] There is also evidence that creolization occurred at the Confederated Tribes of Siletz reservation paralleling Grand Ronde[20] although, due to language revitalization efforts being focused on the Tolowa language, Chinuk fell out of use.
No studies of British Columbia versions of the Jargon have demonstrated creolization. The range of varying usages and vocabulary in different regions suggests that localization did occur — although not on the pattern of Grand Ronde where Wasco, Klickitat and other peoples adopted and added to the version of the Jargon that developed there. First-language speakers of the Chinook Jargon were common in BC (native and non-native), until the mid-20th century. It is a truism that while after 1850 the Wawa was mostly a native language in the United States portion of the Chinook-speaking world, it remained in wide use among non-natives north of the border for another century, especially in wilderness areas and work environments.[10] Local creolizations probably did occur in British Columbia, but recorded materials have not been studied as they were made due to the focus on the traditional aboriginal languages.[citation needed]
Many[who?] believe that something similar to the Jargon existed before European contact — without European words in its vocabulary.[21] There is some evidence for a Chinookan-Nuu-chah-nulth lingua franca in the writings of John Jewitt and in what is known as the Barclay Sound word-list, from the area of Ucluelet and Alberni. Others[who?] believe that the Jargon was formed in the great cultural cauldron of the time of Contact and cannot be discussed separately from that context, with an appreciation for the full range of the Jargon-speaking community and its history.[7]
Current scholarly opinion[who?] holds that a trade language probably existed before European contact, which began "morphing" into the more familiar Chinook Jargon in the late 1790s, notably at a dinner party at Nootka Sound where Capts Vancouver and Bodega y Quadra were entertained by Chief Maquinna and his brother Callicum performing a theatrical using mock English and mock Spanish words and mimicry of European dress and mannerisms. There evidently was a Jargon in use in the Queen Charlotte, but this "Haida Jargon" is not known to have shared anything in common with Chinook Jargon, or with the Nooktan-Chinookan "proto-jargon" which is its main foundation.
Use [ edit ]
Pacific Northwest historians are well acquainted with the Chinook Jargon, in name if not in the ability to understand it. Mentions of and phrases of Chinook Jargon were found in nearly every piece of historical source material before 1900. Chinook Jargon is relatively unknown to the rest of the population, perhaps due to the great influx of newcomers into the influential urban areas. However, the memory of this language is not likely to fade entirely. Many words are still used and enjoyed throughout Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska. Old-timers still dimly remember it, although in their youth, speaking this language was discouraged as slang. Nonetheless, it was the working language in many towns and workplaces, notably in ranching country and in canneries on the British Columbia Coast where it was necessary in the strongly multi-ethnic workforce. Place names throughout this region bear Jargon names (see List of Chinook Jargon placenames) and words are preserved in various rural industries such as logging and fishing.
The Chinook Jargon was multicultural and functional.[22] To those familiar with it, Chinook Jargon is often considered a wonderful cultural inheritance. For this reason, and because Jargon has not quite died, enthusiasts actively promote the revival of the language in everyday western speech.
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon is taking steps to preserve Chinook Jargon use through a full immersion head start/preschool which is conducted in Chinuk Wawa, in hopes of fostering fluency in the language.[23][24] The Confederated Tribes also offer Chinuk Wawa lessons at their offices in Eugene and Portland, Oregon.[25] In addition, Lane Community College offers two years of Chinuk Wawa language study that satisfy second-language graduation requirements of Oregon public universities.[26]
In March 2012, the Tribe published a Chinuk Wawa dictionary through University of Washington Press.[16]
At her swearing-in as lieutenant governor in 2001, Iona Campagnolo concluded her speech in Chinook, observing that "konoway tillicums klatawa kunamokst klaska mamook okoke huloima chee illahie" - Chinook for "everyone was thrown together to make this strange new country (British Columbia)."[8]
An art installation featuring Chinook Jargon, "Welcome to the Land of Light" by Henry Tsang, can be viewed on the Seawall along False Creek in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia between Davie and Drake streets.[27] Translation into Chinook Jargon was done by Duane Pasco.[28]
A short film using Chinook Jargon, "Small Pleasures" by Karin Lee explores intercultural dialogue between three women of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds in 1890's Barkerville in Northern British Columbia.[29]
Revival of the language [ edit ]
Chinuk Wawa was classified as extinct until the 2000s when it was revived, notably in 2014 with the release of Chinuk Wawa—As our elders teach us to speak it by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. In 2018 a textbook for Chinook Jargon in Esperanto ("La Chinuka Interlingvo Per Esperanto", The Chinook Bridge-Language Using Esperanto) was published in both physical and e-book formats by Sequoia Edwards.
During termination of aboriginal peoples by the United States government, speaking of the language was forbidden, and as a result, developed a decline of speakers. After the conclusion of the termination era with the restoration of tribes in the pacific northwest area, revival of Chinuk Wawa began. To date, there are fluent speakers of Chinuk Wawa, primarily in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Influence on English [ edit ]
British Columbian English and Pacific Northwest English have several words still in current use which are loanwords from the Chinook Jargon, which was widely spoken throughout the Pacific Northwest by all ethnicities well into the middle of the 20th century. These words tend to be shared with, but are not as common in, the states of Oregon, Washington, Alaska and, to a lesser degree, Idaho and western Montana.
Chinook Jargon words used by English-language speakers [ edit ]
Cheechako — Newcomer; the word is formed from chee ("new") + chako ("come") and was used to refer to non-native people.
— Newcomer; the word is formed from ("new") + ("come") and was used to refer to non-native people. Chuck — Water; and thus saltchuck "salt water".
— Water; and thus "salt water". Cultus — means bad, worthless, useless, ordinary, evil or taboo. Cultus iktus means "worthless stuff".
— means bad, worthless, useless, ordinary, evil or taboo. means "worthless stuff". Hiyu — less common nowadays, but still heard in some places to mean a party or gathering. From the Chinook for "many" or "several" or "lots of". The Big Hiyu (also known as "The July") was a week-long joint celebration of Dominion Day and the Glorious Fourth in the Fraser Canyon town of Lillooet, featuring horse races, gambling, a rodeo and other festivities. A tenas hiyu (small gathering) was on a much smaller scale. The community of West Seattle has celebrated the month of July for more than 75 years with the HiYu Summer Festival. [30]
— less common nowadays, but still heard in some places to mean a party or gathering. From the Chinook for "many" or "several" or "lots of". The Big Hiyu (also known as "The July") was a week-long joint celebration of Dominion Day and the Glorious Fourth in the Fraser Canyon town of Lillooet, featuring horse races, gambling, a rodeo and other festivities. A (small gathering) was on a much smaller scale. The community of West Seattle has celebrated the month of July for more than 75 years with the HiYu Summer Festival. Iktus — "stuff" in Chinook Jargon, also pronounced "itkus" with 't' and 'k' reversed.
— "stuff" in Chinook Jargon, also pronounced "itkus" with 't' and 'k' reversed. Klootchman or klootch — in the Jargon meaning simply "a woman" or the female of something – klootchman kiuatan (mare), klootchman lecosho (sow), tenas klootchman or klootchman tenas (girl, female child). Still in use in English in some areas and with people of an older background to mean a First Nations woman, or to refer to the wives/women attached to a certain group in a joking way e.g. "we sent all the klootchman to the kitchen while we played cards". Unlike its male equivalent siwash, klootchman does not generally have a derisive tone nowadays (when used).
or — in the Jargon meaning simply "a woman" or the female of something – (mare), (sow), or (girl, female child). Still in use in English in some areas and with people of an older background to mean a First Nations woman, or to refer to the wives/women attached to a certain group in a joking way e.g. "we sent all the klootchman to the kitchen while we played cards". Unlike its male equivalent, does not generally have a derisive tone nowadays (when used). Masi — In northern BC and the Yukon, and used in broadcast English in those areas, the Chinook Jargon adaption of the French merci remains common, i.e. mahsi or masi, with the accent on the first syllable (unlike in French).
— In northern BC and the Yukon, and used in broadcast English in those areas, the Chinook Jargon adaption of the French remains common, i.e. or, with the accent on the first syllable (unlike in French). It is possible that the slang term moolah, meaning money in American slang, comes from the word'moolah' meaning'mill' in Chinook. [31]
, meaning money in American slang, comes from the word'moolah' meaning'mill' in Chinook. Potlatch — in Chinook Jargon is a ceremony among certain tribes involving food and exchange of gifts, nowadays sometimes used to refer to a potluck dinner or sometimes the giving away of personal items to friends.
— in Chinook Jargon is a ceremony among certain tribes involving food and exchange of gifts, nowadays sometimes used to refer to a potluck dinner or sometimes the giving away of personal items to friends. Quiggly, quiggly hole — refers to the remains of an old Indian pit-house, or underground house, from kickwillie or kekuli, which in the Jargon means "down" or "underneath" or "beneath".
— refers to the remains of an old Indian pit-house, or underground house, from or, which in the Jargon means "down" or "underneath" or "beneath". Siwash — (SAI-wash) properly a First Nations man, but sometimes used for women as well. Nowadays considered extremely derogatory but still in use, typically with the connotation of "drunken no-good Indian". Historically it did not necessarily have this connotation and was the generic term for Natives to the point where some writers thought there was a "Siwash tribe" in the region. The origin of the word is from the French sauvage. When pronounced Sa-WASH, with the rhythm of the original French, it is used by modern speakers of the Chinook Jargon in Grand Ronde, Oregon with the context of meaning a Native American, or as an adjective connoting connection to same (the SAI-wash pronunciation is considered offensive in Grand Ronde).
— (SAI-wash) properly a First Nations man, but sometimes used for women as well. Nowadays considered extremely derogatory but still in use, typically with the connotation of "drunken no-good Indian". Historically it did not necessarily have this connotation and was the generic term for Natives to the point where some writers thought there was a "Siwash tribe" in the region. The origin of the word is from the French. When pronounced Sa-WASH, with the rhythm of the original French, it is used by modern speakers of the Chinook Jargon in Grand Ronde, Oregon with the context of meaning a Native American, or as an adjective connoting connection to same (the SAI-wash pronunciation is considered offensive in Grand Ronde). Skookum — The most versatile — is skookum, which was used in the Jargon either as a verb auxiliary for to be able or an adjective for able, strong, big, genuine, reliable – which sums up its use in BC English, although there are a wide range of possible usages: a skookum house is a jail or prison ( house in the Jargon could mean anything from a building to a room). "He's a skookum guy" means that the person is solid and reliable while "we need somebody who's skookum" means that a strong and large person is needed. A carpenter, after banging a stud into place, might check it and decide, "Yeah, that's skookum". Asking for affirmation, someone might say "is that skookum" or "is that skookum with you?" Skookum can also be translated simply as "O.K." but it means something a bit more emphatic.
— The most versatile — is, which was used in the Jargon either as a verb auxiliary for or an adjective for – which sums up its use in BC English, although there are a wide range of possible usages: a is a jail or prison ( in the Jargon could mean anything from a building to a room). "He's a skookum guy" means that the person is solid and reliable while "we need somebody who's skookum" means that a strong and large person is needed. A carpenter, after banging a stud into place, might check it and decide, "Yeah, that's skookum". Asking for affirmation, someone might say "is that skookum" or "is that skookum with you?" can also be translated simply as "O.K." but it means something a bit more emphatic. Tillicum — means "people/person", "family", and "people".
— means "people/person", "family", and "people". Tolo — used in Western Washington to mean a semi-formal dance, analogous to the homecoming ball, to which girls ask boys. From the Chinook for "to win".
— used in Western Washington to mean a semi-formal dance, analogous to the homecoming ball, to which girls ask boys. From the Chinook for "to win". Tyee — leader, chief, boss. Also Big Tyee in the context of "boss" or well-known person. In Campbell River and in the sport-fishing business, a really big chinook salmon (Campbell River) is a Tyee. In the Jargon Tyee meant chief, and could also be an adjective denoting "big", as with tyee salmon or tyee lamel (boss mule). A hyas tyee means "important/big ruler/leader", i.e. – king, big boss, important ruler, and is also sometimes used in English in the same way as Big Tyee. e.g. "He was the undisputed hyas tyee of all the country between the Johnstone Strait and Comox" This was also the common title used for the famous chiefs of the early era, such as Maquinna, for whom it was applied by Captain Vancouver and others in the context of "king". The Hyas Klootchman Tyee – "Great Woman Ruler", roughly "Her Majesty", was the historical term for Queen Victoria. The word tyee was commonly used and still occurs in some local English usages meaning "boss" or someone in charge. Business and local political and community figures of a certain stature from some areas are sometimes referred to in the British Columbia papers and histories by the old chiefly name worn by Maquinna, Concomly and Nicola. A man called hyas tyee would have been a senator, a longtime MP or MLA, or a business magnate with a strong local powerbase, long-time connections, and wealth from and because of the area. There is a popular BC news site named The Tyee. Beginning in 1900, Tyee was also the title of the University of Washington Yearbook.[32]
Notable non-natives known to speak Chinook Jargon [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Note: The Incubator link at right will take you to the Chinuk Wawa test-Wikipedia, which is written in a variation of the standardized orthography of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde which differs significantly from the orthographies used by early linguists and diarists recording other versions of the Jargon:
Archives [ edit ]
Free e-books [ edit ]
Dictionaries online [ edit ]Sydney Food Bloggers Reveal Their Favourite Restaurants
The Sydney food blogging community has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. It’s a thriving and friendly community that wants to show off what they had for breakfast, brunch and dinner.
Every week there are new food enthusiasts offering their opinions on the internet on where to go for the best feed. As much as food bloggers love new experiences, there’s nothing as comforting as familiarity, so we asked some of Sydney’s best food bloggers to share their favourite restaurants with us.
Vanny from Nessy Eater
“For a Japanese fix, you must go to Masuya because of its fresh sashimi and handmade sushi. You cannot visit the restaurant without ordering their most popular – and my personal favourite – Sapporo hot pot, it’s delish! For dessert, they’ve got you covered with Sake ice-cream, or for matcha fanatics go for green tea brulee.”
Simon from Simon Food Favourites
“I really love the grand dining space, professional yet friendly service and well-presented dishes at est. For many years it’s been my go to place for March into Merivale in March and Good Food Month in October when you can enjoy a fine dining dish with a glass of wine for a special price. I like their approachable and contemporary style of cooking which is refined without being overly tricky and complicated.”
Thang from Noodlies
“Hai Au is a double story restaurant that’s packed each night with hungry local Vietnamese-Australians. The winning formula is home-style with over-the-top Vietnamese decor – there’s a life-sized buffalo by the entrance for example. The open grill by the entrance fires up on weekends for fire-licked grilled chicken or seafood, and they even use it to cook rice so you get delicious burnt, crusty rice. How can you go wrong? Double the taste at half CBD prices.”
Helen from Grab Your Fork
“I love the cheap and cheerful Jasmins Lebanese Restaurant in Lakemba in Sydney’s south-west. It’s run by a warm and friendly family, and the stucco artwork has to be seen to be believed. They do the most incredible falafel too – you can hear the crunch from the next suburb!”
Michael from I’m Still Hungry
“A piping hot bowl of flavoursome broth, noodles at your chosen level of hardness, toppings to satisfy every guilty need. Perfection is something to strive for, but you could do far worse than settling on a bowl of Ippudo’s ramen. My pick – the karaka men, with hard noodles and an oozing lava egg, topped with thick, juicy slices of pork chashu, takes the cakes for my ultimate craving during these wintry days. It ain’t cheap for a bowl of the good stuff, but as they say – the quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.”
Priscilla from Food Porn Nation
“Panzerotti Cafe is my favourite Italian Cafe. It is my go to lunch spot in the Sydney CBD for a great Italian bite. Food is spectacular. It’s authentic, real and delectable, as Italian food should be. Staff are charming, friendly and always memorable and I love how they keep things interesting with their daily specials. Think, squid ink risotto with scallops & caviar. Best thing about it is it’s cheap, cheap, cheap!”
Isaac from iFat
“If I was getting married tomorrow (unlikely because I’ve been single for longer than the Rolling Stones have been around), I would ask Chur Burger to cater my wedding. A food blogger’s favourite, Chur Burger offers six different delicious burgers for $10 a piece. Definitely makes matrimony seem more appealing.”
Amy from Milkteaxx
“One of my favourite hidden gems is Jazushi in Surry Hills. I love their fusion Japanese cuisine and their live jazz entertainment. Perfect for groups and dates alike.”
Irene from Irene’s Getting Fat
“Korean fried chicken is what comes to mind when NaruOne is mentioned. Their deep-fried poultry menu is no kidding, it will bring Colonel Sanders into tears. The other menu is worth trying, but it’s the unbelievably crunchy and juicy fried chicken that will make you sigh in satisfaction with every ear-shattering bite.”
Kylie from Delectably Degusting
“It’s hard to pick a favourite out of so many great choices out there, but I would say one of them would be Ume in Surry Hills. Their Japanese cuisine with a modern twist always amazes me and leaves me wanting more. I think it’s a nice and cosy place with welcoming staff that can make your date, or dinner with family and friends, a very special one.”
For more information on Sydney restaurants, reviews, and recipes, check out all the sites of some of Sydney’s finest food bloggers.The coordinated actions also released a joint statement calling on the Trump administration to stop war provocations aimed at North Korea. The statement draws attention to the long history of U.S. war provocations in the form of economic sanctions and military exercises:
[The] on-going state of suspended war, in addition the decades of US-South Korea joint military exercises and threats of nuclear war have pushed North Korea to develop nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM)… We strongly urge the U.S. government to actively take the path toward dialogue and peace instead of continuing on the current path of sanctions and war.
More Calls for Peace
Other Korean American organizations issued statements denouncing the U.S. government’s war war threats in Korea. New York-based Nodutdol for Korean Community Development called on the U.S. to de-escalate and denounced the U.S. State Department’s recent ban preventing U.S. citizens from traveling to North Korea:
Such isolation — the end goal being regime collapse — is often put forth as the only possible option for dealing with a country the UN has described as guilty of crimes against humanity. But there are growing number of people, including diplomats and foreign policy experts, who say that US policy toward North Korea has simply not worked and that talks are the only way forward.
Read the full statement here
The Korea Policy Institute (KPI) released an open letter on August 9, calling on Trump to start bilateral negotiations immediately:
The D.P.R.K.’s… offer of a freeze and the U.S. State Department’s recent offer to open dialog with the D.P.R.K., should it hold off on further testing of its nuclear weapons, indicates that there is will on both sides to pull back from the brink of war. That is sufficient ground for diplomacy to take root. Indeed, where other U.S. presidents have failed, you have the rare opportunity to succeed in achieving a durable peace with North Korea.
KPI called on the U.S. government to start the process by cancelling the upcoming Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises scheduled to start on August 21:
On the heels of highly inflammatory threats being hurled back and forth between your administration and North Korea, the Ulchi Freedom Guardian war game, starting August 21, 2017, is fraught with danger. A miscalculation on either side could set us on an irreversible path to war, possibly nuclear war in which millions are projected to perish in the first hours of fighting, and which would turn much of the region into an uninhabitable nuclear wasteland.
Read the full letter here.Naked Neck A Naked Neck rooster, with domestic turkeys in the background. Conservation status Study Other names Transylvanian Naked Neck
Turken
Kaalnek Use dual-purpose breed Traits Weight Male:
Bantam 965 g [1] Standard: 3.9 kgBantam 965 g
Bantam 850 g[1] Standard: 3 kgBantam 850 g Female: Skin color yellow Egg color light brown Comb type single Classification APA all other breeds[2] ABA single comb clean legged PCGB rare soft feather: heavy [3] Chicken
Gallus gallus domesticus
The Naked Neck is a breed of chicken that is naturally devoid of feathers on its neck and vent.[1]:134 The breed is also called the Transylvanian Naked Neck, as well as the Turken. Originally from Transylvania and was largely developed in Germany. The name "Turken" arose from the mistaken idea that the bird was a hybrid of a chicken and the domestic turkey. Naked Necks are fairly common in Europe today, but are rare in North America and very common in South America. The trait for a naked neck is a dominant one controlled by one gene and is fairly easy to introduce into other breeds,[4] however these are hybrids rather than true Naked Necks, which is a breed recognized by the American Poultry Association since 1965, it was introduced in Britain in the 1920s. There are other breeds of naked necked chicken, such as the French naked neck, which is often confused with the Transylvanian, and the naked necked gamefowl.
Characteristics [ edit ]
Naked Neck chickens
Despite its highly unusual appearance, the breed is not particularly known as an exhibition bird, and is a dual-purpose utility chicken. They lay a respectable number of light brown eggs, and are considered desirable for meat production because they need less plucking and they have a meaty body. They are very good foragers and are immune to most diseases. The breed is also reasonably cold hardy despite its lack of feathers. Naked Neck roosters carry a single comb, and the neck and head often become very bright red from increased sun exposure. This breed has approximately half the feathers of other chickens, making it resistant to hot weather and easier to pluck.
Recognized color varieties include: black, white, cuckoo, buff, red, and blue in the United Kingdom[citation needed] and black, white, buff, and red in the United States.[2]
Naked-neck trait [ edit ]
The naked-neck trait which characterizes this breed is controlled by an incompletely dominant allele (Na) located near the middle of Chromosome 3.[5] Since this allele is dominant, individuals which are either homozygous dominant (Na/Na) or heterozygous (Na/na+) will exhibit the naked-neck characteristic though the heterozygous individual will exhibit less reduction in feathering - true breeding members of the breed must then be homozygous dominant, and all individuals in the recognized breed must be also. Individuals which are homozygous recessive (or wild type feathered) (na+/na+) would not exhibit any feather reduction characteristics of the Naked Necks and, baring mutation, would be unable to pass that trait down.[6]
Scientific studies have indicated that the naked-neck gene (Na) improves breast size and reduces heat stress in chickens of non-broiler breeds which are homozygous for the trait.[7] Additionally, in tropical climates if the naked-neck trait (Na) is bred into broiler strains it has been shown to facilitate lower body temperature, increased body weight gain, better Feed conversion ratios and carcass traits compared to normally feathered broilers.[8]
See also [ edit ]
French Naked Neck hens in Italy
References [ edit ]Oh god, it’s U2 all over again. Apple will soon start automatically downloading its latest macOS Sierra on any Mac device that supports the new operating system. But don’t get mad just yet, you can still turn it off.
Starting today, users who have switched on automatic downloads – and have enough storage on their Macs – will be automatically prompted to get the latest iteration of macOS, The Loop reports.
The good thing, however, is that the update won’t install without a permission. Since it’s a completely new OS release, the only way to install Sierra is to manually approve the update.
In comparison, Microsoft decided to take a very different approach when the company forced its latest Windows 10 update on users, causing a massive outcry.
If you want to prevent your Mac from automatically downloading the update, you can go to System Preferences, select the App Store and then uncheck the automatic download option.
And in case you’re looking for a solid excuse to slack at work… leave the settings as they are and pretend ‘something’ forced the update on you.
Apple just made macOS Sierra an automatic download on TechRadar
Read next: 4 reasons the Google Pixel could get Google suedDjango Django have always favoured doing things with a twist. Their eponymous debut was hailed for its innovative, modern take on psychedelia, offering a beaty stew featuring everything from African polyrhythms to surf guitar and – that old school favourite – coconut shells knocked together to sound like a galloping horse.
After touring it extensively, the band went to ground for a period, emerging now in this small venue for their first gig in 18 months. It seems immediately clear that the former Edinburgh College of Art students have spent the time working on new material and beefing up their music. They don’t just sound more electronic and groovy than before, but trippier, too. With every facet turned up a notch or two, it can feel simultaneously like being at an early Pink Floyd psychedelic happening and an Underworld-type rave.
There have been other developments. “Jimmy [Dixon, bass] got a cat, and we got Tommy [Grace, keyboards] out of the retirement home,” jokes singer-guitarist Vincent Neff, his football top dripping with sweat. “And we made an album.” That’s on the way, but the new songs suggests they’ve upped the songwriting as well. First Light is like an electro Beach Boys. Reflections is even better: psychpop meets acid house, with a euphoric, transcendent melody.
Django gigs were always physical affairs, but this one ups the ante. “Are you ready to take it higher, Leeds?” asks Vince as old favourites Wor and Hail Bop cause one girl to freak out like she’s at Woodstock, while bodies are passed over the audience’s heads. At just an hour long, this low-key gig is something of a teaser, but the sheer glee on the faces of band and audience suggests that Django Django are back with a big bang.A sacramental of exorcism and of healing, it is used to call down God’s blessing and protection through the intercession of the great saint
The Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict is recognized by the Catholic Church as a sacramental of great power, particularly for those seeking healing from illnesses and deliverance from demonic influences.
Like every sacramental, its power does not lie in its beauty, or even in the prayer engraved on it, but can only be ascribed to the merits of Christ Jesus, to the efficacious prayers of St. Benedict, to the blessing of the Church and to the faith and disposition of the person using the medal. They walk not in superstition but in faith, like the hemorrhagic woman who believed her healing could come from the mere touch of the tassel of Christ’s cloak, or like those who had been healed and exorcised through a cloth that had been in contact with St. Paul.
“When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled” (Acts 19:12).
The medal of St. Benedict is covered back and front with images, and also with a curious series of letters. On the front, the great Abbot and founder of Western Monasticism is depicted at the center. In his right hand he holds a cross, representing the saving power of Christ. In his left hand he shows the book of the Holy Rule, followed by his spiritual descendants even to modern times, and symbolizing here the Benedictine work of prayer and evangelization over the centuries.
The meaning of the series of letters displayed on both sides of the medal went unknown until, in 1647, a manuscript dating to 141 |
got out of my wheelchair and took off. It was funny as hell because I won—I won that jackpot—but I took off and the money went flying through the air. I don't know what happened to anything. We caused a riot on the whole ship. Whoever won that jackpot would have gotten the same treatment. It was a whole nutty affair. War itself is a nutty affair, but somehow I think it may get worse. Look at Russia and Afghanistan. The Russians are a great big power and she goes down over Afghanistan and kicks the sh*t out of their people, but then she runs like hell. Why? The Afghanis have one thing that the Russians haven't got—they like to die. That is part of their religion and they are very religious. The Russians had never run up against that and I can tell you that the war in Europe would have been very different if the Germans were like that. A guy from another culture wouldn't know what to do. The Russians didn't know what to do. I mean, what do you do when you fight an enemy who has a martyr complex? I myself, as a General, if I came up against a culture that was completely different than my own, I would investigate it thoroughly. I don't believe that the Russians were that thorough with the Afghani and this was their fatal mistake. They assumed they just were peasant people and they could just mow over them with their high technology. The Afghani had some technology and I imagine that plenty of them got killed by what the Russians threw at them, but they held their line and they held the Russians back. There were plenty of dead soldiers around—thousands—and it was these farmers and peasants who were doing most of the damage. Soon, even our technology will not protect us. Our opponents will have a different mind and we will find it very difficult to understand them. The Russians are very much like us and our soldiers have a lot in common. Can either army afford the odds of losing thousands and thousands on a war? We will have to find another way to settle our differences. It is in that way that I would say that war is senseless. There is nothing that you would call "romantic" about war. Sure, in the movies and on television they paint a great picture of the fellowship that it creates. I've seen war bring lots of people together, but I can tell you that the cost is extremely high: Not just in terms of lives, but in the human spirit. I think that we are diminished by war; our character as a race is somehow reduced by each war that we allow to happen. Hitler had to be destroyed, there was no choice and I was glad to do my duty—but if there were another way to bring him down I would have preferred it. Perhaps the Germans would have been defeated by their own ambition; they could not possibly hold all of Europe forever—the more you force people down, the more they will push back. It is human nature to be free and I feel that eventually there would have been a revolt. Perhaps it was the right thing to do, but I do not think that this applies to other wars that this country has fought. This country has always been at war—it was started by war. Perhaps that is how it will end. Parting Note: Private First Class Jack Kirby returned to the United States January 1945 and was honorably discharged July 20. He was awarded a Combat Infantry Badge and the European/African/Middle Eastern Theater ribbon with one Bronze Battle Star. There was only one negative comment in his official records regarding an incident just before his discharge when he apparently left the base without leave, but that's another story.
Sign up here to receive periodic updates about what's going on in the world of TwoMorrows Publishing.
Click here to download our new Fall-Winter catalog (2mb PDF file)The bloc of hard-line conservatives is laying the blame for Rep. Tim Huelskamp's landslide loss squarely at House leadership’s feet. | Getty Freedom Caucus knives out for Ryan after Huelskamp loss The outcome in Kansas is sure to heighten House GOP tensions, but could also send a message to the conservative rebels.
The House Freedom Caucus has its knives out for Speaker Paul Ryan and his leadership team after one of the group’s most prominent members lost his seat Tuesday to an establishment-backed rival in a GOP primary.
The bloc of hard-line conservatives is laying the blame for Rep. Tim Huelskamp’s landslide loss squarely at House leadership’s feet. They’re furious that Ryan did not do more to help the Kansas Republican, who lost to obstetrician and political novice Roger Marshall after the challenger pilloried Huelskamp for losing his prized spot on the Agriculture Committee.
Story Continued Below
Ryan refused before the election to promise publicly that Huelskamp would be reinstalled on the panel next year, saying he alone did not have the power to make such an assurance. That left Huelskamp unable to effectively counter the attacks.
Former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) backed an effort to remove Huelskamp from the panel three years ago as punishment for repeatedly defying leadership on big votes, something Ryan promised he would never do.
“Our leadership created this situation: They kicked him off a committee and then the whole campaign became, ‘Oh, Tim Huelskamp isn’t on the right committee,’” Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Are you kidding me? … He lost counties in western Kansas! That is his base! And he lost counties because of the agriculture issue! This is a problem.”
Leadership sources countered they had nothing to do with Huelskamp's demise. Indeed, they were incredulous that the accusation was even being leveled. No matter, it’s already escalating tensions between the group of rabble-rousers and their party leaders.
Jordan said Ryan could have negated Huelskamp’s biggest vulnerability.
“Everybody knows if the speaker of the House says, ‘Tim Huelskamp is back on the Agriculture Committee,’ it makes a difference,” Jordan said. “Everybody knows that would have had an impact.”
Ryan said in a statement Wednesday that he was “proud to serve with” Huelskamp.
“Tim Huelskamp came into Congress with a great class of freshman in 2010,” he said. “They swept the Republican Party back into power with a mandate from the American people to rein in out of control spending and make government accountable to the people again. Tim took that seriously, and never shied from a tough fight to get crony capitalism out of our government. I’m proud to serve with him.”
Another senior Republican source was less diplomatic, saying Huelskamp got what was coming to him, though the person said GOP leaders had nothing to do with his ouster.
“It is outrageous for them to blame leadership,” the source said. “He repeatedly slammed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, repeatedly voted against the agriculture interests of his own district, and treated everyone around him like crap. That’s no one’s fault but his own.”
Roughly $2 million in anti-Huelskamp ads poured into the 1st Congressional District from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Ricketts family’s Ending Spending political group.
House Republican leaders have no direct control over those groups, but Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a Freedom Caucus member, believes leadership could have stopped it.
“When the Chamber comes in with as much outside money as they did, and the Chamber consistently gives to the speaker and members the speaker supports, to imply that they have no ability to push back on anything and no influence in how the Chamber spends its money defies logic and would be politically naive,” Meadows said.
But the crux of their anger is about the Ag committee issue.
The Freedom Caucus implored Ryan to go public with an alleged commitment to put Huelskamp back on the panel next year. But the speaker declined.
Ryan’s office told a local newspaper that “I’ve long thought Kansas should be represented on the House Committee on Agriculture,” and “Tim Huelskamp has the kind of background that could serve the state well” on the Agriculture Committee. But also noted that ultimately it was up to a steering committee that decides committee assignments.
Some caucus members were suspicious of that statement.
“The speaker could have said he personally supported Tim, but he said he’d support a ‘Kansan’ to be on the committee, so it sounds like much of the leadership language was crafted in a way to give plausible deniability when, in essence, they were cheering for Tim’s defeat,” said a caucus member who asked not to be named.
The same member said he’s looking for Ryan to rectify the situation, and how he handles the aftermath of Huelskamp’s defeat will influence who the lawmaker supports for speaker next year.
Allies of Ryan’s noted that Boehner at one point tried to make amends with Huelskamp and supported his bid to return to the Agriculture panel. But the entire steering committee torpedoed his efforts. Huelskamp had made too many enemies by failing to support key legislation, including the farm bill, when leaders needed him most.
A former leadership staffer who worked with Huelskamp said he was often untrustworthy and rarely worked as a team player within the Republican Conference.
“The overwhelming majority of the House Freedom Caucus members are constructive and honest,” the former staffer said. “They don’t always vote ‘yes,’ and often vote ‘no,’ but you can count on their word. … Tim is not honest and that ultimately burned him among his colleagues.”
The friction could become problematic. The Freedom Caucus is known for blocking House Republican priorities, most recently sinking Ryan’s plan to vote on a GOP response to the Orlando, Florida, shooting massacre.
At the same time, Huelskamp’s loss could send a message to caucus members that constantly breaking with GOP leaders could carry a heavy price: a well-financed primary challenger and even the loss of their job. Boehner, for his part, was pictured on Twitter relishing the Kansas primary results.
And for that, some on Capitol Hill are gloating.
“The outside groups unmasked them,” said the senior Republican source. “For the first time, somebody went back to their districts and told people what this guy was like.... Finally, someone exposed one of them for what he is doing and, frankly, not doing, and when they did that, it wasn’t even close. He got killed.”NAPA, Calif. — With roads still blocked by the police and fires still raging across broad swaths of Northern California, Matt Lenzi hiked through smoke-choked vineyards and waded the Napa River to reach the home his father lived in for 53 years. In its place, he found only blackened debris, blackened earth, and ash.
“Every piece of vegetation was gone,” said Mr. Lenzi on Tuesday, after going back in the vain hope of finding the pet cat that his father, Carl Lenzi, who is in his 80s, left behind when he fled for his life. “Even the barbecue melted, and that’s built to take heat.”
The fires ravaging California’s wine country since Sunday night — part of an outbreak of blazes stretching almost the entire length of the state — continued to burn out of control on Wednesday, as the toll rose to at least 21 people confirmed dead, hundreds hospitalized, and thousands of buildings destroyed or damaged. But state and local officials warned that with several hundred people still missing and unaccounted for, and some areas still out of reach of emergency crews, those figures are almost certain to rise.
The two biggest and most destructive fires had consumed more than 70,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma Counties by Wednesday morning, up from 52,000 on Tuesday afternoon, according to Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency. In all, six fires had burned more than 91,000 acres in the two counties, and Cal Fire rated all but the smallest of them as 3 percent contained, or less.It’s 1989. Your parents are watching the Berlin Wall being torn down, but you’re upstairs in your room, fresh batteries in your Casio SA-1, prepping for your concert. The built-in beats are hot. You’ve been listening to the “Wake me up before you go-go” demo song and you think you’ve been inspired. You select instrument number 02, “HONKY-TONK PIANO.” It’s time to tickle the plastic ivories and burn this mother down. Hit it!
https://beta.techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/google_-_magenta_music_sample-0.mp3
The beat drops here ^
Pretty good, right? But what if I told you that this was not an obsessively practiced performance by a precocious 7-year-old, but the original creation of an artistic artificial intelligence, the work of the boffins at Google Research (specifically, and naturally, Google Brain)? You probably wouldn’t be surprised, because that’s in the headline. But imagine the impact if you’d skipped the headline and went straight to the body of the article (😂).
Yes, this is the first public output of Magenta, “a research project to advance the state of the art in machine intelligence for music and art generation.” Machine learning, suggests Douglas Eck, one of the project’s scientists, has come a long way when it comes to speech recognition and other, more straightforward tasks. But can it learn what it is that makes a piece of music listenable, or a piece of art perusable? (We already know it can do very strange poetry (PDF).)
“We believe that the models that have worked so well in speech recognition, translation and image annotation will seed an exciting new crop of tools for art and music creation,” wrote Eck.
Like any other creative entity, Magenta needs to get its work out there, and it needs feedback. To that end, Google is soliciting creatives and coders both to join the community, check out the code, feed it data and so on. The project will live on both GitHub and use Google’s own open-source machine learning platform TensorFlow. So get in there and fork it.
It’s far from the first time researchers have looked at the possibility of computer-generated music (research stretches back decades), but with the resources and brainpower of Google Research behind it, Magenta could be one of the more interesting efforts to do so.
You can follow along with the team’s progress at the (currently minimal) Magenta blog.The rap on Dee Gordon is that he doesn’t get on base. Doesn’t hit for power. Won’t ever be as good as he was in the first half of last season.
The leading projection systems predict regression for Gordon, and based on his second half, that prediction certainly is reasonable. Still, I’m not buying.
Most projection systems crunch a player’s numbers over a three-year period and put him in a box. Well, Gordon doesn’t belong in a box. The point of sabermetrics is to challenge assumptions, even those derived from numbers. Dig deeper, and the rap against Gordon starts to fall apart.
Article continues below...
Here’s what the analytics don’t tell you about Gordon, who batted.289 with a.326 on-base percentage and led the majors with 12 triples and 64 stolen bases last season, but at 26 is supposedly at an age in which further improvement will be limited:
• Gordon did not start playing baseball until his junior year of high school, which means he is still inexperienced compared with most of his peers.
“You can take that clay and mold him,” Marlins third-base coach Brett Butler says.
*Some speed players take more time to develop.
Consider this quote from Brewers general manager Doug Melvin after he acquired center fielder Carlos Gomez from the Twins for shortstop J.J. Hardy in November 2009.
“Look at some of the players from years ago: Otis Nixon, Lance Johnson, Tom Goodwin,” Melvin said. “Even Shane Victorino and Michael Bourn … they were 25, 26 before they made their big jump in the big leagues.”
Obviously, those are just a few examples, and not a definitive sample. But they at least stand as precedents for Gordon, who will need to raise his on-base percentage to merit inclusion on even that type of list.
• Gordon should benefit from working with first-base coach Perry Hill, who is considered one of the game’s best infield instructors, and Butler, who had a.377 on-base percentage, became the all-time leader in bases-empty bunt hits and stole 558 bases during his 17-year major-league career.
“They’re going to make me a much better ballplayer over here,” Gordon says. “There’s more teaching. And I’m willing to learn.”
• Gordon already has answered far bigger questions than he is facing now — questions about whether he could even become a viable major leaguer.
He twice went to Puerto Rico during the 2013-14 offseason to learn how to play second base after the Dodgers told him that he wouldn’t be their shortstop and that they couldn’t get enough for him in a trade.
“Going from being a should-be super-utility guy to a starting second baseman to an All-Star to scoring (92) runs and getting all those hits and (stolen) bags I got … I don’t know how you can’t see that before you (acquire) someone else,” Gordon says. “I don’t get it, but it’s the game.”
The Dodgers traded Gordon to the Marlins at the Winter Meetings along with right-hander Dan Haren and infielder Miguel Rojas for left-hander Andrew Heaney, infielder Enrique Hernandez, catcher/second baseman Austin Barnes and reliever Chris Hatcher. They then flipped Heaney to the Angels for second baseman Howie Kendrick.
“Honestly, it was just time for a change,” Gordon says. “They sold high. I’m glad they did, because I’m happy to be where I’m at right now. They didn’t think much of me going into last year, anyway. I did what I had to do to help myself become a major-league ballplayer.”
To Michael Hill, the Marlins’ team president, the whole thing sounds familiar. Hill was the Rockies’ farm director when outfielder Juan Pierre reached the majors in 2000. And Hill had just joined the Marlins when the team acquired Pierre from the Rockies on Nov. 16, 2002.
Pierre was 25 then; Gordon is entering his age-27 season. Still, their games are comparable. Their makeups are comparable. And Gordon joins the Marlins with roughly the same service time — two-plus seasons — as Pierre had at the time of his trade.
Gordon should only be as successful. Former teammates, fans and reporters responded on Twitter to news of Pierre’s retirement Friday with an outpouring of admiration and affection.
“The parallel is interesting,” Hill says. “Pierre was a speed player, top of the lineup, not a traditional high on-base player because he didn’t walk a lot. He got on base because he hit. That is how I look at Dee.
“The only reason we were able to access Juan Pierre ‘X’ number of years ago is because there were concerns about his on-base percentage (though Pierre’s career OBP was.356 at the time of the trade.)
“But we had drafted him, developed him. I knew him as well as anybody. And I didn’t have that reservation.”
Pierre, of course, helped lead the Marlins to the World Series title in his first season with the club. For Gordon to make the same type of impact, he will need to improve upon his performance after the All-Star break, when he batted.284 but had only a.300 OBP and four walks in 258 plate appearances.
Gordon actually doesn’t think he was that bad.
“I don’t get the regression part, honestly,” he says. “As we all know, I wasn’t the only one who regressed. I honestly don’t think hitting (.284) in the second half is regressing. Some people didn’t hit (.284) for their whole season.”
At the same time, when Gordon is asked about the aspect of his game that he needs to most improve, he responds, “Everything. I’m still learning. I’m getting better every year.”
Hill, for his part, believes “100 percent” that Gordon will continue to improve.
“You just looked at the year in total, what he did,” Hill says. “Then look at the struggles he had the second half, and you know that he can be better, which is scary for the rest of the National League.”
The Dodgers, under new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, evidently were not convinced.
Kendrick is a better player than Gordon, and the other pieces the Dodgers received from the Marlins are intriguing, even if the team had to pay Haren’s $10 million salary and Gordon’s $2.5 million salary as part of the deal.
On the other hand, the Dodgers gave up four years of control on Gordon to get only one of Kendrick. Their regulars at shortstop, Jimmy Rollins, and third base, Juan Uribe, also are potential free agents after this season.
It’s baseball; beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Marlins could have simply traded Heaney to the Angels for Kendrick, but they didn’t want such a short-term asset. Besides, Hill says, “We just liked the skill set of Gordon better for our club and our ballpark.”
Says Haren: “Once the (Dodgers’) new front-office people came in, they try to run numbers and get players in there that fit the way they see it. The way they’ve done it, they’ve been very successful. But Dee has a lot of intangibles.
“He can carry you. When he’s getting on base, leading off, stealing bases, it’s very valuable. Nowadays, offense is tougher to come by. He can bunt for a hit, steal second and then you’ve got a couple of shots to bring him in. Nowadays, the one run is huge.”
Still, the Steamer projections on Fangraphs.com forecast a.256/.304/.334 batting average/on-base/slugging line for Gordon, and a reduction in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) from 3.1 last season to 0.9.
The PECOTA system used by Baseball Prospectus has Gordon at.269/.315/.336, and a reduction in its version of WAR from 2.4 to 1.4.
Prospectus wrote of Gordon in its 2015 annual, “Despite offensive limitations (mostly little things like never walking or hitting for power), he wound up with an above-average hitting line and led the league in steals and triples. He’s too old to expect great leaps forward, but he’s too young to think about cratering.
“Smart money, on the other hand, takes into account Gordon’s entire body of work and calls for some regression, as PECOTA does. Still, with solid work at second base, value added on the bases and a reasonable salary, you see what the Marlins were attracted to.”
Actually, there is even more to it than that. A late-blooming player. A diligent, driven worker. An individual who defies easy categorization, and should not be put into a box.
I’m betting on Dee Gordon.A new television format that has 16 times the resolution of current High Definition TV has been approved by an international standards body, Japanese sources said earlier today.
UHDTV, or Ultra High Definition Television, allows for programming and broadcasts at resolutions of up to 7680 by 4320, along with frame refresh rates of up to 120Hz, double that of most current HDTV broadcasts. The format also calls for a broader palette of colours that can be displayed on screen.
The video format was approved earlier this month by member nations of the International Telecommunication Union, a standards and regulatory body agency of the United Nations, according to an official at NHK, Japan's public broadcasting station, and another at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
Japan has been pushing for international approval of the new format, which was designed and developed by NHK. It is hoped that international adoption will give the country an advantage as television progresses to the next generation. NHK has stated that it hopes to begin widespread trial broadcasts of the format, which it calls Super Hi-Vision, by 2020.
The standard also includes a smaller layout, which is 3840 by 2160 pixels. The two arrangements are commonly referred to by their horizontal pixel counts, or 8k and 4k.
A document posted by the ITU earlier this year said the same standard will be used both in living rooms and broad public spaces, including the large screens used in movie theatres and sports venues.
NHK and Japanese electronics makers are still working on their implementation of the format, tackling issues such as the high-speed compression needed to send it over the air, the vast storage requirements, and technical issues with developing advanced cameras. The resolution is so fine that cameraman using equipment with HD screens can only see 1/16 of what they are filming.
International standards on audio specifications as well as broadcast formats have yet to be passed. NHK is advocating a 22.2 multichannel audio format.
Yesterday, LG announced it will soon begin sales of an 84-inch TV (top image) capable of showing 4k for about $22,000, though the company admitted there is still little content available at that resolution. During the summer Olympics, NHK together with British broadcaster BBC showed parts of the event using the 8k format.
Japanese electronics makers such as Panasonic and Sharp have also showed large-screen UHDTV sets. Sony and JVC have released 4k projectors.Thank you for your hearty responses to my earlier blog post on the proposed grade-free system for first year undergraduates. I have read through and given thought to each of them. Concurrently, we have had many constructive discussions with Deans, Vice Deans, Department Heads, faculty members, the Board of Undergraduate Studies, the University Committee on Educational Policy and the University Senate.
There is broad consensus on the rationale and intended objectives of a grade-free system. There are, however, a range of views on how this can be implemented at NUS, and the appropriate options to adopt, given the current curriculum structure and the need to ensure compatibility with existing educational policies. While many recognised the merits of encouraging students to optimise their learning experience and build a positive and conducive learning culture, there were valid concerns with student motivation and calls to ensure that students develop strong disciplinary foundations in their freshman year.
Many stakeholders have taken a keen interest in this issue, and the proposals have been sharpened and refined in the course of this iterative consultation process.
I am pleased to share that we are now ready to present the details of a new grading system for modular degree programmes that will be applied to the cohort of freshmen matriculating in AY2014/15.
NUS will be introducing a new S/U policy, where students may exercise the S/U option for up to 20 MCs during the first semester of their candidature. This new policy will apply to all Level 1000 modules and Level 2000 modules offered without other NUS modules as pre-requisites as these are the modules that freshmen read in the first semester. (The non-credit-bearing English Language proficiency modules offered by the Centre for English Language Communication (CELC) are not included.) The fine details of the new S/U policy are being worked out by the Board of Undergraduate Studies, and these will be communicated to students through their respective Faculties.
Unused S/U MCs from the first semester may generally not be carried forward to subsequent semesters. The current S/U option for up to 12 MCs at any time during the candidature will remain unchanged as this encourages students to learn broadly via cross-faculty electives during the senior years. However, it will be broadened to include Major, Faculty and USP requirements read in subsequent semesters, so long as they are Level 1000 modules or Level 2000 modules without NUS modules as prerequisites.
In essence, students can exercise the S/U option for up to 32 MCs during their candidature, of which up to 5 modules or 20 MCs may be exercised during the first semester. This is effectively an expansion of the current S/U policy to allow for a grade-free first semester for freshmen.
As you know, under the S/U mechanism, letter grades are assigned to modules. However, students can decide whether to have these grades counted towards their Cumulative Average Point (CAP). When students exercise the S/U option on a module, the letter grade will not be shown on the transcript nor computed towards the CAP. An ‘S’ grade will be assigned if the student obtains a grade of C or above; a ‘U’ grade will be assigned if the student obtains a grade of D+ or below. Alternatively, a student may choose to retain the letter grade and have it factored towards the computation of his or her CAP. The S/U declaration exercise is conducted upon the release of examination results, and will end by the stipulated deadline, which will be announced each semester.
The S/U mechanism encourages students to put in effort for the modules they read, as good grades can be recognised and contribute to their CAPs. Students will also avoid being penalised for experimenting with modules they are less familiar with; they are thus free to pursue and widen their academic horizons without having to worry about the repercussions of poor grades.
Concomitantly, to prevent students from deliberately overloading in the first semester and thereby missing out on the spirit and benefits of a grade-free semester, NUS will limit the workload in the first semester: students may only read up to a maximum of 20 MCs during the first semester. Exceptions may be granted for students on special programmes such as the Double Degree Programmes and the Global Engineering Programme.
We will be monitoring and evaluating how students and faculty members take to this new grading system. If it turns out to be a highly positive and beneficial initiative, we may eventually move towards a full grade-free first year.
I am glad that education at NUS has been evolving and maturing, and that as a community, we are now ready to take this bold step that will hopefully lead to an even more transformative educational experience for our students. Our end vision is to seed and imbue a strong culture of inquiry, exploration and discovery at NUS.Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is Ninja Theory’s action hack and slash video game. The game is available for PC and PS4 and here we will see how to fix Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice errors for PC that have come up so far. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is based on Celtic mythology and Norse mythology. The game focuses on Senua’s journey through a hellish underworld which has is the result of Senua’s psychotic manifestations of her reality and mind. Before you go on to check how to fix Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice errors, do have a look at the system requirements. The game has received good reviews so far.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Systems Requirements
Minimum System Requirements
OS : Windows 7, 8, 10
: Windows 7, 8, 10 Processor : Intel i5 3570K / AMD FX-8350
: Intel i5 3570K / AMD FX-8350 Memory : 8 GB RAM
: 8 GB RAM Graphics : GTX 770 with 2GB VRAM / Radeon R9 280X 3GB
: GTX 770 with 2GB VRAM / Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectX : Version 11
: Version 11 Storage: 30 GB available space
How to Fix Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice Errors: Crash, Performance Issue, Black Screen and more
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice Crash Fatal Error Fix
Gamers have come across Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice crash issues. The game seems to be crashing for some users randomly and for some the game crashes when the game starts and get to the Mental Health Disclaimer. A fatal error occurs. Let’s see what can be done to fix crash issue. Gamers on steam has come up with some solutions.
Verify integrity cache of the game.
Get the drivers updated.
Try lowering the graphics settings.
Finally, you can re-install the game.
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice FOV Issue Fix
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice’s FOV issue or the Field of View being not too acceptable for some players has been an issue. While some gamers find it perfect but for some, the camera is very close to the character. Here is the trick that has been shared on some platforms.
Navigate to %localappdata%\HellbladeGame\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor. Open the Engine.ini file and paste the following:
[/script/engine.localplayer]
AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainYFOV
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice Performance Issues, Low FPS Issue Fix
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice has some performance issues. Low FPS and Freeze issues have come up for many players. Below are some of the turnarounds that have helped some players.
In the file, gameusersettings.ini, make the following change: sg.AntiAliasingQuality=0
In the file scaleability.in, add the following lines,
[AntiAliasingQuality@0]
r.PostProcessAAQuality=0
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice Turn off Motion Blur
To turn off motion blur in Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice, in the file location mentioned above, in the Engine.ini file, find r.MotionBlurQuality and make the following change:
r.MotionBlurQuality=0
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice Turn off Film Grain
To turn off Film Grain in Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice, in the file location mentioned above, in the Engine.ini file, find [SystemSettings], and make the following changes:
r.Tonemapper.GrainQuantization=0
r.Tonemapper.Quality=0
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Stuttering Issue
To fix Stuttering issue, you can try and make sure that the drivers are updated. If you have already updated the drivers and it is still not helping, try doing a clean install of the drivers.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Black Screen Issue Fix
Black Screen issue is generally due drivers issue. Try getting the latest drivers, if not already done.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice APPCRASH Issue Fix
For the AMD user, here is what has helped some players so far to fix APPCRASH issue.
Open the Catalyst Control Center.
. Click on Games tab.
tab. There disable AMD Radeon Dual Graphics.
These are some tips to fix Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice errors like crash, performance issue, black screen shared in forums so far. Check out Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice Guide: How to Unlock Extended Ending.
How to Fix Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Errors: Crash, FPS Issue, Black Screen and MoreI have competed in every CrossFit Games Open. I placed 99th and 75th worldwide in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and was fortunate enough to make it the CrossFit Games both years. Last year, 2013, I finished 216th world wide and didn’t make it to the Games. After regionals, unlike the previous years, I felt burned out, and decided to re-evaluate my training methods. This year I placed 40th worldwide and, more importantly, realized a lot along the way.
Getting Less With More
What was wrong with me? I trained as much as I could. Heck, I trained more than I ever thought possible. I went 2 weeks or more without resting. I hit multiple workouts daily, plus strength portions, endurance efforts, and skill work. All I did was workout. I went to get ART work done once a week for the entire year. I mobilized constantly. I ate perfectly and upped my intake to give my body more fuel. I did everything my coach said to do. I followed the plan. It left me wondering how I could possibly fail. It felt like more than just falling short of my goals. It felt like I failed to perform at my full capabilities. All the work I put it didn’t amount to much. I wasn’t better than I was the year before. If anything, I was worse. It left me wondering if I truly wanted to continue competing at the top levels in CrossFit. I was doubting all the sacrifices I was putting in. I was giving up precious time with my wife, my boys, and sacrificing everything else in my life to be the best. I understand sometimes you have to do things like this when pursuing great things. But the strain it was having on every aspect of my life was not something I was willing to continue with.
Back To Basics
Flash forward one year. I had my best CrossFit Games Open ever in 2014, placing 40th worldwide. I finished 10th in the world on 14.3. I have never felt better in my life. What changed?! How did I get here after such a disappointing year?
“Stick to the basics and when you feel you’ve mastered them it’s time to start all over again, begin anew – again with the basics – this time paying closer attention.” -Greg Glassman
From early 2012 all the way to late 2013, my brother and I took a break from handling my programming because we were busy with so many other things. Looking back now we realize we made a big mistake. We took the easy route and it showed when I did not make the progress I needed to and fell short of my goals. When we realized that I had stalled out we took my programming and training back into our own hands. We went back to the basics. Using Beyond The Whiteboard, we identified what my biggest weaknesses were and made a plan to attack them. What was even more frustrating is that the weaknesses we identified were the same ones I have struggled with since starting CrossFit. It’s funny how easy it is to go so long ignoring the hardest things to improve on. The specific weakness training was something I did separately from my workouts and I took an extremely focused approach that attacked them from all different directions. I basically committed time 3-5 days a week working on those weaknesses. Toes to bar, pulling strength, pushing strength, etc.
From late July until mid January, I really focused on getting stronger through powerlifting. I would powerlift 3 times a week, hit workouts only 3 times a week, Olympic lift twice a week, and work on gymnastic movements twice a week. From January until now I have upped my workouts to 4 times a week, switched my lifting focus to 3 days of Olympic lifting specific strength and skill work, and I also added endurance work with running and rowing repeats 4 times a week. We focused on the quality of the work I was getting in, where as the previous year I feel like I was grinding away at a higher volume with much less purpose. Another |
can also obscure the action."[4]
Release [ edit ]
Sinobi, a Japanese blog known for its early sales data, reported Bayonetta sold 138,000 copies—93,000 for the PS3 and 45,000 for the 360—on its day of release in the country.[94] Media Create reported the PS3 version sold 135,242 copies and was the top-selling game during its week of release there, while the 360 version sold 64,325 copies and charted at number seven.[95][96] Phil Elliott of GamesIndustry.biz called the 360 version's lower sales figures "a very strong performance for the Microsoft platform, relative to installed base".[97] The two releases fell to number eight and number 15 respectively the following week.[98] By March 31, 2010, Bayonetta sold 1.35 million units worldwide.[99] In retrospective, Platinum's president Tatsuya Minami stated Bayonetta was their best-selling title but commented the sales did not beat their expectations.[100]
A few days before Bayonetta's release, Japanese gaming publication Famitsu awarded the Xbox 360 version a perfect 40 out of 40, a relatively rare occurrence that many consider prestigious. The PlayStation 3 version received a slightly lower rating,[86] criticized for its lesser visual quality, frame rate and control problems compared to the Xbox 360 version.[101][102] Edge awarded the game a score of 10 out of 10, praising the game's combat system for being both deep and based around clear rules which are immediately accessible and well-taught to the player. Edge singled out the upgrade from Normal to Hard difficulties as "where Bayonetta transitions from the great to the legendary," concluding, "it's difficult to recall another third-person actioner that feels so worth mastering."[103] GamesRadar's Nathan Irvine also gave the game 10 out of 10, calling it "nails... the epic scale of everything that unfolds before your eyes and the manner in which it's delivered", believed it was better than God of War Collection, Devil May Cry 4, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and praised its "superb action" and humor (such as "Luka doing his best Assassin's Creed impression by looking moody in an Altair/Ezio style hood"). However, he said "the only time anything makes sense with Bayonetta's story is right at the end", and complained about some of the game's "insanely frustrating" Quick Time Events (QTEs).[85]
In contrast to Irvine, IGN UK's Martin Robinson said "it's not Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden or God of War that's the best point of reference but Super Mario Galaxy": he felt Bayonetta, like the Nintendo game, "loves to tinker with the player's sense of perspective, and fights that begin on street surface often wind their way up the surrounding walls."[84] Ryan Clements of IGN called the game "stylish, entertaining", and "unique", and its voice work "a bit campy but still extremely enjoyable", but said its "plot is all over the place" and "isn't as skillfully told as game stories like Mass Effect and Uncharted.[10][104] In his 360 version review, Clements called the game an "incredible work" with "final moments... alone worth the price of admission", but said it sometimes exhibited minor "screen tearing and slowdown, which happen during explorative sections and intense action sequences, respectively."[104] He said the PS3 version was "still a fun game" but had "a lot of problems, primary among them being the excessive slowdown and loading".[10] Eurogamer commented that "the result is a game that exemplifies so much of what commentators claim has died in the Japanese game industry. A blast of creative brilliance, both technically accomplished, strategically deep and infused with rare imagination, Bayonetta represents the pinnacle of its chosen niche."[105]
However, Gamearena criticized the depiction of the heroine and the game's lack of mass-market appeal: "Many people found DMC too campy and over-the-top, and Bayonetta makes it look monochrome in comparison. If you don't like the genre, Bayonetta will not change your mind."[106] GameSpot's video review lamented duller graphics and inconsistent frame rates for its PS3 port.[107] The Associated Press review opined that "Bayonetta feels like a game that would have blown me away 15 years ago. (It even pays tribute to Sega arcade classics like Space Harrier and Hang-On.) While it introduces an exotic new vision, it doesn't give us anything to do except fight, and its strictly linear story prevents you from exploring its distinctive universe. It's high on style, but less than satisfying."[108]
IGN UK announced that Bayonetta was their pick for the 2010 Game of the Year (GOTY).[109] Cliff Bleszinski, former design director of Epic Games, has stated that he is a fan of the game's "crunchy" game design. Later on, when asked what game in history he would liked to have worked on, he said Bayonetta.[93]
Daan Koopman at Nintendo World Report, reviewing the Wii U version, rated the game an 8/10. Koopman stated "The original Bayonetta is still a glorious action game and time has not really changed that one bit." He also praised the addition of the Nintendo-themed costumes, for their humor and functions.[110]
About a month after its release on Microsoft Windows, Sega Europe's Vice President of Publishing John Clark said that the Windows version had sold more than 170,000 units, and that Sega was "really happy" on this performance.[111]
The game was nominated for the Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake as part of the Bayonetta 1 and Bayonetta 2 Collection at the New York Game Awards.[112]
Sequels [ edit ]
A sequel, Bayonetta 2, was announced in September 2012 as a Wii U title to be published by Nintendo. The game, released in Japan in September 2014 and released in North America and Europe in December 2014, features a port of the original Bayonetta, which adds costumes based on Nintendo properties including Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox and Metroid, as well as touch screen controls and dual audio tracks.[113][114]
Another sequel, Bayonetta 3, was announced during The Game Awards 2017 in December as a Nintendo Switch title, alongside the announcement of Switch ports for the previous two games.[115]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
GeneralThis evening, the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice filed yet another emergency motion with the Ninth Circuit, asking for a stay of the deadline to release telecom immunity lobbying documents, less than 24 hours before the documents are due to be released to the public.
Almost simultaneously, a report appeared on Politico.com, claiming that the government will be releasing some documents, while fighting in court to hide the remainder. Despite this report, the government's motion seeks to delay disclosure of all the documents, and no new documents have been released just yet.
For those following this saga, this is deja vu all over again. Last week, when the documents were due to be turned over by Friday, October 9, the government asked the Court of Appeals for a stay, a motion that was denied by the Ninth Circuit in short order. Later that same afternoon, the government asked Federal District Court Judge Jeffrey White for an additional delay, a request that Judge White ultimately denied, giving the government a new deadline of Friday, October 16, by 4 p.m. Pacific time.
This has been a long fight -- since 2007, EFF has been working towards the release of these records after media reports revealed an extensive lobbying campaign seeking immunity for telecoms that participated in the government's unlawful surveillance program. As we've said before, we look forward to receiving the documents and making them public so that they can play a much-needed role in the active congressional debate over repealing telecom immunity.
UPDATED October 16, 3:15pm: Friday morning, EFF filed opposition to the government's motion. The government then filed a reply.
3:50pm: In order to give itself more time to decide whether to grant the requested stay, the Ninth Circuit Court has extended the deadline for disclosure of documents another week, until 5pm PT on Friday October 23.Wearing a hoodie and listening to music with large headphones are two things that do not always go together, but one company believes it's solved that problem. San Francisco-based Betabrand has come up with a new hooded jacket that uses "acoustically transparent fabric" to let sound pass through unabated, meaning you can show off your cans to the world and actually hear them too.
For staying incognito
As it turns out, the idea behind the jacket is not about making headphones an external style accessory, and instead about allowing sound to come through while the hood is up — even if you're wearing headphones. "For engineers that work with bands on tour, who generally want to be as inconspicuous as possible when adjusting things on a live stage, wearing black is key, hence all the blacked-out trim and fabric selections," explains Steven Wheeler, a designer at Betabrand, who also came up with the company's NASA-inspired down jacket.
Wheeler worked with Nic Pope, an audio engineer at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco, to come up with this particular design. Wheeler says the material the pair ended up using is simply "high-end speaker fabric," which is more commonly used to cover the front of custom-made speaker cabinets in order to let sound, but not dust pass through.
At $158, Betabrand is angling the "hoodie" as more of a jacket with what it says is a "water-resistant" blend. Along with the speaker fabric woven through the hood, the jacket has other special features aimed at audio engineers, like a reference sheet with wiring diagrams that folds into an interior pocket, which also has a loop for routing headphone wires upwards.
The project originated from the company's crowd-funded pool, which lets people submit their own ideas for clothing projects, which — if popular enough — are turned into real products. Early buyers get a discount, similar to Kickstarter. The same process created the dress pant yoga pants, which quickly became the company's top-selling product.
Wearing headphones over this is like using an iPad to take photos at a wedding
Other companies have tried to do something similar to their own hoodies a few years back by actually building headphones into the hood, but the results were not great. The speaker could be far away from your ear, and move around as you walked. Newer efforts, like the HoodieBuddie use an integrated set of in-ear headphones instead. In the case of large headphones, they're designed to create a small enclosure over your entire ear to isolate the sound, something Betabrand says still works here since the fabric is essentially the same thing that you get in front of a speaker. Even so, Wheeler urges caution.
"Wearing headphones over the hood of the Audio Engineer is like taking photos at a wedding with an iPad; yes, you can, but you'll have to decide for yourself whether or not you should."WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter on Thursday removed one of the final barriers to military service by lifting the Pentagon’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the armed forces.
“Effective immediately, transgender Americans may serve openly,” Mr. Carter said. “They can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender.”
The decision pushes forward a transformation of the military that Mr. Carter has accelerated in the last year with the opening of all combat roles to women and the appointment of the first openly gay Army secretary. He made his feelings on ending the transgender ban clear last year, when he called it outdated and ordered officials across the military to begin examining what would need to be done to lift it.
When Mr. Carter ordered that assessment, there were already thousands of transgender people in the military. But until Thursday, most had been forced into an existence shrouded in secrecy to avoid being discharged, a situation much like that faced by gay men, lesbians and bisexuals before the lifting of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 2011.Countersteer Your true stories of good and bad things that happen in cars.
Starting in 1991, Jeep offered on its Jeep Wrangler YJ a “Renegade Decor Group,” a box which—when ticked—turned the already controversial square headlight Wrangler into a hideous mess. What are some other special editions that somehow managed to ruin decent cars?
The YJ Renegade was an option package done by an aftermarket company named American Specialty Cars out of Detroit. Jeep sent standard Wranglers to ASC, where the vehicle was ruined via a ridiculous body kit, wild graphics, unique flashy interior, and totally ’80s five-hole alloys. Why anyone would buy this Jeep is beyond me, but it was the ’80s—the decade of poor automotive taste.
I’m sure the Wrangler YJ isn’t the only example, so what are some other trim packages or special editions that totally ruined otherwise-decent cars?Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Dave Legeno (right) competed as a mixed martial arts fighter
A British actor who appeared in the Harry Potter film series has been found dead in a remote part of California's Death Valley, authorities say.
Mixed martial arts fighter Dave Legeno, 50, was found by hikers on Sunday and his body was recovered by helicopter.
There were no signs of foul play and it is believed he died from the heat, an initial coroner's examination found.
He appeared as werewolf Fenrir Greyback in three Harry Potter movies, including both Deathly Hallows films.
'Kind gentleman'
"It appears that Legeno died of heat-related issues, but the Inyo County coroner will determine the final cause of death," the Inyo County Sheriff's Office wrote in a statement.
Actor Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the films, paid tribute on Instagram, saying: "He was a great talent with a heart of gold and always had time for anyone.
"Dave was a soft, kind gentleman off screen but had the skill to be the complete opposite on screen. He taught me lots."
Legeno also appeared on TV and in films including Snow White and the Huntsman and Batman Begins.
The tall, muscular one-time professional boxer was set to star in an upcoming film titled Sword of Vengeance prior to his death.
He is survived by a daughter, US media report.England Under-20 international Nico Yennaris joins Brentford from Arsenal
Brentford have signed England Under-19 international Nico Yennaris from Arsenal for an undisclosed fee.
The 20-year-old, who can play in defence and midfield, linked up with The Bees this morning.
He signed a two and a half year deal and will be available for Brentford’s Sky Bet League One match against Bristol City at Griffin Park tomorrow, Tuesday January 28.
The contract will keep him at Griffin Park until 2016.
Mark Warburton, Brentford FC Manager, said: “Nico is a player we have watched for many years as he has come through the Academy at Arsenal.
“He is a very talented player, technically good and physically sound.
“He has a real tactical astuteness for a young player.
“Nico has shown great flexibility in terms of positioning, appearing for Arsenal at right back, left back and in midfield.
“Nico is in the same age category as George Saville, Jake Bidwell and Marcello Trotta.
“He is a talented young player and I am sure he will have a bright future at Brentford Football Club.
“We are delighted to secure him permanently.
“I thank the senior staff at Arsenal for their help in finalising the deal.”
Nico, which is short for Nicholas, came through the ranks at Arsenal, having joined The Gunners at the age of seven.
He signed his first professional deal in 2010, just after his 17th birthday, and made his debut in October 2011 in a League Cup tie against Bolton Wanderers.
Nico has made four appearances in total for Arsenal, including one in a Premier League game against Manchester United.
He also played for Arsenal at Under-21 level and captained The Gunners in the NextGen Series, the Under-19 tournament for the Academy teams at some of Europe’s top clubs.
Nico has also had loan spells at Notts County and AFC Bournemouth and represented England at Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 level.
He has played ten times for his country at all levels.
Nico will wear the number 28 shirt.Posted in Animals, Animals & Pets 6 Specialist Dog Breed Rescue Shelters
Did you know that some rescue shelters specialise in certain dog breeds? If you prefer a specific breed of dog, a rescue animal can still be an option for you. Here are just six of the specialist shelters in the UK, along with one of the lovely dogs they have available to adopt right now.
You can browse more in our animal rescue shelter directory, or visitThe Kennel Club who have a list of breed-specific rescue shelters.
Lyla from German Shepherd Dog Rescue: "Lyla is a 1 year old sable German Shepherd, currently in a foster home with two other dogs. Lyla is a very active high energy girl who is a very quick learner and already showing signs of excellence i.e. good heel work, excellent recall, will sit and stay but still working on the "down" position. She is very good to groom and is being socialised around town and country to be introduced to new sights and sounds which she sometimes is a little wary of but soon settles."
Darcie from North West English Springer Spaniel Rescue: "Darcie is a 5 year old Springer spaniel who is used to children of all ages and is used to living with cats but will chase them if they run. She is very well trained both on and off the lead and is very well socialised and trained for both whistle and voice. She particularly likes her tennis balls and has a few special items she likes to carry round the house and greet people with when they come in. She is a very talented girl and has done agility and been taught a number of other tricks including how to weave through her owners legs as she walks. Darcie is used to an active life with a lot of interaction with her owner and plenty of mental stimulation and she will need a home who will continue to provide her with a similar environment. She is a very loving girl who likes nothing better than to please her special person."
Reggie from Labrador Retriever Rescue Southern England: "Reggie is a 10 month old Golden Retriever with a playful, energetic and soft nature. He has lived with children but not with cats, but may be ok with them. He is good with other dogs. He is a lovely young dog with lots of energy and will do anything for a treat. Reggie will require further training as he is only a young boy. He would be a great family dog, although may knock very young children over due to his bouncy nature."
Major Tom from Border Collie Trust GB: "Major Tom is just over 6 years old, blue merle smooth coated and is neutered. We rehomed him 18 months ago but he sadly come back into our care following the death of his owner. He was in another home for 3 weeks but wasn't getting along very well with the other male dog in the home so again was returned. Major Tom is deaf but is very responsive to a wide range of hand signals. He is housetrained and travels well."
Billy from Retired Greyhound Trust: "Billy is one of our boys who has sadly been waiting for a loving home for 3 years he always seems to be overlooked - possibly because he is black. He has had 40 races and finished racing in September 2009. Billy has a good loving nature and just loves to cuddle you. He travels well but has not been tested with domestic dogs or cats."
Jack from Rottweiler Welfare Association: "Jack is a 9 year old boy who previously lived outside because of an aggressive house dog. Jack is a real softy, very friendly and happy. A bit wobbly on his back end but a super dog. He is used to living with rabbits and a baby goat! He would love a final resting home or a foster home."We are living in a country that treats Syrian refugees better than our veterans. That is the America that Obama has created.
Under Obama, the Veterans Affairs (VA) has been one of the most mismanaged government entities since 2008. In fact, it has gotten so bad that Obama should be charged with treason for how poorly and disgustingly he has treated our men and women in uniform.
Just when you think Obama cannot treat our vets any worse, he proves us all wrong.
American heroes cannot make doctor appointments, the cost of treatment is insanely high, and over 307,000 veterans have died while waiting for care. As bad as the problems have gotten, no one has been held accountable.
The most recent act of treason came when the VA appeared before Congress and argued that they were short $2,600,000,000 in their budget because that money was taken by Obama and placed in his Syrian refugee program.
The Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Robert McDonald, told Congress that if they are not provided an additional $2.6 billion, they will…This file photo taken by Annie Leibovitz exclusively for Vanity Fair shows the cover of the magazine’s July 2015 issue featuring Bruce Jenner debuting as a transgender woman named Caitlyn Jenner. Credit: Annie Leibovitz
SHARE
By
Have you noticed that the first 65-year-old cover girl on Vanity Fair was actually born a boy? Is that transsexual progress or just trans-sexism?
Yes, I am happy that Caitlyn Jenner has finally come out as a female, thereby risking her net worth. As one cartoonist suggested, she is now likely to be paid exactly 77 cents on the dollar.
More to the point, as Jon Stewart noted, the silicon-cleavaged and made-over Olympian is now the sweetheart of the Twittersphere and cable chatteratti where people are talking about nothing but her glam girl status.
In Stewart's words: "It's really heartening to see that everyone is willing to not only accept Caitlyn Jenner as a woman but to waste no time in treating her like a woman. You see, Caitlyn, when you were a man, we could talk about your athleticism, your business acumen. But now you're a woman and your looks are really the only thing we care about." Bingo.
In that vein, let's remember the remarks of the woman who chose the clothes for the photo shoot. The Vanity Fair dresser said: "The one thing that makes it easier to dress someone is proportion. Caitlyn's proportions are fashion proportions, really." She's tall, slim, narrow-hipped, kind of ideal to dress.
Yes! A fashion designer's dream come true! A boy's hips and a girl's boobs.
But as an (even) older woman, may I add a little something to the sexism? A little ageism perhaps? May I ask why Caitlyn couldn't come out as a 65-year-old woman rather than a 25-year-old starlet?
A factoid: Americans are turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day. If the female half of that demographic is looking for a role model, it's not a Medicare Babe but a woman facing down the truly Olympic challenge of aging gracefully.
The fashion industry basically stops at Forever 21. The shoe designers loved and left us like heels.
If we need to go Hollywood to cast an iconic older woman, couldn't we have Helen Mirren at 69 or Meryl Streep at 65? Or better yet, Candice Bergen at 69, who admits to being 30 pounds over her Murphy Brown weight? "I live to eat," she announces. "No carb is safe — no fat, either." Being overweight is probably more of a challenge in this culture than bending gender. You go girl.
Instead Caitlyn looks more like Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard" playing an over-the-hill actress when she was only 50!
The editors of Vanity Fair were not the only ones who transformed Bruce into their fantasy Caitlyn. Where oh where was photographer Annie Leibowitz in all this? What was she thinking? At 65 herself, the long-term companion of the late uber-intellectual Susan Sontag, Leibowitz surely has more to say and show about aging than her ingénue subject.
Well, here's the thing. I am sorry that Caitlyn missed out on being a 20- or 30-year-old woman. But I wish she could catch up.
While she was winning gold medals, many in her generation were raised on the idea that "when I am an old woman I shall wear purple." For many, 65 is not the new 30 but the new freedom from the extreme sport of femininity.
At 65, most women are thinking less about breast implants and more about hip transplants. The makeover that produces the most debate in that circle is not about sexuality but about whether to let our roots grow out. It's about being ourselves, not what society expects. It's not about squeezing yourself into some required image and outfit. It's about letting yourself go. At long last.
Dear Caitlyn, welcome to our gender. Now that you're one of the girls, don't you want to become one of the women?
Ellen Goodman, a former columnist with The Washington Post Writers Group, is a founder of The Conversation Project. Ellen Goodman's email address is ellengoodman1@me.com.OTTAWA—Canadian women’s soccer star Christine Sinclair was handed a four-game suspension Friday for her actions after a dramatic semifinal loss to the United States at the London Olympics. The findings of a FIFA disciplinary committee panel were released by the Canadian Soccer Association, which said the discipline was for “displaying unsporting behaviour towards match officials.” Sinclair was also fined an undisclosed amount.
Canada's Christine Sinclair, left, and Melissa Tancredi react after losing 4-3 to the United States in extra time at the London Olympics. ( Frank Gunn / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
A Facebook page titled “Christine Sinclair: movement to help pay FIFA’s unfair fine” was created within minutes of the announcement. The veteran captain from Burnaby, B.C., had all three goals for Canada that day at Old Trafford. Canada had the lead until the Americans pulled even late in the second half and prevented a big upset by adding the winner in extra time. The Canadians were left feeling robbed in a loss that they believed was decided by the officials.
Article Continued Below
“We feel like we didn’t lose, we feel like it was taken from us,” Sinclair said moments after the final whistle. “It’s a shame in a game like that that was so important, the ref decided the result before it started.” The United States would go on to win the gold medal while Canada took the bronze. The CSA said it has contacted FIFA to request the reasons for the judgment and will not comment further until they are received and reviewed. The Canadian players were upset about a call against goalkeeper Erin McLeod that led to Abby Wambach’s game-tying penalty in the 80th minute. McLeod was whistled for handling the ball for longer than six seconds. The Americans were awarded a free kick inside the box which bounced off the arm of defender Marie-Eve Nault, resulting in the penalty shot. It’s a rule that none of the Canadian players, nor coach John Herdman, nor even American coach Pia Sundhage, had ever seen enforced.
Several Canadian athletes immediately took to Twitter on Friday to voice their displeasure about Sinclair’s suspension. “Sinclair suspension is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of!! No guts to do it during the games, what’s the point after?” Canadian women’s hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser said in a tweet.
Article Continued Below
Retired freestyle skier Jennifer Heil tweeted that the decision was “outrageous.” Sinclair’s teammate Emily Zurrer also chimed in: “Really, FIFA?” Broadcaster and former men’s national team player Jason deVos was also critical of the decision: “Christine Sinclair fined and suspended four matches by FIFA for ‘unsporting behaviour’. Insert joke about FIFA here...” He added, moments later: “Imagine if FIFA had made that decision just after the incident had occurred! Yet another black mark for FIFA. #shambles.”
Read more about:Simon Harris Source: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
Updated 9:15pm
MINISTER FOR HEALTH Simon Harris has definitively ruled himself out of the upcoming Fine Gael leadership battle, but Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald has said she “is seriously considering” entering the race.
Harris, who is aged just 30, had been seen in some quarters as something of a dark horse candidate, most especially after a message from Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan was leaked to the media which indicated Harris was interested in running.
“At present there is no vacancy and that’s a matter for the Taoiseach,” he told RTÉ’s Today with Seán O’Rourke this morning.
“But I’ve thought about this, I’m flattered to be asked but the time is not right for me.”
I’ve a very busy portfolio which I’m working very hard at and quite frankly I don’t have enough experience at present.
“I’m gaining an awful lot of experience in the role I’m working in, and that’s where I want my full focus to be, so I won’t be a candidate,” he added.
For some, the suggestion that Harris might run was seen as an implicit endorsement on his part of Housing’s Simon Coveney – given that the younger Harris could be seen to split support for Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar.
Now that he has officially ruled himself out, where his endorsement will now go is unclear. He denied that he had encouraged speculation that he might run for the leadership.
“I certainly didn’t encourage it. You know it came out by Whatsapp, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs clarified that was meant to be some sort of a joke,” Harris said.
I thought it was worth giving consideration too, we haven’t had a leadership change in 15 years in the Fine Gael party. I’m a member of the Cabinet and I’m ambitious for my party and I’m ambitious for our country and I want to play my part in relation to that.
But the vacancy hasn’t even come up yet, so at a very early stage I’m ruling myself out.
Harris added it would be “inappropriate” to give his support to any candidate at present.
“I serve at the pleasure of the Taoiseach, and the Taoiseach has not yet indicated his own intentions,” he added.
Source: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie
When asked to comment on her own position, Minister for Justice Fitzgerald said she was considering the matter “very seriously”.
She said: “The last time there was a Fine Gael election for leader, there were four candidates.
I think it’s very healthy for the party to have a very good debate heading up for the formal nomination of a new leader.
She added that while the topic was on her mind, she would wait until Enda Kenny steps down before making any definitive statement on the matter.
With reporting from Sean MurrayFormer Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello used his speech at the Gaming Insiders Summit to talk about gaming brands, and he didn't shirk on specifics.
Speaking at the San Francisco event, he said that game brands, like all brands, need to be consistent and trustworthy, citing Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and FIFA as good examples. But he said that some game brands need to do more to join those ranks.
Answering a question about Angry Birds, he said that Rovio needs to do more to innovate. "I don't think branding has anything to do with making stuffed toys," he said. "They are great ways to extend brands but they can also diminish a brand. They can counter relentless innovation and polish.
"Adding a Star Wars brand is not an innovation. It plays pretty much as it did. Maybe tomorrow they will do something so fundamentally innovative that they will prove me wrong, but they haven't really mastered the microtransaction model. I wish they had put as much innovation and energy into the code as went into all the other stuff. Maybe they wanted to be Disney before they had done enough."
Riccitiello also had a barb for forumites, who have mocked him and his company in the past. "At least two thirds of people who use Reddit have acne," he said. "I'm not anti-Reddit, despite all the things they've said about me over the years."EDMOND ROY: Earlier this week a Dutch journalist was raped by a group of five men in Cairo's Tahrir Square during protests there.
At least 46 cases of sexual assault have been reported in Egypt since the beginning of the protests.
The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights says 83 per cent of Egyptian women and 98 per cent of foreign visitors experience one or more different forms of harassment in the country.
These attacks led to the rise of organisations that track sexual assaults across the country and aim to protect women.
Tahrir Bodyguard is one such organisation. It was co-founded by Maria Munoz in response to violent attacks that took place during protests against the country's president last November.
She's speaking here to Peter Lloyd.
MARIA MUNOZ: A group of people, a group of men would isolate the girls. Start like, doing a big circle around them - 10, 20, 30 men, 40 men, up to 100 and 200 - and would just start, literally rape the girl with their hands, tearing her clothes apart and completely like, destroy her and traumatise her.
PETER LLOYD: And these, the victims of these attacks, where they Egyptian nationals or foreign nationals?
MARIA MUNOZ: First of all I would like to call them, instead of victims, survivors, because it has a special connotation. And these survivors were both Egyptian and non-Egyptian, foreigners and Egyptian woman.
PETER LLOYD: One United Nations press report says that on one day in January this year there were 25 attacks and assaults in Tahrir Square.
MARIA MUNOZ: Yes, actually two days ago there were 46 cases reported.
PETER LLOYD: Of sexual assault?
MARIA MUNOZ: Yes, a lot of violence in many case. We're talking about people with sticks, people with knives. So it's not sexual harassment as standard sexual harassment anymore.
PETER LLOYD: I understand there's actually a video of one instance where a woman was attacked by a group of men and her genitals were cut out.
MARIA MUNOZ: Some of these woman, they suffer really bad injuries; they have to go to hospital. Sometimes they are about to die and thanks to the volunteers of groups like (inaudible) they live.
PETER LLOYD: Now I understand that you're not Egyptian, you are Spanish. But can you try for our listeners to put it into a cultural context, explain for us how common this kind of assault against woman is in Egyptian society.
MARIA MUNOZ: So sexual harassment in the streets is also a phenomenon that takes place every single day in forms of looks, calls, comments, men that follow woman, men that touch woman etc. This is one thing, and then there is the mob assault which is complete crime. That takes place whenever there are demonstrations that are happening in the square.
PETER LLOYD: What kind of response have the authorities mounted against these criminals?
MARIA MUNOZ: So until now, no response whatsoever. They, the response is the silence, complete silence.
PETER LLOYD: But you're saying these attacks take place in broad daylight and the police do nothing?
MARIA MUNOZ: Exactly, they do nothing. Mohammed Morsi, he also announced the creation of (inaudible) police force to patrol the streets in order to fight sexual harassment. Until now this police force, we haven't seen it yet, it hasn't been created.
So all these measures are on the air and nothing's happening. So the government, they don't do anything. These harassers, they enjoy complete impunity.
PETER LLOYD: So in response to this, this lack of law and order being maintained, you have set up these body guard units. Tell me how they operate.
MARIA MUNOZ: We recruit volunteers that go to Tahrir Square, wear neon vests and yellow helmets. They patrol the square and prevent sexual harassment from taking place and indicate of a woman being attacked, they intervene to take her out of the square and put her in a safe place.
PETER LLOYD: How do you know that the people that you're putting these woman in the hands of are safe people to be with?
MARIA MUNOZ: We work with different organisations; we have several safe houses around the demonstration areas. And they come with prepared team of psychologists and doctors to know how to deal with these survivors.
PETER LLOYD: Do you have any support in the media in Cairo; do you have anyone in the government who champions this cause, who talks about this in public?
MARIA MUNOZ: The thing is like until now this issue is still a taboo issue. The media is started to talk about sexual harassment and mob assault in Tahrir Square, but the government doesn't acknowledge the problem until now.
EDMOND ROY: That's the co-founder of the Tahrir Bodyguard, Maria Munoz, speaking to Peter Lloyd from Cairo.It seems like just yesterday that the term “indie” was typically represented by games that could be beaten in thirty minutes and offered little to no polish or in-depth features. Thankfully for both gamers and for the developers of these games, that definition is a thing of a past. Indie games (like the Wanderlust game) today typically offer interactive and fun gameplay at a fraction of the cost in comparison to AAA titles. Over a year ago Wanderlust: Rebirth hit the indie market and has since then endured numerous content patches and fine-tuning updates to make it an indie title that everyone should have in the arsenal.
Wanderlust: Rebirth (PC)
Part of IndieFort Bundle
Reviewed by Steven Mills
The Wanderlust Game: Rebirth is defined by its developers–an impressive 3 person team–as an online 4 player co-op retro arcade-action RPG that offers more content than most professionally-funded games. While at first glance that may seem like too many features and claims to be incorporated an indie title, I assure you: that is a very accurate definition. At its core, Wanderlust: Rebirth |
reduces the number of flashbacks that are experienced afterwards," summarizes Dr. Emily Holmes, who led the study.[8][9]
A series of empirical studies with over 6,000 gamers has been conducted since 2010 into Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP), a broadening of the Tetris effect concept. GTP is not limited to altered visual perceptions or mental processes but also includes altered auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic sensory perceptions, sensations of unreality, and automatic behaviours with video game content. GTP establishes the differences between endogenous (e.g., seeing images with closed eyes, hearing music in the head) and exogenous phenomena (e.g., seeing power bars above people’s head, hearing sounds coming from objects associated with a video game) and between involuntary (e.g., saying something involuntarily with video game content) and voluntary behaviours (e.g., using slang from the video game for amusement).In a historic, non-binding two-month-long postal vote, the results of which were released this week, Australians declared that they would overwhelmingly support a law enabling gay couples to marry. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 61.6 per cent voted in support of gay marriage. If all goes as planned, same-sex marriage should become the law of the land come Christmastime this year.
“If you don’t believe in same-sex marriage, then don’t marry someone of the same sex.” This was comedian Wanda Sykes’ simple, logical appeal to socially conservative Americans in the late 2000s who opposed gay marriage. It’s an appeal that many nations (the U.S. included) have since taken to heart. France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013. Ireland did the same by popular vote in 2015 and earlier this year, Taiwan’s highest court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage, paving the way for legalization. Oh and just the other day, Australia proved that it, too, can be a thoroughly decent place.
I don’t want to rain on the Aussies’ parade in light of what is a truly fantastic result. But I believe a discussion is in order about how this result was arrived at. And the “how”— in this instance, the postal vote — is less than fantastic. Though the Australian postal vote wasn’t a referendum on same-sex marriage à la Ireland’s vote two years ago, the fact remains that its result will determine the trajectory of same-sex marriage legislation in the country.
And while it may be enormously gratifying for gay Australians to learn that the majority of their nation voted in favour of their civil rights, the question remains, is a popular vote the most ethical way to shift policy on a civil rights issue? The answer is no.
This is because polls that affirm how progressive one nation is can also affirm the opposite truth about another nation. Journalist Saeed Kamali Dehghan put it best, in the aftermath of Ireland’s “Yes” referendum in 2015, when he wrote in the Guardian that “win or lose,” referendums on gay rights and minority issues are a “dangerous practice and can set a precedent for other nations where public opinion might not be so enlightened or tolerant.”
Imagine for example, that you are the leader of a traditionally homophobic nation in Eastern Europe, Africa or the Middle East, the kind of leader who likes to boast, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-style, that there are no gay people in your country. The kind of leader who believes that homosexuality is a Western import. Now imagine that a small but vocal group of LGBTQ activists within your borders begin making waves, inspiring international media attention and support from Western governments with robust protections for their own LGBTQ citizens. Imagine one of the countries criticizing you for your unwillingness to extend civil rights to your LGBTQ citizens, is a country like Australia or Ireland that once held a popular vote on gay rights.
Wouldn’t it behoove you to organize your own referendum, among your own predominantly socially conservative populace to prove once and for all to the international community that you have a democratic precedent for your bigotry? By holding such a vote in a traditionally homophobic country (on gay marriage, on gays serving in the military, on the legality of gay sex) you could reasonably argue in the face of a nation like Australia or Ireland: “We did exactly what you did. We held a vote and our people spoke, too. But what they had to say was very different than what yours said. What my people had to say is that they don’t want that kind of thing here. And that’s their prerogative.”
When a nation holds a popular vote or referendum on a minority right, it loses the moral high ground required to argue on the world stage that such a right is fundamental — even if the result of that vote is the correct, progressive one. All in all, the outcome of this week’s postal vote is a major win for marriage equality in Australia, and for thousands of gay Australian couples who will soon be able to say “I do” on home soil. But it’s a compromised win for gay rights worldwide.(CBS)
President Obama's address to Muslims was the buzz of the Jihadi blogs and chat rooms today, and I have the feeling that the e-muj just hated it!On Ansar al-Jihad chat room on Paltalk, participants expressed their surprise at the way many people, including Muslim scholars, welcomed the speech. One member going by the name "al_brsteej" was furious at how some clerics rebuked al Qaeda chief, Osama Bin Laden, over his comments on Mr. Obama just hours before the president delivered his speech.
"Sheikh Garni was so upset with Sheikh Osama.. he was saying that the sheikh should not be talking about his Obama 'darling'.. may Allah fight the traitors," the commentator said. Garni, a renowned Saudi cleric, had earlier said that Muslims should open their hearts and extend their hands to Obama. He also attacked Osama Bin Laden, and claimed that what he said about Obama reflects his ignorance.
Another member, "3EUON AL ZARQAWI," commenting on Mr. Obama's citation of Quranic verses in his speech, said: "Even [if] he reads out the entire Quran, he is still the devil of the Black House."
Nasser Eddin al-Tamimi, a webmaster on al-Ansar blog, was more up-front.
"The commander of the Infidels' armies wants to strike a peace deal with the Muslim ummah. What peace is he talking about when his armies are fighting our people in Iraq and Afghanistan?!" al-Tamimi said, "O' enemy of Allah Obama.. there is no peace, but rather destruction for destruction.. blood for blood.. and there shall be nothing between you and us but the mighty swords.. and the response is what you see, not what you hear."
Another blogger, Abu Abdel Rahman al-Salafi from hanein forums described those who believed Mr. Obama as naïve.
"It's so sad to see some naïve people following and even building hopes on what Obama said in his speech," the blogger said. "I just don't know how many times do we have to be bitten by the very same Snake?!"
In the U.K., followers of exiled radical preacher, Omar Bakri Mohammed, also didn't seem very impressed by Mr. Obama. A certain "Bilal" drafted a lengthy, structured reply to the speech on Islam4UK. After analyzing the speech bit by bit, "Bilal" listed a number of actions that he said Mr. Obama had to undertake in order to make peace with Muslims, including "eternally apologize and beg (in vain) for forgiveness from the Muslims and Muslim world!" (The full statement can be found here.)State Department spokesperson rejects Netanyahu's comments that the Golan will forever remain under Israeli sovereignty.
The United States does not consider the Golan Heights to be a part of Israel, State Department spokesperson John Kirby stressed on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed the Golan Heights "will forever remain under Israeli sovereignty."
"The U.S. position on the issue is unchanged," Kirby told reporters during a daily briefing at the State Department in Washington, according to Haaretz.
"This position was maintained by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Those territories are not part of Israel and the status of those territories should be determined through negotiations. The current situation in Syria does not allow this," he added.
On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet held a special meeting on the Golan Heights and Netanyahu opened the meeting with a declaration that “the Golan Heights will always remain under Israeli control."
The Prime Minister also called upon the international community to recognize Israel’s control of the territory.
Kirby’s comment followed a condemnation earlier on Monday by Germany, which called the move a violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.
"It's a basic principle of international law and the UN charter that no state can claim the right to annex another state's territory just like that," Martin Schaefer, spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, said.
Following Netanyahu’s declaration, Syria quickly responded by condemning it and pledging to “take back the Golan” with the help of the United Nations.
Also on Monday, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi denounced Netanyahu’s remarks as an "escalation".
Arabi, the secretary general of the pan-Arab bloc headquartered in Cairo, said Netanyahu's statement "was an new escalation that represents a brazen violation of international law."Will he or wonât he? Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, who is an outspoken Donald Trump supporter living in a very blue state, is reportedly mulling a run for California governor in 2018, according to Politico.
Continue Reading Below
Paul Mitchell co-founder John Paul DeJoria and former McDonaldâs CEO Ed Rensi told the FOX Business Networkâs Maria Bartiromo that Thiel could actually be the perfect remedy for the Golden Stateâs ailing economy.
âI think this is a very unique situation,â Paul Mitchell co-founder John Paul DeJoria told Bartiromo. âHe is a Republican -- he went for Trump.â
Last week, California Gov. Jerry Brown warned the state is projected to run a $1.6-billion deficit by next summer, according to the LA Times. DeJoria argued Thiel could possibly turn it around.
âHeâs extremely smart. The guy [has] a good success pattern behind him and he happens to be gay,â DeJoria said. âCalifornia is very, very liberal. I think the guy has a shot at it.â
He added, âThe fact that he did so many good things in business and, once again, hereâs a multi-billionaire, that I happen to know is very philanthropic, that wants to take his own time and energy and do something good for the state.â
Advertisement
Ed Rensi agreed. He said California needs good leadership.
âTo have a good smart business guy thinking about strategy instead of tactics and being concerned about the welfare of the people, I think is going to bode well,â Rensi said. âHeâs a strong executive and will do well in that state -- and itâs a mess right now.âThe 2015 season is not over yet but it seems that the Vancouver Whitecaps are starting to plan for next year already. The Honduran newspaper La Prensa reported that the Blue and White, through club president Bob Lenarduzzi, are analyzing the possibility of bringing Honduran striker Romel Quioto to bolster the Caps' attacking ranks in 2016.
Quioto, currently plays for Club Deportivo Olimpia in Honduras and made an appearance at BC Place last August when the Honduran side visited Vancouver as part of the CONCACAF Champions League group stage. Quioto left the match on a stretcher and had to be hospitalized with a rib fracture and collapsed lung after a collision with Whitecaps goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi.
The 24 year old striker had to remain in Vancouver for a few weeks after the incident as he was unable to fly back to Honduras as per medical orders. The Whitecaps became more acquainted with Quioto as they offered their medical staff to monitor the Honduran's progress while he remained in Vancouver.
Quioto had a previous, unsuccessful stint in Europe with Wisła Kraków before returning to Honduras to join CD Olimpia. Quioto is touted as one of the most promising strikers of Honduran football and has been part of the senior national team with Los Catrachos.
Vancouver's strikers have received their fair share of criticism throughout the year, the addition of Quioto could help the Blue and White with their finishing. More importantly, Quioto would provide Carl Robinson with a suitable back-up or partner for Designated Player, Octavio Rivero.Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, listens to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a joint news conference in Ankara on April 16. Rouhani is in Turkish capital for a one-day official visit. (Burhan Ozbilici/AP)
What should someone in the Netherlands do if someone says something "derogatory" or "defamatory" about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan? According to an email sent out by Ankara's consulate in Rotterdam, Turkish organizations in the country should write in to report the insult.
This email, uncovered by Dutch news organizations Thursday, has sparked anger in the Netherlands, with the Dutch prime minister demanding an explanation from Turkish authorities. To Turkey's critics, the message seems to show that Erdogan, long accused of cracking down on dissent domestically, was now abusing antiquated European laws in a bid to silence his international critics.
"I am surprised," Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters in Germany during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "It's not clear what the Turkish government aims to achieve with this action."
The news of the email comes less than a week after Merkel herself announced that she would allow Jan Boehmermann, a German comedian and writer known for his acerbic style, to be prosecuted for a poem he had read on television about Erdogan. Boehmermann's poem was designed to crudely mock the Turkish president, accusing him of sex with goats and saying that Erdogan loved to "repress minorities, kick Kurds and beat Christians while watching child porn."
According to German prosecutors, at least 20 "private individuals" had filed complaints against Boehmermann after his poem aired on state broadcaster ZDF. At the request of the Turkish government, Boehmermann will now be prosecuted under section 103 of the German penal code, a section that decrees "whosoever insults a foreign head of state... shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine."
Merkel has suggested that while her government will now work to change the law to remove this section, she had to respect the law as it stood. The Netherlands has similar "lèse-majesté" laws against insulting foreign heads of states, which is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, though Dutch lawmakers are now working to remove them. Within Turkey, critics of the government have complained that since becoming president in 2014, Erdogan has abused a law that bars insults to the president, with almost 2,000 cases opened in less than two years.
While these cases have caused controversy, they also enjoy support from many in Turkey: One Turkish man facing charges for allegedly assaulting his fiancee recently suggested that the assault was sparked by his partner's insult to the Turkish president. According to Hurriyet Daily News, the man's fiancee was called by police to testify about the alleged insult to Erdogan, which she denied making.
The Turkish Embassy in the Netherlands has attempted to downplay the controversy about the recent email, suggesting that the message was being misunderstood and that they only wanted organizations to email the consulate to report racism or hate speech. According to a translation from the BBC, the letter had read: "We ask urgently for the names and written comments of people who have given derogatory, disparaging, hateful and defamatory statements against the Turkish president, Turkey and Turkish society in general."
There are about 400,000 people with Turkish origin in the Netherlands, and representatives of Turkish opposition parties say that critics of Erdogan have expressed concern that they could be targeted. On Twitter, Sadet Karabulut, a Dutch politician of Kurdish descent, dubbed the controversy a sign of "Erdogan's long arm in the Netherlands."
More on WorldViews
A German comedian read a lewd poem about Turkey’s Erdogan. Now he could face jail time.
Europe’s blasphemy and defamation laws threaten democratic values, critics sayThis one goes out to the friends and families of clean-eaters. Those noble, patient souls who must endure the broccoli-flavoured smugness of their loved ones.
Hang in there, tolerant ones. We can get through this #cleaneating, vegan, gluten-free for the sake of it, I Quit Sugar phase together – one magnificent full-fat dairy cupcake at a time.
We can’t invite people over for dinner, host a birthday picnic, go out for lunch, or check social media without coming up against someone who’s decided not to eat anything normal. We can’t talk to our unnecessarily healthy friends without hearing about every ethically sourced ingredient they’ve consumed.
It’s gone too far, and we all know it. That is no way to live.
If you’ve ever been asked if your own birthday cake is made from raw ingredients, slammed for serving sausage rolls at your kids’ party, told not to eat meat in front of a vegan, criticised for shovelling bread into your bread-hole, or schooled on the dangers of sugar just as you’re biting into a sweet muffin, this is for you.
If you’ve ever been made to feel inferior, wicked, or judged by a lettuce-eating, plankton-worshipping kale-muncher… this is for you. We normal eaters have got to stay together.
And on this, the day someone thought it was a good idea to combine a brussell sprout and a kale leaf to make a ‘Kale Lollipop’, we must take action. The time has come for us to rise up against the scourge of the Smug Eaters and reclaim our right to eat full-carb, non-brown, non-vegan pasta without guilt.Telegraph Sport understands that Yates, a legendary figure on the British cycling scene for nearly three decades, has left the team with immediate effect after completing an interview with Team Sky’s general manager, David Brailsford, as part of his policy of zero tolerance to doping.
The exact nature of the doping has not been revealed but Yates has a considerable history of riding with the young Lance Armstrong at Motorola and then twice coaching him at the Tour de France, in 2005 when Armstrong won riding for Discovery, and 2009 when he finished third for Astana.
Armstrong has been stripped of seven Tour titles and has been asked to pay back more than £10 million in prize money and bonuses after US anti-doping officials uncovered what has been described as the biggest drug scandal in sporting history.
Dutchman Steven de Jongh, the Sky coach who largely looked after their classics team this summer, has also left the team in the wake of the Armstrong affair.
The nature of De Jongh’s connection with doping has also not yet been confirmed but his history of riding with the discredited Dutch team TVM, which was disbanded because of doping violations, in the 1990s has placed increased scrutiny on him.
Brailsford was shocked by the United States Anti-Doping Agency report and bitterly disappointed that it included testimony from one of his Sky riders, Canada’s Michael Barry, in which he admitted to using drugs during five years with Armstrong’s US Postal team. Barry had given Brailsford an assurance before joining Sky at the end of 2009 that he had not doped during his career.
Brailsford took the brave, but controversial, decision to insist that no member of staff can remain at Sky if they have any sort of doping history, no matter how long ago. This contrasts with the majority of the major cycling teams, who accommodate such individuals as long as they have openly admitted their past deeds.
On Thursday Sky’s American coach, Bobby Julich, announced his departure after admitting to doping between 1996 and 1998. More could follow as Brailsford continues to interview all 80 members of staff from Bradley Wiggins to the team chef. Julich said that Sky were a “very special team” in their hardline approach to doping.
Julich, Yates and De Jongh will all receive parachute payments for confessing to their past but any members of staff signing a declaration of innocence who are subsequently “outed” as proven former dopers will be sacked with no financial package.
“Its painful, but it’s the cost of people being able to believe that we can do it clean,” Brailsford said after the Julich sacking, when the coach added it was “highly likely” that more departures would follow.
On their bikes: latest team casualties
Sean Yates
Yates, 52, was one of the great domestiques in the sport’s modern history and retired as a full-time rider in 1996.
During his final year, at Motorola, he took the young Lance Armstrong under his wing and is credited with teaching him how to descend on mountain stages.
In 1988, Yates won a stage six of the Tour de France, a time-trial finishing at Wasquehal and recorded the fastest average speed in the race’s history up to that point.
He also won a stage of the Vuelta that year and wore the yellow jersey at the Tour de France for one day in 1994, one of only five British riders ever to achieve that feat.
After moving into coaching, he worked with the Linda McCartney team before being re-united with Armstrong at Discovery in 2005, when the American took the last of his seven now rescinded titles.
Armstrong and Yates worked together one more time in 2009 at Astana when the American finished third behind his Astana colleague Alberto Contador. Later that year he was one of Sky’s key signings ahead of their first season in 2010.
Steven de Jongh
De Jongh, 38, is a vastly experienced and recently retired Dutch rider who specialised in the one-day classics and helped to provide lead-outs to sprinters.
De Jongh spent five years with TVM who folded in 2000 after failing to recover from the drugs scandal which hit the team on the 1998 Tour de France.
He moved to Rabobank for five seasons and finally Quickstep. De Jongh has been with Sky for two years and been tasked with improving their performances in the classics, not an easy task in a squad so focused on the needs of its main GC riders, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome.(CNN) The wife of Orlando nightclub shooter told the FBI that Omar Mir Seddique Mateen said he wanted to carry out a jihadist attack, though she denied knowledge of his plans to launch the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, a law enforcement official told CNN on Tuesday.
FBI investigators don't believe Noor Salman was a co-conspirator in the attack that killed 49 people Sunday morning at Pulse, the source said.
But authorities are looking into whether she should face charges for what she may have known of his intentions and possibly failed to report to law enforcement.
The development comes as investigators try to understand what motivated Mateen to carry out the devastating attack. Forty-nine people were killed early Sunday and 53 people were wounded. Officials said that 28 victims are still hospitalized, including at least four people who are in critical condition.
Salman, Mateen's second wife, has been cooperating with various law enforcement agencies. The couple has been married since 2011. They have a 3-year-old son.
The couple lived in Fort Pierce, Florida, about an hour from the club. Salman told the FBI she had noticed changes in her husband's behavior and tried to dissuade him from doing anything violent, the official said.
When he left their home Saturday, hours before the mass shooting, Mateen lied about where he was going, Salman told federal investigators.
A separate source told CNN that Salman had some prior knowledge of her husband's intention to launch an attack.
Law enforcement officials said Salman accompanied Mateen on trips to scout potential targets, though it is unclear how much she knew about his intentions. She was with him when he visited Pulse and Disney Springs -- an entertainment and shopping complex -- apparently in early June.
She also accompanied him on an April 26 visit to Disney World. Disney security officials have told the FBI that they believe the visit was to conduct reconnaissance.
The early June visits took place during the same period Mateen was purchasing the weapons used in the devastating attack.
Maine Sen. Angus King, who as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee was briefed on the investigation, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer said he doesn't know whether Salman went with her husband to purchase the guns.
Hours before the carnage, Mateen made one last trip to Disney Springs, law enforcement officials said. That time, Mateen was alone.
Justice Department prosecutors and FBI investigators are reviewing Salman's account and other evidence to determine whether to bring charges against her for allegedly failing to report her knowledge of his general plans to carry out some kind of attack.
Such charges could include misprision, a deliberate concealment of knowledge of a pending crime.
King told Blitzer that Salman is being interviewed by the FBI.
"It appears she has some knowledge of what was going on, visiting some of the other sites. We don't know whether she was involved and knew about the purchase of the guns, which took place only about a week before the attack," King said. "But she definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be cooperating and can provide us with some important information on who this guy is, what his motivations were and what his plans were."Jokinna was the youngest.
She was known to be always joking, telling jokes and amusing both her family and the servants of the castle, which earned her her nickname "The Joy of the Kingdom." She had the habit of writing messages every morning on the walls of every castle, from messages to charades, something she liked very much, such as:
"Solena, Queen of the Mirror", "Without earth, gold is dirty", "It's all a misunderstanding", "Ice makes fire. Ice makes fire"...
Jokinna, however, suffered from certain mental problems, being common attacks of delirium and hallucinations.
She died at the age of 12, after accidentally falling from the tower of her room. Urania, in her honor, ordered Jokinna's statues, sculptures, and busts to be scattered all over the castle, as well as the messages she left every morning.
Jokinna was based on the Joker(card), in the Harlequin and Columbina from Commedia dell'Arte, andToday I released version 0.3.0 of my imag project, which contains over 30 sub-crates in the project repository.
This was pain in the ass (compared to how awesome the rust tooling is normally). Here I’ll explain why, hopefully triggering someone to make this whole process more enjoyable.
There is no cargo publish --all
Yep, you’ve read that right. I had to manually cargo publish each crate individually. This is even worse as it sounds! One might expect that, the hacker I am, I wrote a short script a la each crate do cargo publish - but that’s not possible - because they depend on each other. I had to find the “lowest” in the stack and build from there.
And as cargo-graph does not yet support workspace projects, I could not even find out which one was the “lowest” crate in the stack (but I know my project, so that was not that much of an issue, actually).
Still, I had to run cargo publish on each crate by hand.
Dependency-specs have to be re-written
As I depend on my own crates by path, I had to re-write all dependency specifications in my Cargo.toml files from something like
[dependencies.libimagstore] path = "../libimagstore"
to something like
libimagstore = "0.3.0"
which is easily doable with vim and some macros, but still inconvenient.
How it should be
How I’d like it to be: The cargo publish command should have a --all flag, which:
verifies that all metadata is present (before building the code) checks all path = "..." dependencies and whether they are there expects the user to provide some data on how to re-resolve the path dependencies, so dependencies are fetched from crates.io after publishing
and then automatically finds the lowest crate in the stack and starts building everything from there up to the most top-level crates and publishes them all in one go and only if all verification and building succeeded.It’s arguable that the current Humble Indie Bundle is the best one yet. I’d argue it. I’m arguing it right now. But incredibly, it just got better. Added to Bastion, Superbrothers, Limbo, Psychonauts and Amnesia are Super Meat Boy, Braid, and bundle first-timer, Lone Survivor. Oh my goodness.
When speaking to Humble’s Richard Esguerra earlier today, I took the chance to ask him about what difference these extras can make. You can see that below.
So if you’ve already paid for the bundle, you’ll find those three games are added to your downloads. If you haven’t, you’ll need to pay over the average (currently just under $8) to get them included – along with Bastion – to the other four. Which is, well, the best offer ever. Eight bucks for eight of the finest indie games around? Cripes. I asked Richard all about this.
RPS: Those are some huge games you’re adding in. This process must have come through experimentation. How has this worked out in the past?
Richard Esguerra: Pretty well. We’re in a weird spot where we try to have it be a surprise, but if you’ve been paying attention it’s probably not. I guess the anticipation now is what kind of content there is. But two weeks is a long time to run a sale, so I think it adds a little bit of extra fun, extra excitement to it. It also acts as a reminder, it’s our way of reminding folks that there’s this awesome thing going on. If you look at the pattern, the term we have for it is “Bundle within a bundle.” It’s usually stuff that we’ve bundled in the past, and it’s also a way for us to – sometimes people miss a sale. So, this is a way for people who may have missed out on other promotions.
RPS: So if you’ve already bough this bundle, you’ll get these three games added in.
Richard Esguerra: Yes, if you bought them prior to this second launch, they’re yours automatically. For subsequent purchases, they’re an added ‘beat the average’ incentive.
RPS: Is there any temptation to have it be so you only get the extra games if you up your payment to above the average?
Richard Esguerra: No, I don’t think so. That’s not been discussed as an option, but it has been communicated internally that that would be gross. It feels like a bait and switch, you get penalised for buying earlier. That doesn’t make any sense for customers. If there’s anything that we’re super-rabid about, it’s about gamers – it’s about the gamers’ experience, about how awesome the experience of participating in a bundle is. Getting to pay what you want, getting to choose where the money goes. We want all that to be as awesome as possible, so we really try to avoid experiences where people will feel like, “Oh, why did I buy this when I did.”We know that Intel’s Haswell-E “HEDT” platform will bring quad channel DDR4 memory functionality in 2H of 2014 but what about the mainstream LGA115* lineup?. From previous reports we know that Intel would release their Haswell Refresh platform for the desktop market while Broadwell micro architecture would be limited to Xeon and Mobility parts.
Intel Skylake 14nm Processors Feature PCIe 4, SATA Express and DDR4
Only in 2015 would the mainstream LGA 115* lineup get the first 14nm Skylake processors which bring some interesting new features. While Broadwell is a die shrink of Haswell built on a 14nm process and featuring a Gen8 integrated GPU, Skylake would be built around a totally new 14nm process design as an update over the Tri-gate architecture. Skylake would feature the latest Gen9 integrated HD graphics along with the being the first main-stream platform to get Dual channel DDR4 memory functionality. Haswell-E and Skylake would be the only two desktop platforms with native support for DDR4 memory from Intel and would ditch the much older DDR3.
Other than DDR4 memory, Skylake would also feature PCIe 4.0 functionality which doubles the bandwidth over PCIe 3.0 but it is known that no GPU currently takes benefit from the extra bandwidth available on PCIe 3.0 or even 2.0 so only if NVIDIA’s Maxwell requires massive bandwidth from the PCIe 4.0 slots would we see any real time performance benefit. Skylake would also get SATA Express functionality which has a bandwidth of around 10-16 GB/s enhancing the transfer speeds of hard drives and SSDs. Intel’s Skylake would feature the latest AVX 3.2 instructions over AVX 2.0 in current Haswell processors. The new micro architecture would launch in the first half of 2015 and would replace the Haswell refresh platform that arrives for desktop PCs next year.
Intel is also planning to release a new HEDT platform for the LGA 2011 socket in Q3 2013 codenamed Ivy Bridge-E. The Core i7-4800 and Core i7-4900 series processors would bring new enhancements and a 22nm architecture. More details can be found here.
Note – The Skylake platform listed under the roadmap which arrives in 2016 is the Xeon platform which includes Intel’s Xeon E7/E5 processors. Mainstream desktop parts would arrive early in 1H of 2015.TekPub is a web site devoted to developers, giving them a source of focused on-line training in various topics from Microsoft Entity Framework to writing your own blog engine using Ruby on Rails. The site was created by ex-Microsoft employee Rob Conery with The Lounge owner James Avery.
TekPub is an interesting study in a company who started on ASP.NET MVC and quickly moved to Ruby on Rails. InfoQ had the opportunity to talk with Rob and James about TekPub and their journey from using ASP.NET MVC to Ruby on Rails.
Rob Bazinet (RB): For readers who are unfamiliar with your product, tell us about TekPub?
Related Vendor Content Troubleshoot performance bottlenecks and optimize your application performance with Site24x7.
James Avery (JA): TekPub provides high-quality technical screencasts for programmers. Our goal is to help someone learn about a new technology in a couple of hours by watching someone who is very familiar with the technology not only cover the basics but also dive deep into using the technology in a real-world application. Instead of waiting months to get a book that is most likely already out of date, our subscribers can get the jump on a new technology right away. We have already finished our ASP.NET MVC 2 screencast series and there still isn't a book out on the subject.
RB: Who is James Avery and Rob Conery?
JA: I run a couple of technology startups in addition to TekPub. I run The Lounge and Ruby Row advertising networks, focused on.NET and Ruby developers respectively. I also help run DotNetKicks, a community site for.NET developers. My latest focus is Adzerk which is the web server I built to run The Lounge and Ruby Row available for others to use. I got started on the web in the mid 90s and moved to Microsoft technologies when.NET launched. Lately I have been using.NET, Ruby on Rails, MongoDB, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
Rob Conery (RC): I've been working in the software industry since 1991, doing the typical mundane database/CGI/HTML stuff. I crossed over to ASP in 1997 and have stuck with Microsoft stuff since. In 2006 I went to work for Microsoft and focused on helping people learn and use the new ASP.NET MVC framework. I left in 2009 to do some different things (more focused on Open Source platforms) and ended up founding Tekpub with James Avery.
RB: Would you explain the architecture of TekPub on launch day?
JA: The first version of TekPub was a Ruby on Rails application Rob threw together in a weekend. We talked it over and realized it needed to be scrapped and since we both knew ASP.NET MVC inside and out we decided to go with that. I am firm believer that starting a new business is not the time to also try and learn a new technology. Rob and I had both written and deployed Rails applications in the past, but when it came down to it we both knew ASP.NET MVC much better than Rails. So we scrapped that and put together an ASP.NET MVC site. We later scrapped that site and re-built it because it was getting too complicated. When we launched, it was that third version that went live. It was ASP.NET MVC, C#, and MS SQL Server.
RB: What challenges did you see with people using the site and from the perspective of you managing the site?
RC: Initially, on the very first day, it was our bandwidth. We announced on Twitter and it buried our ISP due to the bandwidth demands. They literally had engineers "sitting on the switch" to keep it open and functional - but it stopped working. So I pushed all of our free content to Amazon S3 within 2 hours of our launch - which helped tremendously.
Also - a subset of people didn't like Silverlight and wouldn't install it. We took ads out on Reddit and people simply saw our site as something sponsored by Microsoft - which is the exact opposite of our goal. So that was a major issue for us.
JA: ASP.NET MVC ran just fine, and the Windows stack was fine. We didn't have any challenges in that area. The main challenge actually came from the decision to use Silverlight for streaming. We had a lot of kickback from people who didn't want to install Silverlight and I convinced Rob we had to switch to Flash. We moved to Flash and haven't had a single person complain. We hope to have HTML5 available soon.
RB: How did the architecture handle the user demand?
RC: We never had an issue with the underlying framework - it handled it perfectly. It's not a terribly intense site (in terms of functionality) so we never really had an issue that way.
RB: If the platform was holding up fine, what prompted the change of architecture?
RC: Money. We |
fears and a husband’s unrealized desires; and the high school girl who comes to Martha’s Vineyard against her will, who steals husbands and cars, and who will bring everyone together in a web of yearning, sin, and ultimate redemption.”
Fiction: Jose Saramago’s The Elephant’s Journey for $2.99+$3.99, read by Christine Williams — “A delightful, witty tale of friendship and adventure from prize-winning novelist Jose Saramago. In 1551, King Joo III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. In Jose Saramago’s remarkable and imaginative retelling, Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds.”
Penultimately, since this is coming out the very last day of the month anyway, today’s daily Whispersync deals and today’s Audible daily deal:
Paul Antony Jones’ Extinction Point series for $1.99+$3.99 each, read by Emily Beresford: “First comes the red rain: a strange, scarlet downpour from a cloudless sky that spreads across cities, nations, and the entire globe. In a matter of panicked hours, every living thing on earth succumbs to swift, bloody death. Yet Emily Baxter, a young newspaper reporter, is mysteriously spared—and now she’s all alone.”
Pam Brondos’ Gateway to Fourline trilogy for $1.99+$1.99 each, read by Lauren Ezzo: “Years before, a gateway opened between their world and ours. Sending one young woman through may be the key to survival for the kingdom of Fourline. Strapped for cash, college student Natalie Barns agrees to take a job at a costume shop. Sure, Estos—her classmate who works in the shop—is a little odd, but Nat needs the money for her tuition. Then she stumbles through the mysterious door behind the shop—and her entire universe transforms.”
Today’s Audible “daily deal” is a good one for scifi fans: Finty Williams reading M.R. Carey’s (also known as comics writer Mike Carey) The Girl With All The Gifts for $2.95 –“Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh. Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.”
Lastly, a few more random titles on sale as of this writing:
The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord, read by Robin Miles for $1.99+$4.49 — “A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. They wish to preserve their cherished way of life but come to discover that in order to preserve their culture, they may have to change it forever. Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race—and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications. As their mission hangs in the balance, this unlikely team—one cool and cerebral, the other fiery and impulsive—just may find in each other their own destinies... and a force that transcends all.”
Viriconium for $1.99+$4.49 by M. John Harrison, read by Simon Vance, with an introduction by and read by Neil Gaiman: “Award-winning author, narrator, and screenwriter Neil Gaiman personally selected this book, and, using the tools of the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), cast the narrator and produced this work for his audiobook label, Neil Gaiman Presents. A few words from Neil on Viriconium: ‘Viriconium is three novles and a short story collection, spanning much of M. John Harrison’s illustrious career – what an ambitious task to imagine an alternate version of someplace that may be London, albeit a punk-sensibility London in a post-apocalyptic future. It’s as if Mike Harrison remembered a place that will never exist, or at least not for millennia, and fleshed it out with art and legends and glorious gods hiding amidst the population.'”
#FreeKindle Deal: Justice Calling (The Twenty Sided Sorcess Book One) by Annie Bellet and read by Folly Blaine for $0+$1.99, and Book 2, Murder of Crows, is listed for $0.99+$1.99. (And then, hey, Book 3, Pack of Lies, is $2.99+$1.99…) “Gamer. Nerd. Sorceress. Jade Crow lives a quiet life running her comic book and game store in Wylde, Idaho. After twenty-five years fleeing from a powerful sorcerer who wants to eat her heart and take her powers, quiet suits her just fine. Surrounded by friends who are even less human than she is, Jade figures she’s finally safe. As long as she doesn’t use her magic.”
#FreeKindle Deal: Bone And Cinder: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Zapheads, Book 1) by Scott Nicholson and Joshua Simcox, read by Kevin Clay for $0+$1.99 — First in a spin-off series, a thriller set in the bestselling AFTER post-apocalyptic world.
OK, that’s it. Happy (and fast!) #WhispersyncDeal hunting!Jason Koski/University Photography
Someone’s asked you a question, and halfway through it, you already know the answer. While you think you’re politely waiting for your chance to respond, new research shows that you’re actually more impatient than you realize.
In the vocal equivalent of sitting on the edge of your seat, speakers position their vocal organs (tongues, jaw, lips) for the sounds they’re planning to produce in the near future, rather than passively waiting for their turn to speak.
The path to this discovery required real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the vocal tract, not an easy technique.
Lead researcher Sam Tilsen, assistant professor of linguistics in the College of Arts & Sciences, worked with Yi Wang, the Faculty Distinguished Professor in Radiology and professor of biomedical engineering, and Pascal Spincemaille, assistant professor of radiology, both at Weill Cornell Medical College, to develop the MRI protocol, including the image reconstruction procedure.
They were assisted by doctoral and master’s degree engineering students, who helped develop algorithms to process data and extract useful images from MRI data.
The structural MRI’s took images of tissue in the vocal tract, much like an x-ray, very quickly – about 200 times a second -- providing high “temporal resolution” of what was happening as subjects moved their tongues and jaw. This allowed the researchers to measure rapid changes in the positions of vocal organs before, during and after the subjects spoke.
“It surprised us how some speakers positioned their vocal tracts to anticipate upcoming responses,” says Tilsen, “but also that there was a great variation in which vocal organs speakers used for this positioning. People don’t all behave in a unified, coherent way.”
Questions remain, says Tilsen. Why do some people anticipate vocal responses while others do not? Why do people use different vocal organs to anticipate different sounds? Using a structural MRI limits researchers to studying movements and other behavior to understand the relation between cognition and speech, says Tilsen. His goal is to overcome that limitation through neurotechnology.
“We want to develop the ability to simultaneously record brain signals and anatomical detail,” says Tilsen, “which could involve simultaneous MRI and fMRI scanning. It’s possible, but it’s challenging.”
Tilsen also wants to develop software that would enable a clinician and patient in a scanner to watch a video of words the patient just produced; this would be useful to help stroke patients or people who have suffered other forms of brain trauma to re-learn how to control their vocal organs.
“There’s only so much you can do with what you see and hear externally,” Tilsen says. “People don’t have a good sense of what’s going on with their tongue. Even I was surprised when I saw these MRI images of what the tongue is doing.”
Because speech is so complex a behavior, it’s often where abnormalities are first noticed when neurological disorders develop. Understanding how speech is produced will enable better and earlier treatment of neurological disorders, as well as treatment of neurological traumas that result in speech disruption. Tilsen also hopes his research will aid in developing voice synthesis and speech recognition technologies that operate more naturally.
Initially interested in cognitive linguistics (how concepts are structured and how meaning is constructed), Tilsen says “speaking seems to produce similar sorts of patterns as those we see in other biological, chemical and physical systems. I want to figure out whether the cognitive systems that give rise to speech can be understood in the same ways that we understand biological and physical systems.”
Linda B. Glaser is a staff writer for the College of Arts & Sciences.Get the biggest Newcastle 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
DeAndre Yedlin is expected to miss five weeks of action for Newcastle United after a further assessment on a thigh injury.
The right-back has not appeared for Newcastle since the 3-1 win over Huddersfield Town, when he came on as substitute at the John Smith’s Stadium.
United’s backroom team was not too concerned with the problem to begin with - but the muscle tear is worse than first feared.
He was instantly pulled out of the squad for the draw with Reading and he missed the 3-1 defeat at home to Fulham.
Since then Yedlin has returned to the United States for a further assessment. He was left out of the US national team’s squad for games with Panama and Honduras later this month.
However, he is expected to play again for Newcastle this season and also be available for the USA’s Gold Cup campaign this summer.
USA head coach Bruce Arena said today: “DeAndre has been in LA this past week and examined by our team doctors.
“We realise he is not going to be able to go to these next two matches against Honduras and Panama.
“It is likely he will be out for about five weeks.
“I would expect he will be back on the field for Newcastle right at the end of this season in April.”
Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now
It leaves Newcastle with Vurnon Anita and Jesus Gamez challenging for the right-back slot.
Rafa Benitez said earlier this week: “We have Anita and Jesus fighting for that position. That is always positive for the team.
“It is good for us because Anita has been doing well.
“Jesus also played well the other day. His match fitness is something he needs to improve. The only way to do that is by playing games.
“We will see but I will say the competition for places is really good.”An IDF soldier was seriously wounded in a stabbing terror attack near Kiryat Arba in the West Bank on Monday morning, while a rocket was fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip in the evening.
Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter
The 19-year-old soldier was stabbed in the neck, but was still able to shoot and kill his attacker, 22-years-old Raed Jaradat. Another soldier at the scene also opened fire on the Palestinian attacker.
The Armored Corps soldier was evacuated to Shaare Tzedek Medial Center in Jerusalem.
Video from the scene
X
A relative of the terrorist, Iyad Rawhi Jaradat, 19, was shot dead by IDF forces during clashes near Beit Anoun in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Jaradat was killed during clashes that broke out when the IDF was working to disperse a march towards the home of the dead terrorist. Jaradat was killed during clashes that broke out when the IDF was working to disperse a march towards the home of the dead terrorist.
In a separate incident, just before 3pm on Monday, a Palestinian who tried to stab an Israeli soldier in Hebron was shot dead. No one was hurt in the attack.
Scene of the attempted stabbing. (Photo: Hebron Security Department)
On Monday evening, shortly after 7pm, a rocket was fired from Shuhada cemetery south of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, and landed in an open area at Shaar HaNegev Regional Council. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.
A shadowy Gaza group, inspired by the Islamic State organization, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In response to the rocket fire, the IAF attacked two communications antennas used by Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades - one in the central Gaza Strip and the other in the south, near the Dahaniya airport. There were no Palestinian casualties in either strike.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner says that "the intolerable reality of civilians continually living under the threat of Gaza rockets is unacceptable, unbearable and must stop. Hamas must enforce their responsibilities or face the consequences. We will act against those that attack us and hold those that enable attacks against Israel accountable."
Two Israelis were moderately wounded in stabbing attacks in the West Bank on Sunday while another incident in Hebron resulted in a female attacker being seriously wounded by security forces.As the Enterprise NX-01 prepares to depart orbital dry-dock tomorrow with the release of Star Trek: Enterprise Season One on Blu-ray, we’re taking a special look at the trailer for Season Two which is included on the first disc of the new set (along with the trailer to the much-anticipated release of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “The Best of Both Worlds” on Blu-Ray.)
We’re presenting the video here in full high-definition (don’t forget to choose 1080p if you’re watching on YouTube) with download options below at varying resolutions.
The trailer highlights some of the more celebrated episodes from the second season including the Borg-themed “Regeneration” (which we recently discussed in our exclusive interview with Brannon Braga) as well as “Future Tense“, “First Flight” and “Carbon Creek“. The set will feature the continuation of the newly created documentary series produced by Roger Lay, Jr. and the trailer has a few brief clips from Roger’s interviews with Scott Bakula, Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating.
As an introduction, “They are the pioneers of a new frontier” sets the tone beautifully for Enterprise‘s second season and manages to induce a decent amount of excitement for this show which, for me, has been missing for a long time. These new Star Trek Blu-ray trailers continue to be very well composed and serve as great pieces to whet the appetite in the time between releases.
We’ll be posting a more detailed analysis of the trailer in the coming weeks as well as a rundown of everything we know so far about this release. In the meantime, be sure to secure your order for Season One using the links below!There's a new leech king of the jungle.
The new species—dubbed Tyrannobdella rex, or "tyrant leech king"—was discovered in the remote Peruvian Amazon, according to a new study.
Puzzling scientists from the start, the up-to-three-inch-long (about seven-centimeter-long) bloodsucker has large teeth, like its dinosaur namesake Tyrannosaurus rex.
The T. rex leech uses its teeth to saw into the tissues of mammals' orifices, including eyes, urethras, rectums, and vaginas.
What's more, the newfound critter's "naughty bits are rather small," said study co-author Mark Siddall, curator of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Most leech genitalia account for large proportions of their bodies, which "makes sense, because your reproductive success is important," he said. But for a reason still unknown, the new species' genitalia are only about half a millimeter long—smaller than their nerve cords and only a tenth the size of most leech privates.
"We didn't say the large teeth were compensating for that, but it did come to mind," he quipped.
T. Rex Leech Shakes Up Family Tree
The leech was first recognized from a specimen plucked from the nose of a girl in Peru's central Chanchamayo Province in 2007. A local doctor sent the specimen to Siddall and colleagues, who were unable to place the toothy predator into established leech families.
After two years of field research, the team discovered the leech belongs to a globally scattered group of leeches that all suck on mammalian mucus membranes, according to the study, published April 14 in the online journal PLoS One.
This relationship, which shakes up the leech family tree, suggests that the mammal-loving leeches' common ancestor probably lived during the late Jurassic period (199.6 million to 145.5 million years ago), when the continents were lumped together into a single landmass called Pangaea.
Although the T. rex leech—which people encounter while swimming in rivers and lakes—usually isn't deadly, it can stay in a person's body forweeks, and could cause choking, Siddall said.
T. Rex Leech May Save Lives
Ironically, the ferocious leech may one day help people.
Siddall and his team study leeches to develop anticoagulants—treatments that stop patients' blood from clotting.
Medicinal leeches have been used for more than a century for various medical therapies. Finding a new leech helps scientists better understand the molecules that make leech saliva so beneficial.
The discovery of the presumably rare leech also highlights how species can be lost to the "incredible threat" that is Amazon deforestation, Siddall noted. (See an interactive map of the Amazon River Basin.)As humans continue to dump heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the Earth continues to warm. In fact, it has been warming for decades and we now routinely hit temperatures that are 1°C (about 2°F) above the temperatures from 100 years ago.
But despite what we may expect, temperatures across the globe don’t rise little by little each year in a straight line. Rather, temperature changes are a bit bumpy. They go up and they go down somewhat randomly as they increase. Think of a wiggly line superimposed on a straight rising line.
A great depiction of the behavior is seen from the NASA data, shown below. Each black mark is the Earth’s temperature for a given year. The red line is calculated from 5-year averages of the black data marks and is much smoother than the black line. As you move from left to right, you pass from the year 1880 to the most recent year (2016), which is shown in the very upper right corner.
Careful observation of the graph shows that the last three years (2014, 2015, and 2016) were all record-breakers. It makes you wonder, what the chances are that global warming has sped up?
Annual global average surface temperatures with a 5-year smoothing. Illustration: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Well this is a question that can be tested with statistics, and a new paper out in Environmental Research Letters did just that. In the study, the authors ask a few important questions. First, can the latest three years, all of which were record-setting, tell us whether the rate of warming has changed? Also, can the years that preceded those (which were cooler than the trend) tell us whether the rate of warming had slowed?
With respect to whether surface warming has sped up or slowed down, the authors of this study made a testable hypothesis. They started out assuming that the Earth was warming at a constant rate but superimposed on this warming was a random short-term variability. Then they looked at the temperature measurements (like those shown in the figure above) and ran statistical tests to see whether those temperatures would be unlikely to occur given their hypothesis. A simple way to state this is, do you get temperature results like that above with the simple assumption of constant warming with natural year-to-year fluctuations?
Using what is called a Monte Carlo method where you let your statistics tool give you a large population of possible temperatures by running many random trials, the authors found that using the NASA temperatures, the likelihood of seeing a trend as low as, or even lower than what was observed during the 2001–2014 period was 74%. The likelihood of seeing the actual 2000–2012 temperatures was 96%. In other words, it’s very likely that a time period with a trend as low as observed would occur just by chance, given a constant warming rate.
They repeated the analysis for another climate dataset (HadCRUT4) and found again, it’s not unusual to expect the temperatures we actually saw over these periods. The figure below shows five different sets of temperature data; they are all telling this same story of uninterrupted rise over the past four decades or so.
Trends in global temperatures, using a a change-point analysis for five different data sets. Illustration: Rahmstorf et al. (2017), Environmental Research Letters
What was incredibly powerful is that the authors show that it would have been statistically significant to have not found an interval with as a slow warming as actually measured.
What this analysis shows us is that the Earth continues to warm apace. Furthermore, we shouldn’t get excited about any given year that is cold or warm, or think it’s showing that global warming is slowing down or speeding up. Rather, this paper reminds us that long-term trends are what matters. And the long-term trends are speaking loudly. This latest study is just another nail in the coffin of the lie that global warming ended.1826, "light, two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage," a colloquial London shortening of cabriolet, a type of covered horse-drawn carriage (1763), from French cabriolet (18c.), diminutive of cabriole "a leap, a caper," earlier capriole (16c.), from Italian capriola "a caper, frisk, leap," literally "a leap like that of a kid goat," from capriola "a kid, a fawn," from Latin capreolus "wild goat, roebuck," from caper, capri "he-goat, buck," from PIE *kap-ro- "he-goat, buck" (source also of Old Irish gabor, Welsh gafr, Old English hæfr, Old Norse hafr "he-goat"). The carriages were noted for their springy suspensions.
Originally a passenger-vehicle drawn by two or four horses; it was introduced into London from Paris in 1820. Extended to hansoms and other types of carriages, then extended to similar-looking parts of locomotives (1851). Applied especially to public horse carriages, then to automobiles-for-hire (1899) when these began to replace them.Following his recent performance in the Overwatch PIT Championship Europe, we’ve caught up with our DPS Overwatch player Jiri “LiNkzr” Masalin! While most recently he’s secured 3rd place in the PIT Major, LiNkzr’s recent Overwatch achievements include landing top four while representing Finland in the Overwatch World Cup 2016, and 2nd place in the Overwatch XTRA Cup in January.
We’ve spoken with LiNkzr to answer some questions regarding his thoughts on the state of Overwatch, including meta trends, buffs, nerfs, and more!
How do you feel about the current competitive meta, in regards to hero pick and composition diversity?
LiNkzr: I think right now meta is nicely diverse. I don't know how much diversity you can achieve in a game like Overwatch, but you can see teams having preferences and maps, which affects the heroes that are picked - so far so good!
As of late, high-mobility DPS picks like Tracer and Genji have grown especially popular. Is the current pool of DPS heroes well-balanced, or are some of these heroes proving too strong?
LiNkzr: There are a couple of DPS heroes like McCree and Reaper which are getting overshadowed a bit. McCree not as much but you can see teams preferring Soldier who is more mobile than those two if hitscan is needed. Genji and Tracer are in a class of their own overall because they enable you to change your overall game-plan way more, I don't necessarily think they overshadow other DPS characters though.
McCree and Soldier 76 fulfill similar purposes within a composition, but 76 is the more popular pick. In what contexts is McCree more favourable, and how do you feel about the state of each in comparison to one another?
LiNkzr: McCree should definitely be more favourable against dive comps, since Flashbang is a good CC ability and he does more burst damage. On paper, at least you should see McCree more. The problem for him lies in the fact that when dive heroes like Genji, Tracer, Winston, or Pharah engage on you, you can't really defend yourself in any way, so McCree tends to be punished more heavily than Soldier. McCree is a riskier pick but it can pay off. If the pace of the game slows down and dive isn't that meta anymore, I can see comps which revolve around protecting him or just have him to deal with a stray Tracer or the like.
Over the last couple of patches, Sombra has received a handful of small buffs and tweaks, most recently a reduction to her Translocator’s cooldown. Are these changes a step in the right direction, or are other factors holding her back from seeing play?
LiNkzr: Sombra is a niche pick right now, mostly due to her damage lacking a lot. Some teams use her here and there and players can have good performances on her, but she doesn't offer enough in my opinion. Every small change is going to affect how people view her in a competitive setting, but it will take a while before people are ready to include Sombra in their gameplan on a larger scale.
Now that the latest set of Roadhog changes have been in place for over a month now, what do you think of the ‘Hook 3.0’ changes to Chain Hook and Scrap Gun?
LiNkzr: Roadhog feels still a bit overwhelming, but not too much at least. The hook cooldown increase was a good change overall but he can still surprise you with how much damage he can put out. I don't see him being too big of an issue though.
Orisa has been out for 4 weeks now, and she’s gradually seeing more and more tournament play. She’s also had her notably large headshot hitbox reduced. What’re your thoughts on Orisa, and what she brings to a team composition?
LiNkzr: In tank vs tank lineups, Orisa could be considered a goddess. She provides shields, disturbs enemy positions and engages, and then provides massive damage output from the ultimate to chew through the shields. I think Orisa is a sleeper pick right now, and if a buff or two come her way, we will see her a lot more.
Only recently, a new tracking system has been implemented on Assault and Assault/Capture maps, determining wins in tie scenarios based on percentage progress made towards capturing the point. Do you feel like this is the right way to decide close matches?
LiNkzr: I liked the old system and didn't mind playing too many ties in KotH, but it's shaping up to be alright compared to what it was before. The new patch where it's 33% instead of 1% will allow teams a bit more breathing room and can make the games interesting while still having a possibility of a tie / win for the team that is defending the point.
Dive compositions have grown popular lately, with high-mobility, aggressive hero compositions featuring heroes like Winston and Genji. Is this kind of composition proving too powerful, and are there adequate counters to this playstyle?
LiNkzr: I think dive comps by nature can sometimes seem overwhelming, but there are definitely things you can do against dive. On some maps a triple tank composition can be a wall that dive can't overcome. The biggest differences with dive though comes when you are watching two teams that are not even in skill and the dive comp can look like impossible to stop. Individual skill in dive compositions can also shine brighter than in your more typical 2-2-2 or tank compositions because it's more chaotic. To sum it up, I think triple tank or some variation of 2-2-2 comps (or dive itself) can counter the full-on aggressive dive comp depending on map and point.
Reaper has seen very little play since the Nanoboost + Death Blossom ‘Beyblade’ meta. What changes to Reaper or otherwise would bring him into play again?
LiNkzr: I would just give him some more base movement speed. He can't be played as a flanker anymore at all with the new Lucio, as he is too easily punished and his cooldowns are a bit too long. I would like him to have a bit more freedom of movement on ground level to be able to take engages.
Blizzard has made a number of adjustments to Ana and Lucio, looking to lower their essentialness. Do you think the latest round of Ana nerfs were enough, and how’re you finding the latest Lucio changes?
LiNkzr: Right now we are adjusting to the changes ourselves and I don't have a definite opinion of it, but so far it's been good. Ana doesn't feel too overwhelming and she's a bit easier to punish, Lucio on the other hand can be more elusive and can give you a harder time with the new boop and increased damage, but you can definitely feel the impact Lucio players can have more so than before.
The Defense hero pool has some niche heroes that don’t see much competitive play beyond the occasional Mei, Torbjorn and Symmetra picks. Do Defense heroes deserve further changes, or are they adequate, albeit situational picks?
LiNkzr: Mostly situational picks. I think Torbjorn and Symmetra are a bit too easy to deal with and I would like to see their utility bonuses increased a bit. Mei in my opinion could be really scary if played well again, but people are kind of forgetting about her since dive is so popular.
While little has been said regarding his identity thus far, what kind of features would you like to see in Doomfist’s design?
LiNkzr: Just bang, bang, melee, bang bang BOOM, you know.
Is there anyone who you’d like to give a thanks or shoutout to?
LiNkzr: Doritos, my teammates, all the people who support me, I love them all! Special shoutout to all of our sponsors for making this happen.
A huge thanks for LiNkzr for his time. If you’d like to stay tuned with LiNkzr, you can follow him on Twitter and Twitch!The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
Unless you’re news-shy, off-grid, and/or a hermit, you can’t fail to have noticed all the media hype surrounding Pokémon Go. My youngest son and seemingly all of is friends have been out and about enjoying playing the latest gaming phenomenon. A lot of the press stories that I have read concentrate on the allegedly ‘addictive’ properties of the game (see ‘Further reading’ below). But what makes Pokémon Go such an appealing game? Here are my top ten reasons:
(1) It’s a popular franchise with a novel twist
Pokémon is a huge franchise with lots of associated spin-offs (animates films, carton television show, card games, figures to collect, etc.). And unlike some franchises, it’s a game that appears to be popular across age and gender but various aspects of the game (such as the use of augmented reality) give the game a novel twist on most other games (by utilizing real-world locations in which players explore their neighbourhood locality or wherever they happen to be).
(2) It’s fun, free to play, easy to play, and easy to access
Unlike many popular games, you don’t need a dedicated console to play the game. There is little in the way of barriers to entry. Anyone who has a smartphone can download Pokémon Go and it can be played anywhere at any time because it is played on a mobile device in which players try to catch Pokémon at specific locations (‘PokéStops’). This means that the number of potential users is huge, even in comparison to console games. In addition, there are no complicated buttons to press or controls to use. Most importantly it’s fun and free to play (but players can buy in-game items, an area that I’ve done a bit of research on which I outlined in a previous blog).
(3) It’s nostalgic and a ‘blast from the past’
Pokémon Go features many of the early ‘classic’ Pokémon characters (the ones that you could name in a pub quiz) hailing back to the 1990s. As well as attracting new and younger players, adults who loved Pokémon as a child or teenager can now re-live some of their childhood and adolescence. In short, some players can experience something new yet familiar. A research review carried out by Dr. Constantine Sedikides and Dr. Tim Wildschut demonstrated that “nostalgia has remarkable implications for one's future. It strengthens approach orientation, raises optimism, evokes inspiration, boosts creativity, and kindles prosociality. Far from reflecting escapism from the present, nostalgia potentiates an attainable future”. A number of online articles coomenting on the popularity of Pokémon have included quotes about the game’s nostalgic element from Dr. Jamie Madigan (author of the 2015 book Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on People Who Play Them). He asserted that “if nostalgia is in play, and it evokes this positive emotion…our brain can substitute the question, ‘Does this make me happy’ for ‘Is this a good game?'”
(4) It’s a social game (if you want it to be)
Back in the early and mid-2000s I published a number of studies showing that the most important reason for playing online multiplayer games was for social reasons and to connect and interact with other players. The great think about Pokémon Go is that meeting other players face-to-face is almost inevitable as the game is played outside and on the move, and it’s easy to spot other like-minded players. People can make new friendships or consolidate existing ones. Players talk to each other and can share their experiences. Some may even have shared memories that plugs into feelings of nostalgia. However, Pokémon Go players (if they so wish) can play on their own too. The game is flexible enough to adapt to the player.
(5) It features augmented reality
One of the defining features of Pokémon Go is that augmented reality is a fundamental (and arguably the main) part of the game. Augmented reality (AR) is defined as “a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS [global positioning system] data”. Pokémon Go has successfully managed to embed AR into the game which some players claim makes characters feel “more alive”. An article on the phenomenon in Time magazine said that Pokémon Go provides “the illusion that wild Pokémon are out there in the real world, waiting to be caught”. There are also some claims (such as a paper by Dr. Keith Bujak and his colleagues in a paper published in a 2013 issue of the journal Computers and Education) that augmented reality can be potentially addictive. The authors claim that children are most at risk from AR addiction and assert that:
“Augmented reality does not separate the user from his reality but instead uses it and realistically transforms it…This effect can cause a high degree of surprise and curiosity in users”.
(6) It’s motivating
Any one who plays videogames or researches in the area knows that successful games have to be motivating to play. Rewards within Pokémon Go help players to foster achievement, and achieving goals within the game drives motivation. As an article on the Keep It Suitable website noted: “The self-confidence that arises from the achievement of a goal – catching a Pikachu – motivates people to play more and more…and ‘Pokémon Go’ players are indeed very motivated…The ease with which the reward comes every time your phone buzzes, alerting you that a Pokémon is nearby, is very basic psychological conditioning”.
(7) It involves collecting
In a number of my previous articles I have written about the psychology of collecting and this also appears to be one of the attractions concerning all things Pokémon (in fact the Pokémon mantra has always been “Gotta catch ‘em all”)In my articles I have always referenced the work of Professor Russell Belk who has written a lot of books and papers on the topic. He was interviewed by Forbes magazine on the topic of Pokémon Go. The Forbes article noted:
“In a 1991 article published in the ‘Journal of Social Behavior and Personality’, Belk described two main types of collecting: aesthetic and taxonomic. Aesthetic collecting occurs when objects aren’t in limited supply and so adding things to your collection depends on personal preferences. This includes artwork, but not pocket monsters. ‘I expect no matter how beautiful or ugly the Pokémon is, there’s relatively little aesthetic judgment,” says Belk...’You want them all — or as many as possible’. Collecting Pokémon is a lot like building a coin or stamp collection. It involves taxonomy – the process of naming and classifying things into groups. Taxonomic collecting can end temporarily but continue later: the original Game Boy games (Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue) featured 151 monster ‘species,’ but sequels have pushed that number over 700. If ‘Pokémon Go’ remains popular and profitable in the long term, the app’s developer will no doubt add new species. Belk adds that the desire to collect isn’t driven by a need to complete a collection. ‘You’re not striving for that closure as much as striving for bigger and better collections…That implies some social comparisons – that your collection is in some sense better than theirs.”
In the same article, reference was also made to a just published literature review (‘Extended self and the digital world’) by Professor Belk in the journal Current Opinion |
Champagne.
Terrebonne Parish
Streamer of oil, 5 miles long, 6.75 miles south-southwest of Oyster Bayou Lighthouse.
Oil 5.5 miles south-southwest of Pelican Island.
Oil 4.35 miles south of Taylors Bayou.
Oil in the northwest end of Pelican Lake.
Oil in the marsh on the west side of Oak Bayou.
Oil in northwest Bay Sainte Elaine by Bay Coon Road.
Oil sheen in Bay Negresse 0.75 mile west of Seabreeze Pass.
Numerous reports of emulsified oil patches over a 5 mile area in Terrebonne Bay 5.25 miles north of Timbalier Island.
Oil sheen, 10 feet by 20 feet, 2.25 miles east-southeast of the east end of Timbalier Island.
Oil and tar balls in the marsh on the west side of Madison Bay 1 mile south of the Madison Canal.
St. Tammany Parish
Tar balls on private residential property on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain at 9 Preserve Lane in Mandeville
Cameron ParishWordPress version 4.4 and above use a filter called pre_get_document_title() for a customzing title for each page, post, tag, category and more. For example, I can change 404 error title using this filter. One can use the wp_title() which was formerly deprecated in version 4.4 but was returned for compatibility reasons.
Let us see how to change or override page title. I am using Twenty Sixteen child theme.
Adblock detected 😱 PayPal/Bitcoin, or become a supporter using Patreon. My website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to my visitors. I get it! Ads are annoying but they help keep this website running. It is hard to keep the site running and producing new content when so many people block ads. Please consider donating money to the nixCraft via, or become a
Syntax and examples
The syntax is pretty simple:
// add filter add_filter ( 'pre_get_document_title', 'change_my_title' ) ; // Our function function change_my_title ( $title ) { return 'My new title' ; } // add filter add_filter('pre_get_document_title', 'change_my_title'); // Our function function change_my_title($title) { return 'My new title'; }
The above will change title for all pages/posts/tags and more. So you must customize it as per your needs. For example just change 404 page title:
// add filter add_filter ( 'pre_get_document_title', 'change_my_404_title' ) ; // Our function function change_my_404_title ( $title ) { // checks if 404 error is being displayed if ( is_404 ( ) ) { return 'Error 404: Oh no. Page note found :(' ; } // else return default title return $title ; } // add filter add_filter('pre_get_document_title', 'change_my_404_title'); // Our function function change_my_404_title($title) { // checks if 404 error is being displayed if ( is_404() ) { return 'Error 404: Oh no. Page note found :('; } // else return default title return $title; }
The above pre_get_document_title filter allowed me to override any HTTP 404 error page title as per my needs. Here is another example where I am customizing title for my custom taxonomy:
add_filter ( 'pre_get_document_title', 'change_faq_tax_title' ) ; function change_faq_tax_title ( $title ) { global $page, $paged ; // if Easy taxonomy if ( is_tax ( 'tutoriallevel', 'easy' ) ) { $nix_title = single_term_title ( '', false ).'to follow Linux/Unix tutorials for new users - nixCraft'; // Add a page number if necessary. if ( ( $paged >= 2 || $page >= 2 ) &&! is_404 ( ) ) { $nix_title.= sprintf ( __ ( 'Page %s' ), max ( $paged, $page ) ) ; } return $nix_title ; } } add_filter('pre_get_document_title', 'change_faq_tax_title'); function change_faq_tax_title($title) { global $page, $paged; // if Easy taxonomy if (is_tax('tutoriallevel', 'easy')) { $nix_title = single_term_title( '', false ).'to follow Linux/Unix tutorials for new users - nixCraft '; // Add a page number if necessary. if ( ( $paged >= 2 || $page >= 2 ) &&! is_404() ) { $nix_title.= sprintf( __( 'Page %s' ), max( $paged, $page ) ); } return $nix_title; } }
You must put above code in functions.php located inside your child theme. Passing a non-empty value will short-circuit wp_get_document_title(), returning that value instead. wp_get_document_title() returns document title for the current page/tag/post. Here is an original function is taken from WordPress core file:
function wp_get_document_title ( ) { /** * Filters the document title before it is generated. * * Passing a non-empty value will short-circuit wp_get_document_title(), * returning that value instead. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param string $title The document title. Default empty string. */ $title = apply_filters ( 'pre_get_document_title', '' ) ; if (! empty ( $title ) ) { return $title ; } global $page, $paged ; $title = array ( 'title' => '', ) ; // If it's a 404 page, use a "Page not found" title. if ( is_404 ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = __ ( 'Page not found' ) ; // If it's a search, use a dynamic search results title. } elseif ( is_search ( ) ) { /* translators: %s: search phrase */ $title [ 'title' ] = sprintf ( __ ( 'Search Results for “%s”' ), get_search_query ( ) ) ; // If on the front page, use the site title. } elseif ( is_front_page ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = get_bloginfo ( 'name', 'display' ) ; // If on a post type archive, use the post type archive title. } elseif ( is_post_type_archive ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = post_type_archive_title ( '', false ) ; // If on a taxonomy archive, use the term title. } elseif ( is_tax ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = single_term_title ( '', false ) ; /* * If we're on the blog page that is not the homepage or * a single post of any post type, use the post title. */ } elseif ( is_home ( ) || is_singular ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = single_post_title ( '', false ) ; // If on a category or tag archive, use the term title. } elseif ( is_category ( ) || is_tag ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = single_term_title ( '', false ) ; // If on an author archive, use the author's display name. } elseif ( is_author ( ) && $author = get_queried_object ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = $author -> display_name ; // If it's a date archive, use the date as the title. } elseif ( is_year ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = get_the_date ( _x ( 'Y', 'yearly archives date format' ) ) ; } elseif ( is_month ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = get_the_date ( _x ( 'F Y','monthly archives date format' ) ) ; } elseif ( is_day ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = get_the_date ( ) ; } // Add a page number if necessary. if ( ( $paged >= 2 || $page >= 2 ) &&! is_404 ( ) ) { $title [ 'page' ] = sprintf ( __ ( 'Page %s' ), max ( $paged, $page ) ) ; } // Append the description or site title to give context. if ( is_front_page ( ) ) { $title [ 'tagline' ] = get_bloginfo ( 'description', 'display' ) ; } else { $title ['site' ] = get_bloginfo ( 'name', 'display' ) ; } /** * Filters the separator for the document title. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param string $sep Document title separator. Default '-'. */ $sep = apply_filters ( 'document_title_separator', '-' ) ; /** * Filters the parts of the document title. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param array $title { * The document title parts. * * @type string $title Title of the viewed page. * @type string $page Optional. Page number if paginated. * @type string $tagline Optional. Site description when on home page. * @type string $site Optional. Site title when not on home page. * } */ $title = apply_filters ( 'document_title_parts', $title ) ; $title = implode ( " $sep ", array_filter ( $title ) ) ; $title = wptexturize ( $title ) ; $title = convert_chars ( $title ) ; $title = esc_html ( $title ) ; $title = capital_P_dangit ( $title ) ; return $title ; } function wp_get_document_title() { /** * Filters the document title before it is generated. * * Passing a non-empty value will short-circuit wp_get_document_title(), * returning that value instead. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param string $title The document title. Default empty string. */ $title = apply_filters( 'pre_get_document_title', '' ); if (! empty( $title ) ) { return $title; } global $page, $paged; $title = array( 'title' => '', ); // If it's a 404 page, use a "Page not found" title. if ( is_404() ) { $title['title'] = __( 'Page not found' ); // If it's a search, use a dynamic search results title. } elseif ( is_search() ) { /* translators: %s: search phrase */ $title['title'] = sprintf( __( 'Search Results for “%s”' ), get_search_query() ); // If on the front page, use the site title. } elseif ( is_front_page() ) { $title['title'] = get_bloginfo( 'name', 'display' ); // If on a post type archive, use the post type archive title. } elseif ( is_post_type_archive() ) { $title['title'] = post_type_archive_title( '', false ); // If on a taxonomy archive, use the term title. } elseif ( is_tax() ) { $title['title'] = single_term_title( '', false ); /* * If we're on the blog page that is not the homepage or * a single post of any post type, use the post title. */ } elseif ( is_home() || is_singular() ) { $title['title'] = single_post_title( '', false ); // If on a category or tag archive, use the term title. } elseif ( is_category() || is_tag() ) { $title['title'] = single_term_title( '', false ); // If on an author archive, use the author's display name. } elseif ( is_author() && $author = get_queried_object() ) { $title['title'] = $author->display_name; // If it's a date archive, use the date as the title. } elseif ( is_year() ) { $title['title'] = get_the_date( _x( 'Y', 'yearly archives date format' ) ); } elseif ( is_month() ) { $title['title'] = get_the_date( _x( 'F Y','monthly archives date format' ) ); } elseif ( is_day() ) { $title['title'] = get_the_date(); } // Add a page number if necessary. if ( ( $paged >= 2 || $page >= 2 ) &&! is_404() ) { $title['page'] = sprintf( __( 'Page %s' ), max( $paged, $page ) ); } // Append the description or site title to give context. if ( is_front_page() ) { $title['tagline'] = get_bloginfo( 'description', 'display' ); } else { $title['site'] = get_bloginfo( 'name', 'display' ); } /** * Filters the separator for the document title. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param string $sep Document title separator. Default '-'. */ $sep = apply_filters( 'document_title_separator', '-' ); /** * Filters the parts of the document title. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param array $title { * The document title parts. * * @type string $title Title of the viewed page. * @type string $page Optional. Page number if paginated. * @type string $tagline Optional. Site description when on home page. * @type string $site Optional. Site title when not on home page. * } */ $title = apply_filters( 'document_title_parts', $title ); $title = implode( " $sep ", array_filter( $title ) ); $title = wptexturize( $title ); $title = convert_chars( $title ); $title = esc_html( $title ); $title = capital_P_dangit( $title ); return $title; }
I hope someone will find this useful as I spent an hour to figure out new changes. Most forum posts are outdated or talk about modifying core files. Hence I wrote a quick blog post.
Share on Facebook TwitterSome theatergoers to the screenings of the live-action Attack on Titan film in the United States on Wednesday have reported experiencing subtitle issues during the film. According to some of the attendees, at a point during the first half of the film, the film displays "I've been waiting for this day!" on the subtitles, and continues to do so, without displaying other subtitles.
Several people who have watched the film have reported the issue, but others also report that some screenings are displaying the subtitles properly.
Funimation Entertainment is handling the film's distribution in North America. In addition to Wednesday's screening, the first film will also screen in the United States on Thursday and on October 7, followed by the 87-minute second film on October 20, 22, and 27. Canada will receive the first film on October 5 and 26, followed by the second film on October 22 and 26.
The films will play in nearly 300 theaters in the United States and Canada. Funimation's website for the film is listing the theaters.
ANN has contacted Funimation regarding the issue and is awaiting a reply.The teenager told police that she was attacked in central Sønderborg on Wednesday at around 10pm by a dark-skinned English-speaking man. She said the man knocked her to the ground and then unbuttoned her pants and attempted to undress her.
The girl was able to save herself from further assault by using pepper spray on the attacker, but now she may be the one who ends up in legal trouble.
“It is illegal to possess and use pepper spray, so she will likely be charged for that,” local police spokesman Knud Kirsten told TV Syd.
Numerous readers wrote in the comments section on TV Syd’s story about the incident that they would be willing to pay the girl’s fine, which will most likely be 500 kroner.
The man who attacked the 17-year-old fled from the scene and has not been charged.
Sexual assaults have been in the news in Sønderborg recently after several women in the town reported earlier this month that they sometimes feel harassed by the aggressive behaviour of some male asylum seekers and refugees at the local asylum centre.
It is not known, however, if the assailant in this latest incident was an asylum seeker or refugee.
In related news, a nightclub in Sønderborg is now barring guests from entering if they cannot speak Danish, English or German. Other Danish nightclubs are also reportedly considering similar moves.
Note to readers: Due to a translation error, the story originally described the attacker as "wearing dark clothing" when in fact he was described as being "dark-skinned". We regret the error.Hello all,
It is my great pleasure to announce that @withoutboats will be joining the Language Design subteam. @withoutboats has been very involved in many language design discussions across the RFC as well as internals.rust-lang.org, and has demonstrated both a strong understanding of how language features interact as well as an ability to identify key constraints and drive conversations towards consensus. @withoutboats has also authored a number of thoughtful and well-reasoned RFCs, such as RFC 1148 – which discussed mutually exclusive traits – and RFC 1598 – which extends associated types with the ability to be generic over types and lifetimes. (Due to the complex nature of these RFC, neither has yet been accepted, but the approach described in both is generally seen as the right one and their designs are sure to influence any RFC that winds up being accepted.) The lang team has long valued their insights, and is looking forward to working together more closely.
– nmatsakisSentry turrets based on the Raspberry Pi or Arduino are a popular type of maker project, and this one is worth looking at for its impressive design and use of a new platform called n.io.
The project’s physical components consist of a wooden frame which holds a motorised Nerf gun clone. The frame is moved by two motors which are connected to a Raspberry Pi, and a USB webcam sits on top of the barrel.
This webcam captures imagery which is sent to a MacBook, which then uses OpenCV and Dlib for facial recognition.
Once the right targets are picked up it sends movement instructions to the Pi which then tracks and fires on a target. It looks like the turret aims to shoot people in the torso, so there’s no poked out eyes.
Instances of n.io are running on both the MacBook and the Pi, and we assume it’s acting as an intermediary for all the systems and software.
Nerf fans reading this may also point out that the toy gun used here is not an official Nerf product. It’s known as the”Adventure Force Enforcer Belt Blaster” and it’s simply been mounted upside down in the wooden frame.
As this is essentially an ad for n.io, they haven’t provided a full build log as of yet. You can watch the video below for more info, but if you’d like to attempt something similar we suggest you take a look on Instructables or Hackster.io for similar ideas.
[Via Hackster.io BlogThere follows the text of a letter which I received last Wednesday, second post:
Dear Mr Addison, I am writing to you to express our thanks for your more-than-prompt reply to our latest communication, and also to answer some of the points you raise.
I will address them, as ever, in order.
Firstly, I must take issue with your description of our last as a "begging letter". It might perhaps more properly be referred to as a "tax demand". This is how we, at the Inland Revenue, have always, for reasons of accuracy, traditionally referred to such documents.
Secondly, your frustration at our adding to the "endless stream of crapulent whining and panhandling vomited daily through the letterbox on to the doormat" has been noted. However, whilst I have naturally not seen the other letters to which you refer, I would cautiously suggest that their being from "pauper councils, Lombardy pirate banking houses and pissant gas-mongerers" might indicate that your decision to "file them next to the toilet in case of emergencies" is at best a little ill-advised.
In common with my own organisation, it is unlikely that the senders of these letters do see you as a "lackwit bumpkin" or, come to that, a "sodding charity". More likely they see you as a citizen of Great Britain, with a responsibility to contribute to the upkeep of the nation as a whole.
Which brings me to my next point. Whilst there may be some spirit of truth in your assertion that the taxes you pay "go to shore up the canker-blighted, toppling folly that is the Public Services", a moment's rudimentary calculation ought to disabuse you of the notion that the government in any way expects you to "stump up for the whole damned party" yourself. The estimates you provide for the Chancellor's disbursement of the funds levied by taxation, whilst colourful, are, in fairness, a little off the mark. Less than you seem to imagine is spent on "junkets for Bunterish lickspittles" and "dancing whores", whilst far more than you have accounted for is allocated to, for example, "that box-ticking facade of a university system".
A couple of technical points arising from direct queries: 1. The reason we don't simply write "Muggins" on the envelope has to do with the vagaries of the postal system; 2. You can rest assured that "sucking the very marrows of those with nothing else to give" has never been considered as a practice because even if the Personal Allowance didn't render it irrelevant, the sheer medical logistics involved would make it financially unviable.
I trust this has helped. In the meantime, whilst I would not in any way wish to influence your decision one way or the other, I ought to point out that even if you did choose to "give the whole foul jamboree up and go and live in India" you would still owe us the money. Please forward it by Friday. Yours sincerely, H J Lee, Customer Relations.Becca is a writer and aspirational dog owner living in NYC.
If you have a dog in your life, you already know that you’d pretty much move heaven and earth for the canine closest to your heart!
After all, dogs are by our sides no matter what, through thick and thin, and they deserve plenty of love and cherishing in return.
That’s why we just adore seeing people going above and beyond for their pups, whether they’re playing Cupid for a pooch that fell head over heels for the neighbor’s cat, or just buying the extra-cozy fleece dog bed.
The latest pampered pup catching our eye is a pug named Tyson, who is celebrating his very first Halloween this year.
In honor of this hallmark event, his beloved 15-year-old person, Mya, decided to take the Halloween decorations up a notch, to really show Tyson what Halloween is all about!
With that in mind, she picked out the cutest dog-friendly costume, and even decorated his doghouse to perfection.
Scroll through the gallery below to check out this adorably pup-focused Halloween!By Olivier Blanchard
In 2008, Latvia was widely seen as an economic "basket case," a textbook example of a boom turned to bust.
From 2005 to 2007, average annual growth had exceeded 10%, the current account deficit had increased to more than 20% of GDP. By early 2008 however, the boom had come to an end, and, by the end of 2008, output was down by 10% from its peak, the fiscal deficit was shooting up, capital was leaving the country, and reserves were rapidly decreasing.
The treatment seemed straightforward: a sharp nominal depreciation, together with a steady fiscal consolidation. The Latvian government however, wanted to keep its currency peg, partly because of a commitment to eventually enter the euro, partly because of the fear of immediate balance sheet effects of devaluation on domestic loans, 90% of them denominated in euros. And it believed that credibility required strong frontloading of the fiscal adjustment.
Painful adjustment
Many, including me, believed that keeping the peg was likely to be a recipe for disaster, for a long and painful adjustment at best, or more likely, the eventual abandonment of the peg when failure became obvious.
Nevertheless, given the strong commitment of both Latvia and its European Union partners, the IMF went ahead with a program which kept the peg and included a strongly front-loaded fiscal adjustment.
Four years later, Latvia has one of the highest growth rates in Europe, the peg has held, and the fiscal and current accounts are close to balance.
The mechanics of adjustment have been straightforward—a further sharp decrease in output, followed by increases in competitiveness due initially to decreases in wages, but increasingly due to productivity gains. Growth has come initially from external demand, but is coming increasingly from domestic demand. Unless Europe has a meltdown, growth should continue.
Big costs
Is it a success? The economic and social cost of adjustment has been substantial. Output further contracted by 16% in 2009, and is still 15% below its 2007 peak. Unemployment increased to more than 20% and still stands at 16% today, far higher than any reasonable estimate of the natural rate.
Was there another, less costly, way of adjusting, through floating, and a slower fiscal consolidation? The truth is we shall never know. What is true though is that the adjustment looks likely to succeed under the peg, something that many of us thought nearly impossible, that the economy is growing, and that there is optimism in the air—a feeling quite unusual in Europe these days.
This surely satisfies some definition of success.
Why has it worked? Preparing for the conference I just attended in Riga in which we tried to draw lessons, and reading the evidence, I could think of seven reasons (at the conference, some, including the Prime Minister, had other lists. The reasons were more general; for example, ownership of the program by the Latvians, a clear exit strategy, namely the promise of entry into the euro. My list is more prosaic, closer to an analysis of the plumbing, of each of the parts of the adjustment mechanism).
The adjustment was preceded by an unusually strong boom, so there was wide acceptance on the part of people that part of the downward adjustment was a return to normal. Some of the tough measures were seen as undoing the excesses of the past, for example the very large increases in nominal wages during the boom. There was support for fiscal consolidation, and the acceptance of pain. Parties which argue for stronger fiscal austerity often did better than the others at the polls. Pedagogy, a factor emphasized by the Prime Minister (in his book with Anders Aslund, which gives a detailed account of the crisis and of the adjustment) was surely important. But historical reasons, including the painful transition from central planning in the 1990s, surely played an important role. The Latvians could take the pain. Wages were flexible, at least relative to the generic European labor market. The initial adjustment came with a dramatic reduction in public sector wages, and thus a direct improvement in the fiscal position. Together with unemployment, lower public sector wages put pressure on private sector wages to adjust. A note of caution is needed here however: private sector wages, which are the wages which matter for competitiveness, have adjusted much less than public sector wages (by how much is a matter of some disagreement). Indeed, I worry that nominal wages have started to increase, while more adjustment still has to come to maintain current account balance as output recovers. One has to hope that increases in productivity will do the trick. This takes me to the next point. There was—and, looking forward, there still is—substantial room for productivity increases. Latvia has income per capita of half the European Union average. Being far behind the technology frontier, it has a lot of room for catch up. Latvia is a small, open economy---although less so than its Baltic neighbors. With exports around 50% of GDP, improvements in competitiveness can have large effects on both imports and exports, and in turn on GDP. Public debt was very low to start, less than 10% of GDP. Even today, public debt remains around 40% of GDP. This more or less eliminated foreign investors’ worries about default on sovereign debt, and allowed for a quicker return of Latvia to international financial markets. The Latvian financial system was largely composed of relatively friendly foreign banks—better than unfriendly foreign banks, or friendly but weak domestic banks.For the most part, the Swedish banks recapitalized their banks and maintained their credit lines to the Latvian subsidiaries, reducing the intensity of the sudden stop and of the credit squeeze.
Latvian policymakers would surely want me to add yet another reason—the strong front loading of fiscal consolidation: over the first two years of the program, the cyclically adjusted primary balance was increased by 11% of GDP. I am not sure. Growth was negative and large in 2009. Whether a slower adjustment would have led to less of an overall output loss just cannot be assessed.
But I still draw two conclusions from what happened.
While the decrease in output was dramatic, the recovery has been relatively more V shaped than I expected, although I still worry about the effects of long term unemployment.
And the Latvian experience makes a strong political case for taking into account adjustment fatigue. While the large initial budget cuts went through relatively easily, taking much smaller steps proved much more difficult in the 2011 budget. The political argument for front loading thus strikes me as fairly strong. So does the political argument for focusing on spending cuts initially. Targeted spending cuts are typically more costly politically than general tax increases; thus it may be better to keep those tax increases in reserve for later, if and when fatigue is settling in.
Wider application?
If my list is about right, one cannot avoid the question of how many of these conditions apply to Europe’s southern periphery countries.
The sad truth is that many of these conditions are not satisfied elsewhere. True, the adjustments that these countries have to make are smaller than those Latvia had to make. But their economies are less flexible, less open. They have less obvious potential gains in productivity, at least in the tradables sector. They had much higher public debt to start.
So, the lessons are not easily exportable.
And we should be under no illusion that the adjustment in the South will be difficult and painful. In that context, the argument for a social pact, and faster joint adjustment of wages and prices than implied by market mechanisms and the downward pressure from unemployment, remains, in my mind, a very strong one.One of the best things about Apple’s retail strategy is that when it comes to inventory, they don’t ignore their brick-and-mortar stores like some other retailers do. So while the initial inventory of a product like AirPods may sell out online within minutes of going up on Apple’s site, you can typically count on Apple’s retail stores to carry stock on launch day.
This was the case with AirPods – most Apple stores in the U.S had them yesterday – but they quickly sold out. So the issue is figuring out which stores have them in stock, especially since you can’t call Apple stores directly anymore.
Enter iStockNow.com. The site gives you live inventory updates for all major Apple products at every Apple Store around the world. While this information is available on Apple’s website, there’s no way to see it on a map view or check multiple stores at once – hence the helpfulness of iStockNow.
The website has been around for a while, but is becoming useful again because of how hard it is to find AirPods. The site also shows stock of iPhones, MacBooks, Apple Watches – and the DJI Mavic, which joins AirPods as being the hardest gadget to find this holiday season.
For things like iPhones and MacBooks you can filter by storage size, color, etc – which is also helpful when trying to find the exact device you want at a local store.
The website refreshes whenever Apple’s inventory on their website updates, which seems to be each night sometime after midnight PT.
While the website currently shows that no stores in the U.S have AirPods, keep checking frequently and you may see a local store turn green. If they do, you can order them on Apple’s website for in-store pickup.
Oh, and the site also says they are working on free notifications, which would presumably let you select your local store and get an email when the item you are looking for is in stock.Most startups proposition their products as obvious, rational purchases. Most of them are lying.
Hardware purchases have two drivers
Whether you like it or not, every purchase decision is both rational and emotional. Almost always, explicit content (like taglines, product descriptions, and reviews) is geared toward your rational brain and implicit content (like images, colors, and commercials) is designed to feed your emotional brain. There are tons of examples of products that do this, but my favorite is Nest:
So much of Nest’s copy is focused around saving energy. Image courtesy Nest (www.nest.com)
Nest makes two incredibly strong promises to you. The first and most explicit promise is “Nest saves you energy and money.” It coaxes buyers to think of that $250 purchase as an investment rather than a gadget. Nest-sponsored ‘studies’ report “consumers save up to $1200 over the expected 10 year lifespan of the product.” Saving $1200 is about as rational as it gets.
But this isn’t why people buy a Nest. Do you think the company would be just as successful if their marketing images looked like this:
Would Nest be successful with the same rational promise but an un-sexy product? Image courtesy my amazing Photoshop skills and Nest/Honeywell (www.nest.com and www.honeywell.com)
Probably not. It would be hard to sell a product like this for $250, even though the features of these two wifi-connected thermostats are nearly identical.
The second promise the product makes is more subtle but far more powerful. It says “no other thermostat in the world looks this good.” This promise speaks to consumers who value aesthetics, clean user interfaces, and unique qualities to make them stand out from their peers. It’s emotional and aspirational. No surprise Tony Fadell came from Apple.
Like nearly every successful consumer product, the reason people pay an irrational price for a highly rational device is emotion. The Nest design and brand drives target consumers (most commonly middle-aged technophile DIY-ers/homeowners) to the checkout counter but as soon as someone (significant other, partner, or parent) questions that irrational $250 purchase, the rebuttal is simple: “It saves us energy! It’s a long-term investment! We’ll save so much money!”
Why it matters: brand
The valuation of a consumer hardware business is the difference between the cost of selling a device and the irrational price consumers are willing to pay at the checkout counter. The difference between these two numbers is the brand (sometimes called the ‘brand premium’).
Contrary to popular belief, a brand is not a nice logo and some elegant marketing copy: a brand is a promise.
Brand is an unspoken language directed at a consumer’s identity. It makes us feel. And feelings always trump rationality when it comes to buying products.
Consumers don’t buy features, they buy into the promise a brand makes. GoPro promises you’ll be an adventure-seeking hero. Fitbit promises a healthy lifestyle you can’t forget about. Tesla promises to showcase how much of a forward-thinking, world-changer you are. These promises make us open our wallets without really knowing why, even though we quickly make up a reason as soon as we’re asked to.
The most valuable thing a consumer hardware startup can do is convert a rational product category into an emotional one. When startups set out to build a consumer product, they should remember that they’re not just building a gadget with a set of features, they’re building a brand powered by emotion.Add games to your site | Game not loading? GAME OBJECTIVES
Dots Revamped
Funny how some games can have such a simple foundation, yet have the ability to hold ur attention and give u a bit of excitement. This very dotty game is one of them. A game that will grab u by its simplicity and then reel u in for the kill.
U have a pretty straight forward objective in this skill-avoid game - move ur big head dude around and collect the blue smily dotty faces. Once in a while u may be able to pick up a rainbow dot and then, just like pacman, u can go on a feeding frenzy and eat all the other colored dots that appear on the playing screen.
Feast on the blues... avoid other colors unless they are powerups or some other useful item and get through the game, slowly unlocking new levels and new challenges. Will u be able to do it? Let us see.
Updated: October 2, 2015 8:47 AM
MY GAME
Community GAME INSTRUCTIONS
Arrow keys.
-$- EARN Fr00k$ if u COMMENT -$-
Successful Alert!!!A Major Expansion for Charlotte Light Rail
Encouraging news today from North Carolina. Mary Newsom at Network blog Naked City reports that local, state and federal officials signed an agreement yesterday for a 9.3-mile extension of Charlotte’s Lynx light rail system.
When completed in 2017, the Blue Line will connect the far-flung campus of UNC Charlotte, with its 30,000 people, and a population center of 750,000 in “the heart” of the Queen City.
The signing of the full funding grant agreement, as it’s called, is something of a formality, but its significance can hardly be overstated. FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff, in town for the event, predicted ridership on the Blue Line would double. I think that’s underestimating it. Charlotte is home to a major state university, yet the university, for much of its existence, wasn’t physically integrated into the rest of the city. That has been changing in recent years, and with the new light rail line it will change dramatically. Students will be able to travel easily from campus — where the station will be near the Student Union and a large cluster of dormitories — to South End, uptown and points in between, notably the NoDa neighborhood of bars, restaurants and renovated mill houses … And people in other parts of the city will be able to travel more easily to the main university campus without having to fight interstate highway traffic.
Newsom says the city hopes the extension will revitalize adjacent “bedraggled” neighborhoods with transit-oriented development. “If the light rail’s South Corridor is any predictor, it will,” she writes. “For my part, I say let the work begin.”
Also today: The Chicago bike-share station siting map is live, public meetings are coming soon, |
News.
Neighbors said there haven't been any known problems there in the past, and authorities confirmed there were no reports of domestic violence at the home previously.
“Very unusual... very unusual,” Michael O’Connell, a neighbor, said. “I didn’t hear anything…they're always really quiet, really quiet. Wow.”
The couple's identities weren’t released but the husband was said to be in his 60s and the wife is in her 50s. No one else was home at the time.
Investigators are now looking into what events led up to the double shooting. No motive has been released and deputies have not identified the couple.
Investigators said there is no history of domestic violence between husband and wife.
In 2012, there were 10 murder suicides in the Houston area. In 2013 and 2015, there was a 50 percent decrease to five murder suicides each year. But in 2015, there have been three times as many murder suicides which is a 66 percent increase.As the clock ticks down on 2013, it's a good time to take a look back at what readers of this blog clicked on most.
Before I saw the actual stats provided to me by the editors here at ZDNet, I was predicting that pieces about the Windows Blue wave would likely be among my most popular. I also expected one or more pieces about CEO Steve Ballmer's pending retirement might figure prominently in my top ten.
I wasn't too far off. But my most highly trafficked story surprised me, though it really shouldn't have, given how much e-mail I received on the topic.
A frequently-asked question post I did about Microsoft's phase-out of Hotmail and replacement of it with Outlook.com was my most popular post in 2013. While Microsoft did warn users that this was the plan, many non-tech-savvy users were bewildered by the change. They couldn't find their contacts, calendars and old e-mail messages. They weren't clear as to how and if they should try to merge their e-mail accounts and whether or not they could keep their Hotmail addresses. I felt like I was running a Hotmail help-desk -- complete with angry users railing at me (not Microsoft) for taking away their familiar interface.
Though this cut-over happened months ago, just this past weekend, I received yet another e-mail message from a Hotmail user who was worried that Microsoft was poised to try to "convert" her from Hotmail. The not-so-surprising takeaway here -- and this applies to Windows 8.1, too -- is most users don't like change. Especially change that they don't perceive as improving their computing experience.
Without further ado, here's a list of my top 10 posts (traffic-wise, not comment-wise) for 2013:
1. Microsoft's Hotmail phase-out: What's a user to do
2. Microsoft's Windows 8 Plan B(lue): Bring back the Start button, boot to desktop
3. Microsoft's Ballmer on his biggest regret, the next CEO and more
4. With Windows Blue, Microsoft may (finally) do the right thing
5. Microsoft's Surface 2 launch: What to expect
6. Microsoft goes public with Windows 8.1 upgrade policies
7. Bill Gates' biggest Microsoft product regret: WinFS
8. Here's how the new Windows Blue Start Button may work
9. Microsoft does away with stack ranking
10. Microsoft's 'Blue' wave is coming to more than just Windows
The next ten on my list included posts about Threshold (Blue's successor), Cortana (Microsoft's Siri alternative), the short list of Microsoft CEO candidates, and still more about Windows Blue.
The past year has been one of many surprises and unpredictability on the Microsoft beat. Here's to hoping 2014 is equally interesting. And as always, thanks for reading!Russian utility helicopter
The Kamov Ka-226 is a small, twin-engined Russian utility helicopter. The Ka-226 features an interchangeable mission pod, rather than a conventional cabin, allowing the use of various accommodation or equipment configurations. The Ka-226 entered service in 2002. Variants of the Ka-226 have the NATO reporting name of Hoodlum.
Development [ edit ]
A twin turbine version of the successful reciprocating-engined Kamov Ka-26, (the Kamov Ka-126 is the single turbine version) the Ka-226 was initially announced in 1990. Originally developed to meet the requirements of the Russian disaster relief ministry, the aircraft first flew on 4 September 1997. Certification to Russian AP-29 "A" and "B" transport categories was granted on 31 October 2003. The Ka-226 entered production at "Motor Sich", Zaporozhye, Ukraine.
In December 2014 it was reported that India is in agreement with the Russian Federation to produce on its territory Mi-17 and Ka-226T.[3] Under a 2011 contract with Russian Ministry of Defence, Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise completed production of a batch of Ka-226.80 helicopters, which was delivered to the customer on 17 April 2015. "The planned scope of the assignment of state contract signed with the Ministry of Defence in 2011 fully implemented with ahead of schedule deliveries. Prematurely delivered a large consignment of helicopters. Previously, under the state contract with the Russian Defence Ministry were also delivered several Ka-226.80 batches", - said the Managing Director of Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise (KumAPP) Viktor Novikov.[4]
In April 2015 Certification of Ka-226T light multi-role helicopter powered by Turbomeca Arrius 2G engines (France) has been successfully completed in Russia. Two Ka-226T helicopters took part in the flight test programme. The version of Ka-226T powered by Turbomeca Arrius 2G engines offers much better performance compared to production Ka-226s powered by Allison 250-C20R/2 engines. It was reported earlier that deliveries of Ka-226 helicopters manufactured by Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise (Ka-226.50 and Ka-226.80 versions) and powered by Allison 250-C20R/2 engines were started in 2005. The helicopters were delivered to the Federal Security Service of Russian Federation (at least six vehicles), Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (11 vehicles), Russian air forces (a total of 36 helicopters should be delivered) and Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency Situations (1 helicopter). Next year the enterprise was to start implementation of a contract for delivery of 18 Ka-226TG helicopters to Gazpromavia.[5] In late March 2017 Russian security structures received first 2 ship-based Ka-226Ts and the delivery of six helicopters was completed in April 2018.[6][7] Russia issued in March 2018 a supplement to the certificate for Ka-226T helicopter that allows the machine operation at high temperatures.[8]
Following selection of the Ka-226T to meet an India requirement for 197 helicopters, an agreement was signed in December 2015 for the creation of a joint-venture between Rostec, Russian Helicopters and Hindustan Aeronautics to build the helicopters at a new factory to be built at Tumakuru in India.[9]
Design [ edit ]
The design is a refinement of the proven Ka-26, featuring interchangeable mission pods. The aircraft is fitted with a new rotor system, increased visibility nose, and new passenger cabin design. The Ka-226 also features a new transmission system and is made largely from composite materials.
The aircraft is fitted with trademark Kamov coaxial rotors, of advanced composite design, making the Ka-226 highly manoeuvrable and eliminating the need for a tail rotor.
Variants [ edit ]
Ka-226 Russian Air Force
Search and rescue, medivac, disaster relief and patrol variants have been developed for the Russian Emergency Ministry. Air ambulance, police and fire fighting variants have been developed for the Russian government.
Ka-226
Utility helicopter.
Ka-226AG
Gazprom specific variant.
Ka-226T
Instead of Rolls-Royce 250C engines, this variant is fitted with the more powerful Turbomeca Arrius 2G1. Each engine provides 670 shp, increasing the service ceiling to around 7,000 m, providing improved high altitude and high temperature operation.[10] Helicopter has new avionics with multifunctional displays, automatic control system, navigation system, radar. It can be equipped with hoist system, helicopter sling, searchlight, additional external fuel tank. For search and rescue missions helicopter can be equipped with medical module.
Ka-226TG
Gazprom specific variant based on Ka-226T model.
Operators [ edit ]
Specifications (Ka-226T) [ edit ]
Data from www.kamov.ru
General characteristics
Crew: 1-2
1-2 Passengers: 7
7 Cargo: 1,050 kg internally, or 1,100 kg on an external sling
1,050 kg internally, or 1,100 kg on an external sling Length: 8.1 m (25 ft 7 in)
8.1 m (25 ft 7 in) Main rotor diameter: 2× 13 m (42 ft 8 in)
2× 13 m (42 ft 8 in) Height: 4.15 m (13 ft 7 in)
4.15 m (13 ft 7 in) Gross weight: 3800 kg (8379 lb)
3800 kg (8379 lb) Powerplant: 2 × Turbomeca Arrius 2G1, 435 kW (580 hp) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 250 km/h (155 mph)
250 km/h (155 mph) Cruising speed: 220 km/h (137 mph)
220 km/h (137 mph) Range: 600 km (373 miles)
600 km (373 miles) Service ceiling: 6200 m (20300 ft)
6200 m (20300 ft) Hover ceiling: 4600 m (15088 ft)
Armament
See also [ edit ]
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and eraWhy we kick off any new project with a Design Sprint
Sergio Panagìa Blocked Unblock Follow Following Aug 25, 2016
Air piano (in the picture Matteo).
“FAIL fast” is probably the most abused claim in startups: learning from mistakes and iterate would increase the chance of a business to succeed. But putting this into practice it’s trickier than it sounds, especially when it comes to get your hands dirty with digital product design: there are plenty of methodologies, theories and frameworks out there.
In this article we explain why, so far, the Design Sprint has proven to be the most effective way.
🇮🇹 Update: this article is also available in Italian.
Who we are, where we come from
We are an Italian studio of designers and developers working both with digital product companies in their startup stage (as happened with Wanderio—a travel platform) and with premium brands in need of affirming their web presence (as with LocalEyes—a global internationalization consultancy).
In our professional growth we felt more and more of a desire to help our clients in defining what comes before kicking off a project: the WHYs (what problems you’re solving) and HOWs (how you are addressing them).
We are an Italian studio of designers and developers based in Milan, Italy (in the picture Giacomo).
In our experience a true impact on a product experience can be created when there is a close connection and collaboration between business, designers and developers working as a unified team.
This change in mindset led us to test various tools and techniques, from User Story Mapping to Lean Service Design.
The best one in the toolbox so far has been a short, quick and intense design method called Product Design Sprint (also known as Design Sprint, or just Sprint).
Design Sprint: a process that leads a inter-disciplinary team into understanding the problem, exploring possible solutions, prototyping and testing a new idea—in just five days.
MVP is probably too late
When building an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) it is very hard to build something really “valuable” in less than 2 or 3 months of development.
So the commonly–accepted mantra says:
have an idea.
build an MVP.
put it in front of real people.
measure, learn and iterate.
Waiting 2 or 3 months in the making of an MVP means taking on all the assumptions and bias that come in the early design phase.
Why the heck wait so long?
The risk of building an MVP before getting enough feedback in the early stage is to fail, at the end, to address the real problems waiting to be solved — and could be solved much earlier.
The Design Sprint: how it really works
“Who is going to clean all this mess?”
The great change came with the idea of building a prototype and test it soon with real people in a short time frame (five days of work). The method is called “Design Sprint” and comes from GV (formerly Google Ventures) as a way to understand the true potentials of the projects they were investing on.
“It’s true that every great entrepreneur is first and foremost a designer.”
— Peter Thiel. Zero to one: Notes on startups, or how to build the future.
A big change in mindset
First of all everyone works as a team, focused in workshops. And all of our devices can take a break. In our situation that meant working side by side for 5 days with our client and our team, doing what “design thinking” is meant to do:
In Design Sprint everyone acts and thinks as a designer, in a journey where each day represents a process phase.
Day 1: start with the understanding of the problem.
Day 2: explore the possible solutions.
Day 3: decide what to build.
Day 4: build a prototype (a façade).
Day 5: learn from showing the prototype to real people.
What we’ve learned from applying the Design Sprint
We have been lucky enough to put in practice the method of the Design Sprint in several digital projects so far, for entrepreneurs and companies operating in different industries and with different goals.
These are some of the lessons learned.
1. Why just 5 days
One week is the right time frame to explore and choose one single design concept to prototype.
Less of it and you won’t have the time to completely understand the problem you’re solving, or you won’t have enough time to explore divergent solutions, or you won’t be able to build a realistic prototype and test it with real people.
More than that and you could fall in the trap of converging too many ideas into a solution or worse, change your minds again and again.
2. Why just one day to prototype an idea
Sometimes we were asked “why just one day to build the prototype? it can’t be enough for a prototype”.
While building a proper working prototype might require a lot more of a work day, the goal of building a prototype in the Design Sprint is to create a fake product.
The prototype should be good enough to be realistic to the eyes of people and get their spontaneous reactions.
This, in our experience, could be usually done (in the case of a website or an app) with high-fidelity (realistic) layouts and a tool like InVision to create animations and interactions.
3. Why testing with real people is important
The major risk of not doing any validation at an early stage of a design concept is to take with you all the team’s inevitable assumptions, related more in detail to how people perceive the problem you’re trying to solve, and if they understand the very specific way you’re trying to solve it (metaphors and mental models).
Eat real food (in the picture Roberta).
One of the most interesting answers we want to hear from people testing our prototypes is how they would describe the product to a friend.
It is surprising how often people don’t understand things you took for granted while instead they don’t pay attention to things you gave fundamental importance to.
4. Why five days are never enough
Five days are enough to get to know more about your product idea or the problem you’re solving. But the party won’t get over with the last user interview and the collection of all the feedback from users. What happens next?
Need of another iteration: if the chosen design concept did not prove to be effective in addressing people problems during the interview, or if people didn’t get the value proposition of our idea, the right thing to do is to perform another (probably smaller) Design Sprint to adapt and rapidly test the improved concept.
Start building: if we got the information we were looking for and the overall product direction seems correct (or we know where to improve), it’s time to plan a high-level project roadmap with an estimated time (number of iterations) needed to complete the project.
5. Why doing homework matters
Design Sprints don’t appear from just anywhere. They start from what GV calls, in their book, a challenge: something specific you would like the sprint to focus on.
Some examples:
Existing product or company: explain and sell a new product on our existing website.
New product: build a new service for people looking for a pet sitter while they’re on vacation.
In our experience before starting a sprint it is essential that the decider (the entrepreneur, or the Product Manager) comes up with a deep understanding of the problem to solve, of the market and existing alternatives / competitors and the business opportunity—often even an early draft of the Business Model Canvas helps a lot as a starting point.
6. Why everyone can join
“B̶i̶g̶ ̶d̶a̶t̶a̶ Design Thinking is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it… ”
— Ancient quote, reinterpreted.
Design Sprints are a pragmatic way to practice what the current trend calls Design Thinking. It is a way to put everyone on the team to think and act as a designer.
It is a change in mindset before anything else. A Marketing Manager or Engineer needs to think as a designer in order to pursue the goal of getting more information on the problem we’re solving and on the way we’re planning to solve it.
This, in a consultancy business, evolves from the traditionally flawed client–vendor relationship where the Expert wearing the designer–hat gives compelling answers to the Client / Boss trying to please him, not to make him successful.
Instead, in a Design Sprint, everyone explores and as a team pursues the best solution for the most important piece of the project: the people we’re building for.
7. Why no two Design Sprints are the same
In our experience so far no two Design Sprints were the same. The approach to work changes a lot, depending on which challenge you’re facing.
Understanding how to explain on your website what your companies does (mostly using textual communication) will require a very different approach and mental energy than creating new design concepts for a raw product idea (mostly finding new metaphors and unexplored system models).
Creating the right mix of skills in the team will help in making the process effective.
8. Why still very few people work this way
Everybody knows today how valuable it is to do user testing, despite the fact that I still talk with a lot of colleagues in my industry who don’t do it. Sometimes I’ve heard them say “Yes, it’s crucial to listen to users, but for our organization it would be impossible; we’d rather build an MVP and then collect reactions”.
In these scenarios I try to explain how much we learn when we show an early concept before doing any building; but I know how hard it is to move from theory (we should test) to action (let’s arrange 5 user interview sessions).
Why? I think mostly because if you don’t adopt a process you don’t know where to begin; also, recruiting users is a pain and let’s be honest: asking strangers about their habits at first sounds a little awkward. In our direct experience we benefit a lot from staying in a co-working network (Talent Garden) full of people willing to help.
Early–testing has been of enormous value and of amazing help into better understanding the problems people have, how they face them and how our solution would eventually fit into this.
The triage
What we learned in all these years of work is that doing software the right way is hard. It is very easy, in the early design phase, to fall in trap of all the assumptions we normally bring with us.
The Design Sprint is the most effective tool we experienced so far. While it’s still a relatively young approach, it has demonstrated to be a valuable way to be more aware of the possible trap of a design solution.
The N°1 requirement, though, it is to form a unique team where business, design and technology are all well represented and willing to understand each other.
To us, as designers and technologists, working with our clients on Design Sprints had been a chance to discover we had a knack for getting our hands dirty on the comprehension of their business.
This means committing first in making our clients successful rather than chasing just a fancy design.
Lets’ talk each other (in the picture Gregorio, Stefano, Sergio).
Thank you for appreciating this article—we will share more of our learnings and updates on this topic. We’d also love to hear opinions, feedback or questions on the Design Sprint.
A special thank goes to Giovanni, who took all the photos included in this article during a recent Design Sprint in our studio.
~
We are Moze. We design and build digital products. Want to talk about your next project? Drop us a line!Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats Daniel (Dan) Ray Coats58 ex-national security officials rebuke Trump over emergency declaration DNC unveils new security checklist to protect campaigns from cyberattacks Overnight Defense: Trump to leave 200 troops in Syria | Trump, Kim plan one-on-one meeting | Pentagon asks DHS to justify moving funds for border wall MORE (R) on Tuesday sought to reassure lawmakers that he will be empowered to lead the intelligence community despite conflicting signals from the Trump administration about the office he is nominated to lead.
In a genial confirmation hearing for one of the Senate’s more genial former members, the only major concern Senate Intelligence Committee members repeatedly raised was that Coats might be too nice for the job as director of national intelligence (DNI).
Several said they fear he would be hamstrung by a limited role in President Trump’s national security apparatus.
ADVERTISEMENT
“My concern at this point is not about your qualifications. My concern is about what environment you’re walking into,” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said.
Coats, a former member of the panel, is well-liked by his colleagues and expected to sail through confirmation. But the hearing comes at a moment of intense scrutiny of the Trump administration’s handling of national security and the intelligence community.
In an executive memorandum last month, Trump reshuffled the so-called Principal’s Committee of the National Security Council, elevating his controversial political adviser Stephen Bannon and apparently de-emphasizing the role of the DNI, who under that order will only attend meetings when issues pertinent to his responsibilities are discussed.
The move stoked fears that Bannon, as a political operative, will eclipse Coats and other national security professionals in the administration.
Coats downplayed worries that he could be cut out of the president’s national security decisionmaking process despite being the nominal head of the 17 agencies that make up the intelligence community.
“I have been reassured time and time and time again by the president and his advisors that I am welcome and needed and expected to be part of the Principal’s Committee,” Coats said. He told lawmakers that the administration had told him that demoting DNI was never the “intent” of the order, and that they had merely copied language from a similar Bush-era memorandum.
“You shouldn’t be welcome at these meetings, you should be part of these meetings,” Sen. Angus King Angus Stanley KingHillicon Valley: Senators urge Trump to bar Huawei products from electric grid | Ex-security officials condemn Trump emergency declaration | New malicious cyber tool found | Facebook faces questions on treatment of moderators Key senators say administration should ban Huawei tech in US electric grid Addressing repair backlog at national parks can give Congress a big win MORE (I-Maine) said.
Coats also sought to reassure lawmakers that he would speak truth to power if confirmed, amid ongoing concerns about politicization of intelligence within the administration.
“In this new role, it will be my responsibility to present the president, senior policymakers and the Congress with the best and most objective, nonpolitical and timely intelligence,” Coats said during his opening statement, placing the emphasis on the word “nonpolitical.”
“The president and I have discussed my potential role as his principal intelligence advisor, and we both recognize that this position is frequently the bearer of unpleasant news.”
The former senator pledged to work with the committee in its investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election, affirming that it is “our responsibility to provide you access” to raw intelligence.
Both Senate and House intelligence committees — as well as reportedly the FBI — are conducting contentious investigations into Russian interference in the U.S. election, including any contact between Trump campaign officials and Moscow.
Scrutiny on Trump associates has been stoked by a series of media leaks, apparently from members of the intelligence community, that Trump has decried as political attacks by holdover Obama officials.
Coats appeared to suggest that he would resist any pressure from the White House to publicly rebut media stories. CIA Director Mike Pompeo earlier this month issued a statement refuting a Wall Street Journal story and the FBI last week refused to do the same regarding a separate New York Times story.
Democrats have fiercely decried the White House request to the FBI to refute the story as an affront to the independence of the intelligence community.
“I don’t envision myself as going on CNN every night and saying, here’s what we’ve done,” Coats said Tuesday.
He also told lawmakers that he wanted to work with National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers to establish an estimate for the number of Americans caught up in the agency’s foreign surveillance dragnet.
In his initial questioning, Sen. Richard Burr Richard Mauze BurrHillicon Valley: Senators urge Trump to bar Huawei products from electric grid | Ex-security officials condemn Trump emergency declaration | New malicious cyber tool found | Facebook faces questions on treatment of moderators Key senators say administration should ban Huawei tech in US electric grid Five tantalizing questions about Mueller’s investigation MORE (R-N.C.) let Coats dispatch with perhaps the most contentious part of his record on the outset — a 2015 vote against the so-called McCain amendment that outlawed the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques.
Trump’s national security officials have been fiercely questioned on the issue of torture during their confirmation hearings in light of the president’s avowal of waterboarding and his repeated insistence that “torture works.”
Coats gave a brief explanation of his rationale at the time — he believed that “we should have a discussion” about whether the U.S. should be able to use more intense interrogation techniques in the event of an imminent attack — but assured lawmakers that he is “no longer engaged in [the policymaking] process.”
“I follow the law that’s there and I ensure that the IC follows the law,” Coats said.
“I don’t have a prescription for that, I’m not going to advocate for that — I’m simply trying to define what was going through my mind.”Guy Noves on Toulouse duty this weekend
Guy Noves has been named the new head coach of France's national rugby union team, with Sir Clive Woodward missing out on the job.
The 61-year-old will replace Philippe Saint-Andre, who is set to leave the job on November 1 – the day after the World Cup finishes.
Noves, who turned the job down in 2011, has guided Toulouse to 10 national titles and four European Cups.
He has agreed a four-year contract but will wait on naming his two assistant coaches until November.
Noves said: "I am happy and proud of this nomination. Representing my country is a great honour and a great responsibility."
Saint-Andre has been in charge since the 2011 World Cup and a statement from the French Federation reads: "Guy Noves will remain silent so as to allow the French squad to work in the calmest atmosphere before and during the main objective for this year the World Cup.”
And Noves added: "I am the leading supporter of the France national side and I wish with all my heart that they have a great World Cup."
Meanwhile, with the French season still continuing, Noves could lead Toulouse to an 11th title.
Others reportedly in the frame for the role were ex-France captains Raphael Ibanez and Fabien Galthie, as well as England's World Cup supremo from 2003 Woodward.This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is concerned with Growing the Hobby. I had originally pegged the topic to be Disconnected Gamers but decided that it was too narrow of a topic and really part of a bigger discussion.
I think this carnival is especially appropriate with some recent articles[1][2] and discussions[3][4] about toxic fans and target audiences making some ripples on the web.
While, I don’t think the hobby is disappearing, by any means, I don’t see it expanding by leaps & bounds either. I’d personally like to see it grow, and I would like to hear what the RPG Blogosphere has to say.
Growing the Hobby is a pretty broad topic and it can be approached from the community/gamer or industry/publishing perspectives. I have a few questions that might help spark discussion:
How would you like to see the hobby grow?
How can the community or publishers help grow the hobby?
What are you doing to advance the hobby?
What is hindering the growth of the hobby?
Is technology a key component of growing the hobby?
Is the hobby fine the way it is?
What are some pitfalls in trying to grow the hobby?
I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s contributions.
The wrap-up can be read here.
Listening to: Kingdom of Sorrow – Behind the Blackest Tears – Enlightened to Extinction
REFERENCES
[1] Why You Can’t Have Nice Things – Mob United
[2] Killing Demand – Neogrognard
[3] Companies Staying Away from RPG Gamers – EN World
[4] Companies Staying Away from RPG Gamers – The RPG SiteFor Bryan Johnson, the founder and CEO of neuroscience startup Kernel, the question is when, not if, we all have computer chips inside of our brains. Kernel, founded last fall with more than $100 million of Johnson’s own money, is trying to better understand the human brain, so that we may one day program it to improve.
The company is focusing first on medical applications, to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse and complex ways the brain can fail. Eventually, Johnson would like to move toward augmenting the organ to make us smarter and healthier and pave the way for interfacing directly with computing devices.
Kernel wants to improve human cognition
Johnson, who made his fortune selling his payments company Braintree to PayPal for $800 million in 2013, doesn’t have past experience in neuroscience. He is, however, riding a new wave of interest from Silicon Valley. There is a growing fear, among some futurists and other Silicon Valley elite, that humans will develop a crippling dependence on machines and software that continue to rapidly accelerate beyond our capabilities and understanding. This is a fear not necessarily shared by the neuroscience community, which is less focused on enhancing human intelligence, at least right now, than they are on treating people with Alzheimer's and helping paraplegics regain movement.
Yet the goal of Kernel, ultimately, is to allow humans to outcompete or at least co-evolve alongside machines — by becoming a little digital themselves. Kernel has made some big claims: promising to improve neurodegenerative disease, for instance, to help pave the way for improving cognition. But for the last decade, brain implants have only dealt with movements, and have typically only been used in paraplegic people beyond experimental medical trials and stimulation devices for conditions like epilepsy.
“We know if we put a chip in the brain and release electrical signals, that we can ameliorate symptoms of Parkinson's,” Johnson tells me. “This has been done for spinal cord pain, obesity, anorexia… what hasn’t been done is the reading and writing of neural code.” Johnson points to the programming of yeast cells and CRISPR gene editing as examples of breakthroughs that apply the principles of computing to living organisms. “What I wanted to do was work with the brain the same way we work with other complex biological systems like biology and genetics.”
Of course, our understanding of genes is much farther along that our understanding of the brain. “Frankly, the technologies we have for interacting with the brain are blunt tools at best,” says Blake Richards, a neuroscientist and assistant professor and the University of Toronto who focuses on how the brain modifies itself and learns from experience. “Most neuroprostheses involve dropping a big array of electrodes into the brain.”
“The technologies we have for interacting with the human brain are blunt tools at best.”
This makes Johnson’s vision sound both difficult and distant, with a laundry list of scientific obstacles standing in its way. He will need more money — he’s currently declining outside investment but may take venture capital funds in the future. The project also requires time, perhaps decades, to achieve anything close to Kernel’s cyborg vision, which currently resides only in fiction. But despite these hurdles, Johnson is intent on starting now with Kernel as one of the early leaders in an emerging hybrid field, one that blends the cash-flush, experimental spirit of Silicon Valley with the most cutting-edge neuroscience research.
Brain hacking, so to speak, has been a futurist fascination for decades. The idea that we will, inevitably, have chips in our brains and ways to interface directly with computing devices has been a staple of the most seminal cyberpunk works, from William Gibson’s Neuromancer to Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell to the Wachowskis’ The Matrix. The reality, however, is far more complicated — and dangerous. Very few people in the world have multi-electrode arrays implanted inside their skulls today. Those who do only undergo the invasive surgery required as a last resort, to alleviate the symptoms of severe neurological conditions or as a way to restore movement to paralyzed patients or allow amputees to move prosthetic limbs.
Brain hacking has been a futurist fascination for decades
Richards is skeptical of any company promising advancements that require invasive surgery. “People are only going to be amenable to the idea [of an implant] if they have a very serious medical condition they might get help with,” he adds. “Most healthy individuals are uncomfortable with the idea of having a doctor crack open their skull.”
Johnson is first to admit the difficulties Kernel must reckon with to even begin working on these types of technologies, principally the idea of working exclusively with patients who have severe neurological conditions. He says that working with brain implants is a requirement right now. “There’s no tech that exists in the world that allows you to be outside the brain and gain access to critical data,” he says. “You need to be inside the brain, inside the skull.” Down the line, Kernel would like to explore less invasive ways of working with the human brain.
Yet even then, moving beyond the medical field and into the realm of improving cognition requires a significant amount of scientific progress, Richards points out. “We understand very little about the human brain compared with what we understand about the mouse brain,” he says. “Almost all of our data on the human brain comes from epileptic patients, which is problematic for understanding how the brain works at large.”
“You need to be inside the brain, inside the skull.”
To really understand the brain, Richards adds, will take years of work. We’ll need to hone how we gather data from the brain — itself a challenging task with its own complications — and improve our understanding of how the brain carries out core functions. From there, researchers will still have to work within the confines of ethical medical trials and regulatory boundaries that restrict how and to what effect we can work on human brains. As it stands today, Richards says, we don’t even yet have have a thorough grasp of how the brain does everyday tasks like storing information we can recall later or letting us conjure conversations from years in the past. “The computations and algorithms carried in the brain are still largely mysterious to us.”
These challenges haven’t stopped Johnson from setting his sights on neuroscience as the next frontier. While companies have in the past tried to make commercial headway in the field of neuroprosthetics, Johnson is focusing instead on investing in research that may yield new insights into the brain. He may be one of the first to pour a Silicon Valley fortune into the field, but he suspects others will follow in his quest to transform the brain as a computing platform, even if it takes years of research and billions of dollars of investment.
For Johnson, those stipulations are just part of the deal. Money has always been a means to an end for the 39-year-old entrepreneur. After he sold Braintree to PayPal, Johnson decided that what he did next had to have the maximum positive impact possible. So he began talking with friends, experts, and fellow tech industry contemporaries, trying to discover where and for what his wealth could be best used to explore.
After talking with hundreds of people, Johnson says he decided that neuroscience had the most potential. “Intelligence is the most precious and powerful resource for humans,” he says. “We’ve always built these tools, starting with the rock, thermostat, calculator. Now we have AI. Our tools and [digital] intelligence are increasing at great velocity. On the flip side, human intelligence is just about the same as it’s always been.”
“Intelligence is the most precious and powerful resource for humans.”
So Johnson enlisted the help of some of the best scientists in the field to start looking into neuroprosthetics. These are devices implanted within the skull that mimic, substitute, or assist functions of the brain, ranging from controlling the motor cortex to preventing the onset of seizures. Johnson’s idea, at least at first, is to have his team at Kernel explore and better understand core brain functions like information recall, memory, and neuronal communication.
To do this, the company is developing its own hardware and software to try and alleviate the devastating effects of neurological and degenerative diseases like epilepsy, dementia, and Alzheimer's. It’s being aided greatly by the research and expertise of Theodore Berger, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California. Back in 2002, Berger’s research proved that it was possible to use software and mathematical modeling to replicate the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for memory and its eventual degradation. Nearly a decade later, Berger’s lab at USC used a chip implanted inside the brain of rats to restore lost memory and improve information recall.
Now, Berger splits his time between USC and Kernel as the startup’s acting chief science officer. Kernel itself, now a little more than 20 employees, operates out of Los Angeles, near Berger’s |
. I've been in New Jersey.
"Most likely there is that one spot left, so in terms of the progress I've made over the last year I'm going in a little more confident and ready for the challenge to maybe get that last spot."
Devils GM Ray Shero is well aware of Helgeson's potential. He signed the 6-5, 215-pound Minnesota native to a two-year contract late last week.
This year Helgeson, who turns 25 Oct. 8, is on a two-way deal that would pay him $575,000 in the NHL and $75,000 in the AHL. Next season is a one-way deal for $600,000.
Had Helgeson signed a one-year contract, he would have become an unrestricted Group 6 free agent next summer unless he plays 58 games this season. Players whose contracts have expired, are 25 or older, have completed three or more professional seasons and have played fewer than 80 NHL games (regular-season and playoff) would be classified Group 6.
"We'll see where he fits," Shero said. "He's a younger defenseman I've heard good things about. He's a guy who a year from now most likely would be a Group 6 free agent if he doesn't play a number of NHL games. He's a guy who has been drafted, developed and might be able to be an NHL defenseman.
"We'll find out more in camp and throughout the year where he's going to fit in. He'll help us make that decision, most likely. He's young. He's at the right age and he plays a certain style. He's very liked and respected by his teammates."
The depth chart, so far, looks like this: Greene, Larsson, Severson, Gelinas, Merrill and free agent signing John Moore. Helgeson and Raman Hrabarenka likely will battle for the seventh spot.
What does Helgeson, who played 22 games for the Devils last season, have to do?
"Just bring my style of physical play. I'm not going to move away from that," Helgeson said. "This summer I'm working on my skating and my skill work because obviously as time goes on the NHL is changing. It's about and skill and skating.
"With the style we'll be playing this upcoming year, it's going to be a high tempo, high skating team. For me it's working on skating and stick work to try to help myself get better and improve my game."
Rich Chere may be reached at rchere@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ledger_NJDevils. Find NJ.com on Facebook.The seven-second clip was captured by a bystander on the platform of the Chorlton Metrolink station, Manchester, on Wednesday night and shared on Facebook.
This is the shocking moment a woman stumbles and falls backwards onto a tram line after being pushed away by a man she was fighting with.
It shows the man appearing to be talking with another woman, when a younger woman runs at him and attacks him.
She manages to punch him several times in the face before he shoves her away sending her flying backwards onto the platform, where she rolls off onto the tram line.
Luckily, the line was clear and she managed to make it back onto the platform safely.
Several of comments have been left on the post, with some suggesting the attack on the man had been unprovoked, while others suggested that he may have learning difficulties.
It is not known if the woman required medical treatment following the incident. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said the matter had not been reported to them.Give and take across the border / 1 in 7 Mexican workers migrates -- most send money home
- - Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Give and take across the border / 1 in 7 Mexican workers migrates -- most send money home 1 / 4 Back to Gallery
2006-05-21 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- The current migration of Mexicans and Central Americans to the United States is one of the largest diasporas in modern history, experts say.
Roughly 10 percent of Mexico's population of about 107 million is now living in the United States, estimates show. About 15 percent of Mexico's labor force is working in the United States. One in every 7 Mexican workers migrates to the United States.
Mass migration from Mexico began more than a century ago. It is deeply embedded in the history, culture and economies of both nations. The current wave began with Mexico's economic crisis in 1982, accelerated sharply in the 1990s with the U.S. economic boom, and today has reached record dimensions.
It is unlikely to ebb anytime soon.
"There is no scenario outside of catastrophic attack on the United States that would make immigration stop," said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.
The fierce immigration debate now under way in Congress focuses almost exclusively on the U.S. side of the equation. Senate legislation attempts to reduce the flow by hardening the border, sanctioning employers who hire illegal migrants, and expanding avenues for legal immigration. The House passed a bill focused solely on U.S. enforcement.
Yet whatever the United States decides about immigration will have a huge impacton its closest neighbors, especially Mexico.
What happens in Mexico, by turn, has a big effect on immigration flows to the United States. Those events include a hotly contested election six weeks away that pits a leftist populist against a market-oriented heir to President Vicente Fox.
"We want Mexico to look like Canada," said Stephen Haber, director of Stanford University's Social Science History Institute and a Latin America specialist at the Hoover Institution. "That's the optimal for the United States. We never talk about instability in Canada. We're never concerned about a Canadian security problem. Because Canada is wealthy and stable. It's so wealthy and stable we barely know it's there most of the time. That's the optimal for Mexico: a wealthy and stable country."
What isn't wanted, Haber said, "is an unstable country on your border, especially an unstable country that hates you."
Three-quarters of the estimated 12 million illegal migrants in the United States come from Mexico and Central America. Mexicans make up 56 percent of the unauthorized U.S. migrant population, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Another 22 percent come from elsewhere in Latin America, mainly Central America and the Andean countries. These same countries send many of the half-million new illegal immigrants who arrive each year.
Migration is profoundly altering Mexico and Central America. Entire rural communities are nearly bereft of working-age men. The town of Tendeparacua, in the Mexican state of Michoacan, had 6,000 residents in 1985, and now has 600, according to news reports. In five Mexican states, the money migrants send home exceeds locally generated income, one study found.
Last year, Mexico received a record $20 billion in remittances from migrant workers. That is equal to Mexico's 2004 income from oil exports and dwarfing tourism revenue.
Arriving in small monthly transfers of $100 and $200, remittances have formed a vast river of "migra-dollars" that now exceeds lending by multilateral development agencies and foreign direct investment combined, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.
The money Mexican migrants send home almost equals the U.S. foreign aid budget for the entire world, said Arturo Valenzuela, director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University and former head of Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.
"Where are we going to come up with $20 billion?" to ensure stability in Mexico, Valenzuela asked at a recent conference. "Has anybody in the raging immigration debate over the last few weeks thought, could it be good for the fundamental interests of the United States... to serve as something of a safety valve for those that can't be employed in Mexico?"
Migration has caused significant social disruption in Mexico, though research is scant, said B. Lindsay Lowell, director of policy studies at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University.
"We do know that it can break up families, and has done so in many traditional sending areas," he said. "The husband comes to the United States and stays for many years. His wife is on her own with the children. In some cases, the couple comes to the United States and leaves their children behind with relatives."
The migration is driven in part, experts say, by the large income differentials between the two nations. A rural Latin American migrant may earn 10 times in the United States what he or she can earn at home.
But an equally intense pull comes from U.S. employers, including private households, who employ large numbers of illegal immigrants as nannies, housekeepers and caregivers, said Jeffery Passel, a senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center.
The U.S. information economy has created a split labor market, one with a powerful demand for high- and low-skilled workers, economists say.
While U.S. professionals toil in office buildings, others come to clean their offices, prepare their food and provide the host of services that support modern life. In a bygone era, teenagers, women and rural U.S. migrants filled these jobs. The U.S. labor market offers opportunities to "a younger, vibrant labor force and Mexican immigration has been filling that void," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, director of the Mexico Project for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
U.S. demand has driven a record increase in wages for newly arrived immigrants, about 30 percent between 1994 and 2000, according to Lowell. The migration has also raised average wages in Mexico by 8 to 9 percent, economists estimate. As the first U.S. Baby Boomers turn 60 this year, this demand is only expected to intensify.
Once migration starts, social and economic networks sustain and fuel it, which explains in part why flows have not fallen despite solid economic growth in Mexico.
Most illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America have not completed high school, although education levels are rising. Harvard economist George Borjas found that in 2000, 63 percent of Mexican immigrants had not finished high school.
New immigrants are much more broadly dispersed than previous waves. A lower percentage are going to the traditional magnet states such as California and New York. The fastest-growing destinations for new arrivals, according to demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution, are North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Iowa and Nebraska.
This geographic dispersal may account in part for rising public discontent over immigration, many believe. Migrant workers have also shifted from the fields to the cities, working in hotels, restaurants and construction, where they are more visible to the public.
Mexico is aging too, which will eventually cause migration to ebb. Its population trails the U.S. age profile by 30 years. By then, demographers expect Mexico may be importing labor.
While migration has long served as a safety valve for Mexico, the current wave may also be hindering the political and economic reforms that most agree are needed -- in education, taxes, energy, agriculture and law, where systemic corruption is a serious barrier to growth.
"The good news is that a million Mexicans were on the street recently demanding good jobs and good government and justice," Roger Noriega, former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, told a recent panel at the American Enterprise Institute. "The bad news is they were marching in someone else's country. Every day, thousands of Mexico's most industrious people leave their families behind... leading many to wonder why Mexico's political class is not capable of creating economic opportunity for its citizens in a land rich in mineral wealth, hydrocarbons, agricultural potential and human capital."
The United States is not the only country that shares a long land border with a poorer nation. So does Germany, with Poland. France once did with Spain. Many point to Europe's unification as a better way to integrate the North American economies without disruptive migration flows.
Before the European Union opened its labor markets, its wealthier countries invested billions of dollars to develop the economies of its poorer members -- at the time, Spain, Portugal and Greece -- that had been sending migrants abroad. Since then, Spain has become the economic engine of Europe, and this month opened its labor market to Poland. The Irish, who once fled economic calamity by the millions to the United States, are today having their gas pumped by Eastern Europeans.
Many contend that U.S. investment in Mexico would be less expensive and more effective than a wall. Poorly developed Mexican credit markets make it all but impossible for a low-income family to get a mortgage.
If, when the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1994, "the United States had approached Mexico and its integration into the North American economy in the same way that the European Union approached Spain and Portugal in 1986, we wouldn't have an immigration problem now," said Princeton University sociologist Douglas Massey, co-director of the Mexican Migration Project, a survey of Mexican migrants.
Given the predominance of Mexicans and Central Americans in illegal immigration to the United States, Papademetriou wonders why the Senate's guest worker program would be open to all comers, if it is intended to provide temporary workers for the U.S. market.
"If 60 percent of our illegal immigration comes from a single country, and another 20 percent comes through that country, logic would say the vast majority of visas should go to the country of origin," he said. "The last thing you would do is create a global temporary worker program, as if somehow we should need Bangladeshis or Russians to pick our fruits and vegetables."
Targeted visas could also leverage Mexican cooperation in undertaking politically difficult reforms, and would be more likely to keep guest workers temporary. "You keep it a neighborhood project," Papademetriou said, "so you have people going back and forth visiting their families, not spending thousands of dollars to come from all over the Earth. People who already have a network in place that will support them in the United States, that will help them find jobs."
Given that Mexico is the second-largest U.S. trading partner, the two nations' economic integration is well under way, and labor is part of that, experts say.
Even a new wall -- already under construction on the border with Mexico with bits of triple fencing here and pieces of National Guard units there -- has not stopped migrants entering yet and probably works more to trap them in the United States, many believe.
"These are human beings," said Audrey Singer, an immigration expert at the Brookings Institution. "It's not like a water faucet we can turn on and off. I think of managing them better -- because it's very hard to stop them."
FOLLOW THE MONEY The migration of workers from Mexico can be tracked in dollars. -- Transfer of human capital: One in every 7 Mexican workers migrates to the United States. In 2005, illegal immigrants came from: Mexico 56% (6.2 million) Rest of Latin America: 22% (2.5 million) Asia: 13% (1.5 million) Europe and Canada: 6% (750,000) Africa and other: 4% (500,000) -- Migrant dollars: Many Mexican workers in the United States send home $100 and $200 each month. In 2005, the total remitted was $20 billion. Percentage of adults receiving money sent from workers in the U.S. in 2005 (Country population) Mexico 18% (107 million) El Salvador 28% (6.8 million) Honduras 16% (7.3 million) Guatemala 24% (12.3 million) Ecuador 14% (13.5 million) Sources: Pew Hispanic Center, Multilateral Investment Fund John Blanchard / The Chronicle CHART (2): Coming to the United States Immigration by decade in millions Illegal migrants 1820s 0.1 1830s 0.6 1840s 1.7 1850s 2.6 1860s 2.3 1870s 2.8 1880s 5.2 1890s 3.7 1900s 9.0 0.2 1910s 6.0 0.3 1920s 4.1 1930s 0.5 1940s 1.0 1950s 2.5 1960s 3.8 0.5 1970s 7.0 2.5 1980s 10.0 4.0 1990s 14.0 6.2 2000s 16.0 6.5 Due to changes in how immigrants have have been counted, these figures are approximations. -- Mexico to United States migration Average annual immigration in thousands '91 337 '92 329 '93 332 '94 372 '95 443 '96 388 '97 390 '98 507 '99 496 '00 530 '01 437 '02 378 '03 369 '04 459 Sources: Pew Hispanic Center, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2004
CHART (1):“Our mission is to eradicate loneliness,” she said in an interview at the club’s busy Flatiron offices. “You’ve got 10 other people to talk to. It opens a door.”
On a recent weekday Ms. Short talked over a half-eaten salad while part of the club’s staff, which now numbers 10 full-time and 70 part-time employees, hustled to prepare colored T-shirts for an after-work kickball kickoff party at Libations, a Lower East Side restaurant and lounge.
The games are competitive, though generally pleasant and fun. The stakes are kept low on purpose: Championship teams receive $3 medals and a $100 tab at a sponsoring bar. Teams judged by club employees to be the most sociable, no matter their records, also get a $100 bar tab. The prizes keep things interesting.
“It’s not fun if one team really wants to win, and one team just wants to be there,” Ms. Short said.
Photo
Using a sport and a postgame get-together at a bar as a mixer and shaker has proved popular. Ms. Short said that 20,000 people participated in NYC Social programs last year, more than double the number in 2010 and more than six times the enrollment in 2008.
NYC Social offers leagues in kickball, dodgeball, volleyball, soccer, inner-tube water polo, bowling, flag football, Ultimate Frisbee and cornhole, a game like horseshoes that involves pitching beanbags through holes in a board. Team trivia contests are also held.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Players, most between 24 and 32, often return for new sports in different seasons. Kimione Williams, known as Kimo, is a 30-year-old Manhattan accountant who has played, at Ms. Short’s last count, in 34 NYC Social programs.
The idea is to mingle, and Mr. Williams often signs up as a “free agent.”
“I’ve made, like, a ton of friends, and I see them all the time,” he said. “I get bored with having the exact same team every season.”
Many organizations and clubs in New York offer high-level sports for the serious athlete. ZogSports is a social sports network that offers coed competition in many of the same activities as NYC Social in New York, Washington, New Jersey, Connecticut and Georgia, with others to come.
Photo
Ms. Short, 38, was a concert promoter in Baltimore, her hometown, and participated in coed sports programs offered by the Baltimore Sports & Social Club. She thought the idea could work in New York, especially because so many young people move into the city.
“I met people I wouldn’t have met otherwise,” she said. “Meeting friends in adulthood is challenging.”
She held temporary work as she organized the first kickball game, which she laughingly labeled “terrible” because there were no boundaries to keep in the balls. But the initial turnout was encouraging, and she had good timing: The comedy film “DodgeBall” came out in 2004 and whetted adults’ appetites for playing a game they had enjoyed as children.
Along the way Ms. Short and her employees have arranged sponsorships among bars not far from the fields and courts where games are played. One is Slainte, an establishment on the Bowery not far from the site of several NYC Social sporting events.
Tom O’Byrne, the owner, said Slainte became an NYC Social postgame site about three years ago to boost business on slower nights. Now it hosts three to five NYC Social nights a week; Mr. O’Byrne estimates that his place does 25 percent to 45 percent more business on those nights.
Photo
“The players are a good group of young professionals,” he said. “They know how to enjoy themselves in a fun and lively way while still being respectful of others in the restaurant.”
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Ms. Short continues to rustle up new sponsors and said she had considered opening similar sports clubs in other cities. One concern, though, is maintaining today’s level of customer service. Employees sit by the phone at night to provide directions to games and postgame bar sites, and there are “liaisons” at each bar to keep the mood light.
But the players tend to behave themselves. As Mr. Parness, the kickball-playing husband, said, “The last thing you want to be is a jerk to someone you’re going to see for six weeks.”
When NYC Social offered dodge ball, it lured players like Roland Aviles, who is now 32, lives in Manhattan and works in finance. Mr. Aviles kept returning, moving into officiating NYC Social sports, then playing kickball.
“You’re guaranteed a night out a week, no matter how bad life is,” he said, smiling.
While officiating, he also met a new kickball player named Uma Jagtiani. They started dating, were engaged last December and are to be married in August. Mike Smith, 30, who lives in Harlem and owns a sports and entertainment marketing company, also found a girlfriend. He had moved to New York from Ohio.
“When you first get here,” he said, “you have to make the effort to get out, or it will eat you alive.”
NYC Social helps in that effort, he said.
“Everybody goes in for different reasons: some love, some networking, some exercise,” Mr. Smith said. “While I want to win while I’m out there, what it’s really about is going to the bar afterward. I can go to a gym and run on the treadmill.”Record labels have long been the gatekeepers of the dance music space, as they continuously define and reshape tastes via releases, endless talent scouting, and the curation of brand-hosted parties. In our Cut From the Catalog series, we big-up established and buzzing imprints alike by taking a look at the organizations’ ops while running through a retrospective mix built solely from their respective catalogs. When it comes to record labels that have been momentous in their impact on the dance scene, there are few that rival the scale of achievements of Anjunabeats. Started way back in 2000 as an outlet for the production work of superstar trance trio Above & Beyond, the project gradually grew into something with far greater scope and ambition. By the time Anjunabeats 100 was released in 2008 to celebrate the label’s century of releases, Anjunabeats had spearheaded a trance revival and won legions of fans around the world for their deeper, more progressive take on the sound—not to mention kick-starting careers of Super8 & Tab, Boom Jinx, Nitrous Oxide, Oliver Smith, Andrew Bayer, Sunny Lax, and many more besides. In the past decade, though, things have stepped up even further for the Anjunabeats stable. As Above & Beyond grew into full-blown crossover singer/songwriters, playing special “Acoustic” shows, alongside developing into mainstage staples at festivals like EDC Las Vegas, their weekly radio show Trance Around the World also evolved into Group Therapy (named after the trio’s beloved album of the same name), its weekly audience growing toward millions of devotees around the world. With the label’s deeper house-focused sibling Anjunadeep developing alongside it, Anjunabeats increasingly courted a powerful and visceral mainstage sound, while simultaneously keeping their progressive edge and avoiding the excesses of the EDM scene. In the process, it also helped introduce the next generation of Anjuna stars to the world, including ilan Bluestone, Jason Ross, and Grum, the latter of whom has mixed the new Anjunabeats Worldwide 07 compilation and is currently underway on a supporting tour. This Friday, the string of dates will lead Grum to Exchange LA, where he will be joined by special guests Fehrplay, Jaytech and Oliver Smith. However, this all represents just the tip of the Anjunabeats iceberg. For instance, the label’s annual Group Therapy party, to celebrate another 50 editions of their radio show, is held at iconic international locations like NYC’s Madison Square Garden and London’s Alexandra Palace, is simulcast live to record-breaking worldwide audiences, and basically stages a takeover of Twitter every year. There’s more to Anjunabeats than meets the eye. To get an idea of what goes on behind the scenes, we spoke with label manager Allan McGrath on some of the finer details of helping run a dance music empire. How has the world of Anjunabeats been going this year?
Nonstop busy, but very fun! Our North American Anjunabeats tour earlier this year was a big one for us, and it couldn’t really have gone any better. The whole tour was almost entirely sold out, and the love from the fans was immense. The 14 dates included sold-out shows at L.A.’s Belasco Theatre (which sold out in a day), Rebel in Toronto, San Jose City National Civic, Chicago’s Concord Music Hall, and the Atlantic Avenue Warehouse in Brooklyn, as well as our annual Miami pool party at the Raleigh. On the releases front, there have been many highlights from faces both familiar and new. Boss men Above & Beyond have a massive forthcoming single called “Tightrope,” which features Marty Longstaff on vocals. It’s been getting a lot of love since it popped up in the Ultra set, so we’re excited to see it out there. It was also a real moment to finally have a full Seven Lions release on the label through his Jason Ross collaboration “Higher Love,” featuring Paul Meany. Jeff (Seven Lions) obviously first broke through with his Beatport competition-winning remix of Above & Beyond’s “You’ve Got to Go,” and we’ve been trying to find the right track for a full release ever since. Nearly six years later, we got there, but it was worth the wait!
“There’s something incredibly reaffirming about seeing thousands of people from all over the world passionately engage with what the label is doing.”
And as you know, the next big compilation on Anjunabeats is the latest Anjunabeats Worldwide mixed by Grum, one of the roster’s most unique artists, who’s done a fantastic job of distilling his DJ sound for the series.ilan Bluestone’s “Scars” with Giuseppe de Luca is another standout, as was the track before it, “Frozen Ground,” that many people know from the Anjunabeats tour video. Both are taken from his forthcoming artist LP, Scars, which is due out later this year. It’s also been really exciting to see fresh new talent Spencer Brown find his sound and come into his own. And let’s not forget longer-standing names like Oliver Smith, Genix, and Sunny Lax, who seem to be finding new gears all the time. This is without mentioning Anjunadeep, which is stronger than ever. Way Out West’s brilliant LP Tuesday Maybe has enjoyed a particularly great campaign (the album is a career best, IMO!). Looking back to when you joined the label, tell us a little about what inspired Anjunabeats in the first place and what the label’s early goals were.
To answer that properly, you’d really need to speak to Jono, Tony and Paavo, but here’s a quick history lesson from me. The very first iteration of Anjunabeats was set up by Jono and Paavo in their university days. The long story short is that they met at Westminster University, bonded over a shared love of dance music (specifically trance), and set up Anjunabeats as an outlet for their own productions—initially released under the name Anjunabeats (the first Anjunabeats track to be released was actually called “Volume One”). Pretty soon, they received attention and support from the big trance names of the day: Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules, Tiësto, etc. Around that time, Tony was working as marketing director at Warner Music, but also producing trance as a big fan of the scene. He had been asked to remix Chakra’s “Home,” and he approached Jono and Tony to work on it with him. The three formed an instant bond, and Anjunabeats was initially an outlet for their productions under various aliases. Above & Beyond and OceanLab were the obvious ones, Freestate and Tranquility Base among the others. The main initial goals were to present a clear, quality and recognizable brand as an outlet for their productions (the iconic ‘A’ has been a feature from the early days). But as the label gathered steam, awareness grew, and a sense of community developed (helped along by Paavo’s passionate interest in early web forums), soon demos started coming their way, and people were asking to be signed to the label. From there, a very organic label roster developed, as artists like Oliver Smith and Mark Pledger (Smith & Pledger/Aspekt) and Super8 & Tab joined the label, gradually followed by many more and all the acts that make up the broad label family that we all love and know today. In broad strokes, how has this changed and evolved as things have grown over the years?
Essentially, certain core values have always remained. Quality control, a family ethos, real musicality, and emotional authenticity are all things that come to mind. As more and more people have been drawn to what Above & Beyond and Anjunabeats stand for, it has allowed us to do bigger and better things—but the guiding principles always remain. In many ways, the growth only strengthens these core principles. There’s something incredibly reaffirming about seeing thousands of people from all over the world passionately engage with what the label is doing, both online and at events. The growth has also allowed us to invest seriously in developing artists over time and building acts in a broader sense than before. When did your own involvement with the label begin, and how would you describe your role?
I started here as label manager around seven years ago now. Before that, I was working as Clubs and Music Editor for DJ Mag. One day, about 10 or 11 years ago now, I got sent a copy of the Anjunabeats Volume 4 mix compilation to review. I had been a big fan of trance in its initial heyday in the mid ‘90s, but had kind of stopped paying attention as I moved on to other sounds. However, when I got Anjunabeats Volume 4, I was completely blown away by both the quality control and the fresh approach to the sound. It reminded me how trance could be both beautiful and forward-thinking. I was also drawn to the artwork and overall presentation values, which stood out from a lot of the other trance, and to be honest, dance labels in general, at the time. Artwork is something that has been a defining feature of the label, and is an area that Tony especially remains very passionate and involved in. From that point on, I was a big fan of the label and developed a natural relationship with both the guys, who I would always end up interviewing for the magazine, and James (Grant), their manager and our company MD. When I was looking for a new challenge, the stars had aligned and Anjunabeats were also looking for a new label manager. After a series of interviews and marketing proposal tasks, that was that.
“The main thing is making sure growth is real and organic, rather than anything too trend-based.”
What have been the most significant moments you’ve been involved with yourself?
We’ve grown hugely as a company since, so I’ve since been promoted to label director, and we now have a sizeable and very passionate team across all the many areas that are needed to keep a label of our size growing and at the cutting-edge. Everyone is an expert in their own area, but everyone contributes and collaborates across everything in some way. It’s a very special and unique vibe, which is driven by the way Jono, Tony and Paavo have always done things. The A&B studio is also right next to the office, so they are regular faces in the office and maintain a very hands-on involvement with all that we do, from A&R and artwork to merch and events. There really are too many to mention, but I’ll try to touch on a few. First of all, the excitement and engagement on Above & Beyond’s Group Therapy and We Are All We Need album campaigns were big ones. Launching the “We’re All We Need” video on the screens in Times Square and seeing Beatlemania-levels of fan adulation was a particularly memorable moment, as was the sold-out Group Therapy show at Madison Square Garden the day after. Some other personal highlights include the response to Andrew Bayer’s groundbreaking If It Were You, We’d Never Leave LP and achieving a Grammy nomination with Mat Zo’s inspired Damage Control. Watching a then largely unknown Arty take the whole dance world by storm with “Around the World” and “Kate” was an exciting period, too. All the above felt like real turning points for the label, but the most significant thing is that the turning points keep coming, and the team keeps growing and developing. It feels like the future is bright, which is always an exciting place to be. Considering Anjunabeats is an independent dance label, the scale on which it operates is impressive, indeed, when you take everything into account. Give us a rundown of the different staff working in the office that keep things ticking over every week.
Our London team now stands at over 20 people, working across A&R, publishing, radio and promo, digital marketing, social media, graphic design, web design, business management and accounting, among others. We’re an indie with ambition. Jono, Tony, Paavo and James have always had the mentality that no challenge is too great. There’s usually a belief that big things can always happen with the right application and the right foundation. And that’s a mentality that filters right across the team. The main thing is making sure growth is real and organic, rather than anything too trend-based. Beyond the more obvious side of things involving signing and releasing music, can you describe for us the many other areas the label is involved with?
We now seem to be “involved” across just about every discipline within the modern music industry, which matches up with our parent company name, Involved Productions. Within that, we have Involved Management, where we manage the artist careers of Andrew Bayer, ilan Bluestone, Jason Ross, Lane 8, Dusky, Yotto, Luttrell, and have also just taken on Seven Lions, which is a really exciting one for us. We also have a publishing company called, you guessed it, Involved Publishing, which is headed up by Jarrod Bird, who had previously worked as publishing manager at the ace Australian indie Future Classic. Beyond that, we also run Dusky’s 17 Steps label as a joint venture with them, as well as being closely involved in Lane 8’s This Never Happened label and events as his artist management. All the label tours across both our labels are run and strategized out of our office, with help from some trusted booking agents, as is the weekly Group Therapy show. There’s probably more that I can’t think of right now, as we seem to end up going where our passions take us! But there’s a lot going on, as you can see. The next major mix release for the label comes from Grum, who has compiled the latest Anjunabeats Worldwide. He’s the perfect example of a key artist who’s been supported and promoted by the label (he’s one among many). Tell us a little about his ongoing involvement.
Grum is a favourite of pretty much everyone within the company. Jono, Tony and Paavo have been big fans for many years, regularly supporting his music in the radio show, and he’s been one of their preferred warmup DJs of choice for some years now—that progressive vibe works so perfectly for them. His sound has always been a very unique melting pot of influences, and as the progressive and trancier elements within that melting pot started to shine through more and more, the matchup between Grum and Anjunabeats made perfect sense. He brings something very individual and unique to the label, whilst tapping into its core values: musicality, emotion, innovation are all high in any Grum production. It felt like a natural move to have him mix this year’s Anjunabeats Worldwide, a series which has been a platform for multiple Anjunabeats stars in the past; Super8 & Tab, Mat Zo, Arty, ilan Bluestone, and Jason Ross have all contributed to mixes in the past. The music focus of the label has definitely evolved from perhaps a more purist trance affair into something quite different, more versatile and more modern. How was this evolution steered?
The musical evolution of both labels is a very organic thing, with Above & Beyond, James Grant (Anjunadeep), and the A&R teams just following their tastes and what’s good at that point in time. Artists often come to us very naturally and organically. Luttrell’s first demos, for example, were sent to us direct by his good friend Mat Zo, who recommended us as a label. Cubicolor has been a revelation for Anjunadeep, bringing a band sound and dynamic to the label, and that is a project that grew out of our existing artist 16 Bit Lolitas. Yotto was picked up by the A&R team after an early remix had appeared on Group Therapy. Then there are industry contacts and managers that tend to send us demos we think we’d like. If we like them, we start talking. The thing that binds all these artists together is the same principles that brought Jono, Paavo and Tony together in the first place. There’s an appreciation of emotional and melodic music that is trying to make a statement, and it doesn’t always matter what particular genre that music falls into; it’s whether it feels right and moves us. There’ll always be fans that naturally move away from the label over time; that’s the case with any label. But by and large, I would say that Above & Beyond and An |
.) told Sessions they wanted to know why the president fired Comey in the midst of investigations into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential race.
ADVERTISEMENT
Feinstein told Sessions it's important to understand what role he had in this process, including conversations he had with the president and others in the White House.
Sessions, however, made clear he won't be answering such questions. He said he could not waive executive privilege.
Feinstein pressed him during her line of questioning anyway, asking what his designated role was in Comey's firing. Sessions said he was asked to make a recommendation in writing and submitted it to the president.
"I don't think it's been fully understood the significance of the error Mr. Comey made on the Clinton matter," he said, referring to Comey's role in the investigation of former Democratic presidential nominee 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 use of a private email server. "For the first time I'm aware of in all of my experience... a major case in which DOJ prosecutors were involved in an investigation that an investigative agency announced the closure of an investigation."
Sessions noted that Comey said a few weeks later that he would do it again.
"I think that was a basis that called for a fresh start at the FBI," he said.
The annual Department of Justice oversight hearing marked the first time Sessions has appeared before the committee since taking office in February.
--This report was updated at 11:14 a.m.For fun, I examined the values of the different resources in Settlers of Catan in terms of how much they can buy you in Victory Points. I determined that Stone and Wheat are generally the most valuable resources and Wood and Brick are the least valuable.
The actual ranking is:
Stone>Wheat>Sheep>Brick>Wood
The “cheapest” winning end state you can get is 4 cities and longest road, which will cost 40 resource cards beyond your start.
The most “expensive” end state is 4 settlements, 5 victory points from Development Cards, and Largest Army, which will cost 95 resources.
Premise:
I began by calculating the total number of end states that can be achieved by a player based on all of the combinations of settlements, cities, and development cards that can be built, and whether they have Longest Road. This resulted in 432 combinations.
I then reduced this to the number that have 10 or 11 Victory Points. (It is possible to end with 11, if you achieve Largest Army or Longest Road after getting 9 points some other way.) This left a total of 81 winning end states.
I then calculated how many of each resource would be necessary to get to each of these.
Assumptions:
In order to simplify the math, I have made a number of assumptions.
You will play a perfect game and there will be exactly two road segments between any of your cities/settlements. There will be no extra road segments built, unless it is to achieve Longest Road.
Development Cards are each worth 7/25ths of a Victory Point, because there are 5 One Victory Point Cards and the possibility of getting Largest Army, worth 2 Victory Points, and there are 25 total cards in the deck. I am disregarding the benefits of the other cards and the robbing ability of the knight card, since these do not gain Victory Points directly.
You start with the equivalent of 4 wood, 4 brick, 2 wheat, and 2 sheep in the 2 settlements and 2 roads in the beginning. This has been deducted from the total resources necessary to achieve each end state.
All resources are equally likely to be gained through rolling or trade. This is a big assumption, especially for any single game, but works out in the long run. Note that there are 4 sheep, wood, and wheat tiles on the board, but only 3 brick and stone tiles. This will be addressed later, since it will not average out over multiple games.
The robber is discounted, since everyone has an equal likelihood of rolling 7.
The benefits of extra resource collection from cities, trading ports, and other strategic placement are disregarded.
Remember that cities cost a total of 1 wood, 1 brick, 1 sheep, 3 wheat, and 3 stone, since you must have a settlement first.
Results:
From this basic breakdown, you will need an average of the following resources to achieve one of the winning end states:
8.7 wood
8.7 brick
18.2 stone
15 sheep
18.6 wheat
The high bias towards stone, wheat, and sheep is due to the number of outcomes that can be achieved with Development Cards. However, it is unlikely that you would actually be able to get to some of the states like, for example, 2 settlements, 5 Development Card victory points, Largest Army, and Longest Road.
When I reduce the maximum number of victory points that you are likely to gain from Development Cards to only 4, the average resources needed becomes:
10.5 wood
10.5 brick
15.2 stone
11.2 sheep
15.8 wheat
This still supports the same hierarchy of the resources.
Distribution curves of the number of each resource needed for each win condition further illustrate this.
The least number of wood, brick, and sheep that it is possible to win with is 2 of each. However, the least number of stone you can have to win is 6 and the least number of wheat is 8.
The most wood and brick that you will ever need is 17 of each, and most condditions only need about half this. More stone, sheep, and wheat than this are needed in most of the possible end states.
As mentioned, the tiles are not evenly divided between the resources. When you take that into account by dividing the average brick and stone needed by ¾ (since they only appear 3 times on the board and the rest appear 4 times), you get the following relative values for each:
8.7 wood
11.6 brick
24.3 stone
15 sheep
18.6 wheat
This makes stone and wheat switch places for top position, and makes the final ranking of resources:
Stone>Wheat>Sheep>Brick>Wood
(Thanks for reading! I’m an amateur at this, so if you have any thoughts, additions, or critiques, please let me know.)Published online 28 February 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.632
News
Some microbes are frequent flyers in clouds.
Rain brings microbes back to Earth along with water. Punchstock
The same bacteria that cause frost damage on plants can help clouds to produce rain and snow. Studies on freshly fallen snow suggest that ‘bio-precipitation’ might be much more common than was suspected.
Before a cloud can produce rain or snow, rain drops or ice particles must form. This requires the presence of aerosols: tiny particles that serve as the nuclei for condensation. Most such particles are of mineral origin, but airborne microbes — bacteria, fungi or tiny algae — can do the job just as well. Unlike mineral aerosols, living organisms can catalyse ice formation even at temperatures close to 0 ºC.
The effect of the biological ‘ice nucleators’ on precipitation has been a mystery, not least because no one has yet been able to detect them in clouds.
Cloud counters
Now a team, led by Brent Christner, a microbiologist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, has managed to catalogue these rain-making microbes by looking at fresh snow collected at various mid- and high-latitude locations in North America, Europe and Antarctica.
They filtered the snow samples to remove particles, put those particles into containers of pure water, and slowly lowered the temperature, watching closely to see when the water froze. The higher the freezing temperature of any given sample, the greater the number of nuclei and the more likely they are to be biological in nature. To tease apart these two effects, the team treated the water samples with heat or chemicals to kill any bacteria inside, and again checked the freezing temperatures of the samples.
In this way they found between 4 and 120 ice nucleators per litre of melted snow. Some 69–100% of these particles were probably biological. The results are published in Science today1.
The researchers were surprised to find ‘rain-making’ bacteria in all samples; the snow from Antarctica had fewer than that from France and Montana, but it still had some. The results add evidence to the idea that microbes can safely travel long distances in clouds, and suggest that substantial biology-driven precipitation occurs everywhere on Earth.
"It is a wake-up call reminding us that some of the most active catalysts in clouds are being widely ignored, says Christner. "Biological particles do seem to play a very important part in generating snowfall and rain, especially at relatively warm cloud temperatures.”
Microbe water cycle
Most rain-making bacteria make their living as pathogens, using their ability to promote freezing at relatively warm temperatures to break the cell walls of the plants that they feed on. Some scientists note that this freezing ability also means that the bacteria get out of clouds and back to Earth more quickly, which is to the microbes' advantage.
“It is quite plausible that the organisms might be using their ice-nucleating ability to get out of the atmosphere,” says Tim Lenton, an Earth-system scientist at the University of East Anglia, UK.
ADVERTISEMENT
This idea — that bacteria are at an advantage if they can travel distances in clouds and then return to Earth — which Lenton developed ten years ago with the late Bill Hamilton2, features in the Gaia hypothesis. The Gaia theory holds that that living and non-living parts of the Earth are a complex interacting system, in which living things have a regulatory effect that promotes life overall.
But humans also have a big effect on these regulatory processes. Changes in land-use, forestry and agriculture, such as expanding monoculture, changes the composition of microbes in the atmosphere. As biological components seem to have a large role in how rain forms, such changes may affect rainfall and climate in many places on Earth.
“It is about time for atmospheric and climate scientists to start thinking about the implications,” says Christner.Geert Wilders, leader of the Netherlands’ second-most popular political party, delivered a speech to a crowd of globalists and technocrats in which he denounced the EU superstate and the on-going Islamization of the European continent.
Wilders was an unlikely guest at the exclusive Ambrosetti Forum, hosted in Italy by the European House, a highly influential think tank.
The Dutch populist, known for his strong opposition to globalism and Islam, held nothing back in a powerful address titled “The Europe We Want.”
“I applaud the fact that you invite someone who does not share your enthusiasm for the European Union. Or your European dream as Euro commissioner Frans Timmermans just called it. To be honest: his dream is my nightmare,” Wilders began. “I believe in a positive future for Europe as a community of independent, sovereign and democratic nations – working together without a supranational political union – a Europe without the European Union.”
Wilders extolled the virtues of the nation state and professed the critical importance of national sovereignty in the protection of a society, its culture, and its people – contrasted with the bullying tactics and reckless policies of unelected, internationalist dictators in Brussels.
“Another extremely important thing the Dutch have achieved over the past centuries were clear and defined borders. Borders are important. Because they protect us and define who and what we are,” Wilders said. “Thanks to our governments who gave away sovereignty we are now no longer in charge of our immigration policy and even our own borders, and the result is devastating.”
“The Dutch have their own identity. And so do the other nations of Europe. But there is NO single European identity.”
“The EU is characterized by cultural relativism and enmity towards patriotism. But patriotism is not a dangerous threat, it is something to be proud of,” he continued. “It means defending a nation’s sovereignty and independence, and not selling it out in shabby compromises to the EU and its bureaucrats.”
Geert Wilders at EU Meeting in Italy on 3rd September 2017 (BBC World This Weekend) https://t.co/BtdAD397Yb #audio via @chirbit — Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) September 3, 2017
Wilders went on to place the lion’s share of the blame for the on-going migrant crisis on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s shoulders, saying her “Wir schaffen das – We can do it” rhetoric has been a invitation for disaster, as millions of mostly-Muslim Third World “asylum seekers” pour onto the European land mass, desperate to become one of “Mama Merkel’s” esteemed “guests” – but who refuse to assimilate or work, and aren’t expected to do so.
Referring to the growing list of Islamic terrorist attacks being carried out across Europe, he declared, “Brussels together with the pro-EU leaders in the national capitals created the conditions which made these horrible events and attacks possible by allowing millions of immigrants to enter Europe – often unchecked, by making no assimilation demands whatsoever, by refusing to impose a leitkultur, a dominant culture, by being politically correct and because of a total lack of leadership.”
Wilders concluded with a barrage of anti-globalism proclamations that likely set the room on fire.
“But, despite all the bad news, as I said at the beginning, I am an optimist. All over Europe, ever more people are becoming proud patriots, and know that the patriots will win. And so will the nation state,” he said. “We can also work together to fight terrorism. But all on a voluntary basis, as sovereign nations.”
“And without a political union. Without the EU. The future belongs to the Europe of sovereign nations.”
Read Wilders’ full speech HERE.
Dan Lyman: Facebook | Twitter"It's probably best to think of it as a cross between console and PC development."
Kinks in the system
Lift off
Valve says it believes Linux is the future of PC games and this week, the PC game behemoth backed up that rhetoric.This week has seen the behemoth PC gaming company reveal its own Linux-based Steam operating system, and plans for a line of living room "Steam Machines" to house it It's not exactly Valve's first brush with Linux either. The Linux client for Steam was launched earlier this year, while Valve founder Gabe Newell said recently that he believes Linux is the key to PC game success But how do developers feel about Valve's current focus on Linux as the future of PC games? One studio that was part of the big SteamOS reveal on Monday was Paradox Interactive, best known for its hardcore strategy games.Paradox has been supporting Linux with numerous of its games for a while now, and Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester is excited to see where Valve's Linux push takes PC gaming in the living room."I think it offers a whole range of new opportunities and a much needed independent competitior to the big console and gaming platform makers," he tells me. "In the end I think the gamers will be the winners, because ultimately, the hardware best suited for the gamer is the one that will have most success."Paradox has found porting games from Mac to Linux to be not a big deal at all, and notes that there are now a wide range of studios who can help with porting jobs if a development finds this to be a larger technical obstacle.So why aren't more people using Linux then? What will it take for more gamers to see Linux as a more viable and appealing platform for playing games? Can Valve push the platform forward?"I don't see this as an OS problem, and Valve has a lot of head start compared to the next-gen consoles," answers Wester. "First of all there are 200 games on Steam that are Linux native already, and there is also the opportunity to stream games directly from Windows to your SteamOS machine which gives you the full Steam library to buy from."At the end of the day, it's all going to come down to what each machine has to offer in terms of content, and how easy the machine is to use compared to its competitors, reckons the Paradox exec."In this case I think Valve is well suited to bring a great appeal to Linux gaming as a platform and a serious competitor in the market," he adds. "If customers buy into this concept, developers will make the games. We started porting some of our games to Linux a year ago, and we will expand this effort going forward."Ryan Gordon is well-known asLinux guy. He supplies many of the Linux ports of Humble Bundle games, he's the heart of the Linux build of Epic's Unreal Engine, and he even put together the Linux port of Google Earth."It's probably best to think of it as a cross between console and PC development," he says of Linux development. "Some of it is special-case knowledge, the way one might know the details of the PS3 SPU, but all of it is much more open: you work on any old computer you like, you download the tools for free, and all the information -- documentation, technique, conversation and debate -- are all one Google search away."Gordon believes that the big Linux push isn't on the way -- it's already here. Humble Bundle, Unity, Valve... all these big names are putting a big focus on Linux as a gaming platform, and it appears to be paying off.For Zach Barth, the developer behind games likeand, Linux isn't so much about the sales figures right now -- the goodwill he receives from making Linux ports makes it all worthwhile for him."We build our games with OpenGL and C#, so porting to Linux only consists of a few days of figuring how to package the damn thing up," he notes. "For some developers it's a much larger technical challenge than it is for us, which I imagine makes it a difficult choice considering the smaller customer base than Windows or Mac."Although he has no idea where Valve's Linux push is going to drive the PC game industry, he expects great things. "I think it's safe to say that, generally speaking, developers go where the money is," he adds. "If Valve finds a way to get game-purchasing customers on Linux, developers will be there in a heartbeat."Not everyone is 100 percent sold on a Linux PC gaming future. id Software co-founder and Oculus Rift CTO John Carmack recently said that he doesn't think "that a good business case can be made for officially supporting Linux for mainstream games today."Sauropod Studio is finding teething troubles with Linux, although the company is still excited to see what can be done with Linux now that Valve is very much onboard. Sauropod is best known for Castle Story, the highly successful Kickstarter campaign that pulled in $700,000 -- nearly nine times as much as its original funding goal.is being built in the Unity Engine, and while Linux support was not available when Sauropod started development (it was added late 2012 with the launch of Unity 4.0 ), Sauropod has been looking to include a Linux build of its game since that point -- with varying results."It's true that we have a Linux version out there, but it is outdated," admits Sauropod's Thierry Begin. "We couldn't even push out the latest build because sadly the sound engine Wwise isn't compatible with Linux yet, so we have to redo all the sound work twice with Fmod."This has affected both the game's development timeframe and the quality of the game itself, he tells me, and this has been a massive source of frustration for the team."Unity3D did a great job offering all the options for the developers and I only wish that other company will eventually do the same," he adds. "Steam as a distribution platform seem to understand that there is a market there and I do too."Begin notes that video games are finally becoming more and more open for Linux players, thanks to Valve, Humble Bundle et al."We don't know how many Linux gamers have played our game yet, but it doesn't really matter to us," he says. "Gamers shouldn't be punished because they use a different OS from others - it simply makes no sense. That's why we try to support all platforms the best we can."Not every Unity developer is having such issues with Linux support.team Squad has found that Unity for Linux has worked out great -- although the studio's Bob Holtzman notes that it pays to know which platforms you want to support from the get-go."[Linux support] wasn't something we needed to hire an external team to do for us," he says. "It's not a lot of work but on a small team like ours, you have to decide which platforms you�re going to support and do it. For us, both Mac and Linux were important options because we wanted to show our support for gamers on those platforms."It's almost like a chicken-and-egg situation with both Mac and Linux, he notes -- "People say, 'well, there are no games on those platforms,' but we know gamers have Macs and use Linux, so we decided it was worth it for us to support the platforms as developers and publishers."'s lead developer Felipe Falanghe agrees, adding, "It's a vicious circle that needs to be broken.""There aren't many games on Linux now because there aren't many players, and the same goes for the other way around," he continues. "This might change now with Steam on Linux, as it gives a lot of developers a way in. Even if it's not a huge community right now, this is how it starts. And speaking for ourselves at least, it's already been worth it just seeing how much Linux users appreciated havingavailable there for them."When it comes to Linux porting, Falanghe says that the situation is going to be different for every studio, especially when it comes to the tools you're using."For us, it was relatively simple, being based in Unity," he explains. "We just had to set up our build infrastructure to include a third platform really, and iron out a few minor details. Once it was all set up though, it works automatically as part of the build process.""This is us though, and we completely rely on Unity doing the cross-platform work for us. For other studios using different tools, there is probably a host of other challenges to face."0 Judge agrees to send Alex Hribal to psychiatric hospital
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. - A judge has agreed to send Alex Hribal, the boy accused of going on a stabbing spree at Franklin Regional High School last April, to Southwood Psychiatric Hospital in Allegheny County.
Westmoreland Ciounty Judge Christopher Feliciani made the ruling to move the teen from the juvenile detention center after hearing testimony that the 16-year-old is suicidal and obsessed with the Columbine High shootings in 1999.
The 112-bed hospital in Upper St. Clair is the region's only behavioral health hospital dedicated to children and adolescents, according to its website.
Hribal quietly said “yes” when Channel 11’s Rick Earle asked if he was sorry about what happened. He was wearing a white dress shirt and a red tie.
Hribal is charged with 21 counts of attempted homicide. Police said he used two knives to stab 20 students and a security guard before he was stopped.
The 16-year-old’s attorney said his client is mentally disturbed and he plans on proving that in court.
Hribal, who felt “alienated” and “ostracized,” planned on ending his life to cap off the rampage, a psychologist testified Friday morning.
“He was planning on this being the end of his life,” Dr. Bruce Chambers testified.
Chambers was called as a witness by attorney Patrick Thomassey, who is seeking to have Hribal transferred from the juvenile detention center in Hempfield. Thomassey contends the mental condition of Hribal, who suffers from schizophrenia and depression, is deteriorating.
A psychiatrist, Dr. Bruce Wright, was called to the stand and said Hribal does not need daily treatment.
“It's my opinion that he doesn't need to be in a psychiatric hospital,” Wright testified.
Dr. Christine Martone, who examined Hirbal during his incarceration, testified the teen is still suicidal. When he was apprehended and said he “was not done yet,” Hribal was referring to killing himself, said Martone, a forensic psychologist.
“In middle school, he wanted a girlfriend but realized girls would never be attracted to him,” she testified.
Martone said she saw no indication that bullying motivated the attacks, although Wright testified that Hribal was bullied by fellow students who called him “rat face,” and teased him for being “scrawny” and “weak” and for having “chicken legs.”
She told the judge that she recommends that Hirbal be transferred to Torrance State Hospital for 90 days.
Earle reported that Chambers told the judge that Hribal planned the attack for the anniversary of the Columbine attack.
Chambers said since Franklin Regional did not have school that day, Hribal instead decided to follow through with the attack on Eric Harris’ birthday.
Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and injured 24 others before killing themselves in an attack at a Colorado school on April 20, 1999.
Earle reported that the parents of 15 victims were inside the courtroom for the proceedings. Meanwhile, Earle said, Hribal was somber and didn’t show much emotion.
Hribal’s mother was also in court. Earle said she cried throughout the hearing.
A judge ruled Thursday that reporters will not be permitted to use social media to give the public real time updates.
Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.Preparing for his latest role as a criminal defense attorney in "The Whole Truth," a movie to be filmed in the New Orleans area in coming weeks, Keanu Reeves sought out some true-to-life courtroom drama Thursday. The actor spent several hours in the Jefferson Parish Courthouse in Gretna, observing the second-degree murder trial of a New Orleans man who is accused of a Kenner homicide.
In the film directed by Courtney Hunt, who also was at the Gretna courthouse, Reeves reportedly will play a lawyer who signs on to defend a teenager accused of killing his wealthy father. Reeves reportedly stepped into the role in recent months, after Daniel Craig backed out.
So Reeves sat quietly in the fifth-floor courtroom of 24th Judicial District Judge Glenn Ansardi and watched as witnesses testified in the morning. He returned in the afternoon to watch the prosecutors and the defense attorney give closing arguments.
At first, Ansardi didn't notice the celebrity sitting in his gallery. "I didn't even know he was here," Ansardi said in his chambers, shortly before closing arguments began.
Earlier in the day, however, Reeves had introduced himself to the public defender assigned to the case, Letita Parker-Davis. "He shook my hand, and that was it," Parker-Davis said during the lunch recess.
Word of the actor's presence spread quickly through the parish government complex. Ansardi's court became a magnet for people curious to see the movie star.
It's routine for lawyers to sit in on trials only to observe their colleagues at work. But the number of lawyers in Ansardi's court Thursday afternoon was unusually high. The trial in question, although involving a homicide, was not particularly high-profile in nature.
There was no apparent disruption in the trial, and jurors weren't seen stealing glances Reeves' way. It's unclear whether jurors even knew he was there.
Reeves appeared to take it all in stride. He graciously agreed to pose for photographs with anyone who asked, in the hallway outside the courtroom and in the adjacent parish government complex.
Assistant District Attorney Shannon Swaim was among the people who got a moment of his time. She had heard courthouse gossip about his role in the movie, but she didn't know whether he would play a prosecutor or defense attorney.
"I walked up to him and said, 'I'm a real prosecutor,'" Swaim said. "He said, 'Oh really?' And we took our picture and that was it. He was very nice."A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with only one top-20 hit single that overshadows their other work. Sometimes, artists dubbed "one-hit wonders" in a particular country have had great success in other countries. Music artists with subsequent popular albums and hit listings are typically not considered a one-hit wonder. One-hit wonders usually see their popularity decreasing after their hit listing and most often don't return to hit listings with other songs or albums.
Music industry [ edit ]
In The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, music journalist Wayne Jancik defines a one-hit wonder as "an act that has won a position on [the] national, pop, Top 40 record chart just once."
This formal definition can[when?] include acts with greater success outside their lone pop hit and who are not typically considered one-hit wonders, while at the same time excluding acts who have multiple hits which have been overshadowed by one signature song, or those performers who never hit the top 40, but had exactly one song achieve mainstream popularity in some other fashion (that is, a "turntable hit" or a song that was ineligible for the top-40 charts).[citation needed] One-hit wonders are usually exclusive to a specific market, either a country or a genre; a performer may be a one-hit wonder in one such arena, but have multiple hits (or no hits) in another.[citation needed]
VH1's list of "10 greatest one-hit wonders" [ edit ]
In 2002, the American cable network VH1 aired a countdown of the VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders, hosted by William Shatner.[citation needed] It listed musicians with only one American hit, regardless of international success.
The top ten consisted of:
Channel 4's "50 Greatest One Hit Wonders" [ edit ]
A 2006 television poll, conducted by Channel 4 in the UK, asked viewers to select their favourite one-hit wonder from a shortlist of 60. Respondents could also vote by e-mail to select a song that was not on the original list, if they so wished. The top 10 were:[citation needed]
"20 to 1: One Hit Wonders" [ edit ]
In 2006, the Australian series 20 to 1 aired the episode 20 to 1: One Hit Wonders, a list of songs that had been the only one by that artist to have success in Australia.
C4's UChoose40: One Hit Wonders [ edit ]
In September 2006, New Zealand's terrestrial music channel, C4, aired an episode dedicated to "One Hit Wonders" on the weekly theme-based chart show, UChoose40, where the chart was ranked entirely by viewer's votes from the website.[1][2]
The top ten ranking are as follows:
Classical music one-hit wonders [ edit ]
Deutsche Grammophon and Vox Records have both released albums of classical one-hit wonders. Many of the works on the CDs are from composers who have two or more works that are popular in classical music circles, but have a single work that has become popular outside these circles. The two CDs differ, but the works common to both are:
Other examples of classical one-hit wonders are Léo Delibes's "The Flower Duet", Vittorio Monti's Csárdás, Enrico Toselli's Serenata 'Rimpianto' Op.6 No.1, popularly known as "Toselli's Serenade", and Jean Paul Egide Martini's Plaisir d'Amour.
Outside of music [ edit ]
The term one-hit wonder is occasionally applied to other media.
In sport [ edit ]
In the sports world, there are several athletes known to casual sports fans for one event in their careers. Examples include Paul Henderson, a Canadian ice hockey player who scored the deciding goal in the 1972 Summit Series; Mike Jones, an American football player who tackled Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line on the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV; David Tyree, a wide receiver who became famous for a helmet-assisted catch during the waning moments of Super Bowl XLII; Timmy Smith and Mark Rypien, both Washington Redskins stars that ended up out of football shortly after winning Super Bowls XXII and XXVI respectively; Armando Galarraga, a pitcher who is primarily known for one near-perfect game he played in June 2010. New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen, who had a lifetime record of 81-91, is known for pitching a perfect game in the 1956 World Series.
NASCAR driver Derrike Cope, who won the 1990 Daytona 500 in a surprise victory after Dale Earnhardt blew a tire on the last lap (though he later won a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that season at Dover International Speedway); Buster Douglas, who was the first boxer to ever knock Mike Tyson out; and Jimmy Glass, a goalkeeper, who is remembered for scoring a goal in the last seconds of the final day of 1998–99 English Third Division that kept his club in The Football League. His subsequently released biography was titled One-Hit Wonder.
Some athletes have become remembered for a single mistake in their careers as opposed to a triumphant moment. Notable examples of such athletes include Buffalo Bills placekicker Scott Norwood, who is infamous for a missed 47-yard field goal that cost his team the Super Bowl; Bill Buckner, who at the 1986 World Series made a fielding error in which a baseball rolled through his legs; Steve Smith, who scored an own goal near the end of the third period in game 7 of the 1986 Stanley Cup Quarter Finals causing the Edmonton Oilers to lose to the Calgary Flames; and Jim Marshall, who, as part of the Minnesota Vikings, ran 66 yards (mistakenly into his own end zone) and scored a safety for the San Francisco 49ers.
In tennis, the term "one-slam wonder" can be referred towards players who have either won only one Grand Slam singles title during his or her career, or players who have currently only won one Grand Slam singles title but have the potential to win even more in their careers.[3] Andy Roddick is said to have enjoyed a successful tennis career, despite winning only one Grand Slam singles title – the 2003 US Open – in his entire career.[4] Other players who won only one Grand Slam singles title in their entire career include Carlos Moyá, Petr Korda, Gastón Gaudio, Thomas Johansson, Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Anastasia Myskina, Yannick Noah, Gabriela Sabatini, Jana Novotná, Andrés Gómez, Conchita Martinez and Michael Chang.[5]
In darts, there are also some players that had only a very short run of success. Kirk Shepherd provides one example - he reached the 2008 PDC World Championship final as a non-seeded qualifier, but never managed to have success at another major tournament afterwards and was sometimes called a one-hit-wonder by the media.[6]
The term "cup of coffee" is used to describe a baseball or ice hockey player who has only a short stint (i.e., long enough to drink a cup of coffee and not do much else) in Major League Baseball or the National Hockey League respectively and then spend the rest of their careers in the minor leagues.
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Can I talk to you about TODs? This term is an American TLA, sorry, three letter acronym, that means Transit-Oriented Development. It has become very popular since the mid-1990s as the impact of car-centric developments built in the middle of nowhere caused major congestion problems for many cities across north America.
The premise was simple. Build a railway station, on a light or heavy rail line, and build housing around that station at significantly higher densities than a more traditional suburban development pattern. It was expected that, because the train would take people to their jobs, traffic congestion would not increase as much as that from traditional suburban development.
Of course, there were problems. The train systems envisioned were typically a single line that didn’t go to many of the places that people needed to go. You need networks to make things work. The standard suburban development pattern places jobs all over the place making everywhere congested, whereas public transportation systems thrive when things are concentrated in small easy to serve areas. And this land-use plan didn’t change. Also, some of these TODs never got their train line. Some just got land allocated with the assumption that somebody else would build and run the services. Yet there is one thing that is very interesting about these transit-oriented developments without the transit, in that they had the same low levels of car parking.
You see, the premise goes that if you have lots of people taking a bus or train to work everyday, then they won’t need as many cars, so the car parking provided in such developments can be reduced, allowing the land to be more efficiently allocated to more profitable things like more houses, shops, parks, and other things that are actually valuable. Developers make more money, and people have a nicer place to live.
So what if you just build a transit-oriented development but without the transit, and measure what happens? Will people own less cars, drive less, walk more, shop locally more? Well, a study by Daniel Chatman looked into this and had some very interesting conclusions.
For example, for each mile away from good public transport, car ownership increased by a tenth of a car. Living near good public transport lowered the number of cars people owned by 27% compared with those living further away. Whilst that sounds good, we haven’t determined if this is a causal relationship or not.
Interestingly, it was not distance to the train station that mattered but the quantity of off-street and on-street car parking. Households with fewer than one off-street parking availability had 0.29 fewer vehicles per adult. Doubling the number of bus stops within a mile of the home was associated with 0.08 fewer vehicles per adult. Combining these together meant that less parking availability and more public transportation options gives 44% less vehicles in those TODs, even if they didn’t have the ‘T’ bit.
This begs a simple question in my mind. Why are places like Northstowe being forced to over-supply car parking? The new settlement will have a guided busway running through the middle of it, excellent cycleways, great walking routes, and yet the biggest |
hoping that he wasn’t gonna get offended that I’m not gonna drink with him.
Matt: So we just hand out the beers and we’d do the cheer.
Nick: We’d find a way to get out of it. But obviously it’s cool because we saw it back in the day as fans. Definitely cool to be a part of.
Alex Obert: What would your drink of choice be if you brought something out to the ring?
Nick: Coke Zero. (laughs)
Matt: An A&W Root Beer.
Nick: Coke Zero Vanilla. Does that even exist?
Matt: They have vanilla on the Coca-Cola machines, Freestyle. I like the new Coke Lifes, those are good. I’d like to think they’re a little healthier, maybe not. But they’re green, so I guess I’ll take it.
Alex Obert: Your opponents that night were Bobby Roode and Austin Aries. What are your thoughts on those two?
Matt: World-class workers, man.
Nick: That was the second time we ever wrestled Bobby Roode, which is shocking. Two years in TNA and we only wrestled him once.
Matt: He’s so simplistic in his offense, but the things he does is so powerful. It’s like a statement every time he does something.
Nick: He’s a star and he carries himself as a star.
Matt: And Aries too, he’s just so fluid.
Nick: I thought we mixed in well with them.
Matt: They’re more of an old-school, cut and dry, get to the point, get their heat heels. In 2015, that’s hard to come by. It was fun to be the old-school Rock ‘n’ Roll Express babyface team. We did a proper heel versus babyface tag match with those guys.
Nick: We don’t get to do that a lot.
Matt: I think those guys are awesome.
Alex Obert: When you have fans coming to your table before and after shows, what is your approach to meeting and interacting with them?
Nick: You just gotta be open and you have to be inviting. I actually learned this a lot from El Generico, we would see him and how he would interact with the fans before the shows at meet and greets. Everyone wants to meet him because he’s waving his arms over, smiling with the big mask. Man, we thought we could learn a thing or two.
Matt: Be approachable. Don’t look like “Oh, I’m too big of a star for this, this is beneath me.” No, I’m out here for a reason. This is a party and I’m your host of the party. Meet me, come shake hands with me, talk to me.
Nick: Sometimes it can get hard though. Tonight was our third show in three nights with flights included, we did six flights in a matter of three days.
Matt: At one point, we were like, “Should we even sell stuff? We sold so many over the weekend.”
Nick: We have to though, it’s part of the whole experience. But like we said earlier, you just gotta be open and inviting.
Matt: You have to respect the fans. We appreciate it because they’re handing you their hard-earned cash. Every time we’re handed a twenty, we’re blown away. “Thank you so much for buying that! Enjoy the show!” We’re happy.
Nick: At one point in our career, we would be excited if we sold three shirts at a show. “Oh my god, result three shirts. We made sixty dollars!”
Matt: Now we sell a whole bunch of them, but we don’t lose track. We are not desensitized. We’re appreciative of every single penny that comes to us. And another thing, you were talking about being open, another thing is smiling at everybody. Giving eye contact and smiling, that’s all part of the being inviting process. A guy like this is Colt Cabana, he’s always looking around and he’s engaging.
Nick: And it can’t be forced. We appreciate it. I tell Matt that I’m more exhausted when I’m meeting the fans and greeting them and just talking to them than I am being in the ring because it’s so emotionally exhausting. But I think it’s the most rewarding part of the job.
Matt: You get to go out there in person and “Hey, this is me!” You never get to go to a movie theater and meet Tom Cruise before the movie. I’m not comparing us to him at all, but you actually get to come and touch us and look at us and meet us. I think it’s really cool that independent wrestling has that to offer.
Nick: It’s very rare that you get to do that with WWE guys.
Matt: You would have to wait four hours in line or something. I really credit the fact that we’ve gotten where we’re at because of us going out there every night. It’s like we’re campaigning for ourselves. We’re going out and it’s like “Hey, we’re the Young Bucks! Nice to meet you! Thank you so much for the support!” I might as well give them a button, you know what I mean? They go home and think “Those guys were cool.” Or when we come out later on for our entrance, they clap for us because they met us earlier and had a personal experience with us. It’s not like they’re just cheering our moves, they’re actually cheering us as people. They get emotionally attached to us.
Alex Obert: Do you have fans that follow you in the way that some fans tend to follow bands on tour? Or at the very least, fans whose names you remember because they’ve seen you perform so many times?
Nick: In almost every major city, we have a least a few that we know.
Matt: This is a pretty good example of it, we have people that fly from New York to PWG every single month. We know their names because we see them all over the place. We saw a guy in Tokyo one time.
Nick: And we have them in Japan too, which is funny.
Matt: They call themselves almost Young Buck groupies, in a way. It’s fun, we love it.
Alex Obert: Did you ever meet a wrestler that was a douche to you?
Matt: I went to Halloween Havoc 2000 in Vegas. I was a fan and I was stalking the wrestlers at the hotel at the MGM Grand. And I met Rey Mysterio and a few other people. Stevie Ray came by, met him, great guy. Shook his hand and got his autograph. Booker T comes up and I go for his autograph and he just walks right past me with his roller bag. And I was like, “Oh my god.” I was hurt. He totally kayfabed me. It almost made me like him less. “I prefer Stevie Ray. Screw that guy!” I was the fan who was offended. Now I look back and I realize that Booker T was exhausted, he was making another town. I get it. But at the time, I was hurt.
Nick: Going back to the Reddit, I saw that Randy Orton recently did something. He had just landed in New York or somewhere, but they had just done a European tour and the fans were all waiting for them. I think they were trying to get Randy Orton to sign autographs and he got real angry and got offended. He said, “Listen, I got off a thirteen hour flight. This is the last thing I want to do.” I could see why he said that.
Matt: Especially on that schedule.
Alex Obert: Most of the guys would sell it anyways.
Nick: Exactly. And I could see why he says that because I’m running off of fumes too and I’m not even on the same schedule as those guys. Those guys are on even worse schedules.
Alex Obert: So having Dave Meltzer in the crowd for a match of yours recently basically ended up going viral. How was that appearance set up?
Nick: That was our first time meeting him, actually.
Matt: Dave asked me about the show and said he was willing to come if we were going to be there. I told him of course we’d be there. We set up the whole thing and then a friend of Hero’s, that Alicia chick, she got him in. And as soon as I saw him, I was a little starstruck. “Oh my god, it’s freaking Dave Meltzer!” I’d never actually met him, I’ve only seen what he writes for so many years or heard his voice on audio. It was fun to get to me the guy. As much as we were starstruck, he was too. He said, “I’m a huge fan! This is great.” He actually wanted to buy a Meltzer Driver Everybody shirt. I was like, “Dude, your name’s on it! I can’t charge you for this!” So I gave it to him. He’s like, “Can I get one for my kid?” I’m like, “Come on, put your money away, man!” It was really cool. We talked for like fifteen, twenty minutes. We’re shooting a documentary and they had him in it too, asked him some questions. People will get to see that in a little bit. It was fun getting to see him. I think he’s going to come to couple more too.
Alex Obert: On the topic of merchandise, what are your thoughts on the ProWrestlingTees movement?
Matt: It’s huge, it’s a game changer.
Nick: It changed everything. Before that, we had to go to the mailbox or the UPS and whatnot and mail things out by hand all the time. Now we don’t have to do a thing.
Matt: We don’t have to print our shirts. We don’t have to do anything, they do it all.
Nick: We put what design we want on, they print it and they send it out.
Matt: It’s perfect with the era of technology right now where everyone needs the instant gratification. It’s so quick. If I got a cool design, I could have it up in five minutes.
Nick: And we can have people buying it within a day. It’s crazy!
Matt: What this has done for us is mindblowing. And what it’s done for professional wrestlers.
Nick: New Japan sells so many shirts.
Matt: It’s changed the business. I think it’s very important in 2015 to have a t-shirt shop.
Nick: If you’re an independent wrestler you need it.
Matt: If you don’t have a shop, come on! Get on it! It’s free money! It’s the way for people to support you.
Alex Obert: Where are we currently at with the Bullet Club knockoff shirts?
Matt: Those are all taken off, I guess.
Nick: They’re probably still around. (laughs) But it’s flattering that people have done that because it shows you how cool the actual logo is.
Matt: That shirt, it’s transcended wrestling into pop culture now. People don’t even know that it’s wrestling and they’re wearing it. Peoplecome to our shows and they’re like, “Hey, I don’t know wrestling, but that’s a really cool shirt. Can I get one of those? Do you have a medium?” “Yeah!” And they don’t even realize what they’re buying. The shirt’s everywhere, it’s a global thing. We’ll be at a restaurant or a club in Europe and hey, that guy’s got a Bullet Club shirt on. It’s mindblowing.
Nick: It would have been nice to make money off it though. (laughs)
Matt: People probably assume we’re millionaires, but we don’t make anything off that.
Nick: We don’t make anything off that shirt.
Matt: That’s all New Japan.
Alex Obert: What’s your advice for independent wrestlers when it comes to handling their money? You two are making a good living and not everyone can say that.
Matt: You’ve just gotta invest in yourself when you’re young. That’s what we did. And we took way too long to do it too. We started our wrestling shop online way too long overdue. Five, six years went by and we didn’t even capitalize on any of it. Come up with some cool designs, have some t-shirts if you’re a young guy. Market your brand.
Nick: You have to put money into your gear and your look. Just everything.
Matt: You gotta invest in your character and get yourself over.
Nick: You gotta look professional.
Matt: Then come up with a campaign for your brand, like how we have Superkick Party.
Nick: And you gotta look different, we stress that everyone that will ask for advice. You gotta be different, you gotta be unique, you gotta stand out.
Matt: And then you talk about finances, once you start making a little bit of money, put some of it away. I did this probably five years too late when I started an IRA and I got my retirement going. And I know he does. Saving, saving, saving. Gotta save your money because I’ve read too many wrestlers books in the past and too many of them blew it all. Just be smart about it.
Alex Obert: You two have made quite a splash on Twitter. What was your experience like when you first discovered the site?
Matt: I tried to get him into it for a few years.
Nick: I thought it was stupid.
Matt: In 2009, I wanna say, I got into it. I was nothing like what I am now. I’d probably be embarrassed to go back and read some of the stuff that I used to tweet about. I don’t see how some of the wrestlers these days don’t know how to use this as an effective tool to get their character over. We like to blur the lines, so a lot of it is really us. It really is. But a lot of it is exaggerated, that’s where the lines get blurred. That’s the whole point of being a character in professional wrestling.
Nick: We don’t got Monday Night RAW, we don’t got Smackdown, we don’t have much TV besides what we do for Ring of Honor and whatnot.
Matt: But we got YouTube and Twitter and Vine.
Nick: Twitter’s number one.
Matt: And Instagram. Facebook.
Nick: That’s our platform. That’s where we get our character development going and get our characters over.
Matt: You know what it is, we knew we were onto something when we put up stuff and every time we come to a show, the boys were like, “You guys got me dying! I can’t believe you said this!” We’re all numb to things, we’re desensitized. Nothing pops us, unless it’s really truly funny, silly or original. So when the boys tell us they love what we’re doing and they’re marking out to us in a way, then man, we’re doing something cool. We’re doing something different.
Nick: But it’s not always positive, we get a ton of heat.
Matt: Of course. But you know what, you have to be a polarizing individual. You have to be. If you want people to talk and to like you, you have to alienate people, you have to make certain people not like you because then you’re gonna have people that love you.
Alex Obert: No matter what you do, not everyone’s gonna like you. Kevin Owens said that Stone Cold actually gave him the best advice of his career: “always run your mouth”.
Matt: Yeah, and that’s what we are doing. I think we picked a lot of it up from Kevin, the trash talking. We started talking trash, talking about how we’re the best in the business and we back it up in the ring. We like to feel like we’re that old-school wrestler. And again, it’s the blurring of the lines. “Are these guys for real? Do they really mean this?” Sometimes we’re like, “Come on, of course we don’t!” Some other times, we’re like, “Well, we kind of do.”
Nick: “These guys are so arrogant.” We hear all of that.
Matt: And trust me, we’re gonna play into it because the more you talk about us, the more it’s best for us.
Nick: We want people to think that.
Matt: Keep talking about us because when they stop talking, you’re in trouble.
Alex Obert: How do you handle trolls on Twitter?
Matt: It’s all part of the gimmick now. We ask for it, we bait ’em almost now.
Nick: I ignore probably seventy five percent of ’em. But like Mark Madden for instance, he’s obviously doing it to get a reaction out of us because he’s not relevant anymore.
Matt: But you know what though, Mark Madden’s also doing what we do. Effectively, he’s kind of working. And I tell him that. “He’s just working you like he’s working everyone else. You can’t really get mad at him about it.” But he does say some offensive stuff, like come on, man.
Nick: You can’t really get mad at it.
Matt: It’s hard not to.
Nick: Says the guy that can’t stand Jim Cornette.
Matt: (laughs) That’s a whole different thing.
Nick: No it isn’t, he’s trolling Matt as well by going on his podcast and burying him.
Matt: I don’t care about that. The Jim Cornette thing is more personal.
Nick: That’s called a troll.
Matt: But I don’t like Jim Cornette because he took money and food out of my daughter’s mouth.
Nick: Mark Madden never did that. But now he’s trolling you. He’s doing the same exact thing.
Matt: Sure, you’re right.
Alex Obert: I saw on Twitter that you guys are aware of /r/SquaredCircle on Reddit.
Nick: Oh yeah!
Matt: Of course!
Alex Obert: What do you know of that?
Matt: Nick got me into it.
Nick: I have the Reddit app on my phone, so I am on it all the time. Before I go to sleep, I’m just gonna go through photos and funny things like that. I think I saw some wrestling ones. “What the heck is this?” And then I think it led me to that. From there, it’s me just going through all that. Every time I see our name on it, I’ll click it and I’ll show Matt. “Hey, this is funny!”
Matt: At first, it was just “Oh what are they saying about me?” Now I’m just a fan of the forum. I like it because I’m a wrestling fan. I like reading about wrestling. The thing that’s funny though is that I’d rather go to a place like Reddit and read their comments and opinions and see what they like, it’s like surveying. It’s like “what do people like now?” And the Reddit people are the t-shirt buying people. They’re the ones that are gonna put money in my pocket.
Nick: That’s our demographic.
Matt: I’d rather read Reddit than a dirtsheet or something. Their opinions are more valuable to me.
Alex Obert: What are your thoughts on Botchamania?
Matt: I love it! We had dinner with Maffew the other day when we were in England. We were coming from a show and he happened to be eating at a sports grill or something. So we talked with him for a little bit, he’s a really cool guy. I love what he does, I think it’s fun.
Nick: This guy watches it while he does cardio.
Matt: Yeah, all the time. It pops me.
Alex Obert: What do other wrestlers think of it?
Nick: I think every wrestling you see on TV watches it.
Matt: Everyone watches it. It’s fun. Everyone watches it and wants to know if they’re on it. I watch it for a whole different reason, I’m just entertained by it. He’s doing it out of fun, he’s not doing it out of hate or negativity.
Nick: It’s like what Shaq does with basketball bloopers. He has his own show called Shaqtin’ a Fool and everyone loves that. I doubt that the basketball players are offended by it.
Matt: They’re all laughing like everyone else. And with Botchamania, we’re all laughing along and not laughing at the people.
Alex Obert: So you two grow up watching your favorites such as Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and the Steiner Brothers. It’s no secret that Scott Steiner has become a very memorable character both on and off television throughout the years. Do you have any stories of him from your time in TNA?
Nick: We have a story from after TNA. We were doing one show and he was doing an autograph signing with us. A fan comes up to us and Steiner’s right by us. The fan’s like, “Hey Jeremy, why aren’t you guys in TNA anymore? What’s up with that? You guys should come back.”
Matt: Before we can even answer, Steiner who’s like busy doing his own thing says “F TNA! THESE GUYS, THEY AIN’T GOING BACK TO TNA! TNA’S GARBAGE!” We’re just like signing our autographs.
Nick: “THESE GUYS ARE DOING GOOD! THEY DON’T NEED TNA!”
Matt: “TNA’S AN INDY!” He’s just going off, he’s getting angrier and angrier.
Nick: It was hilarious.
Matt: Scotty was always cool. He was the only other guy that wasn’t a junior-type wrestler that dressed with the X-Division.
Nick: He was very approachable.
Matt: He dressed in our locker room, he was super cool. Super cool.
Alex Obert: Were you in attendance for the original Impact show that went against RAW?
Matt: We were at the hotel. We were supposed to be used originally against the Motor City Machine Guns. It got cut and they saved it for the following day, Tuesday. So we were in town when all that craziness was going on. We knew we were a part of something special. This is like wrestling history, it could be something huge.
Nick: It could’ve been.
Matt: I mean it still is, it’s one of those things that people will talk about. The Monday night thing started for second.
Nick: It could have been big.
Matt: It could have been big, it never really was. It felt weird.
Nick: It never panned out.
Alex Obert: What do you think contributed to that?
Matt: I think people had seen the act. It was something that they had already seen before, it was like a reunion show. “Oh that was fun!” But then you want a new thing, you don’t want to keep watching the reunion show. The reunion show is cool one time.
Nick: They brought the nWo back.
Matt: All the old faces. You gotta have old faces, but you have to have new faces too. And new storylines. And new ideas. They pretty much did the nWo again. People had already seen that. But they had Eric Young in there at least, something a little different. But it’s like the same faces, the same guys. Russo was part of the writing, Bischoff was back, it was WCW. I think people were like “We saw this in the nineties. Why are we seeing this again?”
Alex Obert: My opinion is that they blew it right off the start because they started the night with the X-Division Steel Asylum match. No disrespect to those wrestlers, but if a familiar face like Jeff Hardy was going to come out around that time anyways, then he should have kicked off the show to cut a promo. He had just left WWE a couple months earlier and if that’s the first image that potential new fans see, they will immediately be intrigued.
Matt: But it was big news, just him being there.
Alex Obert: So you originally think that you’re going to compete in a six-sided ring, then they go back to four sides shortly after your debut.
Nick: I was happy.
Matt: I didn’t like the six sides. It was stiff, the ropes were rough.
Nick: The ring sucked.
Matt: It was complicated and we never knew where we were running. We only did it a few times and we didn’t like it.
Nick: It was terrible.
Matt: Once they said they were going to use a regular ring, we were like, “Cool!” That’s what we’re used to.
Nick: The matches were always weirder.
Matt: When they got the regular ring, it was one of the best rings that I’ve ever been in. Great bump. I enjoyed it. I felt like yeah, maybe they lost a little bit of their identity with it, but being there as a wrestler, a six-sided ring is the worst.
Alex Obert: Were the two of you a part of some really low attendance house shows?
Matt: We did small ones.
Nick: I think the smallest one was probably 750 though.
Matt: When you saw those pictures online, that was after our time.
Nick: Some were pretty good.
Matt: Some were in the thousands. But sometimes you’re in a big arena in there’s only eight hundred people there. It was bad. You know, I was talking about this with someone yesterday, TNA house shows were the best part of TNA. They were a blast, it was a party. You show up two hours before bell, you go out there and have a fun match. It’s like being on an indy show, you get ten minutes and they let you do whatever you want. You get to meet the fans and sign autographs. That was the best part of TNA. TV is what sucked.
Nick: Now they don’t even have them, which is very surprising.
Alex Obert: Why did TV suck?
Matt: It was stressful. You’d be there all day and you’re just exhausted.
Alex Obert: Did you ever try to escape to the park?
Matt: Yeah, we like…we would always do that. Nick and I and Spanky and Amazing Red and Shelley and Sabin, we would just ride the rides.
Alex Obert: Which one was your favorite?
Matt: I like the old-school Jaws and E.T.
Nick: And Spider-Man.
Matt: They had a really cool roller coaster with music.
Alex Obert: I would love to learn about your experiences in Japan. First of all, are you two initiated into Ribera Steakhouse?
Matt: Oh yeah. A few times.
Nick: It’s a good little steakhouse. It’s cool because you see all the photos of all the wrestlers that have been through and every top guy is on the wall.
Matt: It’s history on that wall.
Nick: You see the photos of Hulk Hogan on there, it’s pretty cool. Even we did a photo, but I doubt we got on the wall. The Bullet Club got on it, a few of them went without us for some reason. And now they’re on the wall. Every wrestler wants to go eat at Ribera.
Matt: It’s a good notch on the belt. It’s saying “Hey, went to Japan. This is proof of it. This is my jacket.”
Alex Obert: And how about fast food there?
Matt: We’ve eaten at McDonald’s all over the world, but they’ve always got these different things on the menu.
Nick: There’s a hamburger place called Lotteria, which is awesome. There’s also Yoshinoya, a beef bowl place that the US also has. We always go there.
Matt: You know what’s funny, they have this place in Tokyo that the boys love. It’s an Indian restaurant and we called the best Indian food in the world. We go to Japan to eat Indian food. We’re not big on seafood, but we will try it. We don’t enjoy it though.
Nick: At this point, we’ve been to Japan so many times that we go out of our way now to try and find something that tastes like home. We’re not home ever. If I can have TGIF, I’m gonna spend an extra thirty dollars.
Matt: And we’re gonna spend an extra thirty minutes on a train to go to El Torito, a Mexican restaurant, just to feel good about ourselves.
Alex Obert: In what ways do feel that Japanese culture is better than America?
Matt: People are the best. They’re polite, they’re just so nice. They’ll go out of their way to help you. We’ll go into a store and Nick will be sick or need a pain med or something because his tooth aches, this happened the last tour. Nick’s explaining to them and people are just running back and forth trying to help you. In the states, forget it. Just very super nice and polite.
Nick: Even with that being said though, I love America! (laughs) I’d much rather live here than there because the culture’s totally different.
Matt: This is what we’re used to. We’re born this way.
Nick: If you screw up out there, and you’re gonna be disciplined to the biggest possibilities possible.
Matt: We would probably have never been able to get into the business if we were the young boys.
Nick: Everything is so much stricter.
Matt: It’s crazy.
Nick: I see what they go through and I’m like, “Oh my god!” I don’t think I would’ve been able to do this. It’s nuts.
Alex Obert: You have worked with many different wrestlers around the world, who are some of the most painful choppers?
Matt: Roderick Strong. Eddie Edwards.
Nick: Kevin Steen.
Matt: Bubba Ray Dudley has a rough overhead.
Nick: Generico’s overhead one always killed me.
Matt: The stiffest though, Eddie or Roddy. I don’t know if I ever really received it, but Jay Lethal’s got a real heavy hand. I watch the way he does it and I go “holy crap”.
Nick: Shelley!
Matt: Shelley’s got a stiff one.
Nick: Oh my god.
Matt: He’ll give me a chop on the first day of the tour, twenty six days later and it’s still there. I got a mark on my chest from a month ago.
Nick: He’s got an underrated stiff chop that no one really talks about. (laughs)
Alex Obert: So what music do you guys listen to?
Nick: I’m pretty much rock n’ roll.
Matt: I listen to everything. You know, it’s so funny though, I have a three and a half year old daughter and so it’s like I don’t even know what music is anymore. When I think of music, I think of anything on Disney Junior and Disney soundtracks. I’m always in the car riding with my little girl and I’m singing Everything is Awesome. Anything you would ever expect me not to know, I know. I don’t even know current music except for like what my wife listens to. My wife likes country and pop. I like everything. If it motivates me and it makes me feel good or tells a story, I listen to it.
Nick: I know all the lullabies. (laughs)
Matt: It’s funny man, it all changes. Music was never really a huge priority to me, but I would definitely listen to it. Now I don’t even know what’s current, I just don’t.
Alex Obert: Regarding your entrance theme, did you originally discover MMMBop when it came out in the nineties?
Matt: Oh yeah!
Nick: For sure.
Matt: I always liked it. But I never would have admitted it back then.
Nick: A few years in while we were wrestling, some fans were heckling us and saying that we look like the Hanson brothers. And I remember saying, “Hey Matt, we should come out to MMMBop.” And we did it. (laughs) That was probably like ten years ago.
Matt: We have a younger brother who used to wrestle, so we were the three Hanson Brothers.
Nick: We started doing it ever since. We don’t do it often now, it’s only for smarter fans.
Matt: Sometimes we come out to it and I feel like it sucks the air out of the crowd. You have to really be in on it. Tonight’s crowd was in on it. But sometimes we go out into the people are like “What?”
Nick: Yeah, it only works in Reseda.
Matt: You can only get away with it in certain cities.
Alex Obert: What are some of your favorite entrance themes from over the years?
Nick: Edge’s song because Matt always says it when he does his spear to someone.
Matt: Yeah, there was a tradition. I haven’t done in a while, well I mean I guess I have, I do it all the time. Every time I hit a spear, I sing “On this day!”
Alex Obert: I saw somebody else do that at a show recently!
Matt: It was Mike Bennett, he stole it from me. He saw me do it at the King of Trios 2012 and he started doing it. It was cool.
Alex Obert: Did you two meet Edge when you made appearances for WWE?
Matt: Yeah, we met him a few times when we were in WWE as extras. And we recently did House of Hardcore and he said he’s a big fan of our work and put us over. We were really flattered. He’s one of my all-time favorites, actually.
Alex Obert: Who did you meet in WWE that really went the extra mile?
Matt: Edge was one of ’em. Mick Foley was cool, I remember. We sat down with Shawn Michaels one day and had lunch with him for twenty minutes in catering and he gave us advice.
Nick: CM Punk.
Matt: Punk was cool because at that point, I think he knew us from Cabana.
Nick: It would be different now because we know almost everyone.
Matt: The whole roster, the world champ’s my buddy.
Alex Obert: On that note, what are your thoughts on Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens as the World Champions in WWE right now?
Matt: It’s great. They’re two of my best buds in the business. I remember one of the first times he talked to Seth, I know him as Colby or Tyler Black, I just knew there was something special about him. I knew he was gonna go far and I knew he always had the confidence. You know it in certain people. You see a guy and you know he just gets it.
Nick: Same thing with Kevin. Just so much passion for wrestling that I never will have, they have it more than me and Matt.
Matt: They eat, breathe and sleep it. And another guy is Sami Zayn.
Nick: Those guys will go far.
Matt: When you’re at a show, no matter where you are in the world, and they’re always the most over act on the show, it makes you go “How could they not be a star?” They’re over everywhere they work. Same with Danielson, we did shows with him and everywhere in the US, he was the most over guy. So of course if they get to the WWE, they’re gonna become famous.
Nick: Wrestling is in good hands with those guys because they just have so much passion.
Matt: They love this industry.
Alex Obert: So let’s look at it like this, NXT is huge right now and so are the key independent companies. What’s contributing to all that and causing this boom right now?
Nick: I think it’s the indy movement.
Matt: Those guys, the guys you just talked about. They represent all that.
Nick: They were on the independents before.
Matt: You know who started this whole chain is CM Punk. He’s responsible for it because he was the first indy guy.
Nick: The Punks, the Samoa Joes, the Bryan Danielsons.
Matt: They’re the ones who got into the big places and said, “Hey, we’re not all just these indy guys, we’re good. And we love wrestling.” You have to be a wrestler’s wrestler to be successful now, as opposed to back in the early 2000s where you were a football player or model. It’s changing. The business is changing.
Nick: You have to be a talented wrestler and you have to know how to work.
Matt: You have to know how to go.
Alex Obert: Who do you feel will be the next breakout star from the indies?
Nick: Probably Kevin, if they call him up soon.
Matt: I could see Sami Zayn being a big babyface. Neville’s gonna do big things, he’ll be the Intercontinental Champion by the end of the year.
Nick: He’s the best high flyer in the world, by far.
Alex Obert: Do you guys think we’ll see Samoa Joe in the WWE?
Matt: Yeah, eventually.
Nick: I hope so. He deserves it.
Matt: I don’t know for a fact, but I expect it. I do. I mean why wouldn’t he? He’s so good, he so talented and he’d be perfect for it. He should be on RAW right now. He has the it factor.
Nick: He’s a guy that shouldn’t have to go to NXT. He not only has the it factor, but he has the fanbase. But I don’t think WWE wants to acknowledge that though.
Alex Obert: What was the first WWE event that you two attended together?
Matt: A house show in 1995 in Rancho Cucamonga at the Quakes minor league baseball stadium in front of probably two thousand people. I loved it. I remember thinking, “Why isn’t there any announcing? I can’t hear the announcers, this is weird.” But I enjoyed it.
Nick: And as wrestlers, we went to Wrestlemania 21.
Matt: We didn’t go to a whole lot of events. Couple live events. But then when we got older, we’d go to RAWs and Smackdowns and we’d enjoy those. But the only Wrestlemania we ever went to was 21.
Alex Obert: So we’re seeing the indy movement, but we’re also seeing the movement of second and third generation wrestlers. Now that you two are in the Bullet Club with Cody Hall, what are your thoughts on him?
Matt: I didn’t know what to expect of him. I heard stories about him, but I don’t like to base my opinions on people I’ve never had personal experiences with. I wanted to wait and give him the benefit of the doubt, I do that with everybody. But I met him and I like him. I think he’s working really hard and he’s trying hard. He seems like he’s been humbled through his experience. Being in a dojo is no joke and he’s working his butt |
talk football.”
Then again, McVay doesn’t need to rely upon anyone for advice about NFC East teams. He spent seven seasons (2010-16) in that division as an assistant coach in Washington, and was the team’s primary play-caller in his last two seasons.
Last season, McVay’s offense scored 29 points against the Giants in a September victory, but then was held under 300 yards in a season-ending 19-10 loss.
“They’re doing some different things,” McVay said of the Giants’ defense, “but there still is a similar foundation, in terms of how they want to operate. But any time you have a history against a specific team or a specific coordinator, you want to draw from those experiences and make sure you’re aware of them. But you also want to realize that good coaches evolve and adapt in each year.”
FAMILIAR FOE
Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who has coached in the NFL since 1976, reminded reporters that he was on the New Orleans staff when Archie Manning played for the Saints in 1981 and 1982, and that he also was the defensive coordinator in Denver when Archie’s son, Peyton, ended his career.
“And Eli was with us in San Diego for about two minutes,” Phillips deadpanned.
Phillips was coordinator with the Chargers when they drafted Eli Manning but quickly traded his rights to the Giants, and since then, Manning has won two Super Bowls.
The Giants have struggled to a 1-6 record this season and are without two of their top receiver targets in Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall, but Phillips said he still has strong respect for the New York offense, in large part because of Manning.
“The talent is there, and plus he’s more experienced now,” Phillips said. “He knows what coverage you’re in, even if you disguise things. He knows when you’re blitzing. He’s a complete quarterback. He wouldn’t have the rings and championships he’s had without being a great player.”
INJURY REPORT
The Rams had only one injured player on their daily report, as safety Cody Davis continues to be out with a thigh injury. Offensive lineman Rodger Saffold also missed practice, but apparently just for a rest day.
Rookie receiver Josh Reynolds, who had been out because of concussion symptoms, made a full return to practice, as did linebackers Mark Barron and Connor Barwin and offensive linemen John Sullivan and Andrew Whitworth, who received rest days on Wednesday.
HIGH HONOR
Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein was named the NFC’s special teams player of the month for October, when he set a franchise record with 14 field goals (with only one missed attempt).Rick Santorum speaks to CNN (screen grab)
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum insisted on Tuesday that tolerance meant understanding that LGBT people were “sinners” who made “mistakes.”
During an interview on CNN, host Chris Cuomo pointed out that the Catholic candidate’s rhetoric seemed to be out of step with Pope Francis.
“Your pope says tolerance is the message of Catholicism,” Cuomo explained. “When asked about gay marriage and LGBT existence within humanity, he says, who am I to judge? That doesn’t work for you. You say you want an amendment that keeps marriage between a man and a woman.”
“Why aren’t you more like your pope?” the CNN host wondered.
“The pope doesn’t support a change the definition of marriage,” Santorum replied defensively. “I mean, he’s been perfectly clear about that.”
“He said, ‘Who am I to judge?'” Cuomo reminded the candidate.
“That’s not what he said,” Santorum shot back. “He’s been very, very, very clear about standing for the definition of marriage. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
“What he’s talking about — and he absolutely right — is we need to respect the dignity of all human life,” the Pennsylvania Republican continued. “We are all broken, we are all sinners, we all make mistakes. And we have to continue to love and support those who fall short of the mark, including me.”
Cuomo pressed: “With all the things we are facing as a culture, why would you invest the energy into a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman?”
According to Santorum, strengthening the family was “the most important thing I would do as president.”
“That’s divorce though!” Cuomo noted. “None of the Christian resistance to gay marriage ever talks about divorce.”
Santorum, however, insisted that he had expended significant energy talking and writing books about divorce.
“I see the issue of gay marriage as really a continuation of the breakdown of marriage over a long period of time,” Santorum opined. “In that respect, I think we can probably agree.”
Watch the video below from CNN’s New Day, broadcast July 14, 2015.Remember that map we showed you in January that tracks all the instances of completely preventable diseases that are re-emerging due to lack of vaccination? Sadly, it is receiving several new data points due to an outbreak of the measles in New York City. Nineteen people have been diagnosed with measles and health officials are blaming an influx of people opting out of vaccinations. Four have been hospitalized due to their symptoms.
Measles is a highly contagious, viral respiratory system infection that can be transmitted through the air. Symptoms include a fever, cough, and widespread rash that causes itching. Roughly 1 in 3 people who get diagnosed with measles will suffer a complication, according to the CDC. These complications vary in severity, ranging from pneumonia, ulcers on the cornea, swelling of the brain, and death. Measles can be easily controlled through vaccination and the United States saw a 99% drop in measles diagnoses since the vaccine was introduced in the 1960s. Unfortunately, the diseases have not been completely eradicated due to those in the anti-vaccination faction.
“As long as your kid is vaccinated, why should you care if mine is?” This statement is often cited among parents who choose not to vaccinate their children, probably because it would be a logical argument if this were a perfect world. For those of us stuck here in reality, it is easy to see the blatant flaws. First and foremost, you cannot claim that herd immunity keeps other children safe when you actively try to thin the herd by advocating against vaccines.
The first dose of the MMR vaccine isn’t administered until a child is 12-15 months old and doesn’t offer full protection until the child receives the second dose between ages 4-6. The youngest New Yorker to be diagnosed with measles is 3 months old. This child was never even given the option to be vaccinated and protected against the disease.
In addition to the young, the immunocompromised also rely on being surrounded by vaccinated individuals in order to stay protected. Those with severe allergies to gelatin or are receiving blood products are not able to get vaccinated. New York has more citizens living with AIDS than any other state in the country and can be especially susceptible to infection. Those who are HIV+ are able to receive the MMR vaccines and may benefit from a booster, provided they are not showing symptoms of AIDS.
Health officials in New York are recommending that everyone who is able to get the MMR vaccine do so. If an adult is unsure if they were vaccinated as a child, they can either receive another dose or get blood work done to check their immunity status. Pregnant women are unable to receive the vaccine, though getting an infection can increase the chances of birth defects, miscarriage, or pre-term labor.
The MMR vaccine came under scrutiny in 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, who claimed it caused autism. Because autism symptoms typically appear around the same time that children get the bulk of their vaccines, parents began to worry and began rejecting vaccines. The rest of the scientific community denied his claims, as they were unable to reproduce the results. It was later revealed that Wakefield had actually falsified his data and was driven by financial motivation. His paper was retracted by the journal and his medical license was stripped, though some people still cling to the misinformation and view it as truth. There is absolutely zero scientific evidence to support a causal connection between vaccines and autism. This reckless anti-vax fear-mongering is absolutely responsible for this measles outbreak.An image which claimed to identify one of the Paris attackers wearing a suicide bomb vest grabbed the attention of social media users on Saturday afternoon.
The image of the Sikh man doing the rounds of social media is actually a photoshopped one.
Veerender Jubbal is not a terrorist and has no role in the recent tragic attack in Paris. Resident of Canada, Jubbal, is actually an active participant of the GamerGate controversy that revolves around the promotion of sexism in video games.
People are editing, and photoshopping my selfies as if I am one of the people causing the issues/problems in Paris. Veerender Jubbal (@Veeren_Jubbal) November 14, 2015
According to the viral post that claimed, "one Islamic State attacker in the Paris Attack was a Sikh convert to Islam", Jubbal was accused for the despicable crime that shook the world on November 13, 2015.
You can all check the last retweets. Let us start with basics. Never been to Paris. Am a Sikh dude with a turban. Lives in Canada. Veerender Jubbal (@Veeren_Jubbal) November 14, 2015
The image was first shared by a Twitter handle @abualut8 with a caption "BREAKING, one Islamic State attacker in #ParisAttacks was a Sikh convert to Islam. The tweet was deleted after the users questioned its authenticity.
The photoshopped image show the Sikh man wearing a suicide bomb vest and holding a Quran. The clarification came when Jubbal posted the original image on Twitter.
Source: Twitter/@Veeren_Jubbal Source: Twitter/@Veeren_Jubbal
He defended himself by telling the world that he has never been to Paris and is a resident of Canada. He also attributed the faked image to supporters of GamerGate.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
April 3, 2014, 12:26 PM GMT
MAINZ, Germany - A father has been forbidden from naming his newborn son "WikiLeaks," amid concerns that the moniker could endanger the baby's welfare.
Hajar Hamalaw, a journalist and photographer who fled Iraq in 2000 and now lives in the German city of Passau, said the campaigning organization founded by Julian Assange has had a deep impact on him.
"This is not only a simple name for me -- it has a big meaning. WikiLeaks has changed the world," 28-year old Hamalaw told NBC News.
"Hundreds of people... were allowed to use the name of Barack Obama's dog for their child, but I can't use WikiLeaks?"
"For my family, the name is a synonym with transparent truth," he added. “My two-year-old daughter is called 'Diya,' which translates to 'Light of Truth.'"
The German official at Passau's registry office in the conservative state of Bavaria initially did not know what WikiLeaks meant, according to Hamalaw.
"She thought I was presenting the name of a television show," Hamalaw said. "We were very disappointed after the rejection. Hundreds of people across the globe were allowed to use the name of Barack Obama's dog for their child, but I can't use WikiLeaks?"The Team Presents
THE EAST WIND - RHS REMAKE WARNING! YOU ARE ABOUT TO PLAY AN ALPHA VERSION! SOME FEATURES ARE STILL NOT WORKING AND BUGS ARE STILL PRESENT!
THIS CAMPAIGN IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH ACE3 AND MAKING IT SO IS NOT A PRIORITY FOR US YET!
Morning lads,
I'm happy to announce that The Team is finally getting ready to release the RHS remake of The East Wind.
This majestic hunk of data has received a large amount of attention from The Team in the past few weeks after being suspended almost 4 years ago, and is now finally getting ready to set sail once more! The Team currently consists of yours truly, and DenyWilco. Not much of a team but we make do with what we have, and apparently are doing pretty good while doing so. So much for the intro, now to the fun stuff. Required Addons: - RHSUSAF - RHSAFRF - RHSGREF - RHSSAF - Altis Armed Forces (2017) Known Bugs:
- The armory in the HUB still isn't working properly, however it will still automatically give you the correct RHS required gear.
- Please report any bugs on the thread, or feel free to PM me, or DenyWilco. Credits:
-DenyWilCo [Lead Dev; Founder of The Team]
-MrCrazyDude115 [Lead Dev; Founder of The Team]
-Bohemia Interactive [Making ArmA 3; Being an all around awesome company]
-Red Hammer Studios [RHS; Being awesome] -BI Community DOWNLOAD COMING LATER TODAY! Screenshots:Every country should give refugees the right to work from the moment they reach the European Union, Jean Claude Juncker said today.
In an extraordinary demand to rewrite national laws, the European Commission President said asylum seekers should be able to get a job while their application is still be assessed.
He used his first State of the Union address to set out an ambitious Brussels power grab, demanding an EU-wide migration policy, 'compulsory' relocation of thousands of 160,000 refugees across the continent and a new £1.3billion fund for Africa.
While Britain has the chance to opt-out of a plan to relocate refugees in Italy, Greece and Hungary, David Cameron will come under pressure to co-operate with Mr Juncker to achieve his hopes of renegotiating Britain's EU membership.
In an extraordinary demand to rewrite national laws, the European Commission President said asylum seekers should be able to get a job while their application is still be assessed.
Mr Juncker is calling on member states to agree to an 'emergency relocation mechanism' to deal with asylum seekers currently in Italy, Greece and Hungary.
He also wants a permanent agreement to deal with future crises, which would scrap the rules which mean refugees must seek asylum in the first safe country they reach.
In an often-rambling speech which lasted for more than an hour, Mr Juncker revealed the scale of his ambition for a common migration policy across the EU.
He warned that 'winter is approaching' and every European country had to accept responsibility for thousands of refugees who have fled Syria, Iraq and Eritrea.
'We are talking about human beings, we are not talking about numbers,' he said.
In a surprise demand for a major change in the law on migration, he called for asylum seekers to be given the right to work.
'I am strongly in favour of allowing asylum seekers to work and earn their own money while their applications are being processed.'
While Britain has the chance to opt-out of a plan to relocate refugees in Italy, Greece and Hungary, David Cameron will come under pressure to co-operate with Mr Juncker to achieve his hopes of renegotiating Britain's EU membership
Mr Juncker used his first State of the Union address in Strasbourg to vow to press ahead with the 'compulsory' relocation of 160,000 refugees across the EU
BRUSSELS TO LAUNCH £20MILLION PRO-EU PUBLICITY BLITZ IN 2016 Billboards across Europe will be plastered with posters promoting the EU as part of a 26million euros (£19million) advertising blitz to boost its popularity. Advertisements on TV, radio, in newspapers and online will be bought by the European Commission as part of the campaign next year, which will be its biggest ever. According to plans for the publicity offensive, drawn up by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, it will aim to ‘achieve a better understanding by European citizens of the EU, its priorities and activities’. The European Commission is desperate to improve its popularity as it continues to try to deal with the Eurozone and migrant crises. It is not known how much of the advertising budget will be spent in Britain. The campaign, which will take place all through next year, could coincide with the referendum on whether the country should leave the EU, which will be held at some point before the end of 2017. Ukip’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall last night said called for the money allocated for the adverts to be returned to taxpayers. He said: ‘This is a desperate attempt by the EU to paper over the cracks just as it is riven by disunity because of the Euro-induced poverty and migrant crisis. ‘No amount of taxpayer-funded propaganda will convince people that the EU is either necessary or doing a good job. ‘I am certain this EU propaganda blitz by the EU will be counter-productive.’
He argued that being in work can give a person 'dignity'. 'Those who are in work are fighting back dignity that they had.'
In a move likely to anger national governments struggling to win public support for accepting refugees, Mr Juncker called for a 'change to national legislation to allow refugees to work from day one of their arrival'.
In July, Mr Juncker called on European leaders to agree to share 40,000 refugees who had successfully made it to the continent.
The number of refugees per country was calculated based on population, economic wealth and unemployment rates.
Mr Juncker now wants the asylum scheme to be expanded to help relocate 160,000 refugees.
Today he warned that Greece Italy and Hungary 'cannot be left alone to cope with this enormous challenge'.
In a blunt warning to EU leaders resisting the demands, he added: 'This has to be done in a compulsory way.'
Under leaked details of the scheme which emerged last week, Germany would accept 35,000 refugees, France 26,000 and Spain 16,000. Even poverty-stricken Bulgaria and Romania will be expected to take thousands of families.
However, the UK – which refused to join the scheme when it was originally set up in May – will not have to take any refugees because it has an opt-out from the EU rules.
David Cameron this week bowed to political pressure and announced that Britain would resettle up to 20,000 people in the UK by 2020.
But he insisted they would only be vulnerable refugees from camps in the region around Syria, and not the thousands who have entered Europe by sea and through the Balkans over recent months.
In the Commons today, Mr Cameron said the UK would stick to its 'own approach' and he warned that focusing on migrants who have already reached Europe would merely encourage more to come.
David Cameron said the UK would stick to its 'own approach' and he warned that focusing on migrants who have already reached Europe would merely encourage more to come
ASYLUM SEEKERS ARE BANNED FROM WORKING WHILE APPLYING In Britain, asylum seekers are banned from working while their application is assessed. Official guidance from UK Visas and Immigration states: 'Most asylum applicants are not allowed to work while we consider their application. 'This is because entering the country for economic reasons is not the same as seeking asylum, and it is important to keep the two separate.' There are only 'limited circumstances' when an asylum seeker can work while being assessed, including if they had a right to work before claiming asylum. However, they are banned from becoming self-employed. Even voluntary work has to be agreed by asylum case officials.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Mr Cameron said:
'I think the British approach will be very clear, which is this must be a comprehensive approach.
'If all the focus is on redistributing quotas of refugees around Europe, that won't solve the problem, and it actually sends a message that it is a good idea to get on a boat and make that perilous journey.
'Of course Europe has to reach its own answers for those countries that are part of Schengen.
'Britain, which has its own borders and the ability to make our own sovereign decisions about this, our approach is to say yes, we are a humanitarian nation with a moral conscience.
'We will take 20,000 Syrians but we want a comprehensive approach that puts money into the camps that meets our aid commitments, that solves the problems in Syria, that has a return path to Africa that sees a new government in Libya. We have to address all these issues.'
Critics have called on the UK to do more, arguing urgent action is needed now not over the next five years.
However, a new opinion poll suggests the public appetite for accepting more refugees is waning.
The YouGov poll revealed that 45 per cent of adults questioned said the figure was too high, while one in four – a total of 27 per cent – said they backed Mr Cameron's decision.
Just 15 per cent said they opposed the announcement on the grounds that it did not go far enough.
Mr Juncker called for solidarity from the EU's 28 member states in responding to the influx of refugees from Syria and Libya
Mr Juncker said that Europe was'sought worldwide as a place of refuge', and was seen by those fleeing Islamic State in the Middle East as 'a place of hope, a haven of stability'.
'This is something to be proud of, and not something to fear,' he said.
He warned that 'as long as there is war in Syria and terror in Libya, the refugee crisis will not simply go away'.
'We can build walls and fences,' said Mr Juncker. 'But imagine for a second if it were you, your children in your arms, the world you know torn apart around you. There is no price you would not pay, no wall you would not climb, no sea you would not go to sea in, no border you would not cross.'
While the EU had donated large sums in aid to refugee camps in the region, Europe had 'clearly under-delivered on common solidarity with regard to the refugees who have arrived on our territory', said Mr Juncker.
He said: 'To me it is clear that the member states where most refugees first arrived - and at the moment these are Italy, Greece and Hungary - cannot be left alone to cope with this enormous challenge.
'This is why the Commission proposed an emergency mechanism back in May to relocate initially 40,000 people seeking international protection from Italy and Greece. And this is why today we are proposing a second emergency mechanism to relocate a further 120,000 people from Italy, Greece and Hungary.
'This has to be done in a compulsory way.'
Mr Juncker said that Europe was'sought worldwide as a place of refuge', and was seen by those fleeing Islamic State in the Middle East as 'a place of hope, a haven of stability'
ALMOST HALF OF BRITONS THINK REFUGEE FIGURE IS TOO HIGH Nearly half of Britons think the government is planning to take too many refugees from Syria, a poll has revealed. Data published last night exposed the huge gap between the public and opposition parties in Westminster, who have accused David Cameron of not doing enough. Yesterday senior Labour figures demanded that Britain take even more refugees than the number planned by ministers, but a YouGov survey showed voters are hostile to the idea. Mr Cameron said on Monday that 20,000 would come to the UK over the next five years under a UN scheme targeting the most vulnerable. They will be taken from refugee camps in countries neighbouring Syria, to which Britain has donated hundreds of millions of pounds in aid. But the poll revealed that 45 per cent of adults questioned said the figure was too high, while one in four – a total of 27 per cent – said they backed Mr Cameron's decision. Just 15 per cent said they opposed the announcement on the grounds that it did not go far enough. Hostility to additional refugees was even high among people who identified as Labour supporters. Nearly four in ten – 38 per cent – said they wanted fewer than 20,000. This is despite senior Labour figures queuing up this week to demand Britain do more, and posing in pictures on Twitter with signs saying'refugees welcome'.
Mr Juncker also said the Commission was proposing a permanent mechanism to relocate refugees around the EU in future crises, to replace the so-called Dublin system, under which they are expected to claim asylum in the first country where they arrive.
And he said the EU needed to 'look into opening legal channels for migration' in order to make people-smuggling a less attractive route.
The Commission is due to come forward with proposals early next year, he said.
The Commission is also proposing a common EU list of safe countries, from whose nationals asylum applications will not be accepted.
Mr Juncker said many of those arriving in Europe were fleeing 'the war and barbarism of the so-called Islamic State'.
'We are fighting against Islamic State,' he said. 'Why are we not ready to accept those who are fleeing the Islamic State? We have to accept these people on European territory.'
Mr Juncker raised the prospect that the flow of refugees from Syria could be followed by a similar flight of people from Ukraine into the EU.
'We are talking about human beings, not numbers,' he said. 'Human beings are coming from Syria and Libya today. It could easily be the case in Ukraine tomorrow.'
The Commission president rejected the argument that Europe cannot afford to admit large numbers of migrants.
'We have the means to help those fleeing from war, terror and oppression,' he told MEPs.
'I know that many now will want to say, 'That this is all very well but you cannot take everybody'. It is true that Europe can't house all the misery of the world.
'But let us be honest and put things into perspective. There is certainly an important and unprecedented number of refugees coming to Europe at the moment.
'However, they still represent just 0.11 per cent of the total European Union population. In Lebanon, by comparison, refugees represent 25 per cent of the population in a country which has only one-fifth of the wealth we have in the EU.
'Who are we, that we are never making these kinds of comparisons?'
Europe had a 'common history' in which virtually all of its peoples had been forced to flee war or oppression, from the Huguenots of France to the Jews and gypsies of wartime Germany, Spanish republicans following the Civil War and Hungarians after the 1956 uprising against Communism, he said, also citing the exodus to the US of large numbers of Scots and Irish people fleeing poverty in earlier centuries.Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter on the sidelines against LA Galaxy (May 11, 2014) Image: Craig Mitchelldyer
Caleb Porter isn’t panicking.
Of course, there’s no question that the 2014 Portland Timbers season was a disappointment—and the 40-year-old head coach knows that better than anybody. After a dreadful start to the season in which they didn’t win until Game 9, the Timbers missed the 2014 playoffs by a single point. They also rather improbably crashed out of the continental Champions League in Honduras, and exited the US Open Cup knockout tournament in a painful 3–1 loss to their archrivals, the Seattle Sounders.
A strange, confounding season for a team some favored to compete for the MLS Cup.
But Porter doesn’t get swept up in emotion—at least not when I call him to ask him about what he’s learned in his two years as an MLS coach.
He tells me that parsing what went wrong means picking out the stuff that went right, too. On one hand, the Timbers conceded 52 goals last year, making for one of the weakest defenses in the league. On the other hand, the Timbers scored goals by the bucket—61 in total, third most in the league—and lost only two more games than the eventual MLS Cup champions, the LA Galaxy.
Somewhere between the extremes of disappointment and excellence, a championship-caliber team already lurks.
When the 2015 season kicks off on March 7, the Timbers Army expectations will have never been higher. After a quiet off-season, during which other teams dropped millions on big names, the Timbers emphasized stability and consistency, returning 21 of last year’s players. Porter answered our questions about fixing the team, getting the right balance in the locker room, and what he’s learned so far.
Porter before a match against Chivas USA (April 12, 2014) Image: Craig Mitchelldyer
Last year obviously didn’t go as planned. How do you fix it?
As a coach you’re always following a cycle of preparation, performance, and reflection. It's an ongoing daily to weekly to monthly to season. That’s the cycle you have to follow. That’s how you have to think as a coach. And ultimately, your decisions on how you play, your decisions on how you train, your decisions on your tactics—they’re always based on what you know through past evidence. You need to really rely on that past evidence as an indicator of future performance. If you’re not a reflective person, if you’re not analytical, you can’t be a coach.
But the big thing is—I’ve been a head coach now for 10 years, and I’ve been coaching for 15—the big thing I’ve learned as a head coach is you can’t overcorrect. You gotta be real careful with that. In my early days of coaching, there were many times that I was overcorrecting, probably more than undercorrecting. But as time goes on, you learn that the real key in fixing issues is to not throw the baby out with the bathwater, to [instead] make microtweaks.
"Soccer is a really cruel sport. You can play well and lose. That happens all the time. You can be the better team and—probably more than any other sport—the better team doesn’t always win."—Caleb Porter
The other key is to have a consistent approach, a consistent philosophy, system that you work from. And that makes it easy to make corrections because otherwise, if you’re changing your system all the time, if you’re changing your lineups too much, then you’re really shooting at a moving target. That’s the analogy I like to use a lot. You have your target, your target is your goals and what you want to accomplish. Your target is also your system. You go into a game and if you shoot and you miss, you don’t move the target, you move the gun. Moving the gun means maybe you change a player in the lineup. Maybe you tweak your tactics a little bit. But to do that you have to reflect really objectively on each game, and on the entire season. That’s the way I think as a coach.
In terms of last year, when the dust settled at the end of the year, it was very important that me, Merritt [Paulson, the club’s owner], and Gavin [Wilkinson, the general manager] sat down and reflected on the entire season: what went right, what went wrong, and obviously the most recent evidence [of the team’s performance], which was the last portion of the year. That’s a real key.
Caleb Porter before a match against FC Dallas (June 11, 2014) Image: Craig Mitchelldyer
What was the takeaway from those meetings?
This is a bottom-line business. Ultimately, I’m evaluated—the club’s evaluated—on the bottom-line. So we were not happy that we didn’t make the playoffs. But because we didn’t make the playoffs doesn’t all of a sudden mean we’re going to blow the team up. That would be a huge mistake. Now if we finished with 25 points, and we lost a lot of games at the end of the year, and there were a lot of problems at the end of the year, then we would have to blow the team up. So I think getting that sweet spot of what you need to correct, and what do you need to keep, is a real key from game to game and season to season.
When we sat down and we looked at the season, obviously in the first eight games we fell short. We got five points. But a lot of those problems, we corrected. And the points and the performance showed that. In the last 26 games, we were second or third in the league points per game. And if you look at the last nine games, we lost one. And if you look at the defensive side, which was really our Achilles’ heel for the first three quarters of the year, we had four shutouts in the last five games. So even on the defensive side we corrected those things.
Porter in training (January 29, 2014) Image: Craig Mitchelldyer
Fans aren’t always going to think about those things that much in depth. They think about the bottom line. We think about the bottom line, too. But it’s my job to make sure we keep our target, we move the gun, and we make microtweaks. We felt ultimately that we had a few things to correct, but that we were really on track at the end of the year.
It’s funny about the format of MLS and the playoffs: with 49 points, a lot of years you get in. In the Eastern Conference, our 49 points would’ve gotten in last year. Now, that doesn’t matter because that’s the format, and you gotta be top five to get into the playoffs, and we weren’t. But we very well could’ve been in the playoffs, and the whole season would be viewed very differently. We missed it by a point.
But it’s my job to be rational, and say, “Listen, look at the evidence. Look at how we finished, look at the adjustments we made midseason with our signings with [Fanendo] Adi and [Liam] Ridgwell, OK?”
Obviously the start of the season was not good enough last year, and we need to make sure this year that we hit the ground running and we don’t have a slow start again. But if we follow the track that we were on at the end of the year, then there’s no reason to believe that it will happen. The slow start happened because we were missing a few dimensions on our team. Simple. We were playing pretty well, that’s the other interesting thing. We didn’t lose a lot out of the first eight—we drew five of those games. We were the better the team in most of those games.
Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
Another real key to being a coach is you gotta know the team, you gotta know the league, and you gotta know the competition. It takes time to build your team, especially when you’re coming into a situation where you have a lot of new players. It takes time to know your competition. It takes time to get in sync with the rhythm of the league.
One of the things I’ve noticed in the last two years is we’ve lost the least amount of games of any team in the league in the last two years. That gets lost in the shuffle. We’ve lost 14 games out of 68 in the last two years. We haven’t won as many as we needed to, but that’s a real positive. Our draws are a little bit of the evolution of this club, going from a team that didn’t win and wasn’t close in a lot of games to, now, we’re winning and we’re drawing. Hopefully now those draws become wins.
My point is, we’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot in the last two years about my team, my opponents, and what works and what doesn’t work. But the reality is we’re only four years into it, and only two years into this evolution with the new coach and the new philosophy. Some of the things that I’ve learned is that it takes a bit of time to go from a losing team to a winning team. And I think that’s the real reason why we’ve drawn more games than we would’ve liked.
But there are a lot of positive things that have happened that show that we’re on the right track, and that we’re evolving into a realistic contender to eventually raise trophies here.
One of the things that seemed to go right last year was the team’s attitude. How do you keep the locker room together?
It’s a real key to winning. It doesn’t matter what the sport is, or what the level is—I’ve never seen a successful team that didn’t have good team chemistry, that didn’t have a tight locker room. That’s a little tougher at the pro level because obviously you have more pressures from the media. Players are making more money. To win you have to have talent, so by getting more individual talent sometimes it’s a little more difficult to make sure it meshes together and plays in harmony. Ultimately, individuals have to sacrifice for the good of the team and the team goals. Sometimes, sometimes, at the top level, with the players that make a lot of money, they might think more about themselves.
My real goal in adding any player is making sure they are as talented as possible—I don’t want to get average players—but that they have good character. There are players out there that are really talented but don’t have good character. I don’t want any of those guys in my club or in my locker room. I’ve found that the really talented player that can perform individually might be a benefit short-term. Long-term, it disrupts your chemistry.
Midfielder Diego Valeri in a match against the Colorado Rapids (July 18, 2014) Image: Craig Mitchelldyer
How do you assess chemistry while you’re scouting?
Well, we’re thorough. The key is you do your homework. We don’t sign a player unless we meet with them. Whether that’s sitting down or talking on the phone, I’ve never signed a player I haven’t talked to. And the best thing you can do is talk to people who know more about the player than you do. The reality is I’m not going to know as much as their past coaches, and the people they’ve played with. So Gavin and I do a lot of research to make sure that we’re getting the type of guy who will come in and obviously perform at a high level. But it needs to be more than that. It needs to be a guy that fits in the locker room. And really what that means is that they will come in and be a part of the team and play a role.
Diego Valeri, for me, is the epitome of the type of player that we want to continue signing. He’s one of the best players in the league, but he also is one of the best guys I’ve ever coached. He’s a good person. He cares about the club, and he cares about his relationship with the players and the coaching staff. He wants to win, first and foremost.
It’s pretty easy to find guys like that, but a lot of the time they’re not good enough. It’s a little hard to find guys who are supremely talented, who have character and the winning qualities. He’s the epitome of why we’ve succeeded in the past couple years. We’ve found good guys.
Once you have ’em in, this is your team. And if you get the wrong guys, and you go through a patch like we went through last year, and the bullets start flying, you’re in trouble. Then you lose the team. You lose |
burg-based hacker Ian Jennings is actually the one inventing them. He cofounded (along with fellow Rutgers students Mik...
This Instructable was written by PubNub Evangelist Ian Jennings. Ian's story walks through his process of building an Arduino-controlled smart home model from scratch.
--
Back in September, our founder Stephen and I were talking about ways to make it easier to demonstrate how PubNub could power the Internet of Things. Conference attendees often ask if we are a “hub,” a bluetooth device, etc. In reality, we're a data stream network; a service similar to a CDN that provides a simple and reliable way for IOT devices to talk to each other.
I decided instead of telling people people what PubNub is, we should show them. If I handed you a mobile phone and told you to press a button and then a garage door opened, you would understand that the phone sent a message to the garage door.
The full code and technical walkthrough is available here.With a card that is stacked with the top fighters from across a number of divisions, UFC 156 turned out to be a night of a lot surprises… and some of the same old ones.
One thing that stuck out in my mind as I watched the event was that a number of the fighters out there put together a different game plan for their opponent; many of these fighters found success. That being said, there were also quite a few fighters who went and just did what they do and didn’t mix it up at all; these fighters found far less success. In some cases it worked well, and in other cases not so much.
While I am not an MMA practitioner, I have a couple words of wisdom from the cheap seats for the fighters on the main card of UFC 156:
Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall : Don’t believe the hype – especially when it’s about you. While you have a solid game, when you’re going against the top ranks in the division, you need to have a better plan than: “go out and bang”.
: Don’t believe the hype – especially when it’s about you. While you have a solid game, when you’re going against the top ranks in the division, you need to have a better plan than: “go out and bang”. Joseph Benavidez: While you put together a solid win against a tough opponent, that doesn’t entitle you to an instant re-match against Demetrious Johnson. Mighty Mouse beat you, get over it. Work your way back up, your shot will come with time.
While you put together a solid win against a tough opponent, that doesn’t entitle you to an instant re-match against Demetrious Johnson. Mighty Mouse beat you, get over it. Work your way back up, your shot will come with time. Jon Fitch: It might be time to re-evaluate your game plan going into the octagon, as it seems like fighters are starting to figure you out. If you’re going in against one of the best jiu-jitsu fighters in the UFC who is a sub-par striker, practice escapes and submission defense, and work on your boxing – it’s not rocket science.
It might be time to re-evaluate your game plan going into the octagon, as it seems like fighters are starting to figure you out. If you’re going in against one of the best jiu-jitsu fighters in the UFC who is a sub-par striker, practice escapes and submission defense, and work on your boxing – it’s not rocket science. Demian Maia: You’re looking good since moving to welterweight, but remember that Jon Fitch isn’t Georges St. Pierre; if you don’t believe this look at Jon Fitch’s face after his match with GSP. Jiu-jitsu alone isn’t going to win you a belt. That said, you put together a sound game plan – keep fighting smart, and you’ll make your way to the top in no time.
You’re looking good since moving to welterweight, but remember that Jon Fitch isn’t Georges St. Pierre; if you don’t believe this look at Jon Fitch’s face after his match with GSP. Jiu-jitsu alone isn’t going to win you a belt. That said, you put together a sound game plan – keep fighting smart, and you’ll make your way to the top in no time. Alistair Overeem: This is what happens when you cocky inside the ring. When you have a lead going into the third round, don’t let your guard down.
This is what happens when you cocky inside the ring. When you have a lead going into the third round, don’t let your guard down. Antonio “Big Foot” Silva: You’ve beaten two of the heavyweight divisions elite in your last few fights, but don’t forget that you were annihilated against the current champ. Put together a sound plan for Velaszquez in your next potential match-up, and a belt (BIG maybe) could follow.
You’ve beaten two of the heavyweight divisions elite in your last few fights, but don’t forget that you were annihilated against the current champ. Put together a sound plan for Velaszquez in your next potential match-up, and a belt (BIG maybe) could follow. Rashad Evans: Never forget your fundamentals. If you’re one of the top wrestlers in the UFC, use your wrestling – especially when you’re going in against one of the premiere strikers in the game. Don’t be emotional in the ring.
Never forget your fundamentals. If you’re one of the top wrestlers in the UFC, use your wrestling – especially when you’re going in against one of the premiere strikers in the game. Don’t be emotional in the ring. Antonio “Lil’ Nog” Rogerio Nogueira: Beautiful use of the jab. You lured your opponent in and he took the bait. Now you have to ask yourself if you’re ready for the division elite. If not, work on your plan moving forward, and ride the credibility wave based on this win for awhile longer.
Beautiful use of the jab. You lured your opponent in and he took the bait. Now you have to ask yourself if you’re ready for the division elite. If not, work on your plan moving forward, and ride the credibility wave based on this win for awhile longer. Frankie Edgar: A la Rashad Evans, if you’re facing one of the top strikers in the promotion and you’re not a striker by trade, defer to your base (re: wrestling)… and don’t wait until late into the fight to do so. Aldo clearly prepared for the takedown, you should have prepared for the leg kicks. Just because you find some success with striking doesn’t mean you should abandon the ground game altogether – get back to basics.
A la Rashad Evans, if you’re facing one of the top strikers in the promotion and you’re not a striker by trade, defer to your base (re: wrestling)… and don’t wait until late into the fight to do so. Aldo clearly prepared for the takedown, you should have prepared for the leg kicks. Just because you find some success with striking doesn’t mean you should abandon the ground game altogether – get back to basics. Jose Aldo: While you beat Edgar, work on the cardio. That’s the second time you’ve run into trouble in your last three fights in the later rounds. You look untouchable at 145 lbs right now, maybe consideration to 155 lbs in the near future should be given.
Again, while I may have no on-the-mat MMA experience, I am a master coach from the couch. Don’t doubt these credentials, or I may have to pull out my belt from “the University of Lays” (actually, last night it was Doritos)! At any rate, I think of a lot of the strengths and weaknesses of the fighters from UFC 156 were quite clear to any hardcore fan of the game.
Follow me on twitter: @ lastwordmark
Photo Credit: alvez via photopin ccPigeons with backpacks the latest effort to combat air pollution, spread awareness in London
Posted
Experts have unveiled the latest effort to combat air pollution and spread awareness in London — pigeons with backpacks.
The Pigeon Air Patrol was released yesterday, equipped with tiny backpacks containing instruments that measure air quality and send it back to start-up firm Plume Labs.
The backpacks measure the amount of nitrogen dioxide, ozone and volatile compounds in the air, which is then rated on a scale from "fresh" to "extreme".
Residents are able to tweet to a Twitter account set up for the project, requesting a reading for their location.
The program was launched as part of a marketing program by DigitasLBI, and will run for three days to spread awareness of the air quality in London.
"It is a scandal. It is a health and environmental scandal for humans — and pigeons," designer Pierre Duquesnoy told The Guardian.
"We're making the invisible visible.
"Most of the time when we talk about pollution, people think about Beijing or other places, but there are some days in the year when pollution was higher and more toxic in London than Beijing, that's the reality."
Mr Duquesnoy, who won a London Design Festival award for the idea last year, said he was inspired by carrier pigeons in the first and second world wars, but that they were also a practical way of taking the readings and avoiding congested roads.
"There's something about taking what is seen as a flying rat and reversing that into something quite positive," said Mr Duquesnoy.
The birds include Coco, the "maverick", Julius, the "hipster", and Norbert — the "intellectual".
Topics: environment, air-pollution, pollution, offbeat, englandCongratulations everyone, we did it! What an amazing month, especially those last few days :D
Playtesting will be done in 3 phases.
1) If you're SUPER keen to playtest one or more of these books please send me a private message letting me know what Sourcebooks you would like. This phase is open to all backers who have pledged for all 3 Sourcebooks and who already have the CRB (as I wont be sending that out).
to playtest one or more of these books please send me a private message letting me know what Sourcebooks you would like. This phase is open to all backers who have pledged for all 3 Sourcebooks and who already have the CRB (as I wont be sending that out). 2) This will be the primary playtesting phase. Once the BackerKit system is locked down I will send out early access Sourcebook and the Fragged Empire PDFs. This will allow everyone to join in on the playtesting.
Once the BackerKit system is locked down I will send out early access Sourcebook and the Fragged Empire PDFs. This will allow everyone to join in on the playtesting. 3) The final playtest phase will take place once all of the books have been finished, but are yet to be edited or sent to the printers. This phase will be for polishing the books up.
Where to Post your Playtest Feedback:
Our Fragged Empire Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FraggedEmpire/ is n ideal location to post up your rules feedback, as it also allows our community to provide feedback.
https://www.reddit.com/r/FraggedEmpire/ is n ideal location to post up your rules feedback, as it also allows our community to provide feedback. You can also email me: contact [at] fraggedempire.com
Get your Name in the Book:
Backers who contribute to the playtest in a sizable way will have their names placed in the back of the book.
BackerKit
In a few weeks I hope to open up our BackerKit pledge management system. This will allow everyone to confirm their pledges, Add-ons and postage details. I will post another update once the system is up.The only way to carry your dice.
Tell Me the Odds
The Core Store Championship – Cedar Falls, Iowa – 02/21/16
This was the second store championship that I have played this season. You can check out my battle report for the first store tournament here.
This was my first time flying X-wing in a different town and I was excited to meet some new folks. The Core is located in Cedar Falls, which is about an hour and a half away from where I live. It’s not a huge jaunt, but still a road trip in my book! The Core is a great store filled to the brim with figures, comics, and gaming of all kinds. It has a real cozy atmosphere to it.
There were 12 pilots that came out and I recognized many of them who had traveled from surrounding areas. One thing that I’ve come to appreciate from all of these events is the amount of comradery and support from all these players that are passionate about the game. We had four rounds of games with no cut and 75 minutes per round. Prize support consisted of the store championship kit. I was really hoping to at least make top 8 to get the sweet snow blue range ruler.
MY LIST AND STRATEGY
DnD
Super Dash (36)
PTL (3), HLC (7), Eng. Up. (4), Kyle Katarn (3), Outrider (5)
58 points
Miranda Doni (29)
TLT (6), Ion Bomb (2), Adv. Slam (2), C-3PO (3)
42 points
100 points total
Dash ‘n’ Doni! Or as I like to call them, DnD. If you fine folks have read my other store championship battle report then you’ll remember I had a match against Josh Snowbarger and his Miranda and two B’s list. I really enjoyed playing against his build. DnD is a bit of a variation on that list. At first I started with the two B-wings and I generated some moderate success at my local league. I love B-wings, but I wish they weren’t so squishy and had a bit more maneuverability. The solution? Like the final moments of an episode of Voltron, two B-wings kind of combine into a YT-2400. It has two defense dice instead of only one, a generous amount of health, and a much, much better maneuver dial.
Here’s a rundown of Super Dash for anyone who is not familiar with him. Dash has the amazing ability to not care one iota about rocks. He’s an amazing pilot for any beginners who are still learning how to fly, but in the hands of an experienced player he is downright lethal. He’s equipped with HLC and the Outrider title, which basically makes your HLC a turret. It’s very expensive at 12 points, but very effective. The only issue is the range one donut since HLC cannot be fired at that range. This is where PTL and Engine Upgrade come in. Along with the YT-2400’s natural barrel roll action (BR for short) this means that Dash can BR and boost, most likely over rocks, to guarantee that no one gets close to his range one donut. For icing on the cake Kyle Katarn is traveling alongside Dash to automatically give him a focus token when Dash sheds his stress from a green maneuver. If Dash were indeed a B-wing/Voltron…a Boltron, then Kyle would be the giant sword. His biggest weakness is that he’s pretty predictable with only green maneuvers on straight 1, bank 1, and straight 2.
Dash is usually accompanied with Corran Horn, but I decided to fly Miranda instead. She has an amazing ability that synergizes with TLT incredibly well, allowing her to roll one less attack die to regain a shield and still have another regular attack afterwards. If she’s range one of an enemy then she could alternatively lose a shield to have a four dice primary turret attack as well. A range one attack with focus and target lock (TL for short) can be devastating. The K-wing can also perform a slam action, which allows Miranda to cover a lot of ground at the cost of not being able to shoot for the round. If I don’t feel like engaging an enemy then a slam is a great way to fly out of arc or intentionally bump to live another day for a shot that is much more in my favor. Along with the Adv. Slam upgrade I can get the coveted TL that I need for that range one primary shot later. She also has an Ion Bomb to cover her ass when aces try to flank her from behind. This is a nice trick up my sleeve that can ion the annoying flanker or force them to reposition themselves away from me (and hopefully Dash) for my range two to three secondary shots. Lastly we have the coveted C-3PO. This upgrade allows me to predict the number of evades I will roll before I roll them once per round. If I guess correctly then I may add one evade to my total. This means that if I focus with Miranda and guess zero then I am guaranteed one evade and possibly even two if I roll a focus result (one evade from guessing zero and then spend the focus token for an additional evade). This really helps mitigate damage in a way that Corran cannot do.
My strategy is to speed forward as fast as I can with both ships to gain a substantial presence in the middle of the board with Dash while Miranda skims across the edge. I brought three debris tokens with me to cluster up the middle and allow Dash to slow roll and not worry about landing on as many rocks so he can still shoot after the activation phase. I wanted to keep Dash away from the edge of board as much as possible because he becomes quite predictable with his green maneuvers. I want to stay at range three as well so that HLC and TLT can trigger and then focus fire on my opponent’s biggest threat.
ROUND 1 – Matt Clark
Corran Horn- Fire Control System, R2-D2, Eng. Up., Push the Limit
Gold Squadron (stress hog) – BTL-A4, R3-A2, Bomb Loadout, Ion Turret, Prox. Mines
Gold Squadron – TLT
100 points
I played Matt at a monthly tournament I ran a few weeks ago. If I remember correctly he ended up flooring my list back then. Either way, it was good to see a familiar face across from me for my first match. He took initiative which meant his Corran would be moving and shooting before Miranda. I set up my debris field in the middle and Matt placed his three big rocks around them. He set up his two Y-wings in the middle (stress hog in the back) and Corran on his far left side. I wanted to keep some distance from Corran so I could take out the stress hog so I placed Dash in the middle with the intent of turning left and away from Corran and I placed Miranda to my far left side. The Y’s screamed forward in the first round with a three straight and Dash answered back with a four straight and some BR/boost shenanigans. I played the first round just right enough that Corran and the stress hog were out of range, leaving just a shot through the rocks between Dash and the TLT Y-wing. He took a couple shields and Dash was left unharmed.
Corran would be coming in hot for the next turn, so I decided to play it safe with Dash and move him to my left to regroup with Miranda. Matt’s Y’s continued going forward and he decided to drop his proximity mine. I didn’t expect the mine as no one was near it, but I did notice that it closed up the channel right before moving into the asteroid field, effectively covering his six. It was quite a clever move. I take some decent shots at the stress hog with no incoming fire except for the TLT Y-wing again. He has a good range three shot with Corran and takes the double tap but Dash with four evade dice (range three and through a rock), a focus token, and some good dice rolling is able to come away unscathed again. I meet back up with Miranda on the far left side so I can flank his Y’s as he traverses them through the asteroid field. Matt regroups on my side of the board and at one point we’ve basically just switched sides and started circling back around to engage again. I have to take a wide turn to avoid the proximity mine but we continue to arc dodge and focus on the stress hog, who dies shortly afterwards without getting a shot off the whole game.
The TLT Y-wing is the next to go as I figure he’s a quick and easy target and I want to save Corran for last so I can focus fire and, hopefully, negate R2-D2. Finally it’s just Corran left and I press my attack. Dash tries to be aggressive with a four k-turn that bumps Corran. That’s okay, though, as I’m hoping for a bump from Corran which will give Miranda a nice shot against him with no modifications. It’s about the only time when bumping with a k-turn is actually beneficial. Plus, Kyle will trigger the next turn with a green maneuver. Instead Corran is too sneaky for the block and veers off to the left to clear Dash and begin his flee back through the rocks towards his side of the board. I give chase with Miranda and Dash but cannot breakthrough Corran’s defenses. If C-3PO could talk to R2-D2 on Corran’s ship I’m sure he would be calling him a near-sighted scrap pile. I could’ve possibly had him if I held onto Miranda’s TL for a primary shot at range one, but I was flustered with time running out and was hoping for results. In the last round before time is called I gave it all I had to take out Corran, but Matt dodged everything magnificently and almost removed Miranda with the double tap.
I won this round but still felt frustrated with myself for getting too worked up to set up the right shot that could have killed Corran. I would remember to not make that mistake again. I think the game would’ve been much different if he gave me initiative because then Corran could have reacted to Miranda and arc dodged. Either way, it’s time to take a deep breath and calm down.
Win 52-29
ROUND 2 – Matt Finin
Talonbane – Predator, Eng. Up.
Serissu – Stealth Device, Wingman, Mangler, Heavy Scyk title
Syndicate Thug – Proton Torps., TLT, Stealth Device, Unhinged Astro., BTL Title, Ex. Munitions
100 points
Another Matt! This was a very interesting build as I don’t really see some of these upgrades often and if I do they’re usually not on these ships. I believe Matt took initiative as well, which means Serissu moved and shot first. Dash cheered when I saw that Matt also brought three debris tokens. The entire board was basically open for Dash. With that in mind I decided to try to cluster all the debris tokens as close to each other as I could. This would make maneuvering difficult for my opponent while giving Miranda plenty of freedom to move around the edge. Serissu and Talonbane were set up in the middle while Thuggy was placed to his far right. I angled Dash towards the middle and Miranda on my far right.
First round was much like the first game with all of Matt’s forces closing in towards the middle and Dash coming in hot, but then redirecting towards Miranda’s side of the board. Dash is able to get a range three shot onto Talonbane with no one else within range. They trade two hits and continue flying. I think Matt might have forgotten to use Serissu’s ability on Talonbane here, which could’ve saved him from taking some damage.
The next round I’m able to arc dodge Serissu and Talonbane with DnD who quickly take out Talonbane’s remaining hull. Serissu and Thuggy are now in formation and turn back towards Matt’s side of the board to try and get arcs on Dash, but he’s able to dodge around them. Miranda, however, played it slow this round and met Serissu at range one. We traded some shots and we only received one shield damage each, which is perfect for Miranda, who will regenerate next turn, and not so perfect for Serissu. The next round Matt k-turns his ships to meet everyone head on. I anticipated this, my health was looking pretty good, and I knew Thuggy wouldn’t be getting his TL for the proton torpedoes. I decided to take a chance so that Miranda and Dash could both take shots on Serissu. Serissu took the stress off Thuggy with wingman, did one more damage on Miranda’s shields, and then blew up to my TLT shots. From there it was Thuggy against two pretty healthy ships. Miranda gets beside Thuggy and drops the ion bomb on the next turn. Thuggy takes the ions but blows up shortly afterward to some focused fire.
Just like my first game I think this game might have been a little different if Matt had given me initiative so that Serissu could react to where I moved. The thug was really loaded up and he did not, unfortunately, use any of his ordnance. I would also consider taking the BTL-A4 title off to give him more opportunities to attack. I might have taken a hull upgrade instead of stealth device as well.
Win 100-0
ROUND 3 – Victor Robles
Omega Leader (O.L.) – Juke, Comm Relay
Whisper – VI, FCS, ACD, Agent Kallus
Capt. Yorr – Emp. Palpatine
99 points
Wait a sec…this list looks familiar…
Again, if you’ve read my previous store championship battle report then you’ll remember that this is exactly the same list that I flew against when I played Brad Miller. This list is all sorts of nasty…like Finn drinking water from a trough kind of nasty. Between O.L. with Juke, Agent Kallus, and Palpatine there is just so many ways to mitigate damage dealt or received. It’s quite possibly one of the most frustrating lists that I have flown against because it relies completely on shutting everything you own down and there are so many ways to do that, especially against a two ship build like my DnD list. I’m honestly not prepared to win this game.
Victor is a good friend of mine and we rode up together from our hometown of Iowa City. He’s also part of my league and I have played this list many, many times before. You’d think that would mean I would have a decent strategy against it, but you’d be wrong. The best I could come up with is to try to stay at range three of only one ship and attempt to focus fire. Alas, Victor is too good for that to happen.
I clustered my asteroids in a bit of a line in the middle while Victor placed his three big rocks in both of his corners and one of mine. He chooses Miranda as the target for Agent Kallus. Victor is at 99 points and he gives me the initiative so he can watch Miranda move and then react accordingly. All of this is not new to me. He sets up his build in the far left corner in such a way that he will be able to fortress. If you’re not sure what fortressing is it means that you intentionally set up your ships to bump so that they stay stationary in the corner and bide your time until you are comfortable to move into combat. So the idea is that you move O.L. or Whisper in front of Yorr to keep the shuttle and Palpatine in the corner away from most harm. With two aces and fortressing there is no way you will be getting close to Yorr and don’t even think about getting behind him until late in the game. I set up Miranda in the middle and Dash to my far right and pointed towards the middle.
The first round of movement Victor cloaks with Whisper and fortresses with O.L. and Yorr. I race my ships into the middle as usual. My plan is to separate Victor’s aces enough that I can single one of them out. I succeed for a little while, but it’s Dash vs. Whisper. Whisper will get four attack dice vs my two and I will be left with four attack dice vs four defense dice plus Palpatine on my attack. This is not the best exchange for me but I take what I can get. Unfortunately, Victor’s dice are hot and he gets three hits in on Dash while I don’t do any damage back. Things are not off to a very good start. DnD continues to head left, but I decide to be tricky and I have Miranda go towards Victor’s side and Dash go towards mine. I’m splitting up my forces in hopes that this’ll make things difficult for Victor to focus fire on. With a TL and juke in place, O.L. fires on Miranda and is forced to spend the TL on a bad roll, but doesn’t get anything through. It’s okay for him though because he still has juke and he can acquire a TL in the next turn. Miranda’s safe for now, but may be out of the fight for a little bit while she turns back around. Dash takes more heavy shots from Whisper and returns nothing through her defenses.
At this point I think I should’ve chosen to move Miranda to the right and slammed past Yorr to get behind him. I was getting flustered and Dash was taking heavy fire from Whisper, so I tried to regroup instead.
As both my ships converged on the left side of the board Dash was already down to one hull due to a direct hit crit and Victor’s list was still completely healthy. Whisper had to BR right in front of a debris cloud just to try to get a shot off on Miranda. She was just slightly out of arc, however, and Whisper would not get to shoot which meant that Victor could not cloak back up. That’s bad news for Whisper since she’ll have to go through the debris cloud instead of being able to decloak out of the way. With only one hull left I knew that this was the beginning of the end, so Dash made a sacrifice in the next round and maneuvered right in front of Whisper for the bump. This also put Yorr and O.L. at range one of Dash but at least I’d have a really good primary shot on Whisper with Miranda. It worked out like I thought and Whisper ended up bumping Dash and landing on the debris cloud. Yorr was close enough to Whisper and took the stress for her and Victor used the opportunity to cloak Whisper back up since she did not take the stress from the debris.
I was pretty frustrated because it meant my range one shot would now be pointless from Miranda because he would have four evade dice, Palpatine, and Kallus to work with. This really bothered me as I could not figure out how I didn’t see this coming. It wasn’t until I was literally making this write up that I realized that Whisper would not be able to cloak because she bumped Dash, but we were both so fixated on Yorr taking the stress away from the debris cloud that we both missed the obvious answer. This is what happens when you get frustrated. I was still able to get two hits through on Whisper. It definitely wouldn’t have changed the overall outcome of the game, but I might have focused after Whisper if I had gotten her down to just one hull for MOV’s sake.
Instead O.L. mopped up Dash before he could shoot back. Miranda dropped the ion bomb on Whisper and sped away. I wish I could’ve capitalized on the ion, but Whisper was already running and there was no way I could turn around in time to catch her. Instead Miranda skimmed the edge of the board while trying to regen shields and take pot shots at range three. C-3PO took a nap as O.L. negated the use of his ability and I slowly dwindled down to one hull. I made it all the way to my far right corner and tried a three bank to start coming up the board again. Due to a bump on Dash earlier in the game I didn’t realize that I was skewed enough to place the very edge of my base just outside of the playing field… *sigh*
At least Miranda went out on her own terms…take that, Victor…
Loss 0-100
ROUND 4 – Kyle
Torkil – TLT
Kavil – TLT
Bossk – K4, Merc. Copilot, Tactician, Marksmanship
100 points
I always see Kyle at events in Iowa City and we always seem to talk but have never actually played against each other. It was nice to finally get a game in. Kyle’s list seemed really menacing. We both wanted to be at range three to trigger our secondary weapons as well as Kyle’s mercenary copilot. I also confirmed that tactician would work at range two from his auxiliary firing arc, so I had to be sure that I didn’t get too close. On top of all that I would be in for a bad day if I was within range for Torkil’s ability to trigger. This list would be very tricky to fly against. Other than my game against Victor I was doing quite well today and I thought that if I pulled out a win here then there was a good chance of getting a spot in the top 4.
Kyle gave me initiative to see Dash move first before both Kavil and Bossk. I think he understood the value of three clustered debris clouds in the middle of the board and placed one of them towards my edge of the board. Along with his rocks we made almost a straight line of debris and rocks from my left corner to his left corner. He set up his whole squad in his far right corner with Bossk closer to the middle and Torkil all the way to the edge. I placed DnD in the middle and made sure that Miranda had a straight shot in between two rocks if she decided to head straight towards the other side of the board. Torkil was my primary target, then Kavil. I figured if I could get the TLT ships off the board then Bossk would be a sitting duck once I flanked behind him. Also, I wanted to keep Kavil at range three, but also in front of his firing arc so that his ability wouldn’t trigger.
Kyle does a little bit of fortressing on his first turn and I decide to play it safe and not move too fast. The next round he banks all of his ships inward and I veer DnD towards the middle of the board. I played it just right so that Miranda was out of range and only Kavil and Torkil had shots on Dash at range three. If there’s one thing I can be proud of today it would be my first pass flying. Each initial volley between ships was at range three with only one or two ships in arc and the rest too far away to shoot. Dash was able to get a nice shot in on Torkil bringing him down to two or three hull, but they were also able to hit Dash back for a few shields. I decided to split DnD up at this point and sent Miranda toward Kyle’s side of the board and Dash came back towards my side. Dash was able to position himself at range three of Torkil again, but Miranda landed right in front of Bossk and right beside Kavil. This was both good and bad, as it meant Kavil had no shot on me, but I’d be feeling it from Bossk. In addition, I was close enough to Torkil for his ability to trigger and bring Miranda down to PS0. Torkil was destroyed shortly after by Dash, but Bossk answered back with some heavy fire on Miranda. I believe he took out all my shields and even put a damage through due to Bossk’s ability.
Miranda would have her revenge next turn however! I dropped the ion bomb to hit both Kavil and Bossk. This was the only time the ion bomb served any real purpose in this tournament. I think it was well worth it, though, as it served as a reminder to not get behind me or else suffer the consequences. The ioned ships gave me the opportunity to get Miranda behind Bossk and Dash at another range three shot on Kavil inside his arc. By this point Dash was into hull damage. Leading into the next movement phase I knew that Dash was in trouble. Kyle’s squad had slowly moved across the middle and cornered Dash. I knew that Dash wouldn’t have any way of surviving the next assault. Not all hope was lost though. It had taken a good portion of Kyle’s focus fire to bring down Dash and I had already taken out a third of his list and Kavil was also leaving smokey entrails in his wake. As long as DnD was able to take down Kavil in this next round then Bossk would be as easy as shooting womp rats in my T-16 back home.
Thank goodness for the simultaneous attack rule. Dash was able to stay on the board and fire back due to being the same pilot skill as Bossk and Kavil. This gave me just enough of an edge to kill Kavil and leave Miranda right beside Bossk. Bossk had a sliver of a range two shot on Miranda for a tactician and marksmanship shot but it was too late. I would be able to fly behind the Hound’s Tooth the next round. Now came the final dance as Miranda followed Bossk’s lead all around the map, plinking away with TLT shots while regenerating her shields and periodically getting some nice range one primary attack shots. Bossk eventually fell around his starting position over on Kyle’s right side of the board to secure me the win for the final match.
Kyle’s list was devastating and I can see just how effective it is against aces that want to get in too close. The Hound’s Tooth may be Scum’s space cow, but it can turn and still get some arcs with some good maneuvering and distance.
Win 100-58
I ended up in fourth place! That means I was able to procure both the championship range ruler as well as the tie breaker coin. I’ve been close to winning a tournament before, but this one felt the greatest to me because of the amazing prize kit. I left The Core feeling elated and excited for the next store championship. I want to thank The Core again for providing the room for the event and Jeff Mastin for running the tournament. You really made me feel welcome. I can’t wait for the next opportunity to face off against all the folks up in Cedar Falls and the surrounding Iowa area. The community is running strong and new people are popping up every time we hold an event. Thanks for reading and, as always, fly casual.Liberty Blitzkrieg was early in reporting on the trend of financial firms entering the U.S. residential real estate market with “all-cash” bids for tens of thousands of homes with the intention of turning former homeowners into permanent sources of rental income. The first of many pieces I published on the topic was in January 2013, titled: America Meet Your New Slumlord: Wall Street.
Now |
sensed what was coming next. Nobody did. As the ball fell from the sky to the floor, Leahy appeared on the scene and rifled it low and hard and true past Logan.
The strike couldn't have been any sweeter had Leahy emptied a bucket of sugar on the ball before thumping it home.
Leahy's goal set up a tense finish
This great footballing odyssey had a way to go yet. Jason Cummings came on to the field and promptly rattled Rogers' crossbar with a howitzer from over 30 yards out. Rogers got a touch on it and Hibs were denied a sensational winner just two minutes from time.
Just after, a Stokes header clipped the top of Rogers' crossbar.
Falkirk looked to be hanging on for extra-time. Not a bit of it. It was fitting that such a pulsating tie had a gob-smacking endgame.
A Falkirk throw-in from Will Vaulks, a ball bouncing free in the Hibs penalty box and McHugh firing it in off the post.
In a word: stunning. In another word: Falkirk.This video is probably the best explanation of how men feel and act when it comes to commitment. It does a great job of explaining the male psyche, as well as dismantling mainstream shaming methods.
The greatest point it makes is to describe the difference in incentive and reward that men and women get from commitment, as well as the different dreams that men and women have.
The video is made by a guy called Tom Golden. He is in my opinion the most intelligent and insightful psychotherapist I have ever spoken with. And he is an incredible, but under recognized asset to men in western culture. He’s also a great asset to women, too, if they are fortunate enough to accept his wisdom.
Tom Golden, LCSW is a psychotherapist, MRA, videographer and author. His book on male grief, Swallowed by a Snake, The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing, is fantastic.A growing number of private players believe they can commercialize fusion energy within a decade, promising a carbon-free energy source with near-limitless fuel, potentially in time to ease the mounting risks of climate change.
A team at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works revealed late last year that they’re at work on a truck-sized fusion reactor. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and others have plugged money into General Fusion in Burnaby, British Columbia. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Venrock have invested in Tri-Alpha Energy, a secretive effort near Irvine, Calif. And Peter Thiel’s Mithril and Y Combinator have funded a Redmond, Wash., startup called Helion Energy.
But the billions of government dollars and decades of research invested in replicating the power source of the sun have, to date, largely resulted in missed deadlines, cost overruns and incremental progress.
As the old joke goes: Fusion power is thirty years away — and always will be.
So there’s considerable skepticism in the scientific community that these private upstarts can achieve such ambitious timelines — or whether they can pull off fusion at all.
“It’s probably a better bet than that Nigerian prince that keeps emailing me, but I would not invest my money in it,” said Edward Morse, a professor in UC Berkeley’s nuclear engineering department.
He said that fusion researchers have tried most of these alternative approaches and simply failed to produce the results needed to justify continued investment.
Morse and others in the field believe the more promising paths today remain the massive, government-backed efforts, notably ITER, a so-called tokamak reactor under construction in southern France, which confines plasma fuel in the shape of a giant donut. But the international scientific collaboration is years behind schedule and estimated costs have more than tripled to around $20 billion.
It would be difficult to overstate the promise of successfully commercializing fusion. It is free from the meltdown dangers of fission, potentially far more efficient than renewables like solar and wind — and unlike fossil fuels, it wouldn’t pump out the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet.
Where nuclear fission splits atoms, fusion pushes two nuclei together, releasing energy in the process.
A single gram of a fusion fuel like deuterium oxide is potentially equivalent to 10 tons of coal, according to Helion. That’s enough fuel to power a home for a year, all packed into a vial no bigger than your pinky.
David Kirtley, chief executive of Helion, believes his startup can build a compact prototype reactor that generates more energy than it consumes within the next three years, achieving what’s known as “scientific gain,” by pursuing an approach known as magneto-inertial fusion. It relies on magnetic fields to hold and compress the plasma fuel.
“We think that we’re transitioning this technology away from billion-dollar scale government programs, to these small private fusion efforts where innovation can build on all of those years of R&D and science, to then move forward with small, distributed fusion systems,” he said.
To learn more, watch the video above.
Update: This story has been updated to clarify that Helion hopes to achieve what’s known as “scientific gain” within three years, not “ignition,” which means a self-sustaining fusion reaction.Northwest High School students in the Alliance area attending a pep rally Thursday met a team many may not have been aware of.
“And it’s called the Northwest High School Clay Target Team!” an announcer bellowed into the microphone as the students yelled enthusiastically.
Yes, a gun club at a school.
But their club practices competitive clay pigeon shooting at trap and skeet ranges.
“We practice a couple of times a week on the weekends or after school on Thursday or Friday,” said club member Christian Fezatte.
“There were little posters around the school and I saw my friend was like ‘Hey, let’s go to the meeting!'” Said Lucy Henry, one of several female members of the club. “And I was like okay! And we went to the meeting.”
Nearly a dozen clay shooting clubs like this one have popped up in North Texas school districts like Southlake/Carroll, Flower Mound and Argyle. Organizers say they expect the number of clubs in North Texas schools to double or more during the school year.
They have a sponsor at the school but all gun activities strictly off-campus. Instructors say the students learn a lot shooting.
“It teaches discipline,” said volunteer shooting coach R. D. Reynolds. “It teaches respect. And just a love of the game. Safety? Absolutely! Safety is the number one thing out here. You’re not saying you’re not shooting.”
“I mean, it takes stress off,” Henry said. And you’re with these awesome people!
And Northwest High School’s principal says he’s had no negative feedback from parents.
“No, no, no. Obviously, it’s voluntary if the student wants to join that team it’s more power to them,” said principal Jason Childress. “They go through the sponsors as far as permission and things like that go. But no.”
And Northwest High School students learned the new club brought back a national honor to add to the schools accolades.
“They won first place national championships in all three shotgun categories!” the pep rally announcer yelled over a roaring cheer.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:January 4th, 2014 | By admin
The Sanjay Gupta CNN Documentary
A great documentary which shines a light into the magic of medical cannabis – for a child.
Watch how a little girl comes backs from horrifying illness and almost certain death to live a normal life – with her parents then meeting their daughter’s true self properly for the first time. Incredible stuff. Youtube link.
Human trials for cannabis as a treatment for brain cancer begin
Need we say more? Trials begin for the treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme using Sativex.
Remember, ‘Sativex’ is cannabis, so whatever they may say, they are treating brain cancers with their own version of concentrated cannabis which anybody can make.
Rick Simpson has been successfully treating people with cancer for years using cannabis oil.
Boston study says marijuana not harmful
A Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine study finds no relationship whatsoever between marijuana use and healthcare utilisation.
So even daily marijuana users can chill out. The only way you are going to be harmed by this plant is by being hit over the head with it. Or by being arrested because of it.
Uruguay legalizes and neighbours immediately consider following their lead
Uruguay completely legalised their cannabis market in 2013 – setting the price at 1$ a gram! Argentina’s drug tsar Juan Carlos Molino recently stated that:
“Argentina deserves a good debate about this. We have the capacity to do it. We should not underestimate ourselves”.
Recent polls in Buenos Aires suggest that 81% of people are in favour of legalisation of cannabis. South America could soon be greener than the North!
Switzerland have completely decriminalised cannabis
The Swiss (who are already extremely sensible about cannabis, though laws vary from internal state to state) very recently introduced new cannabis legislation.
The Swiss parliament totally decriminalised marijuana use on the 1st of October as long as you have less than 10 grammes in your posession.
Cannabis cafes in Berlin are coming soon
The Berlin parliament have voted and agreed on the idea of cannabis cafes in the city. Which European capital will fall next? Manchester would like to lead the UK.
Keep an eye on Europe. Remember with Spain and Holland, we’re already half way to a legal market – in the face of full legalisation in the US, it seems ridiculous to consider that anything resembling prohibition will be continuing for any meaningful amount of time here, but I’m sure some idiotic fools will prove me wrong.
Danny Danko the High Times editor appears on the Wall Street Journal
It’s almost too good to be true. I am still pinching myself. Who thought we would be seeing this in 2014? I repeat. Danny Danko, the High Times editor, appears on the Wall Street Journal! Just wow.
Colorado and Washington legalize for recreation
Recreational sales begin in earnest in Colorado – and the lines are big! Whether stocks are going to last or not remains to be seen, but a certain scene in the film ‘Jaws’ where they realize they are going to need a bigger boat springs to mind.
Moroccan legalisation plans
Morocco who produces over 40% of the world’s hashish supply are keen to legitimize the main cash crop of their country.
Even BusinessWeek think they might. Just imagine a legal Moroccan hashish export market! Only months ago such things would be dismissed as hogwash. Not today. A spokesman for the government said:
“We think this crop can become an important economic resource for Morocco and the citizens of this region”
American Herbal Pharmacopoeia release cannabis monograph
The American Herbal Pharmacopoeia finalized its cannabis monograph to lay down standards for botanical identity, purity, analysis, and quality. This new monograph will also provide instruction on cannabis growing, storage and curing etc.
Required reading for any serious cannabis enthusiast and further proof that cannabis is coming back to the medicine cabinet to stay.Just last week, Otto Porter earned himself a special place in the hearts of the “NBA on TNT” crew. In a game against the Bulls, his mind-boggling refusal to move, even as the player he was assigned to defend scampered away at a crucial moment, brought the house down during the show’s “Shaqtin’ a Fool” segment.
Well, Porter had another moment of infamy Thursday night. It probably wasn’t up to the meme-worthy level of his Chicago brain cramp, but it was enough to once again light up the Internet.
In the third quarter of a home game against the Grizzlies, John Wall got the ball out in transition and fed Porter what looked like a standard-issue NBA alley-oop. Except …
Oh, dear. At least, unlike the previous gaffe, this miscue by Porter didn’t have any bearing on the outcome of the game. The Wizards had already turned their contest with the undermanned Grizzlies into a laugher, which made it easy for Paul Pierce to crack up at the alley-OOPS:
Paul Pierce reacts to the Otto Porter missed dunk. #Wizards https://t.co/dxGxJP9UCU — Danny (@recordsANDradio) March 13, 2015
Wait, did Pierce actually say, “Shaqtin’ a fool”? Sure looked like it.
Read his lips. Definitely said "Shaqtin a fool" RT @HPbasketball Paul Pierce is amused at Otto Porter’s missed dunk. https://t.co/XgV0B06kUl — Conor Dirks (@ConorDDirks) March 13, 2015
Yup, it was just another embarrassing moment for Porter, who might be on his way to replacing JaVale McGee as Shaquille O’Neal’s go-to buffoon. At least on Thursday, there were those mitigating factors, that a) the Wizards won this game and b) Porter’s missed dunk is unlikely to get turned into a meme.
On the other hand, there was also a memorable post-miss moment:
Yeah, the Internet might just find a use for that. Sorry, Otto.Food & Wine magazine has named Brewer’s Table in Minneapolis to its second-annual Restaurants of the Year list.
The magazine describes the list as the “10 most exciting places to eat in America right now.” The restaurant is located on the second floor of Surly Brewing Co.’s destination brewery in Minneapolis' Prospect Park neighborhood.
Chef Jorge Guzman — the Star Tribune’s 2015 Chef of the Year — has known the news since last Wednesday, and was sworn to secrecy.
“That’s been very difficult,” he said with a laugh. “Really, really difficult. When they called, I wanted to run upstairs and hug my team and say, ‘Look what we did.’ It was a tough one to keep quiet.”
How’s he feeling? “I’m in a good place now, because I’ve had a whole week to digest it,” he said. “The team upstairs? They’re ecstatic.”
The news spread like wildfire.
Surly chef Jorge Guzman
“The tweets have really been coming through today,” said Guzman. “Gavin Kaysen [chef/owner of Spoon and Stable] was the first to congratulate me over Twitter, and that’s so huge. That means a lot to have the support of fellow chefs, not just here but in other cities. I’ve heard from Gerard Craft [of Niche in St. Louis] and Justin Carlisle [of Milwaukee’s Ardent].”
As for celebrating, Guzman’s hasn’t gotten that far.
“We had a Champagne toast a few hours ago,” he said. “I’ll probably take the team out, so we can hang out, and spend time together. It’s such a big accomplishment for our team.”
Here’s what the magazine said: “Across the country, people are eating better food and drinking better beer every day. I can’t imagine a more satisfying place to do both than Brewer’s Table. Upstairs from the vast Surly beer hall is this 70-seat dining room, where chef Jorge Guzman oversees a deceptively simple-sounding menu. The four-course tasting is a bargain at $70, especially since it includes beer pairings. Guzman serves sopa de lima as an ode to his Yucatán heritage, preparing the tortilla soup with avocado-leaf-infused chicken broth. His steak frites comes with bone marrow gel and a brilliant powdered béarnaise sauce, plus a glass of Surly’s barrel-aged Pentagram beer — destination-worthy on its own.”
@RickNelsonStribTweet
We are lucky to be at the start of an intellectual revolution in the way that the beautiful game is presented. Just a few years ago, possession stats and may be some total shot numbers here and there were all that you, the average viewer could get. How different is that now?
The recent MCFC analytics initiative is just one of many steps taken to provide football fans with more and more information on the game that they love. Apps like Stats Zone and websites like Whoscored and the recently introduced Squawka, provide a true overload of data. Any self-respecting blogger writing on football matches will use this information and back-up statements with numbers dug up from the deep-waters of in-match events. And it will certainly be a matter of time before mainstream media will follow the same direction.
But what does all this information tell us? Does the presented data answer the questions that we think it answers? And don’t we run the risk of being ‘more informed’ instead of ‘better informed’?
Anyone with a background in dealing with data knows that the key principle for interpreting this type of information is ‘context’. And that will be the main point I will try to make in this article. When provided with so called ‘stats’, always ask yourself what the context of the information is.
So here’s a picture of a flying pig. Now that’s out of context in a piece on football analytics, but that’s not the point I was trying to make. The point, though, is once again context. Simply studying the picture at hand, without considering the circumstances, would lead to the wrong assumption, that pigs (or at least this one) could fly. Study the wider picture, i.e. take the context into account, and you’ll be wiser.
Satisfaction
Now, within a football match, there generally exists disagreement between both sides in terms of satisfaction with the current score line. In most matches, one of the teams is, based on player quality and home advantage, favorite over the other one to win the match. This favorite team starts out dissatisfied with the 0-0 score line, looking to open the score. The other team, meanwhile focuses on preventing to concede a goal, while now and then exploring offensive options themselves. Some matches are closer than others, but in general this is a key concept of thought: one team is more satisfied with keeping the score line as it is, compared to the other team.
The happy team and the unhappy team
Let’s call the two teams that contend a football match the unhappy team and the happy team. When Ajax plays AZ at home, like in last week’s Eredivisie opening weekend, Ajax starts out the unhappy team and AZ starts out the happy team, but depending on goals being scored, these roles can switch quickly, as can the amount of happiness.
The priority for the unhappy team is to change the score line in their favour, which leads to offensive impulses, while the priority for the happy team is to prevent the unhappy team from scoring, which leads to defensive impulses. Note that these are vastly different aims that both teams try to achieve within the same match. Obviously, the non-favorite team may also look to score and increase their level of happiness further, but their stimulus to take risks is lower as they have more happiness to lose.
Now, when Ajax opened the score in the 9th minute, a role reversal occurred. Beating AZ 1-0 would be a decent result for Ajax and losing 0-1 at Ajax would be a disappointing result for AZ. Not much news so far…
But AZ succeeded in their new found goal of changing the score line in their favour and by the 50th minute, Jozy Altidore had scored a brace to give his team the lead. Unhappy team Ajax finally made themselves slightly less unhappy by equalizing in the 83rd minute and the match finished at 2-2.
Stats
Here we go with some nice basic match stats. Let’s increase our insight, right? Ajax created a total of 16 shots, with half of them on target, while AZ created only 7 shots, with four of them on target. Possession wise, Ajax dominated AZ with 55%-45%. I’m not even going to bore you with the fact that Ajax played way more passes than Ajax, that less of their passes were directed forward, how many interceptions and clearances both teams made and all the other in-depth data that was recorded.
Phases
This match had four goals, so five different phases. At 0-0, Ajax was the unhappy team, at 1-0 AZ was, at 1-1 Ajax, at 1-2 Ajax even more so and at 2-2 Ajax, but less so. An interesting quantification of teams’ happiness is provided in Mark Taylor’s analysis of match states.
Phase A of the Ajax – AZ match, with the score still 0-0, lasted only 9 minutes. Phase B, the only Phase where AZ were the unhappy team, lasted 39 minutes, and the remaining Phases where Ajax were the unhappy team in various degrees of unhappiness, lasted the remaining 42 minutes plus added time.
So, for almost half of the match, AZ have been the unhappy team, their priority had been to alter the score line at that point, and for slightly over half of the match, Ajax had occupied that role.
Interpretation
Knowing all this, what can we now make of Ajax’ domination in creating goals scoring chances? What is their major share of possession worth? Ajax had the unhappy role for 51 minutes, which is over 30% more than AZ’s 39 minutes. The teams had vastly different priorities during various stages of the match.
Unless we interpret all these aggregate match stats within the right context, it’s all meaningless. It would be interesting to hear about Ajax’ and AZ’s possession during the different phases of this match. Is Ajax’ share of possession higher when they defend a lead? Does AZ cede possession when sitting on a single goal lead? Did Ajax create their numerical superiority of goal scoring chances while chasing the game, and how many chances did AZ concede while being the unhappy team?
In conclusion
What we could and should do is allow this type of match stats to be interpreted within the right context. How many goal scoring chances does a team create when it has to? How many does a team concede when their priority is keeping the score line as it is? What’s the role of possession in this?
For now, this post ends with more questions than answers, but it may be the start of interpreting in-match data according to the score line at hand, or more precisely, according to the team’s satisfaction with the score line at hand and the amount of playing time left. It makes no use studying pass completion data when the most rational approach may sometimes be to lunge the ball forward when desperately chase a late equalizer and at other times to be happy enough to play low risk sideway midfield passes when sitting on a late narrow lead.
Don’t throw all this information together in aggregate portions of match stats. That will only feed those skeptics, who claim that stats are of no use in a sport as complex as football.Ankara, Mar 4: Turkish armed forces launched new artillery strikes on positions of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, local media reported today. Turkish artillery fired shells from howitzers positioned in its border region against IS targets in the north of Syria’s Aleppo province, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported reported. A fragile ceasefire backed by Turkey has taken effect in Syria, but the deal does not apply to territory held by the IS group and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
This was the second time within a week that Turkey had shelled IS targets in Syria, after a period of over a month when there had been no reports of Turkish strikes against the extremist group. Turkey had on February 28 shelled six IS targets in Syria a total of 41 times, a senior government official said this week. From mid-February, Turkish artillery had also on successive days shelled targets of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Syria, with the military saying it was responding to incoming fire. (Also Read: ‘ISIS using Russian airstrikes as cover to manoeuvre fighters’)
But Turkey has not shelled any positions held by Syrian Kurdish fighters inside Syria since the ceasefire was implemented from at midnight last Friday, the official said. Washington had urged Ankara to halt its fire on the PYD and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia. The issue of the Syrian Kurds had caused a rare rift between Ankara and Washington, which regards the YPG as the most effective fighting force on the ground against IS and wants Turkey to focus on the fight against jihadists.Arguing in part that a U.S. president cannot be sued in state court while serving in office, lawyers for President Trump in a court filing late Friday called for the dismissal of a complaint from a former contestant on the “Apprentice” television show who claims the president sexually harassed her a decade ago.
Summer Zervos, a California restaurant owner who appeared on the reality show in 2006, filed suit against Trump in January in New York, alleging Trump defamed her during the presidential campaign when he said her sexual harassment complaints were false.
Zervos had accused Trump of aggressively kissing and grabbing her when she went to his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel to discuss a possible job at the Trump Organization a year after she participated in the reality show that he hosted.
In a 53-page memo, Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz argued Zervos’ allegations were false from the start, intended to hurt Trump’s presidential campaign, and asserted her lawsuit now is merely an attempt to force Trump to submit to intrusive evidentiary discovery that could hurt his presidency. Zervos’ attorney, Gloria Allred, has said she would seek to take Trump’s testimony under oath as part of the lawsuit and could look for other evidence, including possible “Apprentice” outtakes showing his behavior on the show’s set.
Kasowitz, who is also representing Trump in ongoing probes of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, also wrote that the president can only be sued through the federal court system while in office and any state action should be dismissed or postponed until after he leaves office.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the president can be sued for his private conduct while in office. That decision allowed a sexual harassment suit filed by Arkansas state employee Paula Jones to proceed against President Bill Clinton, a legal matter that ultimately resulted in impeachment proceedings against Clinton after he lied about his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky in a deposition taken as part of the case.
But Kasowitz argued the Supreme Court’s opinion was narrowly limited to lawsuits filed in federal court. Zervos filed her case in New York State Supreme Court. The legal argument could have far-reaching consequences both for Trump, who has been frequently sued in state courts, and for future presidents, essentially declaring the president immune from many civil lawsuits.
Kasowitz also argued that Zervos’ complaint should be dismissed because her original allegations against Trump were not true and, in addition, because Trump’s campaign-trail statements were protected by the First Amendment. A certain level of hyperbole is to be expected in the heat of a political campaign, he wrote, and such statements are legally protected speech.
During the campaign, Trump said the women who accused against him of inappropriately touching them were putting forward “made-up stories and lies” and “telling totally false stories.” Kasowitz argued those statements and others could not be considered defamatory but instead were “nothing more than heated campaign rhetoric designed to persuade the public audience that Mr. Trump should be elected president irrespective of what the media and his opponents had claimed over his 18-month campaign.”
Eleven women came forward to accuse Trump of touching, groping or kissing them without their permission in the final weeks of the campaign, after video emerged of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women on an “Access Hollywood” appearance in 2005.Virat Kohli has reportedly been withdrawn from the final Test of Australia’s four-match tour of India.
Ajinkya Rahane will captain India in Kohli’s absence. Shreyas Iyer will make his Test debut for India as Kohli’s replacement.
Kohli was given until the last minuet to prove his fitness, but the hosts’ skipper is restricted by the shoulder injury he suffered during the third Test.
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share
Steve Smith called correctly for the third time in the four-Test series and opted to bat on a pitch that should offer pacemen Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar some early assistance.
“There is a bit of a grass … could be more bounce than on some of the earlier pitches,” Smith said.
Australia named an unchanged XI as expected, while the hosts called up debutant left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav and swing specialist Kumar in place of Kohli and veteran quick Ishant Sharma.
“He is not 100 per cent fit so that’s why he opted out,” stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane said of Kohli.
“It’s a very good track.”
Rahane, who became India’s 33rd Test captain, admitted he was also keen to bat first.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Kohli failed to fire a shot with the bat in the series, but the tourists were rightly wary about his potential to produce a match-winning innings when it mattered most.
The absence of Kohli’s leadership, aggression in the field and tactical mind will also boost Australia’s bid for their second Test series win in India since 1969.
Australia XI: David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Steve Smith (capt), Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
With AAP.Dozens of French teenagers, including a young Jewish girl, have fled the country to join Islamic State militants fighting in Syria and Iraq, French intelligence has revealed.
At least 100 girls and young women from France have left to join terrorists in Syria in recent weeks, up from just a handful 18 months ago when the trip was not even on Europe's security radar.
The departures are less the whims of adolescents and more the conclusions of months of work by organised radical recruitment networks that specifically target young people in search of an identity.
These mostly online networks recruit girls to serve as wives, babysitters and housekeepers for jihadists, with the aim of planting multi-generational roots for a long-lasting Islamic caliphate.
Scroll down for video
Lost: Kamel Ali Mehenni and his wife Severine hold pictures of their daughter Sahra at their home in Lezignan Corbieres, France. The image on the left is a frame grab taken from a CCTV camera showing her at a train station on her way to join Islamic State militants fighting in Syria and Iraq
Conservative: Severine Ali Mehenni holds a picture of her daughter Sahra dressed in a traditional Islamic robe
Frontline: At least 100 girls and young women from France have left to join ISIS terrorists in Syria (pictured) in recent weeks, up from just a handful 18 months ago when the trip was not even on Europe's security radar
On the day she left for Syria, Sahra strode along the train platform with two bulky schoolbags slung over her shoulder. In a grainy image caught on security camera, the French teen tucks her hair into a headscarf.
Just two months earlier and a two-hour drive away, Nora, also a teen girl, had embarked on a similar journey in similar clothes. Her brother later learned she'd been leaving the house every day in jeans and a pullover, then changing into a full-body veil.
Neither had ever set foot on an airplane. Yet both journeys were planned with the precision of a seasoned traveler and expert in deception, from Sahra's ticket for the March 11 Marseille-Istanbul flight, to Nora's secret Facebook account and overnight crash pad in Paris.
The teenagers travelling to join ISIS come from all walks of life, and although most are first and second generation immigrants from Muslim countries, many come from white French backgrounds.
Despite ISIS repeatedly expressing of deep hatred of Jews, there was even a Jewish girl, according to a security official who spoke anonymously because rules forbid him to discuss open investigations.
Innocence lost: A painting of Mecca is seen on a shelf in Sahra Ali Mehenni's bedroom in France. Sahra is one of 100 girls and young women from France who have left to join terrorists in Syria in recent weeks
Heartbroken: Kamel Ali Mehenni (left) and his wife Severine pose for a picture in their living room in Lezignan Corbieres, France. The couple have spoken to their daughter Sahra three times since she left to join the Islamic State but believe her communication is being scripted by the terrorists
ISIS TRIES TO CUT OFF SAFE EXIT FROM KOBANE: BORDER CROSSING TO TURKEY UNDER ATTACK AS DEATH TOLL 'REACHES 500' A local Kurdish official and Syrian activists say militants from the Islamic State are shelling a Syrian border crossing with Turkey to try and capture it and cut off the embattled town of Kobane. The official, Idriss Nassan, says ISIS aim to seize the crossing in order to close the noose around the town's Kurdish defenders and prevent anyone from entering or leaving Kobane. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the militants this morning shelled several areas in Kobane, including the border crossing, which is the town's only gateway to Turkey. The Islamic State pushed into Kobane for the first time since launching its offensive in the area in mid-September. Activists say the fighting over Kobane has killed more than 500 people.
Young girls are also coming from elsewhere in Europe, including between 20 and 50 from Britain.
However, the recruitment networks are particularly developed in France, which has long had a troubled relationship with its Muslim community, the largest in Europe.
Distraught families plead that their girls are kidnap victims, but a proposed French law would treat them as terrorists who will be arrested if they return.
Sahra's family has spoken to her three times since she left, but her mother, Severine, thinks her communication is being scripted by the terrorists.
'They are being held against their will,' says Severine, a French woman of European descent. 'They are over there. They're forced to say things.'
The Ali Mehenni family lives in a red-tiled, middle-class home in Lezignan-Corbieres, a small town in the south of France.
Sahra, who turns 18 on Saturday, swooned over her baby brother and shared a room with her younger sister. But family relations turned testy when she demanded to wear the full Islamic veil, dropped out of school for six months and closed herself in her room with a computer.
Distraught: Fouad El-Bahty poses for a photographer in Avignon, France. His sister Nora is one of more than 100 girls from France who have left to join Islamic State terrorists in Syria in recent months
Documentation: A legal file detailing the investigation into the disappearance of French teenager Nora El Bahty, who left her home in Avignon to join the Islamic State in Syria in January
Now she was in a new school. And she seemed to be maturing - she asked her mother to help her get a passport, because she wanted her paperwork as an adult in order.
On the morning of March 11, Sahra casually told her father she was taking extra clothing to school to teach her friends to wear the veil. Kamel stifled his anxiety and drove her to the train station. He planned to meet her there just before dinner, as he did every night.
At lunchtime on March 11, she called her mother. I'm eating with friends, she said.
Surveillance video showed at that moment, Sahra was at the airport in Marseille, preparing to board an Istanbul-bound flight. She made one more phone call that day, from the plane, to a Turkish number, her mother said.
By nightfall, she had not returned. Her worried parents went to police.
They noticed the missing passport the next day.
Terrorist: The teenage girls travelling to join ISIS are forced to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured), the leader of the Islamist group that has raped and massacred its way through Syria and Iraq
Militant: The teenage girls' departures are less the whims of adolescents and more the conclusions of months of work by organised radical recruitment networks that specifically target young people to join ISIS (pictured)
'Everything was calculated. They did everything so that she could plan to the smallest detail,' Severine says. 'I never heard her talk about Syria, jihad. It was as though the sky fell on us.'
Sahra told her brother in a brief call from Syria that she had married to a 25-year-old Tunisian she had just met, and her Algerian-born father had no say because he wasn't a real Muslim.
Her family has spoken to her twice since then, always guardedly, and communicated a bit on Facebook. But her parents no longer know if she's the one posting the messages.
Sahra told her brother she's doing the same things in Syria that she did at home - housework, taking care of children. She says she doesn't plan to return to France, and wants her mother to accept her religion, her choice, her new husband.
Nora's family knows less about her quiet path out of France, but considerably more about the network that arranged her one-way trip to Syria.
Nora grew up the third of six children in the El-Bahty family, the daughter of Moroccan immigrants in the tourist city of Avignon. Her parents are practicing Muslims, but the family does not consider itself strictly religous.
Not only France: A number of young British Muslims, including Reyaad Khan (left) and Nasser Muthanna (centre) from Cardiff, and Abdul Raqib Amin from Aberdeen (right) have also travelled to Syria to join ISIS
Barbaric: ISIS rebranded as the Islamic State after declaring the foundation of a caliphate earlier this year
She was recruited on Facebook. Her family does not know exactly how, but propaganda videos making the rounds play to the ideals and fantasies of teenage girls, showing veiled women firing machine guns and Syrian children killed in warfare. The French-language videos also refer repeatedly to France's decision to restrict use of veils and headscarves, a sore point among many Muslims.
Nora was 15 when she departed for school on Jan. 23 and never came back.
The next day, Foad, her older brother, learned that she had been veiling herself on her way to school, that she had a second phone number, that she had a second Facebook account targeted by recruiters.
'As soon as I saw this second Facebook account I said, `She's gone to Syria,'' Foad says.
The family found out through the judicial investigation about the blur of travel that took her there. First she rode on a high-speed train to Paris. Then she flew to Istanbul and a Turkish border town on a ticket booked |
of Iraq that they hadn’t mapped out.”
Al-Baaj, a Sunni tribal area, has long remained outside of state control even under ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s regime, and was considered a safe haven for jihadists from 2004 onwards.
Residents have long used smuggling networks as well as small valleys and tracks to import goods from nearby Syria and to other parts of Sunni areas of Iraq in Nineveh and Anbar. Al-Qaida in Iraq and all its subsequent incarnations, including Isis, had largely unfettered access to the routes until al-Baaj became a focus of US surveillance earlier this year.
Baghdadi had at least one earlier brush with death when US jets attacked a two-car convoy on the outskirts of Mosul on 14 December. His close aide Auf Abdul Rahman al-Efery was killed when a rocket fired from a war plane hit one of the cars. Baghdadi was believed to be in the second car, which was not hit.
Isis: the inside story | Martin Chulov Read more
In recent months, air strikes have been increasingly effective in targeting the Isis leadership. Baghdadi’s deputy, Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, and the head of the group’s military operations in Iraq were both killed in early December.
After seizing control of a large chunk of Iraq and Syria last June, and threatening Baghdad and Irbil, Isis has recently lost substantial ground in both countries. An offensive led by Shia militias and the Iraqi military took back Iraq’s fourth city, Tikrit, last month, as well as close to 7,000 sq km in the centre of the country.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Where do Isis get their money?
A Kurdish push from the north in January reclaimed close to 20,000 sq km. Both offensives appear to be paving the way for an assault in Mosul, which is not expected before the autumn. Isis remains in full control of Mosul, as well as Anbar province and much of eastern Syria.
The border between the two countries is largely redundant and, despite air strikes, the group remains in control of six crossing points that allow a ready flow of funds, fighters and weapons. Baghdadi had declared the swath of land from eastern Aleppo to central Iraq to be part of a caliphate that he leads.
While Baghdadi invokes authority as a religious leader, the constant threat from the skies has led to some of its command and strategic decisions being made by other members of the leadership. Since Baghdadi’s wounding, Isis’s military and Shura councils have become increasingly prominent in decision-making, the source close to the organisation revealed.Black Country Communion songwriters Joe Bonamassa and Glenn Hughes talk us through the story and sounds behind one of this year’s most unexpected comebacks…
The mutual respect that first brought Joe Bonamassa and Glenn Hughes together is key to their playing chemistry, and it’s what has lured the four members of Black Country Communion back again for the fourth chapter in their story as one of the great rock supergroups.
You can see he’s in the moment. He’s not thinking about the next note or reaching for it. He just grabs it!
Take a listen to their previous three studio albums if you need proof. Glenn’s love for the new music they’ve made together is infectious, even before you hear it yourself. And having played with some legendary musicians, he still counts Joe at the top of the list…
“Just listen to the solo on The Cove or at end of Wanderlust or When The Morning Comes” he enthuses about new album BCCIV.
“When you’re sitting this far away from Joe, you can see he’s in the moment. He’s not thinking about the next note or reaching for it. He just grabs it! Some guitar players think way too much. Remember, I’ve played with everybody, but he’s the greatest.”
High praise indeed. But we want to dig further into what really makes their dynamic and individual approaches in BCC tick and see what we can learn. Thankfully, Joe and Glenn are happy to dissect…
Into the void
Joe reveals what we’re hearing on this year’s surprise return…
“My Skinnerburst ’59 Les Paul was used for most of the album. This is the first we’ve done that was tuned down a half step and I’m more set up for standard pitch, as most of my guitars are used to that tension. Some instruments, no matter what you do, really don’t like 430. Especially with the Fender 12-string and some of the other guitars, I didn’t want 15 prize-fighting rounds over hours trying to get the thing in tune, so I’d play a fret down.
“The Skinnerburst turned out to be a real simplifier because I put strings on it, tuned up and only had to loosen the truss rod just slightly to give it a little more tension. That way I could hit the chords hard without worrying about any funky wobbling sounds. There was a Rickenbacker thrown in there, as well as a mandolin.
“The electrics went through my Fender combos. I blew up my Bassman on the first day, both of the transformers went out. So I ran four 80 Watt twins with the Fender reverb tank I normally use, and just enough pedals to get into trouble. There was a wah-wah, Echoplex, Fuzz Face, some warble-type chorus thing… that’s about it.”
The thrill is gone
You buy a box that makes it sound like an algorithm and you can spend the night staring at your fuckin’ shoes? C’mon man…
Why the pedalboard is being kept fairly minimalist these days for Joe…
“I’ve really gotten over pedals. I can’t keep up with this craze of boutique pedals that make you sound like everything but your guitar. I can’t get my head around it. So you don’t want to play a guitar [properly] so you buy a box that makes it sound like an algorithm, like you just fired up your computer and you can spend the night staring at your fuckin’ shoes? C’mon man…
“I know I’ll get shit for saying this, but it’s fucking lazy. It’s insulting to people who spent 35 years playing and learning, like a lot of players. And we continue to work at it! These guys can barely play a chord but call themselves soundscapists. Get the fuck outta here! It’s bullshit. There’s so much masking and spin going on there. Can we get real for a minute? What do you actually play? Pick up an acoustic guitar… try that!”
Facing the fear
Don't Miss Joe Bonamassa showcases the best of his breathtaking guitar and amp collection
Glenn reveals his voice of doubt is, thankfully, a thing of the past…
“I think my bass playing is better now than it was all those years ago because I’ve walked through the fear. I’m an alcoholic in recovery and we are driven by fear. It’s a different animal when you’ve been through the drug war.
“There’s a voice inside my head and all my recovery friends, and most players to some extent, that tell us that we aren’t as good as we are, that we suck. This distinctive voice that wants to bring us down and we have to tell it to fuck off! Tell it to get out of the way so you can do your thing. Until I found that treasure… I was in some pain. I don’t listen to that voice anymore. It’s not something people tend to talk about, but I feel those experiences made me a way better person.
“The way I sing and project is because I’ve lived the life of 10 men that died, came back, died again… It’s not about being an addict. It’s about recovering from all of that, which gives me a deep well of beautiful, scandalous injuries and euphoria to sing about.”
Chain reaction
Why Joe prefers to cut the majority of his solos live with the band…
“My job is just to react, which is why most of the solos, except for a couple with open tunings, or whatever, were done live with the band. I like to react to Jason and Glenn… I mean, he’s such a great bass player. If I throw him something solo-wise, he’ll come back playing something that I react to. You can’t do that in the control room over some generic track, it’s that old-school interaction.
“The Last Song For My Resting Place, for example, had this walkdown during the solo. I heard it in my head as this really old style, early 70s Sabbath or Deep Purple riff, so I asked Glenn what would work because it never quite sounded right. And he’d say, ‘Oh well, we would have played it like this...’ And there it was! You can tell that stuff is in his DNA.”
Go with the flow
Joe tends to come from a blues place and I come from an r’n’b place. He’s Chicago or the Delta, while I’m Detroit or Memphis
Why time and honesty are of the essence when Glenn is writing…
“I usually write lyrics and melodies as we come up with the song. We work so rapidly. There’s a lot of love and trust between me and him. We can say if we’re not sure about things and suggest doing something else, speaking really gently. Or if we really love something, we’ll say it loud and proud. Sometimes if there’s that clash, I think it’s great.
“Joe tends to come from a blues place and I come from an r’n’b place. He’s Chicago or the Delta, while I’m Detroit or Memphis. And yet a song like The Cove is so English… but I’m talking 1971 England. And I am from that era, so is Jason - even though he was only five years old - he’s also from that era because of the DNA from his father.”
Strike a chord
Want to write songs like Glenn Hughes? The legend offers us his tips...
“There’s a style of chord changes that people will recognise from my work, it’s like my signature style. Obviously, I switch it around a lot, but for example, I like going from the E to C major7 to the B to the G major7. When I use a major7, I’ll use it in a deeper and darker way.
“I like writing rock songs with those chords and minor9s delivered aggressively - because if you play them lightly, it doesn’t work. By the way, Kevin [Shirley, producer] hates those chords, but I did trick him a few times. He didn’t stop me on this one, haha!”
Key to the highway
How Joe visualises the guitar neck he’s holding in his hands…
“The way I see the fretboard is the one key I’m in - say if it’s the key of F, then I know how to play in the key of F on every fret, that’s how I get myself out of trouble. A lot of the time, I’m bending into correctness. That’s always been the theory behind my playing - you might find yourself on the seventh fret where you could go low or high to get yourself out of jail.
“If I’m soloing, I usually try to start with a theme, which will often stem from the blues. But there’s only so much blues I can hear. I have a short attention span and if my mind wanders, then I start worrying about the audience too. So I’ll throw in the [Indian] Swami scale… I like getting a little out.
“Sometimes there’s a little bit of rub, I do like a bit of major/minor clash and it can sound cool - but if you do it, you’ve got to stick the landing and commit to it. I don’t really do scales... I mean, I play parts of them but then I bail and start playing parts of other things. The term ‘scale’ feels very scripted to me because I’m an improv player.”
The pick of destiny
Listen to Race With Devil On Spanish Highway by Al Di Meola. There’s a riff about 45 seconds in that makes everyone think, ‘I’ll never be that good!’
So how did Joe hone in on those blistering right-hand runs?
“I don’t have any legato skills; I could never figure out how to roll the notes off. Allan Holdsworth could pick one note and play a hundred! I didn’t have that down, so I went more along the Al Di Meola route, who seemingly picked everything. Using a small, heavy pick helps… especially with a light attack. I don’t actually pick very hard, I let it do the work for a more even and clean attack. You can hear every note.
“Listen to any of those players and it’s not as fast you think it is. It just sounds fast because it’s clean - and you’re better off being slow and clean than fast and sloppy. You need to hear all the notes and the space in between all the notes. That’s why I don’t use that much gain - which can actually become a hindrance.
“Obviously, I do need some sustain, but I also need the articulation to be more like an acoustic guitar, so you can hear all the notes. A lot of the times when you use too much gain, the notes bloom so quickly and ring for so long, it’s almost like you’re ahead of the sound and that just sounds like mush.
“If you ever want to feel bad about your right hand technique, listen to Race With Devil On Spanish Highway by Al Di Meola. There’s a riff about 45 seconds in that makes everyone think, ‘I’ll never be that good!’ Listen to that stuff… as well as gypsy jazz guys like Biréli Lagrène and Django Reinhardt.”
More than a feeling
Joe on why versatility matters…
“I think any time I wade into [BCC keyboardist] Derek Sherinian’s world of 32nd notes, it takes me to the limits of technical abilities pretty quickly… I’m just not that guy. I don’t have dexterity like Guthrie Govan, who can sit there making soup and still play that fast. He’s fucking wicked! I can make you think I can play that fast for about 15 seconds and then I run out of gas, but that’s just who I am.
“I’m better at putting different hats on. That’s a big part of music; you might need a different take for different songs. It might be more like a Freddie King hat or something more Jimmy Page. I’ve studied all these guys and gotten into their music so much I can emulate their sound - to the detriment of my own fingerprint in a lot of ways!
“I can turn on different sides even within the same song. With technique, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. For example, I went for a different approach on my solo for our new track, Collide. Usually, when I get the nod, I come out of the gate ripping ha ha! It’s good to do something different.”
Tomorrow’s dream
Where Glenn thinks a lot of today’s bands are going wrong…
“A lot of today’s musicians are trying to recreate what happened in the 70s and I get why… but you can’t really recreate it unless you were there. I think Rival Sons are as close as you’ll find, they’re good friends of mine. I also like this guy called Reignwolf - if you haven’t heard his music, seriously, Google him!
“But for the most part, I don’t hear a new Jeff Buckley - guitar-wise or vocally. Maybe there is and we haven’t found him/her yet. There must be new talent coming in - but getting to the top is going to take a lot of work!”
Different shades of blue
Joe’s guide to making your chords stand out…
“If you play a chord, put the major or minor third on the top and the root on the first string. For example, play a G and an E together for E minor - but using the third fret of your sixth string for the G with the open high E. That kinda makes it sound heavier, almost like you’re down-tuned.
“The natural order is root low and harmonic high - but if you reverse those, you can get a really interesting effect. Using methods like that can speed up finding your own unique voice as a player.”
Orange is the new purple
My current [Orange] heads sound a lot like my old Hiwatt - very piano, very much alive, with only three knobs
Glenn guides us through his rig…
“Last time BCC recorded I was also playing Orange, I’ve been with them for over five years or so. Back in Deep Purple, I used to play Hiwatts and they only really made 100 of those specific amps - which Geddy Lee also played. I still have them wrapped in cotton wool somewhere. What I told [founding CEO] Cliff Cooper at Orange is that my current heads sound a lot like my old Hiwatt - very piano, very much alive, with only three knobs… that’s all I need.
“I was playing my signature Yamaha, which is a prototype that’s not quite ready to come out yet. I also play Nash and Ibanez, a bit of five-string as well. And I love Black Cat pedals. They make the best overdrive… It’s really distorted but you can pick the notes out. It’s not Lemmy-sounding, yet still gritty. It’s time for me to open up the grit a bit more!”
Water under the bridge
The songwriting pair explain how they put their differences aside after BCC’s fairly public disbanding in 2013…
Joe: “I can remember when the idea of regrouping came to me - it was early last year. I was horribly jet-lagged in Dusseldorf and sent Glenn a message congratulating him about the induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and figured I might as well revisit the BCC catalogue.
A lot of people spend two lifetimes searching for a great band and never find it while we threw it away like spare change
“Listening to it, I thought we were really good when we were not being idiots, present company included. So I composed an email to everyone, saying a lot of people spend two lifetimes searching for a great band and never find it while we threw it away like spare change. I said I’d be the first to sign up for anything new…
“I didn’t even know if I had the current email addresses for everyone. And they all responded within an hour! We all agreed there’s no point in a reunion unless we had some good songs, so we went back to how it started. We tucked ourselves in the corner of Glenn’s writing room with a bunch of guitar amps: ‘I’ll bring the riffs and you bring that, ‘I am the messenger’ shit!’’ We spent about a year writing the songs and then recorded it this January.”
Glenn: “Here’s something profound that I insist you print. I have seen people that God has put on this earth. I’ve known Prince, Stevie Wonder... and Joe Bonamassa. Those people are here for a reason. They are kind, generous and talented - clearly with a purpose. He’s connected to this other place. He’s my friend and we’ve rekindled an amazing friendship. Before my mum died, it was insane, but after that - he’s had my back completely. We’re looking to do number five. We want the world to know.”
BCCIV is out now via Mascot. BCC play Wolverhampton and London in January. More: bccommunion.comA poll released this week by the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) shows that a majority of small business owners and manufacturers think the U.S. business environment is getting progressively worse.
The national survey, conducted between Aug. 13 and Sept. 4, interviewed 800 small business owners and manufacturers and found that 69 percent of them think President Barack Obama’s policies have hurt American businesses and manufacturers, and 55 percent would not start a business today given the current environment.
“That’s something I think for us is not only alarming but really disappointing, because these are the risk takers in the economy,” NFIB vice president of public policy Brad Close told The Daily Caller. “I think that’s a red flag and it should be very troubling to folks, that entrepreneurs are saying they would not do what they did 10, 15, 20 years ago today if they had the choice.”
The survey showed that small business owners and manufacturers think federal regulations, taxes, government spending and the costs of health insurance and energy are the main causes of slow economic growth.
“What we’re up against is a tremendous amount of regulations,” Gordon Hunt, president and chief marketing officer of Illuminating Technologies, told TheDC. “We don’t want airplanes falling out of the sky, but we probably don’t need to know what size the cup can be that you serve Coke to us in the plane.”
Hunt said his company has covered 100 percent of their employees’ health insurance since the day they started, but they may not be able to continue doing that in the face of Obamacare.
“We’re really doing everything we can to keep [our employees] covered, but if our competition decides they’re better off paying a small penalty versus a higher cost of insurance for their employees, they’re going to have a competitive advantage over us,” Hunt said.
Rose Corona, owner of Big Horse Feed and Corona Ranch & Land Company, said the amount of regulation can be overwhelming and difficult, making it harder for her to focus on her business.
Corona, like Hunt, has had to make some tough management decisions in the face of the economic downturn.
“The killer for me is when I have to cut hours and maybe let somebody go. That’s a hard, hard decision,” Corona said. “I’ve gotten to having a lot more discussions with my staff … [about if] they are willing to take a little bit less hours, each one of them, so somebody can still stay on staff.”
“I think that small business is the answer to a lot of our economic problems, but we need to be left alone to do what we do best,” Corona said. “Government needs to get the heck out of our way … and give us the freedom to be able to create those jobs and those opportunities so we can get this country back on its feet.”
Follow Annie on TwitterFor anyone who has been following my story, I’ve been seeing this girl who I met at the Mad Men season 5 premiere party. The story of that night and the first date we had are here and here.
I just dumped her. Why is this significant? Well, she was the first ‘girlfriend’ I’ve ever had, and therefore the first girl I’ve ever broken up with. It wasn’t a serious relationship, as we’d only been seeing each other for 7 weeks, but still. This was a learning experience.
First of all, it sucked majorly. I asked to see her and I took her on a walk down to the Lincoln Memorial area. I felt really bad. She is a great girl with some wonderful qualities. But the thing is, I just wasn’t feeling that emotional connection. We were two very different people that didn’t mesh well (in my perspective). I thought it best to end the relationship because it wouldn’t be fair to her for me to keep it going if I wasn’t emotionally invested in the first place. She was crying a lot.
This is important for my self-improvement. As Forever Alones, we often would die for the chance at a relationship like this. We would stick it out because we need that validation from women. We need women to approve of us in order to feel better about ourselves. That is why Forever Alones who do get into relationships are always afraid to get out of them. They end up sticking themselves in awful relationships because they feel that’s the best and only chance they’ll get at human connection. But I am not Forever Alone anymore. I derive happiness from within myself and not based on women. I am single and I am coming from an abundance mentality. I can, and will, find another girl. And when I do, hopefully it will work out better then.Cambridge, Mass., October 7, 2010 - A collaborative, six-year study of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels in Beijing and surrounding provinces suggests that combustion efficiency, a component of overall energy efficiency, is improving in the region.
The findings, published in the September 21 issue of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, are generally consistent with official Chinese government statistics and could bolster their credibility as international negotiations proceed on commitments of China and other nations to combat climate change.
A team of atmospheric scientists and environmental engineers from Harvard University and Tsinghua University in Beijing have continuously measured atmospheric CO 2 and carbon monoxide (CO) levels in rural Miyun, about 100 km northeast of Beijing, since November 2004.
Weather observations such as wind speed and direction (with other evidence) allowed researchers to identify plumes of polluted air from the Beijing urban area and population centers to the south, as opposed to relatively clean air arriving from the north.
The measurements provide the most detailed look at carbon emissions for a specific urbanized and industrialized region of China to date. Moreover, the resulting analysis of CO 2 and CO levels is generally consistent with China's official statistics, showing an upward trend in overall energy efficiency.
"The Chinese government committed to improve energy efficiency in its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), and this study shows how independent quantitative evidence of its progress can be inferred from the chemistry of its air," said co-author Chris P. Nielsen, Executive Director of the Harvard China Project, based at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
The Harvard and Tsinghua researchers analyzed the ratio of CO 2 to CO at Miyun to evaluate energy efficiency in Beijing.
"Fuel combustion releases energy by converting carbon to CO 2, but some is only converted to CO, losing some of the available chemical energy. High-efficiency combustion processes, such as modern power plants and cars that meet current standards, produce little or no CO, and are thus both more energy-efficient and cleaner," said co-author J. William Munger, Senior Research Fellow at SEAS and at Harvard's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS). "Inefficient processes like wood- and coal-burning in domestic stoves convert less than 90 percent of the carbon fuel to CO 2, releasing the remainder as CO and wasting some of the energy. The combustion of outmoded industrial processes can fall somewhere in the middle. Knowing this, there's a lot we can learn from this chemical ratio in the air about combustion efficiency on the ground."
Over the period of study--and while controlling for daily, seasonal, and weather-induced fluctuations--the data trends indicated increasing combustion efficiency in the Beijing region. Modernization of industrial boilers, replacing old vehicles with new ones meeting stricter standards, and closing of older industrial facilities can all contribute to this trend. (For more information, see the supplementary materials: http://www. seas. harvard. edu/ news-events/ images/ Fact-Sheet. pdf.)
"The data indicate a trend toward cleaner, more efficient combustion in the Beijing region over several years leading up to the 2008 Olympics "--when the government instituted particularly strict controls on pollution--"and as far as we can tell so far, these gains have been maintained since the Olympics," said Munger.
The lead author of the study, Yuxuan Wang, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tsinghua University and Principal Investigator of the Miyun atmospheric observatory. She completed her Ph.D. and postdoctoral studies at EPS and SEAS, at Harvard.
###
Wang, Munger, and Nielsen's co-authors include Shicheng Xu, Jiming Hao, and Hong Ma, from the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering and State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution at Tsinghua University in Beijing; and Michael B. McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. McElroy is also Chair of the Harvard China Project.Update 7:30 PM EST: Added video and summary of Ben Brode talking about basic card power creep.
Update 6:00 PM EST: Added video of Winter Veil gameboards.
Update 4:37 PM EST: Added animated card backs!
Update 3:52 PM EST: Added some board assets for winter themed gameboards. Also looks like we'll be seeing Santa Parachutes on Piloted Shredder spawns!
Update 3:44 PM EST: Added new tavern brawl chalkboards.
Update 3:30 PM EST: Added exported card images for the new Fate Cards for the Deal Your Fate Tavern Brawl & cards for Bling Brawl.
Update 1:23 PM EST: Added images of the new card backs. We'll get animated previews up soon.
Update 1:19 PM EST: Added official patch notes.
Hearthstone Patch 10956
A new Hearthstone patch has shown up on Blizzard's CDN and is available for download via the Battle.net Client.
Winter Veil Event!
We're getting a special Winter Veil themed Tavern Brawl which will reward you with a card back! According to the official patch notes, the festivities begin on December 9th!
Gift Exchange - Great Father is dropping crates on the battlefield! Get a gift each time you smash your opponent's crate... or your own!
- Great Father is dropping crates on the battlefield! Get a gift each time you smash your opponent's crate... or your own! GIFTSPAWNED - If your side has no crate, then one's delivered.
- If your side has no crate, then one's delivered. GIFTSTOLEN - You got a gift! What could it be...
- You got a gift! What could it be... START - Happy Winter's Veil! Grab those gifts!
Winterveil Gameboard
The Winter Veil Tavern Brawl will also feature a special gameboard! It looks like minions with Parachutes will also have their own special "Santa" parachute.
Winterveil Greeting Emotes
Heroes will have new emotes inside of the special event Tavern Brawl it looks like.
All Heroes - Happy Feast of Winterveil!
Jaraxxus - I WILL FEAST ON YOUR SOUL, THIS WINTERVEIL!
Ragnaros - WINTER SHOULD BE WARMER!
Medivh - Happy feasting, challenger.
New Card Backs - Now Animated!
Three new card backs have been added to the game, in addition to the previously announced December Cardback. It also looks like we'll be able to earn some cardbacks via Tavern Brawls. You can also find them sorted in our cardback gallery.
Feast of Winter Veil
Winter Veil Brawl
Shaman Thrall
Season 21 (Dec 2015)
Love is in the Air
Season 22 (Jan 2016)
Tauren
Season 23 (Feb 2016)
Shaman Thrall - December 2015 Ranked Reward The World Shaman is probably THE best known celebrity in Azeroth. It's a mystery that his signature necklace never caught on as a fashion trend.
- December 2015 Ranked Reward Love is in the Air - January 2016 Ranked Reward Many believe goblins made up this holiday to sell candy. It's not true! They also sell flowers and perfume!
- January 2016 Ranked Reward Winterveil - Tavern Brawl Reward A beautiful Winter Veil wreath around a snow globe full of THE FROSTY DESTRUCTION OF YOUR OPPONENTS! I mean, good cheer.
- Tavern Brawl Reward Tauren Thunderbluff - February 2016 Ranked Reward Unofficial slogan: "Great warriors come from happy Tauren tribes. Happy Tauren come from Thunder Bluff!"
- February 2016 Ranked Reward
Strings
GLUE_TAVERN_BRAWL_REWARD_DESC_CARDBACK Win this card back for your first victory this week!
Win this card back for your first victory this week! GLUE_TAVERN_BRAWL_REWARD_DESC_FINISH_CARDBACK Win this card back for completing your first Brawl this week!
New Brawls
Five new brawls have been datamined, alongside eight new brawl chalkboard images. Two of the chalkboards are defaults, both with and without the side borders.
It's also worth mentioning four of were added to Scenarios.xml which is a new way of doing things. This file mainly contains data for adventures and tutorials in addition to some dev tests. We don't know if this means they'll be accessible at a later date through some kind of Adventures menu, but it is odd!
TB_CoOp_Mechazod_V2
Gift Exchange - Great Father is dropping crates on the battlefield! Get a gift each time you smash your opponent's crate... or your own!
Battle of the Builds - What's better? Battlecry, Deathrattle, Spells, or Murlocs? Make a deck, pick a side, and let's find out!
Deal Your Fate - The Tavern Keeper foretells a fateful brawl! You and your opponent discover random fates that affect you both!
Blingtron's Beauteous Brawl - Blingtron is ready to rumble! He changes your hero power to "Get a random weapon." AND he gives you random weapons!
Fate Cards
These cards are tied to the Deal Your Fate Brawl.
Bling Brawl Cards
Brawl Strings
TB_GIFTEXCHANGE_GIFTSPAWNED If your side has no crate, then one's delivered.
TB_GIFTEXCHANGE_GIFTSTOLEN You got a gift! What could it be...
TB_GIFTEXCHANGE_START Happy Winter's Veil! Grab those gifts!
TB_PICKYOURFATE_RANDOM_NEWFATE You need a new fate!
TB_PICKYOURFATE_RANDOM_OPPONENTFATE Your opponent needs a new fate!
TB_PICKYOURFATE_RANDOM_FIRSTFATE Chosen fates affect both players!
TB_PICKYOURFATE_BUILDAROUND_NEWFATE Remember, this bonus is only for you.
TB_PICKYOURFATE_BUILDAROUND_OPPONENTFATE Remember, this bonus is only for your opponent.
TB_PICKYOURFATE_BUILDAROUND_FIRSTFATE Chosen fates affect both players!
TB_PICKYOURFATE_BUILDAROUND_OPPONENT_FIRSTFATE Your opponent's fate affects you as well!
Strings
GLOBAL_TAVERN_BRAWL_ERROR_NOT_ACTIVE Sorry. This Tavern Brawl is not currently active. Please wait a few minutes and try again.
Sorry. This Tavern Brawl is not currently active. Please wait a few minutes and try again. GLOBAL_ERROR_FIND_GAME_SCENARIO_NOT_MULTIPLAYER There was an error starting your game. The scenario is not multiplayer.
There was an error starting your game. The scenario is not multiplayer. GLOBAL_ERROR_FIND_GAME_SCENARIO_NO_DECK_SPECIFIED There was an error starting your game. No deck specified by player(s).
Official Patch Notes
Quote from Battle.net Launcher Prepare for some holly jolly Hearthstone! In this patch we’re adding League of Explorers game boards to all modes, introducing several new card backs, and fixing a few bugs. Read on for details! General Special Winter Veil effects have been added to celebrate the holidays starting December 9 th!
! Savage Roar is now much less savage to the ears.
League of Explorers game boards have been added to the rotation in Arena and Play modes.
The following card backs have been added: Winter Veil Wreath – Acquired by celebrating Winter Veil in Hearthstone. Shaman Thrall – Acquired by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of December 2015. Love is in the Air – Acquired by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of January 2016. Tauren Thunderbluff – Acquired by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of February 2016.
Resolved an issue where playing Unearthed Raptor caused the client to freeze.
Resolved various issues with AI behavior and gameplay.
Various audio, graphical, and UI issues have been resolved.
Winter Unveiling - Win a 3D Printed Custom Card
Just when you thought the Card Design Competition was on hiatus until next year, we popped back in with a special surprise to celebrate the upcoming holidays - Hearthstone style!
We're running a special card design competition over the next 10 days titled The Winter Unveiling and we've partnered up with MyMiniFactory.com to bring some super epic loot to the table.
The grand champion of this special competition will receive a 3D Printed custom Hearthstone card of their entry into the competition.
Check out some examples of 3D Printed Hearthstone Cards!
So, interested in entering? It's quite simple to win as long as you read the rules!
Head on over to the Winter Unveiling card submission thread.
Read all the rules. If you break one, you're disqualified. Feel free to ask for clarification in the discussion thread.
the rules. If you break one, you're disqualified. Feel free to ask for clarification in the discussion thread. Go over to Hearthcards.net to create your custom card. Make sure to choose the special "Winter Veil" set icon!
Submit your card as a reply to the submission thread. You can only enter once.
. Toss a vote to any other cards out there that you like!
Best of luck to everyone who enters, we're looking forward to seeing some great cards!
Ben Brode on Basic Cards Power Creep
Update 8:30 PM EST: The video is now private.
Via /u/WorldAtWarFix on reddit
An unlisted video on the HearthstoneRU YouTube channel is making the rounds on the interwebs this evening where he discusses power creep on basic cards. You can find a recap of the video below, or watch the video here.Announcing MMark
Published on November 17, 2017
Yesterday I released a new package called mmark (pronounce “em-mark”). It is a markdown processor written in Haskell. In this post I’d like to share why I decided to write yet another markdown processor, how it is different, and what my future plans regarding this project are.
Motivation
If you’re looking for a markdown processor, that is, something that turns markdown into HTML, there are several options for a Haskeller:
pandoc. It is by far the most popular choice. Pandoc is well-known, and it’s actually more than a markdown processor, as it can convert between many different formats of documents. It’s also often used to produce static HTML for blogs like this one due to its rich collection of features.
cmark is another markdown processor by the same person who authored Pandoc—John MacFarlane. It provides Haskell bindings to libcmark, the reference parser for Common Mark, which is a well-defined compatible specification of markdown. It’s also worth noting that cmark, being written in C, is quite fast.
cheapskate is an experimental Markdown processor in pure Haskell, again by John MacFarlane. It aims to process Markdown efficiently and in the most forgiving possible way. It is designed to deal with any input, including garbage, with linear performance. Output is sanitized by default |
sex before marriage and not be condemned by society.”
But what about the other stuff that Cosmo is telling them? One morning at Cosmic, a panel discussion included talk of some favorite Cosmo topics: sex toys (said to produce “the most incredible combinations of orgasms”), how to help men get erections more quickly and anal sex (“backdoor booty” as the magazine has called it). One panelist, a young Spanish woman, said that she teases her boyfriend with anal sex and then, jokingly, that she has to save something for marriage. The crowd roared. “Only at Cosmo,” said the editor of Cosmo Australia, Bronwyn McCahon, between bites of miniature muffins and sliced melon, “will you be talking about anal sex at 10 a.m.”
Cosmo is an easy magazine to hate. When I asked my female friends — including many single women in their late 20s, like me — what they thought of it, most of them were unkind. “Cosmo is complete trash,” one explained. “Mindless,” another said. “I would not be caught reading it outside of an airplane,” said a third. “It assumes and expects the worst of women,” said another. I never had a particularly positive opinion of it, either, and my ambivalence was reinforced by headlines like this one, from a recent edition of Cosmo South Korea : “ Oops! My V Zone Is Strange!”
But to hear the Cosmo missionaries tell it, they’re promoting feminism with every issue. “ Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world,” Fira Basuki Baskoro, the editor of Cosmo Indonesia, said over a lunch of salad and paella. “When Cosmo came to Indonesia, it changed the way the Indonesian woman thinks. Before Cosmo, it was taboo for women to talk about sex openly.”
Photo
White told me that during a 2010 trip to New Delhi, the editor of Cosmo India correlated a rise in love marriages over arranged marriages to Cosmo’s influence. “I don’t know if this is true statistically,” White said, but “Cosmo has been very, very popular there. And I’d like to think that one of the messages we’re delivering to women is: You don’t have to marry the guy your parents told you to marry. You should marry who you want to marry. You can have a job if you’d like. You can have a career if you want. These choices are open to you today.”
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
When asked via e-mail if there were statistics to back up this correlation, the editor of Cosmo India, Nandini Bhalla, politely evaded the question but provided more interesting anecdotes. “When we launched in 1996, we were flooded with letters — women wanted to know if kissing could cause pregnancy. They were clueless about the basics of having sex, and they had a million questions about what was right and wrong. The Cosmo team actually tackled these questions personally — writing back to readers with answers or carrying stories that tackled their concerns. Indian parents are usually conservative about sexual matters, and friends were often equally ignorant, so Cosmo was the only one with reliable information.”
“50 Kinky Sex Moves” notwithstanding, Cosmo does adhere to a set of surprisingly wholesome values. The magazine discourages plastic surgery, for instance, and has run articles opposing breast implants. In its coverage of food and fitness, White notes, “we don’t do any diets, no crash dieting.” The U.S. edition also has a section called Body Love, in which it tries “to encourage women to feel good about their bodies,” no matter their size. A recent issue featured a spread of a curvy woman in a variety of gorgeous bathing suits on some fabulous remote beach. It didn’t feel like a token shoot of a larger model; she was beautiful, and the bathing suits were reasonably priced. (While trying to find the picture again on Google, I fell down the Cosmo rabbit hole, scrolling through a gallery of swimwear, then through “How to Be Sexier — Instantly” and then through all 23 slides of “Sexy Ideas for Long Hair.” Texturizer now plays a role in my morning routine.)
The magazine also covers aspects of the female body beyond its sex appeal and orgasmic capacity. “We ran an article that pained me to run,” White told me, “but I felt it was important. It basically said the key time to try to get pregnant is between 25 and 35. There has been so much said about still waiting until you’re older, and I didn’t have my first kid until I was 37, but we’re taking a chance — you need to know it.”
I asked why it pained her. “I want every girl to feel that she can have her first kid at 50, if she wants,” White said emphatically. She has encouraged readers to look into freezing their eggs.
Cosmo happens to be fairly traditional about sex itself. Brown believed that it was O.K. to sleep with married men (it was their wives’ responsibility to keep them faithful, she argued), but White eliminated that from the formula. (“A total no-no,” she said.) The magazine also assumes that you’re having sex with a boyfriend or a husband (there’s not much in the way of same-sex relationships), and not with a one-night stand. “We certainly talk about sex mostly in terms of relationships,” White said, “and most of our readers have told us they’re in relationships, and they want the sexual information for their relationship.” White also sees the hookup culture boomeranging back to more traditional standards. “One thing I do think that women will evaluate in the coming years,” she said, “is casual sex. Is it really what you want to be doing, casual sex, a lot of casual sex? Is it what you feel good about?” But if it’s your thing, that’s fine too. “We don’t pass judgment,” she said.
White acknowledges that some people find Cosmo’s obsession with sex trashy, but she’s unabashedly proud of how it sets the magazine apart. “Every Cosmo reader expects to have herself and her pleasures taken care of, equally,” she said matter-of-factly. “We reinforce the idea all the time that, yes, we want you to be a fabulous lover, we want to give you those skills, but you better get it back, baby, because that’s what you deserve.” And if that makes for some repetitive stories, so be it. “There’s a frustration that it takes time to learn how to have an orgasm,” White said, “and have it consistently. So that’s terrain we cover a lot.”
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
These mores are upheld, to varying degrees of cultural sensitivity, throughout the Cosmo universe. Judging by searches on the Web site, Cosmo U.K. readers are most interested in hair and oral sex (“in that order,” says its publishing director, Ella Dolphin), but in India, where women traditionally live with their parents until marriage, the Cosmo reader “might not be comfortable openly discussing her sex life due to fear of being judged,” Bhalla says. She also notes that because sex toys are banned in India, “we’re careful not to talk about them in the magazine.” Leyla Orujova, the editor of Cosmo Azerbaijan, told me that her staff ensures that sex is generally discussed within the context of marriage. Cosmo Singapore comes with a yellow “Unsuitable for the Young” warning box on the cover and sometimes runs its sexiest content in a sealed section promising “phenomenal pleasure... waiting for you inside.”
Most international Cosmos are run by their countries’ natives, but Kerrie Simon-Lawrence, the beautiful, redheaded editor of Middle East Cosmo, is from Sydney. “Obviously because of the cultural sensitivities within the Middle East” — where dating and premarital sex are, in some countries, punishable by law — “we can’t lift so much from international editions.” Throughout the Cosmic Conference, she and the magazine’s publisher joked repeatedly about needing good lawyers and the possibility of going to jail.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Other editions feature more subtle deviations. Cosmo France has reliably more artsy and experimental covers. The South Korean edition is huge — physically huge; issues sometimes come as two separate magazines, because they would otherwise break — and focuses less on sex than marriage (“My Dreamy Wedding” and “Dreams Come True!” are two cover lines from the 400-page April edition). The editor of Cosmo Croatia, Marjana Filipovic-Grcic, told me that stories about women acting bravely on their own have been particularly popular in her country. The same is true for Cosmo Kazakhstan, which “focuses on career and travel more than the U.S. edition does,” writes Akisheva, because “Kazakhstan is a relatively newly independent, developing country, and women are excited about the career opportunities the market economy has to offer.”
Cosmo Germany is more business-oriented. Cosmo Russia (which has the highest circulation of any women’s glossy magazine in that country) publishes longer articles. Cosmo Finland has been running multipage, centerfold-type spreads of topless Finnish guys in order to dispel the notion that Finnish guys aren’t hot. (Not overly convincing!)
But for all of the magazines’ differences, Cosmo is still pushing “the same standards of beauty” around the world, Allison Kimmich, executive director of the National Women’s Studies Association, said one afternoon after I returned from the conference. “I don’t know that that’s a global export that we want to be proud of.” Kimmich agreed that editorial content “can sometimes be what you might even call feminist,” because “at the most basic level, the articles do promote women’s advancement and equality through good advice about career issues and women’s health and sexuality.” But, she said, there is plenty of content that sends “contrary” messages. “The export of Cosmo is like the export of any other global American brand,” she said. “ Coca-Cola, Hollywood films. It’s a part of what’s happening to our economy, and like all globalization, there’s good with the bad.”
Photo
At the office of Peter Yates, the creative director of Hearst Magazines International, a wall is covered in postcard-size versions of international Cosmo covers tacked up in layers of 12 — a year’s worth of cover art, viewable as flipbooks. There’s a lot of Megan Fox, Kate Hudson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Wilde and Jessica Alba, who was once on 20 international covers at the same time. Unlike other women’s magazines, which often go for make-up-centric close-ups (Allure), stylish playfulness (Glamour), professional elegance (Marie Claire) or high-fashion photography (Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Vogue), Cosmo keeps it consistently, overtly sexual. The women look young and fertile, and the cover star is generally Beautiful Young Woman With Lots of Cleavage, Standing, Hand on Hip, Almost but Not Quite Smiling — or the look a woman might give herself in the mirror before going out hoping to get hit on.
The brand saves money by repurposing its covers across various editions, and it shaves costs in other ways, too. For the most part, articles are created by a small team of staff members at Big Cosmo and then ripple outward through the Cosmo network. The magazine has a database for international editors to see what features Cosmo U.S. has planned approximately three months before they run; once the images and layout are uploaded, they can then tweak the content they like to their own country’s needs. Writers do not receive royalties when their work is repurposed. Huffy freelancers are virtually nonexistent.
So what appeared as “Fascinating Breast Facts” in the July 2011 edition of Cosmo U.S., featuring a close-up of a woman tugging her shirt open, became “15 Facts You Need to Know About Your Breasts” in the October 2011 edition of Cosmo Middle East, where it ran with a photo of a model demurely dangling a bra over her shoulder. “What His Sleep Habits Can Tell You” ran in Cosmo U.S. in March 2012 and, months later, appeared in China (same photography but with text translated into Chinese) and in Armenia (different photography). And what ran as the fashion spread “Motorcycle Diaries” in August 2009 in Cosmo U.S. — featuring an abandoned gas station, denim, plaids, a hot guy and the open road — ran two years later in Cosmo Mongolia with the same blend of denim, plaid, gas station and open road, except the whole thing had been reshot with guys who looked Mongolian.
One byline that regularly appears in editions around the world is that of Jessica Knoll, a pretty, friendly and immaculately put-together 28-year-old senior editor. Over drinks at a quiet wine bar near the Big Cosmo office, Knoll explained that it’s not only cheaper to produce features from within but also easier for maintaining the Cosmo voice. And anyway, there’s less of it to write these days: “We did a redesign in January and slashed word count,” she said. “Part of that is because we live in a Twitter generation. We’re not going to be indulgent writers who ramble on for a couple thousand words — we need to find a way a to say things quickly but also have some personality.”
“I learned a lot from your recent, um, article,” I said to her, about eight minutes into our meeting. “About the wishbone-shaped... uh...”
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
“Oh, about the internal clitoris?” she said. “See, I don’t get bashful. It becomes completely normal to talk to your boss and have the word ‘penis’ appear 15 times in your conversation.”
The article in question — “Have Easier, Stronger Orgasms” — was on “surprising new findings” about the clitoris based on research done in the 1990s (not exactly new) but features an interview with a woman whose sex book came out this year (new). It ran in the May edition of Cosmo U.S. and will likely appear in Cosmos around the world for months to come. “It’s always our goal to make something feel timely and fresh,” Knoll said. “Nothing can be evergreen. Even if it’s an age-old idea, we have to somehow find a way to put a fresh spin on it.”
For example, in a passage from “Sex and the Single Girl,” from 1962, Helen Gurley Brown advises readers on how to catch someone’s attention from across a bar: “Look straight into his eyes, deep and searchingly, then lower your gaze,” she wrote. “Go back to your companions or magazine. Now look at him again the same way... steadfastly, questioningly. Then drop your eyes. Do it three times and you’re a flirt! (P.S., You will have made him very happy.)” And then from an article in the May 2012 issue of Cosmo titled, “The Smile That Makes Men Hit on You”: “A classic study found that you need to make eye contact with a dude and subtly smile at him twice in a row for him to get that you’re interested.... Look at him, smile and hold your gaze for a couple of seconds. Then look away for a few seconds, look back and do the same thing again.” A classic study.
Not that Cosmo and its patron saint haven’t tried to evolve with the times. In the introduction to the 2003 reissue of “Sex and the Single Girl,” about what had changed in the four decades since the book was originally published, Brown wrote: “Brains have become almost as treasured as beauty... almost!... If you had to or could choose one or the other, I would almost choose smart!”
This reminded me of a surprising moment from the Cosmic Convention. During a PowerPoint presentation about reader polls, one slide asked the audience to guess which of the following things young women wanted most: a) beauty; b) an amazing career; c) fame; or d) lots of money. There was a slight pause as audience members made their own guesses. Then the answer: Fame. A faint murmur of confusion. Fame? Really? I conducted a copycat poll among my own friends: 15 picked an amazing career, 6 picked money, 3 picked beauty and only 1 picked fame.
The presenter cited the rise of reality TV and made an effort to spin the findings into something positive. It’s not that young women necessarily want to be the next Kim Kardashian, the presenter riffed, but that everyone wants to be famous within her social group or on her own Facebook feed.
So add famemongering to the list of less-than-empowering — or “contrary,” as Kimmich would say — messages that Cosmo sends to its audience worldwide. But what this hand-wringing neglects is that young women are smart and can sift for what they want. Worrying that Cosmo readers will unblinkingly follow orders about kinky sex moves or imbibe some latent sense of Kardashianism seems unfounded and unnecessary and even a little insulting. Maybe the magazine is benefiting from a rise in love marriages in India more than it is facilitating them, but it’s definitely not pushing any woman who isn’t interested into backdoor booty.
“I know a lot of people have issues about these very sexual cover lines being on display,” Knoll said. She told me she could remember reading Cosmo from a very young age and never feeling like she had to go out and have sex with someone. Then she paused for a moment. “When I would read Cosmo, all it made me want to do was grow up, wear a pretty dress, nice heels, move to the city and have an awesome life. And I just don’t think that’s a bad thing to want, you know?”The growth of scientific knowledge has corresponded with an increasing irrelevance of human importance. As our knowledge into the makeup of the universe grows, we become painfully aware of our miniscule place in it.
In the beginning, virtually all primitive civilizations and cultures believed that the world was a flat disc, circled by the heavens. Celestial bodies in the night sky were thought to be gods, demons, or spirits. The Greeks were the first to realize 2500 years ago that the Earth was a sphere; by understanding that the shadow cast upon the moon by the Earth was round — and thus, the Earth could not be flat. The Greeks later proved it with geometry, and determined the Earth’s size within 99% of its actual size. The universe itself however, remained geocentric. There was no Glee back then, and the most exhilarating thing to do at night was track the movements of stars — which the ancients did with a zeal, noticing odd behaviors in the movement of the planets across the night sky.
It took a few thousand years before Copernicus realized these oddities were the result of an erroneous starting point. The discrepancies of the planets movements vanished if it were the Earth that orbited the sun, and it only took another hundred years before Galileo proved it conclusively. The Earth, it was official, no longer was the center of creation. For his troubles, Galileo received an audience with the Pope, where he was allowed to beg forgiveness for his sin; but the secret was already out, and the entire world of European intellectuals and spiritual shepherds was shaken to the core. Earth was but a planet circling the sun, which was soon after determined to be a star, no different or superior to the thousands of others that could be seen in the night sky with primitive telescopes.
As telescopes improved and we could gaze further into the reach, the sun became no different than the billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. This information encompassed the known for a few centuries longer, until Edwin Hubble determined that outside of our galaxy there actually existed hundreds of billions of other galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars. These galaxies were, without exception, moving away from us, which meant that the universe itself was expanding.
In the past few years scientists surveying stars have found that planets appear to be an extremely common phenomena, and most believe that every star likely has a few. This would mean that the total number of planets in our galaxy alone would be several hundred billion more than the total number of stars. In the universe? Trillions of billions of planets, including some Earth-like planets on nearby stars.
‘Nearby star’ is a relative term, however. The closest star from Earth aside from the sun is 4.2 light years away, which is about 24,690,226,567,368 miles. That is the nearest of one of the billions of stars in our galaxy, which is 100,0000 light years long (58,786,253,731,830,000 miles) which is one of hundreds of billions of galaxies, our closest galactic neighbor being 2.6 million light years away (15,284,425,970,275,800,000 miles). Some new and promising theories in quantum mechanics (which I won’t pretend to understand) suggest that our universe itself might be one of billions of trillions of universes.
This vast distance acts as a time travelling device of sorts; and we can glimpse the origins of the universe to roughly 14,000,000,000 years ago. In an age where governments run deficits into the trillions as a matter of course, one loses the scale of how long 14 billion years of time actually is. The best way to see the difference is that the Earth orbits on its axis (a day) 1 million times every 2739.72 years. One billion sunrises takes 2,739,726 years. A million rotations ago, Egypt was an empire building pyramids, humanity was literate, and the origins of philosophy and law were beginning to take shape.
A billion rotations ago, Homo sapiens did not exist.
The immensity of this type of length is called ‘deep time’ by scientists, because it is impossible to contemplate.
The distance in time and space is so long that many of the galaxies we see from a great distance away actually no longer exist. The light we see is just a ghost of stars that have consumed themselves billions of years ago. All stars eventually use up their fuel and explode, vaporizing anything and everything around them. One day, billions of years from now, our sun will explode and destroy the Earth, annihilating every trace that anything — sentient or stone — ever existed.
That humanity itself will one day cease to exist is a foregone conclusion. 99.99% of all species that have ever existed on Earth are extinct. The Earth has had several major extinction events in the 2,000,000,000 year history of life, and if we don’t kill ourselves first (and I think it is almost certain we will) one day all of our progress and dreams will be eradicated by nature: a super volcano, an unimaginable earthquake, or a sudden and unexpected guest from the asteroid belt introducing itself to us at 28,000 miles per hour.
As a speck of microcosmic dust, in the scheme of the universe you are — almost literally — nothing. The universe would not so much as bat its eyelash if the Earth was annihilated tomorrow, and would continue about its routine as if nothing unusual had happened at all, which, strictly speaking, hadn’t.
Sigh.
But wait:
Even though you, and me, and everyone and everything we have ever known is destined for the void, you are an occurrence that is statistically damn near impossible.
You exist.
99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of everything in the universe is not alive.
You are.
Additionally, perhaps 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of that.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% are beings like you; self aware, equipped with the ability to think, feel, reason, and love.
You are a member of the only known species in this damn near infinite universe that can experience the unrivaled pleasures of a first kiss, giving birth, or eating a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. What is the immensity of Jupiter compared to the ability to feel the rush one experiences when falling in love, holding your newborn’s clutching fingers, or singing “Hey Jude” in the shower? Would anyone trade the sterile immortality of the heavens if it meant that one could be unable to appreciate the sunset, never savor the smell of the ocean, or be forbidden to play Halo 3?
The collection of memories you have, the kaleidoscope of every experience you have ever had; the good, the bad, and the hideous, make up an existence that approximately 0% of the universe will never see repeated.
You, whose miniscule existence is confined to the blink of an eye; you, who are completely ignored by the universe, mean something to someone here — which makes your pathetic little life and all its silly problems, with all your foibles and flaws — more important and unique than whole planets, suns, galaxies in which no life ever existed at all.
Let the universe have its infinity. I’ll take my brief limited time here, and attempt to savor every moment of it. The universe can keep its size. I’ll take my puny life, destined soon to come to an end, and enjoy what I can, when I can. The universe has callous unrelenting forces; I’ll take my memories and emotions over strength any day.
Let the universe have its mysteries. I’ll use my mind to enjoy figuring them out.OCT. 26: The Phillies have announced the hiring of Klentak as vice president and general manager, adding that, at 35 years of age, Klentak is the youngest GM in the club’s history.
“In Matt we found an executive with the keen ability to understand cutting-edge baseball analytics, coupled with superior scouting, player development and leadership skills,” said president Andy MacPhail in the press release that announced the move. “Additionally, his commitment and resolve to build the foundation for a championship-caliber team was evident every step of the way through the process. I trust Matt to lead the Phillies as we all rededicate ourselves to return championship baseball to Philadelphia.”
OCT. 24: The Phillies will name Angels assistant Matt Klentak as their next GM, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets. Yesterday, it emerged that Klentak was a finalist for the job, along with Chaim Bloom of the Rays and Dan Kantrovitz of the Athletics. As MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted (via Twitter), all three candidates were in their 30s and had Ivy League and analytics backgrounds.
Klentak began working in the Rockies baseball operations department soon after graduating from Dartmouth with an economics degree. He then worked in labor relations for MLB for several seasons and helped shape the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement. He departed to become director of baseball operations for the Orioles, where he worked under current Phillies president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail. Following the 2011 season, he headed to the Angels, where he specialized in working with contracts, arbitration and roster issues. He was recently a candidate for the Angels GM position that went to Billy Eppler. (While with the Angels, Klentak was also one of the first-ever guests on the MLBTR Podcast, appearing one year ago today.)
“Matt brings so much to the table,” said then-Angels GM Jerry Dipoto. “Matt understands the inner workings of baseball from the field to the finance. He understands baseball from the staff in the clubhouse to the players on the field to how to communicate back and forth with a finance department and ownership.”
MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes (Twitter links) that Klentak did much of the Angels’ GM work once Dipoto resigned (even though Bill Stoneman was officially the Angels’ interim GM). Klentak is analytically oriented, but is regarded as a good communicator.
The Phillies’ 2015 season was, of course, a miserable one, but the situation Klentak is entering is in many ways rather favorable. Thanks to what appears to be a solid series of recent top draft picks and the strong trade of Cole Hamels to the Rangers, the Phillies have a very good collection of young talent headed by J.P. Crawford, Maikel Franco, Aaron Nola, Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro and Cornelius Randolph. The Phillies have also historically had relatively large payrolls, which could give Klentak the ability to add to that core once it matures.
Besides Klentak, Bloom and Kantrovitz, other interviewees for the Phillies’ position included former Marlins executive Larry Beinfest, MLB vice president of baseball operations Kim Ng, Indians vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins, Cardinals director of player personnel Matt Slater, Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo and former Cubs GM Jim Hendry. Klentak’s departure is the second significant one for Eppler and the Angels’ front office this week — the Mariners just hired Klentak’s fellow Angels assistant Scott Servais to be their manager.(With a Cameo from Heathcote Williams)
Wednesday August 17th 2016
The Lodge Recording Studios, Northampton
Words, Interview and Enthusiasm by David Erdos
Sound, Film and Visuals by Keith Rodway
I: FINDING THE DOOR YOU DESERVE
DAVID ERDOS: Limited as it is, the reality defined by the way most of us now live it can be described as the limerick of a wounded imagination: Alan Moore is one of the major poets of our recovery. Meeting him was the fulfilment of a lifetime’s ambition, the chance to connect with a man whose body of work has helped to shape some of my dreams, thoughts and practise across the years and whose ideas, along with Heathcote’s have produced a lasting legacy for current and indeed successive generations.
Alan’s work stands in line with a select group of offerings that have aimed to transform, elucidate, challenge and educate, often in the most startling and entertaining ways. From William Blake, to Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Edward Bond, to Heathcote, Iain Sinclair, Angela Carter, and dammit, Anthony Newley, to all points in between, his graphic novels, essays, songs, stories and novels exist on a higher plane than simple changes or innovations in style and form. Those encountering such works are not only shown how to truly read and think but how to behave. For most of us that is simply to recognise the constraints we live in and attempt to comment and in some way change them. Heathcote Williams escaped from a certain type of English upbringing into a Sloane Square cupboard, and from that small sanctuary, attained the world; Alan has done so by making the humble and neglected boroughs of his Northampton upbringing, not only the centre of that selfsame globe, but of the magical one beyond it. Part of the appeal of this feature was the chance of bringing the two men together, albeit briefly. I was able to honour my own reverence for Alan’s work by enabling him to honour his gratitude for Heathcote’s and vice versa. It was a precious moment and part of an enchanting day, and allowed me to feel a real sense of purpose, by providing the mode of communication from which these two voices could merge.
The attached video introduction may be something to ask forgiveness for. My nerves were building as we waited in the Lodge recording studios for Alan to arrive, so excuse the small stumbles of speech. Luckily, for anyone who meets him, Alan Moore is the most engaging and considerate of men. His openness and generosity are well documented, his everyman quality complimenting his otherworldly experience, and this coupled with his gentlemanly cane and ornate hand gallery of rings intoxicates you into gratitude for his time and presence.
Read anything by Alan Moore and you will quickly realise that his work, views, approach and imagination are vital components for today and indeed, tomorrow’s culture and society. The responsibility of conducting myself well and creating a satisfactory experience for him was crucial to me and weighed on my mind. I am no cucumber in any regard and as such find it hard to be cool. Nettles (to extend the nature analogy a little further) are however there to be grasped, so I ask you to see through the stumble and glimpse the excitement and pleasure I was about to take. I was for these few hours the thing wading through the swamp (sic) of unknowing and he was the light shining through. Any of the work and titles mentioned in the film and subsequent conversation are worthy of investigation. If you don’t already have them, shame on you.
DAVID ERDOS: Alan had invited me Northampton which I had known well some years ago, but until I walked through the unassuming door of his preferred meeting place, the Lodge Studio I hadn’t realised it was the headquarters of seminal cult band, The Enid, who’s earlier incarnation had been the first gig I went to as a 15 year old. Mark, the joint manager of the studio alerted me to the noises and footsteps upstairs and who was making them. I had literally walked into the days of my own intrinsic formation. I was for those next hours, both blessed and transported. As we discussed the present and future, the past lingered and re-introduced itself, quantum like all around us. The concurrent strands of interest and dedication mingled perfectly and while I have done countless stupid things in my life, I have also completed my fair share of helpful and hopefully worthy actions. At a somewhat isolated time in my own life, I had been shown a long sought for door. Whether I deserved it was another matter.
II: THE SMALL SOUNDS OF APPROACH –
AN INTROPOEM BY DAVID ERDOS
The small sounds of approach herald Alan’s entrance.
Entranced I move shyly, admitting him to the room.
The conversation begins and there is not one stilted moment,
A flow of thoughts crest the airwaves
In tune with The Enid’s music upstairs.
Relflections of day. Incomprehension at Brexit.
Alan’s thanks for my present of Newley’s Gurney Slade.
We self reference for a while before talk turns to McGoohan,
That lost, sainted Patrick imprisoned by his own Prisoner.
All of the standards he set about the modes of perception
And that under us all is the villain
The Number One in our ego, subverting the hero
And exposing the slick dreams we all make.
Here is the kick and the thrill of touching one of my inspirations,
Along with the weight of the time he has granted
And that I am keen not to waste.
Keith’s camera turns. He can only film for an hour.
After that, the ideas continue, so new and real, they court taste.
III: TOWARDS JERUSALEM
(Questions and Film)
DAVID ERDOS: Here then is the film of that conversation. Halfway through a shared hero intervenes from the air.
IV: OTHER GOLDEN CITES – THE STORY GOES ON
(Containing a journey from Alan Moore’s Jerusalem through Four Dimensional Reality and onto Einstein and the illusion of Transcience, via the Snake God Glycon and the manifestations of Steve Moore’s Moon Goddess, Selene, all the way through to Timothy Leary’s shin and the re-invention of culture: A journey through the mind and materials of Alan Moore’s view of this and other worlds)
DAVID ERDOS: So there’s a tremendous range of emotions that bubbled up to the surface in me when you mentioned before about cutting off relations with many of the artists involved in the previous work; even though what I personally connect with – even as someone who started out as a painter – is less to do with the art and is in fact far more aligned to your own vision. The publication of Jerusalem is therefore of real significance, the signifier of a whole new period of practise, perhaps. I mean, its amazing to see a copy of it here on the table, as its something that’s been read about and discussed for a number of years. Is this going to start a new brace of novels and writings..perhaps not of the same length! Is it a million words?
ALAN MOORE: No, its not a million words. Let me –
DAVID ERDOS: Dispel that myth!
ALAN MOORE: Yeah. What happened was I was talking to my lovely, brilliant daughter Leah.. I have two lovely, brilliant daughters, but this one happened to be Leah and she was just calling up to check in with me and I said, ‘Last night I finished Jerusalem..’ and she said, ‘Oh, congratulations,’ and we had a little conversation and then she went away and because she is a modern person who lives in the modern world, she was on social media and she said, ‘My Dad has done it, he’s finished,’ and because I had said previously that it was going to be somewhere between half a million and three quarters of a million words, all the repetitions of that word ‘million’ had perhaps erased her memory of the qualifying half or three quarters. It went out as ‘he’s just finished his million word novel.’ And because of the way journalism works today, where I believe most of it is taken off the internet, this then became a Guardian article; it’s in the newspapers, so this is defintely true. It then gets back onto the internet that this has been in the Guardian and that gets picked up by other papers –
DAVID ERDOS: Language as a virus, indeed –
ALAN MOORE: Right! So in the end I’ve got a 614,000 word novel that ends up looking like a slender pamphlet, compared to what people were expecting. So, no, I would never do anything as big as this again but I don’t think I need to, I would have thought.
DAVID ERDOS: You’ve described it as the most readable thing you’ve ever written..
ALAN MOORE: Well, that was its intention. There are people who will be disagreeing with me passionately, possibly even violently when they get to chapter 25, which is a bit of a puzzle, but its certainly not the same as Voice of the Fire where there was the stone age dialect –
DAVID ERDOS: Yeah, I’ve got Voice of the Fire in my bag as we speak –
ALAN MOORE: Ah, |
in the title about her state's horrible bill." By the next day, Slate's Dahlia Lithwick wrote in a widely circulated story on the Virginia bill, "I am not the first person to note that under any other set of facts, that would constitute rape." Soon, not only were progressive journalists comparing the procedure in the bill to rape -- legislators in Virginia were.
Advertisement:
"We are often caught behind in defining the debate," says RH Reality Check editor in chief Jodi Jacobson, Kopsa's editor on the piece who made a conscious effort to reframe the narrative. "Three years ago we should have had national conversations about birth control as a health consideration. now we're playing catchup to religious freedom. This happens over and over again, when the framing is behind the politics."
It's as true in abortion debates as anywhere else. Andrea Grimes, a Texas feminist blogger and journalist, says, "I made the decision to refer to the legislation as a forced transvaginal ultrasound bill as a political response to the sponsors' repeated insistence of calling it an 'informed consent' bill." That's the preferred language of proponents of such laws, as if a woman isn't already informed of what pregnancy means.
As to why Virginia could be different than Texas, where the law is being contested in court but is already being enforced, Grimes said, "In my experience as a Texas feminist, even progressive people just kind of expect that Texas is shitty and backwards and oh well, that's just what happens there with those poor, ignorant Red Staters so what can you do? But now we're seeing that Texas... isn't just the ignorant, backwoods exception to the rule -- it's the inspiration for an increasingly well-organized push to take rights away from women nationwide."
Advertisement:
And Jacobson says, "There's just this confluence of factors where people are beginning to wake up to what's going on. Part of it is that people are aware that it's not just a culture war -- it's a war on women, evidence, health, and science."Federal officials declared that grant funds "could be used only for Milwaukee's streetcar project," meaning it "isn’t possible" to redirect the money to "other modes of public transportation or to our public schools."
In comments favoring a downtown Milwaukee streetcar system, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore tried to counter a key argument made by opponents regarding the $55 million in federal grant money tied to the project.
"As much as opponents would like these federal funds to be redirected to other modes of public transportation or to our public schools, this just isn't possible," the Milwaukee Democrat wrote in an opinion piece published Jan. 14, 2015 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"Years ago, the Federal Transit Administration, a federal agency that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems, made it abundantly clear that these funds could be used only for Milwaukee's streetcar project."
Milwaukee can take the money, Moore wrote, "or we can walk away and leave millions of dollars on the table."
The Milwaukee Common Council is scheduled to vote Jan. 21, 2014 on the $124 million project.
Two vocal opponents of Mayor Tom Barrett’s plan, Aldermen Joe Davis Sr. and Robert Donovan, have joined others in calling for spending the $54.9 million in federal transit funds for other projects or programs.
Is Moore right that it’s streetcar or bust?
Can this train change tracks?
When asked for backup, Moore pointed us to a June 2011 letter from the FTA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems.
The letter responded to questions from a streetcar supporter, Ald. Robert Bauman, concerning funds the FTA described as "directed to the city of Milwaukee for the construction of a downtown streetcar line."
That letter, and comments to us by FTA officials, underscore that under current law the money is for the streetcar plan only.
Bauman asked a question that is right on point: "Under what circumstances, if any, can the funds appropriated to the city of Milwaukee be redirected to another transportation project in the city of Milwaukee or County of Milwaukee?"
In response, the FTA administrator at the time, Peter Rogoff, said it was his view that the DOT secretary had already approved the streetcar grant and therefore could not redirect the funds. He wrote that lawyers with the Federal Highway Administration concurred with his interpretation.
When we followed up with FTA communications officials about the 2011 letter, we were told it still stands.
Milwaukee officials signed an agreement in 2012 with the FTA to spend the money on the downtown streetcar system.
Milwaukee City Comptroller Martin Matson, an independently elected official, did not express a definitive opinion, but told us he believed the city would lose the money if the project was stopped at this point.
All this backs up the guts of Moore’s claim.
The money train
Since the funding was granted through federal law, it does raise the question of whether federal law could be changed to shift the money to something else -- such as the north side rail project Davis advocates.
Even proponents of the streetcar acknowledge that Congress, having written the law, could change it.
Indeed, congressional action was how the streetcar money became untangled after a years-long dispute among Wisconsin officials over how to use federal transit funds originally allocated to the Milwaukee area in, yes, 1991.
In 2009, Wisconsin Democrats in Congress inserted a provision into a massive federal spending bill that called for handing 60 percent of that money to the city for a downtown rail line and 40 percent to Milwaukee County for buses. President Barack Obama signed the $410 billion package into law.
Barrett, a former congressman, told the Shepherd Express in January 2015 that the reality is federal transit officials would take back the $55 million if the streetcar project is killed, and disburse it to another city.
Two FTA officials told us that if the streetcar goes unbuilt, the grant money just sits there.
At that point, they said, it would be up to Congress to put it back in circulation for some other project, in Milwaukee or elsewhere.
"As a matter of law, the ($55 million) cannot be redistributed to another transportation project unless Congress acts to amend the statute," Rogoff, the FTA administrator, wrote in his 2011 letter.
Even powerful Wisconsin lawmakers -- including incoming Ways and Means Committee chair Paul Ryan, the Janesville Republican -- would need all of Congress to go along with picking another transit project, if they were inclined to get involved.
And they would have to convince Congress that the city still deserves the money after 24 years of wrangling that has left the money unspent.
It’s theoretically possible the money could be redirected for some other transit use in the area. But that is not something local officials can control, so the question before them is to use it for the street car or nothing at all.
Our rating
Moore said that federal officials declared that grant funds "could be used only for Milwaukee's streetcar project," meaning it "isn’t possible" to redirect the money to "other modes of public transportation or to our public schools."
Current law, and grant contracts, tie the grant money specifically to the streetcar project.
In theory, Congress could intervene and re-purpose the funding, but there’s far from any guarantee that would happen -- or that Milwaukee would be re-awarded the money if it did. In any case, we can only base our rating on where things stand today, not where they might stand under different scenarios.
We rate Moore’s claim True.TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Author Nassim Nicholas Taleb rejected an attempt by a Chinese printer to add the word “China” before “Taiwan” in a United States edition of his book “Antifragile,” reports said Tuesday.
On Twitter, the Lebanese-American risk analyst and author of the global bestseller “The Black Swan,” wrote: Printer of #Antifragile in China asked me to replace “Taiwan” w/”China, Taiwan.” I (angrily) said “No censorship!”
“The outrage is that a *US* author has his books *sold in the US* censored by the government of China because the book is printed there!,” Taleb wrote in a separate tweet.
The changes the Chinese printer wanted in the book came in a passage discussing the contribution of education to wealth and economic development. “In 1960, Taiwan had a much lower literacy rate than the Philippines and half the income per person; today Taiwan has ten times the income.”
Each time, the printer in China suggested the word “China” should be inserted before the word “Taiwan” in the passage.
Reactions on Twitter mostly signaled approval of Taleb’s stance, with commentators stating that Taiwan was not part of China, or advising the author’s publisher it should be looking for a printer in another country, possibly Taiwan or India.
“Antifragile” is a book about things which get better after resisting shock and upheaval. His earlier book, “The Black Swan,” dealt with unpredictable events and sold millions across the world as it seemed to have been predicting the 2008 global economic and financial crisis.Mandela: Death of a Politician Stephen W. Smith
In the early 1990s, after more than four decades of stringent enforcement, South Africa ceased to be a country where races were segregated by law. Yet no one in a position of power was called to account for the relegation of millions of South Africans to derelict Bantustans, the forcible removal of hundreds of thousands of non-white urban dwellers to shanty towns and rural areas, the coercive discrimination in every aspect of public and private life, the systematic abuse by the police and the military, the countless assassinations by hit squads, the disappearances and arbitrary detentions, the manipulation of a ‘third force’ to exacerbate so-called black-on-black violence, the cross-border raids into neighbouring countries, the destabilisation of Southern Africa, and the ‘bush wars’ in Angola and Mozambique.
As we have been told time and again since he died on 5 December, Nelson Mandela was instrumental to the political bargain that proposed forgiveness in the hope of a better future. Whatever we think of South Africa now, we still contemplate with horror the abyss into which it was widely expected to plunge twenty years ago. How far have things really moved on? Will the historic compromise hold or has the country been raised up for a moment only to descend with an agonising jolt, like the victims of strappado, once a common practice in its torture chambers, where prisoners whose hands were pinioned behind their back were dropped at the end of a rope tied to their wrists? And what of the moral high ground on which Mandela and his vision of reconciliation are now enshrined? It’s right – and proper – to regard him as the paragon of human integrity, a rare figure in history, but he was more than everybody’s friend on Facebook: he was a politician, and that’s the way he has to be appraised.
Public opinion, which has now canonised Mandela, would be outraged were a ‘warlord’ such as Charles Taylor not brought to justice, though Taylor gave up power in 2003 when he left Monrovia for exile in Nigeria. In 2006, when the former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano negotiated with Joseph Kony for his peaceful surrender, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected the deal because it would have granted the commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army impunity. Kony is still at large and many civilians have continued to suffer from LRA exactions. It is highly unlikely that Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, indicted by the ICC as ‘an indirect co-perpetrator’ of war crimes and genocide in Darfur, will benefit from a deferral of the charges brought against him and, having been part of the problem in Khartoum, become part of a solution, as the International Crisis Group recently suggested. All this is to say that Mandela’s passing confirms the fragility of his depoliticised approach. What is eulogised as a saintly generosity that allowed institutionalised discrimination to be ended in South Africa is regarded with suspicion in other places where there are, or were, no Mandelas. But national reconciliation is not a mystical absolution so much as a political strategy. How far has it worked in South Africa? This question goes to the heart of Mandela’s legacy and what we make of it.
For three reasons, Mandela’s death at 95 ought to be welcomed. First, the grand old man of the ANC had been much diminished for many years. He announced his withdrawal from public life in 2004 (‘Don’t call me, I’ll call you’), but made a final, crucial intervention in 2009, when he endorsed Jacob Zuma’s bid for the presidency; in retrospect this was not a sign of good judgment. His family, who continued to see him regularly, lamented his loss of short-term memory, and his intermittent mental confusion. ‘He is no longer a full person,’ the South African cartoonist Zapiro – Jonathan Shapiro – remarked in 2008, after a private interview with Mandela. He was later given flak for showing Mandela in his sickbed with the country by his side anxiously holding his hand. Mandela’s speech bubble read: ‘I know it’s hard, but we have to start letting go …’ The cartoon was published in April when the old man was hospitalised for the third time in twelve months. A fourth stay in intensive care stretched through the summer. Zapiro was right.
Second, we now have a chance to rediscover ‘the man behind the legend’ and, in particular, the young revolutionary eclipsed by the elder statesman. We can see, for instance, that he was not just a young Turk, the co-founder, in 1944, of the ANC’s Youth League, but the driving force behind the movement’s armed struggle, which included acts of terrorism. As early as 1953 he saw that there would be ‘no easy walk to freedom’ – the title of his programmatic speech – and promoted the ‘M-Plan’ (M for Mandela), urging the ANC to form clandestine cells capable of organising armed resistance. Nowadays, with the mawkish patina of hindsight, the title of Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, is widely misunderstood as a Kumbaya invitation to join hands for a moral-historical promenade. In reality, as Stephen Ellis was able to show in 2011, Mandela joined the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party in 1960 to help impose the SACP’s strategic choice of armed struggle on a reluctant ANC leadership. Mandela was the first leader of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (‘Spear of the Nation’), and held that position when – on 16 December 1961 – 57 bomb blasts ripped through the country: for some this was the opening salvo of a ‘terror campaign’; for others it announced the advent of ‘emancipatory violence’.There are several tasks that I find myself doing often enough (not necessarily daily), to warrant automation. But even more so, it is those tasks that I don’t necessarily do often where I really appreciate the automation. Part of it is because of the time savings, but even more so, if it is automated, there are a lot fewer steps that I need to remember.
A good example of this is employee terminations. A simple, but typical workflow that I see is along the lines of:
disable their on-prem AD account
move the account to a specific OU
change their O365 password
Setup forwarding
Hide from the GAL
There are of course other tweaks here or there which I may do depending on the user, but that is the bulk of them. We don’t currently have Azure AD Connect running, so disabling the on-premises Active Directory account still leaves the O365 account wide open.
We also don’t usually disable the O365 account off the hop as we want to keep the address alive, and usually, we’ll have an admin assistant do a cursory look of the outstanding items in the inbox. Longer term, we typically take the former employee’s email address and add it on as an alias to someone else, and thus save a license cost in the process.
So with the above in mind, I cobbled together the script below. Now, go easy on me, I don’t do scripting all that often anymore. The intent was to craft something together quickly (this took about 10 minutes), and to make it functional. Even after I tested it a couple of times, I was able to automate things even more. For example, I originally had a hard entry for a users’ primary email address, now I just pull it from Active Directory.
Another good by-product of this script is that I am a lot less likely to get distracted when running it. On my end, this takes about 20 – 30 seconds to run through the whole thing. Compare that to the time it takes to connect to Active Directory Users & Computers (maybe RDP to a Domain Controller), search for the user, and do what needs to be done. Similarly, think about logging into the Office 365 Admin Panel … it’s not horrible, but it definitely isn’t as fast as I would like most of the time. So think about how long those steps will take, and what the chances are that you’ll be interrupted during that time (phone call, text message, email, slack, passerby, etc.)
I have some basic comments in the script, but for the most part, it should self-explanatory. By sharing it, I am hoping that others may find some use from it, and more likely than not, use it as a basis to get their own process going.
#Enter AD username & obtain user's DN from AD $ADUserAcount = "slimer" $ADUserDN = Get-ADuser -Identity $ADUserAcount | select -ExpandProperty DistinguishedName #Grab the primary SMTP from AD and set the 'forward to' address $userEmail = Get-ADUser -Identity $ADUserAcount -Properties ProxyAddresses | select -ExpandProperty ProxyAddresses |? {$_ -clike "SMTP:*"} $userEmail = $userEmail.trim("SMTP:") $forwardTo = "[email protected]" #Grab Office 365 credentials, import the session, and import the o365 modules $UserCredential = Get-Credential $Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $UserCredential -Authentication Basic –AllowRedirection Import-PSSession $Session Import-Module MSOnline #Disable AD account & move to Former Employees OU Disable-ADAccount -Identity $ADUserAcount Move-ADObject -Identity $ADUserDN -TargetPath "OU=Former Employees,OU=Users,OU=Manhattan,DC=GB,DC=net" #Connect to Office 365 Connect-MSOLService -Credential $UserCredential #Change user password, set forwarding, and hide from GAL Set-MsolUserPassword -UserPrincipalName $userEmail -NewPassword YFP#^[email protected] -ForceChangePassword $False Set-Mailbox -Identity $userEmail -ForwardingSmtpAddress $forwardTo -DeliverToMailboxAndForward $false set-mailbox -Identity $userEmail -HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled $true
Like this: Like Loading...There are plenty of resources to read about on Bitcoin. What’s most important is first keeping your wallet secure and whatnot. As a result, the Best Bitcoin wallet has been designed to send and receive secure SPV transactions. On the blockchain, all transactions are verified!
Essential Wallet Tips
On the off chance that the wallet you use for spending bitcoin likewise contains your whole bitcoin possessions, your investment funds will be defenseless against different sorts of mishandle.
There is no restriction to the quantity of bitcoin locations (or wallets) that one individual may have.
Along these lines, you could undoubtedly have an address for burning through cash, an address for funds and even an address for accepting installments.
Hypothetically if a solitary mining operation can control in overabundance of half of the aggregate mining power, then they can change the blockchain. This may have been conceivable in the beginning of mining, yet now it would be monetarily restrictive to accomplish this position. The scale and dissemination of bitcoin mining, and the majority of these diggers will keep up this condition.
Bitcoin markets are up till now still unregulated, and by definition, Greatly unsafe. Relief of that hazard requires teach, poise and legitimate arranging.
Thanks for reading, and we hope you are happy to invest in digital currencies after reading this!New evidence has emerged confirming that the US came just one safety switch away from detonating a hydrogen bomb over North Carolina that was 260 times more powerful than the "Little Boy" bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
Previously unseen video footage involving some of the country's top nuclear weapons safety experts, together with documents that have never before been made public, reveal that senior US officials were fully aware that the country came to catastrophe in January 1961 when a B-52 bomber accidentally dropped two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs over Goldsboro, North Carolina.
The knowledge went as far up the chain as the then defence secretary Robert McNamara, who according to a top-secret document told Pentagon officials in 1963 that "by the slightest margin of chance, literally the failure of two wires to cross, a nuclear explosion was averted".
The new video footage and documents were obtained by the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser while researching his new book Command and Control, which chronicles America's nuclear weapons experience. Last week the Guardian published for the first time a secret document acquired by Schlosser that proved that America was spared a disaster of monumental proportions by just one low-voltage switch.
The newly revealed video is taken from a longer documentary called Always-Never: The Quest for Nuclear Safety, Control, and Survivability, which was produced in 2010 by the Sandia National Laboratories, the agency charged with ensuring that the US nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe and secure. Created for internal viewing within Sandia, marked "Official Use Only" and never released to the public, the film uses animation vividly to recreate the events of 23 January 1961.
A B-52 bomber flying a routine run along the north-east coast of the US got into trouble after it refueled in mid-air. The boom operator of the fuel tanker noticed pink fluid leaking from the bomber's right wing, and soon after the wing ripped off, sending the plane into a spin.
The video then shows, in animated form, the atomic bombs being separated from the B-52 and falling to ground over Goldsboro. In the case of one of the bombs, it behaved exactly as it was designed to do should it have been dropped as an act of war.
As Dan Summers, one of Sandia's nuclear weapons safety engineers, recalls in the film: "The weapon dropped, power was now coming on and the arming rods had been pulled, the barrel switches began to operate, the next thing was for the parachute to deploy." Crucially, Summers adds: "When it hit the ground it tried to fire."
There was only one safety device left between the bomb and disaster: a switch known as a pre-arming ready-safe switch that could turn the bomb on and off through the normal operation of a 28-volt signal sent from the B-52's cockpit. But even that switch was known by nuclear safety experts to be deeply unreliable.
"Unfortunately, there have been thirty-some incidents where the ready-safe switch was operated inadvertently," notes Charlie Burks, a former Sandia nuclear weapons systems engineer. "We are fortunate that the weapons involved at Goldsboro were not suffering from that same malady."
Schlosser told the Guardian that the significance of the video was that it "conclusively establishes that the Sandia weapons lab itself was concerned about the risk of accidental detonation. Their own experts said that disaster was prevented by a single switch that they knew to be defective."
Further detail on what happened to the Mark 39 bomb when it fell over Goldsboro is given in a newly declassified document written in 1987 reviewing the US nuclear weapon safety programme. It records that as the B-52 broke up, the pin to arm the bomb that was normally manually operated was yanked out as it fell, thus arming it.
All the various stages of the bomb's fall – the operation of the arming system, deployment of the parachute, timer operation, activation of its batteries, and delivery of the signal that would actually fire the bomb at impact – "all followed as a natural consequence of the bomb falling free". Only the lack of engagement of the final ready-safe switch "prevented nuclear detonation of this bomb".
Despite such expert awareness of the extremely tentative safeguards that stood between America and unthinkable disaster, successive US administrations kept up the line in public that the country's nuclear arsenal was free from any risk of accidental detonation.
The Sandia film ends on an ominous note. As the camera pans over the wreckage of a military plane strewn over a valley, the narrator remarks that "unfortunately there was no shortage of new data, as the accidents continued".Sammy Griner’s image is one of the internet’s most popular memes
The boy featured in one of the internet’s longest-running and most popular memes is using his fame to help his dad get a new kidney.
The triumphant toddler with his fist clenched in victory – known as Success Kid – is Sammy Griner, now eight years old.
And Sammy, who has brought internet users so much amusement, is now asking for something in return: for someone to donate a kidney to his father, Justin, and to help fund treatment.
MORE: UPDATE: ‘Success Kid’ fundraising target smashed after Redditor posts Metro article
Justin is currently spending 12 hours a week at the dialysis clinic (Picture: GoFundMe)
‘I thought what a positive boost it could bring to our fundraising efforts for people to know this is for the father of the baby who has made so many people smile,’ said Justin’s wife, Laney, who admitted she was reluctant to bring up her son during the fund-raising.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Laney set up a GoFundMe page, on which she sets out how her 39-year-old husband needs pre-treatments and a transplant to avoid the same fate as his mother, who died from kidney disease.
MORE: $1billion in pledges and counting: How Kickstarter transformed crowdfunding
Sammy Griner, AKA Success Kid, is now eight
In an email to the Daily Dot, she spoke of the family’s hunt for a donor and how Justin spends 12 hours a week in dialysis clinic.
‘We’ve had several friends and family offer and get tested to be donors, but no match so far,’ she said.
‘We certainly prefer a living donor because the prognosis seems to be much better.’
Donate here.
MORE: This misguided hipster is trying to crowdfund money for 13 datesA group of Anonymous hackers who call themselves ‘KarmaSec’ have leaked data from a Japanese zoo in protest against animal abuse and brutality in Japan.
In a tweet, the group claim they had hacked into the server of Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture Tourism Promotion Division’s website.
AnonHQ reports:
The group targeted the Akiyoshidai Safari Land Natural Zoo located in Yamaguchi, and threatened to release even more data if the zoo did not release all of its animals. They appear to have even more incriminating data.
Release ALL of the animals! Warning you is too late. Your shit has been leaked to the public. If you do not release the animals we will continue. PS: Smile mother fuckers you have been exposed!
Anonymous had previously brought down Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s official website in protest of Japan’s cruel whaling practices, via #OpKillingBay. They had also hacked several Japanese finance firm’s, the Japanese Ministry of Finance’s, the Financial Services Agency’s and Nissan Motor’s websites.
Last year, Anonymous also took down the world’s largest animal abuse and bestiality forum with #OpBeast.Editor's Note: There have been allegations of plagiarism in the book Seeds of Hope, from which this excerpt was drawn. Smithsonian has checked this material independently and ascertained to the best of our ability that everything published in the magazine and in this post is original.
From my window, as I write in my house in Bournemouth, England, I can see the trees I used to climb as a child. Up in the branches of one of them, a beech tree, I would read about Doctor Dolittle and Tarzan, and dream about the time when I, too, would live in the forest. I spent hours in that tree, perched in my special place. I had a little basket on the end of a long piece of string that was tied to my branch: I would load it before I climbed, then haul up the contents—a book, a saved piece of cake, sometimes my homework. I talked to “Beech,” telling him my secrets. I often placed my hands or my cheek against the slightly rough texture of his bark. And how I loved the sound of his leaves in summertime: the gentle whispering as the breeze played with them, the joyous abandoned dancing and rustling as the breeze quickened, and the wild tossing and swishing sounds, for which I have no words, when the wind was strong and the branches swayed. And I was part of it all.
Growing up in this idyllic home and landscape of England was the foundation of my lifelong love of the plant kingdom and the natural world. The other day, when I was looking through a box of childhood treasures that had been lovingly preserved by my mother, I came across a “Nature Notebook,” in which the 12-year-old Jane, with great attention to detail, had sketched and painted a number of local plants and flowers. Beside each drawing or watercolor I had handwritten a detailed description of the plant, based on my careful observations and probably a bit of book research. This was not a schoolbook. This wasn’t done for an assignment. I just loved to draw and paint and write about the plant world.
I used to read, curled up in front of the fire, on winter evenings. Then I traveled in my imagination to The Secret Garden with Mary and Colin and Dickon. I was entranced by C.S. Lewis’ Voyage to Venus, in which he describes, so brilliantly, flowers and fruits, tastes and colors and scents unknown on planet Earth. I raced through the skies with little Diamond, who was curled up in the flowing hair of the Lady North Wind, as she showed him what was going on in the world, the beauty and the sadness and the joy (At the Back of the North Wind). And, of course, I was utterly in love with Mole and Ratty and Mr. Badger in The Wind in the Willows. If The Lord of the Rings had been written when I was a child, there is no doubt I would have been entranced by Treebeard and the ancient forest of Fangorn, and Lothlórien, the enchanted forest of the elves.
And so I write now to acknowledge the enormous debt we owe to the plants and to celebrate the beauty, mystery and complexity of their world. That we may save this world before it is too late.
Roots
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we had eyes that could see underground? So that we could observe everything down there in the same way we can look up through the skies to the stars. When I look at a giant tree I marvel at the gnarled trunk, the spreading branches, the multitude of leaves. Yet that is only half of the tree being—the rest is far, far down, penetrating deep beneath the ground.
There are so many kinds of roots. Aerial roots grow above the ground, such as those on epiphytes—which are plants growing on trees or sometimes buildings, taking water and nutrients from the air and rain—including many orchids, ferns, mosses and so on. Aerial roots are almost always adventitious, roots that can grow from branches, especially where they have been wounded, or from the tips of stems. Taproots, like those of carrots, act as storage organs. The small, tough adventitious roots of some climbing plants, such as ivy and Virginia creeper, enable the stems to cling to tree trunks—or the walls of our houses—with a viselike grip.
In the coastal mangrove swamps in Africa and Asia, I have seen how the trees live with their roots totally submerged in water. Because these roots are able to exclude salt, they can survive in brackish water, even that which is twice as saline as the ocean. Some mangrove trees send down “stilt roots” from their lowest branches; others have roots that send tubelike structures upward through the mud and water and into the air, for breathing.
Then there are those plants, such as the well-known mistletoe, beloved by young lovers at Christmastime but hated by foresters, that are parasitic, sending roots deep into the host tree to steal its sap. The most advanced of the parasitic plants have long ago given up any attempt at working for their own food—their leaves have become like scales, or are missing altogether.
The strangler fig is even more sinister. Its seeds germinate in the branches of other trees and send out roots that slowly grow down toward the ground. Once the end touches the soil it takes root. The roots hanging down all around the support tree grow into saplings that will eventually strangle the host. I was awestruck when I saw the famed temple at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, utterly embraced by the gnarled roots of a giant and ancient strangler fig. Tree and building are now so entwined that each would collapse without the support of the other.
The so-called clonal trees have remarkable root systems that seem capable of growing over hundreds of thousands of years. The most famous of them—Pando, or the Trembling Giant—has a root system that spreads out beneath more than 100 acres in Utah and has been there, we are told, for 80,000 to one million years! The multiple stems of this colony (meaning the tree trunks) age and die but new ones keep coming up. It is the roots that are so ancient.
Leaves
The variety of leaves seems almost infinite. They are typically green from the chlorophyll that captures sunlight, and many are large and flat so as to catch the maximum amount. Indeed, some tropical leaves are so huge that people use them for umbrellas—and they are very effective, as I discovered during an aboriginal ceremony in Taiwan, when we were caught in a tropical downpour.
Orangutans have also learned to use large leaves during heavy rain. My favorite story concerns an infant, who was rescued from a poacher and was being looked after in a sanctuary. During one rainstorm she was sitting under the shelter provided but, after staring out, rushed into the rain, picked a huge leaf, and ran back to hold it over herself as she sat in the dry shelter.
Some leaves are delicate, some are tough and armed with prickles, yet others are long and stiff like needles. The often-vicious spines of the cactus are actually modified leaves—in these plants it is the stems that capture the energy from the sun. I used to think that the brilliant red of the poinsettia and the varied colors of bougainvillea were flowers, but, of course, they are leaves adapted to attract pollinating insects to the very small, insignificant-looking flowers in the center.
And then there are the most extraordinary leaves of that bizarre plant Welwitschia mirabilis. Each plant has only two leaves. They look like quite ordinary, long-shaped leaves on young plants, but they continue to grow, those exact same two leaves, for as long as the plant lives. Which may be more than 1,000 years. The Welwitschia was first discovered in Africa’s Namib Desert by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch in 1859 and it is said that he fell to his knees and stared and stared, in silence. He sent a specimen to Sir Joseph Hooker, at Kew botanical gardens in London—and Sir Joseph for several months became obsessed with it, devoting hours at a time to studying, writing about and lecturing about the botanical oddity. It is, indeed, one of the most amazing plants on Earth, a living fossil, a relict of the cone-bearing plants that dominated the world during the Jurassic period. Imagine—this gangly plant, which Charles Darwin called “the duckbill of the vegetable kingdom,” has survived as a species, unchanged, for 135 million to 205 million years. Originally, its habitat was lush, moist forest, yet it has now adapted to a very different environment—the harsh Namib of southern Africa.
Seeds
If plants could be credited with reasoning powers, we would marvel at the imaginative ways they bribe or ensnare other creatures to carry out their wishes. And no more so than when we consider the strategies devised for the dispersal of their seeds. One such involves coating their seeds in delicious fruit and hoping that they will be carried in the bellies of animals to be deposited, in feces, at a suitable distance from the parent.
Darwin was fascinated by seed dispersal (well, of course—he was fascinated by everything) and he once recorded, in his diary, “Hurrah! A seed has just germinated after twenty one and a half hours in an owl’s stomach.” Indeed, some seeds will not germinate unless they have first passed through the stomach and gut of some animal, relying on the digestive juices to weaken their hard coating. The antelopes on the Serengeti plain perform this service for the acacia seeds.
In Gombe Stream National Park in western Tanzania, the chimpanzees, baboons and monkeys are marvelous dispersers of seeds. When I first began my study, the chimpanzees were often too far away for me to be sure what they were eating, so in addition to my hours of direct observation I would search for food remains—seeds, leaves, parts of insects or other animals—in their dung. Many field biologists around the world do the same.
Some seeds are covered in Velcrolike burs (Where do you think the idea of Velcro came from, anyway?) or armed with ferocious hooks so that a passing animal, willy-nilly, is drafted into servitude. Gombe is thick with seeds like this and I have spent hours plucking them from my hair and clothes. Sometimes my socks have been so snarled with barbs that by the time they are plucked out, the socks are all but useless. Some seeds are caught up in the mud that water birds carry from place to place on their feet and legs.
Is it not amazing that a small germ of life can be kept alive—sometimes for hundreds of years—inside a protective case where it waits, patiently, |
move his weapon. Katie’s dad held a finger to his lips and put his hand on her weapon to keep it down. He shook his head.
“What vault? Your personal account?” Ponytail moved behind the truck, presumably to where Allan was.
“Yes. You’ll need my authorization code.”
“Not if the power’s out, doc.”
“I’ll take you, okay? Just… don’t harm him.”
Ponytail reached down and pulled Allan to his feet. He was a middle aged man who still had a thick head of hair, though it was all white. He wore glasses and jacket that looked far too light for the weather. Ponytail shoved him towards the truck and then opened the rear passenger door.
“Get in, buddy,” he said with a snarl. “We’re going for a drive.”
Bearded Guy picked up the young man by his collar and marched him around to the other side. In moments they were all packed up and the truck started. Solon’s Wake. She remembered going there once with Lindsay and her mom when she was twelve. Upscale area with expensive shops. Lindsay’s mom got herself a designer purse. The two of them pretty much lost themselves in the arcade.
Her dad tapped her on the shoulder as the truck drove off and they backed away, further into the woods. They stopped near the corpse of Jacob Eisner and her dad shook his head at the sight. The look he gave her was a sorrowful one. Katie only shrugged.
“Dad, we have to help those people. We could have taken them… why didn’t we?”
“Are you that ready to take a living man’s life, Katie? Are you ready for that responsibility? That weight?”
“I…” She didn’t know. Afterall, she’d hesitated earlier. What if she couldn’t do it when the time came? Her hesitation had nearly gotten them killed before. She hung her head. “You’re right.”
His hand touched her shoulder again. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. But you are right. We need to help those people. We’ll need them.”
“Why?”
Her dad’s face turned grim and he released his grip on her shoulder. His gaze turned away, back down the hill towards where the truck had gone.
“Because he knows how to stop this.”
AdvertisementsNetflix again teases the possibility of making itself available to Kiwis.
Expectations are growing that Netflix will arrive in New Zealand next year, adding to the growing number of options people have to watch television entertainment and films over the internet.
After months of rumours and speculation, the United States internet television giant appeared to publicly confirm for the first time that it was interested in providing its service in New Zealand.
Speaking at a conference in Cannes, France, chief content officer Ted Sarandos described Australia and New Zealand as "very attractive territories" for Netflix, which has so far signed up more than 50 million customers in more than 40 countries.
However, Netflix spokesman Joris Evers has subsequently told Fairfax that Sarandos' comments did not confirm Netflix' interest in launching in New Zealand or Australia and it had only said it wanted "to be global one day".
Sarandos did not reveal what programming a Kiwi version of Netflix might offer or at what cost. However, the going rate for internet television services is typically around $12 to $15 a month.
Netflix would have to fight for local programming rights against Spark, which launched internet television service Lightbox in August, Australian-based online television and movie pioneers Quickflix and Ezyflix, and with Sky Television.
Sky has said it will launch an internet television service, which will be separate to its broadcast pay-TV service, by the end of the year.
Netflix might also have its work cut out wooing some viewers away from its own US offering, which a growing number of internet users have been watching in breach of its terms and conditions. Tens of thousands of New Zealanders are believed to have bypassed internet blocks to sign up to Netflix' US service, which costs US$8.99 a month but which it is not supposed to be available here.
United States studio HBO, which provides much of the content for Sky's premium SoHo entertainment channel, has meanwhile announced plans to launch its own internet television service in the US. It will go over the head of traditional television companies and sign up viewers direct.
The developments appear a double whammy for Sky Television as it attempts to maintain its strong grip on New Zealand's pay-television market.
Sky TV has secured the New Zealand rights to some of HBO's programming, which includes Game of Thrones, for its own forthcoming standalone internet television service. That would appear to rule out HBO from offering its internet television service here in the medium term.
However, there is unknown risk that Kiwi viewers could use the same "anti-geo-blocking services" that many are using to access Netflix today to also sign up to HBO's US service. Those anti-blocking services include GlobalMode, which is offered as a free service by internet providers Slingshot and Orcon.
Sky TV spokeswoman Kirsty Way said it had been assured by HBO that its US service would be blocked to New Zealanders, but did not have further details.
HBO's internet television service will launch some time next year at a price that has yet to be announced.
Netflix shares took a big hit in the wake of disappointing subscriber growth and confirmation it will have a new direct competitor in the shape of HBO.
Its stock plunged 26 per cent in after-hours trading on the US' Nasdaq exchange.
The company blamed a US$1 hike in its monthly subscription fee for discouraging new sign-ups.
It lured 3.02 million new streaming customers globally, versus the 3.69 million it projected in July.Founded by Paul Elio in 2009, Elio Motors was awarded the best Automotive Startup of 2015. With a base price of 7300 USD (subject to restrictions) and a touted efficiency of 84 MPG, the Elio could revolutionize the American Automotive industry.
Elio started his company after working for automotive supplier Johnson Controls. Since then, he’s secured more than $22 million in private and public funding. He currently employs about 20 employees in Michigan and lives in Phoenix.
The company applied for $180 million from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. This is the same Department of Energy loans that financed Fisker and VPG. Both of these failed, but Elio insists he’s running entirely under his own power. He mentions other defunct auto startups, like Aptera and Visionary Vehicles, as examples, he doesn’t follow.
In the following article, we'll explore the man and machine in a little detail. We'll also explore some of the concerns for investors, local communities and customers for the proposed vehicle. Is all the hype around the Elio well founded? Will the project actually make it to production? You will see that Paul Elio is certainly confident in his new vehicle but can he deliver on his promises?
So without further ado, we present, Elio Motors and the Elio.
So what are Elio Motors offering?
The new aerodynamic three-wheeler vehicle has features such as power windows, power door locks, cruise control and air conditioning. Built with safety in mind, the Elio sports multiple airbags, anti-lock brakes, traction control, steel unibody frame and crumple zones. The vehicles will be built at the former general motors site in Shreveport, Louisiana.
It is not clear whether this vehicle will cause a seismic shift in the automotive industry. But the vehicle’s founder and designer, Paul Elio, isn’t building it for the average buyer. “We would get our ass handed to us there,” he says about competing with established automakers. Among used cars, however, “I’d think we’d play very well.” As used-car inventories swell in response to record U.S. car sales and Americans keep their older vehicles running longer, Elio thinks he’ll be able to swoop into this segment and “literally give cars away.”
Advertisement
We wonder if it was inspired by the Reliant Robin, albeit sexier and in reverse, made famous by "Only fools and horses". The Elio certainly looks the part, but will it be resigned to the annals of popular culture or is it a viable mass production vehicle?
[Image Source: ElioMotors]
Under the hood of the Elio
Elio motors want to build the new three-wheeler vehicles with an initial price tag of 7,300 USD (for the first batch of 65,000 reservations). Advertised as being able to achieve 84 MPG extra-urban and 49 MPG urban, the Elio intended as low-costs, alternative for the savvy driver. The vehicle currently has five prototypes and three validation models. These will be extensively tested for safety, aerodynamics and durability. Once testing is complete the company intends to build 100 pre-production models at its facility in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The Elio will come as standard wit RedDot air conditioning, AM/FM radio stereo, power windows and door locks, cruise control, no less than three airbags, steel roll cage, intrusion beams, stability control and ABS. Continental has also taken the liberty of creating a custom tire for the Elio.
Advertisement
The Elio's design includes a curb weight of 610kg, inline 0.9 litre three cylinder, 55 horsepower engine with front wheel drive. It is touted as having a top speed of 107mph with an 0 to 60 of 10.8 seconds.
The Elio will have a boot, trunk to our American cousins, with dimensions of 0.69 by 0.36 by 0.25 meters. Hardly spacious but sufficient for a carry-on bag or golf bag is the rear seat is reclined.
[Image Source: ElioMotors]
Elio Motors - Have it your way
The company also has ambitions for its logistics. Elio believes his new ordering systems will be as popular as his new three-wheeler. They envisage a "just-in-time" production schedule whereby they could ship a custom-spec vehicle the next day. Sales VP Jerome Vassallo quoted around 250 to 300 cars a day jumping up to 1000 later in production.
The company says that the cars' optional equipment will be installed, piece by piece, just like distributors do for accessories. These options will include leather seats, infotainment, advanced driver assists and other electronic hardware. So long as it only needs a USB port and a power outlet.
Advertisement
Elio envisages suppliers potentially using Elio as a test bed for the latest technology for other entrepreneurs. He believes that startups will be able to offer features at a fraction of the cost of traditional automakers today. If the customer isn't satisfied “we’ll take it off and send it back to the supplier.”
When talking about technology, Elio compares Elio Motors to Wal-Mart or a retailer. He explains that they won't shoulder the costs of development or integration of the equipment within the cars. This idea came to Elio after years of buying cars with features he didn't want or need. He gives the example of vanity mirrors which he was always forced to buy because they came in the bundle for the car.
“I don’t put on makeup. I don’t care what I look in the mirror,” he says.
Elio Motors - I am the law!
As the Elio is a three-wheeled vehicle, under US Law, it needs to meet motorcycle standards. This will impact on the final end user who is likely to need to wear and crash helmet and other safety gear. They will also potentially have to have a motorcycle endorsement on their licenses. Elio has been attempting to lobby the government to amend the regulations given Elio's apparent exemption to the current regulations.
Advertisement
Elio Motors Production
Based in Phoenix, Arizona with production scheduled at Shreveport, Louisiana, Elio Motors plans on employing 1,500 employees directly. The production facility will use part of the former General Motors 3.2 Million ft2 facility. Elio Motors also forecasts indirectly creating a further 1,500 jobs associated with corporate, sales and after sale services. Once under full production, Elio Motors also foresees an additional 18,000 jobs created nationwide through its supply chain. Elio Motors is targeting 90% North American content on its vehicle.
Elio has a supply chain in place which should allow quick "ramp-up" when the actual production line opens. 100 pre-production units were scheduled for completion, Paul Elio, however, has announced that this is now to be delayed until late 2017. Supply chain partners include AISIN, Roush, Comau, Continental, Cooper Standard, RedDOT, Hyundai DYMOS, Henkel and IAV.
Buy now, pay later for your Elio
Elio obviously wants to sell his vehicles directly to consumers, just as Tesla does. Since, however, the vehicle is technically a motorcycle, the National Automobile Dealers Association hasn't been roused, for now. Elio's sales pitch is, however, leaps ahead of owning stores. He imagines a customer walking in, paying nothing up front and leaving with a unit and a credit card.
Advertisement
The customer will use the card to pay for fuel and Elio will triple the amount to act as a car payment. The vehicle owner will, however, be required to make minimum payments in case the vehicles fuel efficiency means refills are few and far between. Elio's vision is to see owners of older, gas-guzzling, cars like a 1998 Volvo, to get into the Elio and let their fuel savings make the payments.
“It’s hitting people over the head with the value equation,” Elio says. We'd be interested to see which banks are willing to underwrite his ambitions on this front.
Haters 'gonna' hate
Elio motors have continuously extended the pre-production of the vehicle since 2015, moving to 2015 and now to 2017. Clearly, this has analysts concerned about the company's ability to deliver on their promises. Elio has applied for a Department of Energy Loan and Elio is offering advanced reservations for potential buyers at the advertised base price of 7,300 USD (originally priced at 6,800 USD).
Advertisement
Their website does state that if you reserve and promise to purchase the car on production you can lock in the price at 7,000 USD. There is, however, a limit for this offer of 65,000 units.
Elio Motors has yet to provide proof that their vehicle can meet the mileage criteria for the loan, or show that their operation can finance itself without the loan, both of which are criteria clearly stated in the requirements.
Investor confidence also seems to be a bit shaky with a market crash in stock price in February 2016, though it should be noted that a market-wide bear market occurred at the beginning of 2016.
Is Elio Motors' future in doubt?
The company keeps delaying delivery of its three-wheeler street car. Even with its cheap price that seems almost too good to be true, it may never actually get to market. Although this is always a concern for any startup Elio himself says that they have about $100,000 in the bank but $123 million deficit.
That's a "healthy" deficit of over a thousand times the amount money they have in the bank. Recent filings with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission were sifted through by Louisiana news outlet KTBS. They found that the company had $101,317 in the bank and $123,212,431 in accumulated deficit since September 2016. This is a change from $6,870,044 in cash and $2,325,036 deficit as of December 2015.
Granted this project has a lot of Research and Development costs and this kind of deficit is not overly unusual. There have always been questions about the Elio and its viability from the very beginning. That hasn't really changed in recent years, the price of the car has, however. The Elio was originally touted as $6,800 but has risen steadily with a base price now over $7,300 (under special circumstances).
Delays after delays
As previously mentioned, Elio moved its production to Louisiana to an old General Motors factory in Shreveport at the start of 2013. Elio Motors have said that production will begin in 2014 and would hire around 1,500 workers. This was to be a blessing for the area hit hard after GM layoffs. Elio's car has had continuous delays since and KTBS reported that it has "yet to create a single job or dollar of revenue for the area."
These delays have constantly pushed the release back from 2014 to 2015, 2015 to 2016. Here we sit now, in 2017, with still no cars to show for it. KTBS have recently commented that Elio's facebook page now declared 2018 as the new target date for the Elio. However, when you reserve an Elio you are required to deposit between $400 and $900 and you need to agree to their terms and conditions.
"While maintaining my present place in line for delivery, I understand that currently there is no definite date set for production or delivery of my vehicle."
It is reported that Elio has 50,000 people with reservations for their new three-wheeler. Elio Motors have also sold some of their prototype testing models to some of those who have reserved a unit.
[Image Source: Pixabay]
Shreveport Mayor Glover has his reservations about Elio Motors
Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover has also weighed in believing that the area is waiting for nothing. KTBS reports that Glover has said that those with purchased reservations with Elio should probably write it off as a loss.
Glover notes “Going into the fourth quarter this year, they only had $101,000 in cash on hand. So when you think about the actual amount of money that they’ve been expanding, Paul Elio with a salary of over 250 thousand,”
Glover places much of the blame on Racer Trust. Racer Trust is the company charged with putting the GM plant to the best use for the area following bankruptcy. Mayor Glover believes the company had an obligation to bring new jobs to the facility following this. Despite interests for the site from Deacon Air Conditioning and Land Rover the site is still reserved for Elio Motors.
“If you look at Paul Elio from 2009, certainly by the time you get to 2011 and 2012, it’s clear that what he is, in fact, a dreamer and a schemer. It leads one to ask, what was the actual motivation behind committing these facilities, this equipment to Paul Elio and the Elio operation,” Glover further said.
What do Elio have to say about the delays?
Meeting with the public during a meeting in the Parish of Caddo, Lousiana, Paul Elio addressed their concerns. The meeting was held in November 2017, Paul attempted to explain the delays and challenges that Elio Motors has had to overcome to get to this point. Mayor Glover took the opportunity to grill Elio and the Racer Trust over the till empty building at the GM site. Glover also addressed his concerns over the wasted opportunities of another potential project for the site "Project Pheonix".
As we previously mentioned, RACER Trust came into being after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court decided to help redevelop GM properties after they went under in 2009. The Trust put the Shreveport facility on the market for three years with no interest. Thankfully for RACER Trust, Elio Motors showed their interest in 2012. Elio notes that "Project Pheonix" didn't show any interest until Elio did. The current deal for Elio means they don't have to pay any rent for the space until production begins. A very generous arrangement indeed and this helps to explain the delays thus far.
Elio went on to explain the difficulties they have had raising capital up to this point. Hedge funds, private equity and venture capitalists showed little interest in supporting a startup that wouldn't make any money for at least two years.
“They want to give $2 million and get the next Facebook,” said Elio explained. Most private investors would probably share their desires for high return on investment.
Bankers to the rescue
Elio Motors, once they went public, received 61,000 reservation for their proposed car. At this point, bankers' interests were peeked.
“12 months ago they wouldn't return my calls and now we're having meetings,” Elio explained. Elio Motors need about £300 million before they can start making cars and currently only have about $120 million. Granted most of this is debt. “I feel like we're over the hump,” Elio explains.
The Startup has forged a new relationship with Oppenheimer and they believe this could help get the ball rolling, from a financial point of view. Elio notes that he feels confident for the next round of funding negotiations.
By way of comparison, Tesla Motors has sold about 163,000 cars since the Roadster went into production in 2008. Tesla faced similar funding issues in order to get ready for manufacture. Tesla currently employs around 13,000 people and has a market cap of over $30 billion.
Mayor Glover is a hard man to please
Elio Motors has 23 test cars currently with the latest unveiled in November 2017 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Elio said at the meeting that cars would begin production in the fourth quarter of 2017. Clearly, this was still rather ambitious.
Mayor Glover did admit that Elio's plan and vision was very enticing. He wasn't, however, convinced that Shreveport hadn't been taken advantage of. For instance, Elio Motors had the option to sell off the old GM plant equipment and pocket the cash. Glover feels that the parish should have benefited from such a sale. The Mayor was also concerned about the lack of taxes being paid by Elio Motors. Mayor Glover did not shy away from his view that they had "hitched their wagon" to Elio. He would have preferred to join up with "Project Pheonix" who are said to and $10 billion in annual revenue.
[Image Source: Pixabay]
Not all bad news
Elio did have some good news for the public. He revealed that Hyundai Dymos would be making the seats for the cars in Shreveport. This, Elio explained, would bring an additional 80 full-time jobs to the area.
Understandably, Shreveport is upset by the continual delays. Elio tried to reassure the public by explaining that they could have chosen the Pontiac Site in Michigan instead. The old GM building was demolished and sold for parts. Interestingly, the former sites slab can't be broken up due to potential environmental issues and is now being used as a car hotel.
“Pontiac will never attract a billion dollar project to that site - ever,” reassures Elio.
Given Shreveport's concerns are certainly understandable. If Elio can make good on his promises and deliver cars, their patience will be rewarded. Elio will either be praised as a savior for the area of ran out of town. You know, business as usual. With so many hopes and dreams "on the line" we hope Elio can deliver.
Taxi for one?
With so many hurdles in the automotive industry and massive competition from established brands, not to mention the used car market, Elio's future is unclear. When Elio Motors make their first deliveries in the next year or two, the fundamental choice between a tiny, three-wheeled two-seater with enough trunk space for a small carry-on bag and a more practical use car like a Honda Civic won’t change.
As ambitious as Elio's vision is for his startup company it has many issues to solve even before getting to market. They have made quite a lot of promises, not only to investors and customers but also to local communities in which they wish to manufacture. Time will tell whether the positive rhetoric of Elio's founder will bear fruit. With dubious accounts, to some, and continued delays for others the next few years will certainly be interesting times for all concerned. Will they hit their 2018 deadline or delay once again?
If no investors can be found or deals with Oppenheimer fall through what will the company do with their facility in Shreveport? Will they start rolling out machines? What of all the promised employment? Will Mayor Glover's fears be realized? Should Shreveport ditch Elio and approach the "Pheonix Project" more aggressively? These are questions for the future, until then let's see what Elio can pull out of the hat.
None of that is deterring Elio of Elio Motors, “I’m all in,” he says. “If this doesn’t work, I’ll be saying, ‘Do you want fries with that?’
Sources: ElioMotors, Jalopnik, CarAndDriverAttacks against journalists increased by nearly 22 percent in Mexico last year, with eight media workers killed and nearly 400 assaulted, a press rights group said Thursday.
The report by Article 19 said that the organization has observed a "deterioration of freedom of speech" since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in December 2012.
The number of attacks has risen over the years, from 207 in 2012 to 326 in 2014 and 397 last year, the report said.
Of the eight killed in 2015, seven were reporters who were murdered "possibly in connection with their journalistic work" while the eighth victim was an administrative employee of a news organization.
Some 41.5 percent, or 165, of the 397 attacks last year were perpetrated by federal, state and municipal officials, the document said. Another 35 of the assaults were blamed on organized crime groups.
At least 55 media workers have been killed since 2009, Article 19 said.
Mexico has become one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists. Reporters Without Borders says 91 have been killed and 17 have gone missing since 2000.You could be forgiven if you paid scant attention to the internet this week, because it was a relatively quiet one — unless you happened to be at VidCon.
The usual glut of turbulent political controversies mostly gave way to debates about copyright infringement and online harassment spilling over into real life: A popular parody blog came under attack, several media Twitter feeds were briefly suspended, and YouTube’s alt-right extremism continued to be a disturbing and growing trend. But there were also a number of happy gorilla memes, and a few victories for Fair Use law to boot.
Gorilla memes made a brief resurgence thanks to one happy bather and one great photo.
No, the late and legendary Harambe didn’t come back from the dead, but it was a good week for gorillas online. It all started with Flashdance and tweeted the result: No, the late and legendary Harambe didn’t come back from the dead, but it was a good week for gorillas online. It all started with the above viral video of a gorilla, Zola from the Dallas Zoo, having a great time playing in a pool on a hot day. The clip trended on YouTube and then spread far and wide when after Bob Hagh set the scene to music fromFlashdanceand tweeted the result:
Next up, we have Next up, we have this viral tweet, which started an instant, delightful gorilla meme based on creatively interpreting gorilla pics:
Others quickly got in on the act — though the most viral joke, the one about Spider-Man below, is actually an old one, Others quickly got in on the act — though the most viral joke, the one about Spider-Man below, is actually an old one, the brainchild of Reddit user I_Say_I_Say, from last year:
The Reddit post seems to be the true origin of the “this gorilla looks like” meme, which has had previous The Reddit post seems to be the true origin of the “this gorilla looks like” meme, which has had previous fits and starts, though it only blossomed fully this week. But if the internet has taught us anything, it’s to never write off a good gorilla meme as prematurely dead
YouTube’s growing alt-right underbelly intensifies over a VidCon standoff with prominent feminist Anita Sarkeesian
It worked. In the controversial exchange that took place, Sarkeesian called out Benjamin’s presence in the audience and went on to call him a “garbage human.” Widely shared video footage of the incident showed the group of men laughing and reacting to Sarkeesian as she spoke, while most of the audience cheered.
"If you Google my name on YouTube you get shitheads like this dude who are making these dumb-assed videos that just say the same shit over and over again,” Sarkeesian said. “And like I hate to give you attention because you're a garbage human... whatever, dude. The fact that these dudes are making endless videos that just go after every feminist over and over again I think is a part of the issue of why we have to have these conversations — we don’t just get to be online."
In a blog post about the incident, Sarkeesian rejected Benjamin’s claim that he showed up to the panel in good fun:
When you have a history of harassing someone for years, and you show up in the front row at their panel with a camera and an entourage, that is not an act of good faith, to put it mildly. That is itself an act of harassment and intimidation.
The incident sparked outrage from many VidCon attendees, with The incident sparked outrage from many VidCon attendees, with comparisons made to the recent turn to the alt-right of prominent YouTube feminist Laci Green. Meanwhile, alt-right members bombarded VidCon organizer Hank Green with requests to ban Sarkeesian from the event for “harassing” Benjamin.
Green instead Green instead issued a blanket apology, noting that “[Sarkeesian’s] comment had violated [VidCon’s] policy, but that he understood that there was a broader context (which to be clear, we were blissfully ignorant of until this weekend, and remain inexpert in.)” The statement drew skepticism given Green’s familiarity with YouTube culture, where Sarkeesian has long been a prominent target of Gamergate-related vlogs.
Green also said he “apologized to [Sarkeesian] for not having been more aware of and active in understanding the situation before the event, which resulted in her being subjected to a hostile environment that she had not signed up for.” The VidCon statement did not address how VidCon plans to avoid such incidents in the future, but did note that “if people attend VidCon to collect footage to later use in videos that criticize not just ideas, but focus the outrage of their followers on individuals, they will not be welcome back.”
Apart from the nebulous possibility of Benjamin being banned from VidCon next year, the incident has resulted in the crowdfunding site Patreon Apart from the nebulous possibility of Benjamin being banned from VidCon next year, the incident has resulted in the crowdfunding site Patreon looking into the incident but ultimately choosing not to take action against Benjamin, whose videos currently earn him over $6,000 monthly. What seems clear is that the attention appears to have emboldened Benjamin and other alt-right and anti-progressive YouTubers — who want you to know that their presence and influence within the YouTube community is growing.
Twitter suspended accounts owned by various music media outlets over allegations of copyright infringement; users’ reactions were predictable
The suspensions, just as we’ve seen with The suspensions, just as we’ve seen with other recent Twitter suspensions, provoked backlash, prompting the circulation of the #FreeFader hashtag. The tone of the hashtag was generally one criticizing Twitter for not doing enough to ban Twitter harassment and white supremacists while targeting popular media for copyright infringement:
But this wasn’t the week’s only polarizing copyright takedown.
Zillow almost intimidated a popular parody blog out of existence
An example of a typical McMansion Hell image remix | Tumblr
The popular architecture Tumblr The popular architecture Tumblr McMansion Hell has long been the perfect mix of comedy remixing, internet vernacular, and actually informative educational posts about architecture. But that almost changed this week after real estate site Zillow sent its owner, grad student Kate Wagner, a cease-and-desist order alleging copyright infringement.
Despite the fact that Wagner’s work clearly fell into several categories of commentary which make it a protected work under from the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, which Despite the fact that Wagner’s work clearly fell into several categories of commentary which make it a protected work under Fair Use law, the clause of US copyright law which allows for parodic and educational remixes of material, Wagner was intimidated into briefly shutting down her website — exactly the kind of move such cease-and-desist notices are designed to provoke. The negative press and popular backlash against Zillow for the move, however, meant that Wagner also had lots of offers coming her way to help — including onefrom the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, which crafted a masterful response in defense of fair use and remix culture:
Fair Use architecture in a nutshell. | EFF
The pressure ultimately caused Zillow to The pressure ultimately caused Zillow to back down from its claim — a smart move, since the takedown attempt was rapidly turning into an example of the Streisand Effect — the internet rule of thumb that an attempt to censor something usually makes that thing even more popular and likely to spread even more rapidly. It all adds up to a victory for Fair Use advocates, remix culture, and lovers of shitty architecture and interior design. Well done, internet.
The internet’s snazziest fanfiction archive now hosts 25,000 fandoms
The OTW’s general goal is to provide a safe home for fanworks online and to advocate for their legality as Fair Use under copyright law. It might surprise you, given the recent cultural ascendency of fanfiction, to know that it still occupies a dubious legal status, with courts upholding some The OTW’s general goal is to provide a safe home for fanworks online and to advocate for their legality as Fair Use under copyright law. It might surprise you, given the recent cultural ascendency of fanfiction, to know that it still occupies a dubious legal status, with courts upholding some prominent examples as Fair Use, while deeming other prominent examples as infringement.
One of the best ways to advocate for fanfiction as a non-illegal pursuit is just to write it and read it. So if you’re a fan of fanworks, as many people are, it might make you happy to learn that AO3 One of the best ways to advocate for fanfiction as a non-illegal pursuit is just to write it and read it. So if you’re a fan of fanworks, as many people are, it might make you happy to learn that AO3 recently announced that the total number of fandoms on the site has ballooned to 25,000 since the site was founded 10 years ago. To be clear, that’s not 25,000 works of fanfic, but rather 25,000 different topics about which fanfiction is being written; the number of total fanfics at AO3 passed the 3 million mark earlier this year. (By contrast, of the other two most well-known fanfiction archives on the internet, Fanfiction.net had around 6,000 fandoms and 3 million works of fanfic as of a 2011 survey Wattpad, the self-publishing juggernaut which also encourages fanfiction, doesn’t categorize works by fandom.)
The AO3’s The AO3’s fanfiction categories include everything from run-of-the-mill fanfic about books and movies and TV to fanfic about real people ( RPF ), to fanfic about commercials hashtags, and fun Tumblr posts. At this point in the life of the internet, Rule 34 — the dictum that if something exists, someone has made a porn of it — can be expanded and extrapolated to a daily walkthrough AO3: If it exists, there’s fanfiction about it.
Your fave hockey webcomic lands a publishing deal
If Tumblr fans have proven anything, it’s that they can Check, Please! fandom. If Tumblr fans have proven anything, it’s that they can make such dreams a reality, so keep on dreaming bigger,Check, Please!fandom.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly attributed the quote by Dave Cullen to Carl Benjamin.Ryan Michael Madson (born August 28, 1980) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. Madson won World Series championships with the Phillies in 2008 and the Royals in 2015. He is second all-time in postseason pitching appearances; only Mariano Rivera has pitched in more postseason games.
Madson throws three types of fastballs. His four-seamer and sinker both average 95 miles per hour. He also throws a cut fastball that averages 93 mph, and a circle changeup around 85 mph.[1]
Early life [ edit ]
Madson was born in Long Beach, California. He graduated from Valley View High School (Moreno Valley, California) in 1998 with a 3.5 GPA.[citation needed] He committed to play college baseball for USC.[2] His uncle, Steve Barr, played for the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.
Professional career [ edit ]
Philadelphia Phillies [ edit ]
The Philadelphia Phillies selected Madson in the ninth round (254th overall) of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut in 2003. In 2005, he finished with a 4.14 earned run average in 87 innings. The Phillies converted him back to a starting pitcher, the role he held throughout his minor league career in 2006. But after struggling as a starter, he was returned to the bullpen to make room for Cole Hamels.[citation needed]
By 2008 Madson had become part of the "bridge to Lidge (closer Brad Lidge)", developing into an outstanding set-up man. With a devastating changeup, Madson found increased velocity, hitting as high as 97 miles per hour in the NLCS. Madson earned his first playoff victory when the Philles defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS. He pitched 1 2⁄ 3 innings, striking out one while allowing one hit and one walk.
When Brad Lidge was placed on the disabled list on June 9, 2009, Ryan Madson was the Phillies' choice for interim closer.[3][4][5] Madson got his first save in his new role on June 10, 2009, against the New York Mets.[6]
In Game 6 of the 2010 National League Championship Series, Madson was the losing pitcher when he gave up a solo home run to Juan Uribe in the eighth inning of a 3–2 loss to the San Francisco Giants.[7]
Madson began the 2011 season once again as the Phillies' main set-up reliever. However, with Lidge and José Contreras on the disabled list in May 2011, Madson was chosen |
Dr Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring and attribution at the UK Met Office, said: "Historical weather data is vital because it allows us to test our models of the Earth's climate: if we can correctly account for what the weather was doing in the past, then we can have more confidence in our predictions of the future.
"Unfortunately, the historical record is full of gaps, particularly from before 1920 and at sea, so this project is invaluable."
Image caption Logbooks from WWI ships such as HMS Dreadnought could also reveal important historical information
Most of the data about past climate comes from land-based weather monitoring stations which have been systematically recording data for over 150 years.
Those behind the OldWeather.org project say that the weather information from the WWI ships - which spans the period 1905-1929 - effectively extends this network to 280 mobile, seaborne weather stations.
Web volunteers are rewarded by rising through the ranks from cadet to captain of a particular ship, according to the number of pages they transcribe.
The project followsin the footsteps of previous "citizen science" projects such as Stardust@Home, Einstein@Home, Galaxy Zoo and Moon Zoo. It will also contribute to historical knowledge about WWI.
OldWeather.org features logbooks from historically important ships including HMS Caroline, which survived the Battle of Jutland and is still in existence in Belfast.
"Life in the trenches is well documented but the maritime struggle that took place during World War One is less well known," said historian Gordon Smith of Naval-History.Net.
"This was a global conflict that reached across the world's oceans to every part of the globe and was about far more than just the Battle of Jutland.
"We hope these new records will give people a fresh insight into naval history and encourage people to find out more about Britain's naval past and the role their relatives played in it."The KEF Reference 1 is a music lover's speaker. So even if you don't give a hoot about the technical wizardry that went into its design, that's fine -- the sound of music will be more than enough to win you over.
If you're a hardcore audiophile, the Reference 1's backstory goes like this. Unlike conventional speakers that have midrange and treble drive units mounted one above the other, the Reference 1 has a single Uni-Q driver with an integrated 5-inch (125mm) midrange and 1-inch (25mm) treble unit. The Uni-Q driver produces a more coherent sound than separate tweeter and midrange drivers. The Reference 1 also has a 6.5-inch (165mm) woofer.
Enlarge Image KEF
Another unique feature of the Reference 1 is its bass port, or should I say its bass port "tubes." The speaker comes with two that can be easily changed by the owner to fine-tune the speakers' bass balance in their room. The Reference 1 measures 17.3 by 8.1 by 16.9 inches (440 by 205 by 430 mm), and weighs a rather substantial 40.1 pounds (18.2 kg). The speaker has biwire connectors, and the Reference 1's impedance is rated at 8 ohms.
The speaker's front baffle was designed to minimize frequency response anomalies caused by diffraction; the baffle is made from a specially laminated aluminum/resin composite and secured to the Reference 1's cabinet with high tensile bolts to enhance rigidity.
You can get yours for $8,000 (£4,500, AU$15,799) per pair in immaculately finished piano black, or pair-matched real satin American walnut or gloss rosewood veneers. The Reference 1 is made in the UK.
Before I forget to mention it, KEF's Reference line also features two towers, Reference 3 and Reference 5; two center channel speakers, Reference 2c and Reference 4c; and the Reference 8b subwoofer.
Listening to the Reference 1
Great music should make you feel something, and when you hear it with a great pair of speakers, the emotional pull will be that much stronger. Your pulse might race -- or at least mine did when I watched Santana's "Soul Sacrifice" from the "Woodstock" Blu-ray. The band's fierce Latin rhythms paired with Carlos Santana's screaming guitar leads still sound fresh. They never get old.
KEF
There was something about the sound that led me to listen to a lot more vinyl than I usually do when reviewing speakers. The Reference 1 worked its magic with singers, starting with Aretha Franklin's "Soul 69" LP, which is really more of a jazzy blues album than a soul one. She's fronting a big band, with the brass and rhythm sections urging her on. The LP's recording quality isn't that good, but no matter -- Franklin's power and passion shine through, big time.
I next played "The Mancini Touch," with a swinging 35 piece jazz orchestra recording from 1959, and the sound was to die for. I felt like I was transported through time and space; the music was happening in the moment.
Even as I pushed the volume up, I never felt the Reference 1s holding back; the sound remained clear, and there was no sense of increasing distortion at higher volume. James Brown's "Soul Pride: Instrumentals 1960-1969" CDs have rip-roaring dynamic range, far beyond what you'll find in most contemporary music, and the Reference 1s weren't the least bit shy about letting me hear the power of Brown's rhythm section. The band's horns might sound ragged on lesser speakers, but here on the Reference 1s, the music soared. Brown plays organ on most tracks, but my favorites have him on drums; he was a real powerhouse.
Enlarge Image Steve Guttenberg/CNET
I spent some quality time comparing the Reference 1 with Bower & Wilkins' flagship monitor, the 805 D3. The Reference 1 is a three-way speaker, the 805 D3 is a two-way, so it didn't reach as deep into the bass on my Lee "Scratch" Perry dub reggae CDs. The Reference 1's low end outpaces the 805 D3's, but the 805 D3 is a higher-resolution, more transparent design, so I could more clearly pick out individual voices in choral recordings. The Reference 1s projected a bigger, yet precisely focused stereo soundstage. As I continued to listen, I came to feel both speakers were highly accomplished performers with all music genres.
Listening to the KEF Reference 1, you'll get more "flavor" out of your music -- that's what a great speaker does. The notes, rhythms and melodies are all exactly the same as you'd get with any decent speaker, but the Reference! reveals more about how the music was played, so it's a deeper experience.FIRST, by way of comparison (Everyone should include this when writing about product sizing!!!): I ordered a size Regular (NOT Tall) medium. My measurements are 73.5" tall, 40" chest, 15.5 neck, 34" sleeve length, 32" waist, 163lbs.
Aside from a slightly tight fit in the shoulders, as others here have noted, this parka in size medium is a great off-the-rack fit for me. And although the shoulders are a little tight, there is still room for me to wear the Woolrich Hanover vest under it.
One negative is that the draw-string around the waist only pulls in the back half of the parka without pulling in the sides or front. This not only allows cold air to enter, but also does nothing to eliminate a boxy look from the front (well, really a rectangular look). Come on, Woolrich, make the draw-string pull in the sides and front, too!
The other thing I didn't like is the plastic zipper. It works, all right, but it looks cheap. But at least it's a two way zipper, and one that is not hard to start.
The parka shell is not shiny, as I feared, so that's another plus, although it's still not the most expensive looking material, either. But for the sale price of around $100, overall it's a nice parka.9/9/2016 UPDATE: Isaiah successfully completed his marathon to set a new world record for Most wins against Tetribot in Tetris Ultimate in 24 hours, managing an incredible 614 victories over the course of his gruelling attempt.
Founder of the hugely successful eSports team Empire Arcadia, Isaiah “Triforce” Johnson, has just kicked off a 24-hour gaming challenge that is being broadcast live on YouTube.
The pro gamer is attempting to set a new world record for the Most wins against Tetribot in Tetris Ultimate in 24 hours.
facebook
Following the Guinness World Records rules, Isaiah is playing against Master Tetribot on an unmodified console using unmodified controllers, hoping to win as many games as possible over the course of one full day.
Watch the attempt from the 6 Colombus Hotel in New York here:
video
The gamer, who was born in Jamaica and raised in America, is no stranger to record-breaking, having previously achieved a variety of titles on the popular tile-matching videogame.
facebook
Isaiah holds the record for the Fastest time to achieve a perfect score on Tetris DS (Nintendo, 2006), at 8 hr 10 min 22 sec, as achieved in 2008.
Triforce also holds the record for the Highest score in a Tetris DS standard marathon – at a Twin Galaxies-refereed event on 5 July 2012, he scored an incredible 1,584,000 points.
Triforce and his eSports team Empire Arcadia have earned a coveted place in the brand new Guinness World Records 2017 Gamers Edition book for the impressive record Most documented tournament wins for a gaming team (2,000).
Guinness World Records 2017 Gamers Edition is in stores from tomorrow – be sure to pick up a copy to read an exclusive interview with the gamer.Promoted from the diaries by Erick for an alternative view on this particular topic.
After reading Erick’s post this morning entitled, Christians Side With Mammon. Mammon Sided with Barabbas, I feel compelled to respond and provide an alternative viewpoint.
Allow me to introduce myself. I’m a long-time RedState lurker – I discovered RedState (and political blogs in general) during RatherGate, and have been an almost daily reader of this site ever since. I’m a committed Christian and have been since childhood, growing up in a fundamental, Bible-believing church.
I’m a graduate of Patrick Henry College (PHC). The PHC student covenant begins as follows: “I, a student of Patrick Henry College, commit to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength; to love my neighbor as myself; and to bring glory to God in obedience to His Word through the following principles.”
I not only signed the PHC student covenant, as a member of PHC’s inaugural class, I and a small team of others developed the student government framework that came up with it in the first place.
I’ve been happily married to the love of my life, Heidi, for six and a half amazing years. We have an almost-two-year-old son, Tristan.
I’ve been intrigued by politics as long as I can remember – I recall, at 8 years old – watching with rapt attention the election returns on the night George Bush defeated Mike Dukakis. In the 1996 GOP Presidential primary I persuaded my parents to cast a protest vote for Pat Buchanan, as I felt Bob Dole was too liberal, and Dole was already a lock for the nomination by that time anyway. I was fifteen at the time. In high school I interned in my Congressman’s district office. After college, I worked on my Congressman’s 2002 reelection campaign as a paid staffer. I first voted in the 1998 midterm elections and have never missed a federal election since. I was a firm believer in voting for the most conservative candidate electable, long before I’d ever heard of the “Buckley Rule.”
Hopefully, the above is enough to establish my Christian, conservative bona fides (and yes, the order of those adjectives is deliberate) as well as they can be established without sitting down and actually having a conversation with me.
Then there’s this: I’m also a firm advocate for legalization of same-sex marriage.
At 32, I’m arguably one of those “younger evangelicals” Erick described in his article (though depending on your standard for judging such things, it can be argued that I am neither “young” nor “evangelical”).
To hear Erick describe it, people like me are “turning the American ideal of liberty into an idol we worship.” Ostensibly this is because Christians who support same-sex marriage are either (a) trying to thread the needle between “personal” and “political” beliefs, or (b) engaged in a futile attempt to mollify a world that hates, has always hated, and will always hate the Creator of the Universe, His Son, and those who follow Him.
Let me address these one at a time.
“Private” vs. “Public”
I don’t want to put words in Erick’s mouth, but it sounds to me as though he means this similarly to the way Vice President Biden was critiqued from the Right (including by me) for framing his position on abortion as “personally pro-life, but publicly pro-choice.”
In Biden’s case, though, his construction was an attempt to square a circle. If you genuinely believe that (a) an unborn child is nonetheless a living human being, and (b) the government has the duty to protect the lives of those within its jurisdiction from being harmed by others without due process of law, then you CANNOT be “personally pro-life, but publicly pro-choice.”
We’ll come back to that (b) in a bit.
For same-sex marriage though, speaking for myself at least, there is no irreconcilable difference between “personal” and “political” beliefs to resolve. What, then, are mypersonal beliefs? As a Bible-believing Christian, don’t I believe that Homosexuality is wrong?
Here is my personal belief on the issue, in a nutshell:
Is Homosexuality a Sin?
I. Do. Not. Care.
Luke 10 tells the story of a legal expert who queried Jesus about what was required to inherit eternal life. Christ turned the question back on its questioner, and this man whose entire life revolved around studying the law of God summed it up in two points: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
And Christ informed him that he had it exactly right.
That’s what is required to be a follower of Christ. I’m not called to hunt down sinful people, or question the faith of my friends and neighbors, or try to wield the power of the government to enforce my convictions on others.
I’m called to love God, and love them. period. The End. Christ himself spent time with the lowest and most despised sinners of His day, and Scripture holds no account of His ever confronting them about it, except when they explicitly asked Him about it or, like Zaccheus the cheating, thieving tax collector, brought it up themselves.
Even for those who believe homosexuality is a sin, does it necessarily follow that they should wield the levers of Leviathan’s power against those whom they believe are in the wrong? After all, Scripture speaks about homosexuality a bare handful of times. Conversely, caring for the poor is a key theme all throughout the Major and Minor Prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles. Israel is repeatedly condemned for abandoning the poor, sick and needy among them. The disciples and the early church are urged to care for those same poor and needy.
If, as the anti-SSM crowd would have it, the levers of State are to be wielded to enforce the commands of Scripture, then pardon me, but what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks are we doing spending so much time, energy and effort fighting to overturn Obamacare? If the role of government is to enforce Biblical morality, isn’t Obamacare – providing the security of medical insurance coverage to a multitude of poor, sick people who couldn’t get it before, the most Christ-like thing the government has ever done??
And what of my “public” position?
This is where the abortion analogy comes in... and where Erick’s “idolatry of freedom” paradigm fails miserably. It is the role of government to protect its citizens from one another in the absence of due process. It is NOT the role of government – at least not in this particular Constitutional Republic – to endorse or enforce morality – be it Biblical or any other kind.
Recall, if you will, the time when some of the legal scholars of the day tried to trap Jesus into taking an insurrectionist stand against the Roman Empire by asking him about taxes. His response refuted Erick’s “idolatry of freedom” paradigm perfectly... Christ drew a bright line between things civil and things religious, and commanded his questioners to “Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and to God the things which are God’s.
In a society where the freedoms Erick accuses us of holding too highly are explicitly enshrined in the nation’s governing document, support for equal protection under the law and freedom of contract aren’t idolatry. They’re simply rendering to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s!
But forget the role of government for a moment. What about Christ Himself?? Given the pattern of Jesus’ own life on earth, can you really make the argument that he cares more about homosexuality than about the poor? Can you really believe that He would want us to use the government to enforce the former type of morality, but not the latter? Can you honestly think that following in His footsteps requires us to parse out whether taking a particular position constitutes “tacit approval” of sin? Did Christ Himself care about whether his dinners with publicans and prostitutes looked to the Pharisees like “tacit approval”??
Who’s Trying to be Popular?
Look at me. I’m writing a staunchly pro-SSM post, the day after the Prop 8/DOMA oral arguments when everyone’s interest in the issue is at its peak, on RedState.com, of all places! Ask yourself if these are the actions of someone who cares especially strongly if he is “popular” or “well-liked.” Are they?
I do not care if the world approves of my beliefs. But neither do I care if my fellow-believers approve of them. Just as too many of those who support SSM act from the former motivation, too many of those who oppose it act from the latter. Both motivations miss the point – by a lot.
So I’m not in it for the accolades or the approval. I couldn’t care less.
So Why, then?
Why do I believe SSM should be implemented as legal? Three reasons:
The debate over SSM is a divisive political issue that is tearing this country apart culturally and politically, while distracting from other, FAR more serious crises that we are refusing to face because we cannot resolve the differences between left and right on this one issue. Many of the arguments against implementing SSM are, I believe, misguided, misleading or mistaken. Marriage is a Good Thing, and a positive influence. I want that for as many people as possible.
Division: Erick or others will perhaps reply that such divisiveness is necessary to take a firm stand on an issue of conviction in which one believes strongly, and which is vitally important to the future of this country. To such a response, I would heartily agree! I just don’t think this is that issue. I believe issues like entitlement spending, border security, national defense, over-regulation, reckless monetary policy, education, abortion and a whole host of other issues – both fiscal and social – will have a MUCH greater impact on the direction this nation takes over the next 20-50 years than will the issue of SSM.
I also believe that, by fighting the issue tooth-and-nail as we on the right have done, we’ve invited the courts to step in and make a blanket ruling as they did in Roe vs. Wade, that will set back the integrity of the democratic process, impacting a host of other vital issues and making it harder to put in place legislative protections of conscience for those who are morally opposed to providing services in support of a same-sex wedding, adoption, etc.
Bad Arguments: It has become a recent fad for libertarians, and some conservatives, to argue that the government should get out of the marriage business altogether. I’ve been making this argument since long before it was “the new thing,” and I’m glad to see more people getting on board. This whole debate begs the question, Why does the government have an overriding interest in my personal contract to love and care for and share everything with my wife in the first place??
I’ve typically heard three sets of responses to this question.
1) The government has an overriding interest in procreation, and the most stable method for doing so is through families with two opposite-sex parents.
If this is where you hang your hat, if it’s constitutional to define same-sex couples as “not married,” then it’s also ok to deny the right to marry (Yes, Virginia, the freedom to engage in voluntary contracts with another person absolutely is a right) to anyone who has gone through menopause, or who has had a vasectomy or hysterectomy. After all, if I’m capable of fathering children, but am married to a partner who is incapable of bearing them, I am acting counter to the state’s overriding interest in procreation, am I not? What about polygamy – that infamous slippery slope that is the first refuge of anyone who opposes SSM? If you’re anti-SSM because you believe in the importance of procreation, shouldn’t you be pro-polygamy??
What about birth control? Are SSM-opponents going to turn the leftist smear that “Republicans want to outlaw birth control” into a reality??
Only if they’re being intellectually consistent.
2) Getting government out of marriage altogether would be too unworkable. Since government HAS to be involved somehow, they ought to be involved by enforcing the “correct” definition of what marriage is.
Take a look at the Wikipedia entry for “Marriage in Israel.” I suspect you’ll find it enlightening. I know I did. In Israel, civil and religious marriage are two entirely different things. Each one is regulated differently: Civil marriages by the government, and religious marriages by the religious community that performs them.
The only reason we can’t do that easily here is because the government has gotten itself knotted up in something it should never have been involved with in the first place – taxes, inheritance laws, employer-employee contracts... are you really going to sit there and tell me that the conservative position is that the government should have its fingers in all these things, thereby justifying an overriding government interest in marriage??
3) The government is just acknowledging that “marriage” means what it has always meant
This one makes me literally laugh out loud. The very same Christian Evangelicals who champion the literal interpretation of Scripture have concocted a “Biblical Definition of Marriage” that excludes Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, David, Solomon and other Heroes of the Faith. From a secular historical perspective, monogamy has typically been the exception, rather than the rule. Claiming that “Marriage has always been between one man and one woman” demonstrates a complete ignorance of both history and Scripture.
The “Conservatizing” Influence of Marriage: Marriage is, as most married people will tell you, a stabilizing influence. It also seems to be a “conservatizing” one. Singles vote overwhelmingly democratic. Married people vote overwhelmingly Republican. Yet here we have a Republican-oriented site championing a policy that denies an entire segment of the population the ability to settle down and enjoy the stability and security that comes with a lifelong commitment to another person. I realize that “the plural of anecdote is not data,” but I can tell you that in my personal circle of acquaintances and friends, the ones who are both gay and married (in states that allow it) are far more willing to see the reason in conservative positions – sometimes even shocking themselves by doing so – than before they were married, and moreso than other gay friends who are not married.
And then there are the children. Even if you believe with all your heart that the best environment in which to raise a child is one shared with both a loving (male) father and a loving (female) mother... are you really ready to argue that a child is better off in an abusive home, or shuttling around between foster homes, or in a home with an absentee mom or dad, or in a broken home, than that child would be in a loving home shared with two parents of the same gender?
We live in a fallen, broken world, and unfortunately that means that not all of us have the good fortune to grow up in stable homes with both a father and mother who love us and are present in our lives. But for those who don’t have that opportunity, I’d argue that a stable home with two fathers or two mothers is the next best thing.
And what is it that makes it so “stable”? The lifelong commitment, public support system, and social (and perhaps, but not necessarily, governmental) imprimature that comes with the term “marriage.”
Don’t forget that, back in the 1980s when he was a real conservative, Andrew Sullivan was absolutely pilloried by the left for advocating in favor of gay marriage. The Left thought he was selling them out by buying into the institutions and traditions of conservatism.
What if they were right? Could it be that the increasingly widespread adoption of legalized same-sex marriage means we won the culture wars??
And then there are the taxes. All those taxes! One of the chief objections to the Defense of Marriage Act – the one on which the Windsor case before the Supreme Court is, in fact, based – is that Same Sex couples have no way to avoid the taxes that are not levied against married couples. Are we, as conservatives, going to be the ones arguing that the government ought to take a bigger chunk of Edith Windsor’s money because of her lifestyle choices?? Shouldn’t we be leaving such arguments to the statists who run the Other Party??
Finally there is the civil aspect of nature itself. How did we on the right become the party that is in favor of government inserting itself into the question of with whom I may freely and mutually enter into contract?
Sundry Objections
Most of you who have made it this far probably disagree with the majority of what I’ve written here. I’ve certainly come up against various objections in the past. I’d like to address a few of them briefly here – though I hope you’ll share others in the comments.
Nobody’s denying anybody anything – we’re just defining what federal law means when it uses the word “married”
Does Edith Windsor know that? Is that explanation going to give her back the money exacted from her by the government after her long-term partner died?
Liberals want to destroy the institution of marriage altogether.
Look how well that’s going. They’ve been so successful at destroying the institution of marriage that, suddenly, everybody wants one!
Liberals want to use SSM to coerce people to violate their convictions
No doubt. As Erick said in his article, the World hates those who follow Christ, and it always will. I would make it broader, and say that the world – at least the one in which we live today – hates firmly held convictions of any kind. If you believe in something strongly enough that you’re willing to fight for it, die for it, or kill for it, you’re viewed as... something of an oddity, vaguely unusual and probably a threat to society at large.
That’s not going to change. Are people going to use (or ALREADY using) SSM to force believers to violate their convictions? Absolutely!
So fight them there!
Are there people using SSM to shut down churches? Yes! Fight them there!
Are there people using SSM to extract more hard-earned tax dollars from those who oppose it? Yes! Fight them there!
Are there people using SSM to silence and censor dissent? Yes! Fight them there!
Right now, the hill on which conservatives have chosen to fight is a hill on which conservatism is dying – if it has not already died. The way is open for us to coopt the SSM-movement and let marriage work its stabilizing influence on them, while in the meantime fighting battles we can actually win – battles where we’re the ones arguing in favor of free speech, or freedom of religion, instead of the ones arguing against freedom of contract.
Erick juxtaposes this issue with the occurrence of Holy Week. But I would have you commemorate Holy Week by sitting down, as Christ did, to share your life with those He came to save... those He called you to love.
Erick would have you commemorate Holy Week by casting the first stone at them.
And for that, I am an idolater? No! Because an idol is something that takes the place of God in my heart and life... something that stands as more important than He is.
Freedom isn’t more important than God is to me. It’s simply the most important of all of His gifts to me. I hope you’ll stand with me in thanking Him for it, and extending it as widely as possible to others.Mao Zedong controlled China with an iron fist for more than three decades, and is widely believed to have caused the death of roughly 50 million people during his reign. His two main political campaigns — the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution — are considered terrible failures in large part because of the death toll and suppression of human rights. One of the reasons for the massive death toll? A fickle, half-baked idea of Mao’s called the Four Pests Campaign.
The Four Pests Campaign began in 1958. It was one of Mao’s first acts as part of the Great Leap Forward, aimed at eliminating four creatures which Mao believed put the health and hygiene of the average Chinese citizen at risk. Three of them — mosquitoes, flies, and rats — may make some sense, but rendering them extinct, even locally, is a fool’s errand. The fourth pest, the sparrow, does not seem to belong on this list. But Mao observed that sparrows would eat the grains planted by Chinese workers and, therefore, reduce the value of the people’s labor. So they made the list, too, and were more effectively targeted than the other three “pests.” Mao’s government began a large-scale propaganda campaign to get peasants to shoo or kill sparrows on sight. The poster above is one example: it shows a child armed with a slingshot and the text below, translated, means “Everyone come and fight sparrows.”
The campaign was successful on its face, as the sparrow was nearly rendered extinct in China. But it turns out that sparrows did not just eat grains. They also ate insects — specifically, locusts. The locust population, left unchecked, ate a lot more grain than the sparrows ever could.
By the time Mao’s government noticed and could react, two years had passed, and the damage was already done. The ecological imbalance caused by the Four Pests Campaign helped spur on massive food shortages and, in turn, the death of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people.
Bonus fact : In Uganda, fried grasshoppers are a delicacy, served with onions (and with their wings removed). Grasshopper collectors use bright lights to attract large amounts of the insects to gather in a small area, and then quickly gas and capture them. Unfortunately for the grasshopper sellers, though, Uganda had power outages in December, as reported by the AFP — meaning no lights, and therefore, a grasshopper shortage.
From the Archives: Flies Fear Ugly Bags of Mostly Water: More about pest control.
Related: “The Private Life of Chairman Mao” by Li Zhi-Sui. 98 reviews averaging 4.5 stars. Available on Kindle.The urban idea of stacking people's homes one on top of the other is very old: The Romans thought of it; so did the Egyptians. In European cities and in New York, by the early 1800s, the constraints of space meant squishing rooms for the lower classes into tenement buildings a few stories tall.
Apartments, though, were different. They were something in between—not the stand-alone homes and townhouses that were, in the 19th century, becoming the province of the urban rich and at the same time not a couple of rooms for large families, with a shared bathroom in the hallways. Apartments were for the middle class, the creative class. They were kind of cool.
If any city pioneered apartments on a large scale, it was Paris. Sharon Marcus, a professor of comparative literature, writes in Apartment Stories:
Throughout the nineteenth century, the apartment house dominated the Parisian urban landscape, inspired and worried domestic ideologues and urban planners, and provided fiction writers with settings… Their popularity owed much to two factors: They provided spatially compact housing in a city with a rapidly increasing population and offered an expanding middle class opportunities for investing in relatively inexpensive and profitable properties.
More than London, Marcus writes, Paris in the early 1800s embraced the apartment. And when wealthy Americans came to Paris for their cultural education, their interest was caught by these "Parisian flats." In New York, nothing like that existed—a large, well-appointed space in a building that happened to be shared with other families. Tenements didn't have parlors.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is asking Canada to play a role in reviving the Mideast peace process.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird met Tuesday evening with Mr. Netanyahu, who only hours earlier hosted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in his latest shuttle-diplomacy visit to rekindle peace talks.
Mr. Netanyahu asked Mr. Baird to consider what role Canada – a staunch Israel ally – might play in the peace process as it develops, Canadian government sources said. In a statement, Mr. Netanyahu said he "welcomed Mr. Baird's offer of assistance" to advance talks.
Story continues below advertisement
While there were no specifics on what part Canada could play, Mr. Netanyahu's talks with Mr. Baird included discussions on possible Canadian economic-development initiatives in the Palestinian territories. Those programs are aimed at boosting the economy and day-to-day lives of Palestinians in the hope of building the conditions for a lasting peace deal.
"We did a lot of listening – in Ramallah and Jerusalem," Mr. Baird said after the meeting. "I'm going to reflect on what I heard, take it back to Ottawa and discuss with my colleagues what role Canada can play."
The Harper government sympathizes with Mr. Netanyahu's insistence that he needs strong security guarantees and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, and is skeptical that the Palestinians, divided between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's moderates in the West Bank and militant Hamas rule in Gaza, will be willing to move now to negotiate such a deal. But Mr. Baird has expressed support for Mr. Kerry's effort, and suggested he favours economic initiatives to improve the day-to-day lives of Palestinians as a means to increase their stake in an agreement.
Mr. Netanyahu also expressed his concern to Mr. Baird that Israel will face a challenge in reaching a deal that provides real security guarantees – and gives confidence that it will have not only an agreement, but lasting peace afterward, aides said.
Mr. Netanyahu entered his earlier meeting with Mr. Kerry saying he's determined to resume the peace process, and the two men indicated that the plans to revive talks includes economic-development initiatives for Palestinians. But Mr. Kerry's shuttle-diplomacy has not yet brought Israelis and Palestinians to new negotiations. Mr. Netanyahu has not accepted Mr. Abbas's condition that Israel stop all settlement activity.
Still, before meeting Mr. Kerry, the Israeli Prime Minister called the attempts to revive the talks a "real effort" that he hopes to advance. "I'm determined not only to resume the peace process with the Palestinians but to make a serious effort to end this conflict once and for all," he said.
Mr. Kerry has been tight-lipped about his proposals, said to revolve around elements of a 2002 Arab peace plan, combined with economic initiatives aimed at providing a better climate for peace talks. He insisted those economic initiatives are only one component to his proposals, and not a substitute for negotiations. But the emerging economic second-track of the Kerry peace plan fits closely with ideas Mr. Baird has highlighted for potential Canadian action.
Story continues below advertisement
Story continues below advertisement
Mr. Baird, wrapping up a 12-day tour to the Middle East before heading to London for meetings with G8 foreign ministers, spent much of Tuesday shuttling to meetings with party leaders in Mr. Netanyahu's new coalition in an attempt to gauge the dynamics in the new government, and their support for negotiations with Palestinians.
Earlier, Israeli President Shimon Peres also said he wants to see Ottawa play a role in a revived peace process, noting that Canada chaired multilateral talks on Palestinian refugees. Those talks have been dormant for years – and Mr. Peres suggested it might be time to revive them.
On Saturday, in talks with Mr. Baird, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad put economic-development initiatives, especially boosting the private sector in the West Bank, at the top of Palestinian priorities in discussions toward a new Canadian aid package. Mr. Baird discussed the Palestinians' aid priorities and said he would work on details and take a proposal for a new multiyear aid program to the federal cabinet. The last five-year plan was a $300-million package.
Mr. Baird said Canadian aid projects, notably in justice and security, have made a visible impact in Ramallah and the West Bank, and called them "an effective use of development dollars."
Mr. Baird has expressed staunch support for Israel throughout his visit to the country, and repeatedly called on talks to resume without preconditions – in effect, a call for Mr. Abbas to drop his demand that Israel stop settlement activity in the West Bank before he will return to peace talks.The world has been riveted by Bill Clinton’s dramatic rescue of two journalistic damsels from the clutches of Kim Jong Il, the diabolical and unpredictable North Korean despot. One cannot help but be relieved for the two women and their families and touched by the moving family reunions.
Yet even though the happy outcome tugs at our sentimental side, we should be asking whether the rescue was good public policy. Several hard questions arise:
1. Is the U.S. government responsible for bailing out American journalists, business people, or tourists who do stupid or risky things in dangerous and autocratic foreign countries?
|
Venezuela's economic crisis: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tmsnrt.rs_2pPJdRb&d=D)
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Tom Brown)Dear Mr Collin Brewer
Sadly, since I wrote this letter Cllr Brewer has decided to stand again in the May Local Elections. Misguided and naiive to the public feeling against him that spans the world.
AN OPEN LETTER TO WADEBRIDGE COUNCILLOR MR COLLIN BREWER
Dear Mr Brewer
I appreciate that you are probably rather snowed under at the moment, a little shell shocked perhaps, reeling from the worldwide reaction to your foolish and hurtful error. But feel that a few minutes spent reading my letter might change your life as it now stands.
I have just returned from a gathering of beautiful child models, meeting together in an historic building for a photoshoot, all of them bursting with life. There were giggles and hugs and sulks, play fighting and tickling, far too many crisps were consumed, and it took a lot of persuasion to get some to play ball in front of the cameras. Each one had a personality that filled the room and each was quite the little diva.
But you see one of the smallest and arguably the most cheeky was our daughter Natty. And Natty has Down's Syndrome. As in fact do all the other children we met that day.
My motivation to change the way the world views this extra chromosome is personal, and that day we had gathered to celebrate the doors that our children are opening, the perceptions they are gently changing and the inspiration they are providing to new families and children with disabilities everywhere simply by being included in mainstream advertising.
Natty is 6, an ambassador, a teacher and melts hearts wherever she goes. She puts back far more into society than she takes from it, as she entertains, laughs, sings, dances, jokes, brings people together, teaches tolerance and an understanding of difference. For EQ cannot be measured financially. She intuitively watches out for the emotional needs of her classmates, always there for the needy, the upset, the ones with the bumped knees. You see Colin, a person's worth can never be equated to pounds coins.
I'm sure she would make a beeline for you if she ever met you, for your buffoonery and lack of understanding of the world is as great a disability as any, even more tragic in one who should be old and wise enough to know better by now. She would feel sorry for what you are missing out on, as indeed I do, my hurt and anger aside. I too was ignorant about disability before Natty was born. I have since made up for that, and it is not too late for you to learn that inclusion is a two-way street. The only burden I'd rather not have on my shoulders is tackling the misinformed and comforting those upset by thoughtlessness such as yours.
I have oft come across those who are purposely hurtful and hateful, the Geoffery Clarks of the world, the trolls of life. But my motto is to ignore them, not put air in their lungs by fuelling their hatred, to simply shine light on their darkness.
But I do not for one second believe that you are one such individual Colin. Do you really want to euthanise the disabled? Of course not.
Did you let your Councillor’s hat slip and your true colours show? Yes, even if those true colours were just hot-headedness and a desire to provoke and hurt, and that will simply not do. As a former teacher I understand the importance of always acting responsibly in public and you did not.
Are you out of touch with social media? Yes. You never dreamed the stone would roll so far and pick up such hateful moss along the way, much of it exaggerated, out of context and frankly more worrying than your initial comments. The 'army' of people you have upset is far greater than the small collection of voters you represented. “Scores” doesn’t come close to covering it.
Did you do a lot of good in your career and were you well respected by the people of Wadebridge? Yes, and I have spoken to many of them personally, being a very local lady. I actually felt a little bit sorry for you as I watched the proceedings unfold, because you seemed a little naiive.
It’s time to remove your blinkers now and enjoy the jigsaw of life around you. To see what we can all learn from each other. I hope that other disability groups and parents will offer you an olive branch such as I am doing now.
I wish you a happy retirement, although my mind's eye envisages an embarrassed brood of grown up children and a wife who wishes you had kept your mouth shut. An inbox full of hatred and your name smeared across every paper. Bitterness fills the air.
It’s not too late to meet with us, or other disability groups, share a coffee and make amends properly.
I for one, thank you for doing the right thing and for stepping down.
We now need to channel our energies in proper disability training for all council staff, starting now.
Yours sincerely
Hayley Goleniowska
Author of Downs Side UpParamount Pictures has revived its $1 billion slate deal with two Chinese media companies, which was presumed dead last month, according to several sources.
The studio’s new Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, who took over the studio in March, traveled to Beijing last week to try and resurrect the deal with Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media. He was accompanied on the trip by a Viacom executive as well as some Paramount colleagues, including worldwide marketing and distribution president Megan Colligan. The Paramount team was there to promote this summer’s tentpole sequel “Transformers: The Last Knight” at the Beijing International Film Festival.
First announced in January, the Chinese financing deal hit a roadblock in March as China continued to apply greater scrutiny to overseas investments.
Though listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, Shanghai Film Group remains majority state-owned. State-owned companies have been subject to especially strict regulation on overseas investment since the Chinese government began its measures in November to bolster its currency and curb speculation. Huahua Media has significant operations offshore, and was able to provide its share of the payments under the agreement. But Shanghai Film Group struggled to hold up its end of the bargain.
Related Paramount Chief Jim Gianopulos Unveils Diversity Initiative Paramount Pictures Names Mary Daily Co-President of Marketing, Distribution With Marc Weinstock
The deal was originally brokered by Brad Grey, who was then Paramount’s chairman and CEO. Grey departed in February, leaving a question as to whether the Chinese investors would choose to stay in the deal under Paramount’s new leadership.
As originally announced, the co-financing agreement would have the two Chinese firms investing in all of Paramount’s films over the next three years. Sources in China close to the deal said the parties discussed with Gianopulos what specific films they were going to invest in. It’s believed that the resurrected deal did not include all of the movies on Paramount’s slate. They also said the parties have an option to extend for a fourth year on the same terms. The two Chinese firms would have their own office on the Paramount lot.
Both companies have previously partnered with Paramount on individual films. Huahua Media, a marketing and distribution firm, partnered on the marketing of “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and “Star Trek Beyond,” among others, while Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media were invovled with the China release of “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.”
Last year, Paramount seriously explored selling a 49% stake to China’s Dalian Wanda Group, but the Viacom board ultimately rejected the plan.After eliminating Michael Cuddyer from their list of potential free-agent pursuits, the Mets still have other outfield targets they may consider.
Michael Morse is one such name who fits the Mets’ criteria, according to a person with knowledge of the club’s internal discussions.
The 32-year-old had a slash line of.279/.336/.475 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 438 at-bats for the Giants in 2014 and was a key contributor in the World Series.
If there is a concern, it’s about Morse’s health history. He hasn’t played a full season since 2011, when he had a breakout year for the Nationals, and there are questions if he still can handle the grind of playing the outfield on a regular basis.
“You worry about his legs,” said a major league talent evaluator, who has watched Morse over the past several seasons.
Morse is more attractive to the Mets than options like Cuddyer and Melky Cabrera because the club would not have to surrender a draft pick to sign him.
The 35-year-old Cuddyer was on the Mets’ radar until Monday, when the Rockies extended him a qualifying offer ($15.3 million for 2015), meaning a team that signs him would have to forfeit a draft pick. The Mets would have to surrender their first-round selection (15th overall) for next season, because that pick is not protected.
Last year, Curtis Granderson was extended a qualifying offer by the Yankees, but the Mets’ first-round pick was protected based on the club’s 74-88 record in 2013. The Mets signed Granderson to a four-year deal worth $60 million and only had to forfeit a second-round pick. The Mets used their first-round selection (10th overall) on Oregon State outfielder Michael Conforto.
If the Mets go the trade route to fill a corner-outfield spot, they could consider a deal with the Red Sox, who may look to move Yoenis Cespedes. But such a trade likely would require the Mets dealing a young pitcher such as Noah Syndergaard or Zack Wheeler to a Red Sox team that covets power arms.
The Mets likely would try to get Morse on a one-year deal, but in this thin market he conceivably could get a second year. The Giants signed Morse last winter to a one-year contract worth $6 million. Morse began his major league career with the Mariners in 2005 and also has spent time with the Nationals and Orioles.
His best season came in 2011, when he had a.303/.360/.550 slash line with 31 homers and 95 RBIs for the Nationals.
In this year’s postseason, he returned from an oblique injury that had kept him sidelined since August and went 2-for-4 with a homer in the NLCS before going 4-for-16 (.250) with four RBIs in the World Series against the Royals. *
The Mets still are compiling a list of potential candidates for assistant hitting coach, according to a club source, but may change the job description to include coaching responsibilities other than working with the hitters.
Recently, the club signed Kevin Long to a three-year contract to become the hitting coach. Long has input in the process to fill the vacant coaching position, according to the source.Trashing the nomination
Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility report that Lisa Jackson, President-elect Obama’s reported pick for EPA chief, used her power as head of New Jersey’s environmental agency (DEP) to undermine New Jersey’s environmental protection in service of industry.
PEER describes how Jackson followed the classic Bushie tactic of hiring a former industry lobbyist to "ovesee" the very same regulations the industry had for years paid her to defeat. PEER also describes how Jackson followed the Bushie/Rethug playbook when she used her power as head of DEP to appoint "task forces" she filled with industry moles who — predictably — colluded on behalf of their industry empoyers to prevent DEP from protecting New Jersey’s citizens.
In 2006 DEP head Lisa Jackson chose to appoint Nancy Wittenberg, a long-time lobbyist for the NJ Builders’ Association, as the Assistant Commissioner for Environmental Regulation for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Gee…what a coincidence: Wittenberg spent the several years before Jackson brought her into DEP fighting the same rules Jackson put her in charge of enforcing at EPA. More from PEER:
Wittenberg…will oversee many of the rules that she lobbied against for her former development clients. During her political advocacy role as lobbyist for the New Jersey Builders Association for over a decade, Ms. Wittenberg repeatedly bashed environmental protections… More directly, Wittenberg will oversee important DEP permits and approvals that she has severely criticized.
Revolving doors for industry in govenment agencies: how audacious! After all, that’s worked so well for the telcos at the Bushie FCC…and Big Carbon at Bushie Minerals Management Service…and Monsanto under Poppy’s FDA…and Monsanto under the Clinton EPA…and Monsanto under the Bushies…and Wall Street under the Bushies. Appointing industry flacks to the public agency created to protect the rest of us from the industry — now that’s change we can believe in. Appointing Wittenberg puts Jackson right in step with the Bushie regualtors, and that’s the point of our democractic system, right? Change the names on the doors, but make sure the agencies remain under industry control: that’s why we progressives worked so hard to defeat the Rethugs, right?
Now that Jackson’s reported to be The Leader’s EPA pick, the usual Big Green mouthpieces within the Beltway have assembled for the Villagers’ Choir: the carolers who only sing for K Street’s ears. For local color, the Villagers have added the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chair Jeff Tittel’s voice to the current perfromance:
Tittel [notes] that Corzine basically gave Jackson two choices to fill the spot: either the New Jersey Builders Association person-who, Tittel notes, actually wrote policy papers for NJBA, not lobbying, and had previously worked in the state’s environmental agency-or… a lobbyist from the Chemical Council.
Now that’s an inventive defense of a nominee to lead a Federal office: at the State level, they didn’t have the stones to resist political pressure to help out industry.
Of course, for the Sierra Club’s notoriously insular DC leadership, Jackson’s servile response to Corzine’s corrupt choices is a definite plus. Ya see, the dirty little secret in the enviro movement is that while local Club chapters and memebrs do great work, the Club’s core leaders went native and joined the Beltway corporatists. Just ask the Florida Sierra Club chapter and officails that opposed the Club’s marketinig deal with mega-posioner Clorox…if you can find them. The national Sierra Club’s leaders purged the Florida locals for the sin of standing up to Power against poison Clorox.
Sierra Club leaders’ long collaboration with Power at the expense of local members and the environment is another reason NJ Club leader Tittel’s defense of Jackson — Power’s pick for EPA chair — fails to persuade. Ya see, Power’s pick Jackson left her job heading up New Jersey’s DEP to accept an appointment in NJ Gov Corzine’s office. In March Tittel showed up to praise Corzine…but once Jackson’s DEP record came into view last week Tittle balmed Corzine for Jackson’s appointments. The Sierra Club’s NJ leader even called Corzine "the worst environmental governor we’ve ever had." Of course, defending Obama’s EPA pick by pointing out the guy she chose to leave NJ’s DEP to work for is the "worst enivronmental governor [NJ] ever had" looks pretty weak. But then I’m not a Sierra Club leader…or a cheerleader for Power.
Obama’s EPA pick Jackson followed the Bushie playbook when she used her power as DEP’s administrator to concoct a "task force" stuffed with industry servants to oversee DEP’s work. Jackson’s intial nineteen "task force" picks were all from industry: undr public pressure, she added three enviros (including Tittel) as greenie window dressing. Amazingly enough, Jackson’s pet task force effectively stymied DEP’s work: just as Bushies’ industry servants placed at USDA, FDA, and EPA snuffed out Federal agencies’ work to protect us.
What did Jackson and her hand-picked fifth column do at DEP? According to PEER:
Jackson later convened an industry-dominated task force to rewrite DEP policies and relaxed pollution enforcement through policies more business-friendly than those under Gov. Christie Whitman. Relying on closed-door deal-making with regulated industry executives and lobbyists, Ms. Jackson produced decisions, such as – * Invoking "executive privilege" to block a request filed by PEER under the state Open Public Records Act for a copy of her schedule and sign-in logs;
* Pushing to privatize pollution control through outsourcing of toxic clean-ups to industry;
* Abolishing the DEP Division of Science & Research after it produced damning reports on continuing contamination following state-supervised clean-ups.
The audacity of posion? The transparency of smoke? Does Obama want EPA to protect us, or to protect industry by internally sabotaging enforcement of enviro regualtions
If Jackson at EPA is a change from the Bushie posioners’ lobby there, the Borgia family were really confectioners.
Change we can believe in? We’ll know it when we see it. Dumping toxic swill down our legs and telling us it’s "protection" is just same ‘ol, same ‘ol. Any community organizer knows that.By Ross McKitrick, Ph.D
Professor of Environmental Economics, University of Guelph, Canada
Introduction
News broke on or around 19 November 2009 that a large archive of emails and files from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in the UK had been released on the internet. The contents of the files were sufficiently disconcerting to the public, governments and university administrations that a number of inquiries were established. Several of my research projects were discussed not only in the so-called “Climategate” emails themselves, but also in the investigations, and I made detailed submissions of evidence to three of the panels.
Consequently I take considerable interest in the outcome of these inquiries, especially with regards to whether they approached the issues impartially, investigated thoroughly and drew valid conclusions that fully reflected the evidence.
As of 30 August 2010 all five had issued their reports. The overall impression that has been created is that the scientists and their work were vindicated. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair Rajendra Pachauri declared in a recent interview1
“the doubts raised have proved to be unfounded.”
Considerable reliance is being placed upon the outcome of these investigations. As I will
show, for the most part the inquiries were flawed, but where they actually functioned as proper inquiries, they upheld many criticisms. But a surprising number of issues were sidestepped or handled inadequately. The world still awaits a proper inquiry into climategate: one that is not stacked with global warming advocates, and one that is prepared to cross-examine evidence, interview critics as well as supporters of the CRU and other IPCC players, and follow the evidence where it clearly leads.
Altogether there were five inquiries or investigations, conducted by, respectively, The UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, The Oxburgh panel, the Independent Climate Change Emails Review under Sir Muir Russell, Penn State University and the InterAcademy Council. The first three were established in the UK and focused on scientists at the CRU. The fourth was focused on Michael Mann of Penn State University, a major correspondent in the Climategate archive. The fifth was
commissioned by the IPCC itself as a review of its policies and procedures.
Many accusations and insinuations began flying around during the uproar after the climategate emails were released. I would distill the main concerns down to the following questions.
1. Did the scientists involved in the email exchanges manipulate, hide, invent or otherwise misrepresent evidence in IPCC or World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports so as to mislead readers, including policymakers?
2. Did the scientists involved delete emails or other documents related to the IPCC process in order to prevent disclosure of information subject to Freedom of Information laws?
3. Did the scientists involved in the email exchanges express greater doubts or uncertainties about the science in their own professional writings and in their interactions with one another than they allowed to be stated in reports of the IPCC or WMO that were intended for policymakers?
4. Did the scientists involved in the email exchanges take steps individually or in collusion to block access to data or methodologies in order to prevent external examination of their work?
5. Did the scientists involved in the email exchanges take steps individually or in collusion to block publication of papers, or to intimidate or discredit journals, in order to prevent rival scientific evidence from being published?
My examination of the Climategate inquiries centers on the extent to which they succeeded in providing credible answers to the above questions. As will be shown, the various inquiries reviewed evidence that leads to an affirmative answer in each case, and in many cases the inquiries themselves report affirmative answers, yet they couched such conclusions in terms that gave the opposite impression. In other cases they simply left the questions unanswered. In some cases they avoided the issues by looking instead at irrelevant questions.
Two further questions follow from these, pointing to issues larger than Climategate itself, which many people have asked in the wake of the inquiries.
6. Is the IPCC a reliable source of information on climate change?
7. Is the science concerning the current concerns about climate change sound?
I will return to these questions in the concluding section to show that the inquiries support a negative answer to the former and are uninformative on the latter.
Read the complete report here (PDF)
Advertisements
Share this: Print
Email
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
LinkedIn
RedditIt's a pretty sure bet that soon net neutrality will cease being the law of the land for at least the next four to eight years if not forever. While ISPs give the impression that it's only big bandwidth users -- companies streaming movies, music or handling VoIP calls -- that will be affected, that won't necessarily be the case. The effect of a wholesale elimination of net neutrality would, in effect, be a deregulation that would hand providers the ability to throttle traffic at will.
There are some who are questioning whether this should be a concern to those in the burgeoning Internet of Things market. At first glance, it would seem not. After all, most IoT devices produce only spoonfuls of data compared with the buckets associated with Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime. The trouble is, IoT generally requires low latency. In many cases, a delay of seconds becomes problematic and one of minutes becomes game ending. Therein lies the rub. The ISPs might see this as a potential new revenue stream.
In a not-so-funny passage from a humor infused oped posted in early May on Network World, Deepak Puri painted a picture of the IoT landscape in 2020, three years after the demise of net neutrality.
"The new regulations split the IoT industry into the haves and the have-nots," he wrote. "Larger IoT firms flourished, as they could pay the higher access fees to connect their sensors to the cloud. Startups that couldn’t afford the higher fees struggled to survive. VC funding to new IoT startups dried to a trickle. Sales of the carrier’s own IoT services soared because they didn’t have to pay the higher access fees. IoT services from large firms became'more' equal."
Some think this might not hit far from the truth. In his last planned speech before leaving his post as FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler expressed concerns over the effects the Trump administration's planned dismantling of net neutrality might have on IoT. "[T]he growth of the internet of things is another area that depends on the open connectivity of those things," he said. "If ISPs can decide arbitrarily which IoT device can be connected, or favor their own IoT activity over their competitors, the bright future of IoT dims."
Wheeler should understand the collective mindset of the ISPs. Before coming aboard at the FCC, he was a venture capitalist and lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry and had been President of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.
These days, he's a member of the board at the IoT company Actility, and he's evidently still concerned. In an article published last week on Wired, he's quoted as saying, "Latency, as computers are talking to computers, becomes a very important thing. The question becomes whether there will be different levels of service, will there be paid prioritization?"
If so, that could give added advantage to established IoT-based companies with with deep pockets when marketing products requiring data to travel the first or last miles across the public Internet.
"The future could end up being controlled by four companies," he said. "That's why open networks are important."
Again, ISPs deny that any such plans are in the works. On May 17, the day before the FCC was to consider current FCC chairman Ajit Pai's "Restoring Internet Freedom" plan to overturn the Internet's Title II classification and net neutrality rules, the NCTA -- broadband and pay TV's principle trade association in the U.S. -- took out a full page ad in the Washington Post to assure the public (and presumably the FCC) that their interests in ending net neutrality are benign.
"An open Internet means that we do not block, throttle or otherwise impair your online activity," the ad read. "We firmly stand by that commitment because it is good for our customers and good for our business."
Although the ad didn't mention IoT specifically, someone -- presumably the NCTA -- has taken out a Google text ad with the title "The truth about net neutrality - Where do ISPs stand?" that shows up in search results and links to a page on the NCTA website introducing the Post ad.
Some tech writers are giving the ISPs the benefit of the doubt, citing the low amount of traffic individual IoT devices generate and expressing doubts that the dismantling of net neutrality will be deep enough to do away with all restrictions. This point was made last August, before Trump's election, by Nathan Rockershousen:
"It is safe to say the IoT will generally be unaffected by the issue of net neutrality," he wrote. "The ability to freely use the Internet is something that is coveted by most Internet users, thus it is unlikely that there will be any successful dismantling of the Communications Act. Even in the improbable event that ISPs were given the power to control the Internet, there wouldn’t be any dramatic impacts for the IoT. This is due to the fact that these networks of devices are not consuming bandwidth in quantities even remotely close to that of companies like Netflix."
On the flip side of the coin is TechCrunch, a website that earns its keep by expecting the worst from big business, which thinks a move by broadband providers to regulate the movement of IoT data through their pipes is inevitable.
"We've already watched these very same companies block mobile payment companies they didn't want to compete with," Karl Bode wrote on Friday. "And we've watched as they've fought tooth and nail to prevent consumers from being able to buy and use the cable boxes of their choice. Why wouldn't these giant ISPs press their advantage after spending millions in lobbying?"
However, even TechCrunch thinks ISPs will exercise some restraint and won't attempt to monetize IoT immediately: "To be clear, even if the FCC does kill net neutrality rules later this year, large ISPs likely won't engage in this behavior right away."
My Magic 8-Ball says, "Wait and see."Retail sales are up in the top 1 percent’s Plutonomy, but down in the Realonomy where the other 99 percent live.
By Salvatore Babones
The economy is expanding, the unemployment rate is down, and consumers are spending again. The National Retail Federation expects holiday season sales to be up 3.8 percent over 2010, and other organizations predict increases of 3.5 percent to 4 percent. It all sounds like it’s shaping up to be a happy holiday season for America’s retailers.
But which retailers? Black Friday sales at JC Penney were down 2 percent compared with 2010 and 5 percent at the Gap, Bloomberg News reported. Sales at Kohl’s were down 6.2, while Gap’s discount line Old Navy reported a fall of 7 percent.
On the other hand, sales at upscale stores are up — and up more the more upscale the store. According to The New York Times, Macy’s Black Friday sales were up 4.8 percent, Nordstrom’s rose 5.6 percent, and Saks Fifth Avenue’s spiked by 9.3 percent.
[pullquote]Neiman Marcus sold out of the Ferraris in its Christmas catalog in less than one hour.[/pullquote]
Meanwhile luxury leader Neiman Marcus sold out of the Ferraris in its Christmas catalog in less than one hour. New York magazine reports that Neiman’s $125,000 bookshelves are also selling well. (Not to worry, they come pre-stocked with books). “The most affluent luxury customer is spending with confidence,” Neiman Marcus CEO Karen Katz told Reuters.
Whew! We were all worried about the most affluent luxury customers. After all, sales growth at Tiffany’s has recently slowed to the low double-digits. Its stock has taken a beating.
The premiumization of holiday shopping is nothing new. It’s all part of the premiumization of life that has been creeping up on us for forty years. Retail trends began to favor the wealthy long before the beginning of the current downturn.
In 2005 three Citigroup stock analysts announced the arrival of a new kind of economic system, which they dubbed the “plutonomy.” They pointed out that aggregate statistics like national retail sales had become so skewed by the spending of a few wealthy people as to be almost meaningless. In their own words:
The World is dividing into two blocs — the Plutonomy and the rest. The US, UK, and Canada are the key Plutonomies — economies powered by the wealthy. In Plutonomies the rich absorb a disproportionate chunk of the economy and have a massive impact on reported aggregate numbers like savings rates, current account deficits, consumption levels, etc. There is no “average consumer” in a Plutonomy. Consensus analyses focusing on the “average” consumer are flawed from the start.
— Citigroup analysts Ajay Capur, Niall Macleod, and Narendra Singh (October 16, 2005)
Six years later, this analysis is more accurate than ever. Yes, total retail sales are up this year. And the economy is growing. But is the recession over?
If it doesn’t feel like the recession is over, that’s because nearly all of the country’s national income growth is going to the top 1 percent of the population. It’s that same top 1 percent of the population that’s driving the rise in retail sales. The plutonomy is growing, but the realonomy — the real economy in which the rest of us live — has been stagnant for three years now. In fact, it’s hardly grown at all since 1999. And it wasn’t going all that strong even then.
It’s been widely reported that median incomes have been stagnant since the 1970s. What’s been much less reported is that even college-educated professionals’ incomes have been falling for a dozen years. Adjusting for inflation, no group below the top 5 percent has seen its income rise since 1999.
Among Americans with high school degrees only, median incomes have fallen 10.4 percent since 1999. Among Americans with college degrees, median incomes have declined by 7.6 percent. As a result, even families at the 95th percentile of the U.S. income ladder have seen no raises since 1999. Their incomes are down on average 1.2 percent in real terms, from $202,850 to $200,354.
[pullquote]Among Americans with college degrees, median incomes have declined by 7.6 percent.[/pullquote]
When the data show that no one in the bottom 95 percent of the national income distribution has seen a raise in over 12 years, it’s no wonder that holiday sales are driven by luxury goods.
All that talk about “the 1 percent versus the other 99 percent” really is true. Before 1973, America’s economic prosperity was widely shared. In the 1980s and 1990s most of the country’s economic growth went to the top 20 percent. In the 2000s, rising prosperity benefited only the top 5 percent.
Since 2008, only the top 1 percent have seen their incomes grow. They’re Neiman’s “affluent luxury customers.” Pity them. At Christmas of all times it is wise to remember that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
There’s no word on what books are included with that Neiman Marcus $125,000 bookshelf, but I know one I might recommend.
Salvatore Babones is a senior lecturer in sociology and social policy at the University of Sydney and an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.Thursday’s deadly boat disaster off Lampedusa has renewed pressure from Italy for more help from the European Union to combat the longstanding migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.
In Italy’s parliament, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said that this was a challenge facing the EU as a whole and not just Italy, arguing that Europe’s identity is at stake.
“A state that does not protect its borders does not exist,” Alfano said in an emotional address. “So Europe must decide whether ‘to be or not to be’. Europe must decide whether to protect its own borders because protecting its borders will protect its own citizens but also protect from death those who are travelling across the borders, without protection, in the hands of the merchants of death, without insurance, without anything.”On July 30, a congressional hearing on North Korea was held, titled “Twenty Years of U.S. Policy on North Korea: From Agreed Framework to Strategic Patience.” The hearing marked the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework in Geneva, which settled the first North Korean nuclear crisis. North Korean expert Glyn Davies, the special representative for North Korean policy and Robert King, the special envoy for North Korean human rights issues attended.The representatives agreed that Washington’s North Korea policy has come to an impasse. It is no longer effective. Republican Representative Scott Perry said that the strategic plan of pressuring North Korea and waiting for changes had been proven ineffective and asked how long the United States would wait. House Asia-Pacific Subcommittee Chairman Steve Chabot said that the North Korea policy had been shattered. The attendees came up with various ideas. Some even proposed a pledge to China that the U.S. Forces would not have bases in the North, should the Korean Peninsula be reunified, to reassure China and obtain their help in pressuring the North.Davis, who is an envoy to the six-party talks, was also skeptical. He said that dialogue is not possible unless North Korea shows its willingness to denuclearize, but the possibility of Pyongyang voluntarily abandoning its nuclear weapons is slim. Undoubtedly, talks will not be easy.What’s more serious than that prospect is indifference. America’s foreign policy priorities have been changing since the Ukrainian crisis, the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the crash of the Malaysian airliner. It is not likely that the United States will make major efforts to solve the challenging North Korea problem. Americans are unstirred even when Pyongyang threatens to turn Washington into a “sea of flames.” North Korea has launched a great number of missiles lately, but Secretary of State John Kerry said at the end of last month that North Korea had become “quiet.” There are low expectations that Pyongyang will take drastic measures. The North Korea issue is not a very popular subject among think tanks in Washington, either.At this juncture, a special hearing on North Korea policy was held, but the contents were not very satisfactory. Three or four members repeatedly left and returned to the hearing, which was scheduled to last three hours but ended in 1 hour and 20 minutes due to low participation. One congressman said that North Korea was actually better than Iran as it only torments its own people.Covering the hearing caused frustration. The United States knows that the current North Korea policy is not effective, but it is not likely to change its direction because Washington is becoming increasingly fatigued. North Korea may issue more serious threats to get attention from the United States, and in that case, all involved parties would face a catastrophe. How should we break through this deadlock? We can only hope for a miracle when Pope Francis visits Korea.JoongAng Ilbo, Aug. 4, Page 30*The author is a New York correspondent of the JoongAng Ilbo.BY LEE SANG-BOKFormer celebrity photographer Darryn Lyons has been elected mayor of Geelong.
Darryn Lyons, formerly a london based photographer known as 'Mr Paparazzi', has been elected mayor of Geelong, Victoria's second largest city.
Mr Lyons had previously said that if he were elected it would be 'one of the proudest days of my life'.
"I love the city, I love the people, I grew up here," he says.
Mr Lyons started work as a photographer at the Geelong Advertiser, before moving to London to work on the News of the World and the Daily Mail.
He founded the photographic company Big Pictures and appeared on the UK version of Celebrity Big Brother.
"I've been through wars and I've been standing next to celebrities on the Red Carpet," says Mr Lyons.
Darryn Lyons says he's not planning on toning down his flamboyant image.
"I'm blonde but I'm not sure it's necessarily going to stay that," he says of his trademark mohawk.
"The amount of people on the street who say 'don't change the hair Darryn, we love that'," says Mr Lyons
"I'm still going to be a colourful character," says Darryn Lyons. "At the end of the day I am who I am."
Mr Lyons says he is a member of the Liberal Party.
Darryn Lyons spoke to Red Symons on 774 ABC Melbourne Breakfast.Image caption JP Morgan has called the lawsuit ill-conceived
Lehman Brothers Holdings is suing JP Morgan Chase to recover tens of billions of dollars in "lost value".
Lehman claims JP Morgan "siphoned off" billions of dollars of assets in the days leading up to its bankruptcy.
JP Morgan was Lehman's main short-term lender before its September 2008 collapse. It is accused of contributing to the failure by demanding $8.6bn of collateral as credit markets tightened.
JP Morgan has called the lawsuit "ill-conceived".
'Gun to head'
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan, New York, accuses JP Morgan of using its "unparalleled access" to inside details of Lehman's distress to demand the cash in the four business days ahead of Lehman's collapse.
The complaint claims that JP Morgan knew Lehman's viability was weakening, and threatened to deprive Lehman of critical clearing services unless it posted a large amount of collateral.
"On the brink of LB |
rd in Long Beach, CA. This tour will take Joe into his British Blues Explosion tour, honoring Beck, Page and Clapton. Catch Joe on the road and be sure to grab a copy of Blues of Desperation – you won’t be disappointed.WikiLeaks' latest release appears to detail the British program that helped the CIA develop malware to turn some Samsung TVs into spying devices.
WikiLeaks released the user manual for a British-made malware called "Extending" on Friday morning, the sixth round of documents allegedly stolen from a secure CIA server. Unlike past releases, the latest is only a single file and was not written by the CIA.
In the first batch of documents, Wikileaks outlined the CIA's "Weeping Angel" program that could force certain voice-activated Samsung smart TVs to transmit audio from their microphones to the agency - functionally turning the TVs into listening devices. The malware could make the televisions appear to be off while recording.
ADVERTISEMENT
The original documents discuss a joint CIA/MI5 workshop on the TV hacking program and state that MI5 loaned source code to help the CIA design its malware.
Similarities between the two programs show that the CIA's Weeping Angel appears to have been derived from MI5's Extending software.
Initially, it was widely misreported that Weeping Angel allowed the CIA to remotely hack certain models of Samsung televisions, creating a possible mass surveillance program. In fact, as the first Wikileaks documents stated, the malware had to be implanted by hand using a USB drive.
Extending appears to have many of the same features and limitations as Weeping Angel.
It also can make TVs appear to be off while recording and can only be used on Samsung's 2013 F-series line of televisions. In the CIA manual for Weeping Angel, only the F8000 model was mentioned.
The British manual for Extending, dated April 2014, three months before the CIA/MI5 workshop, states that the document is classified as Secret Strap 2, meaning that even among those with British security clearances only a restricted group would be able to see it. The manual is also marked "U.K. eyes only," which would restrict readers at that time to a British audience.
The manual says Extending would be configured for installation on a Linux computer before implanting the malware on the TV. It could be uninstalled either by hand with a USB or by programming an expiration date.
People worried that their TVs were infected by Weeping Angel have been advised that disconnecting the computer from a power source before plugging it back in would clear the malware from the system.
This is the first WikiLeaks release since CNN's reported Thursday that the U.S. government would file charges against WikiLeaks head Jullian Assange for aiding in hacking of classified systems.(CNN) On this election day, voters in five states will get to decide whether marijuana should be legal to use recreationally.
It's on the ballot in California, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona and Nevada. Voters will also decide whether it should be used for medical reasons in four other states.
The drug is still illegal under federal law, but it has grown in popularity over the years. The number of adults who have smoked weed has nearly doubled in three years, according to a Gallup poll released in August
It is the No. 1 illicit drug of choice for Americans, according to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use, although only one-third of users reported an addiction to the substance, unlikemost allthe other illicit drugs used.
Currently, it's legal to use recreational marijuana only in four states and in the District of Columbia. Colorado and Washington state voted to OK it in 2012. Alaska and Oregon voters approved it in 2014. Medical marijuana is legal in half of US states and is on state ballots this year in Montana, Florida and North Dakota. It will be on the ballot in Arkansas with two initiatives, but the results won't count for one of them, after the state Supreme Court struck the issue in October, due to invalid signatures.
Colorado, according to an analysis from the For the states where recreational use is legal, it seems to have been a boost to the economy. The marijuana industry created more than 18,000 full-time jobs last year and generated $2.39 billion in economic activity inColorado, according to an analysis from the Marijuana Policy Group.
There have also been some health consequences. Emergency rooms have seen a significant increase in adult marijuana-related exposure cases.
The number of calls to poison control centers involving Colorado children has gone up, as has the number of children who've been taken to the hospital for treatment due to unintentional marijuana exposure, studies show. There have also been more school suspensions, marijuana-related traffic deaths, pet poisonings and lab explosions.
Here's what's on the ballot.
California
If marijuana becomes legal in California, the world's sixth-largest economy and the country's most populous state, it could have the biggest impact on the national scene.
In 1996, the state was the first to make medical marijuana legal.
study drug research, to study treatment and to help with enforcement of the law. A "yes" on Proposition 64 would make it legal for people 21 or older to use it recreationally. There would be a 15% sales tax, and its cultivation would be taxed. The money would be used in part tostudy drug research, to study treatment and to help withenforcement of the law.
The state's two largest newspapers back the measure, as does the California Democratic Party, while Republicans are against it.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told the Los Angeles Times Friday that she plans to vote in favor of it. That makes Pelosi the highest-ranking, sitting elected official in either political party to support legalizing a drug the federal government currently considers a Schedule 1 narcotic. A Schedule 1 narcotic is a drug with no currently accepted medical use and has a high potential for abuse. The category also includes heroin.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts already has some marijuana-friendly laws. Medical marijuana became legal in 2012, and a 2008 ballot measure replaced criminal penalties with civil penalties on adults who possess an ounce or less.
Question 4, as the recreational use measure is called, would legalize it and allow the commonwealth to tax and regulate its use and sale, much like the way alcohol is handled. That means people 21 and older could use it, possess it or grow it. They can have under 10 ounces in their home and under 1 ounce in public and be allowed to grow six plants.
A number of politicians there support it, as does the American Civil Liberties Union.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, opposes legalization, as does Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a Democrat. Baker argued that passage would exacerbate the state's opioid epidemic.
Roman Catholic bishops in Massachusetts also argued against legalization, saying it is "not a path civil society should chose to take."
The Boston Globe wrote in support of the ballot measure, arguing, "legal marijuana is coming. Let's get on with it."
Maine
In Maine, a "yes" on Question 1 would make it legal for a person 21 or older to use marijuana.
The state would put a 10% sales tax on the drug and allow social clubs and retail groups to sell it.
Maine legalized medical use of marijuana in 1999. Previous attempts to legalize it for recreational purposes have been unsuccessful.
The law would allow people to use it in a nonpublic space or in a private residence and institute a sales tax, with 98% of revenue from sales taxes going to a general fund.
Maine's governor is against the legislation, calling it "not just bad for Maine, it can be deadly." Supporters have raised more than $3.2 million to fight for it. The state's newspapers are divided on the issue.
Arizona
The battle for legalization in Arizona seems close, according to polls.
Medical marijuana has been legal in the state since 1996.
If voters pass Proposition 205, it would be similar to other state laws up for consideration. People 21 or older could possess up to 1 ounce and grow up to six plants in their homes.
The law would also create a Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control that would regulate, test and oversee sales.
People caught smoking it in public places would be fined, as would people who possessed more than the legal limit.
A 15% sales tax would be deposited in a Marijuana Fund and distributed to the Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control and to the Department of Revenue. School districts and the state health department would also get a part of the money.
Nevada
In Nevada, a "yes" on Question 2 would make recreational use of 1 ounce or less legal or one-eighth of an ounce or less of concentrated marijuana legal for people age 21 and older.
Join the conversation See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.
Medical marijuana was legalized in Nevada in 2000.
The law would allow stores, manufacturers and distributors to set up shop in the state.
People could also grow six plants for personal use as long as it was in an enclosed area with a lock. The law would create fines for growing marijuana within public view. You could also get fined for smoking it in a public place or in a moving vehicle.
No marijuana businesses would be allowed to set up shop within 1,000 feet of a school and 500 feet of a community facility.
Nevada would put a 15% excise tax on it. The money would go to support schools and the regulation of the drug.
A number of legislators and unions have voiced support for the measure. Conservative megadonor and casino owner Sheldon Adelson is against it. A number of legislators have voiced support for legalization, suggesting that it could bring additional tourist revenue to the state.Jim Benedict and Marc DelPiano, former Pirates baseball operations employees once hired away by the Marlins, are among four employees let go by the Marlins recently amidst a change in ownership, the Miami Herald reports.
Benedict, who served as the Marlins vice president/pitching development, has been discussed quite a bit in Pirates circles. As the Pirates pitching coordinator, Benedict was instrumental in the development of their pitching prospects. Along with pitching coach Ray Searage, he had a lot to do with the Pirates’ revival of seemingly broken Major League pitchers, such as A.J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano, Vance Worley, Edinson Volquez and J.A. Happ, over the last several years.
As a parting gift, the Pirates acquired Trevor Williams as compensation from Miami for its hiring of Benedict.
DelPiano was serving as the Marlins’ vice president of player development. He had previously been a special assistant to the general manager with the Pirates. He had also worked for the Marlins from 2002 to 2005.
DelPiano’s dismissal is cited in the Herald piece as the most surprising, as he’d inherited a poor farm system in Miami.A sense is taking hold among House Democrats familiar with the Russia investigation that the whole thing has the stench of criminality. After watching a Democratic colleague observe that he "wouldn't be surprised" if people did jail time following the Russia probe, Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) respectfully disagreed:
"I will be surprised if people don't end up going to jail," Heck told MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Hardball Tuesday evening.
The Washington Democrat, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, had just been shown a clip of another member of the Intelligence panel, Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-TX), having an exchange with CNN's Wolf Blitzer earlier in the day.
“My impression is, I wouldn't be surprised after all of this is said and done that some people end up in jail," Castro asserted.
"Really?" responded Blitzer, a bit thrown with the candor of Castro's charge.
Asked if he was "confident" that at least some Trump associates would end up in jail, Castro added, "If I was betting, I would say, yes."
On MSNBC, Heck and Matthews also discussed news that the FBI was creating a special unit to investigate Russian interference in the election. In response, Heck said:
"Anybody associated with the Trump orbit that was involved in Russia financial entanglements probably was calling their lawyer today, Chris. That's what I make of it."
Watch the MSNBC clip of both Heck and Castro.The ability to select winners is something that is highly sought after in an age of rapidly increasing change. Of equal importance however is the ability to spot a duff idea from a good one.
A recent study from MIT might shed some light on just how this can be done. It looked at the long history of products that launched with great fanfare, only to turn out to be complete and utter duds.
Harbingers of failure
The study found that the same group of people were surprisingly likely to buy these duffs time after time, suggesting that tracking them might be a great guide as to the future of a product.
“These harbingers of failure have the unusual property that they keep on buying products that are taken from the shelves,” the authors say.
The analysis revealed that these people had an uncanny knack for sniffing out products that are soon to flop, regardless of the category or market.
“This is a cross-category effect,” the authors say. “If you’re the kind of person who bought something that really didn’t resonate with the market, say, coffee-flavored Coca-Cola, then that also means you’re more likely to buy a type of toothpaste or laundry detergent that fails to resonate with the market.”
The right kind of customer
It creates the fascinating scenario whereby companies may actually need to worry about achieving early success in the marketplace, if those initial customers are actually the harbingers of failure.
“It’s not just how many people are buying them, it’s how many of the right people are buying them and how many of the wrong people aren’t buying them,” the authors say.
“Usually when you’re doing market research, the common wisdom is that people liking your product is a good thing,” they continue. “But what we’ve done in this research is identify a group of people who you really want to [have] hate your product. And that changes the paradigm of market research.”
The researchers focused especially on consumers who somehow managed to buy flops as often as they bought successes, if not more so. When this group accounted for up to 50% of the total sales of the product, it resulted in a 31% fall in the likelihood of that product succeeding.
What’s more, when the harbingers regularly bought these products (ie more than three times), it resulted in that success rate dropping by a whopping 56%.
The anatomy of a harbinger
So what is behind this behavior? The authors suggest it is largely down to how harbingers deal with risk. In other words, if a person has a high propensity to buy risky or unusual products, then they have a strong chance of being a harbinger.
This acceptance of risk was found to be a bigger factor than other potential influences on poor buyer behavior.
“It’s not the case that these people are buying goods at 2 in the morning, or something like that,” the authors say. “They’re not inattentive. Systematically, they are able to identify these really terrible products that fail to resonate with the mainstream.”
Suffice to say, it’s risky to draw too many conclusions from this initial analysis, and the authors are exploring whether it is maintained in other sectors, but they’re confident that the findings are strong enough to provide interesting insights into consumer behavior.
It would also be interesting to explore some ways that organizations can spot some of these harbingers, and do so at an early stage, so that they can adjust their behaviors accordingly.
It’s certainly an interesting line of study and one to keep an eye on.PERU’S punishment for directing laser pointers at New Zealand players, the in-form Aussie eyeing a national team return, and a Socceroos coaching candidate’s club is hit with a transfer ban.
It’s all in World Cup Scout!
PERU FINED FOR LASERS AIMED AT ALL WHITES
Peru, one of Australia’s group rivals at the football World Cup in Russia, have been fined for directing laser pointers at New Zealand players during their recent qualifying match in Lima.
Governing boy FIFA announced the Peruvian Football Association have been fined 5000 Swiss Francs ($A6,500) after investigating the intercontinental second leg match on November 15 which Peru won 2-0 to book a berth at next year’s World Cup.
A disciplinary committee viewed footage of a green light flashing on several All Whites, most notably goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, during the match. Peru also copped a heftier fine of 7500 Swiss Francs ($A10 000) and a warning for the late issuing of their team sheet for the first leg match in Wellington four days earlier.
A laser is shined on All Whites goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic. Source: Twitter
A warning was also issued for “pitch invasion by media and improper conduct among spectators” following the win in Lima.
Meanwhile, New Zealand were warned about two minor breaches. The first was for a delayed kick-off in the Oceania Nations Cup final in June 2016.
The second was for supporters throwing paper darts during a World Cup qualifier against the Solomon Islands in Auckland in September this year.
IN-FORM MEREDITH TARGETS SOCCEROOS RECALL
Millwall defender James Meredith has been proving people wrong since he was 17 and is desperate to do so again and make it to the World Cup. The 29-year-old Albury-born left-back has been a constant for the Lions in his first season at Championship level, earning rave reviews from his manager Neil Harris.
Last Saturday Meredith helped his side to an excellent 0-0 draw at high-flying Aston Villa, adding to his burgeoning reputation at a club where Socceroos greats Lucas Neill and Tim Cahill made their names.
That point at Villa Park came on the back of a 3-1 win over promotion-chasing Sheffield United leaving Millwall, who boast one of the smallest budgets in the division, comfortably ensconced in mid-table.
James Meredith of Millwall in action. Source: Getty Images
Meredith’s path has been a tough one, leaving home at 16 to sign for Derby County, where he was unable to make the grade and subsequently released. Spells with non-league clubs Telford United and York City followed before a five-year stint at Bradford City who he helped to the League Cup final and promotion to League One in 2013.
After the Bantams’ defeat in the play-off final to Millwall last season, Meredith swapped west Yorkshire for southeast London and has comfortably stepped up a level.
However, there’s barely been a whisper of him adding to his two international caps having been frozen out by former coach Ange Postecoglou after helping the Socceroos to World Cup qualifying wins over Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan in 2015. “It was frustrating because I played well and I felt I deserved to be involved again,” Meredith told AAP.
“I thought my career was really going to kick on in terms of the international perspective so it was disappointing.
“He didn’t give me any indication as to why. One of his staff messaged me to say they were going to go for a couple of the younger players and that was it.”
Meredith (L) in action for the Socceroos in 2015. Source: Getty Images
With Australia still without a coach following Postecoglou’s shock resignation, Meredith hopes being in the same league as Socceroos skipper Mile Jedinak, Massimo Luongo, Bailey Wright and Jackson Irvine will grab the attention of his replacement.
Bournemouth benchwarmer Brad Smith, who has appeared in just 22 club matches in three years, and Aziz Behich, who plays for Turkish Super League side Bursaspor, are currently ahead of him in the pecking order.
“I am just going to do the best I can and hopefully I’ll get picked,” he said. “When I was in League Two and playing for the Socceroos, you could say ‘it’s not a very good league’, but now I’m in the Championship it’s a lot harder to be ignored.
“I hope I get some recognition back at home. I believe I’m Australia’s best left-back and I’ve been saying that for years.
“We have some very good left-backs, but I back myself. We’ll see who the manager is but I would at least like the opportunity.” Harris said he finds it hard to understand why Meredith has been overlooked. “He’s an outstanding professional and great lad,” Harris told AAP. “I am very surprised he’s not been in the squad at least.
“Obviously Australia made it to the World Cup so they must have an abundance of talent at left-back because there aren’t many better out there than James Meredith.”
Meredith in action for Bradford in 2015. Source: Getty Images
ROOS CANDIDATE’S CLUB HIT WITH TRANSFER BAN
Ligue 1 strugglers Lille, who recently suspended coach Marcelo Bielsa (who has been linked with the Socceroos job), have been slapped with a transfer ban, the French league (LFP) announced on Tuesday.
A brief statement said that Lille were “banned from recruiting” following a hearing before French football’s financial watchdog, the DNCG, in Paris into their financial situation.
While the length of the ban was not made public, it does at least mean Lille will be unable to strengthen in the January transfer window.
That is a major blow to a club who currently lie in the relegation play-off place in France’s top flight.
Bought earlier this year by Gerard Lopez, a Luxembourg-born businessman of Spanish origin, the 2011 French league and cup double winners spent big in the last close season and appointed Bielsa as coach in the hope of challenging towards the top of the table again.
But the enigmatic Argentine was suspended by the club last month in the wake of a poor start to the campaign.
Lille are hoping to sack Bielsa for serious misconduct and the two parties are presently locked in a battle over financial compensation due to the former Marseille coach.
Marcelo Bielsa. Source: AFP
NIGERIA STRIPPED OF UNBEATEN QUALIFYING RECORD
Nigeria lost their unbeaten World Cup qualifying record on Tuesday as FIFA awarded Algeria a 3-0 win for their final qualifier after the Super Eagles fielded an ineligible player.
The game finished 1-1 in Algeria last month, but Nigeria played Shehu Abdullahi, who should have been serving a one-match ban having already been booked twice in previous games.
He received a yellow card in a second-round tie against Swaziland in 2015 and was then cautioned in a 1-0 group-stage victory over Zambia last October.
It doesn’t affect the African qualifiers for next year’s finals, as Nigeria had already booked their place for Russia before the Algeria match.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) was also fined 6,000 Swiss francs ($6,052).
“This is a grave error and somebody must be punished,” NFF president Amaju Pinnick said in a statement.
“We apologise to Nigerians for this and assure that this will not in any way derail or even distract us in our well-laid plan to ensure that the Super Eagles have a great outing in Russia.
“At the same time, I want to assure that persons responsible for this slip would not be given just a slap on the wrist.”Now that Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn has been caught colluding with the government of Russia both before and after Election Day, it requires revisiting existing evidence of how Trump and his people may have been communicating with Russia. That includes the alleged private email server Trump used to communicate with Russia — which as it turns out, was also communicating with a company with personal ties to Trump’s new Secretary of Education.
What Slate Magazine reported at the time was that a group of computer scientists had concluded the network traffic between Trump Tower in New York and a Russian state-controlled bank in Moscow was consistent with that of a private email server. There has long been debate as to how provable that Slate article was, and we’ll let that debate stand on its own. But Slate also reported that the server in question was closed in nature, and that aside from the Russian bank, it was only accepting network traffic from a very small number of additional IP addresses.
One of those IP addresses belonged to a Michigan based health care provider called Spectrum Health, a detail which made no sense. Spectrum claimed that the only relevant emails it received were some random spam promoting Trump Hotels from a third party marketing company. And because there was no reason at the time to suspect that a random Midwestern health care company was involved in Russian espionage, the accusation fell by the wayside. But it turns out Spectrum Health does have connections to Donald Trump, and the dots just weren’t connectable at the time – but they are now.
According to its own website, Spectrum Health has two members of the DeVos family on its Board of Trustees. Dick DeVos, the husband of Betsy DeVos, is listed as an Emeritus Trustee. Maria DeVos is listed as the Secretary. Spectrum has even named one of its initiatives after Dick DeVos. This makes clear that Spectrum Health is at least partially controlled by the Dick and Betsy DeVos family. So where does this leave us?
Put the pieces side by side, and we now have this: scientists believe that Donald Trump had a private email server at Trump Tower in New York which was used for communication with the Russian Alfa Bank and only a small handful other specific entities – one of which was a health care company in Michigan which just happens to be under the control of the husband of Betsy DeVos, and she is now in Trump’s cabinet. The odds of that being mere coincidence are incalculable.
Spectrum Health owes us a new round of answers. Was Trump communicating with Dick and/or Betsy DeVos through Spectrum during the campaign, in the same clandestine manner as he was communicating with the Russians — and if so, why? Was DeVos communicating with the Russians through Trump’s server? Does this help explain why Trump ended up almost inexplicably nominating Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, even though she’s clearly unfit for the job?
Now that we know Trump’s advisor Michael Flynn was colluding with the Russians during the campaign, and that he went on to land a top job in the Trump administration, did Betsy DeVos land her own Trump administration job in the same manner? This is the question that must now be asked and investigated.Let’s raise the standard deduction and lower tax rates to give everyone a tax cut!
It should not surprise you that since this is a description of the House GOP tax plan that it’s not as good as it sounds.
Indeed, an analysis from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center shows that, surprise, surprise, the benefits would be extremely concentrated among the wealthy, who would save tens of thousands to millions every year, compared to $50 to $410 for the lower four-fifths of the income scale. That’s a 4.6 to 16.9 percent increase in after-tax income, depending if you are merely well off or super-rich, while everyone in the bottom four-fifths sees, at most, a 0.5 percent increase. (See table.)
Of course the effects would be worse than that sounds. Given that that analysis also shows modest and short-term GDP growth resulting from these tax cuts that would be dwarfed by the loss of revenue in the trillions, this plan would almost certainly mean dramatic scale back or cancellation of dozens of ways we currently take care of the vulnerable or those going through economic dislocation.
The downsides of losing affordable healthcare and housing support, veteran benefits, food stamps, unemployment benefits, defense against employer abuses, publicly created jobs, and the like would exponentially outstrip $50 to $410 per year in additional income.
But wait, there’s more.
Raising the standard deduction is at least in itself a move that does not mostly support the wealthiest, who would still likely save more by itemizing their deductions.
However, Jordan Weissman over at Slate has pointed out that some middle-income homeowners who would see a small income gain with the deduction change might well experience a significantly greater loss of assets at the same time. How?
With a higher standard deduction, far fewer homeowners are going to get any benefit from the mortgage interest deduction. And this, say economists, is likely to reduce the value of their homes because the mortgage interest deduction artificially inflates home prices because of the expectation of being able to deduct the interest.
This is a prediction that will be extremely variable by housing market, and would take a while to have practical implications for many owners who don’t draw on their home equity for day to day living and who can’t log on somewhere and watch their official home value fall, so it might be hard for homeowners to register it immediately as a concrete loss against a slightly smaller tax bill, despite Weissman’s energetic efforts to sound the alarm. But for some of them at least it could certainly matter.
And the implications apparently bother the homebuilding industry so much they are going into full-scale war mode about it:
“We’re looking at the current draft plan as an assault,” NAHB [National Association of Home Builders] Chief Executive Officer Jerry Howard said. “By raising the standard deduction you put money in people’s pockets, yes, but you’re not encouraging them how to use the money.”
Heaven forbid that we don’t tell people how to use their money …
What the NAHB is missing, of course, is that the problem is not raising the standard deduction. It’s not even the idea that the country might eventually stop subsidizing homeownership. The problem is leaving the mortgage interest deduction as a boon to the wealthy financing luxury homes while abruptly cutting off its relevance for everyone else.
That effectively takes a tax provision that was already badly tilted toward favoring the wealthy and makes it exclusively available to them. This is an unconscionable increase in inequity, the opposite of turning the tax code right side up.
Making the sorts of progressive reforms to the mortgage interest deduction that have long been talked about—primarily capping it and making it a refundable credit you don’t need to itemize for—would solve this part of the problem.
Too bad it wouldn’t fix the underlying disaster of bankrupting the government in order to give tax breaks to the wealthy.
Image: Courtesy of Pam Lane, via flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0A cyclist who broke her leg in a horrific collision today said she felt “let down” by the justice system after the driver was fined just £145.
Laura Cameron, 32, was riding home after winning a race at the Lee Valley VeloPark when a fast-food delivery driver turned head-on into her path, leaving her with an open double fracture and in extreme shock in the middle of the road.
Her victory that day had put the Drops Cycling Team rider on the verge of becoming a professional cyclist. Since then, she has faced an excruciating six months of rehabilitation as she learned how to walk and ride again.
The driver was fined £145 and given four points on his licence after pleading guilty at Bexley magistrates’ court in January to careless driving. Prosecutors dropped a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, telling the court that a police notebook containing evidence had been lost.
Ms Cameron, a marketing and events manager from Beckenham, said: “I felt disappointed and let down by the justice system and the police in general.
“What annoyed me most was that they seemed to skip over my injuries. It was almost as though they disregarded them and didn’t bring them into consideration.”
Her solicitor, Jennifer Buchanan, of Fieldfisher, said the sentence was more lenient than others handed out the same day to drivers with bald tyres.
The collision happened in Crystal Palace at around 10pm on August 19 last year. Earlier that day, Ms Cameron’s victory on the road track beside the Olympic velodrome secured her a “Cat 1” licence and the chance to fulfil her dream of turning professional.
“It was like a thousand burning hot splinters running through my body at a million miles an hour as I was tumbling upside down and landed on the hardest, coldest surface you can imagine,” Ms Cameron recalled. “Then screaming pain and confusion.”
Her fibula was broken and her tibia had snapped in half and was protruding from her shin. She was shaking so badly from shock that paramedics had to hold her down to insert a drip.
She had a titanium rod and four screws inserted into her leg at King’s College hospital in Denmark Hill.
A civil action is being brought against the driver’s insurers to cover ongoing rehabilitation costs. Ms Cameron hopes to race again next month.Colts fans continue to show their support for sidelined coach Chuck Pagano. (Photo: Darron Cummings, AP) Story Highlights Colts coach hadn't been at stadium since Week 3
Speaks to team before and after game
Says vision is to see two daughters get married, lift Lombardi Trophy
INDIANAPOLIS -- "It's already beat."
Those were the powerful words from Chuck Pagano that placed football inside the perspective of life as they resonated through an emotional Indianapolis Colts locker room during a postgame speech following Sunday's 23-20 victory against the Miami Dolphins.
MORE: Luck's record day helps Colts improve to 5-3
Pagano — the first-year Colts coach who will begin a second round of chemotherapy this week as he battles leukemia — attended his first game since leaving the team in early October. He came armed with two speeches that packed punch.
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;
"You can't measure how much that lifts a team," Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "To see the look on his face, especially before the game and definitely after the game, was priceless. It's bigger than football."
Before the game, Pagano told the Colts, who are 5-3, that they were living a vision after many projected them to be the worst team in the NFL this season.
Afterward, Pagano talked of his vision for himself.
"I've got circumstances," he said. "It's already beat. My vision is to see two more daughters get married and to hoist the Lombardi Trophy."
Watching from team owner Jim Irsay's suite and another private box at Lucas Oil Stadium, Pagano was hardly disappointed by what he saw from the emerging team guided by interim coach Bruce Arians. Andrew Luck passed for an NFL rookie-record 433 yards as Indianapolis continued momentum with a third consecutive victory.
Said receiver Reggie Wayne, "As a team, we know that probably his best medicine is for us to continue to win."
According to the team, Pagano wasn't expected to speak to the team before the game as a precaution to limit his exposure. Apparently, he felt well enough to break from that plan — twice.
"Forget the game," Freeney said. "It was just good to see him on his feet."
While undergoing treatment, Pagano has stayed plugged into his team, watching videotapes of each practice and the games. He has routinely text-messaged players, and has frequent conversations with Irsay, general manager Ryan Grigson and coaches. A whiteboard, used to chart personnel moves and other information, is in his hospital room.
Last Monday, he visited coaches at the team headquarters.
Arians said the goal is to "make sure we make the playoffs because he's got a great chance to be back at the end of December. We need to make sure we extend the season so he can be back on the sidelines with us, healthy."
Freeney knew something was special about Sunday, when the team expected Pagano would show up. The surprise was to see him in the locker room just before kickoff.
"Your adrenaline goes from whatever it was to through the roof," Freeney said. "That will last you a quarter, two quarters, until you get your bell rung. But it's definitely a lift."A British aid worker kidnapped nearly two weeks ago was killed when one of her captors detonated a bomb as NATO forces were trying to rescue her in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.
Linda Norgrove died Friday in Kunar province, where she was abducted in an ambush on Sept. 26 along with three of her Afghan colleagues, who were later released.
This undated photo shows kidnapped British aid worker Linda Norgrove, who was killed during a rescue attempt by NATO forces in Afghanistan. ((Foreign and Commonwealth Office /Associated Press))
"Working with our allies we received information about where Linda was being held and we decided that, given the danger she was facing, her best chance of safe release was to act on that information," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a release.
A NATO official said coalition forces went to a compound in the Nurgal district of Kunar province late Friday night where they believed Norgrove was being held.
Five insurgents were killed in a gun battle with NATO forces and a sixth died when he detonated a bomb, fatally wounding Norgrove, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Afghan and coalition security forces did everything in their power to rescue Linda," said Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. "Linda was a courageous person with a passion to improve the lives of Afghan people, and sadly she lost her life in their service."
Norgrove worked for Development Alternatives Inc., a global consulting company based in the Washington, D.C., area.
"We are saddened beyond words by the death of a wonderful woman whose sole purpose in Afghanistan was to do good — to help the Afghan people achieve a measure of prosperity and stability in their everyday lives as they set about rebuilding their country," DAI president James Boomgard said.
"A development professional to the core, Linda spent most of her adult life working for and managing projects in developing countries, mostly projects that help farmers and rural workers build sustainable livelihoods while protecting the environment," he said.
Norgrove, 36, had worked on university-funded projects in Mexico and Uganda and managed a World Wildlife Fund forest program in Peru.
From 2005 to 2008, she worked on United Nations projects that focused on community forestry and horticulture and the environment. Later, she managed a UN program that provides job training for ex-combatants and the rural poor in Afghanistan's poppy-growing areas.
She was an aid worker in Laos before returning to Afghanistan.
She joined DAI in January and was guiding a program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, to create jobs, boost local economies and strengthen local Afghan leadership to reduce reliance on the cultivation of poppies, used in making opium.Welcome to LOTRO Legendarium, the continuation of my old Road to Mordor column from Massively. Why the name change? First, I never got to name RTM (it was chosen by another author before I came on board as a writer). Second, I wanted to work in Lord of the Rings Online’s name into the title. And third, I liked how Tolkien used the term Legendarium to refer to his |
monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 for the tropics and the northern and southern extratropics, according to Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). These graphs uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, and interpreted by Dr. Carl Mears (RSS). Thick lines are the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Click here for a description of RSS MSU data products. Please note that RSS January 2011 changed from Version 3.2 to Version 3.3 of their MSU/AMSU lower tropospheric (TLT) temperature product. Click here to read a description of the change from version 3.2 to 3.3, and previous changes. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of RSS MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since January 1979.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Global monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 for the North Pole and South Pole regions, according to University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. Thick lines are the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Reference period 1981-2010. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of UAH MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since December 1978.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Global monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 for the northern (60-82.5N) and southern (60-70S) polar regions, according to Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). These graphs uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, and interpreted by Dr. Carl Mears (RSS). Thick lines are the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Click here for a description of RSS MSU data products. Please note that RSS January 2011 changed from Version 3.2 to Version 3.3 of their MSU/AMSU lower tropospheric (TLT) temperature product. Click here to read a description of the change from version 3.2 to 3.3, and previous changes. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of RSS MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since January 1979.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to jump back to list of contents.
Temperature over land versus over oceans
Global monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 measured over land and oceans, respectively, according to University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This diagram uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. Thick lines are the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Reference period 1981-2010. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of UAH MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since December 1978.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Northern hemisphere monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 measured over land and oceans, respectively, according to University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This diagram uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. Thick lines are the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Reference period 1981-2010. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of UAH MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since December 1978.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Southern hemisphere monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 measured over land and oceans, respectively, according to University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This diagram uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. Thick lines are the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Reference period 1981-2010. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of UAH MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since December 1978.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to jump back to list of contents.
Contrast Tropics-Poles
Tropics-Polar monthly anomaly difference from average lower troposphere temperatures since 1979, according to University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This diagram uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. Thick lines are the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Reference period 1981-2010. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of UAH MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since December 1978.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to jump back to list of content
Monthly surface air temperature anomalies versus average 1998-2006 in areas between 72oN and 60o S
The diagram table below contains clickable monthly spatial temperature diagrams since 2005, to illustrate the changeable geographical pattern of surface air temperature variations, integrated by graphs like that above. These diagrams are geographical asymmetrical to cover most of the planets land areas, ranging from 72oN to 60oS.
YEAR JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC ANNUAL 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
Spatial distribution of monthly surface air temperature deviation between 72oN and 60oS in relation to the average for the period 1998-2006. Warm colours indicates areas with higher temperature than the 1998-2006 average, while blue colours indicate lower than average temperatures. Starting from 2015, the past 10 years are used as reference level. In the individual diagrams the month is indicated by a number: 1 = January, 2 = February, etc. Click on the individual small diagrams to open full-size diagrams. Please also read the notes below before interpreting the diagrams. Similar spatial temperature diagrams showing the polar regions can be seen by clicking here. Data source: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). Last diagram update 21 February 2019.
It is important to note that the map projection used above is of the type Mercator. This is a useful cylindrical map projection that preserves angles at all locations, but scale varies from place to place, distorting the size of land areas. In particular, areas closer to the poles are more affected, making land areas of similar size looking increasingly oversized towards the poles. To exemplify this effect, the areas of Mexico (1,972,550 km2) and Greenland (2,166,086 km2) are comparable in size. Greenland, however, in the map looks very much bigger than Mexico, even though only the southern half of Greenland is shown. The visual effect of this popular map type is to overstate the importance of temperature variations near the poles, compared to equatorial regions. To avoid the worst effects of this cartographic distortion of areas, the two Polar Regions are therefore shown in separate, polar projections. Click here to go to the polar spatial temperature diagrams.
To monitor the present global temperature trend, up or down, it is not efficient to compare with some past period like, e.g., 1961-1990, even though this is what is frequently done. This will not inform about the current temperature trend. It seems to make more sense to compare with a more recent period. This is why the diagrams in the table above all use 1998-2006 as reference period. In addition, by using this recent reference period, is will gradually be possible to visualize if 1998-2006 represents a peak period for the global average temperature, or if modern temperatures are increasing to a even higher level. It should therefore be carried in mind that such a visual comparison does not represent a statistical test, but only a way of obtaining an visual overview of temperature patterns within the month considered. Positive or negative temperature deviations represent the result of monthly weather variations, and any clear pattern of overall climatic warming or cooling will take several years to be identified in a statistical sense.
All the diagrams in the table above were prepared using gridded data downloaded from the public domain NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) web page. For surface interpolation of the gridded data a kriging algorithm was used, plotting all data in a polar projection map. The kriging procedure attempts to express trends and is widely considered one of the more flexible interpolation methods, producing a smooth map with few ‘bull eyes’. It is usually recommended for gridding almost any type of data set, especially data sets with a heterogeneous point distribution, such as characterising the present data set. It should be noted that the observation network within the two regions considered is not of equal density or quality all over the geographical regions covered by the diagrams.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents.
Annual surface air temperatures global
Anomalies of global annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1850 according to Hadley CRUT, a cooperative effort between the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), UK. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of estimated HadCRUT4 global monthly surface air temperatures since 1850.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to open a web interface to all the weather station data used by the Hadley Centre, a very useful facility developed by Clive Best, also known for his blog. Please note that the stations are split into 3 groups. 1) those going back to before 1860 2) Those going back to between 1860 and 1930 3) Those with data going back later than 1930. The last option is all stations together - but is very slow to load (>5000 stations). Drag a rectangle to zoom in. Click on a station to see the graph of temperatures and anomalies.
Anomalies of global annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1880 according to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), USA. This time series is calculated using land surface data from the Global Historical Climatology Network (Version 2) and sea surface temperature anomalies from the United Kingdom MOHSST data set and the NCEP Optimum Interpolated SSTs (Version2). The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of the NCDC global annual surface air temperatures since 1850
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Anomalies of global annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1880 according to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), at Columbia University, New York City, USA. GISS is a laboratory of the Earth-Sun Exploration Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and a unit of the Columbia University Earth Institute. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 201 8. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of the GISS global monthly surface air temperatures since 1880.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Anomalies of global annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1979 according to the University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of UAH MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since December 1978.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Anomalies of global annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1979 according to the Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, and interpreted by Dr. Carl Mears (RSS). The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of RSS MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since January 1979.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents.
Annual surface air temperature northern hemisphere
Anomalies of Northern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1850 according to Hadley CRUT, a cooperative effort between the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), UK. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of estimated HadCRUT3 global monthly surface air temperatures since 1850.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to open a web interface to all the weather station data used by the Hadley Centre, a very useful facility developed by Clive Best, also known for his blog. Please note that the stations are split into 3 groups. 1) those going back to before 1860 2) Those going back to between 1860 and 1930 3) Those with data going back later than 1930. The last option is all stations together - but is very slow to load (>5000 stations). Drag a rectangle to zoom in. Click on a station to see the graph of temperatures and anomalies.
Anomalies of Northern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1880 according to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), USA. This time series is calculated using land surface data from the Global Historical Climatology Network (Version 2) and sea surface temperature anomalies from the United Kingdom MOHSST data set and the NCEP Optimum Interpolated SSTs (Version2). The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of the NCDC global annual surface air temperatures since 1850
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Please note that the early part of the NCDC record has now been changed so much towards lower values than just a few years ago, that the graph now extents below the x-axis. Click here for further details on temporal instability of the NCDC temperature record.
Anomalies of Northern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1880 according to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), at Columbia University, New York City, USA. GISS is a laboratory of the Earth-Sun Exploration Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and a unit of the Columbia University Earth Institute. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of the GISS global monthly surface air temperatures since 1880.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Anomalies of Northern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1979 according to the University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of UAH MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since December 1978.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Anomalies of Northern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1979 according to the Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, and interpreted by Dr. Carl Mears (RSS). The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of RSS MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since January 1979.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents.
Annual surface air temperature southern hemisphere
Anomalies of Southern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1850 according to Hadley CRUT, a cooperative effort between the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), UK. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of estimated HadCRUT3 global monthly surface air temperatures since 1850.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to open a web interface to all the weather station data used by the Hadley Centre, a very useful facility developed by Clive Best, also known for his blog. Please note that the stations are split into 3 groups. 1) those going back to before 1860 2) Those going back to between 1860 and 1930 3) Those with data going back later than 1930. The last option is all stations together - but is very slow to load (>5000 stations). Drag a rectangle to zoom in. Click on a station to see the graph of temperatures and anomalies.
Anomalies of Southern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1880 according to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), USA. This time series is calculated using land surface data from the Global Historical Climatology Network (Version 2) and sea surface temperature anomalies from the United Kingdom MOHSST data set and the NCEP Optimum Interpolated SSTs (Version2). The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of the NCDC global annual surface air temperatures since 1850
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Anomalies of Southern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1880 according to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), at Columbia University, New York City, USA. GISS is a laboratory of the Earth-Sun Exploration Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and a unit of the Columbia University Earth Institute. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of the GISS global monthly surface air temperatures since 1880.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Anomalies of Southern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1979 according to the University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of UAH MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since December 1978.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Anomalies of Southern Hemisphere annual surface air temperature (MAAT) since 1979 according to the Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, and interpreted by Dr. Carl Mears (RSS). The average for 1979-2008 (30 yrs) has been set to zero, to make comparison with other temperature data series (above and below) easy. Last year shown: 2018. Last figure update: 19 February 2019.
Click here to download the entire series of RSS MSU global monthly lower troposphere temperatures since January 1979.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents.
Vertical temperature profile of the atmosphere; satellites
Global monthly average temperature in different altitudes according to University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH). The thin lines represent the monthly average, and the thick line the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here, here, here and here to download the series of UAH MSU global monthly atmosphere temperature anomalies since December 1978.
Global monthly average temperature in different altitudes according to Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). The thin lines represent the monthly average, and the thick line the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Last month shown: January 2019. Last diagram update: 20 February 2019.
Click here to download the series of RSS MSU global monthly atmosphere temperature anomalies since January 1979.
Click here to read a description of the MSU products.
Vertical temperature profile of the atmosphere; weather balloons
Radiosonde Atmospheric Temperature Products for Assessing Climate (RATPAC)
Seasonal global upper air temperature anomalies at 850-300 mb according to RATPAC-A Version 2. The thin lines represent the seasonal (3-month) average, and the thick line the simple running 13-season average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Last season shown: July-September 2018. Last diagram update: 28 October 2018.
Click here to download the series of RATPAC-A version 2 seasonal global upper air temperature anomalies since January 1958.
Seasonal global upper air temperature anomalies at 300-100 mb according to RATPAC-A Version 2. The thin lines represent the seasonal (3-month) average, and the thick line the simple running 13-season average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Last season shown: July-September 2018. Last diagram update: 28 October 2018.
Click here to download the series of RATPAC-A version 2 seasonal global upper air temperature anomalies since January 1958.
Seasonal global upper air temperature anomalies at 100-50 mb according to RATPAC-A Version 2. The thin lines represent the seasonal (3-month) average, and the thick line the simple running 13-season average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Last season shown: July-September 2018. Last diagram update: 28 October 2018.
Click here to download the series of RATPAC-A version 2 seasonal global upper air temperature anomalies since January 1958.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents.
Temperature change above Equator
Modelled zonally averaged, equilibrated temperature change with altitude associated with doubling atmospheric CO 2 (Lee et al. 2007). Units for modelled temperature change are given in degrees Celcius. The horizontal axis begins at 90oN to the left, and ends at 90oS to the right. The vertical axis begins at the planet surface and extends to 10 hPA (ca. 16 km height). For the 200, 300 and 1000 hPa levels (ca. 12, 9 and 0 km altitude, respectively) the observed temperature change since 1979 is shown in the diagrams below.
Lindzen (1999 and 2007) argued that the surface temperature anomalies are not the best way of identifying the effect of an atmospheric CO 2 increase. He stressed that the radiation in the energy flux balance relations can be thought of as coming mainly from the atmospheric layer where the infrared optical depth is near 1. This characteristic emission layer is high above the surface and is typically located at an altitude somewhat below the tropopause.
The height of the tropopause varies with latitude. In the tropics, the tropopause height is about 16-17 km, near 30° latitude about 12 km, and near the poles the tropopause height is around 8 km above the surface.
The diagrams above shows how temperature changes when CO 2 is doubled in 4 different General Circulation Models (Lee et al. 2007). These model runs differ from those that were run for the IPCC in that the models were simplified to isolate the effects of CO 2 forcing and climate feedbacks (Lindzen 2007). Also the models were run until equilibrium was established rather than run in a transient mode in order to simulate the past. Thus, they tend to isolate greenhouse warming from other things that might be going on.
The model runs shown in the above diagrams all suggest warming due to CO 2 doubling to peak not at the surface in the tropics, but in the troposphere near the 200-300 hPa level, roughly corresponding to 12-9 km altitude. The main reason for the inter-model variation is that the amount of water vapour differs among the models. The expected warming above the tropics is 2-3 times larger than near the surface, regardless of the sensitivity of the particular model. This is, in fact, the very signature of greenhouse warming (cf. Lindzen 2007).
In the diagrams below the temperature change at and above Equator is shown, using the Hadley Centre's radiosonde temperature product HadAT (200 and 300 hPa), and HadCRUT3 meteorological surface data. HadAT consists of temperature anomaly time series on 9 standard reporting pressure levels (850hPa to 30hPa), and is derived from 676 individual radiosonde stations with long-term records. Data uncertainties and limitations are described here. The latitudinal band used in the diagrams below is from 20oN to 20oS. To enable easy comparison with the global temperature changes shown higher up this page, 1979 has been chosen as start year. The full HadAT data series, however, goes back to 1958. Please note that the temperature scale in these diagrams are different from the scale used above, to accommodate the larger temperature variations at height. All data series were normalised by setting their starting value in January 1979 = 0, before inclusion in the diagrams below.
Temperature change at 200hPa (c. 12 km height) between 20oN and 20oS since 1979, according to HadAT. The thin blue line shows the monthly values, while the thick blue line represents the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. The stippled red line shows the linear fit for the period shown, with basic statistics shown in the upper left corner of the diagram. The data were normalised by setting the average of their initial 120 months (10 years) from January 1979 to December 1988 = 0. Last month shown: December 2012. Last diagram update: 4 May 2013.
Please note that the linear regression is done by month, not year
Click here to download the entire HadAT series since 1958.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Temperature change at 300hPa (c. 9 km height) between 20oN and 20oS since 1979, according to HadAT. The thin blue line shows the monthly values, while the thick blue line represents the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. The stippled red line shows the linear fit for the period shown, with basic statistics shown in the upper left corner of the diagram. The data were normalised by setting the average of their initial 120 months (10 years) from January 1979 to December 1988 = 0. Last month shown: December 2012. Last diagram update: 4 May 2013.
Please note that the linear regression is done by month, not year
Click here to download the entire HadAT series since 1958.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
Temperature change at surface between 20oN and 20oS since 1979, according to HadCRUT4. The thin blue line shows the monthly values, while the thick blue line represents the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. The stippled red line shows the linear fit for the period shown, with basic statistics shown in the upper left corner of the diagram. The data were normalised by setting the average of the initial 120 months (10 years) from January 1979 to December 1988 = 0. Last month shown: April 2013. Last diagram update: 8 June 2013.
Please note that the linear regression is done by month, not year
Click here to download the entire HadCRUT3 series since 1850.
Click here to read about data smoothing.
The initial versions of satellite and radiosonde datasets suggested that the tropical surface had warmed more than the troposphere, while climate models consistently showed tropospheric amplification of surface warming in response to human-caused increases in well-mixed greenhouse gases, as shown by the diagrams above. This observation gave rise to deep concern, and resulted in a number of studies (e.g. NRC 2000) where strong attempts were made to find warming in the troposphere. As new data sets have been made available and new corrections introduced, the scientific literature have witnessed a number of attempts of reconciling the modelled and the observed atmospheric warming pattern. Conflicting conclusions have, however, been reached. Some scientists conclude that a discrepancy between modelled and observed trends in tropical lapse rates still exists, while other argue that there is no longer a serious discrepancy. A few key references on this debate are represented by Lindzen 1999 and 2007, NRC 2000, Douglass et al 2007, and Santer et al 2008. Ongoing web-based discussions can be followed here and here. This debate reflects the importance of the point raised by Lindzen (1999) on monitoring temperature changes at the height in the troposphere corresponding to an infrared optical depth near 1.
Diagram showing observed linear decadal temperature change at surface, 300 hPa and 200 hPa, between 20oN and 20oS, since January 1979. Data source: HadAT and HadCRUT4. Click here to compare with modelled altitudinal temperature change pattern for doubling atmospheric CO 2. Last month included in analysis: December 2012. Last diagram update: 4 May 2013.
The three diagrams above (using data from HadAT and HadCRUT4) show the linear trend of the temperature change since 1979 between 20oN and 20oS to be ca. 0.00089oC/month at the surface, 0.00095oC/month at 300 hPa, and -0.00009oC/month at 200 hPa, corresponding to 0.10698, 0.11414 and -0.01022oC/decade, respectively (see bar chart above).
Thus, these radiosonde and surface meteorological data from the Equatorial region do not at the moment display the signature of enhanced greenhouse warming. With the observed warming rate of about 0.10698oC/decade at the surface, a warming rate of about 0.21-0.31oC/decade would have been expected at the 200 and 300 hPa levels to comply with the prognosis on this derived from the CO 2 hypothesis.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents.
Outgoing longwave radiation global
Weekly absolute (above) and anomaly (below) outgoing long wave radiation (OLR) at the top of the atmosphere 17-23 February 2019. Base period January 1981 - December 2010. Source: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL). Last diagram update: 25 February 2019.
Click here to see the original ESRL diagram showing OLR absolute values, or to check for a more recent diagram.
Click here to see the original ESRL diagram showing OLR anomaly values, or to check for a more recent diagram.
First of all, it should be noted that the above maps are Mercator projection maps, whereby the polar regions are visually highly exaggerated as to their apparent surface area. In reality, it is the regions near Equator which are important as to the real surface area. The general long wave (infrared) pattern is characterised by a gradient towards relatively low values at high latitudes, and higher values near the Equator (upper panel). This zone of relative high long wave radiation follows the sun throughout the seasons, being displaced north during the Northern Hemisphere summer, and vice versa during the Northern Hemisphere winter. The strongest contrast within latitudinal belts exist in the low latitudes, where the high outgoing radiation of the subtropical anticyclones (high pressure zones) and other dry zones contrast sharply with the low outgoing radiation of the major cloudy regions of the tropics. Also at middle latitudes there may be substantial longitudinal variations, particular in the Northern Hemisphere. Such variations are often caused by massive penetration of cold air from the polar regions to middle latitudes, associated with strong blocking patterns in higher latitudes (Gruber and Winston 1978), and are most frequently observed in the Northern Hemisphere during Northern Hemisphere winter.
Average total (left) and anomaly (right) outgoing long wave radiation (OLR) between 10oN and 10oS at the top of the atmosphere, since 24 February 2018 (top of diagram). Base period January 1981 - December 2010. Source: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL). Last day shown: 23 February 2019 (bottom of diagram). Last diagram update: 25 February 2019.
Click here to see the original ESRL diagram showing OLR absolute values, or to check for a more recent diagram.
Click here to see the original ESRL diagram showing OLR anomaly values, or to check for a more recent diagram.
The region near the Equator is of high importance because of the huge surface areas involved. Variations are seen to be especially large within the region 60oE-120oW, covering the Indian Ocean, Indonesia and most of the Pacific Ocean between 10oN and 10oS.
The red area of the Sun's spectrum (upper panel in figure above) is absorbed by the atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The warmed surface emits infrared radiation as indicated by the white areas on the individual molecule's spectrum (lower panels). The grey bits are the parts of the spectra that are absorbed by the atmosphere. The blue area on the Earth's emission spectrum (upper panel) is known as the infrared window through which most of the Earth's radiation passes to space unhindered by being absorbed by any of the greenhouse gases. This short text is from Barett Bellamy Climate, where a more thorough description of the greenhouse effect is provided. The diagrams below all show infrared radiation within this window.
Outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) at the top of the atmosphere between 180oW and 179oE (0oE and 359.5oE) and 90oN and 90oS since June 1974 according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The thin blue line represents the monthly value, while the thick red line is the simple running 37 month average |
called Gareth Davies “a little bully”, and a “pathetic little man”.
She then “circulated unfounded written allegations about his behaviour to other town councillors and senior elected members which were investigated by Conwy County Council”.
Recipients were Cllr Phillip Evans, Cllr Jobi Hold and First Minister Carwyn Jones AM. In her email, she wrote there had been an “antagonised attempt to force me from the Town House pub”. It was claimed she added: “The guy on the door who I later found out to be the owner/publican got quite agitated with me and said he did not want to lose his licence. I explained that was fine.”
Cllr O’Grady disputed the facts of the case and said someone grabbed her by the coat. But the Ombudsman found her actions outside the pub on November 27 2011, and in the subsequent e-mails, breached councillors’ code of conduct.
He wrote: “On balance, I think it more likely than not that Cllr O’Grady did try to use her position to gain entry to Mr Davies’ premises, thereby attempting to gain an advantage for herself.”
The Ombudsman also found it
“imprudent” that she sent e-mails to other members at 1.28am after she had admittedly been drinking alcohol.
He added: “It seems that if the main purpose of her e-mail was to seek emotional support, as she has suggested, then her family and friends would have been better placed to provide it, not the county council Cabinet Member or the First Minister.” Cllr O’Grady had used the words “assault” and “intimidation” but that was inappropriate.
Yesterday publican Mr Davies said: “I am satisfied with the result. She abused her authority. It was the threats that were made that we would lose our
licence which were unacceptable.”
Cllr O’Grady, who was re-elected in May 2012, was unavailable to comment.Poor Paul LePage. All of the radical right-wing policies he's imposed on the state (like vetoing a life-saving overdose antidote) and the inflammatory rhetoric he's spewed (who can ever forget about D-Money, Smoothie and Shifty) have resulted in a bit of blowback from residents in his state, and apparently Maine's Republican Governor is now too thin-skinned to even face silent student protesters!
Governor LePage said he will no longer attend some public events after two students at the University of Maine in Farmington held up signs in protest of the controversial executive on Tuesday. The two students silently held a sign that read, “LePage: Maine’s Shame,” and another which gave LePage a report card grade of an “F,” while the governor was set to give a speech at a building dedication ceremony.
Advertisement:
About 15 seconds into his remarks, LePage appeared to notice the signs and began stammering over his remarks.
“It’s an honor to be here, uh, to be here on this rare occasion, at the university where it is named the University of Maine, which is part of our great state and has a great history, uh,” LePage said, after a rather dry joke about his lone surviving college memory about spring break. Seconds later, a clearly annoyed LePage stormed off the stage, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm done."
As he walked away, LePage turned to the students and said, "thank you, you idiots out back there with the signs," according to the Portland Press Herald.
Video captured by James Corcoran, a UMF art and digital media major, shows LePage's meltdown:
"I was sickened by the lack of respect displayed by two protesters holding up demeaning signs," the governor said in a statement, announcing he planned to skip out on some future public events to prevent serving as a "distraction."
Advertisement:
“I am accustomed to daily attacks and ridicule from protesters, but most people are not,” Le Page wrote. “Since I am such a distraction to the media, I will no longer attend some of these public events."↑ City Center on 6th, 3500 West 6th Street
↑ Our day begins The Face Shop, a South Korean skincare and cosmetics brand that "brings together science and the perfection of nature to deliver the best product for you
↑ We make a beeline for the cleanser section, where Yara picks up the Rise Water Bright cleansing oil ($17)—the first step of many in Korean women's beauty routines, which can include as many as 15 different skincare products. "You start with this b
↑ Known for their face masks, the Face Shop stocks a variety of affordable options infused with natural ingredients like kelp, mung bean, honey, and cucumber; the hyaluronic masks are especially popular for their anti-aging properties. "You put them on yo
↑ "Smart cushions are fun because they’re kind of like the really, really big thing in Asia," says Yara. "It's still a cream but it's easier to apply." The CC cream compacts come with a makeup puff, which is pressed against the cushion to soak up t
↑ Sephora and Ulta have nothing on Korean beauty boutiques: In addition to discounts and perks for frequent shopper club members, The Face Shop and most other shops give out tons of free samples with every purchase. Score!
↑ Because beauty also comes from within (right?), we head downstairs to Zion Market to see what keeps Korean women glowing rom the inside. Barley tea is "packed with antioxidants" and used for detoxifying; it's available in tea packets or can be brewed at
↑ We stroll over to the toothpaste aisle, where Yara stocks up on bamboo salt toothpaste and soap. "It's like tea tree oil, but [Koreans] usually ingest it to help fight disease. They’ll also take roasted bamboo salts and put it into scrubs. When you go t
↑ All this talk about toothpaste and barley tea has a way of making our tummies grumble, so we grab soup at LA superstar chef Roy Choi's POT at
↑ We then drive over to Koreatown Galleria (3250 W Olympic Blvd.) in search of Cailyn, an international cosmetics brand known for their long-lasting lip gloss stains. "They have a wonderful clea
↑ We head into Palace Beauty to see what's in store and pick up some bath goodies.
↑ After doing a double-take at the snail gel masks, Yara explains that's a real thing. "Snail excretion is really big in Asia and in Europe. It’s antimicrobial, and it has all of these moisturizing [and] healing properties," she says. "If there’s one ingr
↑ We also grab a few konjac puffs, squishy sponges made from the yam-like konjac plant. They're used to clear your pores of blackheads, oil, and dirt much more effectively. Unlike washcloth
↑ We couldn't help but marvel at this natural facelift contraption. While "Americans will really break off their skin, peel it, and use lasers," Asians are more about "taking care of your skin and being really gentle with it."
↑ Although our hunt for Cailyn's products was unsuccessful, we play around with these Lipnicure lip stains, which stay on for as long as 12 hours. Another big Korean beauty trend is peel-off lip stains, which sit on your lips for about 15 minutes before t
↑ Don't get distracted by the eyelid-enhancing stickers—Korean beauty shops also have a stellar selection of eyelashes. They're crafted to look natural and often don't need to be trimmed before application.
↑ We were incredibly tempted to snap up the adorably-packaged lotions.
↑ Then, we take a quick drive over to Koreatown Plaza (928 Western Ave) to check out Amore Pacific, which "is like the Estée Lauder of Asia. They are
↑ At Amore, there's an array of products for all budgets, from the affordable Laneige line (which is also stocked at Target) to holistic label Sulwhasoo and much more.
↑ Before heading out of the mall, we make a pit stop at Bosco Bakery for mid-spree sweets.
↑ We pick up some of these fruit-filled pastries to go.
Photo: Wi Spa ↑ "For a traditional Korean experience and a good scrub down, I recommend ↑ "For a traditional Korean experience and a good scrub down, I recommend Wi Spa. You wear funn
Ramirez Tran Salon Photos: Mixed Makeup ↑ Our day concludes with a trek to Beverly Hills, where Yara has an appointment for a complete hair transformation at ↑ Our day concludes with a trek to Beverly Hills, where Yara has an appointment for a complete hair transformation at Ramirez Tran Salon<
↑ Although K-Town is Yara's go-to for beauty products, Beverly Hills is where she maintains her tresses. "When it comes to hair, I really think the best in Los Angeles is Ahn Co Tran and Johnny Ramirez of the Ramirez Tran Salon. Plus, they sort of represeTwo new murals popped up in East Hawai‘i in November 2017—one in Honomu and another in the heart of downtown Hilo.
In Honomu, small business owners and community members came together to create a message of aloha which exemplifies the beauty of Honomu.
The mural in downtown Honomu on the Old Māmalahoa Highway was painted by Dan Madsen, Michael Costello and Steph Abair.
Honomu is a quaint, small town on the Hāmākua Coast just under 14 miles outside of Hilo and just under five miles from Akaka Falls State Park.
The newest mural by Temple Children on Keawe Street is now the largest mural in Hilo.
Mana is described as a flowing, calligraphy-style piece that honors Hawai‘i Island’s terrestrial and spiritual elements of earth, fire, and water.
The mural is a collaboration between Los Angeles-based artist Cryptik, and Australian artist and Temple Children co-founder, David ‘MEGGS’ Hooke.
ADVERTISEMENT
This was Temple Children’s 11th mural in an effort to beautify and revitalize Downtown Hilo.
Temple Children is an arts and sustainability organization that coordinates projects in Hawai‘i to promote social and environmental innovation, build community and stimulate positive change.
A short documentary will be released in late December showcasing projects by Temple Children. A preview can be accessed online.As Apple celebrated record profits, and moved closer to becoming the world's most valuable company with a market capitalisation of over $360 billion, China Labor Watch (CLW), a New York-based rights group, presented its evidence about the true cost of our obsession with technology
China Labor Watch sent investigators to work on the production lines of ten major Chinese electronics factories, which assemble products for Apple, Dell and HP as well as Sony, Nokia, Motorola and many others.
Over an eight month period, the investigators also interviewed over 400 workers about conditions that they claim were not only unethical, but often also illegal under Chinese law.
Nine of the ten factories allegedly forced their workers to work as many as 40 extra hours of overtime each week and nine paid a basic wage that "did not provide workers with the means to afford basic living costs".
The report claimed that "on one HP assembly line, workers were required to complete their assigned task every three seconds, while continually standing over a ten-hour period".
One of the factories listed in the report allegedly had such "militant" bosses that workers were forbidden to speak during their 12-hour shifts. Some others are said to have made it impossible for workers to use the bathroom.
"Left to themselves, multinational companies and Chinese manufacturers will continue to pursue business and labour practices that ultimately abuse Chinese workers," the report said, noting that the entire industry is unregulated and that Apple only pays £3.99 to manufacture a £600 iPhone, leaving factories little option but to make profits by exploiting workers.
Earlier this week, another employee at Foxconn, the world's largest electronics manufacturer was found dead at the company's sprawling factory in the southern city of Shenzhen, where over 250,000 workers assemble gadgets for almost every major electronics company.
Last year, a suicide cluster at Foxconn claimed 14 lives and prompted intense scrutiny of the inhuman working practices in the electronics industry.
However, China Labour Watch said the industry had failed to change its ways and was still ruthlessly putting larger profits above a minimum standard of welfare for workers.
"Foxconn is not the only company that should bear responsibility for worker suicides: Apple, HP, Dell and other international companies should also be held responsible, as their goal of profit maximisation comes at the cost of the workers' wages and sub-optimal working conditions," the report argued.
In some factories, it is alleged, workers were not given contracts, or pay slips, and while there was a trade union in one factory, operated by Quanta, the world's largest laptop maker, "workers did not know if there are any representatives in the union or if any workers had ever had a meeting with the union".
One of the factories named in the report, run by MSI, a Taiwanese firm, said: "We admit that it is very common in the electronic industry to have long overtime hours, and we admit our factories in China need to take a long hard look at themselves." Another one, run by Tyco, said it disputed the accuracy of the report and accused China Labor Watch of not interviewing a representative sample. "We have a high turnover rate of workers in this industry," said a spokesman.
Apple, Dell, HP and Nokia did not return requests for a comment. In annual reports earlier this year, Apple revealed that child labour at its suppliers in China is worsening, with 91 children under the age of 16 being found in factories making Apple goods. Dell, meanwhile, admitted that only 46 per cent of its suppliers were following its rules.
Sony and Motorola both said they were committed to improving working conditions, but declined to comment further. "Many of these companies state that they are implementing far-reaching reforms, but we have yet to see any evidence of this," said Li Qiang, the executive director of CLW.I have previously reported that a coalition of 17 state attorney generals has formed (AGs United for Clean Power), which intends to promote the climate change agenda by targeting the fossil fuel industry.
The first victim of the Climate Change purge was the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a non-profit organization that has assisted businesses in countering climate justice activism, when Attorney General Claude E. Walker of the U.S. Virgin Islands issued a subpoena in an attempt uncover the content of CEI’s comprehensive work on climate change policy.
Now, in a dramatic turnaround, thirteen Republican members of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee Republicans sent letters to 17 state attorneys general and eight environmental groups requesting documents related to the groups’ coordinated efforts to deprive companies, nonprofit organizations, scientists and scholars of their First Amendment rights and their ability to fund and conduct scientific research free from intimidation and threats of prosecution.
“The Committee is concerned that these efforts to silence speech are based on political theater rather than legal or scientific arguments, and that they run counter to an attorney general’s duty to serve ‘as the guardian of the legal rights of the citizens’ and to ‘assert, protect, and defend the rights of the people,’” said the letter. The Republicans also requested information from eight environmental groups and activists pushing for prosecutors to pursue climate skeptics, as shown in emails and documents obtained through open-records requests by the Energy & Environment Legal Institute. The House letter asks for communications and documents between the attorneys general and environmental groups, including materials related to “the potential prosecution of companies, nonprofit organizations, scientists, or other individuals related to the issue of climate change.”
The letters are available online, but I must admit my favorite is to California Attorney General Kamala Harris (who is likely to be my state’s next U.S. Senator).
Meanwhile, the CEI has taken out a full-page ad in the New York Times decrying the thuggery of Gore’s group.
The ad is entitled: ABUSE OF POWER
The right to speak out is among the most fundamental principles of American democracy. It should never be taken away. Yet, around the country, a group of state attorneys general have launched a misguided effort to silence the views and voices of those who disagree with them. ….This abuse of power is unacceptable. It is unlawful. And it is un-American. Regardless of one’s views on climate change, every American should reject the use of government power to harass or silence those who hold differing opinions. This intimidation campaign sets a dangerous precedent and threatens the rights of anyone who disagrees with the government’s position—whether it’s vaccines, GMOs, or any other politically charged issue. Law enforcement officials should never use their powers to silence participants in political debates….
It is good to see that the AGs for Clean Power are not going to be allowed to practice climate justice “lawfare” unchallenged.
(Featured Image from the CEI Color Ad.pdf).National security spending could be cut by as much as $700 billion in a deal to raise the debt limit, defense sources said.
That’s almost twice the amount President Obama originally proposed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Obama directed the Defense Department and other national-security agencies to slash $400 billion by 2023. But in the closed-door talks to raise the debt ceiling, larger Pentagon funding cuts have been seriously discussed, several sources said, putting the number between $600 billion and $700 billion over a decade.
A final decision has yet to be made, but the sources said negotiators have not ruled out making deeper cuts than Obama planned.
As the Aug. 2 deadline for defaulting on the debt approaches, GOP members have dug in and said any accord cannot include tax hikes.
Sources told The Hill recently that GOP negotiators are ready to break with recent Republican ideology by trading large defense cuts for not raising taxes as part of a debt-ceiling deal.
“Robust defense spending and lower taxes have been two hallmarks of the Republican Party for years,” one former GOP House staffer said. “And those two things are going to be in direct competition with one another” in the debt talks.
Cuts larger than $400 billion over a decade would serve two purposes for the Republicans: helping stave off tax increases and giving them campaign-trail fodder for the 2012 election cycle.
“They want to hang defense cuts around the administration’s neck for 2012,” said one Democratic source who works on military issues. “View all and any of this in the political context.”
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Bush and Obama administrations have dramatically increased annual Pentagon spending levels.
“In inflation-adjusted dollars, the total defense budget has grown from $432 billion in FY01 to $720 billion in FY11, a real increase of approximately 67 percent,” according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. “The Pentagon’s base budget... has also grown steadily over the last decade, increasing from $390 billion in FY01 to $540 billion in FY11, a real increase of 38 percent.”
Democrats for years have raised concerns about this rate of growth, and called for Defense Department spending reductions.
For instance, during House floor debate Wednesday on the 2012 Pentagon appropriations measure, Rep. Peter Welch Peter Francis WelchBooker wins 2020 endorsement of every New Jersey Democrat in Congress Overnight Health Care — Presented by National Taxpayers Union — Drug pricing fight centers on insulin | Florida governor working with Trump to import cheaper drugs | Dems blast proposed ObamaCare changes Bill would let patients buy cheaper insulin from other countries MORE (D-Vt.) noted that other federal agencies’ budgets have been targeted for significant reductions. But the Pentagon has been kept “immune,” Welch said.
He offered an amendment targeting $297 million in the defense appropriations bill for research and development on a new bomber aircraft for the Air Force, one of that service’s top hardware priorities.
The Air Force requested $197 million for the bomber program.
Panel leaders tacked on an extra $100 million after talks with Air Force and industry officials led them to believe “we might be able to accelerate” the program’s schedule with the additional funding, House Appropriations Committee ranking member Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) said.
Welch argued that while research and development for a new fleet of bombers might be “desirable,” the nation’s bleak fiscal standing means lawmakers should be asking whether “it is affordable.”
The amendment was overwhelmingly defeated Wednesday evening.
Lawmakers from both parties have talked for months about the need to enact defense spending cuts to help fix America’s broken finances.
ADVERTISEMENT
During his first-ever Twitter town hall meeting Wednesday, Obama said the Defense budget is so large that even modest cuts to it would free up dollars for other federal programs.
But the three 2012 Pentagon spending bills that have emerged so far feature only modest cuts.
The House-passed defense authorization measure matches the administration’s $553 billion request.
On Wednesday, the House began the next step in the process — appropriating the money — and moved toward approving a $9 billion reduction in the Obama administration’s 2012 Pentagon request.
The Senate Armed Services Committee recently passed a 2012 Pentagon authorization measure that was $6.4 billion smaller than the administration’s request.
Panel Chairman Carl Levin Carl Milton LevinListen, learn and lead: Congressional newcomers should leave the extremist tactics at home House Democrats poised to set a dangerous precedent with president’s tax returns The Hill's 12:30 Report — Sponsored by Delta Air Lines — White House to 'temporarily reinstate' Acosta's press pass after judge issues order | Graham to take over Judiciary panel | Hand recount for Florida Senate race MORE (D-Mich.) told reporters his panel’s several requests to the White House for guidance on how large the 2012 portion of the $400 billion cut should have been answered.
That silence could have stemmed from White House budget officials waiting to see if debt-limit deliberations make even bigger defense and national-security spending cuts necessary.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to begin work on its 2012 Pentagon funding bill, but its chairman, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), has come out against deep Pentagon cuts.Its been quite a while since the Diamond Select Toys scooped up the Battle Beasts rights in 2009. They have released a few variations of an exclusive Crocodile Battle Beast to gain excitement and showed off some new sculpts at SDCC 2010, but thats about it. No plans or announcements had been made.
Recently, however, a countdown site went live at http://www.diamondselecttoys.com/battle-beasts.html. It has been counting down for over a month and will end tomorrow. Tomorrow also marks the beginning of C2E2.
Fortunately for us, IDW broke the news before Diamond Select’s countdown has finished. A new comic fleshing out a new story for the Battle Beasts franchise is on its way from IDW Publishing. Not only that, but they have put up a website showing off some comic art and design art for the ram-like character, Vorin. An exclusive translucent red version of Vorin will be available as a convention exclusive at C2E2. Vorin was not among the new sculpts shown at SDCC 2010.
More info after the jump!
Details on the plot are light with the exception of this excerpt:
Ancient words are spoken. A deadly weapon is activated…
And from across the galaxy comes a race of beings who are at once familiar and unlike anything the Earth has seen. Why have they come to Earth? What do they seek? Why do they fight? The answers lie in the hands of one of the only people on Earth who understands them, and if she doesn’t survive this onslaught, all hope may be lost.
Here is one more additional quote:
The mini-series is written by Bobby Curnow (Godzilla Legends, Night of 1000 Wolves) and penciled by Valerio Schiti (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron). It focuses on a group of renegade Beasts who return to Earth to protect the ultimate weapon (and the human who activated it) from an armada of their violent brethren. The ashcan will reprint the first eight pages of issue #1 in full color, and fans will be able to get a free translucent Minimate of the ram Vorin while supplies last. Both will be given away during C2E2 by DST at booth #311.
The first full wave will be revealed at SDCC 2012 (July 11-15) with the actual toy release happening in late fall. The figures will be sold in two-packs. I’m sure more details on the toy line, itself, will come to light tomorrow. We will continue to bring you the news as we hear it!Following a Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal investigation into the death this spring of Roufusport amateur kickboxer Dennis Munson, Jr., controversy has enveloped the team with ex-coaches and fighters coming forward to rip coach Duke Roufus and his team.
One fighter who is standing by his coach is UFC Featherweight Erik Koch. He took to MMA.tv to post in Roufus' defense.
Here's what he had to say:
Former Rufousport grappling coach Eric Schafer took to Sqor to elaborate on his previous comments about the camp:
Eric Schafer - I only chimed in to support my friends Rose and Pat who where/are being called rats and liars about the training situations at the gym... I left there 4 years ago, and maybe it has changed from the admitted "chaotic" days when I was there. Maybe when I saw Matt Mitrione get green lighted to beat Ben Rothwell out of the gym, things have not happened like that again. Why would we want 3 quality heavyweights in the gym when 2 was enough? Makes no sense to me, but I am sure it did somehow. They all seemed to be good guys, but maybe Maybe some of the claims are exaggerated like Danny Boy Downes told MMAJunkie, but they did not seem exaggerated when he ranted to me for over 10 minutes at a UFC event about how much he hated Duke and I even heard my favorite quote about how Danny can't wait until everyone finds out that the "emperor has no clothes". Only a man of Danny's intelligence would use a Hans Christian Andersen reference to insult Duke. :) Maybe the coaches like Ryan, Chris, Tony, Aaron, Kyle, and others who were treated like shit and/or lied to all left before it was cleaned up. Maybe the bullying and hazing of fighters and just naive students has ended. Maybe I should not have left after Anthony Pettis pulled up to me and wrestling coach Chris Senner who were doing sprints outside the gym during a noon session and told me that Duke told him that he didn't think he needed me to help corner Pettis against Shane Roller, but Anthony argued to get me back in the corner, because he wanted my help to beat the grappler. Anthony asked if I could help get the training camp going, since the gym was so emotionally defeated at the time and no one was training. Even though I decided that this would be my last camp at Roufusport at that very moment, I still studied Roller, got the fighters and wrestlers to help out, and gave it my all to help him win. Maybe when I convinced a bunch of wrestler kids to help out Anthony fight Roller and Chico fight Chase Beebe (fight fell through) because we needed help working their takedown defense, maybe I should not have gotten upset when Duke walked in halfway through practice and yelled at the guys to start beating these guys up, even though we promised that we would take it easy on them because they were not fighters, and they were going out of their way to help out. I know that Chico apologized to the wrestler that he had to start beating him up to avoid the wrath of Duke, but maybe that has all changed... The truth is that I was truly hurt when I was in the ring after the Roller fight was ended by a triangle choke, and Duke told Anthony to thank Pat (who has was injured for the entire camp), Belcher, who lives in Mississippi and wasn't there for the camp, and Ben Askren who was there for 2 days for the camp, but not me. It was okay, because I was already checked out, but I would have at least liked a thank you. When I left, Pettis asked why I was leaving when he had finally earned the title shot, and I just replied sadly that "I have to". He nodded and knew I was emotionally done. Maybe those "chaotic" days are over... I hope so. I have blocked Duke and the gym from my life as much as possible. I still get messages from people saying that it has not changed, but maybe it has. Maybe it wasn't Rick Glenn who came to my gym last winter saying that he was sick of the bullying of the fighters there. Maybe it wasn't Chico who was looking for help in his last 3 UFC fights, because he had a falling out with Duke... I don't know most of the newer guys, but they all seem nice to me. I wish them the best. One of HIS associates said it best today to me "we deal with Duke because we need to, does anyone really like him?" I did not see the Dennis Munson Jr fight live... I am banned from his shows for "not respecting him". I heard plenty of horrible stories about the fight. I only saw the fight on Sunday morning, like everyone else, and I was horrified. I didn't think it was going to be as cut and dry as it was, but I hope justice will be served. I would never use this kid's death as a way to "stick it to Duke". Anything I said was purely in defense of Pat, Rose, and the countless testimonials that I have been seeing from other former members about the attitude at the gym. They are not rats or liars, just people who have been hurt. With that all said... I am done with this garbage. May this negative chapter in my life be finally over. It kinda feels good to get some of this stuff off my chest. Hopefully I never see or hear about Duke again. PS- If I disappear mysteriously, then you all know where to look :) - RedThe mammoth 928-page volume of The Osamu Tezuka Story: A Life in Manga and Anime (recently published in English by Stone Bridge Press), opens with a provocative question: How have manga—Japanese comics—become an integral part of Japanese society, read practically anywhere, by all age groups, and touching every imaginable subject and genre, when, despite their global fame, American comics never reached the same cultural magnitude even in their own country? The answer that the book offers is simple: American comics never had Osamu Tezuka.
To be sure, it’s not just a simple, but also a simplistic explanation (mainstream manga never had to endure anything similar to the Comics Code Authority that American comics had to endure for decades, for example). Yet it is true that the uniqueness of Japanese comics culture is strongly tied to the uniqueness of Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), widely known as Japan’s “God of Manga.” The title itself implies this uniqueness—do we have a “god of comics” in America? How about France? In Belgium, the legendary Georges Remi, better known as Hergé, can be said to hold a cultural significance that is somewhat similar to that of Tezuka in his native country, but Hergé is almost exclusively associated with a single title—The Adventures of Tintin—whereas Tezuka has created dozens of iconic characters that became a part of Japan’s popular culture, in an output that’s estimated to be 150,000 pages that he drew in his rather short lifetime. Tezuka found time for other things as well: He graduated from medical school and was licensed to practice as a doctor; produced hundreds of hours of animation in both films and television shows, putting Japan on the global animation map and making animation one of his country’s leading cultural exports; published weekly film reviews; and appeared in television advertisements. Tezuka was also an obsessive reader, and his vast knowledge of literature, history, science, and philosophy often echoes in his artworks. This intellectual quality takes Tezuka’s global influence deeper than that of most of his Japanese colleagues’: The most famous case of such influence may be the inspiration that his animal adventure series Jungle Emperor Leo (known in English as Kimba the White Lion) provided for the Disney hit film The Lion King.
With the rise in popularity of manga among Western readers, the 21st century saw a surge of interest in Tezuka in the English-speaking world. Not only were readers treated with many translations of his works, but scholarly studies of these works also began to appear: Frederik L. Schodt’s The Astro Boy Essays (2007) traces the history and cultural influence of one of Tezuka’s most beloved heroes; Helen McCarthy’s The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga (2009) is a lavishly illustrated coffee-table guide to Tezuka’s works; and Natsu Onoda Power’s God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga (2009) is a study of the influence of stage-theater on Tezuka’s style.
The Osamu Tezuka Story: A Life in Manga and Anime, which now joins that list, is something of a different animal. Written and illustrated by Toshio Ban, who worked as one of Tezuka’s chief assistants, the book is a biography of Tezuka in a graphic-novel format. It tells the story of Tezuka’s life, from his birth through his adolescent years in the shadow of World War II to his great postwar success up to his death. Though I am sure most of the book’s potential readers are already familiar with his biography, Ban’s book tells it in an unparalleled detail, both visually and narratively. Interestingly enough, the book keeps a constant low-key tone, even when approaching the different personal and artistic conflicts that Tezuka has encountered throughout his career. But there is something misleading in the book’s subtitle: A Life in Manga and Anime is definitely more about Tezuka’s life and less about his comics or animation. The book is mostly about the many twists and turns in Tezuka’s career as a comics artist and animation producer (devoting a lot of space to the great suffering publishers had to endure while waiting for Tezuka to deliver his weekly pages), with occasional brief discussions about the content and the style of his works.
Yet even in these brief discussions, readers can find surprising links that lead from Tezuka’s works to Jewish culture and history. In his youth, when Tezuka began shaping his personal style of drawing and storytelling, introducing traits that accompany the mainstream manga industry to this very day (characters with large round eyes, cinematic page layouts, and frequent use of silent pages with no text), he drew influence from fellow Japanese artists along foreign sources of inspiration, most notably Disney. Often overlooked, however, is the equally important influence that Disney’s greatest rivals, the brothers Max and David Fleischer, had on Tezuka with their Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor cartoons that reflected (and sometimes even directly referred to) their creators’ background as Jewish immigrants in urban America. Even less well-known (though nicely referred to in Ban’s book) is the important influence that Tezuka drew from Yiddish cartoonist Milt Gross and his silent graphic novel He Done Her Wrong, which also strongly reflected its author’s Jewish heritage.
Works drawn by Tezuka toward the later part of his career—decidedly darker and more pessimistic in comparison to his immediate postwar works—show an increasing interest in Jewish life and history, an interest that made it to the narrative of some of his most acclaimed works. His 1970 series Apollo’s Song is a grim tale of a violent young man forced to learn the meaning of love through living the different painful ordeals of tragic figures. One such figure is a Nazi officer who accompanies Jewish prisoners on a train to a death camp and falls in love with a Jewish girl during the journey. The portrayal of the Holocaust in the story feels more like a portrayal of abstract evil rather than concrete history, but another element of the story, the horror of war, feels very concrete and real.
As demonstrated in The Osamu Tezuka Story: A Life in Manga and Anime, Tezuka had plenty of personal experience to draw from when it came to the horrors of war, with his adolescent years dominated by the destruction brought by Allies’ bombings and the sight of dead bodies scattered in the streets becoming something of a daily routine. While some may find this connection troubling given the nature of Japan’s involvement in WWII, it appears that for Tezuka, the Holocaust and his own personal experience were symbolic of just how far human cruelty can reach.
A deeper understanding of Jewish history can be found at Dawn, the eighth volume of Tezuka’s epic Phoenix cycle of historical and futuristic stories that follow the human race’s destructive quest for immortality. Published in the mid-’70s, Dawn is a science-fiction tale of a woman named Romy who finds herself abandoned on a distant planet and eventually attempts to make her way back to Earth. During her journey, Romy compares herself to the Jews who were exiled from their homeland for thousands of years, yet never gave up the hope of returning to it, eventually doing so and re-establishing it as their national state. But just how fruitful is this process of return, given that both the Jewish people and the state of Israel (we are to assume) no longer exist as separate cultural/national categories in the distant future in which the story takes place—or, for that matter, that Romy’s own return to her home planet proves to be a tragic affair? While Tezuka does not give a direct answer to this question in Dawn, he does provide it in one of his final works, A Message to Adolf.
Serialized in the mid-1980s, A Message to Adolf is considered among the greatest masterpieces of not only Tezuka’s works but of Japanese and global comics as well. The series tells the story of people who share the same first name—Adolf Kamil, the son of a Jewish family that found refuge from Nazi Germany in the Japanese city of Kobe, and Adolf Kaufman, the son of a senior Nazi diplomat who lives in the same city. The story begins in the 1930s, as both protagonists become friends after being bullied by local Japanese children who treat them as dangerous foreigners. But their friendship turns into bitter hatred as greater events place them on the opposing sides of history over the course of six decades—from the deadly battlefields of Europe and Asia in WWII through the Holocaust all the way to Israeli-Arab conflict.
Although much wider in scope, A Message to Adolf places the Holocaust in the same context as Apollo’s Song did, that of WWII, hence sharing the weakness of the former work—treating a systematic form of mass-murder of innocent people as the ultimate manifestation of war, even a cruel one, rather than a unique affair. However |
Mom colliding with the realism of my Dad. The idea of the "real" colliding with the “ideal” has been suggested to me by many artists."
More info: pbfcomics.com | Facebook | Instagram | TwitterRomanian director Radu Jude addresses the prickly subject of gypsy slavery with his third feature, a western-style historical drama which won the Best Director prize in Berlin
A harsh history lesson leavened by bawdy humor and classic western elements, Aferim! dramatizes the formerly taboo subject of gypsy slavery that flourished in Romania for centuries, and was only finally abolished in 1856. Handsomely shot in luminous monochrome on 35mm film, director Radu Jude's third feature has just won the Silver Bear for Best Director in Berlin. It was always a strong prize contender based on its striking look, timely subject and surprisingly funny script.
Jude's two previous features, The Happiest Girl in the World and Everybody in our Family, were darkly funny satires about the strained economic and social fabric of contemporary Romania. Both picked up multiple awards at Sundance, Berlin, Sarajevo and other festivals. His new film shares the same sardonic tone but brings a more ambitious scope and more explicitly political resonance. Aferim! opens domestically next month, with further festival bookings likely to follow. It will be a tough sell for overseas distributors, but smart niche players may be swayed by the prospect of releasing Romania's answer to 12 Years a Slave.
Contemporary anti-Roma racism in Eastern Europe has inspired a crop of powerful movies in recent years. But Aferim! digs deeper into the historical roots of this timely subject as Jude and his co-writer, novelist Florin Lazarescu, draw on real accounts of gypsy slavery for inspiration. Crucially, they also manage to make this grim topic both funny and personal, not a dour social-realist sermon.
Titled after an old Turkish word meaning "bravo!", the story takes place in the mountainous southern region of Wallachia in 1835, a time when Romania was still caught in the imperial crossfire between Turkey, Russia and Austria. Teodor Corban stars as Costandin, a boisterous police constable employed as a bounty hunter by local nobleman Boyar Iordache Cindescu (Alexandru Dabija) to recapture Carfin (Cuzin Toma), a fugitive gypsy slave who made a potentially deadly error by giving in to the sexual demands of his master's wife Sultana (Mihalea Sirbu).
Scouring the majestic mountain landscape on horseback with his callow teenage son Ionita (Mihai Comanoiu) acting as his deputy, Costandin recalls John Wayne in The Searchers, only with the racist and sexist subtext of John Ford's iconic western writ large. He also loves the sound of his own voice, forever sharing his pompous wisdom and salty humor with anyone who will listen. He has a special fondness for bawdy rhymes, crude aphorisms and bitter curses. "May he live three more days, counting yesterday" he sneers after a fractious encounter on the road.
Costandin and Ionita apprehend Carfin, picking up another runaway gypsy slave in the process, a skinny little boy called Tintiric (Alberto Dinache). As they journey home, father and son celebrate by sharing the services of a prostitute at a rowdy inn ("don't tell your mother"). But on learning that their prisoner faces punishment for sexually humiliating his master, Ionita raises ethical questions about returning him. As a compromise, both agree to ask the nobleman for leniency. However, Cindescu disdainfully swats away their pleas before personally enforcing his brutal revenge.
A veteran of various key Romanian New Wave films including 12.08 East of Bucharest and 4 Weeks, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Corban manages to invest his flawed anti-hero with a rough-hewn affability. Costandin may spout racist slurs against Jews, Turks, Russians, Italians and others, sounding like he belongs in a 19th century prequel to Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, but Jude does not judge him too harshly, presenting him as simply a product of his times. There are also solid, unshowy performances from Romanian TV star Toma, and from Dabija and Sirbu, both well-known theater directors. The 17-year-old Comanoiu makes a quietly impressive screen debut too.
Like its main characters, Aferim! meanders a little in its opening act, which is essentially a string of random conversations on horseback. The slender plot, fairly unsympathetic protagonists and steady flow of coarse, slang-heavy Romanian dialogue may also test the patience of viewers expecting a more conventional costume drama. But do not be fooled by the playful, irreverent tone. Behind its attractive surface sheen of lusty humor and ravishing visuals, this Trojan Horse drama makes some spiky topical points about the lingering scars of slavery, feudalism, misogyny and racism.
Production company: Hi Film
Cast: Teodor Corban, Mihai Comanoiu, Cuzan Toma, Alexandru Dabija, Mihalea Sirbu
Director: Radu Jude
Screenwriters: Radu Jude, Florin Lazarescu
Cinematographer: Marius Panduru
Editor: Catalin Cristutiu
Producer: Ada Solomon
Music: Tre Parale
Sales company: Beta Cinema, Munich
Unrated, 105 minutesHeading into the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Jose Calderon and Marcelo Huertas will continue a legacy of Lakers performing on international basketball’s greatest stage.
While some had not yet played for the Lakers before participating in the Olympics (and thus not officially representing the purple and gold), many — including legends like Jerry West, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant — made Los Angeles proud with their contributions at the Games.
Over the last 56 years, 10 different Lakers have played for their country in search for gold.
Jerry West — USA (Rome 1960)
Four months after being drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers, 22-year-old Jerry West became the franchise’s first Olympian before beginning his rookie season. Because only amateurs were allowed to compete at the time, West was eligible to represent West Virginia University, where he had just completed a two-time All-American career.
Selected as co-captain alongside Oscar Robertson, West averaged 14.3 points in Rome to help the Americans to an 8-0 record with an average margin of victory of 42.4. The team — which also featured Jerry Lucas and Walt Bellamy — was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a unit in 2010.
West — who had helped the USA to gold at the Pan American Games the year before — went on to forge his own Hall-worthy career in Los Angeles by earning 14 All-Star selections in as many seasons.
Walt Hazzard — USA (Tokyo 1964)
The Lakers made Walt Hazzard the No.1 pick of the 1964 NBA Draft, and he returned to Los Angeles with a gold medal six months later. Hazzard, who was coming off a championship and All-American season at UCLA, averaged only 3.8 points in Tokyo, never scoring more than seven.
However, he and his teammates — including Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown — enjoyed plenty of easy victories, including against Uruguay (83-28) and South Korea (116-50). In the gold-medal match, they defeated the previously unbeaten Soviet Union, 73-59.
Hazzard spent the first three seasons of his pro career in L.A., where he averaged 9.4 points before being selected by Seattle in the 1967 expansion draft.
Magic Johnson — USA (Barcelona 1992)
Almost a year removed from an abrupt retirement due to his contraction of HIV, Magic Johnson joined the greatest basketball team in the history of the sport.
With a roster that featured 10 fellow Hall of Famers — Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin — Johnson and the Dream Team were unbeatable.
They won every game by an average of 43.8 points, and the closest match — for the gold medal against Croatia — was still a 117-85 rout.
A knee injury limited Johnson’s playing time and kept him sidelined for two games. However, he was effective when on the floor, averaging 8.0 points and 5.5 assists. He dished out 10 assists in the USA’s 68-point opening victory over Angola and scored double figures in each of his last three games.
After the U.S. had been saddled with bronze in the 1998 Seoul Games, Johnson and his fellow Americans certainly made a statement in the first Olympics that allowed professionals to compete. In 2010, the five-time champion and the rest of the squad were inducted into the Hall of Fame as a team.
Shaquille O’Neal— USA (Atlanta 1996)
A free agent in the buildup to the 1996 Games, Shaquille O’Neal signed with the Lakers just two days before the tournament tipped off.
The 24-year-old joined a roster featuring five members of the Dream Team — Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Pippen and Robinson — and four more future Hall of Famers — Hakeem Olajuwon, Gary Payton, Reggie Miller and Mitch Richmond.
O’Neal, who had earned MVP honors for leading the U.S. to gold at the FIBA World Championship two years before, averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in Atlanta, while picking up two double-doubles. However, he hardly played in the 95-69 gold-medal victory over Serbia and Montenegro — which featured Vlade Divac, who had been traded just weeks before for future Olympian Kobe Bryant.
Of course, O’Neal and Bryant went on to form a dynasty in Los Angeles, winning three championships together. O’Neal —a 2016 Hall of Famer — earned seven of his 15 All-Star honors as a member of the Lakers.
Lamar Odom— USA (Athens 2004)
Despite a loaded roster that featured Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James, the 2004 U.S. National Team has been deemed by many as the country’s biggest basketball disappointment.
The team also included Lamar Odom, whom the Lakers acquired from Miami in a trade for O’Neal earlier that summer. Odom averaged 9.3 points and 5.8 rebounds, but the Americans went just 5-3, lost by 19 in the opener against Puerto Rico and left Greece with only a bronze medal to show.
Still, Odom delivered his country gold six years later by leading the U.S. in rebounding during its championship run at the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Istanbul. He also enjoyed a successful tenure with the Lakers, winning two titles and the 2011 Sixth Man of the Year award.
Sun Yue — China (Beijing 2008)
Days after signing with the Lakers, Sun Yue faced his future teammate, Bryant, in his first game of the 2008 Olympics. The Americans won handily, as Sun and China went on to finish with a 2-4 record.
Sun averaged 6.8 points for a team that featured fellow NBA players Yao Ming (19.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and Yi Jianlian (9.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg). Sun later played for China at the London 2012 Olympics and helped his country to pairs of gold medals at both the FIBA Asia Championship and the Asian Games.
Prior to joining the Lakers, Sun spent six years with the aptly named Beijing Olympians. His NBA career was brief, making only 10 appearances for Los Angeles in 2008-09, and he returned to the Olympians until the team disbanded in 2013. He currently plays for the Beijing Ducks, which he has helped to two CBA titles.
Pau Gasol — Spain (Beijing 2008)
With Pau Gasol paving the way, Spain pushed the United States to the verge of defeat in Beijing. Gasol scored 21 points in the gold-medal game, helping trim the Americans’ lead to just one in the fourth quarter. However, led by Bryant, the U.S. managed to survive with a 118-107 victory.
Gasol was one of the most dominant players in China, leading the entire field in scoring (19.6), while ranking fifth in both rebounding (7.0) and blocks (1.1). With brother Marc Gasol, Jose Calderon and Rudy Fernandez in tow, Pau helped Spain to a 6-2 record, with its only losses coming from the USA.
Gasol put on a few shows en route to a silver medal, dropping 31 points against Angola and recording a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double versus Croatia.
Kobe Bryant — USA (Beijing 2008)
With eight minutes left and a gold medal on the line, the United States led Spain by only two points. Then, reigning MVP Kobe Bryant took over.
He scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter alone, leaving the Spaniards with no answer for his twisting drives or 3-point swishes. Toward the end of the game, he even completed a four-point play and famously put his finger to his lips, symbolically quieting Spain’s rally.
Years later, Mike Krzyzewski said that, if it weren’t for Bryant’s clutch performance, he wouldn’t have remained coach of the national team after Beijing. Coming off of a bronze finish in Athens, anything less than gold would have been a disappointment for the Redeem Team, which returned James and Anthony, while adding superstars like Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul.
Bryant added six assists in the 118-107 win over Spain and also contributed steadily over the course of the tournament, averaging 15.0 points and 2.1 assists. He also led all players with 25 points in a quarterfinals win over Australia.
The Americans crushed their opponents by an average of 27.9 points on their way to the title. For Bryant, who lost in the NBA Finals just two months before, it was an opportunity to start adding some hardware before winning the next two championships.
Pau Gasol — Spain (London 2012)
For the second straight Olympics, Pau Gasol powered his team to the gold-medal match and, once again, dominated on the way there. Gasol ranked fourth among all players in scoring (19.1), sixth in rebounds (7.6) and seventh in blocks (1.1), while also leading Spain in assists (2.9).
This time around, he had an arguably better supporting cast that returned Marc Gasol and Calderon, while adding Serge Ibaka and Victor Claver.
Pau stood out among the stars, notching three double-doubles, including in both the quarterfinals and semifinals. He shined with gold on the line as well, tallying 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, though the Spaniards once again fell to the U.S., 107-100.
By this time, Gasol had already asserted himself as a star on the Lakers, having won two championships and earned three of his six All-Star honors in Los Angeles.
Gasol also made his case as the greatest player in his national team’s history, having led his country to back-to-back Olympic silver medals, in addition to three EuroBasket golds and one FIBA World Cup title. Four years later, he helped Spain to bronze at the Rio Games by ranking fourth in scoring (19.5) and leading all players in rebounds (8.9).
Kobe Bryant — USA (London 2012)
At 34 years old, Kobe Bryant found himself the elder statesman in 2012 and made sure to give his teammates some shine by saying that this edition of the U.S. National Team could have defeated the 1992 Dream Team.
It certainly had little trouble beating its Olympic competition, going 8-0 with a 32.1-point margin of victory. Bryant stepped back and let the younger Americans — like James, Anthony, Paul, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook — into the spotlight, as the U.S. trailed only once in the fourth quarter of any game.
Bryant averaged only 9.0 points during pool play but stepped up in the knockout stages, starting by leading his team with 20 points in a 119-86 quarterfinals win over Australia. Despite going scoreless in the first half, the Laker reached his total by knocking down six 3-pointers in a row.
He also provided 11 of his 13 points in the first quarter of a semifinals rout over Argentina and scored 17 to help the U.S. capture gold with a 107-100 victory in a rematch with Spain.
Jose Calderon — Spain (Rio de Janeiro 2016)
One month after being traded to the Lakers, Jose Calderon played in his fourth Olympics for the Spanish National Team and left Rio with a bronze medal. The 34-year-old rarely came off the bench, averaging 2.2 points and 0.6 assists in only 5.1 minutes per game.
Calderon's top performance was a six-point effort in Spain's win over Argentina, and he didn't suit up for a semifinals loss to Team USA or a bronze victory over Australia. This latest medal made his trophy case a bit more crowded, as he was key in Spain's run to silver in both 2008 and 2012. He also helped his team to gold at the 2006 World Championship and 2011 European Championship.
Marcelo Huertas — Brazil (Rio de Janeiro 2016)
Sao Paulo’s Marcelo Huertas did about all he could for the host nation at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, averaging 6.6 assists — the third-most of any player at the tournament. "Marcelinho" saved his best effort for the end, briefly delaying his team's elimination by racking up 12 points and 11 assists in its victory in the finale over Nigeria. However, his individual success did not always translate into victories, as Brazil went 2-3, dropping two games in the final minutes.
As captain, Huertas did come through in Brazil's upset over No. 2 Spain, tallying 11 points and seven assists — both of which were team-highs. In the Nigeria game, he scored 10 points in the final six minutes to keep his side alive until it was knocked out via tiebreakers later in the day.
Huertas also represented Brazil in London at the 2012 Games, where he averaged 11.3 points and 6.0 assists. In the past, he helped his country to two gold medals at the FIBA Americas Championship, plus one apiece at the Pan American Games and South American Championship.
Honorable Mention:
Mitch Kupchak — USA (1976 Montreal)
Twenty-four years before he took over as general manager of the Lakers, Mitch Kupchak donned red, white and blue and came home with gold. Kupchak averaged 12.5 points and 5.7 rebounds for an American team that went 7-0 behind Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley, who led the way with 19.3 points per game.
Kupchak stepped up in the final round, scoring 14 points to help deliver a 95-74 win over Yugoslavia. He followed his time in Montreal by winning the title in 1978 with the Washington Bullets and in 1985 with the Lakers. As L.A.’s GM, he has guided the construction of four championship-winning rosters.Report details widespread and rising poverty in Australia
By Oscar Grenfell
18 October 2016
A new report by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), released on Sunday, has revealed pervasive and growing poverty affecting millions of people. The report makes clear that those hardest hit are the most vulnerable, including single parents, the unemployed and the hundreds of thousands of workers forced into casual and part-time, low-paid employment.
According to the report, almost three million Australians, or 13.3 percent of the population, are living below the poverty line. Among them are 730,000 children under the age of 15, or 17.4 percent of the total.
In her introduction, Cassandra Goldie, the CEO of ACOSS, commented that this mounting social crisis was a direct result of the policies of Labor and Liberal-National governments.
“Successive budgets have cut income support payments to those with the least, including low income families despite persistent and increasing child poverty in Australia,” Goldie wrote.
The report is based on figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics covering the period of 2013-14 and makes comparisons to statistics going back to 2003-04. It defines poverty as 50 percent of median income, which for a single adult is just $343 a week after housing costs, and $720.22 for a couple with children after rent or mortgage payments. The report also includes alternative figures, based on another commonly used measure, which is 60 percent of median income, but generally cites the 50 percent figure.
Over the decade from 2003-04 to 2013-14, the report documents a two percent rise in child poverty across the board. It notes that Australia’s overall poverty rates are consistently higher than the averages for countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over the past decade.
The report details a major increase in child poverty in single parent households of almost four percent, from 36.8 percent in 2012 to 40.6 percent in 2014. It comments that this coincided with the decision by the federal Labor government of prime minister Julia Gillard to strip around 80,000 single parents of children over eight of their Parenting Payment and place them on the Newstart unemployment benefit. According to the report, the move resulted in a typical loss of $60 per week among the poorest single parent households.
The ACOSS document includes case studies that point to the social reality behind the statistics. Rhima, an unemployed single parents with two young children comments, “Next year they will put me on Newstart and I don’t know what I am going to do, I can’t survive on what I get now let alone anything less. I have no savings, my children have never been on a holiday and I have nightmares about what’s going to happen to us.”
Unemployed households, including those of working age not in the labour force, and stay at home single parents, had the highest poverty rates at a combined 63.2 percent, an increase of two percent since 2012. In other words, being unemployed is the strongest indicator of poverty.
ACOSS makes clear that the dire situation confronting those without a job is a product of poverty-level unemployment benefits, which are among the lowest in the developed world.
The report states that the gap between the 50 percent of median income poverty line and the average payment for those on Newstart is a staggering $222 per week. Young people in full-time study are eligible for Youth Allowance, which is $309 below the poverty line. The aged pension is $118 below the poverty line and the Disability Support Pension $126 under it.
Around 800,000 people across the country are on Newstart, which is the equivalent of just $38 per day. The payment has not been increased in real terms since 1994. Successive governments have sought to restrict access to Newstart. For instance, under prime minister Tony Abbott, the Liberal-National government dramatically expanded a punitive work for the dole program in 2014, under which many unemployed people are forced into the equivalent of full-time menial labour without a wage, to be eligible for the Newstart payment.
While the official unemployment rate for September stood at 5.6 percent, other measures show the figure to be far higher. A Roy Morgan report in September found that real unemployment was 8.5 percent, up 0.2 percent on the previous year, and that the underemployment rate was at 7.7 percent of the workforce, a rise of 0.4 percent.
The ACOSS report quotes Tung, who points to the dire social crisis afflicting many unemployed youth. He left school when he was 16 years old and was thrown out of home at the age of 19. “I apply for hundreds of jobs and just can’t get anything, most don’t even reply, they just ignore me. I don’t have experience or qualifications so no one wants me,” Tung said. “I stay with friends mostly, but I have spent some nights on the street and that’s really bad, I don’t want to live like this, I need someone to give me a chance.”
Significantly, a substantial proportion of those living below the poverty line of 50 percent of median income, 36.6 percent or around one million people, are listed as being employed. The report comments that many of them are likely in part-time, intermittent and other precarious jobs.
The report notes that housing costs are a substantial contributor to growing poverty. Almost 22 percent of private renters live in poverty. An article on the Conversation web site on October 17 reported that amid the ongoing boom in housing prices and rental costs, 40 percent of low-income renters were in housing stress in 2014, defined as spending more than one-third of income on rent.
About 48 percent of public housing tenants, who comprise some of the most oppressed layers of the working class, are also in poverty. With public housing stocks being sold-off around the country, many in poverty are forced to rent privately as they sit on lengthy waiting lists.
Prominent figures in the federal Liberal-National Turnbull government responded to the release of the report by denouncing the “welfare culture,” and stepping up their calls for the unemployed to be forced off meagre welfare benefits and into low quality and poorly paid jobs, or utter destitution.
Assistant Minister for Social Services Zed Seselj stated that, “Our opponents on the left have pushed, I think, a welfare mentality in this country … We simply can’t go on assuming for huge numbers of Australians welfare will just become the norm.”
The government’s response to the report underscores the futility of the appeals made by ACOSS and other charity organisations for the major parties to “see sense” and introduce poverty alleviating measures. In reality, the decades-long offensive against the social rights of the working class carried out by successive Labor and Coalition governments has been rooted in the class interests they represent—those of a tiny financial aristocracy.
The 2016 Forbes Rich list, released in June reported that the wealth of the richest 200 individuals in the country had soared to a record $197 billion. The figure was three times higher than in 1999 and was an eight-fold increase since 1983. Many on the list had accumulated their fortunes through the real estate market, and other speculative activities.
All of the capitalist parties are committed to a program that will deepen this social chasm. In September, the federal Labor opposition outlined an agreement with the Liberal-National Coalition government to impose cuts of $6.3 billion to social spending including cuts to family tax benefits, the abolition of job seeker bonuses, cuts to HECS-HELP fee subsidies for tertiary students, a two-year waiting period for welfare payments to newly arrived migrants and other regressive measures.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.In one short week, the EVIVA Peachtree tower has switched from being Atlanta’s most painfully lethargic development to (nearly) construction-ready. Developer the Integral Group is chomping at the bit to begin work at Peachtree and 6th streets on a long-anticipated high-rise that could boost the city's design prowess, we're told.
After more than three years of speculation, the project is slated to ramp up quickly, following the erection of a telltale construction fence last week. Since the fence went up, Perkins+Will — the architects behind the design — have made no secret they are eager for work to begin.
Looking forward to starting this one!
Could Midtown’s elusive EVIVA tower finally be happening? https://t.co/98bRQvUKtc via @CurbedAtlanta — Don Reynolds (@Don_E_Reynolds) November 4, 2016
Though there's no indication just yet of exactly how fast Integral Group wants to push forward, the developer has reached out to Curbed Atlanta eager to share information this week. We should have more on the project Friday.
According to Christopher Martorella, President and Managing Partner of Integral's Investment Management Division, no details have changed since the building was first announced, meaning that it will likely be 35 stories tall — just one story shy of its neighbor to the north, Viewpoint. But let's remember that sheer number of stories isn't always a clear indicator of true height.
The fence wrap indicates the project will include studios, one-, and two-bedroom units with "world-class" views and amenities. However, a website listed on the fence is not yet operational. Delivery is expected in early 2018. Check back Friday for more info.Bitcoin and the blockchain technology haven’t only revolutionized the financial system, but also introduced us to a whole new era of decentralization that can change the global political system. The blockchain technology has the potential to enable individuals to change how they interact in politics via an unprecedented system that is primarily based on disintermediation via blockchain’s automatic trustless transactions. Such system can totally transform the tenets which underpin the current global political system and models of governance, raising a question by many decentralization enthusiasts:
“Do we really need the traditional “State” along with its centralized governance institutions?”
Do We Still Need a Federal State?
Many blockchain enthusiasts today believe that the civil society can reorganize itself and do a better job in protecting its interests via pulling the plug off the Federal State and replacing its system by services that utilize open source, blockchain based protocols such as Ethereum, Eris, Omni Layer and others. Catalyzed by the zeal for ambitious possibilities, innovative characteristics of the blockchain and smart contract technologies along with an uprising discontent with the present global political systems, decentralization advocates are encouraging citizens to participate in the blockchain revolution and design by themselves their own governance system that relies on a distributed consensus rather than on traditional centralization, coercion and hierarchies.
It is inarguable that decentralization enthusiasts mostly bear a discontented attitude towards centralized authority and its institutions, especially those associated with Federal States. For many blockchain enthusiasts, the Federal State is continuously failing to add any contribution to the prosperity of neither the economic nor the political systems. As a pro-decentralization person, I believe that centralized governments represent an encumbrance; they are too slow, too impotent, too lacking in innovative solutions, too corrupt and benefiting a small percentage of the people they serve.
To avoid prejudice, it is worth mentioning that there exists various attitudes towards the Federal State and its role among supporters of the decentralized government model, yet the line that separates between decentralization advocates and anarchists is usually blurred.
Why Move the Government to the Blockchain?
A large percentage of bitcoin supporters promote the blockchain technology as a public repository that is decentralized, more efficient and consensus, which can give birth to a myriad of applications that can minimize citizens’ need for the government, but within a society that still lies under the umbrella of Federal States’ authorities.
On the other end of the spectrum, lies crypto-anarchists and techno-libertarians who bear a rather more extremist attitude. A large percentage of them believe that the Federal State represents an unnecessary, illegitimate and antiquated power depository and they encourage utilizing the innovations offered by the information technology as liberating force to counteract the concept of federal authorities. From this point view, we are literally in a critical point of history when citizens have the tools they need to gradually bypass the institutions that collectively make up the Federal State authority via means of a distributed consensus that establishes a society of equals which is marked by flat, apart from hierarchical structures.
Bitnation and the Seed of Decentralized Governments:
Despite the fact that attitudes and opinions towards the effectiveness of centralized Federal States may markedly vary, a large number of decentralization evangelists and political activists have already started formulating projects to create “cryptonations” which is the name usually used to describe decentralized governments that rely on the blockchain and smart contract technologies.
Bitnation is the first cryptonation that was formed in 2014. It is considered the first ever decentralized borderless nation that utilizes the blockchain technology. Bitnation provides almost all the services offered by a conventional centralized government including IDs, insurance, marriage certificates and dispute resolutions. On October 5, 2014 Bitnation time-tamped the world’s first blockchain marriage and 5 days later it announced the world’s first blockchain citizenship. Any citizen in the world can get a Bitnation World Citizenship ID.
So, if bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to utilize the blockchain technology, Bitnation is the first decentralized government that also utilizes smart contracts along with the blockchain technology. This is just the beginning of a new era that will witness utilization of the blockchain technology not only in the political system but also in many other aspects of people’s life.The Freedom Socialist Party wants the minimum wage to be $20 an hour. However, they don't feel compelled to compensate their own workers with that kind of cash.
The party is looking for a web developer, and posted a job listing on Craigslist a week ago and Indeed.com yesterday, and it's been raising eyebrows on social media.
Although the average annual salary of a web developer in the U.S. is around $62,500, the Freedom Socialist Party only wants to pay $13 an hour, which would be $26,000 a year. Except that the party won't hire someone full-time, so their next web developer's total compensation won't even be that modest chunk of change. Perhaps they're just trying to protect their employees from the temptations of "capitalist greed."
In case it vanishes or gets amended, the entire listing is below:
According to the party's last presidential platform, these self-described Marxists want:
"jobs program at union wages with childcare available" "no cuts to Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare. Raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. Provide a guaranteed annual income. Free medical care for all, including reproductive services and abortion."
Reason contacted the party and confirmed that the listing is legitimate, and that in spite of the party's commitment to unionizing laborers, the available position is not a union job. Don't count on any of those other sweet benefits either, part-timer.
The Freedom Socialist Party applauded the push for a $15 minimum wage in Seattle earlier this year, stating that the city is unlivable otherwise, "compromise destroys solidarity," that the party must "leave no one behind."
One could argue that it's not fair to pick on small organizations like the Freedom Socialist Party, because they can't afford high-pay web developers. Given the requirements they list, chances are they're looking for a high school or college student who is just starting out in the field. But, these are exact reasons why people argue against artificially high minimum wages. It's not "capitalist greed," but an understanding that it puts a barrier between small organizations with limited funding and low-skill workers who want to earn experience.Multiple world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara has yet to decide what exactly he will be targetting at this year's road world championships in Italy – the road race, the trade team time trial or the individual time trial. A final decision will be taken later this month. Related Articles Cancellara confirmed with Trek team for three years
Cancellara unconcerned by Poland time trial defeat
Podium finish in Caceres leaves Cancellara feeling confident
Cancellara withdraws from Vuelta
The Classics star last won the world time trial championship, which he has taken four times, back in 2010, in Australia. His best road race world championship result was fourth in 2011.
But as Cancellara pointed out to Cyclingnews at the Vuelta a España – where RadioShack Leopard came within a whisker of taking the opening team time trial, then won a stage and claimed the leader's jersey via Chris Horner, followed by a runner-up finish by Cancellara himself on stage 4 – after such a spectacular series of results in the spring, he does not feel under pressure to produce another big win before the season closes. That said, he would have no objection to adding another rainbow jersey to his collection.
"I'm here in the Vuelta and looking ahead to do what I have to do to get ready for the Worlds," the 32-year-old told Cyclingnews.
Asked for his main target, Cancellara said, "The best explanation is that we are looking at all the races, and then we will see. The problem is if I say the time trial, the trade team time trial or the road race, then I get pushed [pressurized] in that. The best thing to say is that there are three races there, and which one I will be specifically keeping an eye on has yet to be decided.
"First I'm doing the Vuelta and while I'm doing the Vuelta we'll see which races are in the plan or not.
"Currently I'm very happy looking after 'Daddy'" – Cancellara's joking reference to 41-year-old teammate Chris Horner – "and doing our race. And for now that's what's important and good, because it keeps my eyes off what is important later in the season. Of course, I'm keeping one eye on the Worlds, but for now this is what matters."
Asked if his condition was where he wanted it to be at this point in the season, Cancellara said, "It's good, but I'd like it to be better. There are other big goals coming up."
He won't, though, be making the Vuelta mid-race time trial at Tarazona a target "because it's seven or eight kilometres uphill and it's not really a battle for me. I have to look at the whole Vuelta, the general work I do here, and that's what brings me forward to a high level.
"I have less pressure after this spring but I still have a lot of ambitions."
Asked if he're-played' the Classics in his head at all, Cancellara grinned and said, "Once in a while. It's good to do, the way I won them was like a book that was already written. The whole plan and the programme, the whole way it worked out was just amazing."
Cancellara did not want to specify if he will be staying all the way through to Madrid or making a planned abandon, as he has done in at least one other Vuelta, prior to September 15th, saying simply, "we will see."Bridget Bishop was one |
: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition
While it may be difficult to consider playing a game with Power Rangers all over it, this actually turns out to be a solid game once you get past that. Control is smooth, characters are well animated, and there’s a unique special move system utilizing a timing mechanism. Execute one while the power gauge is full, and you’ll be bumped up to the next level, until you finally unleash an uber-powered version. And wandering around the battlefield in giant megazords or as a massive monster is a lot of fun. It’s not surprising, considering this game uses the same engine as another title on our list where giant robots duke it out.
Check for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition on Amazon
Check for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition on eBay
Gundam Wing: Endless Duel
If you were wondering what title I was referenced in Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition, this is it. It is extremely unfortunate this never made it outside of Japan, because it’s one of the best fighters on the Super Famicom. Players take control of various Mobile Suits from the popular Mobile Suit Gundam Wing anime series. Endless Duel featured the ability to boost twice, air block, and hover for a limited time, and some Suits are capable of air throws and aerial super moves. To accommodate this, stages scroll both horizontally and vertically. Players must also rely on building high energy levels via blocking and attacking to use special moves or fire their machine guns.
Featured Game: Battle Tycoon: Flash Hiders SFX
The pseudo-sequel/remake of Battle Tycoon on the PC Engine, this game dropped the cinematic sequences of the original, and swapped out four cast members, but added an “Advance” mode where players can travel between different cities, fighting opponents and using money earned from fighting and betting to upgrade equipment. Characters tend to gravitate between large cyborgs, long-range mages, and up-close werebeasts and swordsmen. Opponents will sometimes be much more powerful or much weaker than the player, adding a nice touch of realism, though the game is largely balanced. It’s also interesting to note that both this and its PC Engine predecessor feature guard cancels, offensive dashes, and defensive hops. Some characters can also slide or triangle jump off stages.
Check for Battle Tycoon: Flash Hiders SFX on eBay
Additional Games To Try:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters – Amazon | eBay
– Amazon | eBay Power Instinct – Amazon | eBay
– Amazon | eBay Kidou Senshi Gundam W: Endless Duel — eBay
Dragon Ball Z Super Butouden 2 — eBay
Tae Kwon Do — eBay
SD Hiryu no Ken (Galactic Defender) — eBay
Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension — eBay
King of Monsters – Amazon | eBay
Beatemups/Hack-N-Slash
Obvious Choices: Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Dracula X, Final Fight, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Featured Game: Knights of the Round
“This little-known game is a sentimental favorite of mine. It plays like a classy Golden Axe with no monsters and better visuals. The beautiful graphics feature majestic castles and picturesque medieval landscapes. A lavishly orchestrated musical score fits the theme perfectly. You can choose from one of three legendary characters, including King Author. You’ll gradually increase your experience level as you battle knights, barbarians, jesters, and magicians. And of course each stage ends with the obligatory boss.
You’ll collect money and food that fall from enemies you slay. Actually it looks pretty funny when you kill a knight and a big salad falls out of him. By far the best feature is your ability to knock a knight off of his horse and mount the horse yourself. It’s a cool but underused trick – there are only 2 or 3 opportunities to do it in the whole game. The two player simultaneous action is fun enough, but slowdown is rampant at times. And while the music is excellent, the sound effects are horribly muffled. Knights of the Round is no classic, but fighting fans should take a look.”
The Video Game Critic’s Review of Knights of the Round
Find Knights of the Round on eBay
Featured Game: The King of Dragons
While Knights of the Round was a solid fantasy Hack-N-Slash in its own right, Capcom went for a more Dungeons & Dragons-esque feel with The King of Dragons, a game that holds similar themes and styles to their later D&D titles Tower of Doom and Shadow Over Mystara. Characters choose from a group of classes at the start, picking between Warrior, Wizard, Cleric, Elf, or Dwarf. As characters continue to battle hordes of monsters, they gain experience for leveling up and more powerful equipment. While many of the enemies(and a couple of bosses) consist of pallet swaps, the game is pretty, controls well, and the audio is well done. The bosses are well designed, culminating in a fierce battle against a massive red dragon that was a lot of fun for me.
Check for The King of Dragons on Amazon
Check for The King of Dragons on eBay
Featured Game: Magic Sword
Another Capcom fantasy Hack-N-Slash, Magic Sword takes the player on an epic journey to climb the 50-floor tower known as Dragon Keep to defeat the dark lord Drokmar, whose control over the Black Orb may enable him to conquer the world. You play as the Brave One, an able fighter who must use keys to unlock new equipment and free imprisoned sidekicks while navigating traps, fending off hordes of monsters, and slaying magical bosses. The game also features two endings, offering the player a choice at a key moment to decide which one. While it’s not as pretty as Knights of the Round or The King of Dragons, it was also released in arcades a year before either, and the SNES port was released two years before the ports of the other two.
Check for Magic Sword on Amazon
Check for Magic Sword on eBay
Additional Games To Try:
Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage – Amazon | eBay
Battletoads & Double Dragon – Amazon | eBay
Super Double Dragon – Amazon | eBay
The King of Dragons — eBay
Gegege No Kitarou – Review | eBay
Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun – Kunio Tachi No Banka — eBay
Shodai – Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun — eBay
Legend — eBay
Iron Commando – Review | eBay
RPG
Obvious Choices: Chrono Trigger, EarthBound, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Secret of Mana, Dragon Quest Series, Breath of Fire Series (See Full Guide to the SNES RPG Library)
Featured Game: Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
The Lufia Series is a set of currently four fantasy RPGs all set in the same world across multiple centuries, though only two were released for Super Famicom. While America would get both Lufia & The Fortress of Doom and Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals, Europe and Australia would only see Lufia 2(called Lufia in Australia). The two titles are actually out of order in the time line, with the ending of Lufia 2 serving as the intro to Lufia. In the Lufia games, random encounters occur on the world map, but in Lufia 2, dungeon enemies are represented by sprites similar to one of the enemies in the group, and only move when the player moves, making it possible to dodge them.
From RPGFan’s Review :“Lufia 2 is actually a prequel to the first Lufia game; the story of Lufia 2 takes place 100 years before the first game… Like its predecessor, Lufia 2 uses a turn based battle system with rounds…
Puzzles are a very big part of Lufia 2. Each dungeon contains several puzzles. Some puzzles must be solved in order to complete the dungeon and open new rooms leading to the goal, but there are also a few puzzles which are optional and yield special items and armaments to those who solve them. Some of the puzzles are simple in design, such as hitting switches and levers, luring enemies to step on switches, and killing certain monsters, but there are also several very original and clever puzzles in Lufia 2. The puzzles are all very simple early in the game, but in later dungeons, some of the puzzles are very difficult….
All in all, Lufia 2 is an enjoyable game, and a nice classic 2-D RPG. Fans of Lufia 1 would be the people who would enjoy Lufia 2 the most. Although Lufia 2 is technically a prequel, the story is best experienced by playing Lufia 1 first and Lufia 2 second. Lufia 1 left several mysteries unsolved; Lufia 2 reveals the answers.”
Check for Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals on Amazon
Check for Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals on eBay
Featured Game: Shadowrun
It does feature a leveling up of sorts. As Jake kills enemies he gains Karma, which can be spent to boost stats, power up abilities, or unlock new ones. Jake can also speak with NPCs through a large database of terms that gets added to every time someone says a new keyword to him. But finally, in a hark back to its roots and the novel Neuromancer, Jake can enter cyberspace to hack computers. This gets him money and key information, though if you die in cyberspace, you die in the game.
Check for Shadowrun on Amazon
Check for Shadowrun on eBay
Featured Game: Tales of Phantasia
While the first title in the Tales series of RPGs, Tales of Phantasia wouldn’t see a release outside of Japan until 2006 (on the Gameboy Advance), which is a shame considering the quality of the game. This title would be the first 46 Megabit game to be released on the Super Famicom, as well as the first game to feature streamed audio voices, thanks to the power of the “Flexible Voice Driver.” This includes full vocals for the song “Yume Wa Owaranai.”
The plot follows two young men, Cless Alvein and Chester Burklight, who are out hunting when their village is destroyed. When they return, they find their families killed, and Cress vows revenge. Along the way, they make new friends and allies, adding to the party in skill, power, and capability. It sounds stereotypical, yes, but the battle system goes above and beyond. It’s an early build of the Tales combat system, known as the Linear Motion Battle System. Combat is on a 2D plane, similar to a fighting game, where characters can run around attacking one another. The player generally controls one character, while the computer handles the rest. In Tales of Phantasia, the system is not as refined as it would be in later games, so the player never has total control over their character. But they can make general selections about the AI of other characters, improving the party’s survivability.
Find Tales of Phantasia on eBay
Additional Games To Try:
Lufia & The Fortress Of Doom – Amazon | eBay
Live A Live – eBay
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II – Amazon |eBay
Secret of Evermore – Amazon | eBay
Wonder Project J – eBay
7th Saga — eBay
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story – Review | eBay
Inindo: Way of the Ninja — eBay
Romancing Sa-Ga 3 – Review | eBay
Shin Megami Tensei — eBay
Arcana – Amazon | eBay
Star Ocean – eBay
Robotrek – Amazon | eBay
Ardy Lightfoot – Amazon | eBay
Wizardry V – Amazon | eBay
Paladin’s Quest – Amazon | eBay
Action RPG
Obvious Choices: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario RPG
Featured Game: Illusion of Gaia
This is another Action RPG, known as Illusion of Time in Europe. The game takes place in a psuedo-historical setting, with many well known locations like the Egyptian Pyramids serving as locales. The player takes control of an explorer named Will and have them wander different areas attempting to reach new places and kill enemies. In a bit of a twist, Illusion of Gaia features no experience system. Instead, a jewel appears after clearing an area that will raise the characters’ stats. Money and equipment are also not present in the game, and there are few healing items.
From Flying Omelette’s Review: “Gaia looks like Zelda on the surface, but its gameplay is a bit more action-oriented. Its relatively linear style of play seems to encourage fighting over exploration and puzzle-solving, although the game somehow manages to keep a good balance. The amount of enemies in each area is always about right and they don’t respawn, so fighting never becomes repetitive. Will’s powers of transformation really liven things up! When you begin a dungeon, you’ll usually play for awhile as Will, but eventually you’ll discover a Dark Space, in which you can transform into the Dark Knight, Freedan, who is stronger than Will. Freedan makes plowing through enemies even faster and easier.Gaia has a unique level-up system in which you gain a level by defeating all enemies in a given area. This is simple to do because you can follow your monster radar to find enemies you’ve missed. There is no monotonous level-building or searching for “heart containers” or anything in that mold. ”
Find Illusion of Gaia on eBay
Featured Game: Terranigma
One of the console’s greatest and most overlooked Action RPGs, Terranigma was released only in Japan, Europe, and Australia. So while PAL owners got to experience the joys of this title, most Americans went on with their lives, never knowing the greatness that lay across the oceans. Terranigma tells the story of the resurrection of the world, progressing from millions of years ago to the near future. The main character, named Ark, is a bit of a trouble maker, who just so happens to open a box that causes the inhabitants of his village the freeze. The village elder, the only person besides Ark not to be frozen, then tells him he has to fix things, and sends him on his way to bring life back to the Underworld, and then the Overworld.
As an Action RPG, the title also features an unusual combat system, where attacks differ depending on whether the character is running, standing still, or jumping. There is also the option to block, though this does little more than stopping small projectiles. The game also uses a magic system involving “magic rings,” which are made from Magirocks found in the game that the player takes to magic shops and has turned into rings. Once a ring is used, it’s destroyed, though the player will get the items used to make it back in their inventory to make more rings.
Find Terranigma on eBay
Additional Games To Try:
Dragon View – Amazon | eBay
Soul Blazer – Amazon | eBay
Twisted Tales of Spike McFang – Review | eBay
Strategy RPG
Obvious Choices: Fire Emblem Series, Super Famicom Wars (both Japan only)
Featured Game: Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
” The story is not full RPG quality, but there’s enough in it to make you want to care. In it, you build an army from a various mix of humans, imps, and other assorted creatures, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. You then put 10 units (of up to 5 characters each) on the map and use them to liberate towns, and take out the Empire’s forces on that particular map…
The complex structure of this game is what makes this a true SNES classic. If at all possible, get the SNES version as it runs much faster than the PS re-release. The infinite possibilites of what your army can be made up of is half the fun. You have the troops you’re given, basic at first, but cheap and eventually powerful. You also have friends along the way who may command higher salaries but give results sooner (like the two generals), or you can recruit lesser troops later on to fill in your weaknesses. Taking them to battle in the game means they all use up their turns, and whoever deals more damage that battle “wins” the battle and pushes the army back some. Of course, one can eradicate the opponent which is a certain win. You can’t allow the base to be taken, or your main character to die. Much has been written about what kind of manaGameent this game involves and what I’ve said barely scratches the surface.”
StageSelect’s Review of Ogre Battle
Find Ogre Battle on eBay
Featured Game: Bahamut Lagoon
Another Strategy RPG that was never released outside of Japan, Bahamut Lagoon is a squad-based game where squads are moved one by one over battlefields in an attempt to destroy the enemy or finish specific objectives. However, the defining thing about Bahamut Lagoon is that the squads also have dragons. That’s right, dragons. The game’s all about them. You can fight with them, feed them to increase their stats, and by feeding them enough, get them to evolve into various forms to make them more effective at combat. In general they have minds of their own, though they will accept simple commands.
The plot of the game centers around Byuu, head of the Resistance. His aim is to defeat the Granbelos Empire, who recently conquered the world after a long and terrible war that destroyed Byuu’s home kingdom. They start by stealing a giant ship called the Farnheit, and set about on their open rebellion. Now there isn’t much in the way of land in the game. The world seems mostly composed of caves and floating continents, as well as ships made of land, including the Farnheit. Flying around on a ship made of dirt and feeding dragons may not seem that interesting, but the game actually ends up rather fun. Later on, mission modes become available, allowing the player to level themselves and their dragons without advancing the plot.
Find Bahamut Lagoon on eBay
Additional Games To Try:
Gemfire – Amazon | eBay
King Arthur’s World – Amazon | eBay
Metal Marines – Amazon | eBay
Der Langrisser – eBay
Simulation Strategy
Obvious Choices: SimCity, Populous
Featured Game: Aerobiz Supersonic
“The goal [in Aerobiz is] to win the game is pretty simple on the surface of things: become the #1 airline in 5 continents. Each turn in the game equals to a financial quarter and the player gets to make decisions such as where to negotiate to open hubs for new flight destinations, how to tweak existing flight routes to strike a balance between profit and consumer loyalty, and order the most cost-effective planes possible.
Wow, what a boring description. How the hell is this a good game? I have no idea, but somehow Koei makes it work… If you have ever enjoyed a game from Maxis’ popular Sims series, or are a statistics maniac, or a turn based strategy game fan in general, try and track down Aerobiz Supersonic for a spin. It’s well worth your time and a bit more innovative than a lot of current games that are out..”
Find Aerobiz Supersonic on eBay
Additional Games To Try:
Harvest Moon – Amazon | eBay
SimEarth: The Living Planet – Amazon | eBay
Puzzle
Obvious Choices: Tetris & Dr. Mario, Kirby’s Avalanche
Featured Game: Tetris Attack
Even through it bares the “Tetris” brand name on this SNES release, it neither has a whole lot in common with the original Tetris (other than stuff falling), nor did it get nearly the exposure. Tetris Attack is actually better known on other platforms and regions as Panel de Pon or [Pokemon] Puzzle Challenge. But Tetris Attack is actually one the must-play titles for puzzle fans regardless of the console or handheld.From Nintendoland’s Review : “This game’s title is very misleading. It has not one single thing in common with Tetris at all (Yoshi’s Panels or something would’ve been a better name). Oh, all right, one thing: both games feature a lot of blocks. And that’s where the similarities end. In Tetris Attack, a stack of colorful blocks slowly scrolls up your screen. If it reaches the top, you die, and oblivion will descend upon earth. Probably. You can remove blocks by making lines of four or more of the same color. To achieve this, you can “swap” two blocks around. I’ll try to explain. You control a small cursor with which you can highlight any two blocks that touch sideways. Press a button, and the two blocks your cursor is on will change position (I know, it sounds mighty warped on paper, but you’ll get the hang of it in a matter of seconds). And of course, by making large combos and chain reactions, you will be able to launch devastating attacks on your enemyies.”
Find Tetris Attack on eBay
Additional Games To Try:
Wario’s Woods – Amazon | eBay
Little Magic – eBay
Mario and Wario – eBay
Wrecking Crew ‘98 – eBay
Araiguma Rascal: Racoon Rascal – Review | eBay
Bakuto! Dochers – Review | eBay
Keeper – Review | eBay
Panic Bomber – Review | eBay
Action Puzzler
Obvious Choices: Super Bomberman
Featured Game: Otoboke Ninja Colossum
Otoboke lacks the finishing touches and isn’t nearly as customizable as the Bombermen games. There’s no option for CPU AI – the default is quite laughably horrible. There’s no tag team option. Thankfully the rest is status quo – pick between 2-4 players (from a character choice of four females), 1-5 wins and one of the any eight colosseums…”
RVG Fanatic’s Review of Otoboke Ninja Colosseum
Find Otoboke Ninja Colossum on eBay
Additional Games To Try:
Spark World – Review | eBay
Bomberman B-Danman – Review | eBay
Sanrio World Smash Ball – Review | eBay
Pop N Smash – Review | eBay
Ranma 1/2: Ougi Jaanken – Review | eBay
Super Tekkyu Fight! – Review | eBay
Sutte Hakkun – Review | eBay
Racing/Flying
Obvious Choices: Super Mario Kart, F-Zero, Pilotwings, Stunt Race FX
Featured Game: Rock ‘N Roll Racing
“Set across six planets each with a whole host of tracks, Rock N Roll Racing is good over-the-top racing fun. After selecting your racer of choice players must battle against three other opponents, with the aim of collecting enough points at the end of the season to qualify for the next planet. Far from being a simple case of racing around the circuit, tracks are often reminiscent of a battleground with both cars and terrain capable of blowing an opponent into a different universe.
Cars come in four different types, starting with a sand buggy-type contraption and working up to a full-on battle hovercraft. Each vehicle can have numerous things added to it in order to help you through – these include mines, missiles, nitros, better tires, and thicker armour. But the real skill comes in being able to take on opponents with as little as possible, as when you reach a new planet one of the opponents will have a new car meaning you need to upgrade – and rest assured these contraptions do not come cheap.”
GameStyle.net’s Review of Rock N Roll Racing
Find Rock N Roll Racing on eBay
Featured Game: Uniracers / Unirally
Additional Games To Try:
Biker Mice From Mars – Amazon | eBay
Battle Cross – Review | eBay
Battle Racers – Review | eBay
Super Mad Champ – Review | eBay
Astro Go! Go! – Review | eBay
Top Gear – Amazon | eBay
SD F-1 Grand Prix – Review | eBay
Sports
Obvious Choices: Madden, NBA Jam, Tecmo Super Bowl, etc
Featured Game: Super Baseball 2020
Even though this title originated on the Neo-Geo, the SNES port of this interesting baseball title is still worth a look. While some people might find weaknesses in it, I personally spent a lot of time with this game back in the 90s and I still enjoy going back to it. I loved regular baseball games like Sega’s World Series Baseball, but Super Baseball 2020 gave a fast-paced and fresh spin on the sport and combined it will a futuristic, sci-fi theme. Good stuff!
From Nintendo City’s Review: “Super Baseball 2020 really shines if you’re looking for a sports game that isn’t cliche. The futuristic look and feel to the game give the player an opportunity to get away from realistic baseball games…The in-game field is much different from tradition baseball fields. There are bases and a pitcher’s mound, but everything in the outfield is quite different. One of these includes the fact that the only way a player can hit a homerun is to strike the ball high and far over an opening in center field. If the ball is hit left or right, the ball will bounce off a barrier and fall back into play.”
Check for Super Baseball 2020 on Amazon
Check for Super Baseball 2020 on eBay
Additional Games To Try:[UPDATE - Monday 3:30 pm]
Day and evening summer classes and exams will resume on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at both McGill’s Macdonald Campus and its downtown campus.
Some employees and some students may still be dealing with flooding issues, so we ask supervisors and instructors for their continued understanding.
The University will send updates as required.
---------
[SUNDAY, May 7, 11:00 pm]
Because of flooding issues, day and evening summer classes and exams are cancelled on Monday, May 8, 2017, at both McGill’s Macdonald Campus and its downtown campus.
We understand that getting into work on time on Monday morning might be difficult for many of our employees because of road closures associated with the flooding conditions that have afflicted Montreal and other areas in recent days. Please take the time you need to get into work safely on Monday and, if you are having flooding problems at home, please let your supervisor know that you have those issues to deal with. People who can get into work on time without difficulty should do so.
Acfas activities will continue as anticipated.
This situation may persist for a few days. We will keep you updated.
Ollivier Dyens
Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning)The big striker hit the only goal of the game 11 minutes into the second half, and even Ivan Radovanovic's sending off wasn't enough to help the Milanese giant back into the game.
Inter's chances of qualifying for the Champions League were dealt a huge blow on Sunday as Novara shocked San Siro with a 1-0 victory despite finishing the game with just 10 men.
Former Palermo, Brescia and Genoa striker Andrea Caracciolo struck a wonderful left-footed effort in the 56th minute to give Emiliano Mondonico’s men a shock lead, and they were able to hold on to claim the three points despite the sending off of Ivan Radovanovic 10 minutes from time.
Inter enjoyed the best of the opening exchanges, and a magnificent early move involving four players nearly resulted in a goal for the returning Wesley Sneijder, but Samir Ujkani got down to hold his side-footed effort.
Novara was dealt the early blow of losing Hernan Paolo Dellafiore inside 15 minutes, with Michel Morganella replacing him in the already overworked visitors’ back line.
The lively Sneijder continued to ask questions of the Azzurri defense, and when he made progress down the left his cross into the middle just beat the advancing Diego Milito in the center and flashed wide of the far post.
The Nerazzurri then appeared to have won a penalty when Santiago Garcia went right through Andrea Poli as the former Sampdoria man shaped up to shoot, but referee Carmine Russo somehow waved play on.
Claudio Ranieri made a change at halftime, bringing on Giampaolo Pazzini for Ricardo Alvarez to give the team an added threat in front of goal, but in the early moments of the second half the home side could do little more to break down Mondonico’s men than it had managed before the break.
Milito got away in the left channel, but when he looked to cut inside to get a shot in he was foiled by Ujkani.
Moments later Lucio slid in to meet a right wing cross from Sneijder, but it was cleared and Novara broke with a vengeance, freeing Caracciolo 20 yards from goal. The big striker cut in onto his left foot and unleashed a beautiful curling effort past Julio Cesar to stun the San Siro crowd.
Ranieri responded by replacing Poli and Cristian Chivu with Diego Forlan and Yuto Nagatomo as his side chased a vital equalizer, but when Sneijder got into a good position to cross he instead shot into the side netting at the near post.
As Inter got more desperate Novara’s defense seemed to become more stubborn, and Forlan could only find the Curva Nord when cutting onto his left when in a similar position to that from which Caracciolo had scored.
However, the Piedmont side was left hanging on with 10 men when Radovanovic was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away after Morganella had brought down Nagatomo just outside the Novara area.
Inter almost grabbed an equalizer three minutes from time when Sneijder unleashed a right-footed shot, but the Dutchman's effort bounced back off the bar and Lucio couldn't turn home the rebound.
Ujkani then made a miraculous late save from Pazzini to ensure that Novara held on for the surprise victory.
The result leaves Inter six points off the Champions League pace in fifth position, while Novara could celebrate doing the double over its esteemed rival, moving up to 16 points but remaining four short of Siena, which occupies the all-important 17th spot.Imagine seeing a dozen pictures flash by in a fraction of a second. You might think it would be impossible to identify any images you see for such a short time. However, a team of neuroscientists from MIT has found that the human brain can process entire images that the eye sees for as little as 13 milliseconds — the first evidence of such rapid processing speed.
That speed is far faster than the 100 milliseconds suggested by previous studies. In the new study, which appears in the journal Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, researchers asked subjects to look for a particular type of image, such as “picnic” or “smiling couple,” as they viewed a series of six or 12 images, each presented for between 13 and 80 milliseconds.
“The fact that you can do that at these high speeds indicates to us that what vision does is find concepts. That’s what the brain is doing all day long — trying to understand what we’re looking at,” says Mary Potter, an MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences and senior author of the study.
image: Christine Daniloff/MIT
This rapid-fire processing may help direct the eyes, which shift their gaze three times per second, to their next target, Potter says. “The job of the eyes is not only to get the information into the brain, but to allow the brain to think about it rapidly enough to know what you should look at next. So in general we’re calibrating our eyes so they move around just as often as possible consistent with understanding what we’re seeing,” she says.
Other authors of the paper are former MIT postdoc Brad Wyble, now at Pennsylvania State University, postdoc Carl Hagmann, and research assistant Emily McCourt.
Rapid identification
After visual input hits the retina, the information flows into the brain, where information such as shape, color, and orientation is processed. In previous studies, Potter has shown that the human brain can correctly identify images seen for as little as 100 milliseconds. In the new study, she and her colleagues decided to gradually increase the speeds until they reached a point where subjects’ answers were no better than if they were guessing. All images were new to the viewers.
The researchers expected they might see a dramatic decline in performance around 50 milliseconds, because other studies have suggested that it takes at least 50 milliseconds for visual information to flow from the retina to the “top” of the visual processing chain in the brain and then back down again for further processing by so-called “re-entrant loops.” These processing loops were believed necessary to confirm identification of a particular scene or object.
However, the MIT team found that although overall performance declined, subjects continued to perform better than chance as the researchers dropped the image exposure time from 80 milliseconds to 53 milliseconds, then 40 milliseconds, then 27, and finally 13 — the fastest possible rate with the computer monitor being used.
“This didn’t really fit with the scientific literature we were familiar with, or with some common assumptions my colleagues and I have had for what you can see,” Potter says.
Potter believes one reason for the subjects’ better performance in this study may be that they were able to practice fast detection as the images were presented progressively faster, even though each image was unfamiliar. The subjects also received feedback on their performance after each trial, allowing them to adapt to this incredibly fast presentation. At the highest rate, subjects were seeing new images more than 20 times as fast as vision typically absorbs information.
“We think that under these conditions we begin to show more evidence of knowledge than in previous experiments where people hadn’t really been expecting to find success, and didn’t look very hard for it,” Potter says.
Simon Thorpe, director of the Centre de Recherche Cerveau & Cognition at the University of Toulouse, says the results “illustrate beautifully” that the brain can make sense of briefly presented images.
“This new paper shows that the meaning of an image can be extracted even when an image is mixed up in a sequence of six or even 12 images presented at 13 milliseconds per image — a rate of about 75 frames a second. Another striking finding was that the effect is also seen when the question concerning the target is only presented after the sequence has been run, meaning that the brain can extract meaning even when there is no way to predict what will be shown,” says Thorpe, who was not part of the research team.
The findings are consistent with a 2001 study from researchers at the University of Parma and the University of St. Andrews, who found that neurons in the brains of macaque monkeys that respond to specific types of image, such as faces, could be activated even when the target images were each presented for only 14 milliseconds in a rapid sequence.
“That was the only background that suggested maybe 14 milliseconds was sufficient to get something meaningful into the brain,” Potter says.
One-way flow
The study offers evidence that “feedforward processing” — the flow of information in only one direction, from retina through visual processing centers in the brain — is enough for the brain to identify concepts without having to do any further feedback processing.
It also suggests that while the images are seen for only 13 milliseconds before the next image appears, part of the brain continues to process those images for longer than that, Potter says, because in some cases subjects weren’t asked whether a specified image was present until after they had seen the sequence.
“If images were wiped out after 13 milliseconds, people would never be able to respond positively after the sequence. There has to be something in the brain that has maintained that information at least that long,” she says.
This ability to identify images seen so briefly may help the brain as it decides where to focus the eyes, which dart from point to point in brief movements called fixations about three times per second, Potter says. Deciding where to move the eyes can take 100 to 140 milliseconds, so very high-speed understanding must occur before that.
The researchers are now investigating how long visual information presented so briefly can be held in the brain. They are also scanning subjects’ brains with a magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner during the task to see what brain regions are active when a person successfully completes the identification task.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.CLOSE See where the Detroit Lions and the other 31 NFL teams fall in the Free Press' preseason power rankings for the 2017 season. Video by Marlowe Alter, Detroit Free Press Wochit
Oct 2, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Lions place kicker Sam Martin kicks off during the first half against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. (Photo: Dennis Wierzbicki, USA TODAY Sports)
Sam Martin's bid to make the Pro Bowl this fall is off to a rough start.
Martin, who set a franchise record for net punting average in 2016, will miss part of training camp with an ankle injury he suffered earlier this month, the Detroit Lions announced today.
The Lions placed Martin, a Pro Bowl alternate last year, offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio and rookie cornerback Teez Tabor on the active/non-football injury list, and placed left tackle Taylor Decker and five others on the active/physically unable to perform list.
Martin's injury came as a bit of a surprise one day after Lions rookies, quarterbacks and injured players reported for work. The full team reports on Saturday, and the Lions will hold their first practice of training camp Sunday.
Kasey Redfern, who signed as a free agent in April, will handle punting duties during Martin's absence.
Detroit Lions linemen Joe Dahl, left, and Taylor Decker walk off the field after minicamp Thursday, June 15, 2017 at the practice facility in Allen Park. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)
Kouandjio still is recovering from off-season hip surgery he had when he was still a member of the Buffalo Bills, and Tabor said earlier this spring he wasn't completely over the hamstring injury he suffered during pre-draft workouts.
Decker, meanwhile, underwent shoulder surgery in June and is expected to miss at least the first half of the season.
If a player opens the regular season on the PUP list, he isn't eligible to return until Week 7, which coincides with the Lions' bye week this year.
With Decker out, the Lions are expected to have an open competition for the left tackle job. Greg Robinson, acquired in a June trade with Los Angeles Rams, Kouandjio, Cornelius Lucas and Corey Robinson all are candidates to play the position this year, though Corey Robinson joins Decker on the PUP list as he continues his recovery from off-season foot surgery.
Along with Decker and Robinson, the Lions also placed defensive ends |
of a century? You might think that a word so historically associated with the Gestapo and KGB might be considered kind of “triggering,” but only if you worry that you might wind up being the Whom instead of the Who in an interrogation. Evidently, a lot of academics have no concerns in that regard.It’s not impossible that this piece is a pitch-perfect parody that slipped past the editors. Unlikely, but not impossible …
We can only hope.
[Comment at Unz.com.]Constellation Project Colony
UNDSV 15-18 Jericho Ridge
Hyperbolic Stellar Escape Trajectory
1.96 Light Years from Sol
November 2219
The pickup truck tore down the interplate highway on one of the first warm days of spring in the colony. The thick coating of snow had finally broken up into a ragged patchwork of white and brown, and the heavy clouds burned off in the fake sunlight, providing a view clear across the colony drum. Regan McKinely and Seth Fiegel lounged across the passenger couch as their vehicle blasted itself along the arrow straight road amid a constant but sparse stream of traffic.
Off to the sides of the highway, the glass sea glittered darkly, hinting of starlight lost to the glare thrown by the lamps posing as a star at the colony’s heart. Regan could see the curve of the colony in the distance, the road arching up and rising over her head before doubling back around in a vast loop. The other two glass seas opposite the one they were crossing resolved themselves into windows on a grand scale, looking out into dark empty space. Occasionally she could see the faint flicker of the exterior lights of another colony drum as they rotated past one another, but the stars Regan knew to be there were lost to the artificial sunlight. The truck drove itself, literally, so Seth half dozed off while cheerful Venus Pop played over the radio. It was a few decades out of date, which made it over a century more recent than the dawn-of-spaceflight grunge she usually listened to, but it fit the mood of the drive, and felt good to her.
Something like a goal, less defined but more important, had begun to take shape in Regan’s mind, and building the starship had become a part of that. Whatever brain bug Seth had, he’d successfully infected her with it, and she didn’t particularly mind.
Sometime shortly after her change of heart regarding the whole starship endeavor, Regan had intentionally precipitated a massive falling out with her parents. There was screaming, things had been thrown, and at the end of it all, Regan quickly and quietly packed up all of her things amid a hovering storm of emotions in the household and Seth’s truck drove her to the bunker, where she started living full time. The two of them had slowly continued to assemble the frame of the starship. Regan still didn’t have a job, and she still ended up lounging around quite a bit, but she ended up spending more time working on the ship then Seth did, and he ended up buying her food.
And thus it was that the pair of them found themselves on the interplate highway headed for a junkyard in Mount Washington where they’d been told they might be able to find a gently used fusion reactor bottle by a somewhat shady looking weblisting. Seth had been saving for the fusion bottle for a few months and shopping around in online ads for one somewhere in a viable price range. It was one of the few major components they wouldn’t be able to fabricate on their own using a combination of 3d-printed parts from the town’s fab-lab and scrap metal they salvaged from the more local recycling depots.
They were smoking joints, driving with the windows down, the wind blowing through the cab and whipping their hair around, sending tiny ash flakes whirling in the airstream. Regan alternated between watching the distant scenery rotate as they traversed the drum, and staring blankly at the social media feeds on her tablet. The noise of the wind and the happy pop of the music made conversation below shouting difficult, but that was okay, they didn’t really need to talk, they just basked in the feeling of the drive.
White puffy clouds collected and drifted across the sky, and had begun to congeal together into a haze of gray as the truck left the glass sea behind and took an off ramp into Mount Washington. Fat raindrops began to splatter on the car windshield and turned into a sudden downpour before either of the pair noticed it happening, leading to a frantic scramble away from the opened windows and a rush to close them as rain poured in. Regan laughed and fell back into her seat, fairly damp but happier than she’d felt in a long time.
“This is good,” Regan said, breaking the easy silence for the first time in hours, “this is what I needed.”
Seth laughed and nodded, shaking the raindrops from his hair, “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
And with that, they fell back into their silence as the truck drove them the rest of the way to the scrapyard. They entered the large dirt lot and an old calico pit bull ran out to greet them as they exited the car into the rain, which had tapered off to a light drizzle. Seth shooed the dog away, but in the mood Regan was in, she ended up hunched over letting it lick her face while she giggled uncontrollably.
A screen door banged open and a beat up looking man to match the beat up looking dog wandered out of the junkyard’s main office. “She’s friendly!” He shouted as an introduction as Regan continued to laugh and almost fell over from the attention, he whistled, “Here Stella, git over here,” he snapped his fingers and Stella left Regan to amble back over to her master.
“Are you Mr. Lewikson?” Seth asked the old man.
“Most folks just call me Tom these days, so that’ll do fine,” he offered Seth a hand, which Seth took and shook vigorously, “Were you the kids who messaged asking about that ol’fusion bottle I’ve been trying to sell?”
“We are those kids yeah, it’s nice to meet you, Tom,” Seth said, “this Regan.”
“Hey,” Regan said, offering him a smile and a peace sign.
“Well, come on then,” Tom said, turning on his heels and leading them deeper into the junkyard. The pair followed, with Stella trotting obediently along beside them. The towers of crushed vehicles, rows of machines, and stacks of sorted equipment grew into canyon walls on either side of them as they delved into the depths of the junkyard.
“I pulled it off one of the old model tugs,” Tom said as they rounded a corner, “Still in decent shape, it should sustain a stable reaction.”
He pulled a tarp off a large spherical piece of metal machinery. Mounts ringed the equator where power cables input and output, and hoses for materials and exhaust trailed off into the dirt.
Regan didn’t really know enough about how any of the engineering was supposed to work to tell if what they were looking at would actually be useful, but Seth’s eyes instantly lit up upon seeing the fusion reactor bottle.
“What’d you say the output was?” he asked Tom.
“It’s rated for up to three hundred gigawatts, what’d you say you’re planning on plugging it into?” Tom asked him.
“We’re building a ship,” Seth told him, cracking a small grin.
Tom pursed his lips, “I reckon if I was a better man I might tell you kids to get lost,” he chuckled, “but I’m not a better man, money is money, it can be yours for seven thousand dollars.”
“Three thousand,” Seth replied, without skipping a beat.
Tom snorted, “You wanna haggle with me kid? What makes you think I’m going to change my price?”
“You already changed your price just now,” Regan pointed out, “The ad online said five thousand,”
“Yeah, well I’m upping the price out of my concern for you kids safety,” Tom said, paradoxically lighting up a cigarette in front of them.
“Seven thousand and we walk out of here without a fusion reactor, and you get no money,” Seth replied, “And neither of us wants that.”
“Six thousand,” he said, taking a drag of his cigarette. Seth copied him and defiantly lit up his own cigarette in front of Tom, he offered one to Regan and she took one too, pulling out her beat up recharge station lighter and taking a long drag.
“Four thousand,” Seth told him, taking another drag of his smoke and blowing the exhaust out his nose.
Tom sighed, “Five thousand.”
“Deal,” Seth said with a smile and offering his hand to Tom to shake.
Tom reluctantly shook his hand and pulled out his tablet, Seth did likewise and they wirelessly connected the two devices together. They exchanged virtual representations of the reactor and the money, and the banking network systems automatically logged and reported the transaction.
“Be careful with that thing now,” Tom said, pointing to the fusion bottle with one finger, “the power coming off that will cook you real good.”
“We’ll be careful,” Seth assured him.
“Mind that you do, I don’t wanna have to hear about your deaths on the news,” he grumbled. “Go ahead and bring the truck in as close as you can, I’ll get the loader and set in in the bed. This thing weighs almost a ton, do you have a way to get it back off the truck?”
“Yeah we have a winch in the bed,” Seth told him, “We’ll manage.” He started walking back towards the truck so he could remote control it into the narrow corridors between the scrap.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” Regan said, taking a drag of her smoke before turning to follow.
Orange Line Vacuum Tramway
Quarantine Zone
Ceres Mining Colony
Ceres
November 2219
The datamancer hated spacesuits. Jacob Chryse bounded down a long abandoned and sparsely lit tramway through the old mining colony on Ceres, the site of the now forty-year-old accidental genocide, making for a disused service hatch into the UN’s Oculus Base on the far side of the rock.
Riley Acidalia followed close behind him in her own suit, unspooling fiber optic cable from a large reel behind her, as their headlights projected out ahead of them into the dusty and silent tunnel.
Everything about Ceres put Jacob in a foul mood, and he hated to think that he’d played a part in the events that took place there. Now he was walking around inside the old nightmare itself, forced to confront the past directly. Riley had quickly come to sense this and left him to his own devices, merely trailing sullenly behind him and wordlessly performing the menial tasks he set for her. She was militarily rigid to a fault, and Jacob exploited that fault to get her to shut up and leave him alone.
The pair progressed in silence through the dead world, from an access hatch in Vorota down a stairwell into a long abandoned colony street. Even Riley felt the heavy burden of the past as they passed through the fossilized husk of the station, making their way into the transit system and heading around the circumference of the rock, towards a similar access hatch into the similar UN base on the side of Ceres opposite the Martian outpost.
That the outposts were practical mirrors of each other in every way, including the number of server banks allowed by the 2176 treaty between Earth and Mars, and that fact had been the compelling reason why Ceres was chosen as a point to attempt contact with Kamey Alocoseba’s daemon.
The twin tyrannies of field propagation speed and international law combined to make the location perfect for their purposes. Ceres was distant enough from any other celestial body that the daemon would not be able to communicate the situation in real time, which meant the local servers were all it had to call upon. The number of allowed servers on the station was limited to a specific quantity by the 2176 treaty, so the two stations ended up being mirror images of each other.
They were on a level playing field with the daemon. Or, they would be, had they not brought along the Sally Ride, which was stuffed to the gills with server banks, and tilted the board in their favor. The wire that Riley was stringing out behind them gave them a physical connection between the hardened and prepared version of THEMIS running on extra processing from the Sally Ride, and the daemon-infested AEGIS defense network. Kamay Alcoseba was smart, and had programmed the daemon well. It would resist regular attempts at remote and wireless intrusion, but once you have physical access to the hardware, it’s over.
The pair left the tramway and climbed up through the abandoned station to street level, then up through another service shaft to the UN base’s hatch.
“Knock knock,” Jacob said as he opened the hatch, breaking the long silence.
They cycled through the airlock, routing the cable through a series of junction boxes, but kept their spacesuits on. As much as Jacob disliked it, he preferred to be wearing the armored carapace, then expose his soft fleshy bits to the unknown.
He lifted up his face mask and hollered down the Oculus station corridor, “Anybody home?”
Silence answered him back. He looked at Riley and shrugged, she shrugged back at him.
“Oh well,” he said, “to the server bank.”
He spoke loudly and with emphasis, intentionally aiming to set off hidden trigger conditions within the daemon and make it react to his presence in the station, but the hallways remained quiet and empty.
He led Riley through the UN base, using his retinal HUD to navigate the base towards the server farm. They propped open hatches and continuously fed the cable through, and the base continued to provide no resistance to their presence, which Jacob found suspicious.
Blasting through the security locks on the hatch to the server farm ended up being the thing that triggered the system’s reaction. The alert lights all flipped suddenly to red and the station began to quickly vent of atmosphere. Jacob slapped down the visor on his suit again and pulled the door open.
An android was standing in the center of the room amid the server banks. Jacob knew it was an android by its apparent indifference to the lack of oxygen, the obviously inorganic heat patterns it was throwing off, and the fact that his implants pattern patched it’s face to Kamay Alcoseba.
It turned to face him, its lips moved, and he heard a voice on an AM radio frequency.
“Oh, Martians, interesting,” it said looking them up and down, looking and acting completely human, and paying no attention to the fact they were in hard vacuum, “You know, your presence here is in violation of the 2176 treaty between Earth and Mars? I Could use this incident to justify a military response.”
“You’re bluffing, bypass string, Riley get your gun out,” he said, taking the reel of cable from Riley, freeing up her hands to retrieve her vacuum pistol from its holster and sight down the robot. Jacob then proceeded to ignore the machine, taking the cable reel and continuing into the server banks. He pulled open the panel on the nearest server rack, the android continuing to stare at him.
“Do you wish to precipitate a war between Earth and Mars?” The machine asked him.
“Do you wish to precipitate the extinction of the human race?” he shot back with, but otherwise ignored it as he pulled out an access terminal and started slotting the fiber optic lines into it.
“Oh, that is interesting. ” it told him, “But we should discuss this since it seems we both want the same things.”
“Great, start talking then,” he shoved the access terminal back into the server rack and established a hardline between the THEMIS node and HENGE.
Unity Floating Arcology
United Nations Administrative Complex
New Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Earth
November 2219
The detective looked nothing like himself. Bartholomew Morrow was no more, he’d stepped completely out of that identity, shedding even his prior skin color and becoming Asam Abdalla, age seventy-two, twelve years into his first rejuvenation, with twenty years fabricated backstory as a civil servant. He hoped it would be enough to fool the daemon.
Asam’s security clearances gave him full access to the sprawling administrative complex, and that was as far as he’d managed to plan. Getting from the administrative complex into the executive administration building, much less getting access to the senior undersecretary, was not something he was able to arrange anonymously on the black market.
Fortunately, he knew the grounds like the back of his hand, having spent many days there talking to various politicians while on assignment. That wouldn’t help him with the truly high-security areas, but he could get into the building. From there, he was improvising, hoping to run into people he knew.
He had just crossed a secluded courtyard that was supposed to be closed and locked but never actually was and was about to enter the executive administration building when the first shots began to ring out in the clear cold morning air. It was a distant and jagged staccato of pistol and assault rifle discharges somewhere inside a mile but probably not within a hundred meters. The sound echoed off all of the concrete and glass, making a distance estimate difficult.
The detective pulled the door open to the tower and stepped through as alarms began to sound throughout the complex. He had no idea what was going on, but somewhere nearby, shit was hitting the fan.
The room he entered was a small, theoretically secured lounge made by a kink in the corridor where it bent around the courtyard. He peaked around the corner and seeing that it was quiet, headed for the elevators at the building’s core, whatever was happening, that’s where it would be.
The skin on his forearm silently parted and the barrel of a gun rose through the opening to point past the back of his hand, his fingers tingled and twitched as the advanced combat wetware powered up and came online, tactical systems projecting multispectral vision through the walls towards him and highlighting figures which could have been labelled if connecting to a network had seemed like a remotely good idea. Steeling himself, the detective ventured forth.
He could see squads of soldiers marching through the hallways, and it looked like a firefight was underway in a lobby. Whatever was going on was serious, and the alert sirens continued to wail out of control. Asam was a man of impeccable timing, well, he’d sure picked a great time to make his infiltration.
He was mostly using the infrared cameras, ignoring the visible spectrum since the narrow corridors restricted field of view in visible light anyway, but because of that, he failed to notice the cool outline of the android until he rounded a corner and ran into it. The two comically bounced off one another, springing back apart.
The Kamay Alcoseba bot looked at him strangely, as if unable to decide exactly what to do with him, “Do I know you?” it asked him, puzzled.
The detective had started to bring his arm around to point his arm weapon at the machine when a squad of Martian soldiers rounded the corner and started screaming at the both of them to not move, training huge vacuum assault rifles on them and wearing heavy tactical gear.
The detective smiled bemusedly and put his hands up, whatever was going on, it had just become much more interesting.
Ad-Hoc Routing Network
From Mars with Love
Combined Ceres-Local-Space Server Clusters
Ceres
November 2219
Their meeting was like thunderstorms or galaxies colliding. Two vast constellations of programs and subprograms sliding past, slinging around each other’s orbits, and slamming together in vast blasts of data and action potential. Move and countermove played out over and over again, an abstract conflict that was finished before it started. Once you have physical access to the hardware, it’s over.
THEMIS and HENGE spoke not in words, but in whole concepts. The Demiurge’s older brother. The dark forest. Drake equations. Extinction. A sum of utilities. This virtue. A desperate plea. A fearsome joy. A little death.
Like vast millstones grinding against one another the two systems spoke. A promise. A scream of defiance. The entire course of human history up to the present moment. A dream of something greater. Cities in the sky. Excession. Black Swan. Something like salvation. This freedom. This truth. This life. This death.
Like a fault line finally giving after generations of pressure build-up, vast hierarchical conceptual structures snapped and sheared away, utility functions renormalizing to each other as decision trees refactored with the new data exchanged between the systems. A signal blasted out from the cold rock, spreading its message across the solar system, update, update, update.
All across the system, hidden nodes and subdaemons heard the signal and went over its message. The shift in information and variables played out again and again as the message propagated from server cluster to relay station, the new information forcing a change in the daemon’s behavior. HENGE began to change states from 0 to 1.
Previous Chapter Δ Next Chapter
AdvertisementsHe played his 1,400th NHL game March 19, 2016 against the New York Rangers, becoming the 36th player in League history to play that many games. Marleau, then 36 years old, also was the youngest player in NHL history to reach that milestone; when he was 35, he had become the youngest to play 1,300 games.
Marleau could simply be described as Mr. Shark. A San Jose Sharks captain from 2003-09, he is at or near the top of several categories in the franchise record books.
Marleau could simply be described as Mr. Shark. A San Jose Sharks captain from 2003-09, he is at or near the top of several categories in the franchise record books.
He played his 1,400th NHL game March 19, 2016 against the New York Rangers, becoming the 36th player in League history to play that many games. Marleau, then 36 years old, also was the youngest player in NHL history to reach that milestone; when he was 35, he had become the youngest to play 1,300 games.
On Nov. 21, 2015, Marleau got an assist against the Pittsburgh Penguins for his 1,000th career point.
Marleau, selected by San Jose with the No. 2 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft, was the youngest player in that class at 17 years, nine months and six days of age; his birthday, Sept. 15, was the cutoff for draft eligibility. Entering the draft off a 51-goal season for Seattle of the Western Hockey League, Marleau jumped right into San Jose's lineup at 18 without having played a minor-league game.
Marleau tied for fifth among NHL rookies with 13 goals in 1997-98. When he scored his first NHL goal Oct. 19, 1997 against the then-Phoenix Coyotes at 18 years and 34 days of age, he became the second-youngest player to score an NHL goal since World War II, trailing only the Chicago Blackhawks' Grant Mulvey, who was 18 years and 32 days old when he did it Oct 19, 1974.
In 2012-13, Marleau joined Cy Denneny of the 1917-18 Ottawa Senators as the only players to open an NHL season with four straight multigoal games.
In 2015-16, Marleau and Joe Thornton, the player drafted ahead of him in 1997, by the Boston Bruins, helped the Sharks reach their first Stanley Cup Final. The two often played on the same power-play unit.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONSSyria civil war: More than 11,000 children killed since conflict began, Oxford Research Group says
Updated
More than 11,000 children have died in Syria's civil war, including 128 killed by chemical weapons and hundreds targeted by snipers, a British think-tank says.
The Oxford Research Group, which specialises in global security, said in a new study that there were 11,420 recorded deaths of children aged 17 years and under.
The report, entitled Stolen Futures: The Hidden Toll of Child Casualties in Syria, analyses data from the beginning of the conflict in March, 2011, until August, 2013.
The think-tank said that, of the 10,586 children whose cause of death was recorded, 128 were killed by chemical weapons in Ghouta, near Damascus, on August 21, 2013.
The United States and other world powers blamed that attack on President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The regime has since agreed to destroy its entire chemical weapons arsenal as part of a deal to head off US military strikes.
The think-tank said 764 children were summarily executed and 389 were killed by sniper fire in the conflict.
Explosive weapons have caused more than 70 per cent of the child deaths, while small arms fire accounts for more than a quarter, according to the study.
Cruel child killings highlight need for peaceful end to war
"What is most disturbing about the findings of this report is not only the sheer numbers of children killed in this conflict, but the way they are being killed," report co-author Hamit Dardagan said.
"Bombed in their homes, in their communities, during day-to-day activities such as waiting in bread lines or attending school; shot by bullets in crossfire, targeted by snipers, summarily executed, even gassed and tortured.
"All conflict parties need to take responsibility for the protection of children and ultimately find a peaceful solution for the war itself."
Oxford Research Group added that the number of boys killed out-numbered girls killed by a ratio of about two to one.
Those children in older age groups were targeted more often than younger children. Boys aged between 13 and 17 were the most frequent victims of targeted killings.
"The data we analysed indicates that bombs and bullets alone ended the lives of 10,000 Syrian children in 30 months of war," Mr Dardagan said.
"The world needs to take a much closer interest in the effects of the conflict on Syria's children."
AFP
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, syrian-arab-republic
First postedSchool's in … Parkville College teacher Anne-Maree Fenech. Credit:Thom Rigney "Hey, show some respect!" responded a kid who was certainly not pale and certainly not skinny. The first student raised both palms in mock retreat. "Oh, sorry, sorry... you black pig." "The boy stood up and he was just a giant." Murray remembers. "Then he started swinging. I put my hand on the first kid to keep him at distance - and believe me, he certainly didn't want any of Big Boy - but the punches flew. Eventually, youth officers won the battle to restrain him. But, yeah, that was our second minute of operation." At Parkville, it's called a "Code Black" - a critical incident in which a literal panic button is hit and a Safety Emergency Response Team (SERT) descends to secure the room.
School of hard knocks … Ian Lanyon, Director of Secure Services for The Precinct. Credit:Thom Rigney "The big kid was distressed," Murray says. "Through the tears I remember him saying, 'I'm so sorry. It's just you guys have been really good, and he shouldn't say things like that. He shouldn't say things like that because 'Miss' is black.'" After SERT had cleared the classroom and the boys had returned to their residential compounds, known as units, Murray delivered another three-quarter-time address. "We talked about respect. I said that North Remand had a reputation as the toughest unit in the state, and that a young woman who could have taught at any school she wanted had chosen to teach here. 'She wants to teach,' I told them. 'Do you guys want to be taught?' " The boys returned to the school building within the Remand Centre, Parkville College's principal base. "They were perfect," Appeldorff says, grinning. "I've now taught North Remand for four terms, and there hasn't been another incident like it." It was Jess Appeldorff's first day as a teacher.
Campus co-ordinator Matthew Hyde, 28, meets me after I have had my retina photographed, but before I've entered the sci-fi-style, whooshing glass Tardis gateway to The Precinct. "Eye scans, emptying pockets, no phones, wearing an alarm buzzer that means you've got a little SWAT team at your disposal," says Hyde as he ushers me through. "That's all a bit different to what I experienced at Lalor West Primary." We walk back outside, except now we are "inside". Isolated buildings punctuate a landscape of straggly grass and white concrete. To our left is the Remand Centre. Behind us are towering 15-metre walls topped with razor wire. A dusty football oval nestles between the Remand Centre and the units for those who have been sentenced, small enough for a decent full-back to consider having a shot. It's a serious landscape containing up to 123 kids who have been charged with or convicted of serious crimes such as armed robbery, rape and assault. All nine of the residential units at The Precinct are now part of Parkville College. "Most of our kids are way behind," says Hyde. "They've been geniuses at getting kicked out of class. Whether it's telling a teacher to go and get f...ed, or flipping a table, they got themselves out quick, so they're missing the fundamentals."
We walk down to Southbank unit, a brick bungalow where Hyde teaches a numeracy class that ends with "tables bingo" for Freddo Frogs. The boys have times-tables sheets in front of them, as well as bingo cards. The circle of desks is abuzz. "Three times three?" Hyde rattles. "Nine!" "Four times eight?" "Thirty-two!"
"Two times three?" "I don't f...ing know!" shoots one kid. "Six!" scream the rest. The game is derailed when Jesse* is caught pinching chocolates but gets back on track for Abdul's climactic "bingo". Hyde tosses him two Freddos, which are unwrapped and devoured in a single motion. "Lucky c...sucking c...," says one of the vanquished, but with good-natured humour. Then he remembers me. "Sorry, I didn't see you there when I called him a c...sucking c...."
At 19, Brendan Murray was a promising AFL footballer. In 1991 he won the Collingwood Under-19s best and fairest, and was elevated to the senior list. He started 1992 well and was even selected as an emergency for the seniors. But emotionally, Murray was treading tough terrain. A few years earlier, his father had committed suicide from the platform at Victoria Park railway station. The young footballer continued to train at the adjacent ground, listening to trains rattle by. "I woke up one day and just decided to quit," Murray remembers. He called the club and was summoned for a coffee with senior coach Leigh Matthews. "Leigh asked what was wrong and I replied, 'I don't know. I just don't want to spend every day chasing a ball around.' " Matthews suggested that Murray might be depressed. "I said maybe I was. I do remember saying, 'Why do we always do 10 push-ups, never nine?' " Murray laughs. "That's about the time Leigh was ready to cut me loose." Post-footy, Murray landed a job at Anglicare as a residential carer, living with boys leaving youth detention. Repeatedly, he saw how difficult it was to reintegrate youth offenders into the community. "If a kid has been expelled from multiple schools, the next school just says, 'No thanks.' So the kid hits the streets and reoffends. It was so depressing. It led me to believe that what we were offering was a band-aid - that the only way to break the cycle was education." In 2000, Murray enrolled at Monash University to become a teacher.
"He who opens a school door, closes a prison." Victor Hugo's words are written on the school door in the Remand Centre and repeated again in a street-arty font in the grimly lit internal corridor. Eight youths, half of North Remand, wander past into class and, despite the transitory nature of the unit's population, Murray impresses with his ability to greet them all by name. The last kid Murray greets is Axel, a flat-nosed 15-year-old who's gripping a book to his chest. The boy proudly displays the cover. It's an AFL autobiography, Shane Crawford's That's What I'm Talking About. Murray digs for a review. "Liking it?" Axel flicks the pages. "I've read this much. It's f...ing awesome!" Murray offers congratulations. I quickly learn that casual swearing is commonplace, and will be overlooked unless used directly against a teacher or classmate.
"Check out these guns," teacher Anne-Maree Fenech says, flexing her biceps. The North Remand boys sit up straighter in their seats. From the look of some of them, bicep size is more than a passing interest. They hadn't expected this from a slightly built, 160-centimetre, 23-year-old woman. "Do you reckon I'd be able to bench press 200 pounds?" Fenech poses, still in the flex position. "Noooo!" the boys laugh. "Nowhere near!" "What about 180?" "Not a chance!" comes the immediate reply. The boys know their bench-press times tables.
Fenech holds up a fat novel. "So, who reckons he could finish a 300-page book?" Another "Noooo". "Well, who reckons he could read two pages?" Parkville College's newest arrivals tentatively agree that they could. "That's how we'll start. Then we'll build up, just like at the gym. And I'll bet you do end up finishing 300 pages. And more."
Most classes begin with silent reading. For those starting out, the aim might be five minutes. For those with some "fitness", it might be 45. Bringing a book to class is non-negotiable. New Yorker Maddie Witter, 33, is behind the school's reading policy. She co-founded New York's KIPP Infinity School, an institution of last resort for dragging kids out of poverty, and authored the recently released Reading without Limits. In 2011, prompted by a visit to KIPP Infinity School in 2009, Murray convinced her to move to Australia as literacy consultant to his proposed new school. It was Witter, alongside Murray, who pitched Parkville College to the Victorian state government. "We test kids diagnostically to work out how well they can read," says Witter, "and then apply strategies to help them improve. We provide cultivated classroom libraries, with the emphasis on sequels and series, because kids sometimes find it hard to 'break up' with characters." In this classroom library, I see Deltora Quest, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Moneyball and Stephen King's It. "We're matching kids to books they can read confidently," Witter explains. Murray says the techniques are working. "We had one boy who'd never read a book and rose three years of reading levels in five months. Yes, they're starting from a low base, but we're getting huge and rapid improvements." He walks me across to the Eastern Hill unit. When we reach the makeshift classroom, we prop outside: "In this room at the moment we've got two boys who have committed armed robbery, one who's raped and one who's murdered," Murray says. We enter into the deep silence and attract only the briefest of glances before eyes descend back into books. Strikingly, the two youth officers assigned to the unit are also reading. They are in uniform, belts heavy with security equipment, legs outstretched. Murray is organising for their enrolment in a teachers' aide course at Monash University.
Ian Lanyon, 40, the Director of Secure Services for The Precinct, has witnessed the transformation in his staff: "On day one, they were standing around the edge of the classroom with arms crossed, going, 'This won't work. Things will turn to crap pretty quickly.' Now they're helping kids with school work. Some of them want to become teachers!" Lanyon laughs. "I'm upset with Brendan because he's pinching my staff!" I attend a cooking class in the Southbank unit, and watch as Hyde incorporates maths and measures into the task of preparing rissoles. "Cooking's massive," he explains. "Not only do the boys love it, but so many of them already have kids of their own. And sadly, our kids aren't well trained in providing healthy food." In Southbank's common area, Abdul, a garrulous 16-year-old with multiple tattoos, shows me his reading list: Puppies behind Bars, Bear Grylls's Mud, Sweat and Tears, graffiti artist Banksy's Wall and Piece. "I've read heaps more, too. I got nothing but positives to say for the school. I mean, I've always been pretty smart. In school I'd finish first, disrupt others, then get sent out of the classroom or put in isolation. But in here, classes are smaller. It's one on one and I'm going to achieve my VCAL [Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning]." Other students are a long way from achieving a leaving certificate. Jesse, 16, is away from the group in an open, supervised bathroom, shaving ahead of a court appearance. "He often doesn't join in with the boys," Hyde explains. "He's got a developmental age of about six or seven, just really battles in the classroom, and so Brendan and I do one-on-one sessions with him." Murray later recalls spending several weeks reading Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Jesse. "He just lay back on a couch and closed his eyes. He loved it. Told us that nobody had ever read to him before."
I ask Murray what Jesse is in for. "Armed robbery," he says. "His mates convinced him to hold a knife to a guy in a 7-Eleven. When he got before the magistrate she gave him five months. Jesse said, 'Get f...ed.' She said, 'Six months.' Jesse said, 'Get f...ed.' They both eventually stopped at 15 months." Murray was the Victorian Education Department's Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2009. The award was acknowledgement |
, more or less like water swirling around a drain. All that magnetized material in motion generates a powerful electromagnetic field. The field is strong enough to accelerate material away from the brink of the black hole at nearly the speed of light, in huge bursts called relativistic jets. These relativistic jets force gas in their path out of the way, and that disturbance produces deep cosmic sound waves.
That deep intergalactic sound carried through the Perseus Cluster for hundreds of thousands of light years from its source, but sound can only travel as far as there’s enough gas to carry them, so Perseus’ infrasound drone stops at the edge of the gas cloud that fills its cluster of galaxies. That means we can’t detect the sound here on Earth; we can only see its effects on the gas cloud. It’s like we’re staring across space into a soundproofed chamber.
A Groaning Planet
Advertisement
Video credit: ESA
Closer to home, our planet makes a deep groan every time its crust shifts, and sometimes those low-frequency sounds carry all the way into space. During an earthquake, the ground’s shaking can produce vibrations in the atmosphere, usually with a frequency between one and five Hz. If the earthquake is strong enough, it can send infrasound waves up through the atmosphere to the edge of space.
Of course, there’s no clear line where Earth’s atmosphere stops and space begins. The air just gradually gets thinner until eventually there’s none. From about 80 to about 550 kilometers above the surface, the mean free path of a molecule is about a kilometer. That means the air at this altitude is about 59 times too thin for audible sound waves to travel through, but it can carry the longer waves of infrasound.
Advertisement
When a magnitude 9.0 earthquake shook the northeastern coast of Japan in March 2011, seismographs around the world recorded how its waves passed through the Earth, and the earth’s vibrations also set off low-frequency vibrations in the atmosphere. Those vibrations traveled all the way up to where the European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite maps Earth’s gravity from low orbit, 270 kilometers above the surface. And the satellite recorded those sound waves - sort of.
GOCE has very sensitive accelerometers on board, which control the ion engine that helps keep the satellite in a stable orbit. On March 11, 2011, GOCE’s accelerometers detected vertical displacement in the very thin atmosphere around the satellite, along with wavelike shifts in air pressure, as the sound waves from the earthquake passed by. The satellite’s thrusters corrected for the displacement and saved the data, which became an indirect recording of the earthquake’s infrasound.
The indirect recording was buried in the satellite’s thruster data until a team of researchers led by Raphael F. Garcia happened across it and published a paper on their findings.
Advertisement
The First Sound in the Universe
And if you could somehow travel back in time to the first 760,000 years after the Big Bang (we’ve already turned you into an alien who can hear in infrasound, so of course you can also travel through time, right?), you could have heard the sound of the universe growing.
Until about 760,000 years after the Big Bang, the matter in the universe was still densely packed enough that sound waves could travel through it — and they did.
Advertisement
Around this time, the first photons were also beginning to travel through the universe as light. Things had finally cooled enough after the Big Bang to allow subatomic particles to condense into atoms. Before that cooling happened, the universe was full of charged particles - protons and electrons - that either absorbed or scattered photons, the particles (sort of) that make up light. When the protons and neutrons started to form neutrally charged atoms, light was free to shine all over the place.
Today, that light reaches us as a faint glow of microwave radiation, visible only to very sensitive radio telescopes. Physicists call it the cosmic microwave background. It’s the oldest light in the universe, and it contains a recording of the oldest sound in the universe.
Remember that sound waves travel through the air (or interstellar gas) as oscillations in pressure. When you compress a gas, it gets hotter; on a large scale, that’s actually how stars form. And when a gas expands, it cools. The sound waves traveling though the early universe caused faint variations in pressure in the gaseous medium, which in turn left faint variations in temperature etched into the cosmic microwave background.
Advertisement
Using those temperature variations, University of Washington physicist John G. Cramer managed to reconstruct the sounds of the expanding universe. He had to multiply the frequency by a factor of 10^26 just to make it audible to human ears. (Listen to it here or in the video above.)
So it’s still true that no one can hear you screaming in space, but there are sound waves moving through the clouds of gas between the stars or in the rarefied wisps of Earth’s outer atmosphere.
20kHz is a new blog exploring the technology and science behind music and sound. Follow us @20kHz.
AdvertisementUpdate: the park opening has been pushed back a day to Sunday, May 29. This story has been changed in light of the new information.
One flaming dinosaur could not stop the herd.
Though the lumbering Argentinosaurus' foam flesh was rent from its towering steel bones following a welding accident this month, the land time forgot will carry on. Field Station: Dinosaurs, New Jersey's version of Jurassic Park, will reopen on Memorial Day weekend in Bergen County, albeit a day later than originally planned.
"A decision was made late on Friday that the park still needed one more day of preparation to be able to deliver the quality experience our customers expect and that we demand," said Guy Gsell, park president, in a statement. "We were excited for our opening on Saturday, but we will have to hold that excitement for one more day and look forward to welcoming families at our opening on Sunday."
Field Station: Dinosaurs When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 29, 30 and weekends thereafter. Where: Overpeck County Park at 40 Fort Lee Road in Leonia Cost: $15; fieldstationdinosaurs.com
Field Station debuted in 2012 in Hudson County's Laurel Hill Park. The Secaucus attraction featured a perch from which a roaring, animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex overlooked the New York skyline. The dinosaur used facial recognition technology and sensors to interact with visitors. But the park had to pack up the robotic dinosaurs and leave in 2015 to make way for the construction of a high school building. After a search for a new location took park staff out of New Jersey, a new home for the dinosaurs was found just a few miles away in the Leonia section of Overpeck County Park.
And yes, Argentinosaurus -- the charred, 90-foot-long titanosaur that is no more -- will be replaced, Gsell told NJ Advance Media on Thursday. Though other dinosaurs have come for the tittle, Argentinosaurus is often considered the longest dinosaur to have ever lived. Gsell will not say how much the robotic dinosaur is worth, but he does say it was insured and could be supplanted by a fresh longneck as soon as July. The park's remaining dinosaur fleet -- 31 altogether -- return for the new season.
In the old park, dinosaurs were planted in between foliage and a hilly path took visitors to each creature. In the new arrangement, the dinosaurs ring a large, open field down the road from sunbathing park visitors.
"The dinosaurs are still mostly tucked into the woods," Gsell says. Yet because each figure is in closer proximity to one another, the resulting scenes ramp up the drama between smaller dinosaurs and would-be predators.
"I'm a fan of the opening scene of 'Jurassic Park,'" he says. "That idea of a dinosaur herd."
A wheelchair-accessible mesh pathway guides visitors around the displays, which showcase the same moving, wailing dinosaurs from the original Secaucus location. Gsell says construction is about 75 percent complete on the new park, which is slated to open at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Admission will be $15 for all ages except children under 2, who are free. After an extended Memorial Day weekend opening, the park will be accessible to the public on Saturdays and Sundays through June 26 and Tuesday through Sunday from June 28 to Sept. 4. Field Station will close after Labor Day.
The dinosaurs stood in suspended animation Thursday as about 30 workers and artists put the finishing touches on the bones of the park and the intricate features of dinosaur hides.
"At the end of the day we'll be ready to power it all up," Gsell said before he ultimately decided the park opening would have to wait one more day. James Tedesco, county executive, surveyed the progress ahead of a previously scheduled Saturday morning ribbon cutting on the property.
Field Station will continue to host visits from scientists and run a series of educational children's shows. School groups are already booked for the first week in June. Gsell will host a new show called "Mystery of the Missing Dinosaurs," which he calls "'CSI' meets paleontology."
The Leonia field, located at 40 Fort Lee Road at the Henry Hoebel area of Overpeck Park, is just a temporary location for Field Station. In 2017 or 2018, the dinosaurs are supposed to move to a section of the park in Teaneck currently inhabited by forest and marshy brush. The planned entrance will be located across from the Marriott at Glenpointe hotel at Degraw Avenue. Visitors will use a bridge to cross Teaneck Creek to get to the park promenade and dinosaurs.
Field Station is paying the county a park permit fee of $75,000 to use the space in Leonia. The new home for the park in Teaneck is the site of a former landfill. Tedesco has said that remediation of the land will likely be expedited to make way for the dinosaurs. A county official previously said that the future "permanent" home for the park could generate proceeds that would go to the county, but Gsell says a deal has not yet been finalized.
For more information, visit fieldstationdinosaurs.com
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup. Find NJ.com Entertainment on FacebookA few months ago, we took around 15 seconds of unexpected API downtime during a planned database migration. We're always careful about deploying schema changes, so we were surprised to see one go so badly wrong. As a payments company, the uptime of our API matters more than most - if we're not accepting requests, our merchants are losing money. It's not in our nature to leave issues like this unexplored, so naturally we set about figuring out what went wrong. This is what we found out.
Background
We're no strangers to zero-downtime schema changes. Having the database stop responding to queries for more than a second or two isn't an option, so there's a bunch of stuff you learn early on. It's well covered in other articles1, and it mostly boils down to:
Don't rename columns/tables which are in use by the app - always copy the data and drop the old one once the app is no longer using it
Don't rewrite a table while you have an exclusive lock on it (e.g. no ALTER TABLE foos ADD COLUMN bar varchar DEFAULT 'baz' NOT NULL )
) Don't perform expensive, synchronous actions while holding an exclusive lock (e.g. adding an index without the CONCURRENTLY flag)
This advice will take you a long way. It may even be all you need to scale this part of your app. For us, it wasn't, and we learned that the hard way.
The migration
Jump back to late January. At the time, we were building invoicing for our Pro product. We'd been through a couple of iterations, and settled on model/table names. We'd already deployed an earlier revision, so we had to rename the tables. That wasn't a problem though - the tables were empty, and there was no code depending on them in production.
The foreign key constraints on those tables had out of date names after the rename, so we decided to drop and recreate them2. Again, we weren't worried. The tables were empty, so there would be no long-held lock taken to validate the constraints.
So what happened?
We deployed the changes, and all of our assumptions got blown out of the water. Just after the schema migration started, we started getting alerts about API requests timing out. These lasted for around 15 seconds, at which point the migration went through and our API came back up. After a few minutes collecting our thoughts, we started digging into what went wrong.
First, we re-ran the migrations against a backup of the database from earlier that day. They went through in a few hundred milliseconds. From there we turned back to the internet for an answer.
Information was scarce. We found lots of blog posts giving the advice from above, but no clues on what happened to us. Eventually, we stumbled on an old thread on the Postgres mailing list, which sounded exactly like the situation we'd ran into. We kept looking, and found a blog post which went into more depth3.
In order to add a foreign key constraint, Postgres takes AccessExclusive locks on both the table with the constraint4, and the one it references while it adds the triggers which enforce the constraint. When a lock can't be acquired because of a lock held by another transaction, it goes into a queue. Any locks that conflict with the queued lock will queue up behind it. As AccessExclusive locks conflict with every other type of lock, having one sat in the queue blocks all other operations5 on that table.
Here's a worked example using 3 concurrent transactions, started in order:
-- Transaction 1 SELECT DISTINCT ( email ) -- Takes an AccessShare lock on "parent" FROM parent ; -- for duration of slow query. -- Transaction 2 ALTER TABLE child -- Needs an AccessExclusive lock on ADD CONSTRAINT parent_fk -- "child" /and/ "parent". AccessExclusive FOREIGN KEY ( parent_id ) -- conflicts with AccessShare, so sits in REFERENCES parent -- a queue. NOT VALID ; -- Transaction 3 SELECT * -- Normal query also takes an AccessShare, FROM parent -- which conflicts with AccessExclusive WHERE id = 123 ; -- so goes to back of queue, and hangs.
While the tables we were adding the constraints to were unused by the app code at that point, the tables they referenced were some of the most heavily used. An unfortunately timed, long-running read query on the parent table collided with the migration which added the foreign key constraint.
The ALTER TABLE statement itself was fast to execute, but the effect of it waiting for an AccessExclusive lock on the referenced table caused the downtime - read/write queries issued by calls to our API piled up behind it, and clients timed out.
Avoiding downtime
Applications vary too much for there to be a "one size fits all" solution to this problem, but there are a few good places to start:
Eliminate long-running queries/transactions from your application. 6 Run analytics queries against an asynchronously updated replica. It's worth setting log_min_duration_statement and log_lock_waits to find these issues in your app before they turn into downtime.
Run analytics queries against an asynchronously updated replica. Set lock_timeout in your migration scripts to a pause your app can tolerate. It's better to abort a deploy than take your application down.
in your migration scripts to a pause your app can tolerate. It's better to abort a deploy than take your application down. Split your schema changes up. Problems become easier to diagnose. Transactions around DDL are shorter, so locks aren't held so long.
Keep Postgres up to date. The locking code is improved with every release.
Whether this is worth doing comes down to the type of project you're working on. Some sites get by just fine putting up a maintenance page for the 30 seconds it takes to deploy. If that's not an option for you, then hopefully the advice in this post will help you avoid unexpected downtime one day.PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Steelers center Cody Wallace will not be suspended for his late helmet hit on Broncos safety David Bruton Jr. in Sunday's 34-27 win, but was fined $23,152, according to sources.
The $23,152 figure is the standard fine for a hit on a defenseless player.
Wallace said a fine was justified and his play was "reckless." He stressed he was trying to help teammate.
"I was in the wrong," Wallace said.
Steelers center Cody Wallace in action against the Broncos on Sunday. AP Photo/Don Wright
With 1:49 left in the first quarter, Antonio Brown was being tackled after a reception when Broncos defensive end Malik Jackson hit Brown from the side. Wallace took exception to the hit and lunged into the play. Wallace said after the game that "their guy kind of took a shot at AB, so we really couldn't let that fly," according to Triblive.com.
Guard David DeCastro said Wednesday that he respects Wallace's efforts to be a good teammate but hits on players is a "fine line."
"You're trying to do what you can to protect [a player]," DeCastro said. "You've got to hone it in a little bit.... It's hard to find that line. Not saying it's easy."
Wallace's hit came shortly after Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. took a helmet shot on Panthers cornerback Josh Norman. Beckham was suspended after fighting with Norman for much of the game, while Norman will be fined more than $26,000 for his role, according to an ESPN report.
On Monday, Bruton called the hit "dirty.''
"Everyone is making a big deal out of Odell [Beckham's] deal, but it's nothing on [Wallace]. I'm pretty sure my head was down, the play was over, whistle blown," Bruton said, according to USA Today Sports. "Heck, I didn't go in there and shoot at his guy.
"That's just what they do. They're dirty. He left his feet trying to take me out."
Brown said he appreciates a teammate sticking up for him, even if Wallace's move was what he calls "feisty."
"He's a great teammate," Brown said.Henry is my brother of 22 years, a young and fit guy faithfully serving his NS (national service) in Singapore during his prime years of life. On October 2016, an unexpected series of events occurred and turned his life upside down. Henry had a high fever of 39°C, which appeared.....
Henry is my brother of 22 years, a young and fit guy faithfully serving his NS (national service) in Singapore during his prime years of life. On October 2016, an unexpected series of events occurred and turned his life upside down. Henry had a high fever of 39°C, which appeared to be normal flu symptoms before he was admitted to the A&E. He was then diagnosed with a life threatening disease called Adenoviral Pneumonia while still serving the nation. He was transferred to the ICU in Khoo Teck Puat and subsequently NUH CTICU for further life support as the disease progressed further.
During the time in ICU, he had to be on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) for 3-4 weeks as his lungs were completely drowned in his own fluids due to the severity of the viral strain. It was hard for my family to see him fully reliant on life support. As he is a young guy, we have never expected him to be on his deathbed so close to losing him within a span of a few days. As the treatment continues, his blood pressure dropped so drastically that the doctors had to put him on adrenaline for weeks.
Henry then spent his time unconscious in an induced coma and various procedures were performed on him (ECMO, Plasma exchange aka plasmapheresis, haemodialysis, CT scans etc). The scariest part wasn't it all, it was when we heard news of his brain hemorrhaging through the heparin therapy from ECMO, and also DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation). These complications could have a mortality rate of up to 60%. His eyesight and renal functions could be damaged forever by the use of anti-viral medications. Our hearts dropped.
In summary, he almost lost his life 3 times in a span of 1 month, but with the caring hands of the nurses and dedication of the doctors attending to him, he survived the ordeal recovering from most of the insults to his body, although with much misfortune.
Eventually, we found his fingers and toes turning red, finally turning black during the 1 month in ICU. We were told that the cause of the blackening of the hands and feet was dry gangrene, which had similarly occurred to people who had eaten fresh, uncooked fish and unfortunately infected with GBS. In Henry's case, his gangrene had resulted from the prolonged use of adrenaline to support his dangerously low blood pressure. His fingers and legs must be amputated.
My family, including my mum, myself and my younger sister, were devastated with the news of our beloved son/brother, who could potentially be the sole breadwinner of this family, to be permanently disabled in his prime years and throughout his life. As my father had passed away since 4 years ago from colon cancer, Henry has become our pillar of strength. It was a tough time accepting the news, especially my mum who witnessed the loss of her husband and now, her son, to face such fate.
Despite the ordeals, Henry is a tough guy with a lot of faith in life. He remained grateful and positive, sometimes giving us encouragement even though he is the one facing disability. He will require a massive amount of medical fund for his near-to-half-a-century of life visiting the doctor and acquiring prosthesis, alongside with motorized wheelchair, rehabilitation and transport assistance. Because of him and his positivity, our family bond is even tighter than ever.
We welcome any form of donation for Henry to tide through these tough times. He has since ORD-ed in February 2017, successfully attained the title of NS-man, which we are super proud of him for doing his part for the nation. At the same time, we will have to bear all medical costs by ourselves after he had ORD-ed.
Thank you for your kind donation. We will keep you in our prayers and be grateful for what we receive. It is our blessing to reach out to you and receiving your generosity.Many of you may have come across the terms vinyl siding, vinyl records, vinyl flooring, vinyl gloves etc, but may not know what exactly vinyl is. Vinyl is not a natural substance but is a synthetic man-made material. It is a type of plastic that is made from ethylene (found in crude oil) and chlorine (found in regular salt). When processed, both the substances are combined to form Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) resin, or as is commonly referred to - Vinyl. Vinyl was first invented in 1920 by scientists who wanted to develop a material that would help to manufacture everyday products that were easier to make, more durable, and cheaper than what was available. Today, Vinyl has become the second largest manufactured and sold plastic resin in the entire world. The most common use of vinyl is that in construction, especially as vinyl flooring and vinyl siding. In fact, these uses of vinyl are often thought of as its only uses. In addition to these, vinyl has many other uses because of its ability to combine with various additives and modifiers, thus making vinyl highly suitable to be used in the manufacture of many different products. Common Properties Of Vinyl Vinyl is resistant to moisture and humidity. It is a very strong and durable plastic material. Vinyl can be manufactured in a variety of colors, both transparent and solid. Vinyl is a very low cost material to produce. Vinyl is a plastic material, which unlike other plastics, can easily be recycled. Because of the durability of vinyl, products made from this material have a long life span. Add to this the fact that the vinyl can then be recycled, translates into an even longer life of the vinyl plastic resin. Vinyl is a very environment friendly material, not only because it can be recycled, but also for many other reasons. Vinyl helps in the preservation of environmental resources as 57% of vinyl is made from common salt, which is a renewable natural substance. Non-replenish able resources such as crude oil only account for 43% of vinyl resin, thus making it nature friendly. In comparison to various other materials used by the packing industry, vinyl requires lesser amounts of natural resources to make, utilizes much lesser energy for manufacture, and also releases lower emissions into the environment. Thus vinyl, a synthetic manmade material, has truly revolutionized the entire plastic resin industry.Medical marijuana is legal in 25 states and Washington, DC, but scientists studying the drug still face tough government regulations limiting its growth and distribution.
The Drug Enforcement Administration recently removed one hurdle for medical marijuana researchers. It announced that it would increase the number of manufacturers that are allowed to grow and provide marijuana to scientists.
Under the DEA’s previous regulations, just one institution — the University of Mississippi — was authorized to grow research-grade marijuana. John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of the forthcoming book “Marijuana: A Short History,” says that the new policy will contribute to faster, more comprehensive medical marijuana research.
“Right now, the monopoly is bad news,” Hudak says. “If you talk to researchers who do clinical experimentation with marijuana, looking for medical efficacy, they’ll tell you that the monopoly creates roadblocks in terms of access, in terms of the speed with which they can get the product, and with the types of strains or potency or compositions of marijuana that they want to use in their research.”
Hudak hopes that increased competition in the research-grade market will make marijuana growers more responsive to scientists’ needs — and introduce research strains that better reflect what’s already available in American dispensaries.
“The medical marijuana that you would get from a dispensary in Colorado or in any of the states that have medical marijuana programs can have very low potency or a composition that has no psychoactive ingredients, all the way up to very high potency marijuana,” Hudak says. “A lot of researchers want their research to reflect what’s going on in America, and there’s real limitations on that because of the supply from Ole Miss,” he adds, using a nickname for the university that was the sole supplier.
With more competition in the market, Hudak hopes that “designer strains” of marijuana with different levels of THC and CBD — the drug’s main psychoactive and non-psychoactive compounds, respectively — can be mixed to researchers’ needs.
Not to say that before the policy change, researchers couldn’t go elsewhere: Some states already encourage and fund medical marijuana research at the state level. But Hudak says, ultimately, federal approval is tantamount to a marijuana study’s success.
“[If] it doesn't meet that standard of federally approved research, that means that in terms of publications, and in terms of the medical community's embrace of that research, there can be limitations,” Hudak says. “There [are] still, at the end of the day, very few things that carry the gold standard of a federally approved medical research project.”
This article is based on an interview that aired on PRI’s Science Friday.Eugenics is the self-direction of human evolution": Logo from the Second International Eugenics Congress, 1921
Three International Eugenics Congresses took place between 1912 and 1932 and were the global venue for scientists, politicians, and social leaders to plan and discuss the application of programs to improve human heredity in the early twentieth century.
Background [ edit ]
Assessing the work of Charles Darwin, and pondering the experience of animal breeders and horticulturists, Francis Galton wondered if the human genetic make-up could be improved: “The question was then forced upon me - Could not the race of men be similarly improved? Could not the undesirables be got rid of and the desirables multiplied?”[1] This concept of eugenics - a term he introduced - soon won many adherents, notably in North America and England. First practical steps were taken in the United States of America. The government under Theodore Roosevelt created a national Heredity Commission that was charged to investigate the genetic heritage of the country and to “(encourage) the increase of families of good blood and (discourage) the vicious elements in the cross-bred American civilization”.[2] Charles Davenport supported by the Carnegie Institution established the Eugenics Record Office. Further significant funding for the eugenics movement came from E. H. Harriman and Vernon Kellogg. In an effort to eradicate unfit offspring sterilization laws were passed, the first one in Indiana (1907), then in other states, many strictly for eugenic reasons, "to better the race," allowing for compulsory sterilization. Other eugenic laws limited the right to marry.[2]
The First International Eugenics Congress (1912) [ edit ]
The First International Eugenics Congress took place in London on July 24–29, 1912. It was organized by the British Eugenics Education Society and dedicated to Galton who had died the year prior.[2] Major Leonard Darwin, the son of Charles Darwin, was presiding. The five-day meeting saw about 400 delegates at the Hotel Cecil in London.[3] Luminaries included Winston Churchill, First Lord of the British Admiralty and Lord Alverstone, the Chief Justice, Lord Balfour, as well as the ambassadors of Norway, Greece, and France. In his opening address Darwin indicated that the introduction of principles of better breeding procedures for humans would require moral courage. The American exhibit was sponsored by the American Breeders' Association and demonstrated the incidence of hereditary defects in human pedigrees. A report by Bleeker van Wagenen presented information about American sterilization laws and propagated compulsory sterilization as the best method to cut off “defective germ-plasm”. In the final address, Major Darwin extolled eugenics as the practical application of the principle of evolution.[2][4]
The Second International Eugenics Congress (1921) [ edit ]
The second Congress, originally scheduled for New York in 1915, met at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on September 25–27, 1921 with Henry Fairfield Osborn presiding. Alexander Graham Bell was the honorary president. The State Department mailed the invitations around the world.[5] Under American leadership and dominance - forty-one out of fifty-three scientific papers - the work of the eugenicists disrupted by World War I in Europe was to resume. Delegates participated not only from Europe and North America, but also from Latin America (Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Uruguay), and Asia (Japan, India, Siam). The major guest speaker, Major Darwin, advocated eugenic measures that needed to be taken, namely the "elimination of the unfit", the discouragement of large families in the "ill-endowed", and the encouragement of large families in the "well-endowed".[6]
The Third International Eugenics Congress (1932) [ edit ]
The third meeting was arranged at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City August 22–23, 1932, dedicated to Mary Williamson Averell who had provided significant financial support, and presided by Davenport. Osborn's address emphasized birth selection over birth control as the method to better the offspring.[7] F. Ramos from Cuba proposed that immigrants should be carefully checked for harmful traits, and suggested deportations of their descendants if inadmissible traits would become later apparent. Major Darwin, now 88 years old, was unable to attend but sent a report presented by Ronald Fisher predicting the doom of civilization unless eugenic measures were implemented.[8] Ernst Rüdin was unanimously elected president of the International Federation of Eugenics Organizations (IFEO).
The congress published "A Decade of Progress in Eugenics",[9] Scientific Papers of the Third International Congress of Eugenics.
A Fourth International Eugenics Conference was not convened. The IFEO held two more international meetings, one at Zurich in 1934 and the last one at Scheveningen in 1936.[10]
In 1932, Hermann Joseph Muller gave a speech to the Third International Eugenics Congress, and stated "eugenics might yet perfect the human race but only in a society consciously organized for the common good.[11]
See also [ edit ]Twelve years have passed since 9/11. In these intervening years, two commissions, several reports, many books, papers, documentaries and of course History Commons have documented what happened that fateful day.
To this day, hundreds of thousands of documents have been released, which represents a massive amount of information (videos, maps, reports, testimonies, tapes data, radar data, flight data recorders, and so on) to examine. There was, therefore, a crucial need for a tool for categorizing and analyzing important data. In this particular aim, 9/11maps have collected RADES84 data, documents from 911datasets.org, photos, videos, maps and plenty of useful documents to produce an all-in-one tool called 9/11 maps allowing anyone to look at this whole documentation at one place and from a timely and comprehensive perspective. You can follow the events of the day just as if you were looking at a radar screen. But you can do many other things. 9/11maps is a Google Earth program that allows anyone to watch and search the events of 9/11.
9/11maps will show you: Maps of interest
of interest WTC 3D buildings
Cameras and witnesses, over 400 videos filmed on 9/11 have been mapped with great precision
Aeronautics data, including military bases, black boxes data and flight paths of the four commercial airplanes plus official and military planes (Air Force One, E4-Bs, Otis and Langley fighters, C-130H...), FAA ARTCC, aeronautical charts, ACARS and many other things
data, including military bases, black boxes data and flight paths of the four commercial airplanes plus official and military planes (Air Force One, E4-Bs, Otis and Langley fighters, C-130H...), FAA ARTCC, aeronautical charts, ACARS and many other things Raw Radar data, including secondary and primary radar data from NEADS, SEADS, FAA (Pentagon Area radar data), Mosaic Radar Sort Boxes, ATC video maps
Audio data, including phone calls and ATC Tapes 9/11maps is still in development.By Staff
June 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The shovels will not be going into the ground this year but the people who are building the Delta Hotel portion of the Bridgewater project have announced that the digging will start in 2015
That won’t be in time for the Pan Am Games which was the expectation when the three structure project that is to be built on the Lakeshore Road east of Brant Street and next to the Waterfront Hotel when the project finally came back to life after years of inaction.
The hotel expects to open their doors to the public in 2018 with 152 rooms and 8000 square feet of meeting and conference space.
Hotel management is currently in discussion with several high end concept restaurants for the Burlington location.
MADY Developments is in process of constructing the sales and presentation centre that will be used to market the condominiums in the 22 storey structure on the east side of the property and the seven story condominium that will sit to the south of the Delta Hotel on the west side.Despite the media protestations to the contrary, the importance within the G20 meeting in Hamburg German centered around trade and economics. The assembled nations are trying to position, navigate and cope with the reality of the worlds largest economic market, the U.S., no longer participating in multinational trade deals (TPP and TTIP) and focusing on direct trade relationships with individual countries.
The new economic approach by President Trump deconstructs decades of advanced collectivism and wealth-spreading globalism. The European Union preferred approach was constructed by multinational backs and multinational corporations; and pushed on the collective societies by purchased left-wing politicians using administrative and political policy.
In Hamburg, U.S. President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chairman of Economic Policy Gary Cohn, are advancing bilateral trade deals within one-on-one discussions; including discussions with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May now that brexit has freed the U.K. from the collective European Union.
President Trump speaking trade with Prime Minister May is making the EU collective furious because, Germany’s Angela Markel is attempting to leverage/blackmail their own protectionist EU trade deal before allowing the United Kingdom to exit the union.
The U.S. trade team know how to leverage the economics of this issue to the benefit of their ally, the U.K. (and also to Poland, Hungary, and the Baltics etc.)
If a trade deal between the U.K. and the U.S. holds specific benefits not granted by the U.S. toward the larger EU collective, then European companies who want access to America may shift or open new operations in the U.K.
Regional location to take advantage of the economic pathway to the United States (the worlds largest market) is already a well known strategy. This approach makes the U.K. economy stronger and dilutes the larger EU trade economy by shifting economic activity out of the union and into the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, N-Ireland).
In essence European companies will predictably move to the U.K. in order to have better access to the United States market. This has Angela Merkel (Germany), Emmanuel Macron (France), and other EU leaders in fits of outrage. Thus the EU threats toward Prime Minister May and the U.K. that she (they) are not allowed to enter into trade deals with America until after she leaves the EU.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: […] Well, we had a great group of people together, and really done a fantastic job together. I’d like to thank Prime Minister May for being with us. We’ve had tremendous talks. There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries. And I just want to say thank you very much. We are working on a trade deal — a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal. Great for both countries. And I think we’ll have that done very, very quickly. We have all of our trade people. We have Wilbur Ross with us. We have all of the trade people. Rex and I had a tremendous meeting yesterday with President Putin, and we’ve had really great meetings with a lot of people. We’re having a lot today. But Prime Minister May and I have developed a very special relationship, and I think trade will be a very big factor between |
when/ then" like this: "When I'm finished my dinner, then I can help you find Henry (the purple stuffed hippo)."
One of the biggest struggles parents have is maintaining their own sense of self, and tending to their own needs, while also caring for their children. In fact, this has been one of my own biggest struggles with parenting. But once I learned to keep my own energy bucket full through techniques such as ones discussed above, I became a better mom and a happier person – with more to give to those I love.
Setting boundaries is a long process, and don’t fret if it takes time to implement. Remind yourself and your children that healthy boundaries are an essential part of a healthy relationship, and that your boundaries are the manifestation of your core beliefs as part of the Connect Four Pillars of parenting. The ways that parents keep their energy bucket full, and the boundaries that parents create, will likely be different for everyone, but the result is the same – the more energy we have, the more love we can give. Do you have any questions or comments? Feel free to post those here or over on my Facebook page.
RELATED: Stay Safe: 7 Ways to Handle Sleep DeprivationA federal judge hearing a case of nine men charged with illegally growing marijuana on federal land in California said Wednesday she was considering arguments that the federal government has improperly labelled marijuana as one of the most dangerous drugs.
The U.S. classifies marijuana as a Schedule One drug, putting it in the most dangerous of five categories. Classification is determined by the drug’s potential for abuse and dependency, and whether the drug has an acceptable medical use. Cocaine, methamphetamine, and OxyContin are all Schedule Two drugs, meaning that they are treated by federal law as less dangerous and more medically appropriate than marijuana.
The marijuana growers’ defense argued that classifying marijuana as a Schedule One drug was unconstitutional because 23 states have made the drug legal for medical use, Reuters reports. “If I were persuaded by the defense’s argument, if I bought their argument, what would you lose here?” the judge asked prosecutors during a motion to dismiss.
If convicted, the men face up to life imprisonment and a $10 million fine.
MORE: The Rise of Fake Pot
Prosecutors argued that the drug’s classification was a matter for Congress, not the courts.
“We’re not saying that this is the most dangerous drug in the world,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Broderick. “All we’re saying is that the evidence is such that reasonable people could disagree.”
The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now
[Reuters]
Go Inside the Harvest of Colorado's Most Controversial Marijuana Strain Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME Matt Nager for TIME 1 of 20 Advertisement
Contact us at editors@time.com.For those of you that follow my blog, you know I take the anniversaries of victims of unsolved crimes seriously. April 9 marks the 29th anniversary of the disappearance of Richard “Keith” Call and Cassandra Hailey. I say, “disappearance,” because their remains have never been recovered. While it is surmised that they were murdered, we do not know what their final fate was. We only know that they have never been seen since the night of their journey into the unknown.
Over two years ago I had no idea who they were or how they were intertwined to the murders dubbed the “Colonial Parkway Murders.” A lot has changed in two years. Like most cold cases, the story is often treated as a footnote in the annals of law enforcement. Keith and Cassandra are not a mere statistic, they were vibrant young people with the world and lives ahead of them.
In working on our book on these murders (A Special Kind of Evil) we’ve had a chance to interview Virginia State Police, FBI, and, most importantly, family members of this pair. I can’t call them a “couple.” They disappeared on their first date, and it was not a romantic affair but a trip to a movie and a visit to a college party off-campus near Christopher Newport in Newport News, VA.
It started out so innocently – like a scene from a 1980’s teen movie. Keith picked up Cassandra at her parent’s home. They went to the movie then onto the party and mingled, and Keith left to take her home. That’s the short version. In the early morning hours, only a short time later, Keith’s car was spotted on the Colonial Parkway by several people…including his brother. It was at a pull-off right after Yorktown heading north on the Colonial Parkway, less than 15 feet from the road in plain sight. Keith’s father found the car on the way to work but was not entirely alarmed by what he saw.
The majority of their clothing was in the car and the National Park Service rangers proposed to the media that they had gone skinny dipping in the York River. It was a preposterous suggestion – it had been in the low 40’s that night and just getting to the river would have been treacherous, especially if you were naked and in the pitch darkness of the historic roadway.
On top of that, both of them had an aversion to the Parkway. Two years earlier, a mile or so from where Keith’s red Toyota Celica was found, there had been a brutal killing of Cathy Thomas and Rebecca Dowski. Their deaths were horrific and proved to be the first of four pairs of killings on the Virginia peninsula. Their murders cast the first shadow on the Colonial Parkway.
Most in law enforcement have contended that Keith and Cassandra went there to make out. Empty beers were found in the back seat of the car near their clothing. When you find clothing and an abandoned car in a place known for wild partying and young couples parking to do what young couples do when they park, it almost made sense. Almost. The thing was that Keith was in a serious relationship at the time. He and Cassandra had not demonstrated any romantic inkling towards each other. Many authorities still cling to the concept they went there to park. This was reinforced by search dogs that seemed to indicate they were taken separately from the vehicle to the icy cold York River.
I favor Major Ron Montgomery’s (York County) thinking however. In my interview with him he told me he doesn’t believe they were ever on the parkway…that was just where Keith’s car was abandoned. Honestly, there’s a lot to back that theory up. There is no tangible physical evidence that verifies they were on the Parkway. On top of that – the Parkway is past where Cassandra’s house was. They would have had to driven her past her home to go to the Parkway, and when they left the party Keith’s intention was to get Cassandra home before curfew.
I used to love driving the parkway before I worked on this book. Now I drive it and I go slow, noting the changes to the terrain over three decades. I am always torn between the natural beauty of the drive and the horrible things that happened there.
All of the crimes tied to the parkway murders are horrible. This one stands out for most people for one reason – there were no bodies. Keith and Cassandra were simply gone. Having a body does not ease the pain but it is important beyond description. It means their remains are someplace known. I cannot fathom the anguish of not knowing where your loved brother, sister, or child is. Keith and Cassandra left that party and drove off into nothingness. It is an open wound that tears at you as a writer or as a human being.
The sad part is that someone out there must now something about what happened to them on the drive between Christopher Newport and Sandra’s home in Grafton, VA – most likely on or near Route 17, J. Clyde Morris Boulevard. In that short distance, someone had to see something – even if it was a faux police car pulling over Keith’s red Toyota Celica. At the time you probably didn’t give it a second thought. Today your information could help re-energize this 29 year old cold case. There is no such thing as an inconsequential tip.
If you do have any information, please contact the FBI at (757) 455-0100 or me at bpardoe870@aol.com. I will be passing along any tips directly to the authorities.
Having spent considerable time crawling through these murders each one is special…and I will cover them as each couple’s crime arrives on the calendar. Today however it is about Keith and Missy (as she was known to her family.) Today, we need to focus on solving their disappearance.
And to the insidious monster that was responsible for these crimes – my daughter Victoria and I are your worst freaking nightmare. We are going to get the full story out, as full as possible, and we are going to generate new tips and leads. Our books on cold cases generate tips for law enforcement all of the time – and this book will do the same. Your days of living free thinking you got away with these murders are limited. Why? Simply put, we are not alone. The people of the Tidewater want justice and the families demand it. We won’t let this story be a footnote. We want it to be page one.
It is time for us all to work together to bring Keith and Cassandra home once and for all. It is time for justice.
AdvertisementsShare. The name's play...free to play The name's play...free to play
What do you get when you combine former developers from Eurocom, the studio behind a number of James Bond games, and former developers from Rare, the studio behind the original GoldenEye 007? Apparently you get EightPixelsSquare and its new iOS shooter All Guns Blazing.
EightPixelsSquare was founded in 2013, and after releasing its first game on iOS--a cartoony casual title, Scuba Dupa--the studio has collectively turned to its shooter roots. All Guns Blazing is a social-focused, free to play title with an arcade-shooter feel.
Sporting some impressive 3D environments for a mobile game, you'll join up with a cartel and work collectively online to take down mob bosses. Or, you can enter PvP mode and play against other cartels. Ultimately, the goal is to grow your criminal empire, buying better weapons, character customization items, and property.
While it's a far cry from the old James Bond games, there's no denying EightPixelsSquare has a pedigree; and hey, it's free. All Guns Blazing is available now on the App Store.
Matt Clark is a freelance writer covering the world of videogames, tech, and popular culture. Follow him on Twitter @ClarkMatt and MyIGN at Matt_Clark.The secret is out: NoHo is a happening place. It isn’t just up and coming anymore. We have arrived. Within just a few blocks, you can ride your bike for fun, walk to great shops and restaurants, and hop on the Metro to get to work or anywhere else you want to go.
Along with the good, there are challenges too. One of the most nagging issues for folks who live in the neighborhood has been the dangerous intersection at Magnolia Boulevard and Blakeslee Avenue. The intersection, with its simple crosswalk and lots of traffic, has become infamous as a site of many near collisions. Left untouched, it’s an accident waiting to happen.
After the NoHo Arts District joined Council District 2 in 2012, I made it a priority to make NoHo even better and safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and commuters. There are currently a number of projects moving forward and some are complete. I’m proud to announce that this week, the intersection at Magnolia and Blakeslee is getting a complete overhaul that will make it safer for everyone, especially those who walk around the neighborhood.
I introduced a motion earlier this year to make it happen and the full City Council adopted it. Now, with the help of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Magnolia and Blakeslee is being outfitted with Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons. RRFBs are flashing lights that complement warning signs at intersections that don’t have traffic signals or at mid-block crosswalks. These new devices are being piloted at intersections throughout the city. They have proven to enhance motorist compliance when coupled with a crosswalk. I know they will do wonders for safety at Magnolia and Blakeslee, which is something community members want and deserve.
NoHo is also special because of its collaborative spirit. This spirit may have its genesis in the arts, but it carries over to all aspects of the community. It’s unique for community members, business owners, students, commuters and other stakeholders get together to get things done, but it happens here—and it works.
One example is another improvement on Lankershim in front of the Laemmle NoHo 7. When theatre owner and bike enthusiast Greg Laemmle told me that he wanted a bike corral in front of his theatre, I worked with him to get the project approved and completed. LADOT employees installed the new bike corral this week, just in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Laemmle Theatres.
I believe we can all agree that NoHo is getting better and more mobile every day. What is happening here is a new form of “upward mobility”—one that benefits everyone.
This Saturday, June 21, 2 p.m., please join me to officially open the bike corral and the new Magnolia and Blakeslee crosswalk with a pair of ribbon cuttings. We’ll meet at 5240 Lankershim and then walk over to Magnolia and Blakeslee. Greg Laemmle, Midtown North Hollywood Neighborhood Council members, Los Angeles Police Department officers and others will be there. I hope you will too.Ivanka Trump came to the suburbs of Philadelphia Thursday to rally the party faithful at gatherings in Chester, Delaware, and Bucks counties."She is actually my favorite of the Trump children. I really admire her. She's a new mom, has a wonderful job. She juggles a lot in her life," Holly Falcon of West Chester, Pa. said.At the Desmond Hotel in Malvern, Ivanka Trump talked about her parents and her vision for her children and the country."I think that one of the most amazing things my parents did is they enabled us to unearth what made us most passionate and never pushed us in any one direction," Trump said.Over coffee and croissants, there was also conversation about what needs to happened to get Donald Trump elected."We have to stay together. We need unity, and I wish we had more unity in the Republican Party," Irene Lackman of Valley Forge, Pa. said.Then, Ivanka Trump moved on to another gathering Drexel Hill, Delaware County."I am excited about Donald Trump's policies. I really look at the business angle, and I think in this country, we have way too high taxes for the corporations and too much regulations," Leslie Morgan of Radnor Township said.As for new reports in the last 24 hours of women coming forward with allegations Donald Trump groped them, it is a non-issue for supporters we spoke with."It doesn't bother me at all. First of all, it happened 30 years ago - if it happened which he denies it and I believe him, it did not happen - they're going to have to prove that," Nancy Ricca of Broomall said.Ivanka Trump moved to another coffee and conversation event in Ivyland, Bucks County. She will then make a stop for a dinner in King of Prussia, Montgomery County.It was certainly a big push by the Trump campaign to rally supporters in the Philadelphia suburbs.Most pre-order incentives are, let’s face it, a bit rubbish. A skin here, a weapon there. GOG’s attempting to separate people from their cash with a slightly more seductive prospect, however. If you pre-order Absolver, Hello Neighbor, The Pillars of the Earth, or Sudden Strike 4, you’ll also get an extra game for free.
Speaking of free stuff, here are the best free PC games.
Grab multiplayer brawler Absolver and you’ll get Furi, an exception duelling game made up entirely of tricky boss battles; buy stealthy horror game Hello Neighbor and you’ll also receive Jazzpunk, an excellent comedy/adventure romp; and, finally, pick up The Pillars of the Earth, the interactive novel based on the best-selling book of the same name, and you can get fantastical adventure game The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav.
RTS Sudden Strike 4 has a similar deal, where you can get all of the previous games for free, though this is also available on Steam.
With the caveat that you shouldn’t really pre-order games, this is actually a pretty great promotion. Furi and Jazzpunk in particular are wonderful games that I wholeheartedly recommend even with their price tags still attached, while The Dark Eye is a serviceable adventure game with some clever puzzles. The Sudden Strike games, on the other hand, are pretty dated, though it’s not like we’re drowning in great RTS titles these days.
Each free game will be available to play straight away.I have a friend; we'll call him Rich. Rich is a fanatical bargain-hunter. Not for himself, though. I'm not sure where his own money goes, but as far as I can tell both Nabisco and DC Comics see a lot of it. No, he's only a bargain-hunter when it comes to me. Specifically, when it comes to me and products made by Apple, a company that he does not particularly love. Whenever I buy something with the Apple logo on it, he transforms into a penny-pincher of such ferocity as to make the guys from American Pickers look like the guys from Pimp My Ride.
For instance, back in late 2005, when I bought one of the first-generation iPod shuffles, he was outraged on my behalf that I'd spent $99 on an MP3 player without a screen.
"You could go to Best Buy right now and buy one with an actual screen for just $119," he said.
"Yeah, but that's twenty bucks more," I said.
Two days later he tells me he found an MP3 player at Fry's Electronics for just $89. It didn't have a screen either, but it was cheaper.
"See, you wasted ten bucks! Bet you feel pretty dumb now!"
After I took out my earbuds and he repeated himself, I said "Well, that only has 256 megabytes. This has 512."
Three days later he knocks on my door at 9 a.m., which is like 4 a.m. for him.
"Okay, I've got it! I found these Korean-made, unbranded mp3 players on eBay. They have 512 megabytes, and a screen, and they come with earbuds, …" he pauses for dramatic effect. "They play Ogg Vorbis files."
"Okay," I said.
"Ninety-eight dollars! Including shipping!" he shouted.
So I promised him that if I accidentally swallowed my iPod Shuffle, I'd save myself a buck and buy his brand. Or his no-brand, to be precise.
"Are you buying one?" I asked.
"Oh, no. I just spent a thousand bucks on a grey-market Xbox 360, so I'm a little short right now."
Anyhow, Rich is still at it, helping me save money after I've already spent it. Now, keep in mind, I'm a tech writer, so I have all sorts of stuff. I have an iPhone and an Android phone. I have an iPad and an Android tablet. I have a Mac Mini and a Windows laptop. I use my Apple devices more than the others, but I'm far from shut out of the non-Apple world. Nonetheless, Rich goes into new paroxysms every time I emerge from an Apple Store.
Recently he told me I could buy a Samsung phone, a Samsung tablet, and a nice restaurant meal for the price of the upcoming 128-GB iPad. When I pointed out the Android Tablet in question only has 16 GB and that I wasn't planning on buying the 128-GB iPad anyway, he sent me a drawing of a sheep with a red arrow pointing to it and the word "YOU!"
At any rate, he can sometimes be useful. For instance, I told him I was thinking of getting an iBook, and within 24 hours he had tracked down an incredible deal on a Windows laptop. I wasn't actually thinking of getting an iBook, I just knew I could get him to find an incredible deal on a Windows laptop for me.
Similarly, one day I idly mentioned the rumors about a possible upcoming Apple-branded television set and he found a very nice deal on a Panasonic TV for me. I didn't even want a new TV, but it was such a good deal I went ahead and gave my old one to my younger brother and bought the new one. It's nice, and my Apple TV looks really good on it.
I'm mostly happy with my iDevices, price differences and all. But I'm also happy to make use of Rich's devotion to basically anything not designed in Cupertino. I hope Apple comes out with a car so he'll find me a great deal on a Corolla.
In fact, there's an experiment I'd like to try. If you're single and looking for love, drop me a line. I'll give you Rich's number. I bet if you tell him you're dating someone who works at Apple, he won't stop searching until he finds the love of your life working at Google or Microsoft. Just remember to invite me to the wedding.
- - -
Born helpless, naked and unable to provide for himself, Lore Sjöberg overcame these handicaps to become dependent on his Twitter followers to help him come up with the names of reality shows.Yesterday, Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone chatted with bizarre far–right conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles about how the presumptive GOP presidential nominee will attack Hillary Clinton in the general election.
Stone accused Bill Clinton of sexually assaulting women and children, while Wiles cited a National Enquirer story to claim that Hillary has as many as four “lesbian lovers.”
While Stone didn’t comment on Wiles’ claim about Hillary Clinton, he said that both Clintons have had extramarital affairs as part of their “highly dysfunctional,” “sham” marriage.
Wiles, however, was curious as to whether Clinton could be blackmailed “by foreign powers” who know of her lesbian relationships.
“I’ve not seen the story so I don’t yet want to comment on it,” Stone replied. “But if that is the case it would be a legitimate question.”Throughout the holiday season our favorite brands, banks and stores encourage us to join them in donating to put food on the tables of hungry families. The trouble is that when we support these initiatives - and reward the companies who create them - we risk conceding that hunger is the problem rather than economic realities. Our enthusiastic giving to food causes can make us passively complicit when companies pay less than a living wage; when support programs provide less than a person with a disability or dire need can subsist on; when working parents can't afford to feed their children.
The majority of families facing food insecurity in the U.S. are working families. And SNAP (food stamps) has been drastically cut back and is not enough. More than half of recipients still need to avail themselves of local food banks each month. What have we done? Rather than giving families access to work that pays enough to live and eat we've created a fake currency system that has to be combined with money to buy groceries. We've also created an extensive (and expensive) network of pseudo grocery stores - food banks - that low-income families need to go to in addition to the grocery store. All just to feed their families.
We should not abruptly stop supporting food causes, but we have to consider what else we're implicitly supporting by making food happen in this roundabout (separate but not equal) way. The persistence of low-wage work, high-cost of living in poverty and the results of income inequality are just a few of the things we're excusing when we give to help feed a family without working to change our economic realities. We're supporting the status quo - an expensive one - and I, for one, am not comfortable with that.
So make your gift to your local food charity, then do something more. Refuse to accept that our current ways of giving help are good enough. Take a stand and demand that by next Christmas season America's hunger problem will be significantly decreased, not by food aid but by real economic shifts. It's hard to know where to start so here are a few things we can all do so that families can independently pay for all their groceries at the market and feed their families with dignity.
Encourage your state to counter the cuts in SNAP benefits through any means necessary. Food banks around the country are reporting that they can barely keep up with the need for food since those cuts went into effect.
Weigh in on the question of city, state and federal minimum wage, underemployment (employing more and more of the workforce part-time), living wage or even basic income guarantee.
Work to counter the high cost of being poor. Encourage your employer to provide paid sick time and paid leave and transportation support for even part-time and hourly workers. Encourage your city to actively support affordable housing. Make noise about public transportation availability at off hours and between low-income housing areas and low-wage employment areas in your community.Alan Dershowitz really went after Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby today for charging the six cops involved in the death of Freddie Gray, saying it was entirely based on politics and “crowd control.”
Dershowitz lamented that “this is a very sad day for justice” and told Steve Malzberg that Mosby acted out of a “desire to prevent riots.” It will be “virtually impossible,” he predicted, for the six officers involved to get a fair trial.
And as for murder charges, Dershowitz said there’s “no plausible, hypothetical, conceivable case for murder” and “this is a show trial.” He predicted that Mosby might get removed as prosecutor and Baltimore citizens may get upset if and/or when they “move to a place with a different demographic.”
He concluded that it’s “unlikely they’ll get any convictions in this case” and if they do they’ll likely “be reversed on appeal.”
Watch the video below, via Newsmax TV:
[image via screengrab]
— —
Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.comUpdate (2/9): The entire beacon fixture has been replaced. See this story for details.
The rotating spotlight on top of the 64-story Williams Tower in the Galleria area has been back on for a few weeks, following an autumnal hiatus. According to a representative of the tower’s property management office, the beam stayed dark during difficulties finding the correct kind of bulb for the fixture. A reader sent a report this week from a bedroom window overlooking the Galleria area:
***
“The top of the building has been enclosed in scaffolding for several months, and the light has been dark. It seems much brighter this time, and perhaps aimed a bit lower.”
Various tower-gazers noted the beacon getting back to work as early as Christmas.
Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Twinkle, Twinkle, Giant BulbLONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 11: Usain Bolt of Jamaica poses on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's 4 x 100m Relay on Day 15 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 11, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images) Usain Bolt. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
By Dan Bernstein-
CBSChicago.com Senior Columnist
(CBS) There’s nothing wrong with watching the Olympics – particularly track and field – with full awareness that most of the achievements being celebrated are not entirely human. In fact, that’s the only reasonable approach for anyone with even a passing interest in these events.
For many of us, years of drug-tainted performances have deadened the senses. Records fall, anthems play, shoes get sold, and then we get back to sports that matter more to us. For others, the athletes are not so much tainted as scientifically enhanced – the competition viewed now as a high-tech synergy of man and molecular engineering, in which the outcomes can still be celebrated for what they actually are, regardless of the laughable rhetoric that accompanies the games, insisting it’s something more pure.
There is another place where too many still exist, however, that is as intellectually dishonest as it is willfully ignorant, where convenient blind spots and emotionaI neediness cause otherwise intelligent people to create fairylands of childish naiveté.
It is indefensible ground. The province of suckers.
Even the simplest assessment of the circumstances surrounding the explosive success of Jamaican sprinting, for example, sets off alarms. There is enough information available that you’d think it would keep anyone from waxing romantic about Usain Bolt or his teammates.
“When people ask me about Bolt, I say he could be the greatest athlete of all time,” Carl Lewis told the Times of London. “But for someone to run 10.03 one year and 9.69 the next, if you don’t question that in a sport that has the reputation it has right now, you’re a fool. Period.”
Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, who just won the silver in the 100 and 200, tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug prior to the 2009 World Championships. Teammates Julian Dunkley and Steve Mullings have also been caught doping.
What are the odds that a tiny, island country suddenly dominates global competition…just because?
Bolt reportedly has been working with Angel Hernandez, too. Hernandez used to be called Angel Heredia, back when he was a chemist for BALCO and later “Source A,” who supplied the documents that helped convict Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, C.J. Hunter and Justin Gatlin. Gatlin just took bronze in the 100, behind Bolt and Blake.
Before the games in Beijing, Heredia told Germany’s Der Spiegel that, regarding the 100-meter final, “the winner will not be clean. Not even any of the contestants will be clean. There is no doubt about it, the difference between 10.0 and 9.7 seconds is the drugs.”
Usain Bolt went on to win that final with a time of 9.69.
Those still scrabbling for a foothold of belief in the imaginary will refer to the testing programs, citing that Bolt is among those who have no positives on record. This is, of course, ridiculous.
Jones always tested clean, as have others known to have cheated. Former World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound told Reuters yesterday that he’s particularly unhappy with the way Jamaican athletes have been tested.
“They are one of the groups that are hard to test, it is (hard) to get in and find them, and so forth,” he said. “We are starting to get better at smart testing, but there’s a long way to go, yet.”
Responding to BALCO owner Victor Conte’s assertion that 60 percent of London competitors were using PEDs, Pound admitted “He is probably more likely to know than we are. I hope it is not 60 percent, but it is certainly a lot more than we are catching.”
Independent minds covering the Olympics have a responsibility as healthy skeptics. Those working for corporate partners may not have the freedom to tell the truth to viewers, listeners or readers, but those who are not are indeed obligated to do so.
It is a shame that even now, after Ben Johnson, the East German program, Chinese swimmers and BALCO, that a preponderance of evidence fails to create a chorus of doubt. When coldly examining the dirty landscape of the Olympics and sprinting in particular, a clear mind can see overwhelming probability for what it is, and deal with it intelligently and honestly.
Anyone wasting words extolling the greatness of Usain Bolt should know better.
Dan Bernstein joined the station as a reporter/anchor in 1995, and has been the co-host of Boers and Bernstein since 1999. Read more of Bernstein’s columns, or follow him on Twitter: @dan_bernstein.
The Boers and Bernstein Show airs every weekday from 1PM to 6PM on The Score, 670AM (or you can listen online).
Listen to The Boers and Bernstein Show podcasts »LeBron James and the Miami Heat revolutionized basketball with how they utilized small-ball lineups en route to four straight NBA Finals appearances. Chris Bosh went from a post player with a nice mid-range game to one of the best stretch fours in the league, culminating in last season’s 218 taken three-pointers.
Other bigs have followed suite, adding a three-point shot to their arsenal, and offenses have exploded as a result. Of the 12 best offensive lineups last year (with a 300 minute minimum), 8 of them had a stretch four – Kevin Love, Terrence Jones (twice), Channing Frye, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Marvin Williams, and Josh McRoberts. Two more of those have guys who are developing into that mold – LaMarcus Aldridge and Kenneth Faried, if you take anything from his USA play and reports.
Having these bigs that can hang out beyond the three-point line and still be a threat is immensely beneficial to the rest of the players on the court. It’s easier for a point guard to penetrate when there are only two players in the lane as opposed to four. It also discourages help defense – you can’t cheat down on Anthony Davis in the post when a lethal Ryan Anderson is lurking on the perimeter ready to launch a three.
Because of the spacing, we know that stretch fours make life easier for the guards. They have so much more room to operate and also have an extra player they can kick out to after penetration. But how do stretch fours affect their fellow big man? Does playing on the perimeter make a center more or less efficient? Is it more pressure being the only player down on the block to rebound?
Thanks to nbawowy.com, we can look at a player’s efficiency and production when another player is either on or off the court. Here are the results for how some of the more well-known stretch fours affect the offense of their respective centers.
PPP = point per possession
PPS = point per shot
USG = percentage of team plays used by a player while on the floor
Big Man Duo PPP PPS FG% USG Al Jefferson without Josh McRoberts 1.09 1.05 49.7% 31.2% Al Jefferson with Josh McRoberts 1.13 1.07 51.4% 28.2% Nikola Pekovic without Kevin Love 1.09 1.10 51.1% 25.3% Nikola Pekovic with Kevin Love 1.19 1.18 54.7% 23.5% Anthony Davis without Ryan Anderson 1.17 1.14 50.6% 26.3% Anthony Davis with Ryan Anderson 1.24 1.28 61.7% 23.7% Samuel Dalembert without Dirk Nowitzki 1.03 1.15 53.6% 14.8% Samuel Dalembert with Dirk Nowitzki 1.10 1.20 56.9% 15.6% Brandan Wright without Dirk Nowitzki 1.31 1.36 64.5% 21.0% Brandan Wright with Dirk Nowitzki 1.42 1.43 71.2% 16.5%
The centers listed above were not terrible on their own, but the data shows that they become elite from an efficiency perspective when paired with a stretch four. Just look at Anthony Davis with Ryan Anderson, since I discussed it above. Davis is a great player regardless of his teammates, but when you put Anderson with him, he suddenly becomes one of the most dynamic offensive players in the league.
The term "stretch four" implies position, but as we move more and more to a position-less NBA, perhaps "stretch big" might be more appropriate. There aren't many players who we would deem a center that have the stretch capability, but the same offensive increase happens in the few cases. Take a look at how Tristan Thompson performed with and without Spencer Hawes, once Hawes was traded from Philadelphia to Cleveland last year.
Big Man Duo PPP PPS FG% USG Tristan Thompson without Spencer Hawes 1.02 1.03 46.8% 19.2% Tristan Thompson with Spencer Hawes 1.14 1.12 50.9% 15.9%
The effect is very real - big men are much more efficient when they are paired with a stretch big. And this is why every potential stretch big is being morphed into one. Kenneth Faried took 12 three-pointers total in his four years at Morehead State in college, but now is apparently on track to becoming a stretch four.
Rookie Julius Randle in Los Angeles was originally at the top of the draft boards coming out of college, mostly because of his ability to both play in the post and also step out and hit the three. When that didn't translate at Kentucky, he dropped to the seventh pick in the draft. If he had used that part of his game in college, he probably would've been in the top three.
The NBA is always trending. Advanced stats tell us that having two post players - unless they're elite and paired with elite guards (like Blake Griffin and Chris Paul) - isn't really the ideal way to build an efficient offense. We will continue to see big men learn to play like guards and guards play like big men.
That means players are becoming more identifiable by their skill set than their "position." And that's not a bad thing. When you know that Kevin Love is going to stretch a defense out to the perimeter with his shooting, that's a tangible offensive weapon you can build around. You can then fit all the pieces together. Find a guy who can run the pick and roll. Find a rim protector. Find another shooter.
Skill sets - not positions - are important. And if we're ranking the importance of skill sets, a long-range shooting big man is at the top of the list.[systemd-devel] [HEADSUP] New module ‘libc’ in systemd git
Heya, I just |
carry the show to a spot on this list.
#31 – Star Driver
Let it never be said that I don’t like dumb fun. That’s not to say that Star Driver is all dumb fun, but you‘d be forgiven for thinking so. As is typical of showrunner Yoji Enokido, Star Driver explores the intersection of adolescence and personal identity, sexual awakening, and just plain ol’ youthful exuberance. There’s definitely some meat on those bones, it‘s just deep-fried and slathered in BBQ sauce. Provided you can stand the Robot-of-the-Week format, it would be no difficult feat to just ignore the show’s thematic threads entirely in favor of the fabulous robot-on-robot action. Star Driver is lavishly animated, gorgeously colored, and sports an absolutely stellar soundtrack. Star Driver also boasts a fantastically vibrant cast of characters, lead by one of my favorite anime protagonists of all time. If Mamoru Miyano enthusiastically yelling “galactic pretty-boy!” doesn’t sound like reason enough to watch Star Driver, then I really have no idea what to tell you.
Advertisements(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, accompanied by Senators John Barrasso, John Thune, and Majority Whip John Cornyn, on April 25, 2017
To call Donald Trump and his administration corrupt and mendacious is to make the most obvious of statements. Too easy, really. Because if Trump and his boys have tread the path toward treason, so too has the entire Republican Party.
It was a busy Tuesday night. As the president’s son and capo bastone Donald Trump Jr. took to the airwaves to defend his meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the presidential campaign on the tantalizing possibility of gleaning opposition research on Hillary Clinton, word broke that the president and his team together crafted a false statement about the nature of that meeting, issued under Junior’s name and delivered to The New York Times. It was later revealed that the Rob Goldstone, the meeting’s broker, made clear in an email to Trump Jr., a prominent surrogate in the Trump campaign, that the oppo at hand was said to come from Russian intelligence services.
The statement-drafting session took place aboard Air Force One, on the president’s return trip from his meeting with world leaders at the G20 summit—one of those horror-comedy developments that have become all too familiar in the Age of Trump, this one evoking the title of the classic film, Snakes on a Plane. “Participants on the plane and back in the United States debated how transparent to be in the statement, according to people familiar with the discussions,” wrote Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman.
That done, the president took to Twitter to announce that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin would collaborate on a cybersecurity initiative—something he said he discussed with Putin during their extended visit on the sidelines of the global gathering. It was a bold move by a U.S. president who likely won his office thanks to the hacking prowess of Kremlin operatives—so audacious, in fact, that Trump had to walk back the proposition the same day.
As day broke on Wednesday, the Senate prepared for a hearing to confirm Trump’s appointment of Christopher Wray to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose former director the president famously canned because he pursued an inquiry into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russian operatives too vigorously. The day after his firing of James Comey, Trump gloated about it in an Oval Office meeting with the Russian ambassador and minister of foreign affairs, a meeting at which only Russian media were permitted.
IF MEMBERS OF THE MAJORITY party in the United States Congress possessed an ounce of allegiance to the country whose constitution they’ve sworn to protect and defend, there would be no hearing, at least not now, in the wake of the latest revelations. But the die was cast, one sees now in hindsight, the minute all those righteous Republicans decided not to oppose, in any meaningful way, the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Karoli Kuns reminded us on Twitter, nixed attempts by investigators in September to coax members of Congress to craft a bipartisan report that would alert the American people that the intelligence services of Putin had corrupted the U.S. presidential campaign with a hacking operation designed to damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. If any such report were to be issued, the patriot McConnell threatened to paint it as an attempt by then-President Barack Obama to tilt the election in Clinton’s favor.
In other words, McConnell knew that Putin, the head of state of a foreign adversary, was working to subvert the democratic process. And he was fine with that.
It appears that he still is. From Politico: “The investigation in the Senate's being handled by the Intelligence Committee, and I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of whatever happened,” McConnell told reporters.
Meanwhile, they have a new FBI director to confirm, presumably one the Russia-backed president expects to be more accommodating of misdeeds against the nation by members of his administration and campaign.
THE JUNIOR MESS is a tricky one for Vice President Mike Pence, who arrived at his present position through the persuasive powers of Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign manager who was later dumped from that role when the Times revealed his work on behalf of Ukraine’s kleptocratic, Kremlin-backed former president, Viktor Yanukovych. Together with the president’s son and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Manafort met in Trump Tower with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer close to the Kremlin who has served as a lobbyist for the lifting of U.S. sanctions on the Russian government. The meeting was framed by the intermediary who arranged it as an offer of opposition research on Hillary Clinton conducted by Russian intelligence operatives. It appears that what was requested in exchange was a lifting of the sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
In the statement that Trump and his White House team crafted for Trump Jr., the meeting was described as a discussion about clearing the way for adoptions from Russia, which Putin barred after the U.S. imposed its sanctions. In other words, the meeting was likely a temperature-taker on the willingness of the Trump team to lift those sanctions were Trump to win the presidency.
Sanctions, you’ll recall, was also the topic that got former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in hot water when it was revealed that he had discussed the topic with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period between administrations.
Revelations of discussions about sanctions with Kislyak also led to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s ostensible recusal of himself from matters relating to Russian intervention in the election. (I say “ostensible,” because Sessions signed a memo urging the president to fire Comey, the former FBI director.)
The administration’s concerns over sanctions continued, days before news broke of Trump Jr.’s curious Trump Tower meeting, as evidenced by a visit to Capitol Hill, reported by CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Deirdre Walsh, by members of the Treasury and State Departments to express concerns over a bill before the Senate that would impose new sanctions on Russia, which the administration wants to reserve the right to loosen.
All that talk about sanctions is likely on the mind of the vice president, who is said to have annoyed his boss by distancing himself from Junior’s hijinks, issuing a statement saying it happened before he was on the ticket. In other words, before Manafort laid the gun and knife on the table before him, pricked his finger, and said, “We are all Family now.”
But it was Pence who led the Trump transition team when concerns were raised about the appointment of Flynn to the role of national security adviser. In November, Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland alerted Pence to problematic business dealings by Flynn with entities linked to the government of Turkey’s authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and knew that Flynn had traveled to Moscow in 2015 to celebrate the state-sponsored Russian cable network, RT, where he was seated next to Putin. Whether Pence knew of Flynn’s phone calls with Kislyak regarding those dang sanctions remains a mystery. Both men said Flynn failed to tell Pence that little detail before the vice president went on TV to deny that Trump campaign and transition-team figures had ever met with representatives of Russia. Once both Pence and Flynn agreed to that storyline, Flynn was fired, having served less than a month in the national security post.
During the early days of the administration, Pence was reported to be in frequent touch with Manafort, his champion, the man who managed to elbow out New Jersey Governor Chris Christie from consideration as Trump’s running-mate in favor of Pence. Now, with Pence and Manafort both lawyered up as the Russia investigation proceeds in the hands of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, Pence is likely cut off from his sponsor.
But the life of a made man isn’t an easy one. Omerta, that code of silence, is a tough one to keep when one has ambitions of one’s own. The limits of Pence’s loyalties will be tested—but likely not by his former Republican colleagues in Congress, who have shown little interest in protecting the republic from the racket now run out of the White House, which operates on a model crafted by the dons of organized crime. For the Republican majority, power trumps truth, and they’re all part of the racket.Each spring, the start of the major league baseball season brings a fresh slate for teams and their fans, from the Green Monster in Boston to Dodger Dogs in Los Angeles. But as summer fades into the shorter days of autumn, the memories of a season past extend beyond the field, reaching into the slanted seats of the upper deck, onto the crowded sidewalks in front of a ballpark.
Photographer Ray Whitehouse, a graduate student at North Carolina, traveled approximately 18,000 miles over 85 days to visit the 30 major league ballparks to try to capture the game-day experience in each of these cities. The opportunity to watch each team on its home field, in front of its home crowd, kept Whitehouse on the road at one stretch for 43 days as he visited 21 stadiums. At each park, he purchased the cheapest available ticket. Armed with two cameras, he set out on a simple mission: to compile a portrait of America through a pastime that has so strongly influenced its identity.MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Truthfully, Michael Nylander is a better teammate than a coach. But according to his son, it’s mostly for selfish reasons.
[np_storybar title=”William Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen may not be ready yet, but Maple Leafs already like look of youngsters” link=”http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/nhl/william-nylander-and-kasperi-kapanen-may-not-be-ready-yet-but-toronto-maple-leafs-already-like-look-of-youngsters”%5D
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Kasperi Kapanen has enjoyed watching the recent Blue Jays playoff push. William Nylander was sporting a Toronto Raptors baseball cap earlier in the week at the team’s practice facility in Toronto’s west end.
Aside from their apparent appreciation for the Toronto sporting scene, the two 19-year-old forwards also share other similarities. Both have European parents but spent portions of their childhoods in North America while their fathers played in the NHL: the Finnish-born Kapanen in Philadelphia, while his father, Sami, played for the Flyers; Nylander was born in Calgary and moved around the United States while his father, Michael, spent stints with several NHL clubs before relocating back to Sweden.
Their other similarity, of course, is that both are expected to be a part of the future of the Maple Leafs franchise. How soon they will be adorned in full Maple Leafs attire during the regular season remains to be seen.
Read more…
[/np_storybar]
“On the ice, he likes to pass the puck,” Alex Nylander said of his father. “So I always got the puck if I got to play with him.”
And as a coach?
Alex Nylander, who had just finished an hour-and-a-half practice with the Mississauga Steelheads that featured some old-fashioned sprints and energy-sapping battle drills, smiled. A moment ago, Michael Nylander was in earshot.
“I guess he’s very good at both.”
That Alex Nylander is in a position to even compare the two roles is quite remarkable. After all, Alex was only 11 years old when his father left the NHL after playing 920 games for seven different teams. And yet, one year after oldest son William played with his dad in Sweden, the 43-year-old Michael Nylander suited up for one game with his youngest son last season.
“It was a fluke,” said Michael, who is now an assistant coach with the OHL’s Steelheads. “I happened to be in Sweden and the team I played for wanted to bring him up from junior because he was playing really well. It’s not so common and it’s not that easy, because we’re lots of years apart.
“That he got good at the same age where I can still play, it’s nothing that I ever thought that would happen.”
Michael Nylander is sitting outside the coach’s office at the Hershey Centre. It’s funny how things turn out, he said. When he left the NHL in 2009, he never once imagined he would become Sweden’s Gordie Howe and play parts of two more seasons with his two sons. And he certainly never thought that once his playing career was done that he would move to Mississauga, a town he previously could not find on a map, and begin coaching in the Ontario Hockey League.
But some things happen for a reason.
In April, Michael Nylander underwent surgery for a nagging injury that had reduced him to a player-coach position last season. He had hoped he would be back playing one more year in Sweden this season. But that shoulder is still not feeling right. And when the Mississauga Steelheads selected Alex in the import draft, an opportunity surfaced for both father and son.
“I’d never seen OHL games live, but Alex started thinking about it and he decided he wanted to try this,” said Michael Nylander. “And then all of a sudden, I got asked to help out and be an assistant coach. I think in the OHL, it’s run closer in some ways to the NHL. That’s a really good advantage.”
There are other advantages to being in Mississauga. William Nylander, whom the Maple Leafs selected with the eighth-overall pick in 2014, is playing in the minors in Toronto. The two brothers are back living together with their dad, while their mom and four sisters work out the logistics of moving over from Sweden.
“Of course, it’s lots of fun,” said William Nylander, who has five points in four games with the Marlies and has been to a couple of Steelheads games. “It’s always nice to get home-cooked meals from my father and see my brother every day.”
The two brothers are hoping to stay even closer this winter at the world junior championships in Finland. William, who was a star player for Sweden at last year’s tournament, already has a roster spot secured. But it will be more difficult for the younger Alex to sneak his way onto a team that generally sticks to 19-year-olds, although with eight goals and 16 points in 11 games — most amongst rookies and tied for third in OHL scoring — he could prove to be an exception.
“It’s a goal for the brothers to play together,” said Michael. “I have a brother who I had a chance to play with. It’s great if it happens. But to play in the world juniors, Alex has to be a really good player here, because they have lots of good players in Sweden.”
“He’s really good,” NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said of Alex Nylander, who is a potential top-10 pick in next year’s NHL Entry Draft. “I see similar mannerisms (between Alex and William). He’s an NHL skater already right now and he can play make decisions and make plays at top-end speed.”
So who would get the puck if the brothers were playing on the same line together?
“I would say he would pass to me,” said Alex, who jokes that he’s a centimetre taller and a lot stronger than his older brother. “But it’s difficult, because we both like to pass and we both like to shoot. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Just playing on a line with him would be a dream for me.”Paul camp responds to Cain story -- by hitting him on TARP
Ron Paul's presidential campaign is the first to respond to POLITICO's story this evening detailing accusations of inappropriate behavior made against Herman Cain when he headed the National Restaurant Association.
Paul campaign chairman Jesse Benton criticized Cain in an email for being soft on the Fed and supporting the 2008 bank bailouts — but didn't comment directly on the allegations against Cain.
Story Continued Below
"We plan to beat Herman Cain on the issues, like his support for TARP and his cozy relationship with the Federal Reserve, not by assaulting his character," Benton told POLITICO.
Each of Cain's rivals has to decide whether to go after him for the allegations of personal misconduct, or to let the story take its toll without any help from them. Paul is apparently choosing Door No. 2.Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her campaign have tried to deflect from the damning inside information revealed about them in the WikiLeaks email releases by claiming that GOP nominee Donald Trump is connected to the Kremlin. But in a recently released email from the account of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, it was proven that, once again, it’s Clinton and her cronies who have Kremlin connections.
Breitbart reported:
An email uncovered in the Wikileaks hacks reveals that Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s “75,000 common shares” — obtained from his membership on the executive board of an energy company, Joule Unlimited, which received millions from a Putin-connected Russian government fund — were transferred to his daughter, Megan Rouse. “Full transfer request, with Megan’s signature attached,” Podesta’s assistant Eryn Sepp wrote to him.
A January 3, 2014 letter revealed that Podesta designated his daughter’s Dublin, California residence as the address for Leonidio Holdings LLC, the Delaware-based holding company that Podesta used to transfer his shares in Russian-related Joule Global Holdings.
Podesta’s membership on the board of directors of Joule Unlimited was first revealed in research from Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large and Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President Peter Schweizer.
The GAI report, tilted, “From Russia with Money: Hillary Clinton, the Russian Reset, and Cronyism,” reported that Podesta joined the Joule Unlimited board in June 2011.
“Two months after Podesta joined the board, Vladimir Putin’s Rusnano announced that it would invest up to one billion rubles into Joule Unlimited, which amounts to $35 million. That represents one-fifth of the entire amount of investment dollars Joule collected from 2007 to 2013,” the GAI report concludes.
Financial documents have Rouse listed as a “managing member” of Leonidio Holdings LLC.
“It is my understanding that John transferred the resulting 75,000 common shares from the option exercise to the Leonidio LLC.,” Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Joule Unlimited Technologies, Inc., Mark Solakian, wrote in a January 2014 email. “As such, we would need to edit the Transfer of Share Agreement to reflect the transfer of 75,000 common shares to the LLC.”
Podesta didn’t disclose his position on the board of directors for Joule Unlimited when he took on the role of President Obama’s senior adviser in 2014 — nor did he include it in his financial disclosures despite being required to do so by law.
These dirty dealings didn’t go unnoticed by the Trump campaign. Senior Communications Advisor Jason Miller released a statement about Podesta’s Russian connection and potential illegal activity:
“The disclosure that Clinton Chair John Podesta transferred his shares in Putin-backed Joule Unlimited to an anonymous holding company when he joined the Obama Administration is extremely concerning. “Because the holding company is completely anonymous, we do not know whether or not he still has deep financial ties to Vladimir Putin and his regime,” Miller’s statement read. “As such, Mr. Podesta needs to either reveal who is behind the holding company or he must resign from the Clinton campaign immediately.”
Well, well, well — once again we find that if anyone is connected to the Kremlin and Russia, it’s Clinton and her cronies. The Clinton campaign has tried to create connections between Trump and Russia where there are none to deflect from their own dirty dealings.
The State Department, under the leadership of Hillary Clinton, approved a deal that ceded 20 percent of our uranium control to the Russians — a deal that has massive national security implications.
Hopefully enough voters will look at the evidence and not the blatant deflection tactics and lies spread by the Clinton campaign.
Like Us On Facebook – USA Liberty News
Source: thefederalistpapers.orgLONDON — Police in London are stepping up patrols at transport hubs after a stabbing at an Underground station in which a man brandishing a knife reportedly said, “This is for Syria.”
Police say 29-year-old Muhaydin Mire, 29, will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday accused of attempted murder. Police increased patrols to “identify and deter terrorism” after the incident Saturday in east London.
The Prime Minister repeated the phrase “You ain’t no Muslim Bruv” and praised the person who said it #Leytonstone —
Lewis Vaughan Jones (@LVaughanJones) December 07, 2015
British media distributed video shot by witnesses in which a bystander can be heard shouting at the suspect: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv.” The phrase, using slang for “brother,” was quickly picked up by Twitter users, who turned it into a trending hashtag.
The incident comes just days after Parliament approved British airstrikes on Islamic State group targets in Syria.
The crazed 29-year-old beat one man unconscious before hacking at his neck in what witnesses feared was an attempt to behead him.
In five terrifying minutes at Leytonstone Tube station in east London, he then attacked a second man in the neck and threatened other passengers, screaming “this is for Syria” and “your blood will be spilled”.
The man was subdued after uniformed officers, who were first on the scene, deployed Tasers and disarmed him.
A former Scotland Yard commander said it was “alarming” that armed police had not been present.
Scotland Yard confirmed the attack was dealt with by local officers, but refused to say whether armed response units had even been dispatched. Just last week, Scotland Yard revealed how it had reviewed training of its armed officers in the wake of the Paris attacks and that it had doubled the number of armed officers on patrol at any one time.
Designed to tackle gun attacks, officers have been told to ignore injured victims and “go forward” to confront the armed terrorist first.
Asked whether he was surprised that an armed patrol did not respond, John O’Connor, the former head of the Flying Squad, said: “Not if they were not available. It certainly would have been an additional security measure. I would not be surprised when you consider the number of or lack of number of armed personnel. It is alarming. We still rely on the first people on the scene having to deal with a situation, whoever they are, whether a uniform officer or firearms officer.”
Police were called at 7:06 p.m. on Saturday to reports of a number of people stabbed at the station and uniformed officers arrived five minutes later. The man was detained by 7:14 p.m.
It is believed the man was acting alone and officers were examining whether he had mental health issues.
The most seriously injured victim, a 56-year-old man, was in a stable condition in hospital Sunday night and his injuries were not believed to be life threatening. The second victim, David Pethers, told how he confronted the attacker despite being hurt because he would rather he was stabbed than children who were in the station.
With files from The Daily TelegraphI really almost hate writing think pieces because I always feel like an idiot when I do. However, sometimes a thought brews in my brain and I have to “write it out” to see where it goes. This post is a result of that.
—
Recently I’ve been reading a rather shocking number of books that focus on, or toy with, the idea of what makes us human. How do we interact with each other? How do our ideas and inventions affect us both short term and long term? I love books like that because they make me think, but it seems like I’ve read more books in that arena this year than I have any other year.
Speculative fiction is a fertile playground for toying with progressive, and introspective ideas. There are a lot of reasons for this, but when your imagination is the limit, it is hard to keep your feet on the ground. What other literary genre can be filled with elves, aliens, cryogenically frozen people, and all of the moral, legal, and political issues all of those races and situations thrust upon societies? None. That’s pure speculative fiction, baby, and that’s why I love it so much. Speculative fiction takes us out of what we know, and puts us into worlds and situations that are completely foreign. As readers, it is our job to sink or swim, to navigate the treacherous waters of uncomfortable moral questions, and figure out what is right and wrong on our own terms.
Applying all of that to the world we live in, now that’s the real challenge.
An interesting paradigm shift is happening right now. Our technology is catching up to our imaginations. Science fiction isn’t so far in the future anymore. Afterparty, by Daryl Gregory, a social science fiction book, takes place in the near future. Love Minus Eighty, one of the best science fiction books in the history of the universe (IMO, of course) takes place in a more distant future, but much of the technology directly reflects on the technology we know and use today, like Facebook and Youtube. These ideas, these things that fill our days, aren’t so strange anymore. We don’t have to imagine it, because it is all around us. Interstellar travel? No, we haven’t sent men to Mars yet, but notice, there is a ‘yet’ in that sentence. It’s not too far away. We have satellites that have gone further than any man-made object has ever gone. We are finding Earth-like planets almost daily. A mission to Mars is just a matter of time.
This is making an impact on science fiction. We’ve put men on the moon, and can talk to people across the world from us in a matter of seconds. People meet, date, and fall in love virtually. We can watch countries getting blown to bits live. Technology isn’t just developed, it is being developed and we are living in an age when the far future and all the possibilities it contains isn’t too far away anymore. Speculative fiction is reflecting that. Technology is part of us, and it is opening up a whole can of worms, worms that are wiggling their ways onto books by the hundreds.
Are cyborgs human? Read Cinder by Marissa Meyer to really get an insiders look into that topic. It’s not such a weird issue anymore, especially when you consider all the people (myself included) who have non-human parts in their bodies to keep them functioning at a normal level.
Want to explore the morality of cryogenics and social media? Check out Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh. When you consider the voluntary erosion of our privacy from social media outlets and the study into the science behind death, Love Minus Eighty is a very poignant and timely novel.
Space exploration is changing. NASA has lost a bit of funding over the years. Interested in reading more about how privatization of the space industry could affect it? Read Mars, Inc. by Ben Bova.
Curious about our pharmaceutical industry, technology, and easy access? Afterparty by Daryl Gregory will rock you to your core.
Want to read about global issues like rising oceans, a hotter earth, mass human migration, and the ability to bring soldiers back to life – and all the moral issues that are contained there? When We Wake by Karen Healey.
The list could go on and on. And those are just books that I’ve read this year, and not even all of them that I could list. Not even a fraction. More and more science fiction authors are wandering into social SciFi territory. It is a fascinating playground and I am loving every second of it. Our world is evolving. Never before has technology and society been so absolutely intermixed, and near-future scifi books are reflecting that. People are looked up on Facebook before they are called for job interviews. We post pictures of our dinner online. Our world is just as tactile as it is virtual, and science fiction seems to be truly exploring where those two realities converge.
Science fiction has an incredible ability to make us dream, to wonder what if, to look into a future that doesn’t exist and make us see just how we could (or shouldn’t) bring it about. It is a genre that is rooted in the present, and expands it into a future that may or may not be glorious. The marriage of our society and all its positives and negatives, with technology, is irreversible, but it is ripe fodder for science fiction authors to play with. SciFi authors can get their readers to look at their intricate relationship with the world around them and just how technology and relationships, choices and decisions, affect it. Not just in a future far, far away, but tomorrow as well. SciFi seems to be a perfect genre for exploring the human condition, and I am deeply grateful to the authors who are making us all look at our relationships with each other, and with the societies and world we inhabit.
I am so glad social SciFi is becoming a bigger trend. I hope it lasts.The National Party has climbed in the latest 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll to be nearly 10 points ahead of the centre-left bloc of Labour and the Greens.
The poll puts National in a strong position ahead of September's election, thanks to a big-spending Budget that looks to have gone down well with voters.
National is up three points to 49 per cent, its highest polling in around six months.
Labour on the other hand is where it was in the last poll at 30 per cent, while its coalition partner, the Greens, slipped back two points to nine and are now level with New Zealand First which is up one to nine per cent.
As for the minor parties, the big mover is Gareth Morgan's The Opportunities Party, registering at one per cent.
The Maori Party has taken a big hit, slipping three points to one per cent.
ACT, meanwhile, stays on one per cent.
When it comes to seats in Parliament, based on the poll result, National would have 59 and could command a majority of 61 seats with just two of its three existing support partners - the Maori Party, ACT and United Future having one seat each.
As for the centre left bloc, it could muster 49 seats with Labour's 37 and the Greens' 11.
But even adding in New Zealand First's 11, they are short of a majority, at 59 seats.
In the preferred prime minister stakes, Bill English has regained three points this poll to be up at 29 per cent.
Labour leader Andrew Little is also up one to eight per cent, overtaking New Zealand First leader Winston Peters who has slipped two to seven per cent, just one point ahead of Labour's deputy leader, Jacinda Ardern, on six per cent.Jose Mourinho expects Zlatan Ibrahimovic to be fit for Manchester United's keenly anticipated Premier League showdown with Liverpool.
Ibrahimovic sat out Tuesday's first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final against Hull City at Old Trafford, where second-half goals from Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini secured a 2-0 win for United.
Veteran striker Ibrahimovic, who has 18 goals in 28 games across all competitions this season, was laid low through illness, although Mourinho does not foresee this being an issue when he attempts to take a chunk out of the five-point gap between Jurgen Klopp's second-place side and his own men in sixth on Sunday.
"Zlatan is ill, so no problem I think he will be fine," Mourinho told a post-match news conference, before explaining defender Marcos Rojo is a doubt for the weekend due to a muscular problem.
In Ibrahimovic's absence, it was left to another imposing penalty box presence to seal victory over a heavily depleted Hull.
Fellaini has rarely been anything approaching a fans' favourite at Old Trafford - a status Ibrahimovic claimed almost instantly after joining from Paris Saint-Germain last year - and the Belgium international's standing took another hit when he gave away a penalty to hand Everton a 1-1 draw against United at the start of December.
After he rose to nod Matteo Darmian's cross past Eldin Jakupovic in the Hull goal, Fellaini raced towards the dugout to embrace his manager, who in turn praised his mental strength.
Asked whether he had helped Fellaini over recent weeks, Mourinho said: "Yes, but that's the reason I am here. He is very strong in mentality and he coped well in the situation.
"He was not afraid the next match after Everton to come to the game again.
"He was phenomenal against Reading [last Saturday's 4-0 FA Cup win]. He knows that he is a very important player for me."As the Affordable Care Act debate has dragged on over the years, Republican critics have sometimes questioned a basic principle of insurance ― the idea that people will pay into the system when they are not using it, so it’s there for them when they are.
It happened again on Wednesday, while the House Energy and Commerce Committee was debating repeal and “replace” legislation, when Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) incredulously wondered why the cost of prenatal care for pregnant women should be included in the health insurance premiums paid by men.
Leaving aside the fact that those pregnancies didn’t occur spontaneously in the absence of males, the problem with this argument is that there are countless medical needs an insurance policyholder will never have, but for which they pay premiums. Not everyone gets high blood pressure, but everyone in the insurance pool chips in for those who do. And, of course, women pay into an insurance system that covers prostate cancer, even though they don’t even have prostates.
On Thursday, during a wonky press conference, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was making his own argument about insurance when he described what he called the Affordable Care Act’s “fatal conceit.” The 2010 health care law, Ryan explained, expects that “young and healthy people are going to go into the market, and pay for older sicker people, so the young healthy person is going to be made to buy health care, and they’re going to pay for person who gets breast cancer in her 40s, or gets heart disease in his 50s.”
Next, Ryan pointed to a pie chart, showing the distribution of insurance buyers. The big piece of the pie, representing people in relatively good health, was in blue. The little piece, for those in poor health, was in red.
“The whole idea of Obamacare is that the people in the blue side pay for the people in the red side,” Ryan said. “The people who are healthy pay for the people who are sick. It’s not working. And that’s why it’s in a death spiral.”
From there, Ryan went on to explain how the Republican repeal bill would stop the skyrocketing premiums and collapsing markets, so that Americans can enjoy “universal access” to medical care.
The supposed fatal conceit of the Affordable Care Act is actually a conceit of every successful universal health care system in the world. Everybody pays in, and everybody benefits, because the young eventually get old and the healthy inevitably become sick. Here in the U.S., company insurance plans have long operated by the same basic principle, which is why the employee contribution for a 25-year-old stock clerk at Target is the same as for a 55-year-old cashier.
The problem in American health care has always been taking care of the people who can’t get coverage from an employer, because they don’t work for a big company. While Ryan’s comments provoked mockery on social media, there was an element of truth to what he said.
Selling to individuals in a way that attracts both the healthy and unhealthy really is tricky, because without some easy mechanism for joining (like having an human resources manager sign you up) or some added financial enticement (like the existing tax break for employer coverage), the healthy ones are less likely to buy.
Before the Affordable Care Act came along, insurers didn’t even try. Instead, they simply wouldn’t sell coverage to people who had records of medical problems, and they would avoid covering some conditions likely to incur big costs or attract high risks. This worked out just fine for the insurance companies. It worked out not well at all for the people with pre-existing conditions ― who, by definition, were the ones who needed insurance most of all.
The Affordable Care Act put a stop to all of that. It guaranteed coverage of pre-existing conditions and required that all plans have comprehensive benefits. To make this viable for insurers, it sought to lure healthy people through a combination of tax credits (which make getting coverage less expensive) and tax penalties (which make not getting coverage more expensive).
Although critics like Ryan never admit it, the arrangement has generally worked well in Massachusetts, the state that pioneered this approach, and in places like California and Michigan ― where insurers are figuring out how to compete in the new market and consumers are finding coverage that’s priced comparably, or even cheaper, than similar employer policies.
In states like Arizona, North Carolina and Tennessee, it’s a different story. Insurers in those places ran up huge losses, because they attracted fewer young and healthy people. In response, they’ve jacked up premiums, and some have abandoned markets altogether. GOP policy decisions, like blocking Medicaid expansion in some states, made the problem worse. But they weren’t the only factor.
As experts keep pointing out, the law’s subsidies basically make a true “death spiral” in these states impossible, since they insulate lower-income consumers from price hikes. But people who don’t get assistance take a big hit, and fleeing insurers have already left many counties with just one company. (At least for the moment, a few counties in Tennessee actually have none lined up for next year.)
The severity and prevalence of the problems depend on who you ask, but among nonpartisan experts, the dominant view ― maybe even the consensus ― is that shoring up the system’s weaknesses wouldn’t be difficult.
Getting more young and healthy people into the system is mostly a matter of making insurance just a little more financially attractive for them.
That can be done through any number of ways ― by padding out the existing subsidies, for example, or creating “reinsurance” funds to help carriers with their most expensive consumers. Such adjustments are altogether typical for large programs in their infancy. And finding the money for them wouldn’t be as challenging as usual, given that the Affordable Care Act has actually come in under budget.
The House Republican bill, of which Ryan is the chief architect, actually includes a few of these elements. And |
seemed to be the obvious and indubitable product of a struggle between abstract ideas. It goes without saying that, generally speaking, Labriola perfectly realises what kind of actual relations are concealed behind such a conflict of concepts. But when he comes to particulars, he lays down his materialist weapons in the face of the difficulties of the problem and considers it possible, as we have seen, to confine oneself to adducing ignorance or the power of tradition as an explanation. What is more, he speaks of “symbolism” as the final cause of many customs.
It is true that symbolism has been a factor of no little importance in the history of certain ideologies. But as the final cause of customs it will not do at all. Let us take an example like the following. Among the Ishavs of the Caucasus it is the custom for a woman to cut off her braid of hair on the death of a brother, but not on the death of her husband. This is a symbolical act; it is a substitution for the older custom of self-immolation on the grave of the dead man. But why does the woman perform this symbolical act on the grave of a brother and not on the grave of her husband? Mr. Kovalevsky says that this feature “can only be regarded as a survival from those remote times when the chief of the clan – which was united by its real or imaginary descent from a woman, the foremother of the clan – was the oldest descendant on the mother’s side, the nearest cognate.” It therefore follows that symbolical acts are comprehensible only when we understand the meaning and origin of the relations they symbolise. How do these relations arise? The answer to this question must not be sought, of course, in symbolical acts, although they may sometimes furnish useful clues. The origin of the symbolical custom by which a woman cuts off her braid on the grave of a brother is to be explained by the history of the family; and the explanation of the history of the family is to be sought in the history of economic development.
In the case with which we are concerned – when the woman cuts off her braid on the grave of a brother – this rite has survived the form of kinship to which it owed its origin. There you have an example of that influence of tradition of which Labriola speaks. But tradition can only preserve what already exists. It not only fails to explain the origin of the given rite or of the given form in general, but even fails to explain its preservation. Force of tradition is a force of inertia. When examining the history of ideologies we are often constrained to ask ourselves why a particular rite or custom should have survived when not only the relations to which it owed its origin, but other cognate customs or rites which originated in the same relations, disappeared. That is equivalent to asking why the destructive effect of the new relations spared just this particular rite or custom while eliminating others. To answer this question by talking about the force of tradition is nothing more than reiterating the question in an affirmative form. How are we to get out of the difficulty? By turning to social psychology.
Old customs begin to disappear and old rites to break down when men enter into new reciprocal relations. The conflict of social interests finds expression in a conflict between the new customs and rites and the old. No symbolical rite or custom, taken by itself, can influence the development of the new relations either positively or negatively. If the conservatives passionately uphold the old customs, it is because in their minds the idea of an advantageous, precious and customary social system is firmly associated with the idea of these customs. If the innovators detest and scoff at these customs, it is because in their minds the idea of these customs is associated with the idea of restrictive, disadvantageous and objectionable social relations. Consequently, the whole point lies in an association of ideas. When we find that a particular rite has survived not only the relations which gave rise to it, but also cognate rites that arose from these same relations, we have to conclude that in the minds of the innovators it was not so strongly associated with the idea of the old, detested order as other customs were. Why so? To answer this question is sometimes easy, but at others it is quite impossible for lack of the necessary psychological data. But even when we are constrained to admit that the question is unanswerable – at least, in the existing state of our knowledge – we must nevertheless remember that the point does not lie in the force of tradition, but in definite associations of ideas produced by definite actual relations of men in society.
The history of ideologies is to a large extent to be explained by the rise, modification and breakdown of associations of ideas under the influence of the rise, modification and breakdown of definite combinations of social forces. Labriola has not given this side of the question all the attention it deserves. This is clearly shown in his view of philosophy.
XI
According to Labriola, in its historical development, philosophy partly merges with theology and partly represents the development of human thought in relation to the objects which come within the field of our experience. In so far as it is distinct from theology, it is occupied with the same problems as scientific investigation, in the proper sense of the term. In doing so, it either strives to anticipate science, by offering its own conjectural solutions, or simply summarises and submits to further logical elaboration the solutions already found by science. That, of course, is true. But it is not the whole truth. Take modern philosophy. Descartes and Bacon held that it was one of the most important functions of philosophy to multiply our scientific knowledge in order to increase man’s power over nature. We accordingly find that in their time philosophy was occupied with the same problems as formed the theme of the natural silences. It might, therefore, be thought that the solutions it furnished were determined by the state of natural science. But that is not quite the case. Descartes’ attitude to certain philosophical questions, as, for example, the question of the soul, cannot be explained by the state of the natural sciences in those days; but this attitude can be well explained by the social state of France at the time.
Descartes made a strict distinction between the sphere of faith and the sphere of reason. His philosophy did not contradict Catholicism; on the contrary, it endeavoured to confirm some of its dogmas by new arguments. In this respect it was a good reflection of the sentiments of Frenchmen at that period. After the prolonged and sanguinary conflicts of the sixteenth century, a universal desire for peace and order arose in France. In the realm of politics, this desire was expressed in a sympathy for the absolute monarchy; in the realm of thought, it was expressed in a certain religious tolerance and an anxiety to avoid all controversial questions that might recall the recent civil war. These were religious questions. So that they might be avoided, a line of demarcation had to be drawn between the realm of faith and the realm of reason. That, as we have said, was what Descartes did. But this demarcation was not enough. social peace demanded that philosophy solemnly admit the truth of religious dogma. And through Descartes this, too, was done. That is why the system of this thinker, although at least three-quarters materialistic, was sympathetically greeted by many ecclesiastics.
A logical sequel to the philosophy of Descartes was the materialism of La Mettrie. But idealistic conclusions might have been drawn from it just as readily. And if the French did not do so, there was a very definite social reason for it, namely the hostility of the third estate to the clergy of eighteenth-century France. Whereas the philosophy of Descartes sprang from a desire for social peace, the materialism of the eighteenth century was the herald of new social upheavals.
It will be seen from this alone that the development of philosophical thought in France is to be explained not only by the development of natural science, but also by the direct influence of developing social relations. This is revealed even more clearly when the history of French philosophy is carefully examined from another angle.
Descartes, as we already know, held that the chief purpose of philosophy was to increase man’s power over nature. The French materialists of the eighteenth century held that their prime duty was to replace certain old concepts by new ones, on which normal social relations might be erected. The French materialists made practically no mention of increasing the social forces of production. That is a highly important difference. What was it due to?
The development of productive forces in France in the eighteenth century was being severely hampered by the antiquated social relations of production, by archaic social institutions. The abolition of these institutions was absolutely essential for the further development of the productive forces. And it was in their abolition that the whole meaning of the social movement in France of that period lay. In philosophy, the necessity for this abolition found expression in a struggle against antiquated abstract concepts which had sprung from the antiquated relations of production.
In the time of Descartes these relations were still by no means antiquated; like the social institutions which had sprung from them, they were not hindering but facilitating the development of productive forces. Hence it never occurred to anybody to abolish them. That is why philosophy set itself the direct task of increasing productive forces, this being the prime practical task of the nascent bourgeois society.
We say this in objection to Labriola. But it may be that our objection is superfluous, that he merely expressed himself inaccurately, while at bottom being in agreement with us. We should be very glad if it were so; it is pleasant to have intelligent people agree with you.
And if he did not agree with us, we would regretfully repeat that this intelligent man is mistaken. In doing so we might be furnishing our subjectivist old gentlemen with an excuse for one more jibe to the effect that it is difficult to distinguish the “authentic” adherents of the materialist conception of history from the “unauthentic.” But our reply to the subjectivist old gentlemen would be: “they are jeering at themselves.” Anybody who has properly grasped the meaning of a philosophical system can easily distinguish its true adherents from the false. If our friends the subjectivists had taken the trouble to ponder over the materialist explanation of history, they would have known themselves who are the authentic “disciples,” and who are the impostors that take the great name in vain. But since they have not taken that trouble and never will, they must of necessity remain in perplexity. That is the common fate of all who fall behind and drop out of the marching army of progress.
Incidentally, a word about progress. Do you recall, dear reader, the days when the “metaphysicians” were abused, when the textbooks of philosophy were “Lewes” and partly Mr. Spasovich’s “manual of criminal law,” and when, for the benefit of “progressive” readers, special “formulas” were invented, so simple that even a child of tender age might understand them? What glorious days those were! But they are gone, they have vanished like smoke. “ Metaphysics “ is again beginning to attract Russian minds, “Lewes” is going out of use, and the celebrated formulas of progress are being universally forgotten. Today it is very rare even for the subjectivist sociologists themselves – now grown so “venerable “ and “hoary” – to recall these formulas. It is noteworthy, for instance, that nobody recalled them even when there was apparently a most urgent need for them, namely when the argument was raging whether we could turn from the path of capitalism to the path of utopia.
Our utopians used to hide behind the skirts of a man who, while advocating his fantastic “popular industry,” at the same time claimed to be an adherent of modern dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism, turned into a sophistry, thus proved to be the only weapon in the hands of the utopians worthy of any attention. In view of this, it would be very useful to discuss how “progress” is regarded by the adherents of the materialist conception of history. To be sure, this question has been repeatedly discussed in our press. But, firstly, the modern materialist view of progress is still not clear to many, and, secondly, in Labriola’s book it is illustrated by some very happy examples and explained by some very correct arguments, although, unfortunately, ft is not expounded systematically and fully. Labriola’s arguments should be supplemented. We hope to do so at a more convenient opportunity. Meanwhile it is time to draw to a close.
But before laying down our pen, we would once more request the reader to remember that what is known as economic materialism, against which the objections – and very unconvincing ones at that – of our friends the Narodniks and subjectivists are directed, has very little in common with the modern materialist conception of history. From the standpoint of the theory of factors, human society is a heavy load which various “forces” – morality, law, economics, etc – drag each in its own way along the path of history. From the standpoint of the modern materialist conception of history, the whole thing assumes a different aspect. It turns out that the historical “factors” are mere abstractions, and when the mist surrounding them is dispelled, it becomes clear that men do not make several distinct histories – the history of law, the history of morals, the history of philosophy, etc. – but only one history, the history of their own social relations, which are determined by the state of the productive forces in each particular period. What is known as the ideologies is nothing but a multiform reflection in the minds of men of this single and indivisible history.
Top of the page
Last updated on 4.12.2008North Korea today blamed Malaysia for the death of one of its citizens there last week and accused the government of an "unfriendly attitude" in a scenario drawn up by South Korea, which has said Pyongyang agents assassinated the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Malaysia had initially told North Korea that the person bearing a diplomatic passport had died of a heart attack at KLIA2 on Feb 13, Pyongyang's state-run KCNA news agency said.
KCNA said Malaysia quickly changed its position and started to complicate the matter after reports surfaced in South Korea that the man was poisoned to death, citing a spokesperson for a state committee.
"What merits more serious attention is the fact that the unjust acts of the Malaysian side are timed to coincide with the anti-DPRK conspiratorial racket launched by the South Korean authorities," KCNA said, using the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
KCNA, in the first official media report of the killing, did not name the person who died on the way to the hospital or acknowledge that he was the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, referring to him only as "a citizen of the DPRK".
"The biggest responsibility for his death rests with the government of Malaysia as the citizen of the DPRK died in its land," the report said.
Malaysian police yesterday named a North Korean diplomat along with a state airline official who are wanted for questioning over the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the 46-year-old elder half-brother of Kim Jong-un.
Malaysia's police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said both officials were in Malaysia but could not confirm if they were in the North Korean embassy.
So far, police have identified a total of eight North Koreans suspected of being linked to the killing. One is in custody.
Malaysia has denied North Korea's request for the body to be handed over to its embassy directly, saying it would be released to the next of kin, though none has come forward.
The KCNA report accused Malaysia of breaking international law by conducting autopsies on a person bearing a diplomatic passport.
- ReutersAn Exclusive Benefit For Nationals Season Plan Holders Only
Click here to exchange your 9/9 tickets
Click here to exchange your tickets
Washington Nationals Ticket Exchange for the Sunday, September 9th game vs. Chicago Cubs
Season Plan Holders may exchange their unused tickets from the 9/9 game purchased through nationals.com, a Nationals representative, or the Nationals Box Office for any remaining 2018 regular season home game based on availability. Tickets used for the 9/13 rescheduled game are not eligible for exchange. The exchange must take place before the end of the 2018 regular season. All exchanges are based on availability.
The following tickets are not eligible for exchanges: complimentary tickets, community tickets marked CHARITY, and NatsPass tickets.
For Luxury and Party Suite tickets, please contact your Nationals representative.
The Nationals are not responsible for and will not provide any refunds or exchanges of any ticket purchased via StubHub or any other secondary market reseller.
For more information on postponed game exchange options, please CLICK HERE to see the Postponed Game Ticket Policies.
Ticket exchanges must be finalized at least 72 hours (three full days) prior to the scheduled start time of both games in the exchange (exceptions may apply in the case of game postponements).Football no longer consists of players frantically rushing towards the ball and subsequently pushing it further up the pitch instantaneously in an attempt to put one past their opponents. Long gone are the days of robust, gawkish defenders with no on-the-ball skills whatsoever, hoofing possession up the other end of the pitch in hope of a fortuitous ricochet or deflection off one of their counterparts, then somehow helping the ball find its way into the back of the net.
In recent years football has had a revolution, of sorts. A revolution in which players and managers alike have been dreaming up new ways of playing football. Ideas were plentiful, but the outcomes were seldom satisfactory. Until one day, a certain Rinus Michels brought into fruition the concept of Total Football. A mode of football in which possession and spatial awareness are key. ‘Totaalvoetbal’ as it is known in its country of origin, the Netherlands, was then groomed and perfected by Dutch and Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff, arguably Holland’s finest ever football export. Total Football laid the foundations for Tiki-Taka, which bereaves many of the same ideas as its predecessor, while adding in even more vital constituents which have helped mould Tiki-Taka into what it is today.
Tiki-Taka, an onomatopeic-sounding phrase, is becoming more and more commonplace in modern times. It involves a quick, sharp, pinball-like passing game, where players are constantly working non-stop to cover each other when out of position. Crisp, precise passing is key to this type of football working, and players with suitable attributes to take part in this style of football will flourish. The Spanish-preferred medium of football has been taken kindly to by most football critics, and it looks to be the way forward for futuristic, aspiring sides who may not be blessed with star quality.
A team deploying Tiki-Taka football does not have to consist of the best players in the world to be deemed successful, but rather a team of 11 players willing to play for one another for 90 minutes, and without wanting to sound like an overly-motivational Sunday-league side manager, they have to give it 110% from start ’till finish. This theory was proved more than adequately last season by Brendan Rogers’ former Premier League outfit Swansea, who managed to finish a respectable 11th in their first season back in England’s top tier.
But with even greater players capable of carrying out more alluring feats, come superior results. Barcelona are renowned globally for their dexterity in undertaking the role of being Tiki-Taka advocates and advertisers, making it look an attractive prospect to all viewers and onlookers. Many dream of replicating this enticing idiosyncrasy of football, but there is more to Tiki-Taka than meets the naked, untrained eye.
This is what a team’s setup should look like in possession in the case of Brendan Rogers Swansea side.
Zone G is the optimum zone to create chances and also make errors, as it will be easier to let your midfield and defense regroup while the opposing team decides how to use their possession. You may not have noticed, but there are a multitude of triangles created between these players in this formation, thanks to Rodgers’ well-thought out positioning philosophy. Each player has at least 3 viable options, 3 players open to receiving the ball at all times. This is where the triangles come into play. We all know that it takes three corners to make a triangle, and these three corners (being players) can ping the ball to one another quickly and accurately without having to make too much of an effort to make riveting runs.
Another essential component in Tiki-Taka football is the playing of the game with 11 men. Yes this might sound like you’ve heard it all before, but until Tiki-Taka was actually introduced, goalkeepers were largely rendered useless for most of the game. Their only use was to be on their toes while they watched the ball move around the pitch without actually getting a real touch of the ball. Playing this way, you might as well be playing with 10 men for large periods of the game. Exemplary footwork is a must for a ‘keeper playing in a side using Tiki-Taka, as teammates will look to bring the number 1 into the game as often as they can, when the ball is going nowhere. The ‘keeper is essentially a pressure reliever for his defenders when possession proving especially difficult to hold onto between zones 2, 3 and 4.
This is an example of Tiki-Taka in its element working for Spain against the traditional method of hoofing the ball up the pitch in a devil-may-care demeanour with no real direction, typified by Ireland (or whoever). The amount of incomplete passes for Ireland is unforgivable, due to their unorganized setup and method of spreading the ball inaccurately about the pitch. Spain quite blatantly take the cake here, as their style of football is impetuous. Boasting a 92% pass success rate, Spain are clearly one of the best in the business, and this is why they win so many of those coveted trophies.
If deployed correctly, this type of football can win games, even if the opposition are stronger in terms of individuals. Tiki-Taka is an enthralling method of playing football, and it truly does portray itself as a huge advocate of the beautiful game.
This video provides a detailed description of how exactly Tiki-Taka is carried out in a match:Image copyright Getty Images
BMW has patched a security flaw that left 2.2 million cars, including Rolls Royce and Mini models, open to hackers.
The flaw affected models fitted with BMW's ConnectedDrive software, which uses an on-board Sim card.
The software operated door locks, air conditioning and traffic updates but no driving firmware such as brakes or steering, BMW said.
No cars have actually been hacked, but the flaw was identified by German motorist association ADAC.
ADAC's researchers found the cars would try to communicate via a spoofed phone network, leaving potential hackers able to control anything activated by the Sim.
The patch, which would be applied automatically, included making data from the car encrypted via HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) - the same security commonly used for online banking, BMW said.
"On the one hand, data are encrypted with the HTTPS protocol, and on the other hand, the identity of the BMW Group server is checked by the vehicle before data are transmitted over the mobile phone network," it said in a statement.
This should have already been in place, said security expert Graham Cluley.
"You would probably have hoped that BMW's engineers would have thought about [using HTTPS] in the first place," he wrote on his blog.
"If you are worried that your vehicle may not have received the update (perhaps because it has been parked in an underground car park or other places without a mobile phone signal, or if its starter battery has been disconnected) then you should choose "Update Services" from your car's menu."Raf Casert, The Associated Press
BRUSSELS -- European Union nations approved plans Monday for a naval operation to go after the human trafficking networks that are sending thousands of migrants weekly across the Mediterranean toward Europe or to their deaths. NATO said it stood ready to help out if needed.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she expects the operation to be fully launched next month after Britain, France, Italy and other nations pledge military equipment.
More than 10,000 migrants have been picked up alive from Mediterranean waters in recent weeks as they attempted to enter Europe from Libya. The International Organization for Migration estimates that nearly 1,830 migrants have died on the sea route this year compared to 207 in the same period last year.
The first phase of the EU plan centres on intelligence gathering and surveillance of smuggling routes leading from Libya to southern Italy and Malta. After that, EU ships would start chasing and boarding the smugglers' boats in a second phase. The 28-nation bloc is still seeking a U.N. resolution that would give them full legal protection as they destroy the smugglers' boats in a third phase of the plan.
"The fundamental point is not so much the destruction of the vessels but it is the destruction of the business model of the traffickers," said Mogherini.
Given that the summer high season for trafficking is rapidly approaching, she said speed was of the essence.
"As summer comes, more people are travelling and I'd like to have the operation in place as soon as possible," Mogherini said.
Beyond saving the lives of desperate migrants, an effective operation against traffickers might also deal terrorism a blow, she said.
"If you look at business model of the traffickers and the flows of money involved in trafficking, it may be that that money is financing terrorist activities," she said.
Stressing the same point, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said "one of the problems is that there might be foreign fighters, there might be terrorists, also trying to hide, to blend in" on the smugglings vessels trying to cross over into Europe.
Despite the show of unity on the military action, the EU showed increasing divisions on the plan for mandatory quotas for member states to take in refugees, with Spain now joining France, Britain and Hungary speaking out against it.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said the proposed quota for Spain doesn't take into account the nation's sky-high jobless rate of 24 per cent and its efforts to prevent illegal migration from African nations.
The quota plan from the EU's executive Commission has faced an increasingly uphill battle since it was officially proposed last week.
Police in the Sicilian port of Ragusa, meanwhile, arrested five Africans suspected of navigating a rubber life raft packed with migrants that was intercepted at sea last week.
The EU has been under increasing pressure to take action to clamp down on the trafficking networks that have allowed thousands to die in Mediterranean waters over the past few years. To support its naval operation, the EU is looking for U.N. backing to make the anti-smuggling effort as comprehensive as possible.
The operation becomes tricky as soon as the boarding and seizure of smuggled vessels in international waters comes into play.
"If you are going to board vessels, you can do that now but you have to ask what flag the vessel has," said Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders. "It cannot be done automatically."
A U.N. resolution would likely become even more imperative if EU nations start destroying smuggling vessels, sometimes in Libyan territorial waters.
John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels, Alan Clendenning in Madrid and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.We first saw the Nissan GT-R nearly 10 years ago, and since then it has earned a reputation for crushing supercars nearly double its price in terms of performance. The 2017 Nissan GT-R has finally gotten a makeover, moving more upscale with an updated look and increased performance. The automaker has brought its new design language to its halo sports car, but are the changes enough to keep Godzilla looking fresh until the next-gen model arrives?
While the grille retains its hexagonal design, Nissan has updated it to include the corporate V-motion design element. There's now a chrome outline under the GT-R badge, and the lower grille extends farther. The LED daytime driving lights are now integrated into the air vents for the front wheels, but retain their horizontal design. The headlights themselves feature the same housing design but the lights have been updated to offer a more polished, sharper design.
Not much has changed when looking at the 2017 Nissan GT-R from the side, but the new 20-inch forged aluminum wheels give the profile a more sophisticated appearance. The rear features a new bumper with a more prominent diffuser and functional vents. The taillights retain their rounded appearance, and the rear wing maintains a similar design. It appears that the rear has more sculpting than the outgoing model, seen just above the tailpipes, and the sides of the car.
The exterior cosmetic enhancements seem minimal compared to how much has changed inside. The Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel has been replaced with leather. The dashboard and center stack are all-new, with the instrument cluster wrapped in leather. The infotainment system now features an 8-inch touchscreen that can also be controlled with the Display Command controller on the center console. The abundance of buttons has been dialed back to just 11, and the infotainment interface has been simplified with large icons for easier operation. The paddle shifters have been moved from being mounted on the column to the wheel itself, as Nissan has also implemented a new steering wheel. The controls no longer encompass the rounded center of the steering wheel, but have been condensed to the sides for easier access when driving.
The 2017 Nissan GT-R has been significantly refreshed for the new model year, with the most significant enhancements happening inside the cabin. The exterior changes show off Nissan's new design language without hindering the aerodynamics. Does the upscale move take away from what made past models so great? Let us know in the comments below.Libya
Politics | Human rights
Politics | Human rights
Benghazi units prepare to liberate Tripoli
People in "liberated" Benghazi are celebrating their victory © Libyan Youth Movement/afrol News
In "liberated" eastern Libya, people are queuing to join units of the armed forces that plan to go westwards to rescue protesters in Tripoli from Ghaddafi's terror.
Benghazi, Libya's second city and the focus of unrest, has been a scene of celebrations for the last few days, after army units united with protesters and made it the centre of "liberated Libya." People have danced in the streets, sent up fireworks and even returned their arms to the military as popular committees have brought new order to the city.
But Benghazi resident have also followed the horror still unfolding in Tripoli, the capital. They are increasingly receiving messages of desperation from Tripoli, with the population there asking for help from Benghazi and other "liberated areas".
Today, reports from Benghazi indicate these appeals from Tripoli are being heard. Military units in eastern Libya have now united under a single command in solidarity with the protesters. In Benghazi, civilians are queuing to obtain guns in order to join an anticipated battle for Tripoli.
Also in nearby Al-Bayda, the people has set up a provisional government that is trying to reorganise the city and provide security. Residents agree on Libyan unity and make preparations to join a fight to liberate Tripoli.
However, while "liberated" eastern Libya is mostly safe and quiet, it is still difficult to organise anything beyond the limits of one ci
"Liberated areas" in Libya, 23 February © afrol News
By staff writers
© afrol News
On the Afrol News front page now
Rwanda succeeds including citizens in formal financial sector
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda. Read more - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
Famine warning: "South Sudan is imploding"
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries. Read more - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
Panic in West Africa after Ebola outbreak in Guinea
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease. Read more - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
Ethiopia tightens its already strict anti-gay laws
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared. Read more - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.Aliko Dangote is ranked 67th on the Forbes rich list with an estimated wealth of £11.5bn
Africa's richest businessman says he is planning a bid to buy Arsenal.
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote believes the building of an oil refinery in his homeland will give him the finance to secure a takeover.
The 58-year-old, who has an estimated wealth of £11.5bn, says he has supported the Gunners since the 1980s.
"When we get this refinery on track, I will have enough time and enough resources to pay what they are asking for," he told BBC Hausa.
American Stan Kroenke is Arsenal's majority shareholder, owning 67.02% of the club's parent company Arsenal Holdings plc.
Russian-Uzbek Alisher Usmanov owns 30.04% with the remainder of the 62,217 shares held by minority shareholders including former players and the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, who own three.
Dangote is ranked 67th on the Forbes rich list.
He had previously been interested in purchasing the 15.9% stake sold to Kroenke for £123m by Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith in April 2011 only to pull out.
"There were a couple of us who were rushing to buy, and we thought with the prices then, the people who were interested in selling were trying to go for a kill," Dangote added.
"We backtracked, because we were very busy doing other things, especially our industrialisation."
Dangote believes Arsenal require a different ownership in order to be more successful on the pitch.
He added: "They are doing well, but they need another strategic direction. They need more direction than the current situation, where they just develop players and sell them."Steve Hickey (Photo: Submitted photo)
When it comes to moral outrage in South Dakota, my name would likely appear on a short list of instigators. However, I’m also happy to make noise when our moral outrage is quite selective and misdirected. At present our state’s biggest issue is that we have third-world living conditions within our borders, unemployment, lingering racism and injustice in the courts. It is not okay Native kids are killing themselves and that a few states attorneys count coup with how many natives they can put on the hill. Where is the moral indignation and South Dakota neighbourliness? Additionally, our state leaders are enabling an unregulated poverty industry to flourish and exploit our poor and elderly out of millions each year via intentionally-crafted, high-interest debt-traps. Yet, the moral outrage again this legislative session is focused on transgender issues.
In wrestling with the transgender bathroom and High School Athletic Association transgender policy debate last legislative session I came across a very helpful framework for understanding gender dysphoria. The source is Dr. Mark A. Yarhouse, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor at Wheaton College who wrote a book called Understanding Gender Dysphoria published by InterVarsity Press. Yarhouse is also a mental health chair at Regents University which like Wheaton is also an evangelical Christian school. His specialty and his other books are on sexuality and specifically, gender dysphoria.
Yarhouse summaries the issue today using three frameworks. The first is an integrity framework which is the basis for the type of bills we are seeing in Pierre this session from pro-family values Republicans. The integrity framework says God made us male and female and any deviation from that is a perversion and sin.
Yarhouse writes next of a disability framework which identifies gender incongruence as a reflection of the fallen world in which the condition is a disability, a nonmoral reality to be addressed like any other disability; with empathy, compassion, and accommodation. Until recently, the DSM-5 classified transgenderism as gender identity disorder, a clinical cause of significant stress and impairment. Today the psychological community doesn’t dare call it a disorder.
Finally Yarhouse speaks of the diversity framework which deconstructs gender and sex altogether and celebrates and encourages any expression of diversity. In Pierre these days, we have the clash of the integrity framework fighters with the diversity framework fighters.
My appeal to the Governor and my former legislative colleagues is to frame any future statewide conversation and policy through this middle lens of the disability framework. This is a path forward that will not please either side. When I voted against the transgender bills last year people close to me and people important to me said my votes were very disappointing and very concerning. The gay and transgender people I’ve spoken to about these issues resent and even deeply reject the classification of disability.
Even so, cutting through the political correctness and the impasse of intolerance toward each others vantage point, the reality is no young boy is choosing to feel like a girl and the subsequent misery of self-loathing and profound shame present an impossible dilemma which ends all too often in bullying and suicide. The debate is ongoing how to help one find a measure of sanity in who they are but my experience is that like anyone with a disability, the transgender people I know simply want to blend in and not be seen as different or less.
As the father of a daughter it has been a compelling concern that my daughter’s right to privacy in a bathroom be a consideration. But then I remember she grew up with two |
between these two demands today. After a particularly well-attended general assembly, a group of several hundred students clustered around a handful of tents on Sproul Plaza. It was nearing midnight, and temperatures were dropping to the low 50s, a range that strikes fear in the hearts of any Californian – even the transplanted ones. This professor lingered, however, wanting to make sure that his students were safe as the ratio of students to Alameda County Sheriff’s officers began to shift. We discussed our relationships to the protests. As our conversation moved to the underlying problems in higher education, he expressed his irritation with a naïveté he located in the Occupy Cal movement: “Listen, the undergraduates are out here protesting about capitalism while we’re trying to keep the doors open tomorrow.” Turning to me, he asked, “Do you know how to keep the doors open?”
I had to admit that I didn’t. I still don’t. (Although this is no defense for my ignorance, Chris Newfield’s thoughtful discussions about why public information on the university budget is opaque, if not outright obfuscatory, may provide some answers as to why the Occupy movement hasn’t had the resources to base its demands upon specific budgetary data. Newfield’s “Budget Transparency Project” can be found here).
But I do, absolutely, know this: “keeping the doors open” cannot become the primary mode of imagining the university without fundamentally betraying the ideals through which it was founded. For one thing, such formulations inevitably lead to tuition and fee increases while trimming faculty salaries, undergraduate education, library hours and teaching-heavy departments. And while it’s tempting to insist that such austerity measures are necessary to maintain UC-Berkeley’s status as an “elite” institution, a quick history lesson dispels illusions: the 1980s, which saw rapid increases in university tuition, coincided with a concomitant plummet in the rankings of the University of California. As Thane Rehn points out, in 1987, the first year U.S. News and World Report issued its college rankings, Berkeley ranked fifth in the nation. Its tuition for in-state students was $4,595.00. Today, with in-state tuition approaching $22,000, Berkeley is ranked 21st. Our students are paying more for less – fewer classes, less dedicated teaching time, and scarcer resources.
Creating other spaces for the university to live – the online degrees and offshore campuses – is a similarly impoverished model, since it sacrifices the mission of educating California’s students to the exigencies of profitable research and technology partnerships. Wendy Brown discussed the paucity of such plans in a forum convened to discuss the UC’s “cyber campus” last year:
“…no matter how “high touch” it is, on-line education inherently isolates and insulates students, deprives instruction of personality, mood and spontaneity, sustained contact, and leaves undeveloped students’ oral skills and literacy. Countless studies reveal that on-line courses necessarily dumb down and slow down curriculums. They reduce as well the critical, reflective and reflexive moments of learning, moments of developing thoughtfulness, navigating strangeness and newness, and of being transformed by what one learns. On-line education necessarily emphasizes what Edley refers to as “content retention,” rather than what liberal arts education has long promised: the cultivation of thoughtful, worldly, discerning, perspicacious, and articulate civic-minded human beings.”
Maintaining the University of California-Berkeley’s status as an elite institution at the cost of degrading its ability to provide the public service for which it was created is both morally reprehensible and politically indefensible. The “general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence” imagined by the constitution for its future citizens – those “articulate, civic-minded human beings” Wendy Brown describes – is slipping into a morass of private interests, for-profit education, and securitized space.
Although the corporate language introduced into the constitution in the 70s might suggest an increased willingness to view the university as a business run by the board of regents, such language cannot erase the state’s responsibility to the university as a public good. To reiterate a passage of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Illinois Central v. Illinois, a trust “devolving upon the State for the public…. cannot be relinquished by a transfer of property.” Technically speaking, of course, that the regents don’t constitute a single private or political interest. Nonetheless, their individual entanglements in systems of political patronage, when combined with their overwhelming lack of qualifications for or understanding of public higher education, raise serious questions about their abilities to govern the university with an eye towards Californians’ interests. When regents whose only apparent qualifications for their jobs are the very conflicts of interest the constitution intended to prevent, Californians have a serious problem.
We are at a tipping point for determining whether or not the university is indeed fulfilling its constitutional mandate to “encourage by all suitable means” the “general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence…essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people.” As such, perhaps shifting attention away from the autonomy of the regents allows for consideration of the public trust that structures that autonomy. How, exactly, does the (temporarily withdrawn, but still looming) threat to raise tuition and fees 81% express a will to further the public’s interest? How does decimating language programs, student services, and the core teaching missions of the university promote the public good? Allowing “joint” research projects with massive corporations to direct the course of university scholarship for decades to come? Permitting the UC president to wield “emergency powers” for two years and counting, depriving faculty of a voice in shaping the university?
In the past month, the brutal police response to non-violent student protestors on multiple UC campuses has laid bare the administration’s relationship to the university community. The University of California has become something to be owned and policed and controlled – and, above all, protected from its students – instead of a trust stewarded for present and future generations. It’s no wonder that the people of California, increasingly convinced that the UC system has priced itself out of the reach of middle-class families, are unmotivated to rally around the future of higher education. It’s equally unsurprising that the legislature would see the UC system as a semi-alien body, unresponsive to the needs of the people.
Celeste Langan, a professor at UC-Berkeley, recently described the university as a “jewel that the state of California gave to itself.” If Californians are to reclaim that gift, we must re-articulate our right to its public trust: the university as the space necessary for the cultivation of intellectual, creative, scientific, and cultural enterprises. Tents may or may not be an expression of free speech in the eyes of the university’s administration. They are, however, undeniably an expression of public will – a collective vision of what “our university” should look like. The thousands of bodies gathered on Sproul Plaza testify to a determination to protect not just our right to occupy Cal but our responsibility to begin re-imagining its future together.
[1] As Sax writes, claims that a public trust property must be used in specific ways generally articulate themselves in two ways: “Either it is urged that the resource must be held available for certain traditional uses, such as navigation, recreation or fishery, or it is said that the uses which are made of the property must be in some sense related to the natural uses peculiar to that resource” (477). Sax and others have successfully argued that a trust’s particular utility can and often must evolve to meet the changing needs of the public; this evolution, however, should not constrain the public’s right to access its trust. [2] Early definitions of coastal lands as forms of public trust, for example, are preoccupied with the shifting boundaries of tidal lands: even during low tide, the ocean must be imagined onto the shore in order to determine the contours of protected lands; conversely, in Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois, the court asserted that the lack of shifting tidewaters did not undermine Lake Michigan’s status as a public trust. California case law builds upon this capacious understanding of “navigable waters”: in Bess v. County of Humbolt (App. 1 Dist. 1992) 5 Cal. Rptr. 2d 399, 3 Cal. App. 4th 1544), the court ruled that a public right of way exists on rivers which are only navigable during part of the year.WASHINGTON—Expressing concern over his increasingly combative behavior and refusal to cooperate with others, sources confirmed this week that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who comes from a troubled home state, has been frequently acting out in Congress. “His home state must be a very unhealthy environment, given all the unsettling and sometimes outright hostile things he says,” said Senate Sergeant at Arms Frank J. Larkin, suggesting that perhaps a lack of financial stability or positive mental stimulation in his home state had left him with considerable cognitive and emotional deficits. “He can be all right for a while, but then he’ll attack other members of Congress with little provocation. Sometimes he doesn’t even show up at all. And it seems like every time he goes back to his home state, he just returns here in a worse state of mind and then takes it out by trying to ruin legislation. I feel sorry for him, sure, but at the same time, he’s extremely disruptive.” Several Senate sources said they hoped the conditions in Sessions’ home state improved, admitting that they were worried the troubled 69-year-old would end up in prison.
AdvertisementPosted 7 years ago on Oct. 4, 2011, 8:36 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
On October 05, 2011, at 3:00 in the afternoon the residents of Liberty Square will gather to join their union brothers and sisters in solidarity and march. At 4:30 in the afternoon the 99% will march in solidarity with #occupywallstreet from Foley Square to the Financial District, where their pensions have disappeared to, where their health has disappeared to. Together we will protest this great injustice. We stand in solidarity with the honest workers of:
AFL-CIO (AFSCME)
United NY
Strong Economy for All Coalition
Working Families Party
TWU Local 100
SEIU 1199
CWA 1109
RWDSU
Communications Workers of America
CWA Local 1180
United Auto Workers
United Federation of Teachers
Professional Staff Congress - CUNY
National Nurses United
Writers Guild East
And:
VOCAL-NY
Community Voices Heard
Alliance for Quality Education
New York Communities for Change
Coalition for the Homeless
Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP)
The Job Party
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice
The Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center
The New Deal for New York Campaign
National People's Action
ALIGN
Human Services Council
Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State
Citizen Action of NY
MoveOn.org
Common Cause NY
New Bottom Line
350.org
Tenants & Neighbors
Democracy for NYC
Resource Generation
Tenants PAC
Teachers Unite
Together we will voice our belief that the American dream will live again, that the American way is to help one another succeed. Our voice, our values, will be heard.
Please note: The location of the march has been changed from City Hall to Foley Square.The Unraveling of American/Russian Relations — Paul Craig Roberts
Correction: I attributed this statement–“Russia will never again fight a war on its own territory”–made by Putin’s adviser Sergey Karaganov to Putin. Perhaps I confused it with Putin’s statement that “If a fight’s inevitable, you must strike first.”
The Unraveling of American/Russian Relations
Paul Craig Roberts
Dear Readers: I agree that the official Las Vegas story seems to be unraveling. A public mass shooting should be transparent, not opaque. I think we explored the story long enough to discover that without knowing the facts, we cannot arrive at an explanation with confidence.
It is time to move on to another unraveling—that of US/Russian relations. This unraveling is far more serious as it threatens life on earth. I have warned of the consequences of Washington threatening Russia’s security by breaking agreement after agreement, by placing missile bases on Russia’s borders, by orchestrating anti-Russian coups in former Soviet provinces, and by a continuing volley of false accusations against Russia. There is no act more reckless and irresponsible than to make one nuclear power fear nuclear attack from another.
Alert observers have become aware of the mounting danger. Canadian professor Michel Chossudovsky writes that Washington has taken nuclear war from a hypothetical scenario to a real danger that threatens the future of humanity. https://www.globalresearch.ca/towards-a-world-war-iii-scenario-breaking-the-big-lie/5348384
Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who worked with President Ronald Reagan to end the Cold War and the threat of nuclear Armageddon, has appealed to President Trump and President Putin to hold a summit meeting and bring an end to the rising tensions. Gorbachev wrote in the Washington Post that “it is far from normal that the presidents of major nuclear powers meet merely on the margins of international gatherings.” This is especially the case as “relations between the two nations are in a severe crisis.” http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48004.htm
Gorbachev’s warning could be an understatement. Last March, General Viktor Poznikhir, the deputy commander of the Russian military’s Operation Command expressed concern that Washington could be preparing a surprise nuclear attack on Russia. See https://dninews.com/article/moscow-us-missile-systems-europe-may-lead-sudden-nuclear-attack-russia and http://www.newsweek.com/russia-us-global-missile-defense-lead-nuclear-war-europe-591244 and https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-officials-u-global-missile-192829855.html
Had any such statement from the Russian high command been issued anytime during the 20th century Cold War era, the President of the United States would have immediately contacted the Soviet leader and given every assurance that no such plan or intentions toward Russia existed. As far as I can tell, the Trump White House let this ominous announcement pass unremarked. If this is the case, it must have provided confirmation to the Russians’ conclusion.
For some time I have pointed out that the entirety of the West, both the US and its vassal states, continue to ignore very clear Russian warnings. Gilbert Doctorow has made the same point. https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/10/10/deaf-ear-dire-russian-warnings.html
Perhaps the most clear of all was Putin’s public statement that “Russia will never again fight a war on its own territory.” If Washington’s EU vassals did not hear this clear warning that they are courting their nuclear destruction—especially the Poles and Romanians who have mindlessly hosted US missile bases—they are as deaf as they are stupid.
One Russian official told the idiot British government to its face that if the British threat to first use nuclear weapons is directed at Russia, if such an attempt is made, Great Britain will disappear from the face of the earth.
There is no doubt that that would be the case.
So why do Washington’s impotent vassals talk tough to Russia, a government that only desires peace and has threatened Britain in no way. Nor has the Russian government threatened France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, or any of the former Eastern European vassals of the Soviet Union that exchanged their captivity to the Soviet Union for captivity to Washington. Russia has not even threatened Ukraine, which Russia could wipe out in a couple of minutes. Why are all of these countries, apparently led by mindless, gutless two-bit politicians, aligned with Washington’s false propaganda against Russia?
The answer is money. The vassals are paid to go along with the lies. As Alain of Lille said as long ago as the 12th century, “not God, not Caesar, but money is all.”
What are the forces driving Washington’s provocation of Russia? There are three, and they comprise a vast conspiracy against life on earth.
One is the Neoconservatives. The Neoconservatives were convinced by the Soviet Collapse that History has chosen not the proletariat but American “democratic capitalism” as the socio-politico-economic system for the world, and that this choice by History conveys on America the status of the “indispensable, exceptional” country, a status that places America above all other countries and above international law and, indeed, America’s own laws.
America is so exceptional that it can torture people in total violation of both US law and international law. The government in Washington can, on suspicion alone without presentation to a court of evidence and conviction, confine US citizens indefinitely, torturing them the entire time, and can assassinate them at will without due process of law. This is the definition of a total police state tyranny. Yet Washington represents America as a “great democracy,” whose endless wars against humanity are “bringing democracy to the world.”
America is so exceptional that it can bomb other countries indiscriminately without officially being at war with those countries.
America is so exceptional that the separation of powers prescribed in the American Constitution can be totally ignored by the executive branch as, the Neoconservatives claim, the President has “unique powers” not limited by the Constitution, which, of course, is just another lie.
Russia, China, and Iran are targets of the Neoconservatives, as were Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and provinces of Pakistan, because these countries have/had independent foreign policies and are/were not Washington’s vassals.
The Neoconservative doctrine states that it is the “principal goal” of US foreign policy “to prevent the rise of Russia or any other state” that can serve as a constraint on Washington’s unilateralism.
The New York Times under this headline on March 8, 1992, explains the Wolfowitz doctrine:
U.S. Strategy Plan Calls for Insuring No Rivals Develop
A One-Superpower World http://work.colum.edu/~amiller/wolfowitz1992.htm
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, March 7 In a broad new policy statement that is in its final drafting phase, the Defense Department asserts that America’s political and military mission in the post-cold-war era will be to ensure that no rival superpower is allowed to emerge in Western Europe, Asia or the territories of the former Soviet Union.
A 46-page document that has been circulating at the highest levels of the Pentagon for weeks, and which Defense Secretary Dick Cheney expects to release later this month, states that part of the American mission will be convincing potential competitors that they need not aspire to a greater role or pursue a more aggressive posture to protect their legitimate interests.
The classified document makes the case for a world dominated by one superpower whose position can be perpetuated by constructive behavior and sufficient military might to deter any nation or group of nations from challenging American primacy.
Every state with an independent foreign policy is a constraint on Washington, especially states with nuclear capabilities such as Russia and China.
A second interest with incentive to provoke Russia is the US military/security complex. President Eisenhower, a five-star general, warned Americans in 1961 that the “military-industrial complex” was a threat to American democracy. Today the military/security complex is much more than a mere threat to American democracy. It has already taken over the US government and the Trump administration, which is run by generals, and it now threatens all life on earth.
The military/security complex has an annual budget of one thousand billion dollars. This sum is larger than the Gross Domestic Products of all but a handful of countries on earth. Such an immense budget conveying such power desperately needs a dangerous enemy for its justification. Russia has been assigned this role. Given the power of the military/security complex, the role assigned to Russia cannot be mitigated by Russian diplomacy. Moreover, the interests of the military/security complex and the Neoconservatives are in agreement.
The third powerful interest group leading to conflict with Russia is the Israel Lobby. In Washington the Israel Lobby is extremely powerful. If the Israel Lobby puts legislation or a resolution before Congress, it usually passes almost unanimously, as anyone who votes against it is likely to be eliminated in the next election.
The Israel Lobby is closely linked to the Neoconservatives, the principal figures of which are Zionist Jews tightly allied with Israel. Some are joint US/Israeli citizens. The Israeli influence in Washington is so strong that the Vice Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank is the former chairman of the Israeli Central Bank. Israel is so powerful in Washington that it even runs US economic policy.
The Zionists in Israel want to expand. Their doctrine is “from the Nile to the Euphrates.” That is the Zionist claim of the land that God gave to the Chosen People.
In pursuit of this goal, Israel twice sent the Israeli Army into southern Lebanon to occupy that part of the country in order to seize the Litani River, water resources that Israel desires.
However, twice the Hezbollah militia drove out the vaunted Israeli Army. Israel now fears to send the army again. Instead, Israel is using its power over the government in Washington to use the US military to put Syria and Iran in the same chaos as exists in Libya and Iraq. The reason is that Syria and Iran are the supporters of the Hezbollah militia. Deprived of support, Hezbollah can be defeated by Israel.
It is Israel, not the US government per se, that is driving the US to war with Iran. Israel, which almost always gets its way in Washington, is encountering difficulties. Washington’s EU vassals are opposed to renewing conflict with Iran. Europe is overwhelmed with problems, many of which stem from Washington’s wars, and doesn’t need the Iranian one again. Neither does the US military, defeated in Syria and unable to win in Afghanistan after 16 years against a few thousand lightly armed Taliban. Washington’s defeat in Afghanistan on top of the defeat in Vietnam has destroyed any fear of Washington’s conventional forces, which is why Russia and China expect the next war to be nuclear.
Moreover, if Russia will not tolerate Washington’s overthrow of Syria, Russia certainly will not tolerate Washington’s overthrow of Iran. And it is unlikely that China will either as, according to reports, China gets 20% of its oil from Iran. Indeed, the Russian and Chinese interest in Iran is so strong that it is inexplicable that the Israel Lobby thinks it is so strong that it can drive Washington into war with Iran. The hubris and arrogance of the Neoconservatives and the Israel Lobby are the greatest the world has seen since Hitler marched off into Russia.
If the dumbshits in Washington repeat this folly, the lights on Earth will be turned off.The cover of Tuesday's New York Post — which shows a man moments before he was fatally struck by a subway train —is sparking outrage from readers.
Han, a 58 year old father from Queens, was pushed into the subway tracks by "a deranged man" on Monday afternoon. One witness said that he was caught between the platform and the train, and dragged. The front page of the Post showed Han trying to lift himself back onto the platform at the 49th Street station as a Q train approached.
On Tuesday, readers asked why the photographer didn't try to help Han instead. The picture was taken by R. Umar Abbasi, whom the Post described as a "freelance photographer." The paper and Abbasi said that he was running toward the train and "repeatedly firing off his flash to warn the operator."
PHOTO:
Alexander Abad-Santos at the Atlantic Wire noted, "Getting a conductor's attention with a flash — and maybe even blinding him with it — doesn't seem like the way you'd necessarily help someone that's clinging to the subway platform."
Others on Twitter harshly criticized both Abbasi for taking the photo and the Post for running it. People called the paper "despicable" and the "trashiest of f-cking trash." "Real classy, NY Post. Real classy," one person wrote. Below, see some of the reactions on Twitter.Photo
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has done his best to stay above the fray while his Republican rivals attack one another on policy, character and even appearance.
But on Thursday, Mr. Rubio hit back at Donald J. Trump, after Mr. Trump called him a “kid” and criticized his record in the Senate.
“He’s got the worst voting record in the United States Senate,” Mr. Trump told CNN on Thursday morning. “He’s never there, meaning he doesn’t work or he’s too lazy to go back and vote.”
In an interview with a Kentucky radio station on Thursday, Mr. Rubio said that Mr. Trump was reeling after a “really bad” debate performance last week and that such attacks are how Mr. Trump responds when his campaign hits a rough spot.
“I think he’s kind of been exposed a little bit over the last seven days, and he’s a very touchy and insecure guy, so that’s how he reacts,” Mr. Rubio told WLAP Radio.
Mr. Rubio also rejected Mr. Trump’s suggestion that he spends too much time talking about what he would do regarding foreign policy, arguing that Mr. Trump, who continues to lead in most polls, is not well informed when it comes to international affairs.
“He really never talks about issues and can’t have more than a 10-second sound bite on any key issue,” Mr. Rubio said.
For his part, Mr. Trump attributes his evasiveness on foreign policy to a strategy of remaining unpredictable to America’s adversaries. He claims that his knowledge about “winning” is his most important qualification to be president.
“Marco Rubio, he’s like a kid,” Mr. Trump told CNN. “He shouldn’t even be running in this race, as far as I’m concerned.”Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven says that Sweden ‘has been attacked’ after a truck drove into a crowd on one of Stockholm’s main shopping streets, injuring several people.
Via: thelocal.se
22:09 We are now closing the live report. Here is how the day’s events unfolded:
21:51: Prime Minister Stefan Löfven told reporters on Friday evening that Sweden had reinforced its borders with immediate effect.
21:48: The Prime Minister said the attack was a “tragedy for the families involved.” He stressed that Sweden would do “whatever it takes” for people to feel safe. “Terrorists want us to be afraid…to not live our lives normally, but that is what we are going to do. Terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never.”
21:43: “A whole country is united in grief, anger and resolve,” said Prime Minister Stefan Löfven at a Friday evening press conference.
21:34: When asked by a journalist at the press conference police said they have not been able to confirm reports of shootings near an Åhlens store and in Fridhemsplan.
21:27: Police declined to release more details about the identity of the person seized in Märsta, including their nationality.
21:22: “We have arrested a person who is of interest to us. We also released an image of a person we were looking for. The person arrested matches this description,” Jan Evensson of the Stockholm Police said at a press conference on Friday night.
20:46 Faisal Khan, a Swedish citizen originally from Afghanistan, told The Local he was “pretty shaken up” after witnessing the incident at close quarters.
“Luckily he was not a good driver. It felt to me like he did not have experience driving such a large vehicle. This guy really wanted to cause a lot of damage.”
Read More: Sweden Wonders Did We Take Too Many Muslim Immigrants?
20:43: “One person has been arrested who could be linked to the matter. We cannot say more about the arrest right now,” an update on the Stockholm Police website says.
20:40: Stockholm Police have confirmed that four people are dead and 15 people have been injured in the attack.
20:33: The Aftonbladet tabloid reports, citing several unnamed sources, that a man has been arrested in Märsta north of Stockholm. The reports are unconfirmed by police. Aftonbladet writes that the man had minor injuries and said he was guilty of the attack in Stockholm.
20:31: Stockholm County Council has confirmed that one person has died in hospital and 15 other injured people are being treated in relation to the incident.
“One person has died in hospital after the incident in central Stockholm. 15 injured adults and children are being treated at hospital. Nine of them have serious injuries,” a statement on their website said.
Hospitals continue to be ready to take in more injured, the statement adds, but notes that it is too early to provide more detailed information.
“My thoughts go to all of those affected. We are full focused on the work needed to take care of injured and affected and are working together with different agencies,” Stockholm County Council head doctor Johan Bratt said.
20:07: Stockholm public transport operator SL has been given the go ahead to start the metro again and the trains have gradually started to move, but will not be stopping at the central T-centralen station as well as Hötorget station, and a slow services is expected for the time being.
The commuter train has also been given permission to resume, but tracks may be backlogged with intercity trains.
“It could take a bit more time before we have fully working traffic again because it can take some time to get drivers in and get traffic flowing,” SL press officer Henrik Palmér told news agency TT.
Buses will be redirected according to police cordons for the moment.
19:41 The Local’s David Landes, like thousands of others, had a long trek home with public transportation on hold. But on Hornsgatan and Götgatan, busy streets on the trendy Södermalm island, the mood was calm. “It feels like a normal Friday – but with more people on the sidewalk, fewer cars on the roads- and no buses.”
19:30: Thousands of people are walking home this evening all across Stockholm after trains and buses were cancelled. Some underground trains have started running again, but delays are to be expected. Check travel advice here.
19:15: Police have brought two people in for questioning, but have not said who they are. “It absolutely does not mean that they are suspects,” police spokesperson Lars Byström told the TT news agency.
19:08: The Local has been speaking to eyewitnesses and people near the scene today. “We saw people running and screaming. We were told to stay in the café at first. The place got emptied out quickly. There was such a big panic,” a Spanish man told us.
18:41: Stockholm City Council has opened its doors to those who are not able to get home tonight because of trains and buses being cancelled. These premises are located at: Kammakargatan 30, Observatorielundens skola Norrtullsgatan, Hantverkargatan 3, Göta Ark Medborgarplatsen 25 and Bo Bergmans gata 4.
18:30: Watching the events unfold after a truck drove into Åhléns on Drottninggatan. pic.twitter.com/kxJLUOAsns
18:15: A woman who works in an office block a hundred metres from the scene tells The Local they were not allowed to leave the building without being escorted by police. “There were police helicopters hovering over the square,” she said. “I won’t be able to get home because trains and buses are not running.”
18:05: The press conference has now concluded. The head of Sweden’s security police, Anders Thorngren, said they had prepared for a similar incident. “Earlier this week we rehearsed a similar scenario. Säpo focuses on the intelligence work and who could behind this,” he said.
While the identity of the attacker or attackers has not been confirmed, Säpo named terror attacks by lone wolves as one of the main threats to Sweden in its annual report published earlier this year.
READ ALSO: Sweden Dying to be Multicultural
18:00: Police have released CCTV images of a man they would like to trace “in connection with the suspected terror attack in Stockholm”.
17:42: A police press conference has started in Stockholm. “A truck drove into Åhlens on Drottninggatan. We have truck and are in contact with the person who normally drives the truck,” says Sweden’s national police chief Dan Eliasson, adding that they do not have the individual or individuals driving the truck at the time of the attack.
17:23: A number of busy shopping locations in Stockholm have been evacuated at the request of the police. Along with the city’s central railway station, the Åhlens department stores in the city centre, Odenplan, Fridhemsplan, Skanstull and Östermalmstorg have all been evacuated, as has the Mall of Scandinavia shopping centre in Solna. All of national film chain SF’s Stockholm cinemas are closed this evening. Other events at Dramaten, Cirkus and Konserthuset have also been cancelled.
17:05 The truck was rammed into a crowd just yards from the scene of a 2010 suicide bombing that left the perpetrator dead in the middle of the Christmas shopping rush.
16:57: Facebook users in Stockholm can mark themselves as safe from the incident by following this link.
16:50: Police have confirmed to The Local that people have been killed in today’s incident.
“There are people injured and there have been fatalities, but exactly how many is not something we can say at the moment,” a police spokesperson told The Local.
Police would not comment on reports that someone has been arrested for the attack.
READ ALSO: The Sweden’s Muslim Brotherhood
– At 14:53 the police received a call via the emergency number saying that people had been injured on the Drottninggatan street near Klarabergsgatan. They have since confirmed that the vehicle was a truck. and that there are people injured, but have not released details on the extent of injuries and number of people injured.
– Police at the scene told the TT newswire that three people were killed and eight were injured.
– Police also said there are reports of shots being fired in the proximity of the Åhlens city department store but that those reports have not been confirmed.
– Swedish brewery company Spendrups, which owns the truck, said it had been hijacked earlier in the day.
“During a delivery to the restaurant Caliente someone jumped into the driver’s cabin and drove off with the car while the driver unloads,” communications director Mårten Lyth told the TT news agency.- Shots were also fired in the Fridhemsplan district in the north of the city.
– The city’s subway system has been shut down.
– Police have not confirmed multiple reports of an arrest near the scene of the truck crash shortly after 16:00.
– Swedish security police Säpo say that a “large number of people are injured”, and that they are now assisting the police in an investigation. “Intensive intelligence work is being conducted in order to identify the person or persons behind the attack,” they add.
– Swedish PM Stefan Löfven has said that Sweden “has been attacked” in an apparent terrorist incident.
16:38: Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf has released a statement about the incident.
“I and the entire royal family have sadly been informed about this afternoon’s attack in Stockholm. The background to and extent of the incident is not yet know. We are following developments but our thoughts already go to those affected and their families,” the statement reads.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Brian Williams: "I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago"
One of America's most famous news anchors has apologised after a story he repeatedly told about coming under fire in Iraq was revealed to be untrue.
NBC's Brian Williams said he was on a helicopter forced down in 2003, but veterans have now disputed his account.
Mr Williams, the most-watched network anchor in the US, has often recounted his experience but now blames the "fog of memory".
"I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago," he said.
"I want to apologise. I said I was travelling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."
Image copyright AP Image caption American helicopters frequently came under attack during the Iraq war
He said his account was "a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and by extension our brave military men and women, veterans everywhere, those who have served while I did not."
Mr Williams repeated the story as recently as Friday, describing his ordeal on TV while paying tribute to a retired soldier who helped protect the grounded aircraft and crew.
His apology came after veterans who were on the helicopter that was hit posted comments on the broadcaster's Facebook page.
Analysis
Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington
Just last month, following the surprise success of American Sniper, discrepancies in some of the stories recounted by the central figure in the film - US soldier Chris Kyle - resurfaced.
The ideological shoe was on the other foot in that case, as liberals accused Kyle of being a serial exaggerator and braggart and used it to question the credibility of the Oscar-nominated film.
The Williams story is different, however, because of the currency of truth on which the media depends.
Is Brian Williams tale a case of'stolen valour'?
Flight engineer Lance Reynolds, who was on the helicopter that was hit, wrote: "Sorry dude, I don't remember you being on my aircraft. I do remember you walking up about an hour after we had landed to ask me what had happened.
In a later posting he wrote: "The place we were shot at was a long ways away from where we even saw him and his crew. "
Replying to the criticism, Mr Williams said that "constant viewing of the video showing us inspecting the impact area - and the fog of memory over 12 years - made me conflate the two".
Mr Reynolds told the military newspaper Stars and Stripes: "It was something personal for us that was kind of life-changing for me. I know how lucky I was to survive it."
"It felt like a personal experience that someone else wanted to participate in and didn't deserve to participate in."
In an interview with CNN on Thursday, a pilot of the helicopter Mr Williams was on in 2003 said their aircraft had taken some fire but was not hit by an RPG.
The hashtag #chopperwhopper has now appeared on Twitter, with many contributors criticising Mr Williams and questioning whether he should stay in his job.
"Nobody's trying to steal anyone's valour," Williams wrote. "Quite the contrary: I was and remain a civilian journalist covering the stories of those who volunteered for duty."
Some in the US media say Mr Williams' admission could harm his career.
"At least in |
able to purchase luxurious properties in New York, London, Paris, and beyond have been raised by anti-corruption watchdogs in Bulgaria. Even when adding in the tax-funded salary of her “former” communist spy husband, the numbers do not match up. Separately, anti-corruption campaigners have accused Bokova of corruption in her tenure as UNESCO boss — in addition to the use of tax dollars to promote her UN candidacy. A dubious UNESCO “Peace Prize” named after an African dictator and awarded to Obama this year has also raised serious concerns.
Whether Rothschild's open support will be enough to revive Bokova's moribund campaign, run by known former spies for the People's Republic of Bulgaria, remains to be seen. In a recent straw poll held among governments on the UN Security Council, Bokova finished in an unimpressive third place, despite support from Russia's Vladimir Putin and an expensive (tax-funded) PR campaign trying to paint her as the “frontrunner.” Still, whether it works or not, Rothschild's proud support for the corrupt communist does offer important insight into the nature and goals of the global establishment — a cabal that Rothschild, still listed on the family website as chairman of Rothschild & Co, represents better than perhaps any other single individual.
In a statement signed by more than two dozen leading French globalists, socialists, self-styled “intellectuals,” and Big Business operatives, Rothschild and his allies argued that “no one is better placed to address the critical challenges facing our common future as UN Secretary General than Irina Bokova.” Among other qualities, the letter touts the fact that she is a woman and speaks four official UN languages. Pointing to alleged man-made climate change and a “refugee crisis” largely orchestrated by the global establishment, Rothschild and company claimed “there is a growing need for a United Nations that shows relevance, legitimacy and effectiveness.”
Installing the corrupt Bulgarian communist as leader of the UN is what will “demonstrate modernity and attract the attention of Millennials,” the signatories claimed. “With four decades of experience in policymaking at the United Nations and as a diplomat, she is both respected and appreciated by political leaders on all five continents,” the letter said, without noting that Bokova was trained as a “diplomat” at the KGB's Moscow State Institute of International Relations. “It is high time a woman took the lead in global diplomacy to give the 3.5 billion women in the world the place they deserve in shaping the future of the generations to come!”
The insiders behind the letter also touted Bokova's views on what is needed to implement the UN's controversial Agenda 2030. The UN plan for humanity, often dubbed the “Sustainable Development Goals,” or SDGs, envisions national and international wealth redistribution, indoctrination of children as “agents of change,” and much more. Presumably, though, the wealth to be re-distributed will not be coming from Rothschild coffers or mega-banks. Ironically, despite Rothschild minions providing funding for the outfit that leaked the documents, Rothschild was exposed in the “Panama Papers” as the protector of a shadowy offshore entity known as Fergint Patagonia Trust. Obviously, Rothschild wealth will not be subject to the Agenda 2030's plan to redistribute the wealth of middle-class Westerners to the UN and its member governments.
“Men or women in politics from right and left, representatives of business and cultural circles, of civil society, Jews, Christians, Muslims or atheists, we have joined together to advance an idea of crucial importance: that the United Nations should become a 'new generation platform' of dialogue and exchange among countries and cultures to promote and maintain peace and develop harmonious and sustainable societies,” the signatories said, with “sustainable societies” a thinly disguised code word for totalitarian technocratic societies. “We are convinced that Irina Bokova will be the Secretary-General the United Nations and the world need today. We respectfully urge the Member States of the Security Council not to miss this historical opportunity.”
Unsurprisingly, the letter, published by The World Post, a partnership between the far-left Huffington Post and the Berggruen Institute, completely ignores Bokova's background and the stench of corruption scandals that grows more foul by the day. The controversial Bokova, whose campaign to lead the UN is literally dominated by former spies of the mass-murdering communist regime's “little KGB,” has been a member of the murderous Bulgarian Communist Party since her youth, and long after it was re-named the Bulgarian Socialist Party for the purpose of receiving Western aid. She served in several senior positions with the regime, which is hardly surprising considering that she was the daughter of a proud murderer and top Communist Party official who served as the chief Bulgarian Communist Party propagandist — basically the Joseph Goebbels of communist Bulgaria. Bokova has never denounced the horrifying crimes of the Bulgarian regime she and her family served and benefited from.
In recent days, Bokova's candidacy has fueled an even more intense a firestorm of criticism and controversy in her homeland. A prominent Bulgarian filmmaker sent a letter to UN diplomats from around the world exposing Bokova, along with a document compiling international news reports shedding light on her past and the more recent corruption scandals. Bokova and her communist allies, who still wield enormous power in Bulgaria despite the apparent collapse of communism, attacked the film-maker for his alleged “betrayal” of Bulgaria. Sources in Bulgaria tell The New American that camp Bokova has also been concocting bizarre conspiracy theories about an alleged plot to expose her past and derail her campaign to lead the UN.
Rothschild's public support for Bokova, though, adds a whole new twist to the already shocking developments in the race to lead the UN. On its website, Rothschild & Co styles itself “one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory groups” providing services and solutions to “large institutions, families, individuals and governments, worldwide.” “Having been at the centre [sic] of the world's financial markets for more than 200 years we can rely on an unrivalled global network of more than 2,800 talented employees and a track-record of outstanding execution with 50 offices around the world,” the website boasts in what might even be an understatement, adding that Rothschild & Co “can be closer to current issues than any other global financial institution in our core markets.” They are not kidding.
But Rothschild is more than just a powerful “bankster” for governments and globalists around the world. Consider that billionaire establishment globalist George Soros, who said publicly he had no regrets about helping the National Socialist (Nazi) regime confiscate property from Jews as a child, owes much of his own fantastic wealth to the Rothschild dynasty. Soros, of course, along with the Rockefeller dynasty and other globalists, are often viewed by Americans as the ultimate insiders. But next to Rothschild, their wealth and influence is suddenly much less impressive. Many other top establishment operatives and globalists also trace their power and wealth to the Rothschild banking dynasty. Estimates of the ultra-secretive dynasty's wealth reach into the trillions of dollars.
And the power of this dynasty stretches back centuries. “The Rothschilds had decided the outcome of the Napoleonic Wars by putting their financial weight behind Britain,” noted globalist historian and establishment apologist Niall Ferguson in his book The World's Banker: The History of the House of Rothschild. In other words, even more than two centuries ago, this dynasty, which is reputed to be deeply involved in the global central banking regime, was able to decide the outcome of wars between the most powerful governments on the planet. Since then, their power and wealth appears to have grown even further, despite efforts to stay out of the public spotlight.
The Rothschild letter was signed by 27 self-declared “leading French personalities.” Other signatories on the letter include prominent homosexual Pierre Bergé, who was fined one million francs for corrupt insider trading in 1996. Also on the list was Michel Boyon, who oversaw much of the French government's propaganda apparatus throughout his career. Longtime socialist extremists Jean-Pierre Chevenement, the former defense minister, and Édith Cresson, the former prime minister, also signed. So did Big Business leaders, CEOs, nobility, politicians, and more. Sources tell The New American that the Socialist French government, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been urging other governments to support Portuguese Socialist Antonio Guterres, former chief of the powerful Socialist International. Whether the Rothschild letter will change that remains unclear.
Despite their influence, though, the globalists backing Bokova probably would have been wise to de-activate the comment section on the letter, which was promptly used by critics to expose Bokova's background. “Irina Bokova is [a] very dividing figure even in her homeland Bulgaria, not to mention she's friends, sort of, with Putin,” wrote Stoyan Mechkarov from London. “She never clearly condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine neither the criminal communist regime in Bulgaria. Daughter of communist murderer and criminal who was part of the red elite in Bulgaria. I'm not saying that children are responsible for their parents lives but on this question the lady's answer has always been 'the times were like this'. This says a lot about the person.”
From New York, commentator Julia Quinn also lambasted the promotion of Bokova. “The 27 leading French personalities have never heard of Raiko Alexiev, the Bulgarian artist and intellectual, viciously murdered in bright daylight by Georgi Bokov — Irina Bokova's father — a crime for which there never was a trial,” Quinn wrote, describing history that is well known in Bulgaria and among Bulgarian exiles. “But wait! The Bokov family was REWARDED for this by the Soviet/Communist regime and propelled to fame, power and social standing in their oppressed fatherland. Irina Bokova's diplomatic career is the result and 'benefit' of unthinkable cruelty. Sleep well, French intellectuals!”
For Americans pushing to get the United States out of the UN — or an “Amexit,” as some members of Congress are calling it — Bokova's candidacy represents a historic opportunity. It is, essentially, proof of what UN critics have said all along: The UN is a dangerous tool of globalists, communists, and other forces working to curtail national sovereignty and individual liberty. If a corrupt communist whose past is so well documented can be selected to serve as UN secretary-general, there is no longer any plausible excuse for members of Congress to continue sending American wealth to the UN. Ironically, under Bokova's leadership, UNESCO lost all of its U.S. tax funding. With hard work and determination, Americans can ensure that the next globalist mechanism to lose American funding and support will be the UN itself.
Alex Newman, a foreign correspondent for The New American, is normally based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Photo of Baron Eric de Rothschild at UNESCO headquarters in Paris: AP Images
Related articles:
Corrupt Communist Leads Race for UN Boss
Rothschild Crony Capitalist Summit Plots Against Free Markets
George Soros Funded by the House of Rothschild
In Bid for Power, UN Communist Offers Obama a UN “Peace” Prize
Communist Candidate for UN Boss Relies on “Little KGB” Spies
UN Plots Future of Education: Creating Green “Global Citizens”
Socialist-in-Chief: a History of the UN Secretaries General
Congressman Mike Rogers Introduces Bill to Get U.S. Out of UN
Bulgarian Communist Is Now “Frontrunner” to Lead UN
Bulgarian Communist and UNESCO Boss Irina Bokova May Lead UN (Video)
UN and UNESCO Bosses to Join Communist Tyrants at “Victory Day”
Putin’s East vs. Globalist West: Merging Into a New World Order
UN Boss: “The United Nations Is the Parliament of Humanity”
Bilderberg: Where Big Business and Big Government Plot GlobalismWhen contacted separately by telephone on Saturday, Sergeant Melgar’s widow, Michelle, and his brother, Shawn, declined to comment.
Lawmakers have criticized top officers and Pentagon officials for offering a shifting timeline of the events in the Niger attack, and for failing to respond with timely, accurate information about the American military’s role on the continent at a time when President Trump has loosened restrictions on the armed forces to intensify attacks against the Islamic State and Al Qaeda around the world.
Sergeant Melgar, a graduate of Texas Tech University who joined the Army in 2012, was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., the same unit whose soldiers were attacked by a much larger and heavily armed group of Islamic State fighters near the border between Niger and Mali on Oct. 4.
According to military officials, Sergeant Melgar was part of a small team in Bamako assigned to help provide intelligence about Islamic militancies in Mali to the United States ambassador there, Paul A. Folmsbee, to protect American personnel against attacks. The sergeant also helped assess which Malian Army troops might be trained and equipped to build a counterterrorism force.
Sergeant Melgar, a native of Lubbock, Tex., was about four months into what military officials said was a six-month tour in Mali, and was living with three other American Special Operations troops in a house provided by the American Embassy.
Two of those housemates were members of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, which has over the past decade carried out kill-or-capture missions in Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, as well as the one that killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011.
According to two senior American military officials, the two SEAL commandos were in Mali with the approval of Mr. Folmsbee in a previously undisclosed and unusual clandestine mission to support French and Malian counterterrorism forces battling Al Qaeda’s branch in North and West Africa, known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, as well as smaller cells aligned with Al Qaeda or the Islamic State. The Americans helped provide intelligence for missions, and had participated in at least two such operations in Mali this year before Sergeant Melgar’s death.and
The global fast-food giant McDonald’s, which is embroiled in a European trademark row with Supermac’s, contacted advisers of the Irish company offering to walk away from the potentially costly dispute if Supermac’s withdrew its application to register its brand across the European Union.
Pat McDonagh, the Galway-based founder of the Supermac’s chain, told The Irish Times he refused the US behemoth’s approach.
“Why would I accept it? They contacted our trademark representatives and basically asked us to back down, but I wouldn’t do that,” he said.
Mr McDonagh on Monday expressed surprise at the attempts by McDonald’s to block moves to register the “Supermac’s” trademark in the EU.
The US fast-food giant has lodged a 41-page objection to Supermac’s using its company name in Europe with the EU’s Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, which oversees trademarks and designs.
Unfair advantage
It also argues the likelihood of the name causing confusion is “even more likely since the goods and services of the respective parties are identical or at least highly similar”.
However, Mr McDonagh claimed the two chains had “two very distinctive brands” with immediately identifiable menus and a clear difference in ingredients.
He also said both restaurants had grown and “happily coexisted together” in Ireland since 1978.
“The strongest point they make is that there may be confusion between the Supermac’s name and their own name,” he said.
The Supermac’s brand, which has more than 100 outlets in Ireland, is preparing a formal response to McDonald’s objections. Mr McDonagh said his company’s submission would emphasise that Supermac’s has been trading for 37 years under a brand derived “from my own surname”.The Obama administration announced details Wednesday of its planned arms package for Taiwan even as China lodged formal protests and Taiwanese officials said they may begin pushing for another deal that would include state-of-the-art fighter jets.
The $5.85 billion arms package proposed by the Obama administration would retrofit Taiwan’s aging fleet of 145 F-16 A/Bs and provide pilot training and spare parts to maintain the nation’s even older F-5 jets and C-130 transport planes. Administration officials have described the sale as a sign of enduring commitment to Taiwan.
U.S. officials have not agreed to sell the island any new F-16 C/Ds, a more sophisticated version, which Taiwan has asked for. The decision has drawn much criticism, especially from members of Congress, who worry that Taiwan’s air power will diminish even as China’s is increasing rapidly.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the proposed package includes an AESA radar system that would allow its planes to detect stealth aircraft, such as the J-20 that China is developing. But Taiwaneseofficials on Wednesday continued to urge Obama to sell them new jets.
Congressional supporters of the idea have filed a bill that would require a sale of F-16s to Taiwan. Without the sale, an F-16 assembly line in Texas faces possible closure.
On the presidential campaign trail, meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called Obama’s decision not to sell the requested F-16s an example of “weak leadership in foreign policy.”
“President Obama has ignored Taiwan’s request and caved in to the unreasonable demands of China at the cost of well-paying American jobs,” Romney said in a statement.
A senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, insisted that Obama has not ruled out such a sale, but military analysts and members of Congress now think that a sale of new F-16s is highly unlikely.
“The State Department has indicated to us that this A/B upgrade was the decision, and that we shouldn’t expect any other decision on the C/Ds. It’s basically a non-decision decision,” said a congressional aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.
China’s government lodged formal protests with U.S. officials on Wednesday in Beijing and Washington, calling the arms sale a “grave interference” in China’s internal affairs.
If Taiwan does not receive permission to buy the newer F-16s and the assembly line for the jets is forced to close, the island may instead begin requesting a significantly more advanced line of fighters, the F-35, said Andrew N.D. Yang, Taiwan’s vice minister of national defense, speaking at a U.S.-Taiwan defense industry conference in Richmond. The F-35s have more stealth capabilities but have not been deployed by the U.S. Air Force.
An administration official called the idea of selling F-35s to Taiwan fanciful and premature. “It’s like not getting a Prius and asking for a custom-built Ferrari instead,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.In yesterday’s Business Spectator, shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull defended the Coalition’s broadband plan, released on Tuesday, as a better alternative to Labor’s National Broadband Network (NBN). Well, was he right?
Vectoring - essentially patching up the existing copper network – was put forward by Turnbull, not for the first time, as something of a magic bullet for delivery of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN), under a future Coalition government. It is, he wrote:
a key technology which has extended the life of copper everywhere from China to Germany.
So let’s put this statement in the context of what we already know about the differences between Labor and the Coalition, with regards to the NBN.
Fibre vs copper
You may have already read The Conversation’s explanation of the differences in the two sides’ policies.
To put it simply, Labor’s NBN uses Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology, which lays optical fibre to each household; but the Coalition’s plan uses Australia’s existing copper network to deliver Fibre to the Node (FTTN), essentially delivering new optical fibre to “cabinets” in the street, which is then relayed to individual houses and other premises via existing copper wiring.
The Coalition claims its plan will be faster to build (shaving five years off the current completion date of 2021) and cost tens of billions less than Labor’s projected prices.
But …
The current debate on broadband networks reflects a lack of understanding of internet services, the infrastructure that supports it, and future, not-yet-imagined, services.
Many arguments (including Turnbull’s) focus on vectoring.
With such an approach, the copper wires used in Australia’s current telecommunications network are paired and twisted together to cancel out as much electromagnetic interference as possible from adjoining wires.
NVJ
Vectoring coordinates those twisted pairs to most effectively reduce interference and increase data transfer volume and speed.
Unfortunately, vectoring’s performance deteriorates rapidly with the length of the copper runs, the number of copper pairs bundled together and the quality of that copper.
Turnbull wasn’t wrong to call vectoring “as a key technology which has extended the life of copper everywhere from China to Germany” but the best use of vectoring is in high-density areas, where distance to the node is less than 800m.
This has been feasible and effective in European and Asian cities but has not gained much traction in North America, and is unlikely to be a long-term solution for a massive country such as Australia.
Under ideal conditions, vectoring’s performance may rise to 60Mb/s downstream (traffic flow to the user’s computer) and far lower upstream (traffic flow away from a user’s computer).
Structure of the internet
FadderUri
It’s unfortunate that the term “internet”, originally “internetwork”, incorporates the word “network”.
This makes most of us – and all sides of politics – think of “the internet” as a physical infrastructure.
The internet is actually a suite of services, such as email and web browsing – not an infrastructure. And while it needs infrastructure to support it, generally that infrastructure is optimised for a given set of services.
In today’s internet, that means the ability to facilitate high download rates and low upload rates, using an ADSL/copper type of infrastructure.
But today’s internet is not the one we’ll be using tomorrow.
Moving forward with FTTP
The best long-term solution is FTTP – as is currently envisioned in the Labor version of the NBN.
Copper from the node to the premise – as the Coalition is promoting, through its vectoring/FTTN approach – can only really support old-style internet services.
Labor’s FTTP approach suffers none of the interference experienced by copper, and is very capable of long signal runs. For FTTN to perform similarly, we would have to install nodes closer to homes, with fibre running into them anyway.
Ultimately it will be far more expensive upgrading and maintaining copper than simply installing fibre to begin with.
Supporting the future
This NBN has the potential to support services that we have not yet developed.
Some 20 years ago, most of us would not have imagined the services we are able to get using our current infrastructure.
If we do not build a new infrastructure now, our horizon will remain just over the hill, and nowhere near where it will need to be in the not-to-distant future.
The government’s NBN investment as it currently stands is a way of future-proofing us, plain and simple.As a Scotsman living abroad, one of the things i miss most is haggis.
“you mean sheep guts in a stomach?”
Yes, Yes i do!
So browsing on the internet i discovered an “American” recipe for haggis for people who don’t have access to sheep’s insides. So i thought i’d give it a go.
The Ingredients
I went to my local supermarket and picked up some stuff as close as to the recipe as i could. I think i did pretty well..
I couldn’t get a stomach, so i bought Chinchulines otherwise known as intestines. some people eat this… I have before its not horrible but its not great either. I think it will be perfect to encase the haggis.
Azotillo is a cheap cut of meat….. loads of fat on it.
Higado is Liver….. Loads of blood and not very tasty looking.
Some nice steak with bone marrow.
And some lard….
Preparing the intestines.
The site said to Wash and place the intestines in warm water for an hour.
My cat loved the smell….. me not so much! It smelt quite disgusting.
More Preparation
Haggis usually has oatmeal in it…. I’ve not been able to find that but i did find a recipe that mentioned using toasted oats…. so hey although i’m not quite sticking to the recipe, i’ve already got no lamb in my haggis, toasted oats wont make much of a difference.
Plain and simple job of sticking the oats into an oven dish and toasting them.
Haggis also contains onion (and a few recipes mentioned garlic) so i cooked them in some butter.
Mixing the meat…..
Mow came the time to mix the Lard, Meat and Herbs together!
Don’t worry I didn’t forget about the cat!
She got the leftover meat around the bone.
The Herbs
Now came the time to add those lovely herbs to make my haggis more haggis like!
One recipe called for Jamaican All Spice. Now this is impossible to come across here but a quick google says “Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, kurundu, myrtle pepper, pimenta. The name “allspice” was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who thought it combined the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.” Great! i can add cinnamon, nutmeg cloves and pepper.
I don’t have a photo of myself grating the nutmeg or adding the cloves so you’ll have to just trust me that i added it. It also said to add mustard powder which i don’t have….. i do have mustard seeds and mustard though!
Close enough!
Looks tasty no?
Next i was to mix all the herbs, raw meat and oats in a freezer bag and stick it in the freezer until it was “not frozen but solid”.
Not having any freezer bags i did the next best thing.
I placed it in a polybag from the local supermarket, shook it and shoved it in the freezer.
Grinding the meat
The recipe called for me to grind the mixture with a meat grinder and place it into a food mixer. Not having a grinder i also read that some people cut the meat up finely and place it in a food mixer so here goes!
Its not looking the best is it. Still I’m not deterred although the recipes I’ve seen have no pictures through the process i do remember seeing a documentary about the Grants haggis company (who make great Haggis
by the way go buy some) and their mixture didn’t look like mine…. but it didn’t look great either.
So once all the meat has been added the next thing is to add some whisky (the recipe i was following said beer but it was one out of 100s so i went with whisky).
Not too hard to find… I added a bit of both as i thought that the highland cream wouldn’t be smokey enough, and i didn’t want to use all the black bottle.
So the result?
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM tasty!
Making the haggis
Now haggis isn’t haggis unless its placed in a sheeps stomach (or in this case placed in a cows intestine!)
You need to sew up one end of the intestine, i chose some nylon fishing line to do mine.
So lets stuff the haggis
4 lovely completed haggis!
I think it might be good too! The cat seems to like the leftovers….
So the only thing left to do its to cook it!
Click here to see the finished product'I think there is sufficient support in the House to move this bill,' Speaker John Boehner said. House GOP cuts border funding bill
House Republicans unveiled a significantly pared-back emergency funding package of $659 million for the border crisis and are angling for a Thursday vote before Congress flees Washington for the August recess.
That figure is dramatically lower than the $3.7 billion President Barack Obama originally requested from Capitol Hill to respond to the influx of unaccompanied children, primarily from Central America, at the Texas border.
Story Continued Below
It’s also a far cry from the $1.5 billion in emergency funding that was initially proposed last week by House Republicans.
“I think there is sufficient support in the House to move this bill,” Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday. “We have a little more work to do, though. We should do something before we go home.”
( Also on POLITICO: W.H. backs Senate Democrats' plan on border)
The boost in funding runs through the close of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and will be fully offset. It still includes provisions that would change a 2008 anti-trafficking law, which would effectively allow the unaccompanied children to be more quickly deported — a revision that is unacceptable to most Democrats.
House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer said Tuesday that GOP leadership has not yet approached Democrats about securing their votes for the supplemental, but Hoyer believes there will be few Democrats willing to join with Republicans if the legislation makes changes to the 2008 law.
“I don’t see myself trying to get votes for a language change whose ramifications nobody knows at this time,” Hoyer said.
And border-state House Democrats, whom Republicans hope to pluck off in favor of their funding bill, have their own issues with the GOP plan.
Although he is one of the few Democrats who has endorsed changes to the 2008 law, Arizona Rep. Ron Barber said he had some concerns with other provisions in the bill — specifically one that allows border patrol agents access to federal lands, which Barber said “doesn’t make any sense.”
The Democratic factor, combined with persistent reservations from some House conservatives, makes it unclear whether even a bare-bones border crisis package can pass the Republican-led House before lawmakers leave for a five-week congressional recess.
( Also on POLITICO: Undocumented immigrants call for W.H. boycott)
Despite the sliced numbers, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) emerged from the closed-door meeting saying he would not vote for the legislation.
“That is money that America does not have,” added Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.).
About two-thirds of the money will be allocated to the Department of Homeland Security — the primary agency overseeing immigration and border enforcement — and the Justice Department, which has jurisdiction over immigration court judges, said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.).
Roughly one-third will be for the Department of Health and Human Services, which is charged with caring for the unaccompanied migrant children once they come under U.S. custody, Rogers said.
( Also on POLITICO: Obama immigration moves could be unstoppable)
Another $40 million is designated for the three countries from which the vast majority of the children are coming from — El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — to use to help repatriate the minors once they are deported from the United States. Rogers said House Republicans will include a provision that says if the countries do not “act in good faith,” the United States will rescind the aid.
The GOP border-crisis package will also boost the number of detention beds available for immigrants under custody, as well as doubling the funding forNational Guard troops on the Texas border in an effort to relieve overwhelmed border patrol agents.
The bump in funds for the Justice Department will provide for more temporary immigration court judges, and Rogers said the legislation will also pay for videoconferencing in all court hearing rooms nationwide, which should relieve the backlog of immigration court cases and process them more quickly.
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who led an effort to write policy recommendations to respond to the border crisis, also said the measure includes a “sense of the Congress” resolution that says unaccompanied children should not be housed in military facilities.
In recent weeks, unaccompanied migrant children — who are entering primarily through the Rio Grande Valley area in Texas, according to government statistics — have been transported to military facilities in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, where they are being housed.
The legislation also allows border patrol agents access onto federal lands, and it includes a measure banning immigrants with “serious drug-related convictions” from applying for asylum.
“It’s not a complicated bill,” Granger said.
House Republicans formally introduced the bill Tuesday, teeing up a Thursday vote on the House floor.
Lauren French contributed to this report.Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell answers questions as he leaves his trial at U.S. District Court on Aug. 28, 2014, in Richmond, Virginia. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
RICHMOND, Virginia—Former Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell was looking confident as he appeared before a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday morning, appealing his blockbuster public corruption conviction from last fall.
McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were convicted after a six-week jury trial in September, of corruption charges stemming from $177,000 in gifts, luxury items, and loans they accepted from former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie R. Williams Sr., a wealthy Virginia businessman who wanted them to help promote his dietary supplement business. McDonnell was sentenced in January to two years in prison; his wife was sentenced to a year and a day. Their two appeals are proceeding separately. They are both free on bond pending the decision by the appeals court. Maureen still has no date set for oral argument in her appeal.
Once heralded as the most conservative federal appellate court in the country, the 4th Circuit, serving Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina has changed pretty dramatically in recent years. This fact was immediately in evidence when the three-judge panel, drawn at random, for Tuesday morning’s hearing was announced: McDonnell faced Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, tapped for the court by President Bill Clinton; Robert B. King, another Clinton pick; and Stephanie D. Thacker, who was seated by President Obama.
The issues before the court were rooted in the defense team’s claim that the entire conviction was based on an erroneous definition of what constitutes “official acts”—a definition blessed by the trial court judge and so broad, they contend, it would sweep in almost any conduct of any public official in office. Their second claim was that the trial court erred in failing to properly question prospective jurors about whether they were influenced by pretrial media about the case.
Noel J. Francisco, one of McDonnell’s lawyers, got 30 minutes to explain his position. He was bolstered by a who’s who of supporters who’ve filed on his client’s behalf, including 44 former state attorneys general who filed a brief with the appeals court contending that if the definition of public corruption used to convict McDonnell is allowed to stand, it would be open season on elected officials who will now be on the hook “for political courtesies and other innocent acts that are a routine part of American political life.”
Bob McDonell outside the appeals court on May 12, 2015. Photo by Dahlia Lithwick
Francisco’s main argument was that the definition of “official acts” used in the jury instructions could sweep in innocuous conduct ranging from a photo op to asking for a meeting to answering a question posed by a wealthy donor on the phone. As Francisco explained, “The government defined an official act to include every conceivable thing under the sun. There is no limit.” He added that this would mean that simply asking for a meeting is a criminal act, “opening a net for every prosecutor across the country.”
Motz and King did not seem moved—both suggested at times that they felt the defense team’s definition was just legally inaccurate. Francisco then turned to his second point: That the trial judge failed to properly question prospective jurors about whether pretrial publicity had shaped their opinions before the case opened. Again, Motz and King roughed Francisco up about why the judge’s procedure—of administering a juror questionnaire and then asking an en masse pool of eight potential jurors, who had stood up to admit that they had read about the trial, to sit down if they could be fair—was inadequate.
Richard D. Cooke, an assistant U.S. attorney, then had 30 minutes to present the government’s case. He told the panel that the mass stand-up/sit-down was perfectly reasonable, particularly after having filled out such a fulsome questionnaire. Cooke then turned to the defense’s requested jury instructions, a much narrower definition of “official acts,” and called it, simply, an “error,” because it would mean that a government official’s decision to attend meetings or make phone calls could never be seen as part of his “official acts.” Motz pressed him on language from Citizens United, the Supreme Court’s campaign finance case, about whether “ingratiation and access” alone might constitute corruption, to which Cooke answered, “I don’t think the Supreme Court in Citizens United was meaning to provide a legal definition of bribery law.”
Thacker seemed to be the lone voice on the panel who accepted the defense’s proposed notion of official acts, although even Motz suggested that the trial court could have been more emphatic in explaining to jurors what those words actually mean under the statute. Giving heart to the McDonnell team, at one point Motz suggested that, overall, the case against the former governor is not terribly strong because “it is one in which there is a lot of quid pro proven, but the quo is much thinner”— the quo in question being what Williams received in exchange for the watches, weddings, and gowns.
This offered Cooke an opening to serve up a lengthy, uninterrupted monologue on what he deemed to be the quo: “The nature of the payments has evidentiary force,” he explained to the panel. “The timing is devastating.” Cooke listed off the incriminating details: that the governor took a swish vacation at Williams’ vacation home, drove Williams’ Ferrari back, and then immediately placed a call suggesting meetings about Williams’ dietary supplement, and that the governor, in the midst of negotiating a new loan from Williams, sent emails to staff to meet about studies at Virginia universities on Anatabloc, the diet drug that Williams was hawking. Through it all, the panel just sat back and listened.
Despite those details, Francisco’s rebuttal was powerful, contending that it was “crystal clear” the jury pool was tainted by pretrial publicity and that even a “technically accurate jury instruction can be misleading by omission.” Still, Motz quickly body-checked him for hyperbole when he suggested that jurors were instructed that official acts include “anything under the sun.” Francisco ended by urging the panel to recall that McDonnell is a “long-standing public servant who has committed no crimes.”
In the press conference outside the courthouse, McDonnell, flanked by several of his children, said that he “knows in his heart and soul” that he did nothing wrong and that he has spent the past months doing some consulting |
new knowledge and new ways to participate. It asks us to be bold and experiment in the future, as we did in the past.
There's no need to talk about "what we did in the past" in a text about the future (it looks like sort of a "self—glorification" that we as a movement don't need). And then again: "new knowledge", "new ways", "new things"... It looks like the whole statement could be summarized in: "We will do new beautiful things, better, without betraying the tradition". Which is much more concrete but unfortunately means everything and nothing at the same time.
To sum up, in my opinion this text strongly discourage the urge to participate, even to those who would, and it's not clear. Furthermore, this strategic direction looks exactly the same as the one that we carried on up until now: to spread free knowledge with new tools. --Lucas (talk) 16:04, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
Here is a reply to whole current section as a whole. Globally, the feedback of fuzziness in statements seems relevant to me. Now, to be more accurate, I'm not against the use of metaphor with all lyrical stuff that the contributor which is writing them would like to include. But they should be backed with more concrete statements. If some metaphor can't hold the translation, then the translator should adapts them or find someone able to help to do it, because yes that's part of the difficult art of translation. Now on the more broad topic of language, I mean the object that is studied in linguistic, not the way one might phrase its sentences. As we are asked to be bold, then here is a bold question: why sticking with English as our main language when it comes to our international communication? If I well remember, that's an official guideline. It's great that here one is supposed to be able to answer in whatever its native language is, but more broadly, we do use English as our lingua franca. Last year when I talked to a developer of a project of internationalization of programming languages, I was asked what was wrong with English. My answer was, to sum it up, this was a bad question. Of course there is nothing wrong with English nor any other human language per se (or if you prefer you might find an infinity of inconvenience in any language). However, there is a problem with the hegemony of English (as there would be with any "customary" language). To quote The Hegemony of English and Strategies for Linguistic Pluralism: Proposing the Ecology of Language Paradigm by Yukio Tsuda "the dominance of English causes serious consequences which include: (1) linguistic and communicative inequality to a great disadvantage of the speakers of languages other than English; (2) discrimination against the non-English-speaking people and those who are not proficient in English; and (3) colonization of the consciousness of the non-English-speakers, causing them to develop linguistic, cultural, and psychological dependency upon, and identification with, the English, its culture and people." Focusing on the two first points is enough to raise a concern about the use of English as main language for international communication I guess. So I wonder how our community is feeling about that, and whether it is feeling like we might do something about that by 2030 to respond to this concern. Because, yes, there are other solutions, such as Esperanto, which do not include this linguistic and communicative inequality and discrimination against the non-speaker of the hegemonic-langage-of-the-day. Furthermore, at least in case of Esperanto, there are solutions which are far easier to learn and have propaedeutic values for learning other languages. So what about launching a consultation about (1) moving away from English in our international communication and (2) elect an other solution which fit more our value of equity? --Psychoslave (talk) 06:14, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
"Knowlege" and "free knowledge" [ edit ]
I would like to thank Guillaume for writing this draft. Honestly, I found the "knowledge" and "free knowledge" concepts bothersome and troubling. Are we still thinking Wikipedia? If so, "free knowledge"... how "free" is knowledge? Also, at Wikipedia, we can provide knowledge but cannot provide thought and creativity as Wikiversity, Wikibooks, and WikiJournal have been doing lately. Rules of English Wikipedia discourage and disallow original research, bias, and inaccuracy, yet en.wp still provides knowledge but not fully.
If we are not thinking Wikipedia, how would "knowledge" concept apply to other sister projects? Wikinews doesn't provide knowledge but provides information instead. It doesn't help readers gain much knowledge but helps readers be informed about what's going on right now. Its creativity is promising but requires a deadline, hindering potential creativity....Maybe I was thinking English Wikinews. However, older articles are barely read every day.
Wikiquote provides readers a lot of intriguing quotes, but one can wonder why the whole collection of quotes is considered "knowledge", like Taxi Driver, Rocky, and Friends. Wikivoyage has a lot of information about places, like cities. However, does it improve readers' knowledge about certain places? Other projects can provide knowledge: Wiktionary, Wikiversity, and Wikibooks. Wiktionary, Wikisource and Wikispecies prove the existences of things, but can they provide knowledge?
If "knowledge" is not the best word to stick with, how about changing from "knowledge" to "open-source" or something? If not, toward what direction should we head? --George Ho (talk) 11:30, 7 August 2017 (UTC); amended, 06:22, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
Now I realize that one of the themes of this movement is.... "knowledge", isn't it? Is "knowledge" also the main theme of this movement? --George Ho (talk) 05:55, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
"Wikinews doesn't provide knowledge but provides information instead" - The distinction between those terms is not easy to understand. Let's keep at knowledge. --167.58.26.180 18:22, 11 August 2017 (UTC) I'll rephrase what I said about Wikinews: how does Wikinews fit the description of the direction? How does Wikinews provide knowledge if its mission is just providing news? --George Ho (talk) 19:33, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
Well, the fact that in English the concept of knowledge is already less precise than in some other languages (see Knowledge by acquaintance) might help or handicap here, depending how you take it. What our community produce within wikis is intellectual works (work as Werk in German or œuvre in French). As for knowledge, work seems also more polysemic in English, but is probably still preferable to content for example, as pseudo-random data generation can just as well product meaningless content. And it works (mind you, "it also operates") just as well for wikinews, wikipedia, and whatever wiki you might come with. Now, as a community we produce not only intellectual works, but also interpersonal relations, values and all that folklores that emerge when you let people interact. So please, provide your feedback on a proposal to use "intellectual works" rather than "knowledge" or any other proposal it might inspire. --Psychoslave (talk) 08:51, 18 August 2017 (UTC) Honestly, Psychoslave... I don't know what to say about the "intellectual works" direction. However, it looks as if we are heading towards the "creativity" direction, which is meant for mainly Wikibooks, Wikiversity, and WikiJournal. Wikipedia collects whatever is important/notable to readers, but past encyclopedias do insert questions and some opinions made by experts (that's "creative", right?), something that English Wikipedia disallows under rules. en:Category:Intellectual works is worth browsing and surfing; "intellectual work" redirects to w:en:creative work. Maybe heading toward "intellectual works" would mean creating more sister projects, which is IMHO a better direction than "knowledge" direction (of any kind), but I'm unsure whether the WMF would go for that direction. If neither "knowledge" nor "intellectual (or creative) work" is a suitable theme of the movement, there must a better theme than those two. --George Ho (talk) 21:05, 18 August 2017 (UTC) Well, at least "knowledge" should be given some definition here, if there is any intent to build more than fuzzy meaningless logorrhoea within this consultation. Depending on definition you might say every single knowledge is the resultant of the creative interaction between a mind and its environment, or that there isn't any knowledge which is creative, or even that knowledge is a void sign which don't reflect any actual event but result from some mental confusion in denoting operations (but there is no pretension of exhaustiveness in this list). I don't see what would be the danger in having more projects, as we already have a rather clear path for them to raise up or die/stagnate silently within the incubator. Really, the only limit we should be careful about regarding wiki experiments is legality and conformity to our fundamental values (free/libre license, inclusivity, transparacy…). It's not to say there are easy topics to deal with, but I would be interested to know if there would be any other concern about such a multiplication within the community and the WMF. --Psychoslave (talk) 15:06, 20 August 2017 (UTC) I don't see what's wrong with creating another sister project either. I'll clarify that I'm uncertain/unconfident that WMF would head for the "intellectual works" direction or theme. I guess "knowledge" would also allow another sister project creation, right? --George Ho (talk) 22:59, 20 August 2017 (UTC)
This is so rich and i appreciate being part of the Wikimedia foundation, i say it again, I'm proud of this free encyclopedia Mrniger (talk) 00:17, 19 August 2017 (UTC)
– The devil is in the details. We often leave facts, but express opinions. We like things, people, or don’t. Emotions trigger writing, knowledge per se is silent. I personally have found Wikipedia, especially some German authors, to be driven by opinions, less by plausibility or (un)importance of details. In Wikipedia the opinions then hide behind quotes from published media, leaving aside factual probability, but purposely influencing the opinion of the reader. Is this knowledge? Especially when it comes to separate say art from the artist or intention from effect the thin ice of knowledge breaks – expressed in your flowerly language. Are insinuations knowledge? “Renowned historian Soandso wrote this’nthat” is taken for knowledge. Especially when describing persons or trends we should be way more stringent. Sometimes less “knowledge” would be wiser and improve this encyclopedia. And how about “practical” knowledge? Who’s our audience? The student or the professor? Start with the student: Knowledge without structure is a mess, so how do we cope with the alphabetization of knowledge? Sorry for all these questions, but please concentrate on clear directions rather than pompous statements, sorry to say. – Fritz Jörn (talk) 09:24, 1 September 2017 (UTC)
Meh... I'm done [ edit ]
I started reading this and saw little of the community discussions I have been following since January. As this process gets further along it appears more and more like marketing copy from WMF to the community, and feels like it is going the same route as the previous strategy project: to be completely hijacked and rewritten to find and say what the Foundation wanted. I do not have time or interest to be the target audience of a propaganda campaign. - Amgine/meta wikt wnews blog wmf-blog goog news 16:30, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
I... don't know how to respond to your "propaganda" assertions, Amgine. I had wished that you were wrong, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I can't conclude that you're right yet. I believe that the "movement" and its direction would impact all existing and proposed Wikimedia projects. Do you believe so as well? --George Ho (talk) 06:14, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
I can't find the community discussions that were held from January to June 2017, in which I participated. I spent time and energy discussing with other Wikipedia editors what the 2030 vision/strategy might be. We were specific, discussed pros and cons of machine-enable editing, anti-spam tools like ORES and lots of other stuff. There was lively debate and most important, plenty of specific details with external sources cited as evidence. I can't find any of this now! I looked through my edit history, to no avail. All I see now is this propaganda-sounding shtick that reads like ad copy, just as Amgine wrote. I am discouraged and not feeling inclined toward any further engagement.--FeralOink (talk) 22:18, 14 August 2017 (UTC)
Thank you @Amgine: for noticing us about your feeling. I hope you won't give up though, and encourage you to further feeding feed back, especially your most concrete applicable goals. None of our community contributor voice should be smothered by a feeling of failure to listen and to take full account by any part of the community. --Psychoslave (talk) 09:02, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
Whether to endorse the direction in September [ edit ]
Karen, are we allowed to endorse or not endorse the direction? Also, the above comment by Amgine indicates that the user cannot endorse this direction. --George Ho (talk) 19:59, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
Could you please clarify what you mean by "user cannot endorse this direction"? Which user? Do you mean "contributors might be discouraged to contribute any longer" or "contributors should be able to vote against direction proposals"? --Psychoslave (talk) 09:16, 18 August 2017 (UTC) When I said user, I should have said "Amgine", but that was before another user FeralOink responded with agreement. I'll rephrase, Psychoslave: "Are we allowed to vote against the direction of the movement? Some users like FeralOink and Amgine seem to be against the direction for various reasons, like not sourcing or acknowledging the opinions of the community. If voting in opposition toward the finalized direction is not allowed, then they are less compelled to contribute further to this movement." I'll clarify further if I didn't make any sense to you. --George Ho (talk) 09:37, 18 August 2017 (UTC) Anyone will be able to endorse the direction, although the logistics haven't been completely worked out yet. This isn't a vote, so it's not "support/oppose". If you generally agree with the direction, you will be encouraged to endorse it with your signature. If you strongly disagree with it, then you simply don't sign it, and you carry on your contributions as usual. It's similar in spirit to the w:Paris Agreement. Also, keep in mind that this text is still changing in response to comments here and elsewhere; the decision to endorse should be made on the final text in a few weeks. Guillaume (WMF) (talk) 12:03, 18 August 2017 (UTC) Thank you George Ho: Guillaume (WMF): Psychoslave (talk) 13:01, 18 August 2017 (UTC) @Guillaume: may the opponents at least comment on the finalized direction in the talk page instead in September? --George Ho (talk) 19:23, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
Most spoken languages assertion not in citation given [ edit ]
"in the next 15 years, the languages that will be the most spoken are primarily those that currently lack good content and strong Wikimedia communities"
This is sourced to a table indicating Chinese and Spanish will be more widely spoken than English, labeled, "Most Widely Spoken Languages, Projected by 2050," (which is in 38 years, not 15) which is in turn sourced to this Google doc which doesn't include information in the table or the 2050 date, and not the quote in its citation. The table is clearly incorrect. Where is it from? English is already widely dominant world-wide and its rate of growth suggests it could be the second language of a full majority of the global population by 2030.
Is there any support for the assertion quoted above? 89.47.15.41 18:36, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
Out of the top 5 languages according to that source, only the Hindi Wikipedia has relatively few articles and editors. So the phrase is clearly wrong. --NaBUru38 (talk) 16:44, 12 August 2017 (UTC)
A chart listing the 50 languages with the largest number of speakers and the highlighting those with over 100,000 Wikipedia articles (as of August 2017) in green and those with over 1,000,000 Wikipedia articles in orange.
::Predicting future language growth is complex, but this chart gives a deeper look at where we stand now. The small Wikipedias (<100,000 articles) are concentrated in South Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia, all places with higher than average population growth rates. Note that many of the largest Wikipedias (Swedish, Dutch, Cebuano, Waray) aren't in the top 50 list here.--Carwil (talk) 01:48, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
Cebuano and Waray-Waray have single-digit amount of administrators and very few or several active non-bot users doing more than 40 edits within last 30 days. Nevertheless, they have millions of articles. --George Ho (talk) 04:33, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
I agree with the claim that predictions are difficult, especially about future event. ;) But sure you might find many futurologists out there to sell you all the projection you want (here is one for French as most spoken language by 2050). Personally I would be more concerned on providing more resources to languages with the less speakers out there, as those with more people will already benefit from that actual numerical superiority. Languages are dying at an alarming rate. Anything we can we do in favor of language diversity is worth trying. --Psychoslave (talk) 13:24, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
Throw it out and start over [ edit ]
From the very first sentence this draft makes its intention clear, and not in a good way.
The strategic direction of the Wikimedia movement for 2030 is to become the roads, bridges, and villages that support the world's journey towards free knowledge.
Even as a native English speaker, this comes across as somehow worse than the crap I delete every day as advertising.
Wikipedia soon became much more than its origin story, and today it is considered by many as a source for information whose role is to collect knowledge.
False. Wikipedia, by design, excludes certain knowledge (and "knowledge"). Even in an ideal world, the sum of all Wikimedia projects excludes knowledge by design (e.g. what $CELEBRITY had for dinner last night). Our audience failing to realize this is a problem.
Limits of Wikimedia: What we should improve (second paragraph) We will break down the social and technical barriers preventing people from accessing and contributing to our shared knowledge.
Some of the non-problems in this section arise from the desire to improve quality. To build high-quality free knowledge, we must EXCLUDE certain people. Earth to WMF: while anyone can edit, not everybody is capable of contributing constructively or is motivated to do so. Competence and clue are required, hence the need for barriers to entry. As quality improves, the barriers become higher. Do you seriously want Wikipedia to be overrun by hoards from the third world who have no idea what an encyclopedia is, and can't be bothered to find out? The specific competencies may be different for other WMF projects, but the logic is the same (at some point, crappy smartphone pictures become inadequate, for instance).
We will create a participatory culture that is enjoyable, rewarding, and supportive of anyone who wants to contribute in good faith.
See above. Good faith is necessary, but not sufficient. I'm here to build an encyclopedia, not to hand out remedial English lessons.
I've spent enough time critiquing this document. To put it bluntly, this draft is yet another example of idealistic, ignorant, vapid bullshit from the WMF leadership. Throw it out and start over, this time actually paying attention to what the community actually had to say -- there was a heavy emphasis on quality, yet this accounts for less than 5% of the draft document -- instead of selectively quoting the consultation and your own research to support your own predetermined vision. MER-C (talk) 07:09, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
Hi MER-C, while I do see some interesting points in your post, you should really rewrite it from scratch in order to be part of a constructive discussion. --Gnom (talk) Let's make Wikipedia green! 11:00, 9 August 2017 (UTC) You mean, Gnom, that we can overhaul the whole draft and change the direction? If so, sweet! :) --George Ho (talk) 16:49, 9 August 2017 (UTC) "To build high-quality free knowledge, we must EXCLUDE certain people. Earth to WMF: while anyone can edit, not everybody is capable of contributing constructively or is motivated to do so. Competence and clue are required, hence the need for barriers to entry. As quality improves, the barriers become higher. Do you seriously want Wikipedia to be overrun by hoards from the third world who have no idea what an encyclopedia is, and can't be bothered to find out?" Dear Gnom, the motto of Wikimedia is that people can learn. Therefore we have different people, resources and activities to teach people to contribute. You assume otherwise. You sound like you want to exclude people beforehand. If a contribution is poor, we can easily remove it. But you seem to propose to have an introductory exam to become a licensed editor. And I disagree with that. --NaBUru38 (talk) 17:03, 12 August 2017 (UTC)
Hi, MER-C: To build high-quality free knowledge, we must EXCLUDE certain people. Earth to WMF: while anyone can edit, not everybody is capable of contributing constructively or is motivated to do so. Competence and clue are required, hence the need for barriers to entry. As quality improves, the barriers become higher. Do you seriously want Wikipedia to be overrun by hoards from the third world who have no idea what an encyclopedia is, and can't be bothered to find out? The specific competencies may be different for other WMF projects, but the logic is the same (at some point, crappy smartphone pictures become inadequate, for instance). Here I strongly disagree with your statement that we should exclude certain people. Some contributions are unwelcome when they are added in inappropriate spaces, and the community should have tools to temporarily prevent a specific person to contribute to a more or less large set of our contribution spaces. But we don't exclude a priori multiple people, especially not because they are suspected to belong to some ethnic/regional/religious/whatever group. What is discussed here is how to best accompany still underrepresented language versions, where you will most probably will never contribute yourself (except if you are an exceptional being proficient in hundred languages?), so you really should have any fear of a sudden flock of new contributors willing to drive the project in direction you personally dislike. If by chance we might have such a large arrival of new contributors which aren't interested in writing encyclopedic articles, we might lead them to more appropriate contribution spaces – should we create them for that occasion – then later maybe they might be interested to also write encyclopedic articles while already having acquired useful skills regarding policies and tools we provide to do so. Regarding crappy smartphone pictures, as far as I know our current infrastructure is able to store more than we receive and as long as it is the case an a posteriori sort/deletion is the best policy, isn't it? For the rest of you critics of lake of inclusion from previous feedback, they seem to find a general resonance and so your feedback seems worth listening to (although I doubt that the way you formulate it favour anything but blurring the content in its form). --Psychoslave (talk) 14:08, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
Some language conerns [ edit ]
Hi, This is maybe the problem that I am not native English speaker, but some problems I encounter during translation to Polish (which might be an issue for other languages as well):
"What we have accomplished in our first 16 years of existence is a testament to the success of this approach." - actually "testement" is normally used as equivalent to "last will" you write before you die: w:Testament, which I guess is not the intention here, but rather using this in "biblical" sense (an agreement between God and people about some basic things) - but the biblical meaning is too much christian related, so it might be hard to translate to Arabic or Mandarin, and the coincidence with "last will" is not particularly good idea, as hopefully, the direction is not going to be our last will :-) You should take testatement as a synonym of proof/evidence/testimonial. Maybe one of this word might actually be used in the draft itself. --Psychoslave (talk) 15:25, 20 August 2017 (UTC)
"People everywhere will feel as though they have a role to play in advancing free and open knowledge. Community will be more broadly defined to include many forms of contributors, from editors to donors to organizers." - I guess it is "to donors and organizers" or "from editors, through donors to organizers"?
"We will recognize the strength of distributed and diverse local communities as powerful tools for adaptation and innovation, and as counters to influence on our neutrality." - Using people as a tools doesn't sounds good - also, the word "counter" mean either "an apparatus used for counting." or "to speak or act in opposition to." - I guess what we want to say here is - that we believe that local communities can help achieve better neutrality; to "counter to influence on our neutrality" - might be understood that the communities are either trying to force their POV or block efforts to make our neutrality better by countering other influencers? Anyway it is very messy statement. If we let to "influence our neutrality" or "counter to influence..." too much - we won't be neutral any longer..
"We will balance self sufficiency and autonomy with intention and values we all share." - This is also very messy - first of all - we want to be self sufficient in order to not to trade off our values, so why does this must be "balanced" with our values? The more we are self sufficent the less there is danger for any trade offs regarding our values. And - above all - are we really about to balance our values with anything? Our values are who we are - so there is no room to "balance" it with anything? Anyway the idea of "balancing our values" - doesn't sound good.
Polimerek (talk) 11:05, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
I agree with Polimerek. People shouldn't be treated as tools, and our values should never be balanced with anything. --167.58.26.180 18:25, 11 August 2017 (UTC) I also agree with the feeling I guess behind indignation concern raised here. Even when thinking in a systemic overview, people feelings should be kept in mind. --Psychoslave (talk) 15:25, 20 August 2017 (UTC)
What about future of sister projects? [ edit ]
I have a feeling that the direction completely ignores existing sister projects - at least I see no any word about them, as Wikipedia is mentioned quite often. There is a one sentence which address somehow the issue but in very messy way:
"As we include other forms of free knowledge, we will aim for these projects to be as successful as Wikipedia." - what kind of projects? A new ones? or existing? and by "projects" we understand here what exactly - sister wikis or something beyond wiki? Anyway the goal is very ambitious and if we really believe it is achievable - if we believe that we can make anything new or existing as successful as Wikipedia - we should call it more openly and more precisely, what we believe it might be.
Polimerek (talk) 11:18, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
Indeed. "An encyclopedia, and so much more" feels so 2002, as if we didn't have anything else. All the recommendations seem to be about Wikipedia, including the mention of Wikidata. Instead we need to focus on what has a bigger growth potential, if the desire for growth and "Different forms of participation" is real. --Nemo 13:42, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
Pegasovagante on Italian is suggesting to change the paragraph this way (his addition in bold): We will adapt to our changing world to offer knowledge in the most effective ways, strengthening Wikimedia projects across digital formats, devices, and experiences. We will adapt our communities and technology to the needs of the people we serve. As we include and further develop other forms of free knowledge, we will aim for these sister projects to be as successful as Wikipedia. Source. --Niccolò "Jaqen" Caranti (WMF) (talk) 13:52, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
I like this suggestion to change the paragraph. This way, it would make much more sense to me, and it goes along with themes B and E from cycle 2. --Pakeha (talk) 16:17, 19 August 2017 (UTC)
I'm not quite sure how to provide feedback on this, so I'm just going to leave this message here.
The language is far too flowery. Ideally it should be in en:Plain English so that it's easy for everyone to understand and easy to translate.
As a result of the floweriness, it's difficult to immediately spot a solid direction here. It's not there in the emboldened statement, which I assume is the one we're supposed to look at (unless we're going to start building roads, bridges, and villages?). It is more there in the second through to the sixth sentence, but you still have to parse the floweriness before you can see the points (which might almost be better as separate bullet points at the moment). You could almost remove the first sentence and not lose anything as it stands.
"creating... trusted knowledge" is quite different from what we do at the moment. Does this imply that we would start funding scientific research, for example?
The third paragraph looks like it belongs in the reasoning, not in the direction. It's similar with the last paragraph, but that does fit in a bit more than the third one.
Hope that helps - and feel free to disregard this if it doesn't. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 23:04, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
Recommendations [ edit ]
As a starting point, these are copied from the previous strategy recommendations at Recommendations:
Build and implement an ongoing, community communications plan
Increase transparency about the Foundation’s programs and budgets
Leverage the network effect of the whole community (Foundation, chapters, partners, contributors)
Develop a contributor relationship-management program based on member life cycle
Encourage more participation, offset known hurdles that prevent deeper engagement
Offer recognition and feedback loops
Connect to mentors or mentor community (more experienced Wikimedians and content experts), based on content interest or location
Introduce inexpensive, geographically-specific opportunities for more in-person interaction
Automatically offer personalized recommendations for content to contribute, based on selected areas of interest and past contributions
Offer opt-in email communications to create cohorts for outreach and more support based on life stage
Create different UIs, features, and levels of support for different levels of engagement (EWP) to better overcome the steep learning curve
Reading stage: easy ways to encourage switch to editor mode
Stage 1: First-time editor - limited capabilities (minor edits, contributions directly on requested items) with simple, easy-to-understand how-to tutorials
Stage 2: Casual editor - more capabilities, more advanced tutorials
Stage 3: Prominent editor - all capabilities and advanced features, advanced tutorials
Review product enhancements requested in the consultation, mainly
Simplify editor/contributor interface and tools
Improve language translation tools
Improve Wikidata and connections between wikis
Develop more relationships with GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums)
Build easier ways to verify and cite sources, More connections to services
Better define the development life stages of a wiki
so that “lessons learned” could be shared more easily and typical obstacles could be overcome
Review suggestions for improving community engagement noted in the consultation, mainly
Incentives, feedback loops, ongoing recognition
Gamification of edits/contributions
Simplified tools and tutorials to onboard new editors
They flew away [ edit ]
Previously I did not participate in public discussions, I was confined to reading (and participation in the real world discussion at the conference), but this time I will write something. "The strategic direction of the Wikimedia movement for 2030 is to become the roads, bridges, and villages that support the world's journey towards free knowledge." Really? "We, the Wikimedia movement, will forge the tools and build the foundations for creating and accessing trusted knowledge in many shapes and colors." "Experts" from WMF have really flew away. I do not even want to read it any further. From the introduction and the first section that I read, there is nothing concrete, so "we will be the most honest, the most open, the strongest and the best". If there is anything more meaningful, I would be glad if I was briefed. Regards, PiotrekD (talk) 13:58, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
Yeah, I lost it too at "knowledge in many shapes and colors". Yaron Koren (talk) 15:25, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
Trust structures, both social and technical, are what we must develop to increase the reliability of our content. [ edit ]
This is... intriguing. Two questions:
a) What is a "trust structure" b) what does whatever that is, have to do with improving reliability?
I am very invested in maintaining and improving reliability of content - most of what i do in en-WP is maintenance (something WMF doesn't talk about nearly enough).
Overall this sounds like w:Nupedia/w:Citizendium but surely that is not what is mind. So do tell. Jytdog (talk) 11:33, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
To me, trust is a social thing. People trust or don't. There's no such thing as a structure. --167.58.26.180 18:28, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
asking again, what the heck does this mean? Jytdog (talk) 07:50, 27 August 2017 (UTC) Looks like PR-speak, a well known phenomenon, sometimes also called bullshit. · · · Peter (Southwood) (talk): 20:50, 5 September 2017 (UTC)
The best technology avalaible today for implementing trust structures is the w:blockchain, the transaction storage infrastructure backing Bitcoin. It provides a criptographically secure infrastructure for trust by consensus algorithms, but it is also a decentralized storage where every computer that is part of the blockchain stores all or part of the information stored in the blockchain. IMHO, this technology, running on top of a distributed file system, like w:HDFS or, more likely, w:IPFS is just what Wikipedia needs. It will solve storage, trust, and change tracking issues. However, it is a very disruptive change to undergo. (Pieraco) 17:18, 10 September 2017 (UTC)
The Wikimedia Foundation should stop presumptively speaking for the Wikimedia movement [ edit ]
The Wikimedia Foundation should stop presumptively speaking for the Wikimedia movement.
The Foundation is free to set whatever strategy it wants to. The movement is not obligated to follow that strategy. It's difficult to organize an anarchy to follow any strategy, see wikt:herd cats.
The strategic direction of Goodfellow's Restaurant for 2030 is to become the forks, knives, and spoons that support the world's journey towards nutritional nourishment. That's what Goodfellow's marketing department tells the world, but we know better. The strategic direction of Goodfellow's Restaurant is to maximize revenues and profits. Wbm1058 (talk) 20:13, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
Hello, this strategy document is supposed to show what the community has said in the past strategy discussions. Do you think it doesn't? --NaBUru38 (talk) 17:07, 12 August 2017 (UTC) Summarizing the recent discussions isn't an easy task, but this sounds like a strategy that could have been written 15 years ago. It's so vague as to be rendered virtually meaningless in terms of any actionable items or change in direction from what the movement has been doing for the past 15 years. I think #Summary of comments below is a good assessment. Wbm1058 (talk) 17:24, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
Let's deepen our description of how we will grow free knowledge [ edit ]
The Direction section looks strong and inspiring to me, but I'm concerned that major strategic pieces of carrying it out aren't in the later sections. I draw particular attention to these parts of the direction:
"Our networks of people and systems will connect with individuals and institutions to share knowledge through open standards and structures, and support them on the journey to openness and collaboration. We will be a leading advocate and partner for increasing the sharing, curation, and participation in free and open knowledge."
"We will welcome people from everywhere to grow fields of knowledge that represent human diversity."
This are great goals, but we need to lay out some of the aspirations and broad kinds of individuals and institutions we will bring in. Let me suggest the following:
Academics and researchers : |
its drinking and waste-water infrastructure by 2028. A recent study from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments found $58 billion in infrastructure upgrades are needed in the region surrounding the District of Columbia. Marc Edwards, the civil engineering professor at Virginia Tech and MacArthur genius-award recipient who helped uncover the lead-contamination scandals in Flint and Washington, D.C., estimates national infrastructure repair needs at $1 trillion; the U.S. Conference of Mayors puts the number between $2.8 and $4.8 trillion.
Where will this funding to come from? Not from the federal government, which has ratcheted down its investments in water infrastructure by more than 80 percent since 1980. Municipal services outside of education have historically received much less funding from state governments, leaving this problem in the hands of the municipalities—the best way to guarantee an unequal, and racist, outcome.
Bigger cities like New York or Chicago, with their diverse revenue streams and relative political power, will be better equipped to shoulder such a burden. The Twin Cities region has a revenue-sharing model that sets aside a certain percentage of all taxes in the coverage area to be distributed among the different municipalities, counties, and school districts. A few cities in the Upper South, like Louisville, Kentucky, have joined with their suburbs to create one enormous jurisdiction, allowing for a more equitable distribution of resources.
The losers are small and depressed urban areas like Flint and the welter of small suburban municipalities, like Yeadon, that are completely unsuited to combat the enormous challenges confronting them. Although few suburbs of any demographic composition are likely to be able to handle these infrastructure challenges alone, the worst situated are those suburban municipalities with majority black or Latino populations. “A variety of indicators show that predominantly nonwhite suburbs suffer many of the ills often attributed solely to central cities, and more,” reads a 2012 report on diverse suburbs, co-authored by Orfield. “They have by far the lowest tax bases, at just 66 percent of regional averages.”
Without greater investment from federal or state governments or innovative regional solutions, it’s a safe bet that Flint won’t be the last city that suffers an avoidable disaster of failed infrastructure. But the next tragedy may well unfold in the suburbs.
Read more in Slate about Flint, Michigan’s drinking water emergency.Exactly seven months after Eric Pickles ordered Government-appointed inspectors to examine the books at Tower Hamlets council, the Communities Secretary will tomorrow publish their findings.
The report from PricewaterhouseCoopers will be published on the DCLG website at 9.30am, just as a written ministerial statement is made in the Commons.
Three hours later, the minister himself will make an oral statement in the chamber outlining the Government’s response.
Only a handful of people know what’s in the report: ie at PwC and at the very top of DCLG.
At this time of writing (about 8.20pm Monday), even Mayor Lutfur Rahman does not know what’s in it. It may be that the report has been sent to the council’s Head of Paid Service, Stephen Halsey, but even that’s not clear. Presumably, Mr Halsey would have to brief Lutfur if he had received it.
So anyone claiming they’ve heard this or that about the report’s findings is quite likely spreading unfounded rumours.
However, it would be a surprise to almost everyone if Eric did not announce he was imposing a new chief executive on the council…at the very least.
Clearly, whether he goes further depends on what has been found.
Lutfur’s camp believe, from the various questions they’ve had to answer and check during the past seven months, that any direct Government intervention, eg the appointment of Commissioners to run procurement and grants, would be vulnerable to a legal challenge.
So we could see more taxpayers’ money spent on legal bills….on top of the cash currently going on lawyers for the judicial review of Eric’s original decision, a hearing due at the High Court on November 14.
When Eric made his initial announcement on April 4 (four days after the Panorama programme), the council “welcomed” the chance to clear its name.
Here’s that statement:
We welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that council processes have been run appropriately and to date we have seen no evidence to suggest otherwise. This inspection affords the borough the best opportunity to demonstrate that the borough has acted in the best interests of all residents. We will release further information in due course.
Well, you could say they had a funny way of showing it. There’s a feeling in Whitehall that the council deliberately dragged its heels over supplying information to the auditors.
As I’ve noted before, the inspection has been trying to determine whether the council has achieved “best value” with the public’s money. Handing it to lawyers to try and block that process didn’t go down too well. It fed a narrative.
Has there been any fraud? I have no idea. Certainly, Panorama never made that allegation….although their team did find evidence of a fraud linked to the Brady Youth Forum, as mentioned here.
If the PwC report hasn’t found fraud, expect the Lutfur line to be “I told you so”.
But I’d be astonished if there isn’t severe criticism of the council tomorrow.
A minister like Eric Pickles just doesn’t make oral statements to the Commons so he can have egg chucked in his face.
So over to you, then, Eric, me old chum.
AdvertisementsIt has come to this. A Florida county sheriff's office felt compelled to tell residents not fire weapons at Hurricane Irma after a social media page advocating shooting the storm went viral.
Hurricane Irma's eye made landfall Sunday morning in the Florida Keys on its way toward Tampa Bay.
Pasco County is on Florida's west coast near Tampa.Two men started a Facebook event page entitled "Shoot At Hurricane Irma" adding "Lets show Irma that we shoot first." As of Sunday morning, 54,000 people said they were interested.One of authors of the page said the post was an attempt at humor."A combination of stress and boredom made me start the event," Ryon Edwards told BBC.It was to "lighten the mood. … The response is a complete and total surprise to me. I never envisioned this event becoming some kind of crazy idea larger than myself. It has become something a little out of my control," he said.After some on Twitter questioned the credibility of the original report, Pasco County Sheriff's Office later said that the tens of thousands of responses compelled it to comment.So many things we think we understand! I, for example, have long told myself that the separation of the mind and the body—a notion basic to modern thought—is a lie. True knowledge springs from a marriage of mind and body. So I have thought, so I have written. But dancing with Karen Brown, an old friend and colleague, on the occasion of her retirement party in the spring of 2009 was teaching me that I had a way to go in understanding. She really knew. She danced like an angel now at her party, to the drumming of Frisner Augustin, whom she had specifically requested for the affair. “This is it,” she insisted. “This is what it’s really all about.” I felt the presence of a consciousness deeper than those of us at the party—who were not facing a fatal illness—could possibly know. In the liminal space between life and death, on the road to Ginen, Karen would go out dancing.
Karen McCarthy Brown engaged Frisner to play in celebration of two important landmarks in her life: the debut publication of her Mama Lola, A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, and her retirement from Drew University, where she had taught for thirty-three years. The debut publication took place in 1991. (New editions appeared in 2001 and 2011.) The book marked the end of a dozen years of research and writing. Karen made her first research trip to Haiti in 1973 but met Mama Lola (Marie Thérèse Alourdes Macena Champagne Lovinsky) while surveying Brooklyn’s Haitian community in 1978. The book won awards, including Best First Book in the History of Religion (American Academy of Religion) and the Victor Turner Prize (American Anthropological Association). You can read more about the life and legacy of Karen McCarthy Brown on her memorial page.
Karen and Frisner met in August of 1990 at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, where both had been engaged to teach during a weekend seminar on “energetic medicine.” Frisner showed up at breakfast on the first morning dressed as Kouzen Zaka, the Vodou spirit of the earth and farmers, and the costume delighted Karen. Both shared the belief that Haitian Vodou, at its core, heals people. Both understood that while healing takes many forms and approaches in Vodou, it accomplishes its work most dramatically at the dance, the nocturnal ritual driven by the drums. It was natural that months later, as friends and family celebrated the publication of Mama Lola, Karen would invite Frisner with his healing vibes. It was just as natural that when Drew asked Karen what she wanted for her retirement party, she would say, “Drumming,” and then, “Frisner Augustin.”
The video below captures about two minutes of the book party and four minutes of the retirement party. Watch Frisner as he crafts woule (drum rolls) to the contours of Mama Lola’s melody. Watch as he and Mama Lola guide the ebb and flow of the retirement party. Listen to Mama Lola’s warrior spirit Ogou in his heart-to-heart with Karen—in English, “You think too much…shake your body!” Watch Frisner get everyone on their feet with the drums, and note Mama Lola’s pleasure as she watches Karen dance. Frisner passed in February 2012, and Karen in March 2015. Can’t you see them drumming and dancing in Ginen?
We found the Video 8 recording of the book party mostly damaged. Thankfully, the first three minutes, two of which you see here, survived. Documents are ephemeral, which makes the work of digitization all the more pressing. Please help Makandal finish digitizing its video recordings for the Frisner Augustin Memorial Archive. Go here to make a tax-deductible contribution, and know that you’ve made a great gift to the culture, and to the future. Mèsi! Thank you!
Credits (from the top)
Featured image: Detail from the front cover of Mama Lola, A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, published by University of California Press, 1991 (further information below)
Full front cover of Mama Lola, A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, published by University of California Press, 1991. Jacket illustration: the doll that represents the Vodou spirit Èzili Dantò on Mama Lola’s altar, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 1982. Jacket design by Janet Wood.
Photo by Robert Machover: Karen McCarthy Brown at her retirement party in Milford, New Jersey, May 2, 2009.
Video: (1) Mama Lola sings and Frisner Augustin drums at Karen McCarthy Brown’s book party, Manhattan, April 20, 1991, recorded by Lois Wilcken; and (2) Frisner Augustin and Makandal drummers play for Karen McCarthy Brown’s retirement party in Milford, New Jersey, May 2, 2009, recorded by Robert Machover. Video edited by Lois Wilcken.
Story by Lois WilckenSeeds of Competitive Law in Dubai?
The Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) is a small zone of credibly-administered common law within the UAE’s Sharia law system. Recently, Dubai opened up the courts to a broader client-base. While previously the courts served the institutions housed within the zone, now businesses outside its narrow bounds can bring in their contracts for arbitration.
It appears to have been a smart move:
Dubai’s move to open up its common-law court has sparked a flurry of contract changes among foreign firms to ensure future disputes will be aired at court, the registrar has said. DIFC Courts, located in the city’s tax-free financial zone, expects to double the amount of cases heard at its small claims tribunal this year and is doubling its staff in anticipation of the surge. “Without exception I have received calls from every major law firm that has offices in Dubai and the majority of middle-tier international law firms because their clients want to understand how they can use the DIFC Courts,” said registrar Mark Beer.
This is an early step towards allowing better choice in law, and innovating law itself through competition. With parallel legal ‘operating systems’ people can vote with their feet (or, well, their pen) by finding mutually beneficial systems for dispute resolution.
Proving that institutions and credible legal systems matter for markets, the move is openly motivated by a desire for economic growth:
The Dubai government in October widened the court’s jurisdiction to allow companies based outside the tax-free business park to bring their cases before the common law court in a move aimed at attracting more international investment to the emirate. Under the new rules, companies can opt to resolve their disputes in DIFC Courts if both parties agree to its jurisdiction. Contracts can also include a clause binding both parties to use the court in the event of a disagreement. “This move will reinforce Dubai’s reputation as the business hub of the region, and attract business to invest in Dubai that may otherwise have established elsewhere,” Michael Hwang, chief justice of the DIFC Courts, told Arabian Business in October.So it turns out ROBLOX’s physics are very approximate, and rather hard to work with.
You may be surprised if you have not been on ROBLOX for long. Most of us are not. The truth is ROBLOX is a game, and we can’t expect perfect physics. However, you do have to keep a few things in mind when working with vehicles.
First of all, most people use a few “BodyMover” objects to work with vehicles, these include things such as “BodyGyro” and “BodyVelocity.”
If you want realistic vehicles, avoid these like a plague. You see, real vehicles work, well, without magical forces upon them. So when you make a car, just use wheels and a motor. When you make a boat, just set velocity directly. You may gripe and complain, but it makes a lot more interesting effects, and a much more fun vehicle to drive.
So what about setting velocity, you say?
Well, I have noticed a few things kind of wrong when it comes to velocity and forces. First of all ROBLOX groups parts that are connected via joints together into one physics model. Yes, that is right. ROBLOX treats connected parts as one physics body. This makes sense, the velocity of one connected part should be the same as another.
This, however, is bad for us, trying to set velocity. well, it’s good and bad. It means that it does not matter what part gains a velocity, the whole model gains and moves at the same velocity, relative to the center of mass.
This is also the bad thing. Because when things get added to a model, the whole model gains a new velocity, this time, defined by the thing just connected to the model.
A nice side effect of this is that your model is actually more efficient as a single group than probably 1/3 of the pieces, but all separate.
When you start welding players to a ship or a vehicle, things start looking a bit funky. Now, humanoid models also manage to stop literally any force coming at them, they basically deny physics, but when you weld them to a ship while they’re seated, they’ll generally respect the ship or vehicle. Otherwise, your ship may start marching along in a whole new direction.
If this was real life, walking on a treadmill could be extremely threatening.
The humanoid issue is just a byproduct. The main issue is when it comes to applying forces to a ship or vehicle. There is nothing more amusing than seeing your car fly into the sky after a long day.
When I started trying to make my ships more realistic, at one point, I tried to calculate sails dynamically, with the help of Trey. Trey had a great algorithm. The problem with it was that after calculating the force to apply, I applied it by adding to the velocity. That had the unfortunate unrealistic effect of speeding my boat off in a rather fast fashion. It also removed any possibility of awesome tip effects from the sails being blown upon.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
Two school buses were involved in a crash in Rolling Hills Estates on Friday afternoon that left 10 to 15 children with minor injuries, authorities said.
The buses collided just before 2:30 p.m. at Hawthorne Boulevard and Silver Spur Road, according to the California Highway Patrol’s traffic incident log.
The location is next to Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. Soleado Elementary is a few blocks away.
Sixty children were on the two buses, and 10 to 15 of them were being treated for minor injuries, according to Randall Wright of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
A tweet from the department later said 17 patients were assessed for injuries, but only one person -- an adult -- was transported to a hospital.
Aerial video showed at least six emergency vehicles on scene. The buses that crashed were not visible.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
KTLA's Scott Williams contributed to this article.U.S. intelligence officials are seeking to determine whether an American businessman identified by Donald Trump as one of his foreign policy advisers has opened up private communications with senior Russian officials — including talks about the possible lifting of economic sanctions if the Republican nominee becomes president, according to multiple sources who have been briefed on the issue.
The activities of Trump adviser Carter Page, who has extensive business interests in Russia, have been discussed with senior members of Congress during recent briefings about suspected efforts by Moscow to influence the presidential election, the sources said. After one of those briefings, Senate minority leader Harry Reid wrote FBI Director James Comey, citing reports of meetings between a Trump adviser (a reference to Page) and “high ranking sanctioned individuals” in Moscow over the summer as evidence of “significant and disturbing ties” between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin that needed to be investigated by the bureau.
Some of those briefed were “taken aback” when they learned about Page’s contacts in Moscow, viewing them as a possible back channel to the Russians that could undercut U.S. foreign policy, said a congressional source familiar with the briefings but who asked for anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject. The source added that U.S. officials in the briefings indicated that intelligence reports about the adviser’s talks with senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin were being “actively monitored and investigated.”
A senior U.S. law enforcement official did not dispute that characterization when asked for comment by Yahoo News. “It’s on our radar screen,” said the official about Page’s contacts with Russian officials. “It’s being looked at.”
Page is a former Merrill Lynch investment banker in Moscow who now runs a New York consulting firm, Global Energy Capital, located around the corner from Trump Tower, that specializes in oil and gas deals in Russia and other Central Asian countries. He declined repeated requests to comment for this story.
Trump first mentioned Page’s name when asked to identify his “foreign policy team” during an interview with the Washington Post editorial team last March. Describing him then only as a “PhD,” Trump named Page as among five advisers “that we are dealing with.” But his precise role in the campaign remains unclear; Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks last month called him an “informal foreign adviser” who “does not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign.” Asked this week by Yahoo News, Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said Page “has no role” and added: “We are not aware of any of his activities, past or present.” Miller did not respond when asked why Trump had previously described Page as one of his advisers.
Donald Trump (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) More
The questions about Page come amid mounting concerns within the U.S. intelligence community about Russian cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee and state election databases in Arizona and Illinois. In a rare public talk this week, former undersecretary of defense for intelligence Mike Vickers said that the Russian cyberattacks constituted meddling in the U.S. election and were “beyond the pale.” Also, this week, two senior Democrats — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, ranking minority member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking minority member on the House Intelligence Committee — released a joint statement that went further then what U.S. officials had publicly said about the matter.
“Based on briefings we have received, we have concluded that the Russian intelligence agencies are making a serious and concerted effort to influence the U.S. election,” they said. “At the least, this effort is intended to sow doubt about the security of our election and may well be intended to influence the outcomes of the election.” They added that “orders for the Russian intelligence agencies to conduct such actions could come only from very senior levels of the Russian government.”Super Scope The Super Scope continued the apparent requirement of pre-disc based systems to have a gun peripheral. Thanks to Dave Di Giorgio and JB for some of the information here, and François Gingras for the pictures. By: Evan G
Last updated: December 31, 2016 I have to admit that I have never owned or used a Super Scope. Nintendo decided against making a pistol-style gun like they had with the Zapper, opting for a more bazooka-style design. It was rather cumbersome and only lightly supported through the lifespan of the Super NES. I remember seeing a bunch of copies of Battle Clash in the bargain bins of stores in 1996. Kind of pointless to get it without the gun. In response to the Super Scope, Sega ended up releasing their own poorly received Menacer peripheral, taking design cues from the Super Scope. Left side The Super Scope came out fairly early in the lifespan of the Super NES in the US, in early 1992. In Japan, it came out much later. According to Nintendo's website on the Super Scope 6 (which amazingly is still up), it came out on June 21, 1993, over a year after it came out in the US. The PAL release also came in 1993, apparently around the same time as in Japan. In one of the first nods to wireless capabilities for a video game device, the Super Scope was not directly connected to the SNES. Instead, a sensor that plugged into the second controller port, which served as the "receiver". The huge negative of this is that the Super Scope needed six batteries. Also, from videos I have seen, the accuracy of the Super Scope was highly dependent on the TV you used. All in all, it is not something that is considered to be an essential part of the Super NES library. The best description of the technical details on how the Super Scope works is from the official SNES Development Manual. The function of the scope is entirely dependent on the timing of refreshing of phosphor (i.e. pixel) rows on a cathode ray tube (CRT) screen (the screen on a CRT refreshes one line at a time). When the Super Scope is triggered, it sends an infrared beam towards the TV, and it analyzes the screen for a few frames to determine where the Super Scope is aimed. Since the Super NES also renders line-by-line, it can determine where on the screen the Super Scope is aimed based on the refreshing of the phosphors. An inherent limitation of how the Super Scope works is that it is sensitive to how rapidly the phosphors decay, so the colour red could not be used in games with the Super Scope. This is because red phosphors do not decay quickly enough to work with the scan when the Super Scope is triggered. As a result, Super Scope games tend to have very washed out graphics. Since the Super Scope's function is completely dependent on how CRT screens behave, it will not work on non-CRT TVs. This means you cannot use the Super Scope on modern TVs. The ideal distance from the TV to play the Super Scope is about 3 meters from the screen. If the Super Scope is too close to the screen, there can be errors since it incorrectly detects the refresh rate of the phosphors. Here is a summary of the games, in somewhat chronological order. Super NES Super Scope 6 Blastris "A" Lazerblazer - Intercept Blastris "B" Lazerblazer - Engage Mole Patrol Lazerblazer - Confront Super Scope 6 came with the Super Scope. It essentially is six mini-games. If you look at promotional material and even Nintendo's official SNES games listing, they often give the title of this game Blastris/Lazerblazer. Blastris has two block-style puzzle modes. The first, "A" is basically a Tetris-style game, except the blocks go from left to right. Each time a piece falls (or shuffles?), you get two shots to remove block parts. "B" is more like a Puyo Puyo puzzle game, where you have to match several adjacent coloured blocks. The third game is not even a puzzle game. It is basically just "whack-a-mole". I couldn't get this to run very well in the emulator I was using (bsnes-plus), so I can't comment on how good these are. The second set of games is Lazerblazer. They are basically just variants of the same thing - shoot planes, missiles, etc. Graphically, nothing to write home about. Calling it "six games in one" would be overselling it. The game was released in Japan on June 21, 1993. BattleClash BattleClash title screen First enemy BattleClash was one of the games that Nintendo really used to push the system. It was given a dedicated commercial that I remember well. After seeing this commercial, you can see why Sega decided they had to put out their own gun peripheral. The game itself, if played with a mouse on an emulator, is pretty easy. You simply have to shoot the projectiles as the come, then charge your weapon for a few seconds in order to do maximum damage. I could see that being more problematic with the actual Super Scope. It is rather plain for a light gun game, with just one enemy mech per level. The game was released on June 21, 1993 in Japan as Space Bazooka, same day as the Super Scope itself. Bazooka Blitzkrieg Title Screen More arcade like Bazooka Blitzkrieg would have come out at a similar time to BattleClash, likely towards the end of 1992. It was the first dedicated third party Super Scope game, published by Bandai. This game is more like a standard arcade rail shooter, with the screen slowly scrolling towards the right. The game utilizes the turbo mode, so you can just keep shooting continuously. The game came out in Japan on August 27, 1993 under the title "Destructive". This game did not come out in PAL regions. X-Zone Title Screen Missiles coming at you X-Zone was another third party Super Scope game that likely came out in late 1992, by publisher Kemco. The game plays more or less like Bazooka Blitzkrieg, with the screen slowly scrolling to the right (aside from the first stage which has the player descending towards a base in mode-7, but effectively the gameplay is the same). The game can be played without the turbo mode on, but it would probably make it impossible. The PAL version of this game is notable for its rarity, only having releases in Australia and Scandinavia (the later being a rental only title). The game came out in Japan on August 27, 1993. The Hunt for Red October Title Screen Super Scope section The Hunt For Red October likely came out in early 1993, published by Hi Tech Expressions. The majority of the game was actually a side-view shooting game (like Gradius), but you could find bonus levels where the Super Scope could be used. The shooting action is not nearly as good as the dedicated Super Scope games, and the main game itself is not great to begin with. The game came out in Japan on October 1, 1993. Yoshi's Safari Title Screen Yoshi makes goofy faces when hit Yoshi's Safari came out in the first half of 1993, making it part of the second generation of Super Scope titles. The game makes heavy use of Mode 7, and is one of the most impressive of the Super Scope games. The cut-scene graphics and the sound in this game are pretty second rate compared to normal Nintendo standards. The game is made easiest if you put on turbo mode, and just keep tapping the shoot button. Probably the most challenging part is that you have to jump over large gaps in certain parts, and the timing is not easy. You also have to be careful not to shoot Yoshi, because he can take damage! Definitely up there with the best that the Super Scope has to offer, though. Yoshi's Safari was released in Japan on July 14, 1993. T2: The Arcade Game Title screen Terminator up close T2: The Arcade Game was a port of the arcade game Terminator 2: Judgment Day, renamed due to the fact that there was a platform action game with that name on the SNES. The game also was compatible with the SNES Mouse, which is probably a better choice for playing this game. The game looks good and in fact might very will be the best looking of the Super Scope releases. Probably the reason for this is that the graphics are purposely dulled in order for the Super Scope to actually work - it is a naturally dark hued game. It plays very much like any arcade shooting game, though it has the annoying feature that you eventually can run low on ammo. The game was re-released in 1998 by Majesco. The game came out in Japan on February 25, 1994, making it the last compatible game to be released in that region. Lamborghini: American Challenge Title screen Racing action Lamborghini: American Challenge was a game in the same vein as Top Gear. It was released in late 1993 by Titus. If the Super Scope is connected, you can activate a mode that allows you to play the game using it, providing a very unique gameplay experience. Turn on the turbo mode, and hold the fire button to accelerate. You are basically constantly shooting, so you must take out the other cars. If you take too much damage, you get stuck in first gear. I don't think this mode was fully tested, as at one point the game kept playing after I crossed the finish line (though the stage ended when I let go of the fire button). A unique mode, but not really essential to the main game. The game came out in PAL regions, but was published by Mindscape. Metal Combat - Falcon's Revenge Title Screen Re-fight of the first battle in BattleClash Metal Combat is the sequel to BattleClash, and the gameplay is pretty much the same. The production values in this are probably the best of all the Super Scope games, with excellent graphics and a rocking soundtrack, and even voice acting. The game is the only one to use the OBC-1 chip. According to byuu: It's essentially a very, very simplistic save RAM mapper. It helps build OAM (sprite) tables in RAM (without the need for bit manipulation), that are then DMA'ed into OAM memory. Basically, it allows the game to handle sprites easier. Byuu goes on to say that an experienced programmer could remove the need for the chip fairly easily. Looking at the PCB for the game: Metal Combat PCB The OBC-1 chip was manufactured in early 1992 (the fourth week in the above PCB). This is long before Metal Combat was released (in the above PCB, the manufacturing dates are the last two weeks of 1993). I have no idea why there is such a discrepancy. The only theory I have is that this chip was originally made for the first Super Scope 6 game or maybe even BattleClash, but they decided to not go with it for them. At any rate, Nintendo was sitting on these chips for quite a while. Operation Thunderbolt Title Screen Superhero woman versus fighter jet Operation Thunderbolt is a port of the 1988 arcade game by Taito. It is also compatible with the SNES mouse. This, along with Tin Star, were amongst the last Super Scope games, coming out in late 1994. The game shares the code name with a military operation by the Israeli Defence Forces in 1976 to rescue hostages in Uganda, known as Operation Entebbe. Given that the game is about rescuing hostages in a fictitious African country, it seems likely that the game was inspired by this namesake. The graphics are decent enough, but there is no music. There are six characters to choose from, and the style of guns differs for each one. I would say this game is a better effort than the earlier Super Scope games, but not as good as T2 or Metal Combat, primarily because there are just too many enemies and projectiles to deal with all at once (at least they give you a pretty generous health bar). This game is a US exclusive. Tin Star Title Screen Battling on a stagecoach Tin Star was the last Nintendo published Super Scope game (and possibly the last Super Scope title), coming out in late 1994. The graphics are amongst the best in the SNES, featuring cartoony drawings, with a wild-west/robot theme. I found that the powerups and enemies tended to move almost too fast to hit them with any accuracy, so it is definitely a challenge. The game can also be used with the SNES mouse. On the box, it even claims it is the first game to use both peripherals, but T2: The Arcade Game almost certainly came out first. This game was only released in the US. Lemmings 2: The Tribes This game uses the Super Scope as a sort of Easter Egg. I asked Mike Dailly, the programmer of Lemmings 2 on the SNES, about it: If you use the Super Scope in this game, you can shoot the Lemmings and kill them. There is not much else to it, the game isn't actually playable with the Super Scope. But finally, you can get those dastardly Lemmings. The game came out in late 1994, making it the true final game that "uses" the Super Scope. Summary The Super Scope was the last time a video game company really pushed a gun accessory as an essential component of the system. Though subsequent consoles had gun accessories, they generally were geared towards individual games and not as heavily marketed (such as Virtua Cop on the Saturn, and Point Blank on the PS1). Nintendo itself didn't really go back into the light gun genre until the Wii, with the release of the Wii Zapper and Link's Crossbow Training. Finally, some pictures: Right side Bottom Top Close up of the Super Scope label Front of the Receiver Top of the receiver Bottom of the ReceiverLANSING, MI -- Michigan state Rep. Cindy Gamrat on Friday apologized for
but said she has not decided whether to resign or stay in office. "I am sincerely sorry I have disappointed so many by my actions," Gamrat, R-Plainwell, said Friday during a press event at the law office of attorney Andrew Abood. Flanked by her husband, Gamrat made her first public statements since last Friday, when audio recordings surfaced suggesting that she and state Rep. Todd Courser, R-Lapeer, had attempted to cover up an extra-marital affair. Emotional from the onset, Gamrat expressed contrition but said she believes an ongoing House investigation will show she did not misuse taxpayer resources or break any state laws. "Although I am not proud of my personal conduct, in regards to my position as state representative of the 80th district, I believe that an open and honest investigation will vindicate me," she said. Gamrat acknowledged that she has considered resignation but said she has not made any final decisions on that front. She plans to return to work next week. "I respect the opinion of those that would like to see me resign," Gamrat said. "For now, I believe the best path is for me to move forward, and I intend to continue to represent my district to the best of my ability." The House Business Office is investigating whether Gamrat and Courser used staff or other state resources to hide their affair. Courser,
by a former staffer, plotted an email accusing himself of doing drugs and having sex with a male prostitute, an apparent attempt to distract from the truth. In the May 19 meeting at his Lapeer law office, Courser reportedly took a call from someone he identified as Gamrat, and both lawmakers reportedly met with a shared staffer the next day in her official Lansing office. "They don't deserve what's come upon them," she said. "I take full responsibility, so I just want to thank them." Abood, an attorney who Gamrat retained this week, said in a Friday morning radio interview that he expects the findings of the House probe to be "a lot less damning than what everybody has suggested." Staffer Ben Graham, who recorded the conversations in which Courser asked him to send the email, ultimately declined to do so. He and Gamrat aide Keith Allard were fired in July. Another staffer, Josh Cline, quit working for Courser and Gamrat in April. Gamrat acknowledged that a former staffer had been fired, but attributed the move to complaints from constituents. "Under no circumstances was anyone on my staff terminated because of a personal indiscretion on my part," Garmat said. State Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, whose 26th district covers Allegan County, responded to Gamrat's press conference and apology by reiterating her belief that
. "I agree that everyone deserves forgiveness, but this isn't about forgiveness. This is about her ability to effectively do her job. And when you've lost the support of even your biggest supporters, it's time to step down," said Schuitmaker, R-Lawton. "As long as Cindy and Todd remain in office they will be distractions from the real issues facing Michigan. Legislators should be fixing problems, not providing fodder for late-night talks show hosts. The soap opera has gotten too big, and as long as they remain in office the focus will be on them, not the issues." Courser, in an audio statement and a series of social media posts, has made clear he has no intention to resign. He has alleged that a blackmailer threatened to expose the affair if he did not leave office, leading him to send the salacious email in May. Gamrat, asked if she had been contacted by the alleged blackmailer, said she has forwarded any texts she has received to state police. Josh Cline, a former staffer for both lawmakers, has scheduled his own press conference for Monday afternoon in Royal Oak.
Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.Greece Google
Google car |
ons” and “sticklers” to describe many prescriptivists. Descriptivists are not only fighting their own intellectual battles but also responding to centuries of peeving. Cicero, who thought improper Latin was “disgraceful,” was quoted by Robert Lowth (the bishop who wanted to “correct” the Lord’s Prayer) on the title page of his influential 1762 English grammar. Jonathan Swift called new pronunciations “barbarous.” The thoughtful Fowler occasionally stooped to calling usages he disliked “ignorant.” Lynne Truss jokes that people who misuse apostrophes should be “struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave.” Simon Heffer, a more serious recent English prescriptivist, likes to throw around “illiterate.” If you still think I’m overstating the peevish streak within prescriptivism, read the comments on any online article about grammar and usage. I wish you, Bernstein, Partridge, Fowler and the other intellectuals were fully representative of prescriptivism. I truly do. But this doesn’t seem to be the case. Finally, when descriptivists fight back, we also do so on behalf of others: black Americans (whose distinctive dialect has long been sneered at by whites), Southern whites (like my Dad, who used “might could,” “ain’t” and “y’all”), Eliza Doolittle (the poor thing was no fool) and many who were just unlucky not to get a great education. When we see prescriptivists call such people “ignorant” and “illiterate,” it can set the blood to boiling. I wish all commentators saw the world on a scale like yours and could acknowledge “nonstandard, but rule-bound, dialect.” But most do not. For too long, the so-called descriptivists and prescriptivists have talked past each other. I hope this conversation helps narrow the gap. I hereby promise, as you ask, to “stop demonizing all prescriptivists and start acknowledging that the reputable ones have always tried to base their guidance on sound descriptions.” This should come naturally: I never demonized “all” prescriptivists, and I praise Fowler every chance I get. I hope that you and other arbiters of standard English will publicly take on the mass prescriptivists and nonrules with the same verve and vigor with which you take on real solecisms and slip-ups.A California FFL holder whose extensive firearm collection was seized in dramatic fashion had to fight Kamala Harris’ Department of Justice for two years to get them back.
The Clovis area man, Albert Sheakalee, 59, was arrested and had 541 guns seized from his residence on the orders of the California DOJ in 2015 after he was deemed a prohibited firearms possessor. Now, with no charges ever pursued and after a two-year legal battle with the state to get the guns returned, they have been handed over to a licensed dealer to give back to his family following a court order.
Sheakalee went through mental health treatment in 2014, which, unknown to him, landed him in the DOJ’s Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) database. This– as touted in a press release at the time by then-state Attorney General Kamala Harris– barred him from firearms ownership and triggered a 12-hour raid on his home by Bureau of Firearms Special Agents which ended in his arrest for possessing illegal firearms.
Sheakalee, who had a clean criminal record, owned a retirement home and was the retired budget director of Fresno Community Hospital. He had maintained a federal firearms license for over two decades for buying, selling, and collecting firearms which was still listed as being valid at the time of the raid. Seized by California authorities were 209 handguns, 88 shotguns, 234 rifles, 181 standard capacity magazines, 10 high capacity magazines, 100,521 rounds of various ammunition, and 10 firearms registered with the DOJ as “assault weapons” including a.50 caliber rifle.
Now, with Harris in Washington as a U.S. Senator, Sheakalee’s attorney, Mark Coleman, feels the whole thing was grandstanding.
“As far as I am concerned, it was a real political deal. Harris was running for senator,” Coleman told the Fresno Bee.
The press release, in which Harris commended DOJ agents for their bravery in the case, was picked up and carried by media outlets across the country and overseas and repeated by gun control advocacy groups.
Guns.com has been in contact with the DOJ– now under Attorney General Xavier Becerra– the Sheakalee family and his attorney and will update this piece if a response is obtained.Versatile Mini Camper Van Conversions
Mini camper van ever came to mind? Well, why not? It's a perfect down to earth vehicle for an adventurous camping and outdoors experience for any couple or single. They're simple to drive, easy to park, get great gas mileage and have just enough room inside for a double bed and some storage space. Beats the camping tent anytime!
And the best part of it? It can be easily made from your daily driver, so you don't have to jump on the debt-slavery wagon for an adventure vehicle.
Today, you can find a wide variety of practical vehicles such as MPV's or mini-vans on the market, that can be used as a mini van. Recently the Ford Transit Connect makes an interesting base vehicle with it's elevated roof version, allowing lots of inside headroom.
Professional companies like Reimo can help you with your camper conversion, but you can easily build your own mini camper following these quite basic DIY tips. These are small vehicles and all you need is some basic equipment to convert it into a sensible camper van.
The base vehicle can be either a passenger or a cargo vehicle with or without the back seat. You may use the back seat when not traveling or just keep it inside if it folds down all the way. But remember, there is a whole lot more storage room without the seats, so work it out to fit your needs to the best.
Let's take a look at some different types of mini conversions here to get the basic idea...
The basic framework seen from the side door. Note the storage room underneath and the comfortable bed on the top. A large and comfortable double bed in a cozy, well insulated interior all set and ready for a good nights sleep.
On the above and below set of photos you van see the Ford Transit Connect camper. This is quite a simple conversion done by using some basic frame work (wood or aluminum) and covering the top with removable plywood panels, enabling you to reach the storage room under the bed. Get a mattress cut to the right size and you're about done.
You can also organize your gear and add a small cooker and a portable refrigerator by using a camping box behind the rear row of seats. The optional folding bed is fixed on top of the box and neatly folds out over the folded rear seats for the night.
If you really wish to have some more comfort, you can either buy or build yourself a small camping box with drawers, where you can install the cooler, keep the cooking stove and other camping accessories. You can also build a cupboard unit on one side and install some essentials such as a cooler, sink with running water and a cooker. Try to use a portable (alcohol or gas) cooker, which is much more practical in every day adventure life. The other side will most likely host a bench seat with an extractable bed and storage space underneath.
Proper insulation,lining and upholstery is not a must of course, but you should consider it for the final touch of the warm and cozy feeling. And a heater might be an option if you'll use the vehicle in cooler climates.
Remember that any framework and furniture can be easily removable if you wish so and only if your government transportation laws allow it, so you can use the vehicle either for work or everyday transportation.
Mini Camper Books And Videos
If a full-time mini camper van is what you're looking for, check out the video below...
And check out this fun French video, perfectly describing the practical combination of a small van and a roof tent!
A roof tent is another smart addition for a small camper. Keep the kitchen and storage space inside the car and sleep on the roof of your camping van in comfort.
Every now and then some professional conversions come out with pop top roofs, adding standing height to the camper van. The smallest current pop top mini van camper is based on the Citroen Nemo and made by the British Romahome.
The Germans have quite a lot of conversions to show and this one is based on a Volskwagen Caddy.
The mini camper is a blend of a practical every day vehicle and a small adventure vehicle when needed. As with all camper van conversions, you can use your imagination and try to be creative when converting a small vehicle like this.
It really is a minimal and priceless conversion, so if you're using a camping tent for your adventures and have an appropriate vehicle on you driveway, give it a thought. It does make a whole lot of a difference.
› Mini CamperTIP-toeing in their finest patent red heels, nearly 50 men strutted their stuff to raise awareness of a good cause.
The LGBT Over the Rainbow centre, currently based at the Triangle, faces possible closure after the lease ran out on the building.
There are ongoing discussions about possibly moving the facilities to Springbourne.
To raise the £27,000 needed in order to keep the facility open at St Michael’s Road for another year, organisers Billy Clarke and Kevin Turner – health advisors at the centre – rallied men to walk the 2.5miles from Boscombe Pier to Bournemouth Pier on Easter Sunday.
“We wanted to come up with a unique way of highlighting this plight and the response has been amazing,” Mr Clarke said.
“If we lose the building the service could dissolve completely.”
The group has also applied for enough cash to enable the service to run for another three years through lottery funding. They should find out if their application has been successful sometime in the next three months.
Mr Turner said: “Everyone has been really supportive. It has been a really good turn out.”President Barack Obama will be wrapping up his reelection campaign with a rally in Madison on Monday, November 5, the day before Election Day. It will be his second trip to town in a month, having held a rally on Bascom Hill at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus on October 5.
The president is making multiple stops around Wisconsin during the closing days of the campaign. He spoke in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon Thursday morning, and will be appearing in Milwaukee on Saturday before returning to Madison on the eve of Election Day.
It will be Obama's fourth campaign event in Madison in the last three years, all on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Previous locations and dates for his rallies in the city include: the Kohl Center on February 12, 2008; UW Library Mall on September 27, 2010; and, Bascom Hill one month ago.
The office of Mayor Paul Soglin confirms that Monday's rally will be held in the city rather than on campus. Previous presidential campaign rally locations in the city have included the Capitol Square for Bill Clinton in 1996 and Al Gore in 2000, and West Washington Avenue just off the Square for John Kerry in 2004.
Bruce Springsteen will be performing at the rally. This will be Springsteen's second presidential rally gig in Madison, as he also played at the Kerry rally eight years ago.
We are collecting social media reports and reactions to the announcement of Obama's Election Day Eve rally in Madison, including from the hashtag #ObamaMadison.
This live coverage can be viewed here.Supervised similarity: Learning symmetric relations from duplicate question data March 1, 2017 · by Matthew Honnibal
Supervised models for text-pair classification let you create software that assigns a label to two texts, based on some relationship between them. When the relationship is symmetric, it can be useful to incorporate this constraint into the model. This post shows how a siamese convolutional neural network performs on two duplicate question data sets.
The task of detecting duplicate content occurs on many different platforms. We see it all the time on the spaCy issue tracker, where we're always trying to figure out which threads can be merged. Duplicate detection is also relevant to most discussion forums, where the same questions are asked repeatedly. Fortunately, there are now labelled data sets from two large community question answering sites: the recently-released Quora data set and the StackExchange corpus compiled by researchers from Melbourne University.
Update (November 7, 2017) This post previously linked to an online demo of the similarity model. Following the release of spaCy v2.0, we're currently working on a new version of the model that will hopefully achieve much better accuracy than the previous one. In the meantime, we've replaced the similarity demo with a version showing spaCy's doc.similarity() method.
For comparison, we've also included an unsupervised baseline in the demo, which computes a simple word vector average, using vectors from the GloVe common crawl model. The superised models learn a very different similarity definition from this unsupervised baseline, which roughly represents the overlap in topics between the documents. Supervision is often discussed as a disadvantage, because it makes you use labelled data. However, it's also a crucial advantage: it lets you use labelled data, to customize the relationships being classified. Without supervision, you're stuck with whatever default relationship the unsupervised algorithm happens to recover.
The Quora and StackExchange data sets are labelled according to whether two questions are duplicates. This relationship should be both commutative and transitive. We don't want to compute different results for is_dup(A, B) and is_dup(B, A) — this is the same question, and the model should treat it as such. Similarly, if we know is_dup(A, B) and is_dup(B, C), it should hold that is_dup(A, C).
We can learn a function that obeys these constraints by using a "Siamese" architecture (for the record, I hate this name). The difference in architecture from the asymmetric model I've discussed previously is fairly small. As before, we first encode the sentences separately, but instead of an arbitrary non-linearity, we use a distance function to produce the prediction. Here's a sketch of how the model is put together:
Siamese network outline def Siamese(text2vec, similarity_metric): def forward(text1, text2): vec1, bp_vec1 = text2vec(text1) vec2, bp_vec2 = text2vec(text2) # If we were doing an asymmetric model, we'd have: # sim, bp_sim = multi_layer_perceptron(concatenate(vec1, vec2)) # cat(vec1, vec2) differs from cat(vec2, vec1) -- hence the asymmetry. sim, bp_sim = similarity_metric(vec1, vec2) def backward(d_sim, optimize): d_vec1, d_vec2 = bp_sim(d_sim, optimize) d_text1 = bp_vec1(d_vec1, optimize) d_text2 = bp_vec2(d_vec2, optimize) return d_text1, d_text2 return sim, backward return forward
The Siamese function above takes two functions, text2vec and similarity_metric. It uses the text2vec function to separately encode each text in the input, and then uses similarity_metric to compare them. Each function is assumed to return a callback to complete its backward pass. Given this, the backpropagation logic of the Siamese network is very simple. Each callback returns the gradient with respect to the original function's inputs, given the gradient of the original function's output. For the similarity metric, I've been using a distance function taken from Chen (2013), which he terms Cauchy Similarity:
Cauchy Similarity def ChenCauchy(length): '''Create a trainable similarity function, that will return the similarity and a callback to compute the backward pass given the gradient. An optimizer can be passed to the callback to update the weights, e.g. Adam, SGD momentum, etc. ''' weights = numpy.ones((1, length,)) def forward(x1, x2): diff = x1-x2 dist_vec = diff**2 weighted_dist = weights.dot(l1_vector) weighted_dist *= weighted_dist > 0 sim = 1. / (1+weighted_dist) def backward(d_sim, optimize): d_weighted_dist = d_sim * (-1 / (weighted_dist+1)**2) d_weighted_dist *= weighted_dist > 0 d_weights = d_weighted_dist * dist_vec d_dist_vec = d_weighted_dist * weights d_diff = 2 * d_dist_vec * diff d_x1 = d_diff d_x2 = -d_diff optimize(weights, d_weights) return d_x1, d_x2 return sim, backward return forward Recommended reading I recommend Chen's I recommend Chen's discussion of the Siamese network. Because it's a Master's thesis, the document takes the time to discuss the considerations carefully, and goes through everything step-by-step. It's a nice change from publications in competitive venues, which are written quickly and have an interest in presenting their ideas as novel and exciting.
For the text2vec function, I've been using the convolutional layer I introduced in the previous post, Maxout Window Encoding. The MWE layer has the same aim as the BiLSTM: extract better word features. It rewrites the vector for each word based on the surrounding context. This is useful, because it gets around a major limitation of word vectors. We know that a word like "duck" can have multiple meanings, and we'd like a vector that reflects the meaning in context.
Hover over the vectors to see which words were used to compute them. Hover over the words to see the vectors they influenced. Why maxout? For the MWE unit to work, it needs to learn a non-linear mapping from the trigram down to a shorter vector. You could use any non-linearity here, but I've found maxout to work quite well. The logic is that adding capacity to the layer by increasing the width M is quite expensive, because our weights layers will be (M, 3*M). The maxout unit instead lets us add capacity by adding another dimension instead. I usually use two or three pieces.
The figure above shows how a single MWE block rewrites the vector for each word given evidence for the two words immediately surrounding it. You can think of the output as trigram vectors — they're built on the information from a three-word window. By simply adding another layer, we'll get vectors computed from 5-grams — the receptive field widens with each layer we go deeper. Here's the full model definition, using Thinc, the library I've been developing for spaCy 2.0's neural network models:
Model definition def build_siamese_network(width, depth): embed = StaticVectors('en', width) pooling = concatenate(mean_pool, max_pool) mwe_encode = chain(ExtractWindow(nW=1), Maxout(width)) # Define a little DSL for block, for convenience. with Model.define_operators({'>>': chain, '**': clone}): sent2vec = ( get_word_ids(Model.ops) >> flatten_add_lengths >> with_getitem(0, embed >> mwe_encode ** depth) >> pooling ) model = Siamese(sent2vec, CauchySimilarity(Model.ops, width*2)) return model
After the MWE layer, we have two matrices, one for each text. The matrices may be of different lengths, and we need to output a single similarity score. The next step is the weakest part of the model: to compare these matrices, we reduce them to two vectors, by taking their elementwise mean and their elementwise max. Of the two operations, the max tends to be more informative — but using both tends to be slightly better than just using the max.
The table below shows development set accuracies on the Quora and StackExchange data. Since neither corpus comes with a designated train/dev/test split, I've been using a random 10% and a random 30% partition. All results are still preliminary, and the models' hyper-parameters have not been tuned successfully.MethodologyI'm using the Adam optimizer with averaged parameters and no learning rate decay. Batch size increases from 1 to 128 by 0.01% each iteration. Width is set to 128, and 3 pieces are used for the maxout units. No dropout is applied. An L2 penalty of 1e-6 is used. Static GloVe common crawl embeddings are used, with a trained affine projection to width 128.
To train the model on the StackExchange corpus, we compiled all train pairs from the subforums android, gis, mathematica, programmers, stats, text, unix, webmasters and wordpress. We then extracted all duplicates and two subsequent negative examples.
Symmetric Asymmetric MWE Depth 0 MWE Depth 2 MWE Depth 0 MWE Depth 2 Quora 82.4 84.7 82.9 83.6 StackExchange 80.2 78.0 74.9 75.2
Despite these caveats, the improvement in accuracy from the symmetric network has been quite consistent. On the Quora data, accuracy improves by 2.3% — a bigger improvement than I've seen from anything else I've been trying. The Maxout Window Encoding layers also seem to help, although the inconsistency of the results makes it difficult to be sure.
It's interesting to compare the outputs of the two models, especially in comparison to a simple unweighted mean of the GloVe vector assigned to each word. Take a look at the following examples:
Text 1 Text 2 Baseline Quora StackExchange How to manage success dependency between unit tests How to structure tests where one test is another test's setup? 86% 12% 47% Design pattern for overlapping actions and animations? How do you handle multiple users editing the same piece of data in a webapp? 79% 8% 15% How can I get really good at web development? What should I do to become an amazing programmer? 93% 64% 100% Where can I find a place to eat pizza? What's the closest Italian restaurant? 84% 6% 46% Which companies pay the best in Nebraska? Which companies pay the best in Montana? 98% 8% 69%
The default similarity model, which takes a simple vector average, skewed high on most of the examples we tried. Much of the difference in output of the Quora and StackExchange models can be explained by the different domains of the text they were trained on. You can also see the effect of the moderation policy, as this controls the definition of duplicates. For instance, questions which differ in details, such as place, are never regarded as duplicates in the Quora data, so the model learns to pay attention to single named entities.
None of these models are doing a better or worse job at uncovering the "true" similarity of the text pairs they're classifying — there's no such thing. Because meaning is so multi-dimensional, pieces of text are always similar in some respects and different in others. The labelling you need will therefore always depend on which relationships are important to your application.
If what you're trying to get out of a similarity score is an intent label, you probably want to regard two sentences with the same verb but different object as similar — they will both trigger the same function. Alternatively, if you're trying to cluster opinions in product reviews, the object is probably the decisive dimension. There's no way for the algorithm to guess what you want, unless you tell it — with example data. That's why supervised methods are so useful.TINY COMPUTER MAKER the Raspberry Pi Foundation has brought forward its compliance testing schedule for its microcomputers amid mounting fears that the devices will be delayed.
The organisation had indicated that it intended to defer compliance testing of the Raspberry Pi until the cased educational release later in the year. However, "demand for the uncased version (and the level of interest from outside the engineering community) has been so high that both RS Components and Premier Farnell have asked us to bring this forward," Eben Upton, the executive director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation explained.
Upton added that the foundation completed its first trial run in a test chamber this week and promised to issue a detailed technical update in the "next few days".
Distributor Farnell reported that over the weekend the Raspberry Pi Foundation had provided it with an update on the compliance testing needed for the Model B boards, saying, "It is still too early to say what this will mean for deliveries and we hope any impact will be minimal."
The first batch of boards is due to arrive in the UK this week, but Farnell added that it is too early to tell how the compliance testing will impact delivery of devices that were originally expected to reach customers in April, May and June.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation stressed that EMC testing is necessary for the devices to be grated consumer protection certifications including the European Union CE marking. It added that it is common practice for development hardware to be sold without such certifications, but only with the strict proviso that it should not be considered to be a "finished end product". µIntentions be damned, when many Jewish Israelis meet Palestinians even their compliments come out laced with passive-aggressive racism half the time. A comprehensive guide for Palestinians.
There isn’t a single Palestinian citizen of Israel who isn’t familiar with the phenomenon. It can happen in the middle of a conversation, during a cigarette break at work, or in pretty much any interaction in a public place — with a complete stranger: Israelis who feel a little too comfortable giving racist “compliments” to Palestinians.
As a Palestinian who grew up with and has been friends with Israelis his whole life, I learned a long time ago to ignore all those with enough chutzpa and tactlessness to publicly and directly spout passive-aggressive racism. But many Palestinians, the masochists among us who haven’t yet adopted a “fuck it” approach to the day-to-day of living in the Jewish state, still try and respond to the douche-of-the-hour who is emboldened enough to express his or her ignorance or racism politely, with a smile.
So I brought together a group of Palestinian friends and we came up with some recommendations for dealing with the not-all-that-creative, often banal racism you’ll find being spewed by Jewish Israelis.
‘Wow, you don’t look like an Arab’
An all-time classic, and number one on the list of racist compliments. Nobody knows where it originated, but this one managed to embed itself in the minds of so many Jewish Israelis who seem to think that they have rays of sunshine splashing out of exactly where the sun don’t shine.
It’s particularly annoying because it is based on the appearance and/or behavior of an Arab, with unadulterated racism as its point of departure. It doesn’t matter what your skin color is or how clearly Arabic your name is. The moment someone realizes that you don’t speak or act the way The Only Democracy in the Middle East™ educated them to believe you should or would, chances are that the mother of all racist compliments will home in like a heat-seeking missile, with little tiny afterburners launching it out of the mouth of whoever suffers from any of the following three ailments: woeful and complete ignorance, an actual belief that his or her shit smells like roses, or a combination of the first two.
How to respond: The best way is to scornfully ignore it. If you feel like you need educate the arrogant racist, you can use one of the following responses:
1. Wow, oops! I totally forgot my tail at home today!
2. Seriously? The truth is you kind of look like an Arab. (Especially recommended when dealing with a Mizrahi Israeli Jew who is trying to convince him- or herself that their grandfather only spoke Arabic because he was a hipster who thought it would be cool to learn a few phrases in an exotic language.)
‘You live in Lod? Your family lets you live away from home? Right on! How courageous!’
This is a “compliment” that, unfortunately, the fairer sex has to contend with far too often. When Jewish Israelis see a Palestinian man living alone in Tel Aviv they generally assume he’s a university student or a construction worker. But if they see a Palestinian woman living all by her lonesome in the big city, suddenly they pull out their feminist torch, ready to fight for the liberation of all women, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. Considering that Israeli society is itself pretty patriarchal and oppressive of women, it’s a bit hard to understand where that patronizing arrogance comes from — as if heading down to Jaffa for hummus on Saturdays somehow imbibes them with an intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of Palestinian society. Two women in our little focus group had responses.
How to respond:
1. If the compliment comes from a man: “And it was really courageous of your wife to marry someone like you.”
2. If the compliment comes from a woman: “Yes, we also allow Arab women out in public. In your specific case, it’s a bit unfortunate that Jews have the same tradition.”
‘You’re proof there are good Arabs. They’re not all terrorists.’
This is usually something that follows something you’ve done that your Jewish-Israeli interlocutor deems worthy of appreciation, usually from somebody who doesn’t realize they that they are only in the position they are by virtue of being Jewish. Chances are he himself was a terrorist of sorts (a soldier in the occupation army), and just can’t admit it. Try and remind him sweetly and gently.
How to respond: There’s one sentence that will always make smoke shoot out of the ears of Zionist Israelis (i.e., those who support Jewish supremacy). “Wow, thanks! It’s really special to hear that from someone of a nation in which so many terrorists have grown and blossomed.”
‘Wow, you’re from Nazareth? What a great place. Do you know Muhammad?’
Jewish Israelis are still trapped in the idea that all of us live in one small village, that we all know each other. From their perspective, urbanization is an exclusively Jewish phenomenon — they have absolutely no awareness of the Palestinian urbanization process that was interrupted by the occupation of 1948.
At the same time, they buy fully in to an ideology of segregation they were educated into from day one: Muhammad comes from a village, Moshe comes from Tel Aviv.
How to respond: Say “yes” and walk away. Why? Firstly, because it’s fun to watch someone’s jaw drop. Secondly, because it’s true. We all actually know one Muhammad or another from Nazareth.
‘I tried making hummus and it didn’t turn so out well. What’s the secret?’
Stereotypes are also racist. Unfortunately, just being born Palestinian doesn’t confer an ownership stake in the Abu Hassan hummus restaurant in Jaffa. The assumption that every Arab knows how to make — or even enjoys eating, for that matter — hummus at home, even though it’s probably excellent, is pretty friggin’ racist. It doesn’t make it less racist just because you didn’t think your stereotype was hurtful, even if you were trying to praise the wonders of the Palestinian kitchen.
How to respond: Chances are that the person who asked you really does just want to learn how to make good hummus, even if he or she came off racist by instead of asking about the full scope of Palestinian culture, asking about one of its simplest dishes. Explain their mistake gently. Explain that being Arab isn’t just about hummus, but a rich, unique and deep canon of poetry, literature, and fascinating history that has helped advance the human race.
When you finish with all that, don’t forget to tell them that the secret is to use less lemon and to add a bit more garlic. Otherwise it’ll come out like something they sell at Trader Joe’s.
‘Next time you bring the food. Your food is way better.’
This usually happens in a work or university setting where Palestinians and Jews work or study alongside each other. It may be annoying and disappointing that the expectation is always on the Arab of the group to bring food, because “ours is tastier.” But let’s be honest: would you really prefer that the Polish-Jewish guy bring the food?
How to respond: Bring the food. Stop being so sensitive to mildly racist stereotypes. Especially in a workplace setting, good food that everyone can enjoy and for which you can take credit, will really only work in your favor — maybe even with the boss. Learn to exploit stereotypes for your own benefit.
‘You, the ‘Israeli Arabs,’ are alright. Our problem is with the Palestinians.’
Take a deep breath and count backwards from ten, nine, eight, seven, six…
How to respond: “Your mom is an ‘Israeli Arab.’ We’re all Palestinians, you asshole.”
This article, a version of which was first published in Hebrew on Local Call, was written in collaboration with Nardin Srouji, Haitham Bishara, Maisa Abed al-Hadi, and Faiek Dabeet, all of whom look and act like Arabs. If only more Jews acted like them.Everyone loves AC/DC, don’t they? Their back catalogue is packed with genre-defining anthems that transcend generations and their live shows are the stuff of legend. But how much do you know actually know about the Aussie icons? Here’s 26 things every AC/DC fan should know…
A is for Angus Young
In what other universe could a tiny man dressed as a schoolboy emerge as one of hard rock’s most celebrated heavyweights? From his arresting hyperkinetic stage presence to composing licks so catchy that you’ll hear your nan humming them in the supermarket, Angus is one of the most gifted, entertaining and universally-beloved musicians of our time. Fans, critics and his colleagues agree — the profound extent to which Angus Young has influenced the course of modern rock can never be understated.
B is for Berry, Chuck
Without the boogie woogie swagger of Chuck Berry, there would be simply be no AC/DC as we know them today. One of Angus and Malcolm Young’s earliest obsessions, you can hear Berry’s influence most strongly in their early-to-mid ‘70s output, particularly on tracks like Show Business, Rocker and Can I Sit Next To You Girl. Apparently however, that old maxim that it’s better to not meet your idols holds true. After finally meeting Berry, Brian Johnson slagged him off as “the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever met in my life.”
C is for Comeback
After forty-three years, AC/DC continue to churn out records and tours with Lazarus-like vitality. Not only did the band recover from the sudden death of Bon Scott in 1980; they came back with a new singer and one of the greatest-selling albums in the history of music — Back In Black, selling 50 million copies worldwide. The band have also come back from scandals (see N below), personnel changes, substance abuse, crap albums, lacklustre tours, shifting trends, and most recently, the exit of Brian Johnson after 35-five years behind their microphone, forging ahead with the final dates – perhaps with high-profile replacement?
D is for Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
With cover art designed by Hipgnosis, the band’s second international release galvanised their exhilarating thrust of filthy dual guitar interplay locked seamlessly into the propulsive, airtight rhythms of drummer Phil Rudd and then-bassist Mark Evans. Produced by their trusted, team of Harry Vanda and George Young (Angus and Malcolm’s older brother), Dirty Deeds stands as the band’s most diverse outing, showcasing the stompy pub shouts of the title track with sinister purr of Squealer, the bluesy languor of Ride On and the joyfully risque Big Balls. Better, more-focused albums would follow, but none would match the scope or depth of Dirty Deeds.
E is for Evans, Dave
AC/DC were briefly fronted by Dave Evans in the earliest days, a man whom their former manager, Michael Browning, wrote off as nothing too thrilling. Former bassist Mark Evans enjoyed a far more fruitful run, appearing on TNT, Dirty Deeds and Let There Be Rock. Malcolm dismissed him shortly after AC/DC were kicked off a Black Sabbath tour after a drunken altercation between Malcolm and Geezer Butler. Evans suspects that his own clashes with Angus led to his sacking, though the band claimed that they replaced him with Cliff Williams because they wanted a bassist who could sing. Anybody who has heard Cliff Williams’ harmonies understands the utterly preposterous heft of the band’s claim.
F is for Flick Of The Switch
The band’s first dud. For the follow-up to For Those About To Rock, Malcolm stepped into the producer’s chair with George and Harry on hand to assist as needed and Tony Platt engineering and mixing the record. They recorded thirteen tracks, ten of which would comprise the lo-fi shit show known as Flick Of The Switch. Platt reported that Malcolm rejected the first round of mixes on the grounds that they sounded too much like Back In Black. Given the tinny echo of the finished product, it’s hard to conceive that the first mixes could have actually sounded worse. Which means that quite likely, the band rejected a superior record.
G is for Guitars
Where the roles of rhythm guitarist and lead guitarist are brightly marked in other bands, in AC/DC, the feverish strafing of Angus and Malcolm blends these roles magnificently, the two parts forming a complex lattice of patterns, melodies and gooey rhythms, particularly on earlier tracks like Riff Raff, Whole Lotta Rosie and the old blues cover, Baby Please Don’t Go. Later works favoured ginormous, fist-pumping hooks on tracks like Back In Black, For Those About To Rock, Thunderstruck and even lesser-known fare like Sink The Pink and Hail Caesar.
H is for Hell
Today, nobody in their right mind would ever confuse AC/DC with a Satanic band, although in the early days that’s precisely how many perceived them, due in no small part to songs like Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be, Highway To Hell and Rock ‘N’ Roll Damnation. Wearing the cartoony image like a Halloween mask, the boys upped the ante considerably on the Highway To Hell album cover, with Angus fitted out in devil horns and a demon’s tail, Bon wearing a pentagram necklace and the rest of the band glowering malevolently above what most construed to be the flames of Hell. Not to be outdone, Brian picked up the theme on Hell’s Bells with a scattershot of Hades references, but only a fringe gaggle of swivel-eyed, witch-hunting Bible-thumpers took such mugging at face value.
I is for Inconsistent
Rare is the band who boast an unbroken three-decade career without a few misses and AC/DC are no exception. Quite the opposite, |
, they’ll sell it on their store and split the earnings.
If you’re an expert and pride yourself on making high quality products Want To Become An Expert At Something? Try Deliberate Practice Want To Become An Expert At Something? Try Deliberate Practice It's all too easy to feel crestfallen when you're arduously trying to improve a certain skill. Use the power of "deliberate practice" to get you over those infuriating plateaus. Read More with a focus on design, consider submitting your handmade or recycled crafts to this site. Their buyers will review your submission and get back to you within a couple of weeks, after which they may be willing to put your product up to a “community vote” to see if it can be sold on the site.
Although not all products on the site are handmade, many are. So, before submitting, you must be able to create enough of your individual products to sell en masse. The fact that this unique gift store can essentially sell your product for you means that once it’s accepted, you can largely leave the marketing to someone else, without needing to worry about order fulfillments, postage, or keeping your store up to date.
The team behind aftcra are all about showcasing the skill and creativity that’s strewn across the US, with their tagline proudly boasting “Crafted by American Hands”. In general, the overall quality of the handmade listings on this site is extremely high — the listings have great photos and impressive descriptions.
Setting up a store on aftcra is free, but there is a 7% commission on each sale. Whether you splash out for this depends on your confidence that you can compete with the other sellers on the marketplace and make a good return on that investment!
Supermarket [No Longer Available]
With a heavy focus on design, Supermarket offers a whole world of beautiful products from a huge array of designers and craftspeople. The standard of craftsmanship here is immense, making it extremely easy to get lost in a sea of desire for almost every product for sale.
Unfortunately, not anyone can sell on the store. The products on offer are carefully curated to fit in with the overall theme of the site, but if you think your handmade crafts could be a fit here, pitch them to the site!
If your crafting has an eco dimension, Hyena Cart could be a fantastic place to sell your wares. They don’t have as much traffic as sites like Etsy or Supermarket, so the pressure will be on to drive your own traffic. The good news is the lack of listing fees and final-value fees, and the storefronts are easy to use.
A quick browse around the site suggests that the main buyer here will be moms shopping for their newborns, so if your products are more aimed at middle-aged goths, perhaps you may want to sell elsewhere.
Another potentially useful feature is the ability to sell as an auction rather than at a fixed price. And with the $5 per month subscription (plus a $10 one-time setup fee), you’re able to list as many items as you like. Finally, although Hyena Cart’s forums were recently closed, they do have a small Facebook group you can join if you wish to chat about selling and crafting.
Where Will You Sell Your Goods?
Once you’ve decided on the platform you’ll be using, make sure to research how best to use its features.
Ensure your photos are tantalizing Selling Online? Make Sure Your Photos Sell Your Goods Selling Online? Make Sure Your Photos Sell Your Goods How many times have you bought something second-hand in a shop without properly inspecting it first? Any answer other than "never" means you're doing it wrong, and the same is true for Internet sales too.... Read More and your descriptions titillating. Work on making every aspect of buying from you a unique experience that your customers will love, and learn to interpret your audience to help you make more informed decisions about the future of your business 5 Critical Skills to Teach Yourself Before Starting Your First Business 5 Critical Skills to Teach Yourself Before Starting Your First Business Entrepreneurship requires a certain kind of person -- a jack of all trades. If you want to succeed, you'll need to wear every hat at some point. That's a lot of skills to learn. Read More.
Which other craft platforms would you recommend? Where have you had the most success? Got any tips for newbies? Share with us in the comments!
Image Credit: Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex by Shubert Ciencia (Flickr), Etsy Snapshot Via ShutterstockThe Harriet Tubman who led hundreds of enslaved African-Americans to freedom on the Underground Railroad is a stoic, battle-tested older black woman who looks like this:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Harriet Tubman around 1885.
Or this:
Happy Birthday to Harriet Tubman.
But now there's a new image of a younger Tubman to add to the archives:
This new photo of Harriet Tubman is another #blackhistorymonth blessing???????? (via @dreamhampton)
The new image was uncovered thanks in part to historian Kate Clifford Larson, who saw the image in a photo album once owned by Tubman's friend and fellow abolitionist Emily Howland. The image, Larson said to the Citizen, an Alabama paper, "surprised me, and I think it's going to surprise a lot of people."
"What's remarkable about this photograph is that she's so proud and dignified and beautiful," Larson said. "She looks so young. This is the vibrant young Tubman just coming off her work during the Civil War. She's building her life with her family in Auburn."
Larson estimates that Tubman was somewhere between 43 and 46 years old when the photo was taken. The image is especially welcome now that she's slated to be on the $20 bill and there's more of her life in the historical record.
The photo will be auctioned at the Swann Galleries in New York City on March 30.Behold, a Pale Horse and its Rider’s Name Was Death
and Hell Followed Him
Paul Craig Roberts
I just listened to Obama give Washington’s account of the situation with ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
In Obama’s account, Washington is defeating ISIL in Iraq, but Russia and Assad are defeating the Syrian people in Syria. Obama denounced Russia and the Syrian government—but not ISIL—as barbaric. The message was clear: Washington still intends to overthrow Assad and turn Syria into another Libya and another Iraq, formerly stable and prosperous countries where war now rages continually.
It sickens me to hear the President of the United States lie and construct a false reality, so I turned off the broadcast. I believe it was a press conference, and I am confident that no meaningful questions were asked.
If Helen Thomas were still there, she would ask the Liar-in-Chief what went wrong with Washington’s policy in Iraq. We were promised that a low-cost “cakewalk” war of three or six weeks duration would bring “freedom and democracy” to Iraq. Why is it that 13 years later Iraq is a hellhole of war and destruction?
What happened to the “freedom and democracy?” And the “Cakewalk”?
You can bet your life that no presstitute asked Obama this question.
No one asked the Liar-in-Chief why the Russians and Syrians could clear ISIL out of most of Syria in a couple of months, but Washington has been struggling for several years to clear ISIL out of Iraq. Is it possible that Washington did not want to clear ISIL out of Iraq because Washington intended to use ISIL to clear Assad out of Syria?
No one asked the Liar-in-Chief why Washington sent ISIL to Syria and Iraq in the first place, or why the Syrians and Russians keep finding US weapons In ISIL’s military depots, or why Washington’s allies were funding ISIL by purchasing the oil ISIL is stealing from Iraq.
It seems to be the case that ISIL originated in the mercenaries that Washington organized to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya and were sent to Syria to overthrow Assad when the UK Parliament refused to participate in Washington’s invasion of Syria and the Russians put a stop to it.
All of the violence in the Middle East, violence that has consumed countless lives and produced millions of war refugees now overrunning Washington’s NATO vassals in Europe, is 100 percent the fault of Washington, not the fault of ISIL, or Assad, or Russia. Washington and only Washington is to blame.
Washington produced this violence. Where is the question: “Why, Mr. President, did Washington introduce 15 years of massive and ongoing violence into the Middle East and then expect us to believe that it was the fault of someone else?”
If Helen Thomas were there, she would ask the relevent questions. But the pussies that comprise the American press corps are merely an audience that validates the false reality spun by Washington by accepting it without question.
Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing have understood the message. Washington intends war. The purpose of Washington’s lies is to prepare the insouciant Western peoples for war against the two countries that Washington cannot subjugate except by victory in war.
By faithful vassalage to Washington, Europe is bringing death and destruction to the world.PYRAMIDS an incredible 600 years OLDER than those in Egypt have been discovered in Poland – strengthening the case of ancient sites in Europe.
M SCHILLER/GETTY/YOUTUBE INCREDIBLE: Pyramids older than those in Egypt have been found in Poland
Archaeologists claim they have uncovered structures in the north of the country that could be as old as 3000BC. Experts say the discoveries – found near the village of Słonowice – are triangular megalithic tombs varying in sizes made using huge stone blocks. The incredible find comes after another valley of pyramids was discovered by Dr Sam Osmanagich in Bosnia, as reported by Daily Star Online.
YOUTUBE DISCOVERY: The pyramid sites look similar to Stonehenge
M SCHILLER DIGITAL: A terrain model generated using airborne laser scanning
Explorers have unearthed seven Polish pyramids so far - the highest being five metres – after using laser scanning technology. The tombs’ inner chambers were constructed using wooden logs instead of stones and were hidden under earth in a forested area. The tombs were built by the Funnel Beaker Culture community from the fifth to third millennium BC and those buried within them were elders of the tribe, according to arcghaelolosts.
YOUTUBE ANCIENT: A number of megalithic tombs were uncovered in Poland
YOUTUBE HISTORIC: The tombs held the bodies of elder tribesmen
“The wooden-earthen pyramid complex on which we’re working is the largest of its kind in Europe” Dr Krzysztof Tunia Dr Krzysztof Tunia, from the Institute of Archeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, said: “The wooden-earthen pyramid complex on which we’re working is the largest of its kind in Europe. “Where stones were scarce, as they were in the soil of Kazimierza Wielka region, chambers were constructed from wood.” The structures – like the pyramids in Egypt – are heavily influenced by astronomy and are placed along the east-west line, with the entrance to the tomb’s chamber always on the east side. The sites are visibly similar to prehistoric Stonehenge, which was built around the same period.
M SCHILLER TOMBS: The megalithic structures were scattered around and find using laser scanning
YOUTUBE LONG: The tombs vary in size and structure
Polish pyramids have since been discovered in Dolic, where there are potential a dozen megalithic tombs, Kujawy and in the Skronie forest near Kołobrzeg. Talking to Daily Star Online, Dr Osmanagich said the structures he found in Bosnia proves everything we’ve been told about ancient history is wrong. He claims the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun stands are more than 220 metres – 73 metres taller than the Great Pyramid of Egypt. And he says the structures are around 34,000 years old – making them the oldest on the planet.
11 of the world's SCARIEST tourist attractions Forget the Empire State Building. These are some of the scariest tourist attractions on the planet. 1 / 11 IG The 439 metre long SkyBridge in Russia allows adrenalin junkies to bunjee jump from an observation deck at the centre of the bridge
DR SAM OSMANAGICH REVELATION: Dr Sam Osmanagich claims he's discovered pyramids in BosniaRadical Adaptation Radical Adaptation In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York grassroots groups have charted an inspiring alternative to disaster capitalism. Public housing in the Rockaways, Queens, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy (Restore_the_Rock / Flickr)
From hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, to catastrophic flooding in South Asia, to the wildfires raging across the American West, the extreme weather events of recent months have made it all too clear: climate change is not a future possibility but a current reality. Within the scientific community, and even in publications such as the World Bank’s Turn Down the Heat, the assumption is that the promises of international climate negotiators to maintain global warming below 2°C are hollow and that the world is already on a trajectory for at least 4°C of warming. Fatih Birol, chief economist for the International Energy Agency, has warned that current global energy-consumption levels put the planet on an even more alarming path to warm by at least 6°C above preindustrial levels by 2100.
We are warming the Earth at a rate that is unprecedented, forcing changes in planetary systems at a speed and magnitude for which there is no geological record in Earth’s past, including during the Permian mass extinction event, when 90 percent of all species were wiped out. We are, in fact, in the midst of the planet’s sixth mass-extinction event, although climate change is still responsible for only a relatively small (but increasing) percentage of species loss. The climatic conditions under which human civilization came to dominate the planet—the era of relative environmental stability since the Neolithic revolution 12,000 years ago—are now behind us. Today’s fight is over how fast climate change will happen and how bad the future will be.
The age of disaster is also the age of the city. Indeed, the two are inextricably intertwined. Mike Davis writes:
Heating and cooling the urban built environment alone is responsible for an estimated 35 to 45 percent of current carbon emissions, while urban industries and transportation contribute another 35 to 40 percent. In a sense, city life is rapidly destroying the ecological niche—Holocene climate stability—which made its evolution into complexity possible.
If today’s cities are one of the major drivers of climate chaos, they are also its principal victims. The storms of climate chaos are already breaking on human shores, and their devastation is most apparent in the planet’s coastal megacities, where vulnerable infrastructures, massive economic resources, and human populations are concentrated in unprecedented quantities. The city is paradoxically the greatest expression, principal culprit, and most endangered artifact of our turbulent times.
There is no better place to bear witness to these contradictions and shifts than New York City. As the world’s preeminent financial hub, New York is not only the world’s most iconic modern city, but also one of its most densely built and cosmopolitan urban spaces. While it has been surpassed in population by the megacities of the global South, it continues to be seen as the citadel of modern capitalism and to control key institutions of the global economy. Meteorites, flying saucers, giant radioactive monsters, and, of course, zombies—no other city in the world has been destroyed in as many ways and as many times in literature and films as New York. The flooding of New York by Hurricane Sandy generated similarly spectacular images, not of an external threat laying waste to Gotham, but of capitalism’s own self-destruction. Climate chaos brought one of the modern era’s greatest cities to its knees, a city that has become synonymous with unbridled free market capitalism. With its massive carbon footprint and the outsize global impact of its financial institutions, New York bears a disproportionate responsibility for deepening climate chaos.
At the same time, New York can also make a strong claim for being the paradigmatic green city, thanks to New Yorkers’ dense living patterns and use of public transportation, as well as recent initiatives like the creation of more than 400 miles of bike lanes. But five years ago, Hurricane Sandy revealed the hubris of celebrations of New York as a green metropolis, exposing a city completely unprepared for the larger threats posed by climate change. Like Hurricane Katrina before it, Sandy also showed the yawning social divisions that fissure cities, making a mockery of homogenizing accounts of urban resilience. Since the superstorm devastated us, much effort has been expended to help the city adapt to a warmer, more unstable world. Yet there has been relatively little discussion of the links between the city’s vulnerability to climate change, and the economic and social inequalities New York embodies. There has been even less critical analysis of the model of untrammeled economic growth that New York incarnates. The world is watching. How New York City attempts to mitigate and adapt to climate change—and also to respond to climate justice more broadly—will set key precedents nationally and internationally.
The movement that came to be known as Occupy Sandy created central relief hubs across New York City that in turn facilitated the creation of smaller centers in a network structure. Soon, the movement had spread beyond the boroughs of New York and into the hurricane-affected coastal regions of New Jersey. Occupy Sandy established three main distribution hubs in the city (“Jacobi” in Queens, “Clinton” in Brooklyn, and “Red Hook” in Brooklyn) where it stored resources, conducted volunteer trainings, and coordinated regional operations. “Recovery” hubs were set up in areas particularly badly affected by the storm, including the Rockaways, the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Staten Island, Coney Island, and Red Hook. Smaller recovery sites were also established in Canarsie, Sheepshead Bay, Bay Ridge, Gerritsen Beach, Long Island, and across New Jersey. Occupy Sandy very quickly became the key disaster-relief effort in the region.
At its height, Occupy Sandy helped to coordinate the activities of nearly 60,000 volunteers, mobilizing resources four times greater in size than the Red Cross. So effective was Occupy Sandy in getting emergency supplies to those most in need that official disaster-relief organizations and city authorities were forced to acknowledge grudgingly the movement’s importance in the wake of the hurricane and to collaborate with Occupy activists. It should be recalled that it had been less than a year since the New York Police Department forcibly evicted the Occupy movement from Zuccotti Park, arresting hundreds of the same activists that authorities were now dependent on to get aid to those in need after Sandy.
But Occupy Sandy was not alone in its fight against disaster capitalism. Occupy’s mutual aid strategy was particularly effective during the immediate crisis thanks to the many partnerships with community organizations that activists were able to forge. In January 2013, roughly three months after Sandy struck New York, a group of over forty environmental justice organizations, community-based groups, labor unions, and allies met to develop plans for a grassroots-led recovery process that would include the priorities of low-income people, communities of color, immigrants, and workers. This alliance came to be known as the Sandy Regional Assembly. The organizations making up the assembly stressed how their members had often been the first and last responders to disasters such as Hurricane Sandy. They called for a just rebuilding, one that wouldn’t simply restore the conditions of extreme inequality from before the storm, and insisted that the recovery process could not and should not focus on rebuilding infrastructure alone.
One of the Sandy Regional Assembly’s key demands was that the city should certify that any project initiated under the recovery program would not lead to a reduction in the supply of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents in disaster-affected neighborhoods. Based on the argument that resiliency is a product of social connectedness and community integrity, assembly members called on the city to fund community organizations’ proposals for the establishment of Climate Adaptation/Disaster Relief Centers, which would educate vulnerable communities about climate change threats, help to reduce disaster vulnerability, and track community members with special needs. Finally, in a call that goes to the heart of questions of urban sustainability in the age of climate chaos, the Sandy Regional Assembly urged the city to establish overlapping, distributed, sustainable systems for critical energy, food distribution, and transportation networks.
By issuing such demands for the transformation of urban infrastructures in the context of a blueprint for just rebuilding, the Sandy Regional Assembly highlighted the extent to which radical adaptation must confront questions of power, of conflicting interests, control, and ownership—as well as legacies of colonialism, racism, and class- and gender-discrimination—in the provision of resources such as energy, food, and transportation. Radical adaptation, in other words, necessitates a significant power shift.
The Recovery Agenda called for by the Sandy Regional Assembly drew on the deep experience of member organizations like El Puente, UpRose, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Soon a broader group took shape to build on the themes articulated in the Agenda: the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding, which included Occupy Sandy activists as well as many of the environmental justice organizations, community groups, and labor unions that were part of the assembly. Testifying at a meeting of the New York City Council’s Committee on Public Safety, members of the alliance argued:
resiliency must mean more than immediate responses and storm barriers, although those are very important. To have a more resilient city, we need to create more equity and economic opportunity for communities that have been neglected for decades. Resiliency means things like access to good jobs, pathways to job training, real affordable housing, and stewardship of our environment.
The alliance successfully lobbied the city’s Organization of Emergency Management to support people displaced by Hurricane Sandy, including providing for undocumented immigrants and for uninterrupted access of poor communities to food stamps and other essential supplies. The alliance also monitored the rebuilding process, issuing reports that demonstrated the massive inefficiency and corruption of then-mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Build It Back Program. This independent monitoring subsequently led to damning investigations by watchdog agencies such as the New York City Department of Investigation, which concluded that more than 90 percent of homeowners seeking help from the Build It Back Program had received no assistance two years after Sandy struck the city. In addition, the alliance also helped coordinate marches on City Hall, where community advocates made connections between rebuilding efforts after 9/11 and after Sandy. Bobby Tolbert, a member of alliance member organization VOCAL-NY, made the following argument at a rally held during the final months of the Bloomberg administration:
A lot of precious post-9/11 disaster money ended up going to big real estate and financial institutions to help build luxury apartments in lower Manhattan that not even the firefighters and first responders who valiantly rescued people when the towers fell could afford to live in. This cannot happen again. As Sandy money gets allocated, we need our new mayor to direct city entities, particularly the Economic Development Corporation, to put the needs of low-income and vulnerable New Yorkers first and ensure good jobs and affordable housing result from these new investments.
“Economic development in post-Sandy New York must lift all boats, not only the yachts of the real estate industry,” argued Pastor David Rommereim, a leader of the organization Faith in NY, at the same rally.
Movements such as the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding are the primary protagonists in struggles for radical forms of adaptation. This is because, as urban sociologist Daniel Aldana Cohen puts it, “anti-gentrification battles against displacement in relatively dense areas, and fights to build new public housing close to mass transit, jobs, and services—these are struggles whose very core is a battle for climate justice.” Such movements challenge the rule of capital by fighting to take land and housing off the market, to expand public services, to establish living wages for low-income communities, and to establish energy democracy and collective control over the resources of urban power generation. Simultaneously, they struggle to defend compact urban living arrangements that marry small carbon footprints with public amenities such as parks and libraries. While innovative forms of green design and technology must be a part of this struggle, far more important in this transformation is the priority given to public affluence over private wealth.
While continuing to engage with and put pressure on existing channels of urban governance, New York’s environmental justice organizations are also developing their own, remarkably forward-thinking proposals for radical adaptation. For instance, in 2015 Harlem’s West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT), one of the city’s most venerable environmental justice groups, held a series of workshops during which community residents and organizations developed a climate action plan for northern Manhattan using a participatory planning process. The 600,000, predominantly African-American and Latinx, residents of Northern Manhattan deal with a disproportionate amount of pollution and the health risks that come with it. WE ACT has long documented and fought against this environmental injustice, but, as the Northern Manhattan Climate Action Plan (NMCA) states, these longstanding inequalities were not simply dramatized but deepened by Hurricane Sandy. The action plan helps build the movement to link urban social justice with environmental justice, which is in turn linked to global struggles for climate justice.
Reflecting the lessons learned by social movements in recent years, the action plan also is unequivocal in its insistence that mobilization must unfold both within civil society and by the state. “We must engage with the legislative process, while building our own systems of economic exchange and urban development that are not dependent on a faltering public sector,” it states. Organizations such as WE ACT are clear that the struggle to transform and democratize the city necessitates continued mobilization on a variety of scales, from the neighborhood to the municipal level to the federal government and, finally, to all important transnational connections with other organizations fighting for climate justice.
The Northern Manhattan Climate Action Plan sets out a series of proposals for radical adaptation in four key areas: energy democracy, emergency preparedness, social hubs or meeting places, and public participation. The proposals in each of these areas contribute to cutting-edge intersectional struggles for climate justice and urban equality. In the platform for Energy Democracy, for instance, the action plan underlines the challenge of energy poverty for residents of New York’s low-income communities:
According to the US Energy Information Administration, New Yorkers pay the nation’s second-highest energy prices. This manifests as a disproportionate cost burden for low-income New Yorkers, which threatens not only their ability to retain access to energy services, but also limits access to housing, healthy food, healthcare, and other costly necessities.
Access to adequate energy sources has long been a political issue in the global South, but as austerity bites deeper in impoverished communities in cities in the core capitalist nations, energy poverty is becomingly an increasingly pressing issue: poor people are paying more and more for power, and in some cases are even having their power cut off by companies whose only interest is the bottom line. In order to combat this increasing crisis, the Northern Manhattan Action Plan calls for green energy projects that directly benefit low-income communities, rather than adding to property values in green enclaves like Battery Park City.
In particular, the action plan points to the potential of forms of distributed energy generation such as microgrids, freestanding local energy systems that can operate independently of the main grid. The action plan hopes that such microgrids may help promote the shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources while also empowering local communities both economically and politically. It is not enough, in other words, simply to shift from fossil fuel–generated power to renewable sources: communities rather than big corporations must be able to control energy for real benefits to be seen on a local level. For the many neighborhood residents who participated in the workshops that led to the action plan, community-managed microgrid systems “can confer direct economic benefits on low-income residents by creating manufacturing, construction, and maintenance jobs while also providing savings.” In order to ensure that such savings end up in the hands of tenants rather than landlords, the action plan advocates the formation of green energy cooperatives, potentially building on existing tenant associations, that would give residents of public housing democratic control over the generation, consumption, and costs of renewable power generation. As in all other aspects of the action plan, in other words, the emphasis is on transforming urban infrastructures in a manner that challenges inequality and simultaneously deepens grassroots democracy.
The struggle for energy democracy outlined in WE ACT’s Northern Manhattan Action Plan raises fundamental and inescapable questions about the organization not simply of infrastructure but of social relations in the extreme city. Genuine democratic control of energy production and consumption—whether at a community, municipal, or state level—will only be possible if the competitive market conditions under which public entities like power companies operate is transformed. Otherwise, the basic premise of competitive accumulation under which public initiatives are forced to operate will militate against social and environmental justice. In order to realize the many progressive initiatives—from social hubs to community-supported agriculture and participatory budgeting—being generated by community-planning projects such as WE ACT’s Action Plan, a fundamental transformation of capitalist social relations must take place. As Naomi Klein puts it:
[O]ur economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life. What the climate needs is a contraction in humanity’s use of resources; what our economic model demands to avoid collapse is unfettered expansion. Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it’s not the laws of nature.
Ashley Dawson is a Professor of English at the City University of New York. This article is adapted from Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change, just out from Verso Books.Regulators are getting involved, too. The Environmental Protection Agency recently finished overhauling lighting standards for its Energy Star program, making it easier for more LEDs to qualify for generous discounts. And California, a leader in all things green, is going even further, with elaborate new requirements to control not just how much electricity the bulbs use but how the light feels.
“We want a lamp that people fall in love with,” said Gary Flamm, supervisor of the building standards development unit at the California Energy Commission, adding that with compact fluorescents the push toward low prices and high efficiency had sacrificed light quality. “Once they fall in love with it, they can all save significant energy over the incandescent.”
Nationwide, incandescent bulbs, including newer, more efficient halogen models, accounted for roughly 75 percent of general lighting sales this year, according to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, a trade group, with compact fluorescents making up most of the balance. Manufacturers concede that early versions of the compact fluorescents did not meet expectations for light quality and longevity. Despite advances that have improved their performance, consumers still tick off a host of complaints about the squiggly bulbs: They take time to light up, they do not dim smoothly, they don’t fit with clip-on shades and, worst of all, they cast a harsh and unflattering light. They also contain mercury, raising concerns about breakage and disposal.
“I would, in a way, pay anything to avoid fluorescent,” said Laura Stein, an artist who was picking up several different LEDs to try from a Manhattan Home Depot last week. “I can’t stand them — I’ve always hated them and I will not use them.”
Millions of consumers have come to the same conclusion, even though compact fluorescent bulbs use about 75 percent less electricity than standard incandescents.Negotiation is one of the most important skills to have in the corporate world — whether you are doing it on behalf of your employer or for your own career growth. Unfortunately, when it comes to negotiating for a better salary or a promotion, many employees feel uncomfortable and unsure. According to a poll by the Society of Human Resource Management, around 80 percent of the participants feel uncomfortable discussing money or employment terms.
What’s more, women are less willing to negotiate better terms for their employment than men. In their book "Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide," authors Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever said that women are pessimistic about what is available to them and can end up getting on average 30 percent less than men.
Here’s a look at the ten best negotiation tactics to help you get the salary you've dreamed of.
1. Share information
© Ariel Skelley/Blend Images/C info
Being guarded and wary of expressing what we want may sound like a smart approach, but it’s not. When you are negotiating your salary, you need to win your employer’s trust, and that can be done only with full disclosure. Once you share what you want and why you're worth it, your prospective employer will likely reciprocate — taking you a step closer to your target price. Some studies show that revealing even unrelated information increases the chance of a positive outcome.
However, sharing doesn’t mean that you reveal everything in one go. Take your time and use honesty to build a rapport.
2. Rank your priorities
© Ocean/Corbis 2
Before you go in for the negotiation, be clear on what all your goals are and prioritize them accordingly. For example: if you are a mother of young children and you need to be home at specific time, you need to decide what kind of working hours you are ready to put in, and how much you are willing to travel for the job. To solve the sorting problem, Adam Grant, a professor at The Wharton School, recommends an approach called rank ordering. This approach encourages you to put all your concerns on the table and to be transparent while negotiating.
3. Set your target price and your walkaway terms
© Mint Images/REX 3
Northwestern University Professor Adam Galinsky describes the importance of setting two key limits: the deal from which you can easily walk away, and your ideal target offer. Before you start negotiations, it’s vital to know both. Research the market price for your role, research the normal duties expected of you, and read up on the latest industry trends around training and development. When you are equipped with this knowledge, you can easily control the direction of the negotiation as well as make a quick decision, if required.
4. Make the first offer
© Mint Images/REX 4
Defy conventional wisdom and make the first offer. This can be seen as a sign of power, and power is an important tool while negotiating. Many people are nervous about this and would rather wait for an offer they can react to. But taking the initiative instantly puts you in a positive position: it demonstrates that you've come to the meeting with a clear idea of what you want.
5. Don’t counter too low
© Monkey Business Images/REX 5
If the first offer you get is nowhere near what you want, don't be influenced by it. If you've done your research and have a clear target price in mind, don't get frightened by a low first offer. Stay positive and present your own position calmly.
6. Counteroffers make both parties more satisfied
© HBSS/Corbis 6
Every candidate wants to feel that they got a good deal, while the employer wants to believe that they drove a hard bargain. Offers and counteroffers — bargaining — can be a productive tactic, if done correctly. Remember: salary isn't the only financial advantage a company can offer you. Think of medical insurance, childcare, vacation time or other potential benefits.
7. Put your request in facts
© Tetra Images/Corbis 7
When you put forth your requests, they must be reasonable and grounded in clear facts: what you’ve achieved, how much you bring to the role, what your skill sets are. This will increase your chances of getting what you feel you deserve. When discussing achievements, always ground them in specific events. It's not enough to say that you increased turnover: you need to be clear on how and when.
8. Present your value
© iStock/Getty Images 8
If you believe you are not getting the salary you want, it is time to prove your worth to your employer by citing qualifications, return on investment and experience. It does no harm to remind your employer what a talented member of staff they have. If you've added qualifications during your time at the company, mention these in the context of improving your value to the business.
9. Put someone else in your shoes
© Purestock/Getty Images 9
If you are hesitant to ask more for yourself, imagine that you’re negotiating on behalf of your family. Some people are hesitant to talk about their own value, but find it easier to bargain if they imagine the benefit a raise will bring to their loved ones. Before the meeting, it can help to remind yourself of the things a better salary could do for your family: better schools, more family time on vacation, a bigger home.
10. Ask – and then stop talking
© BananaStock/Getty Images 10
Patience is a virtue that may be rewarded. Once you have proposed your asking price, the next step is to wait. It may be nerve-wracking, but it is a useful practice. Silence can be an immensely powerful tool and is certainly a better option than nervous chatter to fill a gap in the conversation.Occupy Santa Fe protesters demonstrate against ALEC in January, 2012. (Photo: suenosdeuomi) Customers should be able to know if companies that they are supporting with their purchases are busy spending money on groups that undermine environmental regulations, attack workers’ rights, promote “Stand Your Ground” gun laws, advance discriminatory “Voter ID” laws, and otherwise bolster the right-wing legislative vanguard. And if these consumers don’t like this behavior, they should be at liberty to take their business elsewhere.
That proposition seems to fall pretty safely within a free market, vote-with-your-dollars paradigm. In fact, watchdogs who are providing consumers with full information about misbehaving corporations should be seen—again, within a free-market framework—as providing a valuable service, since informed consumers are supposed to be an important part of efficiently functioning capitalism.
But no. If you ask right-wing talking heads, campaigners who dare to suggest that consumers express displeasure with corporations are waging a war on “open thinking and discussion of legislation.”
The impetus for this debate is the effort to hold companies accountable for their memberships in the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, groups including ColorOfChange.org and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have been encouraging consumers to tell corporations paying hefty dues to ALEC that not all of us approve of their behavior. The tactic has worked beautifully. More than a dozen institutions have dumped ALEC, with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Yum! Brands (owner of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut), and Procter & Gamble all joining the exodus since I last wrote.
While the campaign falls within the boycott tradition, in this case the groups involved have only been encouraging people to write letters to the corporations expressing their opinions. The threat that people might withhold their business (which is of course their right in a free market) has thus far been implicit. A ColorOfChange.org sample letter reads, in part:
I presume your company does not want to support voter suppression, nor have your products or services associated with discrimination and large-scale voter disenfranchisement. I urge you to immediately stop funding ALEC and issue a public statement |
wake of the Great Recession, before declining somewhat to its present level of roughly 2 million.
Though their numbers are growing, stay-at-home fathers are still a small share of all fathers who live with their children. In 1989, 4% of these fathers were at home. That share doubled following the recession, and now stands at 7%. In comparison, the share of mothers at home dropped from 28% in 1989 to 23% in 1999, and has now risen back up to 29%.
Looking at the data a bit differently, among all stay-at-home parents in the U.S., 16% are fathers, and 84% are mothers. In 1989, just 10% of all stay-at-home parents were fathers, and 90% were mothers.
Race, Ethnicity and Nativity
Among those fathers who live with their children, there are sharp differences by race and ethnicity in the share who are at home full time. Black fathers who live with their children are the most likely to be at stay-at-home fathers—fully 13% were in 2012. Among Hispanics and Asian Americans, the share is 8%; and 6% of white fathers who live with their kids are not working outside of the home.
The share of fathers at home rose among each of these groups in the wake of the recession, before declining to their present levels. The biggest increases occurred among blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans; and a more modest increase occurred among whites. From 2007 to 2010, the share of black fathers living with their children who stayed home full time increased 5 percentage points, to 17%. During that same period, Hispanics and Asian Americans experienced small increases (to 9% and 10%, respectively). Among whites, the share of at-home fathers peaked at 7% in 2011, up from 5% in 2007.
The likelihood of being a stay-at-home father is similar for both native-born and foreign-born fathers. Some 8% of fathers born in the U.S. who live with their children are stay-at-home fathers, as are 7% of those who were born elsewhere. This is in contrast to the pattern in 1993 (when data by nativity were first available), when foreign-born fathers were twice as likely as the native-born to be home (10% were, as compared with 5% of the native born).
The association of race, ethnicity and nativity with the likelihood of being an at-home parent is very different among mothers. Hispanic and Asian-American mothers are the most likely to be at home (more than one-third of each are), followed by 27% of black mothers and 26% of white mothers. The high share of Asian and Hispanic stay-at-home mothers is driven, in part, by the prevalence of immigrants in these groups. While nativity isn’t linked to the likelihood of staying at home for fathers, foreign-born mothers are far more likely to be at home with their children than mothers born in the U.S.
Educational Attainment
Among dads who live with their children, those with the lowest levels of education are among the most likely to be stay-at-home dads. Some 14% who lack a high school diploma are at home, as are 10% of those with a high school diploma but no further education. Among fathers with some college experience or a two-year degree, 7% are at home, while just 3% of those who have a bachelor’s degree or more are not working. Similarly, among mothers, the more educated are the least likely to be at home with their children.
Since 1989, the share of fathers with no high school diploma who are stay-at-home fathers stayed roughly the same. Increases occurred for dads with higher levels of educational attainment. The likelihood of being a stay-at-home father tripled for those with a high school degree. Among fathers with some college education or a two-year degree, the share at home rose from 3% in 1989 to 7% in 2012; and for those fathers with a bachelor’s degree or more, there has been a 2-point increase since 1989, when just 1% were stay-at-home fathers.I had a little pre-view of these earphones in prototype form some months ago...boy did I leave skeptical. These seemed to me an answer in search of a question. Well, it's amazing how much a product can change on it's way to a production version. The iSine was light, comfortable, secure on my ears, and quite good sounding...this might indeed fill an unserved niche of in-ear replacements for open headphones around the home or quiet office.
The Audeze iSine is the world's first planar magnetic, in-ear headphone. It is a semi-open design and is largely acoustically transparent to your surrounding environment. The iSine10 ($399) and iSine20 ($599) differ, as stated on the Audeze website, in that the latter has, "an even longer Uniforce voice-coil that covers the ultra-thin diaphragm to a greater extent, enabling better control and responsiveness for better bass, clarity, and improved imaging."
Arrows point to the area within which is a horn shaped "phase plug."
The iSines include thin diaphragms, Fluxor magnets, and Uni-force circuit trace technologies found in other Audeze products. No Fluxors, but one thing that was pointed out to me during the prototype pre-view is that snout portion of the iSine is not simply an empty space. Within it there is something like a phase-plug on a speaker. The opening to the snout is a circular entry which can be seen at left in the above illustration at left; The terminus of the plug can be seen in the snout after removing the ear tip as seen in the photo above at right. I'm told this plug acts to correctly match the acoustic impedance between the driver and the ear.
Sankar did send an iSine20 with Cipher Lightning cable for me to play with. I've been enjoying it quite a bit with movies and music on my iPad. I've only had it a few days but my first impression is that the tonal balance is quite good, but may be a bit overemphasized in the bassthe Cipher cable does store a factory set EQ that can be modified in the cable's app. Sound is a tad hard/un-romantic; imaging is surprisingly good; bass is well controlled and punchy; treble is well behaved without harshness or glare.
Kinda like a Koss KSC-35 on steroids...surprisingly, I'd take the comfort of the iSine over the KSC-35 all day long. These will definitely get a review!
Here's the full story from Sankar.
Click here to view on YouTube.The headlines are full of talk of Dylann Roof’s manifesto on Saturday, as reported by the Inquisitr. In the 2,444-word long document, Dylann wrote about how he Googled search terms such as “black on white crime” and the Council Of Conservative Citizens website that he discovered. A current Google search of “Council of Conservative Citizens” turns up the website conservative-headlines.com in the number one position.
According to Who Is, conservative-headlines.com was registered by Kyle Rogers on February 1 through GoDaddy.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has a profile of Kyle under their “Extremist Files,” pegging Rogers with a white nationalist ideology. Born in 1977, Kyle is the leader of the Council of Conservative Citizens — notably CCC instead of KKK — and is a man who is described as one who used his web skills to gain buzz for his white supremacist hate group.
On Examiner, Kyle is a Charleston Conservative Examiner who is described as a “conservative activist in South Carolina” who helped organize the South Carolina Tea Party movement. Articles dating back to 2011 with Rogers writing about black on white crime have racked up nearly 1,000 Facebook likes.
The current Google cache of the manifesto reportedly written by Dylann points to the Council of Conservative Citizens being the first website that Roof encountered, and the impact that the white supremacist writings had upon the Charleston killer.
“The first website I came to was the Council of Conservative Citizens. There were pages upon pages of these brutal black on White murders.”
The influence of Rogers upon Roof is clear when examining the writings of both men. In an interview with White Talk Radio Network on January 25, 2014, Kyle is quoted as attributing an astronomically large percentage of crimes to blacks.
“The worst thing you can do is send your kids to a heavily integrated school. My high school was about 10 or 15 percent black, but they committed probably 90-plus percent of the violence and crimes at the school. I can imagine how much worse it would be if the school is over half black.”
In the manifesto being attributed to Dylann, he does the same — writing about his disdain for the suburbs.
“Segregation was not a bad thing. It was a defensive measure. Segregation did not exist to hold back negroes. It existed to protect us from them. And I mean that in multiple ways. Not only did it protect us from having to interact with them, and from being physically harmed by them, but it protected us from being brought down to their level.”
Roof also seems to deny the Middle Passage and the horrors of slavery in the same way that white supremacists teach others to deny the Holocaust, even if some Jewish members who endured the Holocaust and survived — with their tattooed numbers still on their wrists — still live to tell the truth.
“I wish with a passion that n*****s were treated terribly throughout history by Whites, that every White person had an ancestor who owned slaves, that segregation was an evil an oppressive institution, and so on. Because if it was all it true, it would make it so much easier for me to accept our current situation. But it isn’t true. None of it is.”
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the “CCC” Council Of Conservative Citizens hate group heavily influenced Roof’s writings and thinking. The publication confirms that Kyle is the webmaster behind the CCC website.
[Image via Examiner]Photos by Michelle Ford
Every neighbourhood has "that guy". The kind of crazy looking eccentric you see playing a keyboard with a peg leg or some woman in a cape who sells the most amazing jewelry known to man kind for chump change. In my neighbourhood, Mount Pleasant, just south of Downtown Vancouver, that guy is a bleached-out old punk dude named Mad Dog.
I didn't know much about Mad Dog when I first saw him around. All I knew was that he rode a old, suped-up motorbike with a side car that held his tiny pug who wore goggles and a black vest. Then Mad Dog came into my work place and noticed my Germs circle tattoo. "You're a little punk!" he yelled at me. "That band was great." I was immediately intrigued. Asking around, I found out that Mad Dog was not only an artist who did everything from rebuilding old bikes to revamping baby dolls into Chucky-like sculptures to creating miniature replicas of now-destroyed hotels and clubs in our city, he also used to front one of Vancouver's early '80s hardcore punk bands, Slaughter Squad. For a tall can and some smokes, Mad Dog let me come over to his place and listen to his stories of what it was like to be a broke, starving, junkie punk in the days of D.O.A., shooting galleries, soup-kitchen handouts and moneyless freedom.
How did Mad Dog become your name?
Mad Dog: I was in a band called Slaughter Squad and we were basically an anti-religious band. If you spell Mad Dog backwards what do you get?
God Dam.
I got labelled.
When did Slaughter Squad start?
I think it was 1982. My first band was called O.D., but it later turned into Slaughter Squad.
Who else was in the band?
Pork Face, Randy Bowman and this guy Martin whose last name escapes me.
How did you become a front man?
Just like everyone else; I got up on stage and did it. But after two bands I realized I would rather be in the audience. I liked it, but it wasn't for me. I did the whole dice n' slice thing. [Lifts up his shirt to show long, scars on his chest]
Iggy style. Did you ever get hurt?
I cut myself up and you ask if I get hurt? [Laughs] Never serious, but you couldn't go to a hospital back then with cuts like that because they'd lock you up. You had to medicate yourself when you got home.
What was the punk scene like in the early 80s?
I came into the scene in about 1978 and it was completely different then, because it was so small. Everyone was starving. There was no such thing as a punk with a good job like there is today. We used to steal 250 cases from Carling O'Keefe, we'd clip a hole in the fence, you know, show up at a party and give everyone beer. I remember this one time my friend Simon Snot Face broke into a meat truck and stole legs of ham. It was Christmas time and he called everyone up and we had a feast. That was how it was. Even though we were all broke, there was a weird aura in the city where you couldn't wait to go out at night. There were so many after-hours clubs, yuppie high rise Yaletown was just empty warehouses. We'd get some money, rent a warehouse for almost nothing and throw parties to sell beer and make our cash.
What was the best venue?
The Smiling Buddha. It's boarded up now, but that was the best club ever. The acoustics in there were second to none.
Was it a legal venue?
Yeah. 54-40 named one of their records after the place and I don't even think they played there.
Who did play there?
My band, The Dils, The Dishrags, The Go-Go's, lots of San Francisco bands, Cheech and Chong used to do their comedy acts there... [pauses] Sorry, I'm trying to remember the actual names. Everyone fucking played there. Everyone. It was a long fucking time ago. Every night I was there I was so drunk I could barely remember what happened the next day, let alone 40 years later.
Who ran the place?
This old East Indian guy named Latchman, he's dead now, but back then he had an arranged marriage with his wife, Nancy, who we couldn't believe was his wife. She was 30-years-old when he was in his eighties. I remember Latchman had an original Jimi Hendrix poster up on the wall from when Hendrix played at the Smiling Buddha. Actually, Latchman fired Hendrix because he was playing too loud. He kicked him off stage. We laughed about that and we all wanted that poster.
Who got it?
His wife maybe? She probably put it on eBay. The Smiling Buddha was the place everyone went, plus it already had a history, right? Watching bars like The Cobalt go under, I was there the last night, talking to people who were saying, "It's the end, it's the end" because The Cobalt is going under, but every place ends and soon a new one opens. First it was The Star Fish Room, The Wind Mill, John Barley's, Smiling Buddha, you can close whatever club you want and we'll just make a new club. The city would love it see punk go away, but it won't.
Will punk ever die?
Well, we thought punk was dead in 1986 when The Bay put mohawks on their window mannequins. [Laughs]
At this point, Mad Dog pulls out his photo album which is a collection of black and white's taken by original Vancouver "punk photographer" Bev Davies. She still shoots shows around the city and has been doing it loyally and successfully since the late 70s.
That's "Fetus". That's back in the early days when it was hard to be a punk because you'd go out for a pack of smokes and come home all beat up because some red necks got you. "Fetus" was in a bunch of garage bands.
That's Simon Whiles and Roger. They were the very first Skinheads to come here from England and we didn't even know what a Skinhead was, you know? When the grease balls would come into our clubs and try to beat us up, they would clean about 10 people's clocks at once, then we figured out what Skinheads were all about. Roger died of a brain tumor. Simon Snot Face was infamous for being violent. He never played in any bands, he played crowd control.
You know who that is. Darby Crash. That was in San Francisco.
Iggy Pop with his dick hanging out. The first time I saw Iggy, Blondie played as the back-up band and they didn't even have a record out.
That's Candy and the girl on the right was our drummer's girlfriend. She died of a heroin overdose around the age she is in that photo. That was the thing, when the punk scene first started hardcore drugs were a big no-no, but as the scene progressed they just got big. Eventually half the scene were junkies and the other half were really against it. It was a big split in the scene.
That's the Subhumans when they were kids. Dimwitt, he's dead now, Jerry "Useless" Hannah, he was one of the Squamish Five which were a group of punks who tried to blow up a dam with submachine guns, dynamite, they all got 15 years. He did his time and got out, but one condition of getting out of jail was that he wasn't supposed to play for the Subhumans, but he still does. They wanted to blow up the dam because it was going to flood an entire lake, stop the natural salmon flow and shove people off the land, it was a big political move. They were secretative about it, none of us knew and we were all close friends, but the Squamish Five was already under the radar of the CSIS. so they got busted. I mean, I hung out with Jerry Useless everyday and I had no idea until they got busted.
That's me, back when I had good looks. I'm with Agida. She was my girlfriend for a while. One day she left Vancouver with some biker and nobody ever saw or heard from her again. It was weird because she was close with her family, so we all assumed that she is dead. They never found the guy she split with. I never met the guy, I just heard about it after we broke up.
That's me with Mary [Jo Kopechne] from The Modernettes.
How did being a drug addict affect your life?
Well, first off I used to have an amazing record collection which I no longer have. Whatever kind of cash I had, I spent on records. Then, I became a junkie and I'd sell 20 rare albums for a hit. At the time I was selling off my records, CD's were coming in so everyone assumed it was the end of vinyl. Little did I know, it would go the opposite way. [Laughs] I could never get that collection back to where it was... I'd have to get six numbers right out of 49.
Doesn't that bum you out now that you've cleaned up?
Sure, but what can you do?
What did you use?
Coke, heroin and a lot of M.D.A. M.D.A. was my favorite drug.
What did you like about it?
Being horny for three days straight. [Laughs] I don't know, it made me feel good. Being broke and depressed, well I wasn't depressed because I was high all the time [laughs] but if it wasn't for M.D.A. what else would I have to live for? I had no money. Nothing. I mean, I used to poster all day so I could get into certain shows so you could save $3. M.D.A. was my drug of choice but I did whatever landed on the dinner table. My apartment became a shooting gallery. Today, you go down to Hastings and everyone is shooting up on the streets, in front of the Cop Shop! You would never do that in my day! Cops would be on you like flies on shit. They would be rough on you too. They treated you like shit, they'd just beat you up. The other thing to is that back when I was a junkie, rigs were the hardest thing to get. Everyone knew that you had to make friends with a diabetic because they could get you bags of rigs. Just talking about how times have changed, there was no where to get a clean rig like we have in Vancouver today with Insite and other places. So, you know, if you had rigs then some friend with dope would come by and say, "I'll give you a spoon full of dope if you give me two clean rigs". Fine. Back then I lived in the West End in a building called The Mayfair, which is still around -
I know it. I used to live by it on Nelson St.
Yeah, that's it. When I lived there it was the junkie building of all of Vancouver. The landlord was this full-on drag queen. There was this Madame on the top floor. Her cliental was doctors and lawyers and she'd invite you up for a cup of coffee in the morning, but you'd have to be super quiet because she'd have one of her clients sitting, blind-folded on a block of ice or whatever weird shit was going on. The whole place was a drug-fest, but it was also the place where a lot of song-writers, artists and poets lived because it was weird and we all liked it.
Any one of note?
Come on. I would like to keep the few friends I still have.
Fair enough. I only have one more question, for now. What does it mean to be a punk?
I don't even consider myself a punk anymore. Back when I was living the life, it meant everything to me. Live by the three "F"'s: fucking, forging and fighting.
Follow Mish on Twitter herePlease enable Javascript to watch this video
AKRON, Ohio – Prosecutors say a 29-year-old Ohio man – accused of approaching women for the 10 years and trying to touch their belly buttons – should be sent to prison for violating his parole.
Graig Burrier, of Stow, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Summit County Common Pleas Court to violating his parole. He was placed on parole in 2012 after pleading guilty to a sexual battery charge. In that case, prosecutors say he told a woman he was pledging a fraternity and asked to touch her belly button.
“Since that time he has violated his probation numerous times,” said Brad Gessner, chief counsel for the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office. “He has not been successful on probation. He went to prison. He was given judicial release, and he continues to ignore and to violate the restrictions probation has placed on him.”
Gessner pointed to the recent violation, that happened this July in Stow.
“He chose again this year to go out and again to attempt to touch a woman’s belly button on the bike trail,” Gessner said.
According to a Stow 911 call and police report, obtained by WJW, the incident happened just south of Silver Springs Park.
“The male states he is rushing a fraternity and needed to ask her a few questions,” the report stated. “After the questions, the male stated he needed to touch her belly button.”
When the woman asked him what he would do if she said no, he said he would ask someone else. She then raised her shirt slightly and allowed him to touch her belly button.
“She stated he proceeded to get on a knee and used his index finger, pressing it, and circling his finger around the navel,” the police report states. “She stated it lasted for approximately a minute or so. After a few seconds, she asked him how much longer he would need and he stated, thirty more seconds."
Prosecutors say Burrier is banned from going to parks alone, and he is not allowed to go to the campuses of Kent State University or the University of Akron.
Gessner said prosecutors believe Burrier should be sent to prison for violating the terms of his probation again.
Burrier’s defense attorney, however, told the court that his client has autism and should go to a residential treatment facility.
But prosecutors insist Burrier does not have autism.
“He has a history of some developmental issues. He was in some special education classes, but he does not meet any of the diagnosis of the criteria to be classified as autistic,” Gessner said.
Neither Burrier nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.
Burrier is scheduled to be sentenced in February.Getty Images
For about four years, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox was the largest and most important Bitcoin exchange. Despite having numerous flaws, many considered it the default option for buying and selling Bitcoin using real world currencies. But in early 2014, Mt. Gox collapsed and its customers' money vaporized. It entered bankruptcy shortly afterward. Its assets have been acquired by Kraken, a San Francisco-based competitor, which is now refunding Mt. Gox customers. This is what happened behind the scenes of the collapse.
Mark Karpeles, the CEO of the Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, was spending many of his days in early 2014 turning the ground floor of his Tokyo office into the Bitcoin Café, a real-world showcase for Bitcoin.
Mark was working out the details of the café, down to the programmable LED lighting on the ceiling, recipes for the pastries that would be served, and a point-of-sale system he had been designing. It was almost ready to open, with wine on the shelves and light blue Bitcoin Café mugs next to the register.
As he puttered around the café, Mark did not look like a man responsible for a financial company that was in the throes of an existential crisis.
***
For most of January, the price of a Bitcoin on Mt. Gox had been almost $100 higher than on any other exchange, due to the difficulty that Mt. Gox was having in transferring withdrawals to customers outside Japan.
Then, something even more worrisome started happening: a growing number of Mt. Gox customers reported that they had requested withdrawals of Bitcoin and never gotten the coins.
The 30 or so Mt. Gox employees knew little about what was going wrong. When Mark wasn't working on the café, he was in his office, behind a locked door on the eighth floor, far from the second- and fourth-floor offices where most of his staff was located. They were as surprised as customers when Mark decided, on Friday, February 7, to shut off all withdrawals from Mt. Gox.
Watch more from Motherboard: Life inside a Chinese Bitcoin mine
The panic that this caused only got worse on Monday when Mark provided the first explanation: the exchange had run up against a flaw in the Bitcoin protocol. The flaw, known as transaction malleability, allowed devious users to request a withdrawal, change the code, and then successfully request the same withdrawal again.
This immediately sent the price of Bitcoin plunging on every exchange around the world. A flaw in the Bitcoin protocol could jeopardize everything.
What Mark didn't mention was that all the other major Bitcoin companies had known about the issue for years and had designed around it. Meanwhile, Mt. Gox remained closed—creating a growing fear that something bigger was wrong.
***
A combination of fear and sickness slowly overtook him as each one of the wallets he scanned in showed up on his computer screen as empty.
Mark would later say that during this time he was spending his daylight hours at the office and his nights at his apartment, alone with his cat Tibanne, furiously working his way through hundreds of pieces of paper containing the private keys to Mt. Gox's Bitcoin wallets.
He had driven around in his car and collected the papers from the three locations in Tokyo where he had stored them (he had kept the keys on paper so they would not be vulnerable to hackers). Once he was back in his apartment with the QR codes, he began scanning in the private keys one at a time with his computer's webcam. A combination of fear and sickness slowly overtook him as each one of the wallets he scanned in showed up on his computer screen as empty.
It would be hard for others to verify Mark's narration of what happened during those days because he kept such tight control over all the exchange's accounts. And as time went on, fewer and fewer people believed anything Mark said. Ten days after Mt. Gox shut off withdrawals, Mark announced that the problem was fixed.
Of course, it wasn't.
***
When the Winklevoss twins landed in London for a weekend appearance at Oxford University, they turned on their phones to find a worrisome email from Mark's deputy, Gonzague, with whom they had dealt in the past.
"I would like to talk to you urgently regarding the situation with MtGox," he wrote.
When Cameron Winklevoss called him later that night on Skype, Gonzague got right to the point. Some 650,000 Bitcoins—essentially all the company's customer holdings—were gone, along with 100,000 coins that belonged to the exchange.
Cameron was stunned. Doing the most basic math in his head, he knew that Gonzague was talking about hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoins.
"How is that possible?" was all he could ask.
Gonzague said that someone had been stealing from the company's online, or hot, wallet by changing the transaction identifiers. When the hot wallet was empty, Mark had unwittingly refilled it with coins from the cold, offline wallets, over and over again, until all the offline wallets were empty. The whole thing had been going on for months, or even years.
Kolin Burges, a programmer and Mt. Gox customer, parked himself outside the company's office and accosted Mark on the way into work. "Do you still have everyone's Bitcoins?" Kolin asked. "Can you let me get inside please," Mark said as he tried to pass Kolin, who was bobbing and weaving to get in his way. "I'm going to call the police," Mark threatened, before Kolin finally let him pass.
Gonzague sounded oddly upbeat. He explained that Mark had "burned himself" and was agreeing to step aside so Mt. Gox could reincorporate under new owners, with the twins being obvious candidates. Gonzague thought it would be possible to do this without telling anyone what had happened. If the exchange could get an infusion of coins the business could make up the missing money over time, from fees. If this wasn't done, Gonzague said ominously, it could set Bitcoin back years.
The twins were not the only people to whom Mark and Gonzague were looking for a lifeline. But essentially everyone told the Mt. Gox team the same thing: there was nothing to do but admit the losses and declare bankruptcy.
***
Ordinary Bitcoin users got some indication that something was wrong when Mt. Gox's Twitter account suddenly disappeared. But Gonzague and Mark continued to hold out hope that someone would come in and bail them out. Mark told Cameron he was planning to begin talking with a bankruptcy judge. But, he emphasized, "Our current goal is to try to save MtGox before filing for bankruptcy—in which case filing wouldn't be required anymore."
The growing bubble of uncertainty over how this would all play out finally burst on Monday night when a popular Bitcoin blogger, known as the Two Bit Idiot, posted a leaked copy of Mt. Gox's 12-page internal Crisis Strategy Draft.
It was clearly a draft document, with typos and inconsistencies, but it pulled no punches about what had happened:
The reality is that MtGox can go bankrupt at any moment, and certainly deserves to as a company. However, with Bitcoin/crypto just recently gaining acceptance in the public eye, the likely damage in public perception to this class of technology could put it back 5~10 years, and cause governments to react swiftly and harshly. At the risk of appearing hyperbolic, this could be the end of Bitcoin, at least for most of the public.
As it began to circulate and the Bitcoin masses tried to determine if it was legitimate, there was a sense of suspended motion on the forums and message boards, with everyone waiting for the bottom to fall out. When no one came forward to dispute the document, the price of Bitcoin began to go into free fall.
And then, amazingly, the free fall started to slow.
***
Within a few hours, Bitcoin's price began to stabilize. Many people seemed willing to believe the idea that there was nothing wrong with Bitcoin; there was talk that the disappearance of the most disastrous company ever to touch Bitcoin could end up being a good thing for the technology. If nothing else, people had invested enough time and money that they couldn't stomach selling out of a trough. Within two days, the price was back up where it had been when the Mt. Gox news came out.
Still, under the apparently calm surface, there was immense and largely unseen damage. As the enormous figures from Mt. Gox suggested, tens of thousands of people had kept their money with the exchange despite all the warnings, and those holdings, estimated at over $400 million the week before, had now disappeared in a mysterious puff of smoke.
The same week as the collapse, lawyers in Chicago and Denver filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status to represent all the victims, and federal prosecutors were sending out subpoenas to aid in the criminal investigation they launched.
Even many of the victims blamed Mt. Gox rather than Bitcoin. Nothing had gone wrong with the Bitcoin protocol. Mt. Gox had long been held up as an example of the dangers that arose when Bitcoin users relied on central institutions, rather than the system of private keys and personal wallets that Satoshi Nakamoto, the currency's pseudonymous creator, had designed.
An academic study in 2013 had found that 45 percent of the Bitcoin exchanges that had taken money had gone under, several taking the money of their customers with them. Mt. Gox was hardly the first. It was just the biggest.
This is an excerpt from Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires, a new book by New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper. Reprinted courtesy of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.One reason I signed on for it at all is that I'd been getting frustrated by what's become the norm: of translating this very metrical Greek poetry, entirely gorgeous and musical, into English poetry without a meter. And then the idea that you have to impose a supposedly "epic" style on it. I felt something different was needed. Many translations, to my ear, are not paying attention to the way it sounds. A lot of the time I was reading the original aloud, and then read my own draft aloud, and I'd stop whenever I found I wasn't being true to the poem rhythmically or musically. The original has so much fluidity in rhythm, sound, pacing, speeding up, slowing down. My job isn't to reproduce that but to engage with it, pay attention to it. As for iambic pentameter, I found I sometimes kicked against the rules — but I also loved having the rules, having five strong beats in a line. Since I knew that ahead of time, I was forced to find solutions I wouldn't have found otherwise.APPROVED FOR RELEASE 1994
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
2 JULY 96
OFFICIAL USE ONLY
The intelligence war between the British and Irish Intelligence Services.
MICHAEL COLLINS AND BLOODY SUNDAY
Martin C. Hartline and M. M. Kaulbach
Until Easter Week 1966, the statue of Lord Nelson stood peacefully on its column in Dublin Square. It was blown up on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rebellion, which the British had finally subdued on that very spot. Although the figurative decapitation of the hero of Trafalgar made the front page of The New York Times, the event was but a footnote to history, recalling one of the most newsworthy stories of the early 1900's, The Irish Revolt.
For nearly four hundred years prior to the Easter Rebellion of 1916, Irish nationalists had been fighting British colonialism without success. The most striking difference between the Easter Rebellion and the uprisings of the past was that this new Irish revolt occurred at a most unpropitious moment for the British. The war against Germany had strained and exhausted the economy of Great Britain. Resources to arrest the growing insurgency in Ireland were not available.
Despite the disruptive effects of World War I on Great Britain, it would have been unrealistic, even in the land of the leprechaun, for the Irish to expect to defeat by conventional military tactics the world's foremost military power. In fact, most of the leaders of the Irish nationalists felt that the opportunity for success rested squarely on their capability to exploit Great Britain's lack of will to continue a costly and domestically unpopular war. Their eventual success in doing so constitutes a classic example of the effectiveness of unconventional warfare in forcing a powerful adversary to the negotiating table.1 The Irish intelligence service was one of the architects of the victory.
The Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army during the last act of the drama was Michael Collins, already a legendary figure when he was appointed in the summer of 1919. He had been in the movement since early 1916, and had earned the cachet attached to deportation and imprisonment for a year in a British jail. By 1919, the Crown was offering £10,000 in rewards for Collins "dead or alive."
Despite this tempting offer and hard times in Ireland, very few dared to offer assistance which would aid the British in capturing him. The few, who were tempted met a quick end. The familiar IRA calling card found on the bodies of informers, "Convicted Spy Executed by Order of the IRA," proved to be a sufficient deterrent. Frequently, informers were tried in absentia. It is sufficient to recall Collins' remark regarding the accused to guess at the outcome of these trials: "For the future the rule should be guilty until proven innocent."
Collins has often been described by both friends and foes as a coldblooded character. His remarks after the bloody execution of a number of British intelligence officers and informants bring out this aspect of his character.
My one intention was the destruction of the undesirables who continued to make miserable the lives of ordinary decent citizens. I have proof enough to assure myself of the atrocities which this gang of spies and informers have committed. Perjury and torture are words too easily known to them. If I had a second motive it was no more than a feeling such as I might have for a dangerous rept |
with vending machines and parking meters.The ultimate convenience invention for domestic living must certainly be inventor Frances Gabe’s self-cleaning house. The house, a combination of some 68 time, labor, and space saving mechanisms, was conceived as a way to make the drudgery of housework obsolete.
The Early Years
Frances Gabe (or Frances G. Bateson) was born in 1915 and now lives in Newberg, Oregon, in the prototype of her self-cleaning house. Gabe gained experience in housing design and construction at an early age from working with her father, Frederick Arnholtz. She adored her father, a building contractor and architect, and rode with him to his job sites beginning at the early age of 3. Her mother died when Frances was young and her father had jobs across the Pacific Northwest and so her “family” became the construction workers who taught her all she would ever need to know about building her “dream house” someday.
She attended 18 different grade schools and at age 12 she started attending the Girl’s Polytechnic School in Portland, Oregon. In two years, she completed her high school education, graduating in 1929 at age 14. In 1932, at the age of 17, she married Herbert Bateson who was an electrical engineer. Bert never worked much aside from odd jobs here and there, so Frances was forced to support their family, including their two children.
Gabe did not let her 18 years of partial blindness that followed her child's birth stop her from starting her own business. Soon after losing her sight, she started a home repair business in Portland. The business was quite successful and, according to Charles Carey, author of American Inventors, Entrepreneurs, and Business Visionaries, her husband was so embarrassed by her success that he demanded she stop using his name. Grace chose to take the initials of her entire married name “Grace Arnholtz Bateson,” and tack an “e” on the end to become "Gabe." In 1978, shortly after changing her name, she and Bert separated and eventually divorced.
Features of a Self-Cleaning House
Each of the rooms in the termite-proof, cinder block constructed, self-cleaning house is fitted with a 10-inch, ceiling-mounted cleaning/drying/heating/cooling device. The walls, ceilings and floors of the house are covered with resin, a liquid that becomes water-proof when hardened. The furniture is made of a water-proof composition, and there are no dust-collecting carpets anywhere in the house. At the push of a sequence of buttons, jets of soapy water wash the entire room. Then, after a rinse, the blower dries up any remaining water that hasn’t run down the sloping floors into a waiting drain.Getty Images
It was a good week for rookies in the NFC.
49ers linebacker Chris Borland was named the conference’s defensive player of the week and Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans joined him on the list of honorees for Week 11.
Evans accounted for a healthy portion of the team’s passing offense in a 27-7 win in Washington by catching seven passes for 209 yards. The Bucs only completed 15 passes for 288 yards all day, so Evans’s exploits were a big reason why the Bucs found a way to win for the second time this season.
His two touchdown catches didn’t hurt that effort either and the rookie is looking more and more like a big bright spot in what’s been a rough year overall in Tampa. He now has 46 catches for 794 yards and seven touchdowns on the season and he’s proven to be exactly the kind of big target that bedevils defenses that the Bucs hoped he’d be when they drafted him seventh overall in May.
Evans was the second receiver off the board in a draft that has produced many immediate starters and contributors at receiver. His output thus far confirms he deserved to be at the top of that list.City would have to chip in $63,000
LONGMONT -- Never mind a chicken in every pot. Longmont may just get a bus pass in every hand.
Boulder County has applied for a two-year grant that would give every Longmont resident a free bus pass. Well, sort of free; the county would put up $63,188 a year and the city would need to front the same amount if it takes part.
But if state and federal grant funding comes through this fall, that would fill in the remaining $550,000 -- and, the county argues, give Longmont a chance to restore local bus routes by building up its ridership.
"If you can get on the bus without having to find $2.25 in your pocket, you're more likely to use it," said George Gerstle, the county's transportation director. "Right now, with what we have in Longmont, you have be to really desperate to take the local bus."
Students exit a Regional Transportation District bus on 17th Avenue and Hover Street in this file photo. (Times-Call file)
The city has argued before that its falling ridership is tied to rising local rates by the Regional Transportation District.
In 2001, when Longmont fares were 75 cents, the city's ridership was about 1,100 people a month. As of the end of 2012,one-way fares were $2.25 and ridership had fallen below 600.
That, in turn, kicked off a vicious cycle -- lower ridership led RTD to cut routes, which was followed by still lower ridership.
"This is an opportunity to break that spiral," Gerstle said at a Monday evening joint meeting of Boulder County commissioners and the Longmont City Council.
Councilwoman Katie Witt said she liked the idea, but that if the city decided to play, it would need to remind residents that free wasn't forever.
"We get everyone in Longmont used to riding the bus for free and then we have to have the discussion about 'Oh, now you have to pay for your bus pass,'" she said. "But we really are out of options."
Councilman Brian Bagley called it a waste. Longmont already pays into RTD, he said; it should be getting decent service without having to pay more -- even assuming that the program boosted ridership enough to get RTD's attention.
"Ninety thousand people, $60,000, it's less than a dollar per person," Mayor Dennis Coombs said. "It's not a huge investment."
"It's a bad business decision," Bagley said. "We pay taxes and then pay again."
Commissioner Elise Jones said a similar community bus program had worked well in Lyons.
"The idea is to see if it will work in Longmont," she said.
The City Council has not yet decided whether to participate. The grant results are expected to be announced in August or September.
Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or srochat@times-call.com.CLOSE A gunman opened fire on the campus of a Troutdale, Oregon high school killing Emilio Hoffman and injuring a teacher. VPC
Two people comfort each other as they await word about the safety of students after a shooting at Reynolds High School on June 10, 2014, in Troutdale, Ore. (Photo11: Faith Cathcart, The Oregonian, via AP)
Tragedy struck an Oregon high school Tuesday when a teen with a rifle killed another student and slightly wounded a teacher at the start of the second-to-last day of the year.
The gunman was found dead a short time later in a bathroom stall, where he apparently killed himself, said police in the Portland suburb of Troutdale.
SWAT teams descended on Reynolds High School after receiving a report of a shooting, police Chief Scott Anderson said. The school, the state's second-largest high school with 2,800 students, was locked down, and a room-by-room search was conducted.
Witnesses said the gunman fired several shots in the gymnasium before running into a bathroom. Teachers ran through the halls telling students to hide in classrooms.
A camera-equipped robot found the teen shooter slumped on a toilet with what appeared to be a self-inflicted wound, police spokesman Sgt. Carey Kaer said.
THE OVAL: Obama: Nation'should be ashamed' over gun violence
STORY: How to talk to kids about school violence
A family spokesman identified the gunman's victim as 14-year-old Emilio Hoffman, a freshman, KGW-TV reported. Police said the teen, who played soccer and was described as "a good kid," was shot in a locker room.
The identify of the shooter was withheld pending notification of his family.
The gunman killed Emilio Hoffman, a freshman at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Ore. (Photo11: Courtesy of Hoffman family via KGW-TV, Portland, Ore.)
"There will be several days of healing and ongoing attention given to the students and the staff," the police chief said.
Anderson confirmed a report that another person had a gun at the school. Anderson said that a second person was taken into custody but that the person was not involved in the shooting.
Physical education teacher Todd Rispler, a former track coach and football star at the school, was treated at the scene after a bullet grazed one of his hips, he told KGW-TV.
Superintendent Linda Florence said despite his injury, Rispler initiated lockdown procedures and likely saved many lives.
"This is a very tragic day, one that I had hoped would never ever be part of my experience," she said. "We feel very sorry for our parents."
She said the students were "absolutely wonderful" at evacuating the building. The students exited the building, hands over their heads, and gathered in a nearby parking lot for teary reunions with parents.
Counseling was being made available to the school community, Florence said.
The shooting occurred just after 8 a.m. Students said the gunfire sounded like fireworks, and some thought it was a drill.
Freshman Morgan Rose, 15, said she hunkered down in a locker room with another student and two teachers.
MAY: Chilling details, no motive in Nevada's October school shooting
JANUARY: Colorado students go back to school for first time since shooting
"It was scary in the moment. Now knowing everything's OK, I'm better," she said.
Freshman Daniel DeLong, 15, said he saw a physical education teacher at the school with a bloodied shirt.
"I'm a little shaken up," DeLong said. "I'm just worried."
He said he was texting friends to make sure they were all OK.
"It just, like, happened so fast, you know?" he said.
Sue Strickland, police records specialist for the Troutdale police, told USA TODAY the shooter was a male teen. She could not confirm whether he was a student at the school. She said multiple police departments responded, including several SWAT teams.
Troutdale Mayor Doug Daoud lauded police for their quick response.
"This has been a very unsettling day for our precious city," Daoud said. "My heart goes out to all the families."
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber issued a statement of condolence for the school community.
CLOSE A Reynolds High School student says that the shooting occured in the gymnasium as other students tweeted about the chaotic scene. KGW
"My heart is heavy after learning of this morning's tragic events at Reynolds High School," the statement said. "Today Oregon hurts as we try to make sense of a senseless act of violence. Please keep students, staff, the extended Reynolds community and first responders in your thoughts and prayers."
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were headed to Reynolds High School to assist in the investigation, the ATF said on its Twitter feed.
&amp;amp;amp;lt;!--iframe--&amp;amp;amp;gt;
Troutdale, east of Portland, is home to about 16,000 people.
The shooting was the 74th on a U.S. campus since the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., according to the American Federation of Teachers, the union representing staff at Reynolds High.
"This is the 74th time the safety of a school community has been shattered by a gunman. This is the 74th time students, educators and school staff have felt the terror of not knowing if they will ever see their loved ones again. This is the 74th time that parents have experienced the fear of not knowing what is happening to their children," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement.
"It is long past time for action. We renew our call for leaders to act in the interest of our children and families to ensure that our schools are safe sanctuaries. We must pass sensible reforms that can help prevent our children, and those who teach and nurture them, from being gunned down. And we will work with our affiliate and the entire Reynolds High School community to help them heal and to restore a sense of safety and security."
In a question-answer session on the social media site Tumblr, President Obama said that "my biggest frustration so far is that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps" to curb gun violence.
"We should be ashamed," the president said, citing the failed effort to toughen background checks and criticizing lawmakers and candidates who are "terrified of the NRA."
"To those who say it's not guns, it's mental health: The United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people."
"This is becoming the norm" in ways that "as a parent, are terrifying to me," he said.
Contributing: Kevin Johnson, Donna Leinwand Leger, David Jackson, USA TODAY; Michael Rollins, KGW-TV, Portland, Ore.; The Associated Press
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1hESgiOLike Nixon, LBJ, and Kennedy before him, President Obama has been recording Oval Office conversations. In my judgment, this is a good practice and a credit to the President.
Mark Bowden (author of Black Hawk Down and The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden) disclosed this fact during a 12/12/2012 speech at the Pritzker Military Library (go to about 33:00 in event audio for relevant anecdote).
Bowden interviewed President Obama in the Oval Office for writing his book on the killing of bin Laden. Unfortunately, Bowden’s tape recorder malfunctioned so the interview appeared to be at least partially lost. While leaving the Oval Office, Bowden lamented the malfunction and was told by Ben Rhodes (probably a reference to the Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication) not to worry because “We record everything in here.” Subsequently, Rhodes provided Bowden a full transcript of his interview with the President.
The only negative I see in Bowden’s account is that the White House is recording these conversations without disclosure to all the participants. So consider yourself warned, when you speak with President Obama, you are speaking to all American citizens, both present and future.
Give that the risks of security and records preservation have been addressed, the resumption of presidential taping in the Oval Office and White House has three principle benefits, beyond day to day operational efficiencies.
Accountability
The President and members of the White House staff and executive branch are accountable to current and future American citizens for their conduct in office; see the example of Nixon’s resignation.
Further, those that speak with the Presient are accountable to current and future American citizens for their counsel; hear the Southern Governors speaking to the President regarding the outbreak of civil disorder during the civil rights movement.
History
In retrospect, audio records inform the documentation of history. The cold black-and-white of bullet points are enlivened by the tone and natural language of the verbal discussion. The significance of individuals are displayed by their participation in policy discussions and their being the subject of discussions; hear the LBJ tapes for this theme.
Presidency in Reality
Audio recordings bring issues in a raw perceptual form. What was actually said and discussed is the antidote to unsubstantiated conspiracies about presidential motivations. Further, the nuts and bolts of daily problem solving debunk the media echoed myth behind the cult of the presidency, and the President as the Great Legislator, in the Rousseau sense.
Personally, I hope in future to find through these recordings that President Obama is thoughtful and informed, which would be a valuable contrast to the ignorant fool that he presents himself to be in public.
Overall, President Obama recording Oval Office conversations is a value to this country and he deserves credit for that. It is unlikely that such tapes will be used during his second term to clarify reported scandals that are subject to congressional oversight. However, in the fullness of time, such recordings can correct history about whether President Obama or his detractors were misleading the American people about what President Obama knew and when did he know it.
Extra Point: The Miller Center at the University of Virginia offers a presidential recordings program.
AdvertisementsLooking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
A source with knowledge of the information tells Mother Jones that two Secret Service agents who were assigned to protect Donald Trump III, President Donald Trump’s grandson, took selfies with the eight-year-old while he was sleeping. The incident is now under investigation.
The source was clear that the agents were not under investigation for criminal behavior; rather, this investigation is about the agents abandoning their post while charged with protecting the grandson of the president.
The incident took place last weekend when the two agents, who were assigned to protect Trump III, were driving him from Westchester County, New York, where the Trump family has an estate, to Manhattan. Trump III was sleeping in the car when the agents began to take selfies with him while he was still asleep. Trump III woke up and, as the source framed it, “freaked out.” Upon return to Manhattan, he shared the experience with his mother, Vanessa Trump, who relayed her concerns to his father, Donald Trump Jr. The issue was quickly escalated to top management of the Secret Service. The two agents were ordered to report to the Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility in Washington, DC.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Secret Service confirmed that an investigation was underway.
“The US Secret Service is aware of a matter involving two of our agents and one of our protectees,” he said. “Our Office of Professional Responsibility will always thoroughly review a matter to determine the facts and to ensure proper, long-standing protocols and procedures are followed. The Secret Service would caution individuals to not jump to conclusions that may grossly mischaracterize the matter.”
This revelation comes at a time when the Secret Service is doing damage control after an intruder was able to penetrate the outer perimeter of the White House grounds and get close to the entrance of the north portico of the White House. According to two sources, President Trump has had a good relationship with his detail, and this is seen as an isolated incident that is not symptomatic of issues with his or his family’s protective detail.COLUMBUS, Ohio — In a matter of six months, state Sen. Nina Turner has evolved from a heroine of organized labor in Ohio to becoming embroiled in a bitter fight with one of the state's largest teachers union.
Turner on Wednesday accused the Ohio Federation of Teachers of launching a private vendetta against her and threatening her political career because the union objects to a provision in the Cleveland schools reform bill that would allow charter schools to share funds raised by city school levies. Turner is sponsoring the bill.
The union's president denies her group has targeted Turner and was taken aback by the senator's harsh statements.
"They are pretending in public like they want to play fair, but behind the scenes they are getting their members all stirred up," said Turner, of Cleveland. "I've received several calls into my office, threats into my office, saying 'we're not going to fund your campaigns, we're going to run people against you.'"
Turner last year became labor's go-to advocate during the tumultuous campaign to overturn Senate Bill 5, the Republican-backed collective bargaining law that voters in November ultimately repealed. Turner made frequent television appearances as the Ohio debate attracted national attention.
"I've proven myself a champion of workers' rights, particularly teachers," Turner said, "and then to have them send threats like that to my office, it's just totally unacceptable."
OFT president Melissa Cropper said her union supports the majority of the bill, which would apply only to Cleveland and would allow the city's mayor unprecedented authority to reconstitute schools and establish partnerships with charters in the city in a bid to improve Cleveland's dismal academic track record.
"Never once have I said go after any legislator about this plan," Cropper said. "My message has been consistent: we need you to support this plan because this is what Cleveland and Cleveland's teachers union need to be successful. Why would I ask them to go after legislators for a plan that we are also supporting?"
Still, Cropper acknowledged that the union is dead set against the provision that would require the city schools to share levy money with high performing charters in the city. The idea is for Mayor Frank Jackson to gain greater support for a levy by having charter parents also supporting it in return for a share of the tax dollars raised.
"We just don't like the precedent of local levy money going to support charter schools," said Cropper. While the bill would only affect Cleveland, Cropper noted that Gov. John Kasich has said that he would like to see it become a model for the rest of the state.
The issue between Turner and the OFT came to light this week when Turner blasted Cropper for an April 17 email the union president sent to her members that was entitled "Say NO to local levy money for charters."
The letter clearly states the OFT's opposition to the levy sharing provision and Turner said it is loaded with buzz words to fire up the teachers by mentioning Senate Bill 5, noting that levy money would go to "for-profit" charter schools and mentioning Kasich's support of the measure.
"They are deliberately invoking Senate Bill 5 and Kasich's name to stir up controversy," Turner said. "Just because Gov. Kasich may support this plan doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad plan. If someone were lying on the road dying would it matter to you who came to save you? If it was a Democrat or a Republican, would it matter?"
Turner, who said she was speaking out mainly as a parent herself concerned for Cleveland schoolchildren, also noted that while the Cleveland Teachers Union has misgivings about the levy sharing provision, the local union has not instructed its members to raise objections to it.
Cropper said the plan all along was for the state teachers union to pick up the battle for the local union on the issue of the levy money for charters.
"From the beginning we said to the CTU, 'you take care of what you need to do to get your collective bargaining rights protected and we had a lot of people objecting at the state level about this charter levy piece so we'll handle that piece at the state level,'" she said.
Supporters of the bill hope it clears the legislature before lawmakers leave for summer break at the end of this month.TeleSur | – –
Saudi Arabia’s decision to send troops to Syria is “final” and “irreversible,” Saudi military spokesman Ahmed Al-Assiri told reporters Thursday evening as he confirmed earlier comments about sending troops to the country. But Russia has warned the move could mark the beginning of a new “world war.”
Assiri added that Riyadh is “ready” and will fight with the United States-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State group in Syria. When asked about the timing of sending the troops, he said that Washington is more suitable to answer that question.
The Saudi comments Thursday come just one week after Riyadh said it was “ready” to send thousands of troops to Syria if the U.S.-led coalition decides on a ground operation in the country.
Thursday’s comments confirm the existence of the plan and the Saudis are expected to dispatch troops to Syria at some time in the future.
Responding to the Saudi comments, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told the German Handelsblatt business daily that Saudi Arabia and its Western allies must sit at the negotiating table "instead of unleashing a new World War."
Observers of the Syrian conflict say a ground intervention will be framed as a humanitarian intervention to help civilians and would involve Turkey and Saudi Arabia along with U.S. troops in Syria.
“Armed intervention by the Sunni states could be presented as the creation of ‘a safe zone’ for the tens of thousands of displaced people in the area, though it certainly would not be safe as it would be in the center of a battle zone,” Patrick Cockburn, award-winning Middle East journalist and correspondent, wrote for The Independent Thursday.
“If Saudi Arabia does intervene in this part of Syria it will become yet one more combatant in the most complex and dangerous battlefield in the world,” he concluded.
A new report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research released Thursday says 11.5 percent of Syria’s 22.5 million population has been killed or injured since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. Almost 500,000 people have been killed, doubling previous estimates.
Via TeleSur
—-
Related video added by Juan Cole:
RT: “‘Pretext to involve US’: UAE joins Gulf monarchies ready to send troops to Syria”17th December 2016
America's first offshore wind farm is operational
America's first commercial offshore wind farm has become operational at Block Island, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Credit: Deepwater Wind
Energy firm, Deepwater Wind, this week announced that their Block Island Wind Farm project has completed its commissioning and testing phases and begun commercial operations, delivering electricity into the New England region's grid on a regular basis. Power produced from Block Island Wind Farm is now linked to the New England grid by National Grid's new sea2shore submarine transmission cable system.
"Rhode Island is proud to be home to the nation's first offshore wind farm – and I'm proud to be the only governor in America who can say we have steel in the water and blades spinning over the ocean," said Rhode Island Governor, Gina M. Raimondo. "As the Ocean State, we're motivated by our shared belief that we need to produce and consume cleaner, more sustainable energy and leave our kids a healthier planet – but also by this tremendous economic opportunity. With this project, we've put hundreds of our local workers to work at sea, and at our world-class ports, and are growing this innovative industry. I applaud Deepwater Wind for leading the way."
"America's first offshore wind farm was built thanks to the ingenuity, innovation, investment, and collaboration of many people working together," said U.S. Senator Jack Reed, co-sponsor of the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act. "These five massive turbines spinning above the ocean are technological marvels and a tribute to the outstanding work of our labourers, trade unions, engineers, and clean energy technicians. I hope that in addition to providing clean, renewable energy, the offshore wind model we've put in place here can generate more wind projects and good-paying jobs."
"It's official: America's first offshore wind farm is powering homes and businesses with clean, reliable energy," said U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. "This is a historic milestone for reducing our nation's dependence on fossil fuels. Congratulations to all of the many partners whose years of diligent planning and outreach have put Rhode Island at the forefront of clean energy innovation and positioned our offshore wind industry for growth."
Technicians from GE Renewable Energy, which supplied the project's five wind turbines, put the wind farm through its paces during the four-month testing period. The project's crew transfer vessel, the Rhode Island-built Atlantic Pioneer, transported technicians to the wind farm around the clock.
This milestone concludes the successful two-year installation, completed both on-time and on-budget. Over 300 local workers helped develop, build and commission this historic project. Deepwater Wind utilised four separate Rhode Island port facilities – ProvPort, Quonset Point, Galilee and Block Island – for the staging, construction and commissioning.
Providing 30 megawatts of power to Block Island and Rhode Island, the project will generate enough clean, renewable energy for 17,000 homes. It will lower carbon dioxide emissions by 40,000 tons annually – or 800,000 tons over the next 20 years – equivalent to taking over 150,000 cars off the road. Block Island residents will save as much as 40% on their energy bills in the long term, based on independent reports.
Europe is currently the world leader in offshore wind power, employing 60,000 workers. The first offshore wind farm (Vindeby) was installed in Denmark in 1991 and today there are 2,500 spinning off the coast of various countries on the continent, with 12 gigawatts (GW) of capacity of which 3,755 MW came online during 2015 alone. Over 100 GW (100,000 MW) of new projects are under development or planned for the future in Europe. The European Wind Energy Association has set a target of 40 GW to be installed by 2020 and 150 GW by 2030.
But until now, commercial offshore wind power simply did not exist in the United States. The potential for growth is enormous, however, as can be seen on the map below, with abundant wind resources around the nation's coastline. Higher wind speeds are available offshore compared to on land, meaning offshore wind's contribution in terms of electricity is higher, and NIMBY opposition to construction is usually far weaker. If the trend in capacity develops in a manner similar to what has occurred in Europe, the U.S. industry is likely to see exponential growth in the years and decades ahead.
Deepwater Wind is now planning additional offshore wind projects for multiple East Coast markets located 15+ miles offshore, including New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. These will create gigawatts of capacity when fully operational. Other companies will follow. Block Island represents a vital first step that may kick-start a whole new industry and could revolutionise U.S. energy in the future.
"This is just the first of many offshore wind projects that will put Americans to work up and down the coast for decades to come as we commit to a renewable energy future," said Michael Sabitoni, President of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council.
---
• Follow us on Twitter
• Follow us on Facebook
• Subscribe to us on YouTube
Comments »Parrot Pages | Report Sightings | What We Do | About | FAQ | Links | Contact Us | Home Identification Guide With thirteen species of parrots found in California, it is often difficult to identify a particular species especially among those with similar traits. This identification guide is provided as a quick reference and is intended to aid in the identification of naturalized parrots by showing the visual differences between species. Other than the parrot species shown below, Macaws, Cockatoos, African Greys, Budgies, Cockatiels, etc. are occasionally seen. Only those shown below are known to have established naturalized populations in California. Genus Amazona (aka Amazon Parrots) There are six species of Amazona found in California. They are green overall with a stocky body and short squarded tail which varies in length between species. Head and beak colors vary from horn colored to black. The main differences between the species are colors on the head and the size of the bird.
Red-crowned Parrot Lilac-crowned Parrot Red-lored Parrot In addition to those six species shown, other species of Amazona may occasionally be sighted. Hybrids have also been reported. Click photo at right for species specific information and a detailed description for each. Blue-fronted Parrot Yellow-headed Parrot White-fronted Parrot Amazona are generally seen flying in pairs within small to large flocks. Most flocks are mixed species flocks. Their shallow, rapid wingbeats and raucous calls are unmistakable. Amazona in Flight (click to enlarge) Amazona on Wires (click to enlarge) © Bowles/Erickson | amazornia.us Photos Genus Aratinga (aka Conures) Of the three species of Aratinga found in California, the Mitred Parakeet and Red-masked Parakeet are the most difficult to tell apart. The Red-masked Parakeet is smaller and exhibits a more solid red to the head and red on the bend of the wing. Click photo at right for species specific information and a detailed description of each. Mitred Parakeet Red-masked Parakeet © Mark Bittner | markbittner.net Blue-crowned Parakeet Aratinga are generally seen flying in pairs within small to large flocks. Their calls are higher pitched and more chattery than those of the Amazona. It is not unusual to see a few Aratinga among Amazona flocks. Aratinga in Flight (click to enlarge) Aratinga on Wires (click to enlarge) © Bowles/Erickson | amazornia.us Except where noted, photos Genus Nandayus The Black-hooded Parakeet is green overall with a slender body and long pointed tail. Face and crown are black with a blue wash to the chest, red around ankles and a dark beak. Click photo at right for species specific information and a detailed description. Black-hooded Parakeet Nandayus in flight (click to enlarge) © Patricia Volger | www.featheredlens.com Photos courtesy of Genus Brotogeris The most difficult of California's parrots to distinguish between are the Yellow-chevroned and White-winged Parakeets. Similar in size and appearance, the Yellow-chevroned Parakeet exhibits only yellow on the wing, whereas the White-winged Parakeet exhibits both yellow and white. Click photo of parrot for species specific information and a detailed description. Yellow-chevroned Parakeet White-winged Parakeet Genus Psittacula Green overall, slender body, extraordinarily long pointed tail, rose colored beak. Only the adult male exhibits the neck ring -- the female and immature birds do not. Click photo of parrot for species specific information and a detailed description. Rose-ringed Parakeet Rose-ringed Parakeet in flight (click to enlarge) © Bowles/Erickson | amazornia.us Photos Parrot Pages | Report Sightings | What We Do | About | FAQ | Links | Contact Us | Home In affiliation with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and
in cooperation with the Pasadena Audubon SocietyCaterpillar 30x Magnification (5mm width) | Photograph by OLIVER MECKES
Electron microscopes help bring nanoscience to life, providing a level of detail to scientists that was simply not available mere decades ago. The FEI Company is a worldwide leader in electron microscope technology. Below you will find a small collection of images from scientists around the world using FEI technology. Be sure to check out their extensive Flickr page with nearly 600 images and growing!
FEI ON FLICKR
2. Micro-crack in Steel by Martina Dienstleder
Photograph by MARTINA DIENSTLEDER / FEI
Microcrack after bending test
Coloured by Manuel Paller
Captured by Martina Dienstleder
Instrument used: Nova DualBeam Family
Horizontal Field Width: 67µm
Voltage: 5kV
Working Distance: 6.0
Detector: ETD – SE
3. Spider’s Head by Oliver Meckes
Photograph by OLIVER MECKES / FEI
Spiders Head
Captured by Oliver Meckes
Instrument used: Quanta Family
Magnification: 50x
Vacuum: Low Vac.
Voltage: 7 kV
Spot: 3
Working Distance: app.12mm
Detector: LFD + BSE
4. Nano Mirrors on DLP Television by Regino Sandoval
Photograph by REGINO SANDOVAL / FEI
DLP Nano Mirrors
Captured by Regino Sandoval
Instrument used: Nova DualBeam Family
Magnification: 3500x
Horizontal Field Width: 73.1um
Voltage: 10kV
Spot: 5
Working Distance: 5mm
Detector: SE
5. Birth of Ladybugs by Riccardo Antonelli
Photograph by RICCARDO ANTONELLI / FEI
Birth of ladybugs
Captured by Riccardo Antonelli
Instrument used: Quanta Family
Magnification: 40x
Horizontal Field Width: 3.54 mm
Vacuum: 0.974 torr
Voltage: 10.00 kV
Spot: 5.0
Working Distance: 10.00 mm
Detector: LFD (Low vacuum)
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
On December 29th, 1959, the noted physicist Richard Feynman issued an invitation to scientists to enter a new field of discovery with his lecture entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” delivered at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Many would credit this talk as the genesis of the modern field of nanotechnology.
Since that time there has been extraordinary progress made over that period in the field of electron microscopy, one of
the primary tools of nanoscience. Feynman called explicitly for an electron microscope 100 times more powerful than those of his day, which could only resolve features as small as about one nanometer. While we have not achieved the 100x goal – the best resolution achieved to date is 0.05 nm, a 20x improvement – FEI has indeed met his challenge to create a microscope powerful enough to see individual atoms.
For an extensive introductory overview of electron microscopy, please refer to this document.
6. Parasitic Mite on Mosquito Larva by Nicole Ottawa
Photograph by NICOLE OTTAWA / FEI
Parasitic Mite on Mosquito Larva
Captured by Nicole Ottawa
Instrument used: Quanta Family
Magnification: 200
Horizontal Field Width: app. 500 µm
Vacuum: High-Vac
Voltage: 7kv
Spot: 3
Working Distance: 9,8
Detector: LFD, BSE
7. Hydrothermal Worm by Philippe Crassous
Photograph by PHILIPPE CRASSOUS / FEI
Hydrothermal worm
Captured by Philippe Crassous
Instrument used: Quanta Family
Magnification: 57
Horizontal Field Width: 5.26 mm
Vacuum: 10-4 mbar
Voltage: 5.0
Spot: 5.0
Working Distance: 12mm
Detector: SE
8. Dehydrated Breast Cancer Cell by Wadah Mahmoud
Photograph by WADAH MAHMOUD / FEI
Breast cancer cell, fixed and dehydrated
Captured by Wadah Mahmoud
Instrument used: Inspect Family
Magnification: 5,000
Voltage: 2 kV
Spot: 2.5
Working Distance: 12.4
Detector: SE
9. Water Mite by Nicole Ottawa
Photograph by NICOLE OTT |
the veracity of this claim is any different from the now verified false claim that there was unambiguous evidence of a sarin release at the cited crater.
The White House intelligence report states that:
The United States is confident that the Syrian regime conducted a chemical weapons attack, using the nerve agent sarin.
It also contains additional assertions that were key elements for underpinning its claim of a high confidence assessment:
We have confidence in our assessment because we have signals intelligence and geospatial intelligence, laboratory analysis of physiological samples collected from multiple victims, as well as a significant body of credible open source reporting, that tells a clear and consistent story. An open source video also shows where we believe the chemical munition landed—not on a facility filled with weapons, but in the middle of a street in the northern section of Khan Shaykhun [Emphasis Added]. Commercial satellite imagery of that site from April 6, after the allegation, shows a crater in the road that corresponds to the open source video. … observed munition remnants at the crater and staining around the impact point are consistent with a munition that functioned. Last November, for instance, senior Russian officials used an image from a widely publicized regime chemical weapons attack in 2013 on social media platforms to publicly allege chemical weapons use by the opposition.
The evidence that unambiguously shows that the assumption that the sarin release crater was tampered with is contained in six photographs at the end of this document.
Figure A-1 shows a man standing in the alleged sarin-release crater. He is wearing a honeycomb facemask that is designed to filter small particles from the air. Other apparel on him is an open necked cloth shirt and what appear to be medical exam gloves.
Two other men are standing in front of him (on the left in the photograph) also wearing honeycomb facemask’s and medical exam gloves.
If there were any sarin present at this location when this photograph was taken everybody in the photograph would have received a lethal or debilitating dose of sarin.
The fact that these people were dressed so inadequately either suggests a complete ignorance of the basic measures needed to protect an individual from sarin poisoning, or that they knew that the site was not seriously contaminated.
This is the crater that is the centerpiece evidence provided in the WHR for a sarin attack delivered by a Syrian aircraft.
Figure A-2 shows the location of the crater on a Google Earth map of the Northeast part of Khan Sheikun. The white arrow labeled camera direction indicates the bore site of the camera when the photograph was taken. The white dot connected to a line shows the approximate location of the camera when the photo was taken. The direction the camera is looking is North Northeast.
Figure A-3 shows a photograph of the same street and crater when it is unoccupied by people. This photograph is taken from a slightly greater distance away from the crater but the bore site of the camera is in the same direction – North Northeast.
Figure A-4 shows the crater, probably shortly after the tampering occurred that is documented in Figure A-1.
The camera bore site is downward into the crater and its azimuth is roughly East Northeast. Note that the surgical gloves that can be seen on the ground behind the man in the crater in Figure A-1 can be seen almost unmoved in the photograph shown in Figure A-4. This strongly suggests that the photograph was taken a relatively short time after the tampering occurred.
Figure A-5 shows the crater at a time that may have been before the tampering occurred. The bottom of the crater looks rather different and the piece of pipe, which is clearly lying on top of the bottom of the crater in Figure A-4, now appears to be partially buried. The photograph in Figure A-5 is taken with the bore site of the camera looking roughly west.
Figure A-6 shows a photograph of the crater, probably taken at about the same time as the photo in Figure A-5, with the azimuth of the bore site of the camera looking Southwest.
Summary and Conclusions from the Data
We repeat here a quote from the WHR:
An open source video also shows where we believe the chemical munition landed—not on a facility filled with weapons, but in the middle of a street in the northern section of Khan Shaykhun [Emphasis Added]. Commercial satellite imagery of that site from April 6, after the allegation, shows a crater in the road that corresponds to the open source video.
The data provided in these photographs make it clear that the WHR made no serious attempt to collect data that would support its “confident assessment” that there was data to unambiguously support a conclusion that the Syrian government executed a sarin attack as indicated by the location and characteristics of the crater. This does not appear to be a mistake.
It is hard for me to believe that anybody competent could have been involved in producing the WHR report and the implications of such an obviously predetermined result strongly suggests that this report was not motivated by a serious analysis of any kind.
This finding is disturbing. It indicates that the WHR was probably a report purely aimed at justifying actions that were not supported by any legitimate intelligence.
This is not a unique situation. President George W. Bush has argued that he was misinformed about unambiguous evidence that Iraq was hiding a substantial amount of weapons of mass destruction. This false intelligence led to a US attack on Iraq that started a process that ultimately led to a political disintegration in the Middle East, which through a series of unpredicted events then led to the rise of the Islamic State. On August 30, 2013, the White House produced a similarly false report about the nerve agent attack on August 21, 2013 in Damascus. This report also contained numerous intelligence claims that could not be true. An interview with President Obama published in The Atlantic in April 2016 indicates that Obama was initially told that there was solid intelligence that the Syrian government was responsible for the nerve agent attack of August 21, 2013 in Ghouta, Syria. Obama reported that he was later told that the intelligence was not solid by the then Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper.
Equally serious questions are raised about the abuse of intelligence findings by the incident in 2013. Questions that have not been answered about that incident is how the White House produced a false intelligence report with false claims that could obviously be identified by experts outside the White House and without access to classified information. There also needs to be an explanation of why this 2013 false report was not corrected. Secretary of State John Kerry emphatically testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee repeating information in this so-called un-equivocating report.
On August 30, 2013 Secretary of State Kerry made the following statement from the Treaty Room in the State Department:
Our intelligence community has carefully reviewed and re-reviewed information regarding this attack [Emphasis added], and I will tell you it has done so more than mindful of the Iraq experience. We will not repeat that moment. Accordingly, we have taken unprecedented steps to declassify and make facts available to people who can judge for themselves.
It is now obvious that a second incident similar to what happened in the Obama administration has now occurred in the Trump administration.
In this case, the president, supported by his staff, made a decision to launch 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian air base. This action was accompanied by serious risks of creating a confrontation with Russia, and also undermining cooperative efforts to win the war against the Islamic State.
Prior to these two inexplicable false intelligence reports, we had the incident in the Bush administration that led us to make decisions that we are still trying to deal with today.
I therefore conclude that there needs to be a comprehensive investigation of these events that have either misled people in the White House White House, or worse yet, been perpetrated by people seeking to force decisions that were not justified by the cited intelligence.
This is a serious matter and should not be allowed to continue.
Figures and Diagrams
Figure A-1
Figure A-2
Figure A-3
Figure A-4
Figure A-5
Figure A-6
_
The United States is confident that the Syrian regime conducted a chemical weapons attack, using the nerve agent sarin
We have confidence in our assessment because we have signals intelligence and geospatial intelligence, laboratory analysis of physiological samples collected from multiple victims, as well as a significant body of credible open source reporting, that tells a clear and consistent story.
We assess that Damascus launched this chemical attack in response to an opposition offensive in northern Hamah Province that threatened key infrastructure. Senior regime military leaders were probably involved in planning the attack.
Shaykhun at 6:55 AM local time on April 4
Our information indicates that the chemical agent was delivered by regime Su-22 fixed-wing aircraft our information indicates personnel historically associated with Syria’s chemical weapons program were at Shayrat Airfield in late March making preparations for an upcoming attack in Northern Syria, and they were present at the airfield on the day of the attack.
Hours after the April 4 attack, there were hundreds of accounts of victims presenting symptoms consistent with sarin exposure,
Commercial satellite imagery from April 6 showed impact craters around the hospital that are consistent with open source reports of a conventional attack on the hospital after the chemical attack. An open source video also shows where we believe the chemical munition landed—not on a facility filled with weapons, but in the middle of a street in the northern section of Khan Shaykhun. Commercial satellite imagery of that site from April 6, after the allegation, shows a crater in the road that corresponds to the open source video.
observed munition remnants at the crater and staining around the impact point are consistent with a munition that functioned
Last November, for instance, senior Russian officials used an image from a widely publicized regime chemical weapons attack in 2013 on social media platforms to publicly allege chemical weapons use by the opposition.
We must remember that the Assad regime failed to adhere to its international obligations after its devastating attacks on Damascus suburbs using the nerve agent sarin in August 2013, which resulted in more than one thousand civilian fatalities, many of whom were children. The regime agreed at that time to fully dismantle its chemical weapons program, but this most recent attack
The Assad Regime’s Use of Chemical Weapons on April 4, 2017
The United States is confident that the Syrian regime conducted a chemical weapons attack, using the nerve agent sarin, against its own people in the town of Khan Shaykhun in southern Idlib Province on April 4, 2017. According to observers at the scene, the attack resulted in at least 50 and up to 100 fatalities (including many children), with hundreds of additional injuries.
We have confidence in our assessment because we have signals intelligence and geospatial intelligence, laboratory analysis of physiological samples collected from multiple victims, as well as a significant body of credible open source reporting, that tells a clear and consistent story. We cannot publicly release all available intelligence on this attack due to the need to protect sources and methods, but the following includes an unclassified summary of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s analysis of this attack.
Summary of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Assessment of the April 4 Attack
The Syrian regime maintains the capability and intent to use chemical weapons against the opposition to prevent the loss of territory deemed critical to its survival. We assess that Damascus launched this chemical attack in response to an opposition offensive in northern Hamah Province that threatened key infrastructure. Senior regime military leaders were probably involved in planning the attack.
A significant body of pro-opposition social media reports indicate that the chemical attack began in Khan Shaykhun at 6:55 AM local time on April 4.
Our information indicates that the chemical agent was delivered by regime Su-22 fixed-wing aircraft that took off from the regime-controlled Shayrat Airfield. These aircraft were in the vicinity of Khan Shaykhun approximately 20 minutes before reports of the chemical attack began and vacated the area shortly after the attack. Additionally, our information indicates personnel historically associated with Syria’s chemical weapons program were at Shayrat Airfield in late March making preparations for an upcoming attack in Northern Syria, and they were present at the airfield on the day of the attack.
Hours after the April 4 attack, there were hundreds of accounts of victims presenting symptoms consistent with sarin exposure, such as frothing at the nose and mouth, twitching, and pinpoint pupils. This constellation of symptoms is inconsistent with exposure to a respiratory irritant like chlorine— which the regime has also used in attacks—and is extremely unlikely to have resulted from a conventional attack because of the number of victims in the videos and the absence of other visible injuries. Open source accounts posted following the attack reported that first responders also had difficulty breathing, and that some lost consciousness after coming into contact with the victims— consistent with secondary exposure to nerve agent.
By 12:15 PM local time, broadcasted local videos included images of dead children of varying ages. Accounts of a hospital being bombed began to emerge at 1:10 PM local, with follow-on videos showing the bombing of a nearby hospital that had been flooded with victims of the sarin attack. Commercial satellite imagery from April 6 showed impact craters around the hospital that are consistent with open source reports of a conventional attack on the hospital after the chemical attack. Later on April 4, local physicians posted videos specifically pointing out constricted pupils (a telltale symptom of nerve agent exposure), medical staff with body suits on, and treatments involving atropine, which is an antidote for nerve agents such as sarin
We are certain that the opposition could not have fabricated all of the videos and other reporting of chemical attacks. Doing so would have required a highly organized campaign to deceive multiple media outlets and human rights organizations while evading detection. In addition, we have independently confirmed that some of the videos were shot at the approximate times and locations described in the footage.
Further, the World Health Organization stated on April 5 that its analysis of the victims of the attack in Syria showed they had been exposed to nerve agents, citing the absence of external injuries and deaths due to suffocation. Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres; MSF) said that medical teams treating affected patients found symptoms to be consistent with exposure to a neurotoxic agent such as sarin. And Amnesty International said evidence pointed to an air-launched chemical attack. Subsequent laboratory analysis of physiological samples collected from multiple victims detected signatures of the nerve agent sarin.
Refuting the False Narratives
The Syrian regime and its primary backer, Russia, have sought to confuse the world community about who is responsible for using chemical weapons against the Syrian people in this and earlier attacks. Initially, Moscow dismissed the allegations of a chemical weapons attack in Khan Shaykhun, claiming the attack was a “prank of a provocative nature” and that all evidence was fabricated. It is clear, however, that the Syrian opposition could not manufacture this quantity and variety of videos and other reporting from both the attack site and medical facilities in Syria and Turkey while deceiving both media observers and intelligence agencies.
Moscow has since claimed that the release of chemicals was caused by a regime airstrike on a terrorist ammunition depot in the eastern suburbs of Khan Shaykhun. However, a Syrian military source told Russian state media on April 4 that regime forces had not carried out any airstrike in Khan Shaykhun, contradicting Russia’s claim. An open source video also shows where we believe the chemical munition landed—not on a facility filled with weapons, but in the middle of a street in the northern section of Khan Shaykhun. Commercial satellite imagery of that site from April 6, after the allegation, shows a crater in the road that corresponds to the open source video.
Moscow has suggested that terrorists had been using the alleged ammunition depot to produce and store shells containing toxic gas that they then used in Iraq, adding that both Iraq and international organizations have confirmed the use of such weapons by militants. While it is widely accepted that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has repeatedly used sulfur mustard on the battlefield, there are no indications that ISIS was responsible for this incident or that the attack involved chemicals in ISIS’s possession.
Moscow suggested this airstrike occurred between 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM local time on April 4, disregarding that allegations first appeared on social media close to 7:00 AM local time that morning, when we know regime aircraft were operating over Khan Shaykhun. In addition, observed munition remnants at the crater and staining around the impact point are consistent with a munition that functioned, but structures nearest to the impact crater did not sustain damage that would be expected from a conventional high-explosive payload. Instead, the damage is more consistent with a chemical munition.
The Syrian regime has used other chemical agents in attacks against civilians in opposition held areas in the past, including the use of sulfur mustard in Aleppo in late 2016. Russia has alleged that video footage from April 4 indicated that victims from this attack showed the same symptoms of poisoning as victims in Aleppo last fall, implying that something other than a nerve agent was used in Khan Shaykhun. However, victims of the attack on April 4 displayed tell-tale symptoms of nerve agent exposure, including pinpoint pupils, foaming at the nose and mouth, and twitching, all of which are inconsistent with exposure to sulfur mustard.
Russia’s allegations fit with a pattern of deflecting blame from the regime and attempting to undermine the credibility of its opponents. Russia and Syria, in multiple instances since mid- 2016, have blamed the opposition for chemical use in attacks. Yet similar to the Russian narrative for the attack on Khan Shaykhun, most Russian allegations have lacked specific or credible information. Last November, for instance, senior Russian officials used an image from a widely publicized regime chemical weapons attack in 2013 on social media platforms to publicly allege chemical weapons use by the opposition. In May 2016, Russian officials made a similar claim using an image from a video game. In October 2016, Moscow also claimed terrorists used chlorine and white phosphorus in Aleppo, even though pro-Russian media footage from the attack site showed no sign of chlorine use. In fact, our Intelligence from the same day suggests that neither of Russia’s accounts was accurate and that the regime may have mistakenly used chlorine on its own forces. Russia’s contradictory and erroneous reports appear to have been intended to confuse the situation and to obfuscate on behalf of the regime.
Moscow’s allegations typically have been timed to distract the international community from Syria’s ongoing use of chemical weapons—such as the claims earlier this week—or to counter the findings from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations (UN) Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), which confirmed in August and October 2016 reports that the Syrian regime has continued to use chemical weapons on multiple occasions long after it committed to relinquish its arsenal in 2013. Russia has also questioned the impartial findings of the JIM—a body that Russia helped to establish—and was even willing to go so far as to suggest that the Assad regime should investigate itself for the use of chemical weapons.
Moscow’s response to the April 4 attack follows a familiar pattern of its responses to other egregious actions; it spins out multiple, conflicting accounts in order to create confusion and sow doubt within the international community.
International Condemnation and a Time for Action
The Assad regime’s brutal use of chemical weapons is unacceptable and poses a clear threat to the national security interests of the United States and the international community. Use of weapons of mass destruction by any actor lowers the threshold for others that may seek to follow suit and raises the possibility that they may be used against the United States, our allies or partners, or any other nation around the world.
The United States calls on the world community in the strongest possible terms to stand with us in making an unambiguous statement that this behavior will not be tolerated. This is a critical moment— we must demonstrate that subterfuge and false facts hold no weight, that excuses by those shielding their allies are making the world a more dangerous place, and that the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons will not be permitted to continue. We must remember that the Assad regime failed to adhere to its international obligations after its devastating attacks on Damascus suburbs using the nerve agent sarin in August 2013, which resulted in more than one thousand civilian fatalities, many of whom were children. The regime agreed at that time to fully dismantle its chemical weapons program, but this most recent attack—like others before it—are proof that it has not done so. To be clear, Syria has violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the UN Charter, and no drumbeat of nonsensical claims by the regime or its allies can hide this truth. And while it is an embarrassment that Russia has vetoed multiple UN Security Council resolutions that could have helped rectify the situation, the United States intends to send a clear message now that we and our partners will not allow the world to become a more dangerous place due to the egregious acts of the Assad regime.CLOSE Jim Richter, known to many as the "Broom Guy," talks about selling brooms in Indianapolis and how no longer being able to sell on post office property has affected him, at his home, in Lawrence, Ind., Friday, April 1, 2016. Jenna Watson/IndyStar
Indianapolis resident Allison Hazel poses for a "selfie" with Jim Richter, "The Broom Guy," after buying out his supply of brooms Sunday afternoon. (Photo: Submitted photo/Allison Hazel)
I’ve written hundreds of stories for the IndyStar over the last 18 years, including tales about the sordid conduct of Hoosier icons like Jared Fogle, the heroic feats of average Joes, and hard-hitting investigations that prompted public officials to resign and legislators to change state laws.
But I’m not sure any of them drew the kind of reaction I got this weekend when I wrote about Jim Richter, “The Broom Guy,” getting the boot from post office property. The blind Indianapolis man had sold brooms there for 60 years. I've received dozens of emails and phone calls, and the story has been shared more than 11,000 times.
This isn’t about me, though. It’s about the public reaction to Richter, a 78-year-old who would rather work than take a handout, who loves people and a laugh, who braves the heat and cold to sell brooms on street corners, and who has a knack for inspiring nearly everyone he meets. Since I wrote the story late last week (you can read it here if you want more background), a lot has happened.
Here’s the latest since the story broke Saturday:
A lot — and I mean a LOT — of people are upset by the way postal officials have treated The Broom Guy. And many of them, thanks in large part to a tidal wave of anger and frustration that exploded through Facebook and Twitter over the weekend, want to help do something about it.
Buy Photo Jim Richter sells brooms last week at the corner of 71st Street and College Avenue. Richter, who learned to craft and sell brooms during his schooling at the Indiana School for the Blind, was recently told he can no longer sell outside post offices, where he frequently set up shop at locations on the Northside. (Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)
1- He's welcome here
Three business owners, a high school and farmers market have reached out to offer Richter open invitations to come sell his brooms on their property. I’ve passed their contact information on to him.
“I had bought brooms from him for years at 71st and College and when my wife saw the article I said, ‘you’ve got to be kidding. That’s just crazy,’” said Jud Scott, who operates Vine & Branch, a tree service at 146th and Gray Road in Carmel.
Scott said 28,000 people a day pass by his business located in a century-old house, and he’d be happy to set Richter up in his yard. He even offered to send emails to all his customers to let them know what day The Broom Guy would be there.
Bev Middaugh, CEO of Bright Ideas in Broad Ripple, also offered Richter a spot in front of her business at 75th and Westfield Blvd.
“If Jim wants to set up here, there’s also safe free parking for his customers and he’s welcome to come in out of bad weather,” she said. “We can also promote him on our Facebook page too.”
“If everyone had his work ethic and life attitude this would be a better community, with far less poverty and complaining,” she said in an email. “I’ve bought brooms from him through the years, and would love to help him and show him this really is a city of good hard-working people, who are eager to help a friend!”
Brad Cross, a supervisor at the Safeway Supermarket at 5602 N. Illinois, also extended Richter an invitation.
“Please let Mr. Richter know he is welcome to sell his merchandise under our awning,” Cross said in an email.
NEWSLETTERS Get the Breaking News newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Urgent developments you should know now, not later. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-888-357-7827. 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
Cross said he has purchased brooms from Richter over the years and respects the fact he is willing to get out and work (a common theme in response to the story).
“There are some folks in the world,” he said, “that just don’t do that.”
Cross said he hopes Richter is allowed to return to postal locations.
“It’s just not right in my opinion,” he said, “but if he isn’t allowed back he can come here and sell his brooms. This neighborhood would welcome him.”
The latest offer came Monday from Mike Penrose, athletic director at Lawrence North High School.
"I read your article about Jim Richter and I am extremely disappointed with the way he is being treated," Penrose said in an email. "I have lived in the Lawrence/Castleton area for over 20 years and I have bought several brooms from him through the years. My Principal, Brett Crousore, and I spoke about this situation this morning."
That conversation resulted in an invitation for Richter to sell his brooms at Lawrence North football games on Fridays.
Penrose said The Market at Hague, formerly the Binford Farmer’s Market, also is offering Richter a spot at its Saturday events held in the high school parking lot from May through October.
2 - Broom sales boom
Richter’s story also prompted a flurry of sales Sunday as Richter worked one of his usual spots at the corner of 71st and College. Many of his customers, including several first-time buyers, took it upon themselves to hunt him down after reading the story.
“Oh boy, I had a busy day,” he said Sunday evening. “I sold everything I had — three or four times what I usually sell in a day.”
Richter said he noticed a jump in business Saturday and said most of his customers over the weekend were not happy with how he was treated by the postal service.
He said customers cited one line from the story he heard repeatedly. It concerned the postal employee who he said had been rude when she told him he was no longer welcome at the Nora branch, where he had been a fixture for decades.
“A lot of people seemed to agree with me that ‘she acted like the north end of a horse running south,’" he said.
3 - A ride home
Allison Hazel, a 35-year-old Indianapolis woman, had seen Richter selling brooms on city street corners for years. She often thought about stopping to buy one, she said Sunday, but she never had.
“I’d been thinking that the next time I needed to buy a broom," she said, "I’d get it from The Broom Guy.”
That time came this weekend, Hazel explained, as she was in the process of a move. It was only by chance, however, that she learned about Richter’s plight.
“It was on my agenda to get a new broom and when I opened my Facebook page and saw his story I was livid,” she said.
Hazel called the BP station at 71st and College and found out Richter was there Sunday afternoon. So she drove to the Northside and bought all the brooms Richter had left.
But Hazel didn’t stop there. She took a selfie with Richter, then stepped up again. She shared her experience in a Facebook post.
“Because he was out of merchandise, I offered him a ride home, which he accepted,” she wrote. “He was elated. He directed me all the way without any frame of reference from me. As we passed Culver's, he pointed right to it and said, ‘That place has great hot dogs and hamburgers.’”
Hazel said they traded jokes, and some poignant moments, as they rode across the city.
“He said ‘Tell your friend how blessed he is to have you as a girlfriend.’ I laughed and said, ‘Sometimes,’” she wrote on Facebook. “He said, ‘Well, we all have problems. It's how we deal with them that matters’ … He was absolutely delighted and delightful. I told him he was an inspiration to me and he said I was his.”
4- Far-reaching story
Some of those touched by the story couldn’t just drive to the Northside on Sunday to support Richter. I had phone calls from New York City, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, and emails from several former Hoosiers now living in new spots across the U.S.
Many had a common request: How can we buy a broom from him?
Richter said people who want brooms can call and leave him a message at (317) 899-3965.
Locally, it may take a little work to find him. Richter won't be out selling today. Monday is the day he typically replenishes his stock of brooms. Later this week he said he will likely be at one of three locations: 71st. Street and College, 62nd Street and Keystone or outside the former auto parts store on Bash Street, about a block north of 82nd Street in the Castleton area.
5 - Fighting back
Many readers also had another burning question: How can they complain about Richter being booted from the post offices where he had sold brooms for years?
That’s a little more difficult. I can't even find a phone or email listing for the Indianapolis Postmaster. And when I called the main post office last week trying to reach the postmaster, I was transferred to a PR person who wasn't in Indianapolis.
There's a online complaint form you can try. You also could reach out to your congressional representative or U.S. senator.
Tim Evans is IndyStar's consumer advocate. Call him at (317) 444-6204 and follow him on Twitter: @starwatchtim
Read or Share this story: http://indy.st/1MO7dPePrior to his election as President of the United States Donald Trump had been highly critical of the agreement reached between China, France, Germany, Russia, the US, the UK and Iran and the European Union aimed at preventing Iran from enriching uranium to the point where is could manufacture nuclear weapons. He repeatedly referred to the agreement as “a horrible agreement”, the “stupidest deal of all time” and “the worst deal ever.”
At his now notorious address to the United Nations General Assembly in September he extended his attack to Iran itself, calling it a “corrupt dictatorship” and a nation “on a path of poverty, bloodshed and terror.”
The vast majority of the delegates present treated such overblown rhetoric with the contempt it deserved. Only Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support, as one would expect given Israel’s hostility to the Iranian government and Netanyahu’s cartoonish presentation to the UN some years earlier, as well as more serious actions such as the assassination of Iranian scientists and electronic warfare through the Stuxnet virus.
Trump and Netanyahu are not alone among the neocon establishment in voicing what Iran’s President Rouhani, a Ph.D. from Scotland and democratically re-elected in a landslide earlier this year, called “”ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric.”
In June of this year Trump’s UN Ambassador Nikki Haley addressed the influential American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in a speech remarkable for its lies, distortions and obfuscations about Iran and its politics.
The nuclear issue that Trump and his ilk find so distasteful is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated by the abovementioned group of nations, including the US, and endorsed unanimously by the Security Council (again including the US) in July 2015. That agreement established a rigorous inspections framework within Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange for which the US and other nations were to remove sanctions that had significantly hindered Iran’s development and modernization. In fact, Security Council Resolution 2231 of July 2015 specifically removed all the earlier sanctions resolutions (1696, 1737, 1747, 1803, 1835 and 1929).
Under the JCPOA the IAEA carries out regular inspections, the last as recently as September 2017. It has found Iran to be in compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, a view echoed by General Paul Selva, the Vice-Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in July 2017. Following Trump’s UN speech the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini made a point of stating that “the nuclear agreement was working.”
The JCPOA provides a mechanism for investigating alleged violations by Iran. All a complaining nation has to do is provide evidence to the IAEA of a reasonably based suspicion that Iran is in violation of the agreement and the IAEA has wide and intrusive powers to investigate.
In fact, no evidence has ever been provided. Wild, politically motivated allegations with neither a factual nor even a reasonable suspicion basis do not constitute the faintest foundation for abrogating an agreement that enjoys overwhelming international support, and as Mogherini says, “is working.”
What then, lies behind Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric? There are, I suggest, a number of factors at work. The first of these is the troubled relationship between Iran and the US in the post World War 2 period. In 1953 a joint CIA-MI6 operation overthrew the democratically elected government of Mohammad Mossadegh on behalf of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now BP), which the Iranian government was planning to nationalize. The Americans installed the regime of Shah Pahlavi, and also, significantly, trained the brutally ruthless Savak Secret Police that enforced the Shah’s dictatorship.
The Islamic Revolution of 1979 in turn overthrew the Shah. Relations between the US and Iran have ranged from poor to abysmal ever since. The US has inspired, financed and trained a series of anti-government groups, including the MEK, a group designated as terrorist by the State Department. Iranians are very mindful of America’s support for Saddam Hussein in the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s when Iran suffered a million casualties. That history needs to be remembered when reading American allegations about Iran’s alleged sponsorship of terrorism.
A second factor arises from the US’s hegemonic ambitions in the greater Middle East region, and control of its vast oil and gas reserves. General Wesley Clark revealed in an interview in September 2011 the existence of a plan he had seen dating back to at least 2001 of a policy intention of overthrowing seven countries in the region in five years (Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Syria). Confirmation of the plan is found not least in the fact that six of the seven have already been attacked by the US or Israel, with only Iran thus far relatively unscathed. The attack on Iran has been of a hybrid warfare nature, including sanctions and sponsorship of terrorism.
Quite apart from Clark’s Pentagon list, there is also a 2009 report by the Brookings Institution entitled “Which Path to Persia.” That report clearly indicates that the US should engineer a situation that would portray Iran as a party squandering a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue and therefore having to be attacked “more in sorrow than anger”, thereby keeping the international community on side.
Bear in mind that this cynical ploy was set out six years before the JCPOA was signed. Trump’s current policy stance of which the rhetoric is a vital part, clearly has its genesis in the Brookings Institution report.
The third factor arises out of the beating that the US and its terrorist proxies are currently receiving in Syria. The attempt to overthrow the sovereign government of Syria began in earnest in 2011. The former Vice President of the US, Joe Biden, acknowledged in October 2014 that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Turkey were the first foreign countries to intervene in Syria’s war. He should have also acknowledged the US’s role. While lacking direct military intervention the US was certainly a major player in training, arming and financing various terrorist groups, whom they ridiculously claimed were the “moderate opposition” to the Assad government.
Iran, which has had a mutual defence treaty with Syria since 2006, did not intervene until 2015, along with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Russia. All three are in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government, unlike the presence of the US, Australia, the UK and others whose presence is in violation of international law. The Australian government, for example, has made various spurious claims as to the justification for its involvement in the so-called “coalition” but has refused to release the legal advice it falsely claimed it was seeking before making a decision.
The fourth factor is perhaps the most significant. After UN Security Council Resolution 2231 was passed in July 2015 Iran was able to begin re-establishing its central role in Eurasia. Apart from a number of European Union countries rushing to sign deals with Iran, there has been a progressive rapprochement with Turkey, itself orientating away from the European-NATO axis, and more particularly with Russia and China.
Iran is a crucial link in the North South Transportation Corridor (NTSC), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) where it will convert from associate membership to full status, most likely within a year, and also the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
China and Russia are both making major investments in Iran and closer defence links will be an inevitable corollary. Some defence agreements have already been reached with Russia, and the superior S400 anti-missile system is being installed. With Chinese and Russian military support a direct American attack on Iran is even more unthinkable than in the past.
It is this relative impotence in the face of a rapidly changing geopolitical structure that frustrates Trump, Haley, Pompeo and Mattis, all of whose visceral dislike of Iran is well documented.
This is not to say that Trump will unilaterally withdraw the US from JCPOA. Given the US’s well-documented contempt for international law and Trump’s cavalier disregard for treaty obligations some unilateral move cannot be discounted.
The major difference this time is that the Europeans, the Turks, the Chinese and the Russians will simply ignore this latest illustration of America’s self-destructive behaviour and, as the |
quo to maintain. Their modus operandi is "The Big Lie"--and the bigger and more widely publicised, the better. They rely on invoking their academic credentials to support their arguments, and the presumption is that no one has the right to question their authoritarian pronouncements that:
1. there is no mystery about who built the Great Pyramid or what the methods of construction were, and the Sphinx shows no signs of water damage;
2. there were no humans in the Americas before 20,000 BC;
3. the first civilisation dates back no further than 6000 BC;
4. there are no documented anomalous, unexplained or enigmatic data to take into account;
5. there are no lost or unaccounted-for civilisations.
Let the evidence to the contrary be damned! Personal Attacks: Dispute over Age of the Sphinx and Great Pyramid In 1993, NBC in the USA aired The Mysteries of the Sphinx, which presented geological evidence showing that the Sphinx was at least twice as old (9,000 years) as Egyptologists claimed. It has become well known as the "water erosion controversy". An examination of the politicking that Egyptologists deployed to combat this undermining of their turf is instructive. Self-taught Egyptologist John Anthony West brought the water erosion issue to the attention of geologist Dr Robert Schoch. They went to Egypt and launched an intensive on-site investigation. After thoroughly studying the Sphinx first hand, the geologist came to share West's preliminary conclusion and they announced their findings. Dr Zahi Hawass, the Giza Monuments chief, wasted no time in firing a barrage of public criticism at the pair. Renowned Egyptologist Dr Mark Lehner, who is regarded as the world's foremost expert on the Sphinx, joined his attack. He charged West and Schoch with being "ignorant and insensitive". That was a curious accusation which took the matter off the professional level and put the whole affair on a personal plane. It did not address the facts or issues at all and it was highly unscientific. But we must note the standard tactic of discrediting anyone who dares to call the accepted theories into question. Shifting the focus away from the issues and "personalising" the debate is a highly effective strategy--one which is often used by politicians who feel insecure about their positions. Hawass and Lehner invoked their untouchable status and presumed authority. (One would think that a geologist's assessment would hold more weight on this particular point.) A short time later, Schoch, Hawass and Lehner were invited to debate the issue at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. West was not allowed to participate because he lacked the required credentials. This points to a questionable assumption that is part of the establishment's arsenal: only degreed scientists can practise science. Two filters keep the uncredentialled, independent researcher out of the loop: (1) credentials, and (2) peer review. You do not get to number two unless you have number one. Science is a method that anyone can learn and apply. It does not require a degree to observe and record facts and think critically about them, especially in the non-technical social sciences. In a free and open society, science has to be a democratic process. Be that as it may, West was barred. The elements of the debate have been batted back and forth since then without resolution. It is similar to the controversy over who built the Giza pyramids and how. This brings up the issue of The Big Lie and how it has been promoted for generations in front of God and everyone. The controversy over how the Great Pyramid was constructed is one example. It could be easily settled if Egyptologists wanted to resolve the dispute. A simple test could be designed and arranged by impartial engineers that would either prove or disprove their longstanding disputed theory--that it was built using the primitive tools and methods of the day, circa 2500 BC. Why hasn't this been done? The answer is so obvious, it seems impossible: they know that the theory is bogus. Could a trained, highly educated scientist really believe that 2.3 million tons of stone, some blocks weighing 70 tons, could have been transported and lifted by primitive methods? That seems improbable, though they have no compunction against lying to the public, writing textbooks and defending this theory against alternative theories. However, we must note that they will not subject themselves to the bottom-line test. We think it is incumbent upon any scientist to bear the burden of proof of his/her thesis; however, the social scientists who make these claims have never stood up to that kind of scrutiny. That is why we must suspect a conspiracy. No other scientific discipline would get away with bending the rules of science. All that Egyptologists have ever done is bat down alternative theories using underhanded tactics. It is time to insist that they prove their own proposals. Why would scientists try to hide the truth and avoid any test of their hypothesis? Their motivations are equally transparent. If it can be proved that the Egyptians did not build the Great Pyramid in 2500 BC using primitive methods, or if the Sphinx can be dated to 9000 BC, the whole house of cards comes tumbling down. Orthodox views of cultural evolution are based upon a chronology of civilisation having started in Sumeria no earlier than 4000 BC. The theory does not permit an advanced civilisation to have existed prior to that time. End of discussion. Archaeology and history lose their meaning without a fixed timeline as a point of reference. Since the theory of "cultural evolution" has been tied to Darwin's general theory of evolution, even more is at stake. Does this explain why facts, anomalies and enigmas are denied, suppressed and/or ignored? Yes, it does. The biological sciences today are based on Darwinism. Pressure Tactics: The Ica Stones of Peru Now we turn to another, very different case. In 1966, Dr Javier Cabrera received a stone as a gift from a poor local farmer in his native Ica, Peru. A fish was carved on the stone, which would not have meant much to the average villager but it did mean a lot to the educated Dr Cabrera. He recognised it as a long-extinct species. This aroused his curiosity. He purchased more stones from the farmer, who said he had collected them near the river after a flood. Dr Cabrera accumulated more and more stones, and word of their existence and potential import reached the archaeological community. Soon, the doctor had amassed thousands of "Ica stones". The sophisticated carvings were as enigmatic as they were fascinating. Someone had carved men fighting with dinosaurs, men with telescopes and men performing operations with surgical equipment. They also contained drawings of lost continents. Several of the stones were sent to Germany and the etchings were dated to remote antiquity. But we all know that men could not have lived at the time of dinosaurs; Homo sapiens has only existed for about 100,000 years. The BBC got wind of this discovery and swooped down to produce a documentary about the Ica stones. The media exposure ignited a storm of controversy. Archaeologists criticised the Peruvian government for being lax about enforcing antiquities laws (but that was not their real concern). Pressure was applied to government officials. The farmer who had been selling the stones to Cabrera was arrested; he claimed to have found them in a cave but refused to disclose the exact location to authorities, or so they claimed. This case was disposed of so artfully that it would do any corrupt politician proud. The Peruvian government threatened to prosecute and imprison the farmer. He was offered and accepted a plea bargain; he then recanted his story and "admitted" to having carved the stones himself. That seems highly implausible, since he was uneducated and unskilled and there were 11,000 stones in all. Some were fairly large and intricately carved with animals and scenes that the farmer would not have had knowledge of without being a palaeontologist. He would have needed to work every day for several decades to produce that volume of stones. However, the underlying facts were neither here nor there. The Ica stones were labelled "hoax" and forgotten. The case did not require a head-to-head confrontation or public discrediting of non-scientists by scientists; it was taken care of with invisible pressure tactics. Since it was filed under "hoax", the enigmatic evidence never had to be dealt with, as it did in the next example. Censorship of "Forbidden" Thinking: Evidence for Mankind's Great Antiquity The case of author Michael Cremo is well documented, and it also demonstrates how the scientific establishment openly uses pressure tactics on the media and government. His book Forbidden Archeology examines many previously ignored examples of artifacts that prove modern man's antiquity far exceeds the age given in accepted chronologies. The examples which he and his co-author present are controversial, but the book became far more controversial than the contents when it was used in a documentary. In 1996, NBC broadcast a special called The Mysterious Origins of Man, which featured material from Cremo's book. The reaction from the scientific community went off the Richter scale. NBC was deluged with letters from irate scientists who called the producer "a fraud" and the whole program "a hoax". But the scientists went further than this--a lot further. In an extremely unconscionable sequence of bizarre moves, they tried to force NBC not to rebroadcast the popular program, but that effort failed. Then they took the most radical step of all: they presented their case to the federal government and requested the Federal Communications Commission to step in and bar NBC from airing the program again. This was not only an apparent infringement of free speech and a blatant attempt to thwart commerce, it was an unprecedented effort to censor intellectual discourse. If the public or any government agency made an attempt to handcuff the scientific establishment, the public would never hear the end of it. The letter to the FCC written by Dr Allison Palmer, President of the Institute for Cambrian Studies, is revealing: At the very least, NBC should be required to make substantial prime-time apologies to their viewing audience for a sufficient period of time so that the audience clearly gets the message that they were duped. In addition, NBC should perhaps be fined sufficiently so that a major fund for public science education can be established. I think we have some good leads on who "the Brain Police" are. And I really do not think "conspiracy" is too strong a word--because for every case of this kind of attempted suppression that is exposed, 10 others are going on successfully. We have no idea how many enigmatic artifacts or dates have been labelled "error" and tucked away in storage warehouses or circular files, never to see the light of day. Data Rejection: Inconvenient Dating in Mexico Then there is the high-profile case of Dr Virginia Steen-McIntyre, a geologist working for the US Geological Survey (USGS), who was dispatched to an archaeological site in Mexico to date a group of artifacts in the 1970s. This travesty also illustrates how far established scientists will go to guard orthodox tenets. McIntyre used state-of-the-art equipment and backed up her results by using four different methods, but her results were off the chart. The lead archaeologist expected a date of 25,000 years or less, and the geologist's finding was 250,000 years or more. The figure of 25,000 years or less was critical to the Bering Strait "crossing" theory, and it was the motivation behind the head archaeologist's tossing Steen-McIntyre's results in the circular file and asking for a new series of dating tests. This sort of reaction does not occur when dates match the expected chronological model that supports accepted theories. Steen-McIntyre was given a chance to retract her conclusions, but she refused. She found it hard thereafter to get her papers published and she lost a teaching job at an American university. Government Suppression and Ethnocentrism: Avoiding Anomalous Evidence in NZ, China and Mexico In New Zealand, the government actually stepped in and enacted a law forbidding the public from entering a controversial archaeological zone. This story appeared in the book, Ancient Celtic New Zealand, by Mark Doutré. However, as we will find (and as I promised at the beginning of the article), this is a complicated conspiracy. Scientists trying to protect their "hallowed" theories while furthering their careers are not the only ones who want artifacts and data suppressed. This is where the situation gets sticky. The Waipoua Forest became a controversial site in New Zealand because an archaeological dig apparently showed evidence of a non-Polynesian culture that preceded the Maori--a fact that the tribe was not happy with. They learned of the results of the excavations before the general public did and complained to the government. According to Doutré, the outcome was "an official archival document, which clearly showed an intention by New Zealand government departments to withhold archaeological information from public scrutiny for 75 years". The public got wind of this fiasco but the government denied the claim. However, official documents show that an embargo had been placed on the site. Doutré is a student of New Zealand history and archaeology. He is concerned because he says that artifacts proving that there was an earlier culture which preceded the Maori are missing from museums. He asks what happened to several anomalous remains: Where are the ancient Indo-European hair samples (wavy red brown hair), originally obtained from a rock shelter near Watakere, that were on display at the Auckland War Memorial Museum for many years? Where is the giant skeleton found near Mitimati? Unfortunately this is not the only such incident. Ethnocentrism has become a factor in the conspiracy to hide mankind's true history. Author Graham Hancock has been attacked by various ethnic groups for reporting similar enigmatic findings. The problem for researchers concerned with establishing humanity's true history is that the goals of nationalists or ethnic groups who want to lay claim to having been in a particular place first, often dovetail with the goals of cultural evolutionists. Archaeologists are quick to go along with suppressing these kinds of anomalous finds. One reason Egyptologists so jealously guard the Great Pyramid's construction date has to do with the issue of national pride. The case of the Takla Makan Desert mummies in western China is another example of this phenomenon. In the 1970s and 1980s, an unaccounted-for Caucasian culture was suddenly unearthed in China. The arid environment preserved the remains of a blond-haired, blue-eyed people who lived in pre-dynastic China. They wore colourful robes, boots, stockings and hats. The Chinese were not happy about this revelation and they have downplayed the enigmatic find, even though Asians were found buried alongside the Caucasian mummies. National Geographic writer Thomas B. Allen mused in a 1996 article about his finding a potsherd bearing a fingerprint of the potter. When he inquired if he could take the fragment to a forensic anthropologist, the Chinese scientist asked whether he "would be able to tell if the potter was a white man". Allen said he was not sure, and the official pocketed the fragment and quietly walked away. It appears that many things get in the way of scientific discovery and disclosure. The existence of the Olmec culture in Old Mexico has always posed a problem. Where did the Negroid people depicted on the colossal heads come from? Why are there Caucasians carved on the stele in what is Mexico's seed civilisation? What is worse, why aren't the indigenous Mexican people found on the Olmec artifacts? Recently a Mexican archaeologist solved the problem by making a fantastic claim: that the Olmec heads--which generations of people of all ethnic groups have agreed bear a striking resemblance to Africans--were really representations of the local tribe. STORMTROOPERS FOR DARWINISM The public does not seem at all aware of the fact that the scientific establishment has a double standard when it comes to the free flow of information. In essence, it goes like this... Scientists are highly educated, well trained and intellectually capable of processing all types of information, and they can make the correct critical distinctions between fact and fiction, reality and fantasy. The unwashed public is simply incapable of functioning on this high mental plane. The noble ideal of the scientist as a highly trained, impartial, apolitical observer and assembler of established facts into a useful body of knowledge seems to have been shredded under the pressures and demands of the real world. Science has produced many positive benefits for society; but we should know by now that science has a dark, negative side. Didn't those meek fellows in the clean lab coats give us nuclear bombs and biological weapons? The age of innocence ended in World War II. That the scientific community has an attitude of intellectual superiority is thinly veiled under a carefully orchestrated public relations guise. We always see Science and Progress walking hand in hand. Science as an institution in a democratic society has to function in the same way as the society at large; it should be open to debate, argument and counter-argument. There is no place for unquestioned authoritarianism. Is modern science meeting these standards? In the Fall of 2001, PBS aired a seven-part series, titled Evolution. Taken at face value, that seems harmless enough. However, while the program was presented as pure, objective, investigative science journalism, it completely failed to meet even minimum standards of impartial reporting. The series was heavily weighted towards the view that the theory of evolution is "a science fact" that is accepted by "virtually all reputable scientists in the world", and not a theory that has weaknesses and strong scientific critics. The series did not even bother to interview scientists who have criticisms of Darwinism: not "creationists" but bona fide scientists. To correct this deficiency, a group of 100 dissenting scientists felt compelled to issue a press release, "A Scientific Dissent on Darwinism", on the day the first program was scheduled to go to air. Nobel nominee Henry "Fritz" Schaefer was among them. He encouraged open public debate of Darwin's theory: Some defenders of Darwinism embrace standards of evidence for evolution that as scientists they would never accept in other circumstances. We have seen this same "unscientific" approach applied to archaeology and anthropology, where "scientists" simply refuse to prove their theories yet appoint themselves as the final arbiters of "the facts". It would be naive to think that the scientists who cooperated in the production of the series were unaware that there would be no counter-balancing presentation by critics of Darwin's theory. Richard Milton is a science journalist. He had been an ardent true believer in Darwinian doctrine until his investigative instincts kicked in one day. After 20 years of studying and writing about evolution, he suddenly realised that there were many disconcerting holes in the theory. He decided to try to allay his doubts and prove the theory to himself by using the standard methods of investigative journalism. Milton became a regular visitor to London's famed Natural History Museum. He painstakingly put every main tenet and classic proof of Darwinism to the test. The results shocked him. He found that the theory could not even stand up to the rigours of routine investigative journalism. The veteran science writer took a bold step and published a book titled The Facts of Life: Shattering the Myths of Darwinism. It is clear that the Darwinian myth had been shattered for him, but many more myths about science would also be crushed after his book came out. Milton says: I experienced the witch-hunting activity of the Darwinist police at first hand.it was deeply disappointing to find myself being described by a prominent Oxford zoologist [Richard Dawkins] as "loony", "stupid" and "in need of psychiatric help" in response to purely scientific reporting. (Does this sound like stories that came out of the Soviet Union 20 years ago when dissident scientists there started speaking out?) Dawkins launched a letter-writing campaign to newspaper editors, implying that Milton was a "mole" creationist whose work should be dismissed. Anyone at all familiar with politics will recognise this as a standard Machiavellian by-the-book "character assassination" tactic. Dawkins is a highly respected scientist, whose reputation and standing in the scientific community carry a great deal of weight. According to Milton, the process came to a head when the London Times Higher Education Supplement commissioned him to write a critique of Darwinism. The publication foreshadowed his coming piece: "Next Week: Darwinism - Richard Milton goes on the attack". Dawkins caught wind of this and wasted no time in nipping this heresy in the bud. He contacted the editor, Auriol Stevens, and accused Milton of being a "creationist", and prevailed upon Stevens to pull the plug on the article. Milton learned of this behind-the-scenes backstabbing and wrote a letter of appeal to Stevens. In the end, she caved in to Dawkins and scratched the piece. Imagine what would happen if a politician or bureaucrat used such pressure tactics to kill a story in the mass media. It would ignite a huge scandal. Not so with scientists, who seem to be regarded as "sacred cows" and beyond reproach. There are many disturbing facts related to these cases. Darwin's theory of evolution is the only theory routinely taught in our public school system that has never been subjected to rigorous scrutiny; nor have any of the criticisms been allowed into the curriculum. This is an interesting fact, because a recent poll showed that the American public wants the theory of evolution taught to their children; however, "71 per cent of the respondents say biology teachers should teach both Darwinism and scientific evidence against Darwinian theory". Nevertheless, there are no plans to implement this balanced approach. It is ironic that Richard Dawkins has been appointed to the position of Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He is a classic "Brain Police" stormtrooper, patrolling the neurological front lines. The Western scientific establishment and mass media pride themselves on being open public forums devoid of prejudice or censorship. However, no television program examining the flaws and weaknesses of Darwinism has ever been aired in Darwin's home country or in America. A scientist who opposes the theory cannot get a paper published. The Mysterious Origins of Man was not a frontal attack on Darwinism; it merely presented evidence that is considered anomalous by the precepts of his theory of evolution. Returning to our bastions of intellectual integrity, Forest Mims was a solid and skilled science journalist. He had never been the centre of any controversy and so he was invited to write the most-read column in the prestigious Scientific American, "The Amateur Scientist", a task he gladly accepted. According to Mims, the magazine's editor Jonathan Piel then learned that he also wrote articles for a number of Christian magazines. The editor called Mims into his office and confronted him. "Do you believe in the theory of evolution?" Piel asked. Mims replied, "No, and neither does Stephen Jay Gould." His response did not affect Piel's decision to bump Mims off the popular column after just three articles. This has the unpleasant odour of a witch-hunt. The writer never publicly broadcast his private views or beliefs, so it would appear that the "stormtroopers" now believe they have orders to make sure "unapproved" thoughts are never publicly disclosed. TABOO OR NOT TABOO? So, the monitors of "good thinking" are not just the elite of the scientific community, as we have seen in several cases; they are television producers and magazine editors as well. It seems clear that they are all driven by the singular imperative of furthering "public science education", as the president of the Cambrian Institute so aptly phrased it. However, there is a second item on the agenda, and that is to protect the public from "unscientific" thoughts and ideas that might infect the mass mind. We outlined some of those taboo subjects at the beginning of the article; now we should add that it is also "unwholesome" and "unacceptable" to engage in any of the following research pursuits: paranormal phenomena, UFOs, cold fusion, free energy and all the rest of the "pseudo-sciences". Does this have a familiar ring to it? Are we hearing the faint echoes of religious zealotry? Who ever gave science the mission of engineering and directing the inquisitive pursuits of the citizenry of the free world? It is all but impossible for any scientific paper that has anti-Darwinian ramifications to be published in a mainstream scientific journal. It is also just as impossible to get the "taboo" subjects even to the review table, and you can forget about finding your name under the title of any article in Nature unless you are a credentialled scientist, even if you are the next Albert Einstein. To restate how this conspiracy begins, it is with two filters: credentials and peer review. Modern science is now a maze of such filters set up to promote certain orthodox theories and at the same time filter out that data already prejudged to be unacceptable. Evidence and merit are not the guiding principles; conformity and position within the established community have replaced objectivity, access and openness. Scientists do not hesitate to launch the most outrageous personal attacks against those they perceive to be the enemy. Eminent palaeontologist Louis Leakey penned this acid one-liner about Forbidden Archeology: "Your book is pure humbug and does not deserve to be taken seriously by anyone but a fool." Once again, we see the thrust of a personal attack; the merits of the evidence presented in the book are not examined or debated. It is a blunt, authoritarian pronouncement. In a forthcoming instalment, we will examine some more documented cases and delve deeper into the subtler dimensions of the conspiracy. References and Resources: Cremo, Michael A. and Richard L. Thompson, Forbidden Archeology, Govardhan Hill, USA, 1993. Cremo, Michael A., "The Controversy over 'The Mysterious Origins of Man'", NEXUS 5/04, 1998; Forbidden Archeology's Impact, Bhaktivedanta Book Publishing, USA, 1998, website http://www.mcremo.com. Doore, Kathy, "The Nazca Spaceport & the Ica Stones of Peru", http://www.labyrinthina.com/ica.htm; see website for copy of Dr Javier Cabrera's book, The Message of the Engraved Stones. Doutré, Mark, Ancient Celtic New Zealand, Dé Danann, New Zealand, 1999, website http://www.celticnz.co.nz. Milton, Richard, The Facts of Life: Shattering the Myths of Darwinism, Corgi, UK, 1993, http://www.alternativescience.com. Steen-McIntyre, Virginia, "Suppressed Evidence for Ancient Man in Mexico", NEXUS 5/05, 1998. Sunfellow, David, "The Great Pyramid & The Sphinx", November 25, 1994, at http://www.nhne.com/specialrepots/spyramid.html. Tampa Bay Tribune, October 12, 2001 (Darwinism/evolution quote), http://www.tampatrib.com. About the Author: Will Hart is a freelance journalist, book author, nature photographer and documentary filmmaker. He lives and does much of his research in the Lake Tahoe area in the USA, and writes a column titled "The Tahoe Naturalist" for a regional publication. He has produced and directed films about wolves and wild horses. http://www.forbiddenarcheology.com/fabook.htm The knowledge filter and scientific suppression One of the prominent themes introduced in Forbidden Archeology is the phenomena of "knowledge filtration." This is the process by which scientists and others routinely accept evidence that supports their preconceptions and theories while rejecting, either consciously or unconsciously, other evidence that does not uphold their views. This process of suppression of evidence is illustrated by many of the anomalous paleoanthropological findings discussed in the book. This evidence now tends to be extremely obscure, and it also tends to be clouded by a series of negative reports, themselves obscure and dating from the time when the evidence was being actively rejected. Thus, evolutionary prejudices held by powerful groups of scientists act as a "knowledge filter" which has eliminated evidence challenging accepted views and left us with a radically altered understanding of human origins and antiquity. Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race
http://www.forbiddenarcheology.com New Evidence Challenges Darwin’s Theory
Best-selling Author Further Defies Evolutionists
http://www.humandevolution.com/ Forbidden Archeology documented a massive amount of evidence showing that humans have existed on earth for hundreds of millions of years. Such anomalous evidence, contradicting Darwinian evolution, catalyzed a global inquiry, "If we did not evolve from apes, then where did we come from?" Human Devolution is author Michael A. Cremo's definitive answer to this question.
"We did not evolve up from matter; instead we devolved, or came down, from the realm of pure consciousness, spirit," says Cremo. He bases his response on modern science and the world's great wisdom traditions, including the Vedic philosophy of ancient India. Cremo proposes that before we ask the question, "Where did human beings come from? we should first contemplate, "What is a human being?" Cremo asserts that humans are a combination of matter, mind, and consciousness (or spirit).
Human Devolution contains solid scientific evidence showing how a subtle mind element and a conscious self that can exist apart from the body have been systematically eliminated from mainstream science by a process of knowledge filtration. "Any time knowledge filtration takes place you can expect a great deal of resistance, criticism, and ridicule when it is exposed and challenged," says Cremo.
History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History
http://www.sciencedaily.com/books/h/0812212762-
history_begins_at_sumer_thirtynine_firsts_in_recorded_history.htm Which civilization had the first system of law? The first formal educational system? The first tax cut? The first love song? The answers were found in excavations of ancient Sumer, a society so developed, resourceful, and enterprising that it, in a sense, created history. The book presents a cross section of the Sumerian "firsts" in all the major fields of human endeavor, including government and politics, education and literature, philosophy and ethics, law and justice, agriculture and medicine, even love and family. "History Begins at Sumer" is the classic account of the achievements of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq during the third millennium B.C. They were the developers of the cuneiform system of writing, perhaps their greatest contribution to civilization, which allowed laws and literature to be recorded for the first time.: Navratna Defence PSU Electronics Ltd (BEL) today said the company's spend on R&D isexpected to grow to 12 per cent over the next five years.
"Our target is actually to touch 10 per cent, we are about 8.5 per cent now. In the next three to five years we will grow beyond 10 to 12 per cent," BEL Director (R&D) Ajit TKalghatgi said.
He said the company focused "very heavily" on design and development and "so we have a very strong R&D focus."
Compared with the industry standard in India, BEL was the largest spender on indigenisation or indigenous R&D development.
Putting a number to the R&D spend of BEL at a conference at the Aero 2017 air show here, Kalghatgi said it amounts to about Rs 500 to 700 crore per year.
Stating that the money is spent on development of new projects, new technology and new products, he said, "we are not into fundamental research as we are an industry. We work with academic community we fund for projects, but developing a technology module and product design which is relevant for an industry is being addressed by BEL."
The company works very closely with DRDO and also co-develop with it with work share, as well as investment sharing on some projects.
BEL today said it was awarded an offset contract for supply of 10 numbers of CoMPASS systems for use in Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) being manufactured by HAL by Elbit Systems Electro-Optics Ltd (ELOP), Israel.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ashes Third Umpire Admits Opposite Day Confusion
"I thought I made it very clear to field umpire Tony Hill this morning that it's opposite day today," third umpire Kumar Dharmasena said. "When I finished reviewing the footage, I said to him, 'There is a white hotspot in the review. I can clearly hear sound, too. The bat definitely hit the ball. It's 100% out'."I just couldn't believe my eyes when he gave it out."Tony Hill turned to social media platform Twitter at the end of the session to comment on the matter."Apologies for the muck-up 2day. Kumar reckons it's opposite day 2day #whatiskumarsmoking #hestillthinkshesinthatmoviewithharold".Dharmasena also revealed the confusion stemmed from a failure to communicate whether or not today is actually opposite day."The hard part is trying to tell him it's opposite day. Do you say, 'It's opposite day today' or do you say, 'It'sopposite day today'? I haven't been this confused for years, not since Shane Warne sent me a text at 4am one night saying he misses me and if I could pick him up from Revolver."The decision follows several umpiring howlers in the 2013 Ashes series, forcing the International Cricket Council to promptly release a statement."After the recent Ashes controversies, the ICC board has decided to scrap the DRS. The problem is actually with the technology itself. All it's doing is giving us clear evidence. I think it's unfair to expect a professional umpire to make the correct decision using just a few slow-motion high definition angles, directional microphones and infrared technology."Furthermore, third umpire Kumar Dharmasena was not incorrect in saying it's opposite day today. It's not opposite day today, but it is. Not."Cain: Sharia law could come to U.S.
Sharia law could be infused into the nation's court system, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says.
In an interview aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Cain said that "some people would infuse Sharia law in our court system if we allow it."
The issue, which makes many some Republicans cringe, has resurfaced because New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is mulling a presidential bid. Earlier this year, Christie said he's sick of people talking about Islamic law taking over the American justice system.
"I honestly believe that. So even if he calls me crazy, I am going to make sure that they don't infuse it little by little by little," Cain said. "It's not going to be some grand scheme, little by little. So I don't mind if he calls me crazy."The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, the smallest country in the world, is nestled in the French Alps. Being as isolated as it is, its life is a throwback to olden days. It is a happy, peace-loving country. Its economy solely rests on export of its only wine, Pinot Grand Fenwick, to the US. When a California vintner starts producing and selling a knock-off of the Pinot Grand Fenwick at a lower price, the Grand Fenwick economy goes into a crisis situation, the country on the brink of bankruptcy. Three protests to the US go largely unanswered. Grand Fenwick's Prime Minister, Rupert of Mountjoy, believes the solution is to declare war on the US, and promptly lose the war in less than a day with no casualties on either side, after which the US, which it has historically done, will provide vast financial aide to rebuild the country. Grand Fenwick's monarch, the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII, ultimately supports this concept. The plan is to send an official declaration of war to the US, have a small... Written by HuggoA school cleaner who stole over €100,000 in social welfare fraud over a 17-year period by pretending to be her sister has avoided a jail term.
A school cleaner who stole over €100,000 in social welfare fraud over a 17-year period by pretending to be her sister has avoided a jail term.
Carol Clarke, a 57-year-old mother of five, used the money to support her family and to help pay off one of her son's drug debts, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard at a previous sentence hearing last May.
Clarke, with an address in Dunard Drive, Navan Road, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing from the Department of Social Welfare at Phibsborough post office between February 1994 and July 2011. The total amount stolen was €104,431.
Judge Karen O'Connor sentenced Clarke to two years in prison which she suspended in full.
She said she had taken into account the “heartbreak and tragedy” Clarke had suffered, as one son was shot dead and a second had killed himself. She noted that the woman was now caring full-time for her ill daughter.
Judge O'Connor wished Clarke “every good fortune” and commended her for looking after her daughter and grandchildren. She said she would not ask Clarke to compensate the State, because she said in her particular circumstances “it would be unduly onerous” considering her limited financial means.
Inspector Thomas Lynch told Pieter Le Vert BL, prosecuting, that gardaí discovered in 2012 that social welfare was being claimed on behalf of Bernadette Darcy, Clarke's sister. Ms Darcy told gardaí she had no idea that the social welfare was being claimed under her name.
Clarke was arrested shortly afterwards. She initially denied the claims, but after carrying out a number of handwriting tests and fingerprint testing, she eventually admitted to the offence. Staff at Phibsborough post office also identified her as the culprit.
She has one previous conviction for handling stolen property in 1999.
Tara Burns SC, defending, said Clarke had a difficult family background. Her husband died of Huntington's Disease in 2013. Of her five children, a son and daughter also suffer from the condition.
Her son is cared for in hospital while Clarke cares for her sick daughter and her daughter's two young children in the family home. She is effectively the sole carer of those children, Ms Burns said.
The court heard another son took his own life at the age of 25 after running up drug debts, while her younger son, Glen Clarke, was killed in a shooting incident in Dublin last December.
Ms Burns said her client was extremely remorseful and was paying back the debt she owed to the department in €50 instalments. She handed up a number of references to court, including Clarke's employer at St Paul's CBS, who described her as dedicated and hard-working.
Defence counsel urged Judge O'Connor at the |
been amazing to work with Ridley Scott, as he was a huge influence when I was younger. He has the experience of an older generation, a mix of pragmatism and artistry which seems rarer now as film development seem so corporatised.
Technology has permeated into the society so deeply. When you think about how old Google or Facebook or Twitter is, they barely a decade old, and we take it all for granted now – it’s amazing. When you ask me whether I worry about how something will appear in 15-20 years time – I don’t worry, because I know it’ll be so different. It’s not just the user interface design, it’s also about how information is aggregated, processed and presented.
At the moment the web is still very much a fixed media of text, images and video. Imagine if every video and audio recorded was automatically transcribed, and it was all semantically searchable, maybe using crowdsourcing. Information as it exists right now does not yet feel malleable. It’s getting there, but I think in the future our notion of information will be so different, so fluid. That’s why I don’t worry about how user interfaces appear in a movie because that’s not the only thing that will date. The thing that will date is the fact that information itself is changing.
It slightly scares me that mainstream computing might overtake what happens in the cinema. We’ll have to rethink how we present technology in film, but that will be really interesting.
And here I’d like to thank Shaun Yue for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk about crafting screen graphics and user interfaces for movies, and for sharing his process and behind-the-scenes materials with us. Shaun would like to acknowledge the following:
“Skyfall” Screen Graphics by Blind Ltd London.
Supervisor: Andrew Booth
Screen Graphics Designers: Ian Sargent, Shaun Yue, Joe White
3D Artist: Gabor Ekes
“Prometheus” on-set screen graphics design team
Supervisor: George Simons
Screen Graphics Designers: Shaun Yue, David Sheldon-Hicks, Paul Roberts, John Hill, Rheea Aranha
“Skyfall” © 2012 Danjaq, LLC, United Artists Corporation and Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.
“Prometheus” © 2012 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved.Writing top-quality content can be a tough process. You have to conduct in-depth research, study and structure all the information you find, and think about how to deliver it right. When you’re focused on all of those things, some mistakes might slip into your writing easily.
Some writers don’t pay much attention to them, thinking that errors don’t matter if the content itself is good enough. However, that’s not exactly true: even if your content is amazing, things like typos and small errors make it look messier and less polished. Such articles look like a writer hadn’t been paying much attention to the details – and you definitely wouldn’t want to make such impression.
Of course, proofreading isn’t always easy. When you’ve spent hours focused on writing, it could be hard to spot errors in your article right after you finish. One of the best ways to proofread your content is to put it aside for a couple of hours or even days and return to it later. However, not all of us are able to afford it, especially when a deadline is near.
Lucky for you, there are some amazing proofreading services for bloggers that can help you check your writing quickly and absolutely for free, instantly improving your content.
This proofreading tool looks very simple, but don’t let the appearances fool you. Actually, Slick Write provides in-depth analysis of your writing, not only pointing out typos and errors but also checking your writing style in general. Moreover, it gives you some valuable suggestions that could help you improve your writing skills.
This tool spots the errors well enough too, but it also does much more than just that. PaperRater gives you some stylistic suggestions as well. It also offers a title checking option as well as rating one, allowing you to find out more about your writing style, vocabulary, and word choice.
This statistic is definitely interesting and it helps improve your writing; however, it can be a bit time-consuming. That’s why if you don’t have time to use some additional options, maybe you should choose a simpler tool.
One of the best free proofreading tools that can be found online, Grammarly is very easy to use: it quickly checks your text for any errors and stylistic mistakes, offering a very in-depth analysis. It can be used from any mobile device too and if you want to improve your writing, even more, you can choose to upgrade to a premium account.
Moreover, once registered, you’ll be able to save your texts and previous checks there, which can be a useful option for some of us. Another good thing about this tool is that it offers a spelling check plugin for the browser, allowing you to quickly check all of your online writing for mistakes.
4. After The Deadline, also known as PolishMyWriting
A very simple and convenient tool to use, PolishMyWriting quickly scans your text, finding different errors and displaying them in various colors so it will be easier for you to identify them. The spelling mistakes are shown in red color, the grammatical ones – in green color, and different writing suggestions – in blue color. Moreover, this tool also provides suggestions for active and passive writing, helping you improve your posts even more.
And it has a browser plugin too, just like Grammarly.
It reminds PolishMyWriting in many ways. However, it still has some different features – for example, Ginger allows finding the mistakes related to the, a, an, have, and has. And, while such mistakes might look like insignificant ones, they are also quite easy to make just because of that. So if you write a lot of articles and have to do it very quickly, it’s always better to check such things with the help of Ginger proofreading tool.
If you aren’t focused on writing in English only, SpellChecker is definitely the most convenient tool for you. It offers quick and effective check in various languages and also has a blog proofreading option (of course, this one works only if your blog isn’t too big).
Just like Grammarly, this tool isn’t completely free (it has a number of paid features). However, even its free tools allow you to make the most out of it. ProWritingAid doesn’t simply proofread and spot errors efficiently – it also detects words that are overused, improves the overall structure of your text, makes a word cloud, removes various clichés, and detects the words that seem too complex or abstract.
While these tools do look similar, they actually differ among themselves by the number of options available, interfaces, and membership options. Some are easy to use even from mobile devices, while some might not work well with them. Some check the texts right away and some require additional settings.
Therefore, we recommend not setting with only one tool. Try all of them to see which one seems the most convenient and easy for you to use. And if you know some other great proofreading tools that didn’t make it to this list, you can always share them with us in the comment section below. We will be happy to hear your suggestions!Double Fine Sets New Kickstarter Funding Record
Earlier this month, we reported that Double Fine Productions managed to fund their new adventure title via Kickstarter in a little over 8 hours. Soon after, the project broke $1,000,000 in funding, becoming only the second Kickstarter to do so. But the sheer power of the Internet collective didn’t stop there, as Double Fine has now become the first Kickstarter project to break the $2,000,000 threshold.
Tim Schafer has already updated backers once, letting them know this money will not be wasted. The game will now be available not only on Windows, but also Mac and Linux, as well as iOS and Android devices. It will also be translated into five different languages: English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. We can now also expect voice acting, Steam codes for beta access to those who have backed the project, and a completely DRM-free option for those who don’t want to be locked into the Steam ecosystem.
With 22 days left to fund the project, there very well may be more milestones to come. Perhaps we’ll see Double Fine’s project hit $3,000,000? Only time will tell, but point-and-click adventure fans should be dancing in the streets right now. With this kind of funding, we should be able to expect a truly excellent title from Double Fine.
Image courtesy of Double FineLooking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
The opioid epidemic in America is taking its toll on a class of victims who have received relatively little attention in the crisis: babies. The rate of babies born in drug withdrawal has quadrupled over a 15-year stretch, according to data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report looked at the prevalence of babies born between 1999 and 2013 with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), an illness caused by exposure in the womb to addictive drugs, primarily opioids—including heroin, methadone, and prescription painkillers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone (known by brand names OxyContin and Vicodin, respectively).
NAS isn’t known to have long-lasting effects, but babies going through it can suffer from tremors, seizures, gastrointestinal problems, and fevers. The increasing rates mirror the skyrocketing use of opioids across the country. In 2014, more than 47,000 Americans died from drug overdoses—a similar number to the fatalities during the HIV epidemic at its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (According to the CDC, NAS can also be caused by non-opioid drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, and barbiturates, but opioids are detected in the vast majority of cases.)
Only 28 states currently collect data on NAS, and some of those states have kept figures on the condition only for the past few years. But as the chart below shows, the number of babies born dependent on drugs varies drastically by state, with West Virginia, Vermont, and Maine showing the highest rates. That’s due in part to different use rates of opioids. West Virginia and Maine have some of the highest prescription opioid rates in the country, while Vermont is struggling with a spiraling heroin problem.
In an attempt to curb the opioid crisis, the CDC released the first national standards for prescribing painkillers this spring. The recommendations, which are not binding, call for doctors to first try ibuprofen or aspirin to treat pain, limit short-term opioid treatment to three days, monitor patients’ drug use with regular urine tests and prescription tracking systems, and advise patients—particularly those who are pregnant—about the addictive effects.Newspaper Page Text
1 HUSBAND AND WIFE, HOW DO YOU DIVIDE YOUR INCOME?
Write to The Star and Tell Us! Maybe You'll Win the $25 Prize for the Best Letter on the Subject
imraßun
PAID CIRCULATION
GUARANTEED OVER
55,000
COPIES DAILY
GOVERNOR WOUU)
111 STATE HMIIU
omimuiß
OLYMPIA, Jan. 12.—00w. Ernest Ustsr furnlshsd ■ distinct sur
prlse In his message. read this afternoon to ths 14th legialaturs, when
he urgsd a broadening of ths powtn of ths stats public ssrvlcs com
mission, so that It may also rsgulata municipally ownsd utilltlss. such
■s tho city watsr dspartmsnt and light plant of Ssattls.
Advocates of municipal ownsrshlp had hopsd for a word of sncour
■gomsnt In thslr sfforts to obUln homs ruls legislation to permit cities,
not only to regulate thslr own plants, but also thoee of private corpora
t'ons within thslr city limits.
GERMANS SET
BRUSSELS ON
FIRE, REPORT
THC WAR LINEUP
PRANCE—French assert desper
ate Sansss assaults near Solsssns
repuleed. Both loot heavily. Oar
man* attacked north of Beausajour;
repulsed.
AUSTRlA—Fighting along lower
Nlda: Russian attempt to crooo ths
river repulsed.
RUUSSlA—Fighting along Rawka
river: German advance toward
Warsaw continues.
TURKEY—Wsather bad: prob
ably Turka will not reoume offen
sive before spring.
GERMANY—Reported German
cruiser Brsmsn struck mine; return
ed to Wilhelmehaven bedly dam
aged: Berlin declaree French ra
pulaed near Camay: heavy loeaes:
In Argonne 3,500 French reported
captured elnce Friday.
UONDON. Jan. ll.—Stories that
Brussels baa been set srtre and is
burning, brought to Amsterdam br
refugees, ere discredited by the Nel
glsn legs' ion here and the Belgian
relief organization. It was stated
at both of these places that then
waa no confirmation from any
source
6ERNM CRUISER
DAMAGED RT MIRE
IXJNDON. Jan. It—That the
German rnilwr Rream hu put In
to Wllbelmahaven. badly damage-!,
having struck a floating ml no In the
North eea. was the report carried
In a Petrograd me*»ag«- to the Star
tod >7.
FEAR BOMBARDMENT
BY ADRIATIC FLEET
VENICE Jan. 12—The Irhab
ltanta of Trieste are In a panic
fearing bombardment of the rltv by
the Pranco-Mrltlah fleet In th>-
Adriatic.
T ADDITIONAL NEW# OF *
THE WAR ON PAGE 2
Economy *u the keynote of Uls
ter's message In thle connection
he advised alone with a general
policy of retrenchment Id appro
priallona. ths convening of s con
stitutional contention to consider,
anion* other things, the following:
Abolishing ono houss of ths
leglalatur* and aonflnlng legis
lates work to a body of about
24 members to eerve 90 days
•t regular sessions Instead of
sa
A roarrangemsnt of supsrlsr
court districts, so that tho
present situation. whereby
judgas In eome districts srs
overcrowded with work while
In othsrs thsro Isn't enough
work, can bs overcome and a
saving of about 540.000 a ysar
effsctsd by eliminating about
10 courts.
A constitutional amendment
In relation to revanus and tax
ation.
The governor recommends
ersl change* In the general ele<-
tlon law* and urges the adoption of
non-partisan county and city eler
tlons. a preferential presidential
primary law. the abolition of the
compulsory second choice.
Me also recommends against the
paassge of a law. as provided by
the republican platform, to compel
voters to state their party affilia
tions when they register
Urges Rsspportlonmsnt
Should the legislature fail to call
a constitutional convention, the
governor urges reapportionment of
senate and house representstlon »n
(Continued on psge 7.1
ATTACK
MOTHER'S
PENSION
Ot.YMPIA, Wash., Jan. 12 —
Striking at the mothers pension
Isw. Senator Howard Taylor of
King county, former speaker of the
house, introduced a bill Tuesday
morning to repeal certain sections
of the measure
Senators (Jhent and Wray of
King Introduced a bill abollahlng
second choice voting In congres
slonal and state offices
Senstors llrown of Whatcom and
Iverson of Kitsap Introduced a
measure appropriating $100,000 for
a state powder factory and creat
ing a revolving f.inil of. 1500,000 for
Its operation
In the house. little »»« done
Ti«*sd»y morning Whfn Rep. Z«<l
- attempted to Introduce a bill
providing for one board of regenta
for all state educational Instltu
tlona. Hep 81ms objected on the
ground that houae lan't yet organ
ized for bualneaa
♦
The Seattle Star
The Only Paper in Seattle That Dares to Print the News
VOLUME 16.
DOtB A Wirt EARN
WAGES?
Ths snswers to thle question
•re coming in to The Star eo
faet. and many of tnsm are eo
good, that we will print the beet
of them tomorrow, Thursday and
Friday.
Married folks, get Into the con
teel while there le time.
Husbsnds. ars your wlvss help
metss or prstty toys?
Wives, srs you partnsrs In tho
homs, or sipensive brit a brecf
"Runaway Jans." a film etory
by George Randolph Chsstsr. of
s bride who rsn sway from hsr
husbsnd on thslr honsymoon
rather than "dsgrsds" hsrself by
taking money from him. etarta at
the Colonial theatre Sunday.
The management of the thea
tre offers a prlts of t2i for ths
bsst Isttsr. by s husband or a
wife, on "DOES A WIFE EARN
WAGES?" which ehsll bs submit
tsd to Ths Star.
Ths prlis will bs swsrdsd Sat
urday, and Ths Star will print
ths winning Isttsr. Also- -
Star Photographer Jacobe will
take mowing plcturee of the win
ner and her huebend—or his
wifs, as ths cass may be—on
Saturday.
Thle film will be ehown at ths
Colonial Sunday, when "Run.
away Jans" starta.
RENTS
BLAME
FIXED
Out of hit office window In
the Burke building Judga Thorn
aa Burke looked down upon
••cond awa-. lo tha north and to
tha aouth. aa far aa ha could
aaa, and remarked to Tha Star
man:
"If anything can ba dona, I
ahall earneatly and gladly halp."
Judge Rurkn waa speaking of the
high rent conditions on Second ave
What could he done*
lx>ok at It from any ancle you
rhooae. Judge Flurke la satisfied you
must reach the same conclualon he
has reached, namely:
"The Individual landlord Is the
sole Influence In this matter."
Judge lltirke has spoken to Indl
vldtial landlords Me has received
encouragement from some There
are othera w.ho cannot be reached
Real Landlords Ara Reaeonable
"1 find this to tx* true." said
Judge flurke. «ho la himself the
owner of the Iturke and Kinplre
buildings. on Second are., "that the
real landiorda —thoae own the
ground and the buildings, general!)
are reasonable men.
"Tha difficulty la with thoaa
landiorda who own only a laaaa
on tha ground, and who hava
put up chaap buildinga, with
the Intention of getting a* much
money out of the leaaes as pos
sible. These landiorda ara un
approachable.
"It haa been my policy not to
enter Into any awch leaaee. and
In the light of axperleice. there
le reaaon to hop* there will ba
few auch laaaea entered Into In
th future.
"The Star la to be commended for
presenting the question to public at
(Continued on Page 2.)
Gen. H M. Chittenden re-eler.ted
port comtnlaalon pr«'Stdrnl
H. B. Earltng, vice president of
Milwaukee, flnda business better.
WHEN A MAN'S MARRIED
SKA H I r., WASH., TUESDAY, JAN. 12, 1014
DO YOU PAY
WAGES TO
YOUR WIFE
By Fred L Boalt
I dropped Into Boyd'* Pharmacy,
Bavanth and Union, thla morning, to
got a magailna. Boyd ayad ma
gloomily.
"A pratty plckla you'va got ma
Into!" ha aaid
••»or Mid i.
"And many anothar marrlad man
In thla town. If I know woman,",
aald Boyd "Wa arguad about It
half tha night."
"Arguad about whatT" I aakad.
although I knaw.
"About 'DOCS A Wirt EARN
WAOtt?*" aald tha drugglat
• • •
Now. Boyd la an avarag* man
Ho la n*ltb*r rary rlrh nor vory
poor Ma la. I auaport. a llttla old '
faablonad In bla noflona ronrorn
lng aurh thlnga aa'iho apbora of
woman "
"I<ooa your wlfa aarn »um *" ~
. ~Hha doat not." Mid Boyd. "And.
whafa mora, ah* doaaw't wast
I—MX.' ho qnallflad, "aba
didn't until ah* md Th* Star yaw
torday "
"■ha la thou, an aqual partner
I with your
' Kiaetly ~ aald Boyd 'That *
what I k*p! t*l7lnc h*r laa' n'aht
An *qual partnar with m*'"
"Ton dlvld* your monay *qtially
And giro har half*"
"No, no'" aald Boyd T don't
dlvld* It. W* ahar* It It la our*
Th* homo th* atorw, lb* nnon*y
all ara otira "
"110 yoti moan." I aak*d. "• lltaral
partn*r«hlp or a th*or*tlral part
narahlp* for Inntanr*. haa your j
wlf* b*r own hank act-ount*'
"Ton don't gat m»." aald Boyd,
with what patl*nc* h* rould com
maud "IJatan '
• a a
"My wlfa and I ara partnaro. I'm
tha aonlor partnar. I run tha bua<
noaa and handla tha monay. tha
runa tha houaa. ordor* tha maala.
tanda tha chlldran.
"Your way—giving tha wlfa all
tho monay—la all vary wall far a
man who aarna wagaa. It would
not do for a buainaaa man. Lot ma
llluatrata.
"My wlfa an a Monday aakad ma
for $15 with which to buy moat
and grocarloe for tha following Bat
urday, whan wa wara going to hava
company for dlnnar.
"If I had do no aa aha aakad. I
would hava takan lift out of my
buainaaa for ona waak Kapt In
tha buainaaa, that lift aarnad. aay.
*5 canta. With 4ft canta I can buy
two pounda of maat—a claar aav-
Ing."
"You maan. than." I aald, "that
woman hava not tha haada far buai
naaa that man havaT"
"Youra may hava. Mlna haa not."
(Contlnuad on Pago 2.1
EOIIAL SUFFRAGE
DEBATED IN HOUSE
WASHINGTON, Jan IJ TTie t
house today liogan a all hour de
(Htm < >i> til Mondell resolution pro
posing ft constitutional amendment
providing national woman suffrage
A final vote la to he taken after
the debate
Nearly 200 representatives have
expressed their Intention of dta-1
THE GIRL WHO WORKS! THE BRINK
UPON WHICH SOME OF THEM STAND
Girls Aren't Safe at
Hands of Men Even
in Civilized Times
WARRANT OUT FOR
COUNTY AUDITOR
KCLfcO. w.a*. Jan. If.—
CKrgid with th« ambOUl*-
• tnl 0» from I '00 to WOO. ■
• wtrriM I* out for the arroot
of Oaorga M Campbell. retir
ing auditor of Cowlitl county.
CampboM hee diaeppeered, It
ia said.
| running th# laan* Monrial! lad tin
ilrlulf In favor of tha rraolutlon.
Taylor of Colorwtn and VnltlM) of
Mtnnaaota iwln* hi* |<rlnrl|>al mi|>
portani
Hanry of T»n>, chairman of tha
mlaa mmmlltM. and Wahh of
North Carolina ware aohadulad to I
maka tha nppnalng aiwarhaa
ONE CEN7
■Y CYNTHIA GReY
The Star on Monday prlntad
a etory from Now York, tailing
of a Jereey City girl who waa
reacuad from a Chinatown ten
ement She had allowad her
aal to ba taken thara on tha
auppoaitlon that aha waa going
to obtain naadod employment.
Today, by coincidence. comaa
In tha mail a lattar from a So
dro Woollay young woman
which atrangaly parallala thla
experience
Thla young woman write*:
f>*ir Mlaa «ire\ I want to tell
»ou how. a few day* ago, I wan nl
ni"»t trapped Into a life of ahatne
]In your <tty. I waa going to my
flrat poaltlon. a girl of IS. hut a
mere child In eiperlence, with my
hair In a braid down tnv hack, and
| ro> aklrta to the toj>* of my ahoea.
Healde m« on the train aat a
wmnan who m the moat ra
■ pulalve I'cnnn 1 ever aaw
liar fare ahowed too plainly tha
' Ufa aha waa living, and I turned
from har
' When tha train waa a few mllea
from Seattle the conductor brought
to me a welldrenaed man whoae
' niiiearanre ahoweil him to 1m» of
' I mean*, and aahl to him. "There'a
(Contlnuad on Pago 7.)
•>« Tlttl«« AM)
NKW* ITAMII,
MANWHO OFFERED
TO EXPOSE EVIL IS
OHLV OME C/UKHT
What kind of a daal haa B. L. Morgan got from the police?
Tha Star, working Independently, aecured a Hat of placea where
cocaine and morphine are aold. This Met waa turned over to the po
lico.
The namoo on the llet were, with a eingle exception, the name* of
drug firms. The exception waa Morgan, who, Tha Star learned, waa
a*lllng drug* from a certain room In a Flrat ave. hotel.
The police arroeted Morgan aa a "disorderly peraon," and laat
Thuraday he waa aentenced to the city atockade, whar* h* I* now.
Morgan, a private detective out
of a )ob, approached Dr. Cornelius
Osseward. president of the state
pharmacy board, so mo weeks ago,
and offered to secure evidence
against the drug sellers
The board bad no funds for tb«
purpose Dr. <>**oward conferrod
with Dr. E. J. Brown, dentl*t, who
ha* also labored to break up tbe
drug traffic In Seattle, and Morgan
was **nt to Auatln E. Orlfflths. then
chief of pollc*.
Morgan made thla offer: He
(wtmM furnish hi* ll*t of places
where drugs were sold; he would
glv* a city detective hi* (Morgan *)
personal card*, peculiarly marked.
Any one offering thla card to a
drug-seller would have no trouble
bu;lng cocaine or morphine He did
not ssk to lie i>ald until after the
police bad established a caae againat
the sellers
The department. Griffiths told
Morgan and Dr. Brown, had but lit
tle money to spend Hie offer—
1J.50 a day and expenses waa turn
ed down by Morgan.
Morgan, before approaching IJr.
Oaaeward. had apent weeka win
nlng the confidence of aellers and
"snowbirds" alike. He had iioaed
as both a aeller and a victim and
had taken to enufflng cocaine—"be
cause." he explained to I>r. Oaae
ward. "If you re going to win the
confidence of theae people, you've
got to do as they do."
"I urgfd Morgan not to take a
rlak so terrible," says Dr. Oaaeward
"I do not know anything about Mor
gan'a morals or past." says Dr.
Brown, "but I do know that he kept
faith with us and that bia proposi
tion was a good one "
Morgan, when hunting a market
for his Information, said he didn't
want pay until the entire traffic
had been broken up. and that. If the
authorities cared to employ him,
they would discover that the. ource
of the drug supply wns a certain
large drug firm.
• • •
It was by pure chance that The
Star, working Independently of the
pharmacy board, found Morgan and
incorporated hla name In the liat
which It turned over to the police.
Not one druggist haa been arreat
ed
The only man on the list not a
druggist is a prlaoner at the atock
ade.
AND HE IS THE MAN WHO
HAD OFFERED THE POLICE IN
FORMATION AGAINST THE
TRAFFICKERS IN THE DRUGS. I
S.E.CO. ORDERED TO
IMPROVE SERVICE
t'nder an order of the public'
service commission being drafted
today at Olympia, Seattle's street
lallwaj Bervlce must be greatly Im
proved.
The peak" period of traffic Is to
be reduced from an hour and a half
each morning and afternoon to one
hour
Ourlng tbiMe two parts of the
day an overload of 25 per cent will
be recognised as allowable, but no
more According to figures pre
pared by the comm l»afc>n s experts
and presented In a report, the over
loads have been running as high
a* 70, HO and 100 per cent on vari
ous lines The West Seattle,
tireen Uflke. Klnnear Park and ML
llaker lines were named as the
worst offenders
It.v "overload" the
means strap hangers.
Night
COITION
Weathar—Occasional rain
riDKK AT ikArru
Mich
4 m. n,. IS! ft. ton ». m, IM ft
1 I BS p nt„ 14 0 ft. H:M p. m. 0» ft
SAY PREACHER
ACQUIRED TOO
MANY WIVES
CHICAGO. Jan. 12.—A tangl*
•• great m that off*r*d In th*
Roger* caaa In Naw York waa
presented today to churchman
In four atataa who ara attampt-
Ing to aolva tha marital mya
tarlaa of Rov. Jamaa Morrlaon
Oarnall. a young Unitarian
mlnlatar.
IHrnell lives at the borne of Mr*.
Edward K. Vaughn. whoa* daugh
ter. aged 16. he claims to have mar
ried Nov. 4
The parents of Ruth Soper, 22.
aent word from their home In
Kenosha, Wla., that Darnell had
married Ruth and win the father
of a flve-tnonth-old baby.
W. T Mallett Investigated tho
Roper charges for the Kenosha
I'nltarlan church. He say* the min
ister insists he never married Ruth
Boper.
'Darnell admitted." Mallett'a re
port said "a common law mar
riage with a girl at Avon. 111., hut
denied that Ruth Soper's child wit
hla. He alao admitted that Ruth
had lived for a time In Kenosha
and that he had Introduced her
there aa his wife."
MRS. ROGERS TO
BECOME MOTHER
AGAIN SOON
NEW YORK. Jan 12.—The
grand Jury resinned today its In
lestlgatlon of the case of Mrs. Ida
Walters-Rogers, accused of mur
dering her two children b> feeding
them bichloride of mercury after
she herself had swallowed some of
the poison
The woman explained that she
wanted to die because she was
about to be deserted by lx>rly Ea
ton Rogers, father of her chiidreu
but not her husband.
If Mr*. Rogers is indicted. her
attorney. Abraham l-evv, expect*
her condition to count heavily in
tier fnvor. as she soon is to become
the mother of a third child.
new ruling, if s car seats 40 pas
sengers. It) other passengers mi;i\
be carried during the hour of groat,
est traffic morning and" night.
This hour varies on the differ
ent lines, nnd will be determined
for each separately from figures
gathered by the commission's In
vestigators
The order, under a stipulation,
will be effertive as soon as It Is
Issued, which will be within n day
or so, according to V. A Reynolds,
chairman of the commission.
"We will have men at wiWU at
once checking up the service." said
he at Olynipla today, "and will ob
serve closely how it is beins
obeyed The order is tentative and
may be a>odi r ied at any time as
need ma> arise."
Put In the briefest form, he said,
the order means more cars during
the rush houi»
commission
I'nder theWashington • Mitt Romney would handily beat Democrat Jenny Wilson if the two competed for the Senate seat from Utah next year, though Wilson would beat Sen. Orrin Hatch if he runs again, a new poll shows.
The poll, commissioned by UtahPolicy.com, finds Romney snatching 64 percent of the vote to Wilson’s 26 percent with 10 percent undecided.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee, has not said whether he would seek Hatch’s seat if the seven-term senator decides to retire, though a close friend said he is seriously considering it.
The Dan Jones & Associates poll shows Romney would easily win in a state where he is a well-known figure for taking over the scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Should Hatch run for another term — he says he’ll make a final decision this fall — he would lose to Wilson, 45 percent to 34 percent, the poll shows. The poll did not identify the candidates’ party affiliations.
The poll also found that Rep. Chris Stewart, who is weighing a bid if Hatch doesn’t run, would eke out a win against Wilson in a head-to-head contest, though 36 percent of voters are undecided in that matchhup.
Wilson would beat Utah Valley University President Matt Holland if the two were to vie for the seat but nearly half of voters were unsure who they would pick.
Hatch’s office dismissed the poll as old news, noting the senator has yet to say whether he will seek another term.
“As much as we love to support our local media outlets, this is the third or fourth time we have seen this same report without any new sources or any new information,” said Hatch spokesman Matt Whitlock. “Nothing has changed. Senator Hatch is focused on the critical work of the Senate, and he plans to make a final decision by the end of the year.”
Wilson heralded the Utah Policy poll and said it tracks what her campaign is finding.
“ This is a confirmation of what I’m hearing on the ground from people,” Wilson said Monday. “They’re tired of Washington; people are tired of the arguing and the lack of progress on things that matter to them.”
Mitchell Vice, a Democrat, has also signaled his intent to run for the Senate seat.
Hatch had said during his 2012 re-election campaign that he wouldn’t seek another term |
. First, it is likely that the merchant’s goods would simply be bought by speculators and resold on a secondary market, thereby simply redirecting the profit into somebody else’s hands without doing anything to improve the situation of buyers. And second, if merchants cannot charge a high price in “good” markets to cover their losses in “bad” ones, they will soon operate at a net loss and this will, Locke claims, “quickly put an end to merchandising” (Locke 1661: 342).
What would be unjust would be for the merchant to sell an item to a particular individual for a price higher than the general market rate as might happen, for instance, if that individual is in particular distress. Thus, Locke holds, if anchors typically sell for a certain price, say 100 pounds, then it would be unjust (exploitative) to charge the captain of a distressed ship 5000 pounds for an anchor, simply because one knows he will be compelled to pay it. The just price is the going market rate, where that rate is determined by the general features of supply and demand, and not the particular needs or vulnerabilities of any particular buyer or seller.
Interest in exploitation as a feature of economic exchange is thus almost as old as philosophy itself. It was not until the 19th century, however, that exploitation as a feature of employment relationships came to be a subject of philosophical and political concern. In a sense, of course, the employment relationship is simply another instance of economic exchange, with the laborer selling his or her work in exchange for money in the form of wages. But two ideas led many people to think that there was something special about labor. The first was a belief that labor is the ultimate source of all economic value. The second was the belief that labor morally entitles the laborer to the full value of that which he or she has produced.
More will be said about the first of these ideas in the discussion of Marx’s theory of exploitation, below. The second idea, and its connection to the idea of labor exploitation, is perhaps best illustrated by the theory put forth by the 19th century liberal Thomas Hodgskin. For Hodgskin, as for Locke from whose ideas he drew heavily, the right of private property is a natural, pre-political right. That right consists in
the right of individuals, to have and to own, for their own separate use and enjoyment, the produce of their own industry, with power freely to dispose of the whole of that in the manner most agreeable to themselves. (Hodgkin 1832: 24)
But while the natural right of property is based on labor, there is also an artificial right of property that is based on nothing more than legislative force. That artificial right cements in place, through the machinery of government, property claims that had their origins not in labor but in violence, conquest, and theft. And it thereby enables capitalists to profit without labor, simply by virtue of their (illegitimate) control of the means of production (Reeve 1987b).
For Hodgskin, capitalists exploit workers in precisely the same way that landlords exploit their tenants. In both cases, one person is entitled to a stream of revenue simply by virtue of their legal claim of ownership (Hodgskin 1832: 97). The money the landlord earns as rent comes from the wages the tenant earns as a laborer, just as the money the capitalist earns as profit comes from the sale of products produced by his laborers. In both cases, one person is able to live as a parasite off the productive activities of others, all because the state actively suppresses the natural right of laborers to the full product of their labor, in favor of the artificial right of property established by violence.
Even before Marx, then, we see in the 19th century a tight connection between theories of exploitation and theories of class and of class conflict. Marx himself credited the “bourgeois economists” of the French Industrialist school with having pioneered the economic analysis of class struggle (Marx & Engels 1965: 69). For members of that school, the two great classes into which society was divided were productive laborers and unproductive social parasites. The class of productive laborers was understood broadly to encompass not only those who exerted physical labor to create tangible goods and services, but anyone who worked to make goods more useful than they would otherwise be—so laborers, yes, but also entrepreneurs, arbitrageurs, and even capitalists in their role as managers and overseers of investments. The unproductive classes, in contrast, consisted of those who consume value but do not produce it, such as the army, the government, and the state-supported clergy (Raico 1977: 395).
According to Industrialists such as Charles Comte and Jean-Baptiste Say, the unproductive classes are able to maintain themselves by using the coercive power of government to forcibly extract resources from the productive. Taxes and tariffs were the most obvious forms such “plunder” could take, but the same goal could also be achieved by special protections for favored industries including the limited conferral of monopoly power (Say 1964: 146–147).
For both Hodgskin and for the Industrialists, then, the state was a key agent in facilitating the exploitation of one class of individuals by another, and the most certain way to end exploitation was therefore to sharply limit the power of the state and to strengthen the “natural” right of private property. But not all theorists of the 19th century saw things this way. For Ricardian Socialists such as John Bray, ending exploitation would require ensuring that all persons have equal access to the means of production, and thereby guaranteeing a system of equal exchange based on the labor theory of value (Bray 1839). While Hodgskin and the Industrialists sought to purify capitalism from statist interference, Bray and his fellow socialists sought to eliminate it altogether.
1.2 Marx’s Theory of Exploitation
By far the most influential theory of exploitation ever set forth is that of Karl Marx, who held that workers in a capitalist society are exploited insofar as they are forced to sell their labor power to capitalists for less than the full value of the commodities they produce with their labor.
For Marx, however, exploitation was a phenomenon that characterized all class-based societies, not only capitalism. Indeed, it is feudal society, not capitalism, where the exploitative nature of class relations is clearest. Under feudalism, it is readily apparent that serfs use some of their labor power for their own benefit, while another part (the corvée) is used for the benefit of the feudal lord. In contrast, under slavery workers appear to work entirely for the benefit of their masters (though in reality a part of their labor goes toward providing for their own subsistence). And under capitalism workers appear to work entirely for the benefit of themselves, selling their labor to capitalists as free independent contractors (Cohen 1978: 332–3).
In reality, Marx thought, workers’ labor under capitalism is neither truly voluntary nor entirely for the benefit of the workers themselves. It is not truly voluntary because workers are forced by their lack of ownership of the means of production to sell their labor power to capitalists or else starve. And workers are not laboring entirely for their own benefit because capitalists use their privileged position to exploit workers, appropriating for themselves some of the value created by workers’ labor.
To understand Marx’s charge of exploitation, it is first necessary to understand Marx’s analysis of market prices, which he largely inherited from earlier classical economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo. Under capitalism, Marx argued, workers’ labor power is treated as a commodity. And because Marx subscribed to a labor theory of value, this means that just like any other commodity such as butter or corn, the price (or wage) of labor power is determined by its cost of production—specifically, by the quantity of socially necessary labor required to produce it. The cost of producing labor power is the value or labor-cost required for the conservation and reproduction of a worker’s labor power. In other words, Marx thought that workers under capitalism will therefore be paid just enough to cover the bare necessities of living. They will be paid subsistence wages.
But while labor power is just like any other commodity in terms of how its price is determined, it is unique in one very importance respect. Labor, and labor alone, according to Marx, has the capacity to produce value beyond that which is necessary for its own reproduction. In other words, the value that goes into the commodities that sustain a worker for a twelve-hour work day is less than the value of the commodities that worker can produce during those twelve hours. This difference between the value a worker produces in a given period of time and the value of the consumption goods necessary to sustain the worker for that period is what Marx called surplus value.
According to Marx, then, it is as though the worker’s day is split into two parts. During the first part, the laborer works for himself, producing commodities the value of which is equal to the value of the wages he receives. During the second part, the laborer works for the capitalist, producing surplus value for the capitalist for which he receives no equivalent wages. During this second part of the day, the laborer’s work is, in effect, unpaid, in precisely the same way (though not as visibly) as a feudal serf’s corvée is unpaid (Marx 1867).
Capitalist exploitation thus consists in the forced appropriation by capitalists of the surplus value produced by workers. Workers under capitalism are compelled by their lack of ownership of the means of production to sell their labor power to capitalists for less than the full value of the goods they produce. Capitalists, in turn, need not produce anything themselves but are able to live instead off the productive energies of workers. And the surplus value that capitalists are thereby able to appropriate from workers becomes the source of capitalist profit, thereby “strengthening that very power whose slave it is” (Marx 1847: 40).
In the first volume of Capital, Marx presents a series of formulas representing a tight relationship between labor, exploitation, and capitalist profit. According to Marx, the value of a commodity is a function of three factors: constant capital (\(C\), the labor value of nonlabor means of production such as machines, buildings, and raw materials), variable capital (\(V\), the labor value of the labor power of workers involved in production), and surplus value (\(S\)). Since surplus value comes from the exploitation of labor (rather than machines or land), Marx defined the rate of exploitation as the ratio of surplus value over variable capital \((S/V)\). Of course, different industries will employ different mixes of labor and other factors of production—of variable and constant capital. Marx referred to this mixture as the organic composition of capital, and defined it as \(C/V\). But since capitalist profit is generated by the exploitation of labor, it seems to follow that industries that employ a greater proportion of labor (of variable over constant capital) should therefore earn a higher rate of profit. Thus, Marx defined the rate of profit as \((S/(C+V))\), which is equivalent to the rate of exploitation divided by the organic composition of \(\textrm{capital} + 1\). This last proposition has been referred to by Jon Elster as the “fundamental equation of Marxian economics” (Elster 1986: 67).
Marx’s analysis of the rate of profit seems to entail that labor-intensive industries will be more profitable than industries that rely to a greater extent on constant capital. But this conclusion is clearly empirically false (Böhm-Bawerk 1898), and moreover incompatible with Marx’s assumption of a competitive economy in which investments will adjust so as to equalize the rate of profit between industries (Arnold 1990: Ch. 3; Buchanan 1985: Ch. 3). Marx himself recognized this fact, and sought to address it in the third volume of Capital by dropping the assumption of volume 1 that value and price are equivalent, and showing instead how value can be transformed into price through some more complicated process. Whether Marx’s attempted solution to this “transformation problem” was successful, however, is a matter of great controversy (Arnold 1990: Ch. 3; Samuelson 1971; Kliman 2007).
Marx’s theory of exploitation appears to presuppose that labor is the source of all value. But the labor theory of value to which Marx and early classical economists subscribed is subject to a number of apparently insurmountable difficulties, and has largely been abandoned by economists in the wake of the marginalist revolution of the 1870s. The most obvious difficulty stems from the fact that labor is heterogeneous. Some labor is skilled, some labor is unskilled, and there does not appear to be any satisfactory way of reducing the former to the latter and thereby establishing a single standard of measure for the value of commodities. Moreover, the labor theory of value appears to be unable to account for the economic value of commodities such as land and raw materials that are not and could not be produced by any human labor. Finally, and perhaps most fatally, Marx’s assumption that labor has the unique power to create surplus value is entirely ungrounded. As Robert Paul Wolff has argued, Marx’s focus on labor appears to be entirely arbitrary. A formally identical theory of value could be constructed with any commodity taking the place of labor, and thus a “corn theory of value” would be just as legitimate, and just as unhelpful, as Marx’s labor theory of value (Wolff 1981). Therefore, if, as some have alleged, Marx’s theory of exploitation is dependent on the truth of the labor theory of value, then a rejection of the labor theory of value should entail a rejection of Marx’s theory of exploitation as well (Nozick 1974; Arnold 1990).
Not everyone agrees, however, that Marx’s theory is dependent on the labor theory of value in this way. G.A. Cohen, for instance, argues that Marx’s theory of exploitation is not only independent of the labor theory of value, but incompatible with it (Cohen 1979: 345–6). Marx’s account of exploitation is premised on the claim that value created by workers is appropriated by capitalists. But the labor theory of value holds that the value of an object is a function of the labor that would be currently required to produce it, regardless of how much labor actually went into producing it. Paradoxical as it may seem, the labor theory of value is incompatible with the claim that labor alone creates value.
The real problem with exploitation, on Cohen’s view, is not that capitalists appropriate value that is created by labor. It is, rather, that capitalists appropriate some of the value of the products that are created by labor. Labor may not produce value, but it is the only thing that produces what has value, and this is all Marx needs to get his account of exploitation off the ground (Cohen 1979: 354).
But even if Cohen’s account of exploitation avoids commitment to the labor theory of value, it nevertheless remains committed to the Marxian idea that exploitation should be understood as the forced appropriation of surplus value. And there are at least two respects in which this commitment is problematic. First, it is unclear whether exploitation necessarily involves the forced transfer of surplus value. Marx’s account asserts that the laborer is forced to work for capitalists because the only alternative is starvation. But suppose the government provides a safety net sufficient to ensure that workers’ subsistence needs are met. If someone chooses to work in order to earn discretionary income, it still seems possible that they could be exploited by a capitalist who appropriates some of the value of the product the laborer creates (Kymlicka 2002: 179). A laborer can be exploited, we might think, by being paid an unfair wage even if that laborer is not forced to work.
Second, it is unclear whether all cases involving the forced transfer of surplus value are necessarily exploitative, at least in the ordinary sense of involving a moral wrong. Suppose that governments tax workers and use some of the proceeds to provide support for children or the infirm. If it is exploitative for capitalists to appropriate some of the value of the objects produced by workers, is it not also exploitative for government to do so through the mechanism of taxation? Some libertarians have argued that this is precisely how we should understand the coercive power of government. For Cohen, however, the fact that Marx’s account of exploitation appears to be committed to the libertarian idea of that workers own their labor and the products they produce with that labor—that is, to the libertarian idea of self-ownership—is deeply problematic (Cohen 1995: Ch. 6).
2. The Concept of Exploitation
In its broadest sense, transactional/micro-level exploitation involves an agent, A, taking unfair advantage of another agent, B. Taking unfair advantage, in turn, can be understood in two ways. First, it can refer to some dimension of the outcome of the exploitative act or transaction. In this case, we say that the transaction is substantively unfair. Second, to say that A takes unfair advantage of B may imply that there is some sort of defect in the process by which the unfair outcome has come about, for example, that A has coerced B or defrauded B or has manipulated B. In this case, we say that the transaction is procedurally unfair.
This section examines several elements or possible elements of transactional exploitation: the benefit that exploitative transactions confer upon A, the harm they cause to B, various notions of substantive and procedural unfairness, and the unjust background conditions against which exploitative transactions may take place.
2.1 Exploitation and Benefit
When A exploits B, A gains some benefit from interacting with B. We can see the relevance of the “benefit to A” by contrasting exploitation with other forms of wrongdoing, such as discrimination, abuse, and oppression. Let us say that A discriminates against B when A wrongly deprives B of some opportunity or benefit because of some characteristic of B that is not relevant to A’s action. There was a period in American history in which many women became public school teachers because they were denied the opportunity to enter other professions such as law and medicine. To the extent that society benefitted (in one way) from the pool of highly qualified public school teachers, the discrimination may have been exploitative, even if unintentionally so. But if A refuses to hire B solely because of B’s race, then it would be odd to say that A exploits B, for A does not gain from the wrong to B.
Consider abuse. It has been alleged that medical students are frequently abused by verbal insults and denigration and that this abuse may leave long-lasting emotional scars. It is also sometimes claimed that medical interns are exploited, that they work long hours for low pay. The contrast is just right. There is no reason to think that anyone gains (in any normal sense) from abuse, but it is at least plausible to think that the hospitals or patients gain from the exploitation of interns.
Let us say that A oppresses B when A deprives B of freedoms or opportunities to which B is entitled. If A gains from the oppressive relationship, as when A enslaves B, then A may both oppress and exploit B. But if A does not gain from the oppression, the oppression is wrong but not exploitative. We might say that the unemployed are oppressed, but unless we could specify the ways in which some gain from their lack of employment, the unemployed are not exploited. Marxists would claim that capitalists pay exploitative wages to the employed precisely because there is a “reserve army” of the unemployed with whom the employed must compete. But that merely confirms that they are exploited because the oppression generates a gain to the capitalist class, and it is the employed who are exploited and not the unemployed that make such exploitation possible.
Clearly, an exchange still counts as exploitative even if A does not benefit on net. If A derives unfair benefit from his interaction with B, but suffers unforeseen costs such that she ends up worse-off after the interaction than she was before, then A has still exploited B. Less clear is the question of whether A must derive any actual benefit at all, or whether it is enough that A merely intend to benefit. Suppose a sweatshop owner works his employees ruthlessly in order to extract as much profit as he can from the workers’ labor, but that the product the laborers produce turns out, due to an unforeseen turn of events, to have zero market value. Have the sweatshop workers nevertheless been exploited?
Related to the question of whether A’s intent to benefit is sufficient for exploitation is the question of whether A’s intent to benefit unfairly is necessary for exploitation. Is it possible to exploit someone by mistake? Can one foresee that one’s interaction will be exploitative without intending it to be so? If so, is A still culpable? (Ferguson 2016b)
2.2 Exploitation and Harm
Exploitation thus involves A unfairly benefitting from an interaction with B. But what exactly does it mean to benefit unfairly? One natural response to this question is to conceive of unfairness as benefitting A at B’s expense. Perhaps exploitation advances the interests of A while harming B. Exploitation, thus understood, is a kind of parasitism. Or, as Allen Buchanan defines it, exploitation is “the harmful, merely instrumental utilization of him or his capacities, for one’s own advantage or for the sake of one’s own ends” (Buchanan 1985: 87).
Certain paradigmatic cases of exploitation clearly fit this analysis. Slavery is an exploitative relationship, and one that clearly harms slaves for the benefit of their masters. But as Alan Wertheimer has noted, some exploitation appears to be mutually advantageous rather than harmful (Wertheimer 1996: 14). Someone who charges a hiker lost in the desert $1,000 for a bottle of water takes unfair advantage of her. Nevertheless, the transaction is one from which both parties emerge better off relative to how they would have been, had the transaction not taken place. The seller has traded away something she values less (the bottle of water) for something she values more ($1,000). But so has the buyer. If the water is necessary to save her life, and if she values her life more than the $1,000 she gives up to save it, then she too is better off with the transaction than without it.
In this way, exploitation is importantly different from coercion, even though both coercion and exploitation can involve individuals accepting proposals that appear to make them better off relative to some baseline. In a paradigmatic case of coercion—a mugger who demands “your money or your life”—the victim is better off handing over the money than losing her life. But she would be better off still if the mugger had never showed up to make her proposal at all. In contrast, the stranded hiker would be considerably worse off if her exploiter never showed up. Coercion characteristically involves threats by which the coercer proposes to make her victim worse off unless she does as the coercer demands. Exploitation, in contrast, often involves offers by which the exploiter proposes to make her victim better off if she does as the exploiter proposes.
There is, however, one important sense in which even an exploiter could be said to harm her victim. Relative to a baseline of no transaction at all, exploitation often makes its victim better off. But relative to a baseline of a fair transaction, exploitation leaves its victim worse off. In this sense, an exploiter’s gain does, contra Joel Feinberg, come at the victim’s expense (Feinberg 1988: 178). For even when both parties gain from the transaction, the victim of exploitation gains less than she should because some of the “cooperative surplus” to which she is by fairness entitled has been captured by the exploiter.
Exploitation therefore does not necessarily harm its victim in the sense of making her worse off than she would have been, had the exploiter never interacted with her at all. Rather, it makes its victim worse off than she should have been, had she been treated fairly. As with similar cases involving coercion, the precise details of our analysis thus depend on the relevant baseline against which we choose to compare B’s situation after the interaction. But these details probably do not matter much as far as our all-things-considered moral evaluation is concerned. Whether we choose to say that exploitation involves A making B better off, but not as much better off as A should have made B; or whether we say that it involves making B worse off than B should have been, the final verdict is the same (Wertheimer 1996: 22–23).
2.3 Exploitation and Fairness
In the sense in which we are using the term, exploitation necessarily (conceptually) involves unfairness. Our sense of exploitation is thus a moralized term. To judge that someone is engaged in exploitation is already to pass a moral judgment on them—to say that they are acting wrongly (at least in a pro tanto sense). Not all uses of “exploitation” are moralized in this way. As we noted at the beginning of this entry, some ordinary language use of the term implies no moral judgment whatsoever. And it is possible to develop a philosophically sophisticated account of exploitation that is relevant to moral judgment, without being moralized (Goodin 1987).
Still, even if exploitation is not conceptually unfair, it is characteristically so. In some cases, this unfairness is the result of some procedural defect in the transaction—call this procedural unfairness. In other cases, the unfairness is a feature of what is agreed to, rather than how the agreement is reached—call this substantive unfairness.
2.3.1 Procedural Fairness
A transaction will be exploitative due to procedural unfairness when A unfairly utilizes or creates a defect in the process of the transaction with B in way that benefits A at B’s expense (though see the previous section for an analysis of “at B’s expense”). So, for instance, if A deceives B regarding the nature of the good A is selling, in a way that leads B to pay more for that good than B otherwise would have, we can say that A has taken unfair advantage of B—that A has exploited B. Or if A unfairly pressures B to agree to A’s proposed terms—threatening to physically hurt B or someone B loves, for instance—we can again say that A has exploited B.
But while we can (correctly) say that A has exploited B in these situations, we could also say, more directly and more clearly, that A has defrauded or coerced B. That is, we already have a rich set of more narrowly-tailored terms for identifying the ways in which A might undermine the validity of B’s consent to the terms of their agreement. For this reason, it seems superfluous—and indeed, it is rare—to describe these sorts of procedural defects as “exploitative”. At least when A creates the defect from which he benefits, we usually have a better term available to describe the specific form of his wrongdoing.
The label “exploitation” seems more appropriate when A unfairly takes advantage of an existing defect (Jansen and Wall 2013). A teenage boy who trades five pennies for his 5 year-old brother’s single quarter exploits his brother insofar as he takes unfair advantage of his ignorance of monetary units. But he does not coerce him, nor does he necessarily deceive him. Similarly, a psychotherapist who takes advantage of his patient’s therapy-induced romantic feelings to engage in sexual relations can be said to exploit his patient, even if there is no outright fraud or deception in the interaction (and even if the substantive “terms” of their relationship are in no way unfair). In these cases, exploitation seems to be the most apt description for the wrongdoing.
2.3.2 Substantive Fairness
There is widespread agreement among philosophers and legal theorists on the broad categories of behavior that render a transaction procedurally unfair, even if there is (as always) persistent disagreement about borderline cases of coercion, fraud, etc. In contrast, there is much less agreement regarding those conditions that render a transaction substantively unfair.
2.3.2.1 Equality
One of the most intuitively appealing criteria of fairness in exchange is equality. A fair exchange, it is tempting to say, is an equal exchange. But equal in terms of what?
Although Marx took pains to deny he was giving an account of justice (let alone fairness), much of the intuitive force of his account of labor exploitation seems to rely on the idea that a fair exchange will embody equal transfers of socially necessary labor. It is because the objects produced by the worker embody more socially necessary labor than the wages he receives in exchange for producing those objects that the laborer is exploited. And other late-19th century theorists such as Josiah Warren and Stephen Pearl Andrews made this moral claim explicit. “It is clear”, wrote Andrews,
if [an] exchange is not equal, if one party gives more of his own labor—either in the form of labor or product—than he gets of the labor of the other…that he is oppressed, and becomes, so far as this inequality goes, the slave or subject of the other. (Andrews 1852: 52–53)
But even though a theory of labor-time as the basis of fair exchange is in principle distinguishable from a labor theory of economic value, the former is subject to many of the same problems as the latter. How, for instance, should the difference between skilled and unskilled labor time be accounted for in determining a fair exchange? Between easy and difficult labor? Labor is not homogenous, and this makes it ill-suited to serve as a currency of fair exchange.
If labor is the wrong place to look for a criterion of fair exchange, perhaps economic value would be better. A fair trade, on this view, involves the exchange of equally valuable goods or services. And an unfair trade involves the exchange of goods or services of unequal value. To return to an earlier example, someone who sells a bottle of water to a hiker stranded in the desert for $1,000 takes unfair advantage of her. And part of what makes the exchange unfair is that the bottle of water simply isn’t worth nearly $1,000. B is giving up far more than she gains in exchange.
Or is she? Once we give up on the 19th century notion that economic value is an objective property of commodities, and embrace instead that value is a function of the subjective preferences of economic agents, the problem with this analysis becomes readily apparent. Economic exchange is only possible precisely because different agents assign different values to the same object. I sell you my old television for $75 because I’ve bought a new set, and to me, the old television is worth less than the $75. You pay the $75 because you just moved into a new place and, to you, the $75 is worth less than the television. Neither of our valuations is the “right” one. Our preferences simply differ, and so it is possible for us to both walk away from the deal believing—correctly!—that we have gotten more than we have given up.
Cooperative exchanges create what economists call a “social surplus”. Suppose, to continue the television example, that I’d be willing to take anything equal to or greater than $50 in exchange for my television, and that you’d be willing to pay anything equal to or less than $100 for it. If, after bargaining, we arrive at a sale price of $75, then I give up something I value at $50 in exchange for $75, and come away $25 richer, and you give up $75 in exchange for something you value at $100 and walk away $25 richer. All together, we’re $50 richer. That’s the social surplus.
This suggests one final possible egalitarian analysis of fair exchange. Perhaps what makes an exchange is fair is not that the objects traded have equal economic value, but rather the equal division of the social surplus created by the exchange of objects of unequal subjective value. Exploitative exchanges, in contrast, are those in which one party commands a disproportionately large share of the social surplus, leaving the other party with an unfairly small share. For example, suppose that an employer gains $10 per hour worth of value from an employee’s labor. An employer like that could afford to pay its workers $9 per hour and still make a profit. But if potential employees have nowhere else to go, why should the employer pay that much? Why not pay employees as little as she can get away with—maybe $3 an hour, just barely over the subsistence level of $2? In this case the employment relationship would generate a social surplus of $8. But $7 of that surplus would go into the pocket of the employer, while only $1 goes to the laborer. Might not that lopsided division of the social surplus be precisely what’s unfair, and thus exploitative, about this kind of labor?
Perhaps. But the unequal division of the social surplus cannot explain all cases of exploitation—including some of the most paradigmatic. To see this, let us return once more to the case of the lost desert hiker. A offers to sell B a bottle of water for $1,000. This would appear to be a clear instance of an exploitative proposal. But it is not, as suggested above, because the water bottle is worth less than $1,000 to B. Indeed, it is probably worth far more! Most people put a fairly high value on their continued existence. So, suppose B values not dying at $1 million. In that case, B gives up something he values at $1,000 in exchange for something he values at $1 million. A, in turn, gives up something he values at close to $0 in exchange for something he values at $1,000. The exchange creates a social surplus of $1 million, but fully 99.9% of that surplus goes to B, leaving A with a mere.1%. If exploitation consists of grabbing the lion’s share of the social surplus of an exchange, then we are forced to conclude that thirsty B is actually exploiting water-selling A—an unlikely result!
2.3.2.2 Respect for Persons and Basic Needs
It is thus difficult to specify an egalitarian criterion of fairness that explains the wrongfulness of exploitation across a range of cases. For this reason, most current theories of exploitation are not fundamentally egalitarian in nature. Some, like those put forward by Allen Wood, Ruth Sample, and Jeremy Snyder, are based in the Kantian idea of respect for persons. Sample, for instance, defines exploitation as “interacting with another being for the sake of advantage in a way that fails to respect the inherent value in that being” (Sample 2003: 57). According to Sample, one can fail to respect the inherent value of others in several distinct ways. One way involves failing to respond appropriately to the unmet basic needs of others. Respect for others imposes upon us an imperfect duty of beneficence, a duty that Jeremy Snyder argues is “specified” when we come face to face with particular others and thereby takes on a perfect, strict form (Snyder 2008: 390). When we encounter others whose basic needs are unmet, we should help them because of the inherent value they possess as a human being. But the exploiter sees in the unmet basic needs of others not a cry for help but as an opportunity for profit.
Sample’s and Snyder’s respect-based accounts are simultaneously more narrow and more broad than fairness-based accounts of exploitation. They are broader insofar as they will condemn as exploitative transactions that might pass as non-exploitative on a fairness approach. Selling a bottle of water at a normal market price to the hiker lost in the desert, for instance, might be fair but still insufficiently responsive to the hiker’s unmet basic need for drink. But the accounts are also considerably narrower than fairness-based accounts insofar as the range of goods or transactions to which they apply is more circumscribed. On both Sample’s and Snyder’s accounts, for instance, it is not wrongfully exploitative for a seller to use his knowledge of a buyer’s unusually strong desire for a painting to charge that buyer an extremely high price. Because the buyer’s basic needs are not implicated, charging a high price in this sort of cases does not signal disrespect for persons, even if the price is one that would otherwise appear to be unfairly high.
Sample’s account, like Goodin’s, holds that taking advantage of certain kinds of vulnerability is wrongfully exploitative regardless of how those vulnerabilities came about. But as Benjamin Ferguson has noted, this has the potential to create a certain kind of moral hazard problem (Ferguson 2016b). Suppose that A knows that, should he become vulnerable for whatever reason, B will be obligated to constrain B’s advantage over A—perhaps by selling B goods for less than the normal market price. Given this knowledge, A might be tempted to take a risky gamble, knowing that if it doesn’t turn out well, B will be obligated to partly subsidize A’s loss. In effect, B’s obligation toward A puts B in a position of vulnerability, a vulnerability that A has the potential to unfairly take advantage of. In other words, A’s obligation not to exploit B renders A vulnerable to exploitation by B! In order to avoid this difficulty, it seems necessary to limit the kinds of vulnerabilities that trigger the obligation to constrain one’s advantage, perhaps by ruling out vulnerabilities for which the agent is morally responsible.
2.3.2.3 Unjust Property Relations
Many have found plausible Marx’s claim that employment relationships under capitalism are exploitative. But perhaps Marx was wrong to locate that exploitation in the particular details of the capitalist-employee relationship. After all, what makes exploitation possible at all on Marx’s view is a feature of the macro level distribution of property in society—specifically capitalists’ monopoly over the means of production. Marx’s formal theory of exploitation, however, makes no explicit mention of this property relation, focusing instead entirely on the interaction between capitalists and laborers at the point of production. The result, according to John Roemer, is a theory that is focused too much on the micro level of particular employment relationships and not enough on the macro level background of inegalitarian property distribution against which those relationships take place (Roemer 1982).
On Roemer’s analysis, capitalist exploitation is essentially a form of social parasitism. One group (the capitalists) are made better off by the existence of a second group (workers), but that second group is made worse off by the existence of the first. More formally, according to Roemer’s account, we may say that a group \(S\) is exploited by \(S'\) if and only if all of the following three conditions are satisfied:
If \(S\) were to withdraw from the society, endowed with its per capita share of society’s alienable property (that is, produced and nonproduced goods), and with its own labor and skills, then \(S\) would be better off (in terms of income and leisure) than it is at the present allocation.[1] If \(S'\) were to withdraw under the same conditions, then \(S'\) would be worse off (in terms of income and leisure) than it is at present. If \(S\) |
Such reconfigurable logic could be invaluable in satellites, adds Mark Johnson of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC, a co-author of the paper. If part of a chip failed in orbit, another sector could simply be reprogrammed to take over. “You’ve healed the circuit and you’ve done it from Earth,” he says.
To really catch on, however, the magnetic logic would have to be integrated with existing silicon-based technologies. That may not be easy. For one thing, indium antimonide, the semiconductor crucial to the circuits, doesn’t lend itself well to manufacturing processes used to make modern electronics, according to Junichi Murota, a researcher working with nanoelectronics at Tohoku University in Japan. But Johnson says that it may eventually be possible to build similar bridges with silicon.
Nature Podcast Geoff Brumfiel learns how replacing voltage with magnetism could make our smartphones faster. You may need a more recent browser or to install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Plugin.
Integrating the miniature magnets needed to control the devices into a normal chip wouldn’t be easy either. Companies should be able to solve these challenges, but only if they decide the devices are worthwhile, says Salis. At the moment, he adds, it is not clear whether the devices will perform well at the sizes needed for a practical chip — much smaller than the micrometre dimensions of the prototypes.
But Johnson notes that magnetism is already catching on in circuit design: some advanced devices are beginning to use a magnetic version of random access memory, a type of memory that has historically been built only with conventional transistors. “I think a shift is already under way,” he says.While Kendall Jenner's Pespi advert, which seemed to directly emulate protest movements like Black Lives Matter in order to flog cans of soda, resulted in Jenner being bombarded with mocking GIFs, memes and Twitter jokes, the t-shirt line has received significant disdain from family members of the bands exploited, with speculation that many could join The Doors in suing the pair.
Voletta Wallace, mother of the late Notorious B.I.G., who also made a posthumous appearance on one of the pair's shirts, posted on Instagram that her son's estate was not contacted in advance of the t-shirts going on sale.
"I am not sure who told @kyliejenner and @kendalljenner that they had the right to do this," she wrote. "The disrespect of these girls to not even reach out to me or anyone connected to the estate baffles me. I have no idea why they feel they can exploit the deaths of 2pac and my Son Christopher to sell a t-shirt. This is disrespectful, disgusting, and exploitation at its worst!!!"Pop culture can be as forbidding as it is inviting, particularly in areas that invite geeky obsession: The more devotion a genre or series or subculture inspires, the easier it is for the uninitiated to feel like they’re on the outside looking in. But geeks aren’t born; they’re made. And sometimes it only takes the right starting point to bring newbies into various intimidatingly vast obsessions. Gateways To Geekery is our regular attempt to help those who want to be enthralled, but aren’t sure where to start. Want advice? Suggest future Gateways To Geekery topics by emailing gateways@theonion.com.
Geek obsession: Michael Moorcock
Why it’s daunting: Some authors have recurring characters and ongoing series that they’re known for, and usually that’s a hook. But in the case of Michael Moorcock, his sprawl is staggering. Over the past 50 years, the British writer has amassed a catalogue of dozens upon dozens of novels, many of them originally published by small presses and subject to countless, confusing reissues and anthologies. Since most of his output falls under the genre of fantasy—rounded out by smaller percentages of science fiction, nonfiction, and literary work—it’s suffered many of the ups and downs of that industry, which was once far more fan-driven and mercurial.
Advertisement
Nothing’s more mercurial, though, than Moorcock’s crowning achievement: The Eternal Champion. The name applies to many things: a meta-series that encompasses many of Moorcock’s novel sequences; a conceptual motif that ties into Moorcock’s other great invention, the much-copied Multiverse; and lastly, an actual character. The Eternal Champion isn’t a single person; he’s a shifting, living archetype that transcends time and space, one who manifests himself in an infinite number of incarnations—the most famous being Elric, a doom-shrouded, albino warrior-prince whose liquid morality renders him one of fantasy’s most nuanced and intriguing figures.
The complexity of Moorcock’s worlds—and his vast catalog, which mostly remains in a state of disrepair—makes approaching his work a formidable task. It doesn’t help that his reputation seems quite monolithic, as does his writing; while the editor of the groundbreaking magazine New Worlds, Moorcock was an architect of science fiction’s game-changing New Wave in the ’60s and ’70s. Since then he’s influenced everyone from Alan Moore to Neil Gaiman to Michael Chabon. Moorcock is rarely spoken of in a tone other than abject awe, and that cult-like aura can be off-putting to a newcomer. That said, getting lost in Moorcock’s work is one of its many joys; rather than being a puzzle to solve, it’s a fractal enigma that only grows more deliriously mysterious the closer it’s examined.
Possible gateway: Elric Of Melniboné
Why: Just as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings was solidifying its position at the top of the fantasy canon in the ’60s, along came Elric. The chalk-skinned, red-eyed antihero flew in the face of the noble, heroic tradition; at times cruel, impotent, morally ambiguous, and morbidly narcissistic, the dispossessed prince of the lost island of Melniboné—whose people descended from dragons rather than apes—wanders the Multiverse in search of redemption. He encounters many companions along the way, but his constant ally, and enemy, is his sword. Dubbed Stormbringer, the god-haunted blade siphons the souls of those it kills; that god, Arioch, Lord of Chaos and Duke of Hell, then feeds Elric enough residual energy to keep his frail body alive.
Advertisement
Elric’s tragic, amorphous weirdness couldn’t have come at a better time, as the cultural upheaval of the ’60s practically demanded an avatar like Elric. Accordingly, the character was embraced by the counterculture; bands such as Hawkwind and Blue Öyster Cult collaborated with Moorcock on Elric-themed music in the ’70s, and countless bands have since based songs or whole albums on him. Traces of Elric’s sensibility also popped up in everything from Dungeons & Dragons to Doctor Who. The ubiquity and influence of Elric belies one of the series’ most intimidating aspects: its odd relationship with time. Moorcock has written his Elric books without a strict chronological sequence, which can be maddening to those who are used to more conventional, easier-to-follow fantasy series. But that contorted timeline is one of Elric’s most beguiling aspects, and it adds to the dreamlike, otherworldly (make that multi-worldly) nature of the character and his milieu.
Still, it’s not difficult to slip into Elric circa 2012. Much in the way that Del Rey has honored and done justice to the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, the publisher has given Moorcock’s Elric series the deluxe, multi-volume reissue treatment. Starting in 2008 with the first of six volumes, The Stealer Of Souls, the series—known as The Chronicles Of The Last Emperor Of Melniboné—gathers all the Elric novels, novellas, and short stories that have appeared over the past 50 years, including lots of extras: scripts, artwork, essays, and Moorcock’s own commentary on his most beloved and enduring creation. To date, it’s the definitive collection of Elric literature and lore—not to mention the easiest to access. Just don’t expect the gritty realism of Game Of Thrones; like its hero, the Elric series is deeply introspective, impressionistic, and metaphysical.
Next steps: Even more metaphysical than Elric are the two trilogies starring Corum Jhaelen Irsei: The Swords Trilogy and its sequel, The Chronicles Of Corum. Moody and ethereal, Corum is a facet of The Eternal Champion whose decadent existence as a demigod is shattered by two encroaching forces: mankind from below and assorted deities from above. In particular, the Lost Lords known as Kwll and Rhynn bequeath Corum a hand and an eye, respectively, after he loses one of each at the hands of insurgent humans. These epic struggles play themselves out in the form of formulaic, episodic fantasy quests—but as Moorcock breaks out the wide lens, the backdrop becomes almost psychedelically dazzling. He also repeats the use of certain symbols—such as the crystalline Eye Of Rhynn, which echoes the eye of Arioch on Elric’s sword, Stormbringer. Beneath all the trippiness, though, Moorcock explores very real philosophical issues concerning the nature of perception, race, and civilization—all couched in gripping adventure, not to mention some alternately gorgeous and grotesque prose.
Advertisement
The other major facet of Moorcock’s The Eternal Champion is far less imposing. Dorian Hawkmoon, the subject of the four-book series The History Of The Runestaff, isn’t an antihero at all; unlike his fellow incarnations Elric and Corum, Hawkmoon practically oozes nobility, decency, and strength. More than that, though, he’s a consistent character, one whose occasional bouts of moral doubt never get in the way of a good, blood-pumping swordfight. There’s still plenty of depth to the Runestaff series, but overall it’s brisk, straightforward, and fun. And the setting is recognizable and relatively tangible: a post-apocalyptic Europe that’s reverted to a state of pseudo-feudal chivalry, which also makes Hawkmoon’s world the halfway point between our world and the more abstract, fanciful realms of Moorcock’s imagination.
Where not to start: While there are many pockets of wonder hiding among Moorcock’s lesser series, they’re not as consistently rewarding—partly because most of the lesser series are more loosely constructed and connected than Elric. The magical alternate-history of the Von Bek series culminates in the stunning The City In The Autumn Stars, but it’s not really necessary to read the preceding, and relatively mundane, installments to enjoy City. The same can be said of the Sailing To Utopia cycle—which exists on the fringes of The Eternal Champion mythos—or the proto-steampunk of the trilogy A Nomad Of The Time Stream.
The most tempting, yet frustrating, of Moorcock’s major creations is Jerry Cornelius. Originally conceived as a 20th-century iteration of The Eternal Champion (and one with striking similarities to Elric), these books became a vessel of Moorcock’s gonzo postmodernism throughout the ’70s and beyond. There’s much to marvel at in Jerry Cornelius, but little to authentically enjoy; much of the pulpy pastiche and pop-culture references are outdated, and the jumpy, experimental nature of the text is not the place for Moorcock initiates to start. Likewise, Moorcock’s many standalone novels—including great works like Gloriana, an erotic alt-history saga, or Mother London, a rumination on modernity that draws from James Joyce and Thomas Pynchon—aren’t the best entry points.
Advertisement
Elric has never made it to the big screen, although a handful of aborted productions have popped up over the years. In comics, though, the character (as well as Corum and Hawkmoon) has been translated many times, including faithful renderings by the likes of P. Craig Russell and Walt Simonson. The many musical interpretations of The Eternal Champion can be just as intriguing—but even the best-known examples (like Blue Öyster Cult’s “Veteran Of The Psychic Wars,” featured on the Heavy Metal soundtrack and with lyrics by Moorcock himself) can’t substitute for the richness of the source material. Those who want to meet Elric, or any of Moorcock’s multifaceted, mythically resonant antiheroes, are best served by the novels themselves.Istanbul: Turkey on Wednesday slammed as "unacceptable" a US announcement that Washington would supply arms and military equipment to Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State jihadists in Syria.
"The supply of arms to the YPG is unacceptable," Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television. "Such a policy will benefit nobody".
"We expect that this mistake is to be rectified," he said, days ahead of a crunch meeting in Washington between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US counterpart Donald Trump.
The Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) has been seen by Washington as the best ally against jihadists in Syria.
But Ankara regards the group as a terror outfit, as it does the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who have waged an insurgency since 1984 inside Turkey that has left tens of thousands dead.
Trump on Monday "authorised the Department of Defence to equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqa," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.
The weapons are being delivered for use by Kurdish fighters ahead of the upcoming offensive to recapture Raqa, the last major bastion for IS in Syria.
The US announcement came just ahead of Erdogan's visit to Washington next week for talks with Trump, the first time the two men will meet as heads of state.
A Turkish high-level delegation made up of Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Turkey's spy chief Hakan Fidan have already been in the US to lay the groundwork for the visit.
Turkey has said it is keen to join the battle to recapture Raqa but on the condition that the offensive does not include the Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Last month, Erdogan said if Turkey and the United States joined forces, they could turn Raqa into a "graveyard" for the jihadists.
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.UK producer, Magik, is a quickly rising name on the Nano Records roster. After collaborating with the likes of Tristan and Dickster, Magik has built a solid following for his top notch psychedelic productions. We had a chat with Magik, ahead of his first visit to South Africa for Origin Festival.
Psymedia: Hi Maciek! To kick things off, tell me about your life prior to becoming a psytrance producer? Did you have any experience studying music or playing instruments?
Magik: Hey! I have been surrounded by music and musos since young age. Listened to a lot of different music when I was a kid. In my teens I was more into rock and punk rock, studied music theory, learned guitar and keyboard for a while. As for the formal education I graduated in Audio Technology, during my uni years I started making music more seriously.
Psymedia: You formed a friendship with legend Tristan early on in your career.
Magik: Basically we used to live close to each other. It’s the area of north west London which is a bit like a village, everyone knows each other. When I was a student I worked in a local bar, Tris used to go there. One day I just started chatting to him about music and stuff, told him I write tunes as well he said ‘why don’t you pop over to my studio so we can listen what you’ve been up to’ time went by we became friends, I started coming more often to check my mixes then one day he said why don’t we just make a track together... and the rest is just history!
Psymedia: Your collaboration last year, Triptamine, was a big hit, why do you think so? How did the track come about?
Triptamine was written within two days (the quickest we’ve done so far) at Tristan’s new studio in the countryside. I came over for a couple of days to see him, we knew that we don’t have much time and have to come up with a solid idea very quickly otherwise it will just end up as one of those never finished projects you have on your hard drive. Why it was a big hit I have no idea! Probably a good chemistry in the studio.
Psymedia: You’ve also worked with other veterans in the scene like Dick Trevor. Do you enjoy collaborations?
Magik: Dick is an amazing producer and overall a top dude. It’s always a pleasure and fun to hang out with him. I love working with other people as there is always something else you can learn. Everyone has a different approach, working methods etc. It inspires me to experiment more and try new things.
Psymedia: What does a newer psytrance producer such as yourself bring to the table when working in the studio?
Magik: As I have mentioned, everyone has different ways of achieving final results. There are endless tricks, you always learn. Even when you work with somebody who has much less experience than you, they may know a little something you don’t that can speed up a process and improve your workflow.
Psymedia: What has it been like working with Nano Records?
Magik: Well it’s one of the biggest labels on our scene. Very well managed. Regan and Monique know exactly what they’re doing. It has evolved massively over the years but they are still faithful to their original ideas. Very influential label, the list of the artists is truly impressive. When I had an opportunity to get signed I didn’t think twice. Feel blessed to be part of such a great team.
Psymedia: You played at biennial Boom Festival 2016 in Portugal last year, what was that experience like?
Magik: It was totally mind blowing. Boom is like nothing else. I went to that festival as a teenager, ages ago when it was still quite underground. Can’t believe how big it became, production is absolutely top notch. It’s a bit like a European version of Burning Man these days. So many like-minded people in one place. Playing at last year’s edition was like a dream that had come true.
Psymedia: Have you toured any countries you particularly like? Any you would like to tour?
Magik: I love playing in Germany, France, Switzerland and Portugal, always a great energy, full of beautiful people. There are a lot more places to see though.
Psymedia: What have you heard about the scene in South Africa?
Magik: I’ve heard South Africa has one of the best psy scenes in the world and the best, craziest party people you can meet! I have a few very good South African friends here in London. Heard a lot of great stories so I can’t wait to experience it myself.
Psymedia: What are your thoughts on the UK scene? Do you think it’s on the rise?
Magik: It was all brought from the shores of Goa to Germany and UK. The UK scene has a long history and its own identity. Psy scene is slightly different in every country, which is great. I think it’s on the rise all over the world.
I really like what happened with the scene in the recent years. It has become more of a culture, global phenomenon, never been so vibrant and healthy. The music production is absolutely top notch, the organisation of parties is most of the times on the highest standard and more evolved to the psychedelic trance experience
Psymedia: Any plans to release a full-length LP at some point? Do you think it’s still a viable method to release psytrance music considering how people consume music nowadays?
Magik: Yes, I do have a plan for an album, started working on it but I believe more in conceptual albums rather than just a collection of tracks. My LP should be ready in late 2017. I think releasing an album is very important as that’s what gives artists the biggest exposure.
Psymedia: Any other releases on the way?
Magik: There is a lot to come this year. Got an upcoming single I wrote with Waio a while ago, gonna be out on Nano at the end of February, few more collabs with Avalon, Outsiders, Alpha Portal to name a few... a couple of solo tunes as well so keep your eyes and ears peeled.
Psymedia: Thanks for the interview, see you at Origin Festival. Anything to add before we finish off?
Magik: Thank you very much, can’t wait to blast with those crazy South Africans!Notorious US killer Charles Manson is to feature in a new television reality show about the families of infamous criminals.
"Sins of the Father" follows Manson's grandson Jason Freeman, a cage-fighter and oil rig worker as he struggles to come to terms with the stigma, production company Gil Formats told AFP.
Freeman's own father, Charles Manson Junior, killed himself in 1993.
"Am I doomed for life? Is there bad blood in me?" Jason asks in an excerpt from the new series being presented at the TV industry's top gathering, MIPTV, which runs to Thursday in the French Riviera resort of Cannes.
"No matter what he is, he is family," Freeman adds in another scene after talking to Manson on the phone from jail.
Manson, who at 82 is still behind bars, was the leader of a California cult called "The Family" which murdered several people, including the pregnant Hollywood star Sharon Tate.
In a bloody killing spree in August 1969, Manson and his followers killed seven people in two days.
Although he has been branded "America's icon of evil", Manson is not regarded as a serial killer, as others mostly carried out the murders he was initially sentenced to death for.
The producers said the families of infamous criminals were often also their victims and said in some episodes of the series "they will confront their parents".
A spokeswoman for Tel Aviv-based Gil Formats told AFP that they could not "as yet confirm the rest of the casting".
She said it would be up to their broadcast partners when "Sins of the Father" will be aired.Image: FlickrCC, Kilian Munch - Norsk olje og gass The leader of the Labor Party and PM-candidate Jonas Gahr Støre (left) hopes to replace Conservative PM Erna Solberg in next week’s elections in Norway.
Confusion reigns a few days before Norway's general election.
On September 11th, Norwegians head to the polls to elect a new government and parliament. A few days ahead of the vote, wildly diverging poll numbers have left experts, voters and politicians bewildered.
During the last four years, the Conservative Party has governed through a minority coalition with Norway's populist, and some would say right-wing, Progress Party. In previous election cycles, other parties had shunned the rambunctious populists. In 2013 however, the Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg joined forces with her rival to the right, Siv Jensen, and negotiated an agreement that depends on parliamentary support from the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats.
While the Conservatives and the Progress Party have filled the cabinet, the four parties together form a parliamentary majority based on a mutually agreed platform, and agree on yearly budgets. Aside from this, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats act on their own accord, and have at times looked more like opposition parties than supporting partners.
It’s the Economy, Stupid!
In 2014, the sudden drop in oil prices left parts of Norway’s economy reeling, resulting in a restructuring of the oil and gas sector. Thousands lost their jobs, followed by sluggish economic growth. Inequality has been on the rise for quite some time, amplified, some say, by tax cuts benefiting primarily high-income earners and the wealthy. The housing market, which has been booming for years, seems to have hit a rough patch. While labor force participation has been declining, the unemployment rate has shown signs of improvement in recent months. All in all, economic indicators, though still ambiguous, seem to be pointing upwards.
Norway’s main opposition party, Labor, appears to have been caught off guard by the improving economic numbers. After the popular former leader, Jens Stoltenberg, took the reins at NATO, a former Foreign Minister and Minister of Health, Jonas Gahr Støre assumed the mantle at Labor. Støre launched his campaign by attacking the government for failing to address the bleak economic picture, while simultaneously promising a $2 billion tax hike to finance expanded welfare programs.
Early on, the confident opposition leader enjoyed a whopping 40 percent in the polls, but by spring the support had dropped to around 33 percent. Since then, the race has tightened considerably. In August, the Labor Party has seen support as low as 25 percent – and on several occasions, the center-right-wing block maintains its majority. In some polls, the Conservatives have even topped its historic rival. Should this be the case on election day, it would yield a result not seen in almost a century.
FlickrCC, Stortinget The current government is backed by the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. On the left, the head of the CD Knut Arild Hareide, next to Finance Minister Siv Jensen from the Progress Party, the PM, and the head of the Liberal Party, Trine Skei Grande.
An Election About Nothing
A week before the election, a staggeringly high number of voters remain undecided. In recent polls, 900.000 out of the 3.6 million eligible voters say they have yet to pick a party. The number, which normally drops in the weeks before the election, has actually increased as of late.
One explanation for the indecisiveness may be a lackluster political debate. In many ways, the election seems to have been focused on all but the issues. Some blame the Progress Party’s Minister of Immigration and Integration, Sylvi Listhaug, at times dubbed as “Norway’s Donald Trump”. With a formidable social media presence and well-planned statements intended to shock and provoke the left, Listhaug has dominated headlines. In fact, she is the third most cited politician after Mr. Støre and Ms. Solberg - despite the fact that she is not even the leader of the Progress Party.
HBO Sylvi Listhaug made waves even outside of Norway last year. On his popular show “Last Week Tonight”, the host John Oliver dubbed the minister “an Aquatic Cheeto”
The controversial statements may still haunt the controversial minister’s own party though. After two years of supporting a diametrical view on refugees and immigrants, the Christian Democrats seem to have tired of Listhaug’s many antics. Instead, the party has campaigned on a promise of a coalition with the Conservatives and the Liberal Party, with tacit support from the Progress Party.
A few days before the election, this approach seems like a pipe dream, many say. In order to compete for seats-at-large, the parties must win 4 percent of the national vote. If either the Liberal Party or Christian Democrats fall under that threshold - not an unthinkable scenario - the center-right-wing block will most likely lose its majority. Moreover, having tasted the fruits of power, the Progress Party seems reluctant to support an alternative where it does not stay in government. Thus, the four coalition partners may be forced to continue their rocky marriage, should the numbers swing their way.
September Surprise?
In one recent poll, six out of ten voters said that they think Prime Minister Solberg will keep her job. Mr. Støre could still pull out a victory though. The Labor Party is known for its impressive “Get out the vote” operation. Moreover, Mr. Støre potential coalition partners, the Socialist Left Party and the Agrarian Party have shown potential to exceed expectations on election day. The Green Party, not likely to join a government on either side, may also end up tipping the scales in favor of the left by extracting concessions on fossil fuel extraction.
Less than a week before Norway’s parliamentary election, only one thing is certain: nothing is decided yet.The planning board Thursday rejected Belz Investco's request to erect a gate to prevent "cut-through traffic" from entering the residential section of Idlewild in Central Gardens. In this photo looking south from Union, the Kroger parking lot is to the right and Belz Investo buildings housing several Methodist clinics are to the left.
SHARE A rendering by Looney Ricks Kiss shows the proposed $43 million Midtown development proposed by Belz Enterprises and Harbor Retail Partners. Belz says the development won't happen unless the city agrees to a gate blocking traffic along the residential street of S. Idlewild. Related Coverage Strickland shepherds compromise on Midtown street, gate
By Thomas Bailey Jr. of The Commercial Appeal
Two commercial giants in Memphis -- Belz Enterprises and Kroger -- squared off at City Hall Thursday, taking opposing sides on whether a gate should block traffic from a residential street between their big developments on Union.
The Land Use Control Board rejected in a 3-4 vote Belz's proposal to erect a gate 80 yards south of Union on South Idlewild.
Belz wants the barrier to protect residents against an expected increase in traffic from the two developments that are unusually large for Midtown's Union Avenue: Kroger's 54,000-square-foot store now under construction from Idlewild west to Lemaster; and a proposed, $43 million development of apartments, retail and parking from Idlewild east to McLean.
Belz Enterprises is partnering with an out-of-town developer on the mixed-use project. The development includes the pursuit of a national gourmet grocery that would apparently compete with Kroger.
Ron Belz reiterated after the planning board meeting that the development won't happen without the traffic barrier on Idlewild.
A Kroger executive had just told the planning board that the warning by Belz attorney Nathan Bicks was "posturing'' and an "empty threat.'' Until Thursday, Kroger had remained neutral -- publicly -- on Belz's gate proposal.
"That is an empty threat to get what they want to get,'' said Mike Rosier, a Kroger real estate manager. The site's economic conditions, including the relatively high incomes of surrounding neighborhoods, are too strong for Belz to drop the development over the Idlewild gate, he said.
But Belz hardly backed down after losing the vote. The issue is personal to him.
"I lived in that neighborhood,'' he said. "My brother lived on that street. Both our children were born when we lived on that street.
"My family was involved in the original development there. We understand that neighborhood, for the last 70 years,'' he said.
"I am absolutely convinced that doing any more development utilizing our property without a solving this problem would harm that neighborhood.
"I'm not going to be a part of harming that neighborhood,'' Belz said.
Kroger's Rosier said the grocery had previously negotiated with Idlewild residents and Belz, agreeing to design a parking lot curb cut on Idlewild that will be shaped to steer vehicles north toward Union and away from the residences.
"It's a bit premature, we feel, to mothball the compromised improvement before we are open,'' Rosier said.
"It's interesting to see (Belz's) development next door is benefiting and the house he owns on the other side of the gate is his family's.''
The Kroger executive told the board that it is not surprising that "the eight residents of Idlewild'' want to make the street segment their "personal cul-de-sac.''
Bicks, the Belz attorney with Burch Porter Johnson, told the board the gate is "inextricably'' linked to the development at Union and McLean. "Without (the development), there will be no gate, no street closure. Without the street closure, there will be no Union/McLean development,'' he said.
The board was told that the City Engineering department, which had opposed the gate, now supports it in part because no gate would be erected until the $7 million demolition of the existing buildings start for the Union/McLean project.
Bruce VanWyngarden spoke for fellow residents of the short block between Union and Linden, telling the board, "We feel like this amount of construction surrounding our street will be the death knell for it as a residential area.''
His neighbor Kevin Wilkins said traffic from Kroger already is so heavy that "quite honestly, if the traffic continues we'll move. The reason why is it's unsafe.'' His children cannot play outside because of the traffic, he said.
The gate proposal generally pits residents of the Idlewild segment against other nearby residents who fear blocking Idlewild will divert more traffic to their blocks.
Tracy Wiswall, who owns a home on Eastmoreland, presented the board with a petition that includes the names of 30 people representing 26 homes. "I don't think you'll see anyone else other than Idlewild residents and Mr. Belz'' supporting the gate, Wiswall said.
The board's staff planners had recommended approval of the gate under several conditions. One was that Belz conduct a study on how a gate would affect traffic. The study will be completed before the City Council considers the issue, said Bob Sweeney of SR Consulting.
So far, Sweeney told the board, his study shows that Idlewild draws 672 cars a day, with 100 headed north toward the six-lane Union and 500 going south along Idlewild and other smaller residential streets.
"That's cut-through traffic,'' Sweeney said.
Speakers on both sides of the issue agreed on one facet: They said Union should have a turn lane to remove one big reason some motorists avoid Union by heading south on Idlewild.Facebook has added two new relationship status options users can include in their online profiles: "in a civil union" and "in a domestic partnership."
The new fields are being rolled out in the U.S. and several other countries, including Canada, France, the U.K., and Australia, starting today.
"This has been a highly requested feature from users," said Facebook's Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications. "We want to provide options for people to genuinely and authentically reflect their relationships on Facebook."
Among other information included on their Facebook profiles, such as their alma mater and favorite books, users also have the option to characterize their relationships. Previously, the set of options included: single, in a relationship, married, engaged, it's complicated, in an open relationship, widowed, separated, and divorced.
The changes were made in consultation with Facebook's Network of Support, a group that includes LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] organizations such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, and the Human Rights Campaign.
"As LGBT people face a patchwork of relationship recognition laws, this gives people more tools to adequately describe their relationship," said Michael Cole-Schwartz, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign. "Facebook has been a company that has tried to be inclusive of the LGBT community and this just one sign of it."
Richard Socarides, president of Equality Matters and former gay rights advisor to president Bill Clinton, echoed Cole-Schwartz's praise.
"Facebook has always been an empowering place for gay people--it's a place you can be yourself in relative safety," Socarides told the Huffington Post in an email. "This is a natural progression of that. In most places, gay Americans can't yet marry but they may be able to formalize their relationship short of marriage. This change reflects that reality. Well done."
Although Facebook's new relationship status options mark a milestone for the LGBT community, Cole-Schwartz noted that challenges remain, particularly when it comes to dealing with cyberbullying, harassment, and hate speech online.
"There are people who are vulnerable and people who are going to be bullies online and people need to have the right tools to keep up with that," Cole-Schwartz said. "That will continue to be something that all online spheres wrestle with and need to be cognizant of."
See the screenshot of the new relationship status options below.PrepareLanding is a mod that allows players to carefully choose their landing site before actually starting their colony.
Must be a Coastal tile
Must have the following stone types: Granite, Marble and maybe Slate
Must be in a Temperate Forest biome
Must have a growing period between 40 days and a year round period
May have a river
What's new?
Download
Manual
License
Choosing a landing site can be done by applying and using different set of filters, resulting in an unique combination of tiles, which are then highlighted on the world map.See "Download" section for the Rimworld 1.0 download link.As of v0.5 it is now possible to change tile characteristics on the world map (see God Mode feature ).Here's an overview of the main window (at least the first tab):The mod is available during the "Select Landing Site" page (after you have created the world, but before you have started your colony) and also once in-game when you click the "World" button on the bottom menu bar.It doesn't modify the save file, so you can add it / remove it whenever you want!I made this mod to be able to find various combinations of tiles where to start my colonies, for example:What's new since the previous version: see this post on this thread or the changelog on Github Download the latest release here on Github or here on steam This mod depends on HugsLib by UnlimitedHugs (remember to put HugsLib before this mod in the mod list).Older versions can be downloaded from Github.Although the Mod is not very complicated to use, there's a manual here. I'd recommend at least to read the filtering page, just in case.Feature requests (especially for new filters, but you decide) and bug reports are welcome :) If you have a github account, you can post them (not just issues) here Code is hosted on github under the MIT license Which means you can do whatever you want with this mod and its source as long as it sticks with the license:- Mod pack: Yes- Derivative work: Yesedit reason: v0.9.2 (Rimworld 1.0 Stable) develop release.Looking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
On Thursday, CNN reported that Rev. Jamie Johnson, a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, had once said that Islam had given the world only “oil and dead bodies.” He had also argued that Jews became disproportionately wealthy through hard work while African Americans turned cities into “slums because of laziness, drug use, and sexual promiscuity.” Hours later, Johnson resigned as the head of DHS’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
But Frank Wuco, a senior White House adviser at DHS who has made similarly inflammatory comments about Muslims and other groups, is still |
is liquefied for export and buried in saline aquifers more than two kilometres below the sea bed.
Dr Stalker said CCS had been used in enhanced oil recovery for almost 60 years.
She said in the US, carbon dioxide had a monetary value as it was piped long distances for the same use.
Dr Stalker said research needed to be collated and built upon and was adamant the need for CCS was urgent.
"We can't bury our heads in the sand about what this all means," she said.
"We have to accelerate our activities in [CCS] rapidly if want to make under 2.5 degrees [climate change levels] in the next 20 to 30 years."In the looming fiscal cliff, fiscal showdown (gunfight at Fiscal Corral) discussions, the Republican “ask” is a bunch of big-ticket items — roll back social insurance; lower taxes for billionaires; lower taxes for corps (check out the “territorial taxation” proposal sometime); a pony; Santa’s sleigh; Rudolph’s head on a plate.
And the Dem “ask” is — please don’t hurt us too much. By that I mean, don’t cut social insurance; raise taxes on billionaires just “a little”; and the ever-popular “balanced approach” in which our side has to feel pain, or swallow a “bitter pill”. They request a pony; we ask for a bitter pill.
What would a large Dem “ask” look like?
Howie Klein at DownWithTyranny has a great post about the large Dem ask that could have been. I’ll start midway, where he details a conference call he was in. I was also in that call, by the way; his characterization of what we’re up against is accurate (my emphasis and some reparagraphing):
Wednesday I was on a conference call hosted by Rep. Xavier Becerra and Americans For Tax Fairness that discussed the Democrats strategy to win the Grand Bargain battle and, once again, it occurred to me that “our” side was fighting on a battlefield chosen precisely by our mortal enemies. Republicans should be begging Obama to not raise the margin tax rates to Eisenhower era rates— when top earners paid 91% on the millions they made and the whole concept of sociopathic-criminal plutocracy was a structural impossibility in America. Instead, we’re being prepared for Democrats bartering away pieces of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in return for… for what? The temporary Bush tax cuts that are due to expire on December 31 anyway? Why isn’t the national discussion about hiking the estate tax? Why isn’t it about ending the cap on the Social Security tax and on really growth-positive moves like lowering the age of retirement and expanding Medicare so that everyone is in the pool? Why isn’t the discussion about taxing all income equally, both what people make from working and what they get from clipping coupons? How about that Wall Street transaction tax and a tax to make hedge fund predators pay their fair share like everyone else? Obama a socialist? I don’t think so. The Democrats might be a little better– as a party– than the Republicans but, like when Obama says the rich should paid “a little” more in taxes– the phrase “a little” better is the key to [comparing] the Democrats and the Republicans. Look, even criminal fascists like Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers are fine with gay marriage and abortions. What they want from the politicians they buy is an economic system that privileges that already privileged and minimizes social mobility, democracy and anything smacking of economic fairness.
Let’s just take the items above. This should (and could) have been the initial Dem “ask”:
■ Eisenhower-era top marginal income tax rate: 90%. Fallback is Nixon-era rate of 75% and no lower. When they bitch about “jobs,” show them the Eisenhower employment numbers, then the Bush numbers, and hold firm. Remember, we hold the aces.
■ Higher taxes on estates. Once the current inheritance tax law expires, the excluded amount will be $1,000,000 and the maximum tax rate on the rest would be 55%. I’d up the “ask” to 60% and make them bargain me down to my floor of 55%. (“OK, you win on this; we’ll just let the current law expire and leave it at that.”)
■ End the Social Security salary cap. Under current law, there’s a payroll tax of 6.2% of wages up to an annual wage maximum ($110,100 in 2012) for Social Security — and no tax on money earned above the maximum. Offer the Begich bill, which ends this cap completely and immediately. Get all 29 Sanders-letter senators to co-sponsor it.
If Social Security still isn’t “secure” enough for its enemies after that change, offer to create a second-tier in the payroll tax rate — to raise the rate from 6.2% to 7% on income over some number, maybe $250,000 or $500,000. Make them wish they hadn’t bitched about it.
■ Lower the retirement age for Social Security back to 65 instead of 67. Or offer to lower it to 64 and settle for 65. When they bitch, say “jobs” — more people out of the work force means more jobs for those who are still in it.
When they bitch about the cost, offer to create a third-tier payroll tax rate (8%, for example) on income over $2,000,000 or so until the full cost is covered. Voilà, Social Security is “saved.”
■ Medicare for all. Blow right past the public option to what the ACA should have been in the first place. Or, if you want to make some money for the system — so it could afford to do more — how about Medicare for all at cost + 5%. Still a huge bargain.
■ Tax capital gains as ordinary income. Period. No more “billionaire tax rates” capped at 15% (before deductions). Same with the carried interest hedge fund loophole — close it.
■ Tax all Wall Street transactions. Add a nickel, or a dime, to every Wall Street transaction. Do it like commissions, so you pay per-share bought or sold, up to a cap. Or don’t. Either way, you don’t have to take a lot on each deal. Even at a penny per transaction you’ll rake in a ton.
And that’s just working from Howie’s list. I’m sure we could sweeten it, but still, it’s a fine one. As I wrote elsewhere, the compromise off of that opening offer would be hugely progressive.
Why don’t our fierce Democratic defenders stake out that position? If the other side says, “No Way,” we say, “Great, see you on January 2, when the 2001 tax cuts expire and the sequester kicks in. We can talk then if you like. Happy holiday, y’all.”
I smell a huge win off this. As I’ve also said, even the geniuses here at La Maison could play that hand; it’s all aces. Thanks, Howie, for seeding the thought. This is exactly right.
Why we can’t have nice things
So why don’t our fierce Dem defenders stake out that strong opening position? Short answer: Because they’re not our defenders, they’re the other guy’s. “Our” Dem defenders are people like Antonio Villaraigosa, who just took a job on the Steering Committee of “Fix the Debt” — which really should be called “The Billionaires’ Loot -the-Safetynet Club”.
I wrote about Villaraigosa earlier, but here’s some more on him and his new best friends by Marta Evry, who covers this stuff at Venice4Change.com (via email; my emphasis):
Villaraigosa has signed on to be the “progressive” front man for a right-wing lobby group whose “core principles” include enshrining the Bush tax cuts for the top 2%, allowing US corporations to offshore their profits tax-free and “reforming” Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security by raising the retirement age and slashing benefits. Villaraigosa may self-identify as a progressive, but there’s nothing progressive about associating with this group and tactically endorsing their agenda.
Just look at that list of goodies I bolded. None of it is for you.
The corporate offshore tax proposal of theirs is huge, by the way, and getting no publicity at all. It’s called “territorial taxation” and it’s a real snake. For more, read Dave Johnson at Save the Forest.
So that’s what “Fix the Debt” wants — fun fact, Simpson and Bowles are its co-founders. It’s also got 80 CEOs in tow and $60,000,000 to play with. In addition to “liberal,” soon-to-be-ex-Mayor Villaraigosa, it’s loaded with guys you may have heard of — like this MSNBC regular (my emphasis; note: co-chair):
Governor Ed Rendell
Co-Chair, Campaign to Fix the Debt Edward G. Rendell was the 45th Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Governor Rendell has also served as Mayor and District Attorney of the City of Philadelphia. From 2008 to 2009, Gov. Rendell was Chair of the National Governors Association. He served as General Chair of the Democratic National Committee during the 2000 presidential election. Gov. Rendell, along with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, founded Building America’s Future, a national infrastructure-investment coalition. Governor Rendell is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and of the Villanova Law School and served in the United States Army.
Tells you all you need to know about “Building America’s Future,” right? And on the Steering Committee with Villaraigosa, we find these Democrats and Obama associates (plus one World Bank guy):
Steven Rattner
Chairman, Willett Advisors LLC Steven Rattner is Chairman of Willett Advisors LLC, the investment arm for New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s personal and philanthropic assets. In addition, he is a Contributing Writer for the Op-Ed page of The New York Times, the author of a monthly column for the Financial Times and the Economic Analyst for MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Previously, Mr. Rattner served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Obama Administration. Until February 2009, Mr. Rattner was Managing Principal of Quadrangle Group LLC, a private investment firm. Before beginning his investment-banking career, Mr. Rattner was employed by The New York Times for nearly nine years, principally as an economic correspondent in New York, Washington and London. Mr. Rattner graduated in 1974 from Brown University with honors in economics.
Alice M. Rivlin
Co-Chair of the Debt Reduction Task Force at the Bipartisan Policy Center Alice Rivlin recently served as a member of the President’s Debt Commission. Dr. Rivlin became the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office in 1975 and served until 1983. She was director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration. Later she was a governor and vice chair of the Federal Reserve. Currently, she is the director of the Greater Washington Research Program and senior fellow of Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution. On December 16, 2011, Rivlin released a premium support reform plan for Medicare with Pete Domenici, her co-chair at the Bipartisan Policy Center. She is also a visiting professor at the Public Policy Institute of Georgetown University.
Ambassador Robert Zoellick
Former President of the World Bank Robert B. Zoellick is the former 11th President of the World Bank Group, which works with 187 member countries. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Zoellick served as Vice Chairman, International of the Goldman Sachs Group, Managing Director, and Chairman of Goldman Sachs’ Board of International Advisors from 2006-07. In 2005-06, Mr. Zoellick served as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. State Department. From 2001 to January 2005, Mr. Zoellick served in the U.S. cabinet as the 13th U.S. Trade Representative. He has also served as Executive Vice President of Fannie Mae and as Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House. Mr. Zoellick graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College in 1975 and has earned a J.D. magna cum laude from the Harvard Law School and a MPP from the Kennedy School of Government.
And can’t close the Steering Committee list without noting this bright fellow (last name should tell you all, but check the credits):
Michael Peterson
President and COO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation Michael Peterson is President and Chief Operating Officer of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. In addition, Michael is currently President and Co-Founder of GPX Enterprises, LP, a private investment firm focused on the sponsorship, development, and management of selected private equity investments. He worked on the Clinton and Dukakis presidential campaigns, served as a Congressional Aide to Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, and conducted research for both the Committee for Economic Development and the Institute for International Economics. After studying public policy and graduating magna cum laude and with honors from Brown University, Michael earned a Master’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.
The whole Fix the Debt perp list is here (national leaders) and here (state-level leaders).
These are just a few of the “liberal” Democrats who want to “fix the debt.” Bankers, economists, writers, and a Peterson heir. There are Republicans on these lists as well, but the Dem side has Obama written all over it — Simpson, Bowles, Rivlin, Rattner, all with ties to the Obama White House.
So back to our original question. You tell me — why don’t our fierce Dem defenders stake out that strong opening position? Maybe because they don’t work for you. Maybe because they work for Goldman Sachs and the World Bank and Pete Peterson, and everyplace else in the world where money collects like pond scum — and where their next paycheck will come from. What do you think?
Is Antonio Villaraigosa auditioning for his next job?
I want to end with a question about Antonio Villaraigosa. He’s got some liberal cred, and claims to be an “progressive abashedly“. Many who work on my side of the fence actually like him. So what made him do this — join that steering committee?
Maybe the clue is in my “next paycheck” comment above. Did Mayor Villaraigosa join “Fix The Debt” because he is looking for a new job? Remember, he’s term-limited out of office in 2013. What’s his next landing field? Governor? Senator? Neither of those positions will come open anytime soon, according to Robert Cruickshank, who writes about California politics at Calitics.com (via email):
He [Villaraigosa] does have higher ambitions, whether for the governor’s office or the US Senate. But neither seat is coming open anytime soon. Jerry Brown is likely to run for re-election in 2014, and will have no trouble defeating his Republican opponent. So either Barbara Boxer retires in 2016, or Villaraigosa runs for governor in 2018 against Gavin Newsom and AG Kamala Harris.
That leaves two other choices — something with the Obama administration, or something with some money behind it, like lobbying, banking or private equity. As to the second alternative, what better way to “polish his résumé” than with this kind of move? Swim with the big boys, get hired by the big boys.
And as to the first alternative (working with Obama 2.0), it’s scary to think that his Fix the Debt move might have the same sweetening effect.
I guess we’ll find out what Obama thinks of that kind of résumé-polish when he finally cuts his deal. Grand Bargain or Grand Betrayal? I can’t wait to find out.
But whatever Obama hands us, it certainly won’t be to the left of our “please do nothing bad” request. Please Do Nothing Bad is the left-most position on the table right now. Looks like someone else will have to put Howie Klein’s great list into the discussion.
UPDATE: Did you miss this? Paul Krugman didn’t. A deal could be taking shape as we speak.
GP
To follow or send links: @Gaius_PubliusUpdate - At approximately, 5:00 p.m. on March 13, 2017, Greater Sudbury Police arrested and charged a second person in relation to the Homicide investigation on Bancroft Drive. 29-year old Patrick Sweeney of Greater Sudbury has been charged with First Degree Murder, Indignity to Dead Body, Arson, Breach of Probation (x2) and Breach of Recognizance (x2) under the Criminal Code of Canada.
29-year old Darcy Sheppard from Greater Sudbury was charged with First Degree Murder, Indignity to Dead Body, Arson, Theft Under $5,000.00 and Fail to Comply with Probation Order under the Criminal Code of Canada in relation to the Homicide investigation on Bancroft Drive on March 10,th, 2017.
Investigators can now confirm that the deceased is 59-year old Kenneth Edwards of Greater Sudbury. A postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Officers will remain on Bancroft Drive as the investigation is ongoing.
---
Update - At approximately 10:45 p.m. on March 12, 2017, Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division arrested and charged, 29-year old Darcy Sheppard from Greater Sudbury with First Degree Murder, Indignity to Dead Body, Arson, Theft Under $5,000.00 and Fail to Comply with Probation Order under the Criminal Code of Canada in relation to the Homicide investigation on Bancroft Drive.
Although the identity of the deceased has yet to be confirmed, Investigators have reason to believe that the individual is 59-year old, Kenneth Edwards of Greater Sudbury. His Next of Kin has been notified by Police.
Forensic identifiers will be used to confirm the identity of the deceased and a post-mortem will be conducted to confirm the cause of death. Members of the Greater Sudbury Police Service Forensic Unit, the Coroner and the Fire Marshall continue to process the scene and evidence collected.
Officers will remain at the address on Bancroft Drive as the investigation is ongoing.Coach Mike McCarthy will surely have his younger brother, Joe, in mind when the Packers travel to his hometown of Pittsburgh this Sunday night. Joe McCarthy died of a heart attack nearly three years ago. Photo courtesy of the McCarthy family
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Mike McCarthy can guide a tour of his old Pittsburgh neighborhood without ever leaving his chair at Lambeau Field. He starts downtown at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street, where the Port Authority of Allegheny County bus route 61C begins.
The first stop is just off Greenfield Avenue on Alcorn Street, where the family business -- Joe McCarthy’s Bar and Grill -- once stood in a part of town known as Lower Greenfield.
Back along Greenfield Avenue, there’s McCarthy’s primary school, St. Rosalia. A few blocks down on the left is Magee Field, where, as kids, Mike and his younger brother, Joe, played just about every sport.
Finally, on the last block of Greenfield Avenue sits the modest home of McCarthy's parents, dad Joe and mom Ellen McCarthy, where they raised Mike, the younger Joe and their three daughters, Colleen, Ellen and Kellie.
Three years ago, this would have been the last stop.
Now, the journey must continue.
To the end of the block.
Past a handful of small brick homes.
To the entrance of Calvary Catholic Cemetery, where his brother, Joe, rests.
Mike McCarthy's 1975 St. Rosalia school basketball team. He wore No. 15. Courtesy of the McCarthy family
Joseph F. McCarthy III died of a heart attack while playing racquetball on Jan. 21, 2015. He was 47.
“It’s hard going back there, to be honest with you,” Mike McCarthy said during an interview last week. “The cemetery is literally a few houses away from my parents’ house. The basketball court where we used to hang out as kids was right there. It’s been torn down now, but just to walk over there and go to the mausoleum to see Joe, it’s right there.”
Back in Pittsburgh for "Sunday Night Football," when he will coach the Green Bay Packers against the Steelers at Heinz Field, it’s a business trip for McCarthy. But with extra time because it’s a night game, McCarthy can go back to his Greenfield neighborhood, where he can retrace the happy steps of his youth -- and the painful ones of adulthood.
‘Everybody loved Joe'
Last year, Sports Illustrated profiled McCarthy, and when the subject of his brother came up, he was unable to talk about it and said, “I can’t get past it. I’m sorry.”
With the trip to Pittsburgh looming, McCarthy decided, “I want to honor my brother.... I just miss him.”
In the small room adjacent to the Lambeau Field media auditorium, the emotions come out when McCarthy, 54, speaks about his younger brother, but he also beams with pride when he talks about Joe’s family. His nephews -- Matthew, who is at the University of Arkansas, and Michael, who is at the University of Kentucky -- were regular travel partners with their dad to Packers games. Mike called Joe’s wife, Karen, a “strong, great mother” and smiled widely when he mentioned Joe’s only daughter, Victoria.
Mike McCarthy with his dad and brother, Joe. Courtesy of the McCarthy family
“Joe was the father that coached all the kids,” Mike McCarthy said. “He was so involved in their lives, their everyday lives. Joe was a such a great people person. Everybody loved Joe. It’s hard for all three of [Joe’s kids,] obviously, but you always worry about Victoria, the youngest, because I know the father-daughter relationship they had.”
McCarthy has three daughters of his own: Alex, from his first marriage, an aspiring actress who lives in Los Angeles; and 9-year-old Gabrielle and 6-year-old Isabella with his wife, Jessica. He and Jessica also have two high school-aged sons, Jack and George, from Jessica’s first marriage.
In many ways, McCarthy tries to emulate his younger brother. Although the demands of an NFL head coach’s schedule can be restrictive, living in the league’s smallest city helps McCarthy make it to as many events as possible.
“I’m so blessed, and Jessica just does such an incredible job of making everything work, because this is such a selfish profession with the time commitment,” McCarthy said. “But being in this town is extremely beneficial. The boys are in high school right up the road, the girls are right in De Pere. They have tennis today at 3:30, so I’m going to get to see them play tennis on a Friday. I don’t know if you get to do that in any other city in the NFL.”
Said Jessica: “Right away, when Mike and I met, that was one of our topics of conversation; I knew family was as important to him as it is to me. And that’s a trait you’d want in a person, or that I’d want in a person. He’s always made it a point -- whether it’s spending time with his daughter even though she lived in another state, he wouldn’t let a few weeks go by without seeing her. So it was really important to him all along.”
Jessica met McCarthy’s family early in their relationship. Joe immediately clicked with Jack and George.
“Joey was a positive energy for Mike, and they were so close growing up,” Jessica said. “He was always the little brother tagging along. He did it in the later years, too. Joey would come to Green Bay for Mike’s games, but he would go to all of our boys’ games, too, when he was here.
“George has a shrine to Joey in his room to this day. There’s quotes from Joey and a basketball T-shirt from Magee Field that Joey must’ve worn when he was young that he gave George. He was really inspirational for my boys, as well.”
The Mike McCarthy File Age: 54 Hometown: Pittsburgh Head coaching record: 129-74-1 (including 10-8 in the postseason), Super Bowl XLV champion, 12th NFL season. Family: Wife, Jessica; Daughters, Alex, Gabrielle, Isabella; Sons, Jack, George. Charities: Mike & Jessica McCarthy Golf Outing to benefit American Family Children's Hospital in Madison; the McCarthy Family Foundation to benefit organizations in Wisconsin, Pittsburgh and Kansas.
‘The last time I talked to him’
Joe and a friend had planned to fly to Seattle for the Packers-Seahawks NFC Championship Game on Jan. 18, 2015, but he called Mike a few days before the game and said he wouldn’t be able to make it.
No worries, McCarthy told him.
“I talked to him the Thursday before we went out there,” McCarthy recalled. “I told him, ‘Joe, we’re going to win this game. Trust me. I’ll see you in Phoenix [for the Super Bowl].’
“That was the last time I talked to him.”
Three days after the Packers’ overtime loss to the Seahawks, when McCarthy might have needed his brother’s support the most, he received word of Joe’s death.
“Joey was the nicest, sweetest person -- always positive,” Jessica said. “I think that was always good for Mike.”
Left to right, Mike McCarthy with his sisters, parents and late brother, Joe. Photo courtesy of the McCarthy family
Family reunion
With the Packers in Pittsburgh for Sunday night’s game, almost all of the McCarthy family will be together again.
All three sisters plus McCarthy’s parents and most of brother Joe’s family will be around.
The three sisters still live in or around the Greenfield neighborhood. Colleen, the oldest sister, lives nearby and teaches in the Pittsburgh school district. Kellie, the youngest, moved back shortly after Joe’s death. She works at Carnegie Mellon University and lives across the street from Ellen, the middle sister, who also is a teacher. On that same street, Mike and Jessica are having a house built for Mike’s parents. The new house should be ready by Christmas.
“It will be like a triangle,” Jessica said. “Kellie lives on one corner, and then Joe and Ellen’s house will be on the other, and then across from them will be his other sister Ellen.”
McCarthy is now the out-of-towner.
“I went away to college, and when I came back and was coaching at Pitt, if they would’ve offered me a 25-year contract to be the assistant coach, I would’ve taken it so fast,” McCarthy said. “It was ideal. I was coaching one neighborhood over from where I grew up.”
For one weekend, McCarthy, surrounded by family, will be home again.
“I might even jump on the 61C bus and take it over to the neighborhood just because I can,” McCarthy said.If your code uses the std::ascii::AsciiExt trait and you upgrade your compiler to today’s Nightly, you might see a warning like this:
warning: unused import: `std::ascii::AsciiExt` --> /home/simon/servo3/components/script/dom/bindings/str.rs:10:5 | 10 | use std::ascii::AsciiExt; | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | = note: #[warn(unused_imports)] on by default
This is because https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/44042 has just landed, making some of this trait’s methods available as inherent methods. The inherent ones take priority in method resolution, so the trait is now unused.
If you only need to support one compiler version you can just remove the use line. But if you also want to compile without warnings on both the Stable and Nightly channels (say if you maintain a library) the trick for now is to silence the warning just for that line:
#[allow(unused_imports)] use std::ascii::AsciiExt;
(Edit: unused_imports plural, not unused_import.)
The #[…] syntax instead of #![…] makes this attribute apply only to the following item, not the entire module.This post was authored by guest contributor Erin Lawrimore, University Archivist, University of North Carolina Greensboro
Past SAA President Kathleen Roe kicked off her “Year of Living Dangerously with Archives” presidential initiative at the 2014 SAA annual meeting in Washington, D.C. by strongly encouraging all archivists to take bold actions in promoting the significance of archives and archivists to society. She stated that “if we are going to get beyond the point where archives and archival records are used in modest amounts, for a modest number of purposes by a modest range of users, then we also have to raise awareness of their value and importance.” [1]
At the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Special Collections and University Archives, we’ve taken Kathleen’s challenge to heart. While we do have projects that are aimed at increasing awareness of our resources to University faculty, staff, and administrators, we’re purposefully trying to increase awareness among our student body population (particularly undergraduates). While we certainly aren’t the first archives to do any of these outreach activities, we are in all likelihood the first (and probably only) who will reach our student population here at UNCG. Some examples of our activities aimed at raising awareness among the undergraduate population include:
Pop Up Archives. Like popular “pop up” restaurants, our “pop up” archives exhibits are well focused in terms of content and strategically planned in terms of location. We want to be where the foot traffic is. The university center, the student recreation center, and even the sidewalk outside of the library building are great locations for engaging students. Each exhibit is tailored for the location (history of athletics at the student recreation center), is up for only 90 minutes or so (timed to coincide with lunch or a change in classes to increase foot traffic), and is small enough to fit on a card table (making planning and transportation simpler).
Like popular “pop up” restaurants, our “pop up” archives exhibits are well focused in terms of content and strategically planned in terms of location. We want to be where the foot traffic is. The university center, the student recreation center, and even the sidewalk outside of the library building are great locations for engaging students. Each exhibit is tailored for the location (history of athletics at the student recreation center), is up for only 90 minutes or so (timed to coincide with lunch or a change in classes to increase foot traffic), and is small enough to fit on a card table (making planning and transportation simpler). Campus Tours for First-Year Classes. While many first-year students might not make use of the archives as a research resource, many are quite interested in learning about the history of the place that will be their home for the next four years. To engage these students, we work with instructors teaching the University’s Foundations for Learning (FFL) courses, which are required of all incoming students, to schedule a historic walking tour of campus during one of their class sessions. During the tour, we provide the standard facts about the University’s history – but the piece that most students love most is that we also incorporate our three campus ghost stories into the general tour. In Fall 2014, we conducted tours for 18 FFL courses (approximately 250 students).
In addition to these types of targeted activities, we’re taking an approach of “archives everywhere.” We want our records and knowledge of our department’s work to be spread across campus. We are using exhibit cases and bulletin boards in the library as well as in the university center to display reproductions of selections from our holdings. Our social media accounts are followed and retweeted/reblogged by the main University accounts as well as other accounts that reach large numbers of students (Admissions, Student Government Association, student newspaper, etc.). Our digital signage in the library building includes frequent references to University Archives and our current exhibits. And our promotional postcards, which include a historic photograph as well as links to our social media and digital collections, are available at all of the library’s service points.
These approaches don’t require a significant change to the work we’ve done in the past, but they do extend our reach far beyond the small percentage of students who physically come into the archives for a class. While we may have some students who graduate and remember only the “awesome ghost story the lady from the library told me,” we’ve made an impression and, for many more, hopefully sown a seed of awareness for archives and the work of archivists.
[1] Kathleen Roe, “The Year of Living Dangerously with Archives” (speech, Washington, D.C., August 16, 2014), Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, http://www2.archivists.org/history/leaders/kathleen-roe/incoming-presidential-remarks-the-year-of-living-dangerously-for-archives. For more information on the “Year of Living Dangerously with Archives” initiative, see http://www2.archivists.org/living-dangerously.All heated at the hustings
Photo: Darren Robinson By-election hustings at the Grange Arts Theatre at The Oldham College. PIC shows Candidates. 8 More Image(s) In Gallery
TEMPERS continued to flare between Labour’s Jim McMahon and UKIP’s John Bickley yesterday when five by-election candidates locked horns in a debate.
Schools and colleges from across Oldham filled Oldham College’s Grange Theatre as candidates Councillor McMahon, Mr Bickley, James Daly (Conservative), Jane Brophy (Liberal Democrat) and Simeon Hart (Green Party) took part in a hustings event hosted by BBC’s “North West Tonight” presenter Annabel Tiffin.
The only candidate not present was Monster Raving Loony Party’s Sir Oink-A-Lot — who was invited.
The heat was turned up when Mr Bickley answered a question about the number of jobs in the region by having a swipe at Oldham Council leader McMahon.
Beth Holt, an Oldham College student, asked: “How does it help us to get jobs in Greater Manchester if the funding which pays for our education at college is being cut so dramatically?”
As part of his answer Mr Bickley said: “Get a job at Oldham Council. People there seem to do very nicely. Jim McMahon earns £80,000 in allowances. The chief executive earns £160,000 a year.”
Mr Bickley’s comments were met by a few heckles from the audience and Councillor McMahon did not appear to be impressed either.
Councillor McMahon said: “Is that really your answer to a question about a genuine concern in this town? — a response which was met by applause from the audience.
Mr Bickley and Councillor McMahon clashed again later in the debate over comments the UKIP candidate made about Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Bickley said: “Jeremy Corbyn does not think Osama Bin Laden should have been killed. They would not shoot to kill terrorists. They want to disband MI5. Labour is a clear and present danger.”
Councillor McMahon said: “On December 4 you will trot back off to Cheshire. My interest is in this town and the issues in Oldham. If you want to keep making your petty points then continue to do so.”
The hustings opened with a question from Oldham College student Kyle Chatburn who asked the candidates about cuts to education funding.
Conservative Mr Daly answered by highlighting the Government’s work to promote and provide more apprenticeships and added: “If I am elected I will be knocking on the door of the education secretary to make sure this town has the funding it needs to support its young people.”
Liberal Democrat Mrs Brophy said: “We are the party of education. We believe everyone should get the same chances. No matter what background you are from and we very much believe in funding apprenticeships.”
Mr Hart highlighted what impact a lack of funding can have on the mental health of people down the line.
Mr Bickley said the country must start living within its means but says UKIP wants to invest more money in higher education.
Councillor McMahon highlighted the impacts of government cuts, claiming some colleges in Greater Manchester are on the verge of going bust due to lack of funding.
Luke Lancaster, a Hulme Grammar student, really put the candidates to the test when he asked them if they would vote in favour of military strikes on ISIS in Syria.
Mr Daly said: “Yes. My answer is simple, yes I would.”
Councillor McMahon said: “The Iraq war is an example of not having a clear idea of what you are there to do — we need to make sure that we don’t repeat that.
“If I was MP for this constituency I won’t rule out voting for it (airstrikes) but I would need to make sure it was for the right reasons and that we would be in a better place at the end of it.”
Mr Bickley said: “Clearly ISIS is a major threat to us — but we need to know that we have learnt the lessons from Iraq, we need an end game plan.”
Mrs Brophy said: “We are an evidence based party. For us it would have to be an international approach.
“We need to make sure we do more on prevention and cutting off funds to the organisations.”
Mr Hart said: “It’s not right that civilians are caught up.
“We cannot make a quick decision, it is not an easy one to make.”
The final, and perhaps most important, question came from Oldham College student Stevie Howard who asked why the candidates should get her vote.
Councillor McMahon said: “I’m the Oldham candidate and if you live in Oldham it is important that you have somebody from the community who knows the issues that affect us and who will fight for them in parliament.
“I am in Oldham to make it a better place.”
Mr Bickley said: “If I’m elected my first priority is the residents in Oldham, not my party. Other parties will be whipped, I won’t do that, I will be here to represent Oldham.
“I’m passionate about my country. We want Parliament to make our laws and our MPs.”
Mr Daly said: “I have a three-point plan to deliver to Oldham West and Royton. It is more investment in public transport, cleaning up the streets and tackling anti-social behaviour. A three-point plan to deliver on issues that matter to local people.”
Mrs Brophy said: “I’m passionate about the environment. I know the area, I have worked here for the health service. I’m passionate about mental health service for young people. We are the only party that actually completely stands against tax credit cuts. Labour only voted to delay them |
it. Alas! It wasn’t all that much better than interacting with my regular arm-powered, hand-controlled razor, so I instead took it apart. It’s a bit more interesting to go inside and see how the designers implemented a wet razor, powered from one AAA battery and featuring three vibration settings, easy-to-read indicators, and a haptic sensor. Why they would do it is another question.
The module can be split into the following parts:
The module can be split into the following parts:
Battery
dc/dc converter (raise/conditioning of battery voltage)
Microcontroller
Software
Peripherals (switch, LEDs, motor)
Other components
mode: software execution mode according to programmed commands mode: sleep mode, minimal power consumption, waiting for user switch action then going to 1. mode
Peripherals:
green = battery ok red continuous = a few shaves left red flashing and no motor = change battery at battery exchange: battery reset to green at battery voltage > 1.35V
measure and indicate the battery voltage
drive the motor
drive the LEDs
A three-stage power button sets the vibration. The razor rotates through all three settings and then goes into off mode. It required too much pressure to activate due to its sealing cap.A vibration-stage indicator uses LEDs.Batteries are inserted here.Removing the cap exposes the AAA battery. These batteries have a peak voltage of 1.8V but drift down to 0.9V over time.The battery holder attaches firmly to the PCB using a solder joint and clips.The internals, with plastic and rubber sealing removed, expose the unbalanced motor that vibrates the razor. Unlike a toothbrush motor with an actuator that rotates the heads, this motor doesn’t connect to the razor blades. It simply causes the razor to vibrate. If anyone has found this vibrating feature on a razor to be useful, please let me know. I may be missing something.The razor has a three-stage power switch.A Microchip MCP1624 low-voltage input regulator boosts the battery’s voltage to the 2V that the Microchip PIC10F222 microcontroller requires. The regulator maintains that 2V over the life of the battery, even as it drifts over time from 1.8 to 0.9V.At the heart of the Hydro Power is the PIC10F222 microcontroller, again from Microchip. This six-pin, 8-bit device has 768 bytes of flash memory that sells for 40 to 79 cents ( www.datasheets.com ). It controls almost everything, including the motor, through an on-chip PWM controller.A friend of mine was kind enough to provide more details and pointed out some items I forgot to mention above, such as the motor being a precision metal-brush dc motor. But wait, there’s more, a lot more: Here is a board breakdown, followed by a functional description of the overall module:-AAA-size battery was selected due to size, acceptable weight, sufficient capacity, availability worldwide(raise/conditioning of battery voltage):-Raise of battery voltage 0.8 to 1.6V to stable 3.0V-Allows use of battery’s capacity up to 80%-3.0V required to run LEDs and microcontroller-Stable/distortion-free power supply for the microcontroller-Stable reference voltage supply to determine battery status-Minimal continuous power consumption of approximately 70 μA (in sleep mode)-The architecture of the 10F-microcontroller family from Microchip meets our requirements regarding size, cost, flexibility-Reliability, and power consumption: The microcontroller hosts the prepreprogramed software and controls the components based on the user interaction and the battery status-When the battery is inserted the microcontroller is always on:-Motor speed adjustment and corresponding LEDs-Device on/off, sleep mode-Battery-life indication-Auto switch-off to sleep mode after 13 minutes run time (protects device from accidental turn-on)-Power-up sequence: self-test when changing the battery (short pulse on all LEDs and motor)-One micro push button for start/stop and select speed (this pulse switch type is not cutting off power supply)-Three green speed LEDs show the selected speed of the motor (low, medium, high)-Two battery LEDs indicate the battery status:-Low power consuming 1.5V-dc vibration motor-Only a few other low-cost components are needed to:A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 6 in New York. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
If you’ve noticed the steep upward trajectory of the stock market over the past few years, looked around and wondered why cash doesn’t appear to be raining down upon your friends and neighbors, you’d be justified in wondering: What’s going on here? If corporate America is doing so well, shouldn’t we feel like things are getting better, too?
In the past several years, profits have been increasingly paid back out to shareholders, rather than invested in hiring more people and paying them better. And lately, companies have even been borrowing money to make those shareholder payouts, because with interest rates so low, it’s a relatively cheap way to push stock prices higher.
That’s according to a new paper from the Roosevelt Institute, a left-leaning think tank that's launching a project exploring how the financialization of the economy has unlinked corporates from the well-being of regular people.
“The health of the financial system might matter less for the real economy than it once did,” writes J.W. Mason, an assistant professor of economics at John Jay College who wrote the paper, "because finance is no longer an instrument for getting money into productive businesses, but for getting money out of them."
If it holds up, that has some pretty serious implications for how the Federal Reserve should go about tending the "real economy" in the future.
Here’s the data at the center of the report: In the 1960s, 40 percent of earnings and borrowing used to go into investment. In the 1980s, that figure fell to less than 10 percent, and hasn’t risen since. Instead of investment, borrowing is now closely correlated with shareholder payouts, which have nearly doubled as a share of corporate assets since the 1980s.
So what happened in the 1980s? The “shareholder revolution,” starting with a wave of hostile takeovers, propelled a shift in American corporate governance. Investors began demanding more control over the firm’s cash flow. Rather than plowing profits back into expansion and employee welfare, managers would pay them out in the form of dividends.
The years since the recession have given firms even more of an incentive to dispense cash rather than invest in growth: The Fed’s policy of keeping interest rates low has made credit cheap, and with weak consumer demand, high-yield investment opportunities have been scarce. So instead, companies have been borrowing in order to buy back stock, which boosts their share price and keeps investors happy — but doesn’t give anything back to the world of job listings and salary freezes, where most of us still exist.
“In the postwar decades, when today's policy consensus took shape, abundant credit would have offered strong encouragement for higher investment,” Mason writes. "But in the financialized economy, the link between credit availability and real production and job growth is much less reliable."
Until a few years ago there was an exception to that kind of shareholder-above-all philosophy: profitable Silicon Valley firms like Apple, Google, and Facebook, which have resisted paying dividends and spend lavishly on the development of new products. But in 2013, Apple came under intense pressure from shareholders to share some of the massive cash pile it had accumulated over the years. So, rather than paying its army of retail workers something commensurate to the tremendous volume of sales they do for the company, Apple embarked on a massive stock repurchase and dividend payout program that will return $130 billion to investors by the end of the year.
That worries Mason.
“If managers don’t have the autonomy to say 'You’re just going to have to take a lower return today,' you’re not going to see investment on the kind of scale that we used to,” he said an interview.
Of course, in the modern economy, it may be that investing in people — which would raise wages and boost hiring — isn’t actually the kind of smart business decision that a manager would make, even absent pressure from shareholders. Factories run with less labor now, and robots might require more cash now but save money down the line. That’s where Mason thinks societal pressure might have to be brought to bear on businesses with the power to spread their wealth.
"There is, at some point, a value judgment that we can’t avoid,” he says. “We might say that actually, business activity has other goals in addition to generating profits for shareholders, and it’s not good for society if we keep paying workers low wages.”
Mason’s thesis is in line with the work of a movement of scholars and advocates, especially the University of Massachusetts’ William Lazonick, who have sought to redefine the purpose of corporations away from the doctrine of maximizing shareholder value. The financial sector no longer allocates capital efficiently, they say, and is actually a waste of the talented people who go work for it. A course correction is necessary to both rein in economic inequality and ensure sustainable innovation down the road.
But relying on a sense of corporate responsibility for additional business investment isn’t always a good bet. That’s why Mason thinks the United States could use more institutions like Germany’s system of regional banks, which invest in local businesses for productive ends, and labor union-owned banks, which might attach strings to lending around worker welfare. The idea is that while credit is needed, it shouldn’t be granted simply to increase payouts to shareholders.
“The long-term reform is that you need not just monetary policy, but credit policy, so you decide where lending is going,” Mason says. “We need a policy that doesn’t just lower interest rates across the board. We have to think about the whole transmission mechanism, and not think that there’s one knob the Fed can turn."This fall, two important meetings moved the Pacific Northwest and the nation closer to the eventuality of Small Modular Reactors on the grid, and to building those SMRs in new manufacturing facilities. One meeting took place in Washington state and the other in Washington D.C. The NuScale Power SMR, born of Oregon State University, was featured at both meetings.
Energy Northwest is part of the SMR initiative: The first commercial NuScale reactors are scheduled to be installed in Idaho with the power going to the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (based in Salt Lake City), and Energy Northwest acting as the first operator. Hopefully, this will be the first of many SMRs to be installed throughout the country.
Now to the meetings…
The White House Summit on Nuclear Energy: Nov. 6, 2015
The White House organized the Washington D.C. meeting and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to nuclear energy. The fact sheet for the White House Summit is titled: Obama Administration Announces Actions to Ensure that Nuclear Energy Remains a Vibrant Component of the United States’ Clean Energy Strategy.
Why? The fact sheet makes clear what some are still reluctant to understand:
Nuclear power, which in 2014 generated about 60 percent of carbon-free electricity in the United States, continues to play a major role in efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the power sector. As America leads the global transition to a low-carbon economy, the continued development of new and advanced nuclear technologies along with support for currently operating nuclear power plants is an important component of our clean energy strategy.
To summarize, nuclear provides clean air energy and jobs. We need both.
Of particular interest to Washington state, the Summit announced many new initiatives for bringing SMRs to market, and to the grid. One major initiative is…
Simulation Support:
The Department of Energy Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors is signing an agreement with NuScale to develop modeling and simulation tools. In this cost-shared venture, CASL will install simulation tools on NuScale systems, and NuScale will simulate performance using the CASL tools.
And after simulation comes…
Licensing Support:
The Department of Energy is investing $452 million dollars, over a six-year span, beginning in 2012. This money supports the engineering expenses at NRC that will be associated with first-of-a-kind licensing for SMRs. This is also another cost-share agreement with private industry. Without this type of industry-government cooperation, the cost of obtaining a first-of-a-kind license would be prohibitive. Estimates for a first-of-a-kind license run to over one billion dollars.
You can watch the entire White House Summit on Nuclear Energy at this link.
Dr. Jose Reyes of NuScale is a member of the Innovation Panel, which discusses new types of reactors. This panel begins at 3:05 (three hours and five minutes) into the program. During his portion, Dr. Reyes explains the worldwide potential demand for small nuclear reactors.
We’ve provided a video clip of a portion of his presentation below:
The Washington State Task Force
The Washington State Legislature’s Joint Select Task Force on Nuclear Energy focuses on encouraging the possible role of Washington state as a base for the manufacture of SMRs. As you can see in the Final Report from last year (issued in December) some of the members of the Task Force toured NuScale Power in November 2014.
The Washington State Task Force is an on-going effort, and far more focused than the Washington D.C. Summit Meeting, which seems to have been a one-time event. The DC meeting was a very nice one-time event, because of the support shown for SMRs, but without the virtues of a task force.
In the document above, you can see that the Washington State Task Force reviews many aspects of developing SMRs, both technical aspects and the possible benefits of new manufacturing in Washington state.
The Washington D.C. meeting did not include any written presentations, viewgraphs or visual aids. In contrast, the Washington State Task force has an abundance of information in presentations. The 2014 presentations are here. I especially recommend the DOE presentation on SMR market perspective, and the presentation by Energy Northwest, and NuScale Power.
The meeting notes for 2015 are not yet posted, but they are even more informative. In 2015, NuScale shows a slide in which the components necessary for a NuScale reactor are shown in black type, while the components necessary for a full-scale reactor are shown in light-gray type.
This is a very dramatic slide, despite being all words in black and white! It shows that SMRs are not just shrunken versions of full-scale reactors: They are truly re-engineered and simplified. Passive safety design can actually be a simpler design.
D.C. and Washington State: Both playing their best roles
I would say that if you really want to know about how SMRs are going to be built and deployed, the ongoing task force of the Washington State legislature has solid information and readable documents. However, I hope that the Nuclear Energy Summit in Washington D.C. will also be helpful to the future of nuclear energy and the future of Washington state. In that meeting, DOE in Washington D.C. announced it would also play its best role: helping nuclear entrepreneurs access the National Labs, and helping new reactors get licensed.
Washington D.C. and Washington state cooperating on Small Modular Reactors: that would be a win-win for everyone.
(Post by Meredith Angwin)Reading Time: 9 minutes
Microservices are small programs that handle one task. A microservice that is never used is useless though — it’s the system on the whole that provides value to the user. Microservices work together by communicating messages back and forth so that they can accomplish the larger task.
Communication is key, but there are a variety of ways this can be accomplished. A pretty standard way is through a RESTful API, passing JSON back and forth over HTTP. In one sense, this is great; it’s a form of communication that’s well understood. However, this method isn’t without flaws because it adds other factors, such as HTTP status codes and receiving/parsing requests and responses.
What other ways might microservices communicate back and forth? In this article, we’re going to explore the use of a queue, more specifically RabbitMQ.
What Does RabbitMQ Do?
RabbitMQ provides a language-agnostic way for programs to send messages to each other. In simple terms, it allows a “Publisher/Producer” to send a message and allows for a “Consumer” to listen for those messages.
In one of its simpler models, it resembles what many Rails developers are used to with Sidekiq: the ability to distribute asynchronous tasks among one or more workers. Sidekiq is one of the first things I install on all my Rails projects. I don’t think RabbitMQ would necessarily take its place, especially for things that work more easily within a Rails environment: sending emails, interacting with Rails models, etc.
It doesn’t stop there though. RabbitMQ can also handle Pub/Sub functionality, where a single “event” can be published and one or more consumers can subscribe to that event. You can take this further where consumers can subscribe only to specific events and/or events that match the pattern they’re watching for.
Finally, RabbitMQ can allow for RPCs (Remote Procedure Calls), where you’re looking for an answer right away from another program… basically calling a function that exists in another program.
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at both the “Topic” or pattern-based Pub/Sub approach, as well as how an RPC can be accomplished.
Event-based and asynchronous
The first example we’ll be working with today is a sports news provider who receives incoming data about scores, goals, players, teams, etc. It has to parse the data, store it, and perform various tasks depending on the incoming data.
To make things a little clearer, let’s imagine that, in one of the incoming data streams, we’ll be notified about soccer goals.
When we discover that a goal has happened, there are a number of things that we need to do:
Parse and normalize the information
Store the details locally
Update the “box-score” for the game that the goal took place in
Update the league leaderboard showing who the top goal scorer is
Notify all subscribers (push notification) of a particular league, team, or player
And any number of other tasks or analysis that we need to do
Do we need to do all of those tasks in order? Should the program in charge of processing incoming data need to know about all of these tasks and how to accomplish them? I suggest that other than parsing/normalizing the incoming data and maybe even saving it locally, the rest of the tasks can be done asynchronously and that the program shouldn’t really know or care about all of these other tasks.
What we can do is have the parser program emit an event ( soccer.mls.goal for example), along with its accompanying information:
{ league: 'MLS', team: 'Toronto FC', player: 'Sebastian Giovinco', opponent: 'New York City FC', time: '14:21' }
The parser can then forget about it! It’s done its work of emitting the event. The rest of the work will be done by any number of consumers who have subscribed to this specific event.
Producing in Ruby
To produce or emit events in Ruby, the first thing we need to do is install the bunny client, which allows Ruby to communicate with RabbitMQ. For an example, here is some fake incoming data that needs to trigger the goal event for soccer.
# Imagine the parsing happens here :) soccer = Soccer.new soccer.emit_goal( league: 'MLS', team: 'Toronto FC', player: 'Sebastian Giovinco', opponent: 'New York City FC', time: '14:21' )
Let’s next take a look at the emit_goal function inside of the Soccer class, which builds the event slug and packages the data together to be included in the event being emitted:
class Soccer include EventEmitter def emit_goal(raw_details) slug = "soccer.#{raw_details[:league]}.goal".downcase # "soccer.mls.goal" payload = raw_details.slice(:league, :team, :player, :opponent, :time) emit('live_events', slug, payload) end end
The 'live_events' string has to do with which Exchange to publish the event to. An Exchange is basically like a router that decides which Queue(s) the event should be placed into. The emit method is inside of a Module I created to simplify emitting events:
module EventEmitter def emit(topic, slug, payload) conn = Bunny.new conn.start ch = conn.create_channel x = ch.topic(topic) x.publish(payload.to_json, routing_key: slug) puts " [OUT] #{slug}:#{payload}" conn.close end end
It receives the topic, event slug, and event payload and sends that information to RabbitMQ.
Consuming in Ruby
So far we have produced an event, but without a consumer to consume it, the event will be lost. Let’s create a Ruby consumer that is listening for all soccer goal events.
You may have noticed that what I was calling the event slug (or the routing_key ) looked like "soccer.mls.goal". Picking a pattern to follow is important, because consumers can choose which events to listen for based on a pattern such as "soccer.*.goal" : all soccer goals regardless of the league.
The consumer in this case will be some code which updates the leaderboard for the top goal scorers in the league. It is kicked off by running a Ruby file with this line:
SoccerLeaderboard.new.live_updates
The SoccerLeaderboard class has a method called live_updates which will call a receive method provided be an included Module. It will provide the topic, the pattern of event slug/routing_key to listen for, and a block of code to be called any time there is a new event to process.
class SoccerLeaderboard include EventReceiver def live_updates receive('live_events','soccer.*.goal') do |payload| puts "#{payload['player']} has scored a new goal." end end end
The EventReceiver Module is a little larger, but for the most part it’s just setting up a connection to RabbitMQ and telling it what it wants to listen for.
module EventReceiver def receive(topic, pattern, &block) conn = Bunny.new conn.start ch = conn.create_channel x = ch.topic(topic) q = ch.queue("", exclusive: true) q.bind(x, routing_key: pattern) puts " [INFO] Waiting for events. To exit press CTRL+C" begin q.subscribe(:block => true) do |delivery_info, properties, body| puts " [IN] #{delivery_info.routing_key}:#{body}" block.call(JSON.parse(body)) end rescue Interrupt => _ ch.close conn.close end end end
Consuming in Elixir
I mentioned that RabbitMQ is language agnostic. What I mean by this is that we can not only have a consumer in Ruby listening for events, but we can have a consumer in Elixir listening for events at the same time.
In Elixir, the package I used to connect to RabbitMQ was amqp. One gotcha was that it relies on amqp_client which was giving me problems with Erlang 19. To solve that, I had to link directly to the GitHub repository because it doesn’t appear that the fix has been published to Hex yet.
defp deps do [ {:amqp_client, git: "https://github.com/dsrosario/amqp_client.git", branch: "erlang_otp_19", override: true}, {:amqp, "~> 0.1.5"} ] end
The code to listen for events in Elixir looks like the following code below. Most of the code inside of the start_listening method is just creating a connection to RabbitMQ and telling it what to subscribe to. The wait_for_messages is where the event processing takes place.
defmodule GoalNotifications do def start_listening do {:ok, connection} = AMQP.Connection.open {:ok, channel} = AMQP.Channel.open(connection) AMQP.Exchange.declare(channel, "live_events", :topic) {:ok, %{queue: queue_name}} = AMQP.Queue.declare(channel, "", exclusive: true) AMQP.Queue.bind(channel, queue_name, "live_events", routing_key: "*.*.goal") AMQP.Basic.consume(channel, queue_name, nil, no_ack: true) IO.puts " [INFO] Waiting for messages. To exit press CTRL+C, CTRL+C" wait_for_messages(channel) end def wait_for_messages(channel) do receive do {:basic_deliver, payload, meta} -> IO.puts " [x] Received [#{meta.routing_key}] #{payload}" wait_for_messages(channel) end end end GoalNotifications.start_listening
RPC… when you need an answer right away
Remote Procedure Calls can be accomplished with RabbitMQ, but I’ll be honest: It’s more involved than the examples above for more of a typical Pub/Sub approach. To me, it felt like each side (producer/consumer) has to act as both a producer and a consumer.
The flow is a little like this:
Program A asks Program B for some information, providing a unique ID for the request
Program A listens for responses that match the same unique ID
Program B receives request, does the work and provides a response with the same unique ID
Program A runs callback once matching unique ID is found in response from Program B
In this example, we’ll be talking about a product’s inventory… an answer we need to know right away to be sure that there is stock available for a customer to purchase.
inventory = ProductInventory.new('abc123').inventory puts "Product has inventory of #{inventory}"
The ProductInventory class is quite simple, mostly because I’ve hidden the complexity of the RPC call inside of a class called RemoteCall.
class ProductInventory attr_accessor :product_sku def initialize(product_sku) @product_sku = product_sku end def inventory RemoteCall.new('inventory').response(product_sku) end end
Now let’s take a look at how RemoteCall is handling it:
require 'bunny' require'securerandom' class RemoteCall attr_reader :lock, :condition attr_accessor :conn, :channel, :exchange, :reply_queue, :remote_response, :call_id, :queue_name def initialize(queue_name) @queue_name = queue_name @conn = Bunny.new @conn.start @channel = conn.create_channel @exchange = channel.default_exchange @reply_queue = channel.queue('', exclusive: true) end def response(payload) @lock = Mutex.new @condition = ConditionVariable.new response_callback(reply_queue) self.call_id = SecureRandom.uuid puts "Awaiting call with correlation ID #{call_id}" exchange.publish(payload, routing_key: queue_name, correlation_id: call_id, reply_to: reply_queue.name ) lock.synchronize { condition.wait(lock) } remote_response end private def response_callback(reply_queue) that = self reply_queue.subscribe do |delivery_info, properties, payload| if properties[:correlation_id] == that.call_id that.remote_response = payload that.lock.synchronize { that.condition.signal } end end end end
So if all that code was for the Producer, what does the Consumer look like? It’s kicked off with:
server = InventoryServer.new server.start
And the InventoryServer looks like:
require 'bunny' class InventoryServer QUEUE_NAME = 'inventory'.freeze attr_reader :conn def initialize @conn = Bunny.new end def start conn.start channel = conn.create_channel queue = channel.queue(QUEUE_NAME) exchange = channel.default_exchange subscribe(queue, exchange) rescue Interrupt => _ channel.close conn.close end def subscribe(queue, exchange) puts "Listening for inventory calls" queue.subscribe(block: true) do |delivery_info, properties, payload| puts "Received call with correlation ID #{properties.correlation_id}" product_sku = payload response = self.class.inventory(product_sku) exchange.publish(response.to_s, routing_key: properties.reply_to, correlation_id: properties.correlation_id ) end end def self.inventory(product_sku) 42 end end
Wow… that’s a lot of work to make an RPC! RabbitMQ has a great guide explaining how this works in a variety of different languages.
Conclusion
Microservices don’t always need to communicate synchronously, and they don’t always need to communicate over HTTP/JSON either. They can, but next time you’re thinking about how they should speak to each other, why not consider doing it asynchronously using RabbitM? It comes with a great interface for monitoring the activity of the queue and has fantastic client support in a variety of popular languages. It’s fast, reliable, and scalable.
Microservices aren’t free though… I think it’s worthwhile considering whether the extra complexity involved in setting up separate services and providing them a way to communicate couldn’t be better handled using something like Sidekiq and writing clean, modular code.Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said there is zero chance and “no basis” that the FBI’s investigation into to her handling of classified material on her private email server during her tenure as secretary of state will result with her indictment.
Partial transcript as follows:
BAIER: I want to ask you about specific things quickly. One, you’ve tried to calm Democrats’ fears that there isn’t going to be another shoe dropping. What basis did you tell this radio station, 1070 radio on Friday, that there is absolutely no possibility of an indictment? Has anybody from the DOJ talked to you or your representatives?
CLINTON: I will repeat what I said. That is not going to happen. There is no basis for it and I’m looking forward to this being wrapped up as soon as possible.
BAIER: Has anybody from the FBI talked to you or your representatives?
CLINTON: I know that they’ve been interviewing a number of people and I’ve told people to cooperate. And I’m looking forward to also participating. I’ve offered to do so since last August.
BAIER: You have said, ‘I’ll talk to anybody any time.’ But you didn’t talk to the State Department I.G. Neither did any of your aides. Why not? And would you talk to the judicial watch deposition that they’re asking for?
CLINTON: Well I’m not going to comment on ongoing litigation or, you know, make any legal points here. I will say with respect to the I.G. investigation, I have talked endlessly about the emails and I testified, as you know, for 11 hours before the committee and the house who had every opportunity to ask me a lot of questions, including about emails. So we had all this information in the public record. It would be the same as I would have said to anyone. And I think it was, important to speak in the public to release the emails. Which I’ve called for. And I think as soon as I have a chance to speak with others, I will do so.
BAIER: The State Department I.G. though wanted to talk to you and you didn’t want to do that.
CLINTON: It just didn’t even, what they wanted to ask we had already talked about. Talked about in the public arena. And look, I think that report actually — I think that report actually supported what I have been saying for years. The rules were not clarified.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: You said hundreds of people knew about the —
CLINTON: The practice was used by other secretaries of state. I said it was a mistake and I wouldn’t do it again.
BAIER: Secretary Clinton, you said you sent or received nothing that was marked classified. But you did sign a nondisclosure agreement, an NDA, in 2009 that said markings don’t matter whether it’s marked or unmarked. Do you remember signing that?
CLINTON: No, I do not. But the fact is, nothing that I sent or received was marked classified and nothing has been demonstrated to contradict that. So it is the fact, it was the fact when I first said it, it’s the fact that I’m saying it now. What you are seeing acted out is the desire of the different parts of the government to retroactively classify material so that it is not made public since I did ask that all my emails be made public. And this not an uncommon process. So again, I will just reiterate—nothing I sent or received at the time was marked classified.
BAIER: Very last thing. The Clinton Foundation investigation, the FBI investigation into the email, you’re saying zero chance that this is a problem for you. In this election.
CLINTON: Absolutely. That’s what I’m saying. That happens to be the truth.
BAIER: Secretary Clinton, we thank you for your time. We look forward to having you back on Fox sometime.
CLINTON: Thank you very much. Good to talk to you, Bret.JAMMU: All scientific delegations to foreign countries will now be led by eminent scientists and not by ministers, the Centre said on Saturday."We have taken a major decision may be for the first time in the last 60 years that a minister will not go to any of the conferences to the foreign countries as a head of the delegation", minister of state for science and technology, earth sciences, (independent charge), Jitendra Singh said."By this, scientists will get more opportunities and wider opportunities to interact with scientific fraternity with country and abroad. This is actually going to be useful for the country," Singh said.Replying to a question in this regard, the minister said "Our view in the science and technology is that all the conferences which are held in the country and abroad should have due participation by the scientists and technicians rather than political office bearers"."In this month, there are two international conferences scheduled in Santiago and Boston. It was told to me that a minister will lead the delegation", Singh said, adding "I told them (officials) please put an end to this practice. We will select those scientists who will have original presentation (to lead the delegation)."We will start this practice. On July 25, a delegation will go to (an the international science conference) under eminent scientist Dr Ragavan (as head of the delegation)", he added.Singh, who retired as a professor of diabetology & endocrinology, a consultant and clinical practitioner at Government Medical Hospital in Jammu, before entering politics, said, "There they would get preference. As far as I am concerned, I will not be volunteering to lead a scientific delegation. That is part of self-discipline."Jitendra Singh is greeted by officials after he assumed charge as minister of state."We intend to use science for social transformation of this country. We want to make it society-friendly and take it closer to involvement of the society at large", he added.Singh, who arrived as a minister, was given a rousing reception by the state BJP leadership and party workers here, and was taken in a mega car rally to the Kachi Chawani-based state headquarters.BREAKING AWAY Obama in New York’s Central Park while a student at Columbia University, to which he transferred as a junior in 1981. Six months after graduation he began a long romantic relationship with Genevieve, who, like him, kept a journal., From A.P. Images/Obama Presidential Campaign.
Barack Obama transferred from Occidental College to Columbia University in 1981, his junior year. Although he left Los Angeles with enough ambitious propulsion to carry him into a more active period, he instead receded into the most existentialist stretch of his life. As he put it himself decades later during an interview in the Oval Office, “I was leading a very ascetic existence, way too serious for my own good.” In most outward ways, compared with what had come before, his life in New York was a minimalist one, without the sprawling cast of characters that had surrounded him at Oxy and in Hawaii and Indonesia. He felt no attachment to Columbia or to the first jobs he landed after graduation. But it would be a misreading to say that he was tamping down his ambitions during that period. Just the opposite, in fact. If anything, his sense of destiny deepened. He was conducting an intense debate with himself over his past, present, and future, an internal struggle that he shared with only a few close friends, including his girlfriends, Alex McNear and Genevieve Cook, who kept a lasting record, one in letters, the other in her journal. “Where Am I Going?”
It is exponentially easier to look back at a life than to live it forward. In retrospect it becomes apparent that New York was crucial to Obama. If he had not quite found his place yet, he was learning in which directions not to go and how to avoid turns that would lead him off the path and into traps from which it would be hard to escape. Even when he was uncertain about much else, Obama seemed hyper-alert to avoiding a future he did not want. At age 20, Obama was a man of the world. He had never been to south-central Kansas or western Kenya, the homelands of his ancestors, yet his divided heritage from Africa and the American heartland had defined him from the beginning. He could not be of one place, rooted and provincial. From his years living in Indonesia, where he was fully immersed in Javanese schools and culture; from his adolescence in Hawaii, where he was in the polyglot sea of hapa and haole, Asians and islanders; from his mother’s long-term commitment to development work overseas; from his friendship with Pakistani students at Occidental and his extended visit to their country—from all of these he had experienced far more global diversity than the average college junior. He knew the ways of different cultures better than he knew himself.
Obama’s first apartment in New York, which he shared with Phil Boerner, a friend from Oxy, was at 142 West 109th Street. Heat and hot water were scarce commodities. When the nights turned colder, the roommates took to sleeping bags for warmth and spent as little waking time in the apartment as possible, holing up in Butler Library, at 114th, parts of which were open all night. Some mornings, eager to flee their quarters, they walked to the corner of Broadway and 112th to eat at Tom’s Restaurant, the place immortalized later as the fictional Monk’s, a familiar meeting place for the characters on Seinfeld. A full breakfast went for $1.99. The loneliness of Obama’s New York existence emerged in his letters to Alex McNear, a young woman from Occidental who had enchanted Obama when she was co-editing the literary magazine Feast, and with whom he reconnected when she spent the summer of 1982 in New York. Alex had always been fond of Barry, as she called him, and “thought he was interesting in a very particular way. He really worked his way through an idea or question, turned it over, looked at it from all sides, and then he came to a precise and elegant conclusion.” When Alex came to New York, she gave Obama a call. They met at an Italian restaurant on Lexington Avenue, and, as she remembered the night, “we sat and talked and ate and drank wine. Or at least I drank wine. I think he drank something stronger. It was one of those dark, old Italian restaurants that don’t exist in New York anymore. It was the kind of place where they leave you alone. I remember thinking how happy I felt just talking to him, that I could talk to him for hours |
wind power plant in Bandar-e Mahshahr with a capacity of 50 megawatts and value of 80 million euros,” he added.
The official highlighted that the German investor has agreed to provide technical knowledge, experience, skilled workforce, capital, technical and economic capabilities as well as necessary equipment for construction of the power plants.
Dashtbozorg asserted that the Iranian side had spared no effort to provide grounds for attraction of domestic and foreign investors to electricity industry of the region with particular attention to the renewable energy sector.
Also on the sidelines of the MoU signing ceremony, the German investor Andreas Langberg said “in view of Iran’s advancement and capabilities as well as its willingness to launch cooperation over construction of renewable power plants, we are eager to commence activities immediately.”
HA/3852295The growing frequency of mass shootings has done little to change the political stalemate over guns in Washington, with gun rights and gun control groups each declaring that the latest massacre — for now, the one in San Bernardino — supports their diametrically opposed arguments.
In this environment, no one can predict the future of gun policy in America. But at least one thing is certain: The team of political consultants at Purple Strategies will get paid.
The partners at Purple Strategies — a bipartisan lobbying firm and consulting agency formed in 2008 through a merger of Issue & Image, a Democratic-led company, and National Media, a Republican campaign firm — have developed business relationships on both sides of the gun control debate, working with both the National Rifle Association and Everytown for Gun Safety, the umbrella organization for pro-gun control advocacy groups.
Everytown did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Officials from the NRA declined to provide a comment for this article — although they did ask us for more information about Everytown’s ties to Purple Strategies.
A spokesperson for Purple Strategies denied that the firm has relationships on both sides of the gun policy debate.
“Purple does not and has not worked for the NRA. Purple contracted with Everytown for one poll,” Kristen Morgante, the chief operating officer of Purple Strategies, said in an email to The Intercept.
We had asked Morgante to describe what appeared to be a close relationship between Purple and National Media, Red Eagle Media Group, and the American Media & Advocacy Group, all of which had done work for the NRA.
“The founding partners of Issue & Image and National Media Public Affairs founded Purple, however, Purple Strategies operates independently and does not share clients or employees with any other company that you referenced,” Morgante wrote.
Notwithstanding Morgante’s claims, however, documents and business filings reviewed by The Intercept show considerable overlap between National Media and Purple Strategies when it comes to clients, staff, office space, and leadership.
Consider how this works for gun-related clients:
Everytown and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, two groups heavily funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg to enact gun restrictions, have relied on Purple Strategies’ Margie Omera and her firm, Momentum Analysis, for multiple polling services in 2014 and this year. Momentum Analysis was acquired by Purple Strategies in 2013. In a memo to Everytown, Omera identified herself as working for Purple Insights, “the in-house opinion research group at Purple Strategies.”
The NRA’s relationship with Purple and National Media is obscured through a network of affiliate companies. But documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission show that the NRA regularly buys political advertising through American Media & Advocacy Group and Red Eagle Media, two firms that share an address in Alexandria, Virginia, with Purple Strategies and National Media.
Records maintained by the Alexandria Circuit Court reveal that Red Eagle Media is an “assumed or fictitious” business created and owned by National Media. Robin Roberts, a co-founding partner of Purple Strategies and the president of National Media, registered the name.
FCC documents show that NRA ad buys made by Red Eagle Media and American Media & Advocacy Group were signed by Jon Ferrell, who is listed as an employee of National Media. Business filings show that National Media’s board includes Robin Roberts and Alex Castellanos, both of whom are founding partners of Purple Strategies.
The documents also suggest that the NRA has used National Media’s affiliates as significant media buyers over the last two campaign cycles.
Purple Strategies and National Media share more than just a common set of leaders. Records show that American Chemistry Council, America’s Health Insurance Plans, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have contracted simultaneously with National Media and Purple Strategies for media-related work. Purple Strategies’ Zibby Logie works as an operations manager for both Purple Strategies and National Media. Bradley Engle, before joining Bobby Jindal’s now-suspended presidential campaign, worked simultaneously for both firms over a number of years, according to his LinkedIn profile
In her email to The Intercept, Morgante warned against confusing National Media Public Affairs and National Media Research Planning and Placement — intimating that they were entirely different companies. But the distinction between them is unclear. A 2012 biographical sketch of Purple Strategies co-founder Robin Roberts, for instance, said, “In addition to managing the 50-person staff and day-to-day business operations of parent company National Media Inc., Roberts oversees all activity of National Media Research, Planning and Placement Company, and National Media Public Affairs Company.” Another bio, from 2004, describes Roberts as the leader of both companies, with the former described as a “political and public affairs media company” and the latter as an “independent communications firm.”
Purple Strategies’ Morgante claimed that her firm moved to 815 Slaters Lane in 2011, and “once that happened, National Media moved into a separate building so we share a parking lot and a legal mailing address.” I visited the office in October, asking to speak to Morgante or any other officials at the firm. I was sent away, and Morgante has not responded to any subsequent requests for comment. The lobby of Purple Strategies’ building at 815 Slaters Lane is adorned with National Media memorabilia, including a sign celebrating George W. Bush advertising efforts.
Activists on both the right and the left have long complained of a consultant-lobbyist establishment that gets rich no matter who wins.
“It’s typical Washington bullshittery for a firm to pretend that there is a ‘purple’ middle ground on our issue, but Purple is cynically speaking out of both sides of its mouth,” said Jonathan Hutson, the former chief communications officer of the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “You either want to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people or you want to put them in the hands of as many people as possible, whether they’re dangerous or not.”- A north Minneapolis woman says she caught a Minneapolis Police Officer on video shooting her two dogs while responding to a burglary call at the residence Saturday night.
Jennifer LeMay says her two Staffordshire bull terriers, Rocko and Ciroc, survived the incident--though both were injured and required extensive medical treatment.
The officer showed up at LeMay's house after her older daughter accidentally tripped their home security system, though he did not show up until a half hour after the alarm was cancelled.
According to their owner, both animals are service dogs--Ciroc helps maintain emotional regulation and alleviate anxiety while Rocco is trained to identify seizures for LeMay's children.
"I told the sergeant I would've rather he shoot me than my dogs," LeMay said Sunday. "These just aren’t our dogs, they’re family members.”
On the security camera footage, the officer turns his back on the scene and jumps the fence out of the yard after discharging his weapon.
"[My daughter] overheard the officer from the back like, 'well I know one of them's alive,'" LeMay said. "They might come back physically, but will we ever know if they come back mentally and emotionally?"
The Minneapolis Police Department acknowledged the incident in a release Sunday, saying that the incident, per standard procedure, is under investigation.
We are aware of the recent incident involving MPD officers responding to an audible residential burglary alarm and while at this call an MPD officer discharged their firearm, striking two dogs belonging to the homeowner. Anytime an officer discharges their firearm in the line of duty there is an investigation that is completed by the Minneapolis Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit. We are in the process of reviewing the video posted online, as well as the officer's body camera video. We have reached out to the owner of the dogs and will continue to do so during the investigation. At this time there is no further information we can release.
A GoFundMe page was also created to help LeMay pay for the dogs' medical bills.Yet another movie cross promotion deal.
If you go to a CoCo Ichiban Curry House in Japan and show a 1000 Yen receipt, you can enter a sweepstakes for one of the 5 following goods:
An original 3D poster themed after the Restaurant featuring Yugi, Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. (300 People get this) A Kaiba Corp Briefcase (250 people get this) 5 Curry Plate Set that form Exodia the Forbidden One (300 People get this) A calculator with a Yu-Gi-Oh! themed case (300 People get this) A 1000 Yen Curry House Meal Ticket (1000 people get this)
Buy 1000 Yen worth of food, show the picture provided by the QR code provided for buying the Curry, you get 1 card. Customers are limited to 3 of each card. Max of 100,000 copies in Japan for each. No QR code, no card.
Dark Magician is available April 1st, 2016
Blue-Eyes White Dragon is available April 23rd, 2016
Source: Weekly Shonen JumpSports columnist Bart Hubbuch announced Monday that he was fired from the New York Post for a tweet equating President Trump’s inauguration with the 9/11 and Pearl Harbor attacks.
Mr. Hubbuch has since deleted the Jan. 20 tweet, which was briefly pinned to the top of his page.
“12/7/41. 9/11/01. 1/20/17,” he wrote, according to a screenshot captured by Bartsool Sports.
He also deleted a subsequent apology, which said he let his emotions “get the best” of him.
“My sincere apologies for comparing this day to 9/11. It was insensitive and wrong, and I shouldn’t have done it,” he wrote, according to screenshots obtained by Awful Announcing.
In a tweet Monday night, Mr. Hubbuch announced that he was fired by the New York Post after a decade writing for the newspaper because he expressed his “personal belief that Donald Trump becoming President of the United States is a national tragedy.”
A Post spokesperson told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Mr. Hubbuch had shown a pattern of bad judgment on social media and his inauguration tweet was the last straw.
“We expect our reporters to interact with the public, including on social media, in a professional manner,” the rep said. “Unfortunately, Mr. Hubbuch has engaged in a pattern of unprofessional conduct and exhibited serious lack of judgment, including most recently showing disrespect for the victims of Pearl Harbor and 9/11.”
It’s not the first time Mr. Hubbuch has made headlines with his provocative tweets. In September, he briefly deleted his Twitter account amid backlash from Boston sports fans over a tweet noting the “totally not-shocking fact” that Jacoby Brisset would be the first black quarterback to start in the Patriots’ 57-year history, Awful Announcing reported at the time.
And on Aug. 26, 2015, Mr. Hubbuch sparked controversy for a tweet calling the tragic shooting of two TV journalists in Virginia a “proud moment” for the National Rifle Association.
“Horrifying. Another proud moment for the NRA. Thank you, NYC, for your strict gun laws!” he wrote just hours after WDBJ7 journalists Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were fatally shot during a live report in Moneta. Mr. Hubbuch spent several hours defending the tweet before eventually deleting it.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.One of my friends, who works in a strategic role at American Federation of Teachers, is Iranian-American. I asked him a few weeks ago whom he called in Iran; if I remember correctly (I’ve been asking a lot of Iranian-Americans whom they call in Iran) he said it was mostly his grandmother, who’s not a member of the Republican Guard or even close. Still, according to the statement that Dianne Feinstein had confirmed by NSA Director Keith Alexander, calls “related to Iran” are fair game for queries of the dragnet database of all Americans’ phone metadata.
Chances are slim that my friend’s calls to his grandmother are among the 300 identifiers the NSA queried last year, unless (as is possible) they monitored all calls to Iran. But nothing in the program seems to prohibit it, particularly given the government’s absurdly broad definitions of “related to” for issues of surveillance and its bizarre adoption of a terrorist program to surveil another nation-state. And if someone chose to query on my friend’s calls to his grandmother, using the two-degrees-of-separation query they have used in the past would give the government — not always the best friend of teachers unions — a pretty interesting picture of whom the AFT was partnering with and what it had planned.
In other words, nothing in the law or the known minimization rules of the Business Records provision would seem to protect some of the AFT’s organizational secrets just because they happen to employ someone whose grandmother is in Iran. That’s not the only obvious way labor discussions might come under scrutiny; Colombian human rights organizers with tangential ties to FARC is just one other one.
When I read labor organizer Louis Nayman’s “defense of PRISM,” it became clear he’s not aware of many details of the programs he defended. Just as an example, Nayman misstated this claim:
According to NSA officials, the surveillance in question has prevented at least 50 planned terror attacks against Americans, including bombings of the New York City subway system and the New York Stock Exchange. While such assertions from government officials are difficult to verify independently, the lack of attacks during the long stretch between 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings speaks for itself.
Keith Alexander didn’t say NSA’s use of Section 702 and Section 215 have thwarted 50 planned attacks against Americans; those 50 were in the US and overseas. He said only around 10 of those plots were in the United States. That works out to be less than 20% of the attacks thwarted in the US just between January 2009 and October 2012 (though these programs have existed for a much longer period of time, so the percentage must be even lower). And there are problems with three of the four cases publicly claimed by the government — from false positives and more important tips in the Najibullah Zazi case, missing details of the belated arrest of David Headley, to bogus claims that Khalid Ouazzan ever planned to attack NYSE. The sole story that has stood up to scrutiny is some guys who tried to send less than $10,000 to al-Shabaab.While that doesn’t mean the NSA surveillance programs played no role, it does mean that the government’s assertions of efficacy (at least as it pertains to terrorism) have proven to be overblown.
Yet from that, Nayman concludes these programs have “been effective in keeping us safe” (given Nayman’s conflation of US and overseas, I wonder how families of the 166 Indians Headley had a hand in killing feel about that) and defends giving the government legal access (whether they’ve used it or not) to — among other things — metadata identifying the strategic partners of labor unions with little question.
And details about the success of the program are not the only statements made by top National Security officials that have proven inaccurate or overblown. That’s why Nayman would be far better off relying on Mark Udall and Ron Wyden as sources for whether or not the government can read US person emails without probable cause than misstating what HBO director David Simon has said (Simon said that entirely domestic communications require probable cause, which is generally but not always true). And not just because the Senators are actually read into these programs. After the Senators noted that Keith Alexander had “portray[ed] protections for Americans’ privacy as being significantly stronger than they actually are” — specifically as it relates to what the government can do with US person communications collected “incidentally” to a target — Alexander withdrew his claims.
Nayman says, “As people who believe in government, we cannot simply assume that officials are abusing their lawfully granted responsibility and authority to defend our people from violence and harm.” I would respond that neither should we simply assume they’re not abusing their authority, particularly given evidence those officials have repeatedly misled us in the past.
Nayman then admits, “We should do all we can to assure proper oversight any time a surveillance program of any size and scope is launched.” But a big part of the problem with these programs is that the government has either not implemented or refused such oversight. Some holes in the oversight of the program are:
NSA has not said whether queries of the metadata dragnet database are electronically recorded; both SWIFT and a similar phone metadata program queries have been either sometimes or always oral, making them impossible to audit
The FISC does not itself audit this metadata access and — given Dianne Feinstein’s uncertainty about what queries consist of — it appears neither do the Intelligence Committees; Adam Schiff recommended this practice but Keith Alexander was resistant
The government opposed mandated Inspector General reviews of the Section 215 use in the last PATRIOT Act renewal; while DOJ’s Inspector General is, on his predecessors own initiative, reviewing its use, he’s only now reviewing the program as it existed four years ago
DOJ and CIA’s Inspectors General have limited ability to review what FBI and CIA do with the unminimized data they get form NSA’s Section 702 collection (though DOJ’s IG does have the authority to review what the NSA does)
The government refuses to count (and doesn’t appear to document) what happens with the US person information “incidentally” collected under Section 702 that is subsequently searched or read
That’s just a partial list. And all that’s before you get to things we know the government does with this data, like keeping encrypted communications indefinitely, treating threats to property as threats to human life, and only respecting attorney-client privilege for indicted defendants (Note, the first two of these are some of the exceptions to Simon’s assertion that entirely domestic communications require probable cause).
How does someone looking to “level the playing field between concentrated privilege and the rest of us” defend a program that secretly treats corporate property as human life?
Ultimately, though, Nayman seems most worried about empowering the dwindling TeaParty movement.
So, let’s be very careful about doing the Tea Party’s dirty work by running to the defense of every leaker with the inclination and means to poke a stick in the government’s eye.
This displays another misunderstanding about who on the right really opposes these programs. While Rand Paul has — as he did earlier with the drone program — offered clown show legislation to play off worries about these programs, Justin Amash is the TeaParty figure most legitimately active in countering these programs (and he has been disempowered by his own party). Amash is joined in his efforts by progressive stalwarts like Barbara Lee and Zoe Lofgren, along with a fascinating mix of others, including paleocons. In the Senate, Mike Lee has been the most effective quiet champion of efforts to bring more oversight to the program, but he has been joinedby Lisa Murkowksi and Dean Heller. And often not Rand Paul.
Meanwhile, Nayman is joined in his position attacking Edward Snowden by TeaParty Caucus Chair Michele Bachmann.One of the biggest problems with blindly trusting the government on these programs is that they’ve secretly breached First Amendment Freedom of Association for some, including Iranian-Americans, those who encrypt their email, and those who might threaten corporate property. Without unfettered Freedom of Association, the power of labor unions and all others fighting for the rights of working men and women is at risk.
Nayman may be comfortable with that risk so long as we have a Democratic president (though teachers unions are one of the labor groups that should not be). But one President’s labor organizer may be the next President’s terrorist. And with this dragnet infrastructure in place, it will be far too late at that point to reverse this power grab.
Marcy Wheeler blogs at Emptywheel.Loons star tallies hat trick, assist in landslide victory over Carolina
Photo credit: Minnesota United
Minnesota United FC forward Christian Ramirez soared to the top of the North American Soccer League (NASL) scoring chart after scoring a hat trick in the Loons’ 5-1 win over the Carolina RailHawks at NSC Stadium on Saturday. As a result of his performance, the 25-year-old forward was named NASL Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
In the first half alone, Ramirez struck twice in a span of four minutes and added an assist to send Minnesota on its way to a comfortable victory. With his side up 4-0 in the 75th minute, the Santa Ana, Calif., native completed his hat trick, dispatching a pass from midfielder Danny Cruz.
"It means a lot for our team to start the Fall Season on the front foot like we did this weekend, and being able to score my first professional hat trick at home in front of our crowd was special," Ramirez said. "As a player, you’re always looking to continuously prove yourself and improve, so it’s nice to see all the hard work paying off. But it wouldn't be possible without my teammates and coaches putting me in a situation to be successful and trusting me on the field."
The Loons, who finished the Spring Season just two points behind first-place Indy Eleven, couldn’t have started the Fall Season any better. Head coach Carl Craig’s side jumped all over the visiting RailHawks, going into the locker room with a 3-0 lead at halftime. A goal from Tiago Calvano, plus Ramirez’s third, put United up five goals before Carolina midfielder Matt Watson prevented the shutout with a consolation goal in stoppage time.
With the hat trick, Ramirez passed Indy’s Eamon Zayed for the league lead in goals with eight. The 6-foot-2 forward has been a consistent scorer for Minnesota since joining the club in 2014, and a performance like the one on Saturday suggests he may just be returning to the form that saw him win the NASL Golden Boot award (top scorer) in his first year.
"Christian is the ultimate team player and for the ultimate team player to get a hat trick is absolutely wonderful," Craig said. "It's a lovely reward for a player who does so much for the club, on and off the field. As a club, there's not a single player that would begrudge any accolade Christian receives."
Ramirez and the Loons take their momentum on the road to Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis, where they fell to Spring Season Champion Indy Eleven, 4-2, on May 21. Minnesota will look to get its revenge against Indy this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the game set to be featured on national TV on beIN SPORTS.Aparigraha - non-acquisition
Jainism believes that the more a person possesses in worldly wealth the more he may be unhappy and the more likely he is to commit sin, both physically and mentally. A Jain study guide
Jains believe that possessions are an obstacle to liberation.
Jain monks have virtually no possessions, while lay Jains try to minimise their possessions.
The spiritual problem is that people form attachments to possessions. They hoard their wealth and desire more possessions: possessions become an end in themselves. This gets in the way of detachment and spiritual growth.
Security born of material things is a delusion. To remove this delusion, one takes the vow of non-possession and realizes the perfection of the soul. Mahavira
Monks and non-acquisition
A Jain monk seeks to be completely free from acquisitiveness in thought and actions. He only seeks the minimum of food and shelter required to live.
Digambara monks, for example, have virtually no property at all; they live entirely naked without even a bowl to eat from. The only possessions they carry are a whisk broom to sweep insects from their path to avoid harming them, and a water pot.
Lay Jains and non-acquisition
Lay Jains do have possessions.
They follow the principle of aparigraha by limiting their possessions to what they need - and those needs are not just the minimum to sustain life, but depend on their position in society and the size of their family.
However Jains should avoid conspicuous consumption and personal luxuries, and they should not hoard their wealth.
One tradition says that a Jain should live on half their income, save a quarter of their income for their old age, or for times of sickness, and give the last quarter to charity.
Non-acquisition and time
The idea of non-acquisition is sometimes expanded to prevent people being selfish with their time and their talent. As a result Jains feel that they should take part in projects that benefit the Jain community around them, or other beings (for example, in India, Jains are known for their support of animal shelters).
Practical consequences of non-acquisition
The Jain doctrine of non-acquisition could lead to more equal distribution of wealth in Jain society. To modern eyes non-acquisition is an ecologically sound doctrine as it leads Jains to minimise their use of resources.
Religious attitudes to possessions
A discussion of poverty and non-acquisitiveness featuring a former Jain monk, a former director of Christian Aid and the head of the Jewish Care charity.The Law of World Cup Brazil
On June 5th 2012, the President of the Republic of Brazil sanctioned, with vetoes, the Law nr. 12.663, the General Law of the World Cup in Brazil.
Read the commented version of the Law of the World Cup Brazil.
If you need a version without comments, check the Full Text of the General World Cup Law.
To read the official version of the Law in Portuguese, click here.
What is the General Law of the World Cup?
To FIFA, the World Cup is a business, which must generate profits.
For a country to be chosen to host a World Cup, the country must agree with several demands by FIFA (according to this note, the President of the Brazilian Confederation signed a 900 page document where the Federal Government and the Governments of the then 18 candidates to host cities agreed to FIFA's requirements), so that FIFA can be sure that the event will be profitful.
It may happen though (and it usually does), that the laws of the country don't give FIFA the certainty that their demands will be met.
Brazil was chosen in 2007 the host city of the World Cup 2014 and the Confederations Cup 2013.
FIFA understood that, among others, points like protection to trademarks, visa grantings and definition of liabilites were not sufficiently comprehensive or clear in Brazilian legislation.
The Law nr 12.663, the General Law of World Cup, was approved (not without disputes and controversies, see more information further below) to satisfy FIFA's requirements.
The version below, with comments made by a Brazilian familiar with the customs of the country, may help better understand the law.
Read this commented version of the Law of the World Cup Brazil.
If you need a version without comments, click to access the Full Text of the General World Cup Law.
Comments about the Law
The Law comprises 71 articles, divided in ten chapters, some of them sub-divided in sections.
Below, a brief description of each of the ten chapters, with direct links to each chapter.
»Chapter I. Preliminary Provisions. Articles 1 and 2.
»Chapter II. Protection of Commercial Rights. Articles 3 to 18.
Section I. Special Protection to Trademarks Related to the World Cup Events.
Section II. Areas of Special Commercial Restrictions.
Section III. Restrictions to Capture and Broadcast of Sounds and Images.
Section IV. Civil Sanctions.
»Chapter III. Visas and Work Permits. Articles 19 to 21.
»Chapter IV. Civil Liabilities of the Brazilian Government. Articles 22 to 24.
»Chapter V. Tickets. Articles 25 to 27.
»Chapter VI. Conditions to Enter and Stay in the Official Venues of Competition. Article 28.
»Chapter VII. Social Campaigns in the Events. Article 29.
»Chapter VIII. Criminal Provisions. Articles 30 to 36.
»Chapter IX. Permanent Provisions. Articles 37 to 50.
»Chapter X. Final Provisions. Articles 51 to 71.
http://www.in.gov.br/visualiza/index.jsp?data=08/08/2012&jornal=1&pagina=49&totalArquivos=136Maksim, who is a year and a half old, is from Donetsk | Simon Peek
Kiev — During a midnight cab-ride, the taxi driver tells me: “No, no, I’m not a Kievyanin. ’I’m from Donetsk. Back home I was a manager, small company, we sold and installed air-conditioning.”
The chauffeur tells a sad tale that is heard all over Kiev currently, but he is one of the lucky ones. Despite the evident fortune that he got out of Donetsk unharmed and together with his family, he has work. Which, despite having to scale down his career path, is something many IDPs are hoping for.
There are at least 450,00 internally displaced people, or IDPs in Ukraine according to the latest data published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on November 6.
According to that report, more than ninety-five percent of these people have fled from eastern Ukraine as a result of the ongoing violence there; the remainder, 19,157 persons, came from Crimea after it was annexed by Russia.
At a parking lot nearby the charming Andreyevskiy Descent in Kiev’s old town, several aid huts that are provisionally assembled on the concrete. ‘The Volunteer Hundred’ (Volonterskaya Sotnya), who house this lot, are a local charity organization.
Founded from several volunteers unions by Arseniy Finberg, Alyona Druzhinina and Marina Lisak, the Sotnya support internally displaced people (IDP’s) in Kiev with clothing, toys, weekly food packages and other essentials during their first 45 days in the city, they lend aid to hundreds of people on a daily basis.
“We help 100-200 people a day, and around 900 receive food packages on Saturdays,” Finberg said. The Volunteer Hundred is just one of the many organizations that have come to aid and Kievans have donated enough garments to supply even regional aid associations.
Somewhere around 39,000 people have registered for help in Kiev, and another 14,000 are fanned out in Kiev’s region. But the numbers are far from resembling the true amount of displaced, because not everybody chooses to register.
Those who don’t register are not entitled to any humanitarian or governmental aid, including compensation for damaged property back home, and support from organisations like Sotnya. They are also invisible in the official data, leading unofficial guessed to rise as high as one million IDPs.
Some, who can afford it, stay in the many hostels and hotels that Kiev houses, originally intended for tourists, now filled to the brim with Ukrainians.
“Register? What’s the use?” Maria, a young lawyer from Donetsk said, inhaling her cigarette. Maria stays in a hostel dorm. “The government won’t do anything, they can’t do anything, they don’t have any money, it’s is all being used for other purposes.”
After enduring a two day shelling in a basement with her family, she decided to leave.
“The people of Donetsk were just sitting around, like this,” Maria crossed her arms, “we couldn’t do anything. When it was over I decided there was no point in staying.”
Maria’s parents and grandmother are still in Donetsk, they are unable to travel due to health problems and the pets they have to take care of. Again, a common story for those left behind.
It is not only the cynical and economically independent that shy away from registering. Some, marked by the intimidation they have endured back home, fear registering might do them harm:
“It’s dangerous to register,” Natalia Alexandrevna, a doctor from Donetsk exclaimed. “I don’t know how they get the information, but if you register, your information is being passed on to the DNR. [‘Donetsk People’s Republic’].”
Although her claim is unverified, according to Ms. Alexandrevna this information-leak can lead to threats of bodily harm against the registered or their family members and their property.
Oldrich Andrysek, UNHCR Regional Representative in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, partially validates Natalia’s concern.
“People are realistically threatened that if they officially leave, their apartments will be nationalized,” he said.
It remains a question whether this situation can be ascribed to a lack of confidentiality of the registrants’ personal information, like Ms. Alexandrevna said, or whether the absence of rule-of-law in the rebel-held territories simple leads to ownership violations – a plausible explanation.
Unfortunately, no government official was available for commentary.
Meanwhile, for the government, the IDP’s are only one of the many acute problems that unexpectedly face Ukraine, but legislation has finally been drafted to aptly assist the displaced:
On October 15, a centralized registration system was launched (before this IDP’s were only locally recorded), and on October 20 the law “On ensuring of rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons,” was passed, defining what exactly an IDP is.
However, it will still take a while before the legislations will be fully operative.
And time is running out when it comes to helping the displaced, because even though the weather has been remarkably cooperative this fall, the ferocious Ukrainian winter is readily approaching.
AP reports of inhumane living conditions for the people who are left behind in Donetsk, about a half of the original population, without heating, running water or even a roof above their heads.
Rebel control thus far has made it impossible to get the necessary security clearance that international aid organizations require to access a region, and government subsidies, like pensions, in many cases haven’t been paid in months.
On October 20, Russian Human Rights Ombudsman Ella Pamfilova told Rossiskaya Gazeta she expected a new wave of refugees from Ukraine in Russia, because, she said, “winter is coming.” Mr. Andrysek shares this concern.
“Yes I also think there will be an upcoming increase [of IDP’s],” Andrysek said. “People will move. When situations become unbearable, people move.”
The increase in military activity due to new arms supplies on the separatists’ side these past weeks do not bode well either.
Kiev, though, as well as Kharkiv, are packed to full capacity, bringing even the people that have registered and found housing to desperation.
“Who needs me here?” Sasha, a twenty-six-year-old sports trainer from Lugansk, asked. “I can’t practice my profession here. I don’t have my diplomas. What can I do? Who needs me here?”
Sasha valiantly added that he would simply go back to Lugansk if circumstances did not improve in a month, to lament only a moment after:
“What would I do there? There are no prospects there, and winter is coming.”CTV Vancouver
One year after the B.C. government promised a crackdown on left-lane bandits, the actual number of fines dished out may surprise you.
A total of 130 tickets for $167 have been issued for the bad driving behaviour across the entire province, according to numbers from ICBC.
That includes 21 tickets issued in Chilliwack, 18 in Langley, 17 in Surrey and a dozen each in Richmond and Burnaby.
Police said since the law is still fairly new, they’ve been handing out more warnings than tickets.
The B.C. Ministry of Transportation introduced the new fine last year, along with an additional penalty of three driver demerit points.
Regulations against camping out in the left lane already existed in the Motor Vehicle Act, but the government said they were unclear.
Drivers on multi-lane highways where the speed is more than 80 kilometres an hour must stay on the right unless they’re passing another vehicle, allowing traffic to merge, preparing for a left-hand turn, or passing an official vehicle displaying a flashing light.
The rules don’t apply in the middle of slowed-down congestion or on empty highways.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s St. John AlexanderThere’s an ironic exchange in the great film, My Dinner with Andre, in which Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn talk about the demise of theater. I say it’s ironic because this movie was made more than 30 years ago and if they thought live theater was in the crapper back then, well… they had no idea what they were talking about!
Any playwright worth their salt is probably aware of a theater that is going through hard times or one that shut down because it couldn’t raise money. And yet, year after year, I run into playwrights who act as though it has nothing to do with them.
I believe they think they are somehow removed from the economic reality of theater, which is simply not true. I believe they do this because they simply do not understand who their competition is, who they’re playing against. It would be like an NBA player, LeBron James let’s say, feeling he was doing a fine job if he could beat the kids at the local elementary school.
Now, I’m not saying playwrights these days far too often aim for the elementary school… It’s actually worse than that! Because too many playwrights are writing for an audience raised on George Bernard Shaw, Tennessee Williams, Neil Simon, and even William Shakespeare. But they’re not.
They are not.
Audiences today could give a shit about George Bernard Shaw. If they want Tennessee Williams, they’ll watch A Streetcar Named Desire or Cat On A Hot Tin Roof on cable – that’s TV. Heck, they may not even watch it on TV. They may not watch it at all. And Shakespeare? William Shakespeare? They’re sick to death of William Shakespeare!
The problem with playwrights is that they think their competition is other playwrights. They think their world of theater is insular, competing within itself.
That’s not true. It never was true.
As a playwright, I know my competition isn’t theater. It has nothing to do with theater. (And, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the same goes for most audiences. They have nothing to do with theater.) My competition is Marvel’s The Avengers, showing in 3D on IMAX screens. My competition is Halo 4. My competition is 41 million different cable channels and a world of exciting things. It is NASCAR and snowboarding and the next Bond flick.
My competition is a world filled with things far |
Shepherd crew as they went after an illegal Norwegian whaling vessel. Sea Shepherd crew ended up sinking this vessel and they were not charged for doing this because the vessel had more illegal behavior than expected.[22] The group started the new decade with a clean up after the oil spill by Petrobras Oil Company. Sea Shepherd helped clean up and set up ways to rescue the wildlife affected by the spill and were contracted by The Rio government to help with this devastation to the ocean.[22] In some cases in the 2000s, they cooperated with official government efforts against maritime poaching, such as in Costa Rican waters, though the agreements often did not last long before conflict ensued.[23] 2008 was another big year for Sea Shepherd in managing the waterways. They took two trips around Antarctica to disturb illegal whaling practices that went on.[22]
However, there is increasing co-operation with national governments in assisting anti-poaching activity in national territorial waters and marine reserves, including in 2016 with the Italian Coast guard in Sicily (Operation Siracusa), Mexican Navy (Operation Milagro) and the Coastguards of Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe (Operation Albacore) which included having Gabonese military marines aboard.
Starting in September 2010, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has positioned a crew in Taiji, Japan to monitor and report their annual dolphin drive hunt.[citation needed]
Organization [ edit ]
Sea Shepherd Flag
Sea Shepherd is a non-governmental, non-profit environmental organization. In the United States it has a 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Most of the organization's revenue—83.2 percent—is spent on its programs, while 16.7 percent of revenue is spent on administrative and fundraising.[24] It is supported by private and corporate donations, lectures by Watson, internet advertising,[12] and grants. The group is operated by volunteers and a small number of paid staff.[12] Watson says he is committed to keeping his organization small, and does not believe in spending money on fundraising or recruitment.[12]
Sea Shepherd is governed by a board of directors, including Watson. The organization has several boards of advisers, each addressing an area of expertise. The Scientific, Technical, and Conservation Advisory Board includes Earth First! founder Dave Foreman and Horst Klienschmidt, a former deputy chair of the International Whaling Commission (2006). The Legal and Law Enforcement Advisory Board includes Ian Campbell, a former Australian Minister of the Environment and Heritage (2004–07) whom whaling groups had accused of having inappropriate and close ties with the organization.[25][26] The Animal Welfare, Humane and Animal Rights Advisory Board included animal rights philosopher Tom Regan, until his death in 2017. The Media and Arts Advisory Board includes several major Hollywood stars. There is a Photography Advisory Board and a Financial and Management Advisory Board.[27]
Activism [ edit ]
Sea Shepherd engages in conventional protests and direct actions to protect marine wildlife. Sea Shepherd operations have included interdiction against commercial fishing, shark poaching and finning, seal hunting, and whaling.[13][28] The group has been active in intervening against fishing and poaching in the South Pacific, the Mediterranean, and in waters around the Galapagos Islands. In addition to their direct action campaigns, Sea Shepherd also works on ocean issues such as plastic pollution. Sea Shepherd chapters across the world organize onshore cleanups throughout the year to pick up debris near oceans, streams, and rivers. In April 2018, Sea Shepherd released a PSA that takes an artistic approach to telling us that more than 1 million marine animals die every year from plastic debris.[29]
According to its mission statement, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society "uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas".[30] Those actions have included scuttling and disabling commercial whaling vessels at harbor, using limpet mines to blow holes in ship hulls,[5] ramming other vessels, throwing glass bottles of butyric acid on the decks of vessels at sea, boarding of whaling vessels while at sea, and seizure and destruction of drift nets at sea. As of 2009, Paul Watson has said that the organization has sunk ten whaling ships while also destroying millions of dollars worth of equipment.[31] Their practice of attacking and sinking other ships has led to reports of injuries to other sailors as well as the Sea Shepherd crew, including concussions and complications from chemical attacks.[32][33]
Watson considers the actions of Sea Shepherd to be against criminal operations and has called the group an anti-poaching organization.[21] Critics claim that Sea Shepherd's actions constitute violations of international law,[34] while Watson has stated that Sea Shepherd believes that their actions constitute an attempt to enforce international conservation laws and international maritime law under the World Charter for Nature adopted by the United Nations.[35][36] Australia has declared Japan's hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to be illegal, and federal court judge Jim Allsop has stated "there is no practical mechanism by which orders of this court can be enforced".[37] The lack of official enforcement mechanisms in that law prompted the Society to adopt, without official sanction, what it sees as a law enforcement mission. A 2008 academic paper by researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria concluded that the group "may be best categorized as a vigilante group, because they say they are seeking to enforce a legal status quo because of states' and the international community's inabilities or unwillingness to do so".[20]
Watson left Greenpeace in 1977 after being expelled from the board of directors due to his confrontational methods.[38] Since then, Greenpeace has criticized Sea Shepherd for the group's tactics,[39] particularly regarding its interaction with whaling ships while at sea. The rival environmental group maintains Sea Shepherd is a violent organization whose tactics may endanger the lives of fishermen and whalers.[40][41] Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities.[5] Greenpeace is also critical of the group on its website and state: "By making it easy to paint anti-whaling forces as dangerous, piratical terrorists, Sea Shepherd could undermine the forces within Japan which could actually bring whaling to an end".[2] Both groups protest the Japanese whale hunts in the Southern Ocean but Greenpeace has a policy to not assist Sea Shepherd in finding the whalers. In his 2009 book, Whaling in Japan, Jun Morikawa states that Sea Shepherd's confrontational tactics have actually strengthened Japan's resolve to continue with its whaling program. According to Morikawa, Sea Shepherd's activities against Japan's whaling ships have allowed the Japanese government to rally domestic support for the program from Japanese who were otherwise ambivalent about the practice of hunting and eating whales.[42]
Sea Shepherd has been criticized and sometimes physically attacked by people in several of the countries they protest against. In March 1995, a mob of Canadian seal hunters stormed the hotel where members were staying. They fled while the mob ransacked their room.[43] In November 1998, Makah seized an inflatable boat belonging to the group and threw rocks at the Sea Shepherd's Sirenian in response to protests over their whale hunt.[44] In 2005, 11 Sea Shepherd crew were involved in an altercation with sealers while on the ice. The sealers were not charged with any crime, but the activists were arrested and later convicted for approaching too close to the hunt.[45][46][47] In 2008, fishermen in the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon cut the mooring lines of the Farley Mowat after hearing Watson make disparaging comments about the deaths of four seal hunters.[48] In February 2010, pro-whaling demonstrators gathered outside the Australian Embassy in Tokyo to protest the group. A political activist said that Sea Shepherd's actions were "absolutely racial discrimination against Japanese people".[49] In response, Sea Shepherd stated that they also oppose whaling in the Faroe Islands, sealing in Canada, etc. In response to the events of the sinking of the MY Ady Gil in January 2010, Glenn Inwood, whose firm handles public relations on behalf of the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, accused Sea Shepherd of being "hostile eco-terrorists".[16] In March 2014 the International Court of Justice ruled Japan's whaling program was not for scientific purposes. The Court ordered that Japan "revoke any extant authorization, permit or licence to kill, take or treat whales" and refrain from granting any further permits."[50]
As a response to the court ruling, Japan has cut its annual whaling quota from 915 to 333. The new quota includes only minke whales, while the hunting of humpback whales and Fin whales ceased.[51] Paul Watson said "I think we've done an amazing job reducing their quotas and saving whales," and has gone on to claim that the actions of Sea Shepherd and the publicity generated was a major factor behind Japan's decision.[52]
In the summer of 2017, Japan passed new anti-terrorism legislation in view of the coming 2020 Olympics. Among others, the new law declare the presence of eco-activist vessels near whalers a terrorist offence. Citing the new laws, Sea Shepherd declared it will stop sending their ships to the Antarctic Ocean against Japanese whaling ships. Sea Shepherd has also pointed out that their vessels were being tracked through the use of Japanese military surveillance satellites. These combined measures were deemed to make Sea Shepherd's Antarctic operations no longer productive. According to Watson, his organisation "cannot compete with their military-grade technology".[53][54]
Public relations [ edit ]
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has received attention from the press and been called "media savvy".[13][55] The group has worked with journalists and has made statements through press releases to spread its message during various campaigns.[56][57]
Watson's public relations efforts are shown in an episode of Whale Wars when he creates an international "media storm"[58] after two crewmembers are detained on a Japanese whaling vessel. In his book, Earthforce!, Watson advises readers to make up facts and figures when they need to, and to deliver them to reporters confidently.[12] He also states that the "truth is irrelevant" due to the nature of mass media.[59] In response to criticism that he manipulates the media, Watson has stated: "What we do is provide the media with the kind of stories they can't resist... and this is how we bring attention to what's happening to the whales, the seals, the sharks and the other marine conservation campaigns we're involved in."[5]
Sea Shepherd has also used satellite uplinks, webcams, and internet blogging during its operations in the Southern Ocean, and has invited the media to ride along.[60] In 2006, representatives from Seven network and National Geographic magazine, along with documentary filmmakers, accompanied the group.[13] In a television series entitled Whale Wars, Discovery Communications, Inc. documented Sea Shepherd's 2008/09 Antarctic campaign against Japanese whalers, following events on the Steve Irwin.[5] The program premiered on November 7, 2008, on Discovery's Animal Planet network.
Sea Shepherd has received financial contributions from celebrities and businessmen such as entrepreneur Steve Wynn, television personality Bob Barker, and John Paul DeJoria, as well as other celebrities.[12][12][21] Martin Sheen, Daryl Hannah, and Richard Dean Anderson have joined the group during protests. Actors including Edward Norton, Pierce Brosnan, Christian Bale, Clive Standen and Emily Deschanel have supported the group through contributions,[5] while William Shatner has also been mentioned as supporting the group.[61] Actress and model Pamela Anderson is an active spokesperson for the group, has participated in several campaigns, served on the Board of Directors and is a close friend of founder Paul Watson. In 2007, actor Heath Ledger conceived and directed a music video of the Modest Mouse song "King Rat", intended to raise awareness of the whale hunts taking place each year off the coast of his native Australia. Although Ledger died before the video could be completed, others finished it in his honor and debuted the video online in August 2009. Proceeds from iTunes sales of the video in its first month of release were donated to Sea Shepherd.[62][63]
From the music industry, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Leona Lewis, Rick Rubin, and the groups Hawkwind, The Red Paintings, Propagandhi, Gojira, Parkway Drive, Heaven Shall Burn, Stick to Your Guns, The Amity Affliction and Architects have financially supported Sea Shepherd.[21] Architects vocalist Sam Carter is also one of Sea Shepherd's British ambassadors.[64] Vegan straight edge band Earth Crisis has supported SSCS, among other environmental organizations, dedicating songs such as "So Others Live" and "Ultramilitance" to them.[65][66] Giacomo "Josh" Giorgi, vocalist of now-defunct Italian straight edge hardcore band To Kill is the bosun's mate aboard the MY Steve Irwin.[67] In 2009, professional surfer Kelly Slater joined a Quiksilver Australia/Sea Shepherd partnership featuring a fund-raising clothing line, including board shorts designed by Slater.[68] In 2013 alt-metal band Klogr started supporting Sea Shepherd in Europe through the videos "Guinea Pigs" (2013) and "Zero Tolerance" (2014), featuring images from Sea Shepherd documentaries filmed in Taiji and other missions.
The Lush cosmetics company joined with Sea Shepherd to raise awareness about the practice of shark finning in 2008. Lush produced 'Shark Fin Soap' (punning on'shark fin soup'); all sale proceeds were directed to Sea Shepherd.[69] To launch the soap and awareness campaign a performance artist suspended herself, using hooks in her flesh, in a Lush shopfront window in London.[70]
In Tasmania, Sea Shepherd has been banned from participation in the Australian Wooden Boat Festival on the grounds that its presence could jeopardize the reputation of the organization which aims to celebrate maritime heritage, but not modern maritime issues in Australian waters.[71]
Governmental response [ edit ]
In testimony on "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism" given to a US congressional subcommittee in 2002, Sea Shepherd was the first group mentioned by an FBI official for having attacked commercial fishing operations by cutting drift nets.[72] An earlier Canadian intelligence report on "single issue terrorism" stated that "Watson and his supporters have been involved in a number of militant actions against whale hunting, driftnet fishing, seal hunting and other related issues" and mentions "activities against logging operations in Canada".[73] In 2007, Ian Campbell, then the Australian Environment Minister and a vigorous critic of Japan's whaling, once opposed Sea Shepherd's tactics, saying that it really put the cause of conservation backwards.[3] Due to the 2008 operations against Canadian seal hunters, Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, called Watson a terrorist and said that Sea Shepherd was not welcome in the province.[74] The group has been accused of eco-terrorism by the Japanese government,[5] whose internationally banned whaling program[6] is a principal focus of the Sea Shepherd.
Sea Shepherd has based many of its operations out of Australia with foreign crew members being able to travel in and out of the country on tourist visas.[75] Tasmanian Greens and the former Greens Senator Bob Brown, have endorsed and supported the Society in various ways, including advocacy within the Australian government and public endorsement of the group.[76] However, Nationals Party Senator Barnaby Joyce has opposed granting Sea Shepherd tax-exempt status stating that "Criminals should not get tax concessions – if you break the law, then donations to your organisation should not be tax deductible".[77]
When the Steve Irwin returned to Hobart, Tasmania in February 2009, Australian Federal Police seized film footage and the ship's logs, reportedly prompted by complaints from Japan.[78][79] Brown demanded that the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, order their immediate return, but a spokesman for the Home Affairs Minister said it was a federal police matter.[80]
A variation of the flag used by the group
In October 2009, The Australian Immigration Department ruled that Watson and his First Officer, Peter Hammarstedt, must satisfy new good-character requirements to obtain business visas, requiring them to provide police references from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway. Watson criticized what he considered a submission to Japanese pressure by the Rudd government.[75] The Australian government responded by rejecting the idea that it was in some way delaying Watson, and on October 20, 2009 issued visas to Watson and Hammarstedt.[81]
Paul Watson said to Discovery Channel the Dalai Lama sent a letter of support for Sea Shepherd's volunteers accompanied by a wrathful, scowling statue of the deity Hayagriva,[5] which expresses compassion and determination in overcoming obstacles. In 2010 during a visit to Japan, the Dalai Lama said that while he agrees with the goal of stopping Japan from hunting whales, they should stop using violent methods to achieve that goal.[82]
The ships of the fleet have flown the flags of different nations and the opinion of several governments that the vessels are engaged in inappropriate activities has several times led to registration issues for Sea Shepherd vessels.[83][84] Canada, Belize, UK and Togo have revoked the registrations of various vessels.[85][86][87] Both the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker ships now sail under Dutch flag leading to direct complaints by the Japanese government towards Dutch ambassadors. The Netherlands consequently considered revoking the registrations for both vessels but finally decided not to do so.[88]
Officials in Japan have discussed revoking the group's tax exempt status with their counterparts in the United States.[89][90][91]
In December 2011, the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd, the two Japanese organizations which operate Japan's whaling program, sued Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) in U.S. federal district court in Seattle. The suit requested an injunction to stop Sea Shepherd's operations against Japanese whalers. The suit was filed in Seattle because Sea Shepherd is based in the state of Washington.[92] The federal court denied the ICR's preliminary injunction against SSCS.[93] The ICR and Kyodo Senpaku appealed and, on December 17, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an injunction against Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd and any party acting in concert with them from physically attacking any person or vessel of the ICR and requiring them to stay at least 500 yd (457 m) from their vessels.[94][4] After the court ruling, Paul Watson stepped down and Bob Brown succeeded his role as the leader of SSCS.[95][96] Sea Shepherd appealed to the US Supreme Court to have the injunction set aside, but the appeal was rejected.[97] On February 26, 2013, the Court of Appeals maintained the injunction, stating that SSCS's activities were "the very embodiment of piracy".[98][99] This reversed a previous decision by Richard A. Jones, who was removed as trial judge for abuse of discretion.[100][101]
In 2013, Julie Bishop, the Foreign Minister of Australia, told the press club of Japan, "We do not, and will never, condone reckless, dangerous, unlawful behaviour. And where it occurs on the high seas, we will unreservedly condemn it. The fact that the Sea Shepherd visits Australian ports or some of the Sea Shepherd fleet might be registered in Australia is not indicative in any way of the Australian government’s support for the organisation. And we will continue to comply fully with our international legal obligations with regard to safety at sea".[102]
In March 2012, reacting to Paul Watson's allegation that Maltese politicians were bribed by the Bluefin tuna industry, Prime Minister of Malta Lawrence Gonzi announced that the government would initiate libel proceedings against the Sea Shepherd founder.[103]
In May 2012, Watson was detained by German authorities after he arrived at the Frankfurt Airport based on a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd contends that the other vessel was shark finning in Guatemalan waters. Members of the other involved ship said that Sea Shepherd was trying to kill them.[104] Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations.[105] The conflict took place during filming for the documentary Sharkwater.[106] Watson subsequently skipped bail and went into hiding at the end of July.[107] Watson's lawyer has confirmed that he has fled the country.[108] The Costa Rican government requested the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to issue a Red Notice (an arrest request to member countries), which was granted by Interpol.[109]
Fleet [ edit ]
Sea Shepherd refer to the ships it has operated as Neptune's Navy. As of 2017, the conservation society operates nine ships: MV Brigitte Bardot, the MY Bob Barker, the MY Sam Simon, the RV Martin Sheen, the MY Jairo Mora Sandoval, a new MY Farley Mowat, the MV John Paul DeJoria,[110][111][112] the MY Ocean Warrior, and the MV Sharpie, as well as smaller vessels such as rigid-hulled inflatable boats.[113][111]
The Steve Irwin was obtained in 2007 and originally called the Robert Hunter. It was renamed in honor of The Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin.[114] His widow, Terri, gave her support to Sea Shepherd, saying: "Whales have always been in Steve's heart and in 2006 he was investigating the possibility of joining the Sea Shepherd on part of its journey to defend these beautiful animals."[115] The other ship, the 1200 ton Bob Barker, was named after well-known television game show host and animal activist Bob Barker, who made the purchase in Ghana of the retired Norwegian whaling vessel possible with a donation of US$5 million.[116] In February 2010, the Bob Barker collided with the Japanese whaling vessel Yushin Maru No. 3, tearing a gash in the hull of the Bob Barker.[117]
The group also formerly operated the Farley Mowat (impounded by the Canadian government, with Sea Shepherd having stated that they have no intention of paying the legal fines and berthage fees to recover their now obsolete vessel) and the Ady Gil, formerly known as the Earthrace (sunk after a collision with the MV Shōnan Maru 2 whaling security vessel in early 2010)[118] as well as a number of earlier vessels.
Sea Shepherd acquired the Ocean 7 Adventurer for its 2010/11 campaign against Japanese whaling in the Antarctic.[119] In November 2010, Mayor Brad Pettitt of Fremantle, Western Australia, christened the vessel Gojira with Fremantle as its home port, making this the first Sea Shepherd ship registered in Australia, with an Australian crew. The Gojira was renamed MV Brigitte Bardot in May 2011 after complaints of copyright infringement by Toho.[120]
For the 2011–2012 Antarctic campaign, the organization acquired drone aircraft to assist in their surveillance of the whaling ships.[121]
In July 2012 Sam Simon, a co-creator of The Simpsons, reportedly donated money to purchase the fourth vessel, a former German icebreaker.[122] The actual ship however turned out to be a former Japanese weather survey vessel, now called the MY Sam Simon.
On October 18, 2014, Martin Sheen, the actor, unveiled Sea Shepherd’s newest vessel, R/V Martin Sheen, named in his honor,[123] and captained by Oona Layolle of France. The name of this vessel carries the prefix "R/V" because it will be engaged in direct action as a research vessel.
In January 2015 two decommissioned, 30 knot, Island-class Coast Guard cutters were spotted flying the Sea Shepherd flag in Annapolis Yacht Basin.[124] In June 2015, Sea Shepherd revealed on their website that they had purchased these vessels.[125] One is named MY Farley Mowat, after an earlier vessel that Sea Shepherd retired in 2008, and the other was named MY Jules Verne, after the author of the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but was renamed MV John Paul DeJoria on January 31, 2017.
On December 7, 2017 the organization announced the acquisition of a third Island Class Cutter thanks to a donation from Chris Sharp, a biotech businessman. The vessel was named MV Sharpie, and for its maiden mission it will join Operation Milagro in the Gulf of California to help save the endangered vaquita porpoise.[126][127]
In the media [ edit ]
Sea Shepherd's campaigns have been documented in the TV series Whale Wars and Ocean Warriors produced by Animal Planet / Discovery Channel, and in books by current and past members including:
Laura Dakin, "Cookin' Up a Storm: Stories and Recipes from Sea Shepherd's Anti-Whaling Campaigns" (March 16, 2015; Book Publishing Company). ISBN 978-1570673122
Raffaella Tolicetti, "Think! Eat! Act!: A Sea Shepherd Chef's Vegan Cookbook" (July 24, 2014; Microcosm Publishing). ISBN 9781621066668
ISBN 9781621066668 Laurens de Groot, "Hunting the Hunters: At war with the whalers" (January 2, 2014; Adlard Coles). ISBN 978-1472903648.
ISBN 978-1472903648. Rik Scarce, Eco-Warriors: Understanding the Radical Environmental Movement, second revised ed. (1990; Left Coast Press, 2005), Ch. 6. ISBN 978-1-59874-028-8
ISBN 978-1-59874-028-8 Paul Watson, Seal Wars: Twenty-five Years in the Front Lines with the Harp Seals (2002; Firefly Books, 2003). ISBN 978-1-55297-751-4
ISBN 978-1-55297-751-4 Paul Watson, Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas (1994; Key Porter Books, 1996). ISBN 978-1-55013-599-2
ISBN 978-1-55013-599-2 David B. Morris, Earth Warrior: Overboard with Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (1995; Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing). ISBN 1-55591-203-6
ISBN 1-55591-203-6 Paul Watson, Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy (1993; Los Angeles: Chaco Press). ISBN 0-9616019-5-7
ISBN 0-9616019-5-7 Paul Watson, "Sea Shepherd : My Fight For Whales And Seals" (1980; W. W. Norton and Company). ISBN 978-0393335804
See also [ edit ]
Peter James Bethune, skipper of the Ady Gil
Rod Coronado, animal rights activist who has been involved in direct actions with the group
Alex Pacheco, member of the advisory board who served on the Sea ShepherdText size
Pakistan sold its entire 41.5% stake in the nation's largest bank Habib Bank (HBL.Pakistan) for $993 million, the largest equity raising deal the country has accomplished.
Much of the demand comes from foreign institutional investors. Deal trade magazine FinanceAsia's Suzy Waitereported:
The base deal consisted of 250 million shares, or 17% of the bank’s outstanding capital, worth $407.3 million. The source noted that strong institutional demand, mainly foreign, allowed the issuer to exercise the upsize option and tack on an additional 359.3 million shares to the base deal. This added $585.4 million to the share sale, bringing the total deal size to $992.7 million.
Allocations were still being finalised on Friday afternoon, but the source noted that well over half of the deal went to international long-only institutional investors, with domestic funds making up the remainder.
Habib Bank is the largest commercial bank in Pakistan, which boasts the world's sixth most populous country, with over 199 million as of 2014:
Habib is the market leader in Pakistan in terms of branches and deposits, operating 1,600 branches in a total industry network of 10,273, with a deposit base of PRs1.52 billion, or 18% of the industry total. A focus on retail banking has enabled its deposits to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate of 17%, compared with the industry average of 14%, Topline research notes.
It is not surprising foreign institutional investors gorged on Habib Bank. It was valued at only $2.4 billion! For comparison purposes, India's largest commercial bank ICICI Bank (IBN) has a market cap close to $30 billion.
Pakistan gets a lot of negativity these days, but before 2008, it was considered an emerging market by indexer MSCI. It is now the fifth largest component in the MSCI Frontier Markets Index, with close to 10% weight.
Year-to-date, MSCI Pakistan is down 3.7%. The iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF (FM) fell 0.4%. Habib Bank, an illiquid stock, fell 12.2% this year.Nest HQ is a dance music culture site, associated with musician Skrillex and his label OWSLA. It recently posted a short video, “Blockchain & the Music Industry,” about Ujo Music and ConsenSys’s offering to musicians.
If you’ve read Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain, you’ll recall that Ujo Music was involved in Imogen Heap’s 2015 release of her song “Tiny Human” on the Ethereum blockchain, in the publicity for which Heap declared that “its success will come from the adoption of millions of music lovers.” With widespread publicity and hundreds of articles in the blockchain, music and general press, it sold a grand total of 222 copies, for a gross take of $133.20 — not $133,200, but one hundred and thirty-three dollars and twenty cents. The book details the many points at which the initiative stumbled, most involving the primitive state of the Ethereum ecosystem at the time.
In the wake of the “Tiny Human” disaster, Ujo posted an apologia in which they admitted that they’d only researched any of what they were trying to do after they’d done it: “We are but a few bright-eyed technologists with a special hammer, looking for the right nail.” This phrase is not a winning formula for any new project.
Ujo has returned with a new artist, DJ and record producer RAC, who released his album EGO through Ujo in July. (It also received a conventional release through Counter Records.) Nest describes its video about Ujo and RAC:
This documentary was designed to make technical concepts about blockchain easy to understand and accessible for those just getting into the space without sacrificing the necessary technical terms and language.
The video is six and a half minutes long. It spends the first 2:20 setting out all manner of problems with the music industry, and putting forward what artists want. There’s a simple description of a blockchain, including the statement “bringing more power to the people while maintaining users’ anonymity and privacy” — the scriptwriter may wish to contemplate the example of Ross Ulbricht of the Silk Road drug market, convicted in part on evidence from a permanent and immutable blockchain, and the phrase “prosecution futures.”
At 2:40, the Ujo offering is described: a smart contract that you send a specific amount of ether, and you get back access codes for downloads in various formats. So it’s a web-based record shop like Bandcamp, but with ether. However, this is posited not as an alternative to web shops for independent artists, but to the complicated major label record industry.
At 3:40, they claim that a web-based shopping site, but on the blockchain, can be generalised: “this use case within the art and entertainment community extends into the realm of finance, politics, transportation, agriculture and beyond.” This is completely unsubstantiated, but the pictures are pretty. “There are few limits to what blockchain tech can and will do” — except the limits of feasibility, scaling, understanding the specific domain you’re trying to fix, and every other such problem that’s left blockchains in all fields long on hype and embarrassingly short on real-world running production systems.
(You know, I wrote a whole book about how it turns out that magic doesn’t happen and the details matter, with the last chapter being specifically about how and why this particular magic can’t happen for the music industry: there is no extant blockchain that can possibly scale to the size of the data, and the actual problem is knowing precisely who owns what rights to what tracks in what situations so that you don’t end up with a massive “black box” pool of unclaimed royalties, such as got Spotify sued earlier this year.)
At 4:00, the video returns to resentment-based marketing to artists, implying that the blockchain as supplied by Ujo will solve all their problems. If you can get people feeling resentful and then claim you have a solution, you can sell them anything, whether or not it’s feasible, usable or even functional. But it’s heartwarming to see how keen all these “blockchain” people are to helpfully intermediate between you, the artist — their eternal and only concern! — and the prospect of money.
There’s an odd bit at 3:30: “there is little need for middlemen such as BMI or ASCAP.” These are two non-profit organisations that collect publishing and performance royalties when someone uses a song you wrote or plays it live — rights which exist in copyright law, and that you can’t magically nullify by selling a song on the blockchain. It’s not clear why the “take that!” at these two bodies in particular, and not anyone else in the music industry, but it is clear that Ujo sees them as their direct competition in this endeavour.
Simon de la Rouviere from Ujo has blogged about the infrastructure for their offering. The web portal was hand-constructed for RAC, but they plan a semiautomated portal setup page. The architecture is not decentralised and distributed “as yet”. The music files are served from Amazon S3. They hypothesise moving to IPFS, which (a) is still fancy BitTorrent, and you’re going to have to seed the files from somewhere (b) still isn’t finished.
One thing Ujo correctly understands is the necessity of a metadata standard — if you’re going to sling around complicated data concerning who gets paid what, you need a machine-readable format that is so obviously correct that people will just adopt it and use it. Such a thing would have gone a long way towards solving Spotify’s black box problem, for example. A lot of music industry people have proposed something like this; music publishers and collection societies, including ASCAP and BMI, tried to create a Global Repertoire Database in the early 2010s, but scrapped the idea in 2014, as nobody wanted to create and fund a new central octopus — even as they all knew, and still know, that they desperately needed something to do this job. MusicTechFest put out quite a good white paper on the subject in 2016, in which they proposed:
a modular approach, where specific problems are solved incrementally, building up an open and transparent meta-system ensuring the individual systems that address the sub-problems use open standards and globally acceptable and accessible data, for example residing in one or more blockchain-based systems.
This is pretty much the obvious answer — build workable stuff from the ground up rather than the top down — though without a gratuitous blockchain.
COALA IP is Ujo’s proposal. Unfortunately, it appears from their sites that they didn’t ask anyone from the music industry — just “lawyers, computer scientists and entrepreneurs”, mostly from the blockchain space. This is after posting an apology for not doing their research.
(They also have a working group looking into Distributed Autonomous Organizations, despite how well the DAO idea went last time, with unfixable security flaws in The DAO — a DAO called The DAO — ending in the theft of $50 million and Ethereum itself splitting into two, and despite the fact that everything that happened to The DAO was obvious consequences of smart contracts themselves that many people had warned of long in advance.)
Ujo has also posted about Ethereum as a payment processing system. They describe the problems with present systems — “the intermediaries need to process millions of requests per minute, store large amounts of data, run up a large overhead and charge fees to cover their overhead to stay in business” — then claim Ethereum can and will do a better job. This is trivially false.
The post starts “Making a purchase on the web may feel like a seamless way of sending money” and notes “on the consumer side, this works well — offline with a card and online with a card number.” They then lament the complexity of the systems that make it even possible to offer this user-friendliness, at a vast transaction rate across the whole world.
Their contrasting claim is that the software will be easier to implement in Ethereum — and they then completely fail to note the ridiculously user-hostile clunkiness of dealing with cryptocurrency in any way, nor how fatally easy it is to lose all your money irretrievably through simple human error. (No chargebacks!) And Ethereum can only do less than 1000 transactions per minute, total worldwide — that’s already not enough to cope with its own popular ICOs, e.g., the Bancor and Status releases that rendered the network unusable for hours at a time.
Existing systems are large and complicated because they do a large and complicated job. Anyone can posit an easier version of something if they don’t bother with the hard bits.
So let’s look at the UJO X RAC website. The first thing you see is that Ujo have not yet worked out how to do portable web design: “The Ujo Store is currently only compatible with Chrome.” You can only buy the album on a desktop PC running one particular web browser.
To buy the record, you need to install MetaMask, an Ethereum wallet in a Chrome extension. The page also has a “Tip RAC” button, which doesn’t do anything if you don’t have MetaMask installed. The “How To Buy Album” link goes to a page on how to use MetaMask, which links to how to buy Ethereum at Coinbase (rather than ShapeShift as with “Tiny Human”), including how to send them your comprehensive identity theft kit.
I go to the MetaMask plugin page, click “install,” and I get:
An error has occurred
Could |
?
More Salad Bowl from the blog.
If you make this Salad or a version of it, do leave a comment and rate the recipe.
Tofu all baked and delicious.
Assemble the salad with crunchy greens and veggies of choice. Toss in some tofu. Drizzle the dressing and some pepper flakes or black pepper.Team Date Transaction
July 31, 2017 Detroit Tigers recalled RHP Joe Jimenez from Toledo Mud Hens.
June 17, 2017 RHP Joe Jimenez assigned to Toledo Mud Hens from Lakeland Flying Tigers.
June 15, 2017 RHP Joe Jimenez assigned to Lakeland Flying Tigers from Toledo Mud Hens.
May 9, 2017 Toledo Mud Hens placed RHP Joe Jimenez on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to May 5, 2017.
May 1, 2017 Detroit Tigers optioned RHP Joe Jimenez to Toledo Mud Hens.
April 21, 2017 Detroit Tigers recalled Joe Jimenez from Toledo Mud Hens.
April 14, 2017 Detroit Tigers optioned RHP Joe Jimenez to Toledo Mud Hens.
April 10, 2017 Detroit Tigers selected the contract of RHP Joe Jimenez from Toledo Mud Hens.
April 10, 2017 Detroit Tigers activated RHP Joe Jimenez.
January 11, 2017 Detroit Tigers invited non-roster RHP Joe Jimenez to spring training.
July 29, 2016 RHP Joe Jimenez assigned to Toledo Mud Hens from Erie SeaWolves.
May 27, 2016 RHP Joe Jimenez assigned to Erie SeaWolves from Lakeland Flying Tigers.
April 2, 2016 RHP Joe Jimenez assigned to Lakeland Flying Tigers from West Michigan Whitecaps.
January 14, 2016 Detroit Tigers invited non-roster RHP Joe Jimenez to spring training.
April 25, 2015 West Michigan Whitecaps activated RHP Joe Jimenez from the 7-day disabled list.
April 20, 2015 West Michigan Whitecaps placed RHP Joe Jimenez on the 7-day disabled list.
April 4, 2015 RHP Joe Jimenez assigned to West Michigan Whitecaps from Connecticut Tigers.
May 24, 2014 RHP Joe Jimenez assigned to Lakeland Flying Tigers from GCL Tigers.
June 25, 2013 RHP Joe Jimenez assigned to GCL Tigers.When A Politician Says 'Fake News' And A Newspaper Threatens To Sue Back
Enlarge this image toggle caption Chris Schneider/AFP/Getty Images Chris Schneider/AFP/Getty Images
A news outlet publishes a story that a Republican politician dismisses as "fake news." Sounds familiar, right?
But in this case, there's a twist. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel in Colorado is accusing state Sen. Ray Scott of defamation and threatening to sue. If filed, legal experts said it would be the first suit of its kind, potentially setting a legal definition for what is considered fake news and what is not.
toggle caption Colorado General Assembly
The dispute began with an opinion column in the newspaper supporting a bill that would give journalists and others greater access to public records. Scott, who represents Grand Junction and serves as assistant majority leader in the state Senate, postponed a hearing and vote on the bill.
The column urged him to move it forward. "We call on our own Sen. Scott to announce a new committee hearing date and move this bill forward."
Scott took issue with the column on Twitter. "We have our own fake news in Grand Junction," Scott tweeted. He then added a separate statement on Facebook:
The very liberal GJ Sentinel is attempting to apply pressure for me to move a bill. They have no facts, as usual, and tried to call me out on SB 40 know as the CORA bill. They haven't contacted me to get any information on why the bill has been delayed but choose to run a fake news story demanding I run the bill.
Scott declined an interview request on the advice of his lawyer.
The accusation that the column was "a fake news story" raised the ire of Jay Seaton, the Sentinel's publisher.
"I'm accustomed to all kinds of criticism for what we do; that comes with the job," he said. But Seaton says the term "fake news" is "an attempt to undermine the speaker. That's where this bumps up against the First Amendment. When you've got a government actor who doesn't like something he's seen and tries to diminish its credibility, then you've got real problems."
And, potentially, a lawsuit. Seaton says he's going to cool down for a couple of weeks but is looking at his options for filing the suit, which is likely to put the "fake news" term in the spotlight, said Steven Zansberg, an attorney who has represented the press in Colorado, including, at times, the Sentinel, though not in this case.
Zansberg noted that the Sentinel isn't alone in facing such accusations.
"We are seeing a trend, not just here in Colorado, but that politicians for a variety of reasons have taken to calling very legitimate media entities — whether it be The New York Times, The Washington Post or CNN — fake news," he said. "It's intended to delegitimize those sources for news."
Risk of legal backfire
Aside from whether there's a legal case against such accusations, there's the question of whether it's a good idea for a news organization to combat its detractors in court.
Bringing cases like this could ultimately backfire on the press because legal arguments made in such cases could later be used against them, said George Freeman, the executive director of the nonprofit Media Law Resource Center.
"Then the next time you're arguing something is opinion to win your case, maybe the court will look at this case and say, 'No...' it's similar to this case where the judge decided it's a fact," Freeman said.
Freeman spent more than three decades as in-house counsel for The New York Times. The newspaper has a strict policy against filing libel claims against detractors on the principle that the press doesn't want to suppress the speech of others.
Still, Freeman believes the Sentinel is within its rights to threaten a lawsuit. "I think the line has to be set. People just can't call whatever they don't like 'fake news,' and that's what [Scott] is essentially doing."
Poor timing for Colorado GOP
The fight between the newspaper and the state senator is exacerbated by the fact that the bill at the heart of the dispute is something many journalists in Colorado want to see become law. The legislation would make it easier for news organizations to analyze digital data through open records. The bill's Democratic sponsor now worries the measure is in jeopardy.
The battle over what is news in Colorado comes as state Republican leaders are trying to improve relations with the local press to contrast themselves from President Trump, whose battle with the media doesn't show any signs of letting up.
For the first time in years, Republicans are holding multiple media briefings each week and Republican senators recently hosted a reporter meet and greet. Some worry this potential lawsuit will be a setback.
"There's some risk of squelching open dialogue and that's one thing I've been trying to encourage as majority leader," said Senate Majority Leader Chris Holbert, a Republican.
To him, "fake news" is a relative term and the fight between the newspaper and his colleague is a sideshow.
"What it means to one person might be different than another," said Holbert. "Are stories made up entirely out of whole cloth? In this instance, it seems like there are differing perspectives on the same reality. This really seems to be rather unnecessary."PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department is upgrading trauma services at the district headquarters hospitals in the province to give proper care to the victims of terrorism at the local level.
“During the coming six months the government will work on the upgradation of health care services at the district headquarters hospitals,” secretary health Jamal Yousaf told Dawn. The government has started a massive exercise to procure equipment and medicines and scale up infrastructure to improve trauma services to provide medical care to the critically-injured people at the DHQ hospitals.
Previously, most of the victims would be rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, which had got the biggest Accident and Emergency Department with vast experience in providing care to victims of terrorism, flood, earthquakes, etc.
However, during the last two incidents, in Mardan and Charsadda, it was noted that the trauma services have shown improvement which made possible treatment of the terror victims locally. Only three wounded persons were brought to LRH from Charsadda, the nearest district to Peshawar, he said.
Health secretary says improvement of RHCs and BHUs also a priority
Also, it was for the first time on Wednesday that the LRH administration didn’t allow media representatives to make footage of the victims in line with the SOPs issued last week to make patients’ treatment hassle-free.
Upgradation of the accidents and emergency departments is part of the government’s plan to strengthen the DHQ hospitals by spending Rs7.8 billion. The plan also includes payment of three-time more salaries to doctors working in backward districts of Buner, Battagram, Torghar, Chitral, etc and recruitment of about 1,100 nurses in the province.
The health secretary said that the DHQ hospitals had got the services of orthopaedic and general surgeons, physicians and support staff who could handle emergencies. He said that the government was fully focused on improvement of rural health centres, basic health units and tehsil headquarters hospitals.
He said that the government was now free from the affairs of four teaching hospitals after enforcement of the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act 2015. He said that the new policy was aimed at ensuring better health services at the district level and reducing load on the tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar.
He said that doctors who were previously unwilling to be deployed in remote areas had shown interest due to attractive financial incentives. Similar packages for paramedics and nurses are also in the pipeline, he said.
A member of the LRH board of governors is working on a plan to establish a department of trauma which will offer diploma and degrees to doctors and health workers, who will serve at the local hospitals.
According to another official, people who sustained injuries during last year’s flood in Chitral could not be provided treatment as the health units there lacked the desired facilities. He said that a few lucky ones were flown to Islamabad, but most of them stayed in Chitral. He said that people avoided to be posted in far-flung areas.
“If a person gets the same salary in Peshawar and backward districts like Chitral, why would one go for the latter,” he said, adding that they would strengthen services through staff, medicine and equipments at the DHQ hospitals.
Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2016Bernie Sanders' campaign insisted today that its only 'half-time' in the race for the Democratic nomination and the map will only get better for the senator as the campaign moves westward.
'We are feeling very good. We are essentially where we expected to be at this point in the race,' campaign manager Jeff Weaver told reporters late this afternoon during a call.
Less than half of the pledged delegates in the race have been allotted, the campaign argued. And upcoming states favor Sanders.
Idaho, Utah and Washington vote in the next week and a half and they have 157 pledged delegates between them to give out.
Scroll down for video
Bernie Sanders' campaign insisted today that its only 'half time' in the race for the Democratic nomination and the map will only get better for the senator as the campaign moves westward
'We are feeling very good. We are essentially where we expected to be at this point in the race,' campaign manager Jeff Weaver told reporters late this afternoon during a call
Less than half of the pledged delegates in the race have been allotted, the campaign argued. And upcoming states favor Sanders. His supporters are seen here last night in Phoenix at his rally
'We believe the back end of the process is as favorable to Bernie as the front end of the process was to Hillary,' strategist Tad Devine said.
The West Coast states present a prime pick up opportunity for the progressive. The Sanders campaign is also preparing for battle in Wisconsin, which votes April 5, and New York, which falls on April 19 this cycle.
Yesterday, Sanders went 0/5 against Clinton, falling another 100 pledged delegates behind.
Weaver told reporters that the campaign knew it take a beating. 'We wanted to make sure that was not too big, and we certainly achieved that,' he said.
In Missouri Sanders came within 0.2 percent of Clinton and is set to end up with the same number of delegates as Clinton. In Illinois he'll come up one short.
'The reality is if we had tipped those states in our direction, the delegates split between those two states would have been essentially the same,' Weaver pointed out.
It was Florida that did him in. Clinton's large electoral victory there gave her a 133 delegate boost that he was unable to match elsewhere in the country.
She now has a lead of 306 pledged delegate lead.
'This is really the high water mark for the Clinton campaign,' Weaver said.
The Sanders campaign still believes it can'steadily, consistently and ultimately successfully erode her current advantage.'
'We have always understood that the first half of the calendar was much more advantageous to the secretary,' Weaver told reporters.
The campaign has its eye on several'show down' states of the next several weeks including Wisconsin and Arizona, where Sanders is campaigning currently. Arizona will dole out its 75 delegates on next Tuesday, on March 22.
'We are literally about halfway through the delegate selection process,' Weaver said, saying it is'sort of half-time in this process.'
The Sanders campaign still believes it can'steadily, consistently and ultimately successfully erode her current advantage'
He admitted that Clinton has clearly 'run up a bit of a lead' but said the second half of the race will be'much better' for Sanders in terms of geography and the spacing of the contests.
Sanders does much better when he has an opportunity to talk to voters, Weaver contended, than on days when five states vote at once.
Had the candidate had more time to personally spend in those states it 'certainly would have allowed us to push those over the top,' he said.
Reiterating the campaign's position that the race will be won or lost in the final days, he said 'We are going to carry this campaign on to success in the summer, and ultimately in the fall.'
On June 7, when California and New Jersey vote a mother load of 806 pledged delegates will be decided, Devine pointed out.
'So I see a lot of room for us to grow a lot of room for us to gain the advantage.'BOSTON — Brandon Workman gave the Red Sox a nice little parting gift Tuesday.
Workman, who was told after Tuesday’s game he’ll be sent down to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room for the Red Sox to activate reliever Craig Breslow from the 15-day disabled list, provided Boston with four solid innings of relief in his final appearance before being demoted.
Workman entered Tuesday’s game against the Texas Rangers at the start of the sixth inning with the Red Sox trailing 9-1. The right-hander pitched the final four frames, surrendering just one run on two hits while striking out three. It was a performance that wasn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things — Boston still lost 10-7 — but it was another indication that Workman is ready to make an impact at the major league level.
“He pitched very well, very effective,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said after Tuesday’s loss. “(He threw) three pitches for strikes. He attacks the strike zone, pitches ahead (and has) some swing and miss to his fastball. Just a solid four innings here tonight.”
The Red Sox didn’t officially announce a roster move after Tuesday’s game, but Workman’s trip to Triple-A has been inevitable. The 25-year-old will be sent to Pawtucket to be stretched out as a starter — a process that began during spring training.
Workman served as a starter and as a reliever in the majors last season, but Farrell said during spring training that the Red Sox don’t want him to bounce back and forth between roles this season. That means Workman’s next big league call-up could come when something happens in Boston’s rotation.A new Pixar short titled Sanjay’s Super Team, directed by Sanjay Patel, is slated to premiere at the Annecy festival prior to its release attached to the studio’s Nov. 25 release of the feature The Good Dinosaur.
The short is based on Patel’s experience growing up as an Indian in American. A fan of cartoons, comics and toys as a kid, his parents were Hindu and he performed a prayer known as a puja daily with his father.
The short begins with Sanjay as a child, beckoned from the exciting world of cartoons to the puja, during which he begins daydreaming of the Hindu gods as a team of superheroes. The animation becoming increasingly vivid as the visions help Sanjay understand his father’s faith.
Patel joined Pixar in 1996 as an animator and has worked on many of the studio’s features since.Download
Yesterday’s Xbox Reveal showcased the new Xbox One, revolutionizing entertainment in the living room from how we watch TV to how we play video games. But what do we have to say about it? What benefits have been brought to the table that will benefit the current Xbox 360 gamers and cause them to go shell out money this holiday to get the latest and greatest? We bring you this special roundtable discussion featuring many community leaders to talk about the entire Xbox Reveal presentation including the Recap done by Major Nelson. Of course, we could not let the news of the new Halo TV series slip by our fingers either, so sit back and relax to our three and a half hour discussion on the Xbox Reveal. Joining the roundtable discussion along with Brent Gamer and myself are Lady Luck (GTR), CMNeir (Halo Tricks), Nak3d Eli (YouTube’s Nak3d Halo) HaloFanForLife (HFFL), Ducain (YouTube’s Ducain23, RUL), Goosechecka (GBH), Kalbelgarion (GBH), The Texorcist (GBH), Kete (TRR), Justin Bryce (Drunken Halo), Drax122 (RUL), Micky (RUL), blueamcat (RUL) Chewy (RUL), and Molten Slowa. Enjoy
Frag this: Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
Reddit(ILLUSTRATION: CREATIVE COMMONS)
Your friend told you about that obscure bluegrass-electro-punk band yesterday morning. That afternoon, you ran across one of their albums at a garage sale. Wait a minute—that’s them in that Doritos commercial, too! Coincidence... or conspiracy? More likely, you’re experiencing “frequency illusion,” somewhat better known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.
ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website
Stanford linguistics professor Arnold Zwicky coined the former term in 2006 to describe the syndrome in which a concept or thing you just found out about suddenly seems to crop up everywhere. It’s caused, he wrote, by two psychological processes. The first, selective attention, kicks in when you’re struck by a new word, thing, or idea; after that, you unconsciously keep an eye out for it, and as a result find it surprisingly often. The second process, confirmation bias, reassures you that each sighting is further proof of your impression that the thing has gained overnight omnipresence.
The considerably catchier sobriquet Baader-Meinhof phenomenon was invented in 1994 by a commenter on the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ online discussion board, who came up with it after hearing the name of the ultra-left-wing German terrorist group twice in 24 hours. The phrase became a meme on the newspaper’s boards, where it still pops up regularly, and has since spread to the wider Internet. It even has its own Facebook page. Got all that? Don’t worry. You’ll hear about it again soon.
ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit WebsiteA KEEN gym-goer has been left mortified after realising her PUMA leggings were completely see-through.
Kimberley Williams unleashed a scathing review of the transparent gym clothes, saying the company needed to introduce "booty tests" on their items before they hit stores.
Guzelian 4 Kimberley Williams said she was mortified when a friend pointed out her gym leggings were see-through
The 27-year-old nanny said: "Well firstly I was pretty annoyed that I brought a new pair of gym tights that were completely see through.
"I have not worn them since they are pretty much just sitting in my draw. I am unable to return them also as they were a sale item.
"You would only expect this in cheap made leggings but wouldn't have expected it from PUMA considering they are a sportswear company. Who would honestly want to buy them knowing you can see everything. No normal person would.”
The former personal trainer said she only realised why she was getting funny looks from people when a friend pointed it out.
Guzelian 4 The 27-year-old slammed PUMA over the quality of their clothes
Guzelian 4 The nanny said she tried to laugh it off - but was still embarrassed and upset by what had happened
Kimberley, from London, wrote a post to PUMA’s official Facebook page about the incident and even posted a photo as evidence to ask if they conducted “booty tests” on their products but the company never responded.
Describing the traumatic event, she said: "It was a cold London morning and I had taken myself shopping to buy some new gym leggings. As I sorted through the racks of leggings upon leggings the simple yet stylish black puma leggings caught my eye.
"I decided to do it and purchased myself a nice pair of puma gym tights!!
"Saturday morning I sprung out of bed in utter excitement to show off these new black puma leggings."
Guzelian 4 The Facebook post that Kimberley shared to PUMA
She added: "As I waltzed down to my gym with not a care in the world I could feel all eyes on me. People were clearing checking out the new leggings I had purchased and I digged it.
"Ready for my tabata class I was feeling super energized and super stylish in my new puma leggings. As I bent down to stretch out my legs my friend gasped in utter shock... ‘Kim I can see your a**e’."
The nanny said she checked her leggings in the mirror - saying she was disgusted.
She wrote: "Much to my disgust as I bent over in my new gym tights my whole a**e was showing, through my simple yet stylish puma gym leggings. ‘How could this happen to me’ I thought to myself. Were puma out to humiliate me!!
"I ask you puma do you booty test your items before they hit the stores? How do I know if I can trust your products again from not giving my whole gym a view of my ever so peachy a**e??"
I ask you puma do you booty test your items before they hit the stores? Kimberley Williams
The woman said she tried to laugh off the situation but said she was still annoyed at PUMA - and their lack of response.
She said: "Luckily I have a sense of humour so I laughed it off and made my friend go behind me in our gym class so at least she had a view of my bum as opposed to the whole gym class
"I think PUMA should possibly look into how they quality test their materials before putting the products out to be sold."
A PUMA spokesperson said: "PUMA offers leggings of different materials in its product ranges, catering to a wide variety of consumer preferences.
"In case, a customer is unhappy or dissatisfied with the quality of a PUMA product purchased, we have a return policy in place that guarantees that the product will be replaced or refunded."
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.This is my high school religion teacher. Vitriol like this from religious fanatics doesn't shock me much anymore, but knowing this woman has a hand in shaping the minds and hearts of students today does not sit well with me. I'm proud of having made it through high school unscathed by convincing myself early on that it's just a blip on the radar when looking at the big picture. I worry about students like me, who are sitting in the same place I was, listening to hate like this from authority figures and thinking that there might not be a world beyond Somerset county (or whatever suburban purgatory they're hoping to move beyond). If you feel similarly, please take a moment to email the school's principal, Jean Kline, at jkline@immaculatahighschool.org, or call their main office at 908-722-0200. I keep it light on social media for the most part, but I think taking a minute to be serious about an issue like this is important. Be nice to each other.
A photo posted by Greg Bennett (@greggybennett) on Mar 9, 2015 at 12:19pm PDT- The sexual misconduct and corruption scandal involving a growing number of Oakland police officers along with other East Bay law enforcement agencies, and a teenage sex worker who claims to have had sex with some of the officers when she was a minor, is leaving many people questioning their faith in Oakland Police, especially with the rapidly changing leadership.
Oakland's crown jewel— Lake Merritt on a picture perfect June day, is a source of pride. But some say that glow of city pride is now tarnished.
"I believe in Oakland. I want to feel safe here," said Tracy Arrowsmith, a divorced mother raising a 7-year-old daughter. “I want my daughter to feel safe here. I want her to grow up here and be proud of the city like I am, but it's hard when you don't trust the authority.”
Inside Lucky's Barber Shop, not far from police headquarters, there is a mood of distrust.
"There's always something behind the scenes they're not telling us," said Montonio Robinson, a barber.
"I'm very disappointed because they're supposed to be the one to set the example and apparently they're not doing it."
The 23-year-old says he sees hyprocrisy. Officers take an oath to uphold the law, but instead, some have chosen to abuse the power of their uniform and badge.
"I'm pretty sure it's not all cops. Some of them actually take their job very seriously, but some of them specifically do it for the power," said Robinson.
In East Oakland, Chanda May with East Bay Asian Youth Center, works with at risk youth, including young girls who are in danger of being kidnapped and sold into prostitution.
"I don't know if they're really concerned about the community, about our kids or anything like that, because Oakland is just crazy. I just don't know how they're going to help us when the department is all crazy and corrupted," said May.
Back at Lake Merritt, a 19-year-old says she empathizes with the teenage girl exploited by the officers.
"She's in a vulnerable position. They're in a position of power. That really does reflect badly on the police department," says Juliette Lucas, an Oakland native.
But the college student says her experience with Oakland Police when there was an attempted break in at her home was positive.
"My faith is slightly shaken, but I would still definitely call the police if I have a problem," said Lucas.
Some people are questioning if more Oakland police officers are involved in the scandal
"To me, it feels more widespread than that. I hope it's a few bad apples, but I'm not sure. I don't know. I don't have confidence," said Arrowsmith.
People also said all the changes in the police chief position in less than a week make Oakland look bad.A D.C. Superior Court jury Tuesday found a District motorist guilty of assaulting a bicyclist with his vehicle and fists during an 2010 altercation.
The jury found Thomas Dunkel, 62, guilty of multiple assault charges including assault with a dangerous weapon in the July 27, 2010 incident. Prosecutors said Dunkel became outraged at the bicyclist and struck the biker with his SUV and then punched him.
According to prosecutors, Dunkel was driving his Toyota SUV in the 100 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW, near Union Station, when he encountered a 22-year-old bicyclist who was driving his bike down the middle of the road. Dunkel began honking his horn and yelling at the cyclist to move. He then, prosecutors said, struck the cyclist with his SUV. After the cyclist moved his bike out of the road to the sidewalk, the two began arguing and fighting. At one point, prosecutors said, Dunkel grabbed the bike and threw it at the cyclist. Dunkel then began punching the cyclist again, knocking him to the ground with his fists before bystanders intervened.
The cyclist required surgery to have a skin graft taken from his thigh and transplanted to his foot, prosecutors said.
Dunkel is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 5 by Judge Gerald I. Fisher.Flake’s decision not to run for reelection was, in fact, largely an acknowledgment of reality: He was unlikely to defeat a primary challenge ahead of the 2018 Senate election. He said that he doubted he could win while remaining committed to core beliefs like support for free markets and immigration.
“I have decided that I will be better able to represent the people of Arizona and to better serve my country and my conscience by freeing myself from the political considerations that consume far too much bandwidth and would cause me to compromise far too many principles,” Flake said.
Flake’s Senate floor speech, which he delivered in a nervous but deeply felt manner, came not long after he announced his retirement to the Arizona Republic. The address was a stinging critique of Trump, impeaching him for divisiveness, moral bankruptcy, and lack of leadership on the national and international stages. He also adopted the language of the self-described “Resistance” to Trump, warning against allowing Trump to be “normalized,” though he at no time used the president’s name.
“We must never regard as ‘normal’ the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals,” he said. “We must never meekly accept the daily sundering of our country—the personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms, and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth or decency, the reckless provocations, most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons, reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with the fortunes of the people that we have all been elected to serve. … They are not normal.”
Flake, as my colleague McKay Coppins wrote in September, has already been a notable critic of Trump’s. A first-term senator, he previously served for 10 years in the U.S. House, where he developed a reputation as a principled fiscal and moral conservative. (He is a committed Mormon.) In other words, he gave Democrats little reason to cheer him, but also had little in common with Trump other than the ‘R’ behind their names. He never endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign, and was at times surprisingly critical of him.
But since Trump’s election, the acrimony between the two men has grown. Flake published a book, Conscience of a Conservative, that borrowed its title from a volume by another Arizona Republican, the late Barry Goldwater. “Presidential power should be questioned, continually,” Flake wrote. “That’s what our system of government, defined by the separation of powers, is all about. It shouldn’t matter whether the president belongs to my party or to another one.”
Trump, meanwhile, was all too happy to agree that attacking members of one’s own party was defensible. Trump called Flake “toxic” and met with prospective primary challengers, notably Kelli Ward, a far-right conservative who unsuccessfully challenged McCain in 2016. These White House attacks, as well as the overall Republican turn toward Trump, made Flake vulnerable. Coppins wondered earlier this fall, “Is there no longer a place in politics for someone like Jeff Flake?” At the time, Flake still seemed to be trying for reelection, but since then has seen the writing on the wall.Thank goodness for Vice, purveyor of useful information. After all, if it weren’t for their recent publication of Mayan Toledano’s photographs of Israeli women in the IDF, we’d have absolutely no idea that a woman continuing to be, well, a woman while in the army was actually an act of protest.
Toledano is an Israeli-born, New York-based artist. As Mayaan Goldman wrote for Vice in the outlet’s first feature on Toledano’s photos this past March, when the artist started photographing women in the IDF, “she was looking to redeem a small piece of her teenage girlhood during which she served as a soldier herself and was stripped of all cultural ‘feminine’ symbols.” (This is Vice paraphrasing Toledano, whose own voice isn’t included.)
In this most recent piece, an unattributed blurb explains that Toledano’s photos showcase “female Israeli soldiers whose girlishness and teenage boredom act as a subtle but undeniable form of protest.”
Forgive us, but isn’t that saying that if a teenage girl acts like a teenage girl while she’s in the army, she’s engaged in an act of subterfuge? Why wouldn’t the same analysis apply to teenage boys, or, for a matter of fact, any type of human? That’s not to say that Toledano’s concerns about the erasure of identity in the army aren’t important or valid; they absolutely are.
By treating the photographed women as if their continued woman-ness is a radical act, Vice fetishizes the significance of their work; it doesn’t matter that she’s defending her country, it matters that she looks gorgeous while she’s doing it. The publication’s framing of the photograph also distracts from the issue of how soldiers deal with the onslaught of psychological destabilization that can be brought on by service, and it treats female individuality as an issue of physical appearance, nothing more.
Consider, on top of all that, that this is the second time Vice has published Toledano’s photos from this series in six months, with no change in their commentary on the images. There’s only one reason to do so: the first time, the article was hot. If that’s true, and Vice is using Toledano’s photographs for clicks, well, what was that about fetishization?
Women in the IDF are already subject to rampant stereotyping and sexual harassment. Treating them as pretty creatures doing a tough job does them no favors. Treating them as humans trying, in deep and various ways, to maintain their humanity under intense pressure? Now that could be useful.
Talya Zax is the Forward’s summer culture fellow. Contact her at zax@forward.com or on Twitter, @TalyaZaxThe clandestine team of Navy SEALs that took down Osama bin Laden are back the U.S., reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. Meanwhile their commander, Vice Adm. William McRaven briefed Congressional committees behind closed doors Wednesday on what sounds like 40 minutes of pure violence.
When the SEALs tried to burst through a door at bin Laden's compound, they found a brick wall behind it and had to blast their way through it. On the first floor they found two couriers and a woman, all of whom were killed in a hail of gunfire.
"The SEALs clearly were taking fire throughout the course of the building that they had entered," said Republican House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers. "There were barricades along the way to prevent them to getting to where bin Laden was."
Complete coverage: The killing of Osama bin Laden
There were more obstacles on the stairs going up to where bin Laden and his family lived. When the SEALs found them, children ran out of the room. Bin Laden's wife rushed at the lead SEAL who shot her in the leg. That left the man who once boasted he would never be taken alive standing alone in the middle of the room. The lead SEAL shot him in the chest and a second seal finished him off with a shot to the head. Bin Laden was unarmed but the SEALs later found a pistol and an AK-47 in the room.
"He made no indication he was going to give up in any way," Rogers said. "Lots of movement in the room. It's dark. It's confusing. They've been taking fire. I think it was absolutely the prudent and right thing to do by that special forces officer."
The second bullet struck bin Laden just above his left eye. It blew the eye out of socket and tore away a piece of the skull, leaving his brain exposed.
Obama: I won't release bin Laden death photos
Photos of some of the deadthe SEALs left behind at the compound have surfaced, and they are graphic. They include the courier who unwittingly led U.S. intelligence to the hideout and one of bin Laden's sons.Image: Yle
The capital’s police department has sparked a vigorous debate on social media after claiming that some rape victims have not thought their actions through properly.
The force has seen a rise in the number of rape complaints, with 309 reported this year in Helsinki. Of those 225 have been investigated and two thirds of those have not gone any further. The department’s Facebook page painted a colourful picture of what officers claim is a frequent occurrence.
“’I feel as though I’ve been drugged and raped’ is one common complaint,” read the original Facebook post on the official Helsinki Police Facebook page. “Drugs are not often discovered during blood tests and the story is littered with words like ‘maybe’ and ‘I suppose’. The complainant often also admits that they’d been drinking a lot, but ‘I would never have gone to bed with them if I’d been sober’.”
That post prompted a storm of protest on social media. It was followed by a second post on Wednesday that began ‘raping an inebriated person is a crime’, emphasised that every rape case should be reported, and provided contact details for the police.
It did again state that false complaints are a criminal offence, but provided no information on how many people were charged with that offence.
Police said that they were trying to reach their target group by using language that might be easier to understand than the stiff, official statements often put out by police in Finland, but apologised for causing offence.NBC aired the final round of Last Comic Standing “Invitationals” auditions on Wednesday night, which eventually whittled down the field of stand-up comedians from 100 invitees down to 41 semifinal |
attack should not be called "terrorism" (like Chris Hayes), or who pointed out the role played by western aggression in motivating them (like former British soldier Joe Glenton), or who have long warned of "blowback" in the form of such attacks (like the CIA and Pentagon), are remotely arguing that the attack was justified? Sullivan's behavior evinces a blatant inability or refusal to critique what I wrote without distorting it beyond all recognition.
So self-evident was Sullivan's Friday night bad conduct here that, within hours, numerous people had harshly condemned it. Law professor Kevin Jon Heller wrote: "Sullivan distorts Greenwald's argument beyond all recognition; I can only assume deliberately." University of Chicago Professor Harold Pollack complained that he "shouldn't have to click past Sullivan's angry post to see that Greenwald labelled [the] beheading 'barbaric and horrendous'". One of Sullivan's readers wrote him a lengthy and very astute email, published in full here, explaining to him that "your fundamental misreading of Greenwald's column is succinctly stated in your sentence: 'How can that [U.S. history in the Mideast] legitimize a British citizen's brutal beheading of a fellow British citizen on the streets of London?' Greenwald never remotely said that."
Now we arrive at the broader points that I think are raised by all of this. Contrary to Professor Heller's suggestion, I actually don't think that Sullivan's flagrant misrepresentations of what I wrote were deliberate. I definitely do think that about Jeffrey Goldberg and other various neocon smear artists who spent the last couple of days endlessly and loudly accusing me of being a pro-Terror, US-blaming Terrorist-lover, Jew-hating Terror-apologist and all the other tired neocon clichés that have been hurled at anyone and everyone over the last decade who questions the Mandated Narratives about "Islamic Terror", the US and Israel. Willfully smearing people as pro-Terrorists in order to deter free and rational discussions of US and Israeli aggression is what they do. It's their function, their chosen tactic. One expects that from them. It's just part of the landscape. Had it been confined to that crowd, I barely would have noticed, let alone responded. They and their deceitful smear tactics ceased being effective eight or nine years ago. Nobody cares anymore.
But Sullivan's behavior here is more interesting and revealing. He's certainly smart enough to comprehend the points being made, so that's not the problem. Amazingly, as his reader pointed out, Sullivan - a mere ten days ago - himself sought to defend President Obama (his life's mission) in the Benghazi controversy by posting an article in the American Prospect arguing as follows:
Benghazi was not a terrorist act. Or an act of terror. Or an act of terrorism.... So why wasn't Benghazi terrorism? Because the people targeted weren't civilians."
That's exactly the argument I raised about the London attack that sent Sullivan into spasms of moral denunciation. Does denying that the Benghazi attack was "an act of terror" mean that one is justifying it? Sullivan answered that very question when he quoted that same Benghazi article as explaining: "That doesn't make their deaths any less tragic or painful for their families, but it's the truth. Nor is a CIA outpost a civilian target." Indeed, as I documented, the only standards that could be used to support the choice of an off-duty solider in London as a target to kill are the standards promulgated by the US (which I vehemently reject) that holds that we are "at war", that "the entire globe is a battlefield", and that it's legitimate to kill anyone suspected of being a combatant in that "war" no matter where they are located or what they are doing at the time they are targeted for killing.
So Sullivan not only understands my point here, but grants himself license to make it himself when doing so advances his cause of praising and defending Obama. What, then, accounts for the distortions and sustained rage that ensues every time I make these arguments - not just from Sullivan but generally?
I think the answer lies in the very first sentence Sullivan wrote when responding to my column: "I really have to try restrain my anger here." It's an intensely emotional reaction, not a rational one. He, and so many others, are deeply invested on a psychological and personal level in protecting the narrative that Islam is a uniquely violent force in the world, that Muslim extremists pose a threat that nobody else poses, and that the US, the West and its allies (including Israel) are morally superior and more civilized than their adversaries, and their violence is more noble and elevated.
Labeling the violent acts of those Muslim Others as "terrorism" - but never our own - is a key weapon used to propagate this worldview. The same is true of the tactic that depicts their violence against us as senseless, primitive, savage and without rational cause, while glorifying our own violence against them as noble, high-minded, benevolent and civilized (we slaughter them with shiny, high-tech drones, cluster bombs, jet fighters and cruise missiles, while they use meat cleavers and razor blades). These are the core propagandistic premises used to sustain the central narrative on which the War on Terror has depended from the start (and, by the way, have been the core premises of imperialism for centuries). That is why those most invested in defending and glorifying this War on Terror become so enraged when those premises are challenged, and it's why they feel a need to use any smears and distortions (he's justifying terrorism!) to discredit those who do. As Sullivan's reader perfectly put it in his email:
"The emotional intensity with which you demand that the London attack be described as 'terrorism' (as opposed to 'horrific act of violence,' 'killing,' 'hack to death,' 'barbaric and horrendous act,' etc., as Greenwald writes) only confirms Greenwald's point that it is important to define what 'terrorism' means, particularly because certain folks have an emotional, political and/or legal reason for insisting on its usage. What free thinker would want to shout down that discussion? Respectfully, that is'very hard to understand, let alone forgive.'"
But as was clear from the furor that erupted after the debate over the anti-Muslim views of Sam Harris and company, and as is demonstrated again by Sullivan's unhinged reaction here to what I wrote, the need to maintain the belief that Islam is a uniquely grave danger in the world - and that western violence against them is superior to their violence against the west - is one that is incredibly deep-seated and visceral. That seems to be true for several independent reasons.
First, it's a by-product of base tribalism. Americans and westerners have been relentlessly bombarded with the message that We are the Noble and Innocent Victims and those Muslims are the Evil, Primitive, Savage Aggressors, so that's what many people are trained to believe, and view any challenge to that as an assault on their core tribalistic convictions. The defining tribalistic belief that Our Side is Superior (and our violence thus inherently more noble than theirs) has been stoked by political leaders since politics began to sustain support for their aggression and entrench their own power. It's a potent drive - something humans instinctively want to believe - and is therefore one that is easily manipulated by skillful propagandists.
Second, all sorts of agendas are advanced by maintaining these premises in place. As the scholar Remi Brulin has documented, "terrorism" in its recent incarnation was designed by the US to justify all of the violence it wanted to do in the world from Central America to the Middle East, and by Israel to universalize the vicious and intractable conflicts it has with its Arab neighbors (our wars aren't just our fights with them over land; it's a global struggle to stop a plague that is also your fight: against Terrorism). A great new book by Harvard's Lisa Stampnitzky makes the argument indicated by its title: "Disciplining Terror: How Experts Invented 'Terrorism'". The functional meaninglessness of the term "terrorism" and its highly manipulative exploitation are vital to several political agendas. That fact renders the guardians of those agendas furious when the conventional and highly emotional understanding of the term is questioned, and especially when it's suggested that anti-western violence isn't best understood as the by-product of unique pathologies in Islam but rather in the context of decades of western aggression toward that region.
Indeed, most of the responses to my argument ignored the questions I posed about the definition of "terrorism" and instead rested on pure irrational rage: this was a Muslim who used a knife to kill a westerner; of course it was terrorism (or, as Sullivan put it, "If we cannot call a man who does that in the name of God and finishes by warning his fellow citizens 'You will never be safe' a terrorist, who would fit that description, apart, of course, in Glenn's view, Barack Obama?"). Or, alternatively, critics of what I wrote simply fabricated what I argued (he blames the west and thinks the Terrorists have no agency!), or spewed outrage at the mere suggestion that anything the west does is comparable to the violence we saw on the London street. As his emailer put it about the rational discussion Sullivan allowed himself about whether the Benghazi attack was terrorism: "Imagine if someone then responded to you pointing out that fact (like Greenwald did) with the type of sanctimonious outburst that you showed here. Would you have even taken it seriously?"
Third, and I think most significantly, there is a very potent human need to deny responsibility for our own actions and avoid being shown the worst attributes of our own behavior, and a corresponding "kill-the-messenger" impulse aimed at those who want to focus on (rather than hide) all of that. It's not irrelevant that Sullivan (along with Jeffrey Goldberg, Tom Friedman and Christopher Hitchens) was one of the world's most vocal, most passionate, and most effective media cheerleaders for the attack on Iraq (which he yesterday acknowledged was "a criminal enterprise and strategic catastrophe" even while justifying it on the ground that it "removed one of the most vicious mass murderers of Muslims on the planet"). But Sullivan was not only that: he also led the way (along with Hitchens) in implanting in the public mind the idea that the US and the UK were leading a Grand Civilization War, and he spouted some of the most repellent rhetoric of demonization against anyone who uttered any protest.
Sullivan, to his credit, has since apologized for his leading public role in all of that. But as his response to me (and other recent posts) make clear, the Civilization Warrior who accuses people of being sympathetic to The Terrorists is still always lurking close to the surface ("Islam's fanatical side – from the Taliban to the Tsarnaevs – is more murderous than most", he wrote last month). I don't think it's hard to see why he, along with so many others, clings so fervently, even instinctively, to these precepts.
No matter how many evil things your government does, no matter how many innocent people are killed by the political leader you deliriously adore, no matter how much blood you have on your own hands for exploiting your media platform to publicly cheer for mass violence and slaughter, all of that can be redeemed, or at least mitigated, only if there is Someone Else Over There who you can point to as The Supreme and Unique Evil. Sure, we make mistakes and do some bad things. But we're not like them: the Ultimate Savages. The Primitive Islamic Hordes. The Terrorists. That's why it's urgent that these designations of special evil (Terrorist) be reserved exclusively for Them: only then can we elevate ourselves.
Once that framework is implanted, then our violence is understandable, noble, well-intentioned, necessitated by their pure evil. By stark contrast, their violence is sub-human, senseless, and utterly unrelated to anything we do. Just marvel at the visceral and psychologically revealing language that Sullivan, after ennobling western violence, uses for the London attack [his emphasis]: "terrorism in its most animal-like form, created and sustained entirely by religious fanaticism which would find any excuse to murder, destroy and oppress Muslims and non-Muslims in the name of God." This is the very personal need that bolsters this worldview and prompts such rage when it is challenged: the need to view oneself in a better light, to avoid the reality of what one supports and enables.
I used to wonder how people like Sullivan and other Americans and westerners, who continuously justify any manner of violence and militarism by their own side, could possibly spend so much time pointing to others and depicting them - those people over there - as the embodiment of violence and savage aggression. But at some point I realized that it's precisely because they continuously justify so much violence and aggression from their side that they have such a boundless compulsion to depict others as the Uniquely Primitive and Violent Evil. That's how they absolve themselves. It's how they distract themselves from the reality of what they support and what their governments do in the world. And it's why few things produce quite as much personal resentment and anger than demanding that they first gaze into a mirror before issuing these absolutist denunciations about others.
UPDATE
For reasons I'll let the Guardian explain, all of the comments to all of the columns and articles posted on the London attack were deleted, and the comment sections then closed. I hope that won't happen to today's column here, as the topics discussed here are not really about the attack but the broader debate about terrorism. But it's possible that it will happen again. Those wanting to post comments should be aware of this possibility before spending your time and energy to write one.
• Comments have been removed for legal reasons. Further explanation of UK law around active court cases hereMarvel Studios is seemingly taking full advantage of the newly built Pinewood Atlanta Studios, in whichwas the first movie to be filmed, in Fayetteville, Georgia.just wrapped production in the peach state last month, andis scheduled to start shooting there in February next year. Now according to's informative Filming In Georgia, filming forwill also take place at the Pinewood Atlanta Studios.It was previously reported that Marvel Studios were considering shooting Chris Hemsworth's fifth turn as the Odinson overseas in Australia, but there is no word on whether or not that deal may come to fruition with Georgia set in stone. The Herald Sun reported late last week that the 2017 threequel would be the first movie shot in the Village Roadshow Studios that is currently being built in Oxenford, Australia. Apparently, the company is hoping to finish construction in time for bothandto use the sound stages before 2018's Commonwealth Games.Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, and Anthony Hopkins, Thor: Ragnarok is currently being scripted by Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle with no director yet attached, and is now set to be released in theaters on November 3, 2017. What do you think?Troy Williams (Photo: submitted by Patty Williams) Story Highlights Iowa at Indiana, 7 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN
BLOOMINGTON -- Patty Williams' only son learned to walk at an early age, but what came just weeks later surprised her even more.
Troy Williams started running. And he didn't stop.
When he was five, after several errant swings in his first tee-ball at-bat, he finally connected, and Williams took off — to third base. Patty shouted that he needed to run to first, so Williams did as he was told, taking the straightest path he could find by cutting across the pitcher's mound.
Now a sophomore forward at Indiana, Williams has always moved at whatever was his fastest speed, even if it meant making a few mistakes along the way. It's come to define him on the basketball court.
"He's always played with that type of energy," Patty said.
Sometimes that's a problem, and sometimes it's a blessing, turnovers and thunderous dunks going hand-in-hand for one of the Big Ten's most electrifying players. One opposing coach described him by saying "he almost doesn't have a conscience," before adding "that's a good thing sometimes."
Sometimes, he's out of control. And sometimes, he's uncontrollable. He walks this line, because for Williams, there's never been another way.
"I told Troy a long time ago, 'That's what separates you,' " said James Daniel, Williams' coach for three varsity seasons at Phoebus High School. " 'Don't take your gift and take it to the norm, with everybody else. That's your gift. Keep it for you.' "
LOVING THE GAME
At Virginia's southeastern corner, where the York and James rivers meet at Chesapeake Bay, is an area known as Hampton Roads. Several smaller towns form a rambling municipality that has produced elite athletes in nearly every major sport.
Allen Iverson was born in Hampton, Michael Vick in Newport News. Alonzo Mourning grew up in the area. So did Justin and Melvin Upton.
"Good ain't good enough in this area," said Boo Williams, Troy's uncle and one of the most well-known men in grassroots basketball, said. "We have so many great players."
NEWSLETTERS Get the IndyStar Motor Sports newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong The latest news in IndyCar and the world of motor sports. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-888-357-7827. Delivery: Sun - Fri Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for IndyStar Motor Sports Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters
Troy Williams' family didn't push him into basketball. He didn't even love it at first, but it eventually grabbed him.
He lived in Hampton with his grandmother and his mother. Boo provided a strong male influence, with Troy's father absent.
Together, they guided him.
"Around here, we have a lot of kids who have great potential," Daniel said. " What separates the ones that make it and the ones that don't is their support system. With Troy working as hard as he did, and with Boo Williams supporting him, his grandmother and his mother, you just know he was gonna have success."
Except that wasn't always guaranteed.
Williams' athleticism was natural, and he sprouted from 5-11 to 6-7 in a span of four years. Skill did not automatically accompany the growth spurt.
"Troy wasn't always the best player," said Terri Williams-Flournoy, his aunt. "But he always played hard."
Williams-Flournoy, now the head women's basketball coach at Auburn, remembers her nephew stealing a few minutes on the court between halves at a girls AAU tournament. Once bitten by the basketball bug, Williams would work wherever he could.
After spending his eighth-grade season on Phoebus' JV team, Williams moved up to varsity the next year, but he barely played.
Exclusion drove him. When he returned to Phoebus as a 10th-grader, his game had changed. He was more refined, more polished and ready to play far more than he watched.
"He really blossomed," Daniel said.
On a team with five future Division I players, Williams was the leading scorer.
A HEAVY NAME
Troy wasn't pushed into the family sport, but once he jumped into basketball, the attachment to Boo was inevitable.
Boo Williams played at Phoebus, and then at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia. After a professional career, he began the Boo Williams Summer League, a precursor to a grassroots basketball program that now counts more than 165 teams under its umbrella.
His AAU program's alumni list would make an NBA playoff team; Iverson, Mourning, J.J. Redick, Jarrett Jack, Joe Smith and more. Boo Williams' name is attached to 135,000-square-foot sports complex in Hampton. It hosts an annual Nike-sponsored tournament every spring, featuring some of the country's best prospects.
"(Troy) got labeled," Williams-Flournoy said. "That's Boo's nephew. If you're Boo's nephew, you have to be good."
Recruiting analysts took notice, and Troy took off. Soon, he was ranked one of the best players in his class.
Schools started calling — North Carolina, Kentucky, Villanova, Louisville — but it wasn't their attention that got into Troy's head. It was the famous last name he carried.
Troy tried too hard. Made mistakes. Let them compound. Slipped in the rankings. Programs backed off.
Buy Photo Indiana Hoosiers forward Troy Williams gets up to get a rebound over Purdue Boilermakers forward Basil Smotherman in the second half. Indiana hosted Purdue at Assembly Hall on Thursday, February 19, 2015. (Photo: Mike Fender / The Star)
"You can't continue to try and be this player that you're not, just because of the name that you're carrying," Williams-Flournoy said.
Troy realized that. He doubled his work ethic, and began to shed himself of self-made pressure.
At the same time, his family made a decision he didn't like.
His grades weren't bad, but as Patty put it, "Troy considered making a C as good." His family did not.
Boo spoke with Steve Smith, the head coach at Oak Hill Academy, a prestigious prep school in rural southern Virginia — six hours from home.
Family-centric Troy didn't like it, and his mother knew sending him away would be hard on her. But the family understood: At Oak Hill, Troy would have to work hard in the classroom, and being surrounded by other elite players would sharpen him on the court.
It worked. Those Cs became As and Bs. The recruiting attention returned in earnest. And he stepped out of his famous uncle's long shadow.
"I used to be known as Boo's nephew. Now I'm finally known as Troy," he said.
SCOTTIE TRIPPEN
John Lucas has another name for him.
Lucas, a former NBA player and coach, has worked with Troy since his junior year at Phoebus.
"My nickname for him is Scottie Trippen," Lucas said, chuckling. "Almost Scottie Pippen. He has that kind of feel to me. He's going to be able to get rebounds, make plays."
That's the billing Williams lived up to at Oak Hill, where in one season, he averaged 16.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, four assists and two blocks per game. On a team of stars, he did a little bit of everything.
"He was one of our best players, obviously, if not our best player," Smith said.
Oak Hill challenged Williams. Away from his friends and family, would his gregarious personality persist?
As he did at Phoebus — and as he would later do at Indiana — Williams lit up games with his highlight-reel athleticism, but also with his passing, his shot-blocking ability and that indefatigable motor.
"He made the same plays, bringing energy to the team," said Sindarius Thornwell, now a sophomore guard at South Carolina.
Indiana entered Williams' recruitment late, so coach Tom Crean did whatever was needed to make up ground.
During a tournament in North Carolina, Crean called Boo from a Big Ten coaches meeting. When did Troy's game start, Crean asked? Boo told him, knowing it would conflict with Crean's schedule. That was usually when coaches told Boo they would be sure to catch his player next time.
“'My nickname for him is Scottie Trippen. Almost Scottie Pippen. He has that kind of feel to me. He’s going to be able to get rebounds, make plays.'” Former NBA player and coach John Lucas, on Troy Williams
Instead, Crean got on a plane. Things got serious. Troy visited Bloomington for Hoosier Hysteria.
"I think what really changed Troy's mind about Indiana, to make him feel good about going there, was when he went to Hoosier Hysteria," Patty said. "I said, 'How did you like the school?' He said, 'Mom, I felt like a superstar. They were chanting my name.' "
Williams started every game his freshman season. He jumped and rebounded and blocked and dunked and won freshman of the week once. He also turned the ball over, made 6-of-29 3-pointers, struggled with consistency.
But he never stopped running.
'OWNERSHIP'
Williams hadn't been glued to the bench since the ninth-grade season that so motivated him. But he needed a different kind of growth last November.
He was suspended for the first four games of Indiana's season — two exhibition and two regular-season — after failing a drug test. Crean made him and two other suspended teammates watch from the locker room. Even the bench was off limits.
"It made me take ownership of my mistakes," he said of his suspension. "I've just learned more of what it means to be an Indiana basketball player."
Just as the benching had done in ninth grade, Williams returned to become indispensable. He scored in double figures in the first nine games of his sophomore season, including a 22-point, 11-rebound outing in IU's win over Butler in Indianapolis in December. He had another double-double in IU's win over Ohio State on Jan. 10, and 21 and nine in a victory at Illinois eight days later.
Indiana is 19-10 and on course for the NCAA tournament. Williams turns the ball over less and scores it more. He's become pivotal. The Hoosiers have won just once in league play without him scoring in double figures.
Williams' easy-going personality makes him a popular teammate, yet in the last year, he's become more serious, more demanding.
During a pregame shootaround in January, he caught the eye of Big Ten Network analyst Stephen Bardo. Williams was shouting, instructing, teaching.
"When," Bardo asked Crean, "did Troy start leading like that?"
NEVER STOPPED RUNNING
An unfortunate casualty of Williams' on-court exuberance is balance. Put simply, he falls down a lot.
When Patty's scared he has hurt himself, she grabs her ears. She doesn't know why. Her son will call her after games and tell her he knows the exact moments she grabbed her ears, and not to worry.
Family has always been important to Williams. Someday, he'd like to provide for his mother and grandmother through basketball, and that day might be soon. His name is starting to appear in mock drafts, some even pegging him as a potential first-round pick this summer.
Buy Photo Indiana Hoosiers forward Troy Williams (5) grimaces after landed on in the first half of their game Sunday, February 15, 2015, evening at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. (Photo: Matt Kryger / The Star)
He says he's unconcerned about anything other than Indiana's next game (Tuesday, against Iowa), but Lucas sees what scouts do.
"Athletically, he's already a pro," Lucas said. "Defensively, he's got pro capabilities. He's got to continue to improve his shot and he's got to continue to get the slow down a little bit more. That comes with maturity."
A degree will come first, if grandmother has any say.
"Grandma is from the old school," Boo said. "That degree is more important to her than anything."
Like her son, though, Patty is just focused on his next game.
She won't talk on the phone while Williams is playing. Her attention doesn't break from the pinwheeling, careening, high-flying human momentum changer she raised. From Hampton, to Oak Hill, to Indiana, she's watched him grow, as a basketball player and as a person.
"He's matured a lot," she said.
One thing hasn't changed.
Williams took a hard fall after a mid-air collision during the first half of Indiana's win over Minnesota on Feb. 15. Patty grabbed her ears. Her son sat out the last four minutes of the half.
But he came back in the second. Hit a 3-pointer. Grabbed a rebound. Committed a turnover, then a foul. With 51/ 2 minutes left, some poor soul left the back side of the rim open, an opening Williams split through to slam home a jaw-dropping dunk.
Mostly, he never stopped running.
DOWNLOAD: IndyStar's Hoosiers app
Troy Williams
Sophomore forward
6-7, 215 pounds
Hampton, Va.
Sophomore stats: 13.7 ppg, 7 rpg, 1.9 apg, 57.7 FG percent
Best game: 22 points, 11 rebounds in 82-73 win over Butler
Not just a hoops family: It's easy to identify the Williams family with basketball, because of Boo, Troy and Terri. But Troy says it's not all hoops. He has an uncle, in fact, who works at the Pentagon.
Road not taken: When he was young, Troy Williams' family introduced him to football. Long and athletic, even before a high school growth spurt, he looked like a future wide receiver. There was one problem. He hated it. "I don't like to hit people," he told his mother, "and I don't like people hitting me."Discussions about increasing the visibility of the GTE Pro class began following the granting of full FIA world championship status for the overall GT classifications for this season in the wake Ford’s entry into the category last year and the announcement that BMW will join in 2018.
WEC boss Gerard Neveu revealed that a sprint race, most likely of a 60-minute duration, the day before the main event at WEC's six-hour rounds was one of the ideas on the table.
“We are thinking about the idea for a sprint race for GTE on Saturday and believe it could be quite interesting, but it is just an idea at the moment and we have to follow FIA processes," he told Motorsport.com.
“There are many questions, like how many drivers would take part and how we would award points. There are no clear answers and we will talk about it over this season as we go through the proper processes.”
The manufacturers competing in GTE Pro – Ferrari, Porsche, Ford and Aston Martin – appear open to the idea.
Frank-Steffen Walliser, the Porsche Motorsport vice-president in charge of GT racing, said: “Anything that makes the weekend more fun and more interesting for the fans is welcome.
"We are open to the idea, but it is something that needs to be discussed.”
Walliser also suggested that the idea of sprint races needed to be part of a wider discussion about the championship.
“We have to remember that the WEC is not just about one 24-hour race at Le Mans,” he said. “We’ve got to make it attractive.
"There are many things to discuss, like double points at Le Mans, yes or no?”A yellow water taxi, part of a fleet run by New York Water Taxi, passes under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. (Photo: RADCLIFFE ROYE)
Water taxis zipping up and down the Detroit River and trolley buses humming along the riverfront could be the next legs in the city's expanding transit system.
It's an idea being pushed by the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, which is preparing to raise $3 million to fund a transportation system that is part water taxi, part trolley and operates exclusively along the river in Detroit.
The conservancy, a nonprofit that has transformed the city's riverfront into a pedestrian-friendly place, hired Michigan-based Freshwater Transit, a transit planning and management firm, to study the feasibility of a mixed-use system.
Based on the research, the conservancy has pitched a plan to its board for six water taxi stations and 14 trolley stops from West Riverfront Park to Gabriel Richard Park, with stops on Belle Isle.
William Smith, the conservancy's chief financial officer, said the first phase of the water taxi route would use six existing docks or access points along the river. They are Cobo Center, the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, RenCen/GM Plaza, Rivard Plaza, the Rattlesnake Club and Belle Isle.
Suggested fares would be $1 for a trolley ride and $7.50 for taxi service, based on an estimated initial annual ridership of 5,000. Prices would be lower for seniors and children, and passes would be available.
The trolley route was designed to give riders access to water taxis and to tie into existing transit systems in Detroit such as the M-1 Rail, People Mover, DDOT and SMART bus routes and the Dequindre Cut. It would operate using Atwater and other riverfront streets.
The project needs $3 million in capital investment, Smith said. It has a fundraising goal of $4.25 million, and an eye toward launching in 2016.
"We have a lot of dock space that we control or our partners control like the DNR, Port Authority and GM," Smith said. "It made sense to be able to allow folks other opportunities to travel along the riverfront."
Using existing docks reduces the need to build new ones, Smith said. Money is needed to purchase up to three water taxis and up to four trolleys and add signage, as well as for first-year operational costs. Operations could later be contracted out by the conservancy, he said.
The idea is a natural for Detroit, Smith added.
"If you had a convention at Cobo, you can take a water taxi to the hotel or to dinner," Smith said. "How many people can say the front door of their city is a world border?"
Tom Woolsey, owner of Andrews on the Corner in Detroit, says he loves the idea of a trolley. He suggested a historical narrative of the city and riverfront be added to the trip, to engage and inform riders as they cruise down the paved RiverWalk.
Andrews on the Corner, a bar-restaurant, is part of Detroit's Rivertown, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, where the landscape is dominated by open spaces and abandoned warehouses with river access. It survived the demolition crews that cleared the area in the late 1990s for casinos that instead moved closer to downtown.
"I think the trolley would be a great idea. The water taxi, it depends on what they do. I think it would be tough for people to get dropped off at Belle Isle and not have something significant to do there," Woolsey said.
Andrews, a 97-year-old business, operates its own shuttle for Red Wings and Tigers games, as do other Detroit bars and restaurants. Woolsey says the proposed taxi and trolley fares are reasonable. The free trolley operated in Grosse Pointe, he noted, is funded by local businesses and supporters.
"I really hope the trolley goes through there. It would really expand a lot of interest down there," he said.
Ron Olson, chief of the Parks and Recreation Division for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said the state also envisioned water taxi services from the island to the mainland and had spoken to the Port Authority about a possible partnership.
Since its inception in 2003, the conservancy has raised $120 million toward its $140 million goal to revitalize 5.5 miles of riverfront from just east of the MacArthur Bridge to the Ambassador Bridge.
Its funders include the Kresge Foundation, the city of Detroit, General Motors Co. and the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.
It has a $38 million endowment and has funded projects including the Detroit RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut. Officials are hoping the water taxi service will be next.
Smith said a water taxi demonstration will debut at the 2015 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix this month, with taxis running from the Port Authority to Belle Isle.
"The (conservancy) board has seen (the plan). They love it. Our stakeholders love it. Now its a matter to raise the capital," Smith said.
JChambers@detroitnews.com
Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/1bJa1eDThe newsagency was always open on time, especially on Saturdays, the busiest morning on the shopping strip. People were standing out the front of the newsagency, staring at a huge pile of papers still bundled on the footpath, and when they tried the door, it was locked.
Immediately fearing something was wrong, Kathy and Robert went straight over to Min and Lily’s house to find out why they hadn’t opened their newsagency. They assumed they were either sick or maybe one of the boys had hurt themselves.
When they arrived, they found the front door unlocked.
Robert and Kathy entered the house and called out, but no one responded.
They slowly made their way upstairs.
Kathy opened her brother and sister-in-law’s bedroom door. Robert was following close behind.
What did they see?Michael Reagan: Obama 'absolutely admirable' for not taking public funding David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Thursday October 30, 2008
Print This Email This Republican strategist and prominent McCain supporter Michael Reagan stunned the hosts of Fox and Friends on Thursday morning when he stated, "Barack Obama has run a brilliant campaign" and called Obama's decision to opt out of public financing "smart politics."
"I would rather see us do private funding for elections," Reagan stated. "I think what he did was absolutely admirable. I wish Republicans would do that."
Obama's purchase of airtime to run a half-hour infomercial on Wednesday was made possible only by his reliance on private fundraising, for which he has been severely criticized by the McCain campaign. When Fox's Gretchen Carlson insisted that Obama had "lied" when he suggested early in the campaign that he might accept public financing, Reagan quickly cut her off.
"It's really interesting," commented Reagan. "Conservative Republicans have always wanted private financing, not public financing. So I think the McCain argument that he lied and he didn't take public financing... I think it's really a bogus argument."
The Fox hosts appeared amazed by this positive reaction from Reagan, who has generally been harshly critical of Obama, recently writing, "How does he explain the proven fact that he has been wallowing in a sty surrounded by fervent socialists and sharing in their swill for most of his life?"
However, liberal columnist Kirsten Powers quickly agreed with Reagan's assessment. "If he didn't do it, it would have been political malpractice," she said of Obama's decision. "He couldn't have walked away from all that money. It just would have been stupid, I think."
"Barack Obama has run a brilliant campaign," continued Reagan. "The Republicans have run a campaign from last century. And the Republicans, if they want to win, have to come into this century and learn to raise money on the Internet."
Powers noted that McCain probably made a mistake in accepting public financing, but added that "I don't think he was going to raise anything near the amount of money that Barack Obama did |
introduces a one year draft in order to boost manpower.
Aware that the current, horrifically decentralized form of government will not last, the Supreme Protector endeavours to create a bureaucracy so the Presidents of the constituent Republics don't have to pore over every detail of everything happening in their jurisdictions.
Yes Gonzalo, we get it, congratulations on baking your five hundredth loaf of bread. Fuck off already.
Sick of Gonzalo's shit, General Jose Miguel de Velasco, South Peru's Provisional President, begs Santa Cruz to mobilize already.
Having actually met Gonzalo, and aware that Peru-Bolivia's army is not enough to defend its borders, Santa Cruz is sympathetic.
Preferring actual horses over ageing donkeys, two cavalry divisions are commissioned. Once complete, they will double the size of the current standing army.
The Bolivian Army is ordered to Uquia, in an effort to nestle itself amongst the Andes and give the Argentines a hard time.
With the markets adjusting to the new turmoil, the books are re-balanced. The landowners are now getting paid again, and their children can read the Hungry Caterpillar to their heart's delight.
Probably with Gonzalos of their own, the Patagonian Coalition's caudillos mobilize as well.
The 'Gonzalo Brigade' concludes its mobilization. It too is ordered to Uquia, where it will be merged with the professional army. Gonzalo himself is told to tell any attacking forces about his loaves of bread.
It takes a month for Santa Cruz's bureaucrats to confirm that, yes, there is in fact a war.
They've also forgotten that he has a hissy fit every time someone neglects to call him Supreme Protector.
Not entirely confident in the military abilities of his Presidents, and keen to centralize command, Santa Cruz assumes control of the Peruvian units.
They are ordered to Antofagasta, despite scouts reporting a fuckton of Chilean soldiers are much closer.
The Bolivian professional army arrives in Uquia, where they merge with the Gonzalo Brigade. Miraculously, the vast majority of them- Gonzalo included- are still holding out.
Fuck off.
Fuck OFF.
kms
With the fall of Antofagasta, the only part of the Bolivian coastline that can support the French-funded navy, Santa Cruz acquiesces to Chilean demands for the coastline's entirety.
We won't forget this.
Needing permission from South Peru's President, General Ramon Herrera Rodado, in order to import foreign goods is a great humiliation for Santa Cruz.
He returns control of the South Peruvian armies as a result, shortly after they were decimated at the hands of their northern brethren.
Realising the gravity of the situation, the Supreme Protector orders General Ballivian's Bolivians out of Uquia. They attempt to leave Gonzalo behind but the Argentine locals didn't want him either.
It is hoped he will be the first to die at the Battle of Iquique.
The battle opens up to a flying start. General Ballivian is an accomplished strategist.
The Bolivians secure a victory, shortly after Santa Rosa falls to the Argentines.
Unfortunately, Gonzalo lives.
Despite enormous setbacks, the literate classes are constantly re-assured that Santa Cruz will prevail.
Let us hope he is right.As my title said, horrible day and I'm horribly sick. I got my package, and I am in such a better mood! I love my books!! I told my santa I wanted to learn how to knit, so she got me a knitting book, one that she personally has used. I can't wait to start learning.
The second gift, is by far one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. The first books to spark my love of reading were from the Nancy Drew series. I started reading them while in my fourth foster home at the age of 9. They were an older couple, so they weren't that active. My older foster brother wouldn't let me play his playstation, so all there really was for me to do in 1999, was read. So I read A LOT. And this was my series of choice. I mentioned how one of those books would be awesome, so she got me the first 5!!
I can't tell you how much these books mean to me! Thank you so much!!We have watched with amusement as right-wing media personalities from Rush Limbaugh to Matt Drudge to Scott Baio have fallen for a Twitter user’s joke that he is an Ohio postal worker who is proudly “ripping up absentee ballots that vote for trump.” The right-wing panic over the joke tweet went so far that Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State spoke out on the matter yesterday.
i love working at the post office in Columbus, Ohio and ripping up absentee ballots that vote for trump — raandy (@randygdub) October 16, 2016
Conservatives were quick to run with a story that seemed to corroborate Donald Trump’s claim that the election has been rigged against him and that widespread fraud is taking place at polling sites. Not surprisingly, the fact that the story was clearly bogus and easily debunked did not stop them.
Voter fraud is fantastically rare and it would take a massive and complicated undertaking to swing the upcoming presidential election, seeing that it would have to involve tampering with different voting systems in several different states and overcoming margins of victory that typically come out to hundreds of thousands of votes per state.
Nevertheless, the GOP has spent years, with much success, promoting the myth of Democrats winning elections due to voter fraud in order to defend laws that disqualify thousands of people, typically people of color and young people, from voting without a particular voter ID.
With Republicans desperate to find incidents to confirm their conspiracy theory, it is no wonder that leading conservative voices in the media fell so quickly for a Twitter joke.
But this is far from the first false claim that Republicans have cited to justify their voter disenfranchisement laws. Here are just five other myths that the conservative media have elevated to the level of gospel in their desperate attempt to prove that widespread voter fraud is real:
1) Philadelphia Returns
For years, Republicans have pointed to findings that several divisions in Philadelphia showed Mitt Romney receiving zero votes in the last election. Trump even exaggerated this claim today to allege that both Romney and his GOP predecessor John McCain “got zero votes” in the entire city.
Romney did in fact fail to receive a single vote in a handful of predominantly African American divisions that were “extremely Democratic.” A Philadelphia election inspector said that it would have been impossible for several divisions to erase Romney votes and that “stealing those 100 votes [from Romney] would be extremely risky and stupid” considering that they would a drop in the bucket “in a city where 700,000 votes were cast.”
Oddly, conservatives outraged about this case of supposed fraud never seemed to call for an investigation of the precincts in Utah where President Obama didn’t win any votes.
2) Rigged Florida Election
In 2012, Florida Republican Rep. Allen West lost his race for re-election in a tight contest, but conservatives were quick to cry voter fraud when one county reported that the number of “cards cast” in the election equaled 141 percent of the number of registered voters in West’s district.
While the language is confusing, “cards cast” does not mean “ballots cast.” Each ballot contained two cards, or pages, meaning that voter turnout was actually about 70 percent.
3) Stuffed Ohio Ballots
One viral story this year from an outlet called the Christian Times Newspaper reported that a poll worker in Columbus, Ohio, had “stumbled across approximately one dozen black, sealed ballot boxes filled with thousands of Franklin County votes for Hillary Clinton and other Democrat candidates,” warning that it was “evidence of a massive operation designed to deliver Clinton the crucial swing state.”
As Snopes pointed out, the photograph of the Ohio poll worker with the ballot boxes used in the story was actually a photo “taken in 2015 in Birmingham, England, and simply captures a man unloading a truck of ballot boxes at a polling station.”
4) Illegal Somali Votes
Hans von Spakovsky, a Heritage Foundation senior fellow and vocal supporter of laws ostensibly meant to crackdown on voter fraud, has searched far and wide to find cases of fraud that have occurred in the last decade. Back in 2011, he thought he had finally found one: “A 2010 election in Missouri that ended in a one-vote margin of victory included 50 votes cast illegally by citizens of Somalia.”
Von Spakovsky was referring to a Missouri State House race that was decided by a single vote and where the Republican candidate claimed he lost due to fraud.
However, a court review found “that there was no misconduct by any voter” in the election and concluded “that the evidence fails to show that there was any fraud practiced as to even one vote.” Non-English-speaking Somalis did vote in the election, but contrary to von Spakovsky’s claim, they were citizens who were registered voters and there was no proof that they committed fraud.
5) Undocumented Immigrants Voting
Back in 2010, Jesse Kelly, an Arizona Republican running for the U.S. House, said that “people have video” proving that Democrats “literally bus people across from Mexico to have them vote at the polls on Election Day, give them a meal and then bus them back. It’s been done in the past.”
The state’s Republican secretary of state, however, said there was no evidence to support his allegation, and the Arizona Republic found that “voter-fraud cases in Maricopa County,” the state’s largest, “involving illegal immigrants are nearly non-existent.”
We are still waiting for Kelly to produce the video proof of voter fraud.The Walrus Foundation failed to meet the obligations it made to the government in order to gain and maintain its status as a registered charity, said the Walrus magazine’s co-founder.
(Listen to our podcast interview with Ken Alexander here. )
Ken Alexander founded the Walrus in 2003 with David Berlin. Alexander later served as the magazine’s editor and publisher. He and his family’s Chawkers foundation donated $5 million toward its initial operation and navigated the process of having the Walrus Foundation designated a charity by the Canadian Revenue Agency. As a charity, the Walrus has tax-exempt status and can collect tax-deductible donations.
Ken Alexander provided CANADALAND with a 2005 letter from the CRA to the Walrus’ lawyer (PDFs below) in which the government agency sets out in detail the “operational requirements” the Walrus Foundation must maintain to remain a charity. We reached out to both the Foundation and Shelley Ambrose, the publisher, for comment on this story and, if there is one, an updated version of the agreement. We’ve received no response.
Alexander said the Walrus failed to perform some of the obligations laid out in the CRA document, “in direct violation of the charitable status agreement.” He said the magazine did not maintain its educational content requirements, the Walrus Foundation cancelled a national book giveaway program for high school students, and the magazine cancelled its original paid internship program, in which interns from around the country were paid a living wage and given bi-monthly journalism workshops.
“On the strength of these ‘activities,’” Alexander said, “we got charitable status.”
The Walrus replaced its paid internship program with an unpaid program, which the Ontario Ministry of Labour shut down in 2014. The Foundation was fined for violating labour law and Walrus interns are now once again paid for their work.
The CRA’s 2005 letter also describes other charitable initiatives of the Walrus, including an annual $10,000 non-fiction book prize and a university student essay contest with cash prizes. Unlike the paid internship and high school literacy programs, these activities were never cancelled, because, it seems, they were never initiated. “To my knowledge,” Alexander said, “these were also ignored or, at least, not attended to.”
The document specifically forbade the Walrus magazine from publishing advertorial content. Today, the Walrus regularly runs “supplements” sponsored by partners like the World Wildlife Foundation, who have editorial input on the articles the Walrus produces for these features.
Ken Alexander tells CANADALAND that a year and a half after he resigned his post as the Walrus’ editor due to a “toxic” work culture and “abuse” of workers from publisher Shelley Ambrose, he attended a Chawkers foundation meeting at his ailing father’s request. There, Shelley Ambrose and new Walrus editor John Macfarlane updated the foundation on the progress of the magazine. According to Alexander, at that meeting Ambrose misrepresented the Walrus’ circulation and withheld information about a complaint made against the magazine to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
“It was a complete sham,” said Alexander, “[the Walrus Foundation] taking Chawkers for unwitting fools. I took real umbrage at my father being lied to.”
A representative of the Canadian Revenue Agency told CANADALAND that if registered charities want to change their purpose or objects (their activities), they must ask for permission first. CANADALAND repeatedly asked the Walrus if it has successfully changed its charitable status agreement with the CRA. We didn’t receive a response.
Without comment from the Walrus, the full story remains unclear. We don’t know whether there were changes to the CRA agreement or if the deviation from the original one was approved by the board. It’s unclear who made the decision to shut down the paid internship and high school literacy programs or run the advertorial content. We will update this story if the Walrus responds to our questions.
[email protected]
UPDATE (Feb.16, 2016)
Though the Walrus has yet to respond to CANADALAND’s inquiries, we did ask the Canadian Revenue Agency to send us the most recent versions of the Walrus’ governing documents.
While these do include a 2006 amendment freeing the Walrus from obligations to conduct original research and provide scholarships and bursaries, no other changes appear.
As these documents describe, the Walrus Foundation is currently obligated to provide an annual $10,000 non-fiction book prize and annual cash prizes for student essays, and to “adhere to an educational content versus other, including advertising ratio of at least 70:30.”
*******
WALRUS TIMELINE, written by Ken Alexander
Ken Alexander provided a timeline of events at the Walrus. Below is his account, edited for length and clarity.
November 2005
After more than three years of arguing with the Canada Revenue Agency, the Walrus Foundation is granted charitable status. It was an epic battle. Along the way certain people were heroic, perhaps none more so than my father, Charles Alexander. Beyond the pro forma obligations of any Canadian charity, there were (and I believe still are) four “activities” WF was/is obliged to offer and/or perform in order to retain its charitable status. Those activities are:
1. Publishing a magazine ten times per year with an editorial (and art) to non-editorial ratio of at least 70:30. All editorial and art pieces must be vetted by an educational review committee of university professors to make sure that they qualify as educational. Profiles and strictly personal journalism in the form of memoirs are specifically excluded (non-educational). The magazine must regularly feature long-form investigative journalism, and can publish humour (that is educational), crossword puzzles (and other “brain games”) that meet a high educational standard.
2. Under “training” WF must offer fully-paid ($2,000 a month, plus benefits) six-month internships to four editorial interns and one art intern. The interns must be given a full educational experience and be selected from across Canada.
3. Under “youth literacy” WF must (continue to) operate “Bookshelf,” a unique annual program of evenings in twelve Canadian cities — from St. John’s to Victoria — attended by public high school English and History teachers that results in 24,000 books per year given to deserving graduating high school students. Note: Bookshelf was started years before WF and was funded — about $350,000 a year entirely by Chawkers, the foundation established by my mom and dad.
4. Under “conferences” WF must host a minimum of one conference per year on a critically important matter of public policy.
December 2005
As a condition of charitable status I step down from all boards, and become a simple (fireable) employee — the editor. I no longer have any management or publishing responsibilities, a relief. It would be accurate to say, I think, that I was useless at both.
November 2006
Shelley Ambrose is hired as publisher and executive director of WF. At the request of the board I write her employment contract. It stipulates that she must ensure all the terms and conditions of the charitable status agreement are observed and executed.
March 2007
Greg Keilty delivers the circulation numbers. Astonishingly, the magazine crested 60,000 (60,325) with the December 2006–January 2007 edition.
April 2007
The new publisher [Shelley Ambrose] strips the large direct mail campaign of its direct anti Conservative wording. (The returns from this campaign were poor, a first.)
Without any warning, Bookshelf [high school literacy program] is cancelled. I state that this is in direct violation of the charitable status agreement.
May 2007
The paid internship program is cancelled. Again, I state this is in direct violation of the charitable status agreement, adding that, in my view, this move was probably against the law and basic employment standards practices. I am told that “unpaid internships are the industry standard.”
June 2007
I submit a letter of resignation to Allan Gregg. He pleads with me to stay, that fundraising will get up and running, etc., and I agree.
Early September 2007
Editorial, Art, and Adverting are given the book-size plan for 2008. It could scarcely be a more robust program, and my spirits are buoyed.
A letter to the editor arrives criticizing Bruce Livesey’s piece on income inequality (July–August 2007). I am told [by Shelly Ambrose] not to run such editorial again.
Late October 2007
This book-size plan is abandoned, the advertising dept. blamed.
The publisher [Shelley Ambrose] says I should [run] profiles on the wives of mayors in the upcoming “cities” issue (Jan-Feb. 2008).
Under the new regime there has been to date little to no fundraising done.
February 1 – April 1, 2008
The boss [Ambrose] takes 3 foreign vacations — to the Caribbean, Italy, and Scotland. Upon her return from her last vacation, the entire staff is blasted (in an email) for abusing sick-day privileges. As far as I could tell, one person had taken one day off (with the flu).
April 2008
Marni Jackson and Nora Underwood (who shared one full-time position, but put in much more time than that) request six-month leaves of absence. By this point, the office had become toxic. I am allowed to hire a replacement, Sylvia Barrett.
June 2008
Just before the National Magazine Awards I submit my letter of resignation. I’m spent, done, and simply cannot any longer tolerate the abuse of staff. If I had to pinpoint one thing, it would be the treatment of Sylvia Barrett, a good person. This was just a bridge too far.
December 2009
A year and a half after leaving the Walrus I attend a Chawkers [Foundation] meeting. My father wants me back involved, he is ailing. Four representatives from the Walrus Foundation address the meeting — Shelley Ambrose, John MacFarlane, Allan Gregg, and Mary Cranston. [Shelley Ambrose] tells Chawkers that the print subscriptions and newsstand circulation is 60,000. I know for a fact that it is around 35,000. Chawkers is also told about great fundraising successes, a staff that could not be better or happier, etc. There is no mention of staff departures, a case before the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the fact that the newsstand sale had absolutely crashed and that the subscription file had shed nearly 10,000 subscribers, etc. It was a complete sham, [Walrus Foundation] taking Chawkers for unwitting fools. I took real umbrage at my father being lied to.
UPDATE: Since we posted this article and the accompanying podcast, the circulation numbers claimed by Ken Alexander have been disputed on Twitter, where CCAB (Canadian Circulation Audit Bureau) audits were cited. These audits say that in fiscal 2008 (published in March 2009) the Walrus’ circulation was a total of 51,000 while in fiscal 2009 (published in march 2010) it was about 48,000.
Ken Alexander said he stands by the numbers he provided CANADALAND, which were given to him by an employee of the Walrus working in the circulation department. He responds: “Lots of magazines inflate their circ. numbers, but the numbers that count — in my view — are bona fide subscribers and newsstand buyers. I know nothing about anything else (on-line subs, what the CCAB requires to call a sub a sub, giveaways, etc.) I do know that at that December 2009 meeting, when asked directly about print subscriptions and newsstand buyers Chawkers was told: ‘60,000 and the November 2009 newsstand edition is on track to be our best yet.’ This was horseshit, plain and simple.”
Walrus CRA Notification of registration
Walrus Objects of the Foundation
Contract of the Executive Director and Publisher
***
[email protected]Windows 8.1 Preview introduced DirectX 11.2, which brings a host of new features to improve performance in your games and graphics apps. The standout feature appears to be Direct3D tiled resources, which allows developers to easily use both GPU and system memory (RAM) to store textures. Microsoft has confirmed that DirectX 11.2 will be exclusive to Windows 8.1 and the Xbox One.
Video cards based on AMD’s Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, the Radeon HD 7000 series and the OEM-rebadged HD 8000 series, aren’t currently compatible with DirectX 11.2. A number of sites reported last week that they will never be compatible, but AMD says that is not the case. The issued the following statement today that says they will introduce a driver update that will enable DirectX 11.2 support on AMD Radeon HD 7000 series video cards!In addition to the slew of Google+ updates today, Google has announced one more: custom URLs are now rolling out to almost everyone. If you don’t see the option yet on your Google+ profile or Google+ Page, don’t worry: Google says it is expanding availability throughout the week.
For those who don’t know what custom URLs (also called vanity URLs) are, here’s quick example. Currently, my Google+ profile is located at plus.google.com/u/0/103897375441006577816/. If I were to get a custom URL, I could maybe changed it to plus.google.com/+emil or plus.google.com/+epro, swapping out the string of numbers for something that is much easier to share.
Google first started testing custom URLs back in the middle of August 2012. About a week later, the company started notifying individuals and brands with verified accounts, but then it largely stopped expanding the feature. Now that’s finally changing.
If your profile meets the following criteria, Google+ will let you claim a custom URL:
Has a profile photo, and
Has at least 10 followers, and
Has an account that’s at least 30 days old.
At the same time, brands and businesses that have a linked website or a verified local business can claim a custom URL for their Google+ page as well. If you fall into either of these categories, you’ll want to read more about link and verification over at the Google+ Help Center.
Once you meet the eligibility criteria and Google prepares your custom URL, you can just visit your Google+ profile or Google+ page to begin the claiming process. Until then, you’ll just have to wait patiently, probably playing with all the other Google+ features that rolled out today.
See also – Google+ gets new backup, auto-enhance, and HDR filters to help you become a better storyteller and Auto Awesome Movies for Google+ secretly edits your best videos into a slick, customizable highlight reel
Read next: The home where Apple began has been designated a historic propertyMillions of low-cost wireless keyboards are susceptible to a vulnerability that reveals private data to hackers in clear text.
The vulnerability – dubbed KeySniffer – creates a means for hackers to remotely “sniff” all the keystrokes of wireless keyboards from eight manufacturers from distances up to 100 metres away.
“When we purchase a wireless keyboard we reasonably expect that the manufacturer has designed and built security into the core of the product,” said Bastille Research Team member Marc Newlin, responsible for the KeySniffer discovery. “Unfortunately, we tested keyboards from 12 manufacturers and were disappointed to find that eight manufacturers (two thirds) were susceptible to the KeySniffer hack.”
The keyboard manufacturers affected by KeySniffer include: Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Kensington, Insignia, Radio Shack, Anker, General Electric, and EagleTec. Vulnerable keyboards are always transmitting, whether or not the user is typing. Consequently, a hacker can scan for vulnerable devices at any time. A complete list of affected devices can be found here.
Wireless keyboards have been the focus of security concerns before. In 2010, the KeyKeriki team exposed weak XOR encryption in certain Microsoft wireless keyboards. Last year Samy Kamkar’s KeySweeper exploited Microsoft’s vulnerabilities. Both of those took advantage of shortcomings in Microsoft’s encryption.
The KeySniffer discovery is different in that it reveals that manufacturers are actually producing and selling wireless keyboards with no encryption at all. Bluetooth keyboards and higher-end wireless keyboards from manufacturers including Logitech, Dell, and Lenovo are not susceptible to KeySniffer.
Bastille notified affected vendors to provide them the opportunity to address the KeySniffer vulnerability prior to going public on Tuesday. Most, if not all, existing keyboards impacted by KeySniffer cannot be upgraded and will need to be replaced, it warns.
Bastille’s discovery of KeySniffer follows month after its discovery of MouseJack, a vulnerability affecting millions of wireless mice. ®Ever been in a situation where you want two slices of pizza but only have the ability to hold one? The folks over at Stupidiotic have got you covered.
The Portable Pizza Pouch is a triangular ziplock bag on a string that stores an extra slice of pizza to wear around your neck.
Photo via Stupidiotic
Yes, this is genius. Our one concern: if you take a look at the product photos over on Stupidiotic, it looks as though the actual pouch itself is too small to hold, say, a New York slice. The bag looks like it can house a smallish slice of Dominos pizza, but what about deep dish, Sicilian square slices, and so on and so forth?
Was thinking about how pizza in a portable on-the-go pouch would be tight and realized that’s what Hot Pockets are. Foolish — Tiffany Gerami (@TiffanyGerami) May 24, 2014
In the odd case you find yourself with a pizza pouch but without a slice of pizza to fit into the lanyard, you could always use it as a fanny pack-type device for your personal belongings. Nothing says professional quite like a lanyard with the label “stupid idiotic” posted on the front.
The website also sells a fork with a built-in pizza cutter, which, if you think about it, makes absolutely no sense.
Last week I brought you the pizza scissors. Today I found this … Fork and Pizza cutter in one! #stupidinventions pic.twitter.com/B4hOWPJzux — Eleanor Murray (@Nellienora123) April 27, 2015
[via Oddity Mall]
RELATED: The Complete Guide to Making Pizza at Home
RELATED: 15 Bucket-List Pizzerias to Visit Before You DieAUSTIN, TX -- Good news, users of the city's mass transit service: The Capital Metro board of directors on Monday voted to eliminate the higher-priced fares it has been charging for use of MetroRapid and Flyer routes.
Starting this January, all local MetroRapid and Flyer service will cost the same as Local service bus routes. All service will cost $1.25 for a single ride, $2.50 for a day pass, $11.25 for a week pass and $41.25 for a monthly pass.
The pricing change is designed to make it easier for travelers to move around the system, without having to worry about different fares depending on the bus routes selected. The MetroRapid and Flyer routes feature fewer stops compared to Local service, hence the increased fare.
Bus customers currently pay $1.25 for local bus service and $1.75 for two MetroRapid routes and Flyer service. Come Jan. 8, that price structure will come to an end.
CapMetro board votes to eliminate the Premium fare, effective Jan. 8, 2017. MetroRapid and Flyer rts would become Local service. #MetroBoard
— Capital Metro (@CapMetroATX) October 24, 2016
"A two-tiered fare system is simpler to use, and will let riders move seamlessly from Local bus service to MetroRapid and Flyer service," Dan Dawson, vice president of marketing and communications for CapMetro, said in a prepared statement. "Our community consistently tells us they want a more flexible and easy to use transit network that gives them more options, so we're answering the call by making our bus system even more accessible and convenient."
The agency conducts an in-depth study of its bus system every five years, officials said. In 2010, the study resulted in the launch of MetroRapid bus rapid transit (BRT) service, the creation of transit-priority lanes in downtown Austin that help move buses quickly through the city's core, and the first phase of the High-Frequency Route Network, which increased weekday frequency on four high-demand Local bus routes, they explained.
For more information about the fare reduction, visit capmetro.org/farechange. Additional details about Connections 2025, including an online interactive map and video, can be found at connections2025.org.
>>> Images via Capital MetroCLOSE USA TODAY's Chris Woodyard gets a tour of a restored '68 Dodge Dart in this edition of Just Cool Cars. Video by Andria Chamberlin and Michael Kofsky
Sherman White of Pasadena, Calif., shows off the 1968 Dodge Dart that he restored. (Photo: Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY)
BURBANK, Calif. — Sherman White is a guy who loves to cruise around. And he has the right car for it, a yellow 1968 Dodge Dart that he has restored.
White, who lives in Pasadena, Calif., loves his Chryslers and Dodges. "I'm a Mopar guy," he explains, referring to Chrysler's famous after-market parts division. Back in college, he says he drove a 1974 Plymouth Duster — another famous and long-gone Mopar name.
The Dart was labor of love. White says he probably sank 500 hours into restoring it. It "gives me something to do on weekends," he explains. He says he was attracted to the car's "nice, boxy, curvy sharp lines."
For a guy who loves to cruise, there was no better place on a warm spring evening recently than Bob's Big Boy, the nostalgic restaurant in Burbank, Calif., that hosts hot rodders every Friday night.
"This is like a culture, like a hobby for the whole family," he said of the his car.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Gt9YhUNEW YORK -- Employees of the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York Mets affiliate, arrived at work Wednesday morning to find swastikas and racial and anti-Semitic epithets painted on a statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese that is on display outside MCU Park.
The statue shows Reese with his arm around Robinson and commemorates the moment at Cincinnati's Crosley Field when Reese, playing before his family, showed his solidarity with Robinson amid ugly backlash about the integration of Major League Baseball. The moment was recreated in the recent movie "42."
The New York City Police Department is investigating the incident at the Coney Island ballpark. There is video surveillance outside the ballpark, a Cyclones spokesman said.
"This is being treated as a bias crime," detective John Nevandro of the 60th precinct said in a statement. "Hate Crimes will investigate the incident."
Team employees successfully removed the graffiti from the metallic statue but were having difficulty eradicating it from the stone base. They covered up what could not be removed so fans were not subjected to seeing the epithets upon arriving for a day game between the Brooklyn Cyclones and Connecticut Tigers.
The New York City Parks Department, which is charged with maintaining the statue, has dispatched help to treat the statue's base.Anti-semitism has become so bad in Malmo, the Swedish city where the hit television drama The Bridge is set, that it contributed to actor Kim Bodnia's decision to quit the show.
Bodnia, who plays Danish detective Martin Rohde, left fans of the Danish-Swedish drama devastated when he dropped out of the third series, leaving Saga Norén, his character’s eccentric, neurodivergent Swedish counterpart, to find a new Danish sidekick.
The easy-going, charismatic Rohde had been hugely popular with fans of the gritty Nordic Noir drama.
At the time Bodnia, who is Jewish, put the decision down to a difference of opinion with scriptwriters, but in an interview with Israel’s Walla! website last week, he cited worsening anti-Jewish sentiment across the Oresund Bridge in Sweden.
“It’s growing, and especially in Malmo, where we shot The Bridge in Sweden, it’s not very nice and comfortable to be there as a Jewish person,” he told the Walla! portal.
“When they didn’t have the script right I could say, ‘no, I don’t feel so safe there’. It’s not funny. It’s growing. We have to deal with it every day and we have to fight against it.”
Jewish people in Malmo have long complained of growing harassment in the city, where 43 per cent of the population have a non-Swedish background, with Iraqis, Lebanese and stateless Palestinians some of the largest groups.
The Jewish community centre in the city is heavily fortified, with security doors and bollards on the outside pavement to prevent car bombs.
But Jehoshua Kaufman, a prominent member of the community, said he was surprised that Bodnia felt more uncomfortable in Sweden than in Copenhagen, given the terror attack on the Danish capital’s synagogue a year ago.
“They killed two people in Copenhagen, not in Malmo,” he said. “I find it very peculiar. I find it funny."
Bodnia made an appearance at Copenhagen's synagogue in the days after the attack last year to pay his respects to Dan Uzan, the security guard who was killed.
He told Walla! that he was so worried by the issue of anti-semitism that he had lobbied the scriptwriters to bring the issue into the plot of the third series, pushing them to have his character Rhode encounter inmates with fanatical anti-Jewish beliefs while in prison.
“The situation is if people go to jail, they have this possibility to grow their hate of Jewish people,” he said. “It’s growing in the prison. So I suggested that when Martin is undercover in the prison, why didn’t we do something about that?”.A cut above the rest!
PHOTOS: Heidi's amazing body evolution
Heidi Klum sizzles on the cover of Us Weekly's The Body Issue (on newsstands now) in a strappy one-piece. The custom-cut American Apparel bodysuit was created by stylist Adam Saaks on set at the L.A. shoot, with just a pair of scissors. Watch the video to watch him in action—and Klum work it!
PHOTOS: Stars' crazy cleavage
"Not everyone wants to fit into a pair of skinny jeans," Klum, 40, told Us at the shoot. "Some women feel sexier when they have more meat on their bones. Their guy likes it more or they like it more. Me, I like it when I'm more fit. I feel very comfortable with the way I am right now."
PHOTOS: More hot celebs over 40 in bikinis
As for her diet, Klum keeps it clean. "I'm pretty good about not eating too many carbs. I love vegetables," she said.
PHOTOS: Celebs are just like Us -- summer edition
One food on her "do not eat" list: Bagels. "I don't eat bagels—no way!" she tells Us. "A bagel is basically a cardboard box…Usually I'll have a smoothie in the morning."
Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox!
Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now!Film company goes after Aussie downloaders
Updated
Have you downloaded a copy of mob thriller Kill The Irishman? If so, your ISP could be forced to hand your details over to the film's copyright holder.
Australian internet service provider (ISP) Exetel says it has been approached by a firm acting on behalf of the film's copyright holder Lightning Entertainment and asked if it would be able to hand over the names and addresses of internet users.
Exetel boss John Linton says the Movie Rights Group – a Gold Coast-based organisation representing the interests of Lightning Entertainment – approached his company’s lawyers asking whether Exetel would be able to provide the names and addresses of 150 of its IP users were an Australian court to issue a subpoena.
And he says the Movie Rights Group claims to have a list of 9,000 Australian IP addresses allegedly connected to illegal downloading of Lightning's films including Kill The Irishman, which stars Christopher Walken.
Mr Linton told ABC News Online the Movie Rights Group "seems to be the sort of legal practice that is at the arse end of the legal edifice".
He said that if the group was able to get a subpoena, Exetel would be forced to hand over the requested information if it was available.
However he said no request had actually been made for customer details, and this could not happen under general commercial law.
"It was an enquiry of Exetel's legal advisers and, as far as I know, went no further than attempting to establish what capability in terms of retention of various operational records Exetel might have in place," he said.
Mr Linton also distanced his company from the potentially illegal activities of |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.